Coronavirus in the US

Parent Cafe
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Norway and Lithuania have become the latest countries to shut down nurseries, schools and universities, AP reports.

The Norwegian government says employees at work must be at least one metre apart and gatherings of more than 50 people have been banned. Norway’s royal palace said all official arrangements till early April will either be cancelled or postponed.

Lithuania suspended gatherings of more than 100 people and closed museums, cinemas and sports clubs. In the capital of Vilnius, the lockdown is due to last for five weeks.

[Norway has 78 new cases for a total of 707]

A shutdown of schools and universities in Malta has been announced by the prime minister, Robert Abela.

He also banned mass gatherings. “The government will not tolerate people going on with mass events. Now is not the time for such attitudes,” he said according to Times Malta.

Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has announced that the closure of all nurseries, schools and universities for two weeks.

The Local reports her saying:

This will have huge consequences, but the alternative would be far worse.

Under normal circumstances, a government would not present such far-reaching measures without having all the solutions ready for the many Danes concerned, but we are in an extraordinary situation.

[Denmark has 101 new cases for a total of 615. ]

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Boston Marriott Long Wharf, site of the Biogen conference, is closing temporarily.

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S19 is a freshman (first year, whatever) at the University of New Hampshire. We got an email from them earlier today saying that classes would resume as scheduled on March 23rd following next week’s spring break. They will require students from certain risk groups to self quarantine for 2 weeks.

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Yet many people are and people are dying.

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Trudeau’s wife is showing symptoms after returning from the UK.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/pm-trudeau-self-isolating-after-wife-sophie-develops-flu-like-symptoms-1.4850159

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Yes my daughter goes to a local community college.

They are on Spring break this week. Crickets have more to say than the college.

There isn’t evening a Virus thread on the homepage.

I have talked to a friend who is teaching out there and she says they have not heard anything.

My daughter who has two lab classes on one hand doesn’t want school to go online but on the other hand she is just recovering from a wicked cold/sinus infection and doesn’t want to get sick again. The majority of schools in our state have already went to online instruction…

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The Boston Bruins were told to cancel all meetings and practices. Looks like the NHL will go the way of the NBA.

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To clarify Trump’s European travel ban, here’s a list of the 26 Schengen countries from where people will not be allowed to fly to US for 30 days:

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The European countries that are not part of the Schengen zone, and whose citizens are therefore exempt from Trump’s ban are: Albania, Andora, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Ireland, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, The United Kingdom and Vatican City.

Note that the ban applies to where people are flying from, not an individual’s nationality, so a Brit flying from a Schengen country will still be covered by the ban. (Guardian)

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I’ve read that the progression can be from fairly mild symptoms the first week or so followed by a second week of rapid deterioration. Obviously not everyone’s experience, but something to watch for if you are in an “at risk” group.

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Interesting reading on what’s in the pipeline for treatment:
https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/analysis/coronavirus-mers-cov-drugs/

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Surely I’m not the only one who thought of Rock Hudson and HIV/AIDS when I heard that Tom Hanks has Covid-19.

Suddenly, some of my Facebook acquaintances have switched from the “coronavirus is a scam” party to the “if Tom Hanks has it, it must be real” party.

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The chief medical officers from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern have instructed doctors to change the way they work to deal with “very abnormal emergency situation”.

In a letter they warned that the expected epidemic will be a “challenge” and exacerbate staff shortages in the NHS.

It says doctors will be required to temporarily work in “clinical areas outside their usual practice for the benefit of patients and the population as a whole”.

It adds: “Clinicians may need to depart, possibly significantly, from established procedures in order to care for patients in the highly challenging time-bound circumstances of the peak of an epidemic.”

"President Donald Trump said the UK was excluded from upcoming US travel restrictions on Europe because of their strong borders and low novel coronavirus infection numbers.

“One of the reasons UK basically has been (excluded from the restrictions is) it’s got the border. It’s got very strong borders and they’re doing a very good job,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Ireland’s Leo Varadkar.

“They don’t have very much infection at this point and hopefully they’ll keep it that way,” he added.

At least 590 people in the UK have tested positive for coronavirus, of which eight have died, according to the UK Department of Health." (CNN)

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Trump says domestic travel restrictions haven’t been discussed but are “a possibility”
From CNN

President Trump said today that domestic travel restrictions due to the novel coronavirus haven’t been discussed, but they remain a possibility.

“Are you considering travel restrictions within the United States, such as to Washington state or to California?” a reporter asked the President during an Oval Office meeting between Trump and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

“We haven’t discussed that yet. Is it a possibility? Yes, if somebody gets a little bit out of control, if an area gets too hot,” Trump said.
“You see what they’re doing in New Rochelle, which is good, frankly, but it’s not enforced,” Trump said of the New York area being impacted by the virus. “It’s not very strong, but people know they’re being watched.”

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Did anyone else think that POTUS looked tired and seemed to be trying to stifle coughs last night? Today I read he had contact with a Brazilian official who has tested positive. This contact was 5 days ago.

I’m also wondering why these Congressional hearing rooms are so crowded. The audience isn’t distancing themselves and there is 79 year old Dr. Fauci testifying.

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Trump says it would have taken too long to tell European leaders about new travel restrictions
From CNN

President Trump suggested Thursday that he didn’t consult European leaders before announcing US travel restrictions on 26 European countries related to novel coronavirus because it would have taken too long.

“We get along very well with European leaders, but we had to make a decision and I didn’t want to take time and, you know, it takes a long time make the individual calls and we are calling and we had spoken to some of them prior to (the announcement),” he said.
The President also suggested the lack of communication was justified because European countries don’t inform him when they raise taxes on the US.

“But we had to move quickly. I mean, when they raise taxes on us, they don’t consult us and I think that’s probably one in the same,” he continued.

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The UK doesn’t have strong borders with Europe.

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Canadian PM self-isolating after wife returns from UK

The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, is self-isolating after his wife began suffering from flu-like symptoms after returning from the UK.

According to his spokesman, Trudeau “will spend the day in briefings, phone calls and virtual meetings from home, including speaking with other world leaders”.

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I’m wondering about the effect on our judicial system. Those jury duty rooms are incubation chambers for viruses. I realize the importance of timely trials, but should we not perhaps hold a moratorium on legal cases for now?

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https://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball/2020/03/big-ten-tournament-canceled-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic.html

Big Ten basketball tourney canceled just as Michigan was going to beat Rutgers and go on a tear through the big ten… Agh ?.. (personal commentary)

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D is in France for semester abroad. In general the students don’t “believe” there is a problem. They think they are “exempt due to their ages.” Everyone in her program is from an Ivy league level school so its not as though they are uneducated.
We have been trying to get D to come home for 2 weeks, as she is immune compromised. IMHO France has been very slow to admit that there is a problem (b/c open borders?) and her program refused to close.
When the President set the ban they had no choice but to close, which her college did today. Getting a flight out of Europe very difficult at this point. The search screens were just blank the last time we looked.
For another reason, we tried to get a test from local provider with no luck and very uncertain as to the cost. We are self quarantined in place here at the house.
We are in for a long and bumpy ride here in the US I think.