Coronavirus cases continue to soar

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring a global outbreak of a respiratory illness. This new, deadly epidemic, known as the coronavirus, was first discovered in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Chinese authorities were quick to identify the new coronavirus, which resulted in thousands of confirmed cases in China, including cases outside Wuhan. At press time, there were 25,000 reported cases of the virus around the globe and 500 deaths.

After being infected with the virus, a man’s genetic content was analyzed and the disease was shown to be 89 percent similar to a group of SARS-like coronaviruses called betacoronaviruses that had previously been found in Chinese bats.

According to a report in Business Insider, “This outbreak highlights the ongoing capacity of viral spill-over from animals to cause severe disease in humans.”

In addition, a study led by scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology studied virus samples of seven patients who originally reported cases of severe pneumonia. Six out of the seven patients worked at the Huanan wholesale seafood market in Wuhan, China, thought to be where the outbreak started in December. About 70 percent of the samples were nearly identical to each other, and their genetic sequence was 79.5 percent similar to SARS.

Following the emergence of the illness, several countries around the world have imposed travel and trade bans to isolate China and limit the spread of the disease.

Iowa Caucus App causes delay

Monday, Feb. 3, was Iowa Democrats’ opportunity to caucus for their preferred presidential candidate in the state’s caucuses, with the outcome providing the first indication of who may ultimately win the party nomination. Pete Buttigieg, prematurely some may say, declared victory on the night ahead of other Democratic candidates like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden, thus receiving national notoriety.

The Iowa caucuses debacle produced major delays in reporting the results.

Supposedly manufactured by a firm called Shadow, a smartphone app appears to be at the epicenter of the chaos and confusion.

“The app was designed to help precinct chairs send the results to the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters, but reports that volunteers were unable to download or properly use the app suggest that this new way of doing things did not go smoothly,” according to a report from Vox.

As a result, a majority of volunteers called the state party to record results, and many reported being left on hold due to an abundance of phone calls.

Australia fires under control

Authorities in Australia have lifted the state of emergency status there as the threat posed by wildfires to wildlife and the nation’s capital of Canberra subsides. Windy and hot conditions have eased, and containment lines have held up.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT)proclaimed a state of emergency leading into the first weekend of February, granting authorities greater power to take possession of property, close roads and direct evacuations as the fires endangered suburban communities.

This marked the first time since 2003 that an emergency was declared in Australia’s capital, due to fires destroying almost 500 houses and causing four casualties.

Even though the hazard has abated to an extent, the damage inflicted by the fires can still be categorized as catastrophic to the environment and suburban regions of Australia, as the country’s “prolonged bushfire season has killed 33 people and an estimated 1 billion native animals since September. About 2,500 homes have been destroyed and more than 11.7 million hectares of tinder-dry bushland have been razed,” according to a report from Reuters.