Welcome to COVID-19 daily briefing which is your place to discover daily news and numbers, backed by links to reputable and official sources.

1922 new cases and 69 deaths in the last 24 hours. More numbers from WHO in the “Numbers” section at the bottom.

Today’s highlights

WHO says case fatality rate is 3.4%.

New York governor announces free coronavirus testing.

Top US doctor tells the situation has ‘likely pandemic proportions’.

International Olympic Committee considers postponing or even cancelling 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.

Instructional video on how to wash your hands properly by Dr. John Campbell.

Global

WHO claims case fatality rate 3.4%, higher than generally assumed ~2%.

United States

118 cases and 9 deaths (total).

New York governor announces free coronavirus testing.

Inequalities of US health system put coronavirus fight at risk, so New York made the right move to reduce number of cases spreading undetected. It still does not cover treatment, hospitalisation or quarantine costs, but it’s a step in the right direction.

80% Americans surveyed by Ipsos support quarantining entire cities if there will be an COVID-19 outbreak reported in them.

FDA expects 1M coronavirus tests to be available by week's end.

Model predicts that number of cases in West Washington has been doubling roughly every six days, which is on par with what was said about initial outbreak in China.

Top US doctor says coronavirus now an ‘outbreak,’ possibly a ‘pandemic’:

“We’re dealing with clearly an emerging infectious disease that is now reached outbreak proportions and likely pandemic proportions. If you look at, you know, by multiple definitions of what a pandemic is, the fact is this is multiple sustained transmissions of a highly infectious agent in multiple regions of the globe.”

China

China reports 130 new cases and 31 deaths to WHO, of which 114 cases and all deaths were in Hubei province.

In a symbolic news, a 98-year-old patient recovered in Wuhan. With so many confirmed cases it’s statistically expected that there will be cases of very old and vulnerable people who recovered (as well as young and very strong people who died). This is not a breaking news, but it’s a positive news which will bring hope and positive thoughts to many people.

China now reports significant uptick of cases imported from abroad. Authorities asked overseas Chinese to reconsider or minimise their travel plans to China. Guangdong and Shanghai announced mandatory 14-day quarantine for people traveling from countries with severe virus outbreaks.

Iran

523 new cases and 12 new deaths reported by the WHO in the last 24 hours. Latest media reports put the number of cases at 2,336 and 77 deaths. These numbers are widely believed to be heavily underreported though.

Iran temporarily fees 54,000 prisoners to combat spread of the disease in crowded jails. Prisoners are freed after testing negative.

8% of Iran’s parliament is reported to be infected.

[Unconfirmed rumor warning] Iran’s independent media outlet claims its “reliable sources” put number of deaths in Iran at 428, much higher than the official 77.

[Unconfirmed rumor warning] Disturbing footage [NSFW] reportedly from Iran morgue shows what seems to be ~40 full body bags in only a single morgue on a single day. Iran officially reported 11 deaths contry wide that day.

South Korea

600 new cases (+14.2%) and 6 new deaths (+27.3%) in the last 24 hours according to WHO. Recent reports claim 5,186 cases as of now.

Korea is continuing to deploy innovative drive-through COVID-19 testing stations which are faster and safer than testing suspected patients at hospitals and clinics.

Korean president declared a “war” against COVID-19 and puts all government agencies on an 24-hour full alert. More hospital beds and face masks are to be made available.

300,000 illegal migrant workers were given permission to leave country without being blacklisted for return in the future.

Rest of Asia

Japan officials announced that 2020 Olympic Games, which are scheduled for Jul-Aug this year, could be postponed or cancelled. Test events are already being cancelled. There were 14 new cases and no deaths in the last 24 hours. Japan’s government panel of experts announced that nearly 80% of patients have not passed on the infection to others.

Indonesia plans to build hospital for coronavirus patients on Galang Island. The country confirmed their first two cases only yesterday, but they have quarantined roughly 500 people who returned from China or were crew members of two cruise ships.

United Arab Emirates closes schools for four weeks, making it an early and extended spring break. No new cases reported by WHO in the last 24 hours, but there were 6 new cases reported by authorities after the WHO status report cutoff time. UAE’s total is now 27 cases.

Europe

Italy: 347 new cases (+20.5%) and 17 deaths (+48.6%). There are currently 2,502 cases in Italy.

France: 91 new cases (+70.5%) and 1 death (+50%). Latest number is 212 cases in France. France closes around 100 schools in affected areas.

Spain: 69 new cases (+153.3%). A patient who died on February 13 from pneumonia was tested and recategorised as Spain’s first COVID-19 death.

Germany: 28 new cases (+21.7%) in the last 24 hours. Currently 196 cases in Germany, no deaths.

UK: 3 new cases (+8.3%). Currently 51 cases and no deaths in the UK (one British citizen died after contracting the illness on the Diamond Princess ship). NHS England declares (highest) level four incident over the outbreak.

Netherlands: 5 new cases (+38.5%). Total 23 cases and no deaths. Netherlands closes its third ICU unit [Dutch] due to possible contamination. Shortage of hospital facilities is the biggest treat with this virus which requires 20% patients to be hospitalised.

Africa

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is contacting over 100 people who had contact with Nigeria’s first confirmed case.

Science

Chinese Alibaba says it developed an AI model which identifies differences between COVID-19 caused pneumonia and ordinary pneumonia based on CT scans with 96% accuracy and within 20 seconds. This could significantly speed up confirming COVID-19 cases (for patients who already developed pneumonia) and won’t require “spendable” resources (like test kits).

Peer-reviewed paper awaiting to be published reports that SARS-CoV-2 can cross the blood-brain barrier and that potential neurological invasion might be partially responsible for the acute respiratory failure of COVID‐19 patients. Colloquially speaking, the virus "might cause you forget how to breath".

Economic impact

More and more companies are asking employees to work from home as a precautionary measure (eg. 8,000 employees of Google Ireland, Twitter’s worldwide employees).

How to wash your hands properly by Dr. John Campbell

WHO Numbers, 03 March, 10am CET / 4am EST

I decided to report data in the “Numbers” section based on official WHO COVID-19 Situation Reports which are published daily. They always contain data as of 10am Central European Time / 4am Eastern Standard Time and this is why they are best to compare numbers between days. They usually come several hours late after the 10am CET cutoff time, but they are official and are the most reliable data.

I will include more recent numbers from reputable news outlets or official government sources in news sections above to keep you up to date, but “Numbers” section is based on daily WHO data from now on.

Globally: 1922 new cases in the last 24 hours, 90,870 total.

31 new deaths in China and 38 outside China.

South Korea: 600 new cases (+14.2%), 4812 total. 6 new deaths (+27.3%), 28 total.

Italy: 347 new cases (+20.5%), 2036 total. 17 new deaths (+48.6%), 52 total.

France: 91 new cases (+70.5%), 191 total. 1 new death (+50%), 3 total.

Spain: 69 new cases (+153.3%), 114 total.

Germany: 28 new cases (+21.7%), 157 total.

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