Indonesia's @kompascom reports Bali was the Indonesian destination visited by a Japanese tourist who fell ill on his return to Tokyo. Report quotes a health official saying man "wasn't infected by #COVID19", he was infected by "SARS-Coronavirus Type 2". sains.kompas.com/read/2020/02/2…
@kompascom According to posts I've seen from Australian virologist @MackayIM, it's correct to say someone is infected by the virus that has since 11 Feb been officially called “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)”. The disease they get from the virus is #COVID19.
@kompascom @MackayIM So if the patient in Japan had been infected by SARS-CoV-2, he would be suffering from the disease it causes, COVID19, as per this @WHO info that explains the distinction & the reason for the names. 👇 
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO Kompas has now updated its report with an editor's note saying that @WHO "has named the virus that causes Covid-19 disease as SARS-CoV-2." [Fact check: WHO named the disease. The virus was named by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.]
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO Kompas editor's note says: This naming is because SARS-CoV-2 which caused the outbreak is a new variant of the SARS virus that became the outbreak in the 2000s. [See following for what WHO says about the naming.]
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO WHO says the virus name - severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) - was chosen because the virus is genetically related to the #coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003. "While related, the two viruses are different." who.int/emergencies/di…
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO In any event, Kompas was quoting the Health Ministry official as saying this was not a case of #COVID19. In a postscript added later to the article, Kompas said it sought clarification "several times" from the Ministry & the Ministry continues to stand by its original statement.
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO Kompas posted a follow-up story in which the health official says he's read the WHO website post on the virus SARS-CoV-2 that WHO says causes #COVID19, he admits his explanation is different, & he says it's based on advice from other virus experts. nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/02/2…
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO In both articles, Secretary of the Health Ministry's Directorate General of Disease Prevention & Control Achmad Yurianto seems to be saying that there is "a difference of almost 70%" between SARS-CoV-2 and "the virus #COVID19". When Kompas sought clarification, he reiterated it.
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO "We don't question whether it's different or not," he was quoted as saying. "For us, it's about vigilance." While the Secretary or the Ministry might not question this difference he speaks of, it's a fair bet there will be others who will.
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO Secretary Achmad Yurianto said the Health Ministry had asked the Bali Health Service to do contact tracing in the areas visited by the Japanese man while he was in Bali from 15-19 Feb, and to actively collect & analyse related data. #SARSCOV2 #COVID19
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO The case came to light when Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that a Japanese man had tested positive for #COVID19 shortly after returning from a visit to Indonesia. Indonesia has no confirmed cases of the disease as at 25 Feb.
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO NHK quoted a media release from the Tokyo Novel Coronavirus Infectious Disease Control Center on the Tokyo metropolitan government's website stating that a Tokyo resident in his 60s had tested positive for #COVID19 & that the onset of his symptoms occurred on Feb. 12.
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO In one of the reports across its platform yesterday (24 Feb), Kompas quoted the official saying the info that the ill Japanese man had the "different" virus SARS CoV-2 was 'based on communication between Ministry of Health & Japanese health authorities.' nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/02/2…
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO "This data is based on communication with Japanese health authorities. We continue to communicate day by day," Secretary of the Health Ministry's Directorate General of Disease Prevention & Control Achmad Yurianto is quoted as saying in the Kompas report immediately above.
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO Relying on Google Translate for translation from Bahasa Indonesia of these direct quotes attributed to him in the same article: "The current outbreak is Covid-19. Meanwhile, there are experts who say the difference between Covid-19 and the SARS CoV-2 virus is up to 70 percent."
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO Same report says the Secretary explained that the Health Ministry continued to explore the correlation of the two viruses. "Because, this is not a virus that is here. It is still being investigated whether this is seasonal flu or what," the Secretary is quoted as saying.
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO The Secretary confirmed & expanded on details in the original news report from Japanese public broadcaster NHK about the ill Japanese man's health before he flew to Bali on 15 Feb. He said the man went to a doctor on 12 Feb companing of 'airway pain, cough, runny nose, & so on'.
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO The man was given some medication & allowed to go home because the doctor did not consider any further treatment necessary. The man had returned to his job the next day, 13 Feb, but took the day off on 14 Feb before he flew with his family to Bali on 15 Feb, & stayed until 19 Feb
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO The NHK Japanese public broadcaster's report said the man was hospitalized with severe breathing difficulties in Tokyo (his home city) on his return to Japan from Indonesia on 19 Feb & was said to be in a "serious condition".
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO According tothe Kompas report, the Secretary's account was that when the man returned to Japan on 19 Feb, "he felt unwell" & went to hospital on 22 Feb. "It turned out that the SARS virus CoV-2 was found. His condition is now improving," the Secretary was quoted as saying.
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO He said that because the man had taken medication, temperature scanning at Ngurai Rai aiport did not detect any fever. Not mentioned in the story but bcoz of the coronavirus outbreak, Indonesia requires incoming passengers to complete a Health Alert Card declaring any illness.
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO At the end of this report, Kompas had a lengthy rider outlining the @WHO's explanation for the naming of the virus SARS-CoV-2 & the disease that the WHO says it causes - #COVID19. I'm adding this here: time.com/5782284/who-na…
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO .@Coconuts_Bali reported the Secretary's comments about the "70% different virus" only briefly but included the @WHO name explanations in its tweet & in a lengthy explanation at the end of its report. coconuts.co/bali/news/indo…
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO @Coconuts_Bali We think it’s extremely important to note here that the World Health Organization (WHO) has officially named the novel coronavirus disease as COVID-19, while the virus that causes the disease is officially known as SARS-CoV-2, the @Coconuts_Bali explainer began.
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO @Coconuts_Bali The Jakarta Post has also weighed in today with a boldly-headlined report of Secretary Yurianto's comments & its efforts to clarify them with him. It too has included explanations about the naming of the virus #SARSCoV2 & the disease #COVID19. #Indonesia thejakartapost.com/news/2020/02/2…
@kompascom @MackayIM @WHO @Coconuts_Bali Comes at a time when Indonesia is already grapping with a virus, albeit not one that impacts the health of humans - an outbreak of highly contagious African Swine Fever in Sumatra & a presumed outbreak in Bali. Things are not going well. coconuts.co/bali/news/bali…
