If you only learn one thing about #COVID19 today make it this: everyone's job is to help FLATTEN THE CURVE. With thanks to @XTOTL & @TheSpinoffTV for the awesome GIF. Please share far & wide. pic.twitter.com/O7xlBGAiZY
— Dr Siouxsie Wiles (@SiouxsieW) March 8, 2020
I suspect we’re reaching the point where these dawn updates become unnecessary, since we’ll be discussing the issue all day long in multiple posts. But I’ve gotten into the habit, so for now…
Excellent resource, for which I owe some commentor (dmsmilev?) a hat tip: “Don’t Panic: The comprehensive Ars Technica guide to the coronavirus“.
… You should be concerned and take this seriously. But you should not panic.
This is the mantra public health experts have adopted since the epidemic mushroomed in January—and it’s about as comforting as it is easy to accomplish. But it’s important that we all try…
… SARS-CoV-2 is here in the US, and it’s circulating—we are only starting to determine where it is and how far it has spread. Problems with federal testing have delayed our ability to detect infections in travelers. And as we work to catch up, the virus has kept moving. It now appears to be spreading in several communities across the country. It’s unclear if we will be able to get ahead of it and contain it; even if we can, it will take a lot of resources and effort to do it.
All that said, SARS-CoV-2 is not an existential threat. While it can be deadly, around 80 percent of cases are mild to moderate, and people recover within a week or two. Moreover, there are obvious, evidence-based actions we can take to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities overall.
Now is not the time for panic, which will only get in the way of what you need to be doing. While it’s completely understandable to be worried, your best bet to getting through this unscathed is to channel that anxious energy into doing what you can to stop SARS-COV-2 from spreading.
And to do that, you first need to have the most complete, accurate information on the situation as you can. To that end, below is our best attempt to address all of the questions you might have about SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, and the situation in the US…
I started off fairly sceptical in HK's social distancing. I wore masks, worked from home but wasn't sure how well it worked. It looks like I was wrong. More than half of HK's 109 reported coronavirus cases discharged and the regular flu season flattened https://t.co/WN0kwVVsOY
— Mike Bird (@Birdyword) March 8, 2020
Here's why Singapore's response to the #coronavirus has led to 0 deaths pic.twitter.com/2vsYsuQOF8
— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) March 9, 2020
Can everyone calling for "perspective" on coronavirus, saying fewer people die on the roads, etc, please read this. Issue is critically ill %age. Increasingly clear reason for death rate disparity is whether ICUs are overwhelmed. Issue not whether it is "worse than ordinary flu". https://t.co/C3iLAni5Sg
— Richard Spencer (@RichardJSpencer) March 8, 2020
All N. American students/alumni/staff/faculty who would like to encourage colleges and universities to take stronger, pro-active action to #flattenthecurve of #covid19, even *before* there are cases in your community, please consider signing this petition. https://t.co/4PpNesHLXG
— Maren L Friesen (@symbiomics) March 8, 2020
Social distancing: Phone companies @ATT @verizon @sprint @TMobile should quickly increase data caps and activate phone-hotspot tethering where there’s #covid19 spreading. (As network capacity allows) So many can work/learn at home
— ??? ??????????? ? ? (@eliowa) March 8, 2020
This is basically a confirmation of what we have seen in a small number of studies. People mount good antibody responses to infection. This makes reinfection, at least for many months, unlikely. https://t.co/IhJtTRqvWi
— Florian Krammer (@florian_krammer) March 8, 2020
Coronavirus updates:
– 96 new cases in South Korea
– 72 new cases in Germany
– 10 new cases in Australia
– 8 new cases in Austria
– 3 new cases in Indiahttps://t.co/eUoE2bjB9j— BNO Newsroom (@BNODesk) March 9, 2020
NEW: WHO interim guidance on critical preparedness, readiness and response actions for #COVID19 https://t.co/4QQ7VcQPe4#coronavirus pic.twitter.com/4hpP6I0oIk
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 7, 2020
And this is why public health folks in your twitter feed are freaking out, and why the US testing debacle is so extraordinarily damaging.
We lost 6-7 weeks of potentially triggering earlier action, because lack of testing made us blind.https://t.co/XOTJiMXjRF
— Jeremy WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) March 8, 2020
Coronavirus updates:
—Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top U.S. health official, said that a regional lockdown of parts of the U.S. could become necessary
—He recommended that those at greatest risk — the elderly and those with health conditions — abstain from travelhttps://t.co/h5vTJnKk0F— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 8, 2020
Need to start doing this at country-wide scale. https://t.co/73Qtv6aUqA
— Jeremy WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) March 8, 2020
Anyone got more info on this?
Gates-funded program will soon offer home-testing kits for new coronavirus https://t.co/1G4qgnlBVX
— andy lassner (@andylassner) March 8, 2020
This is significant. New Jersey thought it would have CDC confirmation on its first two coronavirus cases late last week. The CDC hasn't offered state officials any explanation as to why they haven't confirmed positive tests from NJ's public health lab https://t.co/Z5Blx9PWz7
— Sam Sutton (@samjsutton) March 8, 2020
#Coronavirus infections appear to be slowing in China, with only 40 new confirmed cases yesterday – the lowest since January. pic.twitter.com/RpDXo2mgaj
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 9, 2020
Summary of best-estimate coronavirus fatality rates (from the preprint below):
Age 0-9: 0.0094%
Age 10-19: 0.022%
Age 20-29: 0.091%
Age 30-39: 0.18%
Age 40-49: 0.4%
Age 50-59: 1.3%
Age 60-69: 4.6% (range 3.8-5.4)
Age 70-79: 9.8% (range 8.2-12)
Age 80+: 18% (range 14-22) https://t.co/pu6779ImKw
— Dorsa Amir (@DorsaAmir) March 8, 2020
This interview with Bruce Aylward of @WHO is one of the most important things you can read on #COVID19. Lays out very clearly and accessibly the steps that China took to contain the virus. https://t.co/uapNvUwJL2
— Jeremy WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) March 9, 2020
If you hit NYT paywall, try this one w/ @juliaoftoronto and Aylwardhttps://t.co/XFYgXOhmN3
— COVID19 (@V2019N) March 9, 2020
Can a face mask stop coronavirus? Covid-19 facts checkedhttps://t.co/Fzg9zGlsnJ
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 9, 2020
America: Can you imagine locking down 1/4 of the USA population? #COVID19
Think it can't happen here? Stop being so smug, and start preparing for the worst. What makes your city better than Milan, in terms of hospitals, public health & community mobilization? https://t.co/aKxG3HS66A— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) March 8, 2020
May he set a new fashion!
BREAKING: Apple's Tim Cook offers employees at most of its global offices the ability to work from home this week as he calls the coronavirus outbreak an “unprecedented event” and “challenging moment” https://t.co/Hlu71JmSFH
— Bloomberg (@business) March 8, 2020
Here's a pre-print from me, @CraigBDalton & co. If you're short on time, the title sums it up: ?
Pre-Emptive Low Cost Social Distancing and Enhanced Hygiene Implemented before Local #COVID19 Transmission Could Decrease the Number and Severity of Cases. https://t.co/Uc0mBk63z1— Dr Anthea Katelaris (@AntheaKatelaris) March 8, 2020
MazeDancer
Thanks for your “habit”, Anne Laurie.
It is a lot of work. But valuable info.
JPL
The lack of testing and tracking individuals with the virus is going to hurt us physically and economically. Don doesn’t want the numbers to go up so he is deliberately slowing down testing. A few dozen people from the Grand Princess will be in quarantine in GA, which makes sense because they live here. The local news said it’s important to remember that they did not test positive. They didn’t mention that they haven’t been tested so the results didn’t come back negative either.
rikyrah
I don’t reply, but I read this update everyday. I appreciate you doing them.
evap
Thanks for the valuable updates, AL!
Currently traveling (Germany and Ireland), but I’m returning to the US on Sunday and worried about my 92-year-old mother and her 92-year-old husband, who are both in reasonably good health (although he has dementia). They are living at home with 24 hour care, and leave the house only for doctor appointments, so not much exposure. I will be working from home when I return, but am wondering if I should stop participating in choir and volunteer work (at a school) in case I pick it up. I think I would be okay, but it would be horrible if I gave it to my mom; I visit her frequently. I would rather give up activities than visits to my mother!
E.
This post is the first thing I read in the morning. Thank you so much for doing it!!
Lapassionara
So, here in St. Louis, a young woman who had been studying in Italy tested positive after she returned home. On Thursday, the family was told to quarantine, but the father took the younger sister to a “father-daughter dance” at the Ritz Carlton in Clayton on Saturday night instead.
I’m thinking he is a Trump cultist and avid Fox News viewer. Given my age and my compromised immune system, I am social distancing as much as possible. Mr LP returns from a trip to the west coast this evening, so I am just hoping he has been taking the hand washing advice seriously.
Betty Cracker
Just wanted to add my thanks too, Anne Laurie. You were on this issue before it was even a blip on most people’s radar, and reading your daily updates has helped me stay more informed and therefore more prepared. That’s a valuable service, and it’s much appreciated.
eclare
I commented in the thread downstairs, thank you for these posts, Anne.
Nelle
I value these focused morning updates. Thank you. I hope you continue. This affects my decisions and you are helping me.
I’m leaving on a short trip by car this morning and thinking maybe I’m being stupid. I haven’t entirely gotten rid of The Cough. We are scheduled to go to Nebraska next week to view the sandhill crane migration and the week after to Arizona but I’m beginning to doubt that.
Betty Cracker
Since Ted Cruz announced his intention to self-quarantine after shaking hands with someone at CPAC who later tested positive for C-19, paranoia is running rampant on con Twitter. Raheem Kassam, a pro-Trump podcaster:
Thoughts and prayers!
Chyron HR
Seems like you could put that information in your headline instead of driving clicks, you dicks.
satby
@Chyron HR: it’s not a yes or no answer though.
MagdaInBlack
I really dont see where I have much choice in this matter. I have contact with customers and vendors 10 hours a day. We have no sick days. Work from home is not an option. Company has done nothing more than post the CDC wash your hands guidelines.
We have over 700 shops around the country, some in the Washington state hotspot area.
Today I’m emailing HR. I expect a “pat on the head, go back to work” response.
Just a wee frustration vent.
eclare
@MagdaInBlack: That deserves a huge vent.
Geminid
It is very good to concentrate these news nuggets in one post. People need breadth and depth of information to understand and evaluate.
David C
Richard Hatchett – my old boss! Glad that he (and my current up-the-chain boss, Tony Fauci) are getting some air time. One day in 2009 Richard was whisked away to the White House with a few other preparedness folks to deal with H1N1.
Princess
@Betty Cracker: Why won’t they tell people who the infected person is? The rest of non-famous CPAC also deserves the right to decide they ought to quarentine themselves.
WereBear
Asked, and answered. The little people deserve nothing.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Princess: Raheem Kassam has put out enough information that it shouldn’t be too hard to identify them. They attended the Shabbat dinner and were in/around the green room between 1 and 5 pm, a period when people like Louis Gohmert, KellyAnn Conway, Betsy DeVos, Matt Gaetz, and Diamond and Silk were likely also there.
He also says there’s rumors that they were the same people as the AIPAC guests, who shared a room during CPAC.
frosty
I like your morning updates, although they sometimes make me want to pull the covers over my head and not get out of bed. There’s info here I don’t see anywhere else.
Betty
@David C: He is very impressive- tons of gravitas.
Redshift
Please keep doing these posts. We may discuss it all day, but that’s not going to be as informative.
Ixnay
@Betty Cracker: The Ixnay’s have been rooting for “The Masque of the Red Death”. Poe to the rescue.
frosty
@Nelle: We’re on a long-planned post-retirement cross country National Park road trip until some time in June. Great timing for a pandemic, eh?
Worst case, they close the parks; best case, we take precautions and stay healthy. Middle case, we self-quarantine in the trailer. I’ve got 10 days of meals stocked right now.
Bill Arnold
That last tweet by Dr Anthea Katelaris leads to this.
The title (preprint fwiw) says it all (obvious to many of us here in outline; the details are nice). You’ll to download or browse the PDF:
Pre-Emptive Low Cost Social Distancing and Enhanced Hygiene Implemented before Local COVID-19 Transmission Could Decrease the Number and Severity of Cases. (5 Mar 2020, Craig Dalton, Stephen Corbett, Anthea Katelaris)
But see the (useful) boxes of recommendations, that could be easily shared with people in positions of responsibility:
J R in WV
Well, it is obvious that Trump won’t ever allow the federal government to test a sufficient proportion of the population to provide guidance to health management staff. In my book that decision falls somewhere between voluntary manslaughter and murder on Trump’s fault, and everyone who goes along with him is an accessory both before and and after the crime.
Every falsehood he utters into the media/internet is another count, he isn’t just random nutjob ranting on twitter, he is the GD President of the United States and is responsible for properly executing routine precautions against this new disease!!
Can you tell I’m pissed? Justice will be when he becomes positive for the virus from his schmoozing rich donors in Mar-a-Lago and at AIPIC and CPAC.
ETA 1: We have been hermits since we retired, we both interacted with tons of people at work, and are both introverts, so that was a hard part of the job. Many of those people were overtly hostile, and all we could do was bite out lip and keep on keeping on. So not much has changed — hoping the internet keeps running while the emergency plays out!!!
I will keep going to the stores once a week until that becomes obviously dangerous, then we will start reducing the stockpiles we have accumulated and are still building up. It is hard to stockpile wine !
ETA2: I miss Steve in ATL, etc, etc. I hope he and his wife are doing OK. Same for Raven and his cute pooches.