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Coronavirus Update Today, April 22, 2020
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
New Zealand will start to open their country next week
Spain’s running of the bulls, which happens every 9 days is called off.
Potential coronavirus vaccine in Britain to begin trials Thursday.
Germany cancels Oktoberfests
FDA approves first at-home collection kit for COVID-19
Virus thought to have been the cause of death for some back in February
Harlem church has lost 11 members to COVID-19
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says the state won’t be able to lift many of the stay-at-home restrictions implemented to fight the coronavirus by May 4
The USNS Comfort free to set sail from New York City
Barr calls stay-at-home orders ‘disturbingly close to house arrest’
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday for what he called a “productive” meeting on the need for federal help with testing and financial help for hard-hit states.
$6 billion in federal grants coming from US Dept. of Education for colleges
Drones donated to 22 US cities (not any in RI) come from a company associated with China
Beaumont Health, Michigan’s largest healthcare system, will cut 450 jobs and temporarily lay off 2,475 employees due to a drastic drop in revenue from services that can’t be offered during the pandemic, saying “surgeries and other procedures has ‘dried up — they’re gone.’”
President’s Press Conference
PPP passed – $482 Billion– $382B for small business support $75B for hospitals and $25B for testing efforts.
Harvard will be asked to return money. Shake Shack, also – and others. Severe consequences to not certifying properly.
Pausing immigration for 60 days, after which it will be evaluated again. Will not apply to green card applicants, such as farm workers and seasonal. Designed to protect our US workers. Also to protect medical services for Americans.
VP visited GE Healthcare who are working 3 shifts/day to make ventilators. GE also working with Ford.
LabCorps home testing kit being licensed.
Convalescent plasma donations being promoted.
Dr. Birx: improvement in all metros – mentions RI again (improvements in RI) – New Orleans back to its baseline of new infections. Improvements in Boston and many other cities appear to be flattening. Concerned about outbreaks in nursing homes and confined settings.
Testing update: Antibody tests, serologic tests. Helping labs get tests out quickly – must validate tests. Also monitor non-FDA, scam testing for prosecution.
RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY
Rhode Island is the only state that is testing enough to reopen, according to a Harvard University study (https://covidtracking.com/)
Thursday, April 23rd, #AskMayorElorza Twitter Town Hall at 1:00pm. Mayor will take COVID-19- related questions. To participate, please direct your question to @Jorge_Elorza and tag your post with #AskMayorElorza. You can start submitting questions today.
Hasbro to produce 50,000 face shields a week at East Longmeadow facility – RI will receive some of those.
East Greenwich town manager says municipal leaders throughout RI need a seat at the table and a strong voice in determining how best to allocate the state’s $1.25 billion stimulus money.
The Knock It Off! RI State House Protest set for Saturday, April 25th at 1pm, organized by the group “Rhode Islanders Against Excessive Quarantine”.
The Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility was placed on lockdown Tuesday after one detainee – from Massachusetts, not ICE – tested positive for the novel coronavirus. No prisoner or staff have tested positive.
At all RI McDonald’s starting Wednesday, health care workers, firefighters, paramedics and police officers can get free “Thank You Meals” through May 5. Each worker can get one free meal per day.
6 Butler Hospital staff have tested positive. Staff held a car rally protest over a lack of PPE supplies.
RI Governor’s Press Conference
Data – 4/21/2020
16 new deaths – 171 total deaths
394 new positive cases – 5,500 total positives
33,833 total negative cases
39,333 total tested
271 in hospital, 67 in ICU, 43 on ventilators, 293 hospital discharges
Of the 16: 6 died yesterday, 10 died in days before that. (4/20 – 11; 4/21 – 5)
Of the 16: 1 in 30s, 2 in 50s, 4 in 70s, 3 in 80s, 6 in 90s.
Data has now been adjusted to reflect accurate date of incident, not date of receipt of test or notification.
Historical data can be found at the very bottom of the form – it will take you to new subsets of data – by race, age, etc.
Masks – RI supply of masks allow at least one new mask a day for healthcare staff and state is seeing supply lines opening up
Field Hospitals – 2 are ready now, if needed.
Safe Housing & Shelter for front line workers – free single occupancy housing to front line workers at Brown University dorms – 700+ rooms available.
DLT – busy signal problem – upgrading system with help of an Amazon service – able to immediately certify many people, though there are widespread reports of wait times and glitches on the phone; checks going a month or more without receipt.
Restaurant owners – think about what you can do to get ready – cleaning, arranging tables, etc.
Test false negatives – may be because they were tested on people without having symptoms – tests are more reliable if you have symptoms of a “cold”.
Schools – Massachusetts is closing through rest of year – RI hasn’t made a decision yet, will decide later this week.
Deaths in nursing homes: Very challenging scenario. Very transmissible virus. Can be contagious day before symptoms appear, and residents are a fragile, close together population.
Covid death presumption vs. confirmation data: We now have tests that can confirm, so all data on deaths are confirmed.