Some spring hunting canceled in Washington because of coronavirus
Washington state is starting to put restrictions on hunting after earlier closing state waters to recreational fishing to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
The youth turkey hunt set for April 4-5 has been canceled, says the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Spring bear hunting that was scheduled to open in six areas on April 1 also will not start.
On April 6 the department will reassess opening the impacted hunting areas, in addition to other upcoming hunting seasons, including spring turkey and additional spring bear hunts planned to open April 15.
The department’s concern is travel.
“Every stop for gas, food or a restroom break can introduce the virus to areas it hasn’t yet reached,” said Kelly Susewind, director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife. “It was a tough decision, but we want to ensure that people are properly encouraged to stay home at this time.”
Nearly 90 percent of spring bear permit holders in northeast Washington travel from outside the area.
Youth who were planning to hunt April 4 or 5 can still use their tags in the spring turkey season, if it opens, and the fall turkey season.
No fishing has been allowed in Washington state since midnight March 25 to at least 5 p.m. April 8 to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.
— Tri-City Herald
Washington may not get all the ventilators it requested from the federal government
Washington may not get all of the ventilators it requested from the federal government’s national stockpile of medical supplies, Gov. Jay Inslee’s chief of staff said Tuesday.
As the state prepares for hospitalizations of people with the new coronavirus, Washington, so far, has received 500 ventilators that it requested from Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), according to a spokeswoman for the state’s emergency-response team.
Of those, “176 went out today, and 324 are scheduled to be distributed tomorrow,” Jessica Baggett, spokeswoman for the Joint Incident Command, wrote in an email.
But a request for an additional 500 ventilators made by the state remains in question, state officials said Tuesday.
The state was told Monday night it would get 100 of that second batch, according to Inslee Chief of Staff David Postman, “And now there’s some question of whether that’s going to happen right now.”
“It’s unclear at this point how many we will get, so we’re trying to clarify that,” he added later.
Postman said that, “One of the things that we’ve heard because there are some ways where we’ve been able to flatten the curve,” potentially slowing the spread of the coronavirus, “the federal government looks at that and says we have more pressing needs elsewhere.”
While Postman said he understands the demand in other states for such gear, “we need to make sure that doesn’t stop us from getting what we think we need.”
As the pandemic spreads across the country, with more than 183,000 cases and 3,780 deaths, there’s now a national shortage of ventilators — which can deliver oxygen to COVID-19 patients who are having trouble breathing.
But Postman said he doesn’t think Washington has a shortage right now.
The state has a stockpile of ventilators, in addition to those now in hospitals. Medical facilities that postponed elective surgeries amid the pandemic also have some devices available, he said.
Meanwhile, the state has ordered ventilators from several different private companies, he added.
— The Seattle Times
New coronavirus fatality rate estimates show how sharply the risk rises with age
The fatality rate for people infected with the novel coronavirus is estimated to be less than 1%, according to a new study.
Among those whose infections cause them to become sickened by the disease known as COVID-19, the fatality rate is 1.38%, the study authors estimate.
Both fatality rates vary greatly with age, according to the report in the medical journal Lancet.
For instance, the fatality rate for infected people in their 20s is 0.03%, compared with 4.3% for people in their 70s. Likewise, the fatality rate for 20-somethings with COVID-19 is 0.06%, versus 8.6% for those in their 70s.
The oldest age group in the study is people who are 80 and up. For them, the fatality rate among people infected with the new coronavirus is 7.8%, rising to 13.4% among those sickened with COVID-19.
The figures are based on an analysis of 70,117 people whose cases were confirmed with a laboratory test or a doctor’s exam between Jan. 1 and Feb. 11. They were reported Monday by a team led by infectious disease experts from Imperial College London.
The study authors came up with an overall infection fatality rate of 0.66%. Health officials around the world can use that figure to help make “decisions around appropriate mitigation policies to be adopted,” they wrote.
The 1.38% fatality rate among people who develop COVID-19 could change as the pandemic evolves, the study authors wrote, but it is “our best estimate at the current time.”
They noted that it’s lower than the fatality rates for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), both of which are also caused by coronaviruses.
However, they wrote, “it is substantially higher than estimates from the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.”
— Los Angeles Times
California schools unlikely to reopen this academic year, state schools chief says
LOS ANGELES — California public school campuses are unlikely to reopen for the remainder of the academic school year in response to the coronavirus pandemic, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said Tuesday in a letter to school district officials.
“Due to the current safety concerns and needs for ongoing social distancing it currently appears that our students will not be able to return to school campuses before the end of the school year,” Thurmond wrote. “This is in no way to suggest that school is over for the year, but rather we should put all efforts into strengthening our delivery of education through distance learning.”
Earlier, Thurmond had resisted suggestions that there was no hope for returning to campus. His letter Tuesday represented a shift of direction.
— Los Angeles Times
28 test positive for coronavirus after returning from spring break trip to Mexico
AUSTIN, Texas — Twenty-eight University of Texas students who returned to Austin from a spring break trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, have tested positive for the coronavirus, UT officials say. Dozens more are being monitored.
Austin Public Health officials said Tuesday a group of about 70 people in their 20s took a chartered plane to and from Mexico about 10 days ago. Some flew back on commercial flights. Four of those who tested positive showed no symptoms. In addition to the 28 who tested positive, a university spokesman said it is believed many in the larger group were UT students.
Austin Public Health, UT Health Austin and University Health Services have made contact with every spring breaker on board the charter plane and are in the process of tracing the commercial flights’ other passengers. The 28 confirmed cases are self-isolating, and others are under quarantine while being monitored and tested, Austin Public Health said.
— Austin American-Statesman
Coast Guard says it may sequester cruise ships ‘indefinitely’ off Florida coast
MIAMI — The U.S. Coast Guard is now directing ships registered in the Bahamas to seek aid from that country first — even if the ships are owned by Miami-based companies. It is also advising ships with more than 50 aboard that they may be sequestered “indefinitely.”
The Coast Guard issued that and other new rules this week in the face of an increasing number of requests to medically evacuate people from the dozen-plus cruise ships hovering off Miami’s coast, according to a public memo. The new framework requires cruise lines to arrange for private transportation for those who are sick rather than relying on the Coast Guard.
The memo later became unavailable on the Coast Guard’s website.
As calls pour in to ferry sick people to land, the district has had to improvise field hospitals “whose capacity for dealing with critical patients is unproven at this time,” read the memo signed by Rear Adm. E.C. Jones of the 7th District, which includes Florida, Puerto Rico, Georgia and South Carolina.
The directive’s new rules for dealing with sick patients upends the processes now used by cruise lines for dealing with the increasing number of cases of COVID-19 aboard their ships.
Seventeen ships are lined up at Port Miami and Port Everglades, with more than a dozen others hovering miles offshore. Most have only crew aboard, but several still carrying passengers are steaming toward South Florida ports. In SEC filings Tuesday, Carnival said it has more than 6,000 passengers still at sea. New sailings were halted by all major lines on March 13.
— Miami Herald
After dragging feet, Mexico enters a new stage in virus fight
Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he’ll announce new measures to contain the spreading coronavirus after declaring a national health emergency, in a sign he is taking firmer action against the disease following weeks of being questioned for not acting decisively.
The health emergency, announced Monday night, extends the suspension of all non-essential activity by 10 days to April 30. While no curfew was ordered, the government said there will be strict application of the rule requiring the elderly and sick to stay home even if their work is considered essential. Other essential personnel could go to work on a voluntary basis, it said, without providing details.
Lopez Obrador, 66, has fielded criticism from some international health experts, and his support fell in polls, after he kept calling for life to continue as normal despite the spreading virus. He began to modify his tone last week, and Mexico switched gears with the emergency declaration after 1,094 virus cases were confirmed and 28 patients died.
“It’s important that we all help in carrying out these measures,” Lopez Obrador said during his morning news conference on Tuesday. “We’ll continue to work and prepare for a serious emergency, if that occurs, in order to save lives.”
The emergency declaration also limits gatherings in Mexico to 50 people, and only when essential activities are being carried out.
— Bloomberg News
