corona virus alerts - Latest cruising Information for vessels/locations/rules

[Midnight Son]

Originally Posted by hpeer

If we can strategically afford to bring home every Navy vessel then we have no strategic need for those vessels.

Good thing he is an ex-Navy Secretary.

Who appointed this numbskull?

......
Our Navy May be over built, or not. I won’t get into that p contest. We need SOME Navy.

If you do not rotate ships with infection out, to clean out the pockets of Covid19, we will have very much next to NO NAVY.

[Montanan]

UK will likely have to maintain social distancing until a vaccine is available, says top epidemiologist
From CNN's Lauren Kent in London

http://https://www.cnn.com/world/liv...c36bdede0d4320

The UK will likely have to maintain social distancing until a coronavirus vaccine is available, said epidemiologist Neil Ferguson in an interview with the BBC on Thursday.

Ferguson is a professor at Imperial College London who advises the British government on its coronavirus response.

"It's not going to be going back to normal," Ferguson said. "We will have to maintain some level of social distancing -- a significant level of social distancing -- probably indefinitely until we have a vaccine available."
"We have relatively little leeway, if we relax measures too much then we'll see a resurgence of transmission."

What others are saying: Ferguson's words mirror what researchers in the United States have also projected.

The US may have to endure social distancing measures -- such as stay-at-home orders and school closures -- until 2022, according to researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who published their findings in the journal Science on Tuesday.

That is, unless a vaccine or better therapeutics become available, or we increase our critical care capacity. In other words, 2022 is one scenario of many.

[Jdege]

As bad as this disease is, the damage it can cause will be dwarfed by the consequences of keeping the economy shutdown for more than another month.

People will starve.

[hpeer]

Lake,

So it’s not fair to attack when someone is distracted?

What’s the average age of someone in the Navy is 28.8, including officers. What’s the debilitation rate? I just read that the US Armed forces so far have ONE death.

The risk to these guys is relatively small. I mean they are in the Navy, that’s where people go to war and all that. That’s risky stuff they signed up for. And this is pretty small potatoes for this hardy souls, or should be.

Probably less risk than being killed by collision with a commercial ship.

I’m not knocking the Navy, I’m knocking some guy with a Masters Degree in Political Science telling the Navy what they should do.

[Montanan]

Further proof that Coronavirus and ships do not go well together. The French ship seems to be even worse than the US Carrier Theodore Roosevelt.

More than 600 sailors from the naval group of France’s flagship aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, have tested positive for coronavirus, the country's Ministry of Armed Forces announced Wednesday.

http://https://www.cnn.com/world/liv...c36bdede0d4320

According to the statement, 668 crew members have tested positive for Covid-19.

A total of 1,767 sailors from the Charles de Gaulle and its escort vessels were tested. The majority of those tested were onboard the flagship aircraft carrier.

Some 31 crew members are hospitalized at the St. Anne military hospital in Toulon, France, and one crew-member is receiving treatment in intensive care.

Both the Charles de Gaulle, and its accompanying warship, Chevalier Paul, arrived in Toulon on Sunday, after an initial 50 cases were confirmed onboard.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Montanan

Ferguson's words mirror what researchers in the United States have also projected.

The US may have to endure social distancing measures -- such as stay-at-home orders and school closures -- until 2022, according to researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who published their findings in the journal Science on Tuesday.

That is, unless a vaccine or better therapeutics become available, or we increase our critical care capacity. In other words, 2022 is one scenario of many.

So we know that research and testing on both therapies and vaccines are proceeding; why hasn't there been a start on some additional treatment centers for COVID-19 patients? I mean something slightly more permanent than tents or a bunch of army cots in an empty rink. Hospitals can't stay in COVID-19 mode indefinitely.

[Montanan]

7 Midwestern governors announce their states will coordinate on reopening
By Kristina Sgueglia, CNN

Updated 3:28 PM ET, Thu April 16, 2020

The governors of Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky announced Thursday that they will work in close coordination to reopen the Midwest regional economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement came in a news release from Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, sent on behalf of all the participating governors.
"Our number one priority when analyzing when best to reopen our economy is the health and safety of our citizens," the governors said in a joint statement.
"We will make decisions based on facts, science, and recommendations from experts in health care, business, labor, and education," the statement added.
The governors said they will home in on at least four factors when determining when best to reopen the economy:

Sustained control of the rate of new infections and hospitalizations;

enhanced ability to test and trace,

sufficient health care capacity to handle resurgence and

best practices for social distancing in the workplace.

Similar collaborations have been undertaken by governors in recent days on the West and East coasts.
Two of the governors involved in the new group -- Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers -- made announcements on Thursday afternoon that suggest their states are looking toward how to reopen.
Ohio Gov. DeWine said in a news briefing that he is developing a plan for a new phase of the state's response to coronavirus to start on May 1. Details of the new phase will come in the next few weeks, DeWine said.
He added that talks need to continue with his group of economic advisers and speak with school district superintendents about how to reopen schools and businesses in the state, he said. The plan is to issue new guidance when they determine the best steps to move forward, DeWine said.

Wisconsin Gov. Evers, meanwhile, extended his state's stay-at-home order until May 26 but loosened some restrictions on businesses, a statement from the governor's office read.
Golf courses are now allowed to open again, and public libraries and arts and crafts stores may offer curb-side pickup, the announcement said. However, the statement also notes that public and private K-12 schools will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.
The order also directs essential businesses to ramp up disinfection and for retail stores to limit the number of people inside stores.
"The order implements some new measures to ensure safety and support the progress we've made in containing Covid-19, but also allows certain activities to start up again," the statement read.

[Montanan]

Spain will implement "minimum vital income" program starting in May
From Laura Perez Maestro, Al Goodman and Ingrid Formanek in Spain

The Spanish government announced they are putting in place a so-called "minimum vital income" program starting in May to help more than a million households, according to a government statement Thursday.

The program will be permanent, not temporary as originally envisioned, to help the hardest-hit families through the coronavirus economic crisis. The plan is designed to help those not eligible for other forms of aid, such as unemployment benefits.

The government estimates that among the more than a million households, which cannot meet basic needs, some 10% are single-parent families.

http://https://www.cnn.com/world/liv...intl-04-16-20/

[Montanan]

Mexico extends stay-at-home measures until May 30
From CNN’s Natalie Gallón

Mexico will extend its stay-at-home measures until May 30 as the country continues mitigation efforts against the spread of coronavirus, Deputy Health Secretary Dr. Hugo López-Gatell said during the daily morning press briefing today.

Ongoing safety measures include keeping schools closed, practicing safe distance and protecting the high-risk population. He said government officials will extend safety measures in areas with low coronavirus transmission to May 17, López-Gatell said.

“In all cases, on June 1, we will recover in a staggered manner, in an organized way, the activities, economic, social and public life,” López-Gatell said adding that this all depends on the projections at the time and on citizens continuing to comply with the safety protocols.

Mexico has 5,847 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 449 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/...intl-04-16-20/

[Montanan]

Britain’s Covid-19 lockdown measures have been extended for “at least” another three weeks, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/...intl-04-16-20/

Speaking at a today's [April 16, 202] government coronavirus press briefing, Raab, who is filling in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recovers from Covid-19, said while there are “indications” the measures have been successful in slowing the spread of the virus, overall the infection rate has not dropped as much as needed.

“The very clear advice that we have received is that any change to our social distancing measures now would risk a significant increase in the spread of the virus. That would threaten a second peak of the crisis and substantial increase in the number of deaths," he said.
“It would undo the progress that we have made to date, and would require an even longer period of the more restrictive social distancing measures," Raab added.

[Montanan]

Social distancing plan extended to May 15 in New York, governor says
New York's social distancing plan to help mitigate the spread of coronavirus will be extended “in coordination with other states” to May 15, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today.

“What happens after then, I don’t know. We will see depending on what the data shows,” Cuomo said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo laid out coordinated steps to "unpause" the state's economy at a press conference today.

He said this effort spans from now to when there is vaccine for coronavirus.

Cuomo said the first step is to "do no harm."

"Don't let that infection rate go up to the best of your ability. Don't lose the progress that you have made," he said.

Second, the state will need to strengthen the health care system. Cuomo said because every hospital had to increase capacity by 50% to handle the surge of coronavirus patients, it is important to ensure they have the resources to recover.

"Now we have a chance to be more intelligent, frankly, about handling our health care system," he said.

Reopening the economy will also need widespread testing and contact tracing –– something Cuomo said the federal government needs to help with.

Cuomo also outlined a plan for a phased return to "normal" and reopening of businesses and schools slowly and in coordination with each other.

"You stopped everything. How do you then restart that machine in a coordinated way that doesn't drive up the infection rate? That's the balance that we're trying to strike," Cuomo said.

. . .
Society will be greatly altered in the future because of the coronavirus pandemic, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during his daily briefing.

"This is going to be a moment of transformation for society, and we paid a very high price for it," Cuomo said.

"There are lessons that we must learn from this. Because we do need to do things differently, or we can do things differently, and we can do things better," Cuomo added.
Cuomo also said private businesses, not just the government, needs to figure out how to adapt to a new normal, calling for workplaces to reimagine how employees work every day.

Society will be greatly altered in the future because of the coronavirus

New York has done more coronavirus testing than California, Florida and Michigan combined, according to figures shared by Gov. Andrew Cuomo today.

"We've done 500,000 tests in 30 days," Cuomo said. "That's more than California, Florida and Michigan combined. And this is all about figuring it out first and taking a system that frankly didn't exist and creating this testing system and this testing regimen. Five hundred thousand tests in one month. That sounds great, and it was great. It was a great accomplishment. And congratulations to everyone who put it together. But when you think of 500,000 tests in one month and then you compare it to the fact that you have 19 million people in this state, you have 9 million workers, the 500,000 doesn't sound so big, right?"

New York currently has 214,832 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 14,000 deaths, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.

http://https://www.cnn.com/world/liv...intl-04-16-20/

[Montanan]

Today the White House has issued an 18 page report providing guidance as to how States should initiate the reopening of the country.

Reference link:
http://https://assets.documentcloud....elines-PDF.pdf

The plan, released Thursday afternoon, is designed to "mitigate the risk of resurgence" of the pandemic and to "protect the most vulnerable."

It is "implementable on a statewide or county-by-county basis" at the discretion of each state's governor — a stark contradiction from the president's earlier assertion that he had "total authority" to direct governors how and when to reopen.

The guidelines do not suggest any reopening dates.

Rather, to begin implementation of the guidelines, states must first meet a "gating" criteria, that includes a "downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period" or a "downward trajectory of positive tests as a percent of total tests within a 14-day period (flat or increasing volume of tests)."

If that criteria is met, states, according to the guidelines, could then enter Phase One.

Under Phase One protocols, large venues like restaurants, movie theaters, sporting venues and places of worship will be allowed to reopen if they "operate under strict physical distancing protocols," according to the guidelines.

Gyms will be also be permitted to reopen "if they adhere to strict physical distancing and sanitation protocols," the plan says. Bars, however, "should remain closed."

In addition, elective surgeries will be allowed to resume "as clinically appropriate, on an outpatient basis" at certain facilities.

Schools and youth activities like daycare and camp that are currently should remain closed, and visits to senior living facilities and hospitals should remain prohibited.

"Those who do interact with residents and patients must adhere to strict protocols regarding hygiene," the plan says.

Under Phase One, "all vulnerable individuals should continue to shelter in place" and members of households with vulnerable residents "should be aware that by returning to work or other environments where distancing is not practical, they could carry the virus back home."

The plan also emphasizes that all individuals, when in public, should continue practice social distancing and should continue to minimize non-essential travel.

Trump, early Thursday, before the plan was released told governors that they'd have the power to make their own decisions, despite the coming guidance.

“You’re going to call your own shots,” Trump said during a video conference Thursday afternoon in the Situation Room with governors, according to two people listening to the call.

That approach was at stark odds with his statement earlier this week, when he said had “total authority” to direct governors how and when to reopen.

In a tweet, Trump said he would be explaining the federal government's new guidelines at a “major” news conference set for 6 p.m. ET.

Phase Two, the guidelines state, apply to states and regions “with no evidence of a rebound” that “satisfy the gating criteria a second time.”

Under this phase, schools and activities like day care centers and camps can reopen and non-essential travel can resume. Visits to senior care facilities and hospitals, however, will remain prohibited.

The large venues, like restaurants, movie theaters and sporting venues, that were allowed to reopen in Phase One can remain open and are allowed to ease their physical distancing protocols to a “moderate” level.

Bars can begin operating with “diminished standing-room occupancy,” while gyms can remain open with “strict” distancing sanitation protocols, according to the plan.

Phase Three would then kick in for states and regions with “no evidence of a rebound” that “satisfy the gating criteria a third time.”

At that point, “vulnerable individuals” can resume public interactions but should practice social distancing, according to the guidelines. Low-risk populations should still “consider minimizing time spent in crowded environments.”

The White House views Trump's announcement on Thursday as guidance where “governors will have to make decisions what’s right for their individual states," a White House official told NBC News.

Some states may be able to move to the next phase before May 1, according to the official. In some states, governors will be able to open up some counties before others.

The guidance will also include recommendations for restaurants, bars and sporting venues, and how they can safely move toward reopening.

The guidelines, the official said, represent the “consensus of the medical professionals,” including Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator; Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert; and Dr. Stephen Hahn, the head of the Food and Drug Administration.

A coordinated pull-back on the social distancing measures that have shuttered businesses across the country would, in effect, reopen parts of the economy.

As of Thursday, more than 32,000 people have died in the U.S. from the coronavirus. In addition, more than 22 million people have filed for unemployment insurance over the last four weeks, as the job market in every sector of t

[Montanan]

Canada's border restrictions with the United States will remain in place "for a significant time" as the two nations fight the coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday.

We will be missing our Canadian visitors to Montana.

Washington and Ottawa agreed last month to clamp down on non-essential travel while allowing massive trade flows to continue across their long shared frontier.

"There's a recognition that as we move forward there will be special thought given to this relationship. But at the same time we know that there is a significant amount of time, still, before we can talk about loosening such restrictions," Trudeau told a daily briefing.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday told reporters the two nations were "doing well" and said, "It will be one of the early borders to be released."

The two nations' economies are highly integrated, and allowing trade to continue avoided major problems for the auto sector as well as the transportation of food and medicines.

Although Trudeau's government has enjoyed good relations with the Trump administration over the last 18 months, tensions still remain. Last month, Ottawa slammed a U.S. proposal to deploy troops along the border to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus, prompting Washington to drop the plan.

A total of 1,048 people in Canada had died from the coronavirus by 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), slightly less than 10% higher than the death toll a day ago, official data posted by the public health agency showed.

The total number of those diagnosed with the coronavirus had climbed to 28,899. The respective figures at the same time on Wednesday were 954 deaths and 27,540 positive diagnoses.

Medical officials now expect the death toll to be between 1,200 and 1,620 by April 21, Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer, told a briefing.

She repeated comments she made on Wednesday about being cautiously optimistic the outbreak could be slowing down.

The Canadian government has already announced more than C$110 billion in direct spending on measures to help people and businesses deal with the economic damage from the outbreak.

Trudeau said Ottawa would expand loans to firms that paid between C$20,000 and C$1.5 million in total payroll in 2019, and also planned to help commercial property owners cut or even forgive rent to small businesses.

The Pacific province of British Columbia said it would reduce property taxes by 25% and allow municipalities greater flexibility in taking on debt.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Here is another report on the low rate of symptoms in infected people. This time they tested pregnant women getting ready for delivery. Of those tested, 33 tested positive and 29 of the 33 had no symptoms. That is a huge percentage of asymptomatic infections.

https://apple.news/AwAM9A2NnRoKSeWTRr0OK1Q

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

We need more information on how someone can become immune. It may require that someone become ill before their immune system develops antibodies.

The Chinese research focused on people who tested positive for the virus. Then they monitored them to see if they developed any symptoms. They did not use an antibody test that would signify immunity.

This.

I also wonder about the reliability of the testing which must have been rushed into service. Missed/false/positives/negatives etc, particularly false positives.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by UFO

Yep and the Tosser of a PM has the temerity to say that by having the app we will have more freedom - So taking away our freedom to give us freedom - What a comedian - Trouble is the idiots will lap it up......

Scroll down to 10.40 am

https://www.theage.com.au/national/v...17-p54kmo.html

'The (Australian) prime minister said for the tracing app to be effected (sic), 40 per cent of Australians would need to download it - double the number who used a similar app in Singapore.

He would not rule out making it compulsory for all Australians to download the app - and carry the phone at all times - if sufficient voluntary take-up was not achieved.'