Testing in the US
Last night on CNN, Dr Sanjay Gupta said that the US had tested 500 people. More test kits had been used but that was because some people were tested multiple times.
No, no one dead in NY yet. He was mistaken.
Ohio officials threaten to take legal action against fitness festival if it allows spectators
"Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther sent a letter to organizers of the Arnold Sports Festival saying they will take “appropriate action under Ohio law” if spectators are allowed into the festival.
The Arnold Sports Festival is an annual multi-sport festival held in Columbus that includes the Arnold Classic, a bodybuilding competition named for Arnold Schwarzenegger.
According to the letter, the festival and the city of Columbus agreed Tuesday that the event would be closed to spectators. Then yesterday, the festival’s staff said they would close the Expo — but wanted people to be able to watch the sporting events.
The mayor and the governor said that because the competitions at the festival are general admission, spectators would be able to “attend dozens of events and travel freely from facility to facility” which would create a “unique and unacceptable risk” for the spread of the novel coronavirus. Among their concerns is “the attendance of individuals from more than 80 countries and from other parts of the United States, including states affected by COVID-19,” they wrote in the letter.
“We stand united in our expectation that this event and its organizers abide by the original agreement reached Tuesday. In the event that organizers fail to comply with our agreement, we stand ready to take appropriate action under Ohio law to protect the health and safety of the residents of the State of Ohio and our guests,” DeWine and Ginther’s letter said." (CNN)
New Delhi closes elementary schools until March 31 as coronavirus cases rise
“India’s capital announced an immediate closure of all elementary schools until March 31, the move is a “precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19” among children.” (CNN)
As of today, India has reported 30 confirmed cases.
ICELAND - 8 new cases so far today for a total of 34.
There are now 380 people quarantined in Iceland and the country is working on increasing the capacity of diagnosis at Landspitali hospital in Reykjavik.
An Icelandair flight to Italy on Saturday will collect 70 Icelanders stranded there, and the 12 Icelandic nationals who have been quarantined in Tenerife are also expected to return on Saturday, according to state media.
All four crew on the flight to Verona are nurses and will be dressed in protective clothing.
“This is clearly unusual but this is the most responsible and safe way to get these people home," said Haukur Reynisson, head of operations for Icelandair. A high proportion of those infected were in the Hotel Aaritz in the town of Selva in Trentino, northern Italy. Of 14 Icelanders there, 12 have been infected, according to state broadcaster RUV." (CNN)
South Korea halts exports of face masks, sets new limits for pricing and purchasing
"Face masks produced in South Korea will no longer be exported abroad as of tomorrow, the country’s vice finance minister said today.
This move comes amid the largest coronavirus outbreak outside China, and after much public criticism of the government for severe shortages of face masks, resulting in citizens waiting long hours at designated locations to purchase them in limited numbers.
Face mask supply: South Korea is aiming to increase its daily mask output from 10 million to at least 13 million, authorities said.
Masks will be distributed mainly to pharmacies, post offices, and government locations for citizens to purchase. Starting from Monday, each citizen can purchase up to two masks per week. The government will monitor sales through a computerized system…will also designate certain days of the week for citizens to purchase masks after presenting their identification cards…
Mask price: The finance ministry will also price all masks…at $1.27 (1,500 Korean won). The government will reward anyone who reports on illegal business transactions of mask sales." (CNN)
In warm climates like Singapore, India, etc. is this virus gaining a foothold in the community? I know they have cases from travelers but is it taking off even in warmer temps? I’m sure it’s hard to tell if they aren’t testing widely.
One reason to support the wearing of face masks by all is that many of those infected are asymtomatic–we do not really know who is a carrier of the disease.
Of course, mask shortages is the counter-argument.
3 cases in Tarzana. One in the hospital.
"During a press briefing Monday, WHO officials said they don’t know how COVID-19 behaves, ** saying it’s not like influenza **. They added that while much is known about the seasonal flu, such as how it’s transmitted and what treatments work to suppress the disease, that same information is still in question when it comes to the coronavirus.
Health officials have said the respiratory disease is capable of spreading through human-to-human contact, droplets carried through sneezing and coughing and germs left on inanimate objects. "
It would be great if government leadership stopped comparing this to the flu.
WHO: Iran will open special coronavirus hospitals in all provinces
"Iran’s Ministry of Health is planning to open specially equipped hospitals in all regions of the country to treat coronavirus patients, World Health Organization representative Richard Brennan told Iranian state media.
“Announcing specially equipped hospitals, in all regions of Iran, that would admit Covid-19 patients is a strategic policy that the ministry of health is pursuing,” Brennan told state news agency IRNA." (CNN)
South Korea designates third city as “special care zone” over coronavirus
"South Korea designated the southeastern city of Gyeongsan as a third “special care zone” today…
The other two “special care zones” are Daegu, a southern city where most of the Shincheonji-linked cases have occurred, and Cheongdo, right outside Daegu." (CNN)
BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA - 1st case confirmed
An absurd tangent. I tried to order some zinc acetate lozenges. From a highly recommended and reviewed company.
My order was cancelled.
Why…because I live in CA and because the is no way to guarantee that certain byproducts (things plants pull from the ground when they grow) are not part of the final product. CA has an endless list of things that cause cancer and must be announced as per proposition 65
So, this product doesn’t carry a prop 65 warning and hence can’t be shipped to CA.
Good grief.
WHO warns ‘long list’ of countries not doing enough against coronavirus
"The WHO has warned that a number of countries have not taken all the the steps needed to fight against the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva he was concerned that a “long list” of countries were not showing “the level of political commitment” needed to “match the level of the threat we all face”." (Al Jazeera)
NATO military HQ confirms first coronavirus cases
"NATO said Thursday it had confirmed three cases of coronavirus linked to its military headquarters in Belgium - a civilian employee and two family members.
The employee had recently travelled to Italy. NATO said the employee and family members had not visited its Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) facility in Mons, southern Belgium, since returning from Italy." (Al Jazeera)
US official says overall coronavirus mortality rates one percent or less
"The best estimate of the overall mortality rate from the novel coronavirus lies somewhere between 0.1 percent and 1 percent, a senior US public health official has said.
“That’s lower than you’ve heard probably,” US Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir told reporters after briefing members of Congress, according to Reuters news agency. “Many people don’t get sick and don’t get tested,” he added. “So probably for every case, there are at least two or three cases that are not in the denominator.”
The World Health Organization has most recently put the death rate at 3.4 percent. " (Al Jazeera)
6 US states are not currently testing for novel coronavirus
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted a map of US states and territories with one or more labs that are using diagnostic tests for the novel coronavirus.
All states are listed as currently testing for coronavirus, except Alabama, Maine, Ohio, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wyoming; those states are listed as being in progress, according to the map.
Guam, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands are all listed as being in progress, as well. The CDC says people should contact their state health departments with questions about testing. The information is provided by the Association of Public Health Laboratories, the CDC said today.
The CDC is now generally updating coronavirus case totals by noon on weekdays. CDC’s numbers close out at 4 p.m. ET the day before reporting. The most up-to-date case counts will come from states, CDC officials have said." (CNN)
"The Italian government has announced it is making available 7,5 billion of euros to help families and companies, as parents are struggling to cope with the decision to close all schools nationwide until 15 March…
Rome on Thursday revealed that is evaluating the possibility of providing support to families, including reimbursements for the baby-sitter costs and unpaid leaves of absence from work.
“We should not assume that people are home using up holiday pay or paid leave,” Elena Bonetti, minister of family affairs, told Radio Capital." (Guardian)
US Coast Guard drops test kits onto cruise ship near California
"The US Coast Guard is currently dropping novel coronavirus test kits to a cruise ship off the coast of California, said Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security.
"We are right now, literally as we speak flying test kits out to a cruise ship off San Francisco, off California I should say, it’s moving up to San Francisco, with Coast Guard helos and PJ’s basically dropping onto the ship and bringing kits. And we’re going to test, not everybody, a very large number of individuals relative to the ship. So we have full information,” Cuccinelli said.
Cuccinelli, speaking at a Senate Homeland Security hearing on coronavirus, said they’ve been in communication with the cruise ship and have been working with it for days…they learned a lot of “negative lessons” from how the Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined…
“First of all, let’s be clear about what we learned. That was a bad quarantine. That was not a successful quarantine situation and not just because the virus spread, that was a secondary effect of the bad quarantine,” Cuccinelli said.
The Coast Guard is flying test kits out to the ship, “so we have greater clarity on exactly what we’re contending with,” Cuccinelli added.” (CNN)
Netherlands braces for return of 900 students from Italian alps
"Dutch health authorities said they were scrambling to put together a plan for the return of a group of about 900 students from a skiing trip in the north of Italy.
The trip by the youngsters, mostly in their early 20s, to the heart of Europe’s worst coronavirus outbreak has stoked fears of a wider spread …
“We are working very hard to prepare for all different scenarios,” local health authorities spokeswoman Hanneke Mensink told Reuters news agency.
These scenarios might include plans to monitor or test all students involved after their return." (Al Jazeera)
Trump administration looking at how to pay Americans who have to stay home sick
“Dr. Robert Kadlec, assistant secretary for preparedness and response with the US Department of Health and Human Services, said the task force is “looking at ways, in the conversations I’ve heard have been about small business, and a very critical part of supporting individuals and how they can do that.”
“I’m sure they will welcome the opportunity to work with Congress to figure how and ways to basically support individuals who are facing this problem who are challenged,” he added.
Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said DHS recognizes the burden that asking employees to stay home imposes both on the business and on the employee – especially for low-income workers.
“There are some businesses where it’s important for everyone else, not just co-workers for that person to stay home. If you’re serving food, the customers of that restaurant don’t want you to come to work,” he said."
No details expressed on what is planned.
ITALY - 79 new cases for a total of 3,858 and 41 new deaths for a total of 148.
UK - 28 new cases for total of 115.
@Nrdsb4 and anyone else who knows pregnant people and/or young babies. This has been making the rounds on my science-based pregnancy/parenthood groups, written by a pediatrician It has very good advice (not just for parents and kids) and most importantly, includes this tidbit: (quoted from a study)
https://healthykidshappykids.com/2020/02/27/coronavirus-covid-19/
Governors urge Congress to approve emergency funds
“The bipartisan National Governors Association sent a letter to Congress on Wednesday urging the Senate to pass an $8.3 billion emergency supplemental request to help local and state governments fight the coronavirus’ spread. States have seen their costs escalate as they help federal health officials combat COVID-19, according to the letter, which was signed by 38 governors. The spending package passed the House earlier Wednesday and is awaiting Senate action. “Congress must assure states and territories that necessary resources will be provided to address the multitude of costs associated with a public health emergency,” the governors wrote. The current bill allocates $2.2 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with nearly $1 billion meant for state and local preparedness response.”
(CNN)
2 new NYC cases - more info via tweets from DeBlasio this morning:
"There are two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York City. One new patient is a man in his 40s, and one new patient is a woman in her 80s.
Neither patient has a connection to travel nor any of the other local individuals diagnosed with COVID-19."
“All states are listed as currently testing for coronavirus, except Alabama, Maine, Ohio, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wyoming; those states are listed as being in progress, according to the map.”
I am not sure what this means. Are there no potential patients with the symptoms that are deemed necessary to test or do they not have a system for testing? I know there were two students at Miami University in Ohio that were tested a couple of months ago. They both were negative. So there have been tests done in Ohio.
Maybe the student samples had to be sent out to CDC in Atlanta, and they are now referring to testing that can be done in house so to speak?
This is a very fast moving thread, but it still wanted to address a comment from a few pages back:
I think what was meant here was that in some years, the dominant flu strain infecting people in the US is not one of the strains included in the vaccine. Twice a year, the WHO flu surveillance/response system recommends the strains for the vaccines (some have 3 strains, some 4, thus the trivalent or quadrivalent vaccine). There are often two strains circulating during flu season, and usually at least one is covered by the vaccine.
It is important to note that even when WHO guesses wrong about the dominant strain, the vaccine still “works”. It can provide cross-protection because different strains are still influenza viruses, and it greatly reduces the chance of serious disease, for example:
The CDC has great info on flu vaccines, misconceptions, etc: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/misconceptions.htm