China's Feb 23 #Covid19 numbers are out. +409 cases & +150 deaths.
The totals there are now listed as 77,150 cases & 2592 deaths.
Report is here: https://t.co/wGoN5m7n9Q pic.twitter.com/nQwL4uAW5D— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) February 24, 2020
Welcome to the new “normal”. “Global health lawyer”:
It’s time for a Pandemic thread for #COVID19
(prompted by questions from the excellent @MackayIM & @onisillos – thank-you)
🌏What is a pandemic?
🌍Are we in a pandemic?
🌎How do pandemic and PHEIC declarations differ?
🌏What is the impact of declaring a pandemic?(1/?)
— Dr Alexandra Phelan (@alexandraphelan) February 23, 2020
2. A pandemic refers to the spread of a disease worldwide or over a significant proportion of the world, generally considered to be two or more continents. “Pandemic” is a descriptive term, not a legal term, and specifically describes spread, not severity, of a disease.
— Dr Alexandra Phelan (@alexandraphelan) February 23, 2020
7b. What is the impact of a pandemic declaration?
(national law – varies country to country)
📚 regulatory and funding agencies may have laws that depend on a pandemic declaration.
📚Some contracts (e.g. insurance especially) may have clauses trigger on a pandemic.— Dr Alexandra Phelan (@alexandraphelan) February 23, 2020
8. Are we in a pandemic? I think we are incredibly close:
🔺more than incidental local transmission in Asia (China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Iran) & Europe (Italy).
🔺 assume some undetected spread occurring globally.But, I think we are still on the cusp. pic.twitter.com/JR5LuMSeaH
— Dr Alexandra Phelan (@alexandraphelan) February 23, 2020
I wrote this piece with @mlipsitch about how reporters can help cover the #Covid_19 pandemic better. It’s also targeted at the general public, to help understand the different sorts of knowledge we can talk about. Many thanks to @sciam for hosting! https://t.co/krxSbwv7HG
— Bill Hanage (@BillHanage) February 23, 2020
Thread on how much #Covid19 testing is being done in the US (spoiler alert: not enough). https://t.co/OJKzOu6TJA
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) February 23, 2020
An infographic summary of the biggest #COVID19 case analysis to date, and a reminder of how to name the disease (COVID-19) and the virus that infects us to cause it (SARS-CoV-2), with references. https://t.co/FhcjU3h6NM
— ɪᴀɴ ᴍ ᴍᴀᴄᴋᴀʏ, ᴘʜᴅ 🦠🤧🧬🥼🦟 (@MackayIM) February 23, 2020
A seafood market in Wuhan might have boosted circulation of the deadly #coronavirus, but may not have ben where it originated, according to a new study. https://t.co/KijQiHGPeG pic.twitter.com/lkwCHWRApW
— SCMP News (@SCMPNews) February 24, 2020
Virus-hit China set to postpone its annual parliament session for the first time since the Cultural Revolution https://t.co/NW2JQRwHhK#coronavirus pic.twitter.com/sSur8oC8gu
— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 24, 2020
(It was due to begin on March 5th.)
#Breaking Afghanistan confirms the first case of #coronavirus: agencies (File Photo) pic.twitter.com/58IwsFt445
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) February 24, 2020
Oil and Asia stocks slump as coronavirus spreads outside China https://t.co/KwmGOo8P3c
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) February 24, 2020
U.S. national and local officials are, predictably, handling the whole situation sub-optimally…
#BREAKING: The city of Costa Mesa is seeking to block the transfer of up to 70 confirmed coronavirus patients from near Sacramento to the former Fairview Development Center https://t.co/r2aB9iXf5O pic.twitter.com/uSG767VhpH
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) February 22, 2020
… At a press conference, officials including Mayor Katrina Foley gathered to answer questions about the injunction filed to block the CDC and the U.S. Department of Health from transferring as many as 50 patients who have tested positive for coronavirus from Sacramento to the city’s Fairview Developmental Center….
Federal court papers filed Friday state that the federal government planned to transfer the patients from Travis Air Force Base on Sunday or Monday. Thursday night, Costa Mesa city officials began hearing of the plan to move between 30 and 50 patients to the state-owned land…
The California Health and Human Services Agency released a statement Saturday regarding the possible transfer of coronavirus patients to Costa Mesa.
“The federal quarantine of former Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers at Travis Air Force Base remains a federal operation,” the statement said. “California has been working hard to support this federal effort in a way that ensures the public health and safety of our communities and the passengers themselves.”
According to the statement, the federal government has determined that anyone testing positive for coronavirus cannot stay at Travis Air Force Base, and the Fairview Developmental Center is one of the locations under consideration to quarantine the patients until the infection has cleared.
“If Fairview were chosen, the federal government would be responsible for providing health care – easing the burden on our hospitals during flu season – and for providing robust security to ensure the public safety and public health of the surrounding community,” the statement said…
As of Feb. 21, the CDC had only confirmed 35 cases of coronavirus in the U.S., with California’s confirmed total at 15.
Letting fear corrode our communities makes us all less resilient. If we do face tough times, we will need to get though it together. https://t.co/DHjll9pvnX
— Caitlin Rivers (@cmyeaton) February 24, 2020
Reuters:
The Trump administration has backed off plans to quarantine patients from the Diamond Princess cruise ship stricken with coronavirus at a federal facility in Alabama, the state’s governor and a U.S. senator said on Sunday…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Saturday that it would house American passengers evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship who had tested positive for coronavirus at a former Army base in Anniston, Alabama.
It was unclear where those patients would be quarantined if the plan to house them in Alabama had been scrapped…
NotMax
Cruel and unusual punishment.
The Dangerman
Costa Mesa? See what happens when the Orange (County) Curtain comes down?
opiejeanne
@The Dangerman: Bunch of cowards. The people being transferred wouldn’t come into contact with the good people of Alabama nor Costa Mesa, and they have to go somewhere.
People are being idiots.
Chyron HR
@opiejeanne:
“Can’t we just guillotine them?” – President-Elect Sanders
grandmaBear
I’m scheduled to go to China (not Hubei) in May with my Chinese class. Not looking too likely at the moment. A classmate was in China in January (not Hubei), said his temp was taken everywhere, but no testing other than that. I suspect it’s already much more widespread here and in other countries than currently thought, it’s just no one is looking until they get the severest cases,
OzarkHillbilly
Coronavirus: 50 dead in Iranian city of Qom
MagdaInBlack
Im feeling so much safer since HR “panicked” over this and sent all the shops a case of Purell for protection. Now if we only had sick days…
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: That’s not good. Maybe avoiding places of worship would be a good idea.
opiejeanne
@JPL: Staying out of crowds of any type is a good idea, but remember the hoopla in the Catholic Churches over the communion cup because people were suddenly afraid of germs?
opiejeanne
@Chyron HR: That was the sentiment I was searching for, but I was distracted by the idea of abandoned military bases.
Not very Christian of these people who undoubtedly consider themselves to be Christians.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: I’ve been avoiding places of worship since I was 14.
OzarkHillbilly
In my email box this AM from Heirloom Solutions:
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: I had no idea.
The dow apparently is going to open much lower today because of fears about the virus.
Sab
@grandmaBear: A relative of mine went to China during the SARS outbreak and the swine flu outbreak. She said that the airline froze everyone on the flight over, so they all arrived with hypothermia and thus passed the temperature test so no quarantine.
Not exactly civic minded.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: Oh nooooooes… Whatever will donny dollhands brag about?
Sab
Banner ad for podiatrist in Ridgemont?? Why me? Perhaps I look at too many shoe ads.
snoey
@MagdaInBlack: Probably about par for an HR effort, but Purell isn’t an anti-viral. Scrub up.
MagdaInBlack
@snoey:
Ya, we pointed that out. Probably speaks to how most of our corporate masters will react.
Dont get sick, and if you do, TFB.
marklar
@opiejeanne:
“Not very Christian of these people”.
You are reading the Bible wrong. They’re following Two Corinthians, where Jesus quarantined the Lepers as far away from his as possible.
lee
According to the news, 11 new cases of coronavirus on China’s mainland, excluding Hubei province.
Is no one questioning these numbers?
Kirk Spencer
So the question that came to mind overnight was about reinfection or relapse. As in do we know anything yet?
Feathers
What I have been reading is that there are both respiratory and fecal means of transmission. The focus so far has been entirely on the first. However, the second may last far longer. The study was linked at http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/02/studies-show-covid-19-virus-likely-has-multiple-infection-routes, but it isn’t opening for me anymore. The quote that I felt compelled to tweet was: “but by day 5, 75% of anal swabs were positive for COVID-19 virual RNA, and only 50% of oral swabs were still positive.” This could lead to really horrible consequences. If people are not willing to use shared restrooms, the economic effects of self quarantining could become much larger. The travel questions on the earlier thread would have very different answers.
moops
@Feathers: how big is fecal transmission as issue in developed countries with functioning plumbing and waste treatment? Feces is often pathogen loaded and we wash our hands when using bathrooms.