US currently has 10% of face masks needed for a ‘full-blown’ coronavirus pandemic, HHS official says
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/03/coronavirus-latest-updates-outbreak.html
Health and Human Services official Dr. Robert Kadlec estimates the country would need roughly 3.5 billion of medical-grade N95 masks, which filter out about 95% of all liquid or airborne particles. “We have about 35 million,” Kadlec, assistant secretary for preparedness and response, said before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Tuesday. “Ten percent, and we’re actively working on that.”
35 million / 3.5 billion = 1%, not ten percent.
But it is very reassuring that they are working on it.
Andre, you are sharper than both the HHS spokesman and myself. Maybe he wanted to sugar-coat it for those watching on TV. And the numerically challenged politicians.
It's actually worse ...
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HHS Clarifies US Has About 1% of Face Masks Needed for ‘Full-Blown’ Pandemichttps://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/04/coronavirus-latest-updates.htmlThe Department of Health and Human Services clarified that the United States has about 1%, not 10%, of the required respirator masks that would be needed for medical professionals if the COVID-19 outbreak were to erupt into a pandemic here.The agency said its pandemic planning assumptions estimate
the U.S. health-care system will need up to 3.5 billion N95 respirator masks over a year. The Strategic National Stockpile, the nation’s emergency stockpile of drugs and medical supplies,
currently holds approximately 12 million medical-grade N95 respirator masks and 30 million surgical face masks (
... that won't do shit in a hot zone), according to an HHS spokesperson. That’s a small fraction of the masks need in a pandemic scenario. (...
ya think!)
12 million ÷ 3.5 billion = ~ 0.3% -------------------------
The Coronavirus Test Will Be Covered By Medicaid, Medicare and Private Insurance, Pence Sayshttps://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/04/pence-announces-coronavirus-test-will-be-covered-by-medicaid-medicare.htmlThe COVID-19 test will be covered by Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance plans, Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday.
“HHS has already denominated a test for the coronavirus to be an essential health benefit, which ensures that it will be covered by people’s private health insurance. It will be covered by Medicare and Medicaid,” Pence said at a news briefing alongside diagnostic laboratory executives.
... Private insurance plans will also cover the test since it is an essential health benefit, but
unlike other mandated diagnostic tests like a mammogram, they will still require cost-sharing.(
... those blood sucking weasels - never let a tragedy go to waste)
The potential for out-of-pocket costs poses a barrier to getting tested for people who are uninsured and may be infected with COVID-19.An underinsured man in Miami recently went to a hospital to be checked for the coronavirus after traveling to China, and although a routine test revealed that he only had the flu,
he received a bill for $3,270, according to the
Miami Herald.
Roughly 8.5% of the U.S. population, or 27.5 million people, didn't have health insurance at all in 2018, up from 7.9%, or 25.6 million people, in 2017.
https://mobile.twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1171437540726861826 ------------------------
DHS Employee Tests Positive for Coronavirus https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/04/coronavirus-latest-updates.htmlA Department of Homeland Security employee has tested positive for the coronavirus, DHS press secretary Heather Swift said in a statement Wednesday.
The employee, one of at least six people in Los Angeles who have tested positive for COVID-19, worked last month as a medical screener checking passengers arriving from China at LAX, DHS said.
“Late last night, DHS headquarters was alerted to a situation where one of our contracted medical professionals conducting screenings at LAX international airport had tested positive for COVID-19,” the statement said. “This individual is currently under self-quarantine at home with mild symptoms and under medical supervision. Their immediate family is also under home quarantine.”
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NIH Official Questioned About WHO Mortality Ratehttps://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/04/coronavirus-latest-updates.htmlNIH official Dr. Anthony Fauci told lawmakers the mortality rate for COVID-19 could change depending on how many people ultimately fall ill and die from the virus. World health officials said Tuesday that the current mortality rate was around 3.4%, significantly higher than previous estimates.
“As a group, it’s going to depend completely on what the factor of asymptomatic cases are,” he said, adding the more asympotmatic cases, the lower the mortality rate.
“What we’re hearing right now on a recent call from the WHO this morning is that there aren’t as many asymptomatic cases as we think, which made them elevate, I think, what their mortality is,” he said.
...“I’m torn. If we get enough data to have a big [numerator] it’s gonna be bad news for us.”
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New York Confirms 5 New Caseshttps://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/04/coronavirus-latest-updates.htmlNew York Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed five new COVID-19 cases in the state — hours after he said that a family in Westchester was infected with the virus, bringing the state’s total to 11.
The cases all stem from a Westchester lawyer who worked in Manhattan and is in critical condition in New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cuomo said.
His family is ill and he infected a friend of his who then passed it on to his wife, two sons and a daughter, Cuomo said. The children all attend the West Torah Academy, which is located in White Plains, NY, according to its website.
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Grocery Stockpiling is Most Severe Near Coronavirus Clusters—Then There’s Coloradohttps://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/04/coronavirus-latest-updates.htmlColorado has yet to report any cases of the new coronavirus in the state, yet consumers there are already stockpiling more powdered milk and cans of soup than in Washington state, where at least nine people have died due to the virus.
But Coloradans aren’t the only ones stocking up on canned goods and cleaning supplies.
Hand sanitizer sales have skyrocketed 619% nationwide in the week ending March 1, according to data from marketing firm Catalina, which compared the sales of 33 products to the same period a year ago. Disinfecting cleaners and wipes have seen their sales more than double. Grocery store and retailers are trying to prevent shortages from “panic buying″ as more cases of the virus are confirmed in the United States.
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Campbell Soup is Increasing Production to Prepare for Coronavirus Demandhttps://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/04/coronavirus-latest-updates.htmlCampbell Soup CEO Mark Clouse said Wednesday that the company is increasing soup production in response to the coronavirus outbreak. “We made the decision last week to up production in certain areas where we’re using a little bit the analogy of weather or natural disasters,” Clouse said on CNBC. And we’ve upped that level of production to be able to maximize our inventory to be prepared for whatever unfolds here.”
Consumers, particularly those closest to virus clusters, have been stockpiling canned soup and other shelf-stable foods as more cases of the disease are reported in the U.S.
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- Global cases: More than 95,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
- Global deaths: At least 3,250, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
- US cases: At least 138, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
- US deaths: At least 11, according to the CDC and state health officials.