Microsoft Bing team launches covid-19 portal for global tracking of cases

An interactive map allows site visitors to click on the country to see the specific number of cases and related articles from a variety of publishers.

While Google is still working on a coronavirus screening and tracking website, Microsoft Bing team has already launched a web portal for tracking COVID-19 infections worldwide.

The website, accessible at bing.com/covid, provides up-to-date infection statistics for each country.

The COVID-19 Tracker currently lists 168,835 as total confirmed cases, 84,558 active cases, 77,761 recovered cases and 6,516 deaths.

There are at least 3,244 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the US and at least 61 deaths.

"Lots of Bing folks worked (from home) this past week to create a mapping and authoritative news resource for COVID19 info," Michael Schechter, General Manager for Bing Growth and Distribution at Microsoft, was quoted as saying in a ZDNet report on Sunday.

An interactive map allows site visitors to click on the country to see the specific number of cases and related articles from a variety of publishers.

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Data is being aggregated from sources like the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Microsoft announced the website two days after US President Donald Trump said Google has begun working on COVID-19-related portal for US citizens.

13 US citizens at 'high risk' of coronavirus being treated in Nebraska

A total of 338 Americans were flown home from the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan's Yokohama.

Thirteen US citizens deemed "high risk" for the deadly new coronavirus are being treated at a federally designated facility in the University of Nebraska following their evacuation from a cruise ship in Japan, officials said.

A total of 338 Americans were flown home from the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan's Yokohama, touching down first at Travis Air Force Base in California shortly before midnight Sunday.

The second flight arrived early Monday at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.

"A select number of high risk patients were transported onward from both locations using those same aircraft to Omaha, Nebraska for care at the University of Nebraska," Health and Human Services official Robert Kadlec told reporters.

State Department official William Walters added these included six passengers from the base in California and seven from the base in Texas.

Some of these included spouses and it was not clear how many had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

Shortly before the flights left Japan, US officials were informed that 14 of the passengers, tested days earlier, had received positive results.

Some patients were also being treated at hospitals near the California.

The medical staff in Nebraska are re-testing the cases for themselves, after those patients were placed in isolated areas of the two planes for the journey home.

"Until we're done with testing they'll be self-isolated to their room," Shelly Schwedhelm, an official at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said in a separate briefing.

She added that 12 of the patients were in a quarantine unit while one was in a bio-containment facility -- one of three selected in the country to care for US citizens evacuated from Africa with the Ebola virus.

Forty other US citizens who had been on the ship and had previously tested positive were being treated in Japanese hospitals and were not allowed to fly.

WHO warns overseas coronavirus spread may be 'tip of the iceberg'

The death toll in China from the novel coronavirus epidemic jumped to 908 and the number of confirmed cases has risen over 40,000.

The head of the World Health Organization said on Monday there have been "concerning instances" of coronavirus among people with no travel history to China, warning that it could be the "tip of the iceberg", as he urged all countries to prepare for the possible arrival of the novel virus that has killed over 900 people.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus lauded the doctors, nurses and health workers for doing "their utmost" at personal risk to contain the epidemic, terming them "true heroes" of the outbreak that first surfaced in December in Wuhan city in China's central Hubei province where millions of people are under lockdown in a bid to stop it from spreading.

"There've been some concerning instances of onward 2019nCoV spread from people with no travel history to China. The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg," tweeted Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO.

"In an evolving public health emergency, all countries must step up efforts to prepare for #2019nCoV's possible arrival and do their utmost to contain it should it arrive. This means lab capacity for rapid diagnosis, contact tracing and other tools in the public health arsenal," he said.

The death toll in China from the novel coronavirus epidemic jumped to 908 and the number of confirmed cases has risen over 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

Ghebreyesus said the spread of coronavirus outside China appeared to be slowing, but could accelerate, warning that any breach in solidarity is a victory for the virus.

"Containment remains our objective, but all countries must use the window of opportunity created by the containment strategy to prepare for the virus's possible arrival," he said.

"In the spirit of financial solidarity, donors have been stepping up, but we have not reached our goal of US$675 million for @WHO and vulnerable countries," Ghebreyesus said.

"Containment remains our objective, but all countries must use the window of opportunity created by the containment strategy to prepare for the virus's possible arrival," he said.

China coronavirus death toll rises to 170; confirmed cases soar to 7,711

Chinese President Xi Jinping called the coronavirus a "demon" which should be brought under control.

International News : The nationwide death toll from China's novel coronavirus epidemic has jumped to 170 with 38 more fatalities reported mainly from the worst-affected central Hubei province, the government said on Thursday, while confirming more than 1,700 new infections.

The coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei province, in December and has now spread across the globe. The Chinese authorities are trying to contain the epidemic while other countries, including India, are working on plans to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called the coronavirus a "demon" which should be brought under control, pledging that the government would be transparent and release information on the virus in a "timely" manner.

China's National Health Commission said on Thursday that 7,711 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps by the end of Wednesday.

A total of 170 people have died of the disease, it said.

It said in its daily report that 1,370 patients remained in critical conditions, and 12,167 people were suspected of being infected with the virus by the end of Wednesday.

A total of 124 people have been discharged from hospital after recovery.

A total of 1,737 new confirmed cases, including the first in Tibet, and 4,148 new suspected cases, and 38 deaths - 37 in Hubei Province and one in Sichuan Province - were reported by Wednesday.

1,000 swine flu cases in Delhi this year; hospitals report 13 deaths

The Delhi government recently said that all government hospitals in the city are equipped with necessary logistics required for the management of the disease.

One death due to swine flu and 124 fresh cases of Influenza A (H1N1) was Tuesday recorded in Delhi, taking the total number of people affected by the disease in the city this year to 1019, according to a report.

The city had recorded 895 positive cases of swine flu till Monday, which included 712 adults and 183 children, the latest report by the city's Directorate General of Health Services said.

As many as 104 fresh cases of adults, 20 of children and one death was recorded on Tuesday, it said. Till Monday, Delhi government had not recorded any death due to swine flu.

However, two Centre-run hospitals here have reported 13 deaths due to swine flu this year. According to senior officials at Safdarjung Hospital, three deaths due to swine flu have been recorded this season, while RML Hospital has reported 10 fatalities.

Nine of the 10 people who died at RML Hospital were from Delhi, and the other one was from outside the city, officials said.

After holding a state-level review meeting on Influenza A (H1N1), the Delhi government recently said that all government hospitals in the city are equipped with necessary logistics required for the management of the disease and drug Oseltamivir along with personal protective equipment (PPE kits) and N95 masks are also available.

Recent guidelines from the Union Health Ministry on case diagnosis, management, vaccination, isolation criteria, risk categorisation and preventive measures have been circulated among all hospitals and health facilities.

"All hospitals have been asked to keep ventilators ready, and also told to disseminate information on the prevention of the disease," the Delhi health department official said.

Health advisories, in English and Hindi, on seasonal Influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) have been prepared and issued for general public in leading newspapers.

Patients with co-morbid condition like low immunity, on immune-suppressant, blood cancer, renal transplant, diabetes, heart disease are at high risk of getting infected with swine flu.

For any query on swine flu, people can seek assistance on the 24X7 helpline number at DGHS (HQ): 011-22300012, 22307145.

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