Coronavirus in the US

Parent Cafe
4261

I definitely fall into the camp of more info is better than less (no surprise there :wink: ).

I also find it fascinating and compelling. This is something affecting the entire world, something that will be part of history, and something that pulls in all disciplines - science, medicine, epidemiology, politics, economics, religion, sociology (even witnessed by CC), education, etc. etc. Of course, I want to follow it!

Plus, I do have very specific personal, familial reasons for doing so - not my info to share so I won’t.

4262

AccuWeather basically says that if this virus acts like some others, warmer weather and sun make “take a toll” on the virus. But if it doesn’t- no one knows how weather will affect it. https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/realimpactofweatherwithdrjoelnmyers/if-weather-is-a-factor-vs-the-coronavirus-heres-why-and-when-we-can-expect-to-see-results/692326

4263

India is a bit like China. Best to take their official reports with a grain of salt, IMO.

4264

https://emcrit.org/ibcc/COVID19/#biology

Chapter on managing COVID-19 from The Internet Handbook of Critical Care

This is the medical reference handbook used in EM and CC. Last update 3/3/20

4265

And yet more in Westchester: "Somers Central School District will be closed this weekend and on Monday, after a parent of a Primrose Elementary School student tested positive for the coronavirus, schools Superintendent Raymond H. Blanch said in a message to families. Maintenance staff will deep-clean all four school buildings, based on state health officials’ recommendation.

The parent has not visited the school in recent weeks, the message said. Other family members including the student have tested negative for the coronavirus. Still, Blanch said the cleaning was being done out of an abundance of caution."

4266

Well, HI has only one confirmed case—someone who tested positive after returning home from Grand Princess cruise. We gave high heat, humidity and UV (sun).

Medical folks I’ve spoken locally can’t get patients tested though, so hard to know true rates.

4267

Actually, that is a wrong conclusion - most folks are cooped up inside buildings where humidity is very LOW. Per my ophthalmologist who says that rainy winter time in Seattle, paradoxically, is very bad for folks with dry eye conditions for exactly that reason.

4268

Update to France numbers:

FRANCE - 296 dead today for a total of 949. Death toll rises by 7 over the past day to 16.

France’s General Director of Health Jerome Salomon reported during a press conference he held on Saturday.

Salomon said 45 people infected with the virus are being treated in intensive care.

4269

From LATimes: “A man who had been on the Mexico trip on the Grand Princess was found unresponsive at his home in Sunnyvale on Thursday and later died. On Friday, Santa Clara County officials said that the man tested negative for COVID-19.”

Difficulties in assessing Morbidity causes in places like China ( where not every deaths could obtain testing)in an aging demographic most at risk is another factor in the lack of solid knowledge with this virus.

4270

I’m a little hesitant to post this because this virus has already spawned such xenophobia but I think it’s important to be aware and informed.

I was catching up with an epid phd friend last night and asked her about what, if anything, she was hearing in her circles. She works in a very different field (migrant health) and said she wasn’t hearing much more than I was. (She is a professor but actually works for a midwestern state U that hasn’t had cases yet.)

BUT I forgot her husband is an ER doctor at UCLA and a community hospital. He has sent three samples himself and knows one was positive. His bigger concern is at the community hospital where they have a lot of uninsured and undocument migrants coming in. They don’t want to be tested because they don’t want to be deported.

The migrants, like so many other poor Americans, have no choice but to continue going to work so they don’t starve. They almost certainly will not succumb to the disease but they will be vectors if positive. And considering that the poorest people within our borders - citizens and non-citizens alike - are the ones who work in the food, hospitality, etc industries, well
 you do the math.

4271

That, or you are a pre-med lucky enough to get one medical school admission.

4272

5,861 coronavirus tests completed by CDC and public health labs
From CNN

"As of Friday at 6 p.m. ET, 5,861 tests for coronavirus have been completed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health labs, US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said at off-camera briefing at the White House on Saturday.

Trump administration health officials had not released specific figures until today.

This does not mean that 5,861 people have been tested. Currently each person tested typically has two swabs taken – one from the nose and one from the throat.

The 5,861 number also does not include tests performed at private or commercial labs.

Right now Hahn said there is an ability to perform 75,000 tests. Officials, however, expect that number to jump dramatically next week with the additional production by private manufacturers of coronavirus testing kits."

4273

There are 72 state and local public health labs doing coronavirus testing around US
From CNN

"In updated figures, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, as of Friday, 72 state and local public health labs in 48 states and Washington, D.C., are verified and are conducting coronavirus testing.

No labs in either Maine or West Virginia are currently doing testing, according to the CDC.

Also labs in the US territories of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are in progress of being ready to test."

4274

The American University of Beirut just announced that the suspension of classes will continue until further notice. I worry about Lebanon, because they were already at their breaking point with the rioting and financial upheaval. I think this virus could cause total chaos. I’m happy that my son is out of there, but he’s worried about his girlfriend, who is still on campus. Even before this latest crisis, Son said he thought it was ironic that she might be safer in her home country of Syria than in Lebanon. :frowning:

4275

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-lack-of-paid-sick-leave-is-complicating-u-s-virus-response

Some tidbits - more in the link.

"Roughly 25 percent of American workers have no sick days.

People are being told, if you’re sick, if you feel unwell, if you have any symptoms of coronavirus, stay home. Now, that’s great public health policy. That’s good advice. But, depending on your job, that might not be such an easy thing to do.

43 percent of all workersare low-wage
primarily, they’re in the service industry that requires in-person engagement.

What’s really amazing is that 40 percent of all households in the United States are considered liquid asset poor
one economic disruption away, like not being able to show up for work, from
eviction, homelessness, foreclosure, bankruptcy.


close to 30 million people who don’t have any health insurance at all
even though the coronavirus test itself may be covered by the government
there’s the cost of going to the E.R. or seeing a doctor
can be hundreds
thousands of dollars.


people being afraid of going to get a test that might be crucial for our ability to control an outbreak
might be hindered by the fact that they don’t have insurance.


a lot of people who have insurance and 
have high deductibles
will also face high out-of-pocket costs.

any protections for people who are uninsured to help them defray some of these costs? Not in the bill that just passed Congress this week
we are seeing some states take action
for example, New York, California, Washington state are requiring private insurance companies to cover the cost of the test, including the doctor’s visit or hospital visit, without any cost-sharing
But for the uninsured, we really don’t have a system right now that works for those folks."

4276

Has this been reported here yet? Very sad:

https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Yeshiva-University-lecturer-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-619990

4277

Pence: It’s “essential that we find ways to mitigate that risk to prevent the spread of coronavirus”
From CNN

"Vice President Mike Pence spoke of the cruise ship off the coast of San Francisco in a meting with members of the cruise line industry in Florida today


Pence said state and federal officials have “developed a plan which is being implemented this weekend to bring the ship into a non-commercial port. All passengers and crew will be tested for the coronavirus and quarantined as appropriate. Those that require additional medical attention will also receive it."
Pence also said “while the risk to the average American of contracting the coronavirus remains low, it is essential that we find ways to mitigate that risk to prevent the spread of coronavirus and I’m here today on behalf of President Trump to learn ways that this industry, the cruise line industry, can work with our health officials at the federal level, here at the state level with port authorities


Adam Goldstein, global chairman of the Cruise Lines International Association, told Pence it was the “commitment” of the cruise line industry to “work closely with government and to go above and beyond anything we are currently doing to screen even more stringently to prevent those who should not be allowed to board, to monitor and test and care for those who are on board and to transition and help pay for any sick guests or crew to move to locations staffed and equipped COVID-19 cases." “We will work aggressively with government to further develop and strengthen all necessary protocols for prevention, for detection and for care,” Goldstein said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as well as officials from Carnival Cruise, MSC and Royal Caribbean were also part of the meeting with Pence."

Italy to adopt new draconian steps to fight coronavirus: draft decree

ROME (Reuters) - The Italian government will adopt new tough measures to try to contain the spread of coronavirus, including telling people not to enter or leave the hardest-hit region of Lombardy, according to a draft decree seen by Reuters.

So far only a few limited areas of northern Italy, known as “red zones”, have been quarantined, but in a dramatic escalation the draft tells people not to enter or leave Lombardy or 11 provinces in other regions.

The legislation is expected to be approved later on Saturday, the head of the civil protection agency said earlier, after the number of infections rose by more than 1,200 in the last 24 hours.

In all the areas covered by the decree, including towns in the northern regions of Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Piedmont, schools will be closed at least until April 3, all museums, gyms and swimming pools will be also shut and leave is canceled for all health care workers.

4278

post 3851. The wife and daughter of the lawyer also tested positive but have been reported to be asymptomatic.

4279

@doschicos Thank you for posting this article. Both of my college abroad students are currently in Paris. I have to say the “college kid” feeling about this is that " its just a heavy flu and anyway only strikes the elderly. So I’m safe. " This is a common thread with college students. There is not a need to panic but sick in a foreign country is not fun to say the least.

4280

@doschicos - what about this- has this been reported? https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/06/coronavirus-aipac-tells-lawmakers-participants-two-attendees-have-covid-19/4979822002/

.