Coronavirus in the US

Parent Cafe
5821

Maryland governor activates National Guard in response to coronavirus

Gov. Larry Hogan has directed Maryland Emergency Management to the highest activation level and issued an executive order that moves the National Guard to a higher state of readiness, he said at a news conference Thursday.

He also banned all gatherings of more than 250 people. Any religious, sporting or other gatherings of 250 people or more will need to be canceled and postponed, Hogan said.

Additional measures are being taken to mitigate the spread of novel coronavirus, including state government workers teleworking, public access to state buildings being restricted, and the closures of senior activity centers, Hogan said.

Hogan encouraged grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations to remain open as to not impact daily life of Maryland residents.

Maryland currently has at least 12 cases of coronavirus statewide. (CNN)

5822

All Catholic churches across Rome to completely close due to coronavirus
From CNN

Catholic churches across Rome have been ordered to completely close due to the spread of coronavirus and worshippers are exempt from attending Sunday mass.

Pope Francis’ cardinal in charge of the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, said on Thursday that all churches in the city, whether active parishes or just open to the public, will shut down until April 3.

A church historian in Rome has said this is the first time that all churches in Rome have been closed to the faithful.

In a statement on the Church of Rome website, the Cardinal said the shutdown was necessary due to a “sense of belonging to a human family exposed to a virus of which we still don’t know the nature of or how it propagates. The faithful are therefore dispensed from the obligation of fulfilling Sunday celebration.”

“We are living in a very serious health situation each one of us is asked to have the utmost attention, because any imprudence in observing health measures could harm other people,” he added.

5823

@suzyQ7 No one at my house is sick but my friend’s son is coming home from Europe and may need to self quarantine.

Mayo Clinic has developed a test:
http://www.startribune.com/mayo-clinic-rolls-out-covid-19-test/568741482/

The lab says it started making tests available to health care providers at Mayo on Thursday and will open the supply to others in the coming days. Mayo’s initial capacity of 200 to 300 tests per day is expected to grow in the coming weeks


5824

Wow! They were advertising (Anaheim) as of late last night.

5825

maybe this was already posted, but U-Haul is offering free 30 days storage to college students moving out of dorms.

https://www.news4jax.com/health/2020/03/12/u-haul-offering-free-storage-for-students-displaced-due-to-covid-19/

5826

^Thanks for that info!

5827

I, for one, am really, really glad to see so many folks worldwide taking this seriously and trying to put an end to it (or at least slow it down). Social distancing worked in the past. Hopefully it will work again and we can all get back to life.

Lately my mind has been thinking about friends and relatives not likely to survive if they get it due to age and health. There’s hope they might not get it if the world comes together.

5828

With regards to the flu - the doctors were comparing numbers in the same area (theirs) to what they were seeing earlier this season. They aren’t doing comparisons across the world nor between seasons. It could be a fluke, of course, but the speculation is plausible to me (and them).

5829

All Kentucky public and private schools to cease in-person classes for at least two weeks
From CNN

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has recommended that all public and private schools throughout the commonwealth cease in-person classes for at least two weeks due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking at a news conference in Frankfort this afternoon, Beshear called this “a big, but necessary step,” and said he made the announcement today in order to give faculty and staff time to put together in-home assignments, as well as giving parents time to prepare for the closure.

Beshear specifically chose the terminology “ceasing in-person classes” in order to give individual superintendents flexibility to keep school cafeterias open even when classes are not in-session, he told reporters this afternoon


5830

Utah bans large gatherings for two-week period

Utah is banning all mass gatherings of more than 100 people, starting next Monday, to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Gov. Gary Herbert said the ban – which includes houses of worship – will be in effect for two weeks. The order does not apply to K-12 schools, although all districts were asked “to prepare to close.”

Anyone who is over the age of 60 or has immunity problems is encouraged to avoid any gatherings of 20 or more people. An exception is made for businesses like grocery stores. Anyone who is sick is being told to stay home. (CNN)

Coronavirus case confirmed at Fiat Chrysler facility in Indiana
From CNN

Auto giant Fiat Chrysler confirmed today that an employee has tested positive for COVID-19 at one of its facilities in Kokomo, Indiana, according to a statement from the car maker.

“FCA [Fiat Chrysler Automobiles] is working with local area health authorities in Kokomo, Indiana, to support the treatment of an employee who tested positive for COVID-19. The employee, who works at the Kokomo Transmission Plant, is currently receiving medical care,” the statement read.

The employee’s immediate co-workers have been placed into quarantine along with others in the facility who the person may have come into direct contact with. FCA has deep cleaned and disinfected the employees working area.

The company is also “deploying additional sanitization measures across the entire facility, retiming break times to avoid crowding and deploying social spacing,” according to the statement.

More context: The United Auto Workers union, which represents 400,000 members, is actively monitoring the situation and working with Fiat Chrysler on precautions and measures necessary to “protect our members and everyone who works in our facilities,” said United Auto Workers Vice President Cindy Estrada.

The FCA Kokomo plant currently remains open.

5831

Seattle Symphony livestreamed recordings of performances as comfort offering
From CNN’s Joe Ruiz

The show must go on. Sorta.

While the home of the Seattle Symphony has canceled all public events through the end of the month, the Symphony has said it will continue to offer its performances online “to offer strength, comfort and unity” while many public gathering places are closed to help limit the spread of coronavirus.

“I believe music has the power to transform lives and bring people together in new and surprising ways,” shares Music Director Thomas Dausgaard. “Even though we can’t gather at Benaroya Hall, I’m so happy we’ll still be sharing musical moments together, whether you’re at home in Seattle or halfway across the world.”

The first rebroadcast is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. ET) on Thursday night. More details about the streaming schedule can be found on the Symphony’s website.

<3

5832

NCAA basketball game official tests positive for coronavirus
From CNN’s David Close

The Colonial Athletic Association has announced that a game official working the CAA Conference Championships has tested positive for coronavirus.

The CAA Conference tournament ran from Saturday through Tuesday.

Read the CAA’s full statement:

"The Colonial Athletic Association has been made aware that a game official who worked at the 2020 CAA Men’s Basketball Championship has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The official did not exhibit symptoms of the virus until 72 hours after the game he worked, but out of an abundance of caution the conference has made the involved institutions and tournament personnel aware of the situation so they can take proper precautionary measures

5833

New York governor announces first public drive-through coronavirus testing facility on East Coast
From CNN’s Bob Frehse

New York state will have the first public drive-through coronavirus testing facility on the east coast, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today.

Officials will start testing people by appointment only in New Rochelle starting Friday, Cuomo added. New Rochelle residents who have been quarantined will be tested first, he said.

<3

5834

Hospital bosses are delighted with Boris Johnson’s continued insistence that school closures would not help combat coronavirus.

“This decision will obviously be welcomed by the NHS and those leading organisations at the frontline of caring for patients with the coronavirus”, said a senior leader in the NHS.

“We are in a very fast moving and unprecedented situation and trust leaders are working hard to ensure that they have the plans, resources and capacity to respond to the inevitable increase in cases and key to that is having enough staff in place. This is one less issue to have to manage at this stage, but they are clearly planning ahead and looking at how they can continue to provide patient care if the situation does change.”

Two hours before Johnson’s press conference Richard Beeken, chief executive of Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, tweeted his view – which is widely-shared in the NHS:

Michele Paduano
@MichelePaduano
· 7h
Interested to hear if schools are already planning to close two weeks early for Easter in light of the coronavirus pandemic?

Richard Beeken
@NHSBeeky
I sincerely hope not because if they do, NHS and social care staffing availability plummets as no one available to look after the children. We must all await the national decision on this.

One senior hospital executive told me recently that trusts are acutely concerned about school closures because that could produce a very difficult “double whammy” of large numbers of staff off to look after their children at the same time as hospitals are suddenly being hit by a really significant surge in patients left seriously ill by Covid-19. (Guardian)

5835

You could use a higher efficiency air filter if you’re concerned. I’d expect the virus to get cooked as it passes through the central heater, but better filters could give you some peace of mind.

I use higher quality filters like these for allergies anyway.

https://www.amazon.com/Filtrete-Ultrafine-Reduction-Throughout-Inhalable/dp/B00TUDHBWS/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=3m+air+filter&qid=1584050072&s=digital-text&sr=8-5

5836

Team from coronavirus epicentre to leave Spain to return to Wuhan

Wuhan Zall, the soccer team from the epicentre of the coronavirus, are to leave their training camp in the south of Spain to return to China, with their coach saying they are more at risk in Europe than in their home city.

“The problem right now is here, in China it has been practically eradicated,” Wuhan Zall coach Jose Gonzalez told Spain’s Efe news agency.

Putin may extend term over ‘threats to Russia’, coronavirus

President Vladimir Putin of Russia approved legislation allowing him to stay in power beyond 2024 citing global instability and threats against Russia, including the new coronavirus, the Kremlin said.

During a rare and unscheduled appearance in the Parliament on Tuesday, Putin stunned both the general public and the establishment by agreeing to a last-minute proposal to reset his constitutional term-limit clock to zero. (Al Jazeer)

[Leave it to Vlad to be opportunistic in the time of crisis]

5837

Cruise line executive says the industry doesn’t need a bailout over the coronavirus crisis
From CNN

The cruise industry is crafting proposals to address the coronavirus crisis, but they’re not looking for a government bailout, according to one cruise line executive.

“We’ve been through hundreds of things – hurricanes, and other health crises like SARS that we’ve lived through and grown from. Taking cash from the government is not how the cruise industry works,” said the executive.

Industry cruise line leaders proposed a number of forward-looking initiatives that were jointly discussed with the Trump administration as part of the coronavirus task force led by Vice President Mike Pence, according to a source familiar with the situation. Discussions are ongoing and industry leaders are waiting to hear back from the administration about the proposals, added the source.

Industry under stress: The cruise line industry has taken a financial hit since the coronavirus outbreak in January.

Carnival’s Princess Cruises announced today that it would be suspending all voyages for 60 days in response to the coronavirus outbreak on two of its ships. Royal Caribbean on Tuesday extended its credit line by $550 million and withdrew its first quarter and full year 2020 outlook.

Shares of Carnival and Royal Caribbean both dropped 31% today.

5838

https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/inslee-orders-all-private-public-k-12-schools-in-king-pierce-snohomish-counties-to-close-through-april-24/

5839

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee orders Seattle-area schools closed

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued an executive order Thursday to close all public and private schools in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. All schools must be closed by March 17, Inslee said, and remain closed until April 24. The three affected counties are among the hardest-hit in the country by the COVID-19 outbreak. On Wednesday, Inslee banned gatherings of more than 250 people in the same counties and warned school districts and parents to prepare contingency plans in case schools must close. (CNBC)

Amazon tells sellers it’s not taking new listings for face masks or hand sanitizer amid coronavirus price gouging

Amazon is blocking new listings for face masks, hand sanitizer and other coronavirus-related products on its site, marking its latest effort to stamp out price gouging.

The company confirmed to CNBC that it sent out a notice to sellers this week informing them that it’s not accepting applications to sell “disposable face masks, hand sanitizers, disinfecting wipes/sprays, isopropyl alcohol or related products.”

New York will see ‘same trajectory’ of coronavirus cases as China, South Korea and Italy, Gov. Cuomo says

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the state is likely to see a similar spread of COVID-19 as China, South Korea and Italy where the new coronavirus has millions of people under lockdown and has shuttered commerce.

“I’ve said the same thing to you every day for the past three weeks I think. You are going to see these numbers are going to go up,” Cuomo said during a press conference.

“What makes you think that the virus in China, the virus in South Korea, the virus in Italy wasn’t going to react any differently than the virus here?” he said. “You are going to see the same trajectory that you saw in China, South Korea and Italy and it is going to happen here as the virus spreads because of the way it is actually contagious.”

All CNBC

5840

Merkel orders cancelling of all events of more than 1,000 people
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, called on organisers of non essential events gathering hundreds of people to cancel them to help slow the spread of coronavirus.

Merkel said all events of under 1,000 people should be cancelled.

“That is a call to all,” she said, noting that “where possible, social contact must be avoided”. (Telegraph)