This is boiler plate language and expected on any research study organized and run within weeks / months of initial outbreak. But the conclusion is clear that there are indeed (at least) 2 current strains: COVID-19L and COVID-19S

The questions at this point are more... are there more strains... how often does it seem mutations appear... and where / when did the L or S variations appear?

Sadly, we are also seeing the most likely reason the WHO is not declaring a pandemic:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/amiyatoshpurnanandam/2020/02/28/pandemic-bonds/#5d2481893b7e

The World Bank's $425 million in "Pandemic Bonds" mature June / July 2020. If the WHO declare a pandemic prior to June, that bond money is used toward the pandemic and investors lose their hedge investments. Not a good situation.

This sort of nonsense irks me to no end.....if money is given to help with pandemic aid/relief than imo it should be donated and not made as a "bet" of sorts as to whether or not such a thing will occur and be detrimental to humanity or not(hopefully my intent is clear enough....sometimes I have trouble finding the right words).

Yes, "Pandemic Bonds" -- or hedging against disasters via the World Bank -- was not allowed until 2017.
From article linked below:

"In 2017, the World Bank designed a new way to raise money: Pandemic Emergency Financing bonds. Over $425 million worth of such bonds, which bet against a global outbreak of infectious diseases and will default if WHO declares the coronavirus a pandemic, were sold by the World Bank in its first-ever issuance of catastrophe bonds. In the event of no pandemic, investors would be paid a healthy annualized return. Meanwhile, the World Bank could use the bonds to insure itself against the risk of a global outbreak. "

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/425m-in-world-bank-catastrophe-bonds-set-to-default-if-coronavirus-declared-a-pandemic-by-june

I'll refrain from posting more on Pandemic Bonds unless it becomes important to the current state of the virus' spread. But the disaster bond market Is important to know about (thank you ARUNDIR!). It's definitely a problem and could potentially have allowed the virus to spread without adequate warning and resources allocated early on.

exactly! and wipe your hand on the guy next to you.

Some graphs about the evolution of COVID-19 in Italy (updated 10 March).

As I said, this kind of nonsense incentivizes the WHO and others to NOT declare such so investors can make a nice windfall......I still think if people donate money to such it should either pay out money after a set term, disaster or not(to make sure those in charge of such declarations don't have incentives to not declare such), or be just flat out donations.
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Aside/question to Kai2 and everyone else: Isn't 400 or so million still very low in the grand scheme of things, if one thinks about it? I mean most first world countries could likely blow through that in a short time during an outbreak/etc, couldn't they?
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Any numbers on re-infection rates/amounts or no?

Also thanks for all of these.

IDDQD - Did it work, damn it!

It seemingly took too long, but now it's official...

WHO finally labels COVID-19 a pandemic

The WHO press conference (live):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvjtpgnnagE

Wow, if you look at the infections and deaths all countries are proportional except Germany. Must be a damned good healthcare system there.

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

NEWS:
World Health Organization declares COVID-19 pandemic.

It could also depend on how authorities there are dealing with that kind of info: truly open or economical with the truth?

This has been very badly handled in Europe, practically no precautionary measures have been taken, just have to look at the situation in Italy now for example. There is also France, when you have massive stocks of masks and other necessities given as aid by the government to China, all very well and good except that now hospitals/pharmacies are left out in the cold as those necessities are now cruelly scarce. Don't know it it's poetic justice at work or what, but after going out of their way to say that there was nothing to worry about, 'we're ready' and blah blah blah, some members or government there are now infected.

You guys in Hong Kong could be safer than us in Europe, have a friend working/living there who's now more worried about me than he is for himself, given that he's applying the basis to keep and remain safe, and plenty of level headed people seem to do the same there.

That's the sad reality of in this perverse optimism in technology where we have lived too convenient and padded lives, added with the mentality "nothing is going to happens us, just others", we got literally caught with our pants down.

Overpopulation combined with bad hygiene / cross-contamination and static mentality is a bad combo...

[url=Why new diseases keep appearing in China]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPpoJGYlW54[/url]
Journalist goes undercover at wet markets where the Coronavirus started

I guess that's mostly because we have on average way more hospiral beds than other countries (yesterday I read something like 30 beds per 100000 people, vs the US having 2 beds per 100000 people).

But, believe me, it will get worse. Sooo much worse. They have taken zero precautions so far, they will only close a place (schools, for example) down AFTER an infection is confirmed (ie. when it's too late) and the general populace has swallowed the "It's just a flu, bro!" narrative that the media continues to peddle hook line and sinker. I would not be surprised in the slightest if Germany ends up having a higher number of infections than Italy. The population doesn't give a shit and the politicians are doing zilch to contain it. PREVENTION is not in their vocabulary.

Really appalling how this has been mishandled in Europe, whereas China seems to have brought it under control, Taiwan and Singapore didn't allow it to spread, and South Korea and Japan also seem to be doing relatively well.
I agree with fronzel, imo the situation in Germany will get really ugly.