I’m extremely unhappy about comfort dogs being used by HCP. I am anaphylactically allergic to dogs, and if one of those HCP cared for me afterward, it could risk my health/life. And I doubt they’re changing gowns/etc. (Also, isn’t the dog a fomite?)
< I don’t think a live animal is called a fomite. But I agree, a dog isn’t microbiologically sterile.
NYS numbers
total 37,258 up by 6,448
NYC 21,393 (+1,253)
Westchester 5,944 (+1,253)
Nassau 3,914 (+629)
Suffolk 2,735 (+475)
Rockland 1,197 (+229)
Orange 751 (+113)
Dutchess 190 (+37)
Albany 171 (+19)
Monroe 139 (+21)
Erie 134 (+12)
Number of tests run in the last 24 hours
18,650
NYC 6,995
Westchester 5,951
Nassau 1,735
Suffolk 1,189
Rockland 567
Albany 93
Orange 322
Monroe 255
Onondaga 266
Saratoga 55
Till today, NYS has run 122,104 total tests.
1 test per 160 people
25% of all testing nationwided
NYS: 385 deaths total, up by 100 in 24 hours
5,327 currently hospitalized
1,290 ICU patients
NYS approved splitting technology for ventilators (connecting 2 people to one ventilator)
The average time for a non-COVID patient on a ventilator is 3-4 days
The average time for a COVID patient on a ventilator is 11-21 days
@ucbalumnus. Lots of office were doing that for branding their offices. Especially now that office are merging everywhere. More marketing then anything. If the doctor is wearing scrubs you are more likely to have the elective procedure due to patient higher confidence. This gets talked about at conferences actually.
I get the neck tie also
Debatable. But hard to break what I have been doing for 30 years. I have asked patients and they could care less.
Florida reports more than 2,000 coronavirus cases
From CNN’s Tina Burnside
The Florida Department of Health has recorded 2,229 positive cases of novel coronavirus and 27 deaths as of Thursday.
That is a significant increase from Wednesday’s report of 1,921 cases and 22 deaths.
Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties make up the vast majority of cases in the state.
New York governor says any “realistic” scenario will overwhelm state’s health care system
From CNN’s Adrienne Vogt
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo continued to warn that the coronavirus pandemic will cause a huge strain on hospitals and health care facilities.
"Almost any scenario that is realistic will overwhelm the capacity of the current health care system. A little reality,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo said the goal is to have a 1,000-bed overflow facility in each of the five New York City boroughs, plus Westchester, Rockland, Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Right now, hospitals and health care facilities in the state have enough personal protective equipment for the “immediate future,” Cuomo said, but they are still looking around the country for ventilators.
The state has approved the splitting of ventilators to allow one machine to serve two patients. Cuomo said they are also working on converting thousands of anesthesia machines into ventilators.
New York has done 25% of all coronavirus testing in the US
About 25% of all coronavirus testing nationwide has been performed by New York state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news conference Thursday.
“We’re testing more than any state in the country,” and more per capita when compared to China and South Korea, he said.
CNN
New York governor on stimulus bill: “I find it reckless”
CNN
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo criticized the Senate-passed $2 trillion economic stimulus bill, saying it does nothing to help local and state governments fight the coronavirus pandemic.
“I believe what they did failed to meet the governmental need,” he said at a news conference today. “I find it reckless.”
Cuomo said he would give congressional leaders “a piece of my mind” after the coronavirus outbreak has passed, but now he’s focused on the pandemic response.
“I promise you I’m going to give them a piece of my mind, but I would say to them today, this is an extraordinary time in this nation, and it’s an extraordinary time for government. This was the time to put politics aside and partisanship aside.”
“Do your job,” he told Congress.
Senators will leave Washington until April 20 — but the coronavirus crisis could force them to return
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the chamber would adjourn for nearly a month after it passed a historically huge $2 trillion coronavirus relief package late Wednesday night.
But as the outbreak takes a toll on American health and financial well-being, the unprecedented crisis may force Congress to act again sooner than the Senate’s planned return date of April 20. McConnell acknowledged the reality Wednesday night, promising the chamber would stay “nimble” as the pandemic spreads.
“If circumstances require the Senate to return for a vote sooner than April the 20th, we will provide at least 24 hours of notice,” he said. CNBC
The ‘patchwork’ efforts by US to curb spread of coronavirus are not enough, former Obama advisor says
The “patchwork” efforts by local and state officials across the U.S. to curb the spread of the coronavirus are not enough, former Obama White House health policy advisor Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel told CNBC.
State and local officials have implemented a variety of “shelter-in-place” orders, shuttering nonessential businesses, bars and restaurants to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Without a national lockdown, the states that have issued shelter-in-place type orders are shouldering a brunt of the economic damage, Emanuel said. Worst yet, those efforts are being undermined by other regions that aren’t doing the same.
“If we don’t have a full national lockdown … You are going to have these rollercoasters. You contain it in some area. Then we try to ease it up, then it just blossoms again and we are never going to get it under control in the whole country,” Emanuel, vice provost for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” CNBC
Gig workers for companies like Uber, Lyft would get unemployment benefits under Senate stimulus bill
Gig workers won a landmark protection in the $2 trillion stimulus bill that passed in a unanimous 96-0 vote in the Senate Wednesday. The bill now moves to the House, which is expected to vote Friday.
The bill would allow gig workers, such as Uber and Lyft drivers, as well as freelancers and the self-employed to be eligible to apply for unemployment benefits. It would also add $600 per week for up to four months compared to what beneficiaries normally receive.
The protection also marks a win for the companies that employ gig workers and rely on them for their businesses to function. CNBC
Many healthcare workers have dogs, and I’m sure lots of them pet/hug their dogs before leaving for work, or even on their lunch break. Of course they are washing their hands before treating patients, but if an allergy is that severe, I would certainly call ahead before receiving any kind of care anywhere (dentist, primary care doctor, urgent care, flu shot at the pharmacy, hairdresser, etc.). Also, I am sorry about the allergy as it must be very scary 
.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo is giving his daily press briefing from Albany.
“In a situation like this not knowing the facts is worse, that’s when you feel out of control,” he says, announcing that almost any realistic scenario would likely overwhelm the hospitals.
He announced that the number of deaths in New York state, rising from 285 to 385.
He said there is enough protective equipment to meet “immediate need” but they still need more masks, gowns and respirators.
He said the state has also approved hospitals to split a ventilator and allow it to be used on two patients.
Now he’s addressing the economic stimulus package, assailing Congressional leaders for falling short of assisting the states.
“What they did failed to meet the governmental need,” he said of the bill. He called it “irresponsible” and “reckless.”
“When this is over I promise you I’m going to give them a piece of my mind,” he said, adding that now is not a time for politics.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is warning that, as the state that is now at the center of the nation’s coronavirus crisis, the death toll is continuing to rise.
“Almost any realistic scenario will overwhelm our hospitals,” he said at his now-daily press briefing.
He also stated that the $2.2tn federal disaster bill passed by the Senate last night and now slated for bipartisan support in the House tomorrow, only goes a little way to helping New York.
“It does not help the state recover lost revenue” in its stalled economy, Cuomo said, it “only provides $5bn to help with expenses” incurred in dealing with the outbreak.
Cuomo is now taking a moment to reflect on the resillience required to whether this crisis, offering his “two cents,” which he says wryly is probably only worth “one-and-a-half cents.”
He says he’s been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for the state from around the world during this moment of “national crisis.” Doctors and nurses are coming out of retirement to assist in hospitals while mental health professionals are volunteering their time to provide free services to New Yorkers, he said.
“You get to see the best and you get to the see the worst,” he said. “You get to see the beauty and you get to see the opposite. … Easy times don’t forge character.”
“When the pressure is on, you see what people are made of,” he said.
He acknowledged that some New Yorkers are weary but urged them to consider the tireless work of the first responders, the health care workers, the grocery store employees, the pharmacists and the transportation workers who are working around the clock to combat the virus.
“During this difficult time, let’s listen to the voices of our better angels,” he said. (Guardian)
I don’t really view it as political. Love him or hate him, that’s just the way he rolls.
Which reminds me of this quote:
“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” - Robert McCloskey
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/26/senate-stimulus-bill-coronavirus-2-trillion-list-what-is-in-it/ gives the following comparison:
Comparison to existing budget:
$4.45 trillion - Total federal spending
$3.46 trillion - Total tax revenue
$2.2 trillion - Coronavirus relief bill
$0.676 trillion - Defense spending
Subcategories of the coronavirus relief bill, from http://www.crfb.org/blogs/whats-2-trillion-coronavirus-relief-package (the Washington Post page sources from this for its own chart, though the numbers seem to be slightly different for some items):
$510 billion - Large business and local government loans (mostly discretionary (the reason for the “slush fund” complaints); small portion pre-allocated to airlines, firms vital to maintaining national security, USPS)
$377 billion - Small business assistance (mostly loans)
$290 billion - One-time checks (the $1,200 checks)
$280 billion - Business tax cuts (mostly loosening caps on interest deductibility and operating losses)
$260 billion - Expanded unemployment benefits (+$600/week, +13 weeks, increased eligibility (e.g. gig workers), some other changes)
$180+ billion - Health spending
$150 billion - Aid to state and local governments
$72 billion - Support transportation providers (mostly airline related)
$45 billion - Disaster assistance
$42 billion - Food stamps and safety net
$32+ billion - Education spending
$25+ billion - Other spending
$10 billion - Personal tax cuts (loosening retirement account rules, charitable deductions)
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was on New York’s WNYC public radio, warning that it was still too early for the country to return to normal.
The Guardian’s Ed Helmore reports that Fauci said Trump was not “wed” to Easter as a date certain for the US to lift restrictions on public activity.
“He put that out because he wants to give people some hope, but he is not absolutely wed to that,” Fauci said.
“He keeps saying that although he would like that to be the date, he’s open-minded and flexible to make sure the facts and what the pattern of the virus is will determine what we do,” he added.
On Wednesday evening, Fauci put it even more bluntly.
“You’ve gotta be realistic and you’ve gotta understand that you don’t make the timeline,” Fauci told CNN. “The virus makes the timeline.” (Guardian)
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said the US “may well be in a recession” as the pandemic puts an unprecedented strain on the US economy.
In a rare live interview with NBC’s Today Show, Powell sought to draw a distinction between what’s happening to the economy now as the result of forced public isolation and social distancing and a “normal” recession.
TODAY
@TODAYshow
“I think it’s been 30 years since we had a federal reserve chair (on TODAY) live … What is the message you want to send?” -Guthrie
“… The Federal Reserve is working hard to support you now, and our policies will be very important when the recovery does come.” -Powell
“There is not anything fundamentally wrong with our economy,” he told NBC. “Quite the contrary. We are starting from a very strong position.”
But he continued, “People are being asked to close their business, to stay home from work, and to not engage in certain economic activity, and so they are pulling back.”
Asked about Trump’s drive to “open” the economy by Easter, Powell, a longtime target of the president’s wrath, said that the decision should depend on the best advice of public health officials.
“We are not experts in pandemics over here. We don’t get to make that decision,” he said. “We would tend to listen to the experts.”
“The sooner we get the virus under control, people will very willingly open back up their businesses and get back to work,” he added. (Guardian)
China closes borders to foreign nationals from this weekend
Draconian measures closing its border to foreign nationals from this weekend have been announced by China.
Other measures include restricting foreign airlines to one route, with no more than one weekly flight. Each Chinese airline is permitted one route to any specific country with no more than one flight per week. (Guardian)
40,000 retired medical workers have volunteered to help New Yorkers
From CNN’s Adrienne Vogt
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the number of volunteers during the coronavirus crisis has been “inspiring.”
Cuomo said 40,000 retired medical staff volunteered, with 12,000 more people in one day volunteering to help work at health care facilities.
There have also been 8,600 mental health professionals volunteering.
“Easy times don’t forge character. It’s the tough times that forge character,” he said.
More than 37,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus in New York
So far, at least 37,258 people have tested positive for coronavirus across the state of New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
Additionally:
5,327 people are currently hospitalized
1,290 patients are in intensive care
1,517 patients have been discharged after being hospitalized
Note, the small business loans are mostly forgiveable loans, i.e., they will be forgiven if the small business keeps folks employed and does not layoff workers.
The stats in the San Fernando Valley.
March 23 81 cases
March 24 96
March 25 113
Thanks to our non dense population, the rates are not doubling every 3 days as they are in NYC.
Beyond the triage issue and allocation of scarce resources such as ventilators and such, there is also the issue of whether to use life-saving measures to resuscitate covid-19 patients.
Here are a few excerpts, but the whole article is interesting from a practical, safety, and of course, ethical perspective.
From the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security newsletter today:
HUMAN NEUTRALIZING ANTIBODIES A new preprint in BioRxiv describes a study that isolated and characterized a number of potential neutralizing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2. The studies results found that antibody response was specific to SARS-CoV-2 at specific binding domains, but that there was recognition of other coronavirus species in other unknown regions. The authors emphasized a need to explore the cross reactivity outside of noted binding sites but they expressed optimism that the findings show promise for new therapeutic and vaccine candidates.
A infectious disease doctor who we know who focuses on children and young adults Said the story about the death of a California teen is making her nuts
“The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health attributed his death to coronavirus Tuesday. Later that evening, officials backpedaled, saying his case needs more review by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
“Though early tests indicated a positive result for Covid-19, the case is complex and there may be an alternate explanation for this fatality. Patient privacy prevents our offering further details at this time," it said in a statement.”
She totally understands the need for patient privacy but wants doctors across the country to have access to more information about these kind of cases. She’s said that even after the reviews front line docs aren’t getting enough information.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/26/health/california-teen-coronavirus-deaths/index.html
San Francisco has a dense population and their rates aren’t doubling every 3 days either.