@1Benice , Gov. Bel Edwards said that investigation is ongoing as to whether the 17 year old who died had underlying conditions. Also see this article: https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2020/03/26/louisiana-suffers-biggest-one-day-jump-coronavirus-cases/2915294001/
Not quite. Generally speaking, each state is entitled to regulate its own internal/state affairs, and the federal government cannot interfere unless there is some ground under the U.S. Constitution to do so.
“I assume we’ll find that all of these numbers are high, since the sickest people are the most likely to be tested. But let’s say the true numbers are half of this. Then people aged 20-44 have a 7% to 10% chance of being hospitalized if they catch coronavirus. That’s extremely, dangerously high. Even if the true numbers are a third of this, it’s still extremely, dangerously high.”
The large variation in the 85 and over group seems weird. Which country do these numbers come from ? US or is a composite number for multiple countries ?
Also, the numbers of hospitalizations at the beginning will tend to be higher (especially in the US ) than during the peak. US practices defensive medicine (compared to other countries ) but as you have less beds available, you increase the threshold for hospitalization as part of bed rationing. Plus, physicians get more experienced and comfortable as they see more cases, in deciding who is safe to stay home.
Will get more accurate numbers in a few months, by doing cohorts of antibody levels in people who were never tested or symptomatic, assuming anybody will want to spend the money on it.
Alabama schools will be closed remainder of academic year
From CNN’s Jamiel Lynch
Alabama schools will be closed the remainder of the school year, Gov. Kay Ivey said in a news conference Thursday.
The state was initially supposed to have schools back in session on April 6 but Ivey said she has amended that order to give the state’s board of education the right to provide online learning for the remainder of the school year.
Coronavirus death toll in New York City rises to 281
From CNN’s Sheena Jones
At least 281 people have died from coronavirus across New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a news conference Thursday.
About 21,873 people have been confirmed to have Covid-19 in the city, he said.
Pelosi opposes any attempt by lawmakers to force vote on stimulus bill in-person
From CNN’s Manu Raju
On an afternoon call with her Democratic Caucus, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposed any attempt by a lawmaker to force House members to return to Washington for the vote on the $2 trillion stimulus bill, saying such a move would be “inexcusable” and amount to “selfishness,” according to two sources on the call.
Pelosi, along with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and a number of other rank-and-file were blunt about their preference for the vote to occur by voice Friday, rather than an in-person roll-call vote.
Several members expressed concerns about traveling amid the coronavirus pandemic, noting they have health issues or live with someone with health concerns. Others noted their challenges in traveling back to Washington, DC.
At least 10 members expressed their concerns on the call, noting that the bill will pass regardless so it makes little sense to potentially endanger members’ health or their families’ health, one of the sources said.
Any House member can request a recorded vote Friday during consideration of the stimulus bill, which would mean the House would have to hold a vote by Monday with members returning to the Capitol to cast the vote. If no one requests a recorded vote, the bill can quickly be approved by voice vote Friday, with few members present.
At least two lawmakers, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Thomas Massie, have not ruled out requesting a recorded vote because of their concerns with the bill.
Megabus suspends service in and out of NYC
From CNN’s Mirna Alsharif
Megabus has suspended all service in and out of New York City through April 9, according to the company’s website.
All passengers booked on trips in and out of New York during this time will receive an email with instructions on how to reschedule their trip.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order Thursday, telling hospitals to increase their capacity to prepare for an influx of coronavirus patients.
Ducey’s order requires hospitals to have 50% more bed capacity by April 24, with half of the increase in place within the next two weeks, according to a statement from the governor’s office.
Hospitals also have to implement an emergency plan to quickly move non-critical patients to other facilities, if necessary.
“Building additional capacity now, ahead of any increased demand is the responsible thing to do,” Ducey said in a statement.
Minnesota’s youngest coronavirus patient is 5 months old
From CNN’s Melissa Alonso
Minnesota’s youngest coronavirus patient is 5 months old, Gov. Tim Walz said during a briefing Thursday.
The state has 346 confirmed cases with ages ranging from 5 months to 104 years old, he said.
The child is among the youngest cases in the country. Washington, DC, reported an 8-week-old boy had with the virus.
Several other states, including California, have reported cases with patients under 1 years old.
CNN’s Brian Rokus and Nick Watt contributed to this report.
Texas institutes mandatory quarantine for travelers from New York area
From CNN’s Konstantin Toropin
Travelers from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and the city of New Orleans will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days before entering state, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that at a news conference Thursday.
Abbott explained that the order, which applies only to those who arrive in Texas by plane, will be enforced by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
Travelers from the designated areas will be asked to provide officials with a quarantine location, the governor explained.
DPS will conduct visits to the designated quarantine locations to verify compliance, Abbott said.
People affected by the order cannot have any visitors besides health care providers and they may not visit public spaces, Abbott said.
Failure to comply will be considered a criminal offense punishable by up to a $1,000 fine, 180 days in jail, or both, Abbott said.
California now has more than 3,000 cases of coronavirus
From CNN’s Cheri Mossburg
There are at least 3,006 cases of coronavirus in California, according to the latest statistics released by California Department of Public Health. At least 65 people have died as a result of Covid-19.
Los Angeles County alone is seeing a dramatic increase with 465 new cases, bringing the total up to at least 1,216. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer attributed the jump directly to an increase in testing.
Broward County in Florida issues shelter-in-place order
From CNN’s Denise Royal
Broward County has issued a shelter-in-place order effective midnight Friday due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The county, which includes Fort Lauderdale, is one of the hardest hit counties in the state of Florida.
New Orleans’ convention center will be used to house coronavirus patients
From CNN’s Jamiel Lynch
Louisiana is working to stage 1,120 hospital beds for coronavirus patients at New Orleans’ Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
The first 120 beds will be ready by this weekend.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said state officials anticipate 1,000 beds will be needed for patients in New Orleans.
Other hospitals in the state are also increasing their ICU capacity.
Illinois received 100,000 more unemployment claims than the same time last year
From CNN’s Hollie Silverman
There have been 100,000 more unemployment claims in Illinois since the beginning of March than the state had the same time last year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during a Thursday news conference.
Emergency workers are delivering containers of nearly a million units of personal protective equipment, including masks and gloves, to health care workers Thursday, Pritzker added.
The equipment is being delivered in Peoria, Edwardsville, and Champaign, Pritzker said.
Around the country: A record number of Americans filed for their first week of unemployment benefits last week, as businesses shut down to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Initial jobless claims soared to a seasonally adjusted 3.28 million in the week ended March 21, according to the Department of Labor.
That is the highest number of initial jobless claims in history, since the Department of Labor started tracking the data in 1967. The previous high was 695,000 claims filed in the week ending October 2, 1982.
House officials detail new steps to limit member interactions due to coronavirus fears
From CNN’s Manu Raju
In a notice sent to all House offices obtained by CNN, the House sergeant-at-arms and the Capitol physician’s office provided new procedures to limit the interactions between members and promote social distancing ahead of Friday’s vote on the stimulus package.
Amid fears of the virus spreading to members, the officials say access around the House chambers and on the floor will be limited.The House is closing the Speaker’s Lobby, which is right off the House floor where reporters stake out and interview lawmakers.
If there’s a recorded vote, new procedures are detailed to only allow small groups of members on the floor at a time.
New York City will increase its number of ventilators by 2,500, mayor says
From CNN’s Sheena Jones and Elizabeth Hartfield
New York City will have 2,500 more ventilators than they had 10 days ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday during a news conference.
This is a combination of ventilators from Federal Emergency Management Agency and other efforts, he said.
Other resources and developments: De Blasio hopes to triple the hospital bed count by May.
Right now there are about 34,000 hospital beds compared to the 20,000 the city had before, de Blasio said.
The mayor said the federal government must come through with supplies if it is going to get through May. As of Wednesday night, 200 inmates have been released, de Blasio said.
Additionally, last night New York City went below 5,000 inmates across all facilities, he said.
MLB commissioner says “public health situation” will guide when games start again
From CNN’s Devan Cole
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday that the organization will reach a decision about when to resume its delayed season only after it’s “comfortable that the public health situation supports that decision.”
“We’re going to resume playing when it’s safe for our fans, our players and the public for us to resume playing,” Manfred told CNN. “We’re fortunate — we have a great panel of infectious disease experts that we rely on to help sort through the various pronouncements from different governmental agencies and politicians.”
Some context: MLB announced earlier this month that it was pushing back the opening of the 2020 season indefinitely following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that no gatherings with 50 people or more should take place for the next eight weeks to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
March 26 was meant to be the official start of the MLB season.
The announcement added to a growing list of local, state and national events that were delayed or canceled in order to help curb the spread of the virus. The organization had initially said the season would be delayed at least two weeks.
I would hope the government would want to spend money on it. Some sampling would proof useful, I would think.
If you wonder where the numbers I cite come from, just click the link I provided. That is what it is there for.
As to the large variation, if the population is smaller, as with the 85 and older group, then the estimate will have larger error bars.
Trump says Navy hospital ship expected to deploy to New York City on Saturday
President Trump has announced that the USNS Comfort will deploy to New York City on Saturday, which is three weeks ahead of schedule.
Trump made the announcement Thursday afternoon during a coronavirus press briefing.
“So it’s going to be leaving on Saturday rather than three weeks from now. And they did the maintenance quickly and it was going to be there for quite a while longer, another three or four weeks, and it should be arriving, I told the governor 20 minutes ago, that the ship will be arriving in New York Harbor, on Monday. I think I’m going to go out and I’ll kiss it good bye,” Trump said.
The ship is currently in Virginia, the President said.
U.S. home healthcare industry warns of possible ‘collapse’
Michael Berens
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Home healthcare providers, the lifelines to 12 million vulnerable Americans, are scrambling to decide how to serve patients who show symptoms of coronavirus — and how to ensure that the providers themselves neither catch nor spread it.
A Texas-based company operating in 26 states instructed its caregivers to leave the homes of clients who recently traveled from states with “widespread community transmission” or who had contact with anyone screened for coronavirus, regardless of whether that person tested positive, according to an internal directive reviewed by Reuters.
In Ohio, a group representing hundreds of providers warned the governor last week of “a sense of impending doom that things are collapsing.” Companies there said they need financial help and protective gear to continue home care.
And in New York, America’s epicenter of coronavirus cases, trade groups said dozens of caregivers have left their jobs and their patients, hurting efforts to swiftly screen at-risk adults and slow the spread of the virus.
“It’s a hair-on-fire crisis,” said Roger Noyes, spokesman for New York’s Home Care Association.
As hospitals continue to handle an influx of coronavirus cases, patients who need care but are not critically ill are likely to be sent home. If home care providers can’t stay afloat or decline to offer services, those patients will “face a rapid, immediately life-threatening deterioration” of their health, said Al Cardillo, president of the New York group.
Compounding the industry’s financial woes are bidding wars for essential medical equipment, including latex gloves and coveted N95 masks, which provide a higher level of protection than surgical masks. Private companies and public agencies are fighting for limited supplies – and those with the biggest pocketbooks are winning.
During a news conference this week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo decried that he was forced to amass basic medical supplies by “bidding up other states on the prices.”
For now, that can leave smaller home health companies at the back of the line, said Emma Dickison, board president of the Home Care Association of America.
“I spent the whole weekend to score new masks,” said Dickison, also executive officer of Cincinnati-based Home Helpers Home Care.
With three weeks’ worth of masks in inventory, her own company, a large franchise operation that serves 1,000 cities and towns, is among the fortunate. Caregivers from a handful of much smaller Ohio home health businesses have no masks or gloves, a trade group representative told Reuters.
“Stop the visit, leave the residence”
In recent weeks, many home health companies have launched safety programs to protect caregivers and patients from coronavirus.
One of the nation’s most comprehensive approaches belongs to Texas-based Addus HomeCare. The company oversees 33,000 employees in 26 states, including Washington and New York – two of the hardest hit by the virus.
Addus caregivers are required to ask clients five questions about emerging or worsening respiratory problems; contacts with other people diagnosed or screened for the virus; and recent domestic and foreign travel.
“In the event that a client answers ‘Yes’ to any of the questions, an alert will be triggered,” according to the directive distributed last week. “You will be instructed to stop the visit, leave the residence, and contact your supervisor immediately.”
In turn, supervisors complete a one-page incident report and notify local health departments in cases of suspected infection.
In most cases, Addus caregivers told Reuters, care is quickly resumed absent clear evidence of respiratory disease. Even in confirmed cases of coronavirus, care may continue if delays would pose potential harm to patients.
Caregivers must answer the same five questions for supervisors at the start of each shift.
Patient screening by home health companies can help detect new viral outbreaks and allow quicker response by public health agencies. However, accuracy relies on the honor system, possibly undermined by caregivers who don’t want to miss a day of work or by patients unwilling to delay care.
“BREAKING POINT”
Joe Russell, executive director for the Ohio Council for Home Care & Hospice, said he knew the letter he sent last week to the state’s governor on behalf of 600 providers would raise alarms.
“I don’t care,” he said. “I’m going to keep yelling until someone pays attention.”
Because of financial challenges tied to coronavirus, many home-care businesses are at a financial “breaking point,” he wrote in the four-page letter. Care programs earmarked for low-income homebound patients are poised to “collapse.” While the need for home care is increasing daily, “our ability to provide these services has decreased.”
He asked Gov. Mike DeWine to waive restrictions prohibiting the use of telehealth services, such as live video conference calls. Remote patient monitoring, or telehealth, is a common time-saving strategy used by hospitals and doctors for nearly a decade. It is subsidized by state and federal reimbursements.
But for the home healthcare industry, government reimbursements generally cover only person-to-person visits to the home.
Although DeWine’s office did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment, Russell said state officials are giving the matter “serious” consideration.
“We’re just sort of in a holding pattern,” he said.
National home health trade groups have pushed government regulators for years to expand use of telehealth services, a plea more pressing today because of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Many home visits are administrative in nature, often involving doctors and nurses who review care plans or query patients on their conditions, Russell said. Approving telehealth options for such visits would reap huge financial savings for home health companies without diminishing quality of care, he said.
“Our problems are not caused by COVID-19,” he said. “Our problems are caused by what the government hasn’t done.”
Self serving…and selfish.
Pentagon awards $15 million contract to retrofit Javits Center into a hospital
From CNN’s Ryan Browne
The Pentagon announced Thursday that it has awarded a $15 million contract to the operators of the Javits Center to convert the facility into a hospital by April 9 to help alleviate the burden the coronavirus is placing on civilian hospital infrastructure.
This is separate than the field hospitals being set up this weekend in New York.
“New York Convention Center Operating Corp., New York, New York, was awarded a $15,250,000 firm-fixed-price contract to retrofit the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center into an alternate care facility,” the Pentagon contract announcement said.
The announcement said that the work is expected to be completed by April 9.
The US Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing the contract which is being funded via “ Fiscal 2020 defense emergency response funds.”
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said this earlier this week that he anticipates the field hospitals being used to temporarily alleviate the strain on civilian hospitals in order to allow the US Army Corps of Engineers to retrofit hotels, convention centers and college dormitories into makeshift hospitals.
“How I foresee our hospitals being used is during the early stages of the pandemic, the virus hitting a city where they’re still trying to ramp up capability, bed space, we can come in for a short period of time, for a few weeks to provide that capacity until they get either gyms converted, hotels converted, college dorms converted, all those things that the Corps of Engineers is working on right now," Esper said.
@apprenticeprof – re your Constitutional question – the right to travel between and among states is considered a fundamental Constitutional right, so state action which restricts that is subject to a “strict scrutiny” test. That means that any laws that infringe on that right there must be narrowly drawn as necessary to serve a “compelling government interest.” I think that in the face of stopping an epidemic tied to an insidious disease like Covid 19, a 2-week home quarantine would probably withstand that test.
Here’s a web page with an in-depth analysis written several years ago in the context of Ebola. https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/state-quarantine-powers-under-the-constitution-fear-in-an-age-of-ebola/
I’d add that even without interstate travel, the widespread shelter-in-place orders that have been issued in many states would raise Constitutional concerns —but again, there would be a balancing between government interest to protect health & safety vs. the limitations on individual rights.
Big hoopla in my hometown because the local gun store stayed open, selling guns & ammo, in the face of the order that all nonessential businesses shut down-- there were people lined up outside to buy guns – and the local authorities did not respond to complaints from other citizens. As written, the stay-home orders did not allow gun sales — but perhaps 2nd Amendment concerns were at the heart of the local government’s inaction (?).
Regarding under the table workers. I work in construction and the entire industry is basically ‘under the table’. That doesn’t mean we don’t pay taxes, there is a lot of self employment type small companies and year-end 1099 reporting. I have absolutely no idea how these workers will file for unemployment. They are all self employed. There’s no such thing as a ‘pay stub’ or any specific monthly reporting to the State on their income. I have no idea if last year’s income tax form (if they ever got around to filing yet) will qualify. How do they prove they have no work?
Coronavirus: trade war with China weakens crucial links in US medical supply chain
Trump administration hardliners resist medical supply imports despite Covid-19’s toll
‘The main distinction between Europe and the US in terms of lack of preparedness is that ours is more self-inflicted. We put tariffs on all of those products’
Hardliners within the Trump administration are trying desperately to avoid reducing tariffs on imported medical supplies from China, hoping to stave off mounting pressure from health care workers and a panicked public as the coronavirus death total mounts.
After an extended US-China trade war and President Donald Trump’s signing of a phase one agreement in December, hawks within the administration are loath to set a precedent. Their concern is that emergency concessions could undercut their hawkish trade stance toward Beijing, which Trump sees as a cornerstone accomplishment leading up to the November elections, say former officials and analysts.
“There will be inexorable pressure to relax the tariffs. But the administration is going to hold the line as long as they possibly can because they see this is so fundamental to their trade policy,” said Vanessa Sciarra, vice-president of trade and investment policy with the National Foreign Trade Council. “There’s a lot of internal debate that you can’t give China something for nothing and how to go forward.”
A procedure for settling disputes, promoted by Trump in the December deal, is “supposed to hold a stick over the Chinese,” she added. “It undermines his whole plan if the US starts unilaterally undercutting the agreement.”
As Trump weathers growing pressure – after denying for weeks that the coronavirus was a serious threat – the administration has made modest concessions on Chinese medical imports, dropped quietly into the Federal Register. On March 10 and 12, it temporarily and without fanfare lifted tariffs on protective clothing, gloves and medical goggles, among other items.
And late Friday night, with the pandemic raging, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) launched a feedback channel for medical supply importers that believe tariffs should be eased, adding: “This comment process does not replace the current exclusion process.”
Critics say tariffs should be cut quickly and broadly. “If your strategy is to cut yourself off from China, which is the largest supplier of medical equipment, at this time of greatest need, that’s a big problem,” said Chad Bown, an economist with the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) and author of a study on medical tariffs.
Yet while many believe the crisis calls for global collaboration, leading figures in the Trump administration and Congress see it as an opportunity to weaken international ties with China, reduce global trade flows and heap blame on Beijing.
In recent days, several Republican senators have introduced legislation aimed at reducing America’s reliance on China for medical supplies while administration hardliners reportedly search for regulatory changes toward the same goal, analysts say.
But critics say high tariffs on Chinese medical items and the legacy of the protracted US-China trade war have implications far beyond the dusty world of harmonised trade codes, potentially costing hundreds of lives.
Relative to Europe, poor US preparation “is a bit more self-inflicted because of the trade war,” Bown added. “We put tariffs on all of those products.”
The March reductions excluded tariffs on a relatively small percentage of imported Chinese medical goods. But another US$1.1 billion of items potentially useful in treating Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, are still subject to Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs, according to PIIE data, with another US$3.3 billion in critical health care products facing 7.5 per cent tariffs.
Governments worldwide are under blistering pressure as the pandemic rages, and directing resources where they are most needed is an admittedly mammoth task.
Even critics of Trump’s trade policies say the West needs to adopt a tougher approach given decades of China’s gaming of the global trading system, stealing data and technology, blocking foreign competitors and supporting “national champion” companies with subsidies and biased regulations.
But tariffs are a blunt tool and trade restrictions on Chinese medical imports arguably hurt the US most, analysts say.
“The US, I believe, was justified in adopting a much more aggressive policy toward China,” said Clete Willems, a partner in Washington with the law firm Akin Gump and until recently deputy director of the National Economic Council. “But my worry is that we’re going too far.”
“Global problems require global solutions” instead of countries walling each other off, added Willems, lead US negotiator at the G7 and G20 groupings.
The challenge in micromanaging medical tariffs on millions of imports is seen with Gojo Industries. The Akron, Ohio-based manufacturer makes dispensers for the Purell hand sanitiser, which is in desperate demand to help stem the virus’s spread.
Although the dispensers are US made, Gojo must import two key parts from China, including an “E-key” sensor that fits on the Purell-filled plastic bags to communicate with the casing.
“They may be manufactured in the US, but it’s a global supply chain,” said Nicole Bivens Collinson, head of international trade and government relations at the Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg law firm representing Gojo. “We asked for an exemption. They denied it. This is for friggin’ hand sanitiser.”
One problem is that the USTR and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are both involved.
“HHS looks at an open cap screw and says, ‘why is that essential,’” said Bivens Collinson, a former USTR negotiator. “That’s part of the problem. USTR doesn’t know it from the health perspective, and HHS doesn’t from the trade perspective.”
In response to questions, the USTR referred to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer’s letter to the editor in The Wall Street Journal on March 20, which criticised “hackneyed efforts to revive long-discredited arguments in favor of globalization” under the guise of insufficient medical imports.
The letter added that medical imports from elsewhere have increased and that the crisis underscored the nation’s “strategic vulnerability” that Trump is addressing. HHS referred questions to the White House, which did not respond.
Before the US-China trade war, American tariffs on some US$22 billion in imported medical imports – including hospital gowns, thermometers, ultrasound systems and patient monitors – mostly ranged from zero to under 8 per cent.
Starting in 2018, Trump imposed duties of 15 to 25 per cent on some US$360 billion of Chinese goods, including US$5 billion in medical products, causing Chinese imports to fall sharply.
While other countries have filled much of the shortfall, medical imports have not kept up with the demand of an ageing US population, Bown says. Nor are replacements from other countries easily arranged, given laborious US health and safety protocols.
Part 1
Part 2
The Trump administration’s reluctance to give ground on potentially life-saving medical items coincides with distrust toward China and a move to bolster US manufacturing capability and reroute supply chains. Trump has repeatedly blamed Beijing for infecting the US, terming it the “Chinese virus”.
Within the administration, Trump’s policy adviser Peter Navarro is seen as the biggest China hawk. “He never saw a trade restriction he didn’t like,” said one trade expert.
Arguably most open to trade with China is Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Analysts say Navarro hopes to use the crisis to disrupt the US medical supply chain, make the economy more America-centric and spur US manufacturing jobs. He has proposed several measures to curb imports and create conditions to spur increased production of American medicines, raw materials and vaccines, said media reports, citing a draft executive order.
“There are definitely hardliners in the administration that have been advocating long before the coronavirus that we need to bring our supply chains home to the United States. And now Navarro and perhaps others are advocating that this pandemic just shows the necessity to do this and do this quickly,” said Wendy Cutler, vice-president with the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former senior USTR negotiator.
“I don’t think that’s the right policy,” she added. “And frankly, in a global pandemic, this is precisely the type of global occurrence where you need multilateral cooperation.”
Right-wing US news outlets, meanwhile, have reacted to nationalistic Chinese media warnings that the United States may be plunged into the “mighty sea of coronavirus” by possible Chinese export restrictions.
“China is threatening to wreak havoc on America’s drug supply,” wrote the National Interest. “China Threatens to Cut Off Medicine,” screamed a Breitbart News headline.
Several US senators have announced legislation to lessen America’s reliance on Chinese medical supplies.
Last week, Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at ending US dependence on China for pharmaceuticals.
Representative Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican sponsoring companion legislation in the House, called the virus “a wake-up call to the danger of American reliance on a hostile foreign power like China for medical supplies”.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, included provisions in a US$2 trillion stimulus bill passed unanimously by the Senate late on Wednesday that require reporting on the security of the US medical products supply chain.
And Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, introduced a bill this week to create a stockpile of medical equipment to “promote American-made goods and get Communist China out of the US supply chain”.
But some analysts argue that Chinese medical exporters aren’t reducing shipments to the US out of spite but because of structural factors tied to the prolonged trade war.
Over the past two years, amid trans-Pacific chest thumping and tariffs, Chinese medical suppliers diverted exports to other countries without large tariffs and US buyers sought supplies elsewhere.
Now, with new trading patterns set, Chinese exporters face unprecedented global demand.
“There’s a good chance they will sell elsewhere because there’s a good chance President Trump will slap tariffs on them again,” said Bown. “Italy needs stuff too and they don’t seem to be threatening Chinese suppliers with tariffs. Much of this is self-inflicted.”
But the US could face similar trouble gaining supplies from Europe. Trump’s threats, increased tariffs and public insults toward allies threaten to leave European suppliers less eager to send scarce medical supplies to Americans, especially given their own dire needs. In a nationwide address on March 12, Trump announced a halt to all cargo shipments from Europe before stock futures sank and the White House walked it back.
According to Global Trade Alert, 54 countries have restricted exports of hospital masks and other personal protective equipment.
“The answer is not a misguided attempt to bring back all medical equipment production to America,” Bown said.
“The United States also must lead a policy of international cooperation to fulfill needs tomorrow, not just today. Because the main lesson of pandemics is that any one of us could be next.
“The world needs American leadership now more than ever.”
I’m slightly less sympathetic to those who skirt their duty to pay their share of taxes including unemployment and SS taxes.
Number of patients on ventilators “more than doubled” in past three days, NYC doctor says
From CNN’s Sonia Moghe
Dr. Craig Smith, chair of the department of surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City, said the number of patients on ventilators at his hospital “more than doubled” in the past three days.
“We have not exhausted our existing supply of ventilators but if we keep doubling every three days, we might,” Smith wrote.
Smith said the increase is placing pressure on ICU capacity, and that operating rooms have been converted to ICUs, and an entire 36-bed floor has been renovated to be converted to ICU space.
Smith said a call went out yesterday for doctors to volunteer to staff ICUs and within a few hours, 20 surgeons volunteered.
Montana governor issues stay-at-home order
From CNN’s Andy Rose
Montana is the latest state to order all of its citizens to stay home except for essential work and limited outdoor activities.
The order goes into effect on March 28.
“With 90 cases in our state today… we have to do more to curtail the spread of this virus,” Gov. Steve Bullock said at a news conference Thursday to announce his emergency order.
“I’d rather be accused of overreacting than to have our health care system overwhelmed,” Bullock added at the briefing in Helena. “In order to have a healthy economy, we need to have a healthy population.”
Chicago and Detroit could be new coronavirus hotspots, public health expert says
From CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Jason Hoffman
Chicago and Detroit are demonstrating a concerning spread of coronavirus, Dr. Deborah Birx said at Thursday’s White House briefing.
“We are concerned about certain counties” that have seen increased spreading of the virus, Birx said, naming Wayne County, Michigan, (home to Detroit) and Cook County, Illinois, (home of Chicago) as examples.
She said those locations were showing a “more rapid increase” of spread.
Forty percent of the country has “extraordinarily low rates” of coronavirus, Birx said. And 55% of all cases are in the New York and New Jersey area, she said.
Birx also noted that 19 states currently have fewer than 200 cases, noting those states have been conducting tests, and that the low numbers are not because those states have not been testing.
“There is no reality on the ground that 60-70% of Americans will get infected in the next 8-12 weeks," Birx said.
Despite multiple daily reports of shortages of supplies like personal protective equipment and the growing need for ventilators at hospitals nationwide, Birx insisted that most areas will have access to hospital beds or ventilators if they need them.
“To say that to the American people to make the implication that when they need a hospital bed it’s not going to be there, or when they need that ventilator it’s not going to be there, we don’t have an evidence of that right now," Birx said. “And it’s our job collectively to assure the American people of that. It’s our collective job to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Trump says he will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping tonight
From CNN’s Sarah Westwood and Kevin Liptak
President Donald Trump said he will speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday night about coronavirus.
He suggested the administration does not believe all the data coming out of China — despite his previous praise of how Xi has handled the outbreak.
Asked about projections that the US could overtake China in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, Trump said, “I think it’s a tribute to our testing.”
“Number one, you don’t know what the numbers are in China,” Trump said.
He added that he would be speaking to Xi later Thursday.
“I’m sure you’re not able to tell what China is testing or not testing,” he added. “I think that’s a little hard.”
Trump: “We have to start the process pretty soon” on getting the country back to work
From CNN’s Jason Hoffman
President Trump repeatedly stressed that the US “has to go back to work” but noted that people should still practice social distancing as best they can.
Trump during a news conference Thursday that he is “hearing it loud and clear from everybody” that people want to go back to work.
“We may take sections of the country, we may take large sections of our country that aren’t so seriously affected and do it that way, but we have to start the process pretty soon," Trump said.
Trump also said more information will come early next week in terms of his plans.
Some context: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said Wednesday night “You don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline,” when asked how long the novel coronavirus could affect daily life in the US.
“You’ve got to be realistic,” Fauci told CNN Wednesday.
South Africa came under a nationwide military-patrolled lockdown on Friday, joining other African countries imposing strict curfews and shutdowns in an attempt to halt the spread of the coronavirus across the continent.
Some 57 million people are to be restricted to their homes during South Africa’s three-week total lockdown which began at midnight.
Kenya, Rwanda and Mali are some of the African countries that have imposed restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has been confirmed to have infected 3,203 people and killed 87.
Although Africa’s toll is far lower than in Europe, the United States and the Middle East, health experts say the world’s poorest continent is especially vulnerable and the figures likely fall far short of the reality.
Donning camouflage uniform complete with a cap, president Cyril Ramaphosa saw off soldiers before they deployed from a military base in Soweto township outside economic hub Johannesburg.
“I send you out to go and defend our people against coronavirus,” Ramaphosa said.
“This is unprecedented, not only in our democracy but also in the history of our country, that we will have a lockdown for 21 days to go out and wage war against an invisible enemy coronavirus,” he said.
During South Africa’s shutdown there will be no jogging, dog-walking or sale of alcohol across the country, which so far has the highest number of detected infections in sub-Saharan Africa at 927, with Ramaphosa projecting it could reach 1,500 “within a few days”.
Nurses will be transferred to London from other parts of England under NHS plans to help hospitals in the capital facing a “tsunami” of Covid-19 patients within days, the Guardian has learned.
European leaders have clashed over how to pull their economies through the coronavirus crisis, as Italy accused other member states of a timid response to an unprecedented economic shock.
EU leaders clash over economic response to coronavirus crisis
European Union lawmakers approved on Thursday emergency funds to cushion the bloc’s economic slump triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and shore up battered airlines by preserving their landing slots.
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) gave near unanimous support for three sets of proposals at the conclusion of a session that spanned more than 12 hours.
It was the parliament’s first ever remote vote following the suspension of meetings due to the risk of coronavirus transmission. Only a handful of lawmakers gathered in the Brussels plenary chamber with the most of the 688 participating MEPs scattered under lockdown across Europe.
“From one day to the next, our lifestyles changed. Our streets emptied. Our doors closed. And we moved from a daily routine to the fight of our lives,” the head of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen, told the gathering.
Wearing white, latex protective gloves, she called on the chamber to vote into law a special 37-billion-euro fund to allow the 27 member states to spend more to prop up their economies.
The legislation will also allow an existing natural disaster fund to support strained public health services across the EU.
The assembly also supported the suspension of a rule that strips airlines of their landing slots if they do not run most of their scheduled services - to ease an industry crisis unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Guardian
Police in the US are taking a lead role in enforcing social distancing, Associated Press reports.
Officers in Lakewood, New Jersey, broke up a wedding being held in violation of a ban on large gatherings.
In New York City, police have been dismantling basketball hoops to prevent people from gathering in parks and playing.
And in Austin, Texas, officers are encouraging people to call a hotline to report violators of the city’s orders for people to stay home.
Dr. Birx also implied that contrary to reports, there are enough ventilators to go around. “We don’t have evidence” that Americans who need a hospital bed or ventilator won’t have access to one, Birx said.
However, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine published on Wednesday 25 March categorically concluded that the US does not have enough ventilators to treat patients with Covid-19 in the coming months.
The authors, American public health experts, wrote: ‘There is a broad range of estimates of the number of ventilators we will need to care for U.S. patients with Covid-19, from several hundred thousand to as many as a million. The estimates vary depending on the number, speed, and severity of infections, of course, but even the availability of testing affects the number of ventilators needed… current estimates of the number of ventilators in the United States range from 60,000 to 160,000, depending on whether those that have only partial functionality are included. The national strategic reserve of ventilators is small and far from sufficient for the projected gap. No matter which estimate we use, there are not enough ventilators for patients with Covid-19 in the upcoming months.”
Now that Donald Trump has exited the briefing room, health officials Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, along with vice-president Mike Pence, are addressing reporters.
Dr. Birx said that the current predictions of the models do not match the conditions on the ground. Predictions that 60% or 70% will get infected in the next 8-12 weeks, or even that 20% of a population will get infected, are “very scary”, she said. “But we don’t have data to match that.” The only countries with especially high rates of infection are very small, she said.
Reports today that hospitals were considering issuing “do not resuscitate” orders for Covid-19 patients were irresponsible, Birx said.
“There is no situation in the US right now that warrants that kind of discussion,” she said “To say that to the American people - to make the implication that when they need a hospital bed, it may not be there, when they need a ventilator, it may not be there.”
Birx said that she believes there are enough ventilators — though they not be at the hospitals that need them most. “We can get creative,” she said, to ensure all hospitals have access.
Fact check:
How many Americans are, and will, get infected? Dr Birx said that predictions that huge swaths of the population will inevitably contract Covid-19 are misleading.
Marc Lipsitch, the head of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, predicted that between 20% and 60% of adults worldwide will ultimately get infected before a vaccine becomes widely available.
But it’s difficult to predict how many people will get the infection, because it’s nearly impossible to ascertain the actual number of cases. Many Americans with mild or no symptoms have not been tested for the coronavirus. A shortage of tests and the logistical difficulty of testing millions of people make that sort of widespread testing right now untenable.
Amping up testing even more will be key to not only understanding the conditions “on the ground” as Birx said but also to developing more accurate predictions.
As World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this week, “You cannot fight a fire blindfolded, and we cannot stop this pandemic if we don’t know who is infected. We have a simple message for all countries: Test, test, test.”
Guardian