Dr. Tom Frieden @DrTomFrieden #It may be hours, weeks, or months before we know if #COVID19 can be stopped. Here’s why we aren’t sure yet, and what it will mean if it’s not possible to contain. https://twitter.com/DrTomFrieden/status/1229926088224190464 https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/whats-next-covid-19 ....Right now, the crucial question for the world is whether the virus can be contained and eliminated, as SARS was, or is destined to continue to spread, as other coronaviruses that cause the common cold do. Containment means that the virus is eliminated, as we think SARS was eliminated, and no longer spreads among people. The odds of containment look vanishingly small, but not (quite) yet zero. There are at least half dozen good reasons to be pessimistic about containment, which may be why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is foreshadowing that containment may be impossible:.... ....Here’s what communities can do to blunt the health harms of a pandemic with a high case fatality rate, well outlined by CDC for influenza. ....first, reduce the number of people who get infected. This can be done by closing or curtailing hours of schools, limiting public gatherings, and increasing social distancing; encouraging handwashing and cough etiquette; quickly isolating those who are ill or who are at risk for becoming ill and infecting others; and cleaning frequently touched surfaces. Reducing spread to health care workers, patients, and visitors in hospitals is particularly important. ---- Augustus Pemberton @AugustusPember3 · 21h Replying to @DrTomFrieden Well written Doc!! 👍 An uphill battle, yes!! This virus has too many allies: trade, travel, tourism, war zones, poverty, overseas education, Belt and Road, greed, internal conflict, apathy, over reliance on China, economics, fear and speed. We have a total lacking of unity!! ---- 何凯丽 @k_wuttt #A patient can be simultaneously infected with the flu AND coronavirus. So if a patient tests positive for the flu, testing for coronavirus should be done, as well. If they’re never tested for #COVID19 and pass away, flu will list as the cause of death, by default. https://twitter.com/k_wuttt/status/1229889799567351813 #Yeah guidelines in USA ONLY test for corona virus IF the flu test came back negative for flu strains. Hospitals may still be following original guidelines as well re: central China travel... no cap This also means that the Hospital Staff are getting infected because they erroneously think the patient is an ordinary flu patient. https://twitter.com/felterbottom/status/1230200527356645376 #A 7-year-old boy died on Feb. 16 from flu complications in Delaware County, P.A. #“Ninety-two flu-related deaths have been reported in U.S. children, a higher total at this point of the year than in any season in the past decade.“ https://twitter.com/k_wuttt/status/1229897848059236354 ----- Molecular and serological investigation of 2019-nCoV infected patients: implication of multiple shedding routes This report says that when oral swabs turn out to be negative, an anal swab will detect the disease. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/22221751.2020.1729071#.Xk0snlo7ZWY.twitter https://twitter.com/MackayIM/status/1230109961516007424 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.14.20022939v1