On 11 occasions this week AlertsUSA subscribers were notified via SMS messages to their mobile devices regarding safety and security matters. Eight of these alerts dealt with the increasingly dangerous situation with the 2019 novel coronavirus, now formally referred to as COVID-2019.
Most important for this report:
Beginning on Wednesday, the State Dept authorized the voluntary departure of non-emergency USGOV employees and their families from the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong "out of an abundance of caution" due to the evolving threat posed by the COVID-2019 virus. Readers will recall that two weeks ago, non-emergency USGOV employees and their families at the US Embassy in Beijing, as well as U.S. consulates in Wuhan, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang, were authorized to depart the country.
Also on Wednesday, AlertsUSA subscribers were informed that US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) was implementing the Department of Defense Global Campaign Plan for Pandemic Influenza and Infectious Diseases for force protection and community-based assistance. Within this directive, military commands in each of the armed services are reviewing their disease containment plans and taking "preparatory and precautionary actions" to protect service members, installations and ships. These efforts are to include ensuring the plans contain procedures for “response, isolation, quarantine, restriction of movement and community based intervention,” as well as developing measures to contain and treat those possibly exposed.
Thus far, the DoD has helped Health and Human Services quarantine more than 600 individuals at military facilities across the country, with a total of 11 military facilities located near major airports that are on standby for additional support if needed. This week, General Terrence O'Shaughnessy, commander of both NORTHCOM and NORAD, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that they are planning for the possible “worst case scenario” to ensure it is not “caught by surprise."
On Friday, AlertsUSA subscribers were also notified that public health laboratories in five U.S. cities have begun testing people with flu-like symptoms to see if they might instead have the new coronavirus. HHS and the CDC believe cases of COVID-19 may be seeping into the country despite travel restrictions and screening at airports. The coronavirus test will only be given to patients who test negative for the flu. The initial 5 cities selected for this testing are Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Seattle, though more cities will be added.
As of the time of this report's preparation on Friday (2/14), official World Health Organization case numbers (PDF) are as follows:
Globally
49,053 confirmed (2056 new)
China (numbers widely believed to be underreported.)
48,548 confirmed (1998 new)
1381 deaths (121 new)
Outside of China
505 confirmed (58 new)
24 countries
2 deaths
WHO RISK ASSESSMENT
China Very High
Regional Level High
Global Level High
Official CDC case numbers for the the U.S. are as follows:
Positive 15
Negative 347
Pending 81
States with confirmed 2019-nCoV cases:
Washington
California
Arizona
Wisconsin
Illinois
Massachusetts
Texas
In a Friday afternoon CDC telebriefing on the coronavirus, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, addressed the topics of testing and transmissability of the virus.
On Testing:
"The outer bound of the incubation period we’re using for this novel coronavirus is 14 days. That means we expect someone who is infected to have symptoms some time during those 14 days. Now, as someone is exposed to the virus they might not show symptoms right away and testing on day one, or two, or three, might produce a negative result. However, it could mean the virus hasn’t established itself sufficiently in the system to be detected by test. It’s not a question of the accuracy of the test. The test we’re using at CDC is very sensitive. It’s a question of when the virus becomes detectable in that person. So if a person tests negative once, it’s not clear that it’s a true negative. The test doesn’t inform public health actions or clinical care. In fact, in negative test results could provide a false sense of security. With the incubation period being up to 14 days, one test at a given point in time only tells you if someone is infected at that one moment. "
On Transmissability:
"Based on what we know now, we believe this virus spreads mainly from person to person among close contacts, which is defined as about six feet, through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. People are thought to be the most contagious when they’re most systematic. That’s when they’re the sickest. Some spread may happen by touching a contaminated surface and touching the eyes, nose and mouth. But remember this does not last long on surfaces. Some spread may happen before people show symptoms. There have been a few reports of this with the new coronavirus and it is compatible with what we know about other respiratory viruses including seasonal flu. But right now, we do not believe these last two forms of transmission are the main driver of spread."
Also Worth Noting:
CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield is warning: "This virus is probably with us beyond this season, beyond this year, and I think eventually the virus will find a foothold and we will get community-based transmission."
View Last Week's Issue For Info On Selecting Masks / Respirators.
Additional Coronavirus News Items
Top HK Official Fears Coronavirus Could kill 45 Million
Coronavirus still stumps experts on when human carrier turns infectious
The System for Diagnosing Epidemics Is Failing
Coronavirus deaths leap 242 in a single day
Coronavirus infections skyrocket as China refines diagnostic methods
Virus puts Hong Kong protests on ice. Will they return?
Beijing battles ‘crisis of Chernobyl proportions’ in coronavirus outbreak
US ready to allow North Korea sanctions exemption amid outbreak fears
North Korea 'clearly lying' about coronavirus cases, expert says
North Korea's Bizarre Strategies for Tackling the Coronavirus Outbreak
EU crisis center monitors coronavirus outbreak, offers aid to China
WHO scrambling to get details of new cases – as it happened
Beijing purges party heads in Hubei over ‘botched’ outbreak response
Wuhan doctors battle outbreak in nappies as masks rub their faces raw
Closed, canceled, downsized: Coronavirus hits Chinese culture
Olympics officials: Coronavirus outbreak won't cancel Tokyo Games
AlertsUSA continues to monitor the domestic and international threat environment around the clock and will immediately notify service subscribers, via SMS messages to their mobile devices, of new alerts, warnings and advisories or any developments which signal a change the overall threat picture for American citizens as events warrant.
