"Nationwide testing: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will distribute 200 test kits to labs nationwide, and another 200 test kits to international labs.
Previously, the CDC was the only lab in the United States able to test for the novel coronavirus. The CDC expects approved labs to be using the tests by early next week." (CNN)
We have always enjoyed going on cruises. Very inexpensive vacations, get to stay in the same room while traveling to different places, the kids get entertained as well as the adults, thereās something for everyone. Though after the last cruise, both me and my husband were viciously sick, and my husband was quarantined to his room and not allowed to leave the boat, even after he recovered. But we have been on many cruises and only sick on the last one. I donāt think people deserve or expect to get sick on a cruise. You may as well say that people who congregate at any crowded place should expect to get ill. We should just all wear gloves and masks everywhere, I guess.
No idea where this rumor came from. CDC guidance for health professionals about how to handle potential coronavirus cases says nothing about testing for other viruses first. At my institution, every patient who walks in the door is asked about potential exposure to Wuhan coronavirus. Every patient who calls about an illness is also screened for potential exposure, with protocols in place for limiting exposure if thereās any suspicion.
ETA: please verify your facts before posting.
My husband very reluctantly went on our first cruise in 2011. He had a lot of misperceptions about what it would be like. He enjoyed it so much that weāve been on five more in the last decade. We have never gotten sick or had any problems. Weāve seen incredible sights and even gone through the Panama Canal. We would missed out on a lot of great vacations if we hadnāt gone on cruises.
I have been on cruisesā¦and I fly on planes. Iāve gotten sick after many plane ridesā¦colds, stomach bugs, etc. I seem to always get seated next to the coughing person.
Cruise lines have taken very good precautions to deal with not spreading illness. They have protocol in place for this.
But they canāt prevent folks from taking the cruiseā¦and letās face itā¦some get on the boat sick. Some get on planes sick.
Wash your hands!
I get sick after nearly every plane ride in the last 20 years. Iām asthmatic and I always chalked it up to the bad air and common colds on planes. I often start coughing for no reason (especially on planes). I think Iāll bring my inhaler when I go out to public places( though I rarely use it). I donāt people to think I have anything serious.
Iām not sure if we 'll be planning a big vacation this year. At this point, I wouldnāt be open to traveling far this year. I wonder if many people will cancel or not plan to travel. Last Summer, there were about 20,000 people in Santorini in a single day who came off cruises. Many/most seem to be American. In that tiny port where cruise ships and ferries come in and out, a couple of sick people could spread a germ far and wide.
Iām glad to hear that health professionals are taking this seriously.
The above information came from an infectious disease doctor who believes that it is likely that people with Wuhan Coronavirus in the US have not all been identified over the past three weeks.
I strongly believe that health professionals care deeply about their patients, and hospitals are beginning to take 2019-nCoV more seriously. I am glad that at your institution, every patient who walks through the door is immediately asked for a travel and exposure history. Do you believe that has happened in every busy ER and Urgent Care in the country from the beginning of the outbreak? That would be difficult to pull off without any waiting room time.
My point was that it is probable that there have been patients with a cough and fever since the beginning of the outbreak who have been diagnosed with influenza (widespread in our area) or pneumonia without questions about travel or contact with travelers. It is likely that potential coronavirus cases were not all identified at the beginning, and may still be missed. There are personnel shortages, language barriers with patients, and difficulty disseminating new protocols to non-medical employees. A compassionate infectious disease doctor who is on the front lines of public health discussed this with me. A system run and implemented by human beings is slow to change and not perfect.
I did not say that health professionals donāt care. But at hospitals in our area over the past weeks, the protocol was that unless there was travel from Wuhan, people were checked for other causes of illness before going through the process of sending samples to the CDC. This was not a rumor. The CDC did update their guidelines for healthcare professionals on February 2nd and 3rd. Also, it will be easier to test for the virus since the CDC is sending the new test kits to multiple laboratories. Still, for a patient who does not need hospitalization, the CDC criteria for testing says to test only if the patient has traveled from Hubei Province within the last 14 days.
As we go through these viral events, I am sure that the response gets better. But hospitals are going to need more regulations, drills, and money/infrastructure. For example, how can you isolate everyone with a cough/fever if rooms are already full? Should we be isolating everyone with the flu? What about people who traveled here from China, but not Hubei, or people who are not aware where their contacts traveled? Although I firmly believe that health professionals care about patients and public health, it is still a complex and challenging problem.
āWhistleblowerā Chinese doctor dies from virus. Only 34.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51403795
3rd case in UK.
I donāt tend to do conspiracy theories but it does strike me as quite the coincidence that someone young and healthy died and it just happened to be the whistleblower.
But maybe this is me hoping itās not a sign of things to come.
I hate crowded spots so Iām glad my vacation plans are for driving trips to outdoor parks. Indoor spaces packed with people are not my thing anyway but this year seems an especially good one to avoid those sorts of places.
Agreed. Also makes me wonder if China is being as transparent with the situation as the entire rest of the world has been hoping.
^^^Yes, with reports that the crematoriums are working full time in China it does seem like the number of deaths may be being falsified.
āWhistleblowerā Chinese doctor dies from virus. Only 34."
I just saw this and find it alarming. This guy was young, and looked to be in decent shape. The fact that the coronavirus killed him suggests that itās far more lethal than your typical flu case. I know tons of people who have gotten the flu. Donāt know any who died from it.
We had a plane land yesterday here in San Diego from China. The passengers are at the Miramar Marine Base where they are quarantined for 14 days. This morning the news said that 4 of the passengers have been taken to local hospitals because of coughs and fever. No word yet on whether any of them have the virus.
Howās this for idiotic?
A man stood up on a flight and announced, āI just came back from Hunan province, the capital of the coronavirusā¦Iām not feeling too well. Thank you.ā The flight from Toronto to Jamaica was forced to turn around over Florida and return to Toronto.
He hadnāt been to China, was not sick, and was just looking for publicity.
āIām an artist. Any publicity for myself is good publicity. I had my camera with me ā I was looking to get a viral video. I was looking to get it up on all the social-media platforms. I figured it would invoke some kind of reaction ā not on the plane, more people seeing on social media going, āwow, this kidās got some balls,ā or, āthis kid is crazy,ā whatever it is.ā
Nice way to ruin a whole lot of peopleās vacations. Heās being criminally charged. I hope they throw the book at him.
https://onemileatatime.com/flight-diverts-man-jokes-about-coronavirus/
So far the US human to human transmissions are minimal. Just the spouse to spouse cases in the Bay Area and Chicago. Maybe it wonāt be an epidemic here. We can hope.
The minor who was taken to the hospital with a fever from March AFB in Riverside has been confirmed NOT to have coronavirus.
If he was a doctor, perhaps being exposed to a high number of very ill patients with a high viral load might have caused his illness to be more severe than others. Thatās making an assumption that he was exposed to patients very sick with the virus.
You may remember that the ebola patient in Dallas had exposed over a hundred people after he arrived, but it wasnāt until he was in the hospital, incredibly ill, that he actually infected anyone. How high the viral load of a coronavirus patient is might well affect how sick others get when exposed.
I donāt know the answer to that, however.
While the protocols may be in place, they certainly were not a week or two ago. Both my kids have had the flu. One went to a health stop, the other to BS health center. The BS, which has many Chinese students was acting very carefully and had taken great protocols. Honestly, they had even sent a letter several days beforehand. The health stop, on the other hand, had zero protocols. While the BS would be able to track a student from China or someone who had visited Wuhan, the HealthStop would not. Since they didnāt ask. Unless someone volunteered they had visited or a had contact with someone who did, it wasnāt going to happen.
I think people tend to put too much faith in institutions doing the correct thing 100% of the time. What are the chances that even Customs is checking each and every passenger and no one gets through? About zero. Best case is, they can only the slow the virus and hope that it doesnāt take hold that much outside of China.
Some may have faith in the US healthcare system but I do not. Waits of 3-5 hours are common for the ER in major metropolitan cities. And hospital beds are often full. During normal times, the health care is stretched with few doctors and nurses per person. Yes, we have excellent intensive care and surgical procedures but they are not limitless. I just hope they have a good plan.
Glad to see he is being charge with a crime.
May I ask that we not post about possible cases and only confirmed cases, because there are many references to possible and testing but the majority do come back negative.
Thank you @TatinG for letting us know about that case from March AFB. I was wondering how that had turned out.