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Several weeks already. How long does this super highly infectious disease take to spread outside of China? You have to wonder the claims made on transmission at this stage.



The disease takes about 2-3 weeks to run its course through each patient. It’s slow burning and mildly yet unpredictably lethal. That sounds innocuous but it is a recipe for disaster.


Transmission seems clearly far less bad than initially thought. If it were exponential we should be at millions infected right now.


China only has capacity to test a few thousand patients per day...


From "Coronavirus outbreak 'just beginning' outside China, says expert" (Feb 12 2020) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-singapore-in...

The Chinese government’s senior medical adviser has said the disease is hitting a peak in China and may be over by April. He said he was basing the forecast on mathematical modelling, recent events and government action.

Dale Fisher, chair of the Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network that is coordinated by the World Health Organization, said that predicted “time course” may well be true if the virus is allowed to run free in Wuhan.

The flu-like virus has killed more than 1,100 people and infected nearly 45,000, predominantly in China and mostly in Wuhan.

Singapore has reported 50 coronavirus cases, one of the highest tallies outside China, including mounting evidence of local transmission.

[...]

Asked why there were so many cases in Singapore, he said there were comparatively more tests being conducted on the island.

“We have a very low index of suspicion for testing people so...we do have higher ascertainment,” he said, but added that there was a lot about transmission of the virus yet to be understood.




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