Glenn gives the latest coronavirus numbers, updating YOU on everything needed to know as Americans and officials monitor China's new COVID-19 virus:
Daily Stats as of 5:30 AM CT (from John's Hopkins)
- Total Confirmed Cases Worldwide: 127,809 (up from 126,611 yesterday)
- Total Confirmed Deaths Worldwide: 4,641 (up from 4,365 yesterday)
- 68,327 Patients Have Recovered from COVID-19 Worldwide
- 125 Countries Have Confirmed cases (up from 120 yesterday), 4 more have suspected cases
- 11% of Active Cases are Considered Serious (Requiring Hospitalization), down from 12% yesterday, with 4% requiring ICU
- US has 1,336 Confirmed Cases - and 38 Deaths
- All 50 States Have at least 1 Confirmed Cases or 1 Presumptive Case Except Alabama, Maine, Idaho, Alaska and West Virginia
President Trump Bans Travel From Mainland Europe for 30 Dayshttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-makes-statement-on-coronavirus-wednesday-evening-watch-live-stream-today-2020-03-11/
- UK travel not currently affected.
- Ban limits human travel, cargo-only travel will not face restrictions at this time.
- Order is effective as of today, March 12th, 2020.
- President Trump indicated he would consider other travel bans from any hot spots as a means to follow CDC recommendations to prevent bringing more infected persons into the US.
- Inbound travel to the US now restricted for over 1/3 of the world's population, including China, the EU, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Iran
- "I can say we will see more cases and things will get worse than they are right now," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
- Fauci said COVID-19 is at least 10 times "more lethal" than the seasonal flu, even if the mortality rate drops far below the World Health Organization's current estimate of 3.4%, according to CNBC news.
- The COVID-19 outbreak is just weeks old in the U.S. How much worse it gets depends on two things, Fauci said: 1) containing the influx of infected people coming from other countries and 2) containing local outbreaks within the U.S. via Social Distancing and Isolation of the sick.
- "Bottom line is it's going to get worse," Fauci concluded.
- US Stocks are down more than 20% from all-time highs reached just 3 weeks ago on February 12th.
- The news comes as President Trump proposed cutting all US payroll taxes to 0% for the rest of the year, as well as Small Business Loans and the largest cash infusion into financial markets by the Fed since the 2009 Financial Crisis.
- Daily tracking poll stood at +1 net approval rating (approve minus disapprove) on February 25th.
- Flip to a -11 yesterday represents a 12 point swing in the online and phone-based survey.
- The President's handing of Coronavirus cited as a major reason for the shift in voter attitudes.
- Senior Staffer, Digital Director of Biden's campaign tweeted, "Sure seems like this is getting out of hand and Donald Trump decided to let it be this way."
- The tweet comes as Trump asked all Americans to "put politics aside, stop the partisanship, and unify as one nation and one family."
- Calls for the staffer to apologize have gone unanswered by the Biden campaign.
- Surprising exactly zero people, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom made the announcement on Wednesday.
- "This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus," Tedros said. "We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear."
- "This is not just a public health crisis. It's a crisis that will touch every sector, so every sector and every individual must be involved in the fight," Tedros added. He said that countries needed to "strike a fine balance between protecting health, minimizing economic and social disruption, and respecting human rights."
- In the latest challenge to US CDC efforts for widespread testing, the Chemical Reagent used to confirm the RNA presence of the virus is in short supply.
- German-based Chemical giant Qiagen, with labs in Germany and Spain, is reportedly working 24/7 to ramp up production, citing global demand is simply far higher than current manufacturing capabilities.
- The American Enterprise Institute indicated it estimates the US can currently run about 15,000 testing kits per day, but each kit relies on reagents at labs to confirm COVID-19. Through March 11th, approximately 8,554 Americans had been tested, compared to over 210,000 in S Korea, 61,000 in Italy and 26,000 in the UK.
- Closed-door briefing with Senior Congressional staffers was held on Wednesday, March 11th by Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician of Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Monahan made the comments during a closed-door meeting Tuesday that included Senate administrative office staff and personnel from both parties, but no senators, according to NBC News.
- Monahan stressed the need for Social Distancing and Isolation, urging staffers to let employees and volunteers work from home whenever possible and to limit physical contact with others.
- Dr. Marc Lipsitch, professor of Epidemiology at Harvard, said earlier this month that he believes about 40% to 70% of the world's population could eventually become infected with the virus, and of those, about 1% will die.
- A 1% Case Mortality Rate for COVID-19 is not automatic. 1% or less is Achievable and Possible but assumes infected people get critical medical care.
- Each person has a role to play to help the world ensure the death rate is 1% or less.
- Your role is simple: Don't spread the disease. Prevent yourself from being exposed and prevent spreading it to others.
- The goal is to delay, as much as possible, the peak of infections so as to not overwhelm Medical infrastructure.
- As we have seen in China, Iran and Italy, Case Fatality Rates of 3.5% (China), 8% (Iran) and 6% (Italy) are probable with COVID-19 once Hospital systems become overwhelmed.
- The goal for each American is simply this: Do everything you can to not get infected - Wash your hands, don't touch your face, clean surfaces regularly, socially distance yourself from others, etc.
- And if you do get sick: Stay HOME! Don't go out, isolate yourself as much as possible. And if you must go out, wear a surgical mask or respirator to lower how much virus you're shedding to others.
- No masks do not reduce your infective rate to zero, but they can capture most droplets you breathe or cough out, significantly reducing how much virus each person spreads.