The coronavirus appears to flare up again in some patients, China warns
There were more than 82,000 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus spread across every continent except Antarctica as of Thursday morning, plus about 2,800 deaths, and countries are taking drastic steps to contain its spread. Japan told all 12.8 million students in the country's elementary, middle, and high schools to stay home until the end of March; Saudi Arabia banned all foreign pilgrims from visiting the holy city of Mecca for an indeterminate period of time, possibly up through the annual hajj pilgrimage at the end of July; and the U.S. reported its 60th confirmed case and the first not tied to any overseas travel.
Since the virus is new, not much is known about it and nobody has built up an immunity, Dr. Dean Blumberg, an infectious disease specialist at UC Davis Medical Center, told CNN. Adding to concerns about the spread of the virus, Chinese health officials said 14 percent of patients in Guangdong province who tested positive for the coronavirus, recovered, and were discharged have tested positive again, BBC News reports. A woman in Japan experience a similar phenomenon, testing positive three weeks after recovering and testing negative.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it's now a question of when, not if, the coronavirus will start spreading among people in the U.S. The patient at UC Davis Medical Center could be the first known case. When that patient transferred from another Northern California hospital to UC Davis on Feb. 19, doctors asked the CDC to test the patient for the coronavirus, which the CDC did not do until Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. You can watch Blumberg and CNN's Dan Simon run through some of what we know and don't know on Thursday's New Day. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91
Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Moldova's pro-West president wins 2nd term
Speed Read Maia Sandu beat Alexandr Stoianoglo, despite suspicions of Russia meddling in the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
2024 race ends with swing state barnstorming
Speed Read Kamala Harris and Donald Trump held rallies in battlegrounds over the weekend
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
ACA opens 2025 enrollment, enters 2024 race
Speed Read Mike Johnson promises big changes to the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
McDonald's sued over E. coli linked to burger
Speed Read The outbreak has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states and left one dead
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Texas dairy worker gets bird flu from infected cow
Speed Read The virus has been spreading among cattle in Texas, Kansas, Michigan and New Mexico
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dengue hits the Americas hard and early
Speed Read Puerto Rico has declared an epidemic as dengue cases surge
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US bans final type of asbestos
Speed Read Exposure to asbestos causes about 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Seattle Children's Hospital sues Texas over 'sham' demand for transgender medical records
Speed Read Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton subpoenaed records of any Texan who received gender-affirming care at the Washington hospital
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Afghanistan has a growing female suicide problem
Speed Read The Taliban has steadily whittled away women's and girls' rights in Afghanistan over the past 2 years, prompting a surge in depression and suicide
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US life expectancy rose in 2022 but not to pre-pandemic levels
Speed Read Life expectancy is slowly crawling back up
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published