Two US deaths reported amid signs coronavirus has been spreading unchecked for several weeks
By
Benjamin Mateus
2 March 2020
Two patients infected with Covid-19, the coronavirus that broke out in Hubei province, China last December, passed away over the weekend at the Evergreen Health Medical Center in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland. Doctors said that a man who died on Saturday had no links to anyone who had traveled to, or was in contact with, someone from a high-risk country. He suffered underlying health issues that may have contributed to the course of his illness.
Viral genetic testing has linked his infection to the first case in the US from January. Health authorities therefore worry that the epidemic has been spreading unchecked for several weeks, with hundreds more people possibly infected.
A person is taken by stretcher to a waiting ambulance from a nursing facility where more than 50 people are sick and being tested for the COVID-19 virus, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, in Kirkland, Wash. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Including a man who died on Sunday—the second death in the US—there are six confirmed cases involving elderly residents at a long-term care facility in Kirkland, Seattle, who are at risk due to their confinement and debilitated health status. According to Dr. Frank Riedo, medical director of Infection Control at Evergreen, “This is just the tip of the iceberg … over 50 individuals associated with Life Care [the long-term care facility] are reportedly ill with respiratory symptoms or hospitalized with pneumonia or other respiratory conditions of unknown cause and are being tested for Covid-19.”
Two other “presumptive positive” cases, pending confirmation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have been reported in Washington state. One is a teenager in Everett who reported no travel history. Health officials said his symptoms are mild and he will remain in isolation at home. The second case involved a woman in her 50s who had recently been in Daegu, South Korea, the epicenter of the outbreak in that country.
The sudden appearance of Covid-19 cases prompted Washington Governor Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency. This gives the state additional resources and funding, including the use of the national guard, to prepare for a large-scale outbreak of the disease.
Medical facilities and hospitals have been frustrated by the lack of test kits, while strict guidelines set by the CDC for the testing of individuals has delayed the ability to investigate and track new cases. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a new policy over the weekend that grants emergency use approval to laboratories and hospitals that have proven they have diagnostic kits that can confirm the presence of the 2019 novel coronavirus, recently named SARS-CoV-2.
The FDA policy states: “To effectively respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, rapid detection of cases and contacts, appropriate clinical management and infection control, and implementation of community mitigation efforts are critical. This can best be achieved with the wide availability of testing capabilities in health care settings, reference, and commercial laboratories, and at the point of care.”
Clinical and hospital laboratories have initiated the process to begin testing for the virus in their facilities. This will allow real-time analysis of the magnitude of the health crisis that has gripped headlines for several weeks. Until recently, the CDC has been able to run fewer than 500 tests in total. Head of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, Scott Becker, told NPR that they expect that more than 40 labs will be able to test for the virus by the end of the weekend and more labs will follow in a short time.
Vice President Mike Pence and Human Health Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar made the rounds on the Sunday news shows, continuing with bald assertions that the contagion is under control and the number of outbreaks is quite low. Additionally, they assured viewers that the government was working with private contractors to distribute tens of thousands of test kits.
The negligence on the part of the Trump administration and the HHS—in light of what the World Health Organization, CDC, Medical professionals and scientists have been saying—is unconscionable. When time was of the essence to implement preventive strategies, implement point of care testing, and ensure test kits were available, they were instead engaged in assuring investors that China would be putting its factories back online in short course and declaring that the financial markets were sound. At each step in the development of this threatening health crisis, they have downplayed the seriousness and dangers that this crisis poses.
The case at Travis Airforce Base in California is a case example of gross incompetence. A high-ranking HHS whistleblower exposed that health officials sent to the base were woefully ill-prepared and untrained to assist evacuees from Japan. They not only exposed themselves to infected patients, but then risked the public off the base as they entered and left at their discretion, without regard for public safety.
Aside from the concerns raised by health and government officials, researchers have been able to examine the genetic makeup of the coronavirus from the first infected individual diagnosed on January 21 in Washington state and compare it to the individual that died over the weekend.
Both these individuals lived in the same county, but do not have known contacts with each other. The phylogenetic analysis of the virus’s genetic sequence indicates that the virus which killed the Washington man descended from the first case on January 21. Despite some minor alterations, they both share a rare genetic variation, which implies that the contagion has been spreading in the community for several weeks. Officials did not heed what the scientific reports were warning. Computer modeling places the number of undetected cases at between 150 and 1,000 people.
To appreciate the disastrous development that could have been averted, it helps to review the timeline.
On January 21, Governor Inslee of Washington state announced the first case of Covid-19 in the US. At the time, China was reporting hundreds of cases of a pneumonia-like illness and several deaths caused by a novel coronavirus that was similar to the 2003 SARS virus.
The infected man, who is 35 years old and lives in Snohomish County, Washington, returned from Wuhan on January 15, 2020—before airports had implemented screening measures. While back in Washington state, he began to develop flu-like symptoms. As he was aware of the news about the mysterious virus in China, he sought medical attention four days after his return. He was admitted to Providence Regional Medical center in Everett for treatment.
Specimens collected from him were sent to the CDC in Atlanta, which confirmed he was infected with the Sars-CoV-2 virus. For the first few days, he remained stable with just mild symptoms of cough and fevers. By day five, he developed respiratory difficulty needing supplemental oxygen and was diagnosed with pneumonia. His status worsened, and his doctors decided to administer an unapproved treatment with Remdesivir, a known anti-viral medication that was developed for Ebola but found to be ineffective. It was reported he made a brisk recovery, and his treatment experience was the basis for trials taking place in China and currently being established in the US.
Officials reported that he had been close contact with 65 people during his five days back in the US, including passengers on his flight, a luncheon with a group and patients at a local clinic where he sought medical attention. Local health departments said they were monitoring these individuals daily, but little information was provided on these follow-ups to the media. Additionally, there were 16 doctors and nurses treating him though they had limited contact during his isolation.
On February 4, the Snohomish County man was released to continue his recovery from home. He was to remain isolated and monitored by the Snohomish Health District. By this time, there were 11 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States, with 260 people being monitored across 36 states. Yet, no measures were instituted outside of “monitoring.” It remains unclear if all these individuals were tested or repeatedly reassessed.
The World Health Organization declared a global emergency after mainland China instituted massive lockdowns in several cities. Factories remained shuttered after the end of the Lunar New Year. More than 420 people had died, and new deaths were confirmed in Hong Kong and the Philippines.
By this point, several studies and clinical investigations had highlighted the unusual nature of this infection. It had a high rate of person-to-person passage. It ignored national boundaries and has now affected 68 countries. In most cases, fever is not the initial presenting symptom. It has a very long incubation period, making early detection very difficult. A few patients with negative tests later tested positive after they returned home. Patients that have recovered can be re-infected, though rarely. They can also continue to carry the virus and pose an infectious risk.
The number of countries affected and the number of new cases is accelerating across the globe. Internationally, there are now 89,071 confirmed cases and the death toll stands at 3,039, with the vast majority, 2,803, taking place in China’s Hubei province.
Italy confirmed 566 new cases overnight, with 1,694 infected individuals. The death toll stands at 34. Northern Italy, where the outbreak is taking place, is the country’s industrial engine and accounts for 40 percent of its industrial output. The economy is expected to take major blows.
France has seen 30 new cases bringing to 130 the total Covid-19 infections in that country. President Emmanuel Macron has called for the banning of all gatherings of more than 5,000 people in confined spaces, as well as open environments. This will have a significant impact on sporting events and real estate conferences. It also provides the opportunity to use state measures against political demonstrations, such as the ongoing Yellow Vest protests.
In South Korea, 586 new cases have been registered, outpacing China, where there were 202. Across South Korea, there are now 4,212 confirmed cases and there have been 17 deaths. The city government of Seoul has asked prosecutors to bring charges against the founder of the Shincheonji Church, Lee Man-hee, for ignoring signs of the virus. Samsung Electronics, LG Display, and Hyundai automotive companies are reeling from the implications of resuming productions.
Anxiety is mounting in Iran as people recognize that the government has not come to terms with the potential enormity of the crisis. The virus death toll has reached 54 and the number of confirmed cases 978—though it is feared the figure is far higher. A retired teacher, Ziba Rezaie from Qom, said succinctly, “The smell of disinfectants has become my nightmare. The city smells like a cemetery, a morgue.”
<!–
var content = document.getElementById(‘content’);
var paragraphs = content.getElementsByTagName(‘p’);
var campaign = content.getElementsByClassName(‘campaign’);
var position = 3 * Math.floor(paragraphs.length / 5);
var intermission = document.createElement(‘aside’);
intermission.setAttribute(‘style’, ‘clear:both; margin:20px 0;’);
var formholder = document.createElement(‘div’);
formholder.id = ‘formholder’;
formholder.setAttribute(‘data-track-content’, ”);
formholder.setAttribute(‘data-content-name’, ‘Newsletter Form’);
formholder.setAttribute(‘style’, ‘background:#eee; padding:0 20px; margin-top: -15px;’);
var beforeForm = document.createElement(‘div’);
beforeForm.setAttribute(‘style’, ‘position:relative; z-index: 10; font-size:14px; line-height:1em; font-weight:bold; color:#474747; text-align:center; background:#f4f4f4; padding:10px 20px;’);
beforeForm.textContent = ‘Article continues below the form’;
intermission.appendChild(beforeForm);
intermission.appendChild(formholder);
// if (paragraphs.length < 6)
beforeForm.textContent = '';
content.insertBefore(intermission, campaign[0]);
// else previousElement.tagName == 'DIV')
content.insertBefore(intermission, paragraphs[position-1]);
else
content.insertBefore(intermission, paragraphs[position]);
*/
//
var ss_form = ‘account’: ‘MzawMDE3MDA3BgA’, ‘formID’: ‘BcGJEQAgDAKwibiz9oGBpPuPYNKVtF8idhYlXcgbiKGKPmrzAw’;
ss_form.width = ‘100%’;
ss_form.height = ‘1000’;
ss_form.domain = ‘app-3QNFSIOXWE.marketingautomation.services’;
// ss_form.hidden = ‘field_id’: ‘value’; // Modify this for sending hidden variables, or overriding values
ss_form.target_id = ‘formholder’; // Optional parameter: forms will be placed inside the element with the specified id
// ss_form.polling = true; // Optional parameter: set to true ONLY if your page loads dynamically and the id needs to be polled continually.
–>
Contribute to the fight for socialism in 2020
2019 has been a year of mass social upheaval. We need you to help the WSWS and ICFI make 2020 the year of international socialist revival. We must expand our work and our influence in the international working class. If you agree, donate today. Thank you.
Skinstitut Holiday Gift Kits take the stress out of gifting
Toronto, October 31, 2024 – Beauty gifts are at the top of holiday wish lists this year, and Laser Clinics Canada, a leader in advanced beauty treatments and skincare, is taking the pressure out of seasonal shopping. Today, Laser Clincs Canada announces the arrival of its 2024 Holiday Gift Kits, courtesy of Skinstitut, the exclusive skincare line of Laser Clinics Group.
In time for the busy shopping season, the limited-edition Holiday Gifts Kits are available in Laser Clinics locations in the GTA and Ottawa. Clinics are conveniently located in popular shopping centers, including Hillcrest Mall, Square One, CF Sherway Gardens, Scarborough Town Centre, Rideau Centre, Union Station and CF Markville. These limited-edition Kits are available on a first come, first served basis.
“These kits combine our best-selling products, bundled to address the most relevant skin concerns we’re seeing among our clients,” says Christina Ho, Senior Brand & LAM Manager at Laser Clinics Canada. “With several price points available, the kits offer excellent value and suit a variety of gift-giving needs, from those new to cosmeceuticals to those looking to level up their skincare routine. What’s more, these kits are priced with a savings of up to 33 per cent so gift givers can save during the holiday season.
There are two kits to select from, each designed to address key skin concerns and each with a unique theme — Brightening Basics and Hydration Heroes.
Brightening Basics is a mix of everyday essentials for glowing skin for all skin types. The bundle comes in a sleek pink, reusable case and includes three full-sized products: 200ml gentle cleanser, 50ml Moisture Defence (normal skin) and 30ml1% Hyaluronic Complex Serum. The Brightening Basics kit is available at $129, a saving of 33 per cent.
Hydration Heroes is a mix of hydration essentials and active heroes that cater to a wide variety of clients. A perfect stocking stuffer, this bundle includes four deluxe products: Moisture 15 15 ml Defence for normal skin, 10 ml 1% Hyaluronic Complex Serum, 10 ml Retinol Serum and 50 ml Expert Squalane Cleansing Oil. The kit retails at $59.
In addition to the 2024 Holiday Gifts Kits, gift givers can easily add a Laser Clinic Canada gift card to the mix. Offering flexibility, recipients can choose from a wide range of treatments offered by Laser Clinics Canada, or they can expand their collection of exclusive Skinstitut products.
Brightening Basics 2024 Holiday Gift Kit by Skinstitut, available exclusively at Laser Clincs Canada clinics and online at skinstitut.ca.
Hydration Heroes 2024 Holiday Gift Kit by Skinstitut – available exclusively at Laser Clincs Canada clinics and online at skinstitut.ca.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
___
Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
The Canadian Paediatric Society says doctors should regularly screen children for reading difficulties and dyslexia, calling low literacy a “serious public health concern” that can increase the risk of other problems including anxiety, low self-esteem and behavioural issues, with lifelong consequences.
New guidance issued Wednesday says family doctors, nurses, pediatricians and other medical professionals who care for school-aged kids are in a unique position to help struggling readers access educational and specialty supports, noting that identifying problems early couldhelp kids sooner — when it’s more effective — as well as reveal other possible learning or developmental issues.
The 10 recommendations include regular screening for kids aged four to seven, especially if they belong to groups at higher risk of low literacy, including newcomers to Canada, racialized Canadians and Indigenous Peoples. The society says this can be done in a two-to-three-minute office-based assessment.
Other tips encourage doctors to look for conditions often seen among poor readers such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; to advocate for early literacy training for pediatric and family medicine residents; to liaise with schools on behalf of families seeking help; and to push provincial and territorial education ministries to integrate evidence-based phonics instruction into curriculums, starting in kindergarten.
Dr. Scott McLeod, one of the authors and chair of the society’s mental health and developmental disabilities committee, said a key goal is to catch kids who may be falling through the cracks and to better connect families to resources, including quicker targeted help from schools.
“Collaboration in this area is so key because we need to move away from the silos of: everything educational must exist within the educational portfolio,” McLeod said in an interview from Calgary, where he is a developmental pediatrician at Alberta Children’s Hospital.
“Reading, yes, it’s education, but it’s also health because we know that literacy impacts health. So I think that a statement like this opens the window to say: Yes, parents can come to their health-care provider to get advice, get recommendations, hopefully start a collaboration with school teachers.”
McLeod noted that pediatricians already look for signs of low literacy in young children by way of a commonly used tool known as the Rourke Baby Record, which offers a checklist of key topics, such as nutrition and developmental benchmarks, to cover in a well-child appointment.
But he said questions about reading could be “a standing item” in checkups and he hoped the society’s statement to medical professionals who care for children “enhances their confidence in being a strong advocate for the child” while spurring partnerships with others involved in a child’s life such as teachers and psychologists.
The guidance said pediatricians also play a key role in detecting and monitoring conditions that often coexist with difficulty reading such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, but McLeod noted that getting such specific diagnoses typically involves a referral to a specialist, during which time a child continues to struggle.
He also acknowledged that some schools can be slow to act without a specific diagnosis from a specialist, and even then a child may end up on a wait list for school interventions.
“Evidence-based reading instruction shouldn’t have to wait for some of that access to specialized assessments to occur,” he said.
“My hope is that (by) having an existing statement or document written by the Canadian Paediatric Society … we’re able to skip a few steps or have some of the early interventions present,” he said.
McLeod added that obtaining specific assessments from medical specialists is “definitely beneficial and advantageous” to know where a child is at, “but having that sort of clear, thorough assessment shouldn’t be a barrier to intervention starting.”
McLeod said the society was partly spurred to act by 2022’s “Right to Read Inquiry Report” from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which made 157 recommendations to address inequities related to reading instruction in that province.
He called the new guidelines “a big reminder” to pediatric providers, family doctors, school teachers and psychologists of the importance of literacy.
“Early identification of reading difficulty can truly change the trajectory of a child’s life.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
