This is going to be devastating for areas with a large number of older people. I live in an area with a disproportionately large # of people that are 70+. It’s not uncommon to see 90 years olds driving around. There is no way our current ICU capacity would be able to handle those numbers of critically ill seniors. If/when it spreads here before treatment protocols or a vaccine are developed, the results would be devastating.
J-School 101: ‘If it bleeds, it leads…’
90 yr olds, 80 yrs olds, shouldn’t be in ICU for this scenario. The fact that they are now is a reflection of their $$ resources, not care. If there was an actual widespread infection in the USA there would be triage. Admitting the very elderly to ICU is the easy bit. Turning over those beds would be a nightmare. If you have an elderly person you love, get those advance directives sorted. You do not want them to die in ICU. As a country, you do not want your 60 yr old’s blocked from ICU beds full of the over 80’s.
@Sybylla, triage of this sort is easier said than done. Who decides who gets the bed and on what basis? Should the otherwise healthy 81 year old be denied a bed because the overweight diabetic 68 year old might need it? In a no holds barred national health crisis we might have to institute some sort of age based triage but we are a long long way from that.
On a personal note, my father spent time in the ICU with double pneumonia and additional health problems 4 years ago. Today at 88 he and my 88 year old mother live independently, travel, drive, go out to dinner and movies, and hang out with their kids, grandkids and great grandkids. He’s active on the board of the condo association and just gave up another position. I agree that advanced planning is critical, but not every admission to the hospital is fatal for a senior.
This article from National Geographic explains well the damage to the body in the severe cases of the disease. Again 82% of people will have mild cases. This describes the worst cases.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/02/here-is-what-coronavirus-does-to-the-body/
One main reason why the fatality is so much higher at the epicenter in Wuhan/Hubei is their entire medical system has been overwhelmed. As the majority of China’s medical systems are public owned, the Chinese government could have new hospitals built and 20+ thousands doctors sent from other provinces to Hubei to provide reliefs. In the event of an outbreak like the Coronavirus in Wuhan/Hubei, how would the US handle it?
Iran says two citizens with coronavirus have died
"Two people who were diagnosed with coronavirus in Iran have died, a state-run news agency has reported.
The IRNA news agency said the two victims were elderly Iranian citizens. IRNA quoted Alireza Vahabzadeh, a health ministry official, who said both victims were located in Qom, about 86 miles (140km) south of the capital, Tehran. Officials had confirmed the cases earlier on Wednesday." (Guardian)
Cases on Diamond Princess cruise ship rise to 621 with 79 new cases.
Per the NY Times, health experts are very concerned that Diamond Princess passengers who have been released into the general public may not, in fact, be free of the coronavirus. (More than 400 released today, more to follow in coming days.)
For those who cannot access the article, the upshot is that experts believe the virus has been circulating on the ship itself (no specifics as to exact route of transmission, but one Japanese expert who visited the ship described the infection control measures on board as “completely chaotic.”) People who were released today were tested over the weekend, and came up negative, but meanwhile they spent three days on the ship, and could have picked up the virus during that period.
One thing I’ve wondered about with the Diamond Princess is the ventilation system. There still isn’t 100% understanding of transmission.
It seems like the Japanese government doesn’t want to reverse course and admit that the virus was spreading on the ship. I’m surprised that they didn’t take passengers with negative tests to an off-ship quarantine for a few days and re-test, just to be more certain, and then release after 2 negative tests and no symptoms. Maybe it’s just a question of resources.
What the articles on this topic are saying is that people should have been taken off the ship long time ago as cruise ships are not equipped to handle quarantines at all. The cruise line workers are just not trained for that kind of a job. Plus, you have all these people in very close proximity to each other.
@doschicos , yes, we just don’t know.
Another possibility is that, as has been reported, crew members were not isolated from each other as they ate and slept below decks. These same crew members were responsible for going door to door delivering food and other necessities to guests in cabins.
Also, per the NY Times article, just in general, appropriate infection control measures were not being followed: “Health ministry officials, crew members and psychiatrists would mingle and eat together, he said, while some wore full protective gear and others did not — a violation of typical procedures.”
Has anyone from the Diamond Princess passed away? If not, that is a powerful statement about early monitoring and care.
No one has died from the ship.
I do feel sympathetic to Japan. Where does one quarantine 3,700 people for 14 days that aren’t their own nationals? Because that is what would have needed to be done if people were taken off the ship. It really is a no win situation, IMO. Evacuation flights could have been arranged earlier, I suppose, but countries were also busy at that time evacuating their citizens out of Wuhan still.
As we’ve mentioned before on this thread, quarantines are really designed to protect the greater populace more than those being quarantined. Harsh but reality.
Poor Omaha, NE in the middle of the US. They were sent 14 fully confirmed cases of Coronavirus infectees from the Japanese cruiseship earlier this week – not including the 60 others on quarantine a couple weeks earlier.
When the first Japanese nationals were evacuated from Wuhan (last month), Japan did not even quarantine them at all after they flew into Japan – they were just allowed to continue on whereever they pleased.
They know what they are doing at that containment facility in Nebraska. I wouldn’t worry about them.
The people at Camp Ashland have not tested positive so seem to pose no threat and were contained anyway.
"Poor Omaha, NE in the middle of the US. "
Oh good god. These patients are not being let loose - instead, they are being used as guinea pigs of sorts in the specialized quarantine ward to practice on. 
Same unit treated Ebola patients successfully and is well equipped to handle medical quarantine. Have faith in medical professionals , seriously!
So far, no drastic measures other than Tylenol and chicken soup have been needed. See below.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/18/health/nebraska-coronavirus-unmc-chicken-soup/index.html
What has happened to the Diamond Princess (and other cruises) in the context of the coronavirus, had to do with quarantine, potential medical expenses and liability claims to a large extent. The cruise passengers’ contracts are with the cruise operator and owner who are not a Japanese corporation. Japan could have legally refused the cruise’s docking in the Japanese port like other countries have done. But out of humanitarian considerations, it allowed the cruise’s docking and started taking on support and consequently costs. While some appreciate Japan’s action, some blame them unfortunately. Who wants to be a Good Samaritan?
I can’t blame the Japanese government for decisions made on the ship because the situation was changing as time wore on. I’m sure even the US was hoping the quarantine would work and the number of new cases would ease. But letting so many people go without additional quarantine somewhere else? Jeez, I don’t know. I hope it’s OK and no one spreads infection but that sure seems to be a risk.
I wonder if the Diamond Princess gives clues about the % natural immunity in the population.