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Only the day before, he had put his name on a list to volunteer for medical reinforcements in Wuhan, the central Chinese city in the grip of an unknown virus.

When the call came on Jan 27, the third day of the Chinese New Year, Beijing intensive care physician Liu Zhuang felt a mix of emotions - anticipation and anxiety - as the adrenaline coursed through him.

"The severity of the virus, how the disease would behave, and the exact condition of the patients we were facing, we had no idea," Dr Liu said. "It was with a lot of nervousness and unknowns that we departed for Wuhan."

His wife, a homemaker, and their 10-year-old son barely had time to react to the news before he had to go: Volunteer doctors and nurses were given two hours to report to the hospital.

"From the time we got the notice to pack... to the time we arrived at the airport to leave for Wuhan was about six hours," the 39-year-old told The Straits Times.

Days earlier, Wuhan had been put under a strict lockdown to contain the virus, believed to have first surfaced at a market.

But the scale of the outbreak had been downplayed and was slowly becoming clear in the images of overwhelmed hospitals, near-hysterical patients and overworked medical staff that flooded social media, prompting the Chinese government to redirect medical personnel and resources from around the country.

Dr Liu was part of a 138-strong reinforcement team from a collective of Beijing hospitals which consisted of nursing staff, doctors and two administrators. When the team landed in Wuhan late that night, the usually bustling city was deserted as their chartered bus raced through streets still decked out with Chinese New Year decorations.

"On the bus, my feelings were a lot more complex too because we didn't know what to expect the next day," he said.

Appointed one of several operations coordinators, his first task was to reorganise the workflow of the Wuhan Union Hospital by separating the building into clean and contaminated zones.

But his clearly defined duties aside, he and the others could not help feeling overwhelmed.

"We felt the biggest pressure in the first two weeks because the cases we saw were far more severe, and the backup medical supplies had not arrived," he said.

Though some medics were working to the point of exhaustion, Dr Liu said his team was careful to work in rotations of six-to eight-hour shifts to ensure that everyone got enough rest.

Still, beset by anxiety, many team members could not sleep at night. He found the quiet moments hardest, after a punishing day at work, when he was alone in his hotel room and even a simple letter from home could make him emotional.

"Being a boy, my son doesn't really talk about his feelings but he wrote me a letter telling me to take care of myself at work, that school had started virtual classes, and that everything was fine at home. I was very touched," Dr Liu said.

The team spent 65 days in Wuhan, treating 345 patients in their unit. They felt a gamut of emotions, celebrating each recovery, and rallying together whenever a patient died.

As at yesterday, China had reported 90,934 coronavirus infections and 4,745 deaths. Most of these stemmed from Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province in the earlier half of the year.

A man with a portrait standing outside the Biandanshan cemetery in Wuhan, in China's Hubei province, in March this year. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

The country largely reopened to inter-provincial travel by May, even though Wuhan saw a brief second wave of cases that month, which led to the authorities ordering the entire city of 11 million to undergo nucleic acid testing.

Cities like Beijing, north China's Dalian and Urumqi in the west also had second outbreaks that were quickly put under control with a combination of movement restrictions and mass testing.

While there are still about a dozen new cases reported daily, most are imported as China gradually reopens its borders.

Much of the nation's success in battling the virus comes down to the ability to direct large amounts of resources to the worst affected areas, but it is also the willingness of the entire country to work together that has helped get the disease under control, said Dr Liu.

Medical workers preparing to remove the body of a Covid-19 victim in a hospital in Wuhan, early in February. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

"I feel that going forward, we still need medical staff, researchers and scientists to work hard together to uncover the nature of this virus, to even better understand how it develops so we can better treat our patients," he said.

And while China appears to have successfully contained the virus for now, it cannot be complacent as the global war has not been won, he noted.

"What we know about the disease is still very little and limited," he said.

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Rushing headlong into a dangerous unknown: Beijing doctor joins Covid-19 fight in Wuhan - The Straits Times

GENEVA Rates of Covid-19 infection and hospital bed occupancy are rising in Europe, where the authorities need to work to halt the spread ahead of the influenza season, a top World Health Organisation (WHO) official has said.

"Europe has a lot of work to do to stabilise the situation and bring transmission under control," WHO's emergency expert Mike Ryan told a press conference on Friday.

"Overall, within that very large region, we are seeing a worrying increase in disease."

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on Covid-19, said: "We are at the end of September and we haven't even started our flu season yet, so what we are worried about is the possibility that these trends are going in the wrong direction."

Earlier admissions to hospitals and the use of the steroid dexamethasone were saving lives, she said, adding: "We want to avoid any national lockdowns that were happening in the beginning."

Pressure is mounting on European leaders to contain the resurgent coronavirus pandemic as countries such as Spain re-emerge as hot spots.

In Spain, tensions erupted into a public spat, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government urging local Madrid officials to lock down the entire city.

The proposal was promptly rebuffed by the capital region's administration, which is controlled by the biggest opposition party to Mr Sanchez's coalition.

Europe's biggest economies are experiencing a disquieting spike in infections, adding to risks weighing on a slowing recovery.

Officials in Italy and France are facing new questions about intensive care capacity, and Britain's daily cases remain at the highest level yet. Italy reported over 1,900 new infections on Friday, the most since May 1.

The authorities across the region are fighting back with a series of piecemeal measures dubbed "lockdown lite".

But even those limited curbs are spurring unrest. Madrid has seen street protests in working-class areas subject to new curbs, with locals claiming officials are favouring wealthier neighbourhoods.

In Marseille, French Health Minister Olivier Veran sought to confront detractors of the Paris government's move to close the city's bars and restaurants for at least two weeks, saying it is a way to avert even stricter measures.

Mr Veran also cited the risk of a breakdown in intensive-care unit care at a time of "maximum alert" for the Marseille area. That means taking "the necessary measures, even if they are unpopular", he said on Twitter.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG

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Coronavirus: Tensions erupt in Europe over 'lockdown lite' measures - The Straits Times

Dive Brief:

While not the first time Pritchard has called for cross-platform measurement and an overhaul of what he described as an inequitable and inefficient media ecosystem, this week's speech is notable for having a clearer vision of what a new system might look like, and for laying out what some of the steps may be for getting there.

As the top marketer at one of the worlds largest advertisers, Pritchard has taken a leadership role on advocating for brand marketers and their needs. In this week's keynote address, Pritchard decried legacy media models that were created for a different era, such as traditional broadcast upfronts. Instead, he doubled down on programmatic media, which he said creates a more balanced marketplace for marketers and eliminates complexity that prevents investment in smaller media companies.

Even when faced with a pandemic, an economic downturn, social unrest and climate change verging on crisis, Pritchard called on marketers to stop accepting legacy media models and instead build a new system that is altogether more equitable, responsive and practical for the digital age.

"There may never be a better time for us to lead constructive disruption and transform media," Pritchard said.

Key to the transformation Pritchard envisions is brand marketers taking back some control from media providers, who have the upper hand in what he called an "antiquated system for broadcast TV buying" because of their access to more information.

"For marketers, this system makes little sense, yet every year, we march to the upfronts and rush to buy as much as possible as soon as possible to get the best bulk deal,'" Pritchard said.

Pritchard's remarks follow a broader movement across parts of the advertising industry to revamp the TV upfronts during a year when the system has been upset by the pandemic's impact on the ability to produce new programming or hold in-person events.

A level playing field would be one in which marketers could plan and negotiate buying when it best suits them, with real-time flexibility to adjust to market conditions and a balanced exchange of information, per Pritchard's remarks. Indeed, in an interview granted before the speech, Pritchard said P&G would not be going back to the annual upfronts. Instead, the company will look to negotiate directly with media providers.

"Our agencies help us and have an important role as contributing partners, but we are in the lead," Pritchard said.

That transparent and level playing field must also extend into the digital world, where media is bought through auction. Still, information asymmetry exists when it comes to audience data and cross-platform measurement. Comparing digital media buying to the movie "Groundhog Day" because the same promises are made over and over and over again, Pritchard declared it was time for the industry to commit to developing a validated, scalable cross-media measurement pilot by by next year.

One way P&G is taking control of is media investments is with programmatic. Ninety-percent of P&G's media spending is digital, and more than 80% is programmatic, Pritchard said. In the U.S., programmatic is close to the companys largest media investment and experiencing double-digit growth.

"P&G preferred [media] providers are those with programmatic capability," Pritchard said. "It levels the playing field among thousands of media companies."

The new media supply chain also must include gender, racial and ethnic equality at every link in the chain, per Pritchard. Marketers have to commit to fair representation both within their organizations and among their preferred providers, including agencies, media companies, and production crews. In addition, marketers can help dismantle systemic inequalities within the media supply chain by working directly with minority-owned and operated media companies, he noted. Such investment helps close income and wage gaps, leading to more overall purchasing power and market growth, "which is good for society and good for business," Pritchard said.

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Pritchard: P&G is taking control in the media supply chain and so can other marketers - Marketing Dive

The Sell Sider is a column written for the sell side of the digital media community.

Todays column is written by Alessandro De Zanche, an audience and data strategyconsultant.

Digital advertising is becoming subtly and silently polarized. Not in the angry, conflicted way currently witnessed in politics, but a bifurcation in the road ahead is clearly taking shape.

On one side is a group with a worldview that identifies the ad slot rather than the content as the end product that should be monetized. From an audience perspective, they take a hunting for identity and addressability approach that views the user as a means to an end, rather than what should be the dominant focus. Everything whether its stitching IDs together or collecting emails happens in the background with little or no user engagement.

On the other side are the media owners who realize that audiences have been ignored for too long. They envision a holistic engagement strategy, aimed at regaining the trust of their audiences and all the mutual benefits that come with that, which can maximize their assets and strengthen and differentiate their business models. In contrast to their colleagues, its the building identity in collaboration with the audience approach.

I believe that the latter can turn media owners fortunes around.

Citizens knowledge of personal data and how it is used online will only increase. The role of media in this discovery process is paramount, and already many media brands editorial teams are informing their audiences about privacy-related dangers and pitfalls.

By embracing a path to education and transparency, media owners can rebuild that long-lost trust and differentiate themselves. A knowledgeable audience will be able to discern a trustworthy entity deserving of their consent and personal data from those that should be denied. It would create a solid barrier to entry against murky competitors and parasitic entities.

This approach is not just about an aspirational and philosophical love for the user. It also includes a very pragmatic move toward identity, addressability, a strong data strategy and, ultimately, monetization.

I call it the funnel of trust.

Top of the funnel: consent and communication

Consent is the enabler of any data, audience and monetization strategy. A few months ago I described consent as the real new oil. Focusing on it naturally forces media brands to embrace the whole audience, horizontally.

Media owners dialogue with their audiences should be fine-tuned to reduce ad blocking, with the understanding that ad blocking will not disappear on its own. But by establishing a real conversation with the audience and with concrete initiatives, such as focusing on creating a better user experience a lot of inventory and revenue can be recovered, as well as much more data.

Repairing trust is harder than building it in the first place and maintaining an always-on conversation with audiences requires a two-way communication channel.

Thats why a data and consent management dashboard should be top of mind and the core around which the audience and media brand meet.

A dashboard could let users see in real time, 24/7, what data is held about them. Users should be able to amend it, contribute to it or delete it, and it should include a consent toggle.

I have been around long enough to visualize the terrified looks of the usual suspects when they think about allowing users to withdraw consent. But this is the very tool that can help an ambitious and honest media brand recover and communicate to lost users, giving audiences the peace of mind that they can change settings and control their own data.

Moving down the funnel

This is the stage where a virtuous cycle kicks in and media owners can move down the funnel of trust to the registration phase.

A trusting audience and an open communication channel will facilitate a conversation with users about the benefits of registering. Every step of the audience strategy requires a multidisciplinary collaboration and synchronization across the company, from editorial to legal, from the marketing team to the advertising unit.

It is vital that a value exchange is the foundation of every interaction. Why should users register and create a profile? Whether its to manage their own data, access exclusive content or to personalize the experience, the benefits should be compelling.

But being registered is not enough. To maximize the advantage of a known user base, individuals must be logged in. Again, it is only through a relationship based on dialogue and concrete benefits that this can happen. What are your users reasons to stay logged-in all the time?

The promised land

For users to be fully engaged, knowledgeable and taking advantage of the tools and capabilities for managing their data, the next level of collaboration and interaction in the funnel would be to enrich their own profiles. That includes providing additional data, responding to surveys or participating in ad-hoc initiatives. When the trust and dialogue are at their peak and the value flows in both directions, it will be much easier to improve a media owners knowledge about its audience in a way that no legal tracking could ever achieve.

The advantages are many and cover the whole monetization strategy. While these examples were tailored with advertising in mind, to show how identity and addressability can be improved or rebuilt by embracing the audience, rather than hunting for it, there are other areas that would benefit: subscriptions, memberships, product improvements and new launches.

I have the feeling that, in the bifurcation of the road ahead for media owners, one of the two options will be a blind alley, just protracting their suffering and uncertainty.

Embracing the funnel of trust would maximize their assets and build the strongest foundation for monetization.

Follow Alessandro De Zanche (@adzandads)and AdExchanger (@adexchanger) on Twitter.

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The Funnel Of Trust Is The Best Path To Media Monetization - AdExchanger

When the coronavirus death toll in the United States passed 200,000 on Tuesday, matching projections made by White House experts this spring, many of the right-wing media personalities who had mocked the estimates as overblown were quiet.

The death toll, tracked by Johns Hopkins University and a New York Times database, is most likely an undercount, many public health experts believe. At least 266,000 more people have died in the United States during the pandemic than would have been the case during a typical year.

Mark Levin, the host of a syndicated radio show and a Fox News program, declared on Twitter on Wednesday that THE U.S. DID NOT SURPASS 200,000 COVID-19 DEATHS. As evidence, he cited data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that 94 percent of the reported deaths involved underlying health problems and that 6 percent of the people who died had no illness or medical condition other than Covid-19.

Mr. Levin was one of several popular radio hosts who have used the C.D.C. statistic to make a case that the pandemic death toll was inflated, a false claim that was also promoted by a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory and amplified by President Trump in a post that Twitter removed last month.

Health experts have repeatedly debunked that interpretation of the data. Earlier this month, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the countrys leading infectious disease expert, tried to clear up any misconceptions during an appearance on Good Morning America.

The point that the C.D.C. was trying to make was that a certain percentage of them had nothing else, but just Covid, Dr. Fauci said. That does not mean that someone who has hypertension or diabetes who dies of Covid didnt die of Covid-19 they did.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control released an explanation Sept. 3 noting that the cause of death as listed on a death certificate includes an immediate cause, intermediate causes, underlying causes and contributing conditions. The department used an example to demonstrate how a person would be excluded from the C.D.C.s 6 percent figure: if an immediate cause of death was acute respiratory distress syndrome, with pneumonia as the intermediate cause, Covid-19 as the underlying cause and asthma and diabetes as contributing causes.

While certain people such as older adults are more likely to have more contributing factors, if the person doesnt contract Covid-19, then those factors dont start the cascade of events that lead to death, the department said in a statement.

The U.S. leads all other countries in Covid-19 deaths. The grim statistics are in line with a projection made in March by Dr. Fauci and Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, who estimated that the virus could kill 100,000 to 240,000 Americans.

In April, Rush Limbaugh, Bill OReilly, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and several other conservative media figures latched onto an estimate made by Dr. Fauci that month, when he said that, because of social distancing efforts and lockdown restrictions, the ultimate number of deaths could be more like 60,000.

The conservative author Candace Owens, who has 2.6 million Twitter followers, said the 60,000 figure was proof that the media was always lying, and the virus was never as fatal as the experts that are chronically wrong about everything, prophesied, as CNN noted in an article on commentators who used the revised estimate to cast doubt on science-based projections.

President Trump has frequently discussed the virus in dismissive terms. At a rally this week, he repeated the misleading claim that young people faced very little risk, although thousands of people under 65 and many others who previously seemed in good health have fallen sick.

It affects elderly people, elderly people with heart problems, Mr. Trump said. If they have other problems, thats what it really affects. In some states thousands of people nobody young, below the age of 18. Like, nobody. They have a strong immune system. Who knows?

He added, Its an amazing thing. By the way, open your schools!

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Right-Wing Media Stars Mislead on Covid-19 Death Toll - The New York Times