Posted on 02/10/2020 12:39:06 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
LONDON -- A middle-aged businessman from England who vacationed in the Alps has illustrated how the ease of international travel is complicating global efforts to track and contain the new coronavirus that emerged in China.
From the Singapore hotel where he is believed to have picked up the virus during a conference, to a ski resort in the French Alps and a pub in his hometown of Hove on the southern coast of England, as well as the flights he took on his way back to Britain, the man came in contact with dozens of other people, potentially infecting them before he was diagnosed and hospitalized. Health officials are now hunting for them.
Already, five Britons who stayed with him at a chalet in the Alps have been diagnosed with the virus, including a 9-year-old boy. Another man who stayed at the resort was discovered infected after returning to his home on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
The apparent ease with which virus spread raises concern that some of the 90 others who attended the conference may also have been infected and “may go on to initiate chains of infection in their home countries,’’ said Dr. Nathalie MacDermott, a clinical lecturer at King’s College London.
The World Health Organization warned that given the relatively small cluster so far, it would be unfair and an exaggeration to characterize the businessman as a “super-spreader,” or someone who infects an unusually large number of people. And this is by no means the only cluster seen in the outbreak.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
An indication of just how sticky this wicket is...Bring Out Your Dead
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.
So far the false positive rate is 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life, and death...
If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.
My close relative is in Singapore on biz and I’m concerned.
San Francisco, New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Kinshasa, Karachi, Bangkok and Peking /semi obscure movie reference
*** My close relative is in Singapore on biz and I’m concerned. ***
Friend mailed masks to Singapore 2 weeks ago to DOS employee. None available there.
Yikes.
Notice how the WHO grovels to this guy
Super spreader...does he wash his hands after potty and bother to cover his face ( other than with his hand) when he sneezes snot?
Is that a new China Summer Olympics synchronized team?
Too obscure for me. Need another clue.
Sounds like a 1940s noire movie.
Twelve Monkeys
If you’ve seen it, it was about an the aftermath of an apocalyptic epidemic and attempts to travel back in time to obtain a copy of the original un-mutated virus. The article reminded me of it, because the villain who spread the virus bought tickets to all the cities in that quotation.
I’m not suggesting all travel be stopped right now, but one person can be enormously dangerous if they are infectious and traveling.
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