Kamis, 30 Januari 2020
Coronavirus: Flight taking Britons out of Wuhan is delayed - BBC News - BBC News
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2020-01-30 10:52:16Z
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Brexit: What will change after Friday, 31 January? - BBC News
The UK formally leaves the European Union (EU) at 23:00 on Friday, 31 January. But it will immediately enter an 11-month transition period.
During the transition the UK will continue to obey EU rules and pay money to the EU. Most things will stay the same but there will be some changes:
1. UK MEPs lose their seats
Familiar faces such as Nigel Farage and Ann Widdecombe are among the UK's 73 MEPs who will automatically lose their seats in the European Parliament.
That's because, at the moment of Brexit, the UK will leave all of the EU's political institutions and agencies.
However, in addition to the UK following EU rules during the transition period, the European Court of Justice will continue to have the final say over legal disputes.
2. No more EU summits
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will have to be specially invited if he wants to join other leaders at EU Council summits in the future.
British ministers will also no longer attend regular EU meetings that decide things such as fishing limits.
3. We will be hearing a lot about trade
The UK will be able to start talking to countries around the world about setting new rules for buying and selling goods and services.
It has not been allowed to hold formal trade negotiations with countries like the US and Australia while it remained an EU member. Brexit supporters argue that having the freedom to set its own trade policy will boost the UK's economy.
There's also a lot to be discussed with the EU. Agreeing a UK-EU trade deal is a top priority, so extra charges on goods and other trade barriers aren't needed when the transition ends.
If any trade deals are reached, they won't be able to start until the transition period ends.
4. The UK's passports will change colour
Blue passports will be making a return, more than 30 years after they were replaced by the current burgundy design.
Announcing the change in 2017, then Immigration Minister, Brandon Lewis, praised the return to the "iconic" blue-and-gold design, first used in 1921.
The new colour will be phased in over a number of months, with all new passports issued in blue by the middle of the year.
Existing burgundy passports will continue to be valid.
5. Brexit coins
About three million commemorative 50p Brexit coins bearing the date "31 January" and the inscription: "Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations", will enter circulation on Friday.
The coin has received a mixed reaction, with some Remain supporters saying they will refuse to accept it.
The government had planned to introduce a similar coin on 31 October, the date Brexit was previously meant to happen.
However, those coins had to be melted down and recycled after the deadline was extended.
6. The UK's Brexit department shuts down
The team that handled the UK-EU negotiations and no-deal preparations will disband on Brexit day.
The Department for Exiting the European Union was set up by former Prime Minister Theresa May in 2016.
For the upcoming talks, the UK's negotiating team will be based in Downing Street.
7. Germany won't extradite its citizens to the UK
It won't be possible for some suspected criminals to be brought back to the UK if they flee to Germany.
Germany's constitution does not allow its citizens to be extradited, unless it's to another EU country.
"This exception cannot apply anymore after the UK has left EU," a spokesman from the German Federal Ministry of Justice told BBC News.
It's unclear if the same restrictions will apply to other countries. Slovenia, for example, says the situation is complicated, while the European Commission was unable to provide comment.
The UK Home Office says the European Arrest Warrant will continue to apply during the transition period. (That means Germany will be able to extradite non-German citizens.)
However, it adds that if a country's laws prevent extradition to the UK it "will be expected to take over the trial or sentence of the person concerned".
Seven things that will stay the same...
Because the transition period begins immediately after Brexit, the vast majority of other things remain the same - at least until 31 December 2020 including:
1. Travel
Flights, boats and trains will operate as usual.
When it comes to passport control, during the transition period, UK nationals will still be allowed to queue in the areas reserved for EU arrivals only.
2. Driving licences and pet passports
As long as they are valid, these will continue to be accepted.
3. European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)
These are the cards that provide UK nationals with state-provided medical treatment in case of illness or accident.
They can be used in any EU country (as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and will continue to be valid during the transition period.
4. Living and working in the EU
Freedom of movement will continue to apply during the transition, so UK nationals will still be able to live and work in the EU as they currently do.
The same applies for EU nationals wanting to live and work in the UK.
5. Pensions
UK nationals living in the EU will continue to receive their state pension and will also receive the annual increase.
6. Budget contributions
The UK will continue to pay into the EU budget during the transition. This means existing schemes, paid for by EU grants, will continue to be funded.
7. Trade
UK-EU trade will continue without any extra charges or checks being introduced.
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2020-01-30 09:16:43Z
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Expert: We don't know yet if Wuhan coronavirus outbreak is controllable - CNN
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2020-01-30 10:27:03Z
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UK gets final Brexit approval from EU - CNN
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2020-01-30 08:06:31Z
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Rabu, 29 Januari 2020
Coronavirus live updates: Coronavirus outbreak tops 6,000 cases in China, exceeding SARS epidemic - CNBC
People with protective face masks pass in front of a thermal scanner as they enter a shopping mall in Bangkok on January 29, 2020.
Mladen Antonov | AFP | Getty Images
This is a live blog. Please check back for updates.
All times below are in Eastern time.
7:36 am: Death toll of coronavirus climbs to 132, China cases now exceed SARS epidemic
The total number of cases of the coronavirus reached more than 6,100 worldwide with 132 deaths in China, Chinese and international health authorities said Wednesday. Since the first patient was identified in Wuhan on Dec. 31, the number of coronavirus cases in China has mushroomed to more than 6,060, exceeding the total number of SARS cases in that country during the 2002-2003 epidemic. There were 5,327 SARS cases in China and 8,000 across the world between Nov. 1, 2002, and July 31, 2003, according to the World Health Organization.
6:36 am: International Ski Federation cancels first official Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 test event
FIS, the Chinese Ski Association and its Yanqing Local Organizing Committee, have canceled the men's Audi FIS World Cup races scheduled for Feb. 15 to 16 in the northwestern part of Beijing. It would have been the federation's first Alpine Ski World Cup in China and the first official test event for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, according to FIS President Gian-Franco Kasper. "Although the risk level in Yanqing is low, the health and welfare of the athletes and all participants must take priority," Kasper said in an online statement.
4:42 am: Swiss pharmaceutical giant warns finding a coronavirus vaccine will take over a year
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2020-01-29 13:11:00Z
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'Utter chaos': Coronavirus exposes China healthcare weaknesses - Al Jazeera English
Chengdu, China - On January 20, Fubin's father started coughing and running a fever. As residents of Wuhan, they knew about a deadly new coronavirus that had originated in the central Chinese city weeks ago, but decided to stay home and hope the symptoms would subside.
Four days later, when his father's body temperature soared to 40 degrees, Fubin rushed him to hospital.
Together they headed to the Wuhan Union Hospital but, at reception, they were turned away. They were told they had to go to one of seven hospitals the government had designated for fever patients.
The two men went to Wuhan Red Cross Hospital, one of the designated facilities, and found the line of people waiting to get checked was so long they would have to wait outside - potentially for hours - in the cold and rain. They decided to try their luck elsewhere.
The second and third hospital were both packed. It took Fubin two days to get his father admitted to Wuhan No 5 Hospital, and he is one of the lucky ones.
|
Coronavirus: Life under lockdown in Wuhan |
As thousands, if not tens of thousands, of fever patients who fear they might have caught the novel coronavirus that has now killed more than 100 people rush to Wuhan's hospitals, the outbreak is testing China's healthcare system on a scale not seen since the country was hit by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, 17 years ago.
"The response from the government has been utter chaos," said a nurse who works in Wuhan and preferred not to disclose her name. "The current healthcare system was completely unready for a situation like this."
The nurse works at one of the designated hospitals, treating victims of a virus that has already infected nearly 10,000 people.
"You would think the government and hospitals had learned something from the SARS outbreak and prepared ourselves for another emergency like this," she said angrily over the phone. "But no - they learned nothing."
Most Chinese go straight to hospital when they are sick, leading to huge queues for treatment [cnsphoto via Reuters]
First line of defence
There have been urgent appeals for medical supplies not only in Wuhan and the province of Hubei, but beyond. The government has blamed the Lunar New Year holiday, when factories traditionally close, for the shortages of masks, goggles and other crucial supplies, saying it is hard to step up manufacturing during the festive season.
Shortly after the SARS epidemic, the Chinese government established and updated several times a medical materials reserve system that was supposed to ensure sufficient supplies in the event of any public health emergency.
However, reports filed with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention suggest reserves at some hospitals have not been maintained.
In a 2019 article detailing Guiyang province's emergency medical supplies reserve, the provincial CDC said that, of the 11 items needed in the event of a public health emergency, only five items were fully stocked at the local level.
"There are priorities in our expenditure budget and none of us could've expected an emergency like this," an officer from Sichuan's provincial CDC told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity. "So I believe sometimes the supplies reserve might not be ideal."
For ordinary patients like Fubin, it is not just the lack of medical supplies.
In China, a lack of properly trained general practitioners means the first line of defence often does not exist. There is a lack of trust in clinics and GPs, who are often difficult to find, and people prefer to go straight to hospital as soon as they need medical care.
In Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, that meant a flood of patients in the initial days of the outbreak as people lined up in front of hospitals, hoping to get treatment.
China is building new field hospitals to cope with the surge in patients as a result of the coronavirus. The first 1,000-bed hospital is expected to be completed by 3 February [Yuan Zheng/EPA]
Health inequality
The majority of people rushed to a limited number of well-known hospitals, also known as a Grade III Level A hospitals, the highest category determined by the Ministry of Health.
Grade III Level A hospitals have attracted the most qualified medical staff and modern equipment, and the well-known concentration of resources has put immense pressure on these hospitals.
"Of course, I'd only go to Grade III Level A hospital," Fubin said. "I doubt other hospitals have doctors good enough to treat diseases properly."
Many experts have said that a sudden rush to these medical facilities might have contributed to the widespread cross-infection.
Authorities are now building two more - temporary - hospitals to accommodate the expected thousands of cases.
"We understand that a lot of patients are choosing top hospitals over others," the Municipal Party Secretary of Wuhan said during a news conference. "But we're trying to change the mentality now so more people could get treated."
But that does not address a larger problem: the unequal distribution of medical resources across China.
The level of medical care available in an area almost directly correlates with a province's level of development.
In Hubei province, 44 out of 88 Grade III Level A hospitals are located in Wuhan, home to 11 million of the province's more than 50 million people. In China overall, most of the best hospitals are found in the more developed, and wealthier, eastern coastal cities.
Such inequality also extends to the provision of medical staff in different locations.
In Beijing, the capital and home to approximately 20 million people, there are 100,000 registered doctors, whereas in Sichuan, a western province of more than 80 million people, there are 200,000, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
That means while there are 4.63 doctors per 1,000 people in the capital, there are only 2.46 per 1,000 in Sichuan.
A medic at the Wuhan Union Hospital in Wuhan. China has deployed nearly 6,000 extra health workers to Wuhan to cope with the demand caused by the coronavirus [Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua via AP Photo]
Hubei province has only 150,000 doctors, the majority of whom are stationed in Wuhan.
To relieve the pressure on the limited number of medics currently fighting on the front line, close to 6,000 doctors and nurses from across China have been parachuted into Wuhan and other surrounding cities, in the hope of containing the outbreak.
'Work harder'
But the lack of doctors is not specific to Wuhan: China simply does not have enough of them, especially those who work in intensive care.
The World Health Organization says that China has 17 doctors for every 10,000 people, well behind the world's best 82 per 10,000 people in Cuba. And, while the country has made progress in improving health indicators over the past decade, few see much incentive to become a doctor.
"The hyper tension and mistrust between the patients and doctors, the low salary of most doctors, and unpredictable hours all contribute to the lack of motive to become a doctor in China," said Zhou, a surgeon at Chengdu's Huaxi Hospital who preferred not to share their full name.
"This outbreak has revealed some of the major problems in our healthcare system that should've been addressed before," Zhou added. "I have confidence that these problems will be fixed soon."
In Wuhan, having had three days of treatment, Fubin's father is on the mend.
His son is relieved.
"I would be lying if I said that I wasn't terrified that my father might not be able to get treatment," he said. "I'm glad that he's getting better, but there are still so many people unable to get treatment, and the government should really work harder to address the problem."
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2020-01-29 11:59:00Z
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British Airways suspends flights to China as coronavirus spreads - CNN
"We have suspended all flights to and from mainland China with immediate effect following advice from the Foreign Office against all but essential travel," the company said in a statement Wednesday.
The UK's Foreign Office warned people against traveling to mainland China in all but essential cases on Tuesday.
It's the most drastic action yet by a major airline as the deadly coronavirus continues to spread. The virus has killed 132 people and infected nearly 6,000 people in China so far, with dozens more cases confirmed in places such as the United States, Japan, Germany and France.
British Airways operates direct flights from London Heathrow to Beijing (PKX) and Shanghai (PVG), according to the company's website. Those flights were unavailable to book online through February 29. Passengers can still book BA flights to mainland China via connections in cities such as Hong Kong.
The carrier's move comes a day after United Airlines (UAL) temporarily reduced its schedule between the United States and three cities in China.
The US airline said in a statement Tuesday that "significant decline in demand" had forced it to suspend flights from February 1 though February 8 between its US hubs and Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
In total, 24 round trips are affected. They are between Hong Kong to San Francisco and Newark; Beijing (PEK) to Washington Dulles, Chicago O'Hare and Newark; and Shanghai (PVG) to San Francisco, Newark and Chicago O'Hare.
American Airlines (AAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL) and United all extended change fee waivers through the end of February.
Cathay Pacific (CPCAY), Hong Kong's flagship airline, has said it will reduce the capacity of flights to and from mainland China by half or more until the end of March.
Finland's Finnair is canceling three weekly flights between Helsinki and Beijing (PKX) between February 5 and March 29, and two weekly flights between Helsinki and Nanjing (NKG) between February 8 and March 29, because of the suspension of group travel by Chinese authorities. It will continue to operate flights to Beijing (PEK), Shanghai (PVG), Hong Kong (HKG) and Guangzhou (CAN).
— Jordan Valinsky and Stephanie Halasz contributed to this report.
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2020-01-29 10:45:00Z
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