@BuckeyeMWDSG , Ohio really does seem to be on top of things. So far, I’m quite impressed. We live in Asia and my son is currently “stranded” in Granville, but Ohio seems like a pretty good place to ride this out.
Yeah, kinda proud of my home state. O ! H !
I still have alot of family in Ohio, but wasn’t able to get S19 back up to Gambier since his campus closed.
This. I think it’s important for those of us who are healthy stay home as much as possible to help flatten the curve. We don’t need to add to the burden our health providers have to deal with.
I know this is easier for people like me who don’t work, don’t have kids living at home, etc.
Is it boring, yes. But better bored than the alternative.
Getting outside for a even short walk helps too.
Now the latest is Brazil’s president is saying he has tested negative.
White House calculus on testing President Trump is changing, officials say
From CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins
White House officials were urgently assessing as-yet-unconfirmed reports Friday that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had tested positive for coronavirus after meeting with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
The White House had said a day earlier that neither Trump nor Vice President Pence would be tested themselves, despite coming into contact with an aide to Bolsonaro who did test positive.
But the calculus in the White House is changing, one official said. Aides are currently weighing whether Trump should be tested, but it was still not clear whether he will.
Officials said the White House was constantly evaluating whether to test the President and take measures to prevent the virus’s spread further among Trump’s close confidantes, according to one senior official, who said aides are keenly aware of the optics of testing the President.
Others close to the President said they believed he would eventually be tested — if he hadn’t already been so — despite denials from the White House. The decision would likely be closely held.
The White House did not respond on the record to a question about whether their Thursday statement that the President had not been tested still stood.
The White House said on Thursday that neither Trump nor Pence had displayed any symptoms, though asymptomatic people can still spread the virus and some studies have shown symptoms can begin displaying only after five days. Trump and Bolsonaro met last Saturday at Mar-a-Lago.
Some inside the White House have privately wondered why Trump isn’t being tested, according to officials, who said those people believe it would be a prudent step as Trump continues to meet with people, including a meeting scheduled for later Friday with laboratory industry officials.
Some of Trump’s closest congressional allies — including Sens. Lindsey Graham and Rick Scott, Reps. Matt Gaetz, Doug Collins and Mark Meadows, his new chief of staff — have all taken precautionary self-quarantine measures after coming into contact with people who tested positive for the virus.
One White House official noted Trump is always technically “working from home” when he’s at the White House and doesn’t have any public plans to leave in the next few days.
Pence, meanwhile, is not going to be tested unless something changes in the coming days, according to a person familiar with the matter. He did not attend the dinner with Bolsonaro or interact closely with the press secretary, so they have been advised again by his doctor that he doesn’t need it.
Technically, going outside for a walk is not “staying at home”. But doing outdoor activities by yourself (or where the nature of the activity means sufficient distance from others doing it with you) in non-crowded areas should be relatively low risk.
Switzerland closes all schools
Switzerland has announced that it is closing all schools and is to provide around 10 billion Swiss francs in aid for businesses hit by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The situation is difficult,” Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga told reporters, as the government listed a range of measures to halt the spread of the virus after the small Alpine country saw its number of positive tests balloon to over 1,000
The first cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Venezuela, where the country’s healthcare system has already been under massive strain in recent years.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said that the country is suspending classes at public and private schools starting on Monday, Reuters reports.
“Early today, two cases were certified,” Rodriguez said in a televised statement. “One 41-year-old citizen was traveling in the United States. The other was traveling in Spain.”
The two both arrived on a flight from Spain and both have been put in quarantine, she said.
Guardian
False positive on the first test, or he had the virus and is now ‘cured’, or bad test (1 or 2)? (or spin from Brazil?)
https://www.businessinsider.com/jair-bolsonaro-brazil-president-coronavirus-test-positive-2020-3
President to declare a state of national emergency at noon Eastern. Frees up FEMA funds.
Mayor of Miami tests positive. He met with Brazilian officials.
LAUSD will shut down beginning Monday.
You are right. I kind of thought most people on this board would understand that without me having to outright state it.
The Louvre museum in Paris will be closed starting this evening “until further notice,” the museum tweeted Friday.
Mixed messages have been coming out of Mexico today where health experts expect localised spread to begin in the last week or March or first week of April, according to reports.
By then, health officials say the country will have 20,000 tests ready to go, and private and public labs across the country prepped for testing.
So far, Mexico has 16 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with no deaths. The biggest threat still lies from people already infected entering the country, which is why the government is considering introducing travel restrictions and extra surveillance on travellers from the US.
“The possible flow of coronavirus would come from the north to the south. If it were technically necessary, we would consider mechanisms of restriction or stronger surveillance,” deputy health secretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell told a news conference last night.
“Mexico wouldn’t bring the virus to the United States, rather the United States would bring it here.”
On the other hand, in response to Trump’s travel ban on 26 European countries, US bound passengers flying on the national airline, Aeromexico, will from today be required to spend 14 days in Mexico before taking a connecting flight. The airline had already imposed a similar rule for passengers travelling from China. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the announcement unleashed furious reactions on social media with some tweeters accusing the government of prioritizing American lives over Mexicans.
(Guardian)
MN State HS League finally cancelled the rest of the girls BB tourney this week and the boys tourney next week. Sort of a drag since my niece’s team was top seed in their class and my daughter’s school just won their section last night and was going to go next week. Oh well.
World Health Organization sending additional coronavirus supplies to 28 countries
From CNN Health’s Jacqueline Howard
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, the World Health Organization announced on Friday that it will provide personal protective equipment to health workers in 28 additional countries.
“We’re continuing to support countries to prepare and respond,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press briefing on Friday.
“We have shipped supplies of personal protective equipment to 56 countries, we’re shipping to a further 28, and we’ve sent almost 1.5 million diagnostic tests to 120 countries,” Tedros said. “Every health facility should be ready to cope with large numbers of patients and ensure the safety of staff and patients.”
My Chinese collaborator, a postdoc, just came to tell me she may have to pause our project for several weeks or longer to stay home with her 6 year old son. The schools here in southern CA have no plans to close, and she was practically in tears at the lack of adequate response from our government- state and federal. She will keep her son home and I assured her that I agree with her decision 100% .
Her husband is still in China, and she is seriously considering returning to China where they will feel safer. Her husband has sent a package of face masks for them to use here and they believe that face masks for healthy people are an important component of control. They are from northern China, not in Hubei province, but I think we can believe that the epidemic is under control in China.
The Gates Foundation Institute for Disease Modeling published a paper two days ago analyzing the potential spread in King and Snohomish Counties. It has a very dramatic chart on the effects of reducing social co tact re coronavirus. You have to copy the entire site and paste rather than clicking on a link to get the PDF: https://institutefordiseasemodeling.github.io/COVID-public/reports/Working%20paper%20–%20model-based%20estimates%20of%20COVID-19%20burden%20in%20King%20and%20Snohomish%20counties%20through%20April%207.pdf
I understand the desire to “do something”, but we’ve heard over and over from anyone that knows anything that testing someone who has no symptoms is unlikely to provide useful information. The commander and chief and vice president would not be exceptions to this rule, so no testing makes sense. If either shows symptoms, test. But they should both avoid unnecessary contact with anyone.
Berlin’s mayor, Michael Müller has announced that the German capital’s public transport system is to be drastically scaled back to an “emergency service” in line with other measures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, and in order to protect its staff and passengers.
Buses and trams will run a skeletal service from now on, until at least until the end of the easter holiday, with passengers asked to enter buses by the middle door, rather than the front.
Tickets will have to be bought in advance because they will no longer be available from the driver. So far no plans have been publicised over whether the S-Bahn train service which runs through the city, is to be scaled down. Unlike the rest of the transport network, it is owned and operated by the national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn.
Demand for public transport has already fallen, over fears of getting coronavirus. And with schools, kindergartens and most institutions either closed or due to close on Monday, and many people working from home, it is expected demand will further decrease in the coming days.
Meanwhile Deutsche Bahn has said while it has no plans to curtail its train service, passengers with tickets for journeys they now no longer feel able to take, will be able to rebook journeys at a later date at no extra cost. (Guardian)
@Lizardly Fiesta postponed until November 5-15
New Mexico has also closed all public schools, effective Monday.
Additionally 2 state universities (Eastern NM and NMTech) have announced they are extending spring break by 2 weeks to allow for deep cleaning of university facilities… St John’s College in Santa Fe has cancelled all in-person classes and says instruction will continue via on-line resources. UNM is preparing to move to on-line instruction after spring break.
Governor Michele Lujan-Grisham declared a state of emergency Wednesday evening after NM’s first 2 cases of COVID-19 were announced. As of Friday morning, the number of confirmed cases has increased from 2 to 10.
Gatherings larger than 100 people are prohibited.