Cleveland Clinic now says their test has been validated and they can conduct on-site tests which will be available same day. Set up tents outside emergency rooms to question/examine people before entering building.
Eiffel Tower will close for “an indefinite period of time” because of coronavirus concerns
From CNN’s Anastasia Graham-Yooll, Pierre Bairin and Ya Chun Wang
The Eiffel Tower in Paris will be closed starting 9 p.m. local time Friday, according to a statement on its website.
“In the context of the COVID-19 outbreak and due to the government health measures announced today, the Eiffel Tower will be closed today from 9pm, for an indefinite period of time,” the statement read.
Canadian Parliament shuts until April 20
Canada’s Parliament has agreed to shut down for more than a month while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau governed remotely from his home, in self-imposed quarantine after his wife tested positive for the new coronavirus
Canada’s House of Commons voted to shut down for at least five weeks to help ensure lawmakers do not contribute to the spread of the virus. (Al Jazeera)
Pakistan shuts all educational institutions
Pakistan has announced a countrywide shutdown of all educational institutions over fears of coronavirus spread, according to the education minister.
The announcement came after a meeting of the national security council attended by civilian and military leadership.
Shafqat Mahmood
@Shafqat_Mahmood
In a meeting of the National Security Committee presided over PM Imran Khan, it has been decided to close all educational institutions in the country till April 5. This includes all schools and universities, public and private, vocational institutions and madaris.
“It has been decided to close all educational institutions in the country till April 5. This includes all schools and universities, public and private, vocational institutions and madaris,” Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood tweeted. (Al Jazeera)
Greece shuts all museums and ruins over coronavirus
Greece will close all its museums and archaelogical sites, including the entire Acropolis that looms over Athens, until the end of the month due to the impact of the coronavirus, its culture ministry said.
Greece, with 117 confirmed cases and one fatality by late Thursday, has also cancelled public gatherings and shut down schools, theatres, cinemas and gyms.
Separately, the Hellenic Olympic Committee on Friday decided to suspend the remainder of the Olympic Torch relay through the country to avoid attracting crowds because of the coronavirus.
Dutch coronavirus infections jump to 804, deaths double
The number of deaths in people with the coronavirus in the Netherlands has doubled to 10, Dutch health authorities said.
The number of infections rose to 802 from 614 a day earlier, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said in a statement.
Rome cardinal rolls back on decree closing churches
A Rome cardinal abruptly modified his decree closing churches in the Italian capital in order to contain coronavirus after Pope Francis criticised “drastic measures” by churchmen.
Cardinal Angelo De Donatis issued a new decree less than a day after his initial one, which was widely criticised by common Catholics. Under the new decree, many of Rome’s churches will remain open.
Most of larger Chinese firms outside Hubei resume work
China’s Vice Industry Minister Xin Guobin said on Friday the work resumption rate outside of Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, is about 60 percent for small and medium firms and more than 95 percent for larger firms.
Xin, speaking to reporters at a State Council briefing, said China will coordinate with other countries to push forward on business resumption even as the pandemic stokes uncertainty about the return to normalcy.
The country is trying to get back to work after imposing strict restrictions on transport and people to slow the spread of infections.
All Al Jazeera.
Greg Fenves, the UT Austin President, has tested positive, along with his wife. They were in New York City recently and developed symptoms pretty quickly. I know Fenves because he was a colleague of my dad’s, an engineering professor teaching while I was at UT.
Louisiana governor orders schools to be closed starting Monday
CNN
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Friday plans to limit public gatherings and close all public schools.
All K-12 public schools will be closed starting Monday and all gatherings of more than 250 people will be banned until April 13. Classes will resume on April 13, he said.
"We are at an inflection point now and we are going to take bold action to minimize the further spread of this illness. That is why I am issuing this order today, ending all events of more than 250 people, closing our schools, and reducing the amount of face-to-face public interaction at state government buildings,” Gov. Edwards said in a statement.
Social distancing of 75% would have resulted in deaths of 30 in two counties based on modeling. And that most likely doesn’t factor in the cluster of deaths from the Kirkland nursing home, which account for 22 of the actual deaths, most of which infections began earlier. It’s statistical modeling, not a prediction, for two specific counties. It models what could happen with various levels of mitigation factors in place.
Actual situation is probably between 25 and 50% social distancing, which would predict between 100 and 160 deaths in the time period of the model. So the statistical modeling seems very valid.
In Poland, public gatherings are to be limited to 50 people, restaurants, bars and casinos are to close and no inbound flights will be allowed from Sunday onwards, the country’s prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said.
He said food deliveries would still be allowed and the flight ban would not include charter flights. (Guardian)
Walmart, Target CEOs meet with Trump about coronavirus response
Some of the biggest names in retail are at the White House this afternoon to meet with President Donald Trump and his advisers.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Target CEO Brian Cornell, Walgreens President Richard Ashworth and CVS Executive Vice President Thomas Moriarty are among those scheduled to join the group to discuss the national response to COVID-19, according to the White House. Other government officials and health care executives also plan to attend. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 1:30 pm. (CNBC)
ESPN scrambling to figure out programming while live sports shut down indefinitely
Disney’s ESPN has long called itself the worldwide leader in sports. Now it will have to figure out what to do when there aren’t any.
On what could be called Black Thursday for major sports leagues, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League suspended play, following the National Basketball Association’s lead on Wednesday.
That leaves all-sports networks – particularly ESPN, which owns more rights to live games than any other media entity – with several unprecedented problems.
Most urgently, ESPN will need to broadcast replacement programming for the games that won’t be happening. In the near term, that includes NCAA conference championship games, NBA games, and first round NCAA women’s basketball tournament games. Beyond that, ESPN has additional live college sports on ESPN+, its streaming service, and other linear networks including ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 (CNBC)
How hospitals hope to keep ‘worried well’ from flooding emergency rooms
Sutter Health, a Northern California hospital chain, emailed its patients over the weekend of March 7 to encourage them to use a new online tool if they have symptoms resembling the coronavirus.
The app works by leading patients through a set of questions to find out how they’re feeling, how long they’ve experienced symptoms, their age and medical background, and whether they’ve traveled recently. Those who are concerned can opt to talk to a doctor via video chat.
Fearing that the virus would spread across the Bay Area in the coming weeks, Sutter Health’s chief of digital patient experience Albert Chan pulled together a meeting with infectious disease experts, some clinicians and a small team of web developers. The hospital had an existing capability for video visits, but knew it needed to quickly scale up. “We worked late into the night… over many evenings and the through the weekend,” said Chan.
It went live March 7, and the video service immediately started getting booked up quickly, with most slots taken by noon.
The tool is just one example of how hospitals across the United States are scrambling to prepare for a possible flood of COVID-19 coronavirus patients. (CNBC)
Trump administration to weigh temporarily suspending student loan payments
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration would consider suspending people’s student loan payments for at least three months during the coronavirus.
Outstanding education debt has outpaced credit card and auto debt, with the average monthly bill clocking in at nearly $400. Consumer advocates say borrowers will need the financial relief amid job losses and income insecurity. (CNBC)
S&P estimates a severe outbreak in the US could cost $90 billion in insured expenses
A severe coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. could cost the nation’s health insurers roughly $90 billion in medical claims, leading to losses that could force some insurers to tap into reserves to pay those costs, according to a new analysis from S&P Global analysts.
The analysts calculate that under a more moderate scenario, COVID-19 medical costs would top $30 billion. The impact of a moderate outbreak would be in line with a very strong flu season, which would pressure profits, but not result in a loss.
“The key difference is saying how many people end up in a hospital … in the hypothetical severe scenario we are looking at about 4 million people in a hospital, whereas in a moderate scenario we’re looking at about a million people,” explained Deep Banerjee, lead insurance analyst at S&P Global Ratings. (CNBC)
[Can 4 million people fit in hospitals?]
Last I talked to anyone they still hadn’t tested everyone who was exposed to the initial case. And we have no idea how many people are wandering around who were exposed without knowing it from anyone of the people who were exposed. The “containment” area is a one mile radius circle where large gatherings are forbidden, but nothing else is stopped. Anyone in the region can get tested at the New Rochelle site (which is nowhere near the containment area, or residences BTW) provided they are pre-approved.
Grubhub is suspending commission fees for independent restaurants
Grubhub is temporarily suspending commission fees for impacted independent restaurants of up to $100 million. Restaurants can pay commission fees as high as 30% on orders delivered by third-party aggregators like Grubhub. Even before the pandemic, restaurateurs were complaining about the pressure the fees put on their profits, leading the New York City Council to propose capping fees at 10%. Grubhub does not publicly disclose what percent of its revenue comes from the commission fees. (CNBC)
Ohio now with 13 confirmed cases (up from 5 yesterday at 2pm). 50 negative tests and 159 tests pending. Not closing daycares yet but noting it could happen in future. Asking people who use caregivers over 60 (such as some grandparents) that we find someone else (neighbors or friends). Recommending people pull kids from day cares if you can.
Boston and Miami airports will be used to divert passengers from European regions
From CNN’s Geneva Sands
Boston and Miami will be added to the list of 11 airports that are being used to divert passengers traveling to the US from European regions that are part of a travel ban, a senior official with US Customs and Border Protection said.
The new airports — Miami International Airport and Logan International Airport — go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Friday, the senior official said on a press call, adding that “anyone already en route is not impacted by this,”
Some background: President Trump announced the ban during an address on Wednesday. The ban would affect most foreign nationals who were in Europe’s Schengen Area — 26 countries stretching from Iceland to Greece — in the past 14 days. American citizens, green card holders, some family members and a few other groups are exempt from the travel ban but will face additional health screening and restrictions when they arrive.
On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence told CNN that Americans coming home will be funneled through 13 different airports.
“They’ll be screened and then we’re going to ask every American and legal resident returning to the united states to self-quarantine for 14 days," Pence said.
These are the other airports:
California: San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
California: Los Angeles International Airport, (LAX)
Georgia: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
Hawaii: Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)
Illinois: Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
Michigan: Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)
New Jersey: Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
New York: John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Texas: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
Virginia: Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Washington state: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
[“They’ll be screened and then we’re going to ask every American and legal resident returning to the united states to self-quarantine for 14 days," - why isn’t this already taking place from the countries that were already classified as being a risk? It definitely hasn’t been ]
I was listening to a sports radio network in the car, to see what they’re talking about these days. Another victim of the shutdowns: sports betting.
How will these caregivers support themselves? I read that one financial guy is recommending the Yang thing - $1k per month to every American temporarily.
Azerbaijan has banned wedding celebrations and other public events, the authorities have said the day after the country recorded its first death.
The measures, which come into force on Saturday, also include shuttering museums, cinemas and theatres. The authorities said the country’s border with Georgia will be closed for 10 days and that all large cultural and sporting events will be postponed by a month.
The former Soviet country said on Thursday that a woman who had been quarantined after returning from neighbouring Iran had died from the virus.
Schools and universities in the country have been closed since the beginning of March and the authorities extended the closure of the border with Iran for another two weeks on Thursday. Azerbaijan has so far recorded 19 cases. (Guardian)
Tunisia will immediately suspend prayers in mosques, close cafes at 4pm every day, and ban all cultural, sports and economic gatherings to combat the spread of the coronavirus, its prime minister Elyes Fakhfakh has said.
The government has also closed Tunisia’s maritime borders, suspended all flights to and from Italy, in addition to reducing flights with Egypt, Germany, Britain and France. Tunisia has confirmed 16 cases; mostly among recent arrivals from Europe. And the disease is expected to hit its crucial tourism sector hard. (Guardian)
Denmark will temporarily close borders to non-citizens on Saturday, prime minister says
From CNN’s Anastasia Graham-Yooll and Zahid Mahmood in London
Denmark will temporarily close its borders for non-citizens in a move to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said on Friday.
“All tourists, all travel, all vacations, and all foreigners who cannot prove a creditable purpose of entering Denmark, will be denied entrance at the Danish border,” Frederiksen said at a news conference late Friday in Copenhagen.
Staggered starts, backup offices: How traders are working amid the pandemic
As the coronavirus pandemic disrupts routine working around the world, companies across the financial sector are having to find more agile ways of operating.
While many global companies are telling all staff to work from home, for some banking roles, this isn’t possible. Traders, for example, often deal with sensitive data, requiring workstations and technology that meet certain compliance standards and cannot be used at home.
Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase have instituted staggered work arrangements and backup offices for its staffers and are limiting the number of people at gatherings. Buying group lunch deliveries from a single vendor was another method being used by companies, as well as putting up signs asking people to wash their hands when they arrived at work before sitting down at their desks. (CNBC)
Greetings from Kirkland, WA (part II)!
Here’s what is going to be happening in about 2 weeks for the rest of you if you are on trend, except for New Rochelle where they are keeping pace.
My wife’s workplace, a family clinic, is now greenlighted to start collecting samples for COVID-19 testing. They have sent only a few this week and none prior, no matter how likely they felt someone was infected. I am guessing other family practice clinics will also start collecting test samples. Reported infections will jump next week.
This has limitations and a little bit of danger associated with it. They have face shields but have been using hospital gowns when seeing patients with symptoms. They ran out of gowns shortly after lunch yesterday and had to improvise. Each exam room with a suspected infected patient, by protocol, is first closed up for 40 minutes then given a thorough cleaning. That limits each exam room to roughly 1 patient per hour. W is urging the medical officers to centralize a collection point. Maybe they can use a Microsoft parking lot since nobody is there.
Kudos to the receptionists and front office, because the phone is ringing all day with people with symptoms. They are told to stay home. Testing is still not available. A lot of people are sick with no access to testing.
My coworker who is on quarantine is getting a second quarantine. His gf/common-law wife developed symptoms and was diagnosed on day 10 of their 14 day quarantine, resetting the clock. Just know you can be stuck longer than 14 days.
As has been reported, schools are closed until April 24. Teachers in at least 2 school districts are not going to be doing any online instruction as there are students with no internet access. There is talk of moving AP tests to mid-June.
We heard that Denmark is recommending for all kids abroad to return to the country. It is common for their 15-16 year-olds to take a year abroad as a language and cultural exchange.
Stay safe, stay healthy all.