Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s Ousted ‘Pharaoh’ Leader, Dies at 91

Hosni Mubarak, who became Egypt’s longest-serving ruler in more than 150 years before being forced from office by a popular uprising, has died. He was 91.

Mubarak’s passing was announced Tuesday by state media, with the presidency later describing him as a hero of the nation’s 1973 war against Israel. No cause of death was given, although his family said in January he’d undergone surgery and was in intensive care in the hospital.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/hosni-mubarak-egypts-ousted-pharaoh-leader-dies-at-91/ar-BB10mgak?ocid=spartanntp

Coronavirus Spikes In Italy, With 229 Confirmed Cases And 6 Deaths

Updated at 8:20 p.m. ET

Italy reported a total of 229 novel coronavirus cases on Monday, leaping ahead of Japan (156 cases) on the list of worst-hit countries. Six people have died from the respiratory disease COVID-19 in Italy, and 27 more are in intensive care.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/24/808893094/coronavirus-has-pandemic-potential-but-isn-t-there-yet-who-says

South Korea to launch mass coronavirus testing, U.S. pledges $1 billion for vaccine

SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) - South Korea aims to test more than 200,000 members of a church at the center of a surge in coronavirus cases, as countries stepped up efforts to stop a pandemic of the virus that emerged in China and is now spreading in Europe and the Middle East.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health/south-korea-to-launch-mass-coronavirus-testing-u-s-pledges-1-billion-for-vaccine-idUSKCN20J0B4?

Coronavirus: World must prepare for pandemic, says WHO

The WHO said it was too early to call the outbreak a pandemic but countries should be "in a phase of preparedness".

A pandemic is when an infectious disease spreads easily from person to person in many parts of the world.

More cases of the virus, which causes respiratory disease Covid-19, continue to emerge, with outbreaks in South Korea, Italy and Iran causing concern.

However, most infections are in China, the original source of the virus, where more than 77,000 people have the disease and over 2,600 have died.

More than 1,200 cases have been confirmed in about 30 other countries and there have been more than 20 deaths. Italy reported four more deaths on Monday, raising the total there to seven.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51611422

Latest Study Suggests The New Coronavirus Is Also Spreading Via Feces

"Importantly, 2019-nCoV has been reported elsewhere in the feces of patients with atypical abdominal symptoms, similar to SARS which was also shed in urine, suggesting a fecal transmission route which is highly transmissible," William Keevil, a professor of environmental healthcare at the University of Southampton said in a comment to the UK's Science Media Centre.

https://www.sciencealert.com/latest-coronavirus-study-suggests-it-can-also-be-spread-through-poop

Wuhan coronavirus is detected in urine and feces, say researchers

A study by Chinese scientists has found that COVID-19 could be transmitted through blood and feces as well as droplets.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology in Hubei, China published Monday a study entitled “Molecular and serological investigation of 2019-nCoV infected patients: implication of multiple shedding routes” in the international journal “Emerging Microbes and Infections.” 

http://www.donga.com/en/article/all/20200221/1985078/1/Wuhan-coronavirus-is-detected-in-urine-and-feces-say-researchers

Around 1,000 people in lockdown after Tenerife hotel is struck by coronavirus

An Italian man has tested positive for coronavirus in Tenerife in the Canary Islands, the region’s health authorities said on Monday. Spanish media including El Mundo reported the man was an Italian doctor on holiday in Spain. There are also reports that 1,000 people at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel where he was staying, and popular with British tourists, have been put into quarantine. Police have been seen outside making sure nobody enters or leaves, according to local reports. Nobody from the hotel’s parent company was immediately available to verify whether the hotel was in lockdown.

https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/25/around-1000-people-lockdown-tenerife-hotel-struck-coronavirus-12297109/