Blog note. Jesus indicated that ‘fearful sights’ (various natural disasters) would occur leading up to the time known as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation (a combined seven year period of great destruction on earth). Although these types of things have occurred in the past for centuries and thousands of years, they could be identified as the ‘season of the times’ due to the ferociousness of these events. They would be occurring in greater intensity, severity, frequency, size, duration, scope … just like the pains that a woman experiences in labor the farther along she is in the labor process. We are in the ‘season of the times’ that comes just before the seven (7) year Tribulation/Great Tribulation period

… And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11).

… And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Luke 21:25)

… Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; (Luke 21:26)

… This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2 Timothy 3:1)
Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of grace comes to a close. These verses are several of many such prophecies from throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This list can go on. Most studied Eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be like a woman having labor.

WHO says window to curb virus outbreak narrowing as infections soar. Italy records its first death amid a cluster of cases near Milan. 50,000 (5) Italians asked to ‘stay at home.’

By AGENCIES and TOI STAFF22 February 2020, 4:03 am

The World Health Organization warned Friday that the window to stem the deadly coronavirus outbreak was shrinking, amid concern over a surge in cases with no clear link to China.

The warning came as Italy saw its first death from the virus amid a rash of infections and moved to close public spaces in 10 (5+5) towns, in a move with echoes of China’s lockdown of entire cities in the province at the center of the outbreak.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has for weeks insisted the low number of cases of COVID-19 outside the epicenter of the deadly outbreak in China’s central Hubei province presented a “window of opportunity” to contain the international spread.

But as cases surged across the Middle East and in South Korea Friday, he cautioned for the first time that while “we are still in a phase where containment is possible… our window of opportunity is narrowing.”

He warned that if countries did not quickly mobilize to fight the spread of the virus, “this outbreak could go in any direction. It could even be messy.”

The outbreak which began in December has already killed more than 2,200 people and infected more than 75,500 in China.

More than 1,150 people have also been infected and more than a dozen have died across 27 other countries.

On Friday, cases of the deadly virus were reported in a range of countries in the Middle East, including in Israel and Lebanon for the first time, while Iran said four people there had died and 18 been infected in the outbreak.

Eleven Israeli travelers returned to the country early Friday after being quarantined for the last two weeks on a cruise ship off Japan’s coast. One of them tested positive for the virus upon arrival back in Israel.

They had been tested before departing Japan and all showed up as negative.

Fifteen Israelis had been among the over 3,000 passengers and crew quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess since February 4. Four of them remain hospitalized in Japan in good condition after being diagnosed with the virus.

Prof. Gili Regev Yochai, head of the Infection Prevention Unit at Sheba Medical Center, said the infected woman was in good shape.

“When the passenger got on the plane she had a negative test result, and at the moment it’s positive, but she’s completely healthy, feels good and doesn’t have any symptoms. She’s basically in shock from finding out she’s infected and we’re keeping track of her condition,” Yochai said.

All of the arrivals from Japan taken to Sheba Medical Center, near Tel Aviv where they will spend the next 14 days in quarantine.

At Sheba, the group will be kept in a separate area of the sprawling medical center and military base, far from where they can come into contact with the general population, according to authorities.

Each traveler will be in a separate quarantined room, with couples staying in adjacent chambers. Their families had earlier handed the hospital food, snacks and various items to be used by them during the quarantine period.

Two Australians evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship also tested positive for coronavirus on returning home, despite being cleared in Japan.

The cases will fuel questions about Tokyo’s policy of allowing former Diamond Princess passengers to return home after testing negative.

Two former passengers, both Japanese and in their 80s, died in Japan on Thursday.

In Italy, state-run RAI television reported a 78-year-old man died Friday. He was one of two people in the northern Veneto region to have been infected.

In Lombardy, at least 14 new cases were confirmed, representing the first infections in Italy acquired through secondary contagion and bringing the country’s total to 19. The cluster was located in a handful of tiny towns southeast of Milan, said Lombardy regional health chief Giulio Gallera.

Over 50,000 people have been asked to stay at home in the areas concerned in northern Italy while all public activities such as carnival celebrations, church masses and sporting events have been banned for up to a week.

In South Korea, infections on Friday nearly doubled to 204, making it the hardest-hit country outside China.

The US advised citizens to avoid traveling by cruise liner in Asia because it said the vessels acted as amplifiers of the virus.

The world modern pentathlon championships were also been moved from the Chinese city of Xiamen to Cancun in Mexico due to the outbreak.

Tedros stressed though that the number of cases outside of China still remained “relatively small.”

But he voiced concern “about the number of cases with no clear epidemiological link, such as travel history to or contact with a confirmed case,” urging countries worldwide to be “very, very serious” about preventing the spread of the virus.

“We must not look back and regret that we failed to take advantage of the window of opportunity we have.”

China has meanwhile pointed to official figures showing new cases in the country slowing this week as evidence that its drastic containment measures are working, but fresh infections emerged at two Beijing hospitals, and more than 500 (5) others were reported in prisons across the country.

Chinese authorities have placed tens of millions of people under quarantine in hard-hit central Hubei province, restricted movements in other cities far from the epicenter and closed schools nationwide.

At a Politburo meeting chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping Friday, the leadership said the epidemic’s peak “has not yet arrived,” and the situation in Hubei and Wuhan remains “grim and complex,” according to state media.

Many nations have banned travelers from China and airlines have suspended flights to and from the country.

In hard-hit South Korea, more than 120 members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a religious sect in the southern city of Daegu, have now been infected.

The mayor of Daegu — South Korea’s fourth-biggest city, with a population of over 2.5 (5×5) million — has advised residents to stay indoors.

Most people on the streets were wearing masks Friday, but many businesses were closed and workers sprayed disinfectant outside the church.

“With so many confirmed cases here I’m worried that Daegu will become the second Wuhan,” said Seo Dong-min, 24, referring to Hubei’s capital, where the virus first emerged.

China reported 118 more deaths on Friday, raising the toll to 2,236, most of them in Hubei.

The National Health Commission also said in its daily update that China tallied 889 new cases, up from the previous day when it reported the lowest number of new infections in nearly a month, fueling hopes that the epidemic is nearing its peak.

But Hubei’s figures have raised questions as officials have changed methods of counting cases twice and amended their figures.

A 29-year-old Wuhan doctor died on Thursday, making him one of the youngest known fatalities of the epidemic and the eighth among medical workers.

New hotspots were found in several prisons and hospitals, prompting the firing of a number of officials.