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The next coronavirus hotbed

QuickTake Tonight
Bloomberg

Greetings, QuickTake readers! In this edition: Countdown to the Sussexes' normal life, Trump's pardoning drama jumps overseas and a woman classically scores her own brain surgery.

Is Japan the next Wuhan?'

As China again reported a slowdown in the tally of new coronavirus deaths and infections Wednesday, Japan reported an uptick. More than 3,000 kilometers away, the country has emerged as one of the riskiest places for the spread of COVID-10 as infections more than doubled in the past week to 84, tying Singapore as the country outside mainland China with the most cases. Critics of PM Shinzo Abe have called the government's response too lax, but perhaps more troubling is that cases are surging in multiple parts of the country — sometimes with little to link the outbreaks. What's more, quarantined passengers have finally disembarked the Diamond Princess cruise ship despite concern that some could still test positive for the virus, fueling more uncertainty among Japanese health officials about how far the pathogen will spread.

More: 

  • Hubei reported 349 new infections and 108 new deaths over Feb. 19, a drop that rests partly on a new methodology that differentiates suspected cases from those that are confirmed. 
  • While hundreds of cases were confirmed aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship during the two weeks it docked in Yokohama, they are not counted among Japan's total.

$ignificant figures

41. How many days Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have left at Buckingham Palace before their official their royal exit, which will be followed by a Royal Family review 12 months later, the couple's office said.

800. IRS agents will make face-to-face visits to at least that many people with incomes above $100,000 who've failed to file at least one or more tax returns in recent years as a last-ditch attempt to encourage compliance.

$167. Half of all American adults are sitting on at least that much unused credit, a new survey says, which estimated there's more than $20 billion of unredeemed gift cards and store credit floating around the U.S.

Highly quotable

"Played ball." Julian Assange's lawyers told a London court Trump was prepared to offer the WikiLeaks founder a pardon if he denied leaking DNC emails in 2016. The White House denied the claim.

"Trump-ocrat." How ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich referred to himself as he thanked Trump for commuting his prison sentence, saying he's "tough and outspoken but also has a kind heart."

"Disturbing reaction." The president of NYC's Fashion Institute of Technology apologized for a "clearly racist" alumni runway show in which models were asked to wear prosthetic ears, lips and bushy eyebrows.

This is not normal

"Vastly underestimated." Oil and gas production emits up to 40% more methane than previously thought, says a new study, which urges tighter limits on the fossil fuel industry's release of the potent greenhouse gas.

The future is now

Greener skies ahead? South Korea launched the world's first air quality satellite to track 20 types of pollutants like ozone and sulfur dioxide that'll allow targeted weather forecasts and solutions for East Asian air pollution.

What's good

Pitch-perfect. Fearing she might lose her musical abilities, 53-year-old British violinist Dagmar Turner managed to remain fully conscious and play the violin while doctors successfully removed a brain tumor.

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BTW: A Maine company thinks lobster blood can be used as a weapon against viruses and cancer in human drugs. Here's how.

Thanks for reading!
-Andrew Mach

 

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