Moderators: Alyrium Denryle, Edi, K. A. Pital
The article has some interesting charts/graphs as well, showing the effects of coronavirus over time, relative to other pandemics, and on reduced atmospheric pollution.How is the coronavirus spreading around the world?
The coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people in China's Hubei province, in late 2019. Cases of the disease it causes, COVID-19, grew by several thousand per day in China in late January and early February, the peak of the epidemic there.
The number of infections appearing each day has since plummeted in China, owing in large part to containment efforts, but the outbreak is now a global pandemic. Large outbreaks in South Korea, Iran, Italy and elsewhere have propelled a spike in international cases across more than 150 countries.
The total number of confirmed cases outside China has now eclipsed those inside the country, and on 13 March, the World Health Organization's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Europe had become the epicentre of the pandemic.
How does COVID-19 compare to other diseases?
Current estimates of COVID-19’s case fatality rate — a measure of the proportion of infected people who eventually die — suggest that the coronavirus is less deadly than the pathogens behind other large-scale outbreaks, such as of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) and Ebola.
But the infection also seems to spread more easily than other diseases, including seasonal influenza. Calculations of the virus’s basic reproduction number, or R0 — the number of people on average one infected person will pass the virus to — suggest a range of 2–2.5.
Like the case fatality rate, R0 is an estimate that can vary considerably by location, with age group, and over time, and that is likely to be revised. It is calculated using models that take into account how long an infected person remains contagious, the likelihood of them infecting contacts and how often they come into contact with other people.
How fast are researchers publishing new coronavirus research?
The outbreak has prompted an explosion of research on the coronavirus and the disease that it causes. To get an estimate of the scale of research activity, Nature searched for studies using the terms ‘novel coronavirus’, ‘ncov’, ‘COVID-19’ and ‘SARS-CoV-2’ on the bioRxiv, medRxiv, ChemRxiv and ChinaXiv servers, as well as compiling publications listed by the WHO, and on Google Scholar. As of 12 March there had been around 900 papers, preprints and preliminary reports related to coronavirus.
The research covers a range of subjects, including the structure of the virus; how it spreads in different communities; clinical features of the disease; potential drug targets; how effective quarantine measures are; and the psychological effects of the outbreak on health workers. At least 20 of the preprints that were shared early in the outbreak have since been published in peer-reviewed journals.
Researchers have also shared genomic data on the virus using online platforms such as GISAID and GenBank, and several clinical trials are under way for potential vaccines or treatments. Nature’s analysis does not include these reports or data. Neither does it include studies published in languages other than English, for example in Chinese-language journals. It is therefore likely to underestimate the total body of work on the coronavirus so far.
How have travel restrictions affected carbon emissions and air quality?
China’s efforts to control the outbreak seem to have curbed energy consumption — and air pollution. Satellite data collected by NASA and the European Space Agency show a sharp reduction in atmospheric levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is produced during fossil fuel combustion, across the country.
Each year, industrial activity typically drops off as businesses and factories close for celebrations of the lunar New Year, which this year began on 25 January. This usually causes a brief dip in levels of NO2. “Normally, the pollution levels pick back up after 7–10 days, but that has not happened this year,” says Fei Liu, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. A preliminary analysis suggests that NO2 pollution after the lunar New Year was around 10–30% lower this year than during the same period in previous years. A similar trend of declining NO2 pollution has also been documented in northern Italy — where cities remain on lockdown — using data from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-5P satellite.
Ongoing efforts to contain the coronavirus have suppressed China’s industrial activity by 15–40%, according to an analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air in Helsinki. Coal consumption hit a four-year low in February, and oil refining fell by more than one-third. Overall, the centre’s analysis suggests that China’s carbon emissions have dropped by more than 25% as a result of the ongoing efforts to contain the coronavirus.
How does the current pandemic compare to the 2003 SARS outbreak?
The COVID-19 coronavirus has, from the beginning, drawn comparisons to the 2002–03 outbreak of SARS. Both originated in China before spreading around the world. Both were identified as new coronaviruses, deadlier than the handful of related viruses that cause common colds. The SARS coronavirus was found to have jumped to people from civet cats that had picked it up from bats. The COVID-19 virus, called SARS-CoV-2, is also thought to have come from bats, either directly or through an as-yet unidentified mammal. Both viruses caused chaos and economic disaster. But the two outbreaks have progressed very differently, especially in the speed and extent of spread.
The SARS outbreak went on for three months before being identified as a distinct disease. Then, for nearly two more months, it was a disease in search of a pathogen: the identification and genomic sequencing of the virus itself largely came from researchers outside China.
By contrast, three weeks after the first known case of the disease now known as COVID-19, China had notified the WHO of a spike in cases of a pneumonia-like disease. Two weeks after that, the coronavirus had been isolated, genetically sequenced, and a diagnostic test developed, giving China the tools it needed to launch one of the greatest infectious-disease containment efforts the world has ever seen.
The COVID-19 virus, although not as lethal as SARS, has proved much more pervasive. It took less than two months from the discovery of the first infection for the number of confirmed cases to pass the total that SARS reached over several months. And in three months, COVID-19 has killed more than five times as many people as SARS.
I wouldn't be so sure as to China's numbers. It's been eight weeks; supposedly, the hospitals are packing back up, everything is getting back to normal, per the propagandas.The Romulan Republic wrote: ↑2020-03-18 04:40pm https://nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00758-2
How is the coronavirus spreading around the world?
The coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people in China's Hubei province, in late 2019. Cases of the disease it causes, COVID-19, grew by several thousand per day in China in late January and early February, the peak of the epidemic there.
The number of infections appearing each day has since plummeted in China, owing in large part to containment efforts
My store announced that we're moving our schedule forward by an hour to allow the elderly and disabled an hour to shop. Our online order system is also running with limits on certain items to prevent hoarding.
The Senate approved a multibillion-dollar emergency aid package Wednesday that will provide paid sick and family leave for many Americans while also offering free testing for the coronavirus and bolstering unemployment insurance.
The 90-8 vote of approval comes after days of intense negotiations and maneuvers to keep broad bipartisan support for the package, the second Congress has passed to combat the coronavirus.
Eight Republican senators voted against the bill, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Three senators offered three amendments to the bill, all of which failed. The three changes took on ways to offset the costs for the proposal, extending paid sick and family leave further and cut paid leave to instead expand unemployment for workers affected.
The bill will now be sent to the White House for President Trump’s signature.
The legislation marked the second phase of Congress’ work to address the dire impacts the virus is having on American life. Here’s what it will do:
Offer two weeks of paid sick and family leave to many American workers who are in quarantine, helping a family member with COVID-19 or who have children whose schools have closed. Workers will get 100% of their normal salary.
A total of 12 weeks of paid leave to many of those who have children whose schools have closed. Workers would get about 67% of their normal salary for this period.
Bolsters unemployment insurance
Free testing for the coronavirus for those who need it
Boosts food assistance (SNAP) and federal funding for Medicaid
Congress has already started working on a third stimulus package that is likely to address the needs of small businesses that are struggling due to the pandemic while also offering some type of cash assistance to Americans. There are also proposals for additional paid leave, bolstered help for the healthcare industry and relief for the airline and cruise industries. Senate leaders said they would not leave Washington until this third bill passes, which many hope will happen this week or next.
- Christal Hayes
Trump invokes Defense Production Act to address coronavirus crisis
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump confirmed that he plans to invoke a provision that would allow him to prohibit certain people from entering the country, including asylum seekers and those entering the country illegally at the southern border.
"The answer's yes," Trump told reporters when asked about the code, adding that he plans to invoke it "very soon. Probably today."
The administration will invoke 42 U.S. Code 265, a section of the federal legal code that states the U.S. surgeon general "shall have the power to prohibit, in whole or in part, the introduction of persons and property from such countries or places as he shall designate in order to avert such danger, and for such period of time as he may deem necessary for such purpose."
When asked again whether he was closing the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump said: "No we’re not going to close it."
"But we’re invoking a certain provision that will allow us great latitude," he added.
- Courtney Subramanian and John Fritze
Trump: no plans to pull China tariffs
President Donald Trump said he has no plans to suspend tariffs on China or other nations as part of the U.S.'s effort to battle the coronavirus.
“There is no reason to do that,” Trump said. “This (virus) was caused by something totally unrelated to tariffs.”
- Michael Collins
No 'tipping point' in decision to close US-Canada border
President Donald Trump said there was "no tipping point" in his joint decision with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to close the border between the two countries. Trump said he spoke to Trudeau and the pair decided they "want to isolate" people who may be sick from coming into contact with others.
"That's the way we're going to win this war," he said, adding that the move won't affect trade between the U.S. and Canada.
Trump said restrictions on the Canadian border blocking leisure travel would last for at least 30 days. "I would say 30 days," Trump said. "Hopefully at the end of 30 days we’ll be in great shape."
As it relates to the Southern Border: "No we’re not going to close it," Trump said of the Southern border, "but we’re invoking a certain provision that will allow us great latitude."
- Courtney Subramanian and David Jackson
Trump invokes Defense Production Act to speed resources
President Donald Trump said he is invoking the Defense Production Act, which allows the administration to expedite and expand the supply of resources. Trump did not say specifically what powers he would execute, but the act could allow him to step up production of respirators and other medical equipment.
Trump declined to say how, precisely, the Defense Production Act would be used and he suggested that the administration is still deciding. He said the administration had “targets” for equipment it wanted but did not say what those targets were.
“We need millions of masks,” Trump said. “We need respirators.”
The announcement comes as the White House and Congress negotiate a trillion-dollar economic stimulus plan to combat the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak.
Here's what else was said at the briefing:
Trump also said health officials are working on a "self swab" coronavirus test that would allow front line health care workers to test themselves for the virus. "It would free up a lot," Trump said.
Trump also announced he plans to hold an additional news conference either later Wednesday or early Thursday to discuss coronavirus progress at the Food and Drug Administration. Trump said he "asked the FDA to cut through the red tape and reduce regulatory barriers."
Vice President Mike Pence said the Canada border closing should not affect business relationships between the two countries: “This does not include essential travel or the transfer of goods.”
The federal government is recommending Americans and doctors postpone elective surgeries, including dental surgery, to increase capacity at medical facilities, said Seema Verma, director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “We fully appreciate that this is going to have a major impact on the health care system,” Verma said.
Asked about the size of the checks Americans may receive as part of a relief effort, Trump would not say the amount of the checks. He said that is "to be determined .. we're working with the Senate now." He added: "It will shortly be determined."
Trump was asked why he repeatedly refers to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus." He said the term is "not racist at all ... It comes from China. That's why."
Trump says he is a war-time president, saying the virus is an "enemy" that is wrecking the economy: "It's a very tough situation ... but we're doing it and we're doing it well."
Trump said the government is ordering “thousands and thousands” of ventilators in case they’re needed. The government already has a stockpile of more than 10,000 ventilators, Pence said.
Trump was asked why it seems well-connected people, such as professional athletes, are able to get tested : "You'd have to ask them that question ...(it's the) story of life .. That does happen."
- John Fritze, Courtney Subramanian, David Jackson and Michael Collins
Wilkie: 44 veterans have tested positive, 1 has died
Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said 44 veterans have tested positive for the coronavirus and one, in Portland, has died. He said the agency had tested “several hundred.”
VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said his department is cutting back on non-essential medical activity in order to help respond to the coronavirus threat. He praised veterans for sacrificing some non-essential care to help with the effort.
- John Fritze
Trump said he doesn't agree with Mnuchin's 20% unemployment scenario
President Donald Trump took issue with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s warning to lawmakers on Tuesday that unemployment could hit 20% unless steps are taken to stimulate the economy.
“I don’t agree with that,” Trump said. “That is an absolute, worst-case scenario.”
- Michael Collins
Pentagon to make 5 million masks available
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the Pentagon would make 5 million masks available from its own reserves to the Department of Health and Human Services. He said the first million would be made available immediately.
Esper also said the Defense Department would make up to 2,000 operational ventilators available to HHS as needed. Two medical ships, Comfort and Mercy, will be deployed to assist with hospital beds. He said the Army Corps of Engineers in New York is meeting with Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He said the Defense Department remains "ready and capable" to defend the U.S. and interests abroad.
- Courtney Subramanian and David Jackson
Official: millennials shoud take special precautions against coronavirus
Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said Wednesday that health officials are concerned about reports coming out of France and Italy that young people are getting ill.
Birx said the reports are worrisome because those who have been most at-risk have been the elderly or people with other health issues.
She urged “the millennial generation” to take special precautions. “You have the potential to spread it,” she said.
- Michael Collins
Pentagon has 89 coronavirus cases
The Pentagon has confirmed 89 COVID-19 cases among active-duty troops, their family members, civilian and contract employees, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.
Of the 89 infected by the virus, 14 have been hospitalized.
The virus has forced the cancellation of military exercises across the globe, prompted enhanced screening of troops in close proximity to one another, including pilots, and kept senior leaders apart for fear of contracting the disease.
Air Force Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, told reporters Wednesday that he worked from home on Tuesday to mitigate the risk.
Travel has been restricted, and only personnel essential to critical missions are authorized to move, especially to or within countries hardest hit by the disease such as Italy.
Crews traveling to the air base at Aviano, Italy, stay in their aircraft as long as possible, and are kept as isolated as possible when moving to their quarters on base, Goldfein said.
The Air Force is “keeping them in a bubble,” he said.
- Tom Vanden Brook
Trump: HUD will 'suspend foreclosures and evictions'
President Donald Trump said the Department of Housing the Urban Development would "suspend foreclosures and evictions" through the end of April. It was not immediately clear whether that would apply to all housing or just housing financed through federally backed loans or subsidized with federal funding.
- John Fritze
McConnell: 'burden' on small businesses must be addressed
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will vote Wednesday on a House bill to protect workers from the coronavirus crisis but said the “burden” it places on small businesses will have to be addressed in the next stimulus package the Senate will take up in the coming days.
The House bill, which includes a controversial provision to guarantee paid sick leave for workers affected by the pandemic, is expected to pass and be sent to President Donald Trump for his expected signature.
Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson is expected to propose an amendment to the House bill that changes the sick leave to unemployment insurance.
McConnell said House bill would impose “a new untested mandate on small business without guaranteeing they will have sufficient funds in advance to finance this new employee benefit.”
“Everyone agrees that workers need relief … but small businesses need relief as well," he said on the Senate floor Wednesday morning. "This is literally the worst time in living memory to pile even more burdens and costs onto small business which are themselves fighting to stay alive unless we back it up with major assistance.”
– Ledyard King
Schumer says stimulus won't pass under McConnell procedure
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the latest coronavirus stimulus plan, the details of which are still being negotiated, would not pass the Senate by the end of the week under the current procedure led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“Secretary Mnuchin says he wants legislation passed by the end of the week. The McConnell process will not get us there," he said.
On Tuesday, McConnell told reporters he had divided Republican senators into three working groups that would work with the Trump administration to come up with a plan Republicans would support. Schumer, instead, wanted negotiations between the House, Senate and Trump administration on a bipartisan basis.
"That's the way that's worked the best, the quickest, the fairest in the past," he said, calling the procedure McConnell had outlined as likely to lead to "delay and gridlock."
-Nicholas Wu
Pentagon deploying ships to support coronavirus response
The Pentagon is preparing to deploy the Navy's hospital ships to support the domestic response to the coronavirus, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.
The military has had 89 cases of the infection, including 49 troops, 19 of their dependents, 14 civilian workers and seven contractors. Of those cases, 14 were hospitalized.
- Tom Vanden Brook
Trump: We're going to close Canada border to 'non-essential' traffic
President Donald Trump and his aides said Wednesday the United States and Canada are working on a deal to temporarily close the border to discretionary travel in order to fight the spread of coronavirus.
Trade should not be affected, Trump said.
"We will be, by mutual consent, temporarily closing our Northern Border with Canada to non-essential traffic," Trump tweeted. "Trade will not be affected. Details to follow!"
Canada, which announced border closures this week, has been negotiating with U.S. officials this week on rules for essential traffic.
– David Jackson
Trump to meet with airline execs, hold call with doctors
The Coronavirus Task Force will hold a 11:30 a.m. EDT news conference Wednesday to discuss the latest developments on the pandemic.
President Donald Trump also tweeted about holding a news conference with the Food and Drug Administration to "discuss very important news from the FDA" about the coronavirus.
His schedule is packed with meetings to discuss responses to the coronavirus. He has a phone call with airline executives, a business roundtable teleconference, a physician teleconference and a nurse briefing listed on his public schedule.
- Nicholas Wu
Senate plans to vote on sick leave, coronavirus testing bill
The Senate is planning to vote Wednesday on a legislative package that will offer billions to bolster unemployment insurance, offer free coronavirus testing and paid sick and family leave for Americans following days of intense negotiations and pleas for lawmakers to quickly approve the legislation.
The bill is expected to pass the Senate and then be sent to President Donald Trump for his signature. The vote comes after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin briefed Senate Republicans and appeased some concerns about the ramifications sick and family leave could have on small businesses that are already feeling the economic effects of the virus.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is planning to offer an amendment to the legislation before the Senate votes on the measure. The amendment would offer a way to offset the costs of the bill by using funds that would “include ending our decades-long involvement in Afghanistan,” his office said in a statement.
Paul offered a similar proposal earlier this month to offset costs when the Senate took up a bill offering roughly $8 billion for states and local entities to prevent the spread of the virus and help bolster efforts to create a vaccine. The effort was shot down by his Senate colleagues.
- Christal Hayes
More:Coronavirus updates: US death toll reaches 114 as Kansas cancels in-person classes for entire school year
More:Biden stays in the driver's seat, coronavirus changes our elections and other takeaways from Tuesday's vote
Trump administration personnel chief abruptly resigns
The director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has resigned, leaving a key vacancy at a time when federal employees – like other work forces around the country – are wresting with how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
OPM said in a statement that the agency received the resignation of Dale Cabaniss, a longtime Republican official who President Donald Trump named to the post last year.
Cabaniss battled with John McEntee, who Trump named this year to lead the White House personnel office, according to several reports citing unnamed officials. McEntee’s appointment came at a time when Trump acknowledged he was seeking to elevate White House employees who have proven their loyalty to him.
Federal offices in Washington expected to remain open Wednesday but provided “maximum telework flexibilities” to eligible workers because of coronavirus. Trump and public health officials have advised Americans to work from home whenever possible.
- John Fritze
The first Rikers Island inmate tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday — hours after a correction officer at the city jail also confirmed they had the deadly illness.
The second case on the island in 24 hours signaled the possibility of an outbreak at the jail, the head of the corrections officers’ union said.
This will spook the markets more, jaerius...De Blasio tells NY1 that a lot more testing is happening now and the numbers are moving fast because of it - it's now 1,871 cases, with 11 deaths, in NYC he says. A huge increase from just over 900 cases in NYC last night around 10 p.m.
Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 18, 2020
BREAKING: New York Stock Exchange to temporarily close trading floor from Monday, will move to electronic trading - CNBC
The New York Stock Exchange said Wednesday it will temporarily close its historic trading floor and move fully to electronic trading after two people tested positive for coronavirus infection at screenings it had set up this week.
All-electronic trading will begin on March 23 at the open, the exchange said. The facilities to be closed are the NYSE equities trading floor and NYSE American Options trading floor in New York, and NYSE Arca Options trading floor in San Francisco.
The closure was in part as a result of positive coronavirus tests of two people, Stacey Cunningham, President of the NYSE, told CNBC. The entrants were stopped at the medical screenings at the Big Board.
The stock market has closed at times over the years, such as during World War II and in the wake of 9/11, but this is the first time the physical trading floor of the Big Board has ever shut independently while electronic trading continues.
"We implemented a number a number of safety precautions over the past couple of weeks, and starting on Monday this week we started pre-emptive testing of employees and screening of anyone who came into the building," Cunningham said on "Closing Bell." "If that screening warranted additional testing, we tested people and they were sent home and not given access to the building. A couple of those test cases have come back positive."
"While those people were not in the building this week and the building had been cleaned and addressed prior to start of trading on Monday, I think it's reflective we're seeing things evolve," Cunningham added.
PHILADELPHIA - In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Philadelphia police officers have been instructed to stop making arrests for certain non-violent crimes.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw stressed Wednesday that the temporary policy does not mean the department is turning a blind eye to crime.
The department said individuals who would normally be arrested and processed at a detective division, will be temporarily detained to confirm identification and complete necessary paperwork. The individual will then be arrested on a warrant at a later date.
Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis, Outlaw said, based on the severity of the offense, the perpetrator's criminal record and potential danger to the community.
Syracuse NYIn a separate email sent by the assistant director of Louisville Metro Emergency Services as of 7 p.m. on Tuesday, police will not be responding to several types of events:
· Medical alarms, unless there is a known safety issue
· Non-injury accidents
· Hit-and-run accidents
· Disorderly persons
· Intoxicated persons
· Reckless drivers
YRACUSE, N.Y. -- To protect officers from the coronavirus, Syracuse police officers will no longer respond to calls that aren’t emergencies.
The Syracuse Police Department announced the change on Tuesday in a news release. The department is trying to limit the number of potential COVID-19 exposures to both officers and the community, police said.
Non-emergencies are any crime that’s not in progress, police said. That includes thefts, cases of criminal mischief and scams.
Callers who report non-emergency complaints will be directed to use the department’s phone or online reporting systems. For now, residents can no longer make complaints in person: The lobby of the Syracuse Police Department has been closed to the public.
Officers will continue to respond to emergencies.
“We ask that the public remain calm, and thank them for their future cooperation and understanding during this time,” police said.
To file complaint online, visit the Syracuse Police Department’s website and click “E-Serve.”
To make a complaint by phone, call (315) 442-5207 and ask to report a crime that is not an emergency to an officer.
The Syracuse Police Department isn’t the only department making changes in response to COVID-19.
Along with suspending visitation for inmates at the Onondaga County Justice Center and the Jamesville Correctional Facility, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office will not issue accident reports and sheriff’s ID cards. Deputies will not offer fingerprinting or pistol license services.
The New York State Police are no longer offering child safety seat checks or fingerprinting for employment at state police stations.
Trump, worryingly, has begun characterizing the US as "on a war footing" and himself as a "wartime President", which makes me wonder what other traditional wartime powers (like mass surveilance, or detention without due process) he might try to claim.(CNN)President Donald Trump said during Wednesday's White House press briefing that he will be invoking the Defense Production Act to help make up for potential medical supply shortages and deploy two hospital ships as the US battles the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump said that he sees the country on wartime footing and himself as a wartime president amid the coronavirus crisis.
"I view it -- in a sense as a wartime president," Trump said after announcing he was invoking the Defense Production Act, which was established in 1950 in response to production needs during the Korean War.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency describes the act as "the primary source of presidential authorities to expedite and expand the supply of resources from the US industrial base to support military, energy, space and homeland security programs."
An executive order issued Wednesday afternoon indicated that the President will use the act to obtain "health and medical resources needed to respond to the spread of COVID-19, including personal protective equipment and ventilators."
The order also states that Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar may consult with other agency heads to determine "the proper nationwide priorities and allocation of all health and medical resources, including controlling the distribution of such materials ... in the civilian market, for responding to the spread of COVID-19 within the United States."
Azar is also responsible for issuing government purchase orders and contracts related to Covid-19, and may "adopt and revise appropriate rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement" Trump's executive order.
The President stressed later Wednesday that he would only use the powers granted under the Defense Production Act "in a worst case scenario."
"I only signed the Defense Production Act to combat the Chinese Virus should we need to invoke it in a worst case scenario in the future," Trump tweeted. "Hopefully there will be no need, but we are all in this TOGETHER!"
The President also announced during Wednesday's briefing that two hospital ships were preparing to deploy in response to New York, which has been heavily impacted by the coronavirus, though Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said only one ship, the US Navy hospital USNS Comfort, was currently slated to go there at this time.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has at times expressed frustration with the President's lack of action to help his state, said he spoke with Trump Tuesday and Wednesday morning in what Cuomo described as an "open and honest conversation."
"He is fully engaged on trying to help New York," Cuomo said, calling the President's actions "creative' and "energetic."
Cuomo is also meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers Wednesday afternoon.
But the USNS Comfort could still be a "few weeks" away from arriving in New York, a US defense official told CNN.
Trump said Wednesday that the administration is still evaluating where to send ships on the West Coast.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said at Wednesday's briefing that the Defense Department will make available up to 5 million N95 masks and other personal protective equipment from US strategic reserves.
"The first 1 million masks will be available immediately," he said.
He also said they are also prepared to distribute "up to 2,000 operational deployable ventilators for use as needed" the Department of Health and Human Services.
The medical supply and personnel assistance comes following growing concerns for weeks, if not months, about a broad variety of shortages at hospitals.
Former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Sunday some doctors and nurses are already short on equipment such as gowns and gloves, and industry groups have been sounding the alarm with the Trump administration about possible shortages in supplies for several days, even weeks. State officials and hospitals have also been sounding the alarm about projected shortages of hospital beds to deal with critical coronavirus cases.
The major US lab industry group has raised concerns with federal agencies over the past week about potential shortages of supplies, including N95 face masks and hand sanitizer.
Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services told medical professionals on a conference call Monday that there was not enough personal protective equipment in the Strategic National Stockpile to fulfill anticipated gaps in state and local supplies, according to a source who was on the call.
CNN reported last month that the Trump administration was considering using the law to expand the production medical supplies and equipment to deal with the virus.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN's Kristen Holmes, Katelyn Polantz, Kevin Liptak and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
Colorado really early on started doing in state testing and not relying on the CDC. In fact at this point the CDC is not bothering to confirm cases in Colorado, just letting the CDPHE to do the job of testing. Last I checked they are still limited to sub 200 tests a day.The Romulan Republic wrote: ↑2020-03-18 04:45pm <Snip chart>
I hadn't realized it was that bad in Colorado. Surprised California isn't worse.
Practically every country in the world is basically on a a war-footing, or treating this as a war. I'll be more concerned if Trump didn't view this as being on a war-footing.The Romulan Republic wrote: ↑2020-03-18 07:06pm In addition to my concerns about Trump characterizing the US as on a war footing, and himself as a wartime President, I'll note that there has been a rising drumbeat from Trump and Republicans blaming the virus on China, calling it a Chinese disease, etc. It looks increasingly like they are trying to frame this crisis as a war, with China cast in the role of the foreign enemy who attacked America, for their own xenophobic, despotic and self-serving purposes. Trump has tweeted that its a "Chinese disease", and has claimed credit for trying to stop it by closing the border to China.
Makes you wonder what other "wartime" measures might be enacted. Heightened surveilance/racial profiling of Chinese people, like we did to Muslims after 9/11? A permanent ban or restrictions on travel from China? "Mandatory quarantines" of Chinese people?
Current arc of the guidance:Now “guidance" says NO, N-95 is not needed for Covid-19 unless aerosol generating procedure is done. Also, no negative pressure needed.
We are now at:"Hey, we're short on PPE. All you civvies don't need 'em. They don't really work. We need them for our healthcare workers".
"Hmmm... we're running out. Hey, all you healthcare workers, you don't really need those N95 masks. They're not really necessary except for these few APPs. Oh, and we're so hilariously short on negative pressure rooms, we're gonna tell you those aren't needed either"
The U.S. Congressman who tested positive for coronavirus participated in House votes on Friday 3/13, one day before he developed symptoms https://t.co/xzY54DaMCv
Steve Lookner (@lookner) March 18, 2020
A possible stand-off is developing in Alameda County.
The County has directed Tesla to shutdown it's Fremont Factory and Musk isn't having it.
According to Tesla the federal government has directed that all National Critical Infrastructure continue to operate during this global pandemic. This covers business sectors crucial to the economic prosperity and continuity of the United States. This includes auto-manufacturing. Alameda County is telling Tesla they are not essential they need to shutdown. With two competing directives from different government levels, Tesla is going with the Federal directive.
Now Alameda County is trying to figure out what to do without pissing off such a large employer for the county.
I personally think that Tesla should be following the directions of the other large auto manufacturers and start the process to wind-down production at Fremont. They should be cooperating with the local authorities despite the conflicting government guidance. The optics of the Sheriff showing up to shutdown the factory would look bad. However Musk can be very stubborn. Apparently he is personally at the factory himself. Should be interesting to see who "blinks".
This may actually be a rational response once you remember that Democrats are concentrated in urban areas, Republicans are concentrated in rural areas and COVID-19 is concentrated in urban areas. At this point in time the coronavirus is in fact a much larger threat to the average Democrat then the average Republican. Social distancing is pointless if the coronavirus is non-existent or all but non-existent in your community. Obviously the situation could change (or it could turn out that the coronavirus only spreads widely in dense urban ares) but for now this is a rational response to a situation where the threat varies significantly based on residence.GrandMasterTerwynn wrote: ↑2020-03-18 03:00pm And just in case you were expecting Americans to behave rationally A mere 56% of Americans view the coronavirus as a "real" threat.
Takeaways:
1) This is 10% fewer Americans versus the last time this question was asked.
2) Unsurprisingly, like everything else in America, one's response can be predicted by their response to the question "Republican, or Democrat?" as 76% of Democrats think the coronavirus is a serious threat, compared to a mere 40% of Republicans. 59% of Democrats are practicing social distancing (i.e. avoiding large gatherings,) but more Republicans (60%) are not.
I was telling my wife, the other day, that in Hubei Province, a mere 0.5% of people caught the coronavirus before the Chinese got a handle on things; and while the United States was going to be a lot worse, it was hard for me to imagine the United States being, say, at least 10x worse (as back-of-the-envelope math suggests that's the territory where, if all those cases came in quick succession, the country'd run out of ventilators for the worst affected.) I'm used to walking back pessimism ... it's a rare day when I have to consider walking back optimism.
Honestly, at this point they should probably just quarantine the entire House of Representatives and its staff.MKSheppard wrote: ↑2020-03-18 07:40pm Congress now definitely infected:
The U.S. Congressman who tested positive for coronavirus participated in House votes on Friday 3/13, one day before he developed symptoms https://t.co/xzY54DaMCv
Steve Lookner (@lookner) March 18, 2020
In the "May you live in interesting times" sense, I assume?MKSheppard wrote: ↑2020-03-18 07:52pm Trump has said that tomorrow's press conference would be "interesting".
+
Er Wuhan is still in lockdown. Other parts of China are coming alive again, ie their factories are humming again. Xi's visit may indicate they plan to open Wuhan up again "soon" whatever that means.MKSheppard wrote: ↑2020-03-18 04:48pm
I wouldn't be so sure as to China's numbers. It's been eight weeks; supposedly, the hospitals are packing back up, everything is getting back to normal, per the propagandas.
Meanwhile, Wuhan traffic numbers belie that:
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore Mayor Jack Young urged residents to put down their guns and heed orders to stay home after multiple people were shot Tuesday night amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Young said hospital beds are needed to treat positive COVID-19 patients and not for senseless violence. Seven people were shot Tuesday night in the Madison Park neighborhood, as Baltimore reported its fifth positive coronavirus case Wednesday.
“I want to reiterate how completely unacceptable the level of violence is that we have seen recently,” Young said. “We will not stand for mass shootings and an increase in crime.”
“For those of you who want to continue to shoot and kill people of this city, we’re not going to tolerate it,” Young implored. “We’re going to come after you and we’re going to get you.”
He urged people to put down their guns because “we cannot clog up our hospitals and their beds with people that are being shot senselessly because we’re going to need those beds for people infected with the coronavirus. And it could be your mother, your grandmother or one of your relatives. So take that into consideration.”
Commissioner Michael Harrison said the city has seen an uptick in violent crimes since Friday, including a mass shooting Tuesday night — where seven people were shot. Five people were transported to area hospitals via medics and two took private cars to the hospitals for treatment. All seven are in serious but stable condition.
Harrison said they are looking for a Silver Honda that was seen in the area.
A city officer who was on patrol in that microzone did engage with a person who’s believed to be a suspect in the shooting as the man was fleeing the scene.
The officer was not armed with the level of “deadly firepower” that the suspect had. The officer did fire his weapon, but Harrison said police don’t know if the officer struck the suspect.
The officer sustained some minor injuries in the incident and was treated.
The police department is increasing staffing in the areas where crime has increased.
“This incident remains open and under investigation,” Harrison said.
Police ask anyone with information in the case to call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-Lockup or call the city homicide unit at 410-316-2100.
So the US made the same mistake China did. Both were supposed to have a stockpile in case of outbreak, and both got slack with it. Hopefully we learn this lesson because we seem to be getting outbreaks of weird and wonderful diseases in the last decade or so.Prognosis
Hospital Workers Make Masks From Office Supplies Amid U.S. Shortage
‘We’re not getting new supplies and our stores are almost depleted.’
By Ben Elgin and John Tozzi
18 March 2020, 11:17 GMT+8 Updated on 18 March 2020, 20:45 GMT+8
Hospital workers in Washington state have been making protective medical gear out of office supplies and other run-of-the-mill materials as they deal with a severe shortage of equipment needed to care for patients who may have Covid-19.
Among the supplies coming in handy: clear vinyl sheets.
“We are very close to being out of face shields,” said Becca Bartles, executive director of infection prevention at Providence St. Joseph Health, a 51-hospital system. “Masks, we’re probably a couple of days away” from running out, she said.
To buy time, Providence infection control and quality experts designed prototype face-shields with off-the-shelf materials: marine-grade vinyl, industrial tape, foam and elastic. Monday night they bought supplies at craft stores and Home Depot. On Tuesday, about 20 administrative staff members at the health system’s corporate headquarters volunteered to work an assembly line in a large conference room, putting together 500 home-spun face shields that were going to a hospital in Seattle that night.
Providence plans to get more of the raw materials from wholesale suppliers and resume assembly later this week if it can’t get finished products. Another prototype facemask, made from a surgical wrap material that typically lines surgical trays, is still being tested to see if it meets quality standards.
Authorities should have anticipated the shortfall, said Jennifer Bayersdorfer, Providence’s senior vice president for clinical quality. “I think that they’re behind the eight-ball on this and there was plenty of warning that this going to a problem,” she said.
Supplies Grow Shorter
The shortage of personal protective equipment, or PPE, at the Washington-based medical provider is occuring across the country, as hospitals and doctors scramble to treat thousands of patients who may be infected with the new coronavirus.
Washington state has the second-most known Covid-19 infections in the U.S., with more than 900 diagnosed as of Tuesday evening. It is also the site of a cluster of cases that ripped through a nursing home, killing 30 residents, and alerting the rest of the country to the danger posed by the disease. Providence treated the first case in the United States in a traveler from China in January.
Now that cases are spreading around the country, so are the shortages. Interviews with ten emergency-room doctors and hospital managers around the country tell of colleagues and peers taking extensive measures to conserve fast-dwindling protective equipment, particularly the most potent N95 protective masks, as well as eye protection, gowns and gloves.
“Many ER physicians are taking things into their own hands to find ways to protect themselves,” said Aimee Moulin, an emergency room doctor at UC Davis Medical Center. “They shouldn’t be forced to worry about this. They’re going into battle and they should be armed with whatever they need.”
Some doctors are taking the N95 masks home to wash them with bleach so they can be reused. One hospital ordered protective equipment from a company that supplies goggles and masks to construction workers. One emergency department restitched old surgical masks, where the elastic bands had failed.
“These aren’t normal times,” said Vivian Reyes, an emergency room doctor in San Francisco and president of the California chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians. “Our supply chain has been stunted. We’re not getting new supplies and our stores are almost depleted.”
At Risk
The risk of exposure for front-line doctors is worrisome. For instance, in Italy, where doctors are struggling with shortages of protective equipment, 1,700 healthcare workers have been infected with Covid-19, representing about eight percent of that country’s cases, according to the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders.
Many hospitals are unable to order certain medical gear amid a surge in global demand for the equipment. For instance, Kaiser Permanente, which is based in Oakland, Calif., and has 39 hospitals and 23,000 doctors around the country, has gone from screening a few patients a day for Covid-19 to screening hundreds, according to spokesman Marc Brown. As a result, they’re running short on equipment like masks, face shields, and gowns, as well as nasal swabs to test patients for the virus.
Attempts to order more have been unsuccessful, he says. “Incoming shipments of new supplies and equipment we have had on order are now being delayed or cancelled, due to manufacturers’ supply chain challenges and a surge of demand across the global health care industry,” said Brown in a written statement. “We are quickly moving from having adequate supplies to being at risk of running out of some needed equipment and supplies.”
More than half of hospitals had changed practices by the end of February to preserve supplies of protective equipment, including gowns, masks, gloves, shoe covers, and eye shields, according to a survey from Premier Inc., which helps 4,000 member hospitals buy and manage supplies. More than 700 types of protective products were on “allocation,” meaning hospitals only received partial shipments of the supplies they ordered, the company reported March 9. Hospitals were only getting 44% of the N95 masks they ordered, according to Premier.
The shortage has prompted some groups to call for the federal government to unleash its full reserve of medical supplies contained in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), which is controlled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
But emergency rooms waiting for an influx of gear from the national stockpile may be disappointed. Alex Azar, secretary of HHS, told Congress last month that the stockpile contains 30 million surgical masks and 12 million of the more protective N95 masks. He said there were an additional 5 million N95 masks that may have passed their expiration date.
That number pales in comparison to what could be needed in a serious outbreak. Government scientists in 2015 estimated that a severe flu outbreak infecting 20 to 30 percent of the population would require at least 1.7 billion of the N95 respirators.
The national stockpile used to be somewhat more robust. In 2006, Congress provided supplemental funds to add 104 million N95 masks and 52 million surgical masks in an effort to prepare for a flu pandemic. But after the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009, which triggered a nationwide shortage of masks and caused a 2- to 3-year backlog orders for the N95 variety, the stockpile distributed about three-quarters of its inventory and didn’t build back the supply.
Federal Efforts
Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday that he and President Trump planned to discuss "the supply chain for hospitals" and he asked construction companies to "donate their inventory of N95 masks to your local hospital and forgo additional orders of those industrial masks."
Additionally, the Defense Department said it will provide 5 million N95 air-filtering masks-- 1 million of them made immediately available-- as well as 2,000 ventilators to help with the response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.
“The stockpile can only be a bridge, it can never be the total solution,” said Greg Burel, the former director of the Strategic National Stockpile, who now runs a consulting company focused on emergency and medical preparedness. The stockpile has only received about $600 million per year in appropriations from Congress and that money has to be stretched to cover medicine and supplies for everything from potential anthrax attacks to influenza outbreaks to responses to natural disasters like earthquakes and floods.
The private healthcare sector needs to shoulder a lot of the work to develop these critical stockpiles, says Burel. “What have they done to make sure they’re protecting their nurses and doctors? Have they developed their own stocks?”
At Providence in Washington state, the hospital system is already following relaxed guidelines from federal authorities, which permit staff to wear masks for longer than they ordinarily would to conserve supplies. They’ve been shuttling caches of supplies between their hospitals, moving surplus equipment from Spokane to Seattle in the middle of the night. But now, they fear, inadequate supplies will mean they can’t safely treat suspected Covid-19 patients.
“We truly fear that we’re within a day or two of that at Everett hospital right now,” said Ari Robicsek, the system’s chief medical analytics officer. “What we really need is for industry to be on a wartime footing where factories are required to start churning out this critical equipment.”
— With assistance by Dina Bass
