Alameda County Declares State Of Emergency After Medics Test Positive, Global Virus Deaths Pass 3,000: Live Updates

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Alameda County Declares State Of Emergency After Medics Test Positive, Global Virus Deaths Pass 3,000: Live Updates

Summary:

  • Rhode island announces “presumptive” case; patient recently visited Italy
  • Global virus deaths hit 3,000 as China reports another 42
  • Washington State confirms 2 more cases
  • 2 new cases confirmed in California
  • Israel case total hits 10 day before vote
  • South Korea death toll hits 22
  • Germany case total doubles in 24 hours to 129
  • Mexico case total climbs to 5
  • White House to hold meeting tomorrow with 8 pharma CEOs
  • Italy reports 42% jump in cases overnight to nearly 1,700
  • France reports 30 new cases, bringing total to 130
  • Czech Republic, Dominican Republic report first cases
  • Chinese health officials report first ‘double lung’ transplant connected to virus case
  • Iraq, Bahrain confirm 6 new cases; Lebanon confirms 3
  • 6 being tested in NYC for coronavirus
  • South Korea confirms 18th death, officials seek murder charges for founder of church at epicenter of outbreak
  • American Physical Society cancels major scientific conference
  • Juventus quarantines U23 squad
  • Iran death toll hits 54 as Trump offers aid
  • Thailand, Australia report first deaths
  • Spain case count hits 73; France hits 100
  • Independent scientist says it could have been spreading in WA for six weeks, with hundreds infected
  • Italian cases number more than 1,100; South Korea reports more than 3,700
  • Italian death toll hits 29
  • Luxembourg reports first cases, says it’s linked to Italy
  • UK cases rise to 35 as 12 new cases confirmed; 2 cases infected inside UK
  • UK health secretary says China-style lockdowns “an option”

* * *

Update (1920ET): Global coronavirus deaths have surpassed 3,000 as China reports 42 new deaths on Sunday.

  • GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS DEATHS SURPASS 3,000 AS INFECTIONS SPREAD
  • CHINA REPORTS 202 ADDITIONAL CORONAVIRUS CASES MARCH 1
  • CHINA REPORTS 42 NEW CORONAVIRUS DEATHS MARCH 1

3,000 – that’s roughly equivalent to the number of Americans who die every 2-3 weeks from drug overdoses.

How much longer until we see 6,000?

* * *

Update (1915ET): The White House will host a meeting with 8 drug company CEOs to discuss “progress” on finding a coronavirus vaccine to stop COVID-19. The meeting will take place Monday afternoon.

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We suspect we’ll see a leak in the NYT, WaPo or CNN by 4:30.

* * *

Update (1900ET): South Korea’s Arirang News reports another death in South Korea, raising the death toll in the country to 22.

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Meanwhile, over in Japan, PM Shinzo Abe said it’s imperative that Japan avert an outbreak in the country’s schools. This comes after Abe asked all schools across the country to close until further notice. Abe also said he’s looking into passing a law to enable a declaration of emergency, presumably to give his administration more leeway to act unilaterally.

We’re glad that, after his administration’s previous mistakes with the handling of the ‘Diamond Princess’, they now recognize this is a priority.

* * *

Update (1800ET): Public health officials in Seattle and Washington State’s King County announced on Sunday that two more confirmed cases of the coronavirus had been confirmed, according to a local TV station.

Additionally, ABC 7 reports that 2 Bay Area healthcare workers have received a “presumptive positive” from state labs.

Alameda County Public Health Department and Solano Public Health are reporting that two health care workers are presumptive positive for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19); these cases are pending confirmatory testing from the CDC.

Both cases are NorthBay VacaValley Hospital health care workers and are currently in home-isolation. One is a Solano County resident and the other is an Alameda County resident.

They were both infected by the “unknown origin” case announced on Friday. They were discovered early, as part of investigators’ efforts to trace the individual’s contacts. Already, about 124 health care workers, including at least 36 nurses, are self-quarantining as we speak.

The two patients both had exposure to the community-acquired case currently hospitalized at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. The initial case is slowly recovering and the individual’s family members have negative test results so far and remain in quarantine, officials say.

Alameda County has declared a state of emergency over the outbreak, joining San Francisco, which declared an emergency early last week. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee also declared a state of emergency on Saturday.

“We understand that the evolving news about COVID-19 is concerning, and we are taking the situation very seriously,” said Dr. Erica Pan, Health Officer, Alameda County Public Health Department. “This news is not unexpected in the Bay Area, and we are ready for cases here. This is not the time to panic; now is the time for all of us to work together.” Dr. Pan said.

In Washington, both new cases – a 70-year-old resident and 40-year-old employee – were from a Kirkland, WA. nursing home called Life Care Center of Kirkland (we suspect they’ll be seeing some negative Yelp! reviews in the  near future). Johns Hopkins put the US case total at 76 Sunday night, but it’s unclear how many of the cases reported this weekend have been officially ‘confirmed’ and added to their total. Across the world, more than 80,000 have been infected.

According to state public-health officials, additional 27 residents of the nursing home and 25 staff members are reporting symptoms of the virus, which can be similar to that of the common flu.

These two new cases bring the total number of confirmed cases in the county to six. Since the outbreak began, 8 cases have been confirmed in the state.

Fox confirmed that the two new cases are:

  • A man in his 60s, hospitalized at Valley Medical Center in Renton. The man has underlying health conditions, and is in critical but stable condition.
  • A man in 60s, hospitalized at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. The man has underlying health conditions, and his status is critical.

And the four prior cases (including one who passed away) that we already reported include:

  • A woman in her 50s, who had traveled to South Korea, recovering at home
  • A woman in her 70s, who was a resident of LifeCare in Kirkland, hospitalized at EvergreenHealth
  • A woman in her 40s, employed by LifeCare, who is hospitalized at Overlake Medical Center
  • A man in his 50s, who was hospitalized and died at EvergreenHealth

One of these women is an employee of the US Postal Service, the Washington Examiner reports. Though her position didn’t directly require her to handle mail, she had contact with others who did handle mail.

Scientists can’t say anything for certain about the virus and its ability to live on surfaces, but given its relation to other coronaviruses like SARS and MERS, it’s possible that the virus could survive on surfaces for up to 9 days.

The LifeCare nursing home facility has been closed until further notice. Several nursing students from the Lake Washington Institute of Technology who reportedly visited the LifeCare nursing facility last wee are also being ‘closely monitored’, along with all 110 residents and 180 LifeCare employees.

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Despite all the nearby infections – and a rash of cancellations affecting states and countries with no confirmed cases – the Emerald City ComicCon, which is two weeks away, will proceed as scheduled, according to organizers.

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Members of the Washington State press corps have been sharing an estimate from another viral disease expert named Mike Baker, who said there could be as many as 1,500 people infected in Washington State since mid-January.

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In other news, ahead of Monday’s big vote, Israel has confirmed three more cases of coronavirus, bringing its total number to 10. Two of the new cases had recently returned from a trip to Italy, and the third is thought to have been infected within Israel. Mexico have confirmed a fifth case of the virus – an 18-year-old woman who had been studying in Milan and had recently returned to Chiapas state. The number of cases in Germany has doubled in one day on Sunday, from 66 to 129.

* * *

Update (1530ET): President Trump hasn’t tweeted much so far today, but minutes he go, he broke his silence to highlight a New York Post poll showing a majority of Americans “have confidence in their government’s ability to contain the coronavirus.”

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* * *

Update (1500ET): Chinese health officials reported that a patient in serious condition has undergone a “double-lung transplant” in the city of Wuxi. Even after testing negative for the virus, the 59-year-old patient’s lungs failed to recover, so doctors decided to go ahead with the transplant.

* * *

Update (1330ET): French health officials have confirmed another 30 cases on Sunday, bringing France’s total to 130.

Meanwhile, the list of countries confirming their first cases of the virus on Sunday continues to grow: The Czech Republic and Dominican Republic each have confirmed their first cases, joining Australia and Luxembourg.

The Czech Republic has actually confirmed three cases on Sunday, according to Health Minister Adam Vojtech.

Qatar has reported 2 new cases, bringing its total to 3, while Iraq just reported six new cases.

Iraq reported six new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number to 19. Two of the newly confirmed cases were in Baghdad, the other four were in Sulaimaniya.  All cases in the country are travelers who just returned from Iran.

Bahrain also confirmed six new cases: five Bahraini citizens, and a Saudi national who traveled on an “indirect” flight routed to Iran.

Earlier, Lebanon confirmed 3 new cases, bringing its total to 10.

Though it hasn’t confirmed any cases yet, Morocco is set to postpone sports and cultural events over coronavirus fears, the government health committee has announced.

Meanwhile, Global Times editor Hu Xijin tweeted that Europe and the US will eventually have to accept the coronavirus, arguing that “if the epidemic emerges repeatedly, it would have a “profound impact.”

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What about China?

* * *

Update (1230ET): Italian health authorities have reported more than 500 new coronavirus cases, bringing Italy’s total to 1,694, a 42% surge overnight, and raising the death toll to 34, the second-highest outside mainland China (after Iran).

Despite reporting less than half of the number of cases confirmed in South Korea, Italy has recorded significantly more deaths, suggesting that the virus is much more widespread than officials realize.

Meanwhile, NBC News reports that 2 more people in New York City are being tested for the coronavirus, according to the Department of Health. Since yesterday, another suspected cases was deemed negative, bringing the total of negative cases in NYC to nine so far.

* * *

If there’s one thing we’ve learned since the coronavirus outbreak went global in January, it’s that a lot can change in 24 hours. Seemingly overnight, the viral hysteria has apparently arrived in the US, alongside the news of the first virus-related death in Washington State.

Hoarding has already begun. President Trump has issued “do not travel” warnings affecting ‘hot zones’ in Italy and South Korea. In Italy, the Level 4 State Department advisory affects the hardest-hit provinces of Lombardy and Veneto, where ‘community transmission’ has already been confirmed.

In South Korea, it affects the city of Daegu. In Europe, France and Switzerland have banned large gatherings over 5,000, and cancelled all sporting events. Games, events and conferences across the world have been cancelled as airlines continue to cut back on routes, with the focus turning to Italy and South Korea.

Adding to the growing list of cancellations, the American Physical Society has cancelled one of the world’s major international scientific conferences just a day before it was supposed to begin.

In South Korea, Samsung announced that a worker at its smartphone plant in Gumi had contracted the virus. The pace of newly confirmed cases is growing so rapid, it’s becoming difficult to keep up: The number of confirmed cases worldwide has reached nearly 87,000, with more than 7,000 cases outside mainland China. The virus has now been detected in at least 60 countries and/or territories. South Korea remains home to the biggest outbreak outside of China with more than half of all cases outside the mainland. As of Sunday afternoon in Rome, Italian health authorities had reported 1,128 cases, while the death toll climbed to 29, according to Al Jazeera.

As frustration against a strange cult-like church at the center of the country’s outbreak intensifies, officials are pushing for the leaders of a church at the center of the country’s outbreak be investigated on murder charges as the country’s death toll hit 18.

With 71 cases confirmed in the US (73 if you count the “presumptive” case announced by Illinois public health officials late last night and a new case in Rhode Island), the outbreak has spread much more quickly than most Americans had realized, though we should also point out that the bulk of these cases were already quarantined when they were confirmed, since they were evacuees from either the ‘Diamond Princess’, or ‘Wuhan’.

Perhaps the most shocking news out of Italy on Sunday was that Juventus, the Serie A soccer club based in the northern city of Turin, has quarantined its entire under-23 squad after 3 players on an opposing team and their coach tested positive for the virus. The team has also cancelled training and suspended matches, including amatch against Inter Milan, a team that recently played a match before an empty stadium has been postponed.

According to the Daily Mail, the Serie A outfit announced the decision after their youth team played Serie C Pianese, a team that has seen three players and a manager test positive for the virus, causing an uproar in European soccer.

Following President Trump’s Saturday press conference, where he and Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged the virus coronavirus-related death outside Seattle in Washington State (note: the deceased was identified as a male, following earlier inaccurate reports claiming the victim was female), the president attended CPAC’s annual conference, where he claimed during his keynote address that the US would be willing to help the Iranians contain their brutal outbreak, the NYT reports. Officials in Washington State fear the virus may have been circulating in the state for weeks.

“If we can help the Iranians, we have the greatest health care professionals in the world,” he said, adding that “we would love to be able to help them.”

“All they have to do is ask,” he said.

Trevor Bedford, a cancer researcher, claimed that the virus may have been spreading in Washington for as long as six weeks, and said that hundreds of people may already be infected.

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Over in Iran, officials said the total number of confirmed cases had climbed to 978, with 54 confirmed deaths, just days after government officials denied reports that 50 had died in the city of Qom. Recently, the BBC reported that the true death toll has already surpassed 200.

Hoping to quell the growing sense of panic following a brutal week for US stocks, Trump appealed to the press and politicians in Washington to “not do anything to incite a panic” during his press conference, where he also said he was ‘considering’ closing the southern border, a remark that elicited a frustrated response from the Mexican foreign ministry.

Courtesy of NYT

During separate Sunday appearances on Fox News, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said 75,000 test kits are now available to detected cases of the virus, while VP Pence said a vaccine won’t be available this season (some experts are saying it won’t be ready for next season, either). More cases are expected, Azar said, adding that “we don’t know where this will go,” as public health officials in Washington, California, Oregon, Illinois and Rhode Island scramble to trace the contacts and movements of the newest cases.

About 90 minutes ago, public health officials in Rhode Island announced the state’s first “presumptive” case of the virus, reporting that the individual is in their 40s and recently returned from a trip to Italy in mid-February, before the outbreak in that country had accelerated, Boston 25 News reports. That’s a relief: The clear path of origin means that the latest American patient isn’t another case of “unknown origin”. Health officials are still assuming the worst: That the lack of a clear source of transmission for at least 4 American patients indicates that potentially dozens of others might also be infected, even if they aren’t yet exhibiting symptoms.

After emerging as a model of outbreak suppression, Thailand reported its first virus-linked death on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Australia, a country with only 25 confirmed cases (several from the ‘Diamond Princes’), has reported its first COVID-19-linked death: An elderly man from the remote city of Perth who had traveled aboard the Diamond Princess became the first Australian to die from the virus. The 78-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife were among the 164 Australians who traveled aboard the ‘Diamond Princess’. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the elderly couple were initially flown to Howard Springs in the Northern Territory where Australia’s Diamond Princess evacuees were sent.

Speaking of the Diamond Princess, Japan’s Health and Labor Minister Katsunobu Kato said Sunday that the last passengers and crew, including the captain, had disembarked on Sunday.

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While Italy remains the uncontested epicenter of the outbreak in Europe, twelve more people have tested positive for the virus in the UK, including a second case of an individual believed to have caught the virus inside the country, bringing the total to 35. Health officials are trying to trace a 35-year-old man from Shenzhen who had reportedly been working in Bristol, the Guardian reports.

 

During an appearance on the Andrew Marr, the UK’s premier political talk show, on Sunday, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed that the NHS is bringing doctors out of retirement to fight a potential outbreak, before adding that the UK is leaving the option of China-style, city-wide lockdowns on the table, saying the government needs to consider all available tools:

Marr asked Hancock: “China, of course, isolated entire cities. Is it conceivable under any circumstance, you try and cut off the city in this country?”

Hancock replied: “There’s clearly a huge economic and social downside to that. But we don’t take anything off the table at this stage, because you’ve got to make sure that you have all the tools available, if that is what’s necessary. But I want to minimise the social and economic disruption.”

As of Sunday, Spain has confirmed 73 cases, according to Fernando Simón, the head of the country’s Center for the Coordination of Health Emergencies and Alerts. He added that 90% of the cases were imported or related to imported cases of the virus.

In France, which has reported 100 cases, the Louvre Museum closed on Sunday, and said it would remain shut as workers objected to the risk of catching the virus while working among the millions of visitors who pass through the museum, the AP reports.

Around 300 Louvre staff met Sunday morning and voted “almost unanimously” not to open, according to Christian Galani of the CGT labor union, who spoke with AFP.

Luxembourg has reported its first case, a traveler who recently returned from Italy. Health Minister Paulette Lenert told reporters the patient is a man in his 40s, per Al Jazeera.

As Brazil confirms a second case, international health authorities pointed out that the fact Africa has only reported 3 cases so far, one in Egypt, one in Algeria and one in Nigeria, is something of a miracle, even as the Nigerians have identified 100 people who may have come into contact with the sick individual, as France 24 reports.

Finally, we’d like to leave readers with a glimpse of levity before we go: We’d like to draw readers’ attention to the front page of the Saturday Star, a Canadian daily. 

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You know it’s bad when the Canadian newspaper editors start whipping out the Wayne Gretzky comparisons.


Tyler Durden

Sun, 03/01/2020 – 19:26


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