Planet Earth

China confirms human to human transmission of mysterious virus

Experts in China have confirmed the human-to-human transmission of the new type of coronavirus. Credit: EFE

The planet is threatened by a new deadly virus that has appeared in China which has confirmed that the new and mysterious «coronavirus» virus can transmit from human to human.

So far, 200 people in China, in addition to Japan, Thailand and South Korea have been infected with the new strain of virus. Now, it is confirmed that it can be transmitted from person to person, causing a faster spread.

It is a respiratory virus, possibly a new coronavirus, called 2019-nCoV, as first reported in the city of Wuhan in December 2019.

The new virus is related to MERS and SARS, and to the common cold and pneumonia. In recent days, the number of infected people has increased and now three people have died.

Coronavirus: transmission from human to human

This Monday, the director of State Key Laboratory of Respiratory DiseaseZhong Nanshan said that there are also 14 medical staff members who were infected by the virus, after having contact with carriers.

China confirms human to human transmission of mysterious virus 17 — Two doctors outside the Jinyintan hospital who are treating people infected with the new coronavirus in Wuhan (China). Credit: Reuters

Zhong said in a statement to South China Morning Post:

The key to controlling the spread of the disease now is to avoid the appearance of a super propagator”

Referring to “super virus spreader,” Zhong targets infected patients who quickly help spread the virus, especially among doctors.

According to initial reports, approximately 224 people were infected, however statistical analyzes reveal that the actual number of people affected both inside and outside China could be 11 times higher.

Now, Reuters inform that China has confirmed 291 cases of the new type of coronavirus.

Coronavirus: information

The new coronavirus is a mysterious disease similar to SARS, which has spread throughout China and three other Asian countries since it first appeared in Wuhan.

China confirms human to human transmission of mysterious virus 18 — People in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, wearing masks to avoid a possible spread of the virus. Credit: China Daily / Reuters

China launched an alert to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019, in view of the various cases of pneumonia presented in the city of Wuhan.

The WHO announced on January 9 that the outbreak was caused by a previously unknown type of coronavirus. It was reported that the virus is related to the common cold and SARS.

On January 11, Chinese authorities reported the death of the first person due to the virus.

January 13 report that the virus spread outside of China, precisely in Thailand, according to WHO. The victim was a woman from China who was returning from a trip to Wuhan.

On January 20, a third death is reported due to the disease, in addition to the confirmation of contagion from person to person, which before was only believed a possibility.

China confirms a total of 217 cases of pneumonia caused by the virus
Chinese doctors check that passengers on an airplane are not infected with the coronavirus

Now in a new report, the number of deaths caused by the outbreak of the new type of coronavirus has increased to 6 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, according to its mayor, Zhou Xianwang.

The authorities are now in alert due to the proximity of the Chinese New Year celebrations on January 25, when hundreds of millions of Chinese are likely to travel within the country.

China confirms human to human transmission of mysterious virus 19

Photo: Tyrone Siu / Reuters

In connection with the proliferation of coronavirus, President Xi Jinping of China ordered decisive efforts to contain it. He emphasized that safety and health should be at the forefront. At the same time, increased attention should be paid to prevention, it is important and timely to publish all new information, the Chinese leader said.

Beijing also warned : officials should not forget about the painful lessons of the past and hide data on the disease. “Any person who puts the interests of politicians above the interests of the people will become a sinner of the millennium for the party and people. Anyone who deliberately delays [publicity] and hides reports of [virus] cases out of personal interests will be nailed to a pillar of shame for eternity, ”the statement of the Central Commission of the Chinese Communist Party on Political and Legal Issues said.

Earlier in China, outbreaks of SARS were recorded several times. The last serious epidemic occurred in 2002-2003, SARS coronavirus became its causative agent, and bats were a probable source of spread. The Chinese authorities initially concealed reports of an outbreak of a new infection, but it quickly spread to Hong Kong and Vietnam, and then to other countries and continents.

As a result, only in China during the epidemic, 350 people died with 5 thousand cases. In general, almost 8.5 thousand people became ill in the world then, more than 800 died.

During the SARS epidemic in China, the tourism and transport sectors, as well as retail, were severely affected: people chose to stay home so they wouldn’t get sick. As a result, domestic consumption, real estate prices and financial markets plummeted. According to estimates, what happened, reduced GDP growth in 2003 by 0.8 percent.

With the onset of the current epidemic, some Chinese companies have announced the return of money to those who wish to cancel their reservations for holidays in Wuhan. At the same time, the value of shares of companies associated with the tourism sector began to decline, and investors began to sell shares of manufacturers of alcoholic beverages. According to Chen Shi, fund manager for Shanghai Jade Stone Investment Management, the spread of the virus can indeed lead to people changing their vacation plans. “At the moment, it’s not easy to calculate how negative the consequences will be. Investors tend to react too sharply, ”he added.

Whatever the consequences, one thing is clear: China remains the epicenter of the emergence of new dangerous infections even 60 years after the Asian flu pandemic (claimed the lives of two million people) and almost two decades after the SARS epidemic. Yes, the country has established control over the sale of exotic animals and infectious diseases have been successfully identified. However, traditional markets where you can buy almost anything from birds to snakes remain popular and potentially pose a serious threat.

Now, both the authorities in China and the World Health Organization (WHO) are monitoring the development of the situation to prevent further spread of the virus. However, experts cannot anticipate how a larger-scale epidemic could occur, because it is too early to know.

Source: Time / South China Morning Post / Science Alert

Related Topics:2019-nCo coronavirus China

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Planet Earth

M6.5 earthquake in Idaho. Is Yellowstone or Rainier next?

On the night of March 31 to April 1 (2020-03-31 23:52:31 (UTC)) in the USA, in Idaho,a M6.5 earthquake occurred. The epicenter of the seismic event lies at a depth of 10 km:

This seismic event has become the second strongest in the history of the state. The first place is occupied by an earthquake in the same area, on October 28, 1983, the magnitude of which was 6.9 points.

At the moment, information about the victims and damages is only being collected, but all this is not the main thing. The main thing here is different:

Felt the earthquake from Idaho in Kelowna, BC! #earthquake pic.twitter.com/PukmQVi60A
– Kelly (@kellyrmcintosh) April 1, 2020

The Roller City of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada is is more than 700 km from the epicenter in the north direction, more precisely – a little to the north-west, or more precisely – along the line of the so-called Challis Arc:

The Challis Arc is a volcanic field with a length of about 1,500 kilometers, the origin of which is not very clear. It is assumed that the field appeared as a result of subduction of the ancient Kula / Farallon plate under North America:

The ancient plate partly sank, displacing magma, which, in turn, climbed out of volcanoes. The partly remains of Kula / Farallon were absorbed into the base of North America. All together, this led to the appearance of corrugated belts along the west coast. One of these belts is called the Challis Arc:

Thus, the epicenter was somewhere in a zone of very deep subduction and the earthquake mechanism there looks something like this:

That is why the earthquake was felt in Canada, that is, along the Challis Arc, but it did not spread a thousand kilometers to the West, East and South.

The mechanism of the earthquake is known, the earthquake is not very unusual, and the topic could be closed. However, the problem is that Utah and Idaho appear in a series of prophecies that promise a series of cataclysms to the United States. if we talk about earthquakes, we explained the mechanism above: the cause of the earthquake in Idaho and the previous earthquake in Utah are the ancient pieces of the lithosphere floating under the continent.

For some reason, fragments of these plates intensified: maybe they started to sink again, maybe they decided to float – we don’t know this. But we know that according to one theory, Yellowstone was the result of flooding / melting of fragments of the Farallon plate. The same goes for the Cascade Mountains. Therefore, if the Farallon plate suddenly became active – now we need to wait for major news from the Rainier volcano or even from the world-famous caldera!

Planet Earth

The sun affects the emergence of large-scale epidemics on Earth

A Serbian scientist saw a correlation between weak ultraviolet radiation and the emergence of large-scale epidemics of infectious diseases. Images from American satellites confirm that the ultraviolet radiation of the sun or the disinfection of the atmosphere at the time when COVID-19 appeared was even weaker than during the period of H1N1 propagation.

Let’s recall the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic. It spread, despite all the efforts of the World Health Organization. Of course, nothing could be done with this epidemic, since it erupted during the period of the weakest solar radiation. After all, just as after surgery, the surgical room is sterilized with ultraviolet lamps, the atmosphere of the earth naturally sterilizes ultraviolet solar radiation.

Low radiation and epidemics

The founder of heliocentric electromagnetic meteorology Milan Stevanchevich saw a correlation between weak ultraviolet radiation and the emergence of large-scale epidemics of infectious diseases. Although NASA has not yet linked these phenomena, images from American satellites confirm that the ultraviolet radiation of the sun at the time the coronavirus appeared was even weaker than during the period of H1N1 propagation. In 2009, the level of ultraviolet radiation of the sun was eight units, and in 2019 – only five units. The lack of ultraviolet radiation, that is, disinfection of the atmosphere, in both cases led to the unhindered spread of the virus in the northern hemisphere.

Seasonal character

The Belgrade School of Meteorology believes that the level of ultraviolet radiation is also seasonal. In winter, the level is much lower than in summer. During maximum solar activity, ultraviolet radiation reaches 35 units. But in the period between two cycles of solar activity, ultraviolet radiation reaches the lowest levels or disappears.

Milan Stevanchevich explains:

“On March 11, the outbreak of AP 2758 on the Sun caused an increase in ultraviolet radiation. In the geoeffective position, one x-ray emission was recorded, which became the first after more than 300 days of inactivity of the Sun.”

When a flash on the Sun occurs on a side not visible from Earth, the level of ultraviolet radiation decreases. Its next growth is expected in early April 2020, and entry into a geoeffective position is expected on April 7, when the radiation will be sent directly to the Earth.

The level of ultraviolet radiation at the surface of the earth depends on the radiated power and density of the clouds over a particular place. Although ultraviolet radiation has a diffuse nature, the influence of clouds is great, since they reduce the level of ultraviolet radiation above the surface of the earth. Water in the atmosphere is an element that creates the effect of a greenhouse, so exposure to ultraviolet radiation also depends on cloud cover. Clouds weaken all types of energy emanating from the sun.

An increase in temperature does not play any role in the disinfection of the atmosphere, so flu can appear even when the daytime temperature is high.

Ultraviolet radiation is a natural phenomenon that makes possible the existence of man on planet Earth. But strong ultraviolet radiation is very dangerous for human health. Fortunately, nature has provided for everything. When activity on the Sun grows, cloudiness intensifies, as clouds are formed by the combination of hydrogen and oxygen, which are emitted by the Sun, and therefore the level of ultraviolet radiation decreases.

It is expected that weak X-ray radiation will reach a maximum on April 7, when the AP 2758 volcano appears on the visible side of the Sun, which disinfects the atmosphere more. No matter how weak the effect of x-rays, it plays a large role in the total radiation of the sun.

Studies show that pandemics can occur only between periods of two activity cycles, when the activity of the Sun is minimal, that is, when the level of ultraviolet radiation in winter is the lowest. Epidemics occur only at the beginning and at the end of the solar cycle. Seasonal influenza with variable variability depends on the current activity of the Sun. The weakest viruses in the period of maximum activity of the Sun.

For the disinfection of the atmosphere, the angle of incidence of ultraviolet and x-ray radiation plays a large role, since the level of radiation per unit area during the day depends on it.

It must be said that the transition period between the 24th and 25th cycles of solar activity is exceptionally long. The activity of the Sun reached an extraordinary minimum. The level of activity of the Sun in 2019 – 2020 is the lowest since 1810. Temperature has no effect on COVID-19.

If NASA’s forecast comes true, then in ten years we should expect another mutation of the virus.

Planet Earth

Michigan nurse shares details of what is happening in hospitals

One of Michigan’s nurses shot a terrifying video of her workday so people would be more careful about their health and especially with coronavirus. The woman added that she felt as if she was in a battlefield. During her story, she was constantly in tears.

During her last shift, the duration of which was 13 hours, she was separately from her colleagues and was involved in the treatment of two seriously ill patients. She supported them with an assisted breathing apparatus. The nurse encourages people to be more careful and take this problem as seriously as possible.

The nurse plead for hospitals to make every effort possible to eliminate the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, which has only recently intensified. To date, Michigan is in fifth place in case numbers, in which more than two thousand are infected with coronavirus and at least 43 deaths were recorded.

Just a few days ago, two hospitals already announced that they were completely full and they did not have the opportunity to accept new patients. The state expects that over the next three weeks the number of patients may increase to 16 thousand. The government, in turn, said that at the moment there are only 25 thousand beds, 80% of which are already occupied.

The number of cremated people in Wuhan significantly exceeded the death toll from coronavirus

On March 23, Chinese authorities allowed relatives of coronavirus victims in Wuhan to receive the urns with the ashes of their relatives. According to Liu Ping (pseudonym), a local resident who was in front of the Hankou funeral home, there were huge queues of people lined up. Liu Ping arrived in the morning to pick up her father’s ashes, and was only able to pick up the ashes at 14:00.

After leaving the bureau, Liu Ping saw a truck that was transporting bins. She found out from the driver that an order had been placed for 2500 boxes, the same quantity had been delivered the day before. A total of 5 thousand deaths from coronavirus is against the 2531 official cases. This information is from only one funeral home. There are eight in total in Wuhan.

Michigan nurse shares details of what is happening in hospitals 39

According to Sun Jiatong, deputy director of the Wuhan City Civil Affairs Bureau, 21,703 corpses were cremated in a month and a half, eight times the official statistics.

At first, all the bodies were planned to be taken to the Hankou crematorium, but there were no available spaces there. As a result, other local institutions accepted and shared the dead between them. It is scary to imagine the real number of deaths in the whole of China.