- Thread starter chico bill
- Start date
Coronavirus - In the DR
- Status
I wondered why the park in the nearby village was wrapped up like a crime scene this morning...... now I know lol.
The detail of the new decree:
No drinking in bars or restaurants until January 10th!
Government has new measures to stop COVID-19
https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias/gob … l-covid-19
The Government this Wednesday ordered new measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, which include the start of a curfew at 7:00 at night on December 31, eliminating the grace of free transit until 1:00 a.m. early morning of January 1.
President Luis Abinader issued Decree 740-20 that replaces 698-20, which establishes in article 12 that the measures come into effect as of this Thursday, December 31.
It was ordered that from January 1 to January 10, the curfew will be from 5:00 in the afternoon to 5:00 in the morning, Monday through Friday, with two hours of free transit to reach their houses, until 7:00 at night.
Meanwhile, on Saturdays 2 and 9, as well as Sundays 3 and 10, of January 2021, the curfew will be from 12:00 noon to 5:00 in the morning.
The measures were announced at a press conference headed by the Vice President of the Republic and coordinator of the Health Cabinet, Raquel Peña, and the Minister of Health, Plutarco Arias, at the National Palace.
The president had advanced that new measures would be taken to ensure the health of citizens and the well-being of the country, highlighting all the efforts of the Government to control the inherited crisis.
The measures also establish that in the interval from January 1 to 10, 2021, the activities of the different churches or religious denominations cease.
“We are close to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The vaccines are promising and today the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca was approved by the British health authority, after considering it safe, of quality and effective to be used in Great Britain ”, said the vice president.
He recalled that just 2 months ago they signed a purchase-sale contract for the acquisition of 10 million doses, thanks to the backing and support of a group of Dominican and foreign businessmen.
The vice president insisted that the population comply with established health protocols, such as the correct use of a mask, hand washing and physical distancing.
Also, with respecting and valuing the work of the members of the National Police and the Armed Forces.
Also participating in the press conference were the Administrative Ministers of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza; of Interior and Police, Jesús -Chu- Vásquez; the directors of the National Health Service, Mario Lama, of the National Health Insurance (SENASA) Santiago Hazim; from the National Police, Major General Edward Sánchez González, from Promese / Cal, Adolfo Pérez; the director of C5i, Luis Rafael Lee Ballester, and Dr. Eddy Pérez Then, advisor to the Ministry of Public Health.
New measures arranged:
Decree 698-20, dated December 15, 2020, which established the curfew regime, is modified in the following terms:
1. The grace of free movement is eliminated as of December 31; therefore, the curfew for that day will start at 7:00 pm
2. It is established that from January 1 to January 10 the curfew will be from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am, Monday through Friday, with two hours of free transit to reach their homes. at 7:00 pm
3. It is established that on Saturdays 2 and 9, as well as Sundays 3 and 10, of January 2021, the curfew will be from 12:00 noon to 5:00 am
4. It is established that employees or contractors of restaurants, pharmacies or grocery stores that provide home delivery services of cooked, raw food or medicines, will have permission to circulate until 11:00 pm, exclusively during the exercise of their work functions.
5. It is established that from January 1, 2021, bars, restaurants and grocery stores will not be able to receive customers who consume at their facilities until January 10.
6. During curfew hours, the following people will be allowed to circulate:
a) People dedicated to health services, such as doctors, nurses, bioanalysts, paramedical personnel and pharmaceutical personnel.
b) People with a medical emergency who need to go to a health center or pharmacy.
c) Duly identified persons engaged in private security tasks.
d) Members of the press and other duly accredited media.
e) Vehicle operators and technicians of companies and institutions that provide energy, water, telecommunications and solid waste collection services duly identified, exclusively during the exercise of their work functions.
f) Vehicle operators dedicated to the urban and interurban distribution of goods, supplies and fuel duly identified exclusively during the exercise of their work functions.
g) People who work in the industry and commerce of food and medical and pharmaceutical products and are in transit to and from their workplaces, provided that they carry identification of a company authorized by the High Level Commission for the Prevention and Control of Coronavirus .
h) International passengers and operators of private or commercial vehicles that are transporting them, as well as employees of the maritime and air transport sector duly identified in transit to or from ports and airports.
i) Employees of companies that provide funeral services, exclusively during the exercise of their work functions.
j) Employees or contractors of the hotel, mining and free zone sectors, exclusively during the exercise of their work functions.
7. From January 1 to January 10, 2021, all open-air public spaces will be closed, such as parks, boardwalks, gyms and those dedicated to sports practices, only with the exception of professional tournaments without assistance of public.
8. It is established that the activities of the tourism sector will continue to be managed with a special protocol as before.
9. It is established that in the interval from January 1 to 10, 2021 the activities of the different churches or religious denominations cease.
In addition to these measures:
We will continue to increase the installed capacity of hospital beds and ICU beds. We will distribute kits in all hospitals in the country for the outpatient treatment of all mild patients; In addition, we will follow up until your full recovery.
No drinking in bars or restaurants until January 10th!
Government has new measures to stop COVID-19
https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias/gob … l-covid-19
The Government this Wednesday ordered new measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, which include the start of a curfew at 7:00 at night on December 31, eliminating the grace of free transit until 1:00 a.m. early morning of January 1.
President Luis Abinader issued Decree 740-20 that replaces 698-20, which establishes in article 12 that the measures come into effect as of this Thursday, December 31.
It was ordered that from January 1 to January 10, the curfew will be from 5:00 in the afternoon to 5:00 in the morning, Monday through Friday, with two hours of free transit to reach their houses, until 7:00 at night.
Meanwhile, on Saturdays 2 and 9, as well as Sundays 3 and 10, of January 2021, the curfew will be from 12:00 noon to 5:00 in the morning.
The measures were announced at a press conference headed by the Vice President of the Republic and coordinator of the Health Cabinet, Raquel Peña, and the Minister of Health, Plutarco Arias, at the National Palace.
The president had advanced that new measures would be taken to ensure the health of citizens and the well-being of the country, highlighting all the efforts of the Government to control the inherited crisis.
The measures also establish that in the interval from January 1 to 10, 2021, the activities of the different churches or religious denominations cease.
“We are close to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The vaccines are promising and today the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca was approved by the British health authority, after considering it safe, of quality and effective to be used in Great Britain ”, said the vice president.
He recalled that just 2 months ago they signed a purchase-sale contract for the acquisition of 10 million doses, thanks to the backing and support of a group of Dominican and foreign businessmen.
The vice president insisted that the population comply with established health protocols, such as the correct use of a mask, hand washing and physical distancing.
Also, with respecting and valuing the work of the members of the National Police and the Armed Forces.
Also participating in the press conference were the Administrative Ministers of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza; of Interior and Police, Jesús -Chu- Vásquez; the directors of the National Health Service, Mario Lama, of the National Health Insurance (SENASA) Santiago Hazim; from the National Police, Major General Edward Sánchez González, from Promese / Cal, Adolfo Pérez; the director of C5i, Luis Rafael Lee Ballester, and Dr. Eddy Pérez Then, advisor to the Ministry of Public Health.
New measures arranged:
Decree 698-20, dated December 15, 2020, which established the curfew regime, is modified in the following terms:
1. The grace of free movement is eliminated as of December 31; therefore, the curfew for that day will start at 7:00 pm
2. It is established that from January 1 to January 10 the curfew will be from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am, Monday through Friday, with two hours of free transit to reach their homes. at 7:00 pm
3. It is established that on Saturdays 2 and 9, as well as Sundays 3 and 10, of January 2021, the curfew will be from 12:00 noon to 5:00 am
4. It is established that employees or contractors of restaurants, pharmacies or grocery stores that provide home delivery services of cooked, raw food or medicines, will have permission to circulate until 11:00 pm, exclusively during the exercise of their work functions.
5. It is established that from January 1, 2021, bars, restaurants and grocery stores will not be able to receive customers who consume at their facilities until January 10.
6. During curfew hours, the following people will be allowed to circulate:
a) People dedicated to health services, such as doctors, nurses, bioanalysts, paramedical personnel and pharmaceutical personnel.
b) People with a medical emergency who need to go to a health center or pharmacy.
c) Duly identified persons engaged in private security tasks.
d) Members of the press and other duly accredited media.
e) Vehicle operators and technicians of companies and institutions that provide energy, water, telecommunications and solid waste collection services duly identified, exclusively during the exercise of their work functions.
f) Vehicle operators dedicated to the urban and interurban distribution of goods, supplies and fuel duly identified exclusively during the exercise of their work functions.
g) People who work in the industry and commerce of food and medical and pharmaceutical products and are in transit to and from their workplaces, provided that they carry identification of a company authorized by the High Level Commission for the Prevention and Control of Coronavirus .
h) International passengers and operators of private or commercial vehicles that are transporting them, as well as employees of the maritime and air transport sector duly identified in transit to or from ports and airports.
i) Employees of companies that provide funeral services, exclusively during the exercise of their work functions.
j) Employees or contractors of the hotel, mining and free zone sectors, exclusively during the exercise of their work functions.
7. From January 1 to January 10, 2021, all open-air public spaces will be closed, such as parks, boardwalks, gyms and those dedicated to sports practices, only with the exception of professional tournaments without assistance of public.
8. It is established that the activities of the tourism sector will continue to be managed with a special protocol as before.
9. It is established that in the interval from January 1 to 10, 2021 the activities of the different churches or religious denominations cease.
In addition to these measures:
We will continue to increase the installed capacity of hospital beds and ICU beds. We will distribute kits in all hospitals in the country for the outpatient treatment of all mild patients; In addition, we will follow up until your full recovery.
That translation doesn't seem to indicate that it will be business as usual with modified operating hours at pharmacies. It just says that pharmacies can deliver until 11 pm during the curfew hours.
Anyone kno
What is the difference between a colmado and a supermarket? Is a colmado kind of like a corner store?
yep basically, and some of them are like a mini-market and others are the size of a closet.
h) International passengers and operators of private or commercial vehicles that are transporting them,
Does this include taxis or Uber cars transporting tourists?
I HOPE it does... I'll need to take a cab to my airbnb place this weekend after the 12pm curfew!
And what about Caribe Tours and Metro buses?
Exactly. No vaccine produces immediate immunity to anyone especially one that is already infected.
As regards side effects it depends on what one considers "serious". A rash or a short term reaction is not serious.
The trials never included hyper allergic sensitive people.
No way to include all kinds of pre existing conditions or the trials would be endless.
DR could take a lesson in distribution from the US on what not to do.
One would think delivery and injection would be simple and quick since it is yearly with the influenza vaccine.
So much for thinking.
Distribution of the vaccine is so far in the US going the way of the early testing, a complete flop.
Lets hope the newer mutated Coronavirus that is more infectious does not show up in the DR.
Scientists find new clues, but origin of COVID-19 still a mystery
While many scientists are racing to find vaccines to tame the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, other researchers are probing the past, trying to unravel one of the greatest mysteries of the virus: exactly where it came from.
www.ctvnews.ca
To see the facts behind Covid 19 in China let’s go not to China direct sourcing but actual WHO specialists stationed there during the event that unfolded:
Pneumonia of unknown cause – China
Disease outbreak report
January 5th 2020
On 31st December 2019, the WHO China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology (unknown cause) detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. As of 3 January 2020, a total of 44 patients with pneumonia of unknown etiology have been reported to WHO by the national authorities in China. Of the 44 cases reported, 11 are severely ill, while the remaining 33 patients are in stable condition. According to media reports, the concerned market in Wuhan was closed on 1 January 2020 for environmental sanitation and disinfection.
The causal agent has not yet been identified or confirmed. On 1 January 2020, WHO requested further information from national authorities to assess the risk.
National authorities report that all patients are isolated and receiving treatment in Wuhan medical institutions. The clinical signs and symptoms are mainly fever, with a few patients having difficulty in breathing, and chest radiographs showing invasive lesions of both lungs.
According to the authorities, some patients were operating dealers or vendors in the Huanan Seafood market. Based on the preliminary information from the Chinese investigation team, no evidence of significant human-to-human transmission and no health care worker infections have been reported.
Public Health Response
National authorities have reported the following response measures:
One hundred and twenty-one close contacts have been identified and are under medical observation;
The follow-up of close contacts is ongoing;
Pathogen identification and the tracing of the cause are underway;
Wuhan Municipal Health Commission carried out active case finding, and retrospective investigations have been completed;
Environmental sanitation and further hygiene investigations are under way.
WHO is closely monitoring the situation and is in close contact with national authorities in China.
WHO risk assessment
There is limited information to determine the overall risk of this reported cluster of pneumonia of unknown etiology. The reported link to a wholesale fish and live animal market could indicate an exposure link to animals. The symptoms reported among the patients are common to several respiratory diseases, and pneumonia is common in the winter season; however, the occurrence of 44 cases of pneumonia requiring hospitalization clustered in space and time should be handled prudently.
Wuhan city, with a population of 19 million, is the capital city of Hubei province, with a population of 58 million people. WHO has requested further information on the laboratory tests performed and the differential diagnoses considered.
WHO advice
Based on information provided by national authorities, WHO’s recommendations on public health measures and surveillance of influenza and severe acute respiratory infections still apply.
WHO does not recommend any specific measures for travellers. In case of symptoms suggestive of respiratory illness either during or after travel, travellers are encouraged to seek medical attention and share travel history with their healthcare provider.
WHO advises against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China based on the current information available on this event.
————————————————————————
Timeline:
31 Dec 2019
Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, China, reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei Province. A novel coronavirus was eventually identified.
1 January 2020
WHO had set up the IMST (Incident Management Support Team) across the three levels of the organization: headquarters, regional headquarters and country level, putting the organization on an emergency footing for dealing with the outbreak.
4 January 2020
WHO reported on social media that there was a cluster of pneumonia cases – with no deaths – in Wuhan, Hubei province.
5 January 2020
WHO published our first Disease Outbreak News on the new virus. This is a flagship technical publication to the scientific and public health community as well as global media. It contained a risk assessment and advice, and reported on what China had told the organization about the status of patients and the public health response on the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan.
10 January 2020
WHO issued a comprehensive package of technical guidance online with advice to all countries on how to detect, test and manage potential cases, based on what was known about the virus at the time. This guidance was shared with WHO's regional emergency directors to share with WHO representatives in countries.
Based on experience with SARS and MERS and known modes of transmission of respiratory viruses, infection and prevention control guidance were published to protect health workers recommending droplet and contact precautions when caring for patients, and airborne precautions for aerosol generating procedures conducted by health workers.
12 January 2020
China publicly shared the genetic sequence of COVID-19.
13 January 2020
Officials confirm a case of COVID-19 in Thailand, the first recorded case outside of China.
14 January 2020
WHO's technical lead for the response noted in a press briefing there may have been limited human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus (in the 41 confirmed cases), mainly through family members, and that there was a risk of a possible wider outbreak. The lead also said that human-to-human transmission would not be surprising given our experience with SARS, MERS and other respiratory pathogens.
20-21 January 2020
WHO experts from its China and Western Pacific regional offices conducted a brief field visit to Wuhan.
22 January 2020
WHO mission to China issued a statement saying that there was evidence of human-to-human transmission in Wuhan but more investigation was needed to understand the full extent of transmission.
22- 23 January 2020
The WHO Director- General convened an Emergency Committee (EC) under the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) to assess whether the outbreak constituted a public health emergency of international concern. The independent members from around the world could not reach a consensus based on the evidence available at the time. They asked to be reconvened within 10 days after receiving more information.
28 January 2020
A senior WHO delegation led by the Director-General travelled to Beijing to meet China’s leadership, learn more about China’s response, and to offer any technical assistance.
While in Beijing, Dr. Tedros agreed with Chinese government leaders that an international team of leading scientists would travel to China on a mission to better understand the context, the overall response, and exchange information and experience.
30 January 2020
The WHO Director-General reconvened the Emergency Committee (EC). This was earlier than the 10-day period and only two days after the first reports of limited human-to-human transmission were reported outside China. This time, the EC reached consensus and advised the Director-General that the outbreak constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The Director-General accepted the recommendation and declared the novel coronavirus outbreak (2019-nCoV) a PHEIC. This is the 6th time WHO has declared a PHEIC since the International Health Regulations (IHR) came into force in 2005.
WHO’s situation report for 30 January reported 7818 total confirmed cases worldwide, with the majority of these in China, and 82 cases reported in 18 countries outside China. WHO gave a risk assessment of very high for China, and high at the global level.
3 February 2020
WHO releases the international community's Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to help protect states with weaker health systems.
11-12 February 2020
WHO convened a Research and Innovation Forum on COVID-19, attended by more than 400 experts and funders from around the world, which included presentations by George Gao, Director General of China CDC, and Zunyou Wu, China CDC's chief epidemiologist.
16-24 February 2020
The WHO-China Joint mission, which included experts from Canada, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore and the US (CDC, NIH) spent time in Beijing and also travelled to Wuhan and two other cities. They spoke with health officials, scientists and health workers in health facilities (maintaining physical distancing). The report of the joint mission can be found here: https://www.who.int/docs/default-so...na-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-report.pdf
11 March 2020
Deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction, WHO made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.
13 March 2020
COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund launched to receive donations from private individuals, corporations and institutions.
18 March 2020
WHO and partners launch the Solidarity Trial, an international clinical trial that aims to generate robust data from around the world to find the most effective treatments for COVID-19.
Pneumonia of unknown cause – China
Disease outbreak report
January 5th 2020
On 31st December 2019, the WHO China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology (unknown cause) detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. As of 3 January 2020, a total of 44 patients with pneumonia of unknown etiology have been reported to WHO by the national authorities in China. Of the 44 cases reported, 11 are severely ill, while the remaining 33 patients are in stable condition. According to media reports, the concerned market in Wuhan was closed on 1 January 2020 for environmental sanitation and disinfection.
The causal agent has not yet been identified or confirmed. On 1 January 2020, WHO requested further information from national authorities to assess the risk.
National authorities report that all patients are isolated and receiving treatment in Wuhan medical institutions. The clinical signs and symptoms are mainly fever, with a few patients having difficulty in breathing, and chest radiographs showing invasive lesions of both lungs.
According to the authorities, some patients were operating dealers or vendors in the Huanan Seafood market. Based on the preliminary information from the Chinese investigation team, no evidence of significant human-to-human transmission and no health care worker infections have been reported.
Public Health Response
National authorities have reported the following response measures:
One hundred and twenty-one close contacts have been identified and are under medical observation;
The follow-up of close contacts is ongoing;
Pathogen identification and the tracing of the cause are underway;
Wuhan Municipal Health Commission carried out active case finding, and retrospective investigations have been completed;
Environmental sanitation and further hygiene investigations are under way.
WHO is closely monitoring the situation and is in close contact with national authorities in China.
WHO risk assessment
There is limited information to determine the overall risk of this reported cluster of pneumonia of unknown etiology. The reported link to a wholesale fish and live animal market could indicate an exposure link to animals. The symptoms reported among the patients are common to several respiratory diseases, and pneumonia is common in the winter season; however, the occurrence of 44 cases of pneumonia requiring hospitalization clustered in space and time should be handled prudently.
Wuhan city, with a population of 19 million, is the capital city of Hubei province, with a population of 58 million people. WHO has requested further information on the laboratory tests performed and the differential diagnoses considered.
WHO advice
Based on information provided by national authorities, WHO’s recommendations on public health measures and surveillance of influenza and severe acute respiratory infections still apply.
WHO does not recommend any specific measures for travellers. In case of symptoms suggestive of respiratory illness either during or after travel, travellers are encouraged to seek medical attention and share travel history with their healthcare provider.
WHO advises against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China based on the current information available on this event.
————————————————————————
Timeline:
31 Dec 2019
Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, China, reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei Province. A novel coronavirus was eventually identified.
1 January 2020
WHO had set up the IMST (Incident Management Support Team) across the three levels of the organization: headquarters, regional headquarters and country level, putting the organization on an emergency footing for dealing with the outbreak.
4 January 2020
WHO reported on social media that there was a cluster of pneumonia cases – with no deaths – in Wuhan, Hubei province.
5 January 2020
WHO published our first Disease Outbreak News on the new virus. This is a flagship technical publication to the scientific and public health community as well as global media. It contained a risk assessment and advice, and reported on what China had told the organization about the status of patients and the public health response on the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan.
10 January 2020
WHO issued a comprehensive package of technical guidance online with advice to all countries on how to detect, test and manage potential cases, based on what was known about the virus at the time. This guidance was shared with WHO's regional emergency directors to share with WHO representatives in countries.
Based on experience with SARS and MERS and known modes of transmission of respiratory viruses, infection and prevention control guidance were published to protect health workers recommending droplet and contact precautions when caring for patients, and airborne precautions for aerosol generating procedures conducted by health workers.
12 January 2020
China publicly shared the genetic sequence of COVID-19.
13 January 2020
Officials confirm a case of COVID-19 in Thailand, the first recorded case outside of China.
14 January 2020
WHO's technical lead for the response noted in a press briefing there may have been limited human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus (in the 41 confirmed cases), mainly through family members, and that there was a risk of a possible wider outbreak. The lead also said that human-to-human transmission would not be surprising given our experience with SARS, MERS and other respiratory pathogens.
20-21 January 2020
WHO experts from its China and Western Pacific regional offices conducted a brief field visit to Wuhan.
22 January 2020
WHO mission to China issued a statement saying that there was evidence of human-to-human transmission in Wuhan but more investigation was needed to understand the full extent of transmission.
22- 23 January 2020
The WHO Director- General convened an Emergency Committee (EC) under the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) to assess whether the outbreak constituted a public health emergency of international concern. The independent members from around the world could not reach a consensus based on the evidence available at the time. They asked to be reconvened within 10 days after receiving more information.
28 January 2020
A senior WHO delegation led by the Director-General travelled to Beijing to meet China’s leadership, learn more about China’s response, and to offer any technical assistance.
While in Beijing, Dr. Tedros agreed with Chinese government leaders that an international team of leading scientists would travel to China on a mission to better understand the context, the overall response, and exchange information and experience.
30 January 2020
The WHO Director-General reconvened the Emergency Committee (EC). This was earlier than the 10-day period and only two days after the first reports of limited human-to-human transmission were reported outside China. This time, the EC reached consensus and advised the Director-General that the outbreak constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The Director-General accepted the recommendation and declared the novel coronavirus outbreak (2019-nCoV) a PHEIC. This is the 6th time WHO has declared a PHEIC since the International Health Regulations (IHR) came into force in 2005.
WHO’s situation report for 30 January reported 7818 total confirmed cases worldwide, with the majority of these in China, and 82 cases reported in 18 countries outside China. WHO gave a risk assessment of very high for China, and high at the global level.
3 February 2020
WHO releases the international community's Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to help protect states with weaker health systems.
11-12 February 2020
WHO convened a Research and Innovation Forum on COVID-19, attended by more than 400 experts and funders from around the world, which included presentations by George Gao, Director General of China CDC, and Zunyou Wu, China CDC's chief epidemiologist.
16-24 February 2020
The WHO-China Joint mission, which included experts from Canada, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore and the US (CDC, NIH) spent time in Beijing and also travelled to Wuhan and two other cities. They spoke with health officials, scientists and health workers in health facilities (maintaining physical distancing). The report of the joint mission can be found here: https://www.who.int/docs/default-so...na-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-report.pdf
11 March 2020
Deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction, WHO made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.
13 March 2020
COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund launched to receive donations from private individuals, corporations and institutions.
18 March 2020
WHO and partners launch the Solidarity Trial, an international clinical trial that aims to generate robust data from around the world to find the most effective treatments for COVID-19.
The timeline outside of China for Covid 19
Pandemic chronology
Before October 2019:
In November 2020 scientists of the National Cancer Institute (INT) of the Italian city of Milan reported the detection of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain antibodies in 111 (11.6%) of 959 asymptomatic individuals of a lung cancer screening trial in Italy, starting from 3 September 2019, which the authors claim may indicate a substantially earlier start time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization stated that it was reviewing the results, was seeking verification of the neutralization results and that "the possibility that the virus may have silently circulated elsewhere cannot be ruled out".
October and November 2019:
The study of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 by comparing genetic sequences is complicated by its low evolutionary rate, due to proofreading by the nsp14 gene, and the low sampling of early centers of infection in Wuhan, Iran, and Italy.
Phylogenetics estimates that SARS-CoV-2 arose in October or November 2019.
Evidence suggests that it descends from a coronavirus that infects wild bats and spread to humans through an intermediary wildlife host.It is not known whether the virus itself evolved in wildlife populations or if its distinctive spike proteins were selected for after zoonotic transfer to humans.
RT-PCR testing of untreated wastewater samples from Brazil and Italy have suggested detection of SARS-CoV-2 as early as November and December 2019, respectively, but the methods of such sewage studies have not been optimised, many have not been peer reviewed, details are often missing, and there is a risk of false positives due to contamination or if only one gene target is detected. Seroprevalence tests that suggested the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in Lombardy, Italy as early as September using antibodies to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) are also prone to false positives, possibly due to cross-reactivity with other coronaviruses, and need confirming.
A review noted "The possibility that the COVID-19 infection had already spread to Europe at the end of last year is now indicated by abundant, even if partially circumstantial, evidence", including pneumonia case numbers and radiology in France and Italy in November and December.
December 1st:
Symptoms of the index case, or patient zero, began on 1 December. The man had not been to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. His family was unaffected, and no epidemiological link was found between him and the other laboratory-confirmed cases as of 2 January. Wu Wenjuan, a senior doctor at Jinyintan Hospital, said the man was in his 70s, had Alzheimer's disease, lived several bus rides away from the market and had not left his home.
16 December:
As of February 2020, the first documented COVID-19 hospital admissions worldwide were dated to 16 December 2019 in Wuhan.
24 December:
An unresolved clinical case sparks off the first scientific involvement: a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) sample was sent from Wuhan Central Hospital to Vision Medicals (广州微远基因科技) in Guangzhou, a private company specialising in metagenomic massive parallel sequencing analysis.
26 December:
An elderly couple with fever and coughs sought treatment at the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine (湖北省新华医院). Zhang Jixian, director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care examined the couple and made the preliminary diagnosis of their illness as something that "looked like flu or common pneumonia".
27 December:
After having observed the elderly couple's CT scans were abnormal, Zhang Jixian asked the couple's son to undergo a scan and found the same pattern. Zhang Jixian had been working as medical expert during the SARS outbreak in 2003, and was aware of the signs of a suspected outbreak of an infectious disease. Another patient, a merchant from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market,arrived at the hospital with fever and cough that day, and his CT scan showed the same characteristics. All blood tests from the four patients indicated viral infection and a further array of influenza-related tests came back negative. Zhang Jixian filed a report to her superiors and also took the precaution of making a provisional quarantine area.
Wuhan Central Hospital received a message from Vision Medicals that the BAL sample taken on 24 December contained a new kind of coronavirus, and the patient was then quarantined.Also at Wuhan Central Hospital, yet another unresolved case caused a BAL sample to be taken, this time sent off to CapitalBio Medlab of Beijing (北京博奥医学检验所).
Respiratory samples from a man hospitalized in Paris, France were retrospectively diagnosed (study 14 April, published 3 May) as having SARS-CoV-2 virus present. He presented with advanced symptoms (chest CT of ground glass opacities) and his child had previously presented with influenza-like illness. The man had not traveled recently (his last travel outside of France had been to Algeria in August 2019), though his wife worked near to an airport.
The epidemiological circumstances remain uninvestigated and it is possible the sample was contaminated.(Note: these findings do not appear in the statistics overview from the French Public Health Ministry.)
29 December:
On this day and the previous, three similar cases arrived at Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, all associated with the seafood market. The health authorities had been informed, and medical experts from Wuhan JinYinTan Hospital, "a hospital designated to treat infectious diseases" came to transfer six of the seven patients. Zhang Jixian took the further initiative to let doctors and nurses in the respiratory department wear face masks, and put out an order for 30 hospital coats of fine canvas.
The Wuhan CDC staff found also additional patients with similar symptoms who were linked to the market.(The Wuhan 'Center for Disease Control and Prevention' (CDC) is part of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.)
30 December:
Wuhan Central Hospital received a test report from CapitalBio Medlab, claiming an occurrence of SARS. According to social media, the test result was later found faulty. Several doctors at Wuhan Central Hospital shared the test report on social media in discussions mainly aimed at colleagues.
The first official messages in the pandemic
Wuhan Municipal Health Commission sent a message to its affiliate institutions.
Supervising doctors shall hold fast on discipline and create specialised team-units.
General staff must be alert to the situation, especially keeping an eye out for patients with symptoms of infectious pneumonia.
Statistical material must be gathered ongoingly and send to Wuhan Municipal Health Commission and Hubei Province Health Committee.
Statistical material for the previous week, relating to patients with symptoms of infectious pneumonia, is to be sent to Wuhan Municipal Health Commission before 4 o'clock, this day.
Without permission from authorised personnel no one is allowed to spread information about the medical treatment.
31 December:
The first public message in the pandemic Edit
The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission informed the city community about the early signs of a pneumonia outbreak.
The message conveys the impression of alertness, by summarising yesterday's orders to the city hospitals; emphasising ongoing scientific and clinical investigations and to seek hospital care when having persistent fever while showing symptoms of pneumonia; as well advising the public to wear face masks and to avoid enclosed public places and crowded areas.
Cases in total: 27
Serious cases: 7
Recovering: 2
As of now: no fatalities, no healthcare-workers infected, no signs of human-to-human transmission, cause of pneumonia infection still under investigation
Chinese government broadcaster China Central Television reported on viral pneumonia, and through the Weibo account "YangShiXinWen", also sent an alert about the unknown virus, adding that a team of experts from the National Health Commission would arrive in Wuhan.
Qu Shiqian, a vendor at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, said government officials had disinfected the premises on 31 December and told stallholders to wear masks. Qu said he had learned of the pneumonia outbreak only from media reports. "Previously I thought they had flu," he said. "It should be not serious. We are fish traders. How can we get infected?"
Inter-regional measures
According to the Hong Kong government Centre for Health, various "surveillance measures at all boundary control points" have begun – including thermal imaging for checks on body temperature.
Pandemic chronology
Before October 2019:
In November 2020 scientists of the National Cancer Institute (INT) of the Italian city of Milan reported the detection of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain antibodies in 111 (11.6%) of 959 asymptomatic individuals of a lung cancer screening trial in Italy, starting from 3 September 2019, which the authors claim may indicate a substantially earlier start time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization stated that it was reviewing the results, was seeking verification of the neutralization results and that "the possibility that the virus may have silently circulated elsewhere cannot be ruled out".
October and November 2019:
The study of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 by comparing genetic sequences is complicated by its low evolutionary rate, due to proofreading by the nsp14 gene, and the low sampling of early centers of infection in Wuhan, Iran, and Italy.
Phylogenetics estimates that SARS-CoV-2 arose in October or November 2019.
Evidence suggests that it descends from a coronavirus that infects wild bats and spread to humans through an intermediary wildlife host.It is not known whether the virus itself evolved in wildlife populations or if its distinctive spike proteins were selected for after zoonotic transfer to humans.
RT-PCR testing of untreated wastewater samples from Brazil and Italy have suggested detection of SARS-CoV-2 as early as November and December 2019, respectively, but the methods of such sewage studies have not been optimised, many have not been peer reviewed, details are often missing, and there is a risk of false positives due to contamination or if only one gene target is detected. Seroprevalence tests that suggested the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in Lombardy, Italy as early as September using antibodies to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) are also prone to false positives, possibly due to cross-reactivity with other coronaviruses, and need confirming.
A review noted "The possibility that the COVID-19 infection had already spread to Europe at the end of last year is now indicated by abundant, even if partially circumstantial, evidence", including pneumonia case numbers and radiology in France and Italy in November and December.
December 1st:
Symptoms of the index case, or patient zero, began on 1 December. The man had not been to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. His family was unaffected, and no epidemiological link was found between him and the other laboratory-confirmed cases as of 2 January. Wu Wenjuan, a senior doctor at Jinyintan Hospital, said the man was in his 70s, had Alzheimer's disease, lived several bus rides away from the market and had not left his home.
16 December:
As of February 2020, the first documented COVID-19 hospital admissions worldwide were dated to 16 December 2019 in Wuhan.
24 December:
An unresolved clinical case sparks off the first scientific involvement: a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) sample was sent from Wuhan Central Hospital to Vision Medicals (广州微远基因科技) in Guangzhou, a private company specialising in metagenomic massive parallel sequencing analysis.
26 December:
An elderly couple with fever and coughs sought treatment at the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine (湖北省新华医院). Zhang Jixian, director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care examined the couple and made the preliminary diagnosis of their illness as something that "looked like flu or common pneumonia".
27 December:
After having observed the elderly couple's CT scans were abnormal, Zhang Jixian asked the couple's son to undergo a scan and found the same pattern. Zhang Jixian had been working as medical expert during the SARS outbreak in 2003, and was aware of the signs of a suspected outbreak of an infectious disease. Another patient, a merchant from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market,arrived at the hospital with fever and cough that day, and his CT scan showed the same characteristics. All blood tests from the four patients indicated viral infection and a further array of influenza-related tests came back negative. Zhang Jixian filed a report to her superiors and also took the precaution of making a provisional quarantine area.
Wuhan Central Hospital received a message from Vision Medicals that the BAL sample taken on 24 December contained a new kind of coronavirus, and the patient was then quarantined.Also at Wuhan Central Hospital, yet another unresolved case caused a BAL sample to be taken, this time sent off to CapitalBio Medlab of Beijing (北京博奥医学检验所).
Respiratory samples from a man hospitalized in Paris, France were retrospectively diagnosed (study 14 April, published 3 May) as having SARS-CoV-2 virus present. He presented with advanced symptoms (chest CT of ground glass opacities) and his child had previously presented with influenza-like illness. The man had not traveled recently (his last travel outside of France had been to Algeria in August 2019), though his wife worked near to an airport.
The epidemiological circumstances remain uninvestigated and it is possible the sample was contaminated.(Note: these findings do not appear in the statistics overview from the French Public Health Ministry.)
29 December:
On this day and the previous, three similar cases arrived at Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, all associated with the seafood market. The health authorities had been informed, and medical experts from Wuhan JinYinTan Hospital, "a hospital designated to treat infectious diseases" came to transfer six of the seven patients. Zhang Jixian took the further initiative to let doctors and nurses in the respiratory department wear face masks, and put out an order for 30 hospital coats of fine canvas.
The Wuhan CDC staff found also additional patients with similar symptoms who were linked to the market.(The Wuhan 'Center for Disease Control and Prevention' (CDC) is part of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.)
30 December:
Wuhan Central Hospital received a test report from CapitalBio Medlab, claiming an occurrence of SARS. According to social media, the test result was later found faulty. Several doctors at Wuhan Central Hospital shared the test report on social media in discussions mainly aimed at colleagues.
The first official messages in the pandemic
Wuhan Municipal Health Commission sent a message to its affiliate institutions.
Supervising doctors shall hold fast on discipline and create specialised team-units.
General staff must be alert to the situation, especially keeping an eye out for patients with symptoms of infectious pneumonia.
Statistical material must be gathered ongoingly and send to Wuhan Municipal Health Commission and Hubei Province Health Committee.
Statistical material for the previous week, relating to patients with symptoms of infectious pneumonia, is to be sent to Wuhan Municipal Health Commission before 4 o'clock, this day.
Without permission from authorised personnel no one is allowed to spread information about the medical treatment.
31 December:
The first public message in the pandemic Edit
The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission informed the city community about the early signs of a pneumonia outbreak.
The message conveys the impression of alertness, by summarising yesterday's orders to the city hospitals; emphasising ongoing scientific and clinical investigations and to seek hospital care when having persistent fever while showing symptoms of pneumonia; as well advising the public to wear face masks and to avoid enclosed public places and crowded areas.
Cases in total: 27
Serious cases: 7
Recovering: 2
As of now: no fatalities, no healthcare-workers infected, no signs of human-to-human transmission, cause of pneumonia infection still under investigation
Chinese government broadcaster China Central Television reported on viral pneumonia, and through the Weibo account "YangShiXinWen", also sent an alert about the unknown virus, adding that a team of experts from the National Health Commission would arrive in Wuhan.
Qu Shiqian, a vendor at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, said government officials had disinfected the premises on 31 December and told stallholders to wear masks. Qu said he had learned of the pneumonia outbreak only from media reports. "Previously I thought they had flu," he said. "It should be not serious. We are fish traders. How can we get infected?"
Inter-regional measures
According to the Hong Kong government Centre for Health, various "surveillance measures at all boundary control points" have begun – including thermal imaging for checks on body temperature.
The rest is as we know it today... A huge mess and lots of deaths.
Covid-19 was our wake up call from nature. We need to change or we’ll face an even worst surprise down the line.
The world had plenty of time to prepare and adapt. China faced an unknown virus 🦠 with zero treatment or protection methods to avail its doctors and healthcare workers.
They provided the world the genetic sequence of the monster as soon as they mapped it.
They showed the world how to proceed in order to save as many lives as possible during the unfolding crisis. The world just sat and watched as they continued to think it was China’s own problem only.
They offered to send their trial by fire doctors to provide as much information and techniques from actual experience to many countries. Most laughed it off and considered the Chinese antiquated unfit doctors or experts.
When the stuff came to our homes, the finger pointing started and blame was sent elsewhere.
And yet, nobody learned the lessons.
Here we sit today still arguing about the merits of shut downs, restrictions and what not.
Had we shut down everything for a few weeks and cleaned up, we could had avoided China’s initial loses and wasted time learning how to proceed. We could had been open for biz before China did.
We did nothing.
Now we point fingers and place doubts on a vaccine made by a reputable world leading lab in Russia. A Nobel laureates laboratory that owns a proven track of very, very, very important vaccines for human kind. Because of politics...
Yet we rush to approve vaccines developed on never before attempted gene altering ways, with obvious reactions and side effects. Which effectiveness is less than a few months.
All because of politics...
It’s easy to see the politics playing on the vaccines by just doing a simple search of the news on our western media on vaccines and finding out Asian and Russian ones almost buried under mountains of articles and negative side mentions on them each time.
The ignorance going around is incredible.
We support our own governments, even when they manufacture evidence. Manipulate information. Imprison citizens without even a lawyer being able to see the full reason their clients are charged in the first place. We congratulate and embrace proven criminals, whom kill citizens in their own diplomatic facilities. Yet we look the other way, business as usual.
We claim China steals the intellectual property, yet we adore and worship an icon like Steve Jobs, a self admitted technology and intellectual property proclaimed thief (on video).
We blame a Chinese communications leading company, based on nothing more than “they could” as evidence.
There was a time Japan did the same thing China did and in turn, made a better product with added “fuzzy” logic. They send the stuff back to us and overtook the markets.
It’s a humbling experience to visit China and see the world as it will look tomorrow in our side (at least we hope). It’s a country advancing at breakneck speeds.
It’s sad to see how much we have been indoctrinated into seeing the world as unipolar.
People tend to forget an old saying:
Its the economy!
We live and die by the economy.
The west has enjoyed a pattern of up and up until now. Our own arrogance will untie the thread which united Us in the first place.
The upper mobility in our economies is today a facade many are waking up from.
In all our advanced economies, half or more of the population is one major catastrophe from falling below the poverty line. Hard to recover from.
And a microscopic bug 🦠 has shown how delicate from that plausible scenario we are shielded against.
China has been a trading and merchant nation/culture from its beginnings. Hence their trading capacities are unmatched.
Russia has never pursued expansionism beyond its immediate borders, historically. Hence their weak naval assets versus their strong land Army.
Yet, western nations point their fingers as their worst enemies?
Are we such ignorants that can be played at will?
The real enemies have no capital to be bombed. No assets to embargo or restrict with sanctions. They have no standing army to target and destroy. They have no ships to be fired upon and sunk. They have no central command to decapitate with a preemptive strike. They have no names to track and target.
The enemies are faceless and don’t even need to probe or penetrate our defenses.
They simply push ideas, hate, revolution, anarchism, conspiracies, fake idealism and faiths. They are the ones missiles can’t blow up on command. They just need to find a crack for embedding their work on people. Feeding it daily.
A water droplet 💧 is nothing against a 🪨 rock. But let it hit the rock each day, time after time and it will dissolve its core eventually.
This is the real enemy we face. And is coming for our western ideologies and super militarism.
They will have our own weapons turned against us by our own people.
They don’t even need to do much but keep feeding the trolls...
We believe so much in our military might, yet we are one solar magnetic storm away from having all satellites fried on their orbits around us.
Which in turn will transform the myriad of smart weapons into paperweights.
The super duper weapons into Roman candles at July 4th parties.
Heck! Naval armadas would need to look at the stars to navigate back home.
Then you ask, who’s the one that still runs planes with dials and levers, propellers and navigational maps onboard?
Enough dumb bombs to repeat WWI and WWII for about a few times over...
Helos that still run using ground pointed dopplers.
Smart weapons that still use gyroscopes and hardware directional controls in navigation...
Then you think 🤔 hmmm...
The king has no clothes!
Covid-19 was our wake up call from nature. We need to change or we’ll face an even worst surprise down the line.
The world had plenty of time to prepare and adapt. China faced an unknown virus 🦠 with zero treatment or protection methods to avail its doctors and healthcare workers.
They provided the world the genetic sequence of the monster as soon as they mapped it.
They showed the world how to proceed in order to save as many lives as possible during the unfolding crisis. The world just sat and watched as they continued to think it was China’s own problem only.
They offered to send their trial by fire doctors to provide as much information and techniques from actual experience to many countries. Most laughed it off and considered the Chinese antiquated unfit doctors or experts.
When the stuff came to our homes, the finger pointing started and blame was sent elsewhere.
And yet, nobody learned the lessons.
Here we sit today still arguing about the merits of shut downs, restrictions and what not.
Had we shut down everything for a few weeks and cleaned up, we could had avoided China’s initial loses and wasted time learning how to proceed. We could had been open for biz before China did.
We did nothing.
Now we point fingers and place doubts on a vaccine made by a reputable world leading lab in Russia. A Nobel laureates laboratory that owns a proven track of very, very, very important vaccines for human kind. Because of politics...
Yet we rush to approve vaccines developed on never before attempted gene altering ways, with obvious reactions and side effects. Which effectiveness is less than a few months.
All because of politics...
It’s easy to see the politics playing on the vaccines by just doing a simple search of the news on our western media on vaccines and finding out Asian and Russian ones almost buried under mountains of articles and negative side mentions on them each time.
The ignorance going around is incredible.
We support our own governments, even when they manufacture evidence. Manipulate information. Imprison citizens without even a lawyer being able to see the full reason their clients are charged in the first place. We congratulate and embrace proven criminals, whom kill citizens in their own diplomatic facilities. Yet we look the other way, business as usual.
We claim China steals the intellectual property, yet we adore and worship an icon like Steve Jobs, a self admitted technology and intellectual property proclaimed thief (on video).
We blame a Chinese communications leading company, based on nothing more than “they could” as evidence.
There was a time Japan did the same thing China did and in turn, made a better product with added “fuzzy” logic. They send the stuff back to us and overtook the markets.
It’s a humbling experience to visit China and see the world as it will look tomorrow in our side (at least we hope). It’s a country advancing at breakneck speeds.
It’s sad to see how much we have been indoctrinated into seeing the world as unipolar.
People tend to forget an old saying:
Its the economy!
We live and die by the economy.
The west has enjoyed a pattern of up and up until now. Our own arrogance will untie the thread which united Us in the first place.
The upper mobility in our economies is today a facade many are waking up from.
In all our advanced economies, half or more of the population is one major catastrophe from falling below the poverty line. Hard to recover from.
And a microscopic bug 🦠 has shown how delicate from that plausible scenario we are shielded against.
China has been a trading and merchant nation/culture from its beginnings. Hence their trading capacities are unmatched.
Russia has never pursued expansionism beyond its immediate borders, historically. Hence their weak naval assets versus their strong land Army.
Yet, western nations point their fingers as their worst enemies?
Are we such ignorants that can be played at will?
The real enemies have no capital to be bombed. No assets to embargo or restrict with sanctions. They have no standing army to target and destroy. They have no ships to be fired upon and sunk. They have no central command to decapitate with a preemptive strike. They have no names to track and target.
The enemies are faceless and don’t even need to probe or penetrate our defenses.
They simply push ideas, hate, revolution, anarchism, conspiracies, fake idealism and faiths. They are the ones missiles can’t blow up on command. They just need to find a crack for embedding their work on people. Feeding it daily.
A water droplet 💧 is nothing against a 🪨 rock. But let it hit the rock each day, time after time and it will dissolve its core eventually.
This is the real enemy we face. And is coming for our western ideologies and super militarism.
They will have our own weapons turned against us by our own people.
They don’t even need to do much but keep feeding the trolls...
We believe so much in our military might, yet we are one solar magnetic storm away from having all satellites fried on their orbits around us.
Which in turn will transform the myriad of smart weapons into paperweights.
The super duper weapons into Roman candles at July 4th parties.
Heck! Naval armadas would need to look at the stars to navigate back home.
Then you ask, who’s the one that still runs planes with dials and levers, propellers and navigational maps onboard?
Enough dumb bombs to repeat WWI and WWII for about a few times over...
Helos that still run using ground pointed dopplers.
Smart weapons that still use gyroscopes and hardware directional controls in navigation...
Then you think 🤔 hmmm...
The king has no clothes!
Since people will be prohibited from shopping at grocery stores and calmados, and restaurants will only be able to do take out until January 10, I think it was a good idea that I did a heavy grocery shopping in the super market today. Restaurant owners who did not chose to do take out service during the early lockdowns in the the Spring should consider providing take out service this time. Because people who haven't stocked up will need to find ways to get food. (During the Spring lock-downs grocery stores and calmados were open) I think it is safe to say that from January 1 -10 the DR will be experiencing prohibition because it will be impossible to purchase booze anywhere in the country. Yes, the DR will be a dry country for at least 10 days.
I'm baffled at the thought that they can just close grocery stores. Isn't that an essential service?? Is feeding yourself not essential? How can they just replace grocery shopping with take out?
That's totally mental. They did close grocery stores for a while in Ecuador back in the spring when they were having high numbers; other than that, geez, I even remember seeing vlogs from Wuhan were people where going to the grocery store. I suppose they expect people to have their groceries delivered?
- Status