‘Ability to help may reach limit’: Italian doctor says medics ‘exhausted’ helping isolated patients amid coronavirus pandemic

If the number of the infected keeps rising, patients with better chances of survival will have to be prioritized, an ER doctor at the epicenter of the Italian outbreak told RT’s Ruptly video agency.

In the city of Piacenza, in the heart of northern Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, overworked medical personnel are reaching their breaking point – and there seems to be no sign that the epidemic is letting up. With a population of just over 100,000, the city was placed on lockdown on Sunday, after suffering 50 deaths and more than 630 coronavirus diagnoses.

Visibly tired and with bags under his eyes, Davide Bastoni, who works in the emergency room of the Gugliermo Da Saliceto Hospital in Piacenza, told Ruptly that the battle against Covid-19 has been unceasing – and humbling.

“The night was very exhausting… This epidemic permits us to understand the fact that at the end of the day, we are all human beings, we are all the same, when facing these outbreaks or these viruses,” said Bastoni.

Dressed in a white smock and a hair net, the doctor confessed that protecting against the highly-contagious has separated patients from their caregivers.

“They are all patients who need human contact, who need some words of comfort, which is difficult to give them because we have the masks and all the protective devices,” the medical professional noted. He said that trying to make treatment more “humane” has forced clinicians to “reinvent” how they communicate with their patients.

There were more than three dozen patients with symptoms of the virus waiting to be screened and processed when the interview was recorded on Wednesday. But according to Bastoni, the epidemic is likely to get worse before it gets better.

The doctor urged his fellow Italians, especially young people, to take all possible measures to avoid contact with the virus.

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“It’s clear that if the community doesn’t follow the restrictions and the numbers [of the infected] continue to rise, at a certain point, our ability to help people will reach its limit,” Bastoni warned.

He expressed fear that it would soon become necessary to classify patients based on those who have a greater chance of surviving the illness.

“I really hope this doesn’t happen,” he said.

Italy remains Europe’s worst-hit country, with the number of confirmed cases reaching 12,462 on Wednesday and the death toll jumping by 196 to 827 in just 24 hours.

March 12, 2020 0

AMIDST CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, SUBWAY POSTERS TELL NEW YORKERS NOT TO BE RACIST

Priorities.

Paul Joseph Watson MARCH 12, 2020

An LGBT activist group called Pride Train has plastered New York subways with posters reminding commuters not to be racist during the coronavirus pandemic.

Asserting that “Facts, not fear, will stop COVID-19,” the posters tell travelers “No ignorance, racism, or xenophobia allowed at this station at any time.”

Another poster states, “COVID-19 is not an excuse to be racist.”

The posters immediately draw attention because they are designed to look like official MTA announcements.

Although previous posters were put up without the express permission of the MTA, Pride Train has described the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as a “silent (very silent) partner.”

Concerns over “racism” and “xenophobia” surrounding the coronavirus have repeatedly emerged, with the World Health Organization making numerous statements demanding certain words and phrases not be used in order to prevent people feeling “stigmatized.”

The irony of course is that the kind of border controls which countries like Russia imposed back in January would be decried as “racist” by groups such as Pride Train, yet they have successfully prevented the wider spread of coronavirus.

March 12, 2020 0

(MORE FROM CHICAGO) – Coronavirus downtown: COVID-19 case at Prudential Plaza; nearby buildings alert tenants, employees

By Ryan Ori – 3/11/2020

A worker in one of Chicago’s largest office complexes has tested positive for the new coronavirus, causing companies there and in nearby buildings to take measures to prevent the illness from spreading.

Tenants in Prudential Plaza and other buildings near Millennium Park have been told an employee at an unidentified company in the two-tower Prudential complex on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19. Since being diagnosed, the worker has not returned to the property, according to building owner Sterling Bay.

The illness, the first confirmed case involving a large Chicago office property, adds to the challenge of containing an outbreak in Chicago, where some schools have closed and major gatherings such as upcoming St. Patrick’s Day parades have been called off.

Employers are responding with a range of preventive measures, including at least one company that is asking anyone who has been in Prudential Plaza recently to consider working from home for the next two weeks.

“We understand the Prudential building is a common lunch spot for employees working in the area, so please be aware of the situation and avoid the building until it is cleared,” employees of Crain Communications were told in an email Wednesday.

The company, whose publications include Crain’s Chicago Business, has its offices in the office tower at 150 N. Michigan Ave., just across Michigan Avenue from Prudential Plaza.

“If you were in the Prudential building recently, please be aware of your own personal health and speak with your manager about working from home for the next 14 days until the incubation period has expired,” the Crain Communications email said. “If you do not show symptoms during that 14-day period we’ll be happy to have you back in the office.”

Other employers are taking steps such as allowing or encouraging people to work from home.

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A confirmed illness at Prudential Plaza is particularly troubling because of the property’s sheer size, at 2.3 million square feet, and its connection to other buildings via the Pedway. The underground walkway is used by thousands of office tenants connect to commuter trains, nearby lunch spots and other businesses.

The complex is along the north edge of Chicago’s biggest tourist destination, Millennium Park, meaning there is typically heavy foot traffic in the area.

“We take this situation extremely seriously,” Sterling Bay spokeswoman Julie Goudie said in an emailed statement. “As soon as we learned of the diagnosis, we immediately notified building tenants and advised anyone who feels ill to stay home and contact a health professional if they experience symptoms of COVID-19.

“We have been and will continue to aggressively clean One Two Pru in accordance with CDC and WHO protocol. The health and safety of our tenant community is our highest priority and we encourage all tenants to continue practicing good personal hygiene as we navigate this moment together.”

The Chicago Tribune is based in One Prudential Plaza, and employees are being given the option of working from home. In an email to employees Wednesday, Editor-in-Chief Colin McMahon told employees the newspaper “asked Prudential services to increase their cleaning regimen in and around our offices, and they have complied. We will continue to work closely with the building on precautions and next steps.”

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Goudie said Sterling Bay’s increased cleaning efforts included “the additional measure of an electrostatic sprayer application of a virus-killing cleaning product on common area touchpoints.”

Tenants in the neighboring Aon Center, Chicago’s third-tallest skyscraper, were told the ill Prudential employee does not use the shuttle buses that run between those buildings and commuter train stations on the western edge of the Loop.

“For the past two weeks, the Aon/Prudential shuttle implemented additional disinfectant measures on each shuttle,” said the email sent to Aon Center tenants.

Shuttle buses continue to operate on schedule, according to the email.

In an email, BOMA/Chicago, an association of 240 Chicago buildings, said it was providing its members with updates and guidelines and defers “to our best-in-class building owners and managers to implement the proper cleaning protocols and procedures to help ensure the continued safety of their building tenants.”

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March 11, 2020 0

Merkel: Most people in Germany likely to contract Coronavirus

3/11/2020

What’s wrong with that woman and allowing unwanted things into the country?

March 11, 2020 0

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot cancels St. Patrick’s Day parades because of coronavirus, says they’ll be rescheduled

By John Byrne – 3/11/2020

The coronavirus claimed its first major events in Chicago’s civic life Wednesday, as Mayor Lori Lightfoot canceled the city’s massive St. Patrick’s Day parades for this weekend because of fears the disease would spread through the dense crowds.

The mayor made her decision after days of speculation as other cities from Boston to Dublin dropped their festivities for the holiday. Lightfoot called off Saturday’s downtown parade and Sunday’s South Side Irish parade just days before they were set to step off. She also canceled a smaller Northwest Side parade.

“This was not an easy decision and we don’t take it lightly,” Lightfoot said at a morning news conference with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other officials announcing the decision.

The mayor’s last minute move to shut down the parades reflects the difficulty of the call. The St. Patrick’s Day revelry — which features the famous dyeing of the Chicago River green on the morning of the downtown parade — is a huge boon to Chicago hotels, restaurants and bars as people stream into the city from throughout the Midwest.

CAP

Lightfoot said officials would work to reschedule the parades at a later date.

The local tourism industry is already reeling from the recent cancellations of several big trade shows at McCormick Place, and the St. Patrick’s Day events draw tens of thousands of spectators.

But in the end, Lightfoot had to know she would be judged more harshly if Chicago got hit especially hard by the COVID-19 virus and the outbreak was traced back to the decision to go ahead with the parades. Health officials have been warning for weeks that the best way to avoid contracting the respiratory ailment is to avoid close contact with people who are infected.

“Like cities across the nation, we concluded that having a parade at this time posed an unnecessary risk to the public’s health,” she said.

Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, noted how hard it was to scrap the events.

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“It was a very difficult call for the Mayor,” Reilly said Wednesday. “Nobody is more sensitive to the concerns of the downtown business community than I am, so this is very disappointing. But, as the son of a public health doctor who ran County Hospital, I can say this is 100% the right call.”

Pritzker said he supported the decision as officials were trying to minimize the rampant spread of COVID-19.

“This is not a decision that she took lightly, and we all know what the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations mean to the city of Chicago,” Pritzker said. “Because of what we’ve seen nationally, and across the world, of the increased risk of large gatherings, this was the right call.”

With the mayor out of town on vacation, Pritzker on Tuesday questioned whether Chicago’s parades should happen this weekend, even as event organizers and city officials said the celebrations would go on as planned.

There’s a precedent for a public spectacle causing serious public fallout during an outbreak.

[The latest] Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Chicago St. Patrick’s Day parades canceled Wednesday amid COVID-19 spread

In 1918, Philadelphia went ahead with a parade meant to drum up support for the sale of bonds to fund the U.S. effort in World War I, despite concerns about the burgeoning Spanish flu. Philadelphia then saw particularly high flu rates, and the decision to hold the parade has been blamed by historians.

March 11, 2020 0

(THE CORONAVIRUS) Tuesday 10th March Research and update

By Dr. John Campbell

March 10, 2020 0

VIDEO: MASSIVE HORDE INVADES TOILET PAPER AISLE

This video reveals how easily society can collapse during mass, exploitable hysteria

Kit Daniels – MARCH 10, 2020

Security camera footage shows a massive horde descending upon an toilet paper aisle amid the Coronavirus chaos.

The footage shot at an Aldi store, which is a discount supermarket, in Melbourne, Australia, shows a mob descending zombie-style on freshly stocked toilet paper:

Alexa, why am I a misanthrope?pic.twitter.com/0D1ePKG7oe

— Old Holborn ✘ (@Holbornlolz) March 10, 2020

This video reveals how easily society can collapse into violent, tribal mobs at the first hint of mass hysteria – and why it’s critical to be well prepared before panic strikes.

March 10, 2020 0

Nancy Pelosi Shuts Down Nadler’s Request to Flee DC over Coronavirus: ‘We’re the Captains of This Ship’

By Joshua Caplan – 3/10/2020

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) on Tuesday said Democrats should flee Washington, D.C. as coronavirus continues to spread across the United States — A suggestion which was immediately shut down by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), according to a report.

Nadler made the remark in a closed-door caucus meeting on the deadly illness.

“We are the captains of the ship. We are the last to leave,” Pelosi responded, echoing a comment by Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) moments earlier, The Hill reports.

Concerns about a possible coronavirus outbreak in the Capitol have grown as several lawmakers have self-quarantined after coming into contact with infected individuals.

Five Republicans, including President Donald Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), have quarantined themselves are coming into contact with someone with the virus at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

“While he’s experiencing zero symptoms, under doctors’ standard precautionary recommendations, he’ll remain at home until the 14-day period expires this Wednesday,” Ben Williamson, Meadows’ chief of staff, said in a statement.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who flew with President Trump aboard Air Force One on Monday, announced he would be taking two weeks of self-imposed isolation after coming into contact at CPAC with the person diagnosed with the virus.

News of the CPAC infection came days after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) announced attendees to its policy conference last week may have come into contact with a person infected with the virus.

Since the coronavirus outbreak began in China in December, there have been more than 4,000 deaths and 113,000 cases worldwide, including 21 fatalities in the United States and more than 500 cases of the disease.

In a statement on Sunday, ACU said the Maryland Department of Health has screened thousands of employees at the resort, conference center and hotel where the conference was held and “not a single person has reported any unusual illness.”

“The Dept. of Health is not restricting the movement or interactions with others of those hotel employees,” it said in a statement, adding it is encouraging them to take their temperature twice daily and pay attention for symptoms.

The ACU said the infected attendee was receiving medical care in New Jersey and was quarantined.

In a separate situation, Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) said she has self-isolated herself after having come into contact last week in Washington, D.C., with a person who has tested positive for the virus.

The UPI contributed to this report.

March 10, 2020 0

New York Deploys National Guard to Set Up Coronavirus Containment Area

By Joshua Caplan – 3/10/2020

New York National Guard troops were deployed Tuesday to assemble a containment area as part of the state’s effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The deployment to a New Rochelle command post comes after Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced an additional 25 cases of the deadly illness were confirmed overnight. Though Cuomo did not comment on the development in New Rochelle, the Westchester County town where a bulk of the state’s 165 cases are located, he did tell CNN that officials are “taking more dramatic actions in that cluster.” The “panic that you see is unwarranted,” the governor added. “We have dealt with worse viruses.”

Cuomo warned that New York has not conducted enough tests and that the ones in China and South Korea appear to be more accurate. “What you will see is the number will continue to increase because they have increased,” he stated. “We’re not testing enough people to know where it is.”

Cuomo also confirmed that officials are considering New York City’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade over the virus that originated from Wuhan, China.

“You calibrate your response to the time and the facts and the circumstances in that place at that time,” said the governor. “So parades, etc. we look at that on a daily basis.”

Cuomo’s comments come after he announced New York is using prison labor to produce its own hand sanitizer product in an effort to offset price gougers selling the product at sky-high prices.

“We are introducing New York State clean hand sanitizer, made conveniently by the state of New York,” he said. “To Purell, and Mr. Amazon and Mr. eBay, if you continue the price gouging, we will introduce our product, which is superior to your product. And you don’t even have the floral bouquet, so stop price gouging.”

As of Tuesday, over 500 cases and 22 deaths due to the virus were reported from 34 states and Washington, D.C.

March 10, 2020 0

(FROM CHICAGO) – Resurrection College Prep joins Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School in closing over coronavirus concerns

By KATHERINE ROSENBERG-DOUGLAS – 3/10/2020

Resurrection College Prep High School on the Northwest Side Tuesday morning became the latest Chicago area school to announce a closure because of concerns about the new coronavirus.

The private, all-girls Roman Catholic school, at 7500 W. Talcott Ave. in the Norwood Park West neighborhood, told parents to arrange pickup for their children as of 10 a.m. Tuesday after it was learned a member of its community had contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The school also will be closed Wednesday and a deep cleaning of the property will be conducted, school officials wrote in a social media post.

A Lakeview synagogue and attached day school also were closed Tuesday because a member of the synagogue who has children in the school tested positive for COVID-19, a rabbi with Anshe Emet said.

Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School and Anshe Emet Synagogue sent out email notices Monday to families who have kids in the primary school or who attend the synagogue. Rabbi Michael Siegel said a parent was tested Monday and later made Siegel aware the result was positive.

Siegel, along with Gary Weisserman, head of the school, said the decision to close the school and synagogue were made “out of an abundance of caution” while the children whose parent tested positive also are tested.

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“Late this evening we received confirmation that the parent has tested positive for COVID-19. While the Department of Public Health advised that closure is not required, out of an abundance of caution we are canceling school (and all after-school activities) … while we continue to consult with public health officials,” Weisserman wrote in an email.

Siegel said the person who tested positive has not been on campus within the last month and is self-quarantined at home along with the entire family.

“To be very clear, no Bernard Zell student or staff member has been diagnosed with COVID-19, and based on conversations with medical experts, we believe the risk to our students and faculty is low. This individual’s spouse and children remain asymptomatic but will undergo testing first thing in the morning,” Weisserman said.

Since the school and synagogue share the same space, the building will be closed and office staff was told to stay home Tuesday. The building is to undergo a deep cleaning of all surfaces, officials said.

The announcements come in the wake of other school closures.

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Loyola Academy, a private Jesuit high school at 1100 Laramie Ave. in Wilmette, was closed Monday and Tuesday because a student at the school had contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19. School officials said the day would be spent coordinating with public health officials and doing an “enhanced cleaning” of the school.

Classes were canceled at Vaughn Occupational High School for the week beginning Monday, March 9, after a Chicago woman in her 50s who works there as a special education classroom assistant tested positive for coronavirus, marking the sixth case in Illinois.

There have been 11 cases of coronavirus in Illinois as of Monday night. Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a statewide disaster proclamation, making Illinois the 14th state to declare an emergency in response to the outbreak of the respiratory virus. The proclamation will allow Illinois to tap additional state and federal resources to combat the spread of the new virus and better coordinate its response.

It was not clear whether the Anshe Emet case was one of the four reported in Chicago Monday. A city official did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

Check back for updates.

March 10, 2020 0