The new week that is now under way will be like no other. Europe is officially the centre of the global coronavirus pandemic. Last weekend saw the imposition of drastic new measures by governments across the continent, with schools, museums, businesses and national borders closed. Gatherings, including major sporting fixtures, have been cancelled and states of emergency declared. In the UK, local elections that were due to take place in May have been postponed. In Italy it was announced that 368 people had died in 24 hours the worst single-day death toll for any country including China, where the Covid-19 outbreak began in November. Markets around the world have fallen sharply, with the FTSE 100 closing on Monday at an eight-year low.
Boris Johnsons late afternoon press conference on Monday, and the promise of daily televised briefings, went some way to calm justified fears about his governments approach to the coronavirus crisis. In a dramatic ratcheting up of official guidance, described by the prime minister as very draconian, entire households are now asked to quarantine themselves for 14 days if any member has either of the two key symptoms of a high temperature or continuous cough. Everyone should minimise non-essential contact, work from home if possible and avoid unnecessary travel. Vulnerable groups, including over-70s and pregnant women, should stay indoors for 12 weeks.
Nothing about these instructions could be described as reassuring. A large number of businesses are likely to go bust. But the manner of their delivery, in a public forum, was at least an improvement on the events of last weekend, when the proposal to quarantine over-70s first emerged via an off-the-record briefing with a single journalist. Direct communication by ministers and their officials is the least that the country should expect.
Messaging aside, questions about the governments strategy will not go away. The idea of building herd immunity, rather than preventing infections, has provoked strong criticism from experts as well as alarm among members of the public. And while the government has now announced much stronger steps aimed at preventing infections, its approach is still out of step with much of the rest of the world. Schools in the UK remain open unlike in many other European states.
The World Health Organization reiterated on Monday its view that tests should be at the heart of the official response. Testing, combined with isolation and contact tracing in order to identify and contain as many clusters as possible was the strategy pursued in South Korea and other Asian countries where outbreaks appear to have peaked. But the UK is sticking to an approach that requires only people needing hospital treatment to be tested. The twin aims of the plan set out by Mr Johnson and his advisers on Monday are to suppress the curve of the Covid-19 outbreak, in order to give the NHS the best chance of coping with those needing treatment, and to shield from infection those groups who are known to be at risk.
This strategy will now be put to the test, as the UK enters what officials described as the diseases fast-growth period. As well as the virus itself there are all its knock-on effects: on employment, education, travel plans, other health issues, social life and income. Panic buying last weekend, as supermarket shelves in many places were emptied, along with closures of theatres and workplaces, have brought the reality of a pandemic sharply home. And while it is tempting to mock as overblown health secretary Matt Hancocks comparison to the blitz, it is true that the situation we now find ourselves in more closely resembles dystopian fiction than anything most people have experienced.
An exceptionally difficult period lies ahead, one which will be far harder to manage for those already struggling with health or family difficulties, or to make ends meet. With official instructions to avoid social contact, most individuals will turn inward. But as a society, we must do everything in our power including through public policy to reach beyond our family circles, and ensure the poorest and loneliest do not bear the brunt.
The current approach in this country is to screen people who are sick. At a time of limited testing capacity, we are doling out the tests to a chosen few, with a focus on those with symptoms. We are focusing a lot on identifying, testing, and sequestering those who are sick.
For example, many health systems are surveilling their health care workers and want to know who has symptoms? Who has a fever? The emphasis is on telling people to stay home if they are sick because they may spread the virus. Many others are doing the same - those that have not yet closed down. But I think this approach to focus on those with symptoms is folly if we think it will break the chain of virus transmission.
Its not that we should stop encouraging people who are sick to stay home to stay away from crowded places and, for goodness sakes, to stay off planes and trains. We should. They should stay home for their own benefit to rest and recover. They should also stay home not to infect others whether they have COVID-19 or not.
But we should not delude ourselves to think that is an effective strategy to stop the chain of virus transmission. What is clear is that people can be infected without symptoms. For example, the NBA player, Christian Wood of the Detroit Pistons, tested positive and had no symptoms. In fact, in the days before testing, he had a career high 32 points. He presumably was infected several days before that in contact with Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, who was the first NBA player to test positive.
Evidence from South Korea and Italy is reinforcing how our testing strategy can lead us astray. Italy, like the United States, has focused on testing people who are ill. South Korea has taken a more national surveillance approach, making testing widely available. In Italy the distribution of people testing positive is skewed toward older age. This distribution makes us think that mostly the older population is infected. But in South Korea, the distribution is quite different, with a skew toward younger people and a peak around 20-29-year olds, the groups that may be socializing the most. Even many children were testing positive at much higher rates than Italy. The implication is that there are a lot of people out and about who are positive, but not overtly sick and are vectors for spread.
In an article published in medRxiv, a preprint server that posts studies before peer review, scientists from Europe using public data, estimated that about half the cases or more in Singapore and Tianjin, China are from transmission from people without symptoms.
The fact that many people without symptoms are walking around has important implications not because of their contact with others, but because of indirect spread. Indirect spread occurs, in part by contamination of common objects. The CDC reported about indirect COVID-19 transmission in a shopping mall in Wenzhou, China. Experts from the US, again in medRxiv, reported that the virus causing COVID-19, can survive on many common surfaces for many hours or even days.
So what does this mean? We should all consider ourselves infectious. We may carry the virus and can be a threat to others even if we feel well.
This is the strong justification for the social distancing. We should particularly not be visiting elderly people. We should be avoiding crowds. We should be washing our hands and wiping surfaces with disinfectants.
We should also know that we cannot be sure who might infect us or what surfaces might transmit the virus. COVID-19 spreads quickly through a population and this asymptomatic spread is likely a reason. And with scarce testing in this country, we have no real idea where it is and who has it.
This information is not meant to scare you or cause anxiety. It is intended to convey why the social distancing is so important. It is also to make clear why we cannot just focus on how people feel as a barometer of whether they might be infected. We are not containing the virus by just sequestering the people with symptoms. We all need to practice good habits in keeping a distance. We need to test more. And we need to all act as if we could be infectious of those around us could be.
If we are to slow the spread, flatten the curve and protect the most vulnerable we must consider ourselves infectious - as well as those around us. We might be. They might be. We must do this, as part of our citizenship in the world as part of our responsibility to each other to protect each other and break the chain of transmission. We can make a difference.
FOX 2 - The state of Michigan has announcedeight additional positivecases of COVID-19 Saturday night.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said eight adults tested presumptive positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This brings the state total of COVID-19 cases to 33.The specimens will be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation testing.The cases include:
Here is alist of the positive 33 cases across Michigan right now:
COVID-19 symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus.They include:
These symptoms, of course, are similar to the common cold and flu.
Expect a common cold to start out with a sore or scratchy throat, cough, runny and/or stuffy nose. Flu symptoms are more intense and usually come on suddenly, and can include a high fever.
Symptoms of COVID-19 may appear more slowly. They usually include fever, a dry cough and noticeable shortness of breath, according to the World Health Organization. A minority of cases develop pneumonia, and the disease is especially worrisome for the elderly and those with other medical problems such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes or heart conditions.
New developments Saturday:
Right now there's one big difference between flu and coronavirus: A vaccine exists to help prevent the flu and it's not too late to get it. It won't protect you from catching the coronavirus but may put you in a better position to fight it.
RELATED: Is it the flu, a cold or COVID-19? Different viruses present similar symptoms
To protect yourself, wash your hands well and often, keep them away from your face, and avoid crowds and standing close to people.
And if you do find yourself showing any of these flu or coronavirus symptoms - don't go straight to your doctor's office. That just risks making more people sick, officials urge. Call ahead, and ask if you need to be seen and where.
Were making coronavirus coverage available without a subscription as a public service. We depend on the support of readers to produce journalism like this every day. Help us do this work - subscribe now. You can find the rest of our coverage of the novel coronavirus here.
Two older men in the Fairbanks area have tested positive for COVID-19 after traveling in the Lower 48, Alaskas chief medical officer said Monday night.
The two positive test results came in Monday evening, Dr. Anne Zink said. She described these as travel associated cases. Both men had been traveling to places in the Lower 48 where community transmission was happening, and had been out in the Fairbanks community for a period of time, Zink told news media in a briefing.
Both individuals are currently stable and isolating at home, Zink said, adding that their families and close contacts will be asked to be quarantined. Officials do not have any reason to believe they were traveling together or traveling in the same place, Zink said.
The states epidemiology team is still investigating all their contacts with other people, which Zink described as an ongoing process. When asked whether the two individuals had traveled through other Alaska communities since traveling Outside, she said that was part of their ongoing investigation.
Zink said that these cases highlight the importance of people staying home if theyre feeling sick, and said that anyone who had traveled to the Lower 48 in the last 14 days should socially distance themselves from other people.
Fairbanks Mayor Jim Matherly said there were no plans to enact restaurant or other business closures like those announced for Anchorage on Monday, though he said decisions may be flexible because we dont know what to expect over the coming days. Part of the issue is also that the city (of Fairbanks) has the authority to close bars and restaurants, but the Fairbanks North Star Borough doesnt, Matherly said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
By Karin BodewitsMar. 16, 2020 , 12:40 PM
Classes are cancelled, exams are being re-scheduled, university buildings are staying shut, meetings are being postponed indefinitely, a Ph.D. student who is based in Austria tweeted last week. Now what am I supposed to do?
As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the world, many academics are of course dealing with greater concerns, such as the health of family, friends, or themselves. (See Sciences coronavirus coverage here.) But for those free of illness and related burdens, and stuck at home, what do you do with your time? Here are some ideas for scientists who suddenly find themselves working from home.
1. Take care of yourself.
As a first step, dont neglect your physical and mental health. Meditate. Do jumping jacks in your living room. Practice yoga. Whatever it is that works for you, do what it takes to care for your body and mind.
2. Learn a new skill.
Lets face it. If youre stuck at home, youre probably not going to become an expert on how to run a mass spectrometer. But you could beef up your computer programming skillsfor instance, by learning how to create a fancy new graph in R or how to produce documents in LaTeX. You could also read a book about a new topic or circle back to that online course that you never finished.
3. Revisit that long forgotten project.
Somewhere in the deep, dark depths of your computers file system, do you have an unfinished manuscript or unpublished data? If so, then you might want to use this time to dust off the files and figure out whether what you have is, in fact, publishable.
4. Promote your work online.
Consider devoting time to a bit of marketing. Does your personal website need updating? Have you been meaning to set up a Twitter profile and learn what hashtags are? Would you like to write a popular science article? Or create a YouTube video about your research? If so, this might be the perfect time to wiggle your way out from underneath the rock youve been living under and find new avenues for connecting with other researchers and sharing your work. If youre struggling with social isolation at home, then social media might also help with thatgiving you a way to interact and commiserate with other scientists, such as those on #AcademicTwitter.
5. Create a graphical abstract of your research.
Graphical abstractsself-explanatory visual summaries of the main findings of your researchare an increasingly popular way to communicate science. They take time to make, but they are a perfect eye-catcher and are recyclable. Once youve made one, you can place it on posters, presentation slides, papers, and social media platforms. It could even help you build your personal brand.
6. Apply for funding.
You might benefit from spending time scouring the internet for fellowships, grants, and awards. Dont just look in the most obvious places, such as federal grant agency websites. Take a look around for industry awards, lower profile fellowships, and little pots of research funding that you might be able to apply for. Even if you dont receive an award, the process of applying will help you master the skill of grant writing.
7. Think about your career plans.
When youre in the lab, its easy to focus on your next experiment and neglect long-term career planning. So, consider using some of your homebound time to learn more about yourself and your career options. You could read a book about career planning, test out career options with online job simulations, or use free introspection tools, such as myIDP. These things will help you reflect on the skills you have, brainstorm skills youd like to develop, and think about where you see yourself headed in the future.
8. Conduct informational interviews.
If you have a few ideas about jobs that might interest you, then take this time to reach out to professionals who currently hold those jobs. In the midst of a pandemic, its not appropriate to ask them to meet up for coffee. But you can ask them for a quick phone call or Skype chat. The reality is that the people whom youd like to speak with may be working from home too. Whats more, they might be itching for more social contact. So, informational interviews could be a good way to break isolation, learn about someones career, and build a network, while still keeping a distance.
9. Be nice to your fellow humans.
If you live with others, being cooped up with them fulltime might be less fun than you imagined it to be. Channel your frustrations into something harmlessfor instance, by punching a pillow, exhausting yourself with pushups, or placing a tea towel between your teeth and screaming as loud as you can. Whatever you do, dont punch anyone.
10. Do fun stuff.
Close your eyes and think back to the time before you went to grad school. What was giving you joy? Is there an old hobby you can pick up again? One upside of your home confinement is that you no longer need to spend time commuting back and forth to work. Can you reallocate that time to doing something that will bring you joyor, at the very least, alleviate some stress?
Its an incredibly turbulent time for most of us. Take care of yourself and others, and remember to wash your hands!
If you think you may have the coronavirus and want to get tested, figuring out where to go can be confusing and challenging. The availability of coronavirus tests in the United States is changing rapidly and depends on where you live. NBC News reached out to all 50 state health departments for information on how they are handling testing and what recommendations they have for people seeking tests.
The general advice is the same nationwide: Call ahead to your doctor or a health care facility if you are concerned you may need to be tested. Based on your symptoms and exposure, they will decide if you need to be evaluated in person and may confer with state authorities about where and how to do the testing. They will give you instructions on how to arrive in a way that limits exposure. Medical facilities and doctors offices ask that everyone call ahead so they can make arrangements to protect others when people come in for testing.
All states now have a public health lab testing for coronavirus, and an increasing number of commercial and academic labs are testing as well. Results times vary and health departments may not know how long they may take for tests performed in private labs.
Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak
Some state health departments have hotlines the public can call for more information, and all have websites that are being frequently updated. For specific details about your state, find it on the drop-down menu below. NBC News will continue to update this list as we receive responses from more states.
For information about testing nationwide, see the CDC's website, which is updated daily.
Call your health care provider if you are symptomatic to discuss whether you should be evaluated in person and considered for testing.Any provider can order a test if a patient meets the state's criteria, which include:
Test results from the State Hygienic Lab should be available in approximately 24 hours. Private lab results times may vary. For more coronavirus information, call Iowa's 211 system or visit the Iowa Department of Public Health's website.
Call your primary care physician if you are concerned and showing symptoms. If you do not have a primary care physician, contact the Louisiana 211 Network by dialing 2-1-1 to be connected to the nearest community clinic. The Louisiana Department of Health recommends testing for any patient with fever, respiratory symptoms and a negative flu test. Testing is not recommended for asymptomatic patients. Any physician can order testing based on their clinical judgement. Testing is being conducted by the state public health laboratory and some commercial labs. The state lab tests samples of high-priority patients, which include:
State lab results are typically available within the same day. Results times may vary at commercial labs. For more information, contact the Louisiana 211 Network by dialing 211 or by texting LACOVID to 898-211, or visit the Louisiana Department of Health's coronavirus website.
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If you believe you have symptoms, call your health care provider or local health district to discuss whether you should be evaluated in person and considered for testing.If you do not have a primary health care provider, call your local health district. They will be able to walk through symptoms with you and determine the next steps if you need to be tested. To decide whether you need testing, providers evaluates a combination of symptoms and risk factors, which include:
At this time, asymptomatic people are not being tested. Testing is available from the Ohio Department of Health State lab, some private labs and several hospitals.Results from the state lab, private labs and some hospitals are generally available in 24 to 48 hours. For more coronavirus information, visit the Ohio Department of Health's website or call their COVID-19 call center at 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.
Adiel Kaplan is a reporter with the NBC News Investigative Unit.
Peter Georgiev is an intern with the NBC News Investigative Unit.
Merritt Enright
Merritt Enright is a researcher with the NBC News Investigative Unit.
Cameron Oakes is an intern with the NBC News Investigative Unit.
As governments fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Snopes is fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation, and you can help. Tell us about any questionable, confusing, or concerning rumors and advice you encounter.
As the COVID-19 new coronavirus disease spread across the United States in early 2020, so did anxiety, as people looked to how the virus had affected Italy, already deep in the throes of the pandemic. A social media meme exacerbated the anxiety with the claim that Italian doctors had decided NOT to treat the elderly, and that that was the result of socialized medicine.
As of mid-March, Italy was the hardest-hit nation outside of Asia and had become the new epicenter for the global pandemic. As in China, where the virus was initially detected in the winter of 2019, the Italian health care system was overwhelmed by the disease. Amid fears that the United States could end up in a similar situation, a viral Facebook meme pointed the finger at Italys government-run health care system.The meme appears to represent both an exaggeration and distortion of news reports and events in Italy regarding the coronavirus. Readers also inquired about an article published by the British news publication The Telegraph, headlined, Italians over 80 will be left to die as country overwhelmed by coronavirus. The article references a document drawn up by health officials in Turin, a city in Northern Italy hit hard by the virus, with guidelines for if and when It becomes impossible to provide all patients with intensive care service. In such a case, the document says, It will be necessary to apply criteria for access to intensive treatment, which depends on the limited resources available.
The Telegraph reported that the document produced by the civil protection department of the Piedmont region, one of those hardest hit, says: The criteria for access to intensive therapy in cases of emergency must include age of less than 80 or a score on the Charlson comorbidity Index [which indicates how many other medical conditions the patient has] of less than 5.'
The guidelines were expected to affect the whole country and go into effect, according to the Telegraph, If the situation becomes of such an exceptional nature as to make the therapeutic choices on the individual case dependent on the availability of resources, forcing [hospitals] to focus on those cases in which the cost/benefit ratio is more favorable for clinical treatment.'
In other words, it is not true that Italy as a whole had decided not to treat their elderly for the coronavirus. What is true per news reports is that overwhelmed Italian health systems that have more patients than available equipment could face catastrophe triage decisions not seen since World War II. That has nothing to do the fact that Italy, like other European countries, has a public health care system, or what some people call socialized medicine. It is instead the result of the sheer volume of cases flooding the hospitals.
As of March 12, 2020, The New York Times reported that Italian officials had maintained that everyone who needed care was entitled to it. In a public statement on the matter, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte stated, We live in a system in which we guarantee health and the right of everyone to be cured. Its a foundation, a pillar, and Id say a characteristic of our system of civilization. And thus we cant allow ourselves to let our guard down.
The Times also reported that Flavia Petrini, president of the Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care, had issued catastrophe medicine guidelines:
In a context of grave shortage of health resources, the guidelines say, intensive care should be given to patients with the best chance of success and those with the best hope of life should be prioritized.
The guidelines also say that in in the interests of maximizing benefits for the largest number, limits could be put on intensive care units to reserve scarce resources to those who have, first, greater likelihood of survival and secondly who have more potential years of life.
No one is getting kicked out, but were offering criteria of priority, Dr. Petrini said. These choices are made in normal times, but whats not normal is when you have to assist 600 people all at once.
Giulio Gallera, the Lombardy official leading the emergency response, said on Thursday that he hoped the guidelines never needed to be applied.
In sum, Italy did not announce it would abandon elderly patients with COVID-19 wholesale. Instead, health care workers in various circumstances and locales might be forced to ration treatment and make judgments based on who is expected to live longest, if treated. Chinese doctors have faced this situation, and some fear it may be in store for the U.S. health care system if the number of active coronavirus cases in the United States isnt successfully controlled. We therefore rate this claim a Mixture of true and false.
Alberta orders all classes cancelled, daycares closed as COVID-19 cases rise to 56 in the province Global News
The National Guard is on standby as the state prepares for additional measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.
At this point the governor and the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency say all options are on the table including putting certain communities under quarantine. But that would be the worst case scenario.
The Hawaii National Guard was activated during the Kilauea Volcano eruption on the Big Island. Those troops are now standing by because their help will be necessary for more preventative measures against COVID-19.
We need to move and act at the pace of an unprecedented crisis we need to make assumptions that we got widespread community spread of the virus, COVID virus, said Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
The governor appointed Hara as incident commander to lead the effort for new procedures. He says there are planners now putting together measures such as more testing at airports and harbors. There are no plans yet to force restaurants and bars to close, but it is possible further down the line.
So we got these planners working 24-7 now to come up with a comprehensive plan from worst case if we do need to quarantine certain neighborhoods or the best case, just try to monitor or mitigate the spread hoping theres no huge cluster, said Hara.
State officials also made a plea for residents to stop hoarding. And warned that if it continues, police or even the National Guard might step in to put a stop to it.
This supplemental proclamation specifically addresses hoarding and we do know that we can take action if we do believe that it is getting out of hand, said Gov. David Ige.
When you go to those shelves theyre all empty, so please, lets keep this aloha spirit alive, said Hara.
MADISON (WKOW) -- The Wisconsin Department of Health Services today announced new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin is now seeing community spread of the new coronavirus according to Dr. Ryan Westergaard,chief medical officer of the Bureau of Communicable Diseases.
Community spread of disease is when the virus can no longer be traced to a travel history or exposure to someone known to be infected.
The number of people confirmed to have the coronavirus rose to 46, said Andrea Palm, secretary-designee of the Department of Health Services.
Over 500 people have tested negative. And one person, from Dane County, has already recovered.
(Our entire coronavirus coverage is available here.)
Gov. Tony Evers banned all gatherings of 50 or more people in the state beginning at midnight. The order exempts drug and grocery stores among certain other locations.
"Keeping folks safe and healthy has to be our first priority," said Evers.
There is not enough capacity for testing everyone yet, said Westergaard. For the time being, it can only be done for those showing symptoms.
The new strain of coronavirus causes the disease COVID-19. Symptoms include cough, fever and shortness of breath.
In severe cases, pneumonia can develop. Those most at risk include the elderly, people with heart or lung disease as well as anyone at greater risk of infection.
For most, the virus is mild, presenting similarly to a common cold or the flu.
Anyone who thinks they may have the disease should call ahead to a hospital or clinic before going in for a diagnosis. Doing so gives the staff time to take the proper precautions so the virus does not spread.
Those needing emergency medical services should continue to use 911.
