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Stock image of hospital in Wuhan, China.

China's shutdown of Wuhan in January may have prevented 700,000 new cases, researchers say

The researchers used a combination of case reports, public health information, and mobile phone location tracking.

CHINA’S DECISION TO lock down the city of Wuhan, ground zero for the global COVID-19 pandemic, may have prevented more than 700,000 new cases by delaying the spread of the virus, researchers have said.

Drastic Chinese control measures in the first 50 days of the epidemic bought other cities across the country valuable time to prepare and install their own restrictions, according to the paper by researchers in China, the United States and the UK, published in the journal Science.

By day 50 of the epidemic – February 19 – there were 30,000 confirmed cases in China, said Oxford fellow Christopher Dye, one of the paper’s authors.

“Our analysis suggests that without the Wuhan travel ban and the national emergency response there would have been more than 700,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases outside of Wuhan by that date,” he was quoted as saying in a statement.

“China’s control measures appear to have worked by successfully breaking the chain of transmission, preventing contact between infectious and susceptible people.”

The researchers used a combination of case reports, public health information and mobile phone location tracking to investigate the spread of the virus.

The phone tracking provided a “fascinating” new stream of data, said another of the report’s authors, Penn State biology professor Ottar Bjornstad.

The time period they studied encompassed China’s biggest holiday, the Lunar New Year.

The researchers “were able to compare patterns of travel into and out of Wuhan during the outbreak with cell phone data from two previous spring festivals,” Bjornstad said.

“The analysis revealed an extraordinary reduction in movement following the travel ban of 23 January, 2020. Based on this data, we could also calculate the likely reduction in Wuhan-associated cases in other cities across China.”

The Wuhan shutdown delayed the arrival of the virus in other cities, their model showed, giving them time to prepare by banning public gatherings and closing entertainment venues, among other measures.

Nearly half of humanity has now been told to stay home to curb the spread of the virus, and lockdowns are rapidly becoming normalized. 

But when Beijing first shut down Wuhan more than two months ago, the decision was seen as a dramatic escalation in the fight against infection.

With the restrictions in the city slowly being lifted and life inching closer to normal, the question for China – and other countries around the globe – is what will happen once movement resumes. 

“We are acutely aware that resident or imported infections could lead to a resurgence of transmission,” said another of the report’s authors, Huaiyu Tian, an associate professor of epidemiology at Beijing Normal University. 

© – AFP 2020

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    Mute Graham Manning
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:24 AM

    Can the researchers tell us how pretendy the Chinese numbers are?

    355
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    Mute Bobby wilson
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:35 AM

    @Graham Manning: unfortunately they didn’t prevent it leaving China and engulfing the globe and infecting nearly 1million people so far!

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    Mute Graham Manning
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:54 AM

    @Dermot O’Reilly: agree re first bit, proof re second???

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    Mute Graham Manning
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:55 AM

    @Bobby wilson: agreed but doubt they could’ve but certainly could’ve lessened it and ameliorated worldwide effects.

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    Mute Gordon Comstock
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:05 AM

    @Graham Manning: have you ever seen anybody as terrified of going to hospital as those poor Chinese who were filmed being forcibly thrown into ambulances when this first kicked off over there? They knew what fate awaited them once the doors shut, and it wasn’t a fortnight’s isolation.

    82
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    Mute Michael Bodycoach
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:08 AM

    @Dermot O’Reilly: you must be some James bond level superspy with that 100% accurate inside knowledge, or have you secretly been working for the Chinese government…

    45
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    Mute John Hazelnut
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:15 AM

    @Dermot O’Reilly: Ah, the old “The Communists slit pregnant women’s bellies open” meme.

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    Mute Chewey Bacca
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:23 AM

    @Graham Manning: as Eamon Dingy would say “They are spoofers, frauds “

    14
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    Mute Graham Manning
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:35 AM

    @Gordon Comstock: far from impossible but unproven.

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    Mute Gordon Comstock
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:40 AM

    @Graham Manning: you don’t get proof of things out of China the way you do for other countries. For example, nobody knows how many of their citizens they execute each year, but it is still accepted that they execute more than every other country on earth combined. Still, assumptions without proof because China is an authoritarian, fascist state which controls the flow of information. Doing business with them is dancing with the devil, as we are learning presently to only a very small degree compared to what will come down the line if we don’t isolate them internationally.

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    Mute Barry Doyle
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:43 AM

    @Graham Manning: basically, don’t believe a single word from the Chinese. The truth is valued at exactly 0 Yuan over there.

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    Mute Graham Manning
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:53 AM

    @Barry Doyle: agreed.

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    Mute Mary Morrisey
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:06 AM

    @Graham Manning: While I’m not believing all this positive propaganda we keep seeing over China’s role in the current pandemic, I also need credible proof of your statement.

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    Mute Graham Manning
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    Apr 1st 2020, 12:22 PM

    @Mary Morrisey: dont have any but their track record and the huge variance with what others are experiencing says a lot.

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    Mute Jointheclubtoo
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    Apr 1st 2020, 12:24 PM

    @Graham Manning: The Chinese are also pretending to send a plane load of vital medical supplies to Ireland every day this week. Tinfoil hat is too late for the likes of you. Maybe try self isolation in a tinfoil room.

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    Mute Joe_X
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:45 PM

    @Jointheclubtoo: You mean the way that they are pretending that they beat up the doctor that first noticed the pattern that led to the pretend virusbeing found…we may need tin foil hats, but you need a pair of glasses

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    Mute DERRY1973
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:34 AM

    And if the Chinese didn’t try to cover it up at the start, I wonder what the numbers would be. They have a lot to answer for, when this pandemic aventully passes.

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    Mute Bobby wilson
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:00 AM

    @DERRY1973: if this dangerous virus had a came from the US you would never end it.! Unlike with communist China where some of hard left friends would find it very difficult to criticise to the same level scrutiny!

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    Mute Jeremiah A Craic
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:15 AM

    @Bobby wilson: are they still a great bunch of lads?

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    Mute Tom kenny
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:20 AM

    @Jeremiah A Craic: Ted was wrong.

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    Mute JimmyMc
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:54 AM

    @DERRY1973: You don’t have to wonder, the University of Southampton diod the same research and established that if the interventions could have been brought in a week earlier, 66% fewer people would have been infected. The same measures brought in three weeks earlier could have reduced cases by 95%.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/research-finds-huge-impact-of-interventions-on-spread-of-covid-19
    And to top it off the research from Southampton was carried out by independent researchers. This article is based on research by Oxford fellow Professor Christopher Dye, who is none other than a consultant to the Chinese Communist Party as Epidemiology Advisor to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

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    Mute james dimaggio
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    Apr 1st 2020, 10:09 AM

    @DERRY1973: I wonder how our Government would have reacted if it had originated here. It’s not like they haven’t got a history in the cover up stakes. We’re very quick to judge other countries in how they deal with bad news.

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    Mute DERRY1973
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    Apr 1st 2020, 10:49 AM

    We tend in ireland not to do pandemics, caused by eating habits that are proven to be highly dangerous or man made in laboratories. So I for one have no problem calling out the nation’s government over this. The whole world held to ransom, thousands dead and dying, millions out of work, and your talking about judgment. Wake up and look around you.

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    Mute RJ.Fallon
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    Apr 1st 2020, 11:04 AM

    @Bobby wilson: “had a came”?

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    Mute Alan Watts
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    Apr 1st 2020, 11:08 AM

    @james dimaggio: experts told our government to cancel Paddy’s Day, they had to think about it for a few days, the Chinese New year came at the wrong time, nobody’s saying the Chinese government are right here but European governments had a head start but put the economy first

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    Mute Jointheclubtoo
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    Apr 1st 2020, 12:39 PM

    @Bobby wilson: Only 1 case got to America, it went up to 15, now they have none. I get my information from the same sources as you.

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    Mute Trevor Connolly
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:30 AM

    Close those wet markets or at least regulate them, stop it from happening

    194
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    Mute Gerard Heery
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:45 AM

    @Trevor Connolly: they a regulated it’s called soft touch regulation ,we had it here with the banks

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    Mute Dave Barrett
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:55 AM

    @Trevor Connolly: came from a test tube.

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    Mute Dave Barrett
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    Apr 1st 2020, 10:58 AM

    @Gerard Heery: not only do i think this virus was man made but the release of it was a test run to see how the rest of the world would react and what kind of mortality rate it would create.

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    Mute Marc Murphy
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:52 AM

    Very difficult to believe the accuracy of the Chinese numbers reported I’m afraid.

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    Mute Shane Corry
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:37 AM

    @Marc Murphy: Personally I don’t follow the conspiracy..

    It’s not at all strange that a country that enforced very strict measures (welding people in homes, house arrest, mass military control, dis-infecting whole streets/areas) managed to control their death rate way better than countries in the west.

    Nobody seems to have the same doubts of South Korea who adopted some similar strategies that wouldn’t go down well at all in the western world (manditory tracking/tracing apps, full military control etc.)

    Some deaths likely went unreported due to people dying at home etc. but that’s the only likely discrepency and that’s happening right here in Europe too – it’s been reported that Italy likely has up to 8,500 unreported deaths as nursing home deaths are not counted nor are home deaths of people with matching symptoms but no diagnosis…

    52
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    Mute Dave Barrett
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    Apr 1st 2020, 1:28 PM

    @Shane Corry: ahh! But the virus originated in China. Funnily enough in Wuhan or outside where there is a lab.

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    Mute Joe_X
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:23 PM

    @Shane Corry: But I do not think any other country is hiding the correct figures. The fact of the matter is that the doctor that first noticed the pattern had been suppressed. The Chinese government also told doctors that when reporting causes of death, to put it down as underlying conditions and not the virus. This virus has been in China since at least early November, possibly longer, as the type of pattern the doctor noticed does not develop overnight.

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    Mute Gordon Comstock
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:55 AM

    They claim “China’s control measures appear to have worked”? Now geography may not be my strong suit, but China is quite a long way away from Ireland I believe, and their “control measures” didn’t control the spread enough to stop it making the 5,000 mile trip from China to Ireland. Now, control measures may not be my strong suit either, but that doesn’t seem like it was very well controlled to me. Just more Chinese lies, really need to stop doing business with those despicable fascists.

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    Mute 523StarBar
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:10 AM

    @Gordon Comstock: I agree .. and their tests kits and masks are bring found to be faulty .. sub par .. not good enough ..

    44
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    Mute Damian Mac An Bháird
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:22 AM

    @Gordon Comstock: they’re not fascist, they’re communist with capitalist tendencies. A globalist wet dream

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    Mute Gordon Comstock
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:25 AM

    @Damian Mac An Bháird: what definition of fascism would the one party state of China fail to meet these days?

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    Mute Damian Mac An Bháird
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    Apr 1st 2020, 10:01 AM

    @Gordon Comstock: I’ll give u one example. In a fascist state all schools are controlled by the state. Not so in china. They have state run and private schools

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    Mute Damien Mc Padden
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    Apr 1st 2020, 10:29 AM

    @Damian Mac An Bháird: I think you’ll find the CCP’s verminous, bat eating hands pulling the strings throughout the entire education system.

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    Mute Gordon Comstock
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    Apr 1st 2020, 10:55 AM

    @Damian Mac An Bháird: and if I sent my child to a private school in China would they learn about Chicago/Austrian school economics? How about religious education? And history, including what happened in Tiananmen Square? Of course not, control doesn’t have to be direct to still be control.

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    Mute Jointheclubtoo
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    Apr 1st 2020, 12:29 PM

    @Gordon Comstock: A fascist state is run by and for corporations first and foremost. China is run by that government you are blaming for everything. To see examples of the former you can look a lot closer to home.

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    Mute Gordon Comstock
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    Apr 1st 2020, 12:34 PM

    @Jointheclubtoo: that’s not what a fascist state is. Learn what words mean and then maybe we can have a chat.

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    Mute Nowa Huta
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:02 AM

    Exactly the world needs to punish the Chinese for this and the the best way is financially.

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    Mute Jim Buckley Barrett
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:29 AM

    @Nowa Huta: a few questions for you.

    Do you know the origin of the Spanish flu?

    That phone that you are holding, any ideas where the majority of its parts are produced?

    Any idea of the dangers of punishing a country?

    Answers

    US in 1918 recorded the first case and it went around the world to kill an estimate 50m. Do you think the people of the US meant that to happen?

    The next one is simple, China. Punish them and you punish everyone, it will drive up the prices of goods.

    The next country will completely hide an outbreak or worse spread it to other countries so the origin can’t be determined. We need transparency not secrets

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    Mute Gordon Comstock
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:44 AM

    @Jim Buckley Barrett: the Spanish flu originated in Asia not the US, it was even also known as the Asian flu at the time. Now it may not have been China (although many believe it did), but it was still that neck of the woods that gave us that pandemic too. Isolate China, cut them off economically, the externalised costs of doing business with them is far too great to compensate for the cheap tat we can get from them. No good ever comes from doing business with fascists, you just end up empowering them.

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    Mute Graham Manning
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:55 AM

    @Gordon Comstock: there’s no such consensus re origin of Spanish flu.

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    Mute Garreth mc mahon
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:19 AM

    @Graham Manning: maybe there is no consensus in the articles you have found and read, but there could be consensus in old medical journals that are deeper down in google than the first ten pages

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    Mute John Hazelnut
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:20 AM

    @Nowa Huta: Ah, the old Billionaires profit motive. Any excuse.

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    Mute Lorna McC
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    Apr 1st 2020, 10:09 AM

    @Garreth mc mahon: they didn’t have adequate testing back then that would have proved its origin. There were several localised rounds of a killer flu in the couple of years that preceded the 3 bouts of “Spanish” flu and we can’t prove that they didn’t evolve to become the virus that caused the Spanish flu. Spanish flu has different names across the world, according to beliefs as to where it originated but none have been proven with indisputable evidence.

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    Mute Paul O'Sullivan
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    Apr 1st 2020, 11:04 AM

    @Gordon Comstock: the Spanish flu originated on a chicken and pig farm in Kansas close to a US military camp that then transported the virus to European forces who took it elsewhere.. it has been given the name Spanush Flu because Spain was neutral and reported it first in Newsapers .
    Because other western newspapers were reporting mostly on the war. And it was then given that name in the media and it stuck.
    It has been described by Scientists as a Swine flu, who still have ast swabs of this virus in labs.

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    Mute Joe_X
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:44 PM

    @Paul O’Sullivan: And from those swabs, it has been determined that the spanish flu was H1N1 influenza. A variety of which was the cause of the swine flu pandemic of 2009

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    Mute Macus Mc Mahon
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:38 AM

    Is this an April fools story? a coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan has just caused an outbreak of covid 19 worldwide with 700,000 cases reported.

    92
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    Mute 523StarBar
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:08 AM

    China and the WHO dropped the ball. WHO stated in Jan that China assured them this couldn’t be spread person to person.. WHO just took this and praised China .. it was wrong. China ‘disappeared’ and sanctioned doctors who tried speak out on this. China’s death toll doesn’t fit in with what we see playing out .. China won’t allow anyone into their country without a mandatory 14 day quarantine.. something they called others racist for a number of weeks back. . Lessons need fo be learned but China deserves no praise in my humble opinion.. the WHO also allowed the tail to wag the dog in this ..

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    Mute Gordon Comstock
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:15 AM

    @523StarBar: loads of Chinese businesses are refusing to serve foreigners (which just means anyone who is not Han) no matter how long they have been in the country, while happily serving the Han with no questions of whether they’ve travelled outside the country recently, all with the tacit support of the state. China has also thrown somewhere between 250k – 1m uyghurs into concentration camps and are actually sending Han men to sleep with the prisoners’ wives to breed them out of existence. Also, who can forget China’s carry on in Tibet. China can shove their accusations of racism against anybody into their bat soup along with all the other rubbish that goes in there.

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    Mute Barry Doyle
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:32 AM

    @Gordon Comstock: it’s the Chinese trying to steer the narrative that the Kung-flu does not originate from China.

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    Mute 523StarBar
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    Apr 1st 2020, 2:57 PM

    @Gordon Comstock: when I was in college a well known guy on campus went home to China during study break and never came back. We used to see him meditate in the gardens on campus. Falung Gong I think it was. Lovely to watch, nice guy and very bright. He was interned for crimes against his state and never seen again..

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    Mute Yggr of Asgard
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:28 AM

    How much money is the journal getting from China?

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    Mute Jim Buckley Barrett
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:31 AM

    @Yggr of Asgard: might explain the bad grammar at times

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    Mute Dermot O'Reilly
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:49 AM

    How many people has the Chinese Government killed to stop the virus?

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    Mute Paul Cunningham
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:06 AM

    @Dermot O’Reilly: 21 million mobile phone accounts have disappeared, fill in the blanks

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    Mute Shane Corry
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:41 AM

    @Paul Cunningham: Maybe stop spreading false news? The drop was attributed to a huge drop in migrant workers & people cancelling business SIMs.

    “It was mainly due to reduced business and social activities resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak,” a spokesperson with the company confirmed to the AP. “Many customers in China have multiple SIM cards and it is common that they use their non-primary SIM cards to do these activities.”

    https://apnews.com/afs:Content:8717250566

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    Mute Barry Doyle
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:45 AM

    @Shane Corry: and if you believe that….

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    Mute Seriousnojoke
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    Apr 1st 2020, 12:16 PM

    @Barry Doyle: And you believe in 2020 some tens of millions of deaths without any pictures let alone proof. Bravo you’re so smart!

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    Mute Paddy Dunne
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:10 AM

    As far as I’m concerned everything is to lax how can you allow someone from darkest Africa or Asia to get on a plane and land in Europe or America and the same vice versus
    Without Been quarantined first this virus sometime doesn’t show at first so we are all susceptible to a new virus when it eventually comes and imagine it being much worse , all this has to change you can’t have countries covering outbreaks up if you have been found to be covering up you should pay the price this is crazy paying millions to China for this cover up , Chinese citizens and western citizens were travelling out of wuhan to America and Europe with a deadly virus and the Chinese government kept quiet for a month these people should not have been allowed to travel full stop

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    Mute Andrew Matheson
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:07 AM

    If they did it no November/ December before allowing 5m people to travel for the Chinese New Year they maybe no one would have gotten it

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    Mute Paul Cunningham
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:05 AM

    Conveniently 21 million Chinese mobile phone accounts disappeared in the last 3 months. Wonder why?

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    Mute Jim Buckley Barrett
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:31 AM

    @Paul Cunningham: any reference / proof of this?

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    Mute kjholt
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:34 AM

    @Paul Cunningham: so 21 million people died, then rang up and cancelled their accounts..convenient for all involved.

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    Mute Clive Sutton
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:44 AM

    @Jim Buckley Barrett: 21 million subscriptions cancelled, not the same as disappearing. https://apnews.com/afs:Content:8717250566

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    Mute Barry Doyle
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:51 AM

    I’m sorry but this article is absolute horse shut!
    The Chinese originated a deadly strain of SARS which has spread globally. They are clearly lying about their numbers and probably executing their their own citizens. This article sounds like state propaganda.

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    Mute JimmyMc
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    Apr 1st 2020, 10:45 AM

    @Barry Doyle: This article is based on research by Oxford fellow Professor Christopher Dye, who is none other than a consultant to the Chinese Communist Party as Epidemiology Advisor to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

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    Mute Barry Doyle
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    Apr 1st 2020, 11:51 AM

    @JimmyMc: Good for him. I hope he’s being paid well.

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    Mute Know True Evil: The Communist Party of China
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:08 AM

    Hmm… what about the 5 million Wuhan citizens who were widely reported to have travelled from Wuhan throughout China and abroad for their Chinese New Year holiday?

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    Mute JackSimpson
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    Apr 1st 2020, 11:23 AM

    How many new cases would have been prevented had Wuhan been shut down in November or December? How many cases would have been prevented had China banned the sale of wild animals in wet markets after SARs?

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    Mute Seriousnojoke
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    Apr 1st 2020, 12:22 PM

    @JackSimpson: did the USA or UK or any Western Europe countries shut down when they have their first case? No.
    Shut down at the 10th case? No.
    100? No.
    1,000? 10,000?

    China shut down Wuhan (11 million people) when there was 803 cases.
    Ireland has 3000+ cases, still just “advise” people stay at home.
    Sweden, hundreds of deaths, still wide open as if nothing happened.

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    Mute JackSimpson
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    Apr 1st 2020, 1:07 PM

    @Seriousnojoke: 1) In relation to your first paragraph, I agree but it doesn’t change the fact that China allowed this to develop for 2 months, possibly longer before acting strongly against it. Also, they suppressed information which prevented the rest of the world acting quicker.
    2) In relation to your second paragraph, I also agree. Due to the fact that China is an authoritarian state and it places minimal value on the rights of the individual, China can react better to these crises.
    3) Also, it doesn’t change the fact that this could have been prevented. Experts have been warning since SARs that the sale of wild (virus ridden) animals in cramped conditions in wet markets is a recipe for disaster.

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    Mute Seriousnojoke
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    Apr 1st 2020, 4:36 PM

    @JackSimpson: 1. You speak as if anyone find any new disease immediately can figure out what it is and knows how to deal with it. Smart asses look retrospectively at the situation and judge and criticise while professionals and scientists are working on learning experiences and finding solutions.

    2. Your logic is very funny. “Western democracies” respond to crisis slowly and let thousands die unnecessarily is nothing compared to China trying every measure possible to keep people alive so that they can enjoy the next few decades? What is human rights really with the chances to live?

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    Mute Seriousnojoke
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    Apr 1st 2020, 4:43 PM

    @JackSimpson: Experts warning since SARS blah blah blah… Yeah they learned so they have an effective system to stop the outbreak within two months. What about you? What did you help or contribute? How come you didn’t warn anybody until three months after the outbreak took place? How come global health system is still so fragile and profit driven after Bill Gates warned about such a pandemic five years ago on TED Talk? How come nobody learned from the Spanish flu (Kansas flu to be accurate), Swine fly, Ebola, HIV.. etc. except you think everything could’ve been prevented?

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    Mute JackSimpson
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    Apr 1st 2020, 6:39 PM

    @Seriousnojoke: 1) “You speak as if anyone find any new disease immediately” – It was at least two months before they acted! Also, people who were trying to raise the alarm where silenced.
    2) “Smart asses look retrospectively at the situation and judge and criticise” – So, according to you, China did nothing wrong?! China did not suppress any information?
    3) In relation to “2.” in your comment. As mentioned, China is an autocracy. They can implement changes at the drop of a hat that would not be allowed in western countries, e.g. China has more than 19,000 miles of high speed rail, most of which was built over the past 20 years. In Ireland, the Southbound Metro proposals were cancelled becuase a few people were unhappy about the Luas interruptions. That would never happen in China. If it is for the national good, they’ll plough ahead!

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    Mute JackSimpson
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    Apr 1st 2020, 6:45 PM

    @Seriousnojoke: 4) “Yeah they learned so they have an effective system to stop the outbreak” – They wouldn’t need to stop any outbreak had they PREVENTED it from happening. Banning the sale of these wild animals in wet markets may have prevented this.
    5) “How come global health system is still so fragile and profit driven after Bill Gates warned about such a pandemic five years ago on TED Talk?” – I agree but we do live in a capitalist money-driven system.
    6) “Except you think everything could’ve been prevented?” – No everything can’t be prevented but this could have been (nobody will know for sure). Apparently, the markets selling these wild animals are back open now.

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    Mute Joe_X
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:01 PM

    @Seriousnojoke: China shut down Wuhan when they claimed 803 cases. That does not mean that there where 803 cases. They informed WHO on new years eve when they claimed 87 cases. However the doctor who noticed the disease in the first place had noticed the pattern of a new disease weeks before this and that was just his practice in Wuhan. You need numbers to notice a pattern. Researchers there are also saying that they have traced one case back to early November. We had our first case a month or so ago and now have several thousand and over a hundred death on the whole Island and the chinese government claiming only 87 cases by new years eve and only 803 by the time they shut Wuhan down? Sorry, but the numbers do not add up.

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    Mute biggybald
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    Apr 1st 2020, 10:06 AM

    China not hiding this in December my have prevented many more cases and deaths globally!

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    Mute David Dineen
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:42 AM

    Stupidity also cases to spread, see trump et Al… The world is playing catch up to nature.. The real boogie people are those that knew it was coming but failed to act

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    Mute Nomad
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:48 AM

    @David Dineen: That would be the Chinese then

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    Mute eric nelligan
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:06 AM

    @David Dineen: we haven’t covered ourselves in glory neither , our deaths are on par with Italy when adjusted for population and time. This is scandalous as we had a three week head start to prevent spread and also as we’ve a far young population.

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    Mute Val Doyle
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    Apr 1st 2020, 10:59 AM

    @eric nelligan: Do have graphs and charts to prove your argument?

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    Mute Tom o brien
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    Apr 1st 2020, 11:22 AM

    Chinese plan worked out nicely and not a bullet fired the world is there to be bought on the cheap now

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    Mute Simon O Flaherty
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    Apr 1st 2020, 7:28 AM
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    Mute CryptoWilf
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    Apr 1st 2020, 8:18 AM

    @Simon O Flaherty: If their vaccine is anything like the test kits they’ve been exporting then I won’t be putting too much faith in it!

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    Mute Mary Morrisey
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:09 AM

    @Simon O Flaherty: Yeah, forgive me if I’m not first in queue for any vaccine coming out of China.

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    Mute Adam Conroy
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    Apr 1st 2020, 5:14 PM

    Hey Journal, how about running an article about China’s cover up of the virus?

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    Mute gareth ebbs
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    Apr 1st 2020, 3:44 PM

    That’s funny because I was reading an article which stated because of China’s lack of transparency and apparent dishonest infectious count is part of the reason why so many countries are suffering as bad as they are.

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    Mute John Hazelnut
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    Apr 1st 2020, 9:07 AM

    Commentary on how this happened in China versus NYT article.

    https://youtu.be/I-19Q1tyhhw

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    Mute John Morgan
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    Apr 1st 2020, 10:16 AM

    Yes

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