I thought the job of a Minister was NOT to panic people

What would a Covid-19 pandemic look here?

- A “large proportion” of the population will be infected
- 80% with mild symptoms
- child mostly avoid infection

Health Secretary Matt Hancock tells @KayBurley pic.twitter.com/cSp0J2OTAU

— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) February 25, 2020

Potential outbreak being investigated in Tenerife

Don't go on holiday. Ever again. Anywhere! (Other than the lovely coast of Wales that is):

"Meanwhile, in Tenerife around 1,000 holidaymakers staying at a hotel are said to have been quarantined after an Italian tourist tested positive for coronavirus. "

Before anyone gets censorious, my comment was a joke, but the bit about the Italian tourist in Tenerife is true.

With Tenerife being a long way south, conditions there are more like a British summer at the moment. No doubt the Italian tourist brought it in. Let's hope that there has been no local transmission in Tenerife - if there is, it might suggest that the virus can carry on spreading through the summer months. 

So far there's no evidence of any local transmission in any part of the world that is currently experiencing summer-like conditions (apart from Singapore, but I'm wondering about the role of excessive air conditioning?). The whole world is relying on spring / summer damping this all down - the tourism industry and the Summer Olympics in particular.

The other point is that clearly the situation in Italy is not yet under control, if a random tourist from Italy can carry the virus to Tenerife.

But we know now that the virus can be transmitted when people are asymptotic so a solitary visitor from Italy surely confirms nothing more than what we know already?

I believe that tourist had been there for nearly a week. The situation in Lombardy and Veneto really only kicked off since then.

To be fair, that's pretty much what the evidence suggests if it should become established here.

Best to avoid Chinese, Italian, Korean and Iranian restaurants for the foreseeable future, then.  

We're off to an Italian restaurant on Thursday.... 😱😃

It is not only me who is critical of WHO:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/feb/25/coronavirus-live-updates-outbreak-latest-news-italy-italia-deaths-symptoms-china-stocks-wall-street-dow-jones-economy-falls

"Rory Stewart, the former international development secretary and independent candidate for mayor of London, has criticised the World Health Organisation for being “far too slow” to describe the new coronavirus outbreak as a global pandemic.

At an event in London, run by Christian Aid on Monday night, Steward said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO was “not getting this response right.”

“They have been far too slow to declare a public health emergency of international concern, a month too late, and they have been far too slow to declare a global pandemic,” he said.

On Tuesday, he told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the WHO’s failure to declare the outbreak a global pandemic, was “big problem” as it held up World Bank funds to developing countries and thus had increased the chance of the virus spreading to countries like Britain.

Stewart said: “Tedros has been unbelievably slow, firstly to declare a world health emergency and then a global pandemic.”

..."

I'm not fan but I would sooner have a minister being honest than doing the happy clapping routine. People deserve factual information. Both scaremongering and playing down the risk are equally unwelcome. 

That us, with respect, just one person's opinion and he's not a healthcare expert or a scientist.

Like you, he seems to share a lack of understanding of what the threshold is for declaring  global pandemic.

In any event, as I've said before, the WHO's role is one of coordination and a source of expert advice. On top of that neither Mr Stewart nor you nor I know what has been going on in the background, although I think a lot has been happening.  

Exactly what difference do you think holding a news conference and declaring a global pandemic will have?  I would have thought the square root of not a lot.

Surely they have defined criteria for what constitutes a pandemic? Therefore, those criteria are either met or they are not. I am certain that Tedros is advised on whether the threshold has been reached or not - I doubt he just rolls out of bed and decides as he sees fit. I would sooner trust the WHO than Mad Rory whose medical knowledge may or may not be deeper and more extensive than mine.

It seems that the virus does not affect most children.

54 new cases in Italy today now. 1st case confirmed in Croatia. And the deputy health minister of Iran has the coronavirus just another sign of just how badly Iran is being hit now.

Iran has a particular problem when it comes to the government response there. The virus is spreading via their holy sites, pilgrimages and mosques - since Iran is a clerical dictatorship, it stands to reason that senior members of the government are going to be exposed to the contagion when they perform their religious duties and given the theocratic state that Iran is, the authorities are not going to decree that mosques should be shutdown for the duration of the epidemic. Unfortunately, Iran will lead to a widening epidemic in neighbouring states as pilgrims return from Iran's holy sites, as we have already witnessed.

As for Croatia, it borders Italy.

Austria now has a confirmed case.

Predictable, given the problems in its neighbour to the south:

Austria confirms first two coronavirus cases, the governor of Tyrol province Guenther Platter told Austrian Press Agency (APA) on Tuesday.

One of the patients is reportedly from Italy's virus-hit Lombardy region.

A school in Cheshire has been forced to close amid concerns that students returning to the UK from a ski trip to Italy could be infected with Coronavirus.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/feb/25/coronavirus-live-updates-outbreak-latest-news-italy-italia-deaths-symptoms-china-stocks-wall-street-dow-jones-economy-falls

Italy is now turning into a 'hub' for the virus in the same way China has been for alot of Asian countries including SK.

The government should now consider urgent measures to ground flights to and from Italy until we are clear things are under control. 

Italy and SK are taking this seriously. That's good.

Iran is a disaster, we all knew they were lying from the outset. They have completely lost control and have no hope in regaining it. We must immediately close our border to Iran and ban all indirect travel.

Iran will sink us all. Absolutely ridiculous country.

The Middle East will soon be a no go zone.

It's in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman already.

All because Iran refused to take this seriously. All the work to contain this has been undermined by one country.

I have been reading an in-depth report on why Iran has become a regional epi-centre. Early in the outbreak, the Mullahs declared solidarity with China, continued transport links without restriction and even sent two million face masks to help the Chinese efforts (face masks which are now needed in Iran).

Instead of considering the needs and safety of the Iranian people, the Iranian authorities considered their strategic alliance with China to be more important - a consummate failure of statecraft.