Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Emergency #5

[Amonet]

LOL - @Amonet better be careful - you’re starting to sound a little like some of us alarmists!!

Looks like the WHO are getting close as well....

WHO officials say coronavirus outbreak in Iran is 'very worrisome'

The small outbreak in Iran has been linked to a case in Canada and another infection of a 45-year-old woman in Lebanon after those patients traveled to the Middle East nation.

World health officials still have a chance to contain the virus, he said, but it’s getting less likely by the day.

World health officials have said the respiratory disease is capable of spreading through human-to-human contact, droplets carried through sneezing and coughing and germs left on inanimate objects.

Local authorities in China have been using remdesivir, which was tested as a possible treatment during the Ebola outbreak, to fight infections. Some authorities are also using antiviral drug Kaletra, a combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, on a compassionate basis.

I know that small amounts of person-to-person spread can be contained with good contact-tracing and ring-containment methods. The case in Seattle didn't spread to anyone. Two cases in York, UK didn't spread to anyone else. It can be done.

But every day there are increasing numbers of opportunities for little outbreaks to occur and not be caught soon enough. It's always been a 50/50 thing in my mind whether it could be stopped enough to stop it 'for now', even with the possibility it might re-emerge in the winter or in a year or two. But the more likely possibility now seems to be 'slowing down the spread' as opposed to complete containment and elimination.

As I've asked all along, how many countries can you put full travel bans on at the same time? How do you know that the person traveling to Canada from the UK wasn't on a plane last week with someone who'd flown out of Iran, which wasn't on the radar back then, and a case of the virus turns up in Canada and no one immediately suspects Covid-19, they have a mild case and spread it to 6 others who have mild cases (up to a rotten flu-like feeling for a couple of weeks) and they pass it onto 6 others each, and only then do you have someone who needs hospitalization who's assessed by medical staff who aren't masked and then put in a ward with other patients?

I'm not saying we should quit leaving the house at this point, or even that it's yet time for *everyone* to be wearing masks. I'm just feeling it seems more likely to get worse...

 

[dixiegirl1035]

OK folks, need your help here for my mental health.

I just was transferring my notes from todays WHO presser which took much time, and I hit one wrong key and all went POOF! I did transcription in an app which doesn't autosave. DAMMIT.

Therefore, my request is help sleuthing. I know that there is a link somewhere for the transcripts of WHO pressers. I never found, and right now I'm too upset and over it to look. Can someone please find where the links are for transcripts for each daily WHO presser?

I'm gonna need to walk away from doing transcriptions daily I think.. and this would help greatly as I really want to read them even if a day or two later.

Can y'all help my mental health, and others to later read the transcripts. I'll be back after I virtually throw this computer against the wall for having it go POOF without recovery due to the app I was typing it in.

 

[asyousay]

I would say some people in London are certainly more aware of what’s going on and more alert.

A funny incident on my tube journey this morning in Rush Hour. I still have a smile on my face even thinking about it

I had a dry throat and so coughed and didn’t think anything of it. I kid you not when I say I have never seen so many heads frantically turn in my direction and stare at me. I actually laughed so I think they may of thought I was insane but it was hilarious to see the alarm just at me coughing.

I am white so god forbid if I had been Chinese as I think there would of been a stampede to escape me


So that’s my story of traveling on the tube into Central London today

 

[Amonet]

They are sick not on holiday so what does the son expect?

He probably wants to know how they are and whether or not his parents are still alive...

 

[Medstudies]

Recovered coronavirus patients who have traces of COVID-19 in their bodies could infect others, doctor warns


RECOVERED CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS WHO HAVE TRACES OF COVID-19 IN THEIR BODIES COULD INFECT OTHERS, DOCTOR WARNS


...”Zhao Jianping, the head of a team tackling COVID-19 in Hubei province—the epicenter of the outbreak—said some patients who recovered from the infection had tests looking for organisms, such as a virus or bacteria, in the body.” ... “Zhao said throat and nose swabs of a couple in Canada who had recovered from COVID-19 also showed they were carrying traces of the virus.”

(We have already heard all the above what kind of irks me, is the following statement:


However, professor Mark Harris of the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Leeds, U.K. cautioned to Newsweek that he is not aware of any scientific publications showing evidence for virus in recovered patients.

"It is certainly possible but unlikely to be high levels or persist for a long period— otherwise they would continue to show symptoms. We need some solid scientific evidence before making any conclusions about this," he said.”


okay how the heck would he know this? We have experts from WHO/CDC /medical people on the frontlines, that continue to say “we don’t know”

and this is pretty NEW, there’s not been a whole lot of “scientific publications”.

 

[MJPeony]

OK folks, need your help here for my mental health.

I just was transferring my notes from todays WHO presser which took much time, and I hit one wrong key and all went POOF! I did transcription in an app which doesn't autosave. DAMMIT.

Therefore, my request is help sleuthing. I know that there is a link somewhere for the transcripts of WHO pressers. I never found, and right now I'm too upset and over it to look. Can someone please find where the links are for press daily WHO?

I'm gonna need to walk away from doing transcriptions daily I think.. and this would help greatly as I really want to read them even if a day or two later.

Can y'all help my mental health, and others to later read the transcripts. I'll be back after I virtually throw this computer against the wall for having it go POOF without recovery due to the app I was typing it in.

Curses! I’m so sorry! Throw the computer into a pillow....we need you back at some point and there is no time to spare to go buy a new one


Press briefings


Here is a link for the transcripts (and audio), but currently it’s only been updated through yesterday. I assume today’s will be posted soon.

 

[asyousay]

He probably wants to know how they are and whether or not his parents are still alive...

Well one would assume If he was that worried that he would be contracting the hospital they are in instead of moaning on the Internet as the hospital will be a lot more forthcoming in giving answers.


Just IMO of course

 

[MJPeony]

US CDC giving update at 12:15 Eastern Time.

Twitter
@BNOdesk

ETA: I’m different time zone and I’m just realizing this time has already passed Recap must be out by now...

 

[Amonet]

OK folks, need your help here for my mental health.

I just was transferring my notes from todays WHO presser which took much time, and I hit one wrong key and all went POOF! I did transcription in an app which doesn't autosave. DAMMIT.

Therefore, my request is help sleuthing. I know that there is a link somewhere for the transcripts of WHO pressers. I never found, and right now I'm too upset and over it to look. Can someone please find where the links are for press daily WHO?

I'm gonna need to walk away from doing transcriptions daily I think.. and this would help greatly as I really want to read them even if a day or two later.

Can y'all help my mental health, and others to later read the transcripts. I'll be back after I virtually throw this computer against the wall for having it go POOF without recovery due to the app I was typing it in.

Are these the right ones? Audio at the top and transcripts at the bottom. Nothing there at the moment for today but maybe that's being typed up now?

Press briefings

 

[Medstudies]

OK folks, need your help here for my mental health.

I just was transferring my notes from todays WHO presser which took much time, and I hit one wrong key and all went POOF! I did transcription in an app which doesn't autosave. DAMMIT.

Therefore, my request is help sleuthing. I know that there is a link somewhere for the transcripts of WHO pressers. I never found, and right now I'm too upset and over it to look. Can someone please find where the links are for press daily WHO?

I'm gonna need to walk away from doing transcriptions daily I think.. and this would help greatly as I really want to read them even if a day or two later.

Can y'all help my mental health, and others to later read the transcripts. I'll be back after I virtually throw this computer against the wall for having it go POOF without recovery due to the app I was typing it in.

Awww Dixie, I hate that for you.

And thank you!

 

[Wicked Strong]

I'd be curious to know if any Canadian passengers were tested during the flight and found to have the virus, as was with the US and Australia flights:

UPDATE 1-Flight carrying Canadian coronavirus evacuees from cruise ship in Japan lands - minister

A Canadian government-chartered flight carrying 129 Canadians ...

The cruise ... originally had roughly 3,700 passengers, 256 of which were Canadian.

47 Canadians tested positive for the coronavirus and were not permitted to board the flight. Canada said individuals who tested positive before the flight would remain in Japan for medical care.

256 Canadians on the ship
129 flown home
47 tested positive and have to stay in Japan

So where are the other 77 passengers?

There was a post #825 above that linked another news source. That report mentioned other Canadians that did not wish to return on the charters flight would undergo a quarantine when they returned on a commercial flight. That article also said the top health official in Canada might decide they are healthy and can be released and not spend time in quarantine.

 

[Amonet]

I will redact that portion of my statement with this post as I can no longer edit the original. I’ll also add that after reading my post again, I should have worded it differently. I didn’t mean that the majority of the 70,000 confirmed infected were infected at the hospital. I’m not even sure the majority were confirmed in a hospital setting.

I should have stated that it’s my opinion that several people were infected at the hospital. I would consider that a logical assumption based on what we know of the virus. We know the hospitals were overwhelmed with patients that were waiting for hours in crowded waiting areas, we now know the virus is airborne, we know it’s highly contagious, and we know 1,700 members of the medical staff have been infected, etc,..

My point of the statement was that after witnessing the progression of the virus on the Diamond Princess, and knowing that the virus is airborne in nature, and can possibly be transmitted through plumbing, etc,... IMO, it’s not a good idea to divide a single facility for care of both the infected and non infected.

Specialized containment rooms that have been built for that specific purpose are different, but I just don’t think retrofitting an existing hospital for segregated viral containment is a good idea at this point.

ALL MOO....

You suggest 'specialized containment rooms' built for the specific purpose of hosting Covid-19 patients... but do such things exist that governments could use, or would they have to be built very, very fast?

 

[JerseyGirl]

CDC today:

US health officials prepare for coronavirus outbreak to become pandemic

U.S. health officials are preparing for the COVID-19 coronavirus to become a pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

“We’re not seeing community spread here in the United States, yet, but it’s very possible, even likely, that it may eventually happen,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on a conference call. “Our goal continues to be to slowing the introduction of the virus into the U.S. This buys us more time to prepare communities for more cases and possibly sustained spread.”

The CDC is working with state and local health departments “to ready our public health workforce to respond to local cases and the possibility this outbreak could become a pandemic,” she said, adding that the U.S. may need to institute stringent quarantine measures such as those currently in place in China where schools are closed to contain the spread.

“The day may come where we may need to implement such measures in this country,” she said.

Messonnier said that 319 Americans were evacuated this week from the Diamond Princess ship, which was quarantined in the port of Yokohama near Japan after an outbreak emerged onboard earlier this month. Despite the quarantine, which kept passengers confined to their cabins, the virus infected more than 600 passengers and crew, including some Americans who are being treated in Japan, Messonnier said.

“There are several Americans with COVID-19 who are hospitalized in Japan and who are seriously ill,” she said.

Of the 319 Americans brought back from Japan, Messonnier said 18 of them tested positive for COVID-19. She said it’s possible that some of those patients did not test positive before boarding the evacuation flights in Japan, but that they were “already incubating the disease.”

 

[JerseyGirl]

The first group of people quarantined in San Antonio over the coronavirus were released Thursday after 14 days.

The 90 evacuees at Lackland Air Force Base will now be allowed to go home, wherever that is in the United States.

The patients, who were evacuated from China's Hubei Province, "did not develop any symptoms, and now they're considered no risk."

One traveler tested positive for COVID-19 during the quarantine period last week and was transferred to Methodist Texsan Hospital. Also on Thursday, the hospital announced the individual was treated and transferred to another medical facility "for ongoing evaluation." It did not identify the facility, and it did not identify the patient.

Lackland continued a quarantine for a second group of evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked near Tokyo, Japan. They were flown from Japan to the U.S. in mid-February.

Coronavirus quarantine in San Antonio ends for 90 evacuees from China

 

[JerseyGirl]

US changes the way it counts coronavirus cases

The US CDC will now track confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the United States in two separate and distinct groups:

those repatriated by the US Department of State, and
those identified by the US public health network

What this means: By these new metrics, there are now 21 confirmed cases among repatriated Americans and 13 confirmed cases among Americans first identified on US soil.

18 cases have been confirmed among passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship now back in the United States.

3 cases have been confirmed among passengers from the Wuhan repatriation flights now back in the United States.

Up until yesterday, the CDC was reporting 15 confirmed cases in the United States. The reason that number has dropped to 13 is because two cases have moved into the case count of repatriated individuals.

The change in the counting system starts today.

Coronavirus live updates: South Korea infections almost doubled in 24 hours - CNN

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Wuhan to conduct virus tests in all state-run senior homes

Wuhan has begun testing individuals at local social welfare institutions. The investigation is a response to a Chinese citizens’ complaints on social media that 11 elderly people died from fever and respiratory failure since the quarantine for the new coronavirus began on Jan. 21. Wuhan’s Civil Affairs Bureau reported that at a welfare institute for more than 600 elderly people, there were 12 cases – one worker and 11 among the elderly, including one death. Data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found the sick and elderly most at risk.

Coronavirus live updates: WHO officials say Iran outbreak 'worrisome,' Lebanon confirms first case

It may also stem as that the first case on Dec 8th iirc which has been bantied about on some MSM as patient zero... was a man with dementia who went into a hospital with a stroke. His family was asked a month later, after he had been admitted to one hospital, then transferred to another (for the Lancet study paper published on February 11th) when his symptoms started. They said December 1st, so the conspiracy theories started. MOO this dementia/stroke patient got a hospital acquired infection. Yes, elderly are at risk

 

[gregjrichards]

Coronavirus: 'Narrowing window' to contain outbreak, WHO says

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern at the number of coronavirus cases with no clear link to China or other confirmed cases.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's comments follow Iran's announcement of two more deaths, bringing the total there to four.

The window of opportunity to contain the virus was "narrowing", he said.

'Narrowing window' to contain virus outbreak

 

[asyousay]

Coronavirus: 'Narrowing window' to contain outbreak, WHO says

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern at the number of coronavirus cases with no clear link to China or other confirmed cases.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's comments follow Iran's announcement of two more deaths, bringing the total there to four.

The window of opportunity to contain the virus was "narrowing", he said.

'Narrowing window' to contain virus outbreak

Narrowing window

That window closed awhile go unfortunately but good for them for trying to be positive here

MOO

 

[KALI]

OMG. This news for these prisoners is awful.

Coronavirus spreads in Chinese prisons, over 500 infected

... more than 500 cases of the novel coronavirus had been confirmed within China’s prisons. A majority of the 271 cases involving prisoners in the Hubei Province occurred at the Wuhan Women’s Prison. Another 200 prisoners tested positive for the virus in Shandong Province, and dozens more were confirmed in Shilifen prisoners in Zhejiang Province.

China’s senior Communist Party officials continued to urge caution and said that they’ve yet to see a turning point in the outbreak. Local authorities also reminded citizens that there would be legal consequences for failing to abide by the outbreak protocols.

“During the epidemic, we found some individuals who were airing their grievances and disappointment by spitting at members of the public, in lifts, on supermarket merchandise and even at medical staff,” Li Jingsheng, director of the Public Security Administration of the Ministry of Public Security, said. “Others have refused to … wear any protective gear in public places, and have abused and beaten [workers carrying out control measures].”

 

[Herat]

Is this our “missing” CV patient from the plane? I think they are in San Francisco hospital....
SF Hospital Treating Case of Novel Coronavirus

Forgive me, my brain has gotten overwhelmed as to all of the specific individuals on the different cruise ships and otherwise at this point!

I thought there had already been reports that the patient is at Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa, not actually in SF.

Napa is only vaguely in the SF Bay area