The videos have gone viral on Chinese social media and have been praised as a novel way to raise awareness of the disease.
Global Times reported that local officials had been putting up slogans in an effort to get communities to stay at home during the epidemic and to avoid people gathering together to slow and prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Apple is temporarily closing all of its stores in China because of the coronavirus outbreak.
According to Apple’s website, all 42 stores will be closed until February 9. The website still works for customers in China.
Here’s what Apple told CNN Business in a statement:
Out of an abundance of caution and based on the latest advice from leading health experts, we’re closing all our corporate offices, stores and contact centers in mainland China through February 9.
We will continue to closely monitor the situation and we look forward to reopening our stores as soon as possible.
Over the past few days, there’s been a question dominating Chinese social media: Could a traditional Chinese medicine help fight the Wuhan coronavirus?
The questions came after state-run Xinhua news agency reported Friday that the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and the Wuhan Institute of Virology had discovered that the Shuanghuanglian oral liquid — a popular combined herbal remedy commonly used to relieve some symptoms such as fever, cough, and sore throat — could be used to inhibit the deadly virus.
ut others aren’t convinced — they think one of the country’s most influential state media outlets could be promoting pseudoscience and false hope.
Social media users — including numerous medical experts — questioned whether the findings were supported by clinical evidence from treating coronavirus patients.
Others — somewhat more cynically — wondered if this was a concerted effort to promote certain herbal products to boost their makers’ share prices ahead of the Chinese stock market’s re-opening Monday.
Nevertheless, many other didn’t appear to need confirmation. Posts on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, purportedly showed people lining up at night outside pharmacies across China to buy Shuanghuanglian.
Such was the apparent demand sparked by the notice that the compound formula sold out on some stores on China’s e-commerce platform Taobao.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about the coronavirus, and scientists internationally are racing to gather data and develop a treatment.
Here’s what we can tell you so far:
Is there a cure? Not at the moment. Researchers have successfully grown the virus in a lab, an important step towards developing a vaccine — but it could be a year or more until it’s available.
What are the symptoms? Coronavirus symptoms can look like the flu — fever, cough, trouble breathing. If you show these symptoms and recently went to China, or have been in contact with someone who visited, experts advise going to the doctor.
How does the virus spread? The virus is thought to spread from person to person through respiratory droplets emitted by coughing or sneezing — but it’s not clear exactly when a person becomes contagious. There’s currently no evidence that the virus is airborne — meaning, for instance, it doesn’t travel across a large room.
Who is at risk of infection? People of all ages can be infected with the virus, but older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions are especially vulnerable to severe complications.
How can I protect myself? Take the same precautionary measures you would during flu season. Wash your hands often with soap and water, cover your nose and mouth when you sneeze or cough, avoid close contact with people or large gatherings, and wear a face mask.
Is it safe to travel? Airlines have suspended flights, and thousands of foreign citizens in the Chinese city of Wuhan have been evacuated back to their home countries. Many countries including the US have advised against travel to China.
Could a traditional Chinese medicine help fight the Wuhan coronavirus, or is one of the country’s most influential state media outlets promoting pseudoscience and false hope?
Those were the questions dominating Chinese social media after the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Friday that the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and the Wuhan Institute of Virology had discovered that the Shuanghuanglian oral liquid — a popular combined herbal remedy commonly used to relieve some symptoms such as fever, cough, and sore throat — could be used to inhibit the deadly virus.
The news, however, was greeted with skepticism online in China, with many — including numerous medical experts — questioning whether the findings were supported by clinical evidence from treating coronavirus patients.
Others wondered if this was a concerted effort to promote certain herbal products to boost their makers’ share prices ahead of the Chinese stock market’s re-opening Monday.
But many others apparently didn’t need confirmation. Posts on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, purportedly showed people lining up at night outside pharmacies across China to buy Shuanghuanglian, ironically going against the authorities’ advice to avoid congregating in public.
Such was the apparent demand sparked by the notice that the compound formula sold out on some stores on China’s e-commerce platform Taobao.
As of Friday, the virus had claimed the lives of more than 250 people in mainland China.
The two institutes that discovered Shuanghuanglian’s alleged ability to inhibit the coronavirus are both state-run bodies.
The Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica is under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), a top government think tank. The Wuhan Institute of Virology is also administered by the CAS and is among the country’s most advanced virus research laboratories.
The news comes after China’s National Health Commission issued a notice on the treatment of the coronavirus on Monday, asking medical institutions to actively promote the role of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) during treatment.
That notice came two days after Chinese President Xi Jinping — a well known TCM advocate — called for the combination of Chinese and Western medicine in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease at a meeting of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, the country’s supreme ruling body.
In recent years, the government has heavily promoted TCM, as part of efforts by Xi to bolster the country’s health sector and fill the gaps in national insurance schemes.
It has also sought to win acceptance for TCM overseas, establishing 30 overseas TCM centers in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi’s global infrastructure and investment program.
The safety and effectiveness of TCM is still debated in China, where it has both adherents and skeptics.
Though many of the remedies have been in use for hundreds of years, critics argue that there is no verifiable scientific evidence to support their supposed benefits.
However, in 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) gave its long-awaited nod to include TCM in its influential book classifying thousands of diseases — its first-ever official endorsement of the ancient practice.
The recent promotion of TCM in China is also in line with Xi’s push to revive traditional Chinese culture, breaking away from the ruling Communist Party’s earlier path under late Chairman Mao Zedong, during which time elements of traditional culture were often attacked, especially during the Cultural Revolution.
At a national conference on TCM last October, Xi urged experts and officials to carry on and innovate the fine elements in TCM and underlined efforts to promote it internationally, Xinhua reported at the time.
Traditional medicine is a treasure of Chinese civilization embodying the wisdom of the nation and its people, Xi said at the meeting in Beijing.
Amid mounting public skepticism over the effectiveness of Shuanghuanglian, the ruling Communist Party’s mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, warned Saturday morning that inhibiting does not equal preventing and treating, reminding the public not to rush to purchase the herbal remedy, or take it without medical supervision.
So far, the finding is still under preliminary study, and a large number of experiments is needed to test if it is effective on patients, it said, citing the WHO in saying that no proven effective drugs to prevent or treat the Wuhan coronavirus are currently available.
The US National Institutes of Health is working on a preventative vaccine, but it will likely take a few months until the first phase of clinical trials get underway, and more than a year until a vaccine might be available, according to experts.
During the deadly SARS pandemic of the early 2000s, another traditional Chinese herbal medicine, Banlangen, made from the root of a flowering woad plant and used to treat the common cold, was sold out in many pharmacies due to a popular but clinically unproven belief that it could help prevent SARS, which is closely related to the Wuhan coronavirus.
The first case of the 2019 novel coronavirus in Massachusetts has been confirmed in a man returning from Wuhan, China who is in his 20s and lives in Boston. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) were notified by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the positive test results late Friday evening. This is the eighth case of infection with 2019 novel coronavirus reported in the United States. The risk to the public from the 2019 novel coronavirus remains low in Massachusetts.
The man recently traveled to Wuhan, China, and sought medical care soon after his return to Massachusetts.
He has been isolated since that time and will continue to remain isolated until cleared by public health officials. His few close contacts have been identified and are being monitored for any sign of symptoms.
��We are grateful that this young man is recovering and sought medical attention immediately,���� said Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD. MPH. “Massachusetts has been preparing for a possible case of this new coronavirus, and we were fortunate that astute clinicians took appropriate action quickly. Again, the risk to the public from the 2019 novel coronavirus remains low in Massachusetts.��
��Our priority is not only to protect and inform the residents of Boston but also to help this man continue to recover.
We are pleased that he is doing well,�� said BPHC Executive Director Rita Nieves. ��Right now, we are not asking Boston residents to do anything differently.
The risk to the general public remains low. And we continue to be confident we are in a good position to respond to this developing situation.��
DPH and BPHC continue to work closely with the CDC to maintain vigilance during this virus outbreak.
The novel coronavirus has resulted in thousands of confirmed human infections in more than 20 countries, with more than 99 percent of cases in China.
To date, eight cases have been confirmed in the US: three people in California, two in Illinois and one individual each in Massachusetts, Washington State, and Arizona.
On Friday, US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declared the 2019 novel coronavirus a public health emergency and ordered any US citizens returning from the center of the outbreak in China to be quarantined for two weeks as a precaution.
This followed a declaration Thursday by the World Health Organization that the coronavirus outbreak is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Also that day the CDC reported the first case of person-to-person transmission in Illinois between household members.
Massachusetts state health officials, in conjunction with Massport, local health departments, and other medical partners, have responded to prevent the spread of the virus.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes coronaviruses as a large family of viruses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people globally during a 2002/03 outbreak that also started in China.
When a new strain emerges that has not yet been identified, as is the case with the current outbreak in China, it temporarily becomes known as a novel coronavirus (nCoV).
The current outbreak has been dubbed Wuhan virus, named after the city where the first report emerged in January.
ll coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.
Christopher Coleman, assistant professor of infection immunology at Nottingham University, told Sky News: They get their name because under the electron microscope there’s a bright ring around the central core of the virus, like the sun essentially.
There are a number of common signs that you may be infected, most of which are respiratory such as experiencing breathing difficulties, shortness of breath and having a cough.
More serious cases could lead to potentially deadly conditions such as pneumonia and kidney failure, with the former having been reported among some patients in China.
People who have returned to the UK from Wuhan in China are being told to stay in for 14 days, and to self-isolate.
Self-isolation involves not going to work, school or into public places.
People should also avoid having visitors, although it is okay for family and friends to drop off parcels or medicines, for example.
They should also not use public transport for a fortnight after returning to Britain.
Since first being reported in the city of Wuhan, where it is believed to have originated at a seafood market, the virus has not provoked unusual symptoms in people who have been diagnosed.
Doctors have seen fever, coughing and breathing difficulties, which are all to be expected.
What remains unknown is how exactly this nCoV came about and how easily it could spread, with researchers at Imperial College London suggesting on 20 January there could have been more than 1,700 cases in Wuhan alone by that point, when Chinese authorities were reporting just 62.
On 23 January, Chinese authorities confirmed this nCov can be transmitted between humans, with dozens of medical staff contracting the virus after treating infected patients.
The UK Foreign Office advised Britons against all but essential travel to mainland China, and airlines around the world suspended flights or offered full refunds or destination and date changes.
Thousands of cases have been identified in China, including in every province of the country.
Countries across Asia, Europe, Australia and North America have also had confirmed cases, including the UK.
Major global airports, including London Heathrow, are monitoring people arriving from China for signs of illness.
The risk to the UK population has been raised from very low to low, according to Public Health England, which says the country is well prepared for new diseases.
Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to tackle the spread of the virus, saying: People’s lives and health should be given top priority and the spread of the outbreak should be resolutely curbed.
Wuhan’s local transport networks – including bus, subway and ferries – were suspended from 10am on 23 January, and airport and train stations closed to outgoing passengers.
Authorities asked citizens not to leave the city unless there are special circumstances.
The 2003 outbreak of SARS killed 774 people across dozens of countries, mostly in Asia, and the current outbreak is considered to be more closely related to that virus than any other.
Another prominent coronavirus to emerge since the turn of the century is Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and killed more than 800 people.
The WHO says humans are mostly infected with MERS through direct or indirect contact with infected dromedary camels, and human-to-human transmission is rare.
Professor Coleman was involved in some of the first research into MERS in the US.
He told Sky News: SARS and MERS are the two severe coronaviruses. There are four that are very mild that people can get very regularly.
Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, of the WHO’s emerging diseases unit, says it is important that you keep up basic hand and respiratory hygiene, such as washing your hands with soap and water and sneezing into your elbow or a tissue.
Ways to protect yourself against a potential animal source would be to avoid unnecessary contact with live animals and make sure that you wash your hands thoroughly after contact with an animal, she adds.
And also to make sure that your meat is cooked thoroughly before consuming.
There are no reliable vaccines available to rid your body of a coronavirus.
The best you can do is take medicines and treatments for specific symptoms.
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