Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #30

[margarita25]

The Coronavirus Is Spreading Through Latin America, But Mexico’s President Is Still Out There Kissing Children
As the region steps up its fight against the virus, Mexico is taking a slow approach. For its top official, it’s almost business as usual.

March 17, 2020

Gustavo Graf / Reuters

A metro station in Mexico City, March 17.

“Despite widespread criticism, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador continues traveling the country and holding political rallies. A massive multiday concert attended by thousands took place over the weekend. And there are still no travel restrictions, including along the 2,000-mile-long border with the US.”

Health experts are deeply worried about what this means for the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in Mexico. “The biggest measure we need right now is to shut down borders,” Diego Ontañón, an infectologist in Mexico City, told BuzzFeed News.”

-more at link

 

[PommyMommy]

VIRGINIA

First positive coronavirus case in Norfolk
[...]

Health officials say the man self-isolated himself at the first onset of symptoms. Officials believe the disease was likely caught from “close contact” with a confirmed case while traveling outside the state.

There was no evidence of community transmission in Norfolk as of 3 p.m. Wednesday.

“As we continue to see new cases of COVID-19 in Norfolk and other cities, everyone needs to follow the public health recommendations such as social distancing,” said Norfolk Health Director Dr. Demetria Lindsay. “We all must focus on reducing transmission of the virus. Social distancing measures can help delay and slow the spread of the disease and save lives.”

[...]

 

[margarita25]

41-Year-Old Is First Coronavirus Death in Mexico, Ministry Says
March 19, 2020, 12:34 AM MDT

• Health Ministry says patient who died also had diabetes
• Covid-19 cases rise to 118 in Mexico from 93 on Tuesday
  
  
  [...]
  
  “President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ruled out closing airports and other tough measures to curb the pandemic earlier Wednesday, saying he’s trying to prevent a complete shutdown of the economy that would hurt the poor.”

 

[PommyMommy]

WISCONSIN

Wisconsin coronavirus cases increase to 114
Wisconsin has 114 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to numbers released Wednesday by the Department of Health Services.

The state says 1577 of their tests have come back negative.

[...]

The Winnebago County Health Department says they have 34 pending test results, and have received 28 other negative test results.

At this time, County officials say there is no current evidence of community spread.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

WYOMING

First case of coronavirus at F.E. Warren Air Base confirmed
[...]

The unidentified service member had just returned from out of state, and to limit exposure, the person self-isolated and sought medical attention, according to an announcement from the military.

"The safety and security of the men and women of F.E. Warren AFB remains our top priority,” said Col Peter M. Bonetti, 90th Missile Wing Commander. “I can assure you that our operations remain unaffected. We will continue to work with our local and federal partners to actively combat the spread of COVID-19.”

The base's commander, Col. Peter Bonetti, declared a public health emergency for F.E. Warren on Tuesday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 17 cases of coronavirus have been identified in Wyoming.

[...]

 

[margarita25]

Ontario closes provincial parks; Toronto police employee tests positive; Mediterranean cruise ship reporting COVID-19 cases has 77 Canadians aboard
Wed., March 18, 2020

“11:20 p.m.: Global Affairs Canada says at least 77 Canadians are on a trans-Atlantic cruise ship that has several COVID-19 cases among its passengers.”

“Costa Luminosa, which has more than 1,400 people on board, is heading for the French Mediterranean port of Marseille.”

[...]

“10:04 p.m.: Toronto police have confirmed a civilian member of the force has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.”

 

[otto]

The Coronavirus Is Spreading Through Latin America, But Mexico’s President Is Still Out There Kissing Children
As the region steps up its fight against the virus, Mexico is taking a slow approach. For its top official, it’s almost business as usual.

March 17, 2020

Gustavo Graf / Reuters

A metro station in Mexico City, March 17.

“Despite widespread criticism, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador continues traveling the country and holding political rallies. A massive multiday concert attended by thousands took place over the weekend. And there are still no travel restrictions, including along the 2,000-mile-long border with the US.”

Health experts are deeply worried about what this means for the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in Mexico. “The biggest measure we need right now is to shut down borders,” Diego Ontañón, an infectologist in Mexico City, told BuzzFeed News.”

-more at link

Brazil held the Mardi Gras party on February 25, even though it was well known that the virus was on the move. South America continues to gather in large crowds - like entitled women in the USA who fret with their hair while dissing over-reaction to the virus. It's just the flu, what's the big deal, so a couple of old people kick the bucket.

Sounds like Mexico is the gateway to a bomb in S. Ameica. Next epicentre North and South America? Hopefully Canada has closed borders by the time that happens.

 

[margarita25]

“9:30 p.m.: There are 727 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Here are the numbers by province: Ontario: 214 (including 1 death) 5 resolved; British Columbia: 231 confirmed (including 7 deaths) 5 resolved; Alberta: 119 confirmed; Quebec: 94 confirmed (including 1 death); Canadians quarantined at CFB Trenton: 9 confirmed; Manitoba: 13 confirmed, 4 presumptive; New Brunswick: 2 confirmed, 9 presumptive; Saskatchewan: 2 confirmed, 14 presumptive; Nova Scotia: 3 confirmed, 9 resumptive; Prince Edward Island: 1 confirmed; Newfoundland and Labrador: 3 presumptive.

9:20 p.m.: The federal government is lifting COVID-19 travel restrictions on migrant farm workers coming to Canada, relieving industry fears that the national response to the pandemic could threaten the nation’s food supply.”

Ontario closes provincial parks; Toronto police employee tests positive; Mediterranean cruise ship reporting COVID-19 cases has 77 Canadians aboard

 

[otto]

“9:30 p.m.: There are 727 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Here are the numbers by province: Ontario: 214 (including 1 death) 5 resolved; British Columbia: 231 confirmed (including 7 deaths) 5 resolved; Alberta: 119 confirmed; Quebec: 94 confirmed (including 1 death); Canadians quarantined at CFB Trenton: 9 confirmed; Manitoba: 13 confirmed, 4 presumptive; New Brunswick: 2 confirmed, 9 presumptive; Saskatchewan: 2 confirmed, 14 presumptive; Nova Scotia: 3 confirmed, 9 resumptive; Prince Edward Island: 1 confirmed; Newfoundland and Labrador: 3 presumptive.

9:20 p.m.: The federal government is lifting COVID-19 travel restrictions on migrant farm workers coming to Canada, relieving industry fears that the national response to the pandemic could threaten the nation’s food supply.”

Ontario closes provincial parks; Toronto police employee tests positive; Mediterranean cruise ship reporting COVID-19 cases has 77 Canadians aboard

Alberta closed provincial and national parks a couple of days ago. That means no one camping in parks - no tourists setting up tents or parking on the side of the highway. Everyone needs to go home now.

I'm wondering why people shouldn't be in lakes and oceans during a pandemic.

Supply chain is Canada's biggest concern since no one knows how to plant a garden or survive a Winter anymore. USA has the "me first" problem. Perhaps migrant workers know how to plant a garden, but there are so many people out of work in Canada that migrant workers really should go home. Canadians can figure it out.

 

[cody22]

TEXAS

VIDEO: City officials, TTU provide latest on coronavirus cases, 3rd case reported in Lubbock
Texas Tech student tests positive, family quarantined

Texas Tech University says one of their students who returned from Europe is one of the people who has tested positive for coronavirus. TTU says that student has been isolated and their family has been quarantined. The student developed symptoms and was tested at UMC on Monday, March 16.

[...]

Texas Tech student visited airport, Rosa’s Cafe after reporting symptoms

The student reported developing symptoms while traveling back to Lubbock and while visiting a local restaurant. The city has released the times this patient was at the Lubbock airport and at Rosa’s Cafe. They were at Lubbock airport between 8:45 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. on March 15 and then at Rosa’s Cafe at 4th & Quaker from 9:30 p.m. until close at 11 p.m.

[...]

Hockley County patient hospitalized

The coronavirus patient identified in Hockley County has been hospitalized. The health department describes them as “an older individual.” This person traveled to a state where there was community transmission. This person was seen at Grace Clinic, Covenant Emergency and UMC. The medical facilities will be conducting their own investigation as to who this person came in contact with to make sure they were using proper protective equipment.

[...]

Mayor revises disaster declaration

Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope is issuing a revised disaster declaration that will go into effect Thursday at 5 p.m. Gatherings will be limited to 50 people or less and many exemptions have been removed. There will no longer be exemptions for weddings, funerals, and church services.


The city says fines are possible for gatherings of more than 50 people.

Uh - Oh......Lubbock is two hours North of me........moo

 

[margarita25]

Italy's lockdown will be prolonged, prime minister says, as death toll spikes and hospitals struggle
PUBLISHED THU, MAR 19 2020 3:45 AM EDT
UPDATED 12 MIN AGO

• The government is set to extend a national lockdown beyond April 3.

[...]

“Medical facilities in Lombardy will “soon” be unable to help new coronavirus cases, the region’s Governor Attilio Fontana said Wednesday, as he urged everyone to stay at home.

“Unfortunately the numbers of the contagion are not falling, they continue to be high,” he said. “We will soon be unable to give a response to those who fall ill,” news agency ANSA reported. “Stay at home: if you don’t understand that we’ll have to be more aggressive.”

Lombardy, a wealthy region in northern Italy where the country’s financial hub Milan is located, is where Italy’s coronavirus epidemic started. It remains the region worst affected by the virus, by far. There are now 12,266 positive cases in Lombardy, followed by 3,915 cases in Emilia-Romagna and 2,953 in Veneto, data from Italy’s Civil Protection agency showed Wednesday.”

 

[margarita25]

Uh - Oh......Lubbock is two hours North of me........moo

Third case of coronavirus confirmed in Lubbock as details of first 2 announced
Posted Mar 18, 2020 at 5:19 PM

“A Texas Tech student who the university evacuated from Europe and was instructed to isolate for 14 days instead went home, interacted with family and went to a Lubbock restaurant.

That student was Lubbock’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus, university and city health officials confirmed Wednesday evening.

Now, three cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the Lubbock area as of Wednesday.”

[...]

“Based on our investigation, the student did not follow these directions and returned to a family home in Lubbock,” the statement reads. “The family and the student in the home will be placed under quarantine.

“During the investigation, the student reported developing symptoms while traveling to Lubbock and while visiting a local restaurant,” the statement reads.”

[...]

“A patient from Hockley County who tested positive for COVID-19 in Lubbock is believed to have contracted the illness while traveling in a U.S. state that has experienced community transmission.”

 

[katydid23]

I'm guess tax payers, not sure about Social Securtiy, SSI and TANF.

We do not have any details, "they" are working on who qualifies and how to quickly distribute the funds.

No, exact dollar amount, yet. President says AT LEAST 1k. Don't know if per person or household.

Moo... watching for details diligently, @Henry2326 is on this for sure!!!!

We are retired and have our social security checks and husband's pension checks. So I doubt they will send us a thousand bucks.

If they do I will give it to my son and his wife for the baby. Things are much more uncertain for them now than for us.

 

[weepingangel]

hi @Moosepunk welcome to the thread !
(I’m in MA)

Hi everyone! This is my first time on this thread, I plan on reading & scanning tonight, I’ve just been busy with the craziness & or deeply obsessed with a murder case.

I have no idea what the rules are here but I would like to ask:
Is there is anyone else who is married to a firefighter or medic, any 1st responder who must continue to work? Do you have kids as well? How are you handling it/what’s your cleaning protocol?

We’re having a hard time coping... either we isolate ourselves away from him (I have lowered immunity) or deal with him possibly in the incubation period each time he comes home. (One of the most irritating things is the hoarding that’s going on... I fear for when my cleaning supplies run out.)

ETA (...are there any MA folks?)

 

[gregjrichards]

Being young WON'T spare you: Majority of US coronavirus patients ending up in hospital are under 65 (but you ARE more likely to die if you're old)

Younger people are more likely to end up in hospital after contracting coronavirus as their older counterparts, a new study has suggested.

Analysis of some 2,500 patients among the first in the US to catch the virus showed that 55 per cent of those who ended up in hospital were aged under 65.

Of those who ended up in hospital, 47 per cent of patients taken to intensive care were in the same age range.

But older people were far more likely to die from the disease once in hospital - with almost three quarters of deaths occurring in those aged over 65.

Being young WON'T spare you from coronavirus, CDC study warns | Daily Mail Online

 

[margarita25]

De Blasio calls on US military to help New York amid coronavirus, addresses possible ‘shelter-in-place’
17 hours ago

“New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that the American military should “get in this game” and help areas battling the coronavirus outbreak, while also clarifying that he is “almost to the point” of recommending a city-wide “shelter-in-place” order to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

De Blasio criticized the federal government for not deploying the military to help affected areas in a morning interview with NBC’s “Today.”

“There are American military officers still building a wall at the southern border when all they should be doing domestically is addressing coronavirus,” he said. “The American military is being sidelined when they should be given the chance to get in this game and help us all.”

He said the military “has extraordinary medical capacity” and logistical expertise, which is “needed in places like New York” to ensure food and medicines can move without disruptions to the supply chain.

At a press briefing later Wednesday, Cuomo said he spoke with President Trump and announced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will arrive in New York in the afternoon, while a U.S. Navy hospital ship with 1,000 hospital rooms, including an operating room, will arrive later.”


—-

Gov. Cuomo says he won't approve coronavirus 'shelter-in-place' order for New York City after mayor tells residents to prepare
WED, MAR 18 2020

“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he won’t approve a “shelter-in-place” order for New York City, a day after Mayor Bill de Blasio told residents to prepare for one.

“That is not going to happen, shelter in place, for New York City,” Cuomo said on The Daily podcast by The New York Times. “For any city or county to take an emergency action, the state has to approve it. And I wouldn’t approve shelter in place.”

Cuomo said that such drastic policies would create more fear amid the COVID-19 outbreak, which has now infected more than 6,500 people across the U.S. and killed at least 115, according to Johns Hopkins University. With 1,717 confirmed infections, New York state has more cases than any other state in the country. However, Cuomo has said the true number is likely much higher due to limited testing capacity and stringent federal guidelines over who’s eligible for diagnostic testing.

“Quarantine in place, you can’t leave your home,” Cuomo said. “The fear, the panic is a bigger problem than the virus.”“

 

[margarita25]

Boulder County confirms two new coronavirus cases; one connected to St. Patrick's Day parties

“Boulder County’s total for people testing positive with the novel coronavirus jumped to 13 Wednesday, and new cases included a University of Colorado Boulder student who had attended raucous St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the University Hill neighborhood over the weekend.

“It’s a person in their 20s. It’s a CU student,” said Boulder County Public Health department spokeswoman Chana Gousettis. “Our staff just knows they went to the parties this weekend.””

[...]

“Boulder police had their hands full over the weekend dealing with a number of large parties in the Hill area, attended by young people who had seemingly not heard, or had chosen to ignore, recommendations from local and state health officials to adhere to social distancing, to stem the rise of COVID-19 cases, which on Tuesday reached community spread status, meaning that cases had been detected among those who had not traveled.”

[...]

“Goussetis said Wednesday, “Statewide testing capabilities are not where they need to be. We’re hearing from the state that they are working on that diligently and more private labs are becoming online to help with the shared quantity. My understanding is the issue was a supply shortage of the swabs and the viral medium” needed for the test kits.”

[...]

“The state as of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday had recorded 216 cases in 20 counties, with two fatalities and 26 hospitalizations, according to Colorado health officials.”

 

[margarita25]

What Seattle doctors have learned the hard way about coronavirus
MAR 18, 2020 at 11:45 AM

 

[Mo Thuairim]

Irish Distillers to start making hand sanitising gel

Irish Distillers - the makers of Jameson Whiskey and part of global drinks group Pernod Ricard - is branching out into hand sanitising gel.

The company is going to supply the gel for free to the Health Service Executive, in partnership with Cork firm Mervue Laboratories.

Irish Distillers to start making hand sanitising gel

 

[margarita25]

Suburban Chicago Restaurant Offers Free Roll of Toilet Paper With Orders
March 18, 2020

“"It's scary for a lot of people," Riemer said. "They say two weeks. We all know it's not going to be two weeks. It's definitely going to be longer and we have to be set up and prepared for it and everyone needs to support one another."

The Beacon Tap has been open since 1955 and is one of the oldest bars in Des Plaines. Riemer said he has been encouraged by the community and business support.

"We're all just trying to do what we can to help each other out," said Riemer.”