Coronavirus COVID-19 *Global Health Emergency* #15

[dixiegirl1035]

My daughter is a RN in a South Carolina hospital, she told me they have a lot of patients with the flu that will not be tested for COVID-19. She disagrees with that decision because she believes the public has the right to know where COVID-19 is located but she agrees not testing flu patients for COVID-19 is the right decision because the patients are in the hospital receiving treatment and available tests should be reserved on persons presenting with only COVID-19 symptoms.

So she is in agreement that contact tracing is not important by diagnosing and tracing for others as WHO is requesting should not be done then?

 

[Henry2326]

South Korea is showing us the way. This is not a disease spread by “foul air” it is one spread by close contact with infected people. Test, isolate, social distance, hygiene.
And repeat as long as necessary. If a virus can’t spread it’s beaten.
Matthew Avison on Twitter

We’ve been estimating a decline in the reproduction number there in recent weeks: Temporal variation in transmission during the COVID-19 outbreak Adam Kucharski on Twitter
Adam Kucharski on Twitter

 

[otto]

View attachment 237073

Frightening photo shows Nebraska woman, 36, with coronavirus being taken to biocontainment unit as she develops acute respiratory distress syndrome after traveling back from UK where she began to feel ill

Nebraska woman with coronavirus, 36, transported to a biocontainment in critical condition | Daily Mail Online

From your link - I find this visual helpful to get a sense of how widespread it is in the states.

 

[Henry2326]

Coronavirus: Italy to 'quarantine 10 million people' in Lombardy Italy to 'quarantine 10 million people' in Lombardy

 

[SAMS]

A note from Petco’s CEO, Ron Coughlin:
We know Coronavirus/COVID-19 is a concerning topic for people everywhere, including pet parents. As your partner in caring for the overall health and wellness of your pets, we want to ensure you have the information you need to care for your entire family – fur, fins and scales, alike.

We’ve tapped into our Petco Pet Wellness Council, an independent coalition of leading experts in animal health and veterinary science, to provide perspective on the most important things you need to know.


We’ll continue to keep you updated as the situation evolves. A letter from Dr. Thomas Edling, a member of the Petco Pet Wellness Council, plus a full FAQ about pets and COVID-19 and what Petco is doing to protect the health and safety of people and pets can be found here.

We will continue to monitor this fluid situation closely and update this page as more information is made available from the CDC.
We’re here for you and your pets. Always.

Just got this email from Petco

 

[Amonet]

Italy is set to lock down at least 10 million people in the region of Lombardy and 11 provinces in the north and the east of the country.

The mandatory quarantine will last until early April.

The dramatic escalation in the country's efforts to contain the new deadly coronavirus will close gyms, pools, museums and ski resorts.

Italy to 'quarantine 10 million people' in Lombardy

 

[Chelly]

Still running a fever and feeling miserable.
Sleep is my next best friend. Taking plenty of Tylenol, mucus relief chest(expectorant)
nasal decongestant. Wish I had the chicken soup. No plans on seeing the doctor since
I’m staying home. No point unless l get worse.
We now have 15 deaths here in my Seattle area. My heart goes out to their families.
My heart is breaking my tears are flowing as l write this!

So very sorry you are going through this. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and stay in touch with us.

 

[otto]

Next week, Ontario is setting up outdoor screening centres next to emergency departments.

 

[margarita25]

Live now
Coronavirus outbreak: Mike Pence meets with cruise line officials to address spread of COVID-19 presser with governor and two senators

ETA: Some quick notes at beginning..... Agreement to further entry and exit screening and ship board testing for virus. new quarantining on-ship standards to be developed with CDC. And standard plan to move patients to land based facilities for infected patients. Industry led, will develop standards over next 72 hours. CDC and Homeland to work with cruise industry and will announce next week the progress.

Question:

Yeah, hi this is margarita, thank you for taking my call.

Canadian Federal officials have just announced that they are discouraging their citizens from taking cruises. Can you please speak to if you are currently making any similar recommendations or not for American citizens? Thank you.

Feds discouraging Canadians from taking cruise vacations over coronavirus fears

 

[Amonet]

BBM. I totally agree. The sickest patient in Omaha right now is a 36 yo woman who traveled to the UK with her dad in February and wasn't sick enough for medical care until over a week after she returned from her trip. The metro area of over 1 million people still doesn't know where she was or what she did in that more than one week after her return from the UK. They haven't revealed what Methodist ER she first visited.

Today, it was said she is in very serious condition and that she may have Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome. I think the point officials are trying to make is that this is a complicated disease and not to make any assumptions based solely on age.

JMO

Sorry for being thick, but I haven't heard about this case (there are too many things to keep track of).

When you say UK, do you mean United Kingdom? I think that could also stand for University of Kentucky, so I just want to make sure. And if you do mean United Kingdom, I'd like to read more about that!

 

[Henry2326]

An American church group on a trip to Bethlehem has been quarantined in a hotel after they were suspected of being exposed to #coronavirus U.S. pastor tells how Bethlehem trip turned into coronavirus quarantine ordeal Reuters on Twitter

 

[escape2sc]

So she is in agreement that contact tracing is not important by diagnosing and tracing for others as WHO is requesting should not be done then?

View attachment 237075

She firmly believes contact tracing should be done. However,with the limited number of tests available for persons not yet hospitalized, she agrees with no further testing on patients with positive influenza tests...at the present time. Of course, she would prefer the influenza patients to be tested as a matter of great importance of public and personal health. She isn't comfortable with the hospital's decision but she understands the decision and agrees it is in the best interest for others presenting with COVID symptoms due to the limited number of tests available

 

[Lilibet]

The problem is we need clear messages from all tiers of government that:

1. This is serious but we can handle it.
2. Everyone has a duty to practice good hygiene, wash their hands thoroughly and cover their mouths and noses when they sneeze.
3. Everyone must stay home when they’re sick in order to stop the spread, even if they think it’s just a cold.
4. The elderly and those with chronic conditions need to take special precautions and consider avoiding crowds and travel for a while if they can.
5. There will be NO cost to getting tested.
6. We have enough test kits to test every American that needs to be tested.
7. We are advocating vigorous testing, tallying and investigating so that we know exactly how widespread this is and can work on containment.
8. Containment is possible if everyone cooperates.
9. We are putting every resource available into developing a vaccine.
10. We are going to come out of this strong and wiser.

This isn’t the clear message we are getting. But it’s badly needed.

As @otto and I were discussing last night, all 10 of these points need to be broadcast as public service announcements on all TV, radio and online newspapers. That is how you do clear messaging and bypass anyone in government who persists in sending a different message. Ahem. How hard would that be? Very few are watching Pence & Co pressers. Clear messaging is according to the WHO playbook.

See “Pillar 2”
https://www.who.int/docs/default-so...19-sprp-unct-guidelines.pdf?sfvrsn=81ff43d8_4

 

[Henry2326]

#BREAKING: The first case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Washington, D.C., according to Mayor Muriel Bowser. Bowser is scheduled to hold a briefing tonight at 7:30 p.m. on the situation. #COVID19
Politics, Policy, Political News - POLITICO

Late this afternoon, testing at the Public Health Lab at the DC Department of Forensic Sciences yielded its first presumptive positive coronavirus (COVID-19) case. Join me live at 7:30 p.m. for a briefing at the John A. Wilson Building.

You can watch the briefing via:
1⃣Twitter (@MayorBowser)
2⃣Facebook (Mayor Bowser)
3⃣Or for a stream with captions, visit Live

Mayor Muriel Bowser on Twitter

 

[gregjrichards]

WHO DIRECTOR: 'I'M AN OPTIMIST'

World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said he remains an 'optimist' after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 100,000.

Writing on twitter, Ghebreyesus said: “I am at heart a realistic optimist.

“I believe countries & individuals can be persuaded to fight the #coronavirus more forcefully.

“We at @who are continuing to issue guidance & steps for how to do so & providing other support.”

He added: “Even though we are over 100,000 #covid19 cases, this is a relatively young outbreak. We’re still learning about it.

“The new R&D blueprint will help researchers everywhere collaborate to develop new tools, incl therapeutics, vaccines & more diagnostics.”

5 more coronavirus cases in Scotland as number of UK infections soars

 

[dixiegirl1035]

She firmly believes contact tracing should be done. However,with the limited number of tests available for persons not yet hospitalized, she agrees with no further testing on patients with positive influenza tests...at the present time. Of course, she would prefer the influenza patients to be tested as a matter of great importance of public and personal health. She isn't comfortable with the hospital's decision but she understands the decision and agrees it is in the best interest for others presenting with COVID symptoms due to the limited number of tests available

Thanks for taking the time to respond. It's great that we have you here to share with us what those on the front lines are dealing with, and the hard decisions and prioritizations they have to make on the fly to give us all a better understanding. Thank you to your sister for being there caring for others.

 

[margarita25]

Yes. When our leadership makes statements as we have seen, even though they aren’t directly stating:

“The virus is a hoax.”
“You can go to work with this.”
“It’s going to disappear with the hot weather.”

...that’s what some people are hearing. And I unfortunately think it’s intentional, to either not slow the economy or to not cause people to panic, or both.

The problem is we need clear messages from all tiers of government that:

1. This is serious but we can handle it.
2. Everyone has a duty to practice good hygiene, wash their hands thoroughly and cover their mouths and noses when they sneeze.
3. Everyone must stay home when they’re sick in order to stop the spread, even if they think it’s just a cold.
4. The elderly and those with chronic conditions need to take special precautions and consider avoiding crowds and travel for a while if they can.
5. There will be NO cost to getting tested.
6. We have enough test kits to test every American that needs to be tested.
7. We are advocating vigorous testing, tallying and investigating so that we know exactly how widespread this is and can work on containment.
8. Containment is possible if everyone cooperates.
9. We are putting every resource available into developing a vaccine.
10. We are going to come out of this strong and wiser.

This isn’t the clear message we are getting. But it’s badly needed.

I love it when you make your numerical lists!!

 

[Henry2326]

NEW: Kansas reports first case of coronavirus Tracking coronavirus: Map, data and timeline

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced the state’s first confirmed coronavirus case on Saturday.
In a press conference, she said that a 50-year-old woman who lives is Johnson County is the confirmed case.

The woman is in home isolation.

Two people were under investigation in Kansas as of Friday, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Kansas confirms 1st coronavirus case

 

[gregjrichards]

Sorry for being thick, but I haven't heard about this case (there are too many things to keep track of).

When you say UK, do you mean United Kingdom? I think that could also stand for University of Kentucky, so I just want to make sure. And if you do mean United Kingdom, I'd like to read more about that!

She traveled to the United Kingdom.

 

[gitana1]

The cruise lines exec's employ a lot of little people.

That’s a good point. It’s all interconnected.