World Coronavirus News II with Updates

[corbe]

China tells foreign diplomats not to come back to the country amid coronavirus pandemic

by Joel Gehrke

April 03, 2020 11:22 AM
 
China wants foreign diplomats who are not in the country to stay out until May 15, citing the risk that envoys traveling abroad might contract the new coronavirus and bring it back to the capital.

“Diplomats have immunity due to their posts, but the virus does not know that,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Friday. “Therefore, taking into account the need of the current prevention and control situation and the safety of foreign diplomatic and consular personnel in China, we suggest that all diplomatic missions suspend for the time being personnel returns or rotations.”

The guidance, which applies to diplomats who are currently abroad, is the latest example of Chinese officials restricting access to China as the coronavirus pandemic spreads around the world. Yet it caught Western officials by surprise, at a time when the Chinese Communist power is intensifying diplomatic disputes with the United States over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

<..snip..>

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/china-tells-foreign-diplomats-not-to-come-back-to-the-country-amid-coronavirus-pandemic

[musiclady]

Interesting (albeit completely false) stats from China regarding COVID cases.....

Cases:  82,509
Deaths:  3,326
Recoveries:  76,760

That means of all the cases in China,  only 2, 423 are still sick!

It's a Chinese MIRACLE!!!   

[Right_in_Virginia]

Netanyahu shared clip of Hallmark Channel show he claimed was proof of Iran concealing coronavirus deaths
Washington Examiner, Apr 2, 2020

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared a video with his Cabinet that he claimed was proof of Iran concealing coronavirus deaths.

It wasn't until hours later that Netanyahu’s office realized the video was actually a clip from Pandemic, a 2007 Hallmark Channel miniseries.

Netanyahu said his national security adviser, Meir Ben-Shabbat, had shown him the video, after which ministers on the call asked to see it. The prime minister asked his national security adviser to send it to his entire Cabinet.

The video had been spread on social media by Iranians last week and was given to Netanyahu without confirmation that it was authentic.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/netanyahu-shared-clip-of-hallmark-channel-show-he-claimed-was-proof-of-iran-concealing-coronavirus-deaths

These are odd times, indeed.

[TomSea]

Coronavirus: Slovakia to test Roma community

Slovakia is to begin testing members of the Roma community for coronavirus on Friday.

The government announced the measures on Monday, saying that around 1,500 Roma had returned to the sites from abroad.

The testing will be carried out by military doctors until 9 April.

Read more at:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52156976?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world&link_location=live-reporting-story

Here too, a few pictures of the past week from Fox News:

Two police officers patrol an almost empty Red Square, in Moscow, March 30, 2020.  (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)


The USNS Comfort sails up the Hudson River past Lower Manhattan as it arrives in New York City, March 30, 2020. (FOX News/Gary Hershorn)

More:  https://www.foxnews.com/world/the-week-in-pictures-march-22-april-3

Prague mayor says he doesn't want China's coronavirus help, supplies
By Barnini Chakraborty | Fox News

Not now, not ever.

That's the message the mayor of Prague has for Chinese officials desperate to rebrand Beijing as a global superpower by selling supplies and offering aid to countries around the world struggling to fight coronavirus.

"This isn't a humanitarian gift or aid," Zdenek Hrib told Bloomberg News on Friday. "From China's perspective, it's business."

Read more at: https://www.foxnews.com/world/prague-mayor-says-he-doesnt-want-chinas-coronavirus-help-supplies

 

[sneakypete]

Coronavirus expert says it’s entirely possible virus leaked from Wuhan lab
April 3, 2020 | BPR Wire
Andrew Kerr, DCNFMore at BizPacReview

Accidentally? 

@mountaineer

I dunno.

Ask yourself,"Self! What good is a bio-weapon that hasn't been tested to see how effective it is?"

I know what answer *I* came up with.

[sneakypete]

The Chinese are well known for cutting corners. Food is poisoned, buildings fall down, bridges collapse, products are counterfeited using inferior materials and sold as the original product. Why would a Chinese bio lab be any different?

@DB

Add "Especially when the disease originated with a people with a population control problem that is a police state perfectly capable of releasing it on it's own population as both a controlled experiment and a method of reducing the number of mouths that have to be fed,clothed,housed,given medical care,etc,etc,etc."

Add that,and you are THERE.

BTW,has anyone else noticed that world leaders all over the planet have also became sick from this disease,EXCEPT for the leaders in China or anyone in one of their families?

Gee,I wonder if that means anything?

[mountaineer]

The Trail Leading Back to the Wuhan Labs
By Jim Geraghty
April 3, 2020 1:20 PM

There’s no proof the coronavirus accidentally escaped from a laboratory, but we can’t take the Chinese government’s denials at face value.

It is understandable that many would be wary of the notion that the origin of the coronavirus could be discovered by some documentary filmmaker who used to live in China. Matthew Tye, who creates YouTube videos, contends he has identified the source of the coronavirus — and a great deal of the information that he presents, obtained from public records posted on the Internet, checks out.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology in China indeed posted a job opening on November 18, 2019, “asking for scientists to come research the relationship between the coronavirus and bats.” ...

On December 24, 2019, the Wuhan Institute of Virology posted a second job posting. The translation of that posting includes the declaration, “long-term research on the pathogenic biology of bats carrying important viruses has confirmed the origin of bats of major new human and livestock infectious diseases such as SARS and SADS, and a large number of new bat and rodent new viruses have been discovered and identified.”  ...

Lengthy article at National Review

[TomSea]

WSJ had a report today on this as well. Reports out of Ecuador are not good.

Bodies lie in the streets of Guayaquil, Ecuador, emerging epicenter of the coronavirus in Latin America
By   Anthony Faiola and Ana Vanessa Herrero
April 3, 2020 at 12:09 PM EDT

The body was wrapped in a plastic tarp, swollen, already attracting flies. He had been a neighbor, a man Rosangelys Valdiviezo passed while walking home from work, though they’d never exchanged words.

Now he lay in front of his home, one of an untold number of bodies cast out in the streets of Guayaquil, Ecuador, a sweltering South American city being ravaged by the novel coronavirus. Valdiviezo, a 30-year-old seafood worker, said the body had been out in the tropical heat for six days.

“I am very afraid,” Valdiviezo, a Venezuelan migrant who moved to Guayaquil, said by telephone. “I’m terrified of dying so far from home.”

Read more at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/coronavirus-guayaquil-ecuador-bodies-corpses-streets/2020/04/03/79c786c8-7522-11ea-ad9b-254ec99993bc_story.html

[PeteS in CA]

Italy should be trying him for his part in the month-long cover-up of the fact that human-human transmission of this coronavirus was a known fact in China. NYC should also, but they wouldn't.

[DB]

The Trail Leading Back to the Wuhan Labs
By Jim Geraghty
April 3, 2020 1:20 PM Lengthy article at National Review

Yep, lots of coincidences that all point in the same direction... This is a must read.

[DB]

This is what happens when you put a bought and paid for politician in control of a global health organization.

[Chosen Daughter]

Russia offering us aid is a move to make us look weak. There's no spirit of giving or good will in anything related to this. Putin doesn't work that way. And it sends mixed messages to the American people when one moment Trump is touting the American companies stepping up to help and the next minute he's taking aid from Russia.

Whole heartedly agree.

[rangerrebew]

World Health Organization Spends Twice As Much On Travel As On Medical Supplies
SWITZERLAND-HEALTH-VIRUS-WHO

 

Peter Hasson
Editor
March 31, 2020 7:36 PM ET
 

The World Health Organization (WHO) spends twice as much on travel as it does on medical supplies, according to its most recent financial report.

Eight percent of the WHO’s budget in 2018 went to travel expenses, while just 4% went to medical supplies and materials, the report shows.

“Of total travel expenditure, only 45% was for staff travel, the rest was incurred for non-staff travel, mainly for meeting participants nominated by Member States,” the report states.

WHO’s travel expenditures have faced scrutiny in the past.

https://dailycaller.com/2020/03/31/world-health-organization-budget-travel-spending-us-funding/

[PeteS in CA]

WSJ had a report today on this as well. Reports out of Ecuador are not good.

An article posted by a FB Friend whose son and DIL live in Guataquil:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8181685/Police-Ecuador-collect-150-bodies-city-streets-amid-coronavirus-pandemic.html

Troops and police in Ecuador have collected at least 150 bodies from streets and homes in the port city of Guayaquil, the Government has said.

Shocking images of a joint military and police task force gathering corpses the past three days comes amid warnings 3,500 people could die of the coronavirus in the city and surrounding provinces in the coming months. 

Residents in Guayaquil, Ecuador's second city, had earlier published videos on social media of abandoned bodies in the streets.

Guayaquil is one of or the largest city in Ecuador, and also a major port.

[TomSea]

Jennifer Zeng, people in China manufacture haphazardly masks:

Somewhere in #China, people making ordinary masks without protective functions. People who provided this video said that these masks will be packaged as medical disposable masks, shipped to the Middle East through foreign trade companies. ...

https://twitter.com/jenniferatntd/status/1246216610463039496

Gordon G. Chang@GordonGChang
This makes it official: #Canada has become #China's newest colony. #coronavirus #PattyHajdu #JustinTrudeau

https://twitter.com/GordonGChang/status/1245862644608667648

And then, there was another tweet, I didn't save that, so the above, is just an example of what is going on, on twitter.

[TomSea]

Taiwan to donate 10 million masks to countries hit hardest by coronavirus
The country seeks to collaborate with other nations to fight the pandemic.
By  Stacy Chen   April 1, 2020, 9:58 PM

 Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has announced plans to donate 10 million masks to countries that have been most severely impacted by the coronavirus.

On the heels of an estimated $35 billion stimulus package intended to bolster the island nation's economy, Taiwan pledges to donate masks and medical supplies to the rest of the world as part of its global "Taiwan can help" campaign.

"We want everyone to not only see that ‘Taiwan can help,’ but that ‘Taiwan is helping,’" Tsai said at a press conference Wednesday morning.

More:  https://abcnews.go.com/Health/taiwan-donate-10-million-masks-countries-hit-hardest/story?id=69918187

Nikki Haley tweeted this out.

[rangerrebew]

Coronavirus across Europe: An inside view as Europeans search for signs of hope
The Local
news@thelocal.fr
@thelocalfrance
3 April 2020



Updated
3 April 2020
15:02 CEST+02:00


Coronavirus across Europe: An inside view as Europeans search for signs of hope
Srasse, a touristic hotspot of the German capital, on April 3, 2020, amid the new coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic. AFP
The Local's journalists and contributors from around Europe tell the story of how each country is coping with the pandemic and whether there's any light at the end of the tunnel.

'Many chose to follow the guidelines, others do not', Emma Löfgren, Stockholm, Sweden
 
Sweden has introduced a new set of guidelines that come much closer to social distancing than anything authorities have suggested before. Many of the complaints from international residents so far have been about a lack of clarity, so perhaps this will go some way towards achieving that.

https://www.thelocal.de/20200403/coronavirus-across-europe-an-inside-view-into-how-countries-are-tackling-the-crisis

[TomSea]

If this disease were a form of warfare, you couldn't argue with its success, it's shut the world down for the most part.

[TomSea]

Somewhere else in Latin America did this, men can go out 3 days a week, females can go out on 3 alternating days and 1 day (Sunday)? Maybe nobody can go out.

Peru to restrict movement by gender during virus quarantine
AFP      Surviving a severe case of coronavirus may be just the start of recovery

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra announced on Thursday a new measure restricting public movement by gender, as the country tries to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

Men will only be allowed to leave their homes on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays, while women are authorized to step outdoors on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

No one is allowed out on Sundays.

Read more at:  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/peru-to-restrict-movement-by-gender-during-virus-quarantine/ar-BB125Lww

[TomSea]

Dream Peru trip results in husband dying, wife contracting COVID-19
Calgarians headed to Machu Picchu ended up in limbo, running out of medication
Rachel Ward · CBC News · Posted: Apr 03, 2020

Ruby Choi thought she was going on a trip of a lifetime when she left Calgary with her husband and friends earlier this month.

Now she's a widow fighting off COVID-19 in quarantine in Peru, worried about managing her diabetes.

"I don't know what to do, it's just awful. I'm getting crazy," Choi said from her quarantine room in Lima. "My mind is just so confused."

Read more at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/peru-trip-covid-calgary-1.5519468

[TomSea]

The director of WHO has no idea what deadly Chinese virus you are referring to
April 4, 2020 by Alberto de la Cruz

https://babalublog.com/2020/04/04/the-director-of-who-has-no-idea-what-deadly-chinese-virus-you-are-referring-to/

[DB]

They decided to go on their trip to South America on March 9th... There were red flags all over the place by then...

[TomSea]

Thanks for nothing: U.S. scientists say China hampering search for origin of coronavirus
Bill Gertz

American scientists are actively working to learn the origin of the deadly coronavirus behind the pandemic now spreading around the world, but say a lack of Chinese virus samples has hampered research.

Officials and experts in virology and epidemics tell The Washington Times that researchers need to learn the origins of the virus to find treatments and vaccines and to better prepare for future pandemics.

Robert G. Darling, a medical doctor and expert on biological weapons formerly with the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, said it is crucial that researchers find out where the virus originated and how it spread.

Read more at: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/4/us-scientists-say-china-hampers-search-origin-dead/

Doesn't surprise me.

[TomSea]

Sweden's liberal pandemic strategy questioned as Stockholm death toll mounts
Johan Ahlander, Philip O'Connor


...

Among Sweden’s Nordic neighbours, Denmark has closed its borders and shut its schools, as has Norway, while Finland has isolated its main urban region.

Yet Swedes are able to go to restaurants, get a haircut and send their children to school even as the number of confirmed cases and deaths have mounted, above all in Stockholm which accounts for more than half the fatalities.

An analysis of smartphone location data showed that while visits to public places has fallen steeply in most European countries, Sweden is bucking the trend.

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden/swedens-liberal-pandemic-strategy-questioned-as-stockholm-death-toll-mounts-idUSKBN21L23R

[mountaineer]

Spain’s coronavirus deaths slow for second day in row
By Sara Dorn
April 4, 2020 | 3:14pm

Coronavirus deaths and infections in Spain slowed for the second day in a row, but the country is expected to extend its three-week lockdown as healthcare workers struggle without protective gear.

Spain has now logged a total 11,744 deaths from COVID-19, second in the world only to Italy, which has tallied 14,681 deaths. There were 809 virus victims in Spain Saturday, down from 932 Friday — but the drop comes on the heels of a record-setting Thursday, when 950 residents succumbed to coronavirus. ... More at NY Post