Weekly flusurvey done.

Miraculously I seem to be one of the very few survivors of this virus as I'm still well

LOL. Given your obvious predilection for conspiracies and weakly or unsupported predictions, both here and on other matters, I think we can all safely disregard your contributions.

Done it Roger 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-news-uk-china-diamond-princess-cruise/

"The British man David Abel, 74, from Oxfordshire, who has been trapped on the Diamond Princess cruise ship with his wife, Sally, has revealed that they have both tested positive for coronavirus. 

Mr Abel has previously criticised the Government for not doing more to help Britons trapped on the quarantined ship off the coast of Japan. 

The Government is "working to organise" a flight to repatriate British nationals on board, the FCO has said. Other countries have already repatriated citizens. 

"Given the conditions on board, we are working to organise a flight back to the UK for British nationals on the Diamond Princess as soon as possible," a statement from the department said."

-------------------------------

Diamond Princess has proved that cruise ships are the best possible environment for spreading the virus.

I repeat - it was madness for the WHO not to have requested that all cruises in the region should have been suspended at an early stage to help contain the virus.

Theres 544 cases now so I’m sure a valuable lesson has been learned for any future outbreaks. 

Singapore does seem to have the outbreak under control now. Japan, on the other hand, appears to be rapidaly losing control. I suppose this can be credited to the efficient Singaporian healthcare system.

singapore does still though have more cases than Japan - 75 v 62.  Not sure though what the recovery rate is though in each country.

Evidence?

Or hypothecating on partial or inconclusive evidence...

Singapore does seem to have a very robust way of tracking the transmission chains though. It's still a problem but I've become relatively less worried about singapore and relatively more worried about Japan.

Japan has cases popping up with no links at all to known transmission chains. This is quite worrying because it suggests that local transmission is not only happening (like singapore) but is happening in an uncontrolled way. Everytime there is a new case in singapore we know exactly what transmission chain the case belongs to and how it links to other cases. In Japan we don't seem to have this.

It was never out of control in Singapore. 

Of which almost everyone appears guilty.

But the key point remains entirely valid: extrapolating based on cherry-picked data built on a lack of real understanding leads to absurd predictions and comments.

"it's out of control in Singapore" - demonstrably wrong when the comment was made and clearly wrong now.

"A global pandemic is inevitable" - so far not

"China is underreporting the numbers" - absolutely no evidence

Plus ridiculously pessimistic guesses on the mortality rate.

Yes, as some of us have been saying consistently. Obviously things get distorted when you're sitting in a bunker and predicting doomsday.

Now 81, with four new cases today all linked to one of the early clusters.

29 fully recovered.

No deaths so far.

"As of noon Feb 18, a total of 2,486 close contacts have been identified and quarantined. Of these, 1,160 are still serving their quarantine while 1,326 have completed their 14 days of quarantine."

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/coronavirus-4-new-cases-including-3-linked-to-grace-assembly-of-god-church-21-cases

Perhaps you should book a quick trip to Japan next month to see their cherry blossom at discounted rates.

We just don't know enough to nail our colours to any mast, but better to err on the side of caution more than anything. One 'expert' viewpoint below, although I note Whitty is more circumspect.

Prof Neil Ferguson, professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College, warned that the world is “in the early phases of a global pandemic at the moment.”

I agree. I am slightly less optimistic than I was about this being contained. Against that, the mortality rate, whilst higher than normal influenza, seems not to be hugely worse so far.

Japan has 74 cases now it's having about 8 a day at the moment some from known clusters some not. I wouldnt say its out of control yet but its definitely struggling. I would agree Singapore has done a remarkable job to keep their outbreak under control its still having 3 or 4 cases a day though.  Also its world class healthcare keeping its critically ill alive.

North Korea still has no confirmed cases according to its Health minister . Well done Kim Jong-un. 

He is the leader we need (and deserve)!