A collection of key developments in the fight against COVID-19 (the actual virus is SARS-COV-2), posted throughout the week for those who just want the signal and not the noise. If there’s something you think we should include, sound off in the comments thread attached to the post.
Visit our Wuhan coronavirus status page and learn how to prepare for possible spread to your area. Scenarios, shopping lists, background info, and everything else you need, all in one place.
Previously: The previous day’s key developments post is here.
This is the week the US cases are going to start blowing up. Things took off this weekend, and now there are now six dead in Washington state as I write this, a number that has gone up from one dead on Sunday. There will be more deaths this week, and new cases in many more states by the end of the week. We won’t be giving state-by-state numbers in these updates, since the state-by-state picture is darkening so rapidly, but will try to stay on top of the deaths for a while.
The US is finally scaling up test capacity, though. Washington announces they’re at 200 tests per day, and will be at 400 tests per day by end of week. At that rate, then by the end of the week they’ll be able to test a small fraction of the likely cases in their state:
In San Antonio, a quarantined patient left the quarantine and went to the mall for two hours on Saturday. The mall is now closed, and a state of emergency has been declared in the city.
We cannot keep quarantining healthcare workers and first-responders every time we find a new case they may have been exposed to, because at this rate there will be no left to run the hospitals. UC Davis Coronavirus Case Forces 124 Health Care Workers To Self Quarantine
FEMA preparing for possible coronavirus emergency declaration. This sounds dramatic, but it’s a pretty minor administrative thing that will free up some money for coronavirus response. Here is a list of US emergency declarations, many of which are still ongoing.
Major airlines, U.S. officials clash over passenger tracking related to coronavirus cases. “U.S. officials are pressuring airline executives to turn over the email addresses and phone numbers of international passengers as the Trump administration tries to track who may have been exposed to the coronavirus, according to five people briefed on the situation.”
A good summary of the big WHO document resulting from their team’s visit to China. China’s aggressive measures have slowed the coronavirus. They may not work in other countries.
The coronavirus exposes our health care system’s weaknesses. We can be stronger
Emory University is holding a webinar on COVID-19 tomorrow for health professionals.
Johns Hopkins runs the numbers, and we are just not prepared to handle this. They estimate between 1 million and 9.6 million hospitalizations, with between 200,000 and 2.9 million needing ICU. There are 46,500 ICU beds, but with even double that we’re still missing a zero for even a moderate scenario.
Catholic churches across South Korea are closed for the first time ever. For over 200 years the churches have stayed open, through war and crisis, but tonight they’re closed.
Azar in the crosshairs for delays in virus tests. “Even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention takes blame for testing delays that may have led to hundreds of Americans being quietly infected with the coronavirus, officials inside the health department and the White House are increasingly pointing the finger at one leader: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who they say failed to coordinate the response, as agency chiefs waited for instructions that came too late and other deputies were largely cut out of the process.”
Coronavirus: Sharp to use TV factory to make surgical masks
Covid-19 is teaching hard lessons about China-only supply chains
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