OUTBREAK - Coronavirus (COVID-19)

FOR CONSPIRACY THEORISTS:  Is COVID-19 a natural virus or an escaped bio-weapon?  Will China turn it into a weapon?  Note that there is NO evidence of this theory.

"Can China’s information about the novel coronavirus be trusted?" PBS NewsHour 2/10/2020

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SUMMARY:  China is struggling to contain an outbreak of novel coronavirus that has now spread in small numbers to at least 25 other countries or territories.  Both the official death toll and the number of confirmed cases have doubled in recent days, and there are doubts about the accuracy of data the Chinese government is reporting.  William Brangham is joined by Georgetown University’s Lawrence Gostin.

"How novel coronavirus outbreak has disrupted life across China" PBS NewsHour 2/11/2020

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SUMMARY:  China continues to struggle with novel coronavirus and is only now starting to allow scientists and public health officials from outside to assist in its efforts.  While the majority of infections and fatalities are centered in Hubei province, the illness is increasingly being felt across China.  William Brangham talks to The Economist’s David Rennie for an inside look at how the country is coping.

"In China, political fallout from novel coronavirus outbreak continues" PBS NewsHour 2/13/2020

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SUMMARY:  As novel coronavirus continues to plague China, the country’s president, Xi Jinping, fired two high-level Communist Party officials in the region at the outbreak's center.  The move comes as both death toll and number of cases are surging, partly as a result of changes in the way infections are defined.  John Yang sits down with Jude Blanchette of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.