King county is buying a motel and deploying portables to house quarantined people who presumably cannot be quarantined elsewhere. But how can a person with drug addiction or severe mental illness who avoids shelters at all costs be locked up and quarantined? Have not heard about that.
not sure why the snarky answers to my question.
some places have people in isolated rooms in hotels, on military bases etc. I assume they did that to reduce the cross infection. Just trying to understand do they want us to be home with family spreading it. I understand they may have it already if your positive, but are you supposed to stay home and just keep living in it with each other? I thought it was a reasonable question.
So glad some of you on here are so emotionally put together that stuff like this just doesnât bother you.
The USA doesnât have big mask-production factories just waiting to throw the on switch. I know that switching an auto manufacturing plant from one model to another - not a completely new product- can take 3-6 months.
The US probably could start mass producing them a few months from now.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages could impact coronavirus response worldwide
"[WHO] warns that countriesâ abilities to respond to the coronavirus outbreak are being compromised by shortages and other disruptions to the global supply of PPEâŠ
âShortages are leaving doctors, nurses and other frontline health care workers dangerously ill-equippedâŠWe canât stop COVID-19 without protecting our health workers,â WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
Tedros added that WHO predicts that each month, about 89 million medical masks, 76 million examination gloves and 1.6 million goggles will be required globallyâŠ
âPrices of surgical masks have increased six-fold, N95 respirators have more than tripled, and gowns cost twice as much. Supplies can take months to deliver, market manipulation is widespread, and stocks are often sold to the highest bidder,â Tedros said. âWHO has shipped nearly half a million sets of personal protective equipment to 27 countries, but supplies are rapidly depleting.â
WHO has guidelines available for countries to follow on how to rationalize the use of âŠPPE in health facilities and manage supply chains effectively. âGlobally, it is estimated that PPE supplies need to be increased by 40%.â (CNN)
SPAIN -
Sporting events in Spain will be played without audiences because of coronavirus
Professional sports events in Spain where large numbers of fans from coronavirus-hit areas are expected will be played behind closed doors, with no spectators, the countryâs health minister announced TuesdayâŠ
Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa also announced the suspension of all courses and seminars involving health professionals.
âWe need our health professionals in perfect conditions. At this time we have 13 health professionals in quarantine for having tested positive to the coronavirus, and another large number isolated for having been their contact. This affects our sanitary system and therefore we take this measure,â (CNN)
Once they have the kits, states and local health departments can test anyone they so desire. (Heck, states could even used non-approved testing procedures if they want â nothing stopping them.) CDC issues guidelines but states/locals donât have to follow them if they choose to be more aggressive in testing. So the premise is false: CDC is not refusing testing, the statesâ are choosing to follow CDCâs guidelines.
Of course, one could ask why the guidelines are so restrictive, and I would hope the national press would do so during one of the Task Forceâs pressers.
And no, âdoctorsâ do not need go thru CDC. Their first call should be the local/state health department. Indeed, that is exactly what CDC says on their website:
No, we donât have that, but if China could build two hospitals from scratch and have them operational in a matter of days (and build a bridge overnight and other bridges in a few days), couldnât our country have done something such as offered unemployed people jobs making masks, or first, building a mask making factory and then making masks? In WWII our country built a whole city dedicated to making materials for atomic weapons in a pretty short amount of time. Normally things take a long time but if things went as quickly as possible, I wonder how much faster that might be.
Rather difficult. Moreover, the can be difficult to breath thru, so most folks use them inappropriately. Masks for the masses, just not needed. Instead, save the masks for those ill and for those immunesuppressed systems. (and health care professionals, of course)
@Artist2233 I wasnât being snarky, fwiw. I was being serious - where do you want people to go if not home? Where do you propose we mass quarantine people?
We donât have the infrastructure for that. Not even close.
ETA: I went to a clinic in another hospital system today and was floored when there were no signs about coughing, etc. No screening questions and no signs about masks. Thatâs a bit disturbing to me and Iâm glad I chose not to use this system for my pregnancy stuff. (My PCP and one specialist is in one system while the rest of my specialists are in UMich.)
I have a doctors appointment on Friday. The call reminder was very specific. If you have any illness symptoms at all, please reschedule. Donât come to the office. I hope people listen to that message!
This doesnât mesh with what I have read in multiple news stories where doctors are quoted as saying the CDC refused to test patients they felt had the disease. Here is one interview with a doctor speaking about this general topic but there were specific cases where doctors were refused by the CDC according to news articles in mainstream press I read.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/health/coronavirus-testing-cdc.html
There have been many posts on this thread compairing the mortality rate of seasonal influenza to Covid-19. Naturally, it is very difficult to calculate a fatality rate during an epidemic, so we only have rough estimates (CFR = âcase fatality rateâ or âcrude fatality rateâ). However, our influenza mortality rates are also only estimates. There are all kinds of issues with trying to count deaths from the flu. This is detailed on the CDCâs website: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/how-cdc-estimates.htm#Influenza-Associated-Deaths
That CDC webpage answers questions such as, âWhat methods are used to estimate the number of influenza-associated deaths in the U.S.?â and âWhy doesnât CDC base its seasonal flu mortality estimates only on death certificates that specifically list influenza?â It also explains all the limitations of the estimates.
So, when we compare the seasonal flu mortality rate to the coronavirus one, we are comparing estimates to estimates. It is not possible to keep track of exactly what killed everyone with a respiratory illness, or how many other people had it.
I suppose that when all the dust settles, we can look at how many people died during these months in previous years, and compare it to this year, and that should give us a ballpark for Covid-19. In the meantime, I would rather that health care workers and the public at large assume that Covid-19 is âworseâ than the seasonal flu because the CFRâs so far are higher, we donât have a vaccine, and there are so many unknowns.
@Artist2233 Last I read, if someone in your family has it (or is suspected to have it) that person should stay in one room if possible, and use a separate bathroom if possible. Family members are supposed to wear the masks that we have been told not to buy when they need to bring meals, care for the person, clean up in there, etc.
Which, OKâŠthese masks are going to just appear when needed?
Regular surgical masks serve two useful purposes: 1) to protect, or at least lessen the concerns of, people around you from your own fluid droplets when you cough, sneeze, or even talk; and 2) to keep yourself from touching your own face directly.
On the other hand, N95 masks may make some people uncomfortable wearing them. As a result, they may touch their faces more often.
[quote=âbluebayou, post:3205, topic:2080517â]
If I was running the show, Iâd put a contact number and info for each state on the CDC website. People are told to trust the CDC info over media or social media but people have to be able to find info on the CDC site readily at their fingertips. Would take someone less than a day to make this accessible.
This thread started with the discussion of how we are not China. We donât have a centralized government and 1 political party. China can order up and control anything they want much more numbly than we can - or most countries can.
Weâre still waiting on all sides in Washington to agree to and approve a budget.
This is something the public awareness arm of the CDC (if there is one - and if not there should be) should be getting out there. Donât show up and contaminate people! Call first! Other countries are doing this. I donât see this being done here.
When the Czech Republic confirmed its first 2 cases last week, one was a 20 year old American woman who was staying at an AirBNB visiting from some program she was enrolled in in Milan. She wasnât feeling well and just showed up at the hospital. âShe went to the hospital herself and we donât want that,â BabiĆĄ, the Prime Minister said.
Looks like another case in Florida, 1 in North Carolina, at least several in WA added to the list.
There are now 118 cases of coronavirus in the US
From CNN
There are now 118 cases of the novel coronavirus, including nine deaths, in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local governments.
According to the CDC, there are 48 cases from repatriated citizens. According to CNN Healthâs tally of US cases that are detected and tested through the US public health systems, there are 70 cases in 13 states.
This includes presumptive positive cases that tested positive in a public health lab and are pending confirmation from the CDC, and confirmed cases that have received positive results from the CDC.
Hereâs a breakdown of the US cases by state:
Arizona â 2
California â 20
Florida - 3
Georgia - 2
Illinois - 4
Massachusetts - 2
New Hampshire â 1
New York - 2
North Carolina - 1
Oregon - 3
Rhode Island - 2
Washington state - 27 (includes 9 fatalities)
Wisconsin - 1
At least nine people have died from coronavirus in Washington state.
Eight people have died in King County, Department of Health officials said. Thereâs a total of 21 cases in the county.
Earlier, one person in Snohomish County died. The county has had six cases.
CDC Releases 100 from Quarantine
"127 people have completed their 14-day quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, the (CDC) said today in a statement.
This group included 125 individuals from the Diamond Princess cruise ship as well as two additional individuals, the statement clarified.
15 other people who were repatriated from the cruise ship remain âlocally in medical care or quarantine because of their close contact with a confirmed case,â the statement said.
âIâm pleased that the CDC has made changes, and Iâm comfortable that the plan as presented will minimize the risk of exposure,â Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in a statement today.
Several buses will transport those being released from Lackland Air Force Base directly to the airport, where people will take flights or rental cars to travel home, the cityâs statement said." (CNN)
Coronavirus testing numbers were taken off the CDC website. Hereâs what officials said when asked about it.
"During the Senate Health hearing on response to the novel coronavirus, Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was asked why the number of coronavirus tests was taken off the CDCâs website.
Schuchat did not explain why the figure was removed, but added:
"There is a difference between persons under investigation who have been tested and all of the tests that we have run. For instance, an individual case, the first 12 cases that we saw here, we did serial testing on them to understand how long the virus was present and when it was safe for them to leave the hospital, or when they no longer needed isolation. We collected multiple specimens so that we understood with this very new virus is it the upper respiratory or the lower respiratory. Weâve also collected other specimens from them.â (CNN)
Yet many other countries are reporting under the same scenarios.
Ah crap. One of those cases in FL is near where my mom is this week. My mom is immune compromised but Iâm not as worried about her. Iâm worried about Her nearly 90 year old godmother sheâs visiting.
Just bcos someone is quoted in the newspaper doesnât mean that they are correctâŠ(not to mention, itâs easy for the local HD to place the blame on CDC for the local HD saying, âNoâ.)
An update on the patient who died last week at Harboview:
He was a 54 yr old nursing home resident. Due to privacy, the hospital canât comment on the nature of his underlying condition, but I would assume that it was a serious one (younger people who end up in nursing homes typically have a serious illness).
Per Seattle Times:
"12:43 pm
Case confirmed in North Carolina
A person who visited Life Care Center in Kirkland and returned to their home in North Carolina has tested positive for coronavirus, health officials said Tuesday afternoon.
North Carolina health officials said that the state is investigating where the person visited and who was in contact with the patient. The person flew to and from Washington state; the state is working to inform passengers who were on the same plane."