Iran says death toll from coronavirus much lower than reported 200 figure

At least 210 people have died of coronavirus in Iran, the BBC reported, citing sources in the country’s health system, far more than the figure maintained by the government in Tehran.
According to the network’s sources, most of the deaths have come from Tehran and the city of Qom, where the virus was first found in the country.
Iran’s Health Ministry on Saturday updated its death toll for the virus to 43, saying that 593 have been infected with the virus.

Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said that the government was being fully transparent and accused the BBC of lying about the figures.
“Unfortunately nine people died of the virus in the last 24 hours, increasing the death toll to 43,” he told state TV, according to Reuters.
Even that figure would mean Iran has suffered from the most coronavirus-related deaths outside mainland China, where the outbreak began.
The BBC’s report comes after a member of parliament for Qom accused the Iranian government of covering up the reality of the virus in Iran.
The U.S. has also been wary of the accuracy of the reports on the virus coming from the country and pledged on Friday to help support Iran amid the outbreak.

“The United States stands with the people of Iran during the public health crisis caused by the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The U.S. Government is prepared to assist the Iranian people in their response efforts,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday.

“This offer of support to the Iranian people, which has been formally conveyed to Iran through the Government of Switzerland, underscores our ongoing commitment to address health crises and prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Supporting the Iranian people is and will remain among our top priorities,” he added.

Pompeo called on Iran to “cooperate fully and transparently with international aid and health organizations” as the virus continues to spread worldwide.

On Friday, the World Health Organization raised its coronavirus risk assessment to “very high” but said the outbreak has yet to become a global pandemic.

There are more than 85,000 reported cases of the virus worldwide and almost 3,000 deaths — the vast majority from mainland China, where the outbreak originated.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/485280-iran-death-toll-from-coronavirus-over-200-report

Pentagon races to counter coronavirus threat on military

The Pentagon is taking care to prevent a slip in national security and readiness following the steady global spread of the coronavirus that has the Department of Defense (DOD) holding off on a military exercise, quarantining fleets and curtailing troop movement.
As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, DOD in the last week has canceled a joint military exercise with South Korea, restricted access to public areas at Army installations in Italy, and ordered all ships that have visited countries in the Pacific region to remain at sea for 14 days, essentially a self-quarantine.
U.S. Central Command has also ordered a stop to all non-essential travel in the Persian Gulf region.
Such moves seek to “minimize any kind of affect that this virus has on military preparedness,” a defense official told The Hill.
“What DOD is trying to do is take prudent precautionary measure to prevent those kinds of things from affecting the force,” the source said.
No deployments have yet been delayed due to concerns over the virus, but the postponement of military exercises raises the likelihood that troop readiness could suffer.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper told lawmakers on Wednesday that Pentagon efforts to curtail the virus “continues to evolve rapidly.”
Leadership is “making sure it doesn’t escape us,” Esper said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing.
Pentagon heads are also looking into whether the building may need more dollars to handle the spread of the virus, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told lawmakers at the same hearing.

“It is spreading and we can’t give you a definitive answer on whether we’re going to need additional resources or not,” Milley said alongside Esper. “We are taking all the appropriate measures right now, we’re doing estimates of the situation so we owe you some answers.”
The Pentagon since late January has sought to dampen the risk of spreading the deadly virus within the ranks. More than 84,000 people have been infected by the virus – the majority in China, where the virus originated – though it has spread to 55 countries, including the United States.
As of Saturday, at least 67 coronavirus cases have been recorded in the United States, with one death in Washington state. A U.S. service member in South Korea as well as their spouse also tested positive for the illness.
The department first issued guidance to its personnel and service members on Jan. 30 that informed forces on how to recognize the signs and symptoms of the illness.
Shortly thereafter, on Feb. 2, U.S. military officials in South Korea announced that a 14-day self-quarantine was imposed on U.S. troops who had recently traveled to China.
The Pentagon has since warned that the virus “in an increasing force health protection threat” to DOD personnel, according to a Feb. 25 memo from Acting Undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness Matthew Donovan.
At military installations around the world, DOD personnel and their families are finding themselves restricted by the new threat.
U.S. European Command head Gen. Tod Wolters told Senate lawmakers on Tuesday that in Germany – home to the largest U.S. military presence in Europe at more than 33,000 troops – an anticipated increase in coronavirus cases could lead to restricted troop movement.
In Vicenza, Italy, where 6,000 to 7,000 U.S. troops plus thousands of their family members live and work, the Army has closed on-base schools, childcare centers, churches and gyms as a precautionary measure as the disease spreads across country.
Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command on Thursday issued a memo to military personnel in Saudi Arabia banning all non-essential travel, including “going to the mall, movies, other crowded venues or recreational facilities/establishments.”
In addition, all “leave and liberty travel’ within the Centcom theater is suspended. For example, “personnel assigned to a unit in Riyadh [Saudi Arabia] cannot take a pass/leave/trip to United Arab Emirates (UAE) or Jeddah for the weekend,” the memo states.
And the Navy’s 7th Fleet, its largest fleet, has been directed to remain at sea for 14 days “to permit adequate time for surveillance and monitoring,” of possible cases of the virus.
“Out of an abundance of caution Pacific Fleet is implementing additional mitigations to prevent sailors from contracting COVID-19 and to monitor sailors who have traveled to higher risk areas,” a defense official told The Hill.
The 14-day requirement is waived if the ship is returning to the same port it most recently left from.
The official added that at this time there are no indications that any Navy personnel has contracted coronavirus.
Despite the efforts underway to curtail coronavirus, lawmakers are still concerned that the military’s response may fall short.
Several House lawmakers pressed Esper during Wednesday’s hearing on how the department is preparing for its role in a possible coronavirus pandemic.
And Senate Armed Services Committee member Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Friday implored the Pentagon chief on how DOD will protect members of the military and their families from the illness.

“I have questions about the current status of the [Defense Department] response and infection prevention efforts,” Tillis wrote in a letter to Esper. “This global outbreak is concerning and presents an enduring and uncertain threat. The anxieties and concerns I am hearing from our service members and their families are justified.”
The message from the Pentagon on the virus’s threat starkly contrasts that of the White House, which has insisted that the virus is under control, even as the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday labeled it as a high-level threat.
President Trump on Wednesday insisted that is not “inevitable” that the virus will spread across the United States, as health experts have warned, and later at a Friday rally in South Carolina said “the Democrats are politicizing” the virus, which is “their new hoax.”
White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney also downplayed the virus’s threat to the public, claiming on Friday that news media was stoking panic in order to damage the president’s reelection chances.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/485299-pentagon-races-to-counter-coronavirus-threat-on-military-forces

Trump: ‘very strongly’ eying closing south border amid coronavirus outbreak

President Trump said the administration is “very strongly” considering closing the southern border to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“We are looking also at [the] southern border,” Trump said when asked by a reporter at a White House press conference Saturday about the move. “We have received a lot of power on the southern border over the last couple years from the courts, but we are looking at that very strongly.”

At the press conference, Vice President Pence, who Trump announced on Wednesday would be leading the administration’s response to the virus, announced that the State Department would impose travel restrictions and advisories on Iran, South Korea and Italy, some of the countries hit hardest by the virus.
Hours before remarks to the press, Reuters reported that the administration was considering closing the southern border in an effort to contain the virus.
On Friday, a group of 11 Republicans led by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) called on the administration to close the U.S. border with Mexico to prevent an outbreak.
“Given the porous nature of our border, and the continued lack of operational control due to the influence of dangerous cartels, it is foreseeable, indeed predictable, that any outbreak in Central America or Mexico could cause a rush to our border,” they wrote.
The letter came the same day a U.S. district court blocked the administration’s “remain in Mexico policy,” meaning asylum-seekers could again await their cases on U.S. soil.
“If today’s ruling is allowed to stand, these successes will be reversed, which threatens to flood the Nation’s immigration system, present unchecked coronavirus entry risk, deeply damage our positive relationship with the Government of Mexico and other regional partners, and reignite the humanitarian and security crisis at the border,” read a White House statement on the ruling.
Mexico’s government announced Friday it had detected three cases of the coronavirus infection in three men who had recently traveled to Italy, making the country the second in Latin America to register the proliferating virus.
Still, as of Saturday afternoon, there are more confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S. than in all of Latin America combined.
The cases that exist in the U.S. are predominantly from American citizens who caught the disease while abroad and were repatriated and quarantined. None of those cases have been traced back to Mexico.
The administration was not asked about, nor did it announce, any potential restrictions on the country’s northern border with Canada, which has 16 confirmed cases of the virus.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/485297-trump-says-administration-is-very-strongly-considering-closing-the

Biotechnology trade group taps former Biogen CEO as its coronavirus czar

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the biotechnology industry’s largest trade association, told Reuters on Friday that former Biogen Inc (BIIB.O) CEO George Scangos would coordinate its response to the global coronavirus outbreak.
Scangos, currently the chief executive of San Francisco-based start-up Vir Biotechnology, which is working on a coronavirus treatment, will lead BIO’s efforts to research therapeutics and diagnostics to stave off the spread of the virus.
“The role is still evolving but it is clear someone needs to pick up the reins. It is only natural for us here at Vir to take on a leadership role,” Scangos said in an interview.
A BIO spokesman said about 40 of its members have reached out to the organization to offer their expertise, while about 20 are researching therapeutics, vaccines or diagnostics that target the virus. BIO has spent the last few weeks tracking the programs already under way and helping firms coordinate with one another and government authorities, the spokesman said.
The initiative may have the most value for small biotechnology firms, which unlike their bigger peers are perennially low on cash. Some have never developed a therapy all the way through regulatory approval and have little experience working with agencies such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Defense let alone international authorities.
Vir is one of the several companies working on a coronavirus treatment. On Tuesday, Vir announced it had discovered several antibodies that bind to the coronavirus, dubbed COVID-19, after studying patients who survived SARS, a related virus.
The company said it would continue its research in partnership with Chinese drug company WuXi Biologics. Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O) have also said they are researching treatments to combat the virus.

Experts have said that a vaccine would likely take at least between 12 and 18 months to develop.
The latest World Health Organization figures indicate over 82,000 people have been infected, with over 2,700 deaths in China and 57 deaths in 46 other countries.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-biotechnology-scangos/biotechnology-trade-group-taps-former-biogen-ceo-as-its-coronavirus-czar-idUSKCN20M3EI

New York scrambles to replace U.S. government’s faulty coronavirus test kits

New York health officials are trying to get their own coronavirus testing kits up and running after getting stuck with faulty tests from the federal government that they said left them unable to diagnose people quickly in the nation’s most populous city.

New York state’s Department of Health filed an emergency application on Friday with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be allowed to use a testing kit for the new coronavirus it has developed in-state, according to an official involved in the process.
“Upon FDA approval, which we believe is imminent, New York State’s public health laboratory, the Wadsworth Center, can immediately begin testing,” Jonah Bruno, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Health, wrote in an email.
Public health officials say the ability to test locally and get results within hours will be critical to a rapid response to the fast-spreading virus that originated in China, causing a sometimes fatal respiratory illness, and has spread to 46 countries.
The weeks-long struggle to expand local testing has been criticized as an early misstep in the response by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to the outbreak.
Three weeks ago, the FDA gave the green light for state and local labs to start using a testing kit developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
But most labs that received the kits complained they had faulty components and produced inconclusive results, which the CDC later acknowledged.
And in New York City, the kit they received was even more faulty than most, meaning city officials could not use a workaround released by the CDC this week. Meanwhile, it has had to courier samples to CDC’s laboratories in Atlanta, adding a day or more to the process.
There are 63 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in the United States, most of whom fell sick while abroad then were repatriated. No cases have been detected in New York City, but Mayor Bill de Blasio and health officials have said its arrival here is inevitable.
Health officials in New York, impatient with the wait for replacement kits to be sent out, copied the CDC protocol in developing their own test kits.
The CDC kits were meant to work by comparing a sample swabbed from a patient’s nose or mouth against three distinctive stretches of the virus’ genetic material, which are in small tubes labeled N1, N2 and N3. Most labs only had issues with the kit’s third component, N3.
After reviewing their data, the FDA and CDC told labs this week that the tests would work fine if they only looked for the N1 and N2 bits of the virus, ignoring the faulty N3 component.
But in New York, both the state lab and the New York City lab said that in their kits the N1 component was also flawed, and that the workaround proposed by the CDC and FDA was of no use.
The CDC advised those labs also facing problems with N1 not to use those kits.
“That was unacceptable to New York,” said Scott Becker, chief executive officer of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, which represents state and local public health labs. “A handful of labs had this issue. It wasn’t very many. But in the case of New York, where they were following multiple people under investigation and with all the global air travel, they really have an urgent need to bring up testing.”
Becker said New York’s was the first public health lab in the country to seek the emergency authorization, and that the FDA said it would act fast after the application was filed.
“They’ve said it’s possible to do it in a day or two,” he said. The FDA declined to answer questions about the emergency approvals.
As of Wednesday, only seven state labs had the ability to test for the coronavirus locally.
Meanwhile, the CDC has been working to manufacture new kits that produce more reliable results.
In a hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar said a newly manufactured CDC test can be sent to 93 public health labs as soon as Monday.

Jennifer Rakeman, an assistant commissioner at New York City’s health department and the director of the city’s testing laboratory in Manhattan, said that even once the replacement CDC kits arrive it would take time to make sure they work.
“It could be a number of days, and could be on the order of a week or weeks,” she said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-usa-testing/new-york-scrambles-to-replace-u-s-governments-faulty-coronavirus-test-kits-idUSKCN20N00J

Governor of northern Mexican state confirms new coronavirus case

The governor of the northern Mexican state of Coahuila said on Saturday that a new case of coronavirus had been confirmed in the state, which borders the United States, according to local media.
Governor Miguel Angel Riquelme said the patient, a 20-year-old woman who had traveled to Italy, has been isolated, according to local television station Milenio.
Mexico’s government said on Friday it had detected three cases of coronavirus infection in men who had all recently traveled to Italy, making the country the second in Latin America to register the fast-spreading flu-like illness.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-mexico/governor-of-northern-mexican-state-confirms-new-coronavirus-case-media-idUSKBN20N0YN

Kim Jong Un warns of ‘serious consequences’ if virus hits N. Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is spearheading efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the isolated country, Reuters reported Friday.
The country does not have any cases on the virus so far, but its neighbors to the north and south — China and South Korea — are the two countries hit hardest by the outbreak.
“In case the infectious disease spreading beyond control finds its way into our country, it will entail serious consequences,” Kim was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency KCNA. “No special cases must be allowed within the state anti-epidemic system.”

He instructed officials to “seal off all the channels and space through which the infectious disease may find its way, and strengthen check-up, test and quarantine.”
In light of that quarantine, 60 diplomats from Germany, France and Switzerland living in North Korea are being evacuated, CNN reported Friday. Other countries are planning to reduce operations in the country but keeping diplomats there.
KCNA posted images and articles of Kim conducting military drills without a surgical mask. As Reuters noted, the aides who accompanied Kim on the military drills had identical black masks, though none of the participants at the meeting did.
“Kim’s activities appear to be intended to highlight to his people that his campaign to build a self-reliant economy is business as usual while boosting military morale and also showing they were not affected by the virus,” Kim Dong-yup, a professor at Kyungnam University in Seoul, told Reuters.
https://thehill.com/policy/international/485281-kim-jong-un-warns-of-serious-consequences-if-coronavirus-hits-north