China is seeing a surge/spike of 15,000 new cases of confirmed Wuhan Flu.
The number of coronavirus cases in China significantly increased on Thursday, when 14,840 new cases of the disease were reported.
The country now has more than 50,000 confirmed cases and 1,300 people have died from it worldwide.
The jump in cases comes after reports out of the country indicated that the virus may have leveled off. The latest increase was attributed to the country’s new approach to counting patients. The Los Angeles Times reported that about 90 percent of the new cases were “clinically diagnosed.” Doctors in the country previously relied on nucleic tests for the viral disease known as COVID-19.
www.foxnews.com/health/china-sees-15k-new-coronavirus-cases-patients-counted-with-new-method-report
U.S. Northern Command is executing plans to prepare for a potential pandemic of the novel coronavirus, now called COVID19, according to Navy and Marine Corps service-wide messages issued this week.
An executive order issued by the Joint Staff and approved by Defense Secretary Mark Esper this month directed Northern Command and geographic combatant commanders to initiate pandemic plans, which include ordering commanders to prepare for widespread outbreaks and confining service members with a history of travel to China.
www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/02/13/us-military-prepping-for-coronavirus-pandemic/
US trade adviser seeks to replace Chinese drug supplies
Navarro says coronavirus is ‘wake-up call’ to create American pharmaceutical supply chain
Peter Navarro, a senior trade adviser to Donald Trump, has urged the US to reduce its reliance on pharmaceutical and medical supply imports from China and the rest of the world in response to the coronavirus outbreak, calling it a ‘wake-up call” for greater American independence in the sector.
Speaking to the Financial Times’ Trade Secrets newsletter, Mr Navarro called on the US government to limit its involvement in global supply chains that could leave the country vulnerable to shortages in a medical crisis, and boost purchases of US-made products in its procurement policies.
“This is a wake-up call for an issue that has been latent for many years but is critical to US economic and national security,” Mr Navarro said.
“If we have learned anything from the coronavirus and swine flu H1N1 epidemic of 2009, it is that we cannot necessarily depend on other countries, even close allies, to supply us with needed items, from face masks to vaccines,” he added.
Mr Navarro’s comments reflect the growing attention to the spreading disease among officials in Washington, even though Mr Trump, the US president, expressed confidence this week that it would “all work out fine” because Beijing was working “very, very hard” to stamp out the epidemic and warm weather would reduce its impact by April.
The FT reported earlier on Wednesday that some pharmaceutical industry executives are increasingly concerned about the implications of prolonged closures of Chinese making crucial drug ingredients. Umang Vohra, chief executive of one of India’s largest drugmakers, Cipla, said there could be “huge unavailability across the chain” if the shutdown extended beyond February
www.ft.com/content/73751cca-4d1a-11ea-95a0-43d18ec715f5
At least 500 Wuhan medical staff are infected with coronavirus
There were at least 500 confirmed cases of infected Wuhan hospital workers by mid-January — with hundreds more suspected to have the virus, sources told the South China Morning Post.
Another 600 workers were suspected to have the coronavirus at Wuhan-area hospitals, the outlet said.
nypost.com/2020/02/11/at-least-500-wuhan-medical-staff-are-infected-with-coronavirus/
Top CDC official says US should prepare for coronavirus ‘to take a foothold’
The CDC is preparing for the new coronavirus, which has killed at least 1,115 and sickened more than 45,000 worldwide, to “take a foothold in the U.S.”
“At some point, we are likely to see community spread in the U.S. or in other countries,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
www.cnbc.com/2020/02/12/cdc-prepares-for-coronavirus-to-take-a-foothold-in-the-us.html
AC