Coronavirus (COVID-19): We Want to Hear from You

[tnbutterfly - Mary]

The Coronavirus/COVID-19 has been all over the news since its appearance in Wuhan, China in December. Eleven cities in China have been locked down and travel restrictions imposed on tens of millions of people in an attempt to contain the spread of the deadly virus with reports of more than 900 confirmed cases of infection and more than 2 dozen reported deaths. Infections have been confirmed in South Korea, Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and now this deadly virus has now made its appearance in the United States. Two confirmed cases have been identified - one in Washington on January 21 and another in Chicago today. Health officials have reported 63 people from 22 states are under observation for the virus.

We want to keep you up-to-date on the latest news. We need your help. Are you in an area where the Coronavirus/COVID-19 has been identified or where people are under observation for possible infection? We want to hear your story.

What precautions/screening/guidelines have been implemented in your place of work, airports, schools, etc?

Please complete the form below and let us know if you are willing to share your story.

Would you like to write an article to help us keep up with the unfolding Coronavirus / COVID-19 story - historical evolution, what is it, mode of transmission, signs and symptoms, precautions, screening, diagnosis, etc. If so, send me a Private/Personal Message

Wuhan Coronavirus Form

[toomuchbaloney]

10 hours ago, MunoRN said:

Spread of Coronavirus vs SARS, MERS, and Ebola. Seems fine at first, then...

Unfortunately, it appears that the USA won't be a leader in decreasing global cases...we will likely be a leader in providing misleading or spun data and information.

[Walti, LPN, LVN, RN, EMT-I]

Sounds like whatever procedures they were using to disinfect their PPEs were ineffective. So what do you do when the supply says sorry, we are out of masks and gowns?

I'm very old school. We used to sterilize many things and produce our own distilled water and saline in the hospital. It became cost ineffective to do so. It was cheaper to produce a set of suture instruments in Pakistan, sterilize the tray and ship it then it was to pay somebody in the US to clean and reprocess them. I've had the chance to see how pay differences are in the various parts of the world. As a medic in Vietnam in 1970 I was paid about $200.00 a month, the local population made about a dollar a day. In 1999 the minimum wage in Mexico was the equivalent of $3.70 a day. The US sent a lot of business overseas because they could maximize profits.

[SummitRN, BSN, RN]

23 hours ago, Walti said:

Sounds like whatever procedures they were using to disinfect their PPEs were ineffective. So what do you do when the supply says sorry, we are out of masks and gowns?

I'm very old school. We used to sterilize many things and produce our own distilled water and saline in the hospital. It became cost ineffective to do so. It was cheaper to produce a set of suture instruments in Pakistan, sterilize the tray and ship it then it was to pay somebody in the US to clean and reprocess them. I've had the chance to see how pay differences are in the various parts of the world. As a medic in Vietnam in 1970 I was paid about $200.00 a month, the local population made about a dollar a day. In 1999 the minimum wage in Mexico was the equivalent of $3.70 a day. The US sent a lot of business overseas because they could maximize profits.

Desperate times require desperate measures. Desperate measures don't work as well. That's when staff gets sick or stop showing up to work.

[Walti, LPN, LVN, RN, EMT-I]

I feel so much better knowing that Pence has been put in charge. I know he has a solid background in science. It is also a really good thing that the CDC won't be causing unnecessary alarm since they have a gag order in place.

[toomuchbaloney]

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387

Quote

In their Journal article, Li and colleagues3 provide a detailed clinical and epidemiologic description of the first 425 cases reported in the epicenter of the outbreak: the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, China. Although this information is critical in informing the appropriate response to this outbreak, as the authors point out, the study faces the limitation associated with reporting in real time the evolution of an emerging pathogen in its earliest stages. Nonetheless, a degree of clarity is emerging from this report. The median age of the patients was 59 years, with higher morbidity and mortality among the elderly and among those with coexisting conditions (similar to the situation with influenza); 56% of the patients were male. Of note, there were no cases in children younger than 15 years of age. Either children are less likely to become infected, which would have important epidemiologic implications, or their symptoms were so mild that their infection escaped detection, which has implications for the size of the denominator of total community infections.

If children are asymptomatic carriers the spread will be wide...would you agree?

[tydawg, MSN, RN]

Just want to chime in and say, I work in a LTC facility in Washington state. We are now screening all patients and their family members if they have confirmed travel to Asia or China specifically we are to secure the ward and alert the Health Department.

[Walti, LPN, LVN, RN, EMT-I]

Varying reports about the staff from you.C. Davis in Sacramento California are saying that a number of them are on quarantine after exposure to the first Covid-19 patient that was from a community acquired source. The media is saying 36 nurses and 88 other hospital employees are affected. A you.C. Davis spokesperson is denying this number but won't say how many are out.

My question is are they being paid or are they having to use PTO? My prayers to all of them.

What would your facility do?

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

From EPA 3/3/20:

EPA’s Registered Antimicrobial Products for Use Against Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the Cause of COVID-19

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-03/documents/sars-cov-2-list_03-03-2020.pdf

Glad to see Clorox bleach,cleaners and disenfecting wipes; LYSOL BRAND POWER PLUS TOILET Bowl cleaner, Lysol Disenfectant spray -- daily items used in my home.

[Walti, LPN, LVN, RN, EMT-I]

The New York Times has a worthwhile article titled "Nurses Battling Coronavirus Beg for Protective Gear and Better Planning". Eight healthcare workers are now diagnosed as positive. Protective gear is being re-sterilized and shortages in equipment and staffing are apparent.

Quarantined nurses have been returned to work to be monitored in the workplace due to staffing shortages. 6,500 nurses responded to a survey and 29% reported their hospitals had a plan to isolate potential Covid-19 patients. 44% said they had received guidance on how to handle the virus. 63% had access to N95s and 25% had access to a PAPR.

There is more, do a search and read it the article. It should be considered a wake up call. Sadly, nurses will die from this, as will other healthcare workers.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Link:

Nurses Battling Coronavirus Beg for Protective Gear and Better Planning

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/us/coronavirus-nurses.html

[Katillac, RN]

On 2/8/2020 at 5:34 PM, SummitRN said:

Yes, I recommend lube

Lube will not be helpful in getting a handle on most things. Makes it harder. ?

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Started separate thread re test kits shortage: Washington State: 70 Life Care Center employees show symptoms of coronavirus They received just 45 test kits on Thursday.

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Friday, Trump was to visit CDC, initially canceled trip due to CDC employee with presumptive virus- supposedly tested negative so Trump did attend.

Surprise, Surprise --- bet the President gets tested.

CPAC attendee tested positive for coronavirus

From CNN’s Gregory Clary

Quote

One of the attendees at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, tested positive for coronavirus, the American Conservative Union said in a press release Saturday.

President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials attended the conference, though the ACU says the attendee did not come into contact with Trump or Pence. The attendee also did not attend events in the main hall, the release said.

The ACU said the Trump Administration “is aware of the situation.”

The exposure occurred prior to the conference, the ACU added....

Attendee is hospitalized in NJ.