Coronavirus in the US

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Cuba suspends international passenger flights

Cuba said on Tuesday it was suspending the arrival of international passenger flights and asking all foreign boats to withdraw from the Caribbean island’s waters to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

Cuba, which has confirmed 186 cases of the fast-spreading disease, partially closed its borders last week, banning the arrival of foreign tourists and the departure of Cubans.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero clarified that Cuba would remain open for commerce and donations.

Cuba first reported cases of the new coronavirus three weeks ago in a group of Italian tourists and has since reported six deaths from the disease.

Nearly 3,000 people it suspects could have it are being monitored in state isolation facilities. Authorities have carried out 2,322 tests. (Guardian)

The first two cases of the coronavirus were confirmed among Colombia’s indigenous people on Tuesday, local authorities said, fanning fears that the highly contagious disease could decimate vulnerable tribal communities, Reuters reports.

The cases were found in two people from the Yukpa group who live in dire poverty in a cluster of makeshift shelters and tents in the northern border city of Cucuta, according to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), the country’s leading indigenous authority.

Health experts said they fear the coronavirus could spread rapidly among tribes who have little immunity to diseases common in the general population.

Their immune systems often are weakened as well by malnutrition, hepatitis B, diabetes and respiratory diseases like tuberculosis, experts say. (Guardian)

Puerto Rico on Tuesday closed its fourth police station in a week, raising concerns about the ability of the US territory to respond to the coronavirus pandemic as officers accused the government of exposing one of the largest police departments in a U.S. jurisdiction to Covid-19.

More than 100 officers now remain quarantined as dozens of police await test results on an island that has reported eight deaths and more than 230 confirmed cases amid a month long curfew that has shuttered beaches, parks and non-essential businesses.

The first police station to close is located in the popular tourist town of Rincon, where the 42-year-old wife of one officer recently died from Covid-19, according to health officials. A couple of days later, authorities shuttered the police station in the eastern town of Aguas Buenas after one officer tested positive. Two more then closed over coronavirus infection fears.

Shortly afterward, the government announced that it also closed a station in the western town of Moca and sent more than 40 officers home after the relative of one policeman showed symptoms that could be related to Covid-19. (Guardian)

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**USA - 24,742 new cases totaling 188,530 and 748 new deaths totaling 3,889.

ITALY - 4,053 new cases totaling 105,792 and 837 new deaths totaling 12,428.
In the last 24 hours 1,109 have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 15,729. According to the National Higher Health Institute, Italy’s coronavirus curve has reached its plateau but lockdown measures are still needed to defeat it. ISS President Silvio Brusaferro said: “The curve tells us that we’re at the plateau. That doesn’t mean we’ve hit the peak and that it is over but that we must start the descent and you start the descent by applying the measures in force.” The ISS said authorities were set to broaden its tests to include “broader swathes of the population”.

SPAIN - 7,967 new cases totaling 95,923 and 748 new deaths totaling 8,464.
The Spanish government has announced a new set of measures to further help independent workers, small companies and those most vulnerable during the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The measures aim to “guarantee, more than ever, that people do not lose their constitutional right to housing,” said Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias. The measures include extending rental contracts and suspending evictions for six months from the start of the state of emergenc. For those having issues paying rent, the government is pledging to give up to 900€ — or $988 — a month for those expenses, and it says it will cover any debts related to rent payments for those in vulnerable situations. The government has also banned companies from cutting water, electricity or gas supplies. As for independent workers and small companies, the government will allow a delay in social security payments and will give up to 440€ (or $483) a month to those who lost their jobs during the state of emergency or are not entitled to unemployment welfare. The refinancing or suspension of debt payments for the tourism industry for up to a year is also among the measures. The new measures will help 500,000 families, Iglesias said.

CHINA - no report so far this evening.

GERMANY - 4,923 new cases totaling 71,808 and 130 new deaths totaling 775.

FRANCE - 7,578 new cases totaling 52,128 and 499 new deaths totaling 3,523.
New deaths increased by 17% in the past 24 hours. It was the third consecutive day that the rate of deaths accelerated in France, which is now in its third week of lockdown to try to slow the spread of the virus.
Number of people in hospital 22,757 (+1,749)
Number of people in intensive care 5,565 (+ 478)
Patients continued to be evacuated from hospitals in the Grand-Est region where hospitals are said to be “saturated” with Covid-19 patients, with several patients were airlifted by helicopter to Germany on Tuesday. The Grand-Est is the second worst coronavirus crisis area after the Ile-de-France, which is the Paris region. There are reported to be 2,000 people needing intensive care in the Ile-de-France, a region that has around 1,200 intensive care beds. Opinion poll published by Paris Match suggested that the popularity of both Macron and his prime minister Édouard Philippe have risen. - Guardian

IRAN - 3,110 new cases totaling 44,605 and 141 new deaths totaling 2,898.

UK - 3,009 new cases totaling 25,150 and 381 new deaths totaling 1,789.

SWITZERLAND - 683 new cases totaling 16,605 and 74 new deaths totaling 433.

**TURKEY - 2,704 new cases totaling 13,531 and 46 new deaths totaling 214.
Turkey seems like it is quickly becoming a hot spot over the past week.
A consortium of defence and electronics firms in Turkey said they will jointly produce and deliver 5,000 ventilators to the health ministry in two months, Reuters reports. Turkish drone-maker Baykar’s chief executive Haluk Bayraktar said on Tuesday that the initial target is to get 1,000 new ventilators in use by mid-April. The group of companies have come together to ramp up production of an existing ventilator.

BELGIUM - 876 new cases totaling 12,775 and 192 new deaths totaling 705.

NETHERLANDS - 845 new cases totaling 12,595 and 175 new deaths totaling 1,039.

AUSTRIA - 562 new cases totaling 10,180 and 20 new deaths totaling 128.

S. KOREA - 101 new cases totaling 9,887 and 3 new deaths totaling 165.

*CANADA - 1,164 new cases totaling 8,612 and 12 new deaths totaling 101.

*PORTUGAL - 1,035 new cases totaling 7,443 and 20 new deaths totaling 160.

*BRAZIL - 1,087 new cases totaling 5,717 and 38 new deaths totaling 201.

ISRAEL - 663 new cases totaling 5,358 and 4 new deaths totaling 20.

AUSTRALIA - 303 new cases totaling 4,763 and 1 new death totaling 20.

NORWAY - 196 new cases totaling 4,641 and 7 new deaths totaling 39.

SWEDEN - 407 new cases totaling 4,435 and 34 new deaths totaling 180.

CZECH REPUBLIC - 307 new cases totaling 3,308 and 8 new deaths totaling 31.

IRELAND - 325 new cases totaling 3,235 and 17 new deaths totaling 71.

DENMARK - 283 new cases totaling 2,860 and 13 new deaths totaling 90.

MALAYSIA - 140 new cases totaling 2,766 and 6 new deaths totaling 43.

CHILE - 289 new cases totaling 2,738 and 4 new deaths totaling 12.

*RUSSIA - 501 new cases totaling 2,337 and 8 new deaths totaling 17.

POLAND - 256 new cases totaling 2,311 and 2 new deaths totaling 33.

  • ECUADOR - 336 new cases totaling 2,302 and 17 new deaths totaling 79.

ROMANIA - 136 new cases totaling 2,245 and 17 new deaths totaling 82.

JAPAN - 276 new cases totaling 2,229 and 10 new deaths totaling 66.

LUXEMBOURG - 190 new cases totaling 2,178 and 1 new death totaling 23.

*PHILIPPINES - 538 new cases totaling 2,084 and 10 new deaths totaling 88.

PAKISTAN - 221 new cases totaling 1,938 and 5 new deaths totaling 26.

THAILAND - 127 new cases totaling 1,651 and 1 new death totaling 10.

SAUDI ARABIA - 110 new cases totaling 1,563 and 2 new deaths totaling 10.

INDONESIA - 114 new cases totaling 1,528 and 14 new deaths totaling 136.

INDIA - 146 new cases totaling 1,397 and 3 new deaths totaling 35.

SOUTH AFRICA - 27 new cases totaling 1,353 and 2 new deatsw totaling 5.

PANAMA - 106 new cases totaling 1,181 and 3 new deaths totaling 30.

*DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - 208 new cases totaling 1,109 and 9 new deaths totaling 51.

MEXICO - 101 new cases totaling 1,094 and 8 new deaths totaling 28.

PERU - 115 new cases totaling 1,065 and 6 new deaths totaling 30.

*ARGENTINA - 234 new cases totaling 1,054 and 4 new deaths totaling 27.

COLOMBIA - 108 new cases totaling 906 and 2 new deaths totaling 16.

HONG KONG - 32 new cases totaling 715.

EGYPT - 54 new cases totaling 710 and 5 new deaths totaling 416.

UAE - 53 new cases totaling 664 and 1 new deaths totaling 6.
The United Arab Emirates is now testing more of its population for Coronavirus per head than any other country, and is on track with the help of Chinese technology to scale up the level of testing to reach the bulk of the population. A UAE spokeswoman said “testing is at the heart of our containment strategy”, but said it had set no date by which it will reach the entire population of 9m. The UAE health department says it has so far carried out 220,000 laboratory tests representing 22,900 tests per million people, the second highest test density in the world. The UAE is making two moves to scale up the level of testing further. It has introduced drive through testing initially in Abu Dhabi with those suspected of carrying the virus tested for free, and those showing no symptoms offered a test at a $100 fee. The first drive through testing centre was opened at the Zayed sports city in Abu Dhabi and is capable of testing 600 people per day over a 12 hour period. The nasal swab test takes about 5 minutes. A further 8 test sites are being opened capable of testing 600 per day. (Guardian)

NEW ZEALAND - 58 new cases totaling 647.

*UKRAINE - 97 new cases totaling 645 and 4 new deaths totaling 17.

MOROCCO - 61 new cases totaling 617 and 3 new deaths totaling 36.

1st cases - Burundi (2), Sierra Leone

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I can’t imagine the rural panhandle has less people than rural upstate New York that we hear about constantly on this thread as not being treated the same as the big city. Florida needs a state wide Stay At Home order - ASAP. Its going to be a mess there. The only thing they have going for them is heat and humidity.

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We need nationwide Stay At Home.

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Tough to put in place and enforce a nationwide stay at home. States have police powers rather than the feds. May well be that we should have one but our system isn’t set up for one.

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Looking at this site and zooming in, almost every county in Florida, even the interior ones and the ones on the panhandle, has at least one death.

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Nationwide Stay At Home.

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I can tell you that New York doctors and PhD’s are sharing their clinical and laboratory research freely and publicly (as they always have). They are literally working round the clock to figure this out, and many have gotten the virus. What politicians do is important, and the efforts of each of us in social distancing and hygiene are crucial. But if you get COVID-19, research and medical knowledge are what’s going to make the biggest difference for you. NY is sharing that resource and reaching out to collaborate.

You can get a good idea of the many wheels that are turning if you listen to TWIV (virology podcast from Columbia University). @Qtinfo has been suggesting it on this thread. There will be a new episode likely posted on Sunday with clinicians and researchers discussing what they are learning (it’s a little dense and sometimes a little rough around the edges due to the stress of fighting this thing.) They are putting together basic science and clinical observation and figuring out what treatments might work. Doctors have learned so much already, but they are focused on implementing their ideas for their patients, running clinical trials, and pooling their knowledge with colleagues, so they can’t stop to make public announcements (it’s also too early and the general public might misunderstand). But they are making progress. Science has no borders so there really is a national and international effort. (In fact although the Chinese politicians are almost surely lying about numbers, Chinese doctors and scientists have shared all their knowledge.) I personally know many New Yorkers who are working their hardest, not for any particular group of people but for all people. I believe that in collaboration with their colleagues around the world, they will discover treatments, soon.

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Dr. Birx graph was sobering last night. The blue line of NY compared to CA and WA which both saw earliest cases of CV, demonstrated the successful choices the west coast made.

The week NY governor spent fighting against the mayor’s desire to shut down NYC was costly and dangerous. NY schools also remained open. The governor’s focus was on providing food and childcare so he fought hard to keep the schools open. Major misstep.

Support the governor all you want on this thread but the proof is there. The leadership hasn’t been so stellar. It was a slow and late shutdown. Movement from NY to the rest of the NE and country is still happening. 75,000 cases in NY and counting with limited testing throughout the state.

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Reposting this link to the IHME data, shown during the press briefing yesterday.
Searchable by state.

https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections

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I tried to read up a little on the “big announcement” and I don’t think the “big thing” is the pinprick test. I’m guessing the big thing will be announced jointly.
As for that test, it is made in Brittany and will be used for healthcare workers. 120,000 will be out shortly.
It works on people who were hospitalized but they don’t know yet whether the test works on asymptomatic people.
It takes two weeks for asymptomatic people to become immune and two weeks after recovery for hospitalized people.
Being immune doesn’t mean you’re not contagious but it means you can work with sick patients without risk to your health, hence priority to healthcare workers.

That’s all I have about this.

Thank you for reassuring me about people taking the “stay at home” orders seriously overall nationally.
(“I take this seriously but others don’t!” is what I’ve been hearing every day + stories of neighbors walking around for exercise and stopping to chat, etc.)
There are pictures of empty landmarks (time square etc) but also of people walking together, waiting close together, delivery services letting many drivers gather, etc. Not to mention the situation in Florida, which is going to be horrible due to many beaches and bars/restaurants and places of worship staying defiantly open.

Suggesting social distancing isn’t enough. It’s so contrary to what we are/have been doing/do, even people who mean well can’t do what it takes. The good news is that successful mitigation works. Instead of contaminating 4-5 people (or more, for ‘superspreaders’) mitigation reduced that to just one contaminated. Not zero but a more manageable number. (Latest Imperial study)

Today’s news is that in addition to coordinating hospital places, national leaders should coordinate management and production of sedatives. As of now, there have been joint purchases but because healthcare is each state’s purview, the allocation hasn’t been planned across European states. Because the wave hits at different times the management is very important.

Light point of the day: the WHO is recommending we play online, open-world video games like Animal Crossing!
Wondering if it’s an April’s Fools Day joke or real, could be either!!

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I thought I would contribute to Coronavirus stats: alcohol sales is up 240%.

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From your future: domestic violence 32% up (in various European countries, but same causes would logically produce the same effects in the US: lockdown means keeping abusers home with trapped victims) => you can alter this still, I think, it doesn’t have to be your future. More people for hotlines, more spaces to take abusive spouses away so that families that stay at home together?

Good charts here:
https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest

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I heard that also. I assume that’s retail sales, up because people aren’t going to bars. And was disappointed as usual in the shoddy journalism because the report didn’t say or even suggest that was the case.

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Any delay or any failure in implementing strict lockdown is what would greatly make even longer lockdown necessary down the road. The cost in lives, and yes, treasures, would be exponentially higher (if we can imagine that) if we fail to do what’s necessary. We’re already late, arguably even tragically late, in implementing many of the necessary policies to combat this virus, because of this exact skepticism held by certain segments of the population starting from the top. But better late than never.

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@austinmshauri reported:

I’m sorry, but Ron DeSantis is an idiot. He wants to blame everyone but Floridians for the Florida cases, and by extension to exonerate himself from any responsibility.

This is not a plague brought to Florida by New Yorkers. Were some cases brought and circulated by out of staters? Certainly, but then considering that a lot of those Snowbirds returned to current hotspots like NY, NJ, CT and MA in early March, if we want to play the blame game perhaps we should reverse it and start blaming Florida for infecting NYC. (n.b., that is not a serious proposal!)

Florida is tracking cases by resident vs. non-resident status. In Miami, the largest concentration of FL coronavirus cases, less than 2% are in non-residents. Some of those non-residents are likely to be long-term non-residents, people who fly down in early January and leave in March or April, IOW, people who got the virus through community transmission in Florida, not by importing it.

While it’s possible that the virus had extremely limited transmission during the Super Bowl, that was in late January to early February. If the virus were circulating at the Super Bowl you would expect to see a huge number of cases in both SF and Kansas City (the two SB teams). Instead, as of today (April 1) there are fewer than 300 cases in all of Missouri while Florida has over 6700,

If DeSantis were worried about outsiders bringing the virus to Florida perhaps he should have A. closed down the Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa ports to both incoming and outgoing cruise ships and B. closed down hotels and beaches before or at least during spring break. He did neither because of the hit the tourism industry would have taken. Now he’s going to have to deal with the consequences.

The Panhandle and “dusty center” of Florida are already seeing coronavirus deaths. The three westernmost counties on the Panhandle have more cases than Martin or Monroe Counties, which border the Miami-Palm Beach epicenter. In my opinion they’re just a few weeks behind the hotspots.

https://www.fox13news.com/track-florida-coronavirus-cases-by-county-with-this-interactive-map

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@Nhatrang I don’t have any Boston stats. Only Dr. Birx mentioned Boston specifically and some anecdotal info from
Friends and family.

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How is your family? Is your wife feeling OK? How far along is your daughter since she first felt symptoms of the virus?

Hoping everyone is on the path to good health.

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I couldn’t get the map in the link to work but it wouldn’t surprise me that the panhandle area is seeing cases, especially if we think Spring break travelers (and you’re right, not all the tourists in FL are from NY, they’re from all over the US) contributed to the spread.

Another big source of the spread is travel by the retirees who are based in Florida. They travel - a lot. Not just in the US but abroad. There are too many cases and the data collection is too poor to analyze now, but in the beginning of the outbreak, many of the Florida cases appeared to have their start in FL retirees returning from cruises. Egyptian river cruises seemed to be a common source in the very beginning.

Taking local measures as appropriate to control the spread of the virus may help to flatten the curve, but once the curve is flattened in one area unless future travel is severely curtailed, people traveling will just keep re-seeding it in most areas.

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I would think all the cruise ships that leave from and dock in Florida would help spread the virus, too.

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/coast-guard-tells-cruises-to-prepare-to-care-for-sick-people-for-indefinite-period/ar-BB11ZoEY?li=BBnb7Kz

The U.S. Coast Guard is now directing ships registered in the Bahamas to seek aid from that country first — even if the ships are owned by Miami-based companies. It is also advising ships with more than 50 aboard that they may be sequestered “indefinitely.”

The Coast Guard issued that and other new rules this week in the face of an increasing number of requests to medically evacuate people from the dozen-plus cruise ships hovering off Miami’s coast…

As calls pour in to ferry sick people to land, the district has had to improvise field hospitals “whose capacity for dealing with critical patients is unproven at this time,”…

Seventeen ships are lined up at Port Miami and Port Everglades, with more than a dozen others hovering miles offshore. …