[News] Coronavirus

A place to discuss the now-global coronavirus outbreak.

WP: U.S. workers without protective gear assisted coronavirus evacuees, HHS whistleblower says

Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services sent more than a dozen workers to receive the first Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, without proper training for infection control or appropriate protective gear, according to a whistleblower complaint.

The workers did not show symptoms of infection and were not tested for the virus, according to lawyers for the whistleblower, a senior HHS official based in Washington who oversees workers at the Administration for Children and Families, a unit within HHS.

The whistleblower is seeking federal protection, alleging she was unfairly and improperly reassigned after raising concerns about the safety of these workers to HHS officials, including those within the office of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. She was told Feb. 19 that if she does not accept the new position in 15 days, which is March 5, she would be terminated.

The kicker of that article was a few paragraphs down:

In some instances, the teams were working alongside personnel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in “full gown, gloves and hazmat attire,” the complaint said.

And the whistleblower complaint takes on a whole new context when you realize that the first U.S. case of coronavirus that didn't have a direct link to someone else with the illness happened in Vacaville, CA, which is right next to Travis AF Base which was where those Americans were received and processed.

OG_slinger wrote:

The kicker of that article was a few paragraphs down:

In some instances, the teams were working alongside personnel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in “full gown, gloves and hazmat attire,” the complaint said.

And the whistleblower complaint takes on a whole new context when you realize that the first U.S. case of coronavirus that didn't have a direct link to someone else with the illness happened in Vacaville, CA, which is right next to Travis AF Base which was where those Americans were received and processed.

What gets me is that because of the botched rollout of the US COVID-19 test we currently have absolutely no idea how many people in the US are infected.

Like, I don't want to panic anyone at this point, but in the near future the US is going to see a huge spike in the number of detected cases because once we can start testing en masse it's most likely going to uncover a huge number of previously existing patients. Which will be good news, because we'll finally have a chance to see what the actual scope of the problem is.

Mr GT Chris wrote:
Vector wrote:

Woke up to this news. I didn’t realize there were a bunch of cases in Hokkaido. Also, a woman has tested positive a 2nd time after being cleared.

Sorry, I remember you were in Japan, was that in Hokkaido? Also, maybe you have family affected? We are feeling quite stressed already, of course income will be reduced as work opportunities dry up for the foreseeable future.

Yamagata, actually. No one infected and hoping that the remoteness of my wife's family will keep them safe. They live in a tiny village called Yamadera and are far up in the mountains. My brother-in-law did move to a bigger city (Akita, maybe) recently and has 3 very young children. The school stoppage won't affect them but both my sister-in-law's kids are in elementary school. Luckily they can hang out at the grandparents' houses when sister-in-law is at her part-time job.

We were planning on visiting in October but the trip may not happen now. We have a 7 month and 3.5 year old. My wife's parents have never met their little grandson.

OG_slinger wrote:

And the whistleblower complaint takes on a whole new context when you realize that the first U.S. case of coronavirus that didn't have a direct link to someone else with the illness happened in Vacaville, CA, which is right next to Travis AF Base which was where those Americans were received and processed.

Yeah, I'm sweating this one more than a little. My mother and a lot of my family live in Vacaville, and one of my cousins is a doctor in the hospital on Travis AFB. They're all older and in a high-risk category for the disease. That's way too close to home for my comfort.

Gremlin wrote:

Like, I don't want to panic anyone at this point, but in the near future the US is going to see a huge spike in the number of detected cases because once we can start testing en masse it's most likely going to uncover a huge number of previously existing patients. Which will be good news, because we'll finally have a chance to see what the actual scope of the problem is.

That assumes the Trump administration will allow public health officials to announce that kind of information.

Trump's already said that the "total of 15" Americans who were sick are all getting better so I kinda expect a repeat of Sharpiegate.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Yeah, I'm sweating this one more than a little. My mother and a lot of my family live in Vacaville, and one of my cousins is a doctor in the hospital on Travis AFB. They're all older and in a high-risk category for the disease. That's way too close to home for my comfort.

Hope they stay safe--and healthy.

This sounds more like the "Division" than "Outbreak"...

I was curious what the Surgeon General was up to during all this. It appears that on paper he's qualified, but he was also Mike Pence's Indiana State Health Commissioner and per his official bio at HHS "he led the State’s responses to Ebola, Zika, and to the largest ever HIV outbreak in the United States related to injection drug use."

And we all know how well Pence's Indiana handled that HIV outbreak. What I don't know if he agrees with Pence or just got overruled by the governor's office. A cursory googling didn't find much about COVID-19 from his office; he's said that flu is more dangerous so get your flu shot, which is a perfectly cromulent thing to say.

qaraq wrote:

I was curious what the Surgeon General was up to during all this. It appears that on paper he's qualified, but he was also Mike Pence's Indiana State Health Commissioner and per his official bio at HHS "he led the State’s responses to Ebola, Zika, and to the largest ever HIV outbreak in the United States related to injection drug use."

Does it say whether or not his response was a good one, or just that he led it?

Doesn't say one way or the other in the HHS bio. But I found a news article that says he was actually helpful:

Health workers credit Adams with persuading Pence to allow Indiana counties to create syringe exchanges to contain the spread of the disease. “We wouldn’t have syringe exchange if it wasn’t for him,” said Carrie Lawrence, a public health researcher at Indiana University who helps implement syringe exchange programs throughout the state.

Pence had expressed moral reservations about syringe exchanges — a sentiment that Adams told The New York Times he originally shared. But in March 2015, the governor acted on advice from Adams and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and authorized a 30-day emergency syringe exchange, citing a public health emergency. Later that spring, Pence signed a law legalizing syringe exchanges in Indiana.

qaraq wrote:

I was curious what the Surgeon General was up to during all this. It appears that on paper he's qualified, but he was also Mike Pence's Indiana State Health Commissioner and per his official bio at HHS "he led the State’s responses to Ebola, Zika, and to the largest ever HIV outbreak in the United States related to injection drug use."

And we all know how well Pence's Indiana handled that HIV outbreak. What I don't know if he agrees with Pence or just got overruled by the governor's office. A cursory googling didn't find much about COVID-19 from his office; he's said that flu is more dangerous so get your flu shot, which is a perfectly cromulent thing to say.

He's kinda the guy who stopped Indiana's HIV outbreak from going from bad to catastrophic.

Bonus points for him starting his stint as Indiana State Health Commissioner as someone who was morally opposed to needle exchange programs and ending as someone who championed them as saving lives and reducing drug abuse.

NPR wrote:

A practicing anesthesiologist, Adams was appointed Indiana Health Commissioner by then-Gov. Mike Pence in October 2014. Four months into the job, he announced an HIV outbreak in rural Scott County, Ind., after health workers documented 26 cases of HIV there. By May 2015, the number of confirmed infections had risen to 158, spread almost entirely through injection drug use. 88 percent of them also tested positive for hepatitis C. Today, the number of confirmed HIV cases has reached 219.

Health workers credit Adams with persuading Pence to allow Indiana counties to create syringe exchanges to contain the spread of the disease. "We wouldn't have syringe exchange if it wasn't for him," says Carrie Lawrence, a public health researcher at Indiana University who helps implement syringe exchange programs throughout the state.

Pence had expressed moral reservations about syringe exchanges — a sentiment that Adams told the New York Times he originally shared. But in March 2015, the governor acted on advice from Adams and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and authorized a 30-day emergency syringe exchange, citing a public health emergency. Later that spring, Pence signed a law legalizing syringe exchanges in Indiana.

Beth Meyerson, co-director of Indiana University's Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention, worked closely with Adams throughout that period. She says early on, when it became clear to legislators that a clean syringe exchange program was needed to reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis C, Adams was able to bring public health evidence to the table.

"Dr. Adams navigated the very ideological political environment that was created by then-Gov. Pence," she says. "There's just no doubt the governor wouldn't have listened to me or listened to the leaders in the legislature, but he would listen to Jerome Adams."

The Trump administration has a plan for the pandemic: tax cuts. #NotTheOnion

Par for the course right?
The only thing that matters is that businesses keep flowing regardless of the human cost. That is definitely consistent...

ClockworkHouse wrote:

The Trump administration has a plan for the pandemic: tax cuts. #NotTheOnion

When you're a hammer, every problem looks like a nail...

Pediatrician wife of a friend of mine did a deep dive into the risks and put a well thought out and attributed blog post.

https://healthykidshappykids.com/202...

Thought you might find it interesting.

Moggy wrote:

Pediatrician wife of a friend of mine did a deep dive into the risks and put a well thought out and attributed blog post.

https://healthykidshappykids.com/202...

Thought you might find it interesting.

EDIT: See additional fact checking from Stengah. I won't support anyone who isn't firmly in the correct camp of vaccinations.

Appreciate the share! Really insightful, well written, and considered remarks in this piece! I’ve taken to sharing it with the folks around me as a good, scientific, but plain language explanation of our current situation.

Stengah wrote wrote:

Just a word of warning: She pushes homeopathic crap and other quack treatments *HARD*. She seems to have her facts about Covid-19 straight, but I wouldn't recommend sharing this further.
Edit - She gets worse the more I look. She recommends homeopathic medicine over Tylenol and Motrin for children with fevers; maintains that there is a link (albeit small) between the MMR vaccine and autism; while she's not outright anti-vaccine, she spends far more time talking up the dangers of a vaccine injury than she does their benefit; she conflates the odds of having a reaction, even one as minor as soreness at the injection site, with the odds of getting a serious vaccine injury; and she sells a "home remedy kit" for almost $300 that's full of water homepathic "remedies"

Republican voters complaining about the lack of response to the virus is going to be my new favorite on /r/leopardsatemyface.

Officials just announced that there’s a presumptive case here in Oregon, though the CDC is still in the process of confirming it. They haven’t released any personal information about the patient but did say that they’re an elementary school teacher who didn’t have any travel history or any obvious contact with anyone who did.

I just started a new job at clinical testing lab for a regional hospital chain last week. I guess I have great timing.

Vector wrote:

Yamagata, actually. No one infected and hoping that the remoteness of my wife's family will keep them safe. They live in a tiny village called Yamadera and are far up in the mountains. My brother-in-law did move to a bigger city (Akita, maybe) recently and has 3 very young children. The school stoppage won't affect them but both my sister-in-law's kids are in elementary school. Luckily they can hang out at the grandparents' houses when sister-in-law is at her part-time job.

We were planning on visiting in October but the trip may not happen now. We have a 7 month and 3.5 year old. My wife's parents have never met their little grandson.

Yes, I understand the feeling. My parents are likely to end up canceling their September visit. Even if it settles down here, it’s likely to be a concern in Australia. I told my parents to at least buy a new thermometer (they don’t really have a working one right now).

There are rumours of a case near us (30 minutes walk) but nothing official.

staygold wrote:
Moggy wrote:

Pediatrician wife of a friend of mine did a deep dive into the risks and put a well thought out and attributed blog post.

https://healthykidshappykids.com/202...

Thought you might find it interesting.

Appreciate the share! Really insightful, well written, and considered remarks in this piece! I’ve taken to sharing it with the folks around me as a good, scientific, but plain language explanation of our current situation.

Just a word of warning: She pushes homeopathic crap and other quack treatments *HARD*. She seems to have her facts about Covid-19 straight, but I wouldn't recommend sharing this further.
Edit - She gets worse the more I look. She recommends homeopathic medicine over Tylenol and Motrin for children with fevers; maintains that there is a link (albeit small) between the MMR vaccine and autism; while she's not outright anti-vaccine, she spends far more time talking up the dangers of a vaccine injury than she does their benefit; she conflates the odds of having a reaction, even one as minor as soreness at the injection site, with the odds of getting a serious vaccine injury; and she sells a "home remedy kit" for almost $300 that's full of water homepathic "remedies"

Stengah wrote:
staygold wrote:
Moggy wrote:

Pediatrician wife of a friend of mine did a deep dive into the risks and put a well thought out and attributed blog post.

https://healthykidshappykids.com/202...

Thought you might find it interesting.

Appreciate the share! Really insightful, well written, and considered remarks in this piece! I’ve taken to sharing it with the folks around me as a good, scientific, but plain language explanation of our current situation.

Just a word of warning: She pushes homeopathic crap and other quack treatments *HARD*. She seems to have her facts about Covid-19 straight, but I wouldn't recommend sharing this further.
Edit - She gets worse the more I look. She recommends homeopathic medicine over Tylenol and Motrin for children with fevers; maintains that there is a link (albeit small) between the MMR vaccine and autism; while she's not outright anti-vaccine, she spends far more time talking up the dangers of a vaccine injury than she does their benefit; she conflates the odds of having a reaction, even one as minor as soreness at the injection site, with the odds of getting a serious vaccine injury; and she sells a "home remedy kit" for almost $300 that's full of water homepathic "remedies"

Thanks for the catch! I wasn't as rigorous in my fact checking as I should have been. Will update my post above based on what you've provided. Thanks again!

First death in the US reported in King county WA

I have it on good authority that the coronavirus is a hoax, and the Democrats want it to kill millions of people so that Trump loses the election.

Meanwhile:

China encourages citizens to return to work as coronavirus hits economy

The Chinese authorities are trying to usher the country back to work, a month after announcing the unprecedented quarantine of millions of people. But they face a difficult balancing act between containing the virus and supporting a faltering economy.

Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province, the centre of the outbreak, have been the focus of disease prevention efforts. over the last four weeks. As the death toll climbed to more than 2,000 worldwide, and infections to over 75,000, the vast majority of cases were still inside that quarantined zone.

But the disease had spread far across the country before Hubei was sealed off, and some of the worst-affected places are the manufacturing and economic centres that power China’s economy.

Southern Guangdong province, just across from Hong Kong and home to international giants such as Apple supplier Foxconn, is the second-worst affected province after Hubei, with 1,339 cases of the coronavirus confirmed and five deaths.

Eastern Zhejiang, near Shanghai, is the fourth most seriously hit, with 1,205 cases by , although only one death. It is also the base for companies including the hugely influential Alibaba, China’s answer to Amazon and eBay.

Those total numbers of infections are far above the 639 cases registered across all of China on 23 January, when Hubei was put on sudden lockdown.

The situations are not directly comparable; coronavirus had been spreading almost unchecked in Wuhan for weeks before the quarantine, and overwhelmed hospitals appear to have sent patients home, only to spread the disease.

Authorities in other areas started tracking cases much earlier and have better resources to isolate and treat those who fall sick, something reflected in a much lower death rate.

My wife recently installed the Nextdoor app on her phone, which as near as I can tell is a private messageboard for people who can verify they live in a particular neighborhood/area. Real names are required- so it's not really anonymous.

She’s been reading a lot of comments on coronavirus from people who live nearby, and these include (paraphrasing):

"It's no more dangerous than the flu. God will take you when it's your time and nothing you can do will change that. I've been smoking for 40 years and don't have any problems with my lungs. The media just wants you to worry."

"I believe this is a biological weapon developed by the government. It's ridiculous that they are having to develop a vaccine for something that man created in the first place."

"The mainstream media is blowing this way out of proportion to influence the election against our duly elected President Trump."

"It's disgusting how the Democrats actually want more people to die. I wouldn't be surprised if the virus was intentionally spread in order to stop President Trump from getting reelected."

"China is a dirty country and we shouldn't be surprised this is happening. This is exactly why we shouldn't have open borders."

"I believe in natural remedies. Try colloidal silver and vitamin C."

"Yes, natural remedies are the way to go." (proceeds to provide extensive list of supposed natural remedies)

At least there was this- "I think you people on here need to reexamine your sources of information."

Nextdoor is actually an app that allows you to see exactly how awful your neighbors are.

Don't worry, sooner or later the coronavirus panic will lose its appeal and Nextdoor will go back to be full or your neighbors being unrepentantly racist towards black and hispanic people instead.

Chaz wrote:

Nextdoor is actually an app that allows you to see exactly how awful your neighbors are.

see also: Ring

Chairman_Mao wrote:
Chaz wrote:

Nextdoor is actually an app that allows you to see exactly how awful your neighbors are.

see also: Ring

Well, Ring is also about giving cops a bunch of additional surveillance cameras.

My neighborhood’s Nextdoor is mostly people selling things, talking about car break-ins, and complaining about how tearing down dilapidated buildings and replacing them with modern-style homes will ruin the neighborhood’s “character.”