Die Oranje Vrystaat

The Vrystaat smells of spicy bushes, not Diesel like yesterday on the army truck, past ostriches and zebras, along with dull-faced SADF soldiers sitting on the back of the truck being carted to the front. Cannon fodder for a proxy war between the great powers. 

Ossewabrandwag

I have realized in the last few hours reading the newspaper cuttings, South Africa is ruled by a cult. Ossewabrandwag - my people, my God.
The eagle looks like one of the NSDAP.

Interestingly, this organization was founded in February 1939 and wanted to enter the war on the side of Germany. The Afrikaner Broederbond is recruited from this Afrikanerdoom environment, and it  formed the National Party of South Africa (NP). The sect party provides the prime minister, in this case the obstinate and extremely dangerous P W Botha, called the Great Crocodile, even less flattering in Afrikaans: Die Groot Krokodil . He was born in Paul Roux, just over 100 km from here. He is a concrete-headed racist and capitalist. Botha will not release Mandela from prison in his lifetime. Nazis survived here in other guises. Scary to think if Hitler had won the war. 

In the folder I received from the editor are also newspaper cuttings of a crime that, as one of The Star's journalists in Johannesburg lately wrote, was one of the most heinous in recent decades. That may be saying something if people are allowed to be tortured to death.  Just disappear in a bright blue Ford Granada or a yellow SUV on the loading bed. Or simply slaughtered at home, tortured to death in police stations. Etc.

The murder of Dr Robert Van Schalkwyk Smit - the trail leads to Germany

One of the great mysteries is the death of Dr Robert Van Schalkwyk Smit and his wife Jeanne-Cora. The case is still fermenting in the collective popular soul of the Boers here. Since this regime in Pretoria can only be cracked from within, Smit became an absolute risk for the party. But this risk had a long history.

What had happened? 

Smit was one of the most successful South Africans who, although he also came from the political sect of those who rule this country harshly, also wanted to expose corruption. This was, of course, about "Muldergate" and also about other dirty tricks that the NP came up with for its internal opponents. 

There are countless rumors. 

The rumor that is probably closest to the truth is that of the two German murderers who, for whoever, were deliberately directed to the scene of the crime, committed the ugly deed and then disappeared again. 

The trace of the writing on the wall "RAU TEM" (Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit - Tegnies En Moord) "leads into the circles that remained of BOSS. Who knows who gave the order? Probably in their midst are also exiled Rhodesian's who just lost their homeland three years ago with the "Lancasterhouse Agreement".  
 

"RAU TEM" is said to be a group of the Boss (Bureau for State Security) (Buro vir Staatsveiligheid (BSV)) and there is nothing good to report about the terrorist group that has meanwhile been dissolved in the "Muldergate" affair. 

It is interesting to note that two years before the murder, when the South African embassy in Germany moved from Cologne to Bonn Auf dem Hostert 3, the secret nuclear papers disappeared without a trace under the eyes of the GSG 9 (!). The Bonn public prosecutor's office and the South African Secret Service (!), which was acting on German soil in this connection, jointly came to the conclusion after intensive investigations that the papers were gone.  

 

Former South African Embassy in Bonn / Germany

Von Foto: Eckhard Henkel / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, Link

It is also interesting to note that Foreign Minister Pik Botha and Van Schalkwyk Smit were neighbours in Washington when both were on equally diplomatic missions for the Republic. 

 

By <a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41529430" class="extiw" title="d:Q41529430">William Fitz-Patrick</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.reaganlibrary.archives.gov/archives/audiovisual/contactsheets/1963.jpg">Photograph 1963-18A, White House Photographic Office: 1981-89 Collection</a> (see large PDF with description and link to photo contact sheet <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://reaganlibrary.archives.gov/archives/audiovisual/WHPHOTO1981.PDF">here</a>. From the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/">The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum</a>, Public Domain, Link

There was probably a nuclear axis between Bonn, Brasília and Pretoria. Smit, otherwise top of the class of the NP, was well-informed about the red threads of corruption. Perhaps he was blackmailing Dr Eschel Rhoodie, the propaganda chief of the NP. 

Van Schalkwyk Smit was, of course, no orphan. He ran the country's largest insurance company, Santam, and was certainly involved in countless actions of the apartheid regime in Pretoria as the head of it and as the representative of the International Monetary Fund.

Van Schalkwyk Smit is said to be the originator of the trick that is being carried out by the thousands in Mauritius, the Seychelles, Taiwan and Hong Kong through South African shell companies. 

The goods subject to the embargo are simply exported to the respective countries and from there to South Africa. This is also how the sanction of the Federal Export Office in Eschborn near Frankfurt is to be circumvented. In addition, there are dozens of flats all over the world through which almost everything is sold and bought. 

What took place that evening in Springs in the Transvaal can only be conjectured. The police, when they do investigate, always investigate favoring the Botha government and its regime lackeys.
Allegedly, the perpetrators stayed for hours in the bungalow in Springs and literally tortured the victims there. Or even returned once because they had forgotten to take something with them.  It was probably about documents from the nuclear deals. The investigations are so watered down that no one knows anymore what Pretoria pretended to be in the case, what the result should be or was.  Dr Van Schalkwyk Smit came later home. 

By this time, his wife must have already been executed by countless knife wounds and targeted shots to the head, following a torture. Smit died shortly afterwards. Whether the perpetrators were looking for something or just had a targeted murder mission remained entirely open in the investigations of the South African police. The statements of the lead detective, a brawny Boer, range between Smit was dragged halfway down the lower floor and Smit was already dead when he tried to unlock the door in the hallway. 

A leaked report said that the flat, mainly the kitchen, had been searched. The perpetrators also left the inscription "RAU TEM" there.  It is unlikely that documents on South African government corruption were stored there. As Dr Eschel Rhoodie said in England last year, there are said to have been countless bank accounts in Switzerland, he was on the run via Ecuador to Great Britain and from there to France, where he was then arrested. 

Did Smit know before his death to report what was then exposed months later as the "Muldergate Affair" in 1977 in Pretoria?

Millions of South African rand, currently worth between US$ 1,20 and US$1,50 per Rand, which a high purchase value, had been embezzled to influence the press, to falsify the news in a way that was desirable for a dictatorship that wanted to stay in power for a long time. The Citizen or The Burger was chosen for this purpose. An idea that came from the head of BOSS, Hendrik van den Bergh. One of the most odious figures and guarantors of the South African dictatorship. 
Allegedly, according to an inquiry report, Balthazar Johannes "B. J." Vorster, Botha's shamed predecessor, was involved in the whole story. Now he lives in Cape Town. Isolated and reviled by the local Boer celebrities. 
The mastermind and string-puller for the government in Pretoria was Connie Mulder (Petrus Cornelius Mulder), an obscure character even for the brown henchmen in Pretoria.
They unceremoniously excluded him from the NP holy grail when things got too hot.

The Washington Post reported on the bad who-dunnit penned by the propaganda department a few years ago. And yet journalists here on the ground think that South Africa's only opposition paper, the Rand Daily Mail, has been completely undermined and the Boers are taking revenge on Helen Zille's article on the death of (Bantu) Stephen Biko. 

The only credible lead

Mad Mike Hoare and his gang of murders
No one has had any real interest so far, but perhaps that will change in the years to come. Through a statement to the Erasmus Commission, a former judge of the Transvaal Supreme Court came into action who knew a South African Airways pilot who gave a statement about two Germans who had come to South Africa from Lutton Airport (UK) for the £40,000 job to murder van Schalkwyk Smit and his wife. These two Germans were part of Mad Mike Hoare's Commando 5 in the Congo. There, daily murders with the leaving of graffiti was normal, as one can see from numerous pictures of the time. 
So, it is not surprising that the chief of the mercenaries in the Congo known as Mad Mike, whose most famous platoon leader was the unfortunately "legendary" Congo Muller, is also said to have been involved in the murder of the van Schalkwyk Smit couple. This, however, leads back to the influence of the South African government, which did not want to get its hands dirty with overseas mercenaries.

What the South African Airways pilot really knows only means that he has testified that two Germans accepted the order to murder the couple. This murder must have come from the "Muldergate scandal" with the accounts held in Switzerland and Germany. To make matters worse, evidence from Dr Eschel Rhoodie is said to be in a secure location, presumably in a Swiss bank vault.

This fact was reported by the New York Times, one of the absolute opponents of apartheid, as early as 1979, but unfortunately this lead, which is the most credible and the most likely, was not followed up. Mad Mike, the Irishman, had carried out similar actions in the Congo during the Katanga crisis. Countless of his comrades-in-arms were Germans who were better off fighting in the Congo in the 1960s than facing prosecution by the courts in Germany for crimes committed during the Nazi era. 

A staircase joke of history is that Matt Mike now lives in South Africa and not so far away from what happened in Springs, in the Johannesburg area. What Schalkwyk Smit and his wife could know, the perpetrators certainly took with them. Congo-Muller, however, who revealed his true soul in a pathetic interview, drove off to the next battle with a skull and crossbones on his bonnet whenever he was needed for a murder in Katanga.

It would have been a simple step to find out who Mad Mike's mercenaries were from Germany and compare them with the entry documents to the Boer Republic. The clarification of the heinous crime, however, was not wanted. The murder of Schalkwyk Smit and his wife was desired to deter the enemies within. 

Now that the shadow of night is settling over the Vrystaat, I am going to the takeaway and will eat a Boerewors and drink a Castle Lager. 

Trumps about nine minutes long effusion about the world, how it has to be, if he can create it, disgusts every normal person.

It indicates weak leadership and extreme stupidity, which Trump explained. Trump is not able to understand that he cannot intimidate the coronavirus with the usual fake news and tweets. In doing so, the US ruler forgets that his ignorance will cause many people to die unnecessarily. Especially shameful is the fact that the nationalists are being boosted by Trump's stupidity. It is about petty-bourgeois existences and national interests, no longer about the big picture. In Ireland, all schools and universities will be closed. As well as kindergartens. The Prime Minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar came before the public.

 

 

All schools, colleges and childcare facilities in Ireland to close from Friday until 29 March

Speaking in Washington, Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announces new measure to tackle #CoronavirusPandemichttps://t.co/hgrQMjCeFI pic.twitter.com/kBDwO3SgAZ

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 12, 2020

Meanwhile, the Australian Grand Prix is probably cancelled because of Corona. McLaren had cancelled this one. In Poland the first woman has died of Corona, the 57-year-old already had severe pneumonia when she was admitted to hospital.

 

Entry ban for Europeans for the next 30 days

Intellectually, Trump does not seem to be able to explain the word pandemic for himself. His focus is on the economy. Like a grocer, he tries to sell the ailing US economy as the best there ever was. He fantasizes about a foreign virus. In this context Trump once again praises himself. He has understood the facts of the matter, if at all, superficially.

Meanwhile, there is a very accurate map of infections for the Federal Republic of Germany showing how quickly the virus spread in Germany in a very short time. This map is based on information from the Robert Koch Institute.

 

update 6 March 2020 
The epidemic has reached almost the entire world 

While South Korea is taking measures to destroy old banknotes, the number of infected people in the Southeast Asian country is rising dramatically. Perhaps banknotes are the carriers of the viruses. Allegedly, according to Chinese newspapers, the virus has mutated in the meantime. They say there are different types. 

The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong also writes, citing numerous sources, that there could probably be an emergency test vaccine in April. 

Frogs and the search for the origin of the disease

Now even the frog porridge and snake soup are being removed from the menu in China because these dishes are seen as the possible breeding ground of the epidemic. Also, the rat dishes from Guangzhou, South China, which are popular in China, will no longer exist. The authorities have banned such "treats" for Chinese. SARS came from bats with a high scientific probability. The authorities have also banned breeding snakes, crocodiles, giant salamanders and turtles, including Chinese soft-shelled turtles, from being offered for consumption. 

 

 

 

 Bizarre effects

The effects of the coronavirus become obvious in Germany after only a few days.
More and more infected people are reporting or seeking help in hospitals. Meanwhile, 157 cases have been confirmed (as of 2 March 2020 5 pm hours).
Fake news about the virus spread panic. This news seems to work itself very quickly through social networks.

Therefore: no rumours, no speculations, only facts.

 

 

Some rogue traders are hanging around on Amazon, in the social networks and on eBay.
There is no remedy against Corona, not even a vaccination, not a cure, not water, not a drug. And if there is no cure, no water, no medication, and if there is, it is certainly not available on amazon or via private message on twitter. The internet giant deleted a million offers today that dealt with corona remedies. Others are trying to make their cuts on the masks. It is absurd and reminds in the behaviour of the time of the plague in the Middle Ages.

 

 

It is said that there was hoarding and stockpiling. Such panic is not appropriate in a situation like this. The disease is not a death sentence. The food supply in Germany and Western Europe will not collapse.
State structures are designed in such a way that they will not disintegrate if an epidemic occurs. Panic is entirely inappropriate and leads to irrational decisions. The "Rheinische Post" reported that disinfectants were stolen from hospitals. In Münster, there was even a burglary. (!?) One wonders where these people left their wits.

 

The coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 is scaring individuals, but Western Europe has excellent medical care, and in their interest, states will try to get the disease under control.

Meanwhile England, France and Germany have joined forces to help Iran. Despite all the contradictions between the ruling mullahs and the international community, the focus is always on the individual.

As you can see on the map of John Hopkins University,  Corona has hit Iran extremely hard. Here the death rate is also very high. The Tehran Times reported it. North Korea is disinfecting itself. It seems a bit absurd, especially since the country certainly does not have nationwide disinfectants. The Pyongyang Times published pictures of this.

More than 3,000 people have died of the disease worldwide. In China, there are only very few new cases

 

Update March 1st, 2020

It seems like the disease can appear in different waves.

The virus is not yet decreasing typically. No one has been able to explain how this is possible, according to various international newspapers.

The Chinese media are fighting the rumours that are spreading through social networks in China. For example, the "high death toll in Wuhan is due to hypoxia caused by sputum plugging after using an air respirator. This is a rumour from abroad! "Where from abroad is not clear. According to the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, 86,906 fell ill, 2,981 died, and 41,958 were released as cured. South Korea is currently suffering significantly from the disease, and citizens have been asked not to leave their homes this weekend.

 

 

 

 

Surprisingly, a 73-year-old woman was released as healed a few days ago to be infected again, reports Yonhap. 

The neighbour South Korea, where the epidemic is currently raging, and the neighbour of China, where the outbreak began in Wuhan, North Korea, pretends that the disease only affects capitalism.

North Korea itself is a problem child.

Even the UN sanctions were partially eased to prevent rampant corona.

THE PYONGYANG TIMES from Pyongyang-Sŏsŏng writes as if North Korea did not concern the virus. The shift in the reality of the Kim regime is questionable in this situation. Quote from Korean: "The WHO said the number of newly infected people reported in countries and regions other than China exceeded those in China. COVID 19 cases are increasing rapidly, especially in Italy, Iran and South Korea ... "

This is completely wrong.

​Screenshot Rodong Sinmun, 2020

The official mouthpiece of the Juche party of the Rodong Sinmun in Chung-guyŏk seems to be in no way inferior.

But the reality is slowly catching up with the North Koreans. Today it was reported that older citizens and children were given special treatment. There is also "friendly information" from the dictatorship. However, Mr Kim's editors forget to mention that even the embassies are under "house arrest" and many diplomatic notes have been sent back and forth. Even Berlin, otherwise diplomatic, as the word says, has protested to the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. North Korea's regime justified this with "quarantine", now the staff has been temporarily withdrawn.

Note: We would like to thank Rodong Sinmun for the screenshot; unfortunately, it was also not possible to contact us by email to receive the photos for an article. The images could not be found in the agencies' databases.

 

Some information

 

The Robert Koch Institute in Hamburg provided information on the coronavirus. A vaccine will not be released this year.

 
Three more people have died of the disease in Iran. Saudi Arabia has closed access for pilgrims to the holy places. Japan has partially closed the schools until April. 

 

More and more often, tips are given on how to prevent the infection. Wash your hands, cough into the crook of your arm. It would help if you did not touch your face so often. 

There are more than 82,000 cases of infection and about 2,900 deaths, and nobody knows what the transmission path of the virus is. It is believed to develop in the lungs and therefore, infection occurs from the lung to lung. 

 

 

There is no reason to panic

 

All those who are afraid of the virus should know that it is not fatal in 95% of cases.

 

There are clusters that probably lead to the fact that the infections are also evident in the Federal Republic. The Robert Koch Institute in Hamburg estimates the risk of disease to be low to moderate. Nobody has to hoard or stockpile food, should there be a mass epidemic and people are placed under "house arrest", which is unlikely to be the case, the state will also help.

No one is in a vacuum. Fear is entirely inappropriate.

If you think you might be infected with Corona in Germany, please call the nationwide number of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians: 116 117. Do not go to the surgery, because you might infect others.

 

 

A coronavirus suspicion has been reported in Idar-Oberstein for over an hour. Nothing has been confirmed, and there are only pictures showing police and paramedics on site—more on this in a moment. A 41-year-old soldier proved to be infected by the disease. 

He was taken to hospital.

Bahnhof Idar Oberstein, abgeriegelt wegen #coronavirus Verdacht... @PolizeiTrier @PolizeiMainz @bpol_koblenz @DB_Info @DB_Bahn #COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/T7A02UYE3s

— Sascha (@DerHoerni) February 26, 2020

 

 

 

The virus is spreading

The coronavirus has now leapt Europe. Cases have been reported from Italy and Croatia, as well as from Switzerland. On Tenerife, about 1000 holidaymakers are in quarantine in the Hotel H10 Costa Adeje Palace, which is secured by the Guardia Civil. An Italian doctor was tested positive. The hotel management in Barcelona did not want to give any information about the news from El Pais and Diario de Avisos. The only information known is that guests are not allowed to leave the premises before they have been tested.

 

 

According to the Neue Südtiroler Tageszeitung, there are now also three infected people in Trentino. A total of 150 people are infected with Corona in Italy. Three have died. Whole supermarkets in the area around Milan have been emptied. Hamster purchases are taking place, which is now to be contained.

Source: Corriere della sera

 

There is no reason to panic

In China, with 78,804 confirmed infections and 2,463 deaths, China's ruler Xi Jinping speaks of the biggest crisis in the health care system since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, not forgetting to mention that 23,092 patients were discharged as cured.

As the South China Morning Post, published in Hong Kong, reported, the fish market in Wuhan was not the source of the infection. There were 93 samples taken, and these indicated that the virus came from somewhere else. This issue was independently determined by scientific teams from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in China. The virus probably broke out in late November 2019.

 

The coronavirus has now reached South Korea.
In the city of Daegu, according to the Korean daily newspaper The Korea Times, the virus COVID-19 has been detected in dozens of patients. Therefore, the South Korean government has issued the highest level of alert. Within a short time, 123 new cases and five deaths were reported. A total of 556 people have contracted the virus.
Most patients are treated in hospitals in North Gyeongsang Province. In the morning, President Moon Jae-in enquired about the situation in the South Asian country. Fears are growing that the pandemic could spread to North Korea. The regime there would not be able to treat such a disease.

 

Israel denied 130 pilgrims of the Catholic Shincheonji Church entry to Israel, which Seoul protested against. A jet with the faithful was refused in Tel Aviv, and the pilgrims were not allowed into the country.
A pandemic can no longer be stopped.

In Italy, the virus has prompted the authorities to set up practical barriers in the north of the country. In Lombardy, schools, museums and cinemas have been closed. The cause of the virus outbreak in Lombardy is not yet clear.
Meanwhile, according to the Corriere della Sera, the disease seems to be spreading to other administrative districts in the north of Italy. A case has also been reported in Milan. Measures are being taken by Rome to contain the epidemic. It is not clear whether the virus can be transmitted by air.

So far, it's only been intermittent. Concerned citizens in Italy asked if the virus could be transmitted by a pet. More than washing their hands frequently and consuming food hygienically, the regional government has no idea of advising.

An extremely high number of unreported cases

The head of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, compared the virus and the epidemic to a terrorist attack. However, this would not claim as many lives, and agencies are quoted as saying. According to media reports, President Xi Jinping visited Ditan Hospital on Monday. He was almost invisible since the beginning of the epidemic. Things are slowly becoming uncomfortable in China for the ruling dictatorship of the proletariat. The population is demanding freedom of speech. Xi Jiping recalled that Mao swam through the river when he was in Hubei.
His appearance was more reminiscent of a degenerate class of profiteers of the Chinese system from communist capitalism.

Xi Jiping should take care of the barbaric superstition in his country. Shabby men in uniforms slaughter dogs because they are blamed for the epidemic. It is reminiscent of the Middle Ages. You can watch the video on sina weibo in the original.

"It will be a crisis of Chernobyl proportions, especially because we will have to fight with the virus in the coming years," Yang said. "Especially those who have suffered losses will ask questions about how such a crisis came about." Dali Yang, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, said in an interview with the South China Morning Post
The virus spreads faster than SARS, and an extremely high number of unreported cases is expected.

 

update 02/13/20

 

After the Chinese authorities replaced numerous officials and health care managers in Hubei, infection figures have become apparent, which also pose a mystery to epidemiology experts. Why the survey and diagnostic criteria have been changed at this particular time cannot be explained by the numerous contributions from the Chinese agencies. On the microblogging service sina weibo, many US citizens express their absolute displeasure at the tactics used by officials to date to conceal the exact infection rates. The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong reports that there are now over 60,000 cases and more than 1,350 people have died from the novel virus. Meanwhile, the ship the Westerham could drop anchor in Cambodia. There are 57 Germans on the cruise ship.

update 02/12/2020

Still, no country insight is the watchword of the day.

The death rate and the number of infections continue to rise. New infections seem to have slowed down, but the epidemic has not yet reached its peak. Forty-five thousand one hundred seventy-five were infected worldwide. One thousand one hundred fifteen have died. And 4,774 were released from hospital cured.
Meanwhile, Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic, is being comprehensively disinfected.

The deceit of the newly named Coranovirus lies in its transmission path. A pandemic can no longer be ruled out. At an extraordinary meeting in Geneva, the WHO gave the lung disease a name: COVID-19.
According to virologists worldwide, some patients have a very mild course of the disease. Still, even these symptoms, which are not associated with the coronavirus, can lead to infection in third parties, who can then die of the disease.

How is the virus transmitted? Probably by droplet infection, as Xin hua wrote a few days ago. The death rate and a number of people infected are appalling, but new infections are decreasing, according to the South China Morning Post. However, one can only hope that the epidemic has reached its peak. Bejing-News also writes about a general downward trend in new infections.

COVID-19 dance in the epidemic ward

Update 02/07-2020

No thriller writer could have come up with a better drama than the one currently taking place off Japan.
The Diamond Princess, a cruise ship of the shipping company Princess Cruises with homeport Hamilton/Bermuda offers space for 3700 passengers on 13 decks.
Now the cruise giant is in considerable trouble. Since the beginning of February, the ship has been anchoring in Yokohama Bay off the Japanese port of the same name.

There are 61 people infected with the coronavirus on board. Among them are citizens of various nations, such as Chinese from the city of Wuhan, 21 Japanese, eight Americans, five Australians, five Canadians and one infected person each from Argentina and Great Britain. Over 200 people have been identified in direct contact with the infected, according to the Japanese news agency Kyodo News. The affected passengers are said to be in a satisfactory state of health.

They were tested positive for the pathogen at medical stations in Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, Shizuoka Prefecture. The ship has now been placed under complete quarantine. Another boat, the "Westerham" from Hong Kong, was banned from entering port after a passenger was suspected of being infected. Non-citizens of Japan will be prohibited from entering Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced.
"We will make it a top priority to check the health of passengers and crew members on the cruise ship and take thorough measures to prevent infection," said Health Minister Katsunobu Kato, according to the Japanese news agency.

Update 07.02.2020

Unfortunately, no improvement is in sight.

The Chinese government has incurred the wrath of many Chinese with the death of the well-known doctor, Dr Li Wenliang. Li was the first medical doctor to warn as early as December of a SARS-like disease that had broken out in the vicinity of a market that traded illegal meat. He was summoned by the Chinese police for spreading rumours. His findings could have prevented many effects of the epidemic.

Now an unknown pangolin (Pholidota) pangolin is said to be responsible for the outbreak, according to the Chinese news agency xin hua.

 

 

 

Pangolins are pangolin or fir cone animals of a mammalian family. They are traded on illegal markets because of their scales and meat. 2019-nCoV was detected in the animals. In China, the meat is considered a special delicacy because it is probably classified as potency-promoting in traditional medicine.

Prepared Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla): The large digging claws of the forefeet and the muscular tail, which can carry the weight of the animal, are visible
confounded - https://www.flickr.com/photos/verdammelt/160297119/

 

update 06.02.2020
Unfortunately, there is still nothing good to report.

The figures are frightening, which the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong has now published. It seems that the international community, despite all agreement, is not getting the disease under control. There are now nearly 30,000 infected and 565 dead.

Taiwan has suspended visas for Hong Kong and Macao citizens indefinitely. As well as banning cruise ships from docking in the waters of the former Formosa.
It is also becoming increasingly difficult to deliver food to the central isolation zone around Wuhan, the agencies report.

 

update 02-05-2020

Despite enormous suspected cases of new infections and rising death rates, individual fates also touch the Chinese public. Such as a newborn baby, which is 30 hours old and was infected via the mother, as the microblogging service, sina weibo, reported. It was discovered that the coronavirus is sensitive to heat and UV light.
In addition, an experimental drug is already being used in China to cure the sick.
Meanwhile, the population is being educated more and more about what preventive hygiene measures can be taken.

 

The hatred of the Chinese is also a cause for concern.

Update 03.02.2020

WHO complains about disinformation and fake news about coronavirus

The World Health Organization WHO complains, very politically this time, that the pandemic is distracting from the real problems in the world, says a statement by Medico.

"It seems that everyone is rushing into this new infectious disease, already announced as a "pandemic", not to mention the climate crisis, the Libyan crisis and the Brexit crisis. And all the players have their own interests at stake. …“

The WHO also complains of an infodemia that would obscure the apparent facts. Trump for no stupidity and for no completely twisted news too bad, the CIA has intervened. As if it could help against viruses. With the travel ban, Trump has only fuelled the rumours.

JUST RECEIVED A BRIEFING ON THE CORONAVIRUS IN CHINA FROM ALL OF OUR GREAT AGENCIES, WHO ARE ALSO WORKING CLOSELY WITH CHINA. WE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE ONGOING DEVELOPMENTS. WE HAVE THE BEST EXPERTS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, AND THEY ARE ON TOP OF IT 24/7! PIC.TWITTER.COM/RRTF1STK78

- DONALD J. TRUMP (@REALDONALDTRUMP) JANUARY 30, 2020

 

In reality, infection rates and mortality rates are rising dramatically in China, according to the South China Morning Post.

In Thailand, on the other hand, a "cocktail" of anti-HIV drugs and anti-influenza drugs has succeeded in stopping the course of the disease and bringing patients to a satisfactory state of health. (Currently, the news are only available in Thai and would have to be transferred into the respective national language with the automatic translator).

Update 02.02.2020

Two of the Germans flown out of Wuhan by the German Air Force are under quarantine. They are infected with the coronavirus.

On La Gomera, several travellers who had contact with previously identified infected persons have been quarantined.

 

Scary numbers

According to the latest information from the Chinese authorities, 14,562 people are said to be infected. The Vulcan Mountain Hospital in Wuhan can accommodate several thousand patients within days on 33,000 square meters, as the news service of sina weibo announced a few minutes ago that operations are expected to start on February 5. Doctors from the Chinese People's Liberation Army are anticipated in Wuhan.

The population is accepting the measures of the Chinese government with equanimity and questioning, frustration and hopelessness.

 

Supplies were already provided yesterday, tons of relief supplies were lifted to Wuhan.
The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong reports the first death in the Philippines since the travel ban. A heat scanner is being used at the airport in Manila.
According to agency reports, the avian flu virus has also broken out near the affected province of Hubei.

A jet of the German Air Force has just landed in Frankfurt am Main with 126 people from Wuhan on board. The people who flew out, including Chinese nationals and one US American, are to be taken to an air force base in Germersheim in the Palatinate in quarantine.

By Anna Zvereva from Tallinn, Estonia - Luftwaffe (German Air Force), 54+01, Airbus A400M, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45015025

update 31.01.2020

Breaking News: The coronavirus infects a child in Germany for the first time, it is the agencies did not report the child of an infected person from Bavaria How the child is doing.

As numerous agencies report, the coronavirus is spreading. The number of new infections is increasing rapidly. The number of deaths is also growing hourly. So far, 213 people are reported to have fallen victim to the disease. Almost 10,000 people are infected.
Many states have begun to fly their compatriots out of Wuhan, including the Federal Republic, according to Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, a jet of the Federal Air Force is on its way to Wuhan to evacuate German citizens.
Meanwhile, more and more people are leaving Hubei province for the neighbouring region of Jiangxi via the Yangtze Bridge.

update 01/29/20

As Nine News Australia and ABC News (Australia) independently report, Australian scientists have for the first time been able to cultivate the coronavirus artificially in the laboratory. The scientists are now on the way to creating a vaccine within a short time. This news should ease the situation considerably. Lufthansa, like British Airways, had previously cancelled all flights to China.

update January 29, 2020

Meanwhile, the evilest conspiracy theories about the virus are circulating, as is also written in countless other media.
There is no reason to panic. Also, there is no need for notes in the Chinese language to cause fear, no matter who hangs them up.

Plague is not a means to serve the wildest conspiracy theories. The coronavirus certainly does not come from a laboratory but has spread to humans through an animal.
Nor are there any "100 years of viruses" that, like the Spanish flu in 1920, are now breaking out. These are profitable conspiracy theories that are being peddled.
When you have a disease, you have to trust science, not discriminate against the Chinese because the plague broke out in China.

The hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus is inhuman and does not reflect the real situation. It is only looking for a scapegoat, which is seen in the Chinese. Wang Qimin's movie is depressing and shows how helpless people are, but the film also shows that those responsible for Wuhan make every effort to contain the epidemic.
And for that, the responsible people deserve the respect of the whole world community.

update 28.01.2020

In Munich, respiratory masks are in short supply after the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Germany, according to the Tagesspiegel.
According to the doctors, the man should be fine.

In Wuhan, the feverish cause continues after the source of infection. Now, bats are being searched for the virus in snakes that were traded at the market. In addition to countless rumours about the cause on China's networks, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Health, Feng Zijian, noted that the virus infects all age groups. In Quanzhou, a woman spread rumours about the epidemic on social networks and was promptly sentenced to prison!
Also, in the last few hours, there has been a very intensive search of the fish market in Wuhan, outraged citizens want to visit the owner of the fish market, as is written on sina weibo.
Within 6-7 days the virus would virtually double and infect at least another two to three people. It is also interesting to note that the Chinese government is following up leads that indicate that the virus may have broken out in different places.

update 01/26/20

While the coronavirus is spreading, 41 people have died of the lung virus, the search for the cause continues in China.
The focus here is on the markets with snakes, badgers, foxes, dogs, cats, rats and bats that are offered for consumption. Here a film of preparation on an Indonesian market.

Bats have long been suspected of transmitting haemorrhagic fever in the Congo. At the markets the meat is cheap, and if it is not cooked through, it can lead to severe diseases. In China, social networks are discussing whether bats are potential vectors for lung disease.
There is no scientific proof yet.

A second hospital is being built in Wuhan, which will accept patients, as weibo reports.

update The virus (2019-nCoV) spreads, and China shows how to quarantine 43 million people

As (Xinhua) just reported in the "People Daily" is shown how rigid China can carry out a quarantine. Dozens of hospital employees walk down the corridors of a hospital with protective clothing, like ghosts. Yichang (4.1 million inhabitants) and Tianmen (1.9 million), as well as Wuhan (12.0 million inhabitants) in Hubei province and Hebei province, are sealed off. All public traffic has been stopped there.
Meanwhile, 24 people have died from a dangerous epidemic, which also broke out in Hong Kong and Macau. The Special Administrative Regions, together with Taiwan, confirmed five new cases, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

On Weibo, people's fear is evident

China's social network, weibo, reflects the concern of the people on the eve of the Chinese New Year. Don't panic!
There were new cases in Fuzhou city, two instances in Ganzhou city, 2 cases in Shangrao city, 1 case in Nanchang city, 1 case in Jiujiang city, 1 case in Jingdezhen city and 1 case in Yichun city. As of today, one case in Jiangxi province of the novel coronavirus is also reported. It is a terrible disease, and it is unanimously admitted.
"Everyone wears a mask, washes their hands often, drinks lots of water, eats more fruit, improves immunity, protects their bodies and takes care of themselves and their families," a man from Wuhan writes in weibo. Everyone advises against going to the markets where there is a game, live birds or flowers. Playgrounds for children have also been closed, as well as entertainment venues noted another microblogger. Other bloggers would like to see proper medical care, especially protective gear and masks.

Threatening virus

There are increasing signs that a pandemic is imminent due to an outbreak of coronavirus, causing a severe lung infection.

The mysterious disease has broken out in China. Hundreds of Chinese are said to have contracted the disease, but the virus has continued its journey from Asia, where it caused infections in Thailand, Japan, South Korea. So far nine people have died from the disease, which is believed to be caused by a mutated SARS virus. The coronavirus is highly infectious and has now reached the USA. A man contracted the virus here, returning home to Seattle from China.
Due to the upcoming Chinese New Year, many more infected people are feared. As is well known, the New Year festival triggers whole migrations of people in China.

The virus had jumped from the animal to humans in 2016 in Wuhan/China. There, people and animals live together due to poverty in rural areas.
The WHO has called an emergency meeting today to discuss how to proceed.
According to the German Federal Ministry of Health, Germany would face a "shallow risk" after having asked the Robert Koch Institute to assess the situation.