2020.03.06

Official Numbers:

• The total number of confirmed infected has exceeded 100,000 worldwide. Remember, doubling period is approximately a week. By the first week of April we’ll have 1M official infections. Now keep in mind that the official numbers are off by a factor of 10 at least

Website and Links:

• Site now has an RSS feed. I have no idea if it works right or not

Middle East:

• Somebody’s personal story about Tehran. He claims it is not as bad as I have been lead to believe

China:

• Nothing to report

Asia:

• Korea has tested 140,000 people. They’re reporting a current death rate of 0.6%. Does this mean that there is a massive long tail of mild/asymptomatic infection? I think it’s too soon to tell, but we can hope

Europe:

• Nothing to report

UK:

• NHS considering drafting med students to augment medical workforce. This is sufficiently serious that I won’t share my usual opinion on the subject of socialized medicine.

US:

• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society global health conference cancelled
• FBI employee at SF field office confirmed infected
• NYC formally telling people to get prepping
• SXSW FINALLY CANCELLED. I get to live! No hipsters spreading plague to every corner of my city
• Diamond Princess 2: Electric Boogaloo. almost half the people tested are infected. Pence committed today to testing every single person on board. This will provide interesting data if nothing else.
• Emerald City Comic Con postponed
• San Mateo County Health Officer gives statement. This statement is a perfect example of what I wish we could get from all our leaders. Instead, our politicians dick around, the WHO bitches about racism, the CDC tells us to wash our hands and pray for the best. Clown world.
• A bunch of people who went to PAX East got pneumonia. I’ve heard of con flu but 20-somethings getting pneumonia?

Canada:

• Coronavirus reported in Toronto patient who returned from Las Vegas. Very strange, I wonder which direction the causality goes. This seems to suggest the disease is already everywhere which, if true, is good news (as it couldn’t be as lethal as expected, and also be everywhere, without us knowing)

Tech:

• Two Microsoft employees confirmed infected

Science/Medical:

• German researchers identify protease that seems to prevent coronavirus infections
• Story of Australian couple who got infected on a cruise. Two interesting things. First, woman is testing positive again after recovery. Second: the man tested positive but never showed symptoms. Overall I think this is good news
• Preliminary safety trials for vaccine candidate. Good news, but do not be fooled: the BEST case is that we’re one year out on a vaccine
• Some virologists demanding that the “S-type and L-type” paper be retracted

Market:

• Lufthansa cuts 150 planes’ worth of capacity. I’ve seen reports of other airlines doing similar