Coronavirus China: Restaurant air con spread illness to nine

Restaurant’s air conditioning spread coronavirus from one infected diner to NINE others, report finds Researchers investigate incident at eatery in Guangzhou, China, in January An asymptomatic customer later fell ill, along with others on nearby tables Study claims virus was carried further than usual due to venue’s air conditioning However 81 others eating and working … Read more

Coronavirus UK: Lancet editor slams government ‘disinformation’

Claim – On the third Friday in January Coronavirus was already spreading around the world but the government ‘brushed aside’ the threat in an hour-long COBR meeting and said the risk to the UK public was ‘low’. Response – At a very basic level, this is wrong. The meeting was on the fourth Friday in … Read more

Up to 30% of coronavirus patients hardly develop ANY antibodies

Up to 30 percent of coronavirus patients may not develop enough antibodies to offer them any protection from reinfection, a recent study suggests.  The Trump administration has repeatedly pointed to the results of antibody testing as a key signal for when the US can reopen.    But experts have cautioned that disparate antibody tests are being … Read more

Coronavirus: 30 strains have developed, most deadly in Europe

There could be as many as 30 different strains of coronavirus, a study of patients in China has claimed. Zhejiang University scientists studied a small number of patients with the disease and uncovered tens of mutations – 19 of which had never been seen before. Some mutations boosted the virus’ ability to invade cells in the … Read more

Lyrid meteor shower will peak on Tuesday with up to 15 shooting stars per hour 

Lyrid meteor shower 2020 coincides with a new moon on Tuesday giving stargazers especially dark skies to watch the celestial spectacle – with up to 15 shooting stars visible per hour The Lyrid meteor shower comes to skies in the Northern Hemisphere this month  Experts say the peak will be between April 21-22 at the … Read more

How Hong Kong dodged a major coronavirus outbreak without resorting to a complete lockdown

Hong Kong dodged a major coronavirus outbreak — without resorting to a complete lockdown — by using a combination of targeted isolation and social distancing.  As of March 31, the region had only 715 confirmed cases of COVID-19 — including 94 asymptomatic cases — and four deaths among the population of 7.5 million. Experts from from … Read more

People with diabetes have a higher risk of dying if they catch coronavirus

People with diabetes have a higher risk of dying if they catch coronavirus – this is due to an overproduction of immune cells in the lungs, a new study finds. Experts from Wuhan University found people with high blood glucose levels have a much greater chance of catching more severe strains of the deadly virus. … Read more

What face masks can you buy amid the coronavirus pandemic?

Face masks could soon be an everyday sight in Britain as health officials admit that they are reconsidering their advice for people not to wear them. In countries such as China, Japan and South Korea, wearing face masks when you’re ill is common – East Asia has learned from deadly virus outbreaks in the past. … Read more

Trial of Ebola drug shows improvement in US but is suspended in China

The first results from an international experimental US antiviral drug are promising, even as a trial of the same drug in China shuts down. More than half of a group of severely ill coronavirus patients from the US, Canada, Europe and Japan improved after taking remdesivir made by California-based Gilead Sciences. Originally developed as a … Read more

Foxconn expands employee monitoring efforts to screen for new coronavirus infection

Workers at Foxconn in China are screened with thermal cameras, given daily temperature checks, and must eat in individual lunch stalls as factories reopen with heightened coronavirus monitoring Foxconn has reopened many of its Chinese factories with rigorous surveillance  Workers are now assigned 20-person groups to minimize contact with others They’re given new face masks … Read more