Coronavirus in the US

Thus needlessly exposing the bus drivers, air crews, and US military to the virus? The citizens evacuated from Wuhan were either there on government orders or were at the center of an epidemic with no adequate medical care at the overwhelmed centers. The Princess passengers have access to excellent medical care in Japan.

Yeah, there’s no good solution, which is probably why they’ve been letting them just sit there. But if all 3,500 passengers and crew get sick, and sicken some of the people attending to them, then what? Hopefully it just starts to burn itself out onboard and they can go home as planned on the 19th.

I don’tthink they can fly this way. They are stopped if they have been in China in the last 14 days even if not flying directly from China.

The thing is if they don’t separate cruise passengers, they will all set infected. Wouldn’t they? It seems very contagious.

Particularly because the crew feeding and taking care of them isn’t quarantined from each other or the infected passengers.

@Iglooo Yes, ideally every customs officer will ask every person coming to the US where they have traveled and in what timeframe. The reality is, customs is sometimes busy, people will lie ( because they don’t want to be inconvenienced re: quarantine or the virus can burn longer than 14 days in which case there are already thousands who have come without being properly checked. In some airports, they have machines that you check when you come home. Takes a photo and you press some buttons and voila.

I also think that people will get out of a crumbling environment via various means. When I was in the former Yugoslavia and it started to collapse people were getting out in various ways. People took buses, trains, motorcycles and even drove to Romania and a whole host of other ways. The point is, foreigners got out. If your life is in danger you are going to take a route to safety.

Asking about folks changing travel plans, I snd my nuclear family did. We had been planning an April trip to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Now we are thinking of staying in our state with perhaps neighbor island travel or even just staying on island and being “tourists.”

Every time I go to the hospital clinic there are more and more mask wearers. I’ve gone almost every day for two weeks and I swear the proportion increases every day.

I really want to ask if it’s because they’re sick or they’re afraid of catching something but that seems rude


Maybe I’ll ask someone in the cancer center during my infusion tomorrow. They tend to be a chattier bunch. Not much else to do strapped to a chair for hours.

Yes, when I’m at hospital to visit my dad, so many wearing masks. I am hoping all are trying not to get sick and no one is sick.

Haven’t seen ANY N95 masks, the one that actually protects the wearer. Those are hot and quite uncomfortable. I can’t wear one longer than 5 minutes. Everyone’s wearing the thin surgical masks, often with lots of gaps and not well sealed around nose & mouth.

The ER had many more masks than on the ward. Some wings (especially maternity and newborn) are doing temperature checks. Cardiac wing Isn’t checking anyone.

If you are flying, your passport will show where you have been. One could travel by land, by car to neighboring country. I don’t know what that would be from China. Travel to North Korea by car then cross DMZ to South Korea and get on a plane? Or they could travel to Tibet or Russia and fly from there? I am sure some will get out. If 100 people get out that way, and if 1% has the virus, that means 1 of 100. It is far limiting if not perfect. To me, it is good enough.

Just heard on NPR the NWC is cancelled.

Last week I was at an imaging center. They were giving out “flu kits” with tissues, hand sanitizer and a plain surgical mask.

Today, after a friend indicated that the N95 masks might be hard to find, I decided to look around for the N95 masks. Lowe’s and Home Depot had only big, more expensive ones ( the ones that look like gas masks). Even online had limited availability.

DH is currently out of town, and we have travel plans in a few weeks. Hope this dies down (no pun intended).

MWC. Yes, canceled.

https://venturebeat.com/2020/02/12/gsma-cancels-mwc-2020-following-exhibitor-exodus-over-coronavirus/

It makes economic sense. Why go forward if a large number of exhibitors can’t attend?

My wife has been traveling Europe over the last few weeks and was scheduled to be at MWC for her final week. So, the good news is that she’ll be back a week early. This is probably not the best time for travel and/or crowded environments.

I had been casually looking at N99 masks on Amazon in early January. I put a few possibles on my wishlist, and when I went back to purchase at the end of January they were all sold out and unavailable, expected ship date in May or later. I ended up buying one for $15 more than the ones I originally chose.

So yeah, it seems like there was a run on masks starting in January and probably still continuing today.

Which is why the WHO called for no closing of borders although many countries did not listen. It’s harder to track when people sneak across borders - and they will.

It is human nature to try to escape from an unhealthy situation and environment when one is able to.

“The first case of the coronavirus has been confirmed in London. The victim is believed to be a Chinese national who was diagnosed this afternoon. The news is expected to be officially announced later this evening.”
“Number of people tested for the virus in the UK tops 1,758”
(Telegraph)

https://www.health24.com/Medical/infectious-diseases/News/why-are-kids-not-dying-from-coronavirus-20200211

Very happy that it is now cancelled! I am fighting DH to not travel to Japan in March and April. He has a few trips to CA in the next few weeks but guess I can’t fight them all.

WHO is now being criticized for having been too deferential to China. Were they saying the US should have taken travelers from China? I think the US did the right thing to close the border. It will be hard to track down people anyway whether they sneaked in or walked through. At least with sneak-in, the number are low. Besides, how do you sneak in or out from China? The routes are limited and the autocratic Chinese government is doing a good job at blocking the exit.

Such folks are ignorant. WHO has zero, zilch, nada authority to tell China – or any foreign country – what to do and when to do it. The International Health Regulations have no enforcement mechanism. WHO just can’t parachute medical personnel into Wuhan.

The WHO leaders took the negotiation approach to gain permission for entrance. Perhaps world-wide public shaming and strong-arm tactics may have worked quicker, but likely not.