International COVID-19 Megathread

[Tender Branson]

My stock market fund has turned negative today.

[rosin]

According to AP, all professional sports events in Italy are halted at least until April 3.

LONDON (AP) — All sports in Italy were expected to be halted on Monday because of the virus outbreak, including games in the country’s top soccer division and preparatory events for the Tokyo Olympics.

The Italian Olympic Committee, which oversees all sporting events in the country, said in a statement that the suspension will last until April 3 and that it would request a government decree to impose its decision.

https://apnews.com/eadffad2de0652ee16e02e63ff90ba16

[Tender Branson]

About 200 cases now reported here, most are still tourists from Italy or elsewhere or people on skiing holidays.

2 of the 200 or so are in serious condition (and over 70) and in Vienna hospitals, while most are just isolated for 2-3 weeks at home with mild symptoms.

Tyrol and Carinthia will start testing drivers starting tomorrow on highways from Italy.

[Tender Branson]

Age breakdown of Italy deaths:

  1% - aged 0 to 60
99% - aged 60+

[President Johnson]

Germany is now urging to outright cancel all events with over 1,000 people and reducing other gatherings with a few hundred participants. When asked at a press conference how long this should be going on, Health Minister Spahn said "we're definitely talking about several months, not several weeks".

Furthermore, Professor Drosten, a leading specialist, has cited an American study that the effect of spring and summer weather is smaller than flu. This means, warmer temperatures will probably just barely help.

[Former President tack50]

Since nobody is doing a rundown of coronavirus in Spain, here is the summary.

Total cases: 1221
Casualties: 34
Healed people: 29

All 17 Spanish autonomous communities have at least 1 case of Coronavirus, though the 2 towns in Northern Africa (Ceuta and Melilla) still have none.

By far the largest amount of cases, at 577 is located in Madrid, with La Rioja, the Basque Country and Cantabria all having more than 100 cases.

Today classes were cancelled for 2 weeks starting tomorrow in Madrid and the province of Álava (Basque Country)

[Mike88]

Update on Portugal:

9 new cases were reported today, making 39 the total number of people infected. The vast majority of the infected are from Felgueiras and Lousada, Porto district. The government has ordered the closure of all public buildings in these two municipalities, and college students from these areas are being barred from going to universities around the country.

The government is also considering all option, it seems. The Secretary of Internal Affairs, Patrícia Gaspar, said in a radio interview, that border closure is an option, but only in last resort. She also said that the government is ready to impose forced quarantines, but that they hope it will not be necessary.

[Omega21]

The whole of Italy is now on full quarantine lockdown.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51810673

[Blue3]

The whole of Italy is now on full quarantine lockdown.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51810673

That’s just crazy.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Vietnam Health Department

Jealous Coronavirus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9YirNgAzXI

[Middle-aged Europe]

The first case in Saxony-Anhalt, the only remaining German state which so far had been completely unaffected, has occurred.

Total confirmed infections: 1,239
NRW: 534
Bavaria: 262
Baden-Württemberg: 236



Italy has 9,172 confirmed infections and 463 deaths now, officially ranking second in both statistics worldwide.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Austria and the Czech Republic have banned all public events in closed buildings with more then 100 attendees.

Austria has also effectively closed its southern border, banning people from Italy from entering the country, unless they can provide a doctor's certificate.

Serbia has banned people from Italy, certain provinces in China, South Korea, Iran and Switzerland from entering the country.

Israel has banned all foreigners from entering the country unless they enter a 14-day quarantine and they also ordered all tourists currently being in the country to leave ASAP.

David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, has entered a 14-day quarantine too.

In Germany, the state of Bavaria has banned all public events with more than 1,000 attendees and federal interior minister Horst Seehofer has also entered a 14-day quarantine. On the coming weekend, the first Bundesliga soccer games will take place in front of "empty ranks", spectators being banned from the stadiums.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Italy and the Corona-virus appear to be a perfect storm.

https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-10/italy-coronavirus-lockdown-travel-advice/12041504

"Why is the coronavirus so bad in Italy?"

"COVID-19 has a more severe effect on the elderly and people with existing medical conditions than young, previously healthy patients.

And Italy has a large older population.

A 2019 report from the UN says 23 per cent of Italy's population is 65 or older."

"Italy is a country of old people," Massimo Galli, the director of infectious diseases at a Milan hospital, told The Guardian."

"The elderly with previous pathologies are notoriously numerous here."

[Middle-aged Europe]

Schleswig-Holstein has joined Bavaria in issuing a ban of public events with more than 1,000 attendees.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Schleswig-Holstein has joined Bavaria in issuing a ban of public events with more than 1,000 attendees.

And Bremen did as well now.

Berlin on the other hand refuses to issue such a restriction, arguing there needs to be a federal solution.

[parochial boy]

I haven't been posting about the situation here much, but it's starting to be pretty serious. We're actually about the 6th worst hit country per capita, and likely we'll go past China and South Korea in the next few days. Ticino alone is approaching 100 cases, which means it is as badly hit as Emilia-Romagna or Veneto relative to its population. I don't want to panic, but it's probably time to be ramping up the measures here (not reducing quarantine times, or limiting testing to people who are "at risk" FFS), as what's in place already has clearly not been working.

[Middle-aged Europe]

North Rhine-Westphalia has joined Bavaria, Schleswig-Holstein, and Bremen in banning all public events with more than 1,000 attendees.

[CumbrianLefty]

UK confirmed cases up to 373, with six deaths now - all elderly people with other health conditions.

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

168 new deaths in Italy - though data is missing from Lombardy

https://mobile.twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1237426680781774850

[Eraserhead]

168 new deaths in Italy - though data is missing from Lombardy

https://mobile.twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1237426680781774850

Jesus.

[Middle-aged Europe]

1,524 confrmed infections in Germany. 642 in NRW, 313 in Bavaria, and 277 in Baden-Württemberg.

Bans on large public events in effect in five states (NRW, Bavaria, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen, and Thuringia). The state of Hesse has issued a "recommendation" to that effect.

The German Ice Hockey League has decided to terminate its current season early.

[Tender Branson]

The number of cases in Austria is rising very slowly, from 157 yesterday to 182 today.

Vienna and Lower Austria have about 50 cases each, followed by Tyrol with about 40.

All other states have less than 15 (but my district has 12 - Norwegian and UK tourists and a Vienna woman who brought the virus with them somehow and are quarantined in their hotel rooms).

The border with Italy will be „closed“ (which in effect is impossible, as we have seen during the immigration influx of 2015/16). They are doing stichprobenartige (random) fever checks on drivers coming from Italy, but the border crossings will certainly not be closed.

[Tender Branson]

The Austrian state of Vorarlberg will have municipal elections on Sunday (just like Bavaria) and the state of Styria the week after.

People are advised to bring their own pens with them (but the ones used at the precincts will get disinfected after every vote too ... )

[Mike88]

Just 2 new cases reported today in Portugal, making 41 in total. Overall, 375 are suspect, 83 are waiting test results and 667 are being monitored.

Many schools and universities, private and public, are closing for the next few weeks, and the government will decide tomorrow if all schools, across the whole country, will close. In Idães parish, Felgueiras, where almost half of all the infected are from, the parish president says that many people that are on quarantine are doing walks on the street and going to coffee shops. The Parish President has reported to the police the case.

[President Johnson]

What's happening in Spain? Their numbers are exploding and have surpassed Germany and are close France now.