11 to 100,000: What went wrong with coronavirus testing in the U.S.

“We have it totally under control.”  — President Trump, in an interview, on Jan. 22

“We're in great shape in our country. We have 11, and the 11 are getting better. ”   — Trump, in remarks, on Feb. 10

“You may ask about the coronavirus, which is very well under control in our country.”  — Trump, in a news conference, on Feb. 25

“It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.” — Trump, in remarks, on Feb. 27

“Anybody that needs a test, gets a test. They’re there. They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful.”  — Trump, in remarks at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, March 6

When the first U.S. case of the novel coronavirus was confirmed, President Trump assured the American people that the situation was “totally under control.” Cabinet officials, the vice president and the president repeated that refrain throughout February. By the end of that month, as global financial markets and the American public started to quiver, Trump held firm: “You may ask about the coronavirus, which is very well under control in our country.” 

With the clarity of hindsight, it is obvious the situation was very much not under control. In reality, a lack of testing gave a false picture of how many people across the country were infected.

Through government documents, testimony, news reports and interviews, The Fact Checker video team has reconstructed events that left the government blind to the virus’s spread, and examined how those errors opened the door for 11 confirmed cases to balloon to more than 100,000 in less than six weeks. 

The Facts

The novel coronavirus was first detected in early December in Wuhan, China. Chinese officials reported the pneumonia-like disease to the World Health Organization (WHO) at the end of December, but neglected to mention growing evidence that the virus could spread by human-to-human transmission through airborne droplets.

Still, China’s previous failures to be forthcoming about public health crises meant that public health officials elsewhere already were wary of its government’s official statements. As reports of the mysterious virus increased, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Americans against traveling to China and activated an emergency management tool used to direct operations, deliver resources and share information.

Despite the alarm bells and increased intelligence briefings, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar struggled to get Trump’s attention for weeks. 

'I conquered coronavirus': Diabetic teacher, 26, tells how she battled back to health

A teacher who has diabetes and a debilitating lung and liver condition, has spoken out after battling back to health from Covid-19.

Sarah Hall, who had her 26th birthday while suffering last week, gave her harrowing account.

Her symptoms started when she started to feel more tired than usual, and freezing cold, before the tell-tale cough arrived.

She started self-isolating and gradually felt more dizzy and struggled to breath.

She told the Telegraph: "I struggled to breathe and felt constantly dizzy – I felt like I was about to pass out, but I tried to keep calm, drink plenty of water and keep as busy as I could.

"By Friday I think I’m feeling better. I’m not coughing as much, my breathing is steadier and my fever isn't as erratic...oh how wrong I am!

"Friday afternoon and I’m sweating. The first sign that I’m not over this. Then – bam! I flop on the couch. Black out. Vomiting. Coughing fit. Stop breathing for a second.

"Over the next few hours I fluctuate quite rapidly between feeling better to feeling horrendous. By the end of the day I’ve been sick four times and I’ve had multiple dizziness or black out episodes."

Unsure if she should go to hospital and take up a space, she called 111, who confirmed her symptoms.

She was told she would have to wait about 10 hours for an ambulance, but eventually was driven to the hospital by her boyfriend.

Sarah was diagnosed with covid-19, and given fluids before eventually being discharged and is recovering at home.

She added: "By day seven of the virus I felt better and the symptoms started to lessen. My birthday was ruined though – I couldn't blow out candles!

"It's not pleasant but I have a lung condition as well as diabetes and I conquered the virus."

Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/

Coronavirus: Thai king self-isolates in Alpine hotel with harem of 20 women amid pandemic

Thailand’s controversial king has been self-isolating in a luxury hotel in the Alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen with his entourage.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn, also known as Rama X, is said to have booked out the entire Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl after the four-star hotel received “special permission” from the district council to accommodate his party.

The 67-year-old king’s entourage included a “harem” of 20 concubines and numerous servants, reported German tabloid Bild. It is unclear if his four wives are living in the hotel with the rest of the group.

Guesthouses and hotels in the region were ordered to close due to the coronavirus crisis, but a spokesperson for the local district council said the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl was an exception because “the guests are a single, homogenous group of people with no fluctuation”.

However, 119 members of the entourage had been reportedly sent back to Thailand on suspicions they contracted the highly contagious respiratory disease.

News of Vajiralongkorn’s apparent self-isolation in a luxury location was met with anger by tens of thousands of Thai people, who risked breaking the country’s lèse-majesté laws by criticising him online.

Under the laws, anyone who insults or criticises the monarchy could be imprisoned for up to 15 years.

But a Thai hashtag which translated to “Why do we need a king?” appeared 1.2 million times on Twitter within 24 hours after an activist claimed Vijaralongkorn was travelling on holiday in Germany while the outbreak continued to spread across Thailand.

The Thai Ministry of Public Health announced on Saturday 109 new cases in the country, bringing the total number of infections to 1,245.

Activist Somsak Jeamteerasakul, who lives in exile in France, posted a series of Facebook posts that claimed Vajiralongkorn was flying from Switzerland to various points in Germany from early March out of “boredom”.

Mr Jeamteerasakul is a vocal critic of Thailand’s monarchy and lèse-majesté laws, and said in one post: “[Vajiralongkorn will] let the Thai people worry about the virus. Even Germany is worried about the virus [but] it’s none of his business.”

The Thai king has not made a public appearance in his home country since February, reported The Times.

His reign in Thailand began in 2016 after the death of his father, Bhumibol. Although there is no way to gauge his popularity among Thais because of severe lèse-majesté laws, it is believed he is not as well-loved as his father, who ruled for over 70 years.

Source: msn news

N Korea fires more missiles than ever amid coronavirus pandemic

North Korea has fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the ocean off its east coast - according to South Korea and Japan - the latest in a flurry of weapon launches that Seoul decried as "inappropriate" amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

Two "short-range projectiles" were launched from the coastal Wonsan area on Sunday, and flew 230 kilometres (143 miles) at a maximum altitude of 30 kilometres (19 miles), South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported.

"In a situation where the entire world is experiencing difficulties due to COVID-19, this kind of military act by North Korea is very inappropriate and we call for an immediate halt," the JCS said in a statement, according to Yonhap news agency.

Japan's Ministry of Defense said they appeared to be ballistic missiles, and they did not land in Japanese territory or its exclusive economic zone.

"Recent repeated firings of ballistic missiles by North Korea is a serious problem to the entire international community including Japan," a ministry statement said.

Pyongyang is yet to issue a statement on Sunday's weapons launches.

China to lift lockdown in Wuhan, Hubei province as coronavirus case numbers ease

Chinese authorities say they will lift a two-month lockdown in most of Hubei province, where the coronavirus pandemic originated, as the number of cases eases.

The Hubei Health Commission announced it would lift curbs on outgoing travellers starting on March 25, provided they had a health clearance code.

The provincial capital Wuhan, where the virus first appeared and which has been in total lockdown since January 23, will see its travel restrictions lifted on April 8.

Hubei has seen almost no new infections for more than a week.

Wuhan residents will soon be allowed to leave with a health tracking code, a QR code, which will have an individual's health status linked to it.

Read more at https://www.abc.net.au/

Malaria and arthritis drugs touted as potential coronavirus 'cure', triggering pharmacy rush

Pharmacists are being ordered not to dispense two drugs touted as a potential "cures" for coronavirus.

The directive came after Australian pharmacies saw a rush of people presenting scripts for the drugs hydroxychloroquine — sold as Plaquenil — and chloroquine from their GPs, or asking to buy it over the counter.

Demand skyrocketed following a press conference by US President Donald Trump last week, in which he touted the drugs as a "game changer" — comments based on a World Health Organisation report labelling the drugs a "potentially useful" preventative and curative treatment for COVID-19.

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia president Chris Freeman said Australian pharmacies had seen unprecedented demand for the medications, creating a shortage for patients who actually needed them.

He said while there were "positive signals" from the drugs in the fight against coronavirus he called on people not to "buy into the hype".

"I think the worst thing that could happen is people start using these medicines in the hope it will prevent the virus, and then relax on other measures to prevent [it]," he said.

Both drugs are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis — a disease where patients can spend years trialling drugs until they find one that is right for them.

If too much pressure is put on supplies, potential shortages will mean patients who miss out on their regular drugs may experience painful flare-ups, experts say.

Dr Freeman has asked pharmacists to keep their supplies of hydroxychloroquine safe, and pharmacists have written to the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) to ask their members to stop prescribing it.

The Australian Medical Association backed the pharmacists' call.

AMA committee member Chris Moy told the ABC the drugs were not widely used in Australia and warned regulation may be needed to limit their supply to the patients who actually needed them.

"There's only some limited evidence of (COVID-19) benefits, in conjunction with other drugs," Dr Moy said.

So, do they work?

In laboratory tests chloroquine has been found to be effective against some viruses such as chikungunya, dengue, and influenza.

But the WHO report, released earlier this month, said in studies with animals and in randomised controlled trials with humans the medication had been largely disappointing against COVID-19.

Medical experts say the advantage of chloroquine — approved for inflammatory conditions and the suppression and treatment of malaria — is that it is relatively safe, has few side effects and is cheap to produce.

David Paterson, from the University of Queensland, said chloroquine, along with an older HIV medication, had been found to kill coronavirus in laboratory tests.

"There's certainly positive signals either this [HIV drug] or this anti-malaria drug actually work really well against COVID-19," Professor Paterson said.

"We know that in the test tube and in the patients they have studied so far they've been able to recover and there's no more evidence of virus in [their] system."

His team at the Centre for Clinical Research hopes to start human trials in as little as three months.

Clinical trials in patients are also underway in China, the US, UK and Spain.

Scientists are also investigating whether hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine might be useful as a preventative treatment.

Up to 20,000 international healthcare workers will be recruited and given a small daily dose of chloroquine for three months.

Dodgy prescriptions

Dr Freeman said the rush for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, and the number of prescriptions in the system, were part of a disturbing trend.

"Unfortunately we're seeing some pretty non-evidence based practice at the moment," he said.

"We're seeing doctors prescribing for other doctors and their families. We're even seeing dentists prescribing to the community outside the context of dental work.

"We're seeing other non-medical prescribers like nurse practitioners starting to prescribe some of these things."

Dr Freeman is calling on pharmacists to only dispense the drugs to patients they know require them.

"If a patient has been coming into the pharmacy for quite a while and has been using those medicines in the past, then they are able to get a supply of that medicine," he said.

"We're calling all prescribers to stop prescribing these in the short term until we have some more evidence on whether these medicines are effective in these conditions and are safe to do so.

"We need to go back to what we were doing previously and make sure clinical trials are conducted to make sure these things are effective before we start using them."

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/

Why have so many coronavirus patients died in Italy?

The coronavirus pandemic is exacting a heavy toll on Italy, with hospitals overwhelmed and a nationwide lockdown imposed. But experts are also concerned about a seemingly high death rate, with the number of fatalities outstripping the total reported in China.

Of the 41,035 people confirmed coronavirus patients in Italy, 3,405 so far have died - an increase of 427 in the last 24 hours. By contrast China has almost twice as many cases, 81,155, but 3,245 fatalities. 

In very crude terms, this means that around eight per cent of confirmed coronavirus patients have died in Italy, compared to four per cent in China. By this measure Germany, which has so far identified 13,000 cases and 42 deaths, has a fatality rate of just 0.3 per cent. 

So why the disparity? 

According to Prof Walter Ricciardi, scientific adviser to Italy’s minister of health, the country’s mortality rate is far higher due to demographics - the nation has the second oldest population worldwide - and the manner in which hospitals record deaths. 

“The age of our patients in hospitals is substantially older - the median is 67, while in China it was 46,” Prof Ricciardi says. “So essentially the age distribution of our patients is substantially squeezed to an older age and this is substantial in increasing the lethality.” 

A study in JAMA this week found that almost 40 per cent of infections and 87 per cent of deaths in the country have been in patients over 70 years old.

According to modelling the majority of this age group are likely to need critical hospital care - including 80 per cent of 80-somethings - putting immense pressure on the health system. 

But Prof Ricciardi added that Italy’s death rate may also appear high because of how doctors record fatalities. 

“The way in which we code deaths in our country is very generous in the sense that all the people who die in hospitals with the coronavirus are deemed to be dying of the coronavirus.

“On re-evaluation by the National Institute of Health, only 12 per cent of death certificates have shown a direct causality from coronavirus, while 88 per cent of patients who have died have at least one pre-morbidity - many had two or three,” he says. 

Other experts have also expressed scepticism about the available data. Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says that countries do not yet have a good indication of how many mild infections they have. If further testing finds more asymptomatic cases spreading undetected, the mortality rate will drop. 

“It’s too early to make a comparison across Europe,” he says. “We do not have detailed sero-surveillance [additional testing] of the population and we do not know how many asymptomatic people are spreading it.”

Prof McKee adds that testing was not consistent continent-wide. “In Germany, epidemiological surveillance is more challenging - simply because of the complexity of working in a federal state and because public health is organised very much at the local level."

But there are other factors that may have contributed to Italy’s fatality rates, experts say. This includes a high rate of smoking and pollution - the majority of deaths have been in the northern region Lombardy region, which is notorious for poor air quality.

And there’s also no question that parts of Italy’s health system have been overwhelmed with a surge of coronavirus patients and are struggling to cope. 

“Doctors in Italy haven’t been dealing with one or two patients in care.. but up to 1,200,” says Dr Mike Ryan, health emergencies programme executive director at the World Health Organization. “The fact they’re saving so many is a small miracle in itself.”

This pressure is likely to get worse as more healthcare workers are infected and have to isolate - already, 2,000 have contracted the virus.   

"Based on Italy’s experience, there is a real concern for the UK,” adds Prof McKee. “Compared to almost every other European country we have a relative shortage of ventilators and medical staff.”

Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/

State of calamity in QC over spread of COVID-19

A state of calamity has been declared over Quezon City amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) threat, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte announced Friday.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Belmonte said she has requested the city council to declare a state o calamity.

"Pagkatapos po magbigay ng anunsyo ng ating mahal na Pangulo ay nagsulat na po ako sa Sangguniang Panglungsod at hiniling ko po sa kanila kung pwede po silang mag-pasa ng isang resolusyon na declaring a state of calamity," Belmonte said. —NB, GMA News

Face Masks Sold Out? Make One Using Your Bra, Like How This Japanese Model Did

Just when we thought we've seen the worse of the Covid-19 outbreak, the coronavirus said 'nope!', raised its middle finger and continue to infect more than 110,000 people around the world to date.

With the virus now invading European and American cities, people are now in panic mode, so we can be sure to expect more panic buying (like our friends from Singapore).

Face masks, hand sanitisers and even toilet paper are now flying off the shelves, and if you're in the market for these items, well, good luck trying to bring some home.

Don't worry; a Japanese model has just taught us how to make our very own face masks. 

Do-it-yourself face masks

Asahina Yumeno recently took to Twitter to teach people how to make their very own face masks using a bra, some thread and a needle.

This is the original garment (you can use a lacy pair for that extra flair):

And this is what it looks like after Asahina is done with it:

According to the step-by-step guide provided by Asahina, you would first need to cut the bra in half. 

Then, cut away the back band, the straps (except for the one that's attached to your 'mask') and the hooks.

Once that's done, you would need to prep your needle and thread and sew the straps back into the cup, making sure that you can hook them around your ears for a comfortable fit.

If that is a little bit too hard to follow, don't worry; here's a visual guide:

Asahina's tweet has so far racked up more than 16,000 retweets and 70,000 likes. 

Thanks to one creative Japanese, you now need not spend unnecassary money on face masks as you can make your very own from the comfort of your own home.

You can check out her original tweet here:

使わなくなったブラジャーでマスク作ってみたw

必要なの針と糸だけ pic.twitter.com/onSOT7TnVu

— 朝比奈 夢乃 (@asahinayumeno) March 3, 2020

Billions Of People May Soon Get Novel Coronavirus, Expert Says

Novel coronavirus cases have increased to 93,090 worldwide just in the first week of March. The number of countries affected by the COVID-19 outbreak also grew to 76, with Argentina, Chile, Poland and Ukraine joining the list on Wednesday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Despite the rapidly growing cases of COVID-19, the WHO has yet to declare the virus a pandemic. But there has been a looming question of how much worse will the outbreak get.

One scientist believes the new coronavirus could infect between 3.1 billion and 5.5 billion adults in the future. That is because of the lack of effective interventions to prevent or control the spread of the virus, Business Insider reported Wednesday.

"There's a chance that between 40 percent and 70 percent of the world's adult population could end up infected with coronavirus," Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at Harvard University, told Noah Feldman in a Deep Background podcast. "I think that there's a very good chance that were in the beginning of a pandemic." 

He explained that the world would only see such number of cases if governments fail to implement strong countermeasures to stop the spread of the virus. Efforts should also include actively isolating and putting possible coronavirus cases into quarantine.

Private organizations can also help control the COVID-19 outbreak. Lipsitch suggested "population-level" interventions such as canceling public gatherings, allowing employees to work from home, among other efforts that would reduce contact between people. 

However, the epidemiologist noted that not all of those people would get severely ill or die. Lipsitch estimated that a portion of the affected population would only develop symptoms of COVID-19 and about 1 percent to 2 percent would die of the infection.

The estimates come from the analysis of mathematical and computer models that allowed Lipsitch to map how viruses with a similar level of contagiousness, like the influenza, would spread around the world. 

"In the largest two pandemics of  the 20th century, around 30 percent to 40 percent of people became symptomatically infected, and that's lower than the total proportion that got infected," he said.

But having billions of people affected by COVID-19 may also have a benefit. Lipsitch said having such number of patients carrying the virus and surviving the disease it causes could lead to herd immunity, which could stop the coronavirus outbreak from growing. 

Lipsitch did not include children in his report because health experts have yet to fully understand “what's going on with them" amid the coronavirus outbreak. There is also very little number of children infected with the virus and no deaths were reported in patients younger than 9.

Source: medicaldaily.com

Coronavirus: ‘recovered’ patient dies as China reports discharged cases falling ill again

A 36-year-old man has died of respiratory failure in Wuhan, five days after being discharged from one of the makeshift hospitals built to contain the outbreak, according to a report by Shanghai-based news portal The Paper.The report, which was later removed, said Li Liang had been admitted to the hospital

Source: Yahoo

Kim Chiu's van shot in Quezon City; actress unharmed – reports

MANILA, Philippines – A vehicle carrying actress Kim Chiu was reportedly shot at by unidentified gunmen Wednesday morning, March 4. The actress and her companions were unharmed. Watch Video here...

The incident happened at the corner of Katipunan Avenue and CP Garcia Avenue in Quezon City, according to a DZBB report. According to an ABS-CBN report, the two gunmen were onboard a motorcycle.

In a phone interview on ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda, Chiu's driver Wilfredo Taperla said that at first, they didn't know that they were already being shot at. He said all 3 passengers, including himself, are fine. Chiu and her assistant pushed through with her scheduled taping.

Chiu is one of the network's biggest stars. The 29-year-old first rose to fame as a housemate of the first Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition. She currently stars in the drama series Love Thy Woman. – Rappler.com

Person in Washington state first in US to die from new virus

A person has died in the Washington state of COVID-19, state health officials said Saturday, marking the first such reported death in the United States.

State officials issued a terse news release announcing the death, gave no details and scheduled a news conference. A spokesperson for EvergreenHealth Medical Center, Kayse Dahl, said the person died in the facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, but gave no other details.

President Donald Trump described the person as being a woman in her late 50s and having a high medical risk. He said healthy Americans should be able to recover if they contract the new virus.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement the person who died was a man from Washington state, but then issued another one removing the gender and describing the individual as “a Washingtonian.”

“We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus," the governor said.