E-cigarettes were invented in China. [URL]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electronic-cigarettes-reports-commissioned-by-phe[/URL]
[URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cigarette#History[/URL]
It would not surprise me if many were still made there.

Just putting stuff out there. Thanks for the links and responses. I will look at the links.

[QUOTE=xilman;540690][URL="https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest"]FT analysis[/URL] now outside the paywall.

US seems to be running at a significantly higher rate than most other places which are showing ~33% increase per diem.[/QUOTE]Latest appears to show the US still out-performing much of the rest of the world but there is some indication that the growth rate in the UK is leveling off.

Still far too soon to be confident that this is not just an artifact of differing testing regimes.

[quote=kladner;540641][quote]As readers will recall from the earlier article (above), Japanese and Taiwanese epidemiologists and pharmacologists have determined that the new coronavirus could have originated in the US since that country is the only one known to have all five types – from which all others must have descended.[/quote][/quote]
"Could have" originated in the US? Oh, please.

If the novel Coronavirus [i]had[/i] originated in the US, it would surely have broken out in the US first. It didn't.

The pneumonia associated with E-cigarettes has not, AFAIK, shown any sign of being contagious. Also, patients were tested to rule out infection as a cause.

[url=https://apnews.com/fc044c3fa987a60534a804046215f3de]Tokyo Olympics postponed to 2021[/url][quote]TOKYO (AP) — The IOC announced a first-of-its-kind postponement of the Summer Olympics on Tuesday, bowing to the realities of a coronavirus pandemic that is shutting down daily life around the globe and making planning for a massive worldwide gathering in July a virtual impossibility.

The International Olympic Committee said the Tokyo Games "must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020, but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community."

It was an announcement seen as all but a certainty as pressure mounted from nervous athletes, sports organizations and national Olympic committees — all forced to deal with training and qualifying schedules, to say nothing of international anti-doping protocols, that have been ruptured beyond repair.[/quote]

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;540762]"Could have" originated in the US? Oh, please.

If the novel Coronavirus [i]had[/i] originated in the US, it would surely have broken out in the US first. It didn't.[/QUOTE]Not if delivered to the intended target with due care.

[QUOTE=xilman;540761]Latest appears to show the US still out-performing much of the rest of the world but there is some indication that the growth rate in the UK is leveling off.

Still far too soon to be confident that this is not just an artifact of differing testing regimes.[/QUOTE]


The UK hit a new death record today, 87 so far.
[url]https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries[/url]


IMHO, death vs. confirmed cases rate suggests that there is too little testing in the UK.


But here in Germany the testing rate is too low as well; without evidence of havin gone to a "high risk area" recently, you hardly get a test. So the approach of following infection chains seems to have been abandoned.

An important message from the Prime Minister
 

I received this earlier today.

The forum doesn't allow MP4 video attachments so you will need to download it and change the extension form .zip to .mp4

Well said. Only problem being that he needed several weeks to take the situation seriously.

Spotted on the Interwebs today:
[quote]Apparently, there was still Covid-19 virus on surfaces in Diamond Princess cabins at 17 days after disembarkation: [url]https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2020/03/24/coronavirus-diamond-princess-cabin-surfaces-contaminated-cdc-report/2905924001/[/url]

Take interior disinfection very seriously, especially hard surfaces like plastics, metals, and finished woods. Porous organic materials (paper, cardboard, unfinished wood, cotton) are more likely to interact with the virus components and break them down sooner, but tests indicated it could still be present on cardboard up to 24 hrs. UV radiation exposure outside is a pretty good disinfectant.[/quote]
“UV radiation exposure outside is a pretty good disinfectant” — but leaving stuff in sun for 2 days not exactly a good option for most things. I’m thinking maybe a quick blast of hot air from a heat gun, hot enough to get surface temp above ~200F but not long enough to damage the items. Even plastic and electronics (turn off first just to be safe) should be OK with a quick superficial heating.

[QUOTE=xilman;540764]Not if delivered to the intended target with due care.[/QUOTE]
Intended target?