Indiana currently has 6 cases identified cases, 4 from Indianapolis (central) and 2 in northeastern Indiana. Most Notre Dame students are from out-of-state, with the highest concentrations from California, NY/NJ, and IL. They are on break this week.
I keep thinking there’s going to be an influx next week of students returning from areas much more heavily infected, and then the northern IN numbers will jump. Time will tell, I guess.
Spain cancels flights to and from Italy
From CNN
The Spanish government has blocked direct flights between Spain and Italy as it looks to stop the spread and of coronavirus.
The government said in a statement it was making the decision because the vast majority of cases imported into Spain had been linked to Italy
[I know Delta and British Air canceled all flights to and from Italy. I’m sure others have as well I just haven’t read much since I’m running around all over the place today. ]
United Nations closes New York headquarters to the general public
From CNN
The United Nations has decided to close its New York complex to the general public and temporarily suspend all guided tours beginning at 8 p.m. ET today until further notice in the wake of coronavirus concerns, a spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary General said in a statement.
The UN has not been advised of any coronavirus cases amongst UN staff in New York
“As the Secretary-General has said, the health and safety of staff is a matter of his utmost priority and concern,” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
These 5 Broadway shows are selling discounted tickets this month
From CNN
Five Broadway shows will sell remaining tickets for $50 for all performances beginning Thursday through March 29, according to a statement from the shows’ producers.
The five plays and musicals are:
To Kill a Mockingbird
West Side Story
The Lehman Trilogy
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The Book of Mormon
Producer Scott Rudin said in a statement that this is a great opportunity for affordable theater and that we all “could all use a few hours away from the evening news."
“As long as New York City is open for business, its beating heart remains the Broadway stage,” Rudin said.
How Kentucky is preparing for the coronavirus outbreak
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says the state is taking two new steps to prepare for the spread of the novel coronavirus.
On pharmacies: Beshear is authorizing pharmacists to refill prescriptions up to 30 days. He’s also temporarily allowing people to operate a pharmacy in an area without a pharmacy permit, so the state can set up mobile stations to serve people if necessary. Pharmacies can dispense drugs as needed for the coronavirus according to any protocols by the CDC and the Commissioner of Public Health.
On nursing homes: Beshear is also implementing stronger restrictions on visiting nursing homes and long-term care facilities because seniors appear to be more susceptible to the virus, he said.
The state has six confirmed cases of coronavirus. (CNN)
2 New York school bus drivers have coronavirus
Nassau County in New York has 19 confirmed coronavirus cases, up from 17 yesterday – including two school bus drivers that transport between them about 80 students on several routes, according to the county executive.
They both drive small buses on Long Island, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said at a news conference today.
Most of the families of those students have been contacted by the department of health, which is continuing to contact families.
There have been school closures in response to the positive tests – including schools in Oyster Bay, Locust Valley, Glen Cove and Westbury along with some private schools in the areas including Friends Academy, Portledge, Mill Neck Manor, Eastwood and Summit Lower School.
Curran said beyond the 19 positive cases there are;
72 residents in mandatory quarantine
74 in precautionary quarantine
10 tests pending.
Curran stressed that the priority is to “protect our seniors” adding it’s important to focus on “containing” as much as possible to “reduce community spread” (CNN)
Taiwan has done a very good job of containing the virus.
“Taiwan has had only 47 cases of COVID-19 and one death as of Tuesday — far fewer than China’s 80,754 cases and 3,136 deaths, a stark contrast even when taking into account the enormous population difference: Taiwan’s 23 million to China’s 1.4 billion. Taiwan’s numbers are also much lower than neighboring countries such as South Korea, which has had more than 7,500 cases, and Japan, with 530. It’s also faring better than countries much farther away from China, such as Italy, with more than 9,000 cases, and the United States, which has over 700.
Of the 100-plus countries and territories affected, Taiwan has the lowest incidence rate per capita — around 1 in every 500,000 people — for a place that is located so close to China and with so much travel to and from.”
A proactive approach and universal health coverage helps so much.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/what-taiwan-can-teach-world-fighting-coronavirus-n1153826
(‘Laboratories of democracy’ and all that.) The health director of Sacto has a degree in Epidemiology. I can only assume that the Co heath officer is in direct contact and coordination with the state health officer.
https://dhs.saccounty.net/Pages/NR-New-Sacramento-County-Public-Health-Officer-Announced.aspx
The cities are in Santa Clara County, so they don’t have to do closures because the gatherings have already been closed by the county. It’s like, Palo Alto doesn’t have to pass a city ordinance making murder illegal.
Sorry I was unclear.
Recent 67 old man who recovered and also had a serious underlying condition. He stated it’s not like a cold or flu at all. Dry cough. Short duration fever spike and lingering cough. No body aches. No chills. Perhaps those with these symptoms are moved towards seasonal category vs covid.
IMHO they will never find patient ZERO as the English patient from Wuhan describes his ordeal with COVID dated starting November 25th.
@AsMother , @sherimba03 , @garland -Not sure how mocking GA and its attempt to prepare for possible placement for folks under quarantine is at all helpful. “GA is receiving at least 34 Georgians and an undetermined number of people from the East Coast” who are on board the Princess cruise ship docking in Oakland, CA. “Those involved will be transferred to Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Cobb County for testing and quarantine.”
If your state would like to receive these and/or other victims, please ask them to step up. Otherwise, kindly dial back the cheeky comments. It may be problematic for non military folks to be be kept on a military installation for several reasons, so alternatives may be being found. The news said its currently only being done “in an abundance of caution” and there are not immediate plans to send anyone to this site. https://www.11alive.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/hard-labor-creek-state-park-coronavirus/85-90b7939e-46c5-46c7-a3ba-1dff5f068d06
As for the location, it doesn’t sound so bad:
"Located about 50 miles east of Atlanta, the park features a golf course, lakeside beach and more than 24 miles of trails. Its ominous-sounding name is thought to come from “slaves who tilled summer fields or American Indians who found the creek difficult to cross,” according to the park’s website. “Officials are utilizing an isolated section of Hard Labor Creek State Park where emergency trailers and operations will be separated from the rest of the property,” Kemp’s office said. “To prevent the disruption of ongoing operations, access to this specific part of Hard Labor Creek State Park is strictly limited to official use.”
Have no clue of the trailers being arranged are FEMA trailers, like those used after hurricanes, or what. Stereotypic/snarky comments really don’t help, folks.
Well, many countries have less than 1 in 500,000.
But it does show that they have capabilities in public health/ pandemic response that the US could learn a lot from.
There are 173 confirmed coronavirus cases in New York State, up 31 from yesterday, according to the New York Governor.
This includes an additional 17 cases in New York City, bringing the city’s total to 36.
Westchester County has 108 cases and continues to be the county with the most confirmed cases 
@NYGovCuomo
·
UPDATE: There are an additional 31 confirmed cases of #Coronavirus in NYS, bringing total to 173.
Westchester: 108
NYC: 36
Nassau: 19
Rockland: 6
Saratoga: 2
Suffolk: 1
Ulster: 1
NJ has its 1st coronavirus related death. Confirmed cases increase by 4 to 15.
Breaking.
NYS is sending the National Guard to suburb to help control outbreak.
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-03-10-20-intl-hnk/index.html
The National Guard is deploying to New Rochelle to contain coronavirus
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled a plan to deal with the coronavirus outbreak in New Rochelle, including deploying the National Guard to a containment area and setting up a satellite testing facility for the community.
The National Guard will help deliver food to homes and clean public spaces in the containment area, Cuomo said.
New York is also setting up a satellite testing facility, partnering with Northwell Health, in New Rochelle, which is in Westchester County.
New Rochelle is “a particular problem,” Cuomo said, adding that “the numbers have been going up, the numbers continue to go up, the numbers are going up unabated.”
“What we are going to do is focus on an area – concentric circle – around the situs of the majority of the cases in New Rochelle," he said.
Cuomo described the cluster of confirmed coronavirus cases in New Rochelle as “probably the largest cluster in the United States,” adding it’s a “significant issue for us.” There are 108 confirmed coronavirus cases in Westchester County.
Also one of the congressmen who was exposed to the person with coronavirus at CPAC is not self quarantining. He is walking around the halls of Congress and was helping conduct tours.
https://news.yahoo.com/texas-gop-rep-louie-gohmert-035300777.html
I think colleges are doing the right thing going to online course whenever they can. The myth that COVID is “mild” is rampant among college students overall. Its a misinterpretation of the statistics and a willful blindness to the risk.
Wonder what we’ll be regretting not having done two weeks from now because the decision seems too hard, disruptive, premature, etc. In South Korea, we’ve seen the benefit of rapid, blanket testing of affected areas in containing spread. One of my friends tweeted today, “The failure of the USA to promptly and competently roll out #COVIDー19 testing may yet prove to be the among the greatest blunders in US public health history.” We’re doing a lot of catch-up now. I hope we don’t compound the error by acting reactively vs proactively. There are at least four hotspots in the US that could be like Italy in a couple of weeks without decisive actions. I think many universities, with documented infections or not, are taking the right step to pause in class instruction, seminars, and other gatherings until we have a better handle on spread with increased testing. But there’s probably more that we should be doing, especially in now known areas of outbreaks. The whole ounce of prevention concept.
Saying many bad words to myself right now.
From my local paper:
"Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced plans to enforce a “containment area” for a one-mile radius around the center of the cluster, an area that includes much of New Rochelle and stretches into Tuckahoe and Eastchester, all of which are in Westchester County.
Any large gathering places within that containment area will be required to shut down from Thursday through March 25, Cuomo said.
That includes several of New Rochelle’s public schools; Those that fall within the containment zone will remain shut down for two weeks.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo lays out his plan for a New Rochelle “containment area” to help stop the spread of the coronavirus; March 10, 2020.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo lays out his plan for a New Rochelle “containment area” to help stop the spread of the coronavirus; March 10, 2020. (Photo: Courtesy: NYS Governor’s Office)
Cuomo’s office pledged to provide more detail about which schools and gathering places fall within the containment zone later Tuesday.
The National Guard will be called in to help clean facilities and deliver food, Cuomo said.
The state’s latest approach was recommended by Howard Zucker, the state’s health commissioner.
It comes as Westchester County — and specifically New Rochelle — continues to be the center of the state’s coronavirus outbreak.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the state had 174 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Of those, 108 are in Westchester, according to Cuomo’s office.
“This is a public-health decision,” Cuomo said of the containment area.
"It’s not a decision that I’m making. I’m accepting the recommendation of Dr. Zucker. In a situation like this, whether you’re president, mayor, governor, let the experts decide and let the science decide the situation.”
Cuomo said residents who live within the containment area will be free to leave their homes and the area so long as they have not otherwise been ordered to quarantine.
The state’s order will not apply to grocery stores, which will be allowed to remain open, he said."