The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 165 countries and territories around the world and 1 international conveyance (the Diamond Princess cruise ship harbored in Yokohama, Japan).
As of March 18, 2020 at 01:30 GMT, there have been 6469 confirmed cases (up 1806 cases or 38% over yesterday) and 109 deaths due to coronavirus COVID-19 in the United States.
Commentary:
The hospital next to where I live, in Camarillo, California, just put up a triage tent next to their emergency room entrance.
Listening to the emergency medical services in the county through Ventura County Fire revealed many calls for people having trouble breathing with comments from the dispatcher that the patient "Meets PPE criteria" (Personal Protective Equipment). I assume those were for people potentially infected with the SARSCoV2 virus and having symptoms of COVID-19.
Boston’s Carney Hospital To Treat Only Coronavirus Patients
Carney Hospital in Boston will become the nation’s first dedicated care center to treat only coronavirus patients. Starting Tuesday the Dorchester facility run by Steward Health Care will be converted to include negative pressure wards and special equipment needed to treat critical cases.
There have been 197 positive cases of coronavirus reported in Massachusetts, where Steward has 10 hospitals. Those other hospitals will continue caring for patients as normal.
“By locating COVID-19 patients in a focused environment, Steward can better dedicate the necessary resources, equipment and expertise to provide COVID-19 patients focused care and the very best opportunity for a full recovery,” Steward said in a statement.
Steward says it plans to replicate this model in the other eight states where it has hospitals. Remote testing sites at Massachusetts Steward locations are also set to pop up this week; patients will be able to get swabbed and screened for the virus in their cars at “drive-through” locations.
86% of people with coronavirus are walking around undetected, study says
“Stealth” coronavirus cases are fueling the pandemic, with a staggering 86% of people infected walking around undetected, a new study says.
Six of every seven cases – 86% — were not reported in China before travel restrictions were implemented, driving the spread of the virus, according to a study Monday in the journal Science.
“It’s the undocumented infections which are driving the spread of the outbreak,” said co-author Jeffrey Shaman of Columbia University Mailman School, according to GeekWire.
Using computer modeling, researchers tracked infections before and after the Chinese city of Wuhan’s travel ban.
The findings indicated that these undocumented infections with no or mild symptoms — known as “stealth” cases — were behind two-thirds of the reported patients.
“The majority of these infections are mild, with few symptoms at all,” Shaman said, Mercury News reported. “People may not recognize it. Or they think they have a cold.”
These “stealth” cases were then able to transmit the bug that could cause severe symptoms in other people, according to the researchers.
California: Sacramento County residents directed to ‘stay at home’ and wait out coronavirus
In yet another dramatic move to fight the spread of coronavirus, Sacramento County health officials on Tuesday afternoon called on all residents, not just the elderly, to stay at home effective immediately unless they have essential chores to do, such as grocery shopping, banking, restaurant food pickups, or health appointments.
The directive stops short of being a formal order, but represents a stricter stance than Gov. Gavin Newsom called for Monday night when he asked all restaurants and gyms to close, and for anyone 65 and older to hunker down at home for their safety.
“A directive is an order by another name, and it’s crucial that we all follow it,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. “This is what we need to do to flatten this curve and prevent our health care system from being overwhelmed. It will still allow people to engage in all the essential functions of life, to go grocery shopping, to keep essential medical appointments, and to get outdoors and take a run or walk, as long as it’s at a safe distance from others.
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