@doschicos Who in the federal government is saying this isn’t serious?
I’ve seen three major press conferences in two days. Massive stimulus packages and rule making.
We just banned travel from all of Europe and every major sport cancelled the season and colleges evacuated.
A governor of a state needs a call from the feds to tell them it’s serious is a problem with the governor.
But that’s just my view.
Please keep up the good work with the info.
Germany is set to close its borders with France, Austria and Switzerland from 8 am on Monday in order to try to hem in spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, German media reported on Sunday afternoon.
Exceptions are expected to be made for goods traffic and commuters.
The German government took the step following a conference call with the premiers of the affected states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg and Saarland, said newspaper Bild.
The government has not officially communicated the border closures.
A hotel chain has said it could turn its properties into temporary hospitals if the NHS needs additional bed space during the coronavirus outbreak, PA reports.
Best Western Great Britain said it will discuss the move this week and would be willing to take “unprecedented” steps to help.
The chain, which is the largest independent hotel group in Britain, said it had seen a significant increase in cancellations over the last month due to the outbreak.
Rob Paterson, chief executive officer of Best Western Great Britain, said: “We are in unprecedented territory so we would be willing to take unprecedented steps to support the national effort.
“If the NHS wants additional bed space, and we can partner with other companies to provide the right medical equipment and supplies, and we can do it safely, then we would be willing to start having those conversations immediately.
“Whatever we can do to help.”
Argentina is planning a 10-day lockdown with a nationwide quarantine, President Alberto Fernández has said in a radio interview.
“Everything that can be done to stop people circulating, better be done,” the president said. “If you can stay at home, stay.” An official announcement that may include the general self-isolation order and the suspension of classes is expected this evening.
Known cases of coronavirus have reached 45, after authorities announced 11 new cases Saturday, the highest day-to-day jump since the crisis began. The new cases include a four-year-old child and a man recently returned from the UK. Two people have died so far.
Argentina has closed its main nature tourist attractions, including Argentina’s side of the Iguazú waterfalls, the largest in the world when combined with their Brazilian side. The falls draw about 5,000 daily visitors this time of year.
Argentina last week suspended all flights from the US, UK, Europe, Iran, South Korea, Japan and China and police checks are in place at hotels and the homes of new arrivals to ensure they are obeying the two-week self-isolation period mandated by the government.
Guardian
The government of Hong Kong will extend compulsory self-quarantine to arrivals who have been to the UK, Ireland, the US and Egypt, regardless of whether they are Hong Kong citizens, as of 19 March.
The government of Hong Kong will extend compulsory self-quarantine to arrivals who have been to the UK, Ireland, the US and Egypt, regardless of whether they are Hong Kong citizens, as of 19 March. (Guardian)
Cyprus has said it will tighten its borders to only allow persons into the country with medical clearance, and place those who do arrive in compulsory quarantine for two weeks to curb the spread of coronavirus.
It also announced a suspension in operations of private businesses, including retail stores, nightclubs, hotels and malls.
Thousands of Cypriot students abroad would be offered a €750 benefit to stay in the country of their study, Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades said.
Cyprus has reported 26 coronavirus cases. (Guardian)
IRAN - 1,209 new cases totaling 13,938 and 113 new deaths totaling 724 - the highest number of deaths in a single day from coronavirus on Saturday, Iran’s ministry of health announced on Sunday.
Health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV that 4,590 of those infected had recovered.
The figures came as public authorities continued to disagree over measures to stem the flow of new cases. Some of the worst affected areas called for a quarantine of their cities, but the Mayor of Tehran said the measure was not practicable. He has advised all people aged over 60 to stay home, but he is not imposing a closure of shops or offices. Officials are relying on citizens to show self-restraint.
A claim by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on Friday that they were set to clean the streets, roads and shops over the weekend did not materialise with large numbers still out in Tehran shopping and acting as normal. The army instead started screening drills in a small number of provinces.
The President Hassan Rouhani said he opposed curfews, and also rejected plans for fines to be imposed on anyone found to be driving while infected. He said it would be a sufficient punishment to turn people back, and gave the go-ahead for roadside checks in 11 provinces. He also announced a three-month grace period for hard pressed businesses to pay tax, electricity, water and gas bills and banking loans.
The death toll remained concentrated with the most 251 dying in the capital Tehran, 84 in Qom city and 143 in Khorazan and 72 in Mazandaran province. The vast majority are aged over 60 or more.
On Saturday, cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiee denied all rumours about a lockdown in Tehran. (Guardian)
German doctors have warned that they face a personnel shortage, which should be of far greater concern than the oft-cited potential lack of ventilators in case of a mass outbreak. Michael Pfeiffer, president of the German Respiratory Society (DGP), said intensive care wards were already understaffed. He urged decision-makers to train extra staff as a matter of urgency.
Uwe Janssens, general secretary of the German Society for ICU Medicine and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), said the recommendations given by the Robert Koch Institute, the leading German public health advisory body, that every medical carer who has been in close, unprotected contact with confirmed coronavirus cases should self-isolate, was “quite simply not practical”. Janssens said it could lead to the collapse of Germany’s health system.
In the southern state of Bavaria, which is the third worst affected state, with 681 confirmed cases, local elections are taking place today, despite coronavirus fears, with people advised to bring their own pens, and soap, water and disinfectant on hand for voting station staff. The number of people who chose to vote by postal vote in the last few days, is said to have been considerably higher than in previous years.
As authorities ordered the closure of pubs and bars in Berlin, on top of the widespread closure of cultural venues, and all gatherings of 50 people or more, the city’s police urged the public not to call emergency services if they spotted a venue that had yet to close. “The order is still very new and word still needs to get around,” the police said in a tweet. “There is no need to ring our emergency number if you see pubs and bars which are still open.”
Gatherings of more than 50 people have been banned on the island of Montserrat.
The government also advised that all schools would be closed from 16 March-3 April, and hospital visits would be restricted until further notice.
The action curtailed St Patrick’s Week festivities and saw other events cancelled.
The move came after a passenger on a flight from the UK to Antigua tested positive for Covid-19 and it transpired that more than 80 Montserrat-bound passengers had travelled on the same flight. The passengers have been advised to self-isolate.
There are no confirmed cases on the island.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc has confirmed to staff its first two cases of coronavirus, Bloomberg News reports, citing internal memos.
The investment bank informed its staff that an employee from its London office had tested positive and was at home in isolation, the report said.
The London case followed an earlier memo to staff in its Sydney office that an employee working in its Governor Phillip Tower site had a confirmed case of coronavirus, the report added.
Guardian
Miami Beach closes portions of South Beach to reduce spread of coronavirus
From CNN’s Melissa Alonso
Miami Beach city officials are closing portions of South Beach in an effort to reduce the spread of novel coronavirus, according to a city press release.
City officials are “closing the beach from 7 to 10 streets,” areas highly frequented by beach-goers. To enforce this, Miami Beach Police began clearing the beach at 5 p.m. ET Saturday, the release said.
“Miami Beach is a popular vacation spot for spring breakers, yet with school closings and expanded spring breaks, the influx of visitors is extremely high,” said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber. “It would be irresponsible for us not to limit crowd sizes in these public areas.”
Brunei has barred its citizens and foreign residents in the country from leaving the south-east Asian nation due to the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters is reporting.
The health ministry said it had confirmed 10 new cases, bringing the tally to 50. (Guardian)
Spain is to punish people who fail to comply with the restrictions that have been imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. El Pais reported that people could be fined €100 euros, and even sentenced to a year in prison if they “seriously resist or disobey the authorities or their agents in the exercise of their functions ”.
People in Spain – Europe’s worst-hit country after Italy – have been banned from leaving their homes unless they are buying essential supplies and medicines, or going work, following the deaths of 191 people from the virus. (Guardian)
@fireandrain it’s a combination of factors. It is a last minute rush and it will subside. I’m sure it was lousy. It’s unique. And very few countries have the level of mobility and resources to have so many citizens abroad as we do.
There’s not a lot to be done in 24 hours to triple the staff and physical layout of an airport. Especially with screening. However it’s definately a lesson learned.
But I’m sure the teams there were working tirelessly.
I hope the passengers all get home safely.
Sportswear giant Nike Inc is set to close all of its stores in the United States and several other countries to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Nike stores in Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand will be closed from March 16 to 27, the company said in a statement.
However, Nike-owned stores in South Korea, Japan, most of China and in many other countries are currently open and will continue their normal operations.
“We are taking additional steps in other Nike-managed facilities, including the option to work from home,” it added.
Earlier this month Nike had temporarily closed its European headquarters in the Netherlands after an employee was infected with the coronavirus. (Guardian)
When I heard about Britain’s ‘herd immunity’ coronavirus plan, I thought it was satire, writes Dr William Hanage, a professor of the evolution and epidemiology of infectious disease at Harvard.
"The most fundamental function of a government is to keep its people safe. It is from this that it derives its authority, the confidence of the people and its legitimacy.
Nobody should be under the illusion that this is something that can be dodged through somehow manipulating a virus that we are only beginning to understand. This will not pass you by; this is not a tornado, it is a hurricane."
Your house is on fire, and the people whom you have trusted with your care are not trying to put it out. Even though they knew it was coming, and could see what happened to the neighbours as they were overwhelmed with terrifying speed, the UK government has inexplicably chosen to encourage the flames, in the misguided notion that somehow they will be able to control them.
When I first heard about this, I could not believe it. I research and teach the evolution and epidemiology of infectious disease at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health. My colleagues here in the US, even as they are reeling from the stumbling response of the Donald Trump administration to the crisis, assumed that reports of the UK policy were satire – an example of the wry humour for which the country is famed. But they are all too real.
Let me take the arguments on their merits. The stated aim has been to achieve “herd immunity” in order to manage the outbreak and prevent a catastrophic “second wave” next winter – even if Matt Hancock has tried to put that particular genie back in the bottle this weekend. A large proportion of the population is at lower risk of developing severe disease: roughly speaking anyone up to the age of 40. So the reasoning goes that even though in a perfect world we’d not want anyone to take the risk of infection, generating immunity in younger people is a way of protecting the population as a whole.
We talk about vaccines generating herd immunity, so why is this different? Because this is not a vaccine. This is an actual pandemic that will make a very large number of people sick, and some of them will die. Even though the mortality rate is likely quite low, a small fraction of a very large number is still a large number. And the mortality rate will climb when the NHS is overwhelmed. This would be expected to happen, even if we make the generous assumption that the government were entirely successful in restricting the virus to the low-risk population, at the peak of the outbreak the numbers requiring critical care would be greater than the number of beds available. This is made worse by the fact that people who are badly ill tend to remain so for a long time, which increases the burden.
And of course you can’t restrict it to this age group. Think of all the people aged between 20 and 40 who work in healthcare, or old people’s homes. You don’t need many introductions into settings like these for what we might coyly call “severe outcomes”. In Washington State, nearly all the deaths reported so far have been associated with nursing homes. Is everyone in a high-risk group supposed to withdraw themselves from society for six months until they can emerge once the (so far entirely imaginary) second wave has been averted?
About that second wave: let me be clear. Second waves are real things, and we have seen them in flu pandemics. This is not a flu pandemic. Flu rules do not apply. There might well be a second wave, I honestly don’t know. But vulnerable people should not be exposed to a virus right now in the service of a hypothetical future.
Keeping people safe means self-isolation if you develop symptoms, but the official advice here is also misleading. While it is of paramount importance that sick people stay at home to avoid infecting others, it is increasingly clear that transmission can occur before symptoms develop. We know this is true from modelling and observational studies. I have seen it happen myself. We do not know how often it occurs or how important it is in the epidemiology, but it definitely does happen.
However, arguments about the case fatality rate, the transmission parameters and presymptomatic transmission all miss the point. This virus is capable of shutting down countries. You should not want to be the next after Wuhan, Iran, Italy or Spain. In those places, the healthcare systems have broken down. In Italy, the choices of whom to save and whom to allow to die are real. You should instead look to the example of South Korea, which, through a combination of intense surveillance and social distancing, appears to have gained some semblance of control over the virus. We can learn from South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, all of which have so far done a good job mitigating the worst outcomes despite having reported cases early in the pandemic, and in the case of South Korea, suffering a substantial outbreak.
The UK should not be trying to create herd immunity, that will take care of itself. Policy should be directed at slowing the outbreak to a (more) manageable rate. What this looks like is strong social distancing. Anyone who can work from home, should. People who do not yet work from home should be encouraged to do so. Employers should guarantee sick pay, including for contacts of known cases, and do everything they can to discourage the practice of “presenteeism”. You should not shake hands. Not with anyone. You should wash your hands for 20 seconds several times a day and whenever you enter your home (or someone else’s home). Call a halt to large gatherings. Educate people about masks and how they should be reserved for the medical professionals who need them. All this and more should have started weeks ago.
Deciding whether to close schools is hard; they do so much more than just education. But this is a pandemic, and so you should expect they will be shut sooner or later. In Hong Kong, they have been shut for weeks. If you hear any talking head on TV explain that kids don’t get sick, remember that doesn’t mean kids cannot be infected and transmit. It’s probably a good idea to hold off on visits to Nana and Grandpa.
The most fundamental function of a government is to keep its people safe. It is from this that it derives its authority, the confidence of the people and its legitimacy. Nobody should be under the illusion that this is something that can be dodged through somehow manipulating a virus that we are only beginning to understand. This will not pass you by; this is not a tornado, it is a hurricane.
Don’t panic, but do prepare. If your government won’t help you, do it yourself.
• Dr William Hanage is a professor of the evolution and epidemiology of infectious disease at Harvard
GA now has 99 confirmed cases.
Mar 14, 2020,12:56pm EST
(Forbes)
The U.S. Is Now Under A Level 2 Travel Advisory
Suzanne Rowan KelleherContributor
Travel
CDC
What a difference a week makes. Last weekend, the State Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had flagged only a handful of countries as a “heightened risk assessment” for travel. Today, the revised risk assessment map sweeps across the entire world.
On March 7, only China, Iran, South Korea and Italy were flagged at Risk Assessment Level 3, meaning the CDC recommends that travelers avoid all nonessential travel. Japan was at Risk Assessment Level 2, meaning the CDC recommends that older adults or those who have chronic medical conditions should consider postponing travel.
Today, the map looks very different. China, Iran, South Korea and most of Europe is now at Level 3. The rest of the world, including the United States and the rest of North America, is now at Level 2, which indicates sustained community spread where travelers should practice enhanced precautions. Specifically, older adults and those with chronic medical conditions should consider postponing travel and all travelers should practice a set of recommendations both during and after traveling.
This is extremely unusual. CDC does not generally issue advisories or restrictions for travel within the United States. But these are unusual times: COVID-19 cases have now been reported in many states, and certain pockets are experiencing community spread of the disease. “Crowded travel settings, like airports, may increase your risk of exposure to COVID-19, if there are other travelers with COVID-19,” per the CDC website.
Urgent efforts to repatriate 30,000 British tourists from ski resorts in France are under way amid warnings of “widespread failures” in the travel sector in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
French mountains resorts closed at midnight on Saturday just hours after tens of thousands had landed for their annual holiday in the snow.
Leading ski and summer activity holiday company Neilson has called for the government to step in with “emergency measures”.
There were reports of chaos and confusion across the Alps with one source saying local police had taken the French government’s message into their own hands and going round hotels and restaurants telling marooned Britons to go home immediately.
Diane Palumbo, sales and marketing director at SkiWorld, said she had 900 customers across the Alps and they had been in talks with all the key resorts on Friday to warn them that if they were to close not to do so on Saturday when a fresh influx of tourists were scheduled to arrive.
“We are getting over our anger. It was literally not until 10pm last night that we were confident of the information we were receiving. The same people who had assured us on Thursday, Friday or even Saturday that they would remain open, have now all closed,” she said.
The French prime minister, Édouard Philippe, announced that the country must “close all non-essential locations, notably cafes, restaurants, cinemas, nightclubs and shops” from midnight.
Although ski-resorts were not specifically listed, the ski industry in the UK believe they are all closing.
One of the biggest operators, Inghams, said “as a responsible tour operator” it would not be operating any more holidays to French resorts for the rest of the season and advised those who were due to go out on Sunday to abandon plans.
Palumbo said all those who had booked through an ATOL backed agent would get their money back but that small- to medium-sized tour operators and travel companies could go bust.
“The airlines are very quick to ask for help from the government but this is a massive flow of people which will costs the industry millions. If the government does not step in travel companies will start to fail because the cost of repatriation will be enormous,” she said.
David Taylor, chief executive of Neilson holidays, said it was “hugely disappointed” that it received such short notice on the closures. He called for emergency measures for the sector.
With the Covid-19 crisis likely to last several months, we are asking the government to consider emergency measures specifically targeted at the travel and leisure sector to deliver immediate relief and help avoid widespread failures.
This remains an isolated issue on 2020 departures only and we are confident that next year will see a healthy recovery provided a swathe of relief measures recommended to the government are enacted.
Separately Ryanair was frantically working to repatriate customers stranded in Spain after the country was thrown into lockdown arrangements. It has also cancelled all flights to and from Poland.
“Ryanair Group Airlines (including Buzz and Lauda) has been forced to severely reduce flights to/from Spain, the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands from 24.00 Sun 15 Mar until 24.00 Thurs 19 Mar,” it said in a statement.
It added it was “contacting all affected customers by email to advise them of their options and we urge customs not to call us”.
Earlier, it announced all flights “to and from Poland have been cancelled from midnight on Saturday to midnight on 31 March”.
G7 leaders will discuss the importance of a coordinated response to the impact of coronavirus on the global economy, according to No 10 following a phone conversation between Boris Johnson and Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe.
A Downing Street spokesperson said:
The prime minister spoke to Japanese prime minister Abe about the coronavirus pandemic.
The leaders updated each other on their countries’ efforts to curb the spread of the virus. The prime minister stressed the importance the UK is placing on taking a science-led approach when deciding what measures to implement.
The prime minister and prime minister Abe agreed on the importance of international coordination to tackle the virus and its wider impact, particularly on the global economy, and they looked forward to the call between G7 leaders to discuss this.
The prime minster and prime minister Abe also discussed the UK and Japan’s efforts to combat climate change ahead of COP26 in Glasgow later this year.
Guardian
France will start reducing plane, train and coach services between cities from Sunday to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, two ministers said on Sunday.
In a joint news conference, ecology minister Elisabeth Borne and transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said cargo services would continue as normal, as would city metro services.
“We have to limit our movements as much as possible. Long distance trips must be kept to what is strictly necessary,” Borne said.
Djebbari said the number of long-distance trains would be cut by half, while several airport terminals in Paris would be closed.
Meanwhile, social distancing measures were observed in Paris as people stood a metre apart from each other while queueing at a bakery which is only letting three people in at a time this morning.
People in Norway have been ordered to leave their countryside cabins and return to their homes, due to fears rural hospitals could be ovewhelmed, according to Norwegian media.
The municipalities that have many cottages should be able to take care of their own inhabitants in a very demanding situation, health minister Bent Høie reportedly said.
This means that everyone now has to follow the strong request of the prime minister to pack their cases and go home. If they do not, we will prohibit them from staying in the cabin.
It comes after prime minister Erna Solberg threatened to deploy the civil defence to bring people home from their cabins.
An 83-year-old British national has tested positive for coronavirus after disembarking a cruise ship in Chile, local media reported.
The man, who was travelling on the Silver Explorer, is in a “good condition” in hospital in Coyhaique, Patagonia, the country’s health minister Jaime Manalich said, as quoted in La Tercera.
Chile has quarantined nearly 1,300 passengers on board the Silver Explorer and another ship in the port of Chacabuco.
Following the man’s diagnosis, the 500 residents of Caleta Tortel have also been made subject of restrictions for a fortnight after the passenger was in contact with several members of the community, the Chilean health ministry said.
Guardian
My brother emailed me from a plane saying he had boarded the last flight out of Morrocco. I’m praying that it actually took off and it arrives here safely.
He has been overseas working on a TV show. Certainly not there for leisure travel.
Wishing your brother well, @Nrdsb4.
Ugh Devin Nunes (from my state) went on tv this morning and told people to go out to restaurants with their families. “Likely you can get in easily,” he said.
Poor Dr. Fauci is doing his best to get people to take this seriously and the media and politicians are promoting dangerous and unscientific advice.
Some people took any criticisms of federal government’s handling of the current crisis as political. They aren’t. The situations at many airports since the emergency announcement and European travel ban should have been anticipated. This clearly shows ad hoc decision making and a complete lack of planning.
Yup.
According to someone on MSNBC right now, no word yet about the Tokyo Olympics.
So why is it a big problem in Europe too?
Look back a few posts.
This is unprecedented pressure on the travel and airline industry. Prepare better how? Like no one is thinking about this ? It’s just a rough spot.
Maybe without the planning that was done it could be much worse. How do we know.
LAX and O’Hare are owned and operated by their respective cities. The city person who operates the airport should have told arriving flights from Europe to hold passengers in the planes on the tarmac or at the gate before disembarking. They could have then controlled the number of people going through customs and testing at any one time. This isn’t rocket science. The federal government cannot magically hire more customs people overnight.
And these remarks on Hannity:
Of course, after people reacted with understandable frustration at these dumb comments, the unsurprising retort:
No, he didn’t, but he implied that people were doing this with no repercussions. Our leaders MUST be cognizant that WORDS MATTER and that one must speak with forethought to how those remarks might well be interpreted. That’s just the responsible thing to do and is not an unreasonable expectation.