WA emergency departments are (were yesterday) using stringent criteria to determine who gets the test, and yes, it’s severe symptoms that would indicate a need for admission and in the presence of no other explanation for those symptoms. The reason for the limitation seems to be the number of tests that can be physically performed each day, initially by the DOH, but now UW lab has also been outfitted to do the testing. I guess that doubles the number possible? But still, to expand to testing everyone, they need labs that are properly set up, not sure how every state will make that happen.
Rumors in WA was that the DOH could only perform each day a number of tests in the double digits, and the lower end at that.
This hasn’t happened for health reasons…but ask anyone who was a student in May 1970. Classes were cancelled…for the rest of the term, and students were given 24 hours to get out of town. They were not permitted to return for their belongings until a schedule for doing so was set up in June.
I know…different scenario…but classes have been cancelled.
United cutting flights in April amid coronavirus outbreak, slowing demand
"United Airlines announced deep cuts to its schedule next month amid the global coronavirus outbreak and slowing demand.
The airline will cut international flights by 20% and domestic flights by 10%. Some wide-body planes will be parked, the company said." (CNBC)
HHS clarifies US has about 1% of face masks needed for ‘full-blown’ pandemic
“The Department of Health and Human Services clarified that the United States has about 1%, not 10%, of the required respirator masks that would be needed for medical professionals if the COVID-19 outbreak were to erupt into a pandemic here. The agency said its pandemic planning assumptions estimate the U.S. health-care system will need up to 3.5 billion N95 respirator masks over a year. The Strategic National Stockpile, the nation’s emergency stockpile of drugs and medical supplies, currently holds approximately 12 million medical-grade N95 respirator masks and 30 million surgical face masks, according to an HHS spokesperson. That’s a small fraction of the masks need in a pandemic scenario.” (CNBC)
Lawmakers strike deal on $8.3 billion in emergency coronavirus funding
“U.S. lawmakers agreed to an $8.3 billion emergency funding package to address the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby announced the deal in a press release. “This should not be about politics; this is about doing our job to protect the American people from a potential pandemic,” said Shelby, an Alabama Republican. Senate leaders originally said the price tag was $7.8 billion, but House Democrats added $500 million in funding for tele-health services that wasn’t factored in to the final amount.” (CNBC)
In HI, out headlines indicate that the 6 people tested in HI for COVID- 19 were all negative. Yay! Still we get many, many international flights and passengers daily.
WHO now saying mortality rate is 3.4% according to ABC news just now.
One thing I wonder about the number of cases in the USA. Is there two separate counts, one for total cases and one for current cases because some people have gotten better. I assume CDC numbers are for current cases, not total cases ever in the USA.
My sister’s roommate flew back from his cousin’s wedding in India on Monday. He flew from India to Qatar to Dulles. He was screened for a fever at the airport in India and Qatar, but not at Dulles.
I wish LA County were as transparent as the City of New York is being. New Yorkers know the law firm, the school, the Metro route of the man who spread the virus. We in LA County know nada. Just that six people were newly diagnosed. So we don’t know if we should be self-quarantining or whether the places we frequent were possible hot spots or not.
Drink’s makers donate alcohol to curb spread of virus
"As ethanol demand for sanitisers soars, producers of South Korea’s national drink are donating the alcohol that goes into the drink.
Soju is a distilled spirit with 17 to 20 percent alcohol by volume traditionally based on rise, but now often wheat and potatoes.
“Ethanol demand for disinfection has grown while supply is limited…we have decided to provide it,” told Reuters an official of Daesun Distilling, based in the southeastern city of Busan.
To banish the virus, the company has pledged to donate 32 tonnes of ethanol for use in disinfecting buildings and public places in Busan and southeastern Daegu, the city at the centre of South Korea’s outbreak.
Whether used for liquor or disinfection, both have the same chemical structure and can break apart the virus particle according to an expert. " (Al Jazeera)
My understanding is that CDC reports total cases. They do break it out into two catergories - evacuees from China/Diamond Princess and then cases contracted inside the US. However, given the fast moving nature of confirmed cases and CDC’s updating which only takes place at set intervals, the data on CDC’s website is usually behind.
Did see this on there today:
“As of March 2, 2020 1,235 patients had been tested at CDC. This does not include testing being done at state and local public health laboratories, which began this week.” So, who knows how many are being tested. Again, IMO, having states report in once per day and having those stats tallied and available would be nice. One would think this info would be something CDC would want to collect.
United is cutting 10% of flights because they are losing money - lots of employee travel has been cancelled, people canceling spring break, study abroad plans cancelled. They are NOT cancelling in order to stop the virus from moving around. Let’s be clear about that. It’s not because they are panicking about the virus. Anyone who still wants to go somewhere can still find a flight so, if 90% of flights are still flying, that’s a lot of planes still in the air.
What do you mean by making progress? All the info in there has been out since weeks ago.
Also, although the info in the article is accurate because it is mainly quotes from Dr. Fauci’s testimony today, in general it is not a reliable news source.
“Rumors in WA was that the DOH could only perform each day a number of tests in the double digits, and the lower end at that.”
These are not rumors. It has been confirmed by the King County and state health dept.
The main reason is not lack of “test kits” - it is the lab throughput and availability of technicians trained to run the tests. The tests are highly complex to run, as I mentioned before. It is not like a pregnancy test - peeing on a stick and observing a red line.
A family of four in the Republic of Ireland has tested positive for coronavirus.
The two males and two females, who live in the west of Ireland, were all “associated” with recent travel to northern Italy
Two new cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) in Northern Ireland were confirmed earlier on Wednesday, raising the confirmed cases in Northern Ireland to three and the total number on the island of Ireland to nine.
A worker at Google’s European headquarters in Dublin who had flu-like symptoms tested negative for coronavirus, prompting the tech giant to tell staff they can safely return to the office after two days of working from home.
Lots of colleges are on spring break soon, aren’t they? What’s the plan for students who will be returning from international travel? Will they just be able to mix back into the general population?
