BRIEF coronavirus Update 3/23/2020 9 am
Coronavirus BRIEF Update and Follow up
3/23/2020 9:00 am
Lisa Reynolds MD
This is Lisa Reynolds, MD. Portland Pediatrician on the frontlines of the coronavirus epidemic. Mom and daughter. Candidate for Oregon HD36.
OREGON: 161 confirmed cases, 5 deaths
Oregon’s Governor Brown is expected to issue a state-wide Stay At Home executive order today. Details to follow. (therefore, I’m not listing the mayors set to order Stay at Home today. Also, I couldn’t find the list anywhere!)
Follow up on questions that came up in my Video Town Halls (Fri 3/20 and Sun 3/22):
Safety of delivered mail:
Short answer: You cannot get coronavirus by handling mail. Delivered mail/packages are safe.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday (3/17) found that coronavirus could be detected up to three hours after aerosolization in the air, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel. HOWEVER: These droplets are in low concentrations and are very unlikely to spread the virus. TO BE EXTRA SAFE: Wash your hands after handling mail, packages, etc.
FUN: Virtual Sing A Long with Low Bar Chorale!
Tue Mar 24 7:30 pm, a facebook Live Event: www.facebook.com/lowbarchorale
Song lyrics are posted on fb and include Free Fallin and Hey Jude (among others) https://www.lowbarchorale.com/show-calendar/sing-at-showbar-d4wsy-ttd88-yl9ca-l6l4s-5a5ft-mar6c
Park Closures:
ALL Oregon State Parks are closed (effective Mon 3/23).
THPRD: All indoor facilities closed. All outdoor playgrounds and exercise equipment are off limits.
Portland Parks and Rec: All indoor facilities closed. Zoo and Japanese Garden are closed.
Lisa’s updates can be found:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisafororegon
My blog site: https://www.oregoncoronavirusupdate.com/
YOUTUBE channel: Please subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJO4CLEIz67bNi8O4QhDNfg
Article/interview:
TESTING TESTING TESTING Interesting Interview in Time magazine with Dr Bruce Awylard, Senior Advisor to Director General of WHO. He has travelled to China and is in close contact with the health directors of affected countries.
“A lot of that is going to depend on what we as countries, as societies, do. If we do the testing of every single case, rapid isolation of the cases, you should be able to keep cases down low. If you simply rely on the big shut down measures without finding every case, then every time you take the brakes off, it could come back in waves. So that future frankly, may be determined by us and our response as much as the virus...
We probably haven’t optimized how we used that time [LR note: ie we have not prepared for this outbreak]. Now what we’ve done is, we’ve gained time again by putting in place these big shutdowns. All they do is they buy time, they don’t actually stop the virus, they suppress it, they slow it. What you want to do now is use that time well to get the testing in place, to get the systems in place, so that you can actually manage the individual level cases that are going to be fundamental to stopping this.”