For the perfume (but who knows!)

Very apt, as they were the One Direction manufactured punk band of the time (cf Dead Kennedys at the Bay Music Awards - on the Album "Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death". Very, very apt).

Its these sort of unexpected gems of information that make TWO such an interesting place...👍

Yet the WHO have still not declared this as a Pandemic

What difference will it make if or when they do?

The is an interesting discussion the New Scientist re. this issue: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2235342-covid-19-why-wont-the-who-officially-declare-a-coronavirus-pandemic/ 

Are people, governments or organisations actually waiting for the WHO to label it a pandemic before taking action?

I think they will only declare it a pandemic if/when containment has failed globally and it's out of control. They see no tangible benefits in calling it a pandemic now (other than satisfying the media hunger for it), as the public is more than aware of it and most national governments treat it as a pandemic already.

Dow finishing very strong tonight around +4.5% just over 27k mark Dow futures prediction at start +500 approx,  current approx gain +1100

Back to the debate about whether the official figures are to be believed and whether they are accurate. Given that I believe millions worldwide have been infected with the virus, this article regarding testing carried out in the USA is worth reading:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/03/how-many-americans-really-have-coronavirus/607348/

"The Official Coronavirus Numbers Are Wrong, and Everyone Knows It

Because the U.S. data on coronavirus infections are so deeply flawed, the quantification of the outbreak obscures more than it illuminates.

We know, irrefutably, one thing about the coronavirus in the United States: The number of cases reported in every chart and table is far too low.

The data are untrustworthy because the processes we used to get them were flawed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s testing procedures missed the bulk of the cases. They focused exclusively on travelers, rather than testing more broadly, because that seemed like the best way to catch cases entering the country.

Just days ago, it was not clear that the virus had spread solely from domestic contact at all. But then cases began popping up with no known international connection. What public-health experts call “community spread” had arrived in the United States. The virus would not be stopped by tight borders, because it was already propagating domestically. Trevor Bedford’s lab at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, which studies viral evolution, concluded there is “firm evidence” that, at least in Washington State, the coronavirus had been spreading undetected for weeks. Now different projections estimate that 20 to 1,500 people have already been infected in the greater Seattle area. In California, too, the disease appears to be spreading, although the limited testing means that no one is quite sure how far.

In total, fewer than 500 people have been tested across the country (although the CDC has stopped reporting that number in its summary of the outbreak). As a result, the current “official” case count inside the United States stood at 43 as of this morning (excluding cruise-ship cases). This number is wrong, yet it’s still constantly printed and quoted. In other contexts, we’d call this what it is: a subtle form of misinformation.

...

The point is that every country’s numbers are the result of a specific set of testing and accounting regimes. Everyone is cooking the data, one way or another. And yet, even though these inconsistencies are public and plain, people continue to rely on charts showing different numbers, with no indication that they are not all produced with the same rigor or vigor. This is bad. It encourages dangerous behavior such as cutting back testing to bring a country’s numbers down or slow-walking testing to keep a country’s numbers low.

..."

And you wonder why our lot are preparing us  for a major event ?

The US is a  very weak link in all this.  I wonder what the Dow will do when the true  situation becomes obvious "on the ground" ?

Excellent point Doc. Coronavirus is actually a very pertinent litmus test on the attitude and mindset of governments and their ability to motivate and enforce the correct measures on a national and regional level without waiting to be told to do so.

China has shown (although arguably negligent in the initial phases) to be an exemplar in control and delay. Say what you want about a command economy, it's the best role model in how to deal with this situation.

Western Governments have other concerns that prevent a command economy approach - hence those economies won't see that China slow down I suspect.

Yes, China is  at one extreme and  the US at the other.   Europeans are at some point  between the 2 extremes.

Very sad for everyone involved, especially the staff. 

What a mess. 

Absolutely. Terrible for all those employees. 

I hadn’t realised that the loan from the government hadn’t yet been agreed. It seems that the virus has just accelerated everything.

But surely if people have contracted Covid-19 but aren't being tested, it's because the symptoms are so mild they don't need medical attention. 

Therefore under-reporting is, in reality, a good thing. As it reinforces the opinion that for the vast majority of people, this is no more serious than a heavy cold.

Suggestions the UK will switch to CONTAIN tomorrow. 

If Maunder is right that would seem to be the case. However, it is at complete odds with what the WHO said yesterday. Their investigation into China suggested there very few "invisible" cases of the coronavirus.

What I anticipate will annoy the bejesus out of me is when drama-queen people with only mild-to-moderate symptoms demand hospitalisation and clog resources that should be used for those with properly serious symptoms and genuine risk to life.

Yet reports in Italy suggest that there were a lot of asymptomatic infected, walking round infecting everyone else. 

World growth revised downwards China Q3 recovery expected  Gold 2012 price approx 1.64 per oz

look at those car sales China  -92%  massive air departures decline

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51706225

 Bank of England pleased with Gold volt

The WHO is relying on the same flawed statistics as everyone else. Problem is that young and healthy people can probably shake off the virus in most cases, but Italy demonstrates what happens when a country with a large elderly population gets infected.

The issue about millions of people walking around with mild symptoms, is not that their symptoms are mild, but that they are passing the virus on and a proportion of those infected will require hospitalisation.

P.S. difficult to do pure science when dealing with actual human populations. However, in a scientific environment, you would do random testing in one group to find the general level of penetration in the group, plus have a control group with no testing until people get sick.

Yes, you can't have it both ways. 

Either there  aren't a lot of people  asymptomatic, so the risk  of  spread is small or  there are loads of them and it's already  spread all over the place.   I suspect the latter and a reasonable proportion of the population will get it (whether they know it or not !)

If it is the latter then the mortality rate will obviously be a lot lower, and that’s good news.