International COVID-19 Megathread

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Belgium: 23 cases.

We had 1 three days ago.

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Belgium: 23 cases.

We had 1 three days ago.

27 new cases today

total 50

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wow, 10 new cases in a neighbouring municipilaty of covid-19.... whom one of them is a teacher who went on ski vacation... with his school... they are in quarantaine but the school has notified the children of the school in my neighboring municipality to be alert for symptoms.



red: neighbouring municipilaty with 10 cases
yellow: where i live



74 cases in northernmost province of France as well.

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https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2020/03/05/family-of-eight-test-positive-for-coronavirus/

One of the eight is a primary school teacher, who taught school in recent days.  The pupils’ parents have been informed. The school is not being closed.  The Mayor of Wevelgem says: “The most important thing is that the parents are very alert and immediately contact their GP if they notice anything.  In such cases they should not send their child to school”.

With two additional cases.

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Belgium: 23 cases.

We had 1 three days ago.

27 new cases today

total 50

59 new cases

Total 109. Most cases in my region. And for the first time People are infecties who were not in Italy or close with People who've been there

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Two additionele cases in neighbouring municipalities other than the one i already talked about. My region in Belgium is clearly the most affected by corona

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314 infected, first 3 deaths in Belgium.

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314 infected, first 3 deaths in Belgium.

399 infected.

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Belgium is also shutting down.

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Bolsonaro is infected with corona. He shaked hands with Trump a week ago.

160 new cases. 559 cases in total in Belgium.

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In soccer news, it is at this point seen as all but given that the 2020 European Football Championship will be postponed until 2021 by the UEFA.

Would be a good decision.

133 new infections in our country
a total of 10,500 samples have already been tested in Belgium, of which 689 proved positive
Although the 689 confirmed cases are certainly an underestimate, because only patients at risk are tested for the virus
4th patient (eighties) died
97 patients are in the hospital: 24 of them are on intensive care, 22 receive respiratory support

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Belgium advises not to travel to foreign countries anymore.

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190 new cases, 886 in total. I live in the most northwestern province in the southeast.

Yesterday, all bars and restaurants closed, but they held lockdown or corona parties, and ministers condemned the population of it being very inappropriate.

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Belgium is being hit badly. Look at deaths / 1 million inhabitants

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A study in the „Kurier“ newspaper shows that of Austria’s 300+ deaths - all but one person - was over the age of 50.

The single person under the age of 50 was a 20-something woman with significant health and immune system problems for years.

Almost all deaths are in the 65-90 age groups.

In Belgium a young girl of 14 died.

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https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2020/04/12/corona-fines-for-partygoers-court-for-non-essential-journeys/

Corona fines for partygoers, court for non-essential journeys

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Meanwhile, riots in a Brussels suburb

Death of youngster in police chase triggers unrest

Angry youngsters headed out onto the street in the Brussels borough of Anderlecht yesterday afternoon after a 19-year-old died during a police chase.  The youngster, who was fleeing a corona check on a moped on Friday night, crashed into a police vehicle head on.

Youngsters gathered at various spots across Anderlecht.  In all 43 hotheads were detained. Dozens of youngsters massed on the Raadsplein near Anderlecht city hall and outside the Clemenceau metro station.  The protest derailed into a small riot with stones being hurled at police.

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The far-left party PVDA gives 140.000 euro to corona crisis. The 34 parliamentary members give 50% of their wages to the corona crisis and make calls to other parties to do the same. No-one reacted. Social Democrats called the proposal populist. The far-left party PVDA argues that in Bulgaria all political families do the same. Political expert Carl Devos said that no-one of the establishment parties would agree as they would admit that politicians earn too much money, and that no-one wanted the PVDA to win on this issue.

The far-left party said they help wherever possible and that their organization: "Healthcare for Everyone" is testing people for free in rest homes where 2/3rd of casualties are concentrated". They've said that now is not the time to criticize the establishment, but to follow and respect the draconic measures and stay at home, and that their main mission is to save as many people. They also propose a one-time corona tax for the super rich.

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Unsourced image removed

Cuba is highly respected for the international medical brigades that assist the health services of Italy and Andorra even in Europe. But the island itself is also confronted with COVID-19. The first infection was detected on March 11: an Italian tourist in the busy town of Trinidad.

More than three weeks later (April 3, 2020), 233 patients with the coronavirus Covid-19 / SARS-CoV-2 were infected in Cuba. Unfortunately, six of them died. 2,742 people are in hospital for observation and another 26,000 people are monitored at home from primary health care.

One of the best developed public health systems
The corona crisis is not tackled in a vacuum, but within the political and social context of each country. The Cuban context is quite unique. Socialist Cuba has one of the best developed public health systems in the world. That with a gross domestic product (GDP) that is 10 times lower than that of Belgium. About 30% of the national budget goes to health expenditure. By comparison, this is about 13% in Belgium.

It is this preventive health system, which draws on the mass participation of the population, that better prepares Cuba for the fight against Covid-19
All health indicators in Cuba are at EU level, far above the values ​​in the US. This is because the focus is mainly on prevention and primary health care. For example, diseases are combated preventively and it also costs health care less money. It is this preventive health system, which draws on the mass participation of the population, that better prepares Cuba - much more so than other countries - for the fight against Covid-19.

Of course, Cuba also faces major challenges, if only because it is a venomous virus. But also because of the economic impact of the stricter US sanctions against the island. “The Sars-CoV-2 virus is one of the greatest challenges for humanity in our history. But Cuba is facing it as the blockade places huge economic and financial constraints on our country, ”said José Angel Portal Miranda, Cuban health minister.

Tracing and isolation
The Cuban approach is different from the Belgian one. Tracing and isolation are central, and this with limited testing capacity. Cuban health services want to cut all chains of infection immediately. Suspicious cases are being tested. With a positive test, that individual is completely isolated and the entire network is mapped (contact tracing), so that possible other infections can also be tested and isolated.

People with moderate symptoms that may indicate contamination are immediately hospitalized and cared for. There is no waiting for a test to determine whether they are infected or not. A much larger group of people without or with mild symptoms - today more than 26,000 people - are under daily medical supervision in home isolation or in recently established isolation centers. This is because they have had contact with suspicious cases, because they have just returned from abroad or because the health services have screened them as "potentially infected".

Still, Cuba has limited testing capacity. The tests cost money, the reagents (chemicals) must be sufficiently available, as well as test material such as swabs. Due to the economic and financial blockade from the United States, this is not evident for Cuban health services. A large shipment of test kits and protective equipment from China could not be delivered to Cuba. This is because the transport company in the US wanted to avoid fines for going against US legislation about the blockade.

Well prepared
Since January, at the start of the outbreak in Wuhan, China, a prevention plan has been developed. Special “hearings” were organized in all neighborhoods, companies and committees. It was the social organizations, such as the union division, the women's organization or the neighborhood committees that organized these information meetings. Cuba strongly counts on the full participation of the Cuban people. Since the internet has become more accessible, Cubans have also been sold on their smartphones. That is why Cuba developed a Covid-19 app full of medical information and updates.

Crucial was also the education and training of all health workers in the country, from neighborhood practices to outpatient clinics and general hospitals to specialized reference hospitals. In Cuba there are two renowned tropical institutes active, which immediately got under way to centralize all information about Covid-19.

Since February, the outpatient clinics and hospitals have set up separate consultation rooms, isolation rooms and separate waiting rooms and outside doors for patients with respiratory problems, so that they do not cross the other patients. All these measures have not only been decided but already implemented before the first positive cases surfaced.

A lot of home visits
Cuba has one doctor for every 150 people. The neighborhood health centers with general practitioners and nurses form the heart of healthcare. These doctors and nurses live in the district or village and know the people they care for. Cuba prides itself on knowing the detailed health of the entire population. There is an enormous amount of statistical material available, not only from the people who frequently have health problems but also from the healthy population. All Cubans receive a preventive check-up several times a year from the family doctor, who works in the health post in his / her neighborhood.

This approach, which focuses on prevention, already provides a solid basis for dealing with extraordinary situations. It is the same network of health workers who proactively screen the population that is now being used en masse to detect corona infections. Cuban health services have their "most vulnerable" populations and can therefore work towards them more specifically.

The majority of patients now in home isolation have been identified in a large campaign of home visits. They have one goal: not to wait for people to come to health care, but to consciously look for infected persons and detect them in time.

The local health workers are assisted by 28,000 medical students, social workers and militants from the women's federation, youth organizations and neighborhood committees. They go from door to door, make no physical contact and keep a sufficient distance. They go through a questionnaire and ask how you are doing. If someone has a dry cough or fever, this is immediately passed on to the health post. Because many Cubans have already had a "white coat" at the front door several times, this also takes away their fears.

The home visits are repeated daily as much as possible. In addition to proactively detecting health problems, they also serve to support all Cubans, especially the vulnerable groups. For example, help can be offered with groceries. These home visits have so far reached nine million people, some three-quarters of the Cuban population.

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More than 27,000 violations of corona measures in Belgium, especially among youngsters. Everyone who violates the quarantine measures, gets a fine of 250 euros (which is ridicilously high, too high). On Facebook, i've seen lots of post of what it is now to live in an opressive police state. I think minister De Crem (CD&V) who enforces those fines, is becoming very unpopular. I wished the youth was more responsible.

Meanwhile I see a N-VA ad, where they say: "Resting on a seat, sorry, i'm not going to enforce it".

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If Cuba does a great job handling corona crisis, i'm going to say it as it is, and they send help & solidarity to other countries. I respect other people's opinions, but it's simply bs that they inflate their numbers. Cuba has many weaknesses, first and all, the lack of democratic institutions, but on healthcare, we could all learn from them.

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Liege has 3000 infected people per 100.000 citizens each day

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why is covid so bad here?

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The situation in the neighbouring Czech Republic is nuts:

15.300 new daily infections yesterday (in US terms: 480.000 new daily cases)

126 dead yesterday (in US terms: 4.000 new deaths per day)

Austria had +3.600 new cases yesterday and 11 dead.

17709 new daily infections yesterday
89 dead yesterday

11.46 million live in Belgium
10.65 million live in Czechia

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The COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On 23 January 2020, the first known case of COVID-19 in Vietnam was reported.[2][4] As of 28 December 2020, the country had 1,451 confirmed cases, 1,318 recoveries, and 35 deaths. More than 1.35 million tests have been performed.[5][6] Da Nang, as of December is the most-affected city with 413 confirmed cases and 31 deaths.[1]

Vietnam has suspended the entry of all foreigners from 22 March 2020 until further notice to limit the spread of COVID-19. The measure will not apply to diplomats, officials, foreign investors, experts, and skilled workers. For foreigners that entered the country before 1 March including those with temporary residence permits will also be entitled to extensions till 30 June but must present health declarations.[7]

Vietnam is cited by global media as having one of the best-organized epidemic control programs in the world,[8][9] along the lines of other highlights such as Taiwan and South Korea.[10] Despite inferior economic and technological capacity, the country's response to the outbreak has received widespread international acclaim for its immediacy, effectiveness and transparency, in contrast to censorship in China, and the poor preparation and widespread outbreaks in the United States and in European countries.

Wow!