Over the last few days, the rate at which deaths are occurring as the Wuhan coronavirus spreads has increased, but not by a great deal, with 426 dead as of this writing, but an infection count of 20,500+ – the vast majority in China. We’re also not seeing reports of young, fundamentally healthy people dying, so that’s another red flag that remains conspicuous by its absence.
However, this WaPo report is interesting:
The new cornovirus outbreak appears to be growing exponentially at its epicenter in Wuhan, China, according to scientists, who cautioned that only limited modeling is possible with current data.
This doesn’t mean an increase in deaths and death rates is in our future, though, as the article points out. It’s possible that it’ll only kill the vulnerable, and just be another infection for the rest of us.
I wonder how this decision will go over with the Pakistanis:
Pakistan announced Sunday that it will not evacuate hundreds of Pakistani students from Wuhan, China, despite desperate appeals to bring them home.
Pakistan’s ambassador to China, Naghmana Hashmi, told local television outlet Geo News that the decision was made because Pakistan lacks the medical facilities needed to treat anyone who contracts the virus and, ultimately, to contain its spread.
About 800 Pakistani students in Wuhan are registered with the embassy, and four are confirmed to have the virus, Hashmi said.
Pakistan has a dismal record of containing the spread of infectious diseases. In 2019, Pakistan suffered an outbreak of dengue fever that infected more than 47,000. Also last year, hundreds of children were infected with HIV after a pediatrician was found to be reusing syringes.
I’d like to know about the families of these Pakistanis – are they poverty stricken families whose kids are somehow studying abroad, or are they from the upper crust of Pakistani society, who won’t be happy to see their kids left in a city beset by epidemic?
