Coronavirus (COVID-19) Respiratory illness - Effect on Travel

[Melburnian1]

The WHO meeting in a few hours time might be a telling factor. Relatively low infection rates outside China may indicate that the current quasi lockdown tgat is occurring is working.

Post automatically merged: Jan 30, 2020

No

Can we be confident that mainland Chin has given WHO truthful and complete up to date information?

 

[Quickstatus]

Wuhan airport was showing on FR24 a few minutes ago (about 2030 AEDT 30 Jan) as having teh highest delays worldwide of any airport.

I thought the airport was closed to all but the odd flight bringing in mainland Chinese medical personnel, and evacuation flights (if approved by Chinese govt) of foreign governments, plus Chinese politicians' flights. Unless it has a severe weather problem, how could it have the most delays 'worldwide' if so few carriers are operating?

The government probably approves a flight to depart at a certaintime but the escalated bureaucracy/security/biosecurity measures are just making things go very slow.

 

[I love to travel]

Can we be confident that mainland Chin has given WHO truthful and complete up to date information?

Who knows but on the surface they are handling this much better than SARS.

 

[p--and--t]

for a city in supposed lockdown - this doesn't make sense

Wuhan Airport (WUH) Departures - Today

Flight Departures information from Wuhan Airport (WUH): Status and Estimated times - Today

www.wuhan-airport.com

 

[Quickstatus]

The problem with a full lockdown is that it prevents the movement of essential personnel and goods. There has to be some movement

I dont think the WUH departure link is accurate
Best to crosscheck with FR24 to see if the flights actually took place.
I think it is just the existing programming that has not been removed.

For example WUH activity suggests that TR121 operated WUH-SIN on 30Jan. ButFR24 does not list that flight.

 

[Melburnian1]

Interesting article with some history elsewhere included:

China’s biological ‘Chernobyl’: Different country, same lies

China initially covered up the severity of the pandemic, likely worsening the impact of the virus far beyond China’s borders.

thehill.com

 

[dajop]

for a city in supposed lockdown - this doesn't make sense

Wuhan Airport (WUH) Departures - Today

Flight Departures information from Wuhan Airport (WUH): Status and Estimated times - Today

www.wuhan-airport.com

Yes, don't believe everything you read on the internet It certainly doesn't make sense in the context of airline websites either, which indicate the status of the listed flights as cancelled:

Example:

 

[Quickstatus]

Interesting article with some history elsewhere included:

China’s biological ‘Chernobyl’: Different country, same lies

China initially covered up the severity of the pandemic, likely worsening the impact of the virus far beyond China’s borders.

thehill.com

I dont think the article gives a fair description of what happened. The lens through which the article is written is very coloured.
Im not sure that anyone could have gone any quicker.
ScoMo was veritably blasted for being MIA re bushfires so I don't think it has anything to do with the political system.

The Chinese are displaying a very sophisticated set of skills especially on the medical side and I don't think anywhere in the world can anyone build an emergency field hospital in such a short period of time.

 

[Guvner]

Betoota is a satire web site, isn’t it?

Yes.

 

[I love to travel]

I might have just got lucky but the Qantas flight from Adl to Bne on Easter Sunday that I have been watching just dropped by $100. Needless to say I booked it but if these price drops are being replicated elsewhere maybe the Chinese are already cancelling travel.

 

[amaroo]

That wasn't the subject nor point of my post. But I think you already knew that.

Since my post was altered. No - it was a legit question, was yours?

 

[pauly7]

One of my corporate employers has just cancelled all meetings in Asia (anywhere) for everyone for the time being. Six trips for me gone! Quite happy with this (but obviously desperately sorry for anyone affected badly by the virus).

 

[Quickstatus]

How are Crown shares doing?

I just worry about the regional australia tourism that have also been affected by the bushfires.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Necessity is the mother of invention - the BRAMASK

 

[p--and--t]

Seems the AU government isn't the only one struggling to get an evacuation flight organised. Reports around the net of various nations frustrated and still trying to negotiate a flight including UK, Thailand, South Korea, (and NZ as reported higher up). Yet the US and Japan have been and gone and Japan with more than one flight (3 scheduled). Some countries getting preference over others. Payback for other issues?

 

[Quickstatus]

Seems the AU government isn't the only one struggling to get an evacuation flight organised. Reports around the net of various nations frustrated and still trying to negotiate a flight including UK, Thailand, (and NZ as reported higher up). Yet the US and Japan have been and gone and Japan with more than one flight. Some countries getting preference over others. Payback for other issues?

In whose interest will china act?

 

[teammongo]

Bit of paranoia taking over.

I think you can be blasé when you dont understand the danger.
Do you think the chinese government, CDC, WHO, Department of health in Oz are paranoid? Do you think they dont have expert advice and information to make decisions.

Understand this - for each death there are 35 hospital admissions, 15 ICU admissions, 5 ventilated patients. In australia there are 8 ICU beds for 100,000 people. The load is huge - and can be easily saturated. Public health runs at 95-105% occupancy with little surge capacity. Each infected patient needs contact tracing and followup. A huge undertaking if we lose control of the situation.

This is not a game.

TM

 

[juddles]

.....The Chinese are displaying a very sophisticated set of skills especially on the medical side and I don't think anywhere in the world can anyone build an emergency field hospital in such a short period of time.....

I agree.

Yes, I understand some peoples reluctance to accept with open heart the info supplied by the Chinese. I also still beleive that within China there are some impediments to full and timely disclosure of "bad news" - but even that aspect is also present in Western countries, with some small cultural differences.

What I am absolutely sure of is that the Chinese government has a simple goal, a driving force that is "Number One" and clear - the welfare of the Chinese state, and due to that, their citizens. No matter what is /isn't reported externally, this flu poses a far greater danger to the Chinese themselves than to any other foreign country. And they have a government that is able to quickly and drastically take steps for the "common good". That reassures me that they are doing at least as well, if not far better, than if this virus had appeared in any other country. Imagine if the Aussie government tried to "lock down" Brisbane during summer after a couple of hundred people got a bad flu? When half the lawyers and bogans were about to set off to Bali for their holiday beers - there would be outrage.

Actually, I think that Australia would be far less able to respond to a virus that appeared here than the Chinese....

 

[p--and--t]

I think you can be blasé when you dont understand the danger.
Do you think the chinese government, CDC, WHO, Department of health in Oz are paranoid? Do you think they dont have expert advice and information to make decisions.

Understand this - for each death there are 35 hospital admissions, 15 ICU admissions, 5 ventilated patients. In australia there are 8 ICU beds for 100,000 people. The load is huge - and can be easily saturated. Public health runs at 95-105% occupancy with little surge capacity. Each infected patient needs contact tracing and followup. A huge undertaking if we lose control of the situation.

This is not a game.

TM

Absolutely not being blase, but some comments/actions around the place are way over the top.

This has already been pointed out today by health ministers in 2 states of Australia in interviews. Just one example there are no existing cases in SA but there are on the ground reports all stocks of masks and hand sanitiser have been exhausted and people walking around with masks on.

 

[teammongo]

Hmmm. No confirmed cases.

One patient tested positive on their 4th test! so we still don't know enough to make informed decisions about care.
Masks - dunno how effective they will be unless you have been fitted and tested.
Hand wash - go for it. One of the few things that has been shown to work. If everyone cleaned there hands we would much less burdon of disease - Full Stop.