A student at Yeshiva University who is the son of a Westchester County man infected by the coronavirus also has been diagnosed with the illness, the school announced Wednesday.
“We have unfortunately received news this morning that out student
has tested positive for COVID-19. Our thoughts are with him and his
family as well as to all those affected,” Yeshiva said in a statement.
“We are taking every precaution by canceling all classes on Wilf
Campus in Washington Heights. This includes all in-person graduate
courses on that campus as wall as the boys’ high school,” it added.
The student’s father, identified by sources as attorney Lawrence
Garbuz, 50, runs a boutique law firm with his wife that also employs one
of their four kids as a paralegal, according to information posted
online.
The seven-lawyer practice, Lewis & Garbuz, is located across the
street from Grand Central Terminal and specializes in matters including
personal planning and wealth management, estate litigation,
guardianships and elder law, its website says.
A third coronavirus patient is a 39-year-old health-care worker who
arrived from Iran and is self-isolated, at her Manhattan home.
https://nypost.com/2020/03/04/coronavirus-in-ny-infected-westchester-county-mans-son-is-diagnosed-with-illness/
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Italy closes schools until mid-March
Italy’s government will close schools and universities starting tomorrow until mid-March because of coronavirus, Ansa news agency reports, citing unnamed sources.
Schools are already closed in the country’s northern regions that were hit the worst by the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora said
the government is likely to order that professional soccer matches and
other large sporting events be played behind closed doors, due to the
emergency, Ansa reports.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3548520-italy-closes-schools-until-mid-march-ansa
Covid-19 pharma news list keeps growing
Recent announcements on the COVID-19 front:
Luminex (NASDAQ:LMNX): Working on two SARS-Cov-2 tests:
NxTAG CoV Expanded Panel: should be available to ship to customers in a
few weeks. Testing in China to wind up in the next several days.
Testing in U.S. underway. SARS-CoV-2 on ARIES real-time PCR system:
company has evaluated a single-target test for SARS-CoV-2 while two
European reference labs successfully validated a multi-targeted test
under Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA. CEO Nachum Shamir says
it is premature to quantify the financial impact of these efforts.
Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT): Partnering with Duke-NUS Medical School on COVID-19 vaccine for Singapore (based on STARR technology).
AIM ImmunoTech (NYSEMKT:AIM): Partnering with ChinaGoAbroad to facilitate the entry of Ampligen into China to be used as a prophylactic/early-onset therapeutic against COVID-19.
LMNX up 3% premarket. ARCT up 28%. AIM up 22%.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3548511-and-covidminus-19-list-keeps-growingJapan coronavirus cases top 1,000, government says Olympics plans on track
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Japan topped the
1,000 mark on Wednesday, mostly from the Diamond Princess cruise liner,
as the government reiterated that plans to host the Tokyo Olympics in
July remained on track.
Five new infections were reported as of Wednesday afternoon, in
locations from Yamaguchi prefecture in the west to Hokkaido in the
north, underlining the virus’ spread across the country and raising
questions about whether the Olympics can go ahead.
The new cases push the total in Japan over the 1,000 mark, according to a Reuters calculation, of which 706 are from the Diamond Princess liner. A total of 12 have died, of which six were from the Diamond Princess, the health ministry said.
The government’s top spokesman said Japan would go ahead in preparing to host the Olympics as planned, amid speculation they could be postponed because of the coronavirus threat.
“We would steadily proceed with our preparations while closely
coordinating with the IOC (the International Olympic Committee) and the
organising committee,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a
regular news conference.
The Olympics are scheduled to open in less than five months and IOC head Thomas Bach on Tuesday reiterated his backing for this summer’s Games despite the coronavirus threat, urging athletes to prepare “full steam.”
Still, there are worries the Games could be postponed or even canceled. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has asked schools to close this month, companies are encouraging employees to work from home and sporting events are being canceled or played in empty arenas.
Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto fueled concerns about a delay, saying on Tuesday that Tokyo’s contract with the IOC “could be interpreted as allowing a postponement” until the end of the year, although she reiterated the government remained committed to the Games starting on July 24.
Hashimoto also indicated the end of May could be a key date for making any decisions related to a possible cancellation.
Masa Takaya, a Tokyo 2020 organising committee spokesman, said on Wednesday the government had clarified its commitment for the Games to proceed, and there was no deadline on a decision whether to postpone.
“We have been informed from the Olympic minister that she is absolutely on the same page and the Games will go ahead as planned.”
“What we have agreed is that we monitor the situation and then of
course with the government of Japan, if there is a need for any actions
then we can discuss with the Japanese government,” WHO director-general
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday.
The epidemic has already been affecting related events in the run up to the Games.
Crowds will be smaller and receptions have been scrapped at the Tokyo 2020 torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia, Greece, next week as the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) introduced measures to protect against the coronavirus, it said on Tuesday.
Olympics host city Tokyo has seen 40 cases, while infections have been confirmed as far south as Okinawa.
The northern island of Hokkaido reported three new cases on Wednesday, bringing its total to 82, the highest among Japan’s prefectures. In western Japan, Ehime reported its second case and Yamaguchi announced its first.
“Given how the coronavirus was spreading throughout the country, I
thought it would only be a matter of time before a case was confirmed in
Yamaguchi,” Tsugumasa Muraoka, the prefecture’s governor, told a news
conference.
“We will be doing all we can to prevent the spread of the virus,” he said.
In separate statements on Wednesday, Japan’s biggest carrier ANA Holdings and local rival Japan Airlines Co said they would cancel some of their domestic flights between March 6-12 due to slower travel demand.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan-case/japanese-coronavirus-cases-top-1000-government-insists-olympics-plans-on-track-idUSKBN20R01E
The new cases push the total in Japan over the 1,000 mark, according to a Reuters calculation, of which 706 are from the Diamond Princess liner. A total of 12 have died, of which six were from the Diamond Princess, the health ministry said.
The government’s top spokesman said Japan would go ahead in preparing to host the Olympics as planned, amid speculation they could be postponed because of the coronavirus threat.
The Olympics are scheduled to open in less than five months and IOC head Thomas Bach on Tuesday reiterated his backing for this summer’s Games despite the coronavirus threat, urging athletes to prepare “full steam.”
Still, there are worries the Games could be postponed or even canceled. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has asked schools to close this month, companies are encouraging employees to work from home and sporting events are being canceled or played in empty arenas.
Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto fueled concerns about a delay, saying on Tuesday that Tokyo’s contract with the IOC “could be interpreted as allowing a postponement” until the end of the year, although she reiterated the government remained committed to the Games starting on July 24.
Masa Takaya, a Tokyo 2020 organising committee spokesman, said on Wednesday the government had clarified its commitment for the Games to proceed, and there was no deadline on a decision whether to postpone.
“We have been informed from the Olympic minister that she is absolutely on the same page and the Games will go ahead as planned.”
IMPACT ON EVENTS
The head of the World Health Organization said he had confidence in Japan’s efforts and hoped for progress, but that the WHO was watching developments and talking with the IOC.The epidemic has already been affecting related events in the run up to the Games.
Crowds will be smaller and receptions have been scrapped at the Tokyo 2020 torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia, Greece, next week as the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) introduced measures to protect against the coronavirus, it said on Tuesday.
Olympics host city Tokyo has seen 40 cases, while infections have been confirmed as far south as Okinawa.
The northern island of Hokkaido reported three new cases on Wednesday, bringing its total to 82, the highest among Japan’s prefectures. In western Japan, Ehime reported its second case and Yamaguchi announced its first.
“We will be doing all we can to prevent the spread of the virus,” he said.
In separate statements on Wednesday, Japan’s biggest carrier ANA Holdings and local rival Japan Airlines Co said they would cancel some of their domestic flights between March 6-12 due to slower travel demand.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan-case/japanese-coronavirus-cases-top-1000-government-insists-olympics-plans-on-track-idUSKBN20R01E
Researchers identify two coronavirus types as China cases dwindle
The researchers, from Peking University’s School of Life Sciences and
the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai under the Chinese Academy of Sciences,
cautioned that their analysis examined a limited range of data, and
said follow-up studies of larger data sets are needed to better
understand the virus’s evolution.
The preliminary study found that a more aggressive type of the new coronavirus associated with the disease outbreak in Wuhan accounted for about 70% of analyzed strains, while 30% was linked to a less aggressive type.
The prevalence of the more aggressive virus decreased after early January 2020, they said.
“These findings strongly support an urgent need for further immediate, comprehensive studies that combine genomic data, epidemiological data, and chart records of the clinical symptoms of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),” they wrote.
Their findings were published on Tuesday in the National Science Review, the journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Also on Wednesday, one of China’s top medical associations confirmed that the median incubation period of the coronavirus is five to seven days and the maximum 14 days.
The remarks by Du Bin, chairman of the critical care medical branch of the Chinese Medical Association, mark the most conclusive assessment of the virus’ incubation period by a government-affiliated medical organization to date.
The revelations came amid a fall in new coronavirus cases following crippling restrictions imposed on the world’s second largest economy to stop its spread, including transport suspensions and the extension of the Lunar New Year holiday.
The total number of cases on the mainland has now reached 80,270. The number of deaths rose by 38 to bring the total toll for mainland China to 2,981 by March 3.
All but one new death occurred in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
With the number of new daily infections overseas now exceeding new cases in China, Chinese officials have begun to seek ways to control the spread of the virus outside of China and guard against future outbreaks.
Authorities have asked overseas Chinese hoping to return home to reconsider their travel plans, while cities across the country have set up quarantine rules for those entering from high-risk places.
An infected person is known to have arrived in China from Iran, one of the virus’ new hotspots, last week.
China is encouraging domestic producers of medical protective
equipment to export protective suits to meet overseas demand as the
virus spreads, Cao Xuejun, an official with China’s Ministry of Industry
and Information Technology said in a press briefing in Beijing on
Wednesday.
China’s health authorities are also studying setting up emergency reserves for medical resources and protective materials, Mao Qunan, an official at China’s National Health Commission said at the same briefing.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-toll/researchers-identify-two-coronavirus-types-as-china-cases-dwindle-idUSKBN20R07Z
The preliminary study found that a more aggressive type of the new coronavirus associated with the disease outbreak in Wuhan accounted for about 70% of analyzed strains, while 30% was linked to a less aggressive type.
The prevalence of the more aggressive virus decreased after early January 2020, they said.
“These findings strongly support an urgent need for further immediate, comprehensive studies that combine genomic data, epidemiological data, and chart records of the clinical symptoms of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),” they wrote.
Their findings were published on Tuesday in the National Science Review, the journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Also on Wednesday, one of China’s top medical associations confirmed that the median incubation period of the coronavirus is five to seven days and the maximum 14 days.
The remarks by Du Bin, chairman of the critical care medical branch of the Chinese Medical Association, mark the most conclusive assessment of the virus’ incubation period by a government-affiliated medical organization to date.
The revelations came amid a fall in new coronavirus cases following crippling restrictions imposed on the world’s second largest economy to stop its spread, including transport suspensions and the extension of the Lunar New Year holiday.
NEW CASES DOWN
Mainland China had 119 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, the National Health Commission said, down from 125 the previous day, in a broad trend that has seen numbers of new cases fall from the middle of February.The total number of cases on the mainland has now reached 80,270. The number of deaths rose by 38 to bring the total toll for mainland China to 2,981 by March 3.
All but one new death occurred in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
With the number of new daily infections overseas now exceeding new cases in China, Chinese officials have begun to seek ways to control the spread of the virus outside of China and guard against future outbreaks.
Authorities have asked overseas Chinese hoping to return home to reconsider their travel plans, while cities across the country have set up quarantine rules for those entering from high-risk places.
An infected person is known to have arrived in China from Iran, one of the virus’ new hotspots, last week.
China’s health authorities are also studying setting up emergency reserves for medical resources and protective materials, Mao Qunan, an official at China’s National Health Commission said at the same briefing.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-toll/researchers-identify-two-coronavirus-types-as-china-cases-dwindle-idUSKBN20R07Z
Coronavirus has spread to nearly all Iran provinces: president
Novel coronavirus has affected almost all of Iran’s provinces but the
country will get through the outbreak with a “minimum” number of
deaths, President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday.
“This disease is a widespread disease,” he said during a cabinet meeting, according to the official presidency website.
“It has reached almost all our provinces and in one sense it’s a global disease.”
Iran’s health ministry on Tuesday announced 92 people had died from coronavirus, one of the highest death tolls outside China where the outbreak originated. It said 2,922 people had been infected with coronavirus.
Among those infected is first vice president Eshaq Jahangiri, the IranWire news site reported, citing an “informed source”. There was no immediate confirmation from officials.
Several Iranian officials have been infected with the coronavirus and one senior official died from a coronavirus infection on Monday.
Rouhani said on Wednesday that Iran would get through the outbreak with minimum deaths and in the shortest period of time with the skills of its doctors and nurses.
Rouhani also took a jab at an American offer to help with the coronavirus outbreak without mentioning the United States directly.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States had offered to help Iran with the outbreak.
“They’ve appeared with a mask of sympathy that ‘we also want to help the people of Iran’,” Rouhani said. “If you are really telling the truth, then lift sanctions from medicine.”
U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018 and reimposed sanctions which have hammered Iran’s economy.
U.S. officials have said that the sanctions do not target medicine for Iran, a point that Iranian officials dispute.
Video aired on state TV of Wednesday’s cabinet meeting showed Rouhani
and ministers in a larger room than the usual venue for the weekly
meeting.
IranWire reported that Jahangiri was quarantined last week after a government meeting on combating coronavirus which was attended by several ministers and senior officials.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-iran-rouhani/coronavirus-has-spread-to-nearly-all-iran-provinces-president-idUSKBN20R1ES
“It has reached almost all our provinces and in one sense it’s a global disease.”
Iran’s health ministry on Tuesday announced 92 people had died from coronavirus, one of the highest death tolls outside China where the outbreak originated. It said 2,922 people had been infected with coronavirus.
Among those infected is first vice president Eshaq Jahangiri, the IranWire news site reported, citing an “informed source”. There was no immediate confirmation from officials.
Several Iranian officials have been infected with the coronavirus and one senior official died from a coronavirus infection on Monday.
Rouhani said on Wednesday that Iran would get through the outbreak with minimum deaths and in the shortest period of time with the skills of its doctors and nurses.
Rouhani also took a jab at an American offer to help with the coronavirus outbreak without mentioning the United States directly.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States had offered to help Iran with the outbreak.
“They’ve appeared with a mask of sympathy that ‘we also want to help the people of Iran’,” Rouhani said. “If you are really telling the truth, then lift sanctions from medicine.”
U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018 and reimposed sanctions which have hammered Iran’s economy.
U.S. officials have said that the sanctions do not target medicine for Iran, a point that Iranian officials dispute.
IranWire reported that Jahangiri was quarantined last week after a government meeting on combating coronavirus which was attended by several ministers and senior officials.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-iran-rouhani/coronavirus-has-spread-to-nearly-all-iran-provinces-president-idUSKBN20R1ES
Thousands wait for hospital beds in South Korea as coronavirus cases surge
South Korea reported hundreds of new coronavirus cases on Wednesday
as many sick people waited for hospital beds in Daegu, the city at the
center of the worst outbreak outside China.
The new cases bring South Korea’s total to 5,621, with at least 32
deaths, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC)
said.
Most cases were in and around Daegu, the country’s fourth-largest city, where the flu-like virus has spread rapidly through members of a fringe Christian group.
Health officials expect the number of new cases to be high for the near future as they complete the testing of more than 200,000 members of the sect, as well as thousands of other suspected cases from smaller clusters.
“We need special measures in times of emergency,” South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a cabinet meeting, referring to extra medical resources for hotspots and economic measures including a $9.8 billion stimulus.
“In order to overcome COVID-19 as quickly as possible and minimize the impact on the economy, it is necessary to proactively inject all available resources.”
COVID-19 is the illness caused by the new coronavirus which emerged from China late last year to spread around the world.
Hospitals in South Korea’s hardest hit areas were scrambling to accommodate the surge in new patients.
In Daegu, 2,300 people were waiting to be admitted to hospitals and temporary medical facilities, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said. A 100-bed military hospital that had been handling many of the most serious cases was due to have 200 additional beds available by Thursday, he added.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday declared “war” on the virus, apologized for shortages of face masks and promised support for virus-hit small businesses in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.
At least 92 countries have imposed some form of entry restrictions on arrivals from South Korea, according to a tally by Yonhap news agency.
Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young met the U.S. ambassador on
Wednesday as part of Seoul’s efforts to prevent the United States from
imposing restrictions.
In the meeting, Cho outlined South Korea’s efforts to control the outbreak and urged the United States not to take steps that would affect exchanges between the two countries, the foreign ministry said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said this week his administration was watching Italy, South Korea and Japan – all with severe outbreaks – and would make a decision about travel restrictions “at the right time”.
“We remain confident in the South Korean government’s robust and comprehensive response efforts to limit the spread of the virus,” U.S. ambassador Harry Harris tweeted after meeting Cho.
Up to 10,000 people are being tested each day in South Korea, and daily totals have decreased slightly since a peak of 909 new cases on Saturday, the KCDC said.
Experts caution that the results of those tests could take some time to be processed, leading to future spikes in confirmed cases.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-southkorea/thousands-wait-for-hospital-beds-in-south-korea-as-coronavirus-cases-surge-idUSKBN20R05M
Most cases were in and around Daegu, the country’s fourth-largest city, where the flu-like virus has spread rapidly through members of a fringe Christian group.
Health officials expect the number of new cases to be high for the near future as they complete the testing of more than 200,000 members of the sect, as well as thousands of other suspected cases from smaller clusters.
“We need special measures in times of emergency,” South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a cabinet meeting, referring to extra medical resources for hotspots and economic measures including a $9.8 billion stimulus.
“In order to overcome COVID-19 as quickly as possible and minimize the impact on the economy, it is necessary to proactively inject all available resources.”
COVID-19 is the illness caused by the new coronavirus which emerged from China late last year to spread around the world.
In Daegu, 2,300 people were waiting to be admitted to hospitals and temporary medical facilities, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said. A 100-bed military hospital that had been handling many of the most serious cases was due to have 200 additional beds available by Thursday, he added.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday declared “war” on the virus, apologized for shortages of face masks and promised support for virus-hit small businesses in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
Moon’s office on Wednesday said he had canceled a planned trip to the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Turkey in mid-March due to the crisis.At least 92 countries have imposed some form of entry restrictions on arrivals from South Korea, according to a tally by Yonhap news agency.
Slideshow (10 Images)
In the meeting, Cho outlined South Korea’s efforts to control the outbreak and urged the United States not to take steps that would affect exchanges between the two countries, the foreign ministry said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said this week his administration was watching Italy, South Korea and Japan – all with severe outbreaks – and would make a decision about travel restrictions “at the right time”.
“We remain confident in the South Korean government’s robust and comprehensive response efforts to limit the spread of the virus,” U.S. ambassador Harry Harris tweeted after meeting Cho.
Up to 10,000 people are being tested each day in South Korea, and daily totals have decreased slightly since a peak of 909 new cases on Saturday, the KCDC said.
Experts caution that the results of those tests could take some time to be processed, leading to future spikes in confirmed cases.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-southkorea/thousands-wait-for-hospital-beds-in-south-korea-as-coronavirus-cases-surge-idUSKBN20R05M
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