Some good news about Coronavirus!

[KenDodd]

Eighteen countries and territories around the world have completely eradicated coronavirus and have no more known cases. Several other countries are looking like they're heading the same way probably most famously New Zealand were the number of active cases (not new infections) is reducing by about ten a day. Hopefully in two to three weeks they will also be CV free. This is such good news.

[Waxonwaxoff0]

It's great news.

[LoseLooseLucy]

Excellent news.

[magicmallow]

Great news OP! I also heard some interesting news that they are training coronavirus sniffer dogs to detect the illness in people not yet showing symptoms. Fingers crossed!

[KenDodd]

Oh, forget to include the list of countries. They're marked in green and grey. Some of them are really underdeveloped so the last thing they need is CV.

www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

[Daffydulls]

That is brilliant, thanks for sharing some positive news.

[HeadOfHomeschool]

Great news

[AgentCooper]

Thank you for sharing positive news OP

[KenDodd]

There are also nine countries with only one active case so hopefully more will be CV free very soon. Really, really hoping for them, I don't think I could cross my fingers any harder.

[KenDodd]

22 countries now completely clear and six more with just one case. Absolutely brilliant news!

New Zealand now has only 35 active cases. I think JA is going to do it. She set out with the goal of nothing less that eradication, good for her.

[Kirschcherry]

Thank you for sharing. That’s great! We need more positive news.

[Mummypig2020]

I think it will slowly burn out over here too. The death rate is dropping.

[KenDodd]

I do hope so but fear as lock down is lifted numbers will increase without rigorous testing, tracking and containment. This is what the countries that have successfully eradicated the disease have done. A medical friend explained to me once how usually (not always) viruses become weaker. If a virus kills its host it can't spread, if it mutates to a weaker form, the host stays well allowing the weaker strain to spread more widely displacing the more deadly form. Unfortunately this process looks to me (non medical) to be completely out of our control.

[VeganVeal]

^^^ I read people are worried about a 'second wave' as seen in 1918/WW1. One train of thought of why the 'second wave' of the flu was so devastating in 1918/ WW1 is that the whole dynamics are different to today. In civilian life, natural selection favours a mild strain. Those who get very ill stay home, and those mildly ill continue with their lives, preferentially spreading the mild strain. In the trenches, natural selection was reversed. Soldiers with a mild strain stayed where they were, while the severely ill were sent on crowded trains to crowded field hospitals, spreading the deadlier virus. The second wave began, and the flu quickly spread around the world again.

[ITonyah]

I think it will slowly burn out over here too. The death rate is dropping yes, me too.

Not sure why we are guaranteed a second wave when lockdown is relaxed but NZ won't!

[Mummypig2020]

I also don’t think it’s as deadly and scary as the news have made out. Yes sadly people have died from it and at first it was a lot of people, but how many people actual die a day from other viruses?

[DianneWhatcock]

amazing news! Thanks OP for sharing some positivity

[HesterShaw1]

Thank you OP. We really need this

[VeganVeal]

I dont think we are guaranteed a second wave but its a possibility. In which case will NZ need to lock down for a second time?

[KenDodd]

Not sure why we are guaranteed a second wave when lockdown is relaxed but NZ won't

NZ in actively pursuing every case, tracing, and containing every contact. They are vigorously hunting down the virus and shuting down all opportunities for spread. This is a mammoth task and a huge ambition. Good luck to them. I am so, so hoping they're successful.

[jasjas1973]

I also don’t think it’s as deadly and scary as the news have made out. Yes sadly people have died from it and at first it was a lot of people

Agree, only about 60k here in the UK (excess deaths) and after 8 weeks of lockdown, so about the size of a small market town and we've plenty of them.
Perhaps with no lockdown, we might have got to 200k but again out of 66m nothing to worry about.......

[HesterShaw1]

jasjas, no one is denying it has been awful. Don't be silly.

The OP is trying to spread a bit of optimism that we may be past the worst. And there is nothing wrong with that.

[jasjas1973]

I think anyone who says its not a scary & deadly disease is being very foolish and ignoring the reality.

Over 500 deaths yesterday & 1000s of new infections, we may be over the peak but still a v long way to go.

NZ has almost eradicated Cv by a very active approach, the UK has not done this.

[ITonyah]

NZ will have to open at some point so what then?

[KenDodd]

I'm not sure that we're past the worst here in the UK. I think its probably too late for us to eradicate the virus from the UK unfortunately. We could have if we'd taken strong action early on, or at least could have tried, better still China had taken strong action to stop the virus escaping. I think we'll have to live with measures to reduce spread basically, a sort of semi lockdown, until there's either a vaccine or a mutated weaker form emerges. The countries that have successfully eradicated CV can completely (just about) return to normal, they'll just need extremely strong border controls so perhaps a reduction in imports etc.

[KenDodd]

NZ will have to open at some point so what then?
Nothing. They open up everything. If there's no CV in the country, nobody can catch it regardless of how many bars or restaurants they visit. They just need absolutely cast iron border controls (until there's a vaccine or some other change) to stop the virus reentering. This is the policy JA has gone for, it's hugely ambitious but it looks like she's on track to succeed.