Coronavirus in the US

Parent Cafe
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Missouri governor anticipates health officials will test up to 10,000 people a day in April
From CNN’s Melissa Alonso

Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons expects health officials will be able to process 7,000 to 10,000 COVID-19 tests a day starting in April, including private testing, he said at a news briefing on Wednesday.

Officials expect positive tests “to climb,” with the increase in testing, Parsons said.

Parsons addressed questions regarding his decision to leave closures of schools, restaurants and businesses to local officials and business owners.

If businesses close or remain open, “it’s up to the private sector,” Parsons said.

Some small school districts don’t have daycare facilities separate from K-12 schools but the large majority of districts have already decided to close, according to Parsons.

California reports its 15th coronavirus-related death
From CNN’s Cheri Mossburg

A man died in Santa Clara County from novel coronavirus, according to a statement from the public health department.

This is the sixth death in Santa Clara County and the 15th in California.

More data: In the US, at least 120 people have died as a result of COVID-19.

The number of cases in California currently stands at 612.

Santa Clara County has five new coronavirus cases, and another eight have been confirmed in San Francisco. No details of the severity or transmission have been provided.

“We caution the media and the public from relying too heavily on confirmed case count as an indicator of the situation in San Francisco,” the city’s Department of Emergency Management warned."

First cases of coronavirus in the federal prison system identified
From CNN’s David Shortell

Two federal Bureau of Prisons employees have tested positive for coronavirus, according to Sue Allison, an agency spokesperson.

The tests came back in the past 24 hours and represent the first known cases of the virus in the federal prison system, according to the BOP. No inmates have yet tested positive.

One staffer worked at a medium security prison in Berlin, New Hampshire. The other worked at an administrative facility in Grand Prairie, Texas, according to Allison. Their identities and positions were not provided.

The BOP has notified local health officials and is doing a risk assessment internally to determine who might have been exposed to the infected workers, Allison said.

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“Bergen County College will be up and running by Friday as a testing site which will prioritize symptomatic patients along with health care workers and first responders. It can collect up to 2,500 specimens a day, officials said.”

There is your bottleneck. Sample collection. How many samples can a nurse process per hour? The sample needs to be collected and also must be labeled so that there is no mess-up, too.

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@doschicos wrote:

eastcoascrazy wrote: »
Again, all you non legal, non medical people, please stop trying to dictate what Medical Students are able to legally do in any healthcare situation.

Legally, this is a good summary of the scope and legal limitations of medical students:

“Guidelines and rules can be changed when needed. We’ve already seen a small amount of that - no need to worry about state licenses for doctors from different states, lower criteria limits for masks. In times of crisis, all kinds of regulations going out the window.”

Please tell us what, exactly, you think a third year medical student knows in terms of practical, useful, skills, that can be legally, snd more importantly, safely performed without supervision.

This is NOT the equivalent of allowing licensed physicians to practice across state lines.

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Coronavirus deaths in Italy happen “8 days” after first symptoms appear on average
From CNN’s Mia Alberti in Lisbon and Nicola Ruotolo in Rome

On average, COVID-19 fatalities in Italy are happening “eight days” after patients show first symptoms, according to a report by the Italian government. The findings are based on data up to March 17 and only on the outbreak in Italy.

The document published by the Italian National Health Institute details that, on average, it takes four days from when patients show first symptoms until they are hospitalized and four more days until they die.

The median average age of Italian deceased is 80.5 years old, while the median average for those infected is 63, the report says.

Women only make up 30% of the total dead and their median average age at the time of death is higher than men, at 83.6 years old.

The government also found that most people had two or three existing pathologies prior to being infected with the coronavirus. Among those, high blood pressure was the most common, followed by heart problems and diabetes.

As for the most common complications developed because of the virus, respiratory failure was the leading one, happening in 97.2% of the cases. Liver and heart failure were the second and third most common complications.

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Love Fauci! He amazing! Thank goodness for him! Great interview @7805!

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@Sue22

Well…I’m not sure this is everywhere. But the teachers around here are working doing online classes, Zoom lessons, and the like. They are working during the day.

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The United States is suspending all routine immigrant and non-immigrant visa services as of Wednesday in most countries worldwide due to the pandemic, a State Department spokeswoman has said.

She did not clarify which or how many countries are halting services, but said US missions abroad will continue to provide emergency visa services “as resources allow” – and that the services to US citizens will remain available. Missions will resume routine visa services as soon as possible, the spokeswoman said, without giving a date.

Meanwhile, in New York, the governor has announced new controls:

Andrew Cuomo
:heavy_check_mark:
@NYGovCuomo

BREAKING: NY, PA, CT, and NJ will temporarily close all indoor portions of retail shopping malls, amusement parks and bowling alleys effective tomorrow 8PM.

Together we will reduce density and slow the spread of #Coronavirus.

In the UK, the shadow foreign minister Lloyd Russell-Moyle has announced he’s tested positive.

In a Facebook post, the Labour MP for Kemptown and Peacehaven said he received the test results this afternoon – after six days of waiting.

I’ve just been informed by my doctor that I have tested positive to Covid-19. I felt symptoms last Wednesday, immediately self-isolated and called 111. I had a home visit and was tested on Thursday, this was the last day of community testing.

I received the result this afternoon after six days of waiting. If we are serious about the WHO advice of ‘Test, Test, Test’ then we need to do better than this.

As many as 24,000 former healthcare workers have contacted the Irish health service to offer their help after the country’s government issued a call to arms.

Retired doctors, nurses, therapists and university students with sufficient skills to register with the health service have been calling in, Reuters reports.

The health minister, Simon Harris, has promised there will be no financial limits to the recruitment programme and no constraint on the numbers to be hired, telling prospective candidates: “Your country needs you.”

Guardian

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If that true then why haven’t states and the federal government reduced, capped, suspended or eliminated tort liability for doctors and hospitals?

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OH closed their BMVs, salons, spas and tattoo parlors today. https://fox8.com/news/coronavirus/ohio-gov-dewine-closes-bmvs-salons-asks-employers-to-take-temperatures/

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So now Louisiana has 6 deaths and 4 of them were residents of Lambeth House. This is looking like the Kirkland case all over again.

And yet… the Crescent City Farmer’s market still had it’s Tuesday morning market in the adjacent parking lot. That is their biggest market and they posted on social media that they were limiting access and making sure that people waiting in line were 6 feet apart. But, they were still letting people use cash which is exceedingly foolish. And, they were on a site that had 0 known cases last Tuesday and 12 this week! They need to move that market until every resident, employee, vendor, and delivery person to Lambeth House has been tested, and gotten their results back!

I went to last Tuesday’s market, when we were all ignorant, and I’ve been counting the days since…

https://www.nola.com/news/coronavirus/article_8497bf68-6943-11ea-ac78-43ceb568df51.html

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There’s a lot of not on the frontline work that needs to be done in a crisis that doesn’t require years of expertise. They do those jobs and free up people for more serious stuff. Lots of hospital jobs only require a couple years of training. When things get bad enough, and get into war-time triage mode, everyone gets a bump up and, yes, they may be put into service where they don’t have the necessary established skill set. It might not have come to that but it certainly could come to that. Any idle hands with a little training would be welcomed.

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More than 12,000 flights have been canceled today worldwide
From CNN’s Aaron Cooper

There are 12,094 cancelations worldwide today, according to Flight Aware.

Flight Aware is continuously updating its data — here’s where cancellations stand at this moment:

Total worldwide cancellations today: 12,094
Total cancellations within, into, or out of the United States today: 2,511

**Senate passes coronavirus relief legislation
From CNN’s Clare Foran and Ted Barrett

The Senate just passed the House-passed coronavirus relief legislation that includes provisions for free testing for COVID-19 and paid emergency leave.

The measure will now go to President Trump for his signature. Trump expressed support for the package last week, paving the way for a broad bipartisan vote in the House.

The final tally was 90-8. The “no” votes were Sens. Marsha Blackburn, Jim Inhofe, James Lankford, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Ben Sasse, Tim Scott and Ron Johnson.

Passage will also allow the Senate to devote its full attention to passing the next relief package in response to the coronavirus crisis.

Some background: McConnell and other Senate Republicans had been critical of the House-passed legislation, but emphasized that it is urgent to get relief to the American people amid the coronavirus crisis. McConnell reiterated today that he will not adjourn the Senate until it passes what lawmakers are describing as a “phase three” economic stimulus package in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

After an initial vote last week, the House approved a set of changes to the legislation on Monday, clearing the path for the Senate to take it up this week.

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Worth reposting:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/16/opinions/south-korea-italy-coronavirus-survivability-sepkowitz/index.html

If you are wondering how Italy’s covid-hit population stacks up against Korea (and you can make comparison with the rest of the world… )

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Reuters is reporting that two World Bank Group employees in Washington DC have been diagnosed with Covid-19. It cited a memo to workers from the World Bank Group’s president, David Malpass.

According to the report, Malpass said the diagnoses marked the first cases at the World Bank and its sister organisations, but further cases could be diagnosed in the coming days and weeks.

Both the Bank and the International Monetary Fund have advised their headquarters staff and contractors to work from home after an employee of the latter was diagnosed with Covid-19.

The virus is spreading rapidly in France, Prof Jérôme Salomon, director of the French health authority, has said.

There are 9,134 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in France, and there have been 264 deaths – an increase of 89 in the last 24 hours. Of those infected, 2,626 are in hospital; 931 of them in intensive care, half of whom are under 60 years old.

There are still lots of people in the streets with masks and we can understand their worry … but it is completely useless for those in the the streets. Only health workers and their patients need to wear masks. There is not sense in others wearing masks.

Everyone who has masks for different reasons, if you have a stock of masks that you are not using please given them to health clinics, hospitals or even your local pharmacy who will pass them on to health workers.

Salomon thanked the Chinese authorities who had given France one million masks.

France has carried out 4,000 tests today (42,000 since the beginning of the epidemic).

The fine for ignoring the order to stay at home was raised to €135 (£126.11) on Wednesday and those fined were told it would rise to €375 if not paid within seven days.

In and around Paris, the police and gendarmes reported they had stopped 10,000 people and verified if they had the necessary documents allowing them to be out.

The French health minister, Olivier Véran, said most people come into contact with around 50 people per day in normal circumstances. He called on everyone to reduce this to five people.

The prime minister, Edouard Philippe, said the government was to introduce a “health state of emergency”. The legal move would allow the government to “adapt our legal rules in a very temporary manner to take into account the particular situation caused by the epidemic”, Philippe said.

Angela Merkel has called the pandemic “the biggest challenge since World War Two” as she appealed to German citizens to help protect each other from the virus by restricting their social interactions.

In her first televised address to the nation in 14 years as chancellor – outside her annual New Year’s address – Merkel warned that all state-run attempts to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus would prove futile unless individuals changed their personal behaviour.

“This is serious, so take it seriously,” the German chancellor said in pre-recorded remarks that will go out on German television just before tonight’s main news programmes.

Since German reunification, no, since the Second World War there has been no challenge to our country that will require us to act in mutual solidarity.

Merkel said her government was focused on the main goal of “slowing down the spread of the virus, to stretch it out over months and thus win time”, which could be used to research a vaccine and avoid overwhelming the German health service.

Earlier in the day, state and federal leaders announced their intention to double the country’s number of intensive respiratory care beds. Germany currently has around 25,000 intensive care beds with respiratory capacity.

Guardian

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Except folks will shortly run out of foodstuffs. And in our SoCal community, the supermarkets have been out of bread, milk, frozen food, peanut butter, canned veggies, rice, and of course, toilet paper for a week. The Farmer’s Markets are closed.

Can’t harbor in place without food. So, its race to store to store…(for doing the right thing and not hoarding).

Blood banks are also now in short supply as folks are trying to do the right thing by staying home.

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Israel’s government has announced it will deny entry to any person who is neither a citizen or living in the country, shutting off the state almost entirely.

Tourists and visitors were previously allowed to enter if they could prove they had a suitable place to self-isolate for 14 days, such as an apartment. As of Wednesday, according to the Population and Immigration Authority, that exception will no longer apply.

Beginning today, the entrance of foreigners will not be allowed into Israel, even if they can prove they could remain in quarantine.

The country, where there are around 430 confirmed cases, has taken stringent measures to contain the spread, including shutting down all schools, cafes and malls. On Tuesday, the government approved a controversial measure to track people suspected or confirmed to have been infected by monitoring their phones.

Ireland’s banks are to grant a three-month payment pause to mortgage holders impacted by coronavirus.

The decision followed a week ofwhich told banks to show compassion and bail out the public just as taxpayers helped the country’s lenders during the financial crash in 2010.

People struggling to pay their mortgage – a likelihood given hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk – are being told to contact their bank to discuss options.

The finance minister, Paschal Donohue, made the announcement after meeting the five chief executives of retail banks and the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland.

He said the banks also agreed to defer loan repayments for business, extend credit guarantees and raise the maximum that can be spent on contactless cards to €50 (£46.78).

The UK announces it is closing schools to curb virus spread

Boris Johnson has announced that UK schools will close, after days of pressure and the announcement of the closure of schools in Wales and Scotland earlier today.

The prime minister said there is a need to apply further pressure on the upward curve of the disease. He refused to say how long he thought closures would last.

Guardian

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People are being reminded to get some exercise despite the UK government’s call for the country to be largely put into lockdown.

The chief medical officer for England, Prof Chris Whitty said it was important that both children and adults still take exercise while in social isolation.

Being outside in the park is a very good thing to do and taking exercise is always a good thing to do - the thing we are trying to avoid is people meeting up unnecessarily or having unnecessary social contact.

Going to the park, yes. Crowding together with lots of people for a long time, that is the kind of thing we would rather people did not do.

Asked if it was safe for a few people to kick a ball about, Prof
Whitty said:

If it is in the open air and people are keeping their distance, then we would certainly want people to continue to enjoy themselves.

He said the UK was in for the “long haul” in terms of social distancing measures.

We’ve described it as a marathon not a sprint and we do have to be able to do things over many weeks to months if we are going to seriously get on top of this epidemic that is heading our way. (Guardian)

Over 50% of New Jersey coronavirus cases are hospitalized
From CNN’s Melanie Schuman

In 18 of New Jersey’s 21 counties there is a case of coronavirus, according to the state officials. The largest number of cases are concentrated in Bergen County which has 27 new cases for a total of 113.

Patients range in age from 5 to 95 and more than 50 percent of these patients in New Jersey are hospitalized.

Conveying the serious nature of the virus, Gov. Phil Murphy addressed people he described as “non-believers” and said, “Believe us, trust us.”

Officials said the two new deaths were both females over 60 and had underlying health conditions.

No decisions have been made in the state about closing schools for the rest of the year.

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Connecticut reports first coronavirus death

At least one person has died from COVID-19 in Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Wednesday.

This is the first death in the state, Lamont said in a tweet. The patient, a man in his 80s, died after being recently admitted to Danbury Hospital, he said. (CNN)

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I wasn’t suggesting that med students can take the place of doctors. That would be overreach in the extreme. But I find it hard to believe that a student who has already finished a couple of rotations couldn’t be trained to do some of the most basic nursing functions like taking blood pressures and helping with toileting, freeing up trained nurses to do the more complex of their tasks.

Of course I’d rather have them finish their education so they can be on the front lines, even if they’re green.

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And interior shopping malls in CT are closing as of 5 pm Thursday.