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 202,272 (up from 185,461 yesterday)
- Total Confirmed Deaths Worldwide: 8,012 (up from 7,332 yesterday)
- Total Confirmed Recovered Worldwide: 82,813 (up from 79,935 yesterday)
- 167 Countries have confirmed cases (up from 162 yesterday) 4 more have suspected cases
- 6% of Active Cases are considered serious (requiring hospitalization), steady from 6% yesterday and down from 19% just 3 weeks ago
- US has 6,524 Confirmed Cases and 116 Deaths, up from 4,743 Cases and 93 deaths yesterday
- In the US, all 50 States plus Washington DC and 4 US Territories all have at least 1 confirmed case
- In a bid to disabuse younger patients of the notion that COVID-19 is only dangerous to older people, a Doctor in Belgium who has treated several younger victims said: "The images we took yesterday are nothing short of terrifying."
- "They just walk in, but they are terribly affected by the virus," Dr Ignace Demeyer told the Belgian broadcaster VRT.
- He said CT scans indicated they were suffering from severe lung damage.
- The report seems to validate reports out of Hong Kong and Korea that even younger victims who recover from COVID-19 may have permanent lung damage due to scarring on lung tissue, with one study suggesting a 20% permanent loss in lung function.
- "They are younger people who do not smoke, who have no other conditions such as diabetes or heart failure," Demeyer added.
- President Trump pressed Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to get checks of $1,000 per person per month into the hands of Americans starting within two weeks.
- The $1,000 per month stimulus would cost approximately $210 Billion per month, given the fact there are just over 209 Million American adults over the age of 18.
- "Millionaires would not receive the Freedom Dividend stimulus", Trump said.
- No details were provided as to who would be eligible to receive the stimulus or how monies would be distributed.
- His total proposed economic package alone could approach $1 trillion, a rescue initiative not seen since the Great Recession.
- Trump wants checks sent to the public within two weeks and is urging Congress to pass the eye-popping stimulus package in a matter of days.
- As analysts warn the country is surely entering a recession, the government is grappling with an enormous political undertaking not seen since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008.
- Former Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang said, "It's a great idea, and I'm glad he thought of it."
- In a bid to help couples avoid going stir crazy during Quarantine, Dr Oz recommends turning off Netflix and enjoying some 'quality time'.
- "The Best solution if you're holed up with your significant other in Quarantine is to have sex." Dr Oz suggested to TMZ.
- The Doctor indicated that having sex can reduce stress, plus studies show that human Immune System response is improved via regular lovemaking, the Dr indicated.
- "It's certainly better than staring at each other and getting on each other's nerves," he said.
- "Plus, you might make some babies, so go for it," the Doctor suggested.
- Secretary of Defense Mark Esper confirms that two US Hospital Ships have been activated and will be anchored off the East and West Coast of the US.
- USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort began the several days-long process of deployment on Tuesday, the Pentagon confirmed.
- DoD officials indicated the ships would most likely be used to take on Non-COVID-19 cases, allowing Hospitals to care for the most critically ill.
- Each ship is capable of adding approximately 1,000-bed additional capacity to regional hospitals.
- People with Type A blood are significantly more likely to catch coronavirus than those with Type O, Chinese academics have found.
- The study in Wuhan - the epicenter of the disease - also found those with Type A blood are more likely to die from COVID-19, with no clear indication as to why that might be true.
- Researchers note: The controversial correlation has yet to be scrutinized by other academics in peer review and the researchers are unable to explain why infection varies by blood type.
- University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research director Professor David Paterson said today they have seen two drugs used to treat other conditions wipe out the virus in test tubes.
- The Doctor is pressing Australian authorities to grant him leave to begin human clinical trials by the end of the month.
- Prof Paterson, who is also an infectious disease physician at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, said it wasn't a stretch to label the drugs "a treatment or a cure". "It's a potentially effective treatment," he said.
- The Doctor did warn that even if the anti-viral drugs prove to be effective, it may take months to get the studies through human clinical trials.
- "...If we can test it in this first wave of patients, and we do fully expect that there are going to be ongoing infections for months and months ahead, and therefore we'll have the best possible information to treat subsequent patients," Dr Paterson said.
- Amazon told sellers and vendors on Tuesday that it was suspending shipments of all nonessential products to its warehouses to deal with the increased workloads following the coronavirus outbreak.
- Amazon is now prioritizing medical supplies, household staples, and other high-demand products to its warehouses until April 5.
- The change only affects shipments to Amazon's warehouses, not the last-mile deliveries to consumers.
- "We are temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so that we can more quickly receive, restock, and deliver these products to customers," the message read.
- Thousands of household items currently show as out of stock or are back-ordered on Amazon's website, including canned goods, cleaning supplies, paper towels, toilet paper and hand soap.
- The 17-year-old Pomeranian, which belonged to a Covid-19 patient, had been quarantined at a government facility since February 26, and returned home on Saturday.
- The owner said she was not willing to allow an autopsy to determine the cause of death, according to Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.
- Doctors said the death does not necessarily indicate that COVID-19 is dangerous to pets or other animals, noting that other forms of Coronavirus including SARS-1 and MERS have not proven to be dangerous to animal health, even though they can be carriers of the virus and pass them to humans.
- A startling new report from Imperial College London warns that 2.2 million Americans and 510,000 Britons could die from coronavirus if extreme action isn't taken to change the course of the outbreak.
- The report's dire warnings prompted a quick course correction from both the American and British governments on their strategies, but its strict recommendations and long timeline — 18 months — to stem the tide could have far-reaching implications for both populations and economies.
- The report states the effectiveness of "mitigation," which includes isolating only the sick and those linked to them while advocating social distancing for at-risk groups, is extremely limited.
- It instead recommends "suppression," a much more wide-ranging tactic to curb coronavirus' spread, including extreme social distancing for several months.
- The researchers say that suppression "will minimally require a combination of social distancing of the entire population, home isolation of all suspected cases and household quarantine of their family members for any household with even 1 infection."
- It also recommends school closures for up to 6 months, including Primary schools and Colleges.
- The report notes that this strategy could have to be in place until a vaccine is developed, which could take 18 months — saying it is "the only viable strategy at the current time" to avoid high death rates.
- The study warned that based on the current Serious/Critical ratio of infected to those requiring hospitalization, over 250 hospital beds would be required for every 1 bed currently available.
