COVID-19 as of today (03-14-20, summary is my own, not my employer’s):

[Some Quick Definitions for Commonly Used Terms, skip ‘em if ya know ‘em:

Community Spread – Illness with an unknown source. This typically means that there are more cases in the community that have not been detected. May also be called community acquired or local transmission.

Cumulative Confirmed Case Fatality Rate – The total number of patients who were confirmed to have COVID-19 and died, divided by the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, from the beginning of the outbreak to today.

Line Listing – A list of all the cases in an outbreak and their details.

Patient Under Investigation (PUI) – A person who is showing one or more COVID-19 symptoms (fever, cough, difficulty breathing) who has not yet received test results.

Presumptive Positive – The first test back for a PUI is positive, but another test is still needed to confirm this. Confirmed means that two tests have shown that the case is positive.]

[QUICK NOTE: Today’s update is shorter than usual, as I’ve spent much of today putting together case count trends for US states and territories. I hope to have it finished by tomorrow! In the meantime, you can access your state or territory’s case count at the links posted at the end of this post.]

Cases in New Countries and Community Spread: Countries Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland), Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Mauritania, Namibia, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela and territory Curacao report their first COVID-19 case. 134 countries and 14 territories now have reported COVID-19 cases. 10 countries in the Western Pacific Region, 35 countries in the European Region, 6 countries in the South-East Asia Region, 11 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 10 countries in the Region of the Americas, 4 countries in the African Region, and 1 territory report community spread. [1, 2]

Countries with Highest Case Counts Across the World: Of the 156,396 COVID-19 cases now reported globally, 80,995 (51.8%) are from China, and 75,401 (48.2%) are from the rest of the world. The countries outside of China reporting more than 1,000 cases are Italy (21,157 – 1.7x its March 11 count), Iran (12,729 – 1.4x its March 11 count), South Korea (8,086 – just 1.04x its March 11 count), Spain (6,391 – 2.8x its March 11 count), Germany (4,585 – 2.4x its March 11 count), France (4,480 – 1.96x its March 11 count), the United States (2,951 – 2.3x its March 11 count), Switzerland (1,359 – 2.08x its March 11 count), the United Kingdom (1,143 – 2.5x its March 11 count), and Norway (1,090 – 1.8x its March 11 count). 47.3% of cases worldwide have recovered; 3.7% have died. [2]

Mexico Holds 2-Day Music Festival with 70,000+ Daily Attendees: Even though the country has almost doubled its case count in one day (from 14 to 26), it states that all confirmed cases are imported only, and proceeds with holding Vive Latino, a massive music festival in Mexico City. Vive Latino did not give festivalgoers the option to have their tickets refunded. Fans stand shoulder-to-shoulder to watch outdoor concerts. [1, 2, 3]

Testing in the US: The CDC is reporting that 19,744 COVID-19 tests have been conducted to date between public health and CDC laboratories. More tests than these have actually been conducted, but the agency is still collecting data for March 11-14. Also, commercial labs are not included in these counts. Quest Diagnostics began testing in San Juan Capistrano, CA on March 9; LabCorp began testing on March 6 and is expanding capacity to run 10,000 tests daily by March 22; the Mayo Clinic submitted their newly developed test to the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization on March 12. The FDA has given Emergency Use Authorization to Roche Molecular Systems (a 24 hour test), Thermo Fisher in the past two days, and has allowed for the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) to authorize certain laboratories in the state to begin patient testing after validating their tests and notifying the NYSDOH. [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

See How We Can “Flatten the Curve”: The Washington Post publishes an article with data visualizations that show how different interventions like social distancing (keeping 6 feet away from other people) could help to “flatten the curve” (spread cases out over a longer period of time so the healthcare system does not become overwhelmed and the case fatality rate stays lower). [10]

Hospital Workforce Strained by School Closures: Now that 21,900 U.S. grade schools (16% of all schools in the country) are closed, families must find out how to watch 15 million+ students at home during the day. Since older individuals are at higher risk for developing severe illness from COVID-19, many cannot provide babysitting services like they may do in a normal situation. Single-parent households will be disproportionately impacted. As many nurses have children currently in grade school, these closures may reduce an already strained hospital workforce. (NOTE: My post from 03-13-20 discusses how school closures may not have a significant impact on the spread of COVID-19.) [11]

Trump Extends Travel Ban: The same day a White House physician states that the US President tested negative for COVID-19, Trump extends the Europe travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland. [12]

Experts State the US Internet is Equipped to Handle Teleworking Surge: While experts generally agree that US internet providers won’t be overloaded by those who need to work from home, it may be challenging for families to try to videoconference, or for parents to try to videoconference with colleagues while their children are accessing online learning portals. [13]

How Families Can Prepare for COVID-19: An article in JAMA Pediatrics gives advice to families on how to talk with their children and prepare for COVID-19, including talking with your children about how you are keeping them safe from COVID-19; following trusted news sites and news sources; limiting your children’s exposure to media; storing a 2-week supply of food, water, and necessities such as diapers, prescription medications, and special equipment; and teaching children good handwashing techniques. [14]

Missing Data and Working Separately Leads to Slower Modeling of COVID-19 Spread: Ohio’s director of the Department of Public Health clarified that her statement that 100,000 people in the state have COVID-19 was “guesstimating.” She notes that the lack of widespread testing means that officials do not know for sure what the true case count is, and further stated that her estimate was based on there being community spread in the state, so 1% of the state’s population may already be infected, but she did not specifically state how she arrived at that calculation. A recent article in Science Translational Medicine calls for government agencies to coordinate mathematical modeling groups in the US, China and Europe, instead of accepting the status quo where groups are independently working on the same thing – trying to predict the spread of COVID-19. They also call for information to be freely shared across these groups on complicated disease and society variables that often take months to years to fully understand, which significantly slows researchers down on accurately predicting the spread of disease. [15, OH]

States with Highest Case Counts in the US: Every state except for West Virginia has reported one or more COVID-19 cases to date; the states with the highest case counts are Washington (642 – 1.75x its March 11 count), New York (613 – 2.8x its March 11 count), California (288 – 1.6x its March 11 count), Massachusetts (138 – 1.45x its March 11 count), and Colorado (101 – 3.06x its March 11 count). [CA, CO, MA, NY, WA, WV]

[1] WHO COVID-19 Situation Report, 03-14-20

https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200314-sitrep-54-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=dcd46351_2

[2] Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Map

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

[3] Mexico holds big music festival despite coronavirus concerns

https://apnews.com/96c71c1f4bd4c202d1d06e00b9f36d51

[4] Testing in U.S.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/testing-in-us.html

[5] Our Response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

https://www.questdiagnostics.com/home/Covid-19/

[6] Information from LabCorp about Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

https://www.labcorp.com/information-labcorp-about-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19

[7] Mayo Clinic develops test to detect COVID-19

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-develops-test-to-detect-covid-19/

[8] Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA gives flexibility to New York State Department of Health, FDA issues Emergency Use Authorization diagnostic

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-gives-flexibility-new-york-state-department-health-fda-issues

[9] Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization to Thermo Fisher

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-issues-emergency-use-authorization-thermo-fisher

[10] Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to “flatten the curve”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/

[11] U.S. hospitals say coronavirus school closures add to staffing pressure

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-nurses/us-hospitals-say-coronavirus-school-closures-add-to-staffing-pressure-idUSKBN2110JO

[12] Trump tests negative for coronavirus, extends travel ban to Britain, Ireland

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/trump-tests-negative-for-coronavirus-extends-travel-ban-to-britain-ireland-idUSKBN2110UX

[13] U.S. internet well-equipped to handle work from home surge

https://apnews.com/127058dcac00c9eb20168c25a68abf01

[14] What Does the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Mean for Families?

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2763176

[15] New coronavirus outbreak: Framing questions for pandemic prevention

https://stm.sciencemag.org/content/12/534/eabb1469

[CA] State Health & Emergency Officials Announce Latest COVID-19 Facts

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR20-022.aspx

[CO] Colorado COVID-19 Case Summary

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRSxDeeJEaDxir0cCd9Sfji8ZPKzNaCPZnvRCbG63Oa1ztz4B4r7xG_wsoC9ucd_ei3--Pz7UD50yQD/pub

[MA] COVID-19 Cases in Massachusetts

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-cases-quarantine-and-monitoring#covid-19-cases-in-massachusetts-

[NY] Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/coronavirus/

[OH] Ohio official was 'guesstimating' statement that 100,000 people have coronavirus

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/487534-ohio-official-was-guesstimating-statement-that-100000-people-have

[WA] 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak (COVID-19)

https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR1gRRR3DEWyfsD3ZNt353IR2V0fSb5jpS-HEq46UmykfGtVT8WP99n7wdo

[WV] Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

https://dhhr.wv.gov/COVID-19/Pages/default.aspx

Case Counts:

[AK] http://dhss.alaska.gov/dph/Epi/id/Pages/COVID-19/monitoring.aspx

[AL] http://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/infectiousdiseases/2019-coronavirus.html?fbclid=IwAR18B-kvJCwGeA3KA36MA_0UVCaFZWAYAelaJdHrslrdz1A4wNMWoB7yHVM

[AR] https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/programs-services/topics/novel-coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR2OLuVZJCHVzniFyufEP9HabhvbYXHKwaRTN3go7cmqByvWdHdhhbw-uOI

[AS] https://www.facebook.com/pages/Department-of-Public-Health-of-American-Samoa-Government/1413376138884258

[AZ] https://www.azdhs.gov/preparedness/epidemiology-disease-control/infectious-disease-epidemiology/index.php?fbclid=IwAR3TOhmeCMbqJaWvGHoWZwBikVLwYOm6qW9JZk4htumG0jjcKYZ73xTO2f4#novel-coronavirus-home

[CA] https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/nCoV2019.aspx?fbclid=IwAR3NRtTwAD6j-F6sjRJ02vLXp4ySWiNGhZQP0djRMVSPGPCBts5ScIj71ao

[CO] https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRSxDeeJEaDxir0cCd9Sfji8ZPKzNaCPZnvRCbG63Oa1ztz4B4r7xG_wsoC9ucd_ei3--Pz7UD50yQD/pub

[CT] https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Public-Health-Preparedness/Main-Page/2019-Novel-Coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR1v7Mlwy8UlM-dm-Q8NxvcP0R5GX_zo0dKG6O0PCER6x1QDK85ladTGo8Q

[DC] https://coronavirus.dc.gov/page/coronavirus-surveillance-data

[DE] https://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/epi/2019novelcoronavirus.html?fbclid=IwAR2OLuVZJCHVzniFyufEP9HabhvbYXHKwaRTN3go7cmqByvWdHdhhbw-uOI

[FL] http://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/COVID-19/?fbclid=IwAR3zXakwcgURdBJVn458AgfTDLAlnMjwgrHTrQTzjgkdk3NnwPsB7uayBp8

[GA] https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report

[GU] https://dphss.guam.gov/dph/

[HI] https://health.hawaii.gov/docd/advisories/novel-coronavirus-2019/?fbclid=IwAR0g7kmgzSKLu0TF1G68NeSQzGR0rlwNrTkTtPQVhXNBLLMdULzO2M2pVx4

[IA] https://idph.iowa.gov/Emerging-Health-Issues/Novel-Coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR15APNbf7tqbAOFyt3CDngUPhbGnpFceUujOlYWsKuIm5bR3KaQcFGtmX0

[ID] https://coronavirus.idaho.gov/?fbclid=IwAR1w3wvNy-eJ6in8CPp3rH1u2iPKjvTt__KAVpvOiO2D5l-0mbd0sWCukKk

[IL] http://www.dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/diseases-and-conditions/diseases-a-z-list/coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR1WFc9u6008uNbURvlx5_fw7M9Rzz-6yYJ9AGrdPJBj_QhDgSepS9xjepQ

[IN] https://www.in.gov/isdh/28470.htm?fbclid=IwAR38xC9Zkuc7BOwBJCNhDtihYC_ZXcka1P_s3aBkozYi5jYFGp4R_lecZFc

[KS] http://www.kdheks.gov/coronavirus/index.htm?fbclid=IwAR1WFc9u6008uNbURvlx5_fw7M9Rzz-6yYJ9AGrdPJBj_QhDgSepS9xjepQ

[KY] https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/pages/covid19.aspx

[LA] http://ldh.la.gov/index.cfm/page/3835?fbclid=IwAR3lVD4F_PV5qTxdGHXnGGAQzB9gg4maODPGH2qbcWzOp_etmODyVU2TvBA

[MA] https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-cases-quarantine-and-monitoring#covid-19-cases-in-massachusetts-

[MD] https://phpa.health.maryland.gov/Pages/Novel-coronavirus.aspx?fbclid=IwAR1KtLRm2zPWYe3Q8C-pcfkHvwu2_Z7jQJFClCgDoBvmknc9tMVCJbvZd-k

[ME] https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/airborne/coronavirus.shtml?fbclid=IwAR0JdQxQy-K7LIZ5GeTtVLITwhBa1JOyXeD_4TSoy4t5qzeKfTrvjGgShMg

[MI] https://www.michigan.gov/Coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR1NfVrPjmKj0XSuMV5dj5Z8zU36q8n9-77s1VbN_uDcH8v8vnQRXxail9g

[MN] https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/situation.html

[MO] https://health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/communicable/novel-coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR2aegWHC7tA4QxLaDG6khmxWIUgGEVw5Sj4fbSJg-1j9s3VvXoNRAteoT4

[MS] https://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/14,0,420.html?fbclid=IwAR1VesxeB0lPhVWTHYm-Jx8btWCTNL9U5v5RkQ5a3LiNCTXgNZUtjzN6EUI

[MT] https://dphhs.mt.gov/publichealth/cdepi/diseases/coronavirusmt?fbclid=IwAR2iD35hcQW-Me2zJLE46N37rm3oBCFaiop7iDN3mXb6AnhftNtLuKxuaHk

[NC] https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/public-health/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-response-north-carolina?fbclid=IwAR0Yypl1MQmJs-pBdRzu3AGMHVCg0RKEZseza6u-CAXbt-UPsSVlF0kZsBg

[ND] https://www.health.nd.gov/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/north-dakota-coronavirus-cases

[NE] http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx?fbclid=IwAR2vD8VP-01i1_-hsqIWBOgLa5QDa95s6C2JjrUq0-46_4uRjRkiNGAgkLg

[NH] https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/2019-ncov.htm?fbclid=IwAR0eHAlkmf9e1MlFsMkyGCvEhVxwPIqs-u-ZxDzGqqaczzgOG9jWTjT5VLo

[NJ] https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/ncov.shtml

[NM] https://cv.nmhealth.org/?fbclid=IwAR3zXakwcgURdBJVn458AgfTDLAlnMjwgrHTrQTzjgkdk3NnwPsB7uayBp8

[NMI] http://ghdx.healthdata.org/organizations/department-public-health-northern-marianas-islands

[NV] http://dpbh.nv.gov/coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR3sC1Vg7OwVGDQz9CZscXOz-GgYfZbPvUS0C07PxlNqcqRQzxHgmQOJMXI

[NY] https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/coronavirus/

[OH] https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/

[OK] https://www.ok.gov/health/Prevention_and_Preparedness/Acute_Disease_Service/Disease_Information/Coronavirus_Disease_2019/Oklahoma_Response_to_Coronavirus_Disease_2019/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2KQ82fLtS7De0FiVPmlYLy7RJG4gRUkv70cgGR4XoVs-2YLTiCRCIZ2MY

[OR] https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/DISEASESCONDITIONS/DISEASESAZ/Pages/emerging-respiratory-infections.aspx?fbclid=IwAR23myCIe1eSMMzK82dDZW9MUgnqBcDz_Yqt_qYMT4ut6LiNDSisBwRil7g

[PA] https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx?fbclid=IwAR0uVl96gqRgLIXAYADDYls5nsXLY4-gMV9RYRT6xW51lSEBx7mGt9QN7e0

[PR] https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/content.aspx?ID=10165&lvl=2&lvlid=51

[RI] https://health.ri.gov/data/covid-19/

[SC] https://www.scdhec.gov/infectious-diseases/viruses/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/monitoring-testing-covid-19

[SD] https://doh.sd.gov/news/Coronavirus.aspx?fbclid=IwAR2jcoK1PVFarO4R3PTpCjVQ-CY0MrG5qbEJcEGdvHy1qps6du065d3TT1U

[TN] https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov.html?fbclid=IwAR1gRRR3DEWyfsD3ZNt353IR2V0fSb5jpS-HEq46UmykfGtVT8WP99n7wdo

[TX] https://www.dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR1gRRR3DEWyfsD3ZNt353IR2V0fSb5jpS-HEq46UmykfGtVT8WP99n7wdo

[USVI] https://doh.vi.gov/sites/default/files/COVID-19%20Status%20Update%20in%20the%20U.S.%20Virgin%20Islands%20.pdf

[UT] https://coronavirus.utah.gov/latest/

[VA] http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/surveillance-and-investigation/novel-coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR11jjjoH0A5bsvJaQudoI-lw66YZuB7JmcTk3OfKgqk_ygF1RTHAtwiCWo

[VT] https://www.healthvermont.gov/response/infectious-disease/2019-novel-coronavirus

[WA] https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR1gRRR3DEWyfsD3ZNt353IR2V0fSb5jpS-HEq46UmykfGtVT8WP99n7wdo

[WI] https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/outbreaks/index.htm?fbclid=IwAR2sXEUe6Wc9q1YQcZIrGoUawj0axJ0hTB47tF3Ad_FdxMI0lCHoD0pjucM

[WV] https://dhhr.wv.gov/Coronavirus%20Disease-COVID-19/Pages/default.aspx?fbclid=IwAR0WqQTff4ICQZNZViGTcKJ4My_WkydGSZPXp5fcRWqbaPdLChG39i5pO2U

[WY] https://health.wyo.gov/publichealth/infectious-disease-epidemiology-unit/disease/novel-coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR1wmcgl4Zps7eeHhbSfOXHCKmuxx1ICiAl7TLGOfGWQRxjhQqVFrGxBcVs