King County launches SCAN, a surveillance program based on the Seattle Flu study, to better understand the spread of the virus.
States, yes are all impacted, but are dealing with varying severities of the COVID-19 effects, thus forcing some states to shut down entirely and others to “play it by ear.”
At this point…in my opinion, no state should be “playing it by ear”. It’s only a matter of time until this virus hits their state, and the sooner they restrict people contact, the more likely they are to contain the spread.
Ohio has not been impacted in nearly the same way as CA, NY, WA but their governor wisely took action early.
Better to try to be proactive than reactive.
The Feds could issue a national order, but the Feds would have no enforcement power unless the Prez wants to federalize the Guard, i.e., take control of them from the Governors. Much easier for the Guard – under state auspices – to work what local law enforcement to keep parks closed and folks from congregating.
Article in WSJ:
Those who want to play it by ear have no real concept of exponential functions.
The world wanting to play it by ear since there were such small numbers has led us to where we are now.
Discussing this politically last night in our family we came to the conclusion that democracies (republics) tend to be better when the world is going along just fine, but intelligent authoritarian regimes can certainly manage true crisis moments better since they have no hoops to jump through.
@creekland - it might depend on whether the authoritarian regime is headed by more of a benevolent despot or a megalomaniac.
And as for the “wait and see”, it’s already in every state. Smart governors will lock things down now to prevent a worsening of matters.
Congress needs to pass that bill! I cannot believe that things not related to the virus are being slipped in.
Surely one person could be both of those?
Rahm Emanuel: “You never want a crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.”
Did anyone watch today’s Cuomo presser? I’ve been working so didn’t get a chance. I find his pressers pretty informative. Wondering if there was anything new.
Woo hoo. Indiana govenor declared a shelter in place. H’s management sent an email they obtained an “essential business” exclusion for OH and IN. That’s debatable and a stretch…
He asked to work at home under ADA as a reasonable accommodation for his previous major and on-going health issues, and it was granted. Still has to work tomorrow first. Not happy on that, but overall a big relief.
The governor of Minnesota is in self quarantine after contact with someone who is positive:
http://www.startribune.com/gov-tim-walz-in-self-quarantine-after-contact-with-someone-who-has-covid-19/569026922/
…One of the members of Walz’s security team was found to have the virus Sunday night. The governor was in close proximity to that person late last week, according to a news release.
Walz found out about the security staff member’s situation early Monday morning and hasn’t left the governor’s residence in St. Paul since then. He will be working from the residence through April 6. …
Virgin Islands has closed hotels, campgrounds, short term rentals for 30 days. All nonessential business closed. Planes are arriving virtually empty yet leaving full.
https://viconsortium.com/vi-coronavirus/virgin-islands-occupancy-businesses-ordered-not-to-accept-more-guests-non-essential-businesses-to-cease-operations-until-april-6-bryan-orders-in-last-update-residents-encouraged-to-shelter-in-place-
…In addition to asking residents to shelter in their homes, the governor took further measures in his administration’s effort to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the territory. According to Government House, the measures include:
Non-essential businesses should cease in-person business operations until at least Monday, April 6, and should require their employees to stay home.
Hotels, guest houses, villas, bed and breakfasts, and similar businesses should not accept new guests for the next 30 days...
Several positives reported even though we know first hand testing is limited. My daughter’s work falls into the essential category so she is still getting paid.
https://viconsortium.com/vi-coronavirus/virgin-islands-there-are-now-17-positive-cases-of-the-coronavirus-in-the-u-s-virgin-islands-9-on-st-croix-including-limetree-bay-contractor-8-on-st-thomas
Positive: 17 (9 STX; 8 STT)
STX: 8 travel-related; 1 community transmission
STT: 5 travel-related; 3 community transmission
Negative: 55 (18 STX; 35 STT; 2 STJ)
Pending: 2 (1 STX; 1 STT)
I watched it. I already posted today’s numbers in other post, but here are some other highlights
Executive order: all hospitals have to increase their bed capacity by 50%.
There are still ICU beds available at this point, as regular hospital beds are being converted to ICU beds
Cuomo has enough supplies for this week and sent a big shipments to Long Island, Westchester, and NYC. He gave exact numbers. My quick estimate (I took a screen print) gives ratio of about 2 : 1 : 10 : 7 (Long Island : Westchester : NYC: the rest of NYS)
Since the state received the permission to do its own testing (March 13), the testing went up from 1,000 to 16,000 tests per day
The medical trials are going forward. They got permission to use plasma from recovered patients for patients in very critical condition.
NYC still has to come up with a plan for people who gather in groups. That plan will be expanded to Westchester and Nassau (could be Suffolk too)
The construction of the hospitals is moving forward
Indiana Governor’s Office
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has issued a stay-at-home order, which goes into effect just before midnight Tuesday and lasts until April 6.
The order calls for all Indiana residents to stay home unless they’re doing an essential activity such as getting food or medical supplies.
Like other states that have issued these orders, some workers deemed essential like grocery store and gas station employees and medical professionals are exempt from the order. CNN
WHO expects decision on Tokyo 2020 Games “very soon”
From CNN’s Aleks Klosok in London
A decision will be made “very soon” on the future of this summer’s Tokyo Games, according to Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program.
“We have every confidence the Japanese government and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) would not proceed with any Games if it would be dangerous to athletes and spectators," Ryan said at a press briefing at WHO Headquarters in Geneva on Monday.
Ryan added that the future of the Games was under “very, very close observation at the moment” and that the WHO was contributing to deliberations with all relevant parties involved.
The IOC said on Sunday it has given itself a deadline of four weeks to make a decision on the Games. It stated that cancellation is “not on the agenda,” and added that postponement and a “scaled-down" Games are options under consideration.
A number of nations’ Olympic committees have already called for the postponement of the Games until 2021.
Canada and Australia are so far the only two nations to confirm that they will not sending athletes to Tokyo this year because of the risks associated with the virus.
Pentagon chief wants to setup military field hospitals in US cities this week
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the military is looking into deploying field hospitals and personnel this week to areas in need like Seattle and New York City.
“We are looking at hospitals and equipment and medical professionals, and my aim is to get them out this week,” he said.
Esper said he is waiting on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to validate this deployment. “We’ll be moving out this week,” he said.
CNN
^^^Thank you!
Boeing will suspend production in Washington state for 2 weeks
From CNN’s Greg Wallace
Boeing announced today it will suspend production at its facilities in Washington state for two weeks beginning Wednesday.
The area is home to about half of Boeing’s employees and several production facilities.
It said employees who can work remotely would do so and others would be paid for 10 working days.
US Senate Democratic leader: “We are very close to reaching a deal” on coronavirus bill
From CNN’s Clare Foran
US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said a bipartisan deal could be reached shortly on the coronavirus bill.
“We are very close to reaching a deal. Very close. And our goal is to reach a deal today and we’re hopeful, even confident, that we will meet that goal,” said Schumer, who spoke after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Schumer argued that McConnell is setting “arbitrary vote deadlines” by continuing to set up procedural votes when a bipartisan deal has not yet been reached, downplaying the failed vote yesterday by emphasizing that the real action is the ongoing talks, not procedural votes.
Schumer noted he is meeting regularly with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House legislative director Eric Ueland to hash out a deal. “We hope and expect to conclude negotiations today," he said.
He called the bill they are discussing “the largest emergency funding bill in American history.”
Schumer addressed the news that Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s husband as well as Sen. Rand Paul have tested positive. “I want to let them know, both of them, that the Senate is thinking of them and praying for their speedy recovery,” he said.
Very useful graphs. Keep in mind both of them ha
Comparison of number of deaths in days among different countries (starting after the 10th death)
Trajectory of cases (starting at 100 cases)
https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest
WHO warns against using “untested drugs” in coronavirus response
From CNN’s Jacqueline Howard
As researchers continue seeking treatment options for Covid-19, the World Health Organization on Monday warned against using “untested drugs” to treat patients and running drug trials inappropriately.
“Small, observational and non-randomized studies will not give us the answers we need. Using untested drugs without the right evidence could raise false hope and even do more harm than good and cause a shortage of essential drugs that are needed to treat other diseases,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing on Monday.
“That’s why WHO has launched the SOLIDARITY trial, to generate robust, high-quality evidence as fast as possible,” Tedros said. “The more countries sign up to the trial and other large studies, the faster we will get results on which drugs work and the more lives we will be able to save.”
Last week, WHO and its partners launched an international clinical trial aimed at gathering and generating data on effective treatment options for Covid-19.
Currently, there is no known treatment for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
New Jersey suspends elective surgeries starting Friday
New Jersey is suspending all elective surgeries and invasive procedures scheduled to take place after 5 p.m. ET Friday until further notice, Gov. Phil Murphy announced at a news conference Monday.
About the executive order: It “applies to all medical and dental operations that can be delayed without undue risk to the current or future health of the patient, as determined by the patient’s physician or dentist.” CNN
Maryland shuts down all nonessential businesses
From CNN’s Gregory Lemos
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is closing nonessential businesses as of 5 p.m. ET today, but he is not issuing a “shelter in place” order.
“We are telling you, unless you have an essential reason to leave your house you should stay in your homes,” Hogan said Monday.
Today’s order shuts down all businesses considered non-critical infrastructure sectors as defined by federal guidelines issued last week.
Oh we agree - thus why we put the adjective intelligent before authoritarian. Technically one can be intelligent and evil - we just don’t put the two in the same category in our family discussions.