Five key developments this week on the spread of coronavirus in the US - CNN

The number of cases skyrocketed this week, and the US warned its citizens not to visit China as a wave of panic and infections increase. Even the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency Thursday, saying the virus is now a risk beyond China.

Here are the key developments in the US this week and what's next:

A woman infects her husband in Illinois

An Illinois woman suffering from the respiratory virus infected her husband, becoming the first case transmitted from person to person in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The couple are in their 60s, and the husband has underlying medical issues, the CDC said. The husband's infection makes him the sixth person with coronavirus in the US, including patients in Washington state, California and Arizona.

"We understand that this may be concerning, but based on what we know now, our assessment remains that the immediate risk to the American public is low," Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, told reporters.

Coronavirus has killed 213 people and infected nearly 10,000 others in China, most of them in the hardest-hit city of Wuhan. Outside mainland China, there are 108 confirmed cases, including the six in the United States.

More Americans set to be evacuated from Wuhan

The State Department is planning more evacuation flights for US citizens in Wuhan leaving around Monday. No more details were immediately available.

Just days earlier, it evacuated nearly 200 Americans Wednesday from Wuhan. They are being monitored for symptoms for at least three days at the March Air Reserve Base near Riverside, California.

If health officials determine they don't pose a danger and can go home, they will be monitored by local officials for the 14-day incubation period. They can choose to remain at the base for the two weeks.

One unidentified person tried to leave the base, and was ordered to stay in quarantine for the entire incubation period or until otherwise cleared, Riverside County Public Health said Thursday.

US issues its highest-level warning for China

US officials are warning citizens not to travel to China after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global health emergency.

Those currently in China should consider leaving, the State Department said. Meanwhile, the White House announced a new task force that's meeting daily to discuss the threat of the coronavirus. The task force will help monitor and contain the spread of the virus, and ensure Americans have accurate and up-to-date health and travel information, it said.

The department has tried to dissuade Americans' travel to China in recent weeks in response to the outbreak. It raised the travel advisory on Monday from Level 2 to Level 3. It's now at Level 4.

Hoaxes spread along with the panic

As the coronavirus outbreak grows, officials in several US states are cracking down on false information about the spread of the disease.

Most of the false information is originating online, spreading fear about the virus that has sickened thousands worldwide.

In Los Angeles County, public health officials warned residents Thursday that a letter claiming a potential coronavirus outbreak in Carson City is fake. In a suburb north of Los Angeles, a high school in Santa Clarita also issued a statement warning against false social media reports on the coronavirus outbreak.

School districts in San Diego and Arizona are also warning residents about fake images of news stories claiming the coronavirus is spreading locally.

Faceook has said it's taking steps to prevent the spread of misinformation on the disease. It plans to remove content with false claims or conspiracy theories, and is urging leading global health organizations and local authorities to flag such information.

"This includes claims related to false cures or prevention methods — like drinking bleach cures the coronavirus — or claims that create confusion about health resources that are available," Facebook said in a statement.

Some states push for tougher measures

Some states are calling for tougher measures to help combat the virus.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee asked US federal health officials to expand screenings to passengers returning to the United States from China at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where the country's first confirmed case of the deadly virus entered. Inslee wants the CDC to collect passengers' health history and temperature readings.

In Hawaii, the state closest to the coronavirus outbreak, officials are urging residents to avoid discretionary trips to China. There are currently no cases of coronavirus in Hawaii, and officials said there's minimal risk to people on the islands.

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2020-01-31 09:15:00Z
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Coronavirus Live Updates: U.S. Issues ‘Red Alert’ After Week of Skyrocketing Infections - The New York Times

Here’s what you need to know:

• The State Department tells Americans not to go to China.
• More than 200 people have died, with about 9,800 infections confirmed.
• Facebook says it will act to stop virus-related misinformation.
• Chinese campuses are telling students to stay away.
• W.H.O. declares the outbreak a global health emergency.

A lone passenger Thursday on the train to the airport in Beijing.Credit...Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

The State Department tells Americans not to go to China.

The State Department on Thursday night issued a travel advisory telling Americans not to travel to China because of the public health threat posed by the dangerous new coronavirus. The department set the new advisory at Level 4, or red — its highest alert, reserved for the most perilous situations.

“Travelers should be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice,” the State Department said. “Commercial carriers have reduced or suspended routes to and from China.”

The World Health Organization on Thursday declared the outbreak a global emergency after cases were discovered in more than a dozen countries.

More than 200 people have died, with about 9,800 infections confirmed.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases has gone up more than tenfold in a week, and Chinese officials on Friday reported the highest death toll in a 24-hour period.

◆ Forty-three more deaths in China were announced, bringing the toll to 213.

◆ Nearly 2,000 new cases were recorded in the country in the past 24 hours, raising the worldwide total to nearly 9,800, according to Chinese and World Health Organization data. The vast majority of the cases are inside China; 98 cases have been confirmed in 18 other countries.

◆ Tibet has reported its first confirmed case. This means that all of China’s provinces and territories have now been touched by the outbreak.

◆ Thailand and Japan have each reported 14 cases of infection; Hong Kong and Singapore have 10; Taiwan has eight; Australia, Malaysia and Macau each have seven; France and the United States have six; South Korea, Germany and the United Arab Emirates each have four; Canada has three; Vietnam and Italy each have two; and India, the Philippines, Nepal, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Finland each have one.

◆ Cases recorded in Taiwan, Germany, Vietnam, Japan, France and the United States involved patients who had not been to China. No deaths have been reported outside China.

Facebook says it will act to stop virus-related misinformation.

Facebook on Thursday said it was taking several steps to prevent the spread of misinformation related to the coronavirus, including removing “content with false claims or conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global health organizations and local health authorities that could cause harm to people who believe them.”

The statement provided examples: “This includes claims related to false cures or prevention methods — like drinking bleach cures the coronavirus — or claims that create confusion about health resources that are available.”

The company, which plans to promote important virus-related updates at the top of its News Feed, also said that when its third-party fact checkers rate information as false, that information’s spread will be limited on Facebook and Instagram, and users will be shown accurate information instead. Users who try to share posts identified as false, or who have already shared them, will be told that the content has been debunked, the company said.

On Wednesday, Twitter made changes to its search algorithm to prioritize results from reputable health organizations. It said those changes were in place only in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, Britain and Vietnam, but that they would expand as needed. Twitter is blocked in mainland China.

Chinese campuses are telling students to stay away.

Chinese schools and universities have extended their holidays to help contain the coronavirus. Foreign students in China are leaving in droves. Some American and Australian universities have restricted travel to China.

China’s education ministry ordered schools and universities to lengthen their winter holidays, though it was left to each province to decide on dates. In Hong Kong, a semiautonomous region, a few universities have suspended classes until March 2, and local news media reported that primary and secondary schools would do the same, along with kindergartens.

Chinese education officials urged students to stay at home and not to participate in group activities. Schools and universities across the country asked teachers and students to report their temperature and health conditions every day over messaging apps. Renmin University in Beijing asked faculty and staff who were out of town for the Lunar New Year holiday to delay their return trips.

About half a million foreign students were studying in China as of 2018, including over 20,000 Americans.

The Inter-University Program for Chinese Studies, a language training program on the campus of Tsinghua University in Beijing, canceled classes for the spring semester. New York University Shanghai delayed the start of the spring semester until Feb. 17. Duke Kunshan University near Shanghai delayed it until Feb. 24.

Duke urged all its students to return home as soon as possible, except those from Hubei Province, where the outbreak began.

The education ministry also canceled standardized English-language exams that were scheduled for January and February. Many universities in English-speaking countries require foreign students to take such tests as part of their applications.

While the students can reschedule the tests, the change of plan will create uncertainties. Many Chinese students plan for those tests months in advance, or even years.

The effects could ripple across universities abroad that rely on tuition fees paid by Chinese students. Australia is currently home to more than 150,000 Chinese students, and one-third of the international students in the United States — nearly 370,000 — came from China last year.

The prominence of Chinese students on those campuses raises the possibility that they could be perceived as vulnerable to the virus. The University of New South Wales in Sydney said one of its students had tested positive for the virus after traveling directly to Sydney from the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

In the United States, Arizona State University announced on Sunday that the authorities had found a confirmed case on campus. The infected person does not live in university housing, “is not severely ill and is currently in isolation to keep the illness from spreading,” the university said.

Some students nevertheless panicked, launching an online petition to cancel classes. The university said it would stay open.

W.H.O. declares the outbreak a global health emergency.

The World Health Organization declared on Thursday that the new coronavirus outbreak was a global health emergency, acknowledging that the disease represents a risk outside of China, where it emerged last month.

The declaration — officially called a Public Health Emergency of International Concern — serves notice to all United Nations member states that the world’s top health advisory body rates the situation as serious.

Countries can then decide whether to close their borders, cancel flights, screen people arriving at airports or take other measures.

The decision came as cases have begun to appear in people who had not traveled to China during the outbreak.

Russell Goldman, Li Yuan, E. Justin Swanson, Kate Conger, Miriam Jordan, Emma Bubola, Elisabetta Povoledo and Jason Horowitz contributed reporting. Elsie Chen, Zoe Mou, Albee Zhang, Amber Wang, Yiwei Wang and Claire Fu contributed research.

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2020-01-31 07:47:00Z
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Why Trump's Middle East plan is so divisive - BBC News - BBC News

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2020-01-30 12:06:49Z
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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".

• A really simple guide to Brexit
• What is the transition period?

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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