March 1 COVID 19 Update

March 1 COVID 19 Update

Dr K K Aggarwal

President CMAAO, HCFI and Past National President IMA

ASIA

·        4 new cases and 2 new discharges in Singapore.   

·        1 new death in Thailand

·        4 new cases in Malaysia: nurse among infected.   

·        26 new cases and 1 new death in Japan: a man in his 70s in the Kushiro district in Hokkaido      

·        1 new case and 3 new discharges in Taiwan

·        586 new cases, and 3 new deaths in South Korea.            

·        573 new cases, 35 new deaths (of which 34 in Hubei) and 2,623 new discharges occurred in China on Feb. 29, as reported by the National Health Commission (NHC) of Chin

OCEANIA

1st death in Australia: a 78-year-old man in Perth who was among the 164 Australians flown out of Japan after being quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship. His wife also tested positive to the virus and is currently in a stable condition in isolation at a Perth hospital.

Australia confirms 26 cases in total of which:   9 in Queensland, 4 in New South Wales, 8 in Victoria, 3 in South Australia, 2 in Western Australia. 15 have recovered, 10 are associated with the Diamond princess cruise ship, 9 are receiving medical treatment at home; 1 death

Incoming travel from Iran to Australia is banned starting Sunday. Appropriate level of travel advisory to Italy is being considered.

EUROPE

·        26 new cases in Spain for a total of 84 cases, of which 5 in critical condition.

·         1st case in Scotland (UK) a "resident of the Tayside area and has recently travelled from northern Italy"

·         30 new cases in France. Among the 114 active cases, 9 (8%) are in critical condition. Among the 14 closed cases, the outcome has been: 12 discharged (86%) and 2 deaths (14%).

·         Schools closed in 9 Oise municipalities (where there are 47 cases)

·         French authorities invite to "postpone non-essential trips outside the EU"

·         "In terms of distribution, 72 are part of a chain of transmission or a cluster, 35 are returning from areas abroad where the virus is circulating, 23 recent cases are under investigation, 7 have been detected by the systematic test for severe pneumonia or acute respiratory distress," said Jérôme Salomon, Director of Health.   

·          566 new cases and 5 new deaths in Italy, for a total of 1,694 cases. Among the 1,577 active cases, 779 (49%) are hospitalized, 140 of which (representing 9% of active cases) are in intensive care. Among the 117 closed cases, 83 (71%) have recovered, 34 (29%) have died.

·         1 new case in Iceland: a man in his 60s who arrived from Verona, Italy, yesterday with Icelandair.

·         5 new cases in Finland: including an elderly person and a school-aged child, both related to a previous case who had travelled to northern Italy

·          First 3 cases in Czech Republic. They had all recently traveled to Northern Italy:   

·         A 67-year-old man who attended a conference at the University of Udine, Italy, where the infection was confirmed in one of his Italian colleagues. He is now hospitalized in Bulovka, Prague.

·         A 20 year old woman from the USA who studies in Milan and was staying at an Airbnb in Prague.

·         a 43-year-old Czech national in Prague who returned from a ski holiday in Auronzo di Cadore in Veneto, Italy, a risky region. He traveled by car with his wife and four children, who are still asymptomatic but have been placed in home quarantine.

·         3 new cases in the Netherlands

·         12 new cases in the UK:  6 had traveled to Italy,  2 had traveled to Iran,  3 are close contacts of a known case,  1 (in Essex) has no travel history and no clear link to cases.

·        1 new case in Belgium

·         4 new cases in Austria

·         38 new cases in Germany

·         2 new cases in Norway   

UK: A research paper suggesting half a million people in the UK could die in the event of a flu pandemic was a “reasonable worst-case scenario.”

American Airlines has announced it is suspending flights to and from Milan, Italy from both New York and Miami from March 1, 2020 until April 25, 2020, citing reduced demand. The announcement comes only hours after the U.S. State Department said it was raising its travel warning to Level 4: Do Not Travel for parts of Italy due to the coronavirus outbreak.   

MIDDLE EAST

·        2 new cases in Qatar: they had both been evacuated from Iran on Feb. 27   

·        6 new cases in Bahrain: 3 female Bahraini nationals, 2 male Bahraini nationals and 1 male Saudi national, arriving at Bahrain International Airport via indirect flights from Iran.   

·        6 new cases in Iraq: 2 in Baghdad, 4 in Sulaimaniya. They had all recently traveled to Iran.   

·        3 new cases in Lebanon, all three had visited Iran.

·        1st case in Armenia   

·        1 new case in Kuwait

·        385 new cases and 11 new deaths in Iran   

AFRICA

·        1 new case in Algeria: an Italian citizen   

·        On Saturday, it was reported that another Italian national who tested positive for coronavirus on his arrival in Algeria had been transferred to his home country.   

·        This came after Algeria announced on Tuesday that the 61-year-old Italian man, who works in projects involving Milan-based energy firm Eni, had become its first confirmed case of the virus.

NORTH AMERICA

·        1 new case in Mexico: first in Chiapas, a student who had traveled to Italy.   

·        5 new cases in the United States:

·        2 in Washington State (bringing the total in King County to 6) both are in their 60s and in critical condition.

·        1 in Rhode Island: a man in his 40s who had traveled to Italy in mid-February. He is a member of the community of Saint Raphael Academy in Pawtucket.   

·        1 in illinois   

·        1 in California (third in Santa Clara County)   

·        1st case in the Dominican Republic, a 62-year old Italian citizen who entered the country on February 22nd.