The U.S. government is fighting to contain and slow down the spread
of the coronavirus. Testing is central to these efforts. Molecular
biologist and viral researcher Maureen Ferran answers some basic
questions about how these diagnostic tests work—and if there are enough
to go around.
Who gets tested for the virus?
Currently there are two main reasons someone would be tested for the coronavirus: having symptoms or exposure to an infected person.
The main symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, are fever, dry cough and shortness of breath. These look a lot like the flu and the common cold, so it takes a physician to determine if testing for the virus is necessary.
Initially, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended
testing only people with symptoms and who had potentially been exposed
to the virus. But to the surprise of public health officials, several of
the first people in the U.S. who tested positive for the virus had no
obvious exposure. This development suggested that the virus was being
transmitted locally, meaning it was spreading from person to person
easily and/or that people may have been transmitting the virus without
experiencing serious symptoms.
In response, on March 4 the CDC changed its recommendations to allow anyone with COVID-19-like symptoms to be tested as long as a doctor approved the request. Since the number of available tests is limited, the CDC is encouraging physicians to minimize unnecessary testing and consider a patient’s exposure risks before ordering tests.
As of writing this, there are no specific treatments available for
COVID-19, but that does not mean testing is pointless. Perhaps most
importantly, testing is done so that infected patients can be
quarantined and the spread of the virus slowed. Another benefit of
testing is that it lets public health workers build a more accurate picture of the number of cases and how the virus is spreading in the population.
What it is like to get tested?
For a patient, the process of being tested for the virus is easy and can potentially be done almost anywhere. It typically involves taking a swab from deep in a patient’s nasal cavity to collect cells from the back of the nose.
The sample is then sent to a lab, where it will be tested to determine
if the patient’s cells are infected with the virus. The same process is
used to collect a sample from a patient who is tested for flu.
How does the test work?
While collecting a sample is easy, actually determining whether a
person is infected with the coronavirus is much more complicated. The
current method looks for the virus’s genetic material (RNA) in a patient’s cells.
In order to detect the presence of RNA in the patient’s sample, labs perform a test called reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction.
This method first converts any viral RNA to DNA. Then the DNA is
replicated millions of times until there are enough copies to detect
using a specialized piece of equipment called a quantitative PCR
instrument.
If genetic material from the virus is found in the sample, then the patient is infected with the virus.
It takes 24-72 hours to get the results of a test. During the early ramp-up of testing, there were some concerns about the test’s accuracy
after one study found 3% of tests in China came back negative when the
samples were actually positive. But this type of genetic test is generally very accurate—more so even than rapid flu tests – and the benefits of testing outweigh the risk of an error.
Does the US have enough tests?
The availability of tests has been a big issue. Prior to Feb. 29, the CDC was the only place approved by the FDA to develop, produce and process tests. However, as the number of suspected cases climbed and doctors approved more people for testing, demand to be tested soared.
The test for the coronavirus requires a kit, specialized equipment and specially trained personnel.
Faulty and slow development of test kits and the initial requirement
that all tests be processed at the CDC contributed to the slow rollout across the U.S.
As pressure on the federal government to make tests available
increased, the FDA announced a new policy on Feb. 29 that made it easier
for commercial and academic laboratories to develop their own tests and allowed other certified labs to test patient samples.
Integrated DNA Technologies, a CDC contractor, shipped 700,000 tests
to commercial, academic and health care laboratories on March 6. Quest
Diagnostics and LabCorp, two large commercial test manufacturers,
started making their own test kits, which became available on March 9. Many companies, hospitals and other institutions are now racing to develop more tests to diagnose COVID-19.
On March 10, Alex Azar, secretary of Health and Human Services, announced that 2.1 million testing kits are now available and more than 1 million have shipped to certified labs for testing. Millions more are expected to ship out this week.
Does everyone really need to be tested?
Realistically, it isn’t feasible to test everyone who is sick in the
U.S. Therefore, most health officials believe it is important to prioritize the testing of people who need it the most:
those at high risk such as health care workers who have been in contact
with COVID-19 patients; symptomatic people in areas with high infection
rates; and people 65 years of age and older with chronic health issues,
such as heart disease, lung disease or diabetes. As more tests become
available, it will be possible to test more people.
There’s also a need to develop faster tests that do not require
special equipment and personnel. Testing allows experts to better
understand how the outbreak is progressing and try to predict the impact
the virus will have on society.
As with all outbreaks, this pandemic will end. In the meantime,
however, people need to wash their hands and try to minimize their risk
of exposure. There is much to be learned about this novel coronavirus.
Only time will tell if it disappears from the human population, as SARS
did in 2004, or becomes a seasonal disease like flu.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-03-coronavirus_1_2.html
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Dine out or eat in during the coronavirus crisis?
Not on the menu for many these days: Dining out.
As our fears of catching the coronavirus grow by the day, so has our hesitation to venture out of the house, especially now that COVID-19 has been officially classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
A party of one, two or four around the kitchen or dining room table is sounding a lot more appeal to many people than communal meals in restaurants. “I’ll have what they’re having” is starting to take on an ominous meaning.
One-third of Americans say they plan to stick closer to home and dine at restaurants less frequently, according to restaurant industry research group Technomic.
Until a week ago, John Sanger, 40, a software developer and military veteran living in Orlando, Florida, went out to eat almost daily. Now, he’s working from home and he’s stopped going to restaurants or ordering in food, opting instead for prepared meals. He shops for groceries at Walmart in the wee hours to avoid crowds.
“I’m trying to minimize my contact with other people,” said Sanger, a keyboardist who shops for groceries at Walmart in the wee hours to avoid crowds and has stopped meeting up with friends or practicing with his band.
Aleka Gürel says she was already an avid home cook but is using the recommendation from public health officials to practice social distancing “as an excuse to stay in and cook more.”
Gürel, who lives in San Francisco and works at HealthSherpa, an online broker authorized to sell Affordable Care Act plans, stocked up on dry beans, lentils and chickpeas and pulled together her favorite recipes that rely on pantry staples which she shared in a blog post on “home cooking in the time of coronavirus.”
“I hope it encourages people without much cooking experience to try new things, especially if they have to self-quarantine and are stuck home for a long time,” Gürel says.
Tabitha Banks, 49, an investment operations analyst from Atlanta, Georgia, decided to stop eating out Wednesday after reading reports that a Waffle House employee and a Walmart employee had tested positive for the coronavirus. She doesn’t love to cook so she’ll be making one-pot meals in her crock pot that can last a couple of days.
“That’s when it really hit me that this virus is spreading and I’m going to have to do more than just washing my hands regularly,” Banks says. “I’m going to have to make other changes to ensure that I protect myself from infection.”
Not everyone is ready to start skipping restaurant meals just yet. Is it safe to dine out? Or is eating in the way to go now? We got the lowdown from public health and food safety experts.
Is it safe to dine out? Yes, but …
Public health experts say it’s safe to dine out as long as you take precautions such as frequently cleaning your hands with soap or hand sanitizer and staying at least three feet away from anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
“As things stand today, based on the information we have from the Centers for Disease Control and information from local and state public health officials, I don’t see any basis for recommendations that people not dine out,” says food safety expert Benjamin Chapman, a professor at North Carolina State University.
Coronavirus is a respiratory illness spread through droplets, from a cough or sneeze, to someone else’s nose or eyes. There’s no evidence that the illness is transmitted through food, says Craig Hedberg, a University of Minnesota professor and an expert on food-borne illness.
“One of the concerns that everybody has is if you are out in the public and you are in close proximity with other people, are you going to be exposed to potential respiratory secretions,” he says.
Taking precautions, you can continue to dine out with fairly minimal risk, Hedberg says. But that recommendation does not apply to people in high-risk groups who are being advised by the CDC to avoid crowds.
Older people and those with underlying conditions in areas where the virus is spreading should take steps to keep their distance from others and stay home as much as possible, and that includes eating out, says Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at George Washington University’s Milken School of Public Health and a former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore.
Young and healthy individuals can continue to eat out if they take the recommended precautions, public health experts say.
Public health advice could change
If you are unsure whether it’s safe to eat out, consult the latest information from your local and state public health officials and from the CDC.
“Follow the advice of your local public health official, we can’t give blanket advice because communities and people are so different,” Wen says.
The more we learn about the coronavirus and the farther it spreads, recommendations may change.
Public health experts urge everyone to stay tuned to the latest information from local public health officials and the CDC. Recommendations will vary depending on the current conditions in your local community.
“As cities and states experience more cases and cases that can’t be linked to other known sources of exposure, it increases the likelihood that we will see unrecognized chains of transmission,” Hedberg says. “Community spread of the virus may increase the need to reduce your exposure in public settings.”
Pro tips for dining out
Coronavirus is not known to be transmitted through food, but hard surfaces—utensils, menus, salt and pepper shakers, condiments, door handles, tables—can be contaminated by droplets. So, throughout your meal, each time you touch something—the menu while ordering or the ketchup bottle when loading up your burger—avoid touching your face or eating until you wash your hands or rub them with hand sanitizer.
“One of the biggest benefits we have with this virus is that hand sanitizer is really effective against it and hand washing is a good protective measure,” Chapman says.
Public health experts say it’s critical that anyone who is feeling sick should not set food in restaurants to avoid exposing patrons and staff.
“One of the main messages I want to send to people is: If you are not well, you should stay home,” Hedberg says. “If you go out and there are people coughing and sneezing around you, that would make you a little uncomfortable. To be fair to the other people in the restaurant, you should not be there.”
What about buffets?
On Tuesday, MGM Resorts International announced it would shut down buffets on the Las Vegas Strip starting Sunday. The buffet closures at popular hotels including Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Luxor and Excalibur are temporary and will be evaluated on a weekly basis, MGM Resorts said.
“To the extent that one of the features of a buffet is people are queuing up to get access to the food, that means there are a lot more people you could be exposed to,” Hedberg says. “If you’re going to a buffet in a city that has had 100 cases of coronavirus, that would pose potentially more of a risk than a buffet in a city that has had no cases.”
Chapman says restaurants don’t have to put the kibosh on buffets, but they should take precautions. After all, those protective plexiglass shields are called “sneeze guards” for a reason.
“I do think there are ways to manage buffets safely,” he says. For example, restaurants could staff buffets with food servers “kind of like the cafeteria line in school” instead of patrons serving themselves with tongs, he says.
If you are nervous, ask an employee to serve you or ask for protective gloves. And don’t handle serving utensils at a buffet and then touch your face until you wash your hands or use hand sanitizer.
Is delivery less risky than dining out?
The short answer is yes. The CDC is advising people at high risk in outbreak areas to have food brought to the house by family members or friends or by delivery services.
A number of services including Postmates and Doordash are letting customers request that deliveries be left on the doorstep to limit exposure even more. Doordash drivers are being advised to clean their cars and hot bags and urged to stay at home if they feel sick especially if they are suffering from respiratory symptoms.
Larry Lynch, senior vice president of certification and operations for the National Restaurant Association, said his group is advising restaurants to pay closer attention to drivers and make sure they aren’t showing any symptoms before they go out on delivery runs.
“I think contactless delivery is a good alternative,” Chapman says. But, again, be sure to wash your hands after handling the packaging, though “we don’t really have a good sense that packaging is a good place to transfer this pathogen,” he says.
Should you worry about infected food service workers?
Diners are understandably concerned about being exposed to ailing food service workers who prepare and serve so much of the food we eat every day.
“As far as we know, the coronavirus is not transmitted by a fecal or oral route and it’s extremely unlikely to get the disease from someone with the infection who is preparing food,” Wen says. “But it’s still good to take precautions when dining out.”
Restaurant industry groups say they are advising members to make sure their staffers are not coming to work sick. The CDC says 1 in 5 food service workers have admitted going to work at least once in the previous year with symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea.
“If restaurants are doing their job, the workers serving should be free of symptoms and the kitchen staff should be free of symptoms,” Hedberg says.
Restaurants: We’ve got this
The top two ways that patrons want restaurants to respond to the coronavirus, according to Technomic: Give sick employees time off and follow proper sanitation procedures.
The food service industry is heavily regulated by health officials and has had protocols in place for decades to prevent food-borne diseases such as norovirus, which causes nearly 60% of all foodborne illness outbreaks.
“The restaurant industry is really prepared for this. Because of influenza, norovirus, hepatitis-A and other viruses, they spend a lot of time thinking about this in the restaurant industry,” Chapman says. “A lot of thought has been put into regulations and operating procedures.”
Restaurants across the country say they are doubling down on cleaning procedures and instituting new ones to keep customers and employees safe.
In San Francisco, Word. A Cafe has rearranged its dining room to keep tables five feet apart wherever possible and it’s encouraging diners to take food home or outside. It’s also waiving all charges for take-out packaging. Order ahead and staff can deliver your food curbside.
“We hope this is taken as a signal to our community that we value the health of everyone who comes through our doors,” owners Carl Hall and Kat Anderson said in an email.
Many restaurants are increasing the number of hand sanitizer dispensers, cleaning shared serving utensils more frequently, wiping down chairs and tables after each use with fresh cleaning cloths or disposable towels and disinfectants that the Environmental Protection Agency says are effective against COVID-19, and sanitizing other high-touch surfaces more often.
Lynch says the National Restaurant Association has suggested restaurants provide hand sanitizer and tissues to patrons to add to their “comfort level.” Concerned patrons should also ask the restaurant manager what additional safety measures are being taken, Lynch said.
If you have any nagging doubts, check the food safety ratings. You can Google it or check out the Food Safety Network.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-03-dine-coronavirus-crisis-health-food.html
As our fears of catching the coronavirus grow by the day, so has our hesitation to venture out of the house, especially now that COVID-19 has been officially classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
A party of one, two or four around the kitchen or dining room table is sounding a lot more appeal to many people than communal meals in restaurants. “I’ll have what they’re having” is starting to take on an ominous meaning.
One-third of Americans say they plan to stick closer to home and dine at restaurants less frequently, according to restaurant industry research group Technomic.
Until a week ago, John Sanger, 40, a software developer and military veteran living in Orlando, Florida, went out to eat almost daily. Now, he’s working from home and he’s stopped going to restaurants or ordering in food, opting instead for prepared meals. He shops for groceries at Walmart in the wee hours to avoid crowds.
“I’m trying to minimize my contact with other people,” said Sanger, a keyboardist who shops for groceries at Walmart in the wee hours to avoid crowds and has stopped meeting up with friends or practicing with his band.
Aleka Gürel says she was already an avid home cook but is using the recommendation from public health officials to practice social distancing “as an excuse to stay in and cook more.”
Gürel, who lives in San Francisco and works at HealthSherpa, an online broker authorized to sell Affordable Care Act plans, stocked up on dry beans, lentils and chickpeas and pulled together her favorite recipes that rely on pantry staples which she shared in a blog post on “home cooking in the time of coronavirus.”
“I hope it encourages people without much cooking experience to try new things, especially if they have to self-quarantine and are stuck home for a long time,” Gürel says.
Tabitha Banks, 49, an investment operations analyst from Atlanta, Georgia, decided to stop eating out Wednesday after reading reports that a Waffle House employee and a Walmart employee had tested positive for the coronavirus. She doesn’t love to cook so she’ll be making one-pot meals in her crock pot that can last a couple of days.
“That’s when it really hit me that this virus is spreading and I’m going to have to do more than just washing my hands regularly,” Banks says. “I’m going to have to make other changes to ensure that I protect myself from infection.”
Not everyone is ready to start skipping restaurant meals just yet. Is it safe to dine out? Or is eating in the way to go now? We got the lowdown from public health and food safety experts.
Is it safe to dine out? Yes, but …
Public health experts say it’s safe to dine out as long as you take precautions such as frequently cleaning your hands with soap or hand sanitizer and staying at least three feet away from anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
“As things stand today, based on the information we have from the Centers for Disease Control and information from local and state public health officials, I don’t see any basis for recommendations that people not dine out,” says food safety expert Benjamin Chapman, a professor at North Carolina State University.
Coronavirus is a respiratory illness spread through droplets, from a cough or sneeze, to someone else’s nose or eyes. There’s no evidence that the illness is transmitted through food, says Craig Hedberg, a University of Minnesota professor and an expert on food-borne illness.
“One of the concerns that everybody has is if you are out in the public and you are in close proximity with other people, are you going to be exposed to potential respiratory secretions,” he says.
Taking precautions, you can continue to dine out with fairly minimal risk, Hedberg says. But that recommendation does not apply to people in high-risk groups who are being advised by the CDC to avoid crowds.
Older people and those with underlying conditions in areas where the virus is spreading should take steps to keep their distance from others and stay home as much as possible, and that includes eating out, says Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at George Washington University’s Milken School of Public Health and a former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore.
Young and healthy individuals can continue to eat out if they take the recommended precautions, public health experts say.
Public health advice could change
If you are unsure whether it’s safe to eat out, consult the latest information from your local and state public health officials and from the CDC.
“Follow the advice of your local public health official, we can’t give blanket advice because communities and people are so different,” Wen says.
The more we learn about the coronavirus and the farther it spreads, recommendations may change.
Public health experts urge everyone to stay tuned to the latest information from local public health officials and the CDC. Recommendations will vary depending on the current conditions in your local community.
“As cities and states experience more cases and cases that can’t be linked to other known sources of exposure, it increases the likelihood that we will see unrecognized chains of transmission,” Hedberg says. “Community spread of the virus may increase the need to reduce your exposure in public settings.”
Pro tips for dining out
Coronavirus is not known to be transmitted through food, but hard surfaces—utensils, menus, salt and pepper shakers, condiments, door handles, tables—can be contaminated by droplets. So, throughout your meal, each time you touch something—the menu while ordering or the ketchup bottle when loading up your burger—avoid touching your face or eating until you wash your hands or rub them with hand sanitizer.
“One of the biggest benefits we have with this virus is that hand sanitizer is really effective against it and hand washing is a good protective measure,” Chapman says.
Public health experts say it’s critical that anyone who is feeling sick should not set food in restaurants to avoid exposing patrons and staff.
“One of the main messages I want to send to people is: If you are not well, you should stay home,” Hedberg says. “If you go out and there are people coughing and sneezing around you, that would make you a little uncomfortable. To be fair to the other people in the restaurant, you should not be there.”
What about buffets?
On Tuesday, MGM Resorts International announced it would shut down buffets on the Las Vegas Strip starting Sunday. The buffet closures at popular hotels including Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Luxor and Excalibur are temporary and will be evaluated on a weekly basis, MGM Resorts said.
“To the extent that one of the features of a buffet is people are queuing up to get access to the food, that means there are a lot more people you could be exposed to,” Hedberg says. “If you’re going to a buffet in a city that has had 100 cases of coronavirus, that would pose potentially more of a risk than a buffet in a city that has had no cases.”
Chapman says restaurants don’t have to put the kibosh on buffets, but they should take precautions. After all, those protective plexiglass shields are called “sneeze guards” for a reason.
“I do think there are ways to manage buffets safely,” he says. For example, restaurants could staff buffets with food servers “kind of like the cafeteria line in school” instead of patrons serving themselves with tongs, he says.
If you are nervous, ask an employee to serve you or ask for protective gloves. And don’t handle serving utensils at a buffet and then touch your face until you wash your hands or use hand sanitizer.
Is delivery less risky than dining out?
The short answer is yes. The CDC is advising people at high risk in outbreak areas to have food brought to the house by family members or friends or by delivery services.
A number of services including Postmates and Doordash are letting customers request that deliveries be left on the doorstep to limit exposure even more. Doordash drivers are being advised to clean their cars and hot bags and urged to stay at home if they feel sick especially if they are suffering from respiratory symptoms.
Larry Lynch, senior vice president of certification and operations for the National Restaurant Association, said his group is advising restaurants to pay closer attention to drivers and make sure they aren’t showing any symptoms before they go out on delivery runs.
“I think contactless delivery is a good alternative,” Chapman says. But, again, be sure to wash your hands after handling the packaging, though “we don’t really have a good sense that packaging is a good place to transfer this pathogen,” he says.
Should you worry about infected food service workers?
Diners are understandably concerned about being exposed to ailing food service workers who prepare and serve so much of the food we eat every day.
“As far as we know, the coronavirus is not transmitted by a fecal or oral route and it’s extremely unlikely to get the disease from someone with the infection who is preparing food,” Wen says. “But it’s still good to take precautions when dining out.”
Restaurant industry groups say they are advising members to make sure their staffers are not coming to work sick. The CDC says 1 in 5 food service workers have admitted going to work at least once in the previous year with symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea.
“If restaurants are doing their job, the workers serving should be free of symptoms and the kitchen staff should be free of symptoms,” Hedberg says.
Restaurants: We’ve got this
The top two ways that patrons want restaurants to respond to the coronavirus, according to Technomic: Give sick employees time off and follow proper sanitation procedures.
The food service industry is heavily regulated by health officials and has had protocols in place for decades to prevent food-borne diseases such as norovirus, which causes nearly 60% of all foodborne illness outbreaks.
“The restaurant industry is really prepared for this. Because of influenza, norovirus, hepatitis-A and other viruses, they spend a lot of time thinking about this in the restaurant industry,” Chapman says. “A lot of thought has been put into regulations and operating procedures.”
Restaurants across the country say they are doubling down on cleaning procedures and instituting new ones to keep customers and employees safe.
In San Francisco, Word. A Cafe has rearranged its dining room to keep tables five feet apart wherever possible and it’s encouraging diners to take food home or outside. It’s also waiving all charges for take-out packaging. Order ahead and staff can deliver your food curbside.
“We hope this is taken as a signal to our community that we value the health of everyone who comes through our doors,” owners Carl Hall and Kat Anderson said in an email.
Many restaurants are increasing the number of hand sanitizer dispensers, cleaning shared serving utensils more frequently, wiping down chairs and tables after each use with fresh cleaning cloths or disposable towels and disinfectants that the Environmental Protection Agency says are effective against COVID-19, and sanitizing other high-touch surfaces more often.
Lynch says the National Restaurant Association has suggested restaurants provide hand sanitizer and tissues to patrons to add to their “comfort level.” Concerned patrons should also ask the restaurant manager what additional safety measures are being taken, Lynch said.
If you have any nagging doubts, check the food safety ratings. You can Google it or check out the Food Safety Network.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-03-dine-coronavirus-crisis-health-food.html
India reports first coronavirus death amid new restrictions
India on Thursday reported its first coronavirus death as authorities
ordered schools, theatres and cinemas closed in New Delhi for the rest
of the month in a bid to keep the pandemic at bay.
The government in the southern state of Karnataka said that a 76-year-old man who died on Tuesday had been confirmed as a coronavirus carrier and that it was trying to trace those who had been in contact with him.
India with its 1.3 billion population and proximity to China has so far come through the global virus crisis, that has killed more than 4,600 people, relatively unscathed.
The death was announced, however, only hours after India suspended all visas for incoming tourists from Friday and ordered the closure of most border points with neighbouring Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Only diplomats and others with official visas will escape the clampdown. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he has now stopped all foreign trips by government ministers.
The health alert has grown across India as the number of cases has surged from about 30 on Sunday to more than 70 on Thursday.
Even though only six coronavirus cases have been reported in the capital, the New Delhi chief minister said the city of 20 million people is now in an “epidemic”.
Arvind Kejriwal ordered the closure of schools, cinemas and theatres until at least March 31 and said that empty public housing blocks and hospitals under construction could be used to quarantine those infected.
“We have sufficient beds for quarantine facilities,” the chief minister said in announcing the measures.
The southern state of Kerala has been worst hit with 17 cases. Authorities have started using GPS tracking on more than 730 people who are under quarantine in the state’s Pathanamthitta district to make sure they do not leave their homes, media reports said.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-03-india-coronavirus-death-restrictions.html
The government in the southern state of Karnataka said that a 76-year-old man who died on Tuesday had been confirmed as a coronavirus carrier and that it was trying to trace those who had been in contact with him.
India with its 1.3 billion population and proximity to China has so far come through the global virus crisis, that has killed more than 4,600 people, relatively unscathed.
The death was announced, however, only hours after India suspended all visas for incoming tourists from Friday and ordered the closure of most border points with neighbouring Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Only diplomats and others with official visas will escape the clampdown. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he has now stopped all foreign trips by government ministers.
The health alert has grown across India as the number of cases has surged from about 30 on Sunday to more than 70 on Thursday.
Even though only six coronavirus cases have been reported in the capital, the New Delhi chief minister said the city of 20 million people is now in an “epidemic”.
Arvind Kejriwal ordered the closure of schools, cinemas and theatres until at least March 31 and said that empty public housing blocks and hospitals under construction could be used to quarantine those infected.
“We have sufficient beds for quarantine facilities,” the chief minister said in announcing the measures.
The southern state of Kerala has been worst hit with 17 cases. Authorities have started using GPS tracking on more than 730 people who are under quarantine in the state’s Pathanamthitta district to make sure they do not leave their homes, media reports said.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-03-india-coronavirus-death-restrictions.html
NYSE Explores Contingency Plan To Close Trading Floor As COVID-19 Looms
As COVID-19 shutters schools and community centers across New York,
the New York Stock Exchange is considering closing its trading floor and
shifting all trading to backup electronic systems.
Now, it is considering activating emergency procedures that enable trading firms to conduct closing auctions through remote connection to NYSE’s systems. The plan also includes a suspension of initial public offerings.
Should it suspend in-person activity, the NYSE will be following the lead of CME Group.
On Friday, CME will indefinitely close its Chicago trading floor and shift all trading to its electronic platform, according to a Wednesday announcement.
‘A Risk That Is Material In Nature’ For Stocks
The NYSE has never executed its contingency plan under similar conditions. It has tested the procedure only over inactive weekends, the Journal said.
Some fear that floor closures could further disrupt already-volatile markets.
The NYSE floor coordinates session-closing auctions to determine day-end prices for NYSE-listed securities. The process affects thousands of stocks, as well as millions of investors that use closing prices as benchmarks for index funds and ETFs.
“The closing auction is arguably the most important moment of the trading day,” Greg Tusar, former global head of electronic trading at Goldman Sachs, told the Journal. “Anything that happens to it that hasn’t been tested is a risk that is material in nature.”
“The NYSE is a unique meeting place for buying and selling securities,” an NYSE representative said in a statement.
“While we constantly test our resilient systems that allow us to operate that meeting place in a fully electronic fashion — which we did, successfully, as recently as last weekend — we are also taking the necessary measures to help ensure that our iconic trading floor remains open for business during this volatile period.”
https://www.benzinga.com/news/20/03/15536523/nyse-explores-contingency-plan-to-close-trading-floor-as-covid-19-looms
NYSE Considers Emergency Procedures
Intercontinental Exchange Inc ICE 12.35%, which owns the NYSE, adopted early precautions to preempt the spread of the coronavirus. It called off tours, blocked visitors and cancelled the traditional executive bell-ringing, according to The Wall Street Journal.Now, it is considering activating emergency procedures that enable trading firms to conduct closing auctions through remote connection to NYSE’s systems. The plan also includes a suspension of initial public offerings.
Should it suspend in-person activity, the NYSE will be following the lead of CME Group.
On Friday, CME will indefinitely close its Chicago trading floor and shift all trading to its electronic platform, according to a Wednesday announcement.
‘A Risk That Is Material In Nature’ For Stocks
The NYSE has never executed its contingency plan under similar conditions. It has tested the procedure only over inactive weekends, the Journal said.
Some fear that floor closures could further disrupt already-volatile markets.
The NYSE floor coordinates session-closing auctions to determine day-end prices for NYSE-listed securities. The process affects thousands of stocks, as well as millions of investors that use closing prices as benchmarks for index funds and ETFs.
“The closing auction is arguably the most important moment of the trading day,” Greg Tusar, former global head of electronic trading at Goldman Sachs, told the Journal. “Anything that happens to it that hasn’t been tested is a risk that is material in nature.”
NYSE Says It’s Working To Keep Trading Floor Open
The NYSE is in a unique position as the only U.S. stock exchange operator with a physical trading floor. Nasdaq and Cboe run on all-electronic trading systems. Intercontinental Exchange intends to preserve its uniqueness if possible.“The NYSE is a unique meeting place for buying and selling securities,” an NYSE representative said in a statement.
“While we constantly test our resilient systems that allow us to operate that meeting place in a fully electronic fashion — which we did, successfully, as recently as last weekend — we are also taking the necessary measures to help ensure that our iconic trading floor remains open for business during this volatile period.”
https://www.benzinga.com/news/20/03/15536523/nyse-explores-contingency-plan-to-close-trading-floor-as-covid-19-looms
Walgreens cuts fees amid coronavirus outbreak
Following CVS’s lead, Walgreens (NASDAQ:WBA) is waiving delivery fees for all eligible prescriptions in an effort to help customers and patients during the COVID-19 outbreak.
It reminds customers that it will continue to
operate its drive-throughs at pharmacies, Walgreens Pharmacy Chat, its
24/7 online platform, and its mobile app.
Also consistent with other retailers, it has
instituted purchase limits on selected products to ensure that they
remain widely available.
Shares down 1% after hours.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3551316-walgreens-cuts-fees-amid-coronavirus-outbreakNYC declares state of emergency, large venues like MSG likely close ‘for months’
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in the
city on Thursday, saying large venues like Barclays Center and Madison
Square Garden will likely be closed for months to try to contain the
fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak.
“The last 24 hours have been very, very sobering,” de Blasio said at a press conference. “Yesterday morning seems like a long time ago. We got a lot of information in the course of a day yesterday and a lot changed then, then last night it just seemed the world turned upside down in the course of just a few hours.”
The city now has 95 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 42 of them reported
in the last 24 hours, he said. More than 1,780 people are under
voluntary quarantine in the city, with an additional 29 people under
mandatory quarantine, he said.
“I don’t think for most of us who even have been in public life a long time we’ve seen a situation quite like this where we receive extraordinary new information on what now feels like an hourly basis so we’re constantly making adjustments,” de Blasio said.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/12/new-york-city-declares-state-of-emergency.html
“The last 24 hours have been very, very sobering,” de Blasio said at a press conference. “Yesterday morning seems like a long time ago. We got a lot of information in the course of a day yesterday and a lot changed then, then last night it just seemed the world turned upside down in the course of just a few hours.”
“I don’t think for most of us who even have been in public life a long time we’ve seen a situation quite like this where we receive extraordinary new information on what now feels like an hourly basis so we’re constantly making adjustments,” de Blasio said.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/12/new-york-city-declares-state-of-emergency.html
Department stores could see widespread closings
The possibility of large-scale store shutdowns is increasing as massive social distancing efforts continue in the U.S.
The implications for the retail sector are
enormous, particularly for department store chains which have little
margin for financial downturns. Anecdotal reports have already suggested
huge drops in traffic.
Sector watch: J.C. Penney (JCP -23.1%), Macy’s (M -20.2%), Kohl’s (KSS -16.4%), Nordstrom (JWN -15.4%) and Dillard’s (DDS -8.8%).
And the landlords: Tanger Factory (SKT -11.5%), Simon Property (SPG -15.5%), Macerich (MAC -11.9%), Kimco (KIM -14.1%), EPR Properties (EPR -36.3%), Whitestone REIT (WSR -18.2%), Brixmor (BRX -16.1%), Realty Income (O -7.8%), Vereit (VER -16.2%), Store Capital (STOR -8.9%).
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3551178-department-stores-see-widespread-closings
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