Spread bet: China’s coronavirus quarantine
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.3 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2020
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Hubei province and increasingly across China, new-year celebrations are muted. Authorities are trying to contain the outbreak with an unprecedented lockdown. Homelessness is rising in the rich world, with Finland as a notable exception; we examine the merits of the country’s “housing first” policy. And how to identify someone by reading their heartbeat at 200 paces. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence on Economist Radio. I'm your host, Jason Palmer. |
| 0:09.2 | Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:17.3 | Across rich countries, homelessness is on the rise, with one particularly notable exception, Finland. |
| 0:23.6 | It has been following a policy known as Housing First. |
| 0:27.6 | We look into why it's been so successful. |
| 0:30.6 | And the precise way that your heart beats is as unique to you as your fingerprint. |
| 0:40.9 | Now, scientists can measure these heartprints at a distance, |
| 0:45.5 | a technology with uses ranging from public surveillance to targeted assassinations. But first... |
| 0:56.0 | Today is the third day of the Chinese New Year, |
| 1:03.3 | the middle of the spring festival during which hundreds of millions of China's residents |
| 1:07.2 | traveled to be with family. |
| 1:09.2 | Not so this year in the province of Hubei, |
| 1:12.0 | the epicenter of the spread of the newly identified coronavirus that's been causing global |
| 1:16.4 | alarm. The capital, Wuhan, and more than a dozen smaller cities are under an unprecedented |
| 1:21.8 | quarantine. There have been nearly 3,000 confirmed cases of infection in China and more than 80 deaths. |
| 1:28.8 | But only half of those cases were in Hubei, and it's unclear how much the lockdown of millions |
| 1:33.8 | of citizens will prevent the virus spreading further. |
| 1:37.2 | It's still very early days, and there's still quite a lot that needs to be understood |
| 1:41.0 | about this virus. |
| 1:43.0 | Mark Johnson is the economist's Beijing correspondent. |
| 1:45.8 | Going from the confirmed figures, so far, the death rate has remained reasonably steady |
| 1:50.4 | at about 3% or so. |
... |
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