Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #52

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US officials were part of the World Health Organization delegation that traveled to China in the early weeks of the Covid-19 outbreak, but they were not part of the group that traveled to Wuhan, a State Department spokesperson said.

According to the spokesperson, “upon arrival, the delegation traveled in groups to several locations, but Americans were not among those who traveled to Wuhan.”
It is unclear why the US officials did not travel to the city at the center of the outbreak. CNN has reached out to the State Department for clarity.

While in Wuhan, the WHO delegation visited the airport, a hospital, and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, including one of their labs.

They did not visit the Wuhan Institute of Virology, according to a WHO visit summary. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in mid-April that “we still have not had Western access to that facility so that we can properly evaluate what really has taken off all across the world and how that began.”

Although the State Department acknowledged that Americans were part of the WHO delegation, Pompeo has repeatedly called out China for denying requests from the Trump administration to allow American scientists on the ground.

“This President and this administration worked diligently to work to get Americans on the ground there in China, to help to the World Health Organization try to get in there as well. We were rebuffed,” Pompeo said on Thursday. “The Chinese Government wouldn’t let it happen, indeed just the opposite of transparency.”

Coronavirus pandemic in the US: Live updates
 
Bravo said:
Everyone here doing well? All good here in SW Ontario Canada. I'm back to work next week. Was going to retire but they offered me very minimal contact and minimal hrs. approx. 30 hrs a month. PPE provided. I agreed but I feel that come early fall it will be time to retire. I'm not going to wait until virus ramps up over winter, which I believe it will. In the end I was exposed to 5 people in March and I managed to dodge it. Thankfully. I am worried for some of these City's opening up so soon and business's that are going to find it impossible to implement precautions.
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So far, so good here in Indiana for me. I went back to work Thursday. Lots and lots of catching up to do as my employer closed down for a month.

We have a nursing home, maybe a rehab LTC, in my county with CV19. A state strike team has been in. Prayers for them.
 
KEEP THE FIGHT: The Cantos triplets, who are blind and were “Persons of the Week” when they became Eagle Scouts, have all tested positive for COVID-19, with one now heading home from the hospital with a message to share.@DavidMuir
reports.

One of three triplets diagnosed with COVID-19 is back home as he continues to recover while rooting for the health and recovery of his two brothers, one of whom remains hospitalized.

Leo Cantos and his siblings, Nick and Steven Cantos — all of whom have been blind since birth — became well-known in 2017 when they each earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts, in Arlington, Virginia. Last week, they each learned that they had the coronavirus, COVID-19.

Leo Cantos, who spent a week in the hospital before his release on Monday, said he'd turned to his Scout training to fight the virus.

Video World News Tonight on Twitter

Blind triplets who became Eagle Scouts battling COVID-19
 
In a South Korean call center, 44% of workers on one floor got the coronavirus. Their seating chart reveals how easily the virus spreads in offices.
...
Last month, 97 of the 811 employees at a Seoul call center tested positive for the virus. Of the sick workers, 94 sat on the same floor — the building's 11th — and 79 were in the same section.

In an article set to be published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created a color-coded seating chart of the call-center employees on the 11th floor. The blue desks in the floor plan are where the employees who got the virus sat.

5ea70d9df242ab20ec499dc4


The diagram illustrates how offices' inherently close quarters, especially given the long periods of time employees spend near each other, can easily allow the coronavirus to spread.
"Despite considerable interaction between workers on different floors of building X in the elevators and lobby, spread of COVID-19 was limited almost exclusively to the 11th floor, which indicates that the duration of interaction (or contact) was likely the main facilitator for further spreading," the Korean CDC wrote in its report.
...
How the coronavirus spread in a Seoul skyscraper

On March 8, an employee at the Seoul call center — the report did not identify the company by name — tested positive for the coronavirus. The patient worked on the 10th floor and never went to the 11th floor, according to the report.

What followed was standard procedure in South Korea by that point: The downtown skyscraper where the center's offices are closed the next day, and everyone who worked or lived in the building self-quarantined for 14 days. The high-rise has commercial real estate on the first 11 floors and residential apartments on the 13th through 18th, which meant residents and workers were in contact in the lobby and the elevators.

A team of government employees then came to test all workers and residents, along with the others in their households. Anyone who tested negative was tested again within a 14-day period. In total, 1,143 people who frequented the building were tested.

The government team sent text messages to anyone who came near the building for more than five minutes — more than 16,000 messages in total — to alert people of potential exposure and direct them to get tested.


...
 
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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Tuesday the current stay-at-home order will not be extended beyond Thursday, April 30.

Ivey said she will instead issue a safer-at-home order that will go into effect at 6 p.m. ET Thursday.

Under the new order, all employers, retail stores and beaches will be allowed to open subject to good sanitation and social distancing rules, the governor said.

Ivey said the state is not out of the woods.

She encouraged all Alabamians to stay home and follow good sanitation practices.

US coronavirus update: Cases top 1 million - CNN
 
-As of April 28, there were 113,856 reported cases in the state, including 2,887 additional cases disclosed Tuesday.

New Jersey has completed a total of 210,043 tests with 42.8% of the tests coming back positive as of Monday.

-There have been 6,442 deaths related to coronavirus in New Jersey. Officials reported 402 new deaths statewide on Tuesday.

-In New Jersey, 6,476 individuals with confirmed or potential cases of COVID-19 were hospitalized as of 10:00 p.m. Monday.

Of those hospitalized patients, 871 patients are in intensive care, 938 are in critical care and 4,368 are in medical surgical beds.

The state is using 40.5% of its statewide ventilator capacity, with 1,262 patients on ventilators.

-There were 419 patients discharged in the last 24 hours and 488 new hospitalizations yesterday.

Long-term care facilities continue to be a concern across the state with many of New Jersey's coronavirus deaths, 2,051 confirmed and 1,060 suspected in long-term care facilities.

There have been 17,201 reported COVID-19 cases at 484 long-term care facilities across the state.

NJ coronavirus cases rise to 113,856 on Tuesday as deaths surpass 6,440

-Hundreds of protesters descended on the state capital Tuesday to rail against Gov. Phil Murphy’s lockdown orders and level accusations of fascism and tyranny at the same time he announced the largest daily death total connected to COVID-19.

It was a vivid clash of symbolism: As the protesters raged against what they called government overreach and cast doubt on the deadly health effects of COVID-19, squadrons of military Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flew overhead in tribute to the medical workers responding to the pandemic.

"We've all been in contact with viruses — vaccine or not. This is just human life; it's nature," said Ivette Bahamundi, a real estate agent from Sparta who is out of work because of the coronavirus. She has four children and fears being unable to care for them. "I'll take a virus over starving."

There is no vaccine for the virus and it continues to spread around the state with deadly effect. The state registered 402 deaths Tuesday, the largest so far, bringing the total since March to 6,442. There were 113,856 positive cases in the state, but that is likely a fraction of the total because the state, like the rest of the country, so badly lags in testing.

Though a majority of COVID-related deaths are linked to underlying health conditions, many young, otherwise healthy people have contracted the virus and died from it. As of Tuesday, 253 people between the ages of 18 and 49 died from COVID complications, according to the Department of Health, and Murphy has repeatedly warned people against thinking they are impervious to its effects.

Protesters rally against stay-at-home order in Trenton following Murphy press conference
 
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pocketaccent said:
The biggest US mall owner prepares to reopen 49 properties. Here's how that will work

The biggest mall owner in the U.S. is preparing to open a number of its properties across the country, as states such as South Carolina and Georgia start to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic, according to an internal memo that was obtained by CNBC.

Simon Property Group is reopening 49 of its malls and outlet centers Friday through Monday, the memo said, including Haywood Mall in Greenville, South Carolina, and Lenox Square in Atlanta. (A full list of all 49 locations and exact reopening dates is below.)
...
Business hours at the malls and outlet centers will be limited to 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, to allow for cleaning overnight, according to the memo. Simon said it will regularly sanitize high-touch areas such as food court tables, escalators, door knobs and electronic directories. And it is encouraging retailers to do the same in their stores.

Meantime, Simon said it will encourage shoppers to take their temperatures before going to the mall. At the mall, it will make free temperature testing available to customers, using infrared thermometers, it said.

Free CDC-approved masks and hand sanitizing packets will also be available to the shoppers who ask for them. Simon said it will encourage shoppers to wear masks or some sort of facial coverings while they shop. Simon is mandating its employees wear masks while they are working and take “frequent breaks for handwashing.”
...
(much more information in the link)
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Oh well, that should be fine, said no heath care worker anywhere.
 
Today I announced OptumServe Health Services, powered by Logistics Health, Inc., will open sites across Indiana in the next seven days to begin large-scale testing of Hoosiers.
Launching this partnership with Optum further expands Indiana’s #COVID19 testing capacity. These free tests will be available in locations across the state, ensuring even more Hoosiers who have symptoms or an affected family member can get tested for coronavirus. In the first 30 days, 100,000 Hoosiers are expected to be tested. Testing is for any symptomatic Hoosier, close contacts of positive cases, or residents of congregate living settings. Hoosiers can get tested without visiting a healthcare provider. State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box will issue a standing order for the test for any Hoosier who meets the criteria. In the next seven days, 20 testing sites will open in Indiana National Guard armories and an additional 30 testing sites will open in the next 14 days for a total of 50 testing sites. Each site will be open for at least eight hours per day, Monday – Friday.

Governor Eric Holcomb
 
rodneymullenmg said:
Those poor workers. Risk catching it and possibly killing members of your family. Or lose your job and starve.
Why would anyone do this to the workers? Just for profits and stocks?
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That's the thing about CoV-19, it reveals our willingness to sacrifice the poor, the vulnerable and the elderly. We are so sick.
 
katydid23 said:
the US has a much denser population. We have many more dense urban centers than Canada does.

In our less dense states, that are closer to the living situations like Canada has, our statistics are quite similar.

Compare California to Canada, which have roughly same population and statistics match pretty well.
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I don't think it's productive to compare our countries one with another. Neither country is doing well at all. It would be far more informative to compare our countries with ones that have shown great leadership in eradicating the virus from their borders. Let's look at NZ, for example. How did that amazing prime minister get her people so united in their determination to completely clear their land of Covid? What did they do? What warnings has she spoken to countries like ours?
 
Watching CBS Evening News and I heard this joyful, hopeful news. Please get me out of this house by September!

Watch Video
Oxford scientists say a vaccine may be widely available by September

"Well personally, I have a high degree of confidence about this vaccine, because it's technology that I've used before," said Sarah Gilbert, a professor of vaccinology at the university.

The vaccine takes the coronavirus' genetic material and injects it into a common cold virus that has been neutralized so it cannot spread in people. The modified virus will mimic COVID-19, triggering the immune system to fight off the imposter and providing protection against the real thing.

The experimental vaccine has reportedly worked in protecting rhesus macaque monkeys that were exposed to heavy quantities of COVID-19.
 
musicaljoke said:
I don't think it's productive to compare our countries one with another. Neither country is doing well at all. It would be far more informative to compare our countries with ones that have shown great leadership in eradicating the virus from their borders. Let's look at NZ, for example. How did that amazing prime minister get her people so united in their determination to completely clear their land of Covid? What did they do? What warnings has she spoken to countries like ours?
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New Zealand is a tiny island. They shut down their borders at the same time we just shut ours down to Chinese flights.

They went all in and totally shut down the country to anything incoming.

I don't think that would have been possible to do with large countries, so early in the crisis.

Maybe next time we will try that?
 
musicaljoke said:
Oh well, that should be fine, said no heath care worker anywhere.
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It sounds like they are taking sound precautions. And when looking at some of the statistics for that area, they haven't been hit too hard.

South Carolina:
total deaths=177
cases=5,613

If you look at it county by county, most counties had 6 to 10 total deaths.

So it seems that if everyone wore masks and gloves and stayed socially distanced, it should be OK.

Georgia was hit much harder, so I am not sure it would be advisable in their hardest hit areas there.
 
I think today's final estimates of the US situation are grim. I'll let all of you hypothesize about why. I don't think it's reporting issues. In fact, in other news, it looks like we have hundreds of thousands more deaths than usual for Feb-March in prior years.

2470 Americans died in the 24 hour period from 12:00 yesterday until 12:00 today. I believe those are actual deaths and not just "reported in that period."

This is a 4.35% increase over the previous day.

That's a linear growth pattern, but not exponential. But this is not the "plateau." The number of models now competing with the IMHE model are too many to mention, but of course all models have now revised deaths upwards.

If 2470 Americans die every day for the next month (possible), then that's 72,000 extra deaths - more in line with what Dr Fauci first estimated. And of course, now he has no voice.

The very scary thing is that in the US, there are way more deaths per day than usual. One estimate is that over the last two months, the US may have 100,000 deaths above what would be considered "normal." This will be subject to several different analyses, but that's grim, even if it's only 50,000.

15,298 Americans are in critical condition in hospitals.

The bump-up in deaths is about the same percentage as in L.A. County, so I'm going with: same factors. People are out of work, the weather is warming up, they're congregating, standing in lines for food - socializing.

Today I took my first drive around my county and was heartened and amazed to see about 50% of people, even in the smaller more remote areas, wearing masks. So cool. OTOH, the restaurant worker who gave us ice cream for our granddaughter was not masked. Not that I think CoVid is going to be transmitted easily on ice cream. Granddaughter (age 5) asked for an alcohol wipe when she was finished.

OTOH, I know the people at that restaurant and the restaurant itself has only one third the employees it usually does, and is only doing drive-through. The town it is in has had 2 cases and those 2 cases had contact research done and the 2 people were taken elsewhere - they both survived.

I do believe we are seeing different strains of CoVid19 - more than 50. Some may be scarier than others. Perhaps we have slowed down some of the more dangerous ones through all our global efforts - too soon to tell. It's still not as bad as some previous pandemic - not that that matters to those of you suffering through this.

For those of us who are older or medically fragile, the idea that we can just go into solitary confinement for life (with incredible expenses and difficulties in getting daily needs met) is not acceptable. I'm glad you all are here to voice that.

But if CoVid continues to mutate and the news from UK has any relevance at all, this virus may not stay confined to one demographic - just like the Spanish Flu. (Yes, I know it's not a flu).

<modsnip: Information stated as fact must be supported by MSM or scholarly links> The below link gives some basic info to support my stats:

Coronavirus Dashboard

(We went out driving today, did a little hike, etc., so no energy left! But in a good way).
 
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A beloved 30-year-old middle school social studies teacher from Brooklyn has died of COVID-19 following a month-long battle, after twice being turned away for testing before eventually being diagnosed with the virus.

Rana Zoe Mungin, who had been clinging to life in the hospital for more than a month, died on Monday afternoon, her mother confirmed to ABC News.

Despite repeated pleas for help and exhibiting various symptoms of the virus, Mungin was twice denied COVID-19 testing at Brooklyn's Brookdale Hospital, according to her family.

It was the same hospital where her older sister died of an asthma attack 15 years earlier.

According to one of her friends, her condition was also dismissed as a "panic attack" by an EMT.

Mia Mungin, a registered New York City nurse, has been chronicling her sister's journey across social media for more than a month, and said "she fought a long fight but her body was too weak."

Beloved Brooklyn teacher, 30, dies of coronavirus after she was twice denied a COVID-19 test
 
CSIDreamer said:
@IceIce9 where did you get your information Indiana is opening up? I only saw some minor things a couple of days ago. I can't find anything new. Still looking . . .
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Indiana's stay-at-home order currently expires Friday. What we know about what comes next.
Here's what you should know about the status of the Indiana stay-at-home order:

When does the stay-at-home order expire?
The order, now in its second extension, is set to expire Friday, May 1. Additional details on the future of the order will be shared late this week, Holcomb said.



Governor Holcomb said yesterday his stay-at-home order expires May 1. Today Simon announces they are opening all their malls in Indiana beginning May 2.

Hoping that Governor Holcomb will extend the stay-at-home order before it expires but at his news conference this afternoon he didn’t mention it.
 
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