“It’s Time To Pull Out All The Stops”: Coronavirus Spreads To Nevada, Tennessee, New Jersey; Officials Believe Virus Already Spreading In NYC: Live Updates
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Thu, 03/05/2020
Summary:
New Jersey confirms first presumptive case
Pentagon tracking 12 possible COVID-19 cases
NYC reports 2 more cases, raising total to 4
Italy postpones referendum vote
WHO’s Tedros: “Now’s the time to pull out the stops”
Tennessee confirms case
Nevada confirms first case
New Delhi closes primary schools
EU officials weigh pushing retired health-care workers back into service to combat virus
Italy to ask EU for permission to raise budget deficit as lawmakers approve €7.5 billion euros
Beijing tells residents not to share food
30-year-old Chinese man dies in Wuhan 5 days after hospital discharge
Cali authorities tell ‘Grand Princess’ cruise ship not to return to port until everyone is tested
Global case total passes 95k
Lebanon sees cases double to 31
France reports 2 more deaths
EY sends 1,500 Madrid employees home after staffer catches virus
Trump says he has a “hunch” true virus mortality rate is closer to 1%
Switzerland reports 1st death
South Africa confirms 1st case
UK chief medical officer confirms ‘human-to-human’ infections are happening in UK
UK case total hits 115
Google, Apple, Netflix cancel events
HSBC sends research department and part of London trading floor home
Facebook contract infected in Seattle
Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Netflix cancel events and/or ask employees to work from home
Netherlands cases double to 82
Spain cases climb 40, 1 new death
Belgium reports 27 new cases bringing total to 50
Germany adds 87 cases bringing total to 349
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Update (1120ET): Italian health officials have reported 25 more deaths on the Lombardy region of northern Italy – the worst-hit region. Deaths in this region alone have climbed to 98, bringing Italy’s national total to 132.
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Update (1100ET): The UK has reported that total coronavirus cases have risen to 115 from 85 earlier on Thursday, making the UK the latest European nation to see its total confirmed cases break above 100.
In the corporate sphere, accounting and consulting firm Ernst & Young sent around 1,500 employees from its Madrid offices home on Thursday after a staffer was confirmed to have contracted the virus. Wal-Mart is restricting all cross-border travel.
As of March 5, the CDC has confirmed 100 cases in its lab, the agency said, meaning some cases reported by the states have yet to be ‘officially’ confirmed. It has also confirmed another death, bringing the total to 10 (meaning one reported death has yet to be officially confirmed). DHS said US has no plans at this time to lift China travel restrictions.
WHO’s Dr. Tedros said Thursday during the NGOs daily presser that now is the time to “pull out all the stops” to combat the virus – which is ironic, considering the agency won’t officially label the outbreak a ‘pandemic’, even though experts in the US have told the Washington Post and other media orgs that it is undoubtedly a pandemic. They also added that there’s “no evidence” the virus has been spread from a human to a dog, despite earlier reports.
WHO added that heads of state must “take responsibility” for their virus response (obviously a snipe at President Trump, whom critics have accused of ‘denying’ the existence of the virus’.
Tedros also threatened to “name names” of governments that aren’t doing enough to prepare for the outbreak during his next press conference.
The organization also has found no evidence the virus will behave differently in different climates, even as its spread across Africa has been notably slow.
EU officials are reportedly considering pressing retired health-care workers back into service as a ‘response’ to the virus. Hopefully, the elderly nurses and doctors aren’t left to catch the virus and die.
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Update (1035ET): Another Italy update…
ITALY TO ASK EU FOR GO AHEAD TO RAISE BUDGET DEFICIT BY 0.35 PERCENTAGE POINTS OF GDP TO TACKLE CORONAVIRUS GOVT SOURCE
Unsurprising given that lawmakers approved more than the recommended €5 billion.
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Update (1025ET): Xinhua reports 16 new cases have been confirmed in Lebanon, more than doubling the case total to 31.
Xinhua: Lebanon’s COVID-19 cases rise to 16
In other news, Italy has dedicated more money to its coronavirus response than it initially expected. .
ITALY TO ALLOCATE EU7.5B FOR VIRUS RESPONSE STIMULUS: ANSA
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Update (1015ET): As we move closer to half of states having confirmed cases of their own, the Nevada Independent reported that Nevada officials had identified the first case of the virus in the state just minutes after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee confirmed the first case in his state.
NEVADA SEES FIRST CASE OF CORONAVIRUS IN PATIENT: NEV. IND.
17 states now have confirmed cases of Covid-19.
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Update (1010ET): Tennessee has confirmed is first case, according to media reports.
FIRST CONFIRMED CASE OF CORONAVIRUS IN TENNESSEE: WKRN-ABC
The reports were almost immediately confirmed by the governor.
#Breaking Gov. Bill Lee announces first confirmed case of #Coronavirus in Tennessee
— Arianna Poindexter (@AriannaWMC5) March 5, 2020
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Update (1000ET): The Pentagon is reportedly tracking 12 individuals who may be infected with the coronavirus.
PENTAGON IS TRACKING 12 POSSIBLE COVID-19 CASES, OFFICIAL SAYS
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Update (0930ET): France health officials have reported another 2 deaths, bringing the death toll in Europe’s second-largest economy to at least six.
We also have some more details on the first case in South Africa, which we noted earlier on Thursday shortly after the news broke: SA’s News 24 has some more information on the case: It’s a 38-year-old man who had recently traveled to Italy.
Italy and Iran remain two of the most commonly-cited spreaders, as travelers around the world are bringing the virus home after trips to northern Italy.
The man and his wife were among a group of 10 who returned from Italy on March 1.
Yet the government insists it doesn’t expect more cases as South Africa’s summer season is typically inhospital to viral outbreaks. Given the surprising lack of spread in Africa so far – which some fear might be a result of low testing rates – they might have a point.
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Update (0920ET): Two Italian Red Crossvolunteers have tested positive while another 140 have been deemed “at risk” for infection. Trump “Iran whisperer” Brian Hook said Thursday that Iran had rejected the State Department’s offer of assistance.
Meanwhile, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has shared some more details about the two new cases confirmed in New York, including confirming that investigators haven’t been able to trace the source of the infection, suggesting that an uncontained outbreak is already underway in NYC.
There are two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York City. One new patient is a man in his 40s, and one new patient is a woman in her 80s.
Neither patient has a connection to travel nor any of the other local individuals diagnosed with COVID-19.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) March 5, 2020
Since they haven’t traveled, the patients were almost certainly infected in the US, and possibly in NYC.
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Update (0850ET): Yesterday, we pointed out that the first fatality reported in California appeared to be the same patient – a 71-year-old man – whom state officials had said recently traveled aboard a cruise ship called the “Grand Princess”. The ship, which was ironically on its way to dock in San Francisco at the time, was ordered to remain offshore. According to USA Today, officials confirmed on Wednesday that the ship will not return to port until testing of everyone on board can be carried out.
And just like that, the US has its own cruise ship emergency, though it appears authorities are learning from the mistakes made by Japanese health officials during the ‘Diamond Princess’ fiasco (to be sure, the US clearly violated quarantine by transporting sick passengers back to the US).
Gov. Newsom said the state would scramble to test the passengers as quickly as possible.
“We will be able to test very quickly… to determine if these individuals that are symptomatic just have traditional colds or the flu or may have contracted the COVID-19 virus,” Newsom said.
We’ll keep an eye on that – we suspect we might have more cases to report soon.
Over the last hour or so, some more virus-linked headlines have hit the tape.
South Africa has reported its first case of the virus.
New Delhi has shut down primary schools as virus spreads in India.
Confirmed cases of the virus have doubled in the Netherlands to 82
US official ‘concerned’ about health of Iranian detainees.
We’ll be back with more updates shortly.
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