Physician’s assistant who tested positive for coronavirus warns others to take threat serious

A physician’s assistant who became New Jersey’s first case of coronavirus has spoken out about the disease from his hospital bed and warns others to take the threat seriously.  

James Cai, 32, fell ill last weekend while attending a medical conference at a hotel in Times Square. 

He has been hospitalized since Tuesday at the Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, New Jersey. So far, 13 people have been tested for COVID-19 in New Jersey. The other 11 cases have come back negative.

‘Every day is getting worse,’ Cai said Monday during an interview with CBS, adding that ‘it happened so quick’.

‘A lot of people say it’s OK, don’t wear masks. I don’t believe that,’ Cai said. 

Cai, who works and lives in Manhattan and Fort Lee, New Jersey, said the virus is not one to be taken lightly. 

In New York, where Gov Andrew Cuomo recently declared a state of emergency, cases of the coronavirus have shot to 142.

  

James Cai, 32, a physician’s assistant who became New Jersey’s first case of coronavirus has spoken out about the disease from his hospital bed and warns others to take the threat seriously

Cai told the network that he’s not a smoker and had no underlying health conditions before contracting the virus. 

Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco said Cai was in New York over the weekend, went to work last Monday in New York, felt ill and came to Fort Lee Monday evening and then sought treatment. 

Tedesco stressed ‘there was no known contact with anyone here in Fort Lee’. 

Ihor Sawczuk, a doctor at Hackensack University Hospital, said Cai is ‘resting comfortably and doing well’.

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich said Cai lives with his family in New York but has an apartment in Fort Lee and doesn’t have school-age children.

‘This case is not related to any other cases that we are aware of,’ Sokolich said, referring to the Westchester, New York, cases. 

Following Cai’s diagnosis, a woman in her 30′s tested positive for the new coronavirus, becoming New Jersey’s second case.

Acting Gov Sheila Oliver said Thursday that the new case involves a Bergen County woman with mild symptoms, who is in isolation at home.

Cai told the network that he’s not a smoker and had no underlying health conditions before contracting the virus. Following Cai’s diagnosis, a woman in her 30′s tested positive for the new coronavirus, becoming New Jersey’s second case

There are a total of 627 confirmed cases in the United States. A total of 22 people have died from the virus, 19 people in Washington state, two in Florida and one in California

The details came late Thursday, after a news conference when state officials disclosed that the patient had earlier been hospitalized in Englewood, Bergen County, not far from the city.

‘As we said in the past, we would not be surprised to see cases in New Jersey,’ Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said in a statement. 

‘But most New Jersey residents are at very low risk of contracting COVID-19.’

The details about the second patient came only hours after authorities disclosed information about the first patient. 

Tedesco said some Bergen County residents who have had contact with people in the Westchester County community where the virus has spread are self-quarantining, but he didn’t say how many.

There is no further information regarding the second case. It’s not yet known how the two patients got the virus.

Persichilli said the Health Department is continuing ‘infection control options’ and asking those who were in contact with the patients to self-quarantine for at least two weeks. 

Oliver also announced that international travel for state workers is banned for now and said that domestic travel for state workers would need to get approval from the governor’s office.

Both cases are labeled as ‘presumptive’ and have been sent to the CDC for confirmation.

These developments came as federal health officials said they were providing the state with $1.75million in what they called initial funding to respond to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. 

Women wear face masks as they ride the subway on Sunday in New York City where the governor announced a state of emergency

In New York state, the cases of the coronavirus have shot to 106. Commuters are seen wearing masks on the subway on Sunday  

The US House also passed an $8.3billion bipartisan bill to combat the virus earlier Wednesday.

Last month, Democratic Gov Phil Murphy set up a task force to prepare for handling the virus, and Persichilli said a crisis management team has been meeting daily.

Persichilli said the state has 700 hospital rooms capable of isolating patients, if needed. 

Murphy is out of the state after having had surgery to remove what he said was likely a cancerous tumor on his kidney.

Officials confirm three new cases in New York City as Mayor Bill de Blasio urges New Yorkers to bike or walk to work 

Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday that three more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in New York City.

The  mayor urged people to bike or walk to work and to avoid using the subway unless it is essential.  

The number of cases in New York state jumped to more than 100 over the weekend, including the three new infected patients in New York City. 

Of the three new patients, two are from Brooklyn and one is from Queens. 

As the number of cases continued to rise, de Blasio urged New Yorkers to try to reduce overcrowding and acknowledged that subway cars made it difficult for people to avoid direct contact with those who could be potentially infected.  

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said officials are working to identify new cases but have been greatly hindered by the CDC which has not authorized private labs to conduct tests. New York has seven private labs that could run automated tests and process 2,000 samples per day

Gov Cuomo said on Sunday that officials are working hard to identify new cases but have been greatly hindered by the CDC, saying it is ‘outrageous and ludicrous’ that the agency has not authorized private labs to conduct automated tests.

‘CDC, wake up. Let the states test. Let private labs test. Let’s increase as quickly possible our testing capacity so we identify the positive people, so we can isolate them,’ the governor said on Sunday. 

New York currently has seven private labs that could begin running automated tests immediately – processing as many as 2,000 samples per day, Cuomo said.

That’s a significant improvement on the current rate of roughly 100 per day with manual tests.

It was later revealed on Monday that Rick Cotton, the head of New York’s Port Authority has tested positive for coronavirus.

It was revealed on Monday that Rick Cotton  (pictured), the head of New York’s Port Authority has tested positive for the virus

Cuomo said that Cotton – the executive director of the Port Authority of NY/NJ – is now working from home.

He said Cotton had been on the ground at various airports, which the Port Authority controls. Members of his team are being tested and are currently being self-quarantined.

There are now 142 cases in New York state with 19 of those in New York City and 98 in Westchester where a Manhattan attorney was first struck down with the virus early last week. 

Cuomo also unveiled a new state-made sanitizer on Monday. Speaking about the new sanitizer, Cuomo said it was made up of 75 per cent alcohol and will be provided to facilities including schools, the MTA, government run buildings and prisons.

The governor said the state currently has the capacity to make 100,000 gallons of the sanitizer per week, adding that it is cheaper for officials to make it instead of buying it on the market.

It is being manufactured by Corcraft, which is the company that relies on prisoners in New York to make products, and is being made by inmates at the Great Meadow correctional facility.

The state-made sanitizer costs about $6 per gallon to produce, according to Cuomo. He said the production stemmed from reports of price gouging on sanitizer.

There are a total of 616 confirmed cases in the United States. A total of 22 people have died from the virus, 19 people in Washington state, two in Florida and one in California. 

Eight people have recovered from the virus that has spread to 109 countries and infected 111,356 people globally. 

A total of 3,892  have died from the virus while 62,375 people have recovered. 

New York Stock Exchange ‘kill switch’ stops trading for 15 minutes after 7% fall   

As a result of the global coronavirus panic, trading on the New York Stock Exchange was halted for 15 minutes on Monday because stocks tumbled so drastically in the first few moments of trading.

The Dow opened on a loss of more than 1700 points on Monday, a decrease of more than seven per cent since Friday’s close, after a chaotic weekend which saw oil prices tumble and which all but decimated the futures market.

Circuit breakers – which are rarely triggered but exist to stop prices tumbling further when a downward spiral shows no sign of slowing – went into effect on Monday morning after a dramatic start.

After a 15 minute break, the re-opened but it had slipped further, losing 2,000 points in total. 

As a result of the global coronavirus panic, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (a trader pictured on Monday) was halted for 15 minutes on Monday because stocks tumbled so drastically in the first few moments of trading

The Dow opened on a loss of more than 1700 points on Monday, a decrease of more than seven per cent since Friday’s close, after a chaotic weekend which saw oil prices tumble and which all but decimated the futures market

Monday’s opening marked the worst start on Wall Street since the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008 which triggered the GFC.

Oil prices are at their lowest since the Gulf War thanks to a fallout between Russia and Saudi Arabia which may trigger an all-out price war that could harm the world’s economy even more.

Last week, Russia refused to agree to the terms of a deal that would slash the world’s oil production rates.

In retaliation, Saudi Arabia vowed to boost production and slash prices, a move which threatens to saturate the world’s market with cheap oil as demand for it plummets thanks to the virus. 

President Donald Trump claims the market plunge is ‘GOOD for the consumer’ because oil prices are coming down 

Despite the mounting death toll and the huge market plunge, Trump has claimed that everything is ‘good’.  

‘Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down!’ Trump tweeted Monday.

The president then accused the media of ‘inflaming’ the virus outbreak and dismissed the collapse in oil prices as the result of Saudi Arabia and Russia ‘arguing’.

As the Dow Jones lost a year’s gains, he was shuttling across Florida from Mar-a-Lago to a $100,000-a-head fundraiser.

‘Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil,’ Trump continued in another tweet Monday morning. ‘That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop!’

Trump has not addressed the economic impact of the coronavirus and instead said that the flu was worse than COVID-19.

‘So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year,’ Trump cited in a tweet.

‘Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on,’ he insisted. 

Thousands prepare to disembark Grand Princess cruise ship hit by coronavirus off the coast of San Francisco  

Federal and state officials in California prepared to receive thousands of people Monday from a cruise ship that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus.

Personnel covered head to toe in protective gear woke up passengers on the Grand Princess to check whether they were sick.

Michele Smith, of Paradise, California, said a doctor knocked on her and her husband’s cabin before dawn and asked if they had a fever or a cough. 

The couple who went on the cruise to celebrate their wedding anniversary are healthy and, like the rest of the 2,400 passengers aboard, have been isolating in their cabins since Thursday.

Federal and state officials in California prepared to receive thousands of people Monday from the Grand Princess cruise ship (pictured on Sunday) that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus

On land, fences were installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the passengers aboard the ship to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine. 

The more than 3,500 passengers and staff on the ship hail from 54 countries.

‘We’re making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible’ said Dr John Redd of the US Department of Health and Human Services, who urged passengers to remain in their rooms.

California Gov Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the US public before completing the quarantine. 

The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said. 

US passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia, where they’ll be tested for the COVID-19 virus and quarantined.

About 1,100 crew on the ship, 19 of whom have tested positive for the new virus, will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.

Homeless people are twice as likely to contract and spread coronavirus

They often don’t have places to wash their hands, struggle with health problems and crowd together in grimy camps.

That’s what makes homeless people particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. 

Almost 200,000 people live in those conditions in the United States, according to a White House report, with Washington state, California and Oregon among the states most affected by homelessness as income inequality grows and housing costs rise.

And — in a possible recipe for disaster — the new virus has hit hardest on the West Coast, where nearly all of the nation’s deaths have occurred. 

Health officials have not yet reported coronavirus outbreaks among homeless populations, but tuberculosis and other diseases have swept through them in the past, underscoring their vulnerability.

Yet few communities that are trying to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus have rolled out plans to protect the homeless and give them a place to recover in isolation, which would prevent them from passing it on.

‘They are double risk. One is a risk to themselves, the other is a risk to society,’ said Chunhuei Chi, director of the Center for Global Health at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

King County, which includes Seattle and has seen most of the deaths in the US, is one of the few places that’s taken action: installing more than a dozen module units where infected homeless people can recover, some on county-owned land flanked by apartment buildings.

The units, roughly the size of a mobile home that accommodate several people, were previously used by oil workers in Texas. County officials also bought a motel where coronavirus patients can recover in isolation.

That approach needs to be replicated in many more places, said Chi, who has been closely following the global outbreak that originated in China.

‘This should be treated as an emergency policy, not as a permanent solution to homelessness, but more of framing it as a solution for containing the spread,’ Chi said.

San Francisco says it’s developing a plan to protect the homeless from the virus but hasn’t released details yet

Farther south, in Los Angeles County, the health department is sending teams to over 300 homeless facilities to ensure people are washing their hands and not sharing food or utensils, department director Barbara Ferrer said. 

She’s urging shelters to prepare large spaces to isolate those who may become sick.

Health officials in the nation’s most populous county also are planning for a possible large-scale quarantine of homeless people in case the virus spreads, and will deploy street teams to work with those living in encampments to get people with symptoms treated.

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