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**Hugh** · 03-03-2020, 20:26

Latest from WHO.

https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/deta...--3-march-2020

Quote:

...We understand that people are afraid and uncertain. Fear is a natural human response to any threat, especially when it’s a threat we don’t completely understand.

But as we get more data, we are understanding this virus, and the disease it causes, more and more.

This virus is not SARS, it’s not MERS, and it’s not influenza. It is a unique virus with unique characteristics.

Both COVID-19 and influenza cause respiratory disease and spread the same way, via small droplets of fluid from the nose and mouth of someone who is sick.

However, there are some important differences between COVID-19 and influenza.

First, COVID-19 does not transmit as efficiently as influenza, from the data we have so far.

With influenza, people who are infected but not yet sick are major drivers of transmission, which does not appear to be the case for COVID-19.

Evidence from China is that only 1% of reported cases do not have symptoms, and most of those cases develop symptoms within 2 days.

Some countries are looking for cases of COVID-19 using surveillance systems for influenza and other respiratory diseases.

Countries such as China, Ghana, Singapore and elsewhere have found very few cases of COVID-19 among such samples – or no cases at all.

The only way to be sure is by looking for COVID-19 antibodies in large numbers of people, and several countries are now doing those studies. This will give us further insight into the extent of infection in populations over time.

WHO has developed protocols on how these studies should be done, and we encourage all countries to do these studies and share their data.

The second major difference is that COVID-19 causes more severe disease than seasonal influenza.

While many people globally have built up immunity to seasonal flu strains, COVID-19 is a new virus to which no one has immunity. That means more people are susceptible to infection, and some will suffer severe disease.

Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died. By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected.

Third, we have vaccines and therapeutics for seasonal flu, but at the moment there is no vaccine and no specific treatment for COVID-19. However, clinical trials of therapeutics are now being done, and more than 20 vaccines are in development.

And fourth, we don’t even talk about containment for seasonal flu – it’s just not possible. But it is possible for COVID-19. We don’t do contact tracing for seasonal flu – but countries should do it for COVID-19, because it will prevent infections and save lives. Containment is possible.

To summarize, COVID-19 spreads less efficiently than flu, transmission does not appear to be driven by people who are not sick, it causes more severe illness than flu, there are not yet any vaccines or therapeutics, and it can be contained – which is why we must do everything we can to contain it. That’s why WHO recommends a comprehensive approach.

These differences mean we can’t treat COVID-19 exactly the same way we treat flu...

---------- Post added at 20:26 ---------- Previous post was at 20:22 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by pip08456

So the announcement is not new then.

Announcement is new, the death wasn't.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN20Q2TG

Quote:

MADRID (Reuters) - A man in the Spanish region of Valencia died from coronavirus, marking the country’s first death from the outbreak, a local health official said on Tuesday.

Tests showed the man, who died on February 13, was killed by the virus, regional health chief Ana Barcelo said at a press conference.

I read (can't find the link at the moment) that other countries are re-testing people who died of what was thought to be pneumonia, but are now finding the COVID-19 in them.