Tag: coronavirus

Did the 2011 film ‘Contagion’ predict the coronavirus outbreak?

Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon’s 2011 film Contagion is re-appearing in movie rental charts in the UK and the US, in wake of the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China.

According to reports, Steven Soderbergh’s terrifying thriller, which was inspired by the 2003 SARS epidemic and the 2009 flu pandemic bears striking similarities to the coronavirus outbreak that has the whole world scared.

Contagion which starres Jude Law and Laurence Fishburne along with Winslet, Paltrow and Damon follows the story of a woman (Paltrow) who unknowingly catches what she thinks is a common cold during a “business trip” (read: secret rendezvous with her lover) to Hong Kong. Upon her return to the United States, the woman spreads her germs, and everyone who has come in contact with her — including her young son — is killed by what scientists call Meningoencephalitis Virus One (MEV-1).

The film tracked the spread of a deadly virus from discovery through its global spread to, finally, a vaccine being created. However, in the process 26 million people died worldwide in only 26 days after the virus’s discovery, followed by instances of social disorder and widespread societal breakdown.

The coronavirus is said to have originated in a live animal market in China’s seventh biggest city Wuhan. In the film, it is discovered in the final scenes that the virus was initially spread from a bat, disturbed by jungle clearance, which drops infected food into a pigpen. Additionally, the fictional MEV-1 and the coronavirus share similar symptoms which include fever, cough, and shortness of breath.

Following the deadly outbreak, China, particularly the mainland areas have been sealed and most flights to and from the country have been suspended. The World Health Organisation has also declared it a global health emergency as scientists rush to discover a cure for it.

January 31, 2020
Coronavirus: Pak-China trade suspended, Opp demands bringing students back

With the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring a global emergency over the spreading coronavirus, as Chinese authorities increase the toll to 213 dead and nearly 10,000 infections, trade between Pakistan and China has been suspended while opposition demands bringing back Pakistanis stuck in China.

According to reports, while it was also decided that all Chinese imports will be sprayed with disinfectants, Pakistan on Friday suspended flight operations — except those of Pakistan Internation Airlines (PIA) — to the neighbouring country.

TRADE SUSPENDED:

According to a statement, trade has been suspended between the two countries for at least a month, while the issuance of Chinese visas to traders has also been halted.

The volume of trade between the two countries is around $15 billion — around 30 per cent of Pakistan’s total trade — and the country is now mulling to import goods from other countries instead, a report said.

Also, the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) will quarantine the Chinese and Southeast Asian ship personnel, its chairperson, Rear Admiral Jamil Akhtar, said. He added the containers, especially those arriving from China and Southeast Asia, would be thoroughly checked, and that special care would be taken to ensure that the staff on these ships remained limited to the port only.

NO FLIGHTS TO OR FROM CHINA:

“We are suspending flights to China until February 2,” Aviation Additional Secretary Abdul Sattar Khokhar told Reuters, adding the situation would be reviewed after that date. He declined to comment on the reason for the closure.

Some airlines, including British Airways, have suspended flights to China due to warnings of the coronavirus outbreak. Germany, Britain and other countries have issued warnings about travel to China.

Russia also sealed its remote far-eastern border with China as a precaution on Thursday. Some countries have banned entry for travellers from Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus first surfaced, while reports said that PIA would continue to operate between the two countries.

OPPOSITION WANTS STUDENTS RESCUED:

Meanwhile, opposition leaders have demanded that the government take responsibility of the Pakistani students stuck in China, and bring them back to the country.

Reports quoted Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Usman Kakar as saying in the Senate that over 28,000 Pakistanis, 10,000 of which are students, were stuck in China, and the government’s decision to not bring them back was no less than “attempted murder”.

While Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mushahidullah said that the government should take responsibility of the students stranded in China, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Rehman Malik said that military’s C-130 aircraft should be sent to rescue them

‘WE’RE MONITORING SITUATION’:

The Pakistani government is monitoring the situation in China and is in close contact with the relevant authorities in order to ensure the safety of Pakistani students in Wuhan, said the Foreign Office on the other hand.

“Islamabad has taken up the issue of food shortages with concerned officials and we are assured by the Chinese government of full cooperation in this regard,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Aaisha Farooqui said at a press briefing.

In response to questions about the evacuation of Pakistani citizens from Wuhan, the spokesperson said, “Islamabad is monitoring the evolving situation and will take a decision after consultations among all the stakeholders.”

January 31, 2020
Pakistan suspends flight operations to China amid coronavirus outbreak

Pakistan on Friday halted flights to and from China with immediate effect as death toll from the deadly coronavirus continued to climb in China and World Health Organisation declared it a global health emergency.

“We are suspending flights to China until February 2,” Senior Joint Secretary of aviation Abdul Sattar Khokhar told Reuters, adding the situation would be reviewed after that date.

Previously on Thursday, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspended all flights to Beijing until February 2. It is pertinent to mention here that PIA had restarted two flights to Tokyo and Beijing in May 2019 after a gap of three months.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to PM Imran on Health Dr Zafar Mirza announced that the government has decided not to repatriate Pakistani citizens stranded in China in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation.

“We believe that right now, it is in the interest of our loved ones in China [to stay there]. It is in the larger interest of the region, world, country that we don’t evacuate them now,” he told reporters at a press conference.

“This is what the World Health Organisation is saying, this is China’s policy and this is our policy as well. We stand by China in full solidarity,” he stated, adding, “Right now the government of China has contained this epidemic in Wuhan city. If we act irresponsibly and start evacuating people from there, this epidemic will spread all over the world like wildfire.”

Mirza assured that the Pakistan Embassy in China was in close contact with Pakistani citizens in Wuhan and China was monitoring their activity closely. He said that the government will take responsibility for its citizens and ensure that they are taken care of.

As the death toll from the virus hit 213, the World Health Organisation declared coronavirus to be a global health emergency. The virus has infected close to 10,000 people and all flights to and from China have been suspended to contain the virus and prevent it from spreading.

January 31, 2020
India promotes traditional remedies to fight the new coronavirus

As all are paranoid after the deadly coronavirus and scientists are trying to find a cure for the virus, the Indian government said that the cure could be found in ancient homeopathy and Ayurveda remedies.

Ayurvedic medicine that means the ‘science of life’ in Sanskrit, treats the physical and mental sources of illness through herbs in combination with yoga or massage.

The Indian ministry that promotes the country’s growing Ayurveda, yoga, and homeopathy sectors released an advisory listing herbal oils to be rubbed into the scalp to hypothetically ease the symptoms. It also suggested ingesting Arsenicum album-30, a homeopathic treatment.

The dose should be repeated after one month by following the same schedule in case coronavirus infections prevail,” the ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy) said in a statement.

The ministry also advised on maintaining personal hygiene to prevent the spread of the virus. The advisory came as the Dalai Lama, in exile in Dharamsala in India, said on Facebook that followers concerned about the virus should chant a mantra that would help them in dealing with the situation.

India claims to have natural remedies for everything from cancer to the common cold. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he wants the world to make Ayurveda ‘a way of life’.

January 30, 2020
Four Pakistani students in China tested positive for coronavirus

Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza has confirmed that at least four Pakistani students in China have tested positive for coronavirus as the outbreak claims at least 132 lives, leaving thousands of others affected.

According to Dawn, Dr Mirza, while addressing a press conference on Wednesday, said that a large proportion of Pakistanis living in China were students, of which over 500 are based in the central city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the new virus.

The premier’s special assistant said that four Pakistani students had tested positive for coronavirus with links to Wuhan. On PM Imran Khan’s behalf, Mirza assured the families of the children of the government’s support. He said that they will take on the responsibility of these children and all Pakistanis in China.

“We will take care of them the same way we would care for our own children,” he said. However, he added, that no case of the coronavirus has been confirmed in Pakistan yet.

The report comes days after Pakistani students studying at the Engineering and Science University of Wuhan requested help from the Pakistani and Chinese governments amid the alarming outbreak of the virus. A video message that was sent by the students stated that due to the virus, no communication between Wuhan and China was possible and more than 2,000 Pakistani students were facing food shortage.

The students had requested the premier and foreign minister to send help and facilitate their evacuation from the province.

On Monday, the PM Office had also convened a meeting in light of 2,000 coronavirus cases being confirmed across the globe amid the presence of a large number of Chinese nationals in Pakistan, and frequent travel between the two countries.

CORONAVIRUS:

In mid-December, some people in the central Chinese city of Wuhan began complaining of flu and pneumonia-like symptoms. Some had a high fever. Doctors were perplexed. To find out what might be causing their illness, geneticists analysed the DNA of the virus that had infected them.

At once, the scientists realised the virus was new to science.

As of January 23, experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Switzerland estimated that at least 557 people have contracted the rapidly spreading disease.

January 29, 2020
How to track the spread of coronavirus in real-time

The deadly coronavirus is spreading like a wildfire across the world. There is an online dashboard that can give you real-time news in the form of data. The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkinas has built a tool, integrating data from the World Health Organisation, as well as centres for disease control from across the world.

The death toll has reached at least 81, and the virus has infected more than 2,800 people worldwide. As reports come in, the map keeps track of the total confirmed cases, total deaths, and total recoveries. Each red dot represents an outbreak, with the size corresponding to the relative size of the outbreak.

Source – John Hopkins

Read more – Can you get coronavirus through your AliExpress order?

So far, the virus has spread to 13 other countries, including the US, France, Australia, and Japan. Experts fear that the true number of people infected is much higher than the official total.

Source – John Hopkins

While Wuhan has been quarantined, at least 12 other cities have imposed travel restrictions, affecting an estimated 33 million people.

January 28, 2020
PM convenes high-level meeting on coronavirus outbreak

Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has convened a high-level inter-ministerial meeting to formulate a strategy for tackling the outbreak of coronavirus as it claims at least 81 lives in China, and leaves thousands of others affected.

According to a notification issued by the PM’s Office on Monday, the meeting has been convened “in light of 2,000 coronavirus cases being confirmed across the globe amid the presence of a large number of Chinese nationals in Pakistan and frequent travel between the two countries”.

In mid-December, some people in the central Chinese city of Wuhan began complaining of flu and pneumonia-like symptoms. Some had a high fever. Doctors were perplexed. To find out what might be causing their illness, geneticists analysed the DNA of the virus that had infected them.

At once, the scientists realised the virus was new to science. As of January 23, experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Switzerland estimated that at least 557 people have contracted the rapidly spreading disease.

As Pakistan remains at risk if necessary precautions are not taken, the federal-level meeting has been summoned by the premier’s office under the chairmanship of special assistant to the PM on national health services, regulations and coordination.

Outcome of the meeting along with recommendations will be furnished to the PM’s office within one week, the notification said.

January 27, 2020
Can you get coronavirus through your AliExpress order?

Chinese health authorities have said that the international outbreak of respiratory illness caused by coronavirus has killed over 70 people and affected at least 1,500 others.

The deadly outbreak began in Wuhan, China, at a market selling live poultry, seafood and wild animals. Now the virus has turned up in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Nepal, France, Australia and even the United States. Investigators in still other countries, including Pakistan and several American states, are evaluating possible cases.

Officials in China have closed transportation links from and within Wuhan and other affected cities. The move was a significant escalation in the country’s attempts to contain the virus as millions embarked on holiday travel for the Lunar New Year.

ALIEXPRESS POSING ANY THREATS?

With news of the outbreak taking the world by storm and people going an extra mile to protect themselves and their loved ones, someone has pointed out how global population might be at risk due to ordering stuff from Chinese online shopping giant, AliExpress.

Launched by the Alibaba Group in 2010, AliExpress is made up of small businesses in China and other locations, such as Singapore, that offer products to international online buyers.

But can ordering stuff from China also get the virus delivered to your doorstep?

The answer is no. Reports quoted Epidemiologist Zoran Radovanovic as saying that an order from AliExpress takes several weeks to be delivered, and the virus cannot survive that long. The length of time it survives primarily depends on the conditions — whether it’s damp, dark, and on what surface it finds itself, because it’s easier to survive on plastic than on metal.

In the case of this virus, it’s a matter of hours — it can survive for several hours on a surface, but not for several days. So chances are that if you pay extra for faster delivery, you could end up being at risk of getting infected.

January 25, 2020