March 15, 2020

Wake co., NC resident who tested positive for COVID attended LEGO convention in Raleigh

A Wake County resident who tested positive for COVID-19 attended the BrickUniverse Lego Fan Convention at the Raleigh Convention Center on March 8 from 2-4 p.m.

The person was symptomatic.

"Because the crowd was so large and so mobile, we have no way to identify who came in close contact with this person during the Lego convention," said Dr. Jose Cabanas, the county's EMS Director/Medical Director who is overseeing public health operations today in the Emergency Operations Center. "We need the community's help to determine who was potentially at risk of exposure to the virus."


https://abc11.com/health/raleigh-lego-convention-attendees-potentially-exposed-to-covid-19/6015018/


I can't even....

March 15, 2020

All restaurants and bars will be closed in Ohio starting at 9pm

https://twitter.com/GovMikeDeWine/status/1239275883560648705

We will be issuing an order closing all bars and restaurants in #Ohio beginning at 9:00 tonight.

March 15, 2020

Estonia's tweet is very direct,lol

https://twitter.com/visitestonia/status/1238885142237773838


Please stay safe and stay home. #travel #estonia #staythefuckhome

March 15, 2020

Susan Glasser of The New Yorker says expert told her entire US needs to shut down for 2 weeks

https://twitter.com/sbg1/status/1239261942071640067

Dept of Take This Seriously:

Just received a message from an expert who says the situation is escalating such that US should impose total shutdown now for two weeks to flatten the curve. Essentially a full halt with an end in sight to try to get us off Italy’s path.

March 15, 2020

3,000 ICU beds in New York State. @NYGovCuomo says 80% are currently occupied.

https://twitter.com/NY1/status/1239230330256621568


3,000 ICU beds in New York State.
@NYGovCuomo
says 80% are currently occupied.


https://twitter.com/NY1/status/1239230866947260416

.
@NYGovCuomo
says they are turning to medical schools, retired doctors, retired nurses - any way to expand the medical staff, knowing we will need more and some will get sick.


How can you build more hospital capacity now?
@NYGovCuomo
asks. Says its never been done before. Says it takes years and billions to build a hospital usually.



Tents? Military field hospitals. We've got tents ready to go in NC.

March 15, 2020

Italy records 368 new deaths in one day

https://twitter.com/mattfrei/status/1239244101066899461

March 14, 2020

COVID-19 tests that give results in an hour -Richard Engel

https://twitter.com/RichardEngel/status/1238940430655459329


This is a covid-19 test. The machines that read these cartridges are already in use in dozens of countries and give a result in an hour. There are 100s of machines in the US now approved for other tests but not Covid-19, for that still awaiting FDA approval.

March 14, 2020

Scientists say they've been handicapped by Trump admin, only began work on Corona on Monday

https://twitter.com/WajahatAli/status/1238934304295657478


Talked to a Source at BARDA (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority), which is under HHS, that develops medical countermeasures in responses to threats such as infectious diseases, such as Ebola, Zika and #coronavirus. 1/


Source says many are incredible scientists who care deeply. However, they’ve been “handicapped.” They have been monitoring the response for a while, “but we didn’t get the go ahead until recently, & we didn’t have authority to interact w companies that help develop products.” 2/

“A lot of our staff has been repurposed for this [#coronavirus] response as of this week.” The source only officially began to work on this on MONDAY. The team had to wait until the $8.3 billion spending bill was approved. Trump signed that on March 6. 3/


“We got an initial pot of money but we haven’t gotten all of it. We have lined up projects: clinical trials, new diagnostics, new vaccines, new therapeutics. We are still waiting for funds.” 4/


“Another problem is we don’t have enough people to manage the influx of new products. Also, source said they still don’t have enough $$ to give out to companies to develop these critical products." 5/

Source says barriers are in the way. “We used to be much more independent in nature, but every single funding decision now has to be reported and approved by assistant secretary of Health and Human Services Service Bob Kaldec, a political appointee." 6/

The source believes Kaldec is in over his head and has made some very bad calls recently with the Grand Princess Cruise ship docked in California which exposed public health service individials who went to help. 7/

At this rate, the source says US is on track to resemble Italy’s burgeoning #coronavirus pandemic.

If you're a government or health care professional who has information you think the public should know, please contact me.

March 14, 2020

So, did Lindsey Graham test positive?

https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1238924539138015232


Truly appreciate the care package from
@FLOTUS
Melania Trump and President
@realDonaldTrump
.

Can’t wait to get back to work with the President and my Senate colleagues to contain coronavirus and stabilize the economy.

We will get through this together!

(card from Trump says hope you feel better soon)

March 14, 2020

Maddow's interview last night with Dr. David Ho. A must watch!