3 March 2020

There are now a total of 90,893 reported cases of COVID-19 globally, and 3110 deaths.

In the past 24 hours, China reported 129 cases, the lowest number of cases since the 20^th of January.

Outside China, 1848 cases were reported in 48 countries. 80% of those cases are from just three countries: the Republic of Korea, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Italy.

12 new countries have reported their first cases, and there are now 21 countries with one case.

122 countries have not reported any cases.

The actions these newly-affected countries take today will be the difference between a handful of cases and a larger cluster.

We understand that people are afraid and uncertain. Fear is a natural human response to any threat, especially when it’s a threat we don’t completely understand.

But as we get more data, we are understanding this virus, and the disease it causes, more and more.

This virus is not SARS, it’s not MERS, and it’s not influenza, it is a unique virus with unique characteristics.

Both COVID-19 and influenza cause respiratory disease and spread the same way, via small droplets of fluid from the nose and mouth of someone who is sick.

There are some important differences between COVID-19 and influenza.

First, COVID-19 does not transmit as efficiently as influenza, from the data we have so far.

With influenza, people who are infected but not yet sick are major drivers of transmission, which does not appear to be the case for COVID-19.

Evidence from China is that only 1% of reported cases do not have symptoms, and most of those cases develop symptoms within 2 days.  Some countries are looking for cases of COVID-19 using surveillance systems for influenza and other respiratory diseases.

Countries such as China, Ghana, Singapore and elsewhere have found very few cases of COVID-19 among such samples – or no cases at all.

The only way to be sure is by looking for COVID-19 antibodies in large numbers of people, and several countries are now doing those studies.

This will give us further insight into the extent of infection in populations over time.  WHO has developed protocols on how these studies should be done, and we encourage all countries to do these studies and share their data.

Second, another major difference is that COVID-19 causes more severe disease than seasonal influenza.

While many people globally have built up immunity to seasonal flu strains, COVID-19 is a new virus to which no one has immunity. That means more people are susceptible to infection, and some will suffer severe disease.

Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died.

By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected.

Third, we have vaccines and therapeutics for seasonal flu, but at the moment there is no vaccine and no specific treatment for COVID-19. However, clinical trials of therapeutics are now being done, and more than 20 vaccines are in development.

And fourth, we don’t even talk about containment for seasonal flu – it’s just not possible. But it is possible for COVID-19. We don’t do contact tracing for seasonal flu – but countries should do it for COVID-19, because it will prevent infections and save lives. Containment is possible.

To summarize, COVID-19 spreads less efficiently than flu, transmission does not appear to be driven by people who are not sick, it causes more severe illness than flu, there are not yet any vaccines or therapeutics, and it can be contained – which is why we must do everything we can to contain it. That’s why WHO recommends a comprehensive approach.

These differences mean we can’t treat COVID-19 exactly the same way we treat flu.

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Source: WHO

Tourists Choose Bali instead Europe The corona virus impact to the tourism sluggish in the world. Not only in Asia, the Europe tourism is also sluggish due to tourists who delay travel.

“Tickets (trips and tour packages) to all destinations in Europe have been canceled. Even though there is no travel warning, “said Antavaya Travel Consultant, Febiola, when met at the BRI Europe Travel Fair 2020 tourism exhibition event in Senayan City, Jakarta, Thursday (2/27/2020).

Febiola said that so far more dominant travel cancellations exist in Asian tourist destinations.

Nevertheless, the rapid spread of the corona virus has made travel agent customers reluctant to travel abroad.

As a result, many tourists divert tourist destinations.

“On average they choose to travel domestically. On average they go to Bali, “said Febiola.

There is indeed a difference in tariffs between the price of overseas and domestic travel packages.

If money from the purchase of overseas travel packages still exists, Febiola said the travel agent will make the refund, with the longest process of a month.

Febiola said that Antavaya will try to direct tourists to choose safer tourist destinations.

For example, she talked about a trip to Italy which has now found victims infected with the corona virus.

“We will take them away from the location of infected people. If the infected are on island A, we will bring them to visit island B, “said Febiola.

In addition, she also recommended the tourists to always wear masks and diligently use hand washing liquid made from alcohol.

In line with Febiola, Bayu Buana Travel Supervisor, Neshya also said that in addition to preparing these items, yourself has a big enough role to prevent the corona virus.

“If you can maintain your health, so far it’s okay. Back to the health and endurance of each body, “explained Neshya.

But he advised tourists to always be vigilant, checking information about the destination country regarding the corona virus outbreak there.

“If they still want to go there, we recommend to maintain health such as vigorous drinking vitamins,” he added.

Source : https://travel.kompas.com/

27 February 2020

A Joint Statement on Tourism as the current outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) continues to develop, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) are committed to working together in guiding the travel and tourism sectors’ response to COVID-19.

On 30 January 2020, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of COVID-19 to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and issued a set of Temporary Recommendations. WHO did not recommend any travel or trade restriction based on the current information available. WHO is working closely with global experts, governments and partners to rapidly expand scientific knowledge on this new virus, to track the spread and virulence of the virus, and to provide advice to countries and the global community on measures to protect health and prevent the spread of this outbreak.

Cooperation is key

The tourism sector is fully committed to putting people and their well-being first. International cooperation is vital for ensuring the sector can effectively contribute to the containment of COVID-19. UNWTO and WHO are working in close consultation and with other partners to assist States in ensuring that health measures be implemented in ways that minimize unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade.

Tourism’s response needs to be measured and consistent, proportionate to the public health threat and based on local risk assessment, involving every part of the tourism value chain – public bodies, private companies and tourists, in line with WHO’s overall guidance and recommendations.

UNWTO and WHO stand ready to work closely with all those communities and countries affected by the current health emergency, to build for a better and more resilient future. Travel restrictions going beyond these may cause unnecessary interference with international traffic, including negative repercussions on the tourism sector.

At this challenging time, UNWTO and WHO join the international community in standing in solidarity with affected countries.

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Source: WHO

Coronavirus COVID-19 WHO Situation Report 32 as of 21 February 2020

SUBJECT IN FOCUS: Food related considerations

• No new countries reporting cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
• Through the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN), national food safety authorities are seeking more information on the potential for persistence of SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, on foods traded internationally as well as the potential role of food in the transmission of the virus.
• Currently, there are investigations conducted to evaluate the viability and survival time of SARS-CoV-2. As a general rule, the consumption of raw or under-cooked animal products should be avoided. Raw meat, raw milk or raw animal organs should be handled with care to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods.

‘Narrowing window’ to contain the outbreak

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern at the number of coronavirus cases with no clear link to China or other confirmed cases.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s comments follow Iran’s announcement of two more deaths, bringing the total there to four.

The window of opportunity to contain the virus was “narrowing”, he said.

Iranian health officials said the virus may already be in “all Iran’s cities”.

Outside China 1,152 cases of the virus have been confirmed in 26 countries and there have been eight deaths.

They include two deaths in South Korea, which has the biggest cluster of confirmed cases apart from China and a cruise ship quarantined in Japan.

Dr Tedros said the number of coronavirus cases outside China was “relatively small” but the pattern of infection was worrying.

“We are concerned about the number of cases with no clear epidemiological link, such as travel history to or contact with a confirmed case,” he said.

The new deaths and infections in Iran were “very concerning”, he said.

What about the Iran cases?

In Iran the outbreak is centred on the holy city of Qom, south of the capital Tehran, which is a popular destination for Shia Muslims in the region.

Iran reported two more deaths in Qom on Friday, adding to the two deaths it reported on Thursday. A total of 18 cases have been confirmed in the country.

Lebanon has reported its first confirmed case – a 45-year-old woman who was detected as she arrived in Beirut from Qom. The UAE, Israel and Egypt have also reported cases.

Meanwhile Canadian officials said one of the nine cases there was a woman who had recently returned from Iran.

WHO officials said both Iran and Lebanon had the basic capacity to detect the virus and the WHO was contacting them to offer further assistance.

But Dr Tedros said the organisation was concerned about the virus’s possible spread in countries with weaker health systems.

What is the latest in South Korea?

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said it was now an emergency as 100 new cases and the country’s second death were confirmed. The country now has 204 cases.

The southern cities of Daegu and Cheongdo have been declared “special care zones”. The streets of Daegu are now largely abandoned.

The authorities suspect the current outbreak in South Korea originated in Cheongdo, pointing out that a large number of sect followers attended the funeral of the founder’s brother from 31 January to 2 February.

The sect – known as Shincheonji – which has been accused of being a cult, said it had now shut down its Daegu branch and that services in other regions would be held online or individually at home.

As of Friday, more than 400 members of the church were showing symptoms of the disease, though tests were still ongoing, the city mayor said.

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SOURCE: WHO

Experts say there could be undetected coronavirus cases in Indonesia, a claim that has angered officials in Jakarta.

Nearly a month after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency, Indonesia is yet to report a single case.

Some experts, however, are raising questions over the lack of reported cases in the country, given its close links to China, where the virus was first detected in late December.

Researchers at Harvard University in the United States have suggested there could be “undetected cases” in Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, and have recommended Jakarta strengthen its detection systems.

In a study published on February 11, the researchers said Indonesia is expected to have approximately five cases. They arrived at the figure using mathematical modelling based on air travel volume estimates between the country and the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the new coronavirus that has now killed more than 1,800 people and infected more than 72,000 people worldwide.

According to figures cited by the Jakarta Post, approximately 98,700 passengers from Wuhan visited Indonesia between December 2018 and November 2019, making it the sixth-most popular international destination for tourists from the Chinese city. The top destinations for Wuhan travellers – Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong – have all reported coronavirus cases.

The issue has garnered nationwide debate in Indonesia, with the country’s health minister Terawan Agus Putranto calling the Harvard study “insulting” and arguing Jakarta has not yet recorded a single case “all because of prayers”.

Achmad Yurianto, a senior official at Indonesia’s health ministry, also dismissed the study’s findings, noting they were based on mathematical models.

“But then Harvard also forgot that Indonesia’s air is not like the air in China that is subtropical,” Yurianto told Al Jazeera, repeating an as-of-yet unverified claim that the new coronavirus is similar to the pathogen that causes the seasonal flu, a disease that is more prevalent during colder weather.

He added that the Indonesian government was prepared for a potential viral outbreak, saying it has already set in place an “early warning system” for epidemics following the 2002-2003 outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which also originated in China.

Authorities have also designated 100 hospitals across the country to respond to potential cases and tightened monitoring of passengers at the airports. Officials at Indonesian airports are using thermal scanners and thermometer guns at arrival gates, he said, and passengers are told to go to the hospital “if they feel unwell within 14 days”.

Marc Lipsitch, one of the five authors of the Harvard study, in a video posted on YouTube, said the goal of their research was to criticise the quality of a country’s surveillance systems. “The five is based on what other countries are detecting. It could be that there are zero [cases in Indonesia], but that’s very unlikely, [and] it could be there are more”.

In a subsequent interview with Al Jazeera, the professor of epidemiology at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health said in the event that the virus had been imported to Indonesia, there was “good chance” of secondary cases in the country.

He added: “I have emphasised that many countries, not only Indonesia, probably face the same issue: detection at the border is not 100-percent effective, even with excellent levels of testing.”

The researchers’ predictions were lent weight when the Huainan Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in China said a Chinese tourist who had travelled to the Indonesian tourist hub of Bali in January was confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus on February 5, eight days after he left Indonesia.

The patient took a flight by Indonesian airline Lion Air from Wuhan to Denpasar in Bali on January 22, and flew back to Shanghai via a Garuda Indonesia flight on January 28, according to the post on Chinese microblogging site Weibo.

Dirga Sakti Rambe, doctor of internal medicine at Omni Hospitals Pulomas in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, said it was “very possible” for the coronavirus to have reached Indonesia, but remain undetected, especially if infected people show mild symptoms.

The WHO on Monday said more than 80 percent of patients with the new coronavirus show mild symptoms, while those who become critically ill are older patients or people with other medical conditions.

Commenting on the Bali case, Rambe noted the virus’s incubation period could last from two to 14 days. “So it is still possible for the patient to have been infected before coming to Bali, while in Bali, or after returning from Bali,” he said.

But Yurianto, the Indonesian health official, said authorities are yet to detect any cases in Bali. Indonesia’s government was not able to track the locations the man had visited during his time in Bali, but is conducting active surveillance on the island, he said.

“We examined the data until January 28,” he said. “It turned out that our surveillance related to the influenza-like illness in all of Bali had no significant change. That means he was not a source of transmission because the numbers did not change much.”

However, the government has suspended some 260 flights from Bali to a number of cities in mainland China since February 5 to limit the spread of the virus.

The WHO in Geneva said the cancellation of flights from Wuhan has “significantly delayed the probability” of the disease spread.

“We need to acknowledge that the relatively low number of cases of the virus detected outside of China is as a result of the intensive efforts the Chinese government is taking to contain the emergency and protect other countries,” the global health agency said, referring to a lockdown imposed on Wuhan and surrounding cities in the Hubei province.

Meanwhile, Hariyadi Sukamdani, chairman of the Indonesian Association of Hotels & Restaurants, told CNBC Indonesia that Bali might lose $200m in tourism revenue and 180,000 tourist arrivals in two months due to the coronavirus outbreak, as January and February are the peak season for Chinese tourists visiting the island.

I Gusti Ngurah Ade Mahendra, owner of Bali OneTwo Trip tour agency, said he was worried about the latest situation.

“Aside from the number of visiting tourists plummeting, it has affected the tourism and the economy, and also our health,” he told Al Jazeera. “Because we are working in tourism where we have direct contact with tourists. I still have to be alert.”

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SOURCE: Al Jazeera News