[ad_1]
According to a study by Hong Kong researchers, more than 232,000 people may have been infected in the first wave of Covid-19 in mainland China, four times the official figures.
Mainland China reported more than 55,000 cases as of February 20 but, according to According to research by academics at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health published in The Lancet, the actual number would have been much higher if the definition of a Covid-19 case that had later been used had been applied from the start.
China has reported more than 83,000 cases. Globally, the death toll from the coronavirus has exceeded 183,000, with a worldwide number of cases of more than 2.6 million.
The Chinese national health commission released seven versions of a case definition for Covid-19 between January 15 and March 3, and the study found that these changes had a “substantial effect” on the number of infections that were detected as cases.
It comes when the Chinese ambassador to the United States called for “a serious rethinking of the fundamentals” of the two countries’ relationship, while criticizing US politicians for ignoring scientists and making “unfounded” accusations.
The Hong Kong study analyzed data through February 20 selected from the World Health Organization mission to Wuhan.
It is estimated that each of the first four changes increased the proportion of cases detected and counted, between 2.8 and 7.1 times.
“If the fifth version of the case definition had been applied throughout the outbreak with sufficient evidence, we estimate that by February 20, 2020, there would have been 232,000 … confirmed cases in China compared to 55,508 confirmed cases reported, “according to the study. said.
As scientific knowledge and laboratory capacity evolved, the definition of a confirmed case has been expanded to include cases with milder symptoms or without epidemiological links to Wuhan or other known cases.
The report says these changes need to be considered when looking at the growth rate of the epidemic and doubling times.
China has faced continued skepticism about its case report. Last week it revealed that the death toll in Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated, was in fact 50% higher than initially reported.
On Wednesday, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States believed that China’s ruling Communist Party did not report the outbreak of the new coronavirus in a timely manner.
The United States and Australia have called for an international investigation into the management of the outbreak.
On Wednesday, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai said there should be “a serious rethinking of the foundations of this important relationship” between the two countries. He also criticized American politicians for being “concerned in their efforts by stigmatization and unfounded accusation,” rather than listening to scientists.
The United States, primarily through President Donald Trump, has expanded theories that the virus escaped from a Chinese laboratory, without evidence.
On Wednesday night, Trump rebuked a state governor and a Republican ally for his decision to reopen bowling alleys, hair salons, and other businesses on Friday “in violation” of phased federal guidelines.
Despite having expressed his support for American citizens protesting the blockades, Trump said of Georgia Governor Brian Kemp: “I want him to do what he thinks is right, but I disagree with him on what he is doing “
America’s leading infectious disease expert The USA, Dr. Anthony Fauci, also urged against Kemp’s decision.
However, at the same press conference there was a complete contradiction between Trump and his experts about the risk of a virus resurgence later in the year.
Trump said the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, had been “fully cited” in an article about the dangers of the virus during the flu season. Redfield, along with Trump on the podium, told reporters: “I have been accurately quoted in the Washington Post.”
Fauci said he was “convinced” of the risk of resurgence, adding: “We will have coronavirus in the fall.”
Other developments include:
-
The world is on its way to a recession of “depth unprecedented in the post-war period,” the ratings agency Fitch said in a note issued on Thursday. The agency now expected global gross domestic product to drop 3.9% in 2020.
-
Asian stock markets rose on Thursday as the combination of a rally in crude prices from record lows and the promise of more help from the US government. USA To dampen the coronavirus-ravaged economy it helped calm nervous markets.
-
South Korea’s economy, the world’s twelfth largest, saw its worst performance in more than a decade in the first quarter of this year, the central bank said on Thursday, and authorities warned of a bigger impact to come.
-
Two domestic cats in New York state have tested positive for the coronavirus, marking the first confirmed cases in companion animals in the United States, federal officials said Wednesday.
-
The missing Wuhan citizen journalist Li Zehua has reappeared. He disappeared for nearly two months after posting videos of Wuhan during the coronavirus outbreak, but appeared, saying he was detained by the police and forcibly quarantined.
-
The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that there is still “a long way to go” to address the coronavirus crisis worldwide.
-
The first case has been recorded among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The outbreak of the virus in crowded camps has been feared since the start of the crisis.
