Coronavirus in the US

[Hamurtle]

About the affluent spreading Covid. Mexico has seen a rise in the last week or so. From the wealthy going to ski trips to Vail and bringing it back. Does anyone have a link?

Similarly some of the earliest cases in the UK were from people who went to Switzerland for ski vacations.

The danger for the UK now is all the people going to the sunny Mediterranean for their holidays and being vectors if they return. And Spring Break in the US and kids going to Florida, then returning to their home states.

[alh]

I understand folks driving to their second home to shelter in place. What I don’t understand is not bringing groceries and supplies with them so as not to bring new germs to locals by shopping there. It exposes newcomers and locals to new germs.

[suzyQ7]

@alh

I understand folks driving to their second home to shelter in place. What I don’t understand is not bringing groceries and supplies with them so as not to bring new germs to locals by shopping there. It exposes newcomers and locals to new germs.

I agree - to a point. There is a safe way to go to the grocery store. 1 Person - with gloves and a scarf. 6 ft distancing from all people. Wipe the cart and go to self checkout (wear gloves). Everyone needs to do their part wherever they are.

[Iglooo]

The state to follow is Ohio, which enacted the tightest restrictions earliest. So far, things are looking better for OH than for places like Michigan (the map missed the fact that OH issues a “shelter in place” order a few hours after Illinois, and had closed restaurants and schools far sooner after the first cases were detected than other states.

Ohio has done everything right. They probably could loosen up the restrictions soon.

@alh Even if they brought groceries, they will be go out. People always forget

[calmom]

I wonder if it’s a coincidence that the 3 hardest hit states (California, New York, Washington)…

Numbers are shifting – New Jersey now has more active cases the California.

From:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

It has now been 7 days since stay-at-home orders were issued throughout the San Francisco bay area – and there is some indication that has been effective to slow down the rate of infections:
https://swell.life/article/rMYhMFSSqDXi/bayarea-is-flattening-the-curve
(Note – this is from a privately maintained site – but I have been looking and haven’t found another good source of numbers that breaks it out & charts specific localities).

[roycroftmom]

I am not sure the conclusions are supported. One might think that South Korea’s strict controls are responsible for its low death rate, but most doctors say the rate was really just the result of the demographics of the victims-female nonsmokers in their 20s. Similarly, Italy has a geriatric population, and as we know from Washington, the elderly are at high risk of death. I fully support a federal lockdown, but I don’t think Washington necessarily did anything “wrong”, and other states were right. There is a lot of luck involved. One infected person walking into an Ohio nursing home would throw the numbers into disarray.

[greenwitch]

Here’s a link for you @Hamurtle:

https://news.yahoo.com/mexicos-wealthiest-residents-went-colorado-001235027.html

[suzyQ7]

Messages from a Palm Beach native who lives in the epicenter of Coronavirus in Borgamo, Italy:

https://cbs12.com/news/local/palm-beach-woman-living-in-italys-hardest-hit-lombardy-region-warns-stay-at-home-now

[Panhandlegal1]

Apple is reportedly donating 9 million N95 masks to healthcare facilities. Why would they have this many of these specialized masks?

[suzyQ7]

@Panhandlegal1

Apple is reportedly donating 9 million N95 masks to healthcare facilities. Why would they have this many of these specialized masks?

Northern California fires.

[NJSue]

Numbers are shifting – New Jersey now has more active cases the California.

New Jersey has a lot of back-and-forth travel to Italy (look at the ethnic makeup of the state). It’s thought that “patient zero” (the person who unwittingly infected the Central NJ horse country family and the first NJ fatality, who was also in the horse industry) was a visitor from Italy. However, since much of NJ is suburban, I am hoping that the NYC pattern of infection will not repeat itself here as we lack the super-density of NYC and dependence on mass public transport (subway). Maybe it’s wishful thinking. But we absolutely need a lockdown and I am in 100% support of Governor Murphy’s decisions thus far.

Globalization is a blessing and a curse.

[doschicos]

CHINA - 47 new cases totaling 81,218 and 4 new deaths totaling 3,281.

ITALY - 5,249 new cases totaling 69,176 and 743 new deaths totaling 6,820.

**USA - 11,089 new cases totaling 54,823 and 225 new deaths totaling 778.
New York Governor Cuomo says:
Peak number of cases is still 2 to 3 weeks away in New York
“We’ve procured about 7,000 ventilators. We need, as a minimum, other 30,000 ventilators. This is a critical and desperate need for ventilators […] We need them in 14 days. Fema is sending 400 ventilators only. Federal action is needed to address this now through the Federal Defense Production Act”
"The numbers are higher in New York because it started here first, it has a lot of international travelers and has high density, but you will see this in cities all across the country, and in suburban communities. Where we are today, you’ll be in 4 weeks or 6 weeks.
Probably “hundreds of thousands of people” have already had Covid-19, didn’t know they had it, and recovered. Should be tested for antibodies so they could go back to work and keep the economy going.

SPAIN - 6,922 new cases totaling 42,058 and 680 new deaths totaling 2,991.

GERMANY - 3,935 new cases totaling 32,991 and 36 new deaths totaling 159.

IRAN - 1,762 new cases totaling 24,811 and 122 new deaths totaling 1,934.

FRANCE - 2,448 new cases totaling 22,304 and 240 new deaths totaling 1,100.

SWITZERLAND - 1,082 new cases totaling 9,877 and 2 new deaths totaling 122.

S. KOREA - 100 new cases totaling 9,137 and 6 new deaths totaling 126.

UK - 1,427 new cases totaling 8,077 and 87 new deaths totaling 422.

NETHERLANDS - 811 new cases totaling 5,560 and 63 new deaths totaling 276.

AUSTRIA - 809 new cases totaling 5,283 and 7 new deaths totaling 28.

BELGIUM - 526 new cases totaling 4,269 and 34 new deaths totaling 122.

NORWAY - 241 new cases totaling 2,866 and 2 new deaths totaling 12.

*CANADA - 701 new cases totaling 2,792 and 2 new deaths totaling 26.

PORTUGAL - 302 new cases totaling 2,362 and 10 new deaths totaling 33.

AUSTRALIA - 430 new cases totaling 2,317 and 1 new death totaling 8.

*BRAZIL - 323 new cases totaling 2,247 and 12 new deaths totaling 46.

*ISRAEL - 488 new cases totaling 1,930 and 2 new deaths totaling 3.

*TURKEY - 343 new cases totaling 1,872 and 7 new deaths totaling 44.

MALAYSIA - 106 new cases totaling 1,624 and 2 new deaths totaling 16.

DENMARK - 131 new cases totaling 1,591 and 2 new deaths totaling 16.

CZECH REPUBLIC - 158 new cases totaling 1,394 and 2 new deaths totaling 3.

*IRELAND - 204 new cases totaling 1,329 and 1 new death totaling 7.

*LUXEMBOURG - 224 new cases totaling 1,099.

ECUADOR - 101 new cases totaling 1,082 and 9 new deaths totaling 27.

PAKISTAN - 97 new cases totaling 972 and 1 new death totaling 7.

CHILE - 176 new cases totaling 922.

POLAND - 152 new cases totaling 901 and 2 new deaths totaling 10.

THAILAND - 106 new cases totaling 827 and 3 new deaths totaling 4.

*ROMANIA - 218 new cases totaling 794 and 5 new deaths totaling 12.
Issues stay at home order

*SAUDI ARABIA - 205 new cases totaling 767 and 1st death.

INDONESIA - 107 new cases totaling 686 and 6 new deaths totaling 55.

ICELAND - 60 new cases totaling 648 and 1 new death totaling 2.

SINGAPORE - 49 new cases totaling 558.

*SOUTH AFRICA - 152 new cases totaling 554.

*PHILIPPINES - 90 new cases totaling 552 and 2 new death totaling 35.

INDIA - 37 new cases totaling 536 and no new deaths totaling 10.
PM Modi announces 21-day complete national lockdown from midnight tonight.

RUSSIA - 57 new cases totaling 495.

*PANAMA - 98 new cases totaling 443 and no new deaths totaling 6.

PERU - 21 new cases totaling 416 and 2 new deaths totaling 7.

EGYPT - 36 new cases totaling 402 and 1 new death totaling 20.

*ARGENTINA - 86 new cases totaling 387 and 2 new deaths totaling 6.

HONG KONG - 30 new cases totaling 387.

*CROATIA - 67 new cases totaling 382.

*COLOMBIA - 101 new cases totaling 378 and no new deaths totaling 3.

MEXICO - 51 new cases totaling 367 and 1 new death totaling 4.

LEBANON - 51 new cases totaling 318.

IRAQ - 50 new cases totaling 316 and 4 new deaths totaling 27.

*DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - 67 new cases totaling 312 and 3 new deaths totaling 6.

SERBIA - 54 new cases totaling 303.

ALGERIA - 34 new cases totaling 264 and 2 new deaths totaling 19.

*UAE - 50 new cases totaling 248.

LITHUANIA - 30 new cases totaling 209 and 1 new death totaling 2.

*NEW ZEALAND - 103 new cases totaling 205.
State of Emergency declared. Probable cases are now counted and treated as confirmed cases. 3 new probable cases and 10 from the previous days have been added to the total today.

AFGHANISTAN - 34 new cases totaling 74.

IVORY COAST - 48 new cases totaling 73.

1st confirmed cases - LAOS (2), LIBYA

[TatinG]

Michigan seems slow on this. Just issued lockdown yesterday. But they have a lot of cases proportionally.

[TatinG]

It’s amazing that Portugal has so many fewer cases than Spain, just next door.

[doschicos]

Brazil’s President criticizes the media for sparking “hysteria” over coronavirus
From CNN’s Tatiana Arias in Atlanta and Shasta Darlington in Sao Paulo

In a four-and-a-half-minute speech broadcast on national television and radio, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro criticized the media for sparking what he called fear and hysteria over the coronavirus and some regional authorities for “scorched earth” policies.

Bolsonaro took governors and mayors to task for adopting measures suggested by the World Health Organization and adopted by other countries, like social distancing and self-quarantine.

“What we’ve seen in the world is that the risk group is people over 60 years old. So why close schools?” he asked.
He also pointed to the closing of stores and restrictions on transportation as problematic.

“The virus arrived and is being faced down by us and shortly will pass. Our life has to go on. Jobs should be maintained,” he said.

Bolsonaro also blamed the press for a “sense of dread” and for causing “real hysteria in the country.”

Waffle House is almost always open. Now 350 of its locations are closed across US

Waffle House has closed 365 of its restaurants across the United States as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement on the company’s social media accounts Tuesday, Waffle House said 1,627 locations remain open at this time.

The closures were announced along with the hashtag “WaffleHouseIndexRed.”

In a previous tweet, Waffle House asked patrons to think of their employees as they navigate through this crisis.

“Our associates are the true heroes during this time and appreciate any order you are able [to] place with them.”

Waffle House almost never shuts: The breakfast chain typically only closes during major disasters like hurricanes or storms. Waffle House has become something of a canary in the coal mine when it comes to measuring just how serious a particular disaster is – the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) even coined the term “Waffle House Index” to measure the effect of a natural disaster on an area. If a Waffle House shuts down or limits its menu after such hazards, federal officials conclude the community took a major hit.

[doschicos]

Trump wants an early return to work. Hong Kong tried this and now has a second wave of cases
Analysis by CNN’s James Griffiths

Days after most Americans began life on lockdown, President Donald Trump has already said he wants the nation “opened up and just raring to go” by April 12.

That’s just over two weeks away, and most doctors believe far too early for a return to normal, risking another wave of coronavirus infections that could quickly spiral out of control. But Trump, along with many prominent US conservatives, is concerned about the effects on the economy – particularly the markets – should people be away from work for too long.

Other governments have tackled with this issue already, with authorities across China moving to bail out affected businesses and provide payments to people living on lockdown, making it easier for them to stay at home and help rein in the outbreak.

Hong Kong, one of the first places outside mainland China to see infections, also provides a model for what happens when you go back to work too soon.

This week, the city sent civil servants back home after they returned to their offices around the start of the month. Numbers had been stable in Hong Kong when that decision was made, but imported infections combined with a lack of social distancing soon led to a new wave of local cases.

That experience should cause alarm for anyone advocating a quick return to work in the US. New York City alone has 50 times the number of confirmed cases as Hong Kong, even after the new wave of infections. Cities in the US are also far less able to control transport in and out, or even keep track of imported infections until they show up at hospitals.

Trump and his backers in conservative media may be concerned what happens to the stock market if workers are at home for too long, but there’s no reason to suppose the line will go up if they’re in hospitals or morgues instead. As Hong Kong has shown, fighting the coronavirus is a long game, and you can’t rush it.

[doschicos]

New Zealand declares a state of emergency
From CNN’s Akanksha Sharma in Hong Kong

New Zealand has declared a state of national emergency as cases of the novel coronavirus continue to rise in the country, the National Emergency Management Agency announced on Wednesday.

The move will see New Zealand elevating its “Alert Level” to 4 from 11:59 p.m. local time (6:59 a.m. ET) on Wednesday.

What this means:

People told to stay at home: Anyone “not working in essential services must stay at home and stop all interactions with others outside of your household,” the agency said.
Essential services will remain open: Health care and food stores such as supermarkets will remain available. However, all indoor and outdoor events will be banned and schools will close.
Public transport limited: Public transport will only be available for those working in essential services, for medical reasons and to get to the supermarket.
Cross-country travel: Domestic air travel will also be limited to people undertaking essential services.
“This decision was not made lightly. If we all do our part and stay home we will save lives,” New Zealand’s Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare tweeted following the announcement.

China says new cases of coronavirus are all imported
CNN

Mainland China reported 47 new cases of the novel coronavirus as of end of day Tuesday – all of which were imported.

China’s National Health Commission reported four new deaths, bringing the total death toll to 3,281.

The total number of confirmed infections in the country stands at 81,218, with 474 imported cases.

There were no new confirmed cases in Hubei province, where the coronavirus was first identified.

The commission added that a total of 73,650 patients in mainland China have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

[suzyQ7]

@TatinG

It’s amazing that Portugal has so many fewer cases than Spain, just next door.

I think they are just behind by a week - the exponential math will get them too most likely. However, its possible that Portugal may have learned from Italy and Spain and got the restrictions in before the spread got out of hand. We’ll see in the next week if that is the case. Spain has 4.5x the population of Portugal, but Portugal ‘only’ has 2300 cases vs Spain’s 42,000. Like NYC, Madrid is just hammered with cases and I believe the cases in Portugal have been more spread out, in addition to the major cities.

[doschicos]

@TatinG

It’s amazing that Portugal has so many fewer cases than Spain, just next door.

Portugal has been ticking up lately. It is also 1/4 the population of Spain. Haven’t read much about their levels of testing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_Portugal

[dietz199]

Reports that NYC Mayor Cuomo COULD have purchased 16K ventilators that NYC was ‘short’ in 2015. Cuomo declined the offer…

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/03/18/new_yorks_ventilator_rationing_plan_142685.html

Cuomo could have purchased the additional 16,000 needed ventilators for $36,000 apiece or a total of $576 million in 2015. It’s a lot of money but less than the $750 million he threw away on a boondoggle “Buffalo Billion” solar panel factory. When it comes to state budget priorities, spending half a percent of the budget on ventilators is a no brainer.

Now the pandemic is actually here. Cuomo’s grim reaper rules will be applied. New York City’s deputy commissioner for disease control Demetre Daskalakis is anticipating “some very serious difficult decisions.” So far, in New York City, 1 out of every 4 people with a confirmed case has been hospitalized, and 44% of them have needed a ventilator.

Ventilators in 2015 = meh. un sexy and not politically expedient
Ventilators march 2020 = THE FEDS ARE FAILING ME!!!