A light hearted look at life onboard the Diamond Princess.
"As the coronavirus continues to spread, President Trump’s proposed 2021 budget calls for drastic cuts to funding for the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization that critics say could prevent preparedness for a pandemic at home. "
15th confirmed case in USA
"The first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Texas was announced Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The patient is among a group of people under federal quarantine being held at a military base in San Antonio. The group returned to the U.S. on a State Department-chartered flight from Hubei Province, China on Feb. 7. "
https://www.kcbd.com/2020/02/13/first-case-coronavirus-identified-texas-group-returning-china-quarantined-san-antonio/
“Coronavirus cases are not rising dramatically outside China despite a spike in Hubei province, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.” “China sacked two top officials in Hubei province hours after the new figures were revealed.” (BBC)
First Death in Japan
“On Thursday Japan announced its first coronavirus death - a woman in her 80s who lived in Kanagawa, south-west of Tokyo. The woman’s diagnosis was confirmed after her death and she had no obvious link to China’s Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, Japanese media reported.” (BBC)
Diamond Princess focused article with graphics on cabins sizes, etc.
UC San Diego health experts held a press conference Thursday to update the public on the status of coronavirus patients at one of its facilities.
Clinical director of infection prevention at UC San Diego Health Dr. Randy Taplitz said that UCSD Health currently has three patients, two of whom have tested positive for the new covoronavirus, now called COVID-19. The third is a person under investigation, Taplitz said.
The two patients who tested positive for the virus are under isolation, Taplitz said, adding that visitors are being limited. Both patients who tested positive for the virus are in “fair condition,” Taplitz said.
Taplitz said the hospital is communicating regularly with Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, where more than 200 Americans evacuated from the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan, are currently quarantined. She said the hospital expects to receive more patients from the base.
Anyone know what “fair” condition would mean?
Also, sounds like they are expecting more from those quarantined?
Per JHU:
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/patient_condition_updates.html
A notch below good. Most likely here meaning doing OK other than having cold-like cough, sneezing, etc. (like what the WA patient experienced).
News re: Diamond Princess
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/who-china-coronavirus-feb-13-1.5462153
" emergency response teams and consular officials are in Japan to make sure Canadians are receiving the help they need…Canada has also dispatched health officials to Japan to co-ordinate with local public health authorities.
Japan plans to move passengers who wish to leave the ship in phases, with the most “medically vulnerable” guests being moved in the first phase, according to Princess Cruises, the line that owns the Diamond Princess. That first group of people will be tested for the virus, and if they test negative, will be taken to a quarantine housing facility, the cruise line said in a press release. If they test positive, they’ll be moved to a health facility.
The shore-side quarantine centre will include individual rooms with private bathrooms, and while passengers will continue to receive their medical prescriptions, they will not have access to specialized or Western meals. They will be served Japanese bento boxes for the duration of the quarantine, according to the release. Everyone who wishes to stay on the ship will be allowed to do so."
Life aboard the Diamond Princess courtesy of social media. People getting Amazon and drone deliveries. Children being delivered candy, toys and game by crew. Could be a lot worse.
https://www.boredpanda.com/coronavirus-diamond-princess-cruise-ship/
How was 14 days decided upon for quarantine?
Is it a guess? Based on past epidemic outbreaks?
Is it possible 14 days is too short?
It’s based on the data from cases in China which showed that the long end of the range from exposure to being contagious was 12-13 days. Could it be too short? Possibly. There appear to be some uncertainties right now.
8 new cases in Singapore today.
Hmmmm…But I thought the virus is supposed to die out in warm weather? The average temperature in Singapore at this time of the year is 90 degrees.
@emilybee glad you posted that. I was thinking the same thing. I don’t think warmer weather is going to kill this off. There are other places with warm weather where this is still happening…
Given that the level of sanitation in Singapore is way above the norm for most countries in the area, the fact that it has the most cases outside of China is worrisome.
Too much about this virus is still unknown. And if the flu season is any indication, early spring may have another major spike (coinciding with college spring break).
This article gives some explanation/theories on why Singapore has more confirmed cases than, say, Hong Kong.
Better detection and trust. Singapore could be much more thorough and, therefore, is catching more cases. The article also explains that its citizens have more trust in their government to provide high quality health care, decent quarantine facilities, etc.
Also, Singapore is a country with tons of conferences, international flights in and out which can lead to the spread within the country - but also, unfortunately, out of the country as well as is the case with the guy from the UK who was exposed in Singapore and spread it in both the UK and France.
One has to wonder why the number of cases rose sharply yesterday but the death rate still remained at 2%. Why is it so stable? Could be that the Chinese are only allowing the number of deaths to be reported based on the number of cases reported.
There have been next to zero cases reported in Africa or South America (Summer). That can’t possibly be just luck. Though there is less travel from China there is still some exchange. Perhaps, there is a factor concerning temperature the virus can survive on surfaces. Or light which is also known to kill various viruses.
It takes time for the virus to die out. Second, population density matters in cases where the infection is airborne (unlike Ebola or HIV where direct contact is needed). And as indicated above, Singapore is a busy travel destination.
Africa could be the next major vector for the virus given China’s economic interests in the region in construction and the exploitation of natural resources (which is a topic for another discussion). In addition there are many Africans studying in Chinese universities currently.
It has been fortunate that Africa doesn’t have confirmed cases yet. That would be a disaster of unimaginable proportions if was an outbreak there given the conditions in some countries.
I would attribute South America not having that many cases as more of an economic factor where China does not have as many investments. Brazil may be the only South American nation that has flights to Beijing/Shanghai.
Interestingly enough, Mexico claims not to have a confirmed case although a Chinese tourist coming in from Los Angeles may have been a carrier.
I’ve mentioned my concern about Africa and South/Central America before. China actually has a lot of economic interests in some South American countries - trade and definitely in natural resources. Many Chinese there and traveling back and forth.
I would suspect it is a case of less measures to detect cases, the opposite of what I posted above about Singapore.
WHO is very worried about Africa and has mentioned frequently as a major factor in declaring this virus and international emergency.
I have also been suspicious about the lack of reported cases in Africa. Not sure how many countries are looking.