China coronavirus: Wuhan panic-building new hospital in 6 days - Business Insider - Business Insider

• The Chinese city of Wuhan is rushing to build a new hospital in just six days to treat patients of the deadly coronavirus.
• Excavation has started at a site in Wuhan, where the outbreak started, and where doctors describe an overwhelmed medical system.
• The city, and at least nine others, have had their public transport links shut off, leaving a total of 30 million people quarantined in a bid to stop the virus from spreading further.
• Wuhan’s strategy mirrors Beijing’s efforts to control the deadly SARS coronavirus outbreak in 2003, when it built a hospital in just seven days that treated one-seventh of the country’s patients.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The Chinese city of Wuhan is rushing to build a brand-new hospital within six days to treat patients of the coronavirus that has killed at least 26 people across the country and is overwhelming the quarantined city’s health system.

The 2019-nCoV virus, which has infected more than 870 people as of Friday morning, originated in Wuhan. China has closed down public transport links in the city and at least nine others, sealing off a total of 30 million people.

Doctors in Wuhan say that people have to queue for hours for medical attention, that screening the disease is difficult, that there is not enough protective gear, and that some doctors were told not to go to work over fears they could catch the virus.

Video footage shows people packed in small hallways as they wait for treatment.

Foto: A still from video sourced by The New York Times shows people crowding into a hospital corridor in Wuhan, China, amid the coronavirus outbreak.sourceThe New York Times

Wuhan authorities said Friday that a new, 1,000-bed hospital is being built for coronavirus patients to „address the insufficiency of existing medical resources,“ the Associated Press reported.

Patients with the coronavirus are currently being treated in hospitals and fever clinics across the city.

The new hospital is to be built in six days, and be put to use on February 3, state-run news site The Paper reported, citing state media outlet People’s Daily.

The hospital will be made from prefabricated buildings – making it quicker and cheaper to build – on the outskirts of the city, People’s Daily reported.

Video footage shows construction machinery working at the site.

Construction of the special hospital with a capacity of 1,000 beds for patients with #nCoV2019 has begun in Wuhan, according to the model of the hospital built in seven days in Beijing to deal with #SARS in 2003. The construction is scheduled to be completed by February 3. pic.twitter.com/MtVgIG0liC

— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) January 24, 2020

The strategy is a repeat of how China dealt with the outbreak of SARS in 2003, which killed more than 770 people.

Foto: Excavators at the construction site of a new hospital in Wuhan on January 24.sourceSTR/AFP via Getty Images

In April 2003, Beijing built in just seven days the Xiaotangshan Hospital, which People’s Daily said treated one-seventh of China’s SARS patients at the time.

People’s Daily called that hospital „a miracle in the history of medicine.“

The ongoing Wuhan coronavirus can spread from human to human, and has already spread to some healthcare workers treating the infected.

It has spread to at least eight other countries: the US, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia.

This map shows where it had spread as of Thursday:

These countries have quarantined people who are infected, and are monitoring those who have been in close contact with the infected.

Other countries, including Scotland and Finland, have suspected cases.

Countries around the world are screening passengers in airports for symptoms, and have quarantine procedures in place.

Foto: Passengers who just arrived on a train from Wuhan are screened for coronavirus in Beijing.sourceKevin Frayer/Getty Images

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2020-01-24 11:26:10Z
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China coronavirus outbreak: Death toll climbs as authorities lock down more cities in unprecedented bid to contain virus - CBS News

Authorities in China raced Friday to lock down more cities in an extraordinary bid to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has left at least 26 people dead in the country and sickened hundreds more. The move is unprecedented and affects more than 30 million people.

The U.S. has confirmed one case, and several others have popped up in Asian countries — all among people who visited Wuhan, China, the city at the epicenter of the outbreak.

Authorities believe the virus, which causes flu-like symptoms, moved into the human population from an infected animal at a market in Wuhan. 

Chinese health officials and the World Health Organization confirmed this week that the virus has been transmitted person-to-person, but it remains unclear how easy it is to contract it from another infected individual. The WHO on Thursday declined to declare the virus a global public health emergency, saying it was still too soon to take that measure.

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2020-01-24 11:02:00Z
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China coronavirus outbreak: Death toll climbs as authorities lock down more cities in unprecedented bid to contain virus - CBS News

Authorities in China raced Friday to lock down more cities in an extraordinary bid to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has left at least 26 people dead in the country and sickened hundreds more. The move is unprecedented and affects more than 30 million people.

The U.S. has confirmed one case, and several others have popped up in Asian countries — all among people who visited Wuhan, China, the city at the epicenter of the outbreak.

Authorities believe the virus, which causes flu-like symptoms, moved into the human population from an infected animal at a market in Wuhan. 

Chinese health officials and the World Health Organization confirmed this week that the virus has been transmitted person-to-person, but it remains unclear how easy it is to contract it from another infected individual. The WHO on Thursday declined to declare the virus a global public health emergency, saying it was still too soon to take that measure.

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2020-01-24 09:43:00Z
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Trump says he'll likely release Middle East peace plan by Tuesday - Al Jazeera English

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will likely release his long-awaited peace plan for the Middle East before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington, DC, next week.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One en route to Miami for a political event, Trump said Palestinians might react negatively to his plan at first, but that it would benefit them.

"It's a great plan," said Trump, who will meet with Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday. "It's a plan that really would work." He is also expected to meet Netanyahu's election rival, Benny Gantz.

More:

Trump said his administration has talked briefly to the Palestinians, who have rejected the administration's peace plan before it even comes out.

"We've spoken to them briefly. But we will speak to them in a period of time," Trump said.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said earlier on Thursday that Palestinians "warn Israel and the US administration not to cross any red lines".

Trump had earlier appeared to dispel rumours that the plan would be released next week, tweeting that "details and timing of our closely-held peace plan are purely speculative". 

But onboard Air Force One, he confirmed that the plan would be released before Netanyahu's visit. 

The launch of Trump's plan to end the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has been delayed numerous times since it was first mooted more than two years ago. Prospects for a breakthrough appear dim and details of the plan have been kept under wraps.

Dead in water

Palestinians have called Trump's proposal dead in the water, even before its publication, pointing to what they see as his pro-Israel policies. 

The Trump administration has reversed decades of US policy on the conflict, refraining from endorsing the "two-state solution" - the longtime international formula which envisages a Palestinian state co-existing with Israel.

It has also recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved its embassy there. More recently, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in November that the US no longer viewed Israel's settlements on West Bank land as "inconsistent with international law", reversing decades of policies that were in line with most of the international community, which views settlements as illegal under international law. 

Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus holds posters of US President Donald Trump during a protest against the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital [File: Majdi Mohammed/AP Photo]

Netanyahu announced during an election campaign last September that he intends to annexe the Jordan Valley, a large swath of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Abbas's Palestinian Authority (PA) has publicly refused to engage politically with the Trump administration.

They fear the plan will dash their hopes for an independent state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

"If this deal is announced with these rejected formulas, the leadership will announce a series of measures in which we safeguard our legitimate rights, and we will demand Israel assume its full responsibilities as an occupying power," Abu Rudeineh said on Thursday. He appeared to be referring to oft-repeated threats to dissolve the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. That would force Israel to resume responsibility for providing basic services to millions of Palestinians.

Economic side of plan

The White House in June announced the economic piece of the Trump peace plan and sought support for it at a conference of global finance ministers in Bahrain, which was boycotted by the Palestinians.

It proposes a $50bn investment plan that would create a global investment fund to lift the Palestinian and neighbouring Arab state economies, and fund a five-billion-dollar transportation corridor to connect the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinian leaders said the gathering avoided a political settlement based on a two-state solution, describing it as an attempt by the US administration and some of its allies in the region to "liquidate" the Palestinian cause.

Jared Kushner makes his opening speech at Bahrain Workshop in Manama, Bahrain [Reuters]

Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the White House adviser behind the plan, has previously said it will not mention a two-state solution because "it means one thing to the Israelis, it means one thing to the Palestinians", despite the notion of a two-state solution being the bedrock of talks in the past.

In an interview last year with Al Jazeera, Kushner offered a glimpse of what the political process could look like.

"I think we all have to recognise that if there ever is a deal, it's not going to be along the lines of the Arab peace initiative. It will be somewhere between the Arab peace initiative and somewhere between the Israeli position," he said. 

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump said he was surprised that both Netanyahu and Gantz were willing to take a break from campaigning for the March 2 elections to join him in Washington, DC.

The US was believed to be holding back on releasing the peace plan until Israel had a permanent government. Those calculations may have changed as the deadlock in Israeli politics looks to be further prolonged.

Trump may also be looking for a boost from evangelical and pro-Israel supporters as the Senate weighs whether to remove him from office after he was impeached last month, and as he gears up for a re-election battle this year.

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2020-01-24 07:43:00Z
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Netanyahu condemns 'tyrants of Tehran' in Holocaust speech - Al Jazeera English

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged action against "the tyrants of Tehran" during a Holocaust memorial speech on Thursday in Jerusalem, comparing what he considers the threat from Iran to that once posed by Nazi Germany.

Netanyahu denounced Iran as "the most anti-Semitic regime on the planet" in a speech in front of world leaders gathered at the Yad Vashem memorial institute to mark 75 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp by Soviet troops.

More: 

The Israeli prime minister went on to thank US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who was in attendance, for "confronting" Iran.

However, Netanyahu told world leaders, "We have yet to see a unified and resolute stance against the most anti-Semitic regime on the planet, a regime that openly seeks to develop nuclear weapons and annihilate the one and only Jewish state.

"Israel will do whatever it must do to defend our state, defend our people, and defend the Jewish future," he said, vowing "there will not be another Holocaust". 

'Vile tide of anti-Semitism'

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Tehran denies it is trying to build a nuclear bomb and accusations of anti-Semitism, insisting while it opposes Israel and supports the Palestinian cause, it has no problem with Jewish people, including its own Jewish minority.

Pence, who spoke shortly after Netanyahu, warned Iran's nuclear programme posed a security threat to all nations, not just Israel. He urged people to "confront and expose the vile tide of anti-Semitism" around the world.

"In that same spirit, we must also stand strong against the leading state purveyor of anti-Semitism, against the one government in the world that denies the Holocaust as a matter of state policy and threatens to wipe Israel off the map. The world must stand strong against the Islamic Republic of Iran," Pence said.

No immediate reaction was available from Iranian officials.

Tensions between the US and Iran escalated after a US air raid killed Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's elite Quds Force, on January 3 with fears of all-out war breaking out. 

Muslim delegation pays respects

A high-level delegation of Muslim religious leaders visited Auschwitz on Thursday along with a Jewish group in what organisers called "the most senior Islamic leadership delegation" to visit the site of the Nazi death camp.

The interfaith visit came four days before the 75th anniversary of the January 27, 1945, liberation of the camp by the Red Army.

The visit was led by the secretary-general of the Muslim World League, Mohammad bin Abdulkarim al-Issa, and the CEO of the American Jewish Committee, David Harris.

In a statement, the AJC said al-Issa, who is based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, led a delegation of 62 Muslims, including 25 prominent religious leaders, from some 28 countries on several continents. It called the visit "groundbreaking".

The AJC delegation included members of the organisation, among them some children of Holocaust survivors.

"To be here, among the children of Holocaust survivors and members of the Jewish and Islamic communities, is both a sacred duty and a profound honour," al-Issa said.

"The unconscionable crimes to which we bear witness today are truly crimes against humanity. That is to say, a violation of us all, an affront to all of God's children."

On Friday, the members of the group will visit the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw and will attend Muslim and Jewish religious services there.

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2020-01-23 17:12:00Z
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Map: A deadly virus is spreading across the globe. Here's where coronavirus cases have been confirmed. - NBC News

As of Thursday, more than 630 people have been sickened and 17 have died since the start of the month, according to an NBC News analysis of data collected from China's National Health Commission, province and city health departments, China Central Television, and the People's Daily. China Central Television is a government-run station and People’s Daily is Communist Party-run.

While most of the cases and all of the deaths have occurred in China, officials fear that this week’s busy travel season, in advance of Saturday’s Lunar New Year, could accelerate the virus’ spread.

The Chinese government, which is looking to avoid a repeat of the 2003 SARS outbreak, has warned officials not to cover up the spread of the virus. The South China Morning Post reported Tuesday that Beijing said anyone who withheld information would be “the sinner of a millennium to the party and the people” and would be “nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity.”

See NBC News’ coverage of the coronavirus.

Jiachuan Wu

Jiachuan Wu is an interactive journalist at NBC News Digital.

Nigel Chiwaya

Nigel Chiwaya is a data reporter for NBC News.

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2020-01-23 15:24:00Z
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Mnuchin says Greta Thunberg can explain US economic policy after she studies economics in college - CNN

The remarks came during a press briefing by the secretary during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where the world's political, business and financial elite turned their attention to the climate crisis and sustainability.

"Greta Thunberg has called for a public and private sector divestment from fossil fuel companies. Does that pose a threat to US economic growth?" a reporter asked Mnuchin.

"Is she the chief economist, or who is she? I'm confused," the secretary replied. "It's a joke. After she goes and studies economics in college she can come back and explain that to us."

CNN has reached out to representatives for Thunberg for comment.

Thunberg has repeatedly criticized top industrial nations for not doing enough to address the crisis. Earlier this week at the conference, Thunberg admonished world leaders for doing "basically nothing" to reduce carbon emissions despite evidence of a looming climate catastrophe.

"Immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies and immediately and completely divest from fossil fuels. We don't want these things done by 2050, or 2030 or even 2021 -- we want this done now," she said.

Mnuchin's comments add to mocking remarks President Donald Trump has made toward Thunberg. Last month, he tweeted that Thunberg -- who has been open about her diagnosis of Asperger's, calling it a "superpower" that helps her activism -- has "anger management" issues. In September, he called her a "very happy young girl" after she sternly castigated world leaders over the climate crisis.

Trump didn't address Thunberg by name when he spoke at Davos earlier this week, though he did call for the rejection of "the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse."

Asked by a reporter at the conference whether he spoke to other leaders and CEOs about Thunberg and her policies which many of them have supported, Trump said: "No, I didn't actually. But I would have loved to have seen her speak." He also said that she should "start working" on other countries that he claimed are contributing more to the climate crisis.

CNN's Charles Riley, Bianca Britton, Veronica Stracqualursi and Hadas Gold contributed to this report.

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2020-01-23 13:29:00Z
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