In my opinion, one of the top priorities now should be ramping up hospital and ICU capacity quickly. If we know we are going to get slammed, let’s get ready!
House oversight hearing recessed because CDC director and expert witness were suddenly called to the White House?!?
RepMaloney: “I’ve been told that our witnesses need to leave now. I don’t know what is going on at the White House.”
@TatinG You have shamed me into closing my browser window that displayed flight info for visiting my daughter. You haven’t seen your daughter in almost a year. I saw mine in late November. I had been considering running down before the flights become even scarcer or non essential travel forbidden. But you are right, this is not the community minded action to take.
I don’t get the philosophy behind no drive-through testing because they want to keep the physician/patient relationship in tact. Seems like you would want to keep sick people isolated in their own houses unless they are very sick and need a high level of care. For most, the doctor “visit” could be virtual (with doctor being able to see the patient on camera), testing ordered and done by drive-through and reported to doctor, doctor has follow-up virtual visit when results get in. This could lessen the potential for people with other illnesses at the doctor’s office from getting exposed, and reduce the doctor and other health care providers risk of getting sick, and reduce the number of people needing masks so you save on those limited supplies. I’d think this would be a win.
Top US doctors say the next month is a critical time to contain coronavirus
From CNN
Speaking at the House Oversight Committee discussing the coronavirus response, two top US doctors said the next month is critical when it comes to fighting the spread of coronavirus.
“It is critical because we must be much more serious as a county about what we might expect. … A couple of cases today are going to be many, many cases tomorrow,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Doubling down, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, “This is a time for everyone to get engaged. This is not just a response for the government and public health system. It’s a response for all of America.”
SWEDEN - Sweden reports first death. 122 new deaths today for a total of 477.
The elderly patient, who had “an underlying sickness”, died in intensive care at a hospital in the Stockholm region, Reuters reports. The regional health authority said that one other patient with coronavirus was being treated in intensive care in the Stockholm region. The first case was identified at the end of January.
With the rapid increase in the number of cases in Sweden in recent days, the Public Health Agency today asked the Swedish government to ban gatherings of over 500 people in a bid to stop the spread of the disease.
Given that, is there anything known about how often are COVID-19 infections asymptomatic?
@amshunshine Yes, very strange to stop the testimony and have the witnesses leave. I hope we find out the reason!
UCSF is setting up tents outside the hospital in preparation for an influx of patients with respiratory concerns.
Most won’t get the disease, and most that do don’t need to be hospitalized. But ER’s will be swamped because of the general hysteria and people, even asymptomatic people, wanting to be tested.
Great opportunity for someone to figure out a triage system that can operate outside of the hospital ER.
Being able to confirm that a patient has the disease and needs to self-quarantine will be a huge benefit, but figuring out how to generate that data quickly and efficiently without putting many others at risk will be the key.
This could vary by school, major, etc. The person (senior at State) I spoke to said 3 out of their 4/5 classes are moving or have been moved to virtual as per the professors. It may very well be that this will actually be implemented only after Spring Break.
Of course. Redfield’s answer was total BS and poppycock.
Many places have followed the example of drive in testing by South Korea which I think is just marvelous for all the reasons you mention - UK, Australia, Germany and Washington State to name a few.
I don’t get the drive through hesitancy either. My PCP and MFM both told me to go to the ER and if I had to do covid testing, they would’ve sent me to a umich facility I don’t use.
***Covid-19 is a pandemic
The daily World Health Organization briefing has just begun.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, says there are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives.
He says it has reached the stage where it can be described as a pandemic.
A pandemic would usually be covered under “act of God” provisions - as for loss of revenue most will just have to eat it and take whatever tax breaks are available. My husband works with universities in study abroad and international internships. His business is dead. No phone calls, no emails, no inquiries. And, frankly, that’s no surprise. Yes, he will be hurt and has already discussed possible/probable layoffs with his staff.
The city of Philadelphia, or the state of Pennsylvania, should have solved this problem for you. What the heck are they doing, what the heck is any city doing, allowing giant Petri dishes for sports fans?
Philadelphia of all cities, Philadelphia, the famous exemplar of what not to do in an epidemic? Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, the city where bodies piled up on the sidewalks when morgues overflowed, because they didn’t shut down large gatherings during the 1918 flu pandemic?
I get impatient with cities and states saying, We don’t have any cases, or, We hardly have any cases. Yes, yes you do have cases. You have cases but you haven’t found them yet. Soon you will be able to find plenty of cases, in your jammed ICUs.
This is a basic supply chain problem. Drive throughs can only collect samples (swabs), they can’t test on the spot. If samples are collected faster than they can be processed, it could become an issue. The samples (virus) are not indefinitely stable, so storing them even at -70oC is problematic. Due to the backlog in actual test running, some samples may not be processed in time (like what happened with some swabs taken from local first responders earlier this month before UW began its tests).
This is not an excuse, this is simply an explanation of what is happening. I wish our CDC et al employed more folks with public health AND supply chain educational backgrounds.
ERs will be swamped with people who can’t breathe and people who are dying. Just like what’s happening right now in Italy, a country that has more hospital beds per person than we do.
Based on how this is completely altering everything we do, I am starting to feel like this is going to impact the economy as we have never seen before. A major crash seems like it is inevitable. Major countries are completely being isolated. The travel industry brought to a halt. Universities shutting down. Sporting events and festivals being canceled. On and on and on. Hopefully. I am completely wrong and it is very short-lived. Hopeful, that the brightest minds out there are working on a vaccine and a way to battle this.
China sends team of medical experts, gear to help Italy fight coronavirus
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio had asked his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for assistance with supplies
China is sending a team of medical experts to help Italy…Beijing has provided similar assistance to Iran and Iraq to contain the spread…Local media said the Red Cross Society of China was leading a team of medical experts heading for Italy on Wednesday, taking supplies and equipment with them. It follows a phone call between the two countries’ foreign ministers late on Tuesday, in which China’s Wang Yi responded to a request for help from his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio.
Wang told Di Maio that China would send medical equipment to the country, and also offered to send medical personnel to help tackle the outbreak in Italy, according to a statement on the Chinese foreign ministry website.
Di Maio had told Wang that Italy was “paying close attention to and learning from” China’s experience with the coronavirus, but had a shortage of medical equipment and he hoped China would help with this “pressing need”, the statement said.
The seven-member team includes an expert from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and two respiratory disease specialists from Sichuan University’s West China Hospital, according to the official Sichuan Daily.
It comes after prominent Chinese epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan briefed medical experts last week on how the virus had been managed in the country – including diagnosis, treatment, its pathological features, information disclosure and government controls – in a webinar organised by the European Respiratory Society.
China has been criticised for suppressing information when the new virus strain first emerged in Wuhan but is now calling for global cooperation to combat the epidemic and offering help to the countries that are hardest hit. " (SCMP)
Denver offers drive-up coronavirus testing
Colorado health officials will offer a drive-up testing lab for novel coronavirus in Denver, according to the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment.
The service will be available starting today.
“Individuals must have an order from their doctor confirming they meet the testing criteria and need to be tested, and photo identification that matches the name on the doctor’s order,” a department statement said.
Depending on test volume, results will be made available within 72 hours. Individuals getting tested should stay at home while awaiting results, the statement said. (CNN)
@“Snowball City”
I didn’t mean to shame anyone. I am afraid for my daughter who is in early pregnancy. No one knows the effect the virus could have on the fetus. I am afraid for my grandchild.
She would have been traveling from a county and city that has no cases. She is (relatively) safe there. Safer than traveling through O’Hare and LAX and on the plane and coming to a county that has a fair number of cases.
I am afraid and also angry. Angry that the university in her town has not cancelled classes or extended spring break. They are risking introducing the virus into the COVID-19 free town from students returning from areas where the virus is prevalent. I do not understand this.
Kentucky governor urges churches to cancel services
From CNN
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he’s recommending that churches across the state cancel services this weekend.
“I know that that’s a big step, I know that some won’t agree with it. But I believe that it’s our job to offer those protections, that we have a lot of opportunity for virtual services,” he said.
He said they “have a lot of opportunity for virtual services” and noted he’s canceling a weekend prayer breakfast.
“I don’t believe that whether you go to church during this period of time is a test of faith. I believe God gives us wisdom to protect each other and we should do that,” he said.
It surely might but personally I’d rather every thing/one clamp down for a couple weeks/month and then recover than keep dragging things out for 18 months waiting for a vaccine. I think the latter will have a greater and more sustaining global economic effect. Rip the bandaid off now.