Coronavirus COVID-19 *Global Health Emergency* #12

[Lilibet]

My mother, who lived in Canada, had kidney stones and it was very painful, and she was on a waiting list for 9 months for treatment. During that time, she had a fair amount of discomfort, as you can imagine. The doctors thought it was discomfort related to the kidney stones, but it wasn't that at all, in retrospect. It was her heart, and she died at 68.

I’m so sorry about y0ur Mom, Sundog.

 

[MJPeony]

Twitter
California governor says Grand Princess cruise ship being held off the coast as a number of passengers and crew members have developed symptoms. Test kits will be flown to the ship.

Hallelujah.

I had started a post, then had to step away, that said “Has anyone seen my California Governor Newsom?....”

Oh I really hope he’s on top of this.

 

[Ray_of_hope]

I still don’t see the groups of 10 mentioned anywhere in the King County WA directives. Was that just a random statement at the presser or would someone link this please.

Hi @Lilibet Hope this helps:
"There are nine deaths in King County and one death in Snohomish County. So far, King and Snohomish counties are the only counties with confirmed coronavirus cases in Washington state. Washington was the first state in America where people died from the virus."
Coronavirus death toll climbs to 10 in Washington state, 39 confirmed cases

 

[MJPeony]

3 new cases in my county as of right now- Santa Clara County in California. 14 now.

KRON4 News (@kron4news) on Twitter

 

[Ray_of_hope]

We had to be fitted for the hospital grade N95 masks.
More info on them:
N95 Respirators and Surgical Masks (Face Masks)

Sorry, I forgot that we were also pressure tested.

 

[Inthedetails]

Hallelujah.

I had started a post, then had to step away, that said “Has anyone seen my California Governor Newsom?....”

Oh I really hope he’s on top of this.

There is a presser going on right this minute in CA - is it the Gov?

 

[Sundog]

I’m so sorry about y0ur Mom, Sundog.

Thank you Lilibet. She was a dear soul.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Kissing on both cheeks?

Haha! They kiss everyone! My husband and I had lunch at a restaurant near the Vatican called The Angry Pig Birretta e Porchetta. It was a slow time of day and the owner Guido, sat with us and talked and talked. He was fascinated with our life in So Cal. and we about his life in Rome.
He brought us a bunch of samples to try with our meal including wine at no charge. He just kept filling our glass and his! We argued that we wanted to pay for everything but he refused. When we were leaving he asked my husband, "May I kiss your wife?" ....I said yes you can! lol. It's our fondest memory of Rome.

 

[SAMS]

Steve Herman on Twitter

There are 53 confirmed cases of #coronavirus in #California, according to @GavinNewsom.

 

[MJPeony]

I thought about the virus when I received my Amazon package today. I wish I would not have thought about it.

Me too!! I got an Amazon package about an hour ago and all I could think of was @Herat ’s ?....wait I think it was @Hatfield’s ) hilarious post the other day (hazmat suit and a “quick two toots” on the blow-horn to alert neighbors of the all-clear...).

My order that arrived was the hand cream @LaborDayRN recommended

 

[Ray_of_hope]

I'm sorry if this has already been posted.

"Officials of Carnival’s Princess Cruises said in a letter early Wednesday to passengers that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had notified them it was investigating “a small cluster” of Covid-19 cases in Northern California tied to the ship’s voyage in February between San Francisco and Mexico."

Another Princess Cruise Ship Is Caught Up in Coronavirus Outbreak

 

[jjenny]

Haha! They kiss everyone! My husband and I had lunch at a restaurant near the Vatican called The Angry Pig Birretta e Porchetta. It was a slow time of day and the owner Guido, sat with us and talked and talked. He was fascinated with our life in So Cal. and we about his life in Rome. He brought us a bunch of samples to try with our meal including wine at no charge. He just kept filling our glass and his! We argued that we wanted to pay for everything but he refused. When we were leaving he asked my husband, "May I kiss your wife?" ....I said yes you can! lol. It's our fondest memory of Rome.

That's how the virus can spread.

 

[Lilibet]

The virus can exist/survive on surfaces right? I just was preparing to make supper and I realized - I just put the bag of potatoes on my counter and it could have who knows what on it. So many things we don't normally think about. Blech.

I know. Shall we start a list?

Amazon and other boxes.
Our mail. Think how many have handled it!
Bags of potatoes or any food or store items that have been handled by anyone! Everything?!!
Our purse/handbag/briefcase that we have set down anywhere!
Receipts.
Cash.

I give up! Let the germs fall where they may. Bring it on!

 

[jjenny]

I know. Shall we start a list?

Amazon and other boxes.
Our mail. Think how many have handled it!
Bags of potatoes or any food or store items that have been handled by anyone! Everything?!!
Our purse/handbag/briefcase that we have set down anywhere!
Receipts.
Cash.

I give up! Let the germs fall where they may. Bring it on!

Or use lysol spray on everything.

 

[Amonet]

I spoke to my friend in London earlier. She said everyone seems more edgy on public transport, barely anyone wearing masks but scarves up and gloves on. Her office have sanctioned working from home where possible BUT her husband owns a business which depends on customers being in the city... he reckons it'll go under within weeks if revenue is halved.

Medical issues aside, I think the financial effects of this virus - worldwide - will be way more serious than we realise. There have already been hundreds, if not thousands, of tourism staff laid off/stood down. And god knows how Italy will recover from this in terms of tourist bookings and spending.

There's no answer to make it be as if it wasn't happening But to me that's why we need everyone to work together to an extent in the mitigation. It seems like it's to everyone's benefit if reducing the severity of the peak of an outbreak could be achieved so that the hospitals can help more people survive and recover.
I've heard it said that even in a stock market crash, it's not that wealth is actually lost, it's really being transferred. If that's true, there are people/organisations who are making money even during a crash, and part of the problem here is about the circulation of money (I forget the technical term, I need matchsticks for my eyes so I can't think straight). And that's what you're saying about the foot traffic and the tourism....reduce them and the circulation of money is reduced, the money hasn't disappeared, it's just unable to effectively circulate as it was before. IMHO if we can use things like ECMO on a human being, we ought to be able to do something similar for the economy.

 

[Henry2326]

Here are the 6 confirmed #coronavirus cases in New York
1. Health care worker who traveled to Iran (39 yrs old). At home.
2. Westchester attorney (50 yrs old). Hospitalized.
3. His wife
4. Daughter (14 yrs old)
5. Son (20 yrs old)
6. A neighbor who drove attorney to hospital
Luis Ferré-Sadurní on Twitter

The healthcare worker's husband tested negative.
The Westchester attorney had an underlying respiratory illness, which explains why he's hospitalized.
The school and university the children attend are closed for the day.

Healthcare worker is located in Manhattan.
And it remains unclear how the Westchester man was infected. Officials believe it’s the first case of community spread in NY.

 

[mickey2942]

Unemployment claims are definitely going to go up next week, and the following month.

Travel industry are going to lay off employees without pay. So, they will be filing for UI benefits.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Haha! They kiss everyone! My husband and I had lunch at a restaurant near the Vatican called The Angry Pig Birretta e Porchetta. It was a slow time of day and the owner Guido, sat with us and talked and talked. He was fascinated with our life in So Cal. and we about his life in Rome. He brought us a bunch of samples to try with our meal including wine at no charge. He just kept filling our glass and his! We argued that we wanted to pay for everything but he refused. When we were leaving he asked my husband, "May I kiss your wife?" ....I said yes you can! lol. It's our fondest memory of Rome.

I absolutely love this story and can just imagine it! Italy is my favourite European country by far (yes, including the one I live in..) and I hope this virus doesn't damage them beyond repair. I will make sure to visit once this has died down to do some touristy spending.

 

[Ray_of_hope]

Yesterday someone posted the Nurse Unity's letter to the WH. DH directed me to the physicians, et al letter. Since you must sign in to Medscape to see the article, I have copied it.

"Open Letter to Pence Seeks Science-Based COVID-19 Response
Alicia Ault

March 03, 2020

Almost 700 clinicians, public health, legal, and ethical experts have signed on to an open letter outlining to Vice President Mike Pence and other federal, state, and local health leaders what they believe are necessary and appropriate steps to ensure that the response to the novel coronavirus is handled in a scientific and humane fashion.

Mandatory quarantines are likely not the answer, especially given that evidence now exists that the virus is transmitted in its presymptomatic or early symptomatic stages, they write. Voluntary quarantines, social distancing, and compliance with public health instructions will become more important, which, in turn, brings up a host of other issues.

"Whether individuals can comply will be determined by the degree of support provided, particularly for low-wage workers and other vulnerable communities," the letter writers say.

The six-page letter — addressed to Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the White House coronavirus response team, and to federal, state, and local health leaders — was put together by clinicians, researchers, and legal experts at Yale, Harvard, Northeastern, and Temple University, along with representatives from health and human rights organizations such as the American Public Health Association.


It includes multiple recommendations, from ensuring adequate funding and resources, to proper protection for both healthcare workers and patients, to the need to "manage public fear" with honest, clear, evidence-based communication.

"People feel very, very strongly that the response to coronavirus in the US needs to be based in science and human rights principles," said Gregg Gonsalves, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. "We wanted to make sure that was appreciated by people at the federal, state and local levels," he told Medscape Medical News.

Among the other recommendations in the letter: "Science needs to guide messaging to the public, and no government official should make misleading or unfounded statements, nor pressure others to do so."

"There's some sense that the administration wants to keep a lid on information about the extent of the epidemic, and about any missteps," Gonsalves said.

And, he added, withholding information "just makes things worse," because the public does not know whom or what to trust.

"Open, transparent information sharing is really important," Gonsalves said. "You're not going to handle the epidemic like a political crisis; you're going to handle the epidemic like an epidemic."

"Best Public Health Advice"
The letter calls for an influx of new government funding to ensure that health and safety net programs are not cannibalized, and also urges special protections for health facilities and health workers. That includes giving workers adequate protective equipment, reasonable respite, and protection from discrimination that might arise due to their work with infected patients.


Prisons, nursing homes, and other institutions with congregate living also need to take special preventive measures to protect against rapid spread, the letter states.

It also says that health facilities should be immigration enforcement-free zones, so that those who are potentially infected are not discouraged from seeking care.

That recommendation ties in with several others aimed at encouraging individuals to comply with quarantine, self-isolation, and social distancing.

The authors of the letter note that many individuals might have difficulty meeting such requests due to a lack of paid sick leave or jobs that don't have an option to work at home.

It might come down to choosing between rent or complying, Gonsalves said. "If you don't feel sick, the emergency for you is am I going to get paid on Friday," he said. "You want to create a climate that makes it easy for people to comply with the best public health advice."

The letter calls on employers and governments to provide incentives — including making up for lost compensation — as motivation. It may be without precedent in the United States, but the government of Hong Kong has set aside $10 billion in its current budget to offer permanent residents $1280 each to cover the financial fallout of the coronavirus, according to a Financial Times report.

Gonsalves and colleagues are also recommending that insurers be required to minimize out-of-pocket costs, including copays and out-of-network fees, to ensure that people aren't dissuaded from seeking care.

One state has already taken that step. New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (D) announced that his administration is requiring insurers in the state to waive cost-sharing associated with testing for novel coronavirus including emergency room, urgent care, and office visits. Medicaid recipients also will not have copays for any testing related to COVID-19."

 

[Henry2326]

BREAKING: California Governor Newsom declares state of emergency due to coronavirus, freeing up additional resources.
BNO Newsroom on Twitter