^^ I agree @suteiki77. So simple and easy to grasp, with all the qualifying data in the little end piece.
“During the interview, Hogan told Tur, “there’s not enough tests” in Maryland, but he’s more concerned with stopping the spread of the virus than he is about testing.”
"When asked what the “other things” are, Hogan said, “We’ve moved from containment to mitigation and quite frankly at some point soon we’re probably not going to be into testing as much because the hospitals will be overwhelmed and not able to do the tests.”
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Testing DOES help stop the spread by identifying who is positive and containing them.
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The idea is that most testing will happen outside the hospital - not have the hospitals do the tests. Like drive through testing or labs. If you are already in the hospital and test negative for other things, adding another test is not overwhelming.
Yes, and it explains why not acting sooner and not acting now is such a danger.
To be fair, I can’t keep up with this thread. It’s enormous and fast-moving!
Heartbreaking NY Times story of two 29-year-old women, a doctor and a nurse, who contracted Covid19. One survived, one did not. A good corrective to the idea that the illness is always mild for young people. For these two, it was not mild.
As you read the story, you don’t know which of the two will live, and I won’t spoil it. But I will tell you the ominous fact that the woman who died was in the hospital for 35 days before she succumbed.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 is becoming more enormous and more fast-moving. 
@doschicos… OK… You are the best!!! I will refrain from posting things like that. You seem to have it all covered. Around 300 posts in a day… I must of missed that one… Lol…
But I worry that your not getting enough rest. If you can’t post where will we get our information from… ?.
Thx for what you do.
Global cruise company suspends voyages
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings - which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises - has just announced a voluntary suspension of all cruise voyages embarking between 13 March and 11 April.
The temporary suspension is aimed at containing the virus spread, with the company saying the measure was being taken “in an abundance of caution” and that it had not experienced any confirmed cases across its fleet.
Guests on voyages that are underway will end and guests will be disembarked as soon as possible and assisted with travel arrangements, the company said in a statement.
All guests on impacted voyages will receive a 125% refund of the fare paid in the form of a future cruise credit, which can be applied toward any future cruise through to 31 December, 2022. Alternatively travellers can ask instead for a 100% refund of the fare paid. (Guardian)
Saudi Arabia suspends all international flights to kingdom
Saudi Arabia has suspended all international flights for two weeks, starting on Sunday, to prevent the spread of coronavirus, state news agency SPA said on Saturday, citing an official source at interior ministry.
Reuters reports the period will be considered as an exceptional official holiday for citizens and residents who are unable to return due to the suspension of flights or if they face quarantine after their return to the Kingdom, SPA cited the official as saying.
Saudi Arabia has reported 86 coronavirus cases. (Guardian)
**Pentagon banning all domestic travel for anyone associated with the defense department. - PBS
Chile bans public gatherings over 500 people
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has announced a ban on public events with more than 500 people, Reuters reports, as the government tries to curtail the spread of coronavirus.
Pinera also said people arriving in Chile from countries considered high-risk for the virus, including China, Italy and Spain, would have to quarantine for 14 days.
Chile has confirmed 43 cases of the coronavirus.
The ban on large public events, which will begin on Monday, could have implications for upcoming planned protests. Demonstrations began late last year over the high cost of living and inequality, in some cases attracting tens of thousands of people. (Guardian)
Two more Brazilian delegates test positive, including one who sat with Trump
From CNN’s Jennifer Hansler, Jennifer Hauser and Taylor Barnes
Two more members of a Brazilian delegation that traveled to the US, including one man who attended a dinner with President Donald Trump, have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The first is Nestor Forster, Brazil’s Chargé d’Affaires in Washington. The Brazilian Embassy in Washington announced on Twitter that Forster had tested positive. He will now be self-quarantined for two weeks.
He was seated at the same table as Trump last Saturday during the dinner at Mar-a-Lago, a source familiar with the incident told CNN.
The source could not say if there was any direct interaction between Forster and Trump. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
A group photo tweeted on March 8 by Brazil’s foreign minister shows Forster standing behind Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a short distance from Trump.
The second is Brazilian Sen. Nelsinho Trad. Trad announced on Twitter late Friday that he tested positive.
“I was, as you all know, working, representing [the senate] on the trip with President Jair Bolsonaro to the US. Upon returning to Brazil, all of us in the delegation that traveled with the President were surprised when one of the people on the return flight tested positive for Covid-19,” he wrote. “I did the exam, the result was positive.”
That makes three delegation infections: The first in the delegation to test positive was Bolsonaro’s press secretary, Fábio Wajngarten, who confirmed the results on Thursday.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who shook hands with Forster during the trip, also tested positive on Friday.
And Bolsonaro’s attorney, Karina Kufa, wrote on her unverified Twitter account Friday that she tested positive after visiting Miami on the same trip.
Post away. Dupes are fine and hard to avoid. Just wanted to let you know it has been covered in the press. 
@doschicos. I just haven’t seen it on the news at all. I would think this is a very large development and it would be talked about. Maybe tomorrow it will be?
Newborn baby infected with coronavirus in UK
An American in Italy has advice for anyone living under quarantine: Follow the rules
From CNN’s Steve Almasy
In northern Italy, life is difficult right now. In a country with more than 17,000 cases of the novel coronavirus, staying at home but for a solo trip to the store is the way of life.
American Cristina Higgins lives with her family in Bergamo, near Milan. On Friday, she told CNN’s Erin Burnett that being in a country with a mandatory lockdown is like “living with dread.”
Almost everything is closed and movement is restricted. Only supermarkets and pharmacies are open. Only one person from each household can go on a shopping run. Police write tickets for people who are out wandering. Lines sometimes form outside the stores because only a certain number of people are allowed inside at one time, and they must remain 3 feet apart.
Yet Higgins said it was in everyone’s best interest to comply.
“I would encourage every family to try to think of it is a reason why you should do this,” she told CNN. “I encourage everybody … to comply. And we can all get through this together.”
All day long they hear bad news from friends, she said, holding back tears.
Higgins, in a bit of advice for residents of any community that institutes similar measures, says people need to comply and they’ll get through the hard times faster.
“I would encourage every family to try to think of it is a reason why you should do this,” she told CNN. “I encourage everybody … to comply. And we can all get through this together.”
Higgins said her children, who are home from school for a month, are doing OK. She and her husband are struggling,
He went to the supermarket Monday, an eerie place where it was strangely quiet – no children – and people were suspicious. At least everything was still available.
Life is highly controlled by government rules. People must fill out a form explaining why they have gone out.
Not everyone is adhering to the rules, she said. A woman in her community who has Covid-19 went out in public the other day.
“It’s very difficult. It’s very, very difficult,” she said. “It is, unfortunately despite all that Italy has done, they think that it may not be enough” because not every person is complying.
Her family has another 21 days of government lockdown to go.
They call people all day long, she said. People put candles in the windows in support of people putting their lives at risk – emergency workers and pharmacists. Children make signs that say, “We will overcome this,” she said. She and her kids make a cake every day. That’s great to see, but they are small things, she added.
“Comply with the rules, because we can do this,” she said.
She is hopeful that in the next 10 days, things start to get better.
18 US states have closed schools over coronavirus concerns
States across the US are closing schools to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. The measures range from affecting all public, private and charter schools, to just public schools.
In the past few hours, Alaska and Delaware have joined the list. Here are the states deploying such measures:
Alabama
Alaska
Delaware
Illinois
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Michigan
New Mexico
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Utah
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
CNN
Along with the tests and masks, Chinese businessman Jack Ma also gave Columbia University 2.1 million dollars to develop COVID-19 treatments. (Post #6007)
I didn’t see this reported in the media I’ve been reading. DH told me about it because he does research in the lab of one of the scientists on the project. I found the report on Columbia’s site.
From the time DH wakes up until he falls asleep, he is working on the coronavirus situation. He literally can not talk/think about anything else. I even get corona-calls while he’s driving between hospitals. This is good because he’s making a difference and constantly collaborating, but it’s a little stressful for his family. Therefore, we ask him to give us one big positive every day. The research funded by Jack Ma is enough positive for the whole week!
Here’s the link again: https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/columbia-university-researchers-awarded-2-million-identify-antiviral-drugs-new-coronavirus
The reason I was given for no test was that I couldn’t prove direct contact with any of the three people in my state who had tested positive literally hours before I went to the ER.
I documented my experience pretty thoroughly in the other coronavirus thread if you have further inquiries.
I’ve since learned that I live on the border of the pretty small town where one of those cases was.
Now to practice best methods and ignore what seem to be blatant attempts to get this wonderful thread shut down.
Article on the different approaches South Korea and China have taken battling Covid-19.
Trump sends signed chart of stock market gains to supporters after declaring national emergency
From CNN’s Jamie Gangel
US President Donald Trump sent a note to supporters earlier today that featured a chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average dramatically rising roughly at the time he began a news conference declaring a national emergency over the coronavirus. He also signed the chart.
The note, which was also sent to some members of Congress, included screenshots of television coverage of the stock market closing much higher than Thursday.
"The President would like to share the attached image with you, and passes along the following message: ‘From opening of press conference, biggest day in stock market history!’ " read the note, a copy of which was obtained by CNN.
Friday was the best day for stocks since 2008, but the S&P 500 ended the week with sharp losses and fell into a bear market on Thursday.
An ongoing crisis: The message did not mention the overall coronavirus crisis, the number of people who have died or are sick, nor the fact that Trump had just declared a national emergency. In the US, more than 2,200 people had been diagnosed with coronavirus and 49 have died.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro to be tested again for coronavirus: report
Debora Moreira, Pedro Fonseca
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who met with Donald Trump in the United States less than a week ago, will be retested for coronavirus following a negative test on Friday, Brazil’s Estado de S.Paulo newspaper reported.
The test will be done early next week in order to rule out any chance the president has the virus, the newspaper said, without naming the source of the information. A representative for Bolsonaro’s press office declined to comment…
Estado de S.Paulo said Bolsonaro would remain isolated in quarantine at his official residence until the beginning of next week, citing an unnamed member of the president’s medical staff who said Bolsonaro needed to be isolated for seven days from the time of being in contact with someone infected with the virus…
The testing of Bolsonaro and many in his inner circle has changed the president’s tone on a virus that he dismissed on Tuesday as largely a “fantasy.”
Brazil has confirmed 98 cases of the coronavirus, according to the Ministry of Health.
Washington, DC, is also closing schools until the end of March
From CNN’s David Gelles
All public schools in Washington, DC, will close from Monday through March 31 because of the coronavirus outbreak, according to District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).
From March 24-31, students will participate in “distance learning,” the DCPS said.
WAY upstream, @thumper1 asked about student loan interest relief. I can’t imagine how that is going to work. I will check Monday to see what NASFAA says & post.
Re: Closing nursing homes & assisted living facilities to visitors … I have in laws who are affected by this & I am all for it. Of course, there are workers who could have the virus. There is no way to get around that, and facilities need to work hard to minimize spread from employees. But not allowing visitors is smart from a statistical standpoint.
I won’t go into detail, but a family member who had recently been evaluated for ongoing health issues at two prominent hospitals became extremely ill and was on a ventilator - he had pneumonia and a virus they couldn’t identify (he did recover). This was in mid-to-late January. We’ll never know if it was COVID-19, but it has us wondering.