Originally Posted by Bwana:
Once again, don't come in this thread with some kind of political agenda, or you will be shown the door. If you want to go that route, there is a thread about this in DC.
Originally Posted by Dartgod:
People, there is a lot of good information in this thread, let's try to keep the petty bickering to a minimum.
We all have varying opinions about the impact of this, the numbers, etc. We will all never agree with each other. But we can all keep it civil.
Thanks!
Click here for the original OP:
Spoiler!
Apparently the CoronaVirus can survive on a inanimate objects, such as door knobs, for 9 days.
California coronavirus case could be first spread within U.S. community, CDC says
By SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA, JACLYN COSGROVE
FEB. 26, 2020 8:04 PM
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating what could be the first case of novel coronavirus in the United States involving a patient in California who neither recently traveled out of the country nor was in contact with someone who did.
“At this time, the patient’s exposure is unknown. It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States,” the CDC said in a statement. “Community spread means spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown. It’s also possible, however, that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected.”
The individual is a resident of Solano County and is receiving medical care in Sacramento County, according to the state Department of Public Health.
The CDC said the “case was detected through the U.S. public health system — picked up by astute clinicians.”
Officials at UC Davis Medical Center expanded on what the federal agency might have meant by that in an email sent Wednesday, as reported by the Davis Enterprise newspaper.
The patient arrived at UC Davis Medical Center from another hospital Feb. 19 and “had already been intubated, was on a ventilator, and given droplet protection orders because of an undiagnosed and suspected viral condition,” according to an email sent by UC Davis officials that was obtained by the Davis Enterprise.
The staff at UC Davis requested COVID-19 testing by the CDC, but because the patient didn’t fit the CDC’s existing criteria for the virus, a test wasn’t immediately administered, according to the email. The CDC then ordered the test Sunday, and results were announced Wednesday. Hospital administrators reportedly said in the email that despite these issues, there has been minimal exposure at the hospital because of safety protocols they have in place.
A UC Davis Health spokesperson declined Wednesday evening to share the email with The Times.
Since Feb. 2, more than 8,400 returning travelers from China have entered California, according to the state health department. They have been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days and limit interactions with others as much as possible, officials said.
“This is a new virus, and while we are still learning about it, there is a lot we already know,” Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “We have been anticipating the potential for such a case in the U.S., and given our close familial, social and business relationships with China, it is not unexpected that the first case in the U.S. would be in California.”
It is not clear how the person became infected, but public health workers could not identify any contacts with people who had traveled to China or other areas where the virus is widespread. That raises concern that the virus is spreading in the United States, creating a challenge for public health officials, experts say.
“It’s the first signal that we could be having silent transmission in the community,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. “It probably means there are many more cases out there, and it probably means this individual has infected others, and now it’s a race to try to find out who that person has infected.”
On Tuesday, the CDC offered its most serious warning to date that the United States should expect and prepare for the coronavirus to become a more widespread health issue.
“Ultimately, we expect we will see coronavirus spread in this country,” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “It’s not so much a question of if, but a question of when.”
According to the CDC’s latest count Wednesday morning, 59 U.S. residents have tested positive for the new strain of coronavirus — 42 of whom are repatriated citizens from a Diamond Princess cruise. That number has grown by two since Messonnier’s last count Tuesday, although the CDC was not immediately available to offer details on the additional cases.
More than 82,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported globally, and more than 2,700 people have died, with the majority in mainland China, the epicenter of the outbreak.
But public health leaders have repeatedly reminded residents that the health risk from the novel coronavirus to the general public remains low.
“While COVID-19 has a high transmission rate, it has a low mortality rate,” the state Department of Public Health said in a statement Wednesday. “From the international data we have, of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, approximately 80% do not exhibit symptoms that would require hospitalization. There have been no confirmed deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States to date.”
CDC officials have also warned that although the virus is likely to spread in U.S. communities, the flu still poses a greater risk.
Gostin said the news of potential silent transmission does not eliminate the possibility of containing the virus in the U.S. and preventing an outbreak.
“There are few enough cases that we should at least try,” he said. “Most of us are not optimistic that that will be successful, but we’re still in the position to try.”
Originally Posted by suzzer99:
Somehow every civilian in China, Japan, Vietnam, S. Korea and a bunch of other Asian countries already have surgical masks. In Japan everyone still has enough to not even reuse them after a day. How can we be that far behind?
...Because they already had them before this crisis. Not only did the average person already wear them-- and ostensibly, they'd have a box of them at home-- it was more heavily stocked because it was part of their cultures to wear masks. [Reply]
Originally Posted by displacedinMN:
Suzzer--this was in the paper today
N95 shortage is a whole different story. Those protect the wearer. Surgical masks protect the wearer to some degree - but mostly protect others from he wearer (your breath droplets get stuck in the mask instead of settling on things - doesn't have to be perfect but even knocking down asymptomatic spread 75% is huge).
I get why the US doesn't want to push for masks yet because everyone will just try to hoard all the N95 masks. But they need to tell everyone to cover their face in public. [Reply]
2nd case has been identified at my wife's work. She outed herself via Facebook to let people know who may have been in proximity to her. It's actually someone I've met before.
The kicker, I wish I was joking, she's young and over the weekend was volunteering to pick up supplies for anyone that couldn't. She was notified on Monday that she may have been in contact with someone who tested positive and on Tuesday was feeling sluggish and tired with a slight cough. Because she is diabetic :-) she took herself in for a test and was notified within 24 hours that she was positive. Says been at home and says she's already feeling better today. [Reply]
Originally Posted by suzzer99:
Freaking masks man. We need to be cranking those things about by the millions and requiring them to go out in public until this thing is over.
Doesn't have to be N95, just surgical. It can't be that hard to make surgical masks can it?
Yes, 3M starting upping production in JANUARY...They actually could have gotten them to healthcare workers faster if not for the plaintiff's bar and legislative changes now make this acceptable:
Originally Posted by :
Minnesota-based company 3M has doubled its production of coronavirus-protecting N95 respirator masks over the last two months – to a rate of more than 1.1 billion a year, or almost 100 million a month, according to a report.
“This pandemic is affecting us all, and we are doing all we can to support public health and especially our first-responders and those impacted by this global health crisis,” chairman and CEO Mike Roman said, according to Street Insider.
“We are mobilizing all available resources and rapidly increasing output of critical supplies healthcare workers in the United States and around the world need to help protect their lives as they treat others,” he added.
In the US, 3M currently churns out over 400 million N95 respirators annually. It also manufactures them in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America, according to the news site.
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday sent federal Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar a list of supplies — including 3 million N95 masks — needed by early April to keep the city’s first responders and hospitals equipped.
The industrial-strength masks are usually worn by drywall workers and painters to protect themselves from fine airborne particles. The N95 designation means they can block at least 95 percent of particles in the air.
On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence said new legislation will allow tens of millions more protective masks to reach health care workers, but it remained unclear whether total production will meet the demand, according to the Washington Post.
New legislation provides manufacturers of N95 masks protection against lawsuits when selling to health care workers, Pence said.
The change means 3M will be allowed to sell 420 million masks a year to the American health care sector, he said, according to the newspaper.
Robert Kadlec, an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, said at a recent Senate hearing that the US could need 3.5 billion N95s during a serious pandemic, the paper reported.
Medical workers in some parts of the country have had to reuse masks or even improvise their own amid shortages caused by unprecedented demand and the shutdown of Chinese factories.
Originally Posted by Monticore:
I think surgical masks help infected people from spreading it more than people from getting it, once they get damp they lose effectiveness, also doesn't protect your eyes vs droplet.
Yes this is what I've been saying and why we need to require them like other countries are doing, and is largely the culture in Asia during flu season anyway. In Vietnam I guess people mostly wear masks for pollution. But it still works to slow the spread. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ShowtimeSBMVP:
Why would anyone believe the Chinese government they’ve lied this whole time and trying to cover it up.
This is coming from direct on the ground reports from citizens as to what lockdown looks like. It's not disputed. People have family in other countries. The govt can't just lie about something so easily disproven. My boss's parents live in Chongqing. She told me what the less restrictive lockdown looks like there.
Regarding the bigger picture stuff - I’ve read a few unbiased epidemiologists or other experts who say they think China is being pretty truthful for once right now (after their initial attempt at cover up/denial).
Seems like unless you’re going to somehow try to cover up massive deaths (like Iran seems to be doing) ultimately lying is only going to delay the inevitable and make it worse. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BleedingRed:
We have moved patient zero all the way back to 11/7 now... So for 2 whole months China let its citizens fly all around the world.
The Senators and Kings face-off on March 11 was the last professional sports game we saw for the foreseeable future in the United States. The last time there were no games in the four major sports in the month of April was 1883, per @EliasSports. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Stanley Nickels:
...Because they already had them before this crisis. Not only did the average person already wear them-- and ostensibly, they'd have a box of them at home-- it was more heavily stocked because it was part of their cultures to wear masks.
Exactly. But if there are literally billions of surgical masks sitting in people's homes in Asia right now - they can't be that hard to make locally right? Have we lost all ability to manufacture basic things?
Also the culture part is what we need to start working on. Just sell it as temporary, I think that will make the pill easier to swallow. But in reality it may become a normal thing during cold & flu season like it is in Asia. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KCUnited:
2nd case has been identified at my wife's work. She outed herself via Facebook to let people know who may have been in proximity to her. It's actually someone I've met before.
The kicker, I wish I was joking, she's young and over the weekend was volunteering to pick up supplies for anyone that couldn't. She was notified on Monday that she may have been in contact with someone who tested positive and on Tuesday was feeling sluggish and tired with a slight cough. Because she is diabetic :-) she took herself in for a test and was notified within 24 hours that she was positive. Says been at home and says she's already feeling better today.
