Wuhan virus (coronavirus) arrives in the USA

[Anonymous]

What is the likelihood that health care workers here will start becoming infected?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:S Korea has over 600.
Does anyone else not believe that Russia only has 2?

Russia doesn’t have any capacity to deal with the virus. They don’t have basic equipment, personnel, training and tests.
We’ll find out it’s there when people start dying in large numbers.

[Anonymous]

South Korea has raised its alert level to the highest designation, "grave."

The escalation in the alert level allows the government to send extra resources to Daegu city and Cheongdo county, which were designated "special care zones" on Friday.

The alert level also enables the government to forcibly prevent public activities and order the temporary closure of schools, the health ministry said, though it gave few details of immediate measures.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/coronavirus-south-korea-covid-19-highest-alert-president-moon-12462162

[Anonymous]

Three new cases and one new death in Italy, bringing totals to 155 and 3.

Italy has more cases and death than Japan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:S Korea has over 600.
Does anyone else not believe that Russia only has 2?

Russia doesn’t have any capacity to deal with the virus. They don’t have basic equipment, personnel, training and tests.
We’ll find out it’s there when people start dying in large numbers.

I thought the US would be on top of this. But now it’s clear we are way behind, with barely any testing capacity.

I don’t know if incompetence or politics is the problem, but it surprising and alarming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Three new cases and one new death in Italy, bringing totals to 155 and 3.

Italy has more cases and death than Japan.

That doesn't make sense. Japan has all those ill, elderly people from the cruise ship.

How can Italy have three deaths already? Do they not know how to treat and prevent severe pneumonia?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:S Korea has over 600.
Does anyone else not believe that Russia only has 2?

Russia doesn’t have any capacity to deal with the virus. They don’t have basic equipment, personnel, training and tests.
We’ll find out it’s there when people start dying in large numbers.

I thought the US would be on top of this. But now it’s clear we are way behind, with barely any testing capacity.

I don’t know if incompetence or politics is the problem, but it surprising and alarming.

CDC communication has been quite poor; on a par with WHO. The test snafus were poorly handled, as was the lack of preparation with the city of Costa Mesa for the move of patients there.

Also, as far as I know, they have not rescinded their instructions to only test suspects with recent China contact. This is unsustainable in light of what we are seeing in South Korea, Italy, and Iran.

I did read somewhere that CDC is going for DNA testing, which is far more accurate, rather than RNA testing, which produces a fair amount of false negatives but what other countries are doing. The better testing takes more time and assembly of kits is apparently more challenging.

If this is the case, they really need to be talking about it. I also read somewhere kits wouldn't be ready for widespread distribution until mid-March.

I really hope they get their act together on the public information front soon. I am sure they are doing a lot behind the scenes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:S Korea has over 600.
Does anyone else not believe that Russia only has 2?

Russia doesn’t have any capacity to deal with the virus. They don’t have basic equipment, personnel, training and tests.
We’ll find out it’s there when people start dying in large numbers.

I thought the US would be on top of this. But now it’s clear we are way behind, with barely any testing capacity.

I don’t know if incompetence or politics is the problem, but it surprising and alarming.

It's a huge political problem. Under the Obama administration, I thought our CDC was top notch. They handled the Swine Flu pandemic brilliantly, capably, competently. Their messaging and preparedness were exactly as they should be. Fortunately the Swine Flu H1N1 virus turned out to be quite mild but no one knew that at the start. And there were many more fatalities than for usual flu, especially among children.

I am so, so concerned that the Trump administration and the CDC under it is not up to this task. Not to mention that to deal with a pandemic, it requires a great deal of trust in the authorities and cooperation among different parts of the government. Things that are in super short supply right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Three new cases and one new death in Italy, bringing totals to 155 and 3.

Italy has more cases and death than Japan.

That doesn't make sense. Japan has all those ill, elderly people from the cruise ship.

How can Italy have three deaths already? Do they not know how to treat and prevent severe pneumonia?

The cruise ship patients were tested as soon as they showed any symptoms and moved to the hospital. The epidemic in Italy just came on in the last few days so they are getting patients who have been showing symptoms for some time but thought they had flu and didn't seek care earlier.

[Anonymous]

Researchers at University of Queensland in Australia are days away from testing a COVID-19 vaccine on animals. https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-22/coronavirus-vaccine-animal-testing-days-away-uq-researchers/11991456?pfmredir=sm

Paul Young, head of the university's School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, said a team of 20 UQ scientists had been working around the clock to speed up the vaccine building process since the outbreak of the virus.

Researchers from UQ were funded by an international organisation called the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) to use new rapid medical development technology to help create a vaccine for the new virus strain.

"It is a new territory for vaccine design. Vaccines take many years to develop from concept to licence and use in the community.

"What we are aiming for is somewhere between 12 and 18 months, which is remarkably quick."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:S Korea has over 600.
Does anyone else not believe that Russia only has 2?

Russia doesn’t have any capacity to deal with the virus. They don’t have basic equipment, personnel, training and tests.
We’ll find out it’s there when people start dying in large numbers.

I thought the US would be on top of this. But now it’s clear we are way behind, with barely any testing capacity.

I don’t know if incompetence or politics is the problem, but it surprising and alarming.

CDC communication has been quite poor; on a par with WHO. The test snafus were poorly handled, as was the lack of preparation with the city of Costa Mesa for the move of patients there.

Also, as far as I know, they have not rescinded their instructions to only test suspects with recent China contact. This is unsustainable in light of what we are seeing in South Korea, Italy, and Iran.

I did read somewhere that CDC is going for DNA testing, which is far more accurate, rather than RNA testing, which produces a fair amount of false negatives but what other countries are doing. The better testing takes more time and assembly of kits is apparently more challenging.

If this is the case, they really need to be talking about it. I also read somewhere kits wouldn't be ready for widespread distribution until mid-March.

I really hope they get their act together on the public information front soon. I am sure they are doing a lot behind the scenes.

fwiw, there is a petition that was just started:
https://www.change.org/p/centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-the-cdc-should-start-widespread-testing-of-covid-19?cs_tk=Aljz21KINmeVA5fkVV4AAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvKebi0s5vFe0hiAYd0nEtX8%3D&utm_campaign=a54abcb6e2a84e889cc50ece2048f6cd&utm_content=initial_v0_0_1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_signer_receipt&utm_term=cs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:S Korea has over 600.
Does anyone else not believe that Russia only has 2?

Russia doesn’t have any capacity to deal with the virus. They don’t have basic equipment, personnel, training and tests.
We’ll find out it’s there when people start dying in large numbers.

I thought the US would be on top of this. But now it’s clear we are way behind, with barely any testing capacity.

I don’t know if incompetence or politics is the problem, but it surprising and alarming.

CDC communication has been quite poor; on a par with WHO. The test snafus were poorly handled, as was the lack of preparation with the city of Costa Mesa for the move of patients there.

Also, as far as I know, they have not rescinded their instructions to only test suspects with recent China contact. This is unsustainable in light of what we are seeing in South Korea, Italy, and Iran.

I did read somewhere that CDC is going for DNA testing, which is far more accurate, rather than RNA testing, which produces a fair amount of false negatives but what other countries are doing. The better testing takes more time and assembly of kits is apparently more challenging.

If this is the case, they really need to be talking about it. I also read somewhere kits wouldn't be ready for widespread distribution until mid-March.

I really hope they get their act together on the public information front soon. I am sure they are doing a lot behind the scenes.

I hope so too pp. But CDC's budget has been cut, and lots of experienced feds are leaving at this point. I also really hope they are getting ready behind the scenes. I am concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Three new cases and one new death in Italy, bringing totals to 155 and 3.

Italy has more cases and death than Japan.

That doesn't make sense. Japan has all those ill, elderly people from the cruise ship.

How can Italy have three deaths already? Do they not know how to treat and prevent severe pneumonia?

The cruise ship patients were tested as soon as they showed any symptoms and moved to the hospital. The epidemic in Italy just came on in the last few days so they are getting patients who have been showing symptoms for some time but thought they had flu and didn't seek care earlier.

BNO News on Twitter just said that the third Italian death was an elderly woman with cancer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:S Korea has over 600.
Does anyone else not believe that Russia only has 2?

Russia doesn’t have any capacity to deal with the virus. They don’t have basic equipment, personnel, training and tests.
We’ll find out it’s there when people start dying in large numbers.

I thought the US would be on top of this. But now it’s clear we are way behind, with barely any testing capacity.

I don’t know if incompetence or politics is the problem, but it surprising and alarming.

It's a huge political problem. Under the Obama administration, I thought our CDC was top notch. They handled the Swine Flu pandemic brilliantly, capably, competently. Their messaging and preparedness were exactly as they should be. Fortunately the Swine Flu H1N1 virus turned out to be quite mild but no one knew that at the start. And there were many more fatalities than for usual flu, especially among children.

I am so, so concerned that the Trump administration and the CDC under it is not up to this task. Not to mention that to deal with a pandemic, it requires a great deal of trust in the authorities and cooperation among different parts of the government. Things that are in super short supply right now.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

In 2018 John Bolton fired Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer from the National Security Council. He was the person in the White House responsible for pandemic response. His team - which was responsible for "global health security" was also disbanded.

So I don't think there is anyone who is responsible for coordinating the government response across all the different Cabinet agencies.

Maybe Jared will get the job.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/05/10/top-white-house-official-in-charge-of-pandemic-response-exits-abruptly/