1 Mar

New Zealand: COVID Transmission on Planes

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New Zealand
COVID Transmission on Planes
According to new research published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases, COVID-19 is likely to spread among passengers on a plane, even when passengers are wearing appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE) and spaced according to travel guidelines. Using outbreak data from an 18-hour flight from Dubai to Auckland, a team of epidemiologists found seven passengers from five countries sitting within four rows of each other tested positive for COVID-19 after the flight. Five of the seven wore masks during the journey, and five reported a negative test before departure. Of the infections, six were found to come from the B.1 lineage, specifically matched with genomes found previously in Switzerland and the U.K., while one passenger’s strain contained a mutation. The researchers suggest New Zealand’s policies for requiring all international arrivals to quarantine prevented cases emanating from plane-travel to further spread in the country.
This map depicts the flight route studied and the origins of passengers who tested positive after the flight. Click on the map to learn more.

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Nigeria
School Kidnapping
Over 300 school girls were abducted from Government Girls Science Secondary School in the Zamfara State, Nigeria at approximately 1 am local-time this past Friday. Zamfara police have teamed up with Nigeria’s army to start a search-and-rescue mission, focusing specifically in the town of Jangebe, where the raid took place. Friday’s raid is the second of its kind to happen in Northwest Nigeria in a little over a week. The first occurred in the nearby state of Niger where 27 teenage boys were kidnapped, all of whom have since been released. Many of the recent school kidnappings have been carried out by independent militant groups whose motives are unclear, but likely monetarily driven. Nigerian President Muhammadu Bhari has urged state governments not to reward these militants with money or vehicles, in fear of encouraging similar behavior.

This map depicts the areas in Nigeria under threat from militant groups and locations of recent mass kidnappings. Click on the map to learn more.

Further Reading:  AP, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, NPR, BBC
Graphic Source:  Modern Ghana
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Gulf of Oman
Israeli Ship Explosion
A mystery explosion hit an Israeli cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman hours after United States President Joe Biden ordered an airstrike in Syria. The vessel was struck by the blast, forcing it to head towards the nearest port. The explosion happened at the same site as a series of unexpected attacks in 2019. The United States Navy blamed the 2019 attacks on Iran, which Iranian leadership denied. While the United States Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th fleet says it was unaware of the cargo ship explosion, there is no doubt that tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been intensifying. The United States imposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 and withdrew from a nuclear deal in 2015. The Israeli cargo ship explosion remains unsolved and is under investigation by officials.

This map depicts the location of the Israeli ship explosion. Click on the map to learn more.

Further Reading: AP, Jerusalem Post, Arab News, Yahoo, NPR
Graphic Source: The Sun

             

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Friday’s Answer

Q: How many countries are located along the equator? 

A: 13

Through the equator measures more than 24,900 miles (40,000 km), only 13 countries are intersected by the line of latitude. The landmass of eleven countries (São Tomé and Principe, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Indonesia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil) lie along the equator. The Maldives and Kiribati are also considered equatorial countries, as their territorial waters are located at 0 degrees latitude. 

Today’s Question

 

Q: Stretching over 5,700 miles (9,200 km) and spanning eight times zones, what is the longest railway-line in the world?

Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.

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