Pandemic

The World Health Organization (WHO) won't call the coronavirus a pandemic yet.

"For the moment, we are not witnessing the uncontained global spread of this virus, and we are not witnessing large-scale severe disease or death.

Romania initiated all the necessary actions and measures to prepare in case of an epidemic with the new coronavirus and activate the national system for emergency situations, the Ministry of Health informed on Thursday in a press release.

An American became the first confirmed non-Chinese victim of the new coronavirus on Feb. 8 while a Japanese man also died with symptoms consistent with the disease, as the epidemic looked set to pass the death toll from the SARS pandemic.   

"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world," Ludwig Wittgenstein famously said.

Based on that one might posit the syllogism that our understanding of our world is directly linked to the words we use to describe things.

On December 30, Li Wenliang "dropped a bombshell" in his medical school alumni group on the popular Chinese messaging application, informing them that seven patients from a local seafood market had been diagnosed with a SARS-like illness and quarantined in his hospital.

The peak of the spread of the new coronavirus in China will occur in 10-14 days, the head of the special committee of the State Committee on Health of the People's Republic of China Zhong Nanshan predicts, BTA reported.

Experts also cannot predict when the epidemic will reach its peak.
One of China's leading government-appointed experts, Zhong Nanshan, predicts that the outbreak of the disease, labelled as "demon" by Chinese President Xi, may peak in early February.

China is putting on lockdown a city of 11 million people considered the epicentre of a new coronavirus outbreak that has killed 17 and infected nearly 600, as health authorities around the world scramble to prevent a global pandemic.

With millions of Asians traveling on Jan. 21 for the Lunar New Year holiday, authorities in China confirmed that a new virus could be spread through human contact, reporting 15 medical staff had been infected and a fourth person had died.    

Want to save the world and earn a juicy return at the same time?

The World Bank has got a bond to sell you.

The Bank has launched its first pandemic bond, raising funds to help developing countries combat infectious diseases. The sale raised $322m in two separate three-year bond issues, with the Bank also issuing $100m of swaps offering pandemic protection.