1. Worldometer Is The Best Site For Data On COVID-19, Be It Global, U.S., or By State
Per their website, “Worldometer is run by an international team of developers, researchers, and volunteers with the goal of making world statistics available in a thought-provoking and time relevant format to a wide audience around the world. Worldometer is owned by Dadax, an independent company. We have no political, governmental, or corporate affiliation”.
As of 3/18/20, there were 9,462 Coronavirus cases reported in the U.S.
That was an increase 2,848 cases in the U.S. yesterday, an increase of 63% from the previous day.
41 Americans died yesterday from the virus, an increase of 78% from the 23 Americans who died on Tuesday.
The New York Times and John Hopkins also both provide solid data coupled with great mapping tools.
2. New York Has Almost 40% Of All U.S. COVID-19 Cases, Cuomo Says State Hospitals Will Be Overrun
New York has as many cases as the next 9 states combined. There we’re 1,332 new cases diagnosed yesterday (March 17th), and more than 1,100 cases diagnosed as of 11am on the 18th.
Per CNBC, “New York has 53,000 hospital beds and 3,000 ICU beds, far short of what state health officials are predicting will be needed, Cuomo said. They estimate the state will need 18,600 to 37,200 ICU beds and at least 55,000 hospital beds at the peak of the outbreak across the state, which he predicted will take about 45 days”.
“That, my friends, is the problem that we’ve been talking about since the beginning of this exercise,” Cuomo added.
3. Italy Continues To The Epicenter Of Europe As It’s Hospitals Are Overrun By The Virus
The first case of COVID-19 appeared in Italy on January 30th. A couple of Chinese tourists coming from Wuhan via Beijing were admitted to Spallanzani Hospital in Rome, highly specialised in infectious diseases. (Source: 3/13, Medscape) The same day, the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza announced an air traffic embargo for flights coming to Italy from any Chinese city, including the autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau, in an attempt to block the spread of the infection. (Source: 3/13, Medscape)
While Trump has continually praised himself for banning flights from China, the truth is, his moves we’re days late and far less restrictive than Italy’s total ban on the day the first case was diagnosed. While “3 Major U.S. Airlines Suspend China Flights Over Coronavirus” on Jan. 31 (source: NYTimes), it wasn’t until February 4, that “..the U.S. State Department issued a level 4 travel advisory mandating that foreign citizens who had been to China be turned away, and Americans who had been to China must undergo screening and possibly be put in quarantine for 14 days. But the restrictions contained wide exemptions, largely because of fears over the economic impacts of a full ban” (Source: 3/12, Forbes). That was 10 days after the first U.S. case was identified.
By contrast, the Italian ban four days earlier was complete, with no exemptions. Italy was the first and only EU country to have a flight ban from China, and yet the country is now the epicenter of the Coronavirus outbreak in Europe with the highest number of cases outside China. And while Lomabrdia (in dark red below) has been the hardest hit, as the map shows, it’s a national problem.
4. Bill Gates Visited Reddit Yesterday To Answer The Community’s Questions About The Pandemic
His answers are worth a read
5. Remarkably, 7 States Have Still Not Implemented Any Restrictions On Public Meetings
In Texas, for example, “…leaders have been reluctant to set restrictions conservative voters might consider draconian and business leaders oppose. They’ve also opposed steps to expand health insurance coverage…And some health providers say Texas has been slow to boost coronavirus testing capacity and help them meet equipment needs.”
6. Behind Closed Doors, Senator Burr Warns How Disruptive Coronavirus Would Be Three Weeks Before Trump Declared A National Emergency
You can listen his comments on NPR:
But Burr only told a small group of constituents. Even though he had done decades of work on biohazards, he didn’t speak out broadly to maintain allegiance to the Trump WH.
7. The Imperial College Report Highlights That That Even If Extreme Measures Are Used Successfully, The Virus Will Come Back
While the widely read and cited report has a lot of insights, largely focused on Great Britain, the chart below predicts what will happen under three cases. in the U.S. The shaded area is the period for which “Case Isolation” or “Case Isolation + school closing” are implemented. While those strategies can be effective, once lifted, the coronavirus epidemic is projected to start growing again, with tragic consequences.
