Eyeless on Campus: February 2020

Friday, February 28, 2020

THE CORONAVIRUS RODEO--Interview with Dr. Mark Pandori--NEVADA STATE HEALTH LAB

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The Interview--

(UNR State Health Lab)--The new director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory on the university campus in Reno has been there before. It’s the same epidemic, just a different virus, Appointed in late 2019, the new director’s credentials are impressive, as found at the laboratory website;

Credentials
“Pandori earned his Bachelor of Science degree in genetics from the University of California, Berkeley; his Ph.D. in biomedical science, virology, from the University of California, San Diego; a Certification in public health microbiology, public health microbiology from the California Department of Health and completed a fellowship at Harvard Medical School.“ (UNR)
In addition, he was recent director of the public health lab in Alameda County and an associate at UCSF Med School.

COVID-19 Test Kits
The director was the ideal candidate for an interview to discuss the role of the newly arrived test kits designed to detect COVID-19, which is the official name of the virus. Conducted on February 14, 2020 in his office on campus, the session bore out the details of the virus, its complexity and in particular, the process of detection. He first explained just how the lab came about acquiring the test kits;

Methodology
“There's a website and a methodology that allows us to order reagents and test kits for free. So what the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) did was to utilize that existing infrastructure so that the public health labs could order the coronavirus test kits through that same mechanism,” said Pandori, adding that the kits were at his facility just a few days later via FedEx.
It is important to note that not all of the test kits that were sent out to the states functioned according to plan. (Newsweek) Still, the methodology may be correct since it follows a process already in place for similar respiratory diseases;

Isn't Our First Rodeo

   “It's similar that they both utilize the same diagnostic mechanism... So these are tests that test what we call the genome of the organ, the RNA. You have a DNA genome as human beings, these viruses, the coronaviruses have what we call an RNA genome and what the test does is to look for that genome,” said Pandori adding with a certain amount of confidence, “We do this, this isn't our first rodeo, so to speak.”
Emergency Use Authorization
Tacit approval for using the test kits was given by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on an immediate basis known as emergency use authorization involving local and state agencies in conjunction with the CDC. Even then, the requirements can be rigid and related to symptomatic criteria. More surprising is the fact that if one case is detected it is an indicator of others going undetected;

Ground Zero
   “Generally when there are already sick people around, you're not seeing the first infected individual that means there's already other infected people,” said Dr. Pandori reflecting on why China found itself playing a game of catching up at ground zero in the southern city of Wuhan.
     Of course, the epidemic in China and the controls placed on international travel by the United States doesn’t guarantee that the virus will not have a major impact on Americans.

Clowns
Certainly the rodeo has just begun. The clowns are in the arena with fake news and ridiculous statements accusing China of germ warfare and Asians being targeted as virus spreaders. There is conflict among the various agencies tasked with informing the public. The President has appointed Vice-President Pence as a new task force director and money is being appropriated from Congress. Is all of that enough?

Never Ahead
“Now being in the United States and overseas, here we are at the advantage of being able to react to what was happening in China, so we were able to establish at certain airports fever screens for example and we were able to get these tests unrolled very quickly so, are we ahead of this?” said Dr. Pandori. “ I've learned in my time of studying infectious disease is that you are never ahead of these agents.”

Headline--

BREAKING: Second man in King County with coronavirus dies
Public Health - Seattle & King County confirmed Sunday the second coronavirus-related death in the United States, a man in his 70s, in Kirkland. Both men who died had underlying health conditions. The first man who died had no travel history, health officials said. Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency Saturday.

Sources
Pandori bio, https://med.unr.edu/news/archive/2019/mark-pandori
Newsweek, https://www.newsweek.com/us-coronavirus-response-testing-kit-problems-present-colossal-failure-warns-doctor-1489667
Fake News, https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/21/805287609/theres-a-flood-of-fake-news-about-coronavirus-and-a-plan-to-stop-it
Germ Warfare, https://www.salon.com/2020/02/17/without-evidence-tom-cotton-suggests-that-the-coronavirus-is-chinese-biological-warfare_partner/
Asians & Virus, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/28/coronavirus-asian-american-lawmakers-denounce-xenophobia-rumors/4901288002/
VP Pence Appointment, https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/485065-pence-bolsters-coronavirus-team-following-criticism

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Interview conducted at University of Nevada, Nevada State Public Health Laboratory, Friday, February 14, 2020 by James L'Angelle for Journalism 107, Reynolds School of Journalism, Reno campus.

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Monday, February 17, 2020

CORONAVIRUS, USA--Lab Testing Procedure---NV HEALTH LAB DIR INTERVIEW

JOUR107.1104; Lab//James L'Angelle//University of Nevada, Reno//18 Feb 2020

Lab#3B: Interview: Initial Draft Transcription

    Topic of this interview is the coronavirus epidemic and it was held at the Nevada State Health Laboratory on the UNR campus in the office of the Director, Dr. Mark Pandori, on Friday, 14 February, 2020 at 09:00.

(tape on)--

LANGELLE
OK, anyway, I'm here to interview Dr. Mark Pantori, Pandori, excuse me, Pandori, at the Health Department regarding the coronavirus outbreak which hasn't happened in the United States yet but the CDC, I believe, may have just come up with a warning that it could. And, uh, so I have a couple of questions I would like to ask Dr. Pandori.
First of all, would be the test kits, how does that work?

PANDORI
How does what work, getting the test kits or having the test work?

LANGELLE
Well, we can start with getting the test kits, sure.

PANDORI
Sure, the test kits, first of all, it is important to say that this is not unprecedented but it was impressive to see how quickly the CDC would get a test up and running so, this, just building a lab test in just a few weeks from absolutely not knowing that this thing existed from having a lab test in a few weeks is a pretty huge accomplishment so I think we should start with that. And so after the test was developed at CDC, they were the ones running it for a few weeks but of course with so many specimens coming into one place, it's hard for the CDC to have what we call the turnaround time when they're short-staffed for the tests and of course they want their public health partners at the state level and it's what we call (...) level to support them testing.
So they gave the test that they developed available to all the public health labs in the United States, and, the way that worked, was, they would improve the existing way of ordering influenza test kits ....extensive amounts of influenza surveillance as you might imagine on an annual basis and the labs should be able to support that surveillance. There's a website and a methodology that allows us to order reagents and test kits for free. So what the CDC did was to utilize that existing infrastructure so that the public health labs could order the coronavirus test kits through that same mechanism. And when they did, they ordered and they came in by FedEx in just a few days. And that's how we got the test kits.

LANGELLE
Uh, that's great. So it's similar to other test kits where it's ... or how does that work?

PANDORI
It's similar that they both utilize the same diagnostic mechanism which we call (...) chain reaction. So these are tests that test what we call the genome of the organ, the RNA, you have a DNA genome as human beings, these viruses, the coronaviruses have what we call an RNA genome and what the test does is to look for that genome, to look for, specifically three parts in the genome and in that way it is similar to influenza which is also a PCR or.......   chain reaction

LANGELLE
I see. So the virus is already in the cell when that happens, is that what you're saying?

PANDORI
When what happens?

LANGELLE
When you do the testing...

PANDORI
Well, so the test would be done on a specimen so that could be a swab of the throat   (stop ....02:57.729)---or what we call an mt swab or sputum, something that comes out of the human being. In that specimen there could be what we call free virus which are the virus particles that could be floating around in the specimen or there could be what we call cell associated virus which are cells that you've accidentally coughed up or swept off constantly shedding dead cells when you cough or in your bowel, all the time dead cells coming off your skin and, so, this virus might actually be in cells that have sloughed off and we would call that cell associated virus but the test would not discriminate necessarily between cell associated and cell free virus.

LANGELLE
Oh, OK

PANDORI
And it's not a distinction that's relevant from a diagnostic perspective.

LANGELLE
That's real interesting, so I noticed on a lot of the websites they have this little vial with stuff in it . What is that, is that the reagent, or whatever you call it?

PANDORI
We call them reagents and if you want to get real down in the diagnostic...we call those analyze specific reagents which is to say that in those tubes are the chemicals that will only react with coronavirus.

LANGELLE
Oh, OK

PANDORI
And it's those analyze specific reagents that form the heart of a diagnostic test and so they will only see this particular organism or agent and not others.

LANGELLE
I see. Now each test kit has a different number in there so you can only use one for each test or is it, each little vial ...........

PANDORI
....if you were to hold the box in your hand and read it, it would say there's a thousand reactions in there but because we have to run what we call controls every time we run a diagnostic test, controls would be known positive and known negative samples along with the test specimen that we have interest, that means we might only get a few hundred tests out of that kit, but of course right now we are in such early stages, we are not anticipating more than one or two cases, that means we would consume a hundred then of course that would be in a thousand....bigger situation...

LANGELLE
And so, the test takes place here, so if somebody isolates themself, how does that happen, they go to the hospital and they bring the swab or whatever over to you to test here or do they come in here to be tested?

PANDORI
It's a good question, So, a person, right now testing is regulated and this test exists through what is called an emergency use authorization. Normally, tests need to be vetted very carefully before they're offered to be used diagnostically in a medical environment. In this particular case, the FDA went ahead and said "Go for it," and use this now but only under certain conditions and those conditions are that the test is run on a patient that meets a very specific definition, that means that they are what's called a person under investigation, or a patient under investigation. That criteria is set by the CDC and that criteria in this case is would be someone who is symptomatic with a respiratory ailment and has recent travel to China or contacted someone that did recent travel to China. That, of course, could be a moving target, those base definitions have changed as time goes by especially as more cases have started to occur outside of China. But at the moment the emergency use authorization is specific in that regard so to answer your question, if there was a symptomatic individual, symptomatic means coughing, feverish, respiratory or down with a cold or the flu. If this were to occur at a clinic or a hospital, and during interview it was discovered that they...the ...definition, then the health department would be brought in and the health department and the CDC would communicate and decide whether testing was warranted in that case, put another way, they would decide together whether or not that person meets the...definition of somebody that should be tested by the ...and then, and only then would we run the test.

LANGELLE
OK, then that whole process takes what, pretty quick, or the...

PANDORI
Faster than you realize. Public health departments and clinics, public health are good at this. We do this, this isn't our first rodeo, so to speak. You know we have a lot of scary creatures out there and so, occasionally, they pop up in clinical environments and in this case the public health departments are brought in you could have an answer in a couple of hours, and when you consider the federal and state and local authorities involved then that's impressive. It could take a few hours to discern whether testing is needed.

LANGELLE
So, pretty much, do you feel you've got it under control already, ahead of the game? Because the way it looks.....you're a little bit more aware of the symptoms...you don't expect it to get out of control...is what I'm asking.

PANDORI
Well of course China was caught off guard by this. You know, the thing about new infectious agents is, they're new and they're miserable and you don't see 'em until people are sick with them. Generally when you are already sick people around, you're not seeing the first infected individual that means there's already other infected people. Now being in the United States and overseas, here we are at the advantage of being able to react to what was happening in China, so we were able to establish at certain airports fever screens for example and we were able to get these tests unrolled very quickly so, are we ahead of this?
I've learned in my time of studying infectious disease is that you are never ahead of these agents. But when you're in such the early stages of something like this it's an opportunity, for public health. You know it's sort of no different if there was a fire at your house. If the fire started in your kitchen and the fire department was called and they were a few blocks away and they got there in a few minutes, it's very likely they could save your house from burning down. But are we in that similar situation from keeping your place from burning down, you never really know.

LANGELLE
OK, I won't take any more of your time ...I wanted to hear how these test kits work, ...I haven't been able to find a lot of stuff on. But other than that, thank you very much.

PANDORI
Sure, James . (tape off)

Further Reading:

How the New Coronavirus Spreads and Progresses - And Why One Test May Not Be Enough
UCSF infectious disease expert Charles Chiu, MD, PhD, has been following the disease since its outbreak and provided the latest updates on what science has revealed about how the coronavirus is transmitted, what happens to someone who's infected, and why a single diagnostic test may not be enough.

Test Kit Image 001: https://futurism.com/neoscope/coronavirus-covid19-test-kits-broken-america-scarce-china
Test Kit Image 002: https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-testing-kits-flawed.html
Dr. Pandori photo: Eyeless on Campus..

JOUR107.1104; Lab//James L'Angelle//University of Nevada, Reno//18 Feb 2020

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

CORONAVIRUS, CALIFORNIA--Wuhan Tent City in Los Angeles &-- LOGISTICS SNAFU

IMMEDIATEREL///@TACNET//.ATTN/CDR//@JC//URGENT/UNCLASSIFIED

"....even more Americans may become subject to summary removal from their posts..."

(DEN@UNR)-- Without warning or notification to the Golden State citizens, aircraft swooped out of the sky and landed at Travis AFB by Davis. Down south, Riverside's Press Enterprise reports from the city desk;
"The tents were set up to meet a request from federal officials to provide enough housing at the facility for at least 250 more people in individual rooms in case a plane carrying passengers who need to be medically screened is temporarily diverted to March ARB" (Riverside PE)
Currently, there doesn't appear to be any validated information as to the actual whereabouts of the detainees, no demographics, and other health related issues. It appears the "federal officials" have complete jurisdiction as to where to dump the weary Wuhan immigrants without regard to how Californians might feel about it.

Coronavirus: 350 evacuees from Wuhan, China arrive at Travis Air Force Base
Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield announced two State Department chartered evacuation flights from Wuhan, China arrived Wednesday carrying some 350 passengers from the country stricken by the deadly novel coronavirus. One of the aircraft will refuel at Travis and continue on to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, the base reported on Facebook.

.. There has been little information prior to their arrival as to where the evacuees would be quarantined. Patricia Kime of Military Times reports that 195 evacuees are currently being isolated at March AFB in Riverside;
"A child among the 195 Americans quarantined at March Air Reserve Base in California has been hospitalized after developing a fever, but whether the youngster has the new coronavirus has yet to be determined. Riverside County Department of Health officials said Tuesday that the child and a parent were taken to Riverside University Health System-Medical Center to be tested for the virus, which has infected more than 24,000 people in 25 countries and killed 492, mostly in China." (MilTimes)

   The number of confirmed casualties has already increased worldwide and there has been no transparency on the number of those quarantined at the airbase other than a sick baby.
   At least one detainee attempted to make a break for it following touchdown at March ARB, as reported by Sandra Emerson at the Press-Enterprise;
   "Riverside County Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser issued the order requiring the passenger to stay at the base for the entire incubation period, up to 14 days, or until otherwise cleared, officials said in a news release Thursday, Jan. 30. " (Riverside PE)
   The article goes on to report that the flight was redirected away from Ontario airport and landed directly at the airbase. (Daily Bulletin) Speculation is rampant as to why the flight changed at the last minute and doesn't explain yet another flight that landed at Travis AFB. It would seem rather a misjudgement in logistics to have planes loaded with suspect coronavirus cases unload in the middle of a civilian airport. The Mercury News reports of the other flights out of the epidemic ground zero of Hubei province;
   ..."one of two planes carrying some 350 passengers out of China that landed at Travis early Wednesday. The other plane refueled and continued on to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego County, the base reported. Two other chartered planes from China are expected to arrive by Thursday at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska," (SJ Mercury)
The article reports that Travis will quarantine the incoming passengers at the Westwind Inn on base. For the Lackland AFB suspected cases, Joe Galli reports for WOAI, San Antonio;

   "According to the Department of Defense, there is enough lodging for 1,000 passengers being evacuated from China to the U.S. in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
At least one plane with quarantined Americans has left China for Lackland AFB and is expected to land Thursday." (WOAI)
   The billeting at Lackland appears more of an unused barracks compared to the upscale treatment at the Travis Westwind, but notably superior to the tent city at March ARB in Riverside.
   Gathered from all of the above, the plan to house the incoming suspected coronavirus cases does not appear to be organized at all with a tent city, attempted escape, makeshift lodging and converted barracks for accommodations. This does not take into account yet another outbreak of the epidemic in some other far corner of the globe where even more Americans may become subject to summary removal from their posts, whether in the State Department or perhaps missionaries or NGOs in a non-official role. To what degree US health officials are coordinating efforts with the State Department and even the Pentagon has yet to be determined as well.
   The one consistent event in the entire episode of the Wuhan catastrophe thus far is that aircraft appear to make their entry into the United States, through California.

(Note: corrections to this story in progress)

   (02/06/20/1900PST) "The hospitals and county health officials were pressing the CDC to offer test kits to identify the strain of virus without the need to send biological samples to the federal headquarters in Atlanta." (Fox5, SD)
They haven't provided them already? Did they send all the kits to Wuhan?

CDC Tests for 2019-nCoV
CDC has developed a new laboratory test kit for use in testing patient specimens for 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The test kit is called the "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2019-Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase (RT)-PCR Diagnostic Panel."

Extended Reading

Note in the first Miramar story below that, "The quarantine is part of a wide-ranging U.S. government response..." with no mention or credit given to the state of California.

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, CDC prepare to receive quarantined China evacuees
Two facilities at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar have been readied to house hundreds of Americans returning from China due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Marine Corps said Tuesday. Dr. Christopher Braden, a deputy director with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control deployed to handle repatriation flights from China to California, said the arrival is imminent.

5th evacuee from MCAS Miramar hospitalized
A fifth person who arrived in Miramar on a flight from China's coronavirus zone was taken to the hospital Thursday.

An American woman evacuated from China over the Wuhan coronavirus filmed her journey and flight home with her 8-year-old daughter
An American woman evacuated from China as the deadly coronavirus continues to spread filmed her journey and evacuation flight home with her 8-year-old daughter. Priscilla Dickey filmed and photographed her journey to the US from the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, which included being picked up by a cab driver in a hazmat suit, deserted city streets, and an airport filled with people wearing masks.

Sources
March AFB, https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/02/05/child-from-march-air-reserve-base-quarantine-hospitalized-with-fever/
Tent City, https://www.pe.com/2020/02/02/tents-set-up-as-a-coronavirus-precaution-at-march-air-reserve-base-in-riverside-county/
Escape, https://www.pe.com/2020/01/30/coronavirus-evacuee-quarantined-at-march-air-reserve-base-in-riverside-county/
Reroute, https://www.dailybulletin.com/2020/01/29/americans-evacuated-from-coronavirus-zone-in-china-en-route-to-riverside-county/
Travis AFB, https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/05/coronavirus-350-evacuees-from-wuhan-china-arrive-at-travis-air-force-base/
Lackland AFB, https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/sneak-peak-of-san-antonios-coronavirus-quarantine-housing
Test Kits, https://fox5sandiego.com/news/officials-assure-public-safety-as-4-patients-are-evaluated-for-coronavirus-at-local-hospitals/

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Sunday, February 2, 2020

CORONAVIRUS, CALIFORNIA-- Invasive Species Strikes Golden State--ASIAN FLU, 1957

URGENTATTN///SUBG2//CD@TACNET//VIAJCL//PATROL//UNCLASSIFIED

"...the attitude over a major epidemic rapidly went from ambivalence to a 'definite probability.' .."

   (DEN@UNR)-- Still in its early stages of becoming a pandemic, the new strain of the pneumonia causing virus is getting a foothold out West as Hilda Flores reports for KCRA/3;
   "SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. --Health officials confirmed Sunday afternoon a second person has tested positive for coronavirus in Santa Clara County. Officials said the second case is not related to the first case reported earlier in the week. The second case is an adult female. Both people had recently traveled to Wuhan, China, officials said. The woman is a visitor to the U.S and arrived Jan. 23 to visit family. Officials said she has been home since she arrived, except for two times she went to seek care. She was never sick enough to be hospitalized, officials said."(KCRA)
   However the LA Times has just reported a third case, bringing the total to six statewide. (LA Times) A brief review of how California weathered the Asian flu in 1957 might give insight into what to expect from the new strain as it will inevitably pay a visit.

   First reported in The North Hollywood Valley Times, the cases were found in Santa Ana

"Orange County Health Officer E. L. Russell yesterday reported two cases of flu apparently similar to the Asian type were discovered in patients here.
   "The disease is said to be mild but with it carrying a threat of complications which has resulted in several deaths in the Far East.
   Russell said the two local influenza cases were being kept under close observation to head off a possible epidemic of the disease." (Valley Times)
On that same day, The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported on its front page that the Asian flu was discovered on the cruise ship President Cleveland as it docked in San Francisco, Several passengers reported ill but the entire ship was quarantined. (Press Democrat)
   Caution to the wind didn't last long as a major spike in cases in Northern California placed the state on notice as what was in store.

   "Two Yuba-Sutter area girls were victims of the respiratory disease--suspected to be a form of 'Asian flu'--which hit over 100 Girls Staters at Davis this week.
   Betty Poulson, daughter of Mrs. George W, Pulispher, and Kathryn Summy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William A. Summt, are reported after recovering after a bout with the disease which struck more than one-fourth of the 391 High school teenagers attending the 1067 Girls' State session."

   From a handful of cases in southern Cal to over 100 in two weeks in Northern Cal is an indicator of just how invasive the species is.

   "The disease which struck the girls was described by Dr. Thomas Y. Cooper, staff physician, as similar to the flu that has swept Asia for months.
   The girls were conducting mock local and state governments on the campus of the University of California College of Agriculture, where Dr. Cooper is a staff physician."
   "There have been a few scattered reports of the flu in California and the girls came from all parts of the state." (Appeal Democrat)

   Even as newspapers of the era reported no serious concern for the virus in the United States, the same newspapers of the day were reporting 300 deaths related to it in India. The Long Beach Independent verified in July suspicion of the virus in the Girls State outbreak. (Independent) The virus has been recovered from blood samples of the girls infected. The Oakland Tribune reported on the same day that the Asian flu was responsible for outbreaks in boys' summer camps. (Tribune)
A day later, The San Rafael Independent broke the headline that recruits at Camp Pendleton had contracted flu of the "so-called Oriental type."

"The base medical officer said approximately 10 percent of the trainees in the infantry training regiment have contracted infections. The incidence in other units was described as about 3 per cent.
   Approximately 40,000 men are stationed on the base.
   The announcement said the increase was noted in the past ten days and all cases have been mild with recovery in two to four days." (SF Independent)
   What is apparent is not how mild the infection was but how rapidly it spread. To go from two isolated cases in Santa Ana to a battalion of recruits a month later indicates the lack of measures to contain it. Certainly that was the middle of the last century but considering the state of medicine then, there is reason to believe that it was adequate enough to at least be able to prepare for an epidemic, if unable to stop it.
   Again, the North Hollywood Valley Times reported that, according to San Diego health officer, Dr. J.B. Askew, more than 12,000 cases were reported in the county for the month of July, 1957; four of those died. In addition, Rear Adm. Robert M. Gillett, chief medical officer for the 11th Naval District reported 7,000 cases of military personnel affected by the Asian flu. (Valley Times)
By then, the attitude over a major epidemic rapidly went from ambivalence to a "definite probability." A month later, Surgeon General Leroy E. Burney announced the release of over 300 thousand centimeters of flu vaccine even though The Santa Maria Times reported it had not been notified of any shipment. (Times) It was the equivalent of 500 thousand flu shots.

   Several days later, in a D. Scheyer, Napa Journal headline that read "FEAR FLU EPIDEMIC, SERUM DUE," the Napa area county director of public health, Sterling S. Cook, announced the vaccine would be available ASAP.
   Dr. Cook explained that two types of serum were available; the first was monovalent and was specifically designed to counter the effects of the virus that swept across the Far East. The second was polyvalent, protection against a variety of strains.
   "He said that since early June 49 outbreaks of influenza-like illnesses have been reported in California, and of these, the outbreaks in San Diego, Fort Ord Army Base, Girls' State of Davis and Juvenile Court in San Mateo County have been identified as caused by influenza A of the Asian strain. An additional 14 outbreaks from widely separate areas in the State are currently under study." (Napa Journal)
   He cited one unverified report of 100 Camp Fire Girls and a counselor who got sick on July 20 but a strain wasn't obtained.

   This is only part of the story for California. Worldwide, the cases mounted to hundreds of thousands. If there are extreme quarantine conditions currently being put in place in Italy, then there is a reason for it citing the number of cases of Asian flu that struck the nation in 1957. No place was safe, Baghdad was hit, Pakistan suffered, many other places came under the influenza influence. California's epidemic, though mild, was enough to alert the state as to just how out of control, like its devastating wildfires, a seemingly non-toxic event could become catastrophic overnight.

CORONAVIRUS--Paranoia, Polemics and Politics--@ HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY

IMMEDIATERELEASE//ATTN//GTACNET@CDR//REF2@JCL//AMBUSH///UNCLASSUFUED

"...a pending epidemic of epic proportions just as the Asian flu swept the globe..."

(DEN@UNR)---Fear has overtaken indifference as the newest epidemic slowly expands globally. Beyond that initial burst of anxiety, yet another variable enters as the Chinese people are now getting the blame for the virus. Raissa Robles reports for the South China Morning Post that at least one school in the Philippines has demanded Chinese students to stay away,

" Not long after the Philippine health department announced that first coronavirus case on Friday, Adamson University in Manila openly called for its “Chinese” students to stop coming to classes until February 14. The university has since apologized 'for the misimpression it may have created' .” (SCMP)
In a report from The Bangkok Post, Thai doctors seem to have found a partial remedy in a blended mix of other anti-viral antidotes;

Thai doctors deploy HIV drugs: Virus update
Thai doctors deploy HIV drugs: Virus update People wearing protective masks to prevent the spread of the SARS-like virus are seen from the Jingshan park overlooking the Forbidden city after a snowfall in Beijing on Saturday. (AFP photo) A 44-year-old man from Wuhan died in the Philippines on Saturday as a result of coronavirus, the first known death outside China.

But that doesn't help settle the fear generated by the presence of Chinese citizens in the culture. Hyung-Jin Kim, reporting for the Associated Press, gives the lowdown on the anti-China tone surfacing in otherwise civilized nations;

"South Korean websites have been flooded with comments calling on the government to block or expel Chinese and racist remarks about Chinese eating habits and hygiene. A popular Seoul seafood restaurant frequented by Chinese tourists posted a sign saying 'No entry for Chinese' before taking it down Wednesday after an online backlash." (AP)
As if a ban wasn't enough, an outright attack on the Chinese people as a race grew overnight in France;
"A French teacher started a Twitter conversation recently under #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus (I am not a virus) that has drawn numerous accounts of discrimination, from children taunted in the schoolyard to subway passengers moving away from people who appear Asian..... A regional newspaper in northern France carried a front-page headline warning of a “Yellow Alert,” and later apologized amid national criticism." (AP)
Adding to that sense of helplessness, with the first of the election contests to begin this week in the United States, candidates are quick to seize on the opportunity to bash opponents who have an ambivalent attitude toward the less-than-adequate health care system recently under intense scrutiny.
VP Biden, a current frontrunner, claims there is no time for "fearmongering" but does exactly that by criticizing the president's recent cuts in health care programs;

Biden slams Trump response to coronavirus epidemic: This is no time for "fearmongering"
Former Vice President Joe Biden President Trump Donald John Trump Coronavirus death toll rises to 304 in China Michael Moore: Clinton comments about Sanders 'divisive,' 'cruel' and 'a lie' Palestinian Authority cuts security ties with US, Israel following Trump peace plan announcement MORE for cutting health programs amid an outbreak of the coronavirus that originated in China and has since spread to the U.S.

Instead of working with the White House for the sake of a nervous public, Biden has chosen to ramp up rhetoric and blame-fixing for his own self-interest. It shows the lack of a genuine plan in his own camp as to a bona-fide health-care-for-all program for the nation. It also shows a desperate attempt to grab the coattails of his opponent Bernie Sanders (D-VT) who has a realistic plan, currently ahead in this week's caucuses and primaries. All of this while the president is being attacked by another Democratic opponent for his appearance and getting bashed back in the process. The total lack of regard for the necessity of leadership during a possible disease epidemic is obvious and shameful.
In fact, according to Open Secrets, the health care industry has contributed just as much money to the Biden campaign as it has to the President's re-election campaign. (Open Secrets) For that matter, with all of the rhetoric about not taking big money, Senator Sanders has also accepted equivalent sums from health care. (Open Secrets) According to GovTrack, a website that follows bill sponsorship by senators, VP Biden, as senator, had a dismal record for presenting legislation related to health, at 8 percent, his lowest category. (GovTrack) None of his sponsored bills appear to suggest the need for unilateral health care for Americans.
Coronavirus isn't about catching the flu, a runny nose and walking around wearing a surgical mask. The new viral strain has nothing to do with evacuations, quarantines and the latest hazmat gear. Coronavirus is about stoking paranoia, insulting ethnic groups and abuse of leadership through divisiveness instead of co-operation. What can we expect? Probably a complete failure in the effort to combat a pending epidemic of epic proportions just as the Asian flu swept the globe in the middle of the last century.

Further Reading

Wuhan virus may transmit along faecal-oral route, Xinhua reports
BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - The coronavirus that's infected more than 14,000 people in two dozen countries may be transmitted through the digestive tract, Chinese state media reported. Virus genetic material was discovered in patient stool and rectal swabs, Xinhua said Sunday (Feb 2).

ER doctor confronts Pence over Medicaid cuts in diner
An emergency room doctor and former Democratic congressional candidate confronted Vice President Pence in a diner on Thursday over proposed cuts to Medicaid. Dr. Rob Davidson posted a video to Twitter of his interaction with Pence, after he said the vice president happened to come into the diner in Des Moines, Iowa, to greet people.

Sources
Stay Home, https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3048626/coronavirus-outbreak-exposes-anti-chinese-sentiment
No Chinese, https://apnews.com/04f18aafe1074a1c06b4203edcbdc661
Protest photo, https://storage.googleapis.com/afs-prod/media/25d6dd37d1c34ea7898857e964c4fd95/1000.jpeg
Open Secrets (Biden), https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race/industries?id=N00001669
Open Secrets (President re-election), https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race/contributors?id=N00023864
Open Secrets, (Bernie), https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race/industries?id=N00000528
GovTrack, Biden, https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/joseph_biden/300008
Hazmat suit image, from "Andromeda Strain," https://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2019/11/27

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Saturday, February 1, 2020

CORONAVIRUS--A Witness to Universal Health Care @ -- #IOWACAUCUS

IMMEDIATE RELEASE//ATTN@CD//TACNET//FWD//JC@AMBUSH//UINCLASSIFIED

"Is there any evidence that the Communists have planted these germs?"

(The Den)--As the toll for the newest threat to health gradually sweeps outward from mainland China to all points around the globe, a sense of urgency sweeps across America as to its priority in an election year. Deaths in China alone now stand at over 300 and the government now finds itself forced to fire inept officials for not being better prepared for the epidemic;

China reports 304 virus deaths, fires officials for poor job
China's death toll from a new virus increased to 304 on Sunday amid warnings from the World Health Organization that other countries need to prepare in the event the disease spreads among their populations as more nations report local infections. Meanwhile, six officials in the city of Huanggang, neighboring.

To what degree the United States is prepared for introduction of the virus into the Northern Hemisphere remains to be seen. Cancellation of flights from across the Pacific does not exclude other means for the invasive species known as "coronavirus" to enter the country. At least one historical pandemic that spanned the globe was mapped, categorized, criticized and eventually publicized as a by-product of H-bomb testing and Red Chinese "germ warfare."

The so-called "Asian flu" that went global in the summer of 1957 was spread by a variety of means and in one case, a tourist ship due to dock in San Francisco was quarantined. A total of 96 passengers on board the President Cleveland were stricken with the disease as it crossed the Pacific from Manila. (Tyler Morning Telegraph) The map at the left shows the spread of the Asian flu. Note the map shows the origin of the flu as being in "Red China."
Note again the image of a US Navy destroyer off the coast of Japan, where the government there accused it as having been the vessel that delivered the virus to the island. By mid-June, 1957, over two million Japanese citizens had been struck with the flu virus, including hundreds of thousands of children. (Des Moines Register) It would be just a matter of time before the Asian flu became politicized.
About the same time the Japanese were blaming US warships for bringing the virus to their island, a scientist claimed that H-bomb testing caused the insidious spreading of the disease worldwide.

Reported in the Wilmington Morning News on 14 June 1957, Norman W. Pirie suggested it was the product of "British and Soviet H-bomb tests." (Wilmington) Of course it was pure rubbish but the opportunity to bash foreign governments for the plague didn't stop there. Next to feel the weight of condemnation for the origin of the flu was the communist government of China itself. Reporters, lacking any real scientific evidence to base their claim on, ignorant of the very nature of just how many strains of the disease that exist, most of which fall under the category of the "common cold," began to look elsewhere to place the blame.
At the time, Red China was making strides at entry into the United Nations, with strong opposition from the Nationalist government of Taiwan, and the United States. The efforts succeeded and the new nation did not get the call to join the world community. What better opportunity to also accuse the Peking regime of deliberately creating a worldwide pandemic under the guise of flu, but in reality germ warfare.

   According to the Saskatchewan Leader Post, in mid-August '57, Commander William J. Tepsix of the Pennsylvania Veterans of Foreign Wars sent a letter to Dag Hammarskjold, the UN secretary general, demanding an investigation into a Red plot to poison the world with flu warfare. (Leader Post) It wasn't long before the equivalent of the Fifties "mainstream media" picked up on the story;
   " 'Is there any evidence that the Communists have planted these germs?' Burney was asked in a copyrighted interview in U.S. News & World Report, a weekly news magazine."
Dr. Leroy E. Burney, the US surgeon general, replied;
   "No...I don't believe that is a possibility." (Circlefield, OH Herald)
   The newspaper article was insistent in its tone that there was probably a communist plot attached to the epidemic somewhere, anywhere, the Soviet Union, Red China. To what degree the possibility existed was further considered by David Barnett of the Boston Globe in September;
   "Unlike atomic warfare, toxic warfare is relatively cheap and can be developed by any country." (Globe)

   By December, outright bashing of the Asian community for the flu incursion could be found in the Austin American, in by today's standards, an ethnic slur, when Edward R. Kennedy, an NEA special correspondent, had this to say;
   "Now it is highly possible that the microbe hunters back home have isolated a special virus with slant eyes," (Austin)
We are hearing similar insulting language with the newest introduction of the "Asian" flu now slowly creeping across the planet. In France, Asians and the Chinese in particular, have been accused of somehow being responsible for the disease forcing the hashtag #JENESUISPASUNVIRUS to trend on Twitter. (Twitter)
The racial insults on social media today are the product of the original epidemic of the mid-Fifties of the last century, at the height of the "Cold"-War, where bashing political institutions and cultures was acceptable, and as in ER Kennedy's case, funny.
   The attitude toward the Asian flu epidemic went from reasonable to ludicrous in a short span of one summer, due possibly to its actual mild effects in the West as compared to its devastating toll in the East. The measures currently being executed may or may not be enough but this brings us back to an even more important issue, one that is embedded solidly in politics this election year, that is universal health care.

   With the first test of the candidates survivability in the race next week, at least one has a meaningful solution, Bernie Sanders (D-VT);
   "Today, more than 30 million Americans still don’t have health insurance and even more are underinsured. Even for those with insurance, costs are so high that medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States. Incredibly, we spend significantly more of our national GDP on this inadequate health care system—far more per person than any other major country. And despite doing so, Americans have worse health outcomes and a higher infant mortality rate than countries that spend much less on health care. Our people deserve better." (Sanders)
   Certainly the medical profession, the hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry don't want it, there's no money in universal coverage. The current administration opposes it because it might mean the people, the very voters who have put the man into the White House, will be the ones to benefit from it. Even if there are things such as "inalienable rights," such as guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence, that doesn't mean, according to the status quo, the rich and powerful, it includes the average man. The troubling question is twofold: is universal health coverage an inalienable right, and does the establishment have the right to oppose it? The answers are simple, for the first, yes; for the second, no.
   Along with climate catastrophe, it will become a defining issue of the twenty-first century, whether the administration likes it or not, whether it's a communist plot or not.

Sources,
Fired, https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/china-announces-304-deaths-14-002722471.html
President Cleveland, Tyler Morning Telegraph, 10 June 1957, Page 4.
Japan flu, Des Moines Register, 13 June 1957, Page 2.
H-bombs, Wilmington Morning News, 14 June 1957, Page 20.
Germ warfare, Saskatchewan Leader Post, 16 Aug 1957, Page 1.
Toxic, Barnett, D., Boston Globe, 15 Sept 1957 Page 40.
Kennedy, E.R., Austin American, 01 Dec 1957, Page 1.
#JENESUISPASUNVIRUS, https://twitter.com/hashtag/JeNeSuisPasUnVirus?src=hashtag_click
Sanders, https://berniesanders.com/issues/medicare-for-all/
Asian girls in masks image, https://qz.com/299003/a-quick-history-of-why-asians-wear-surgical-masks-in-public/'
Gas mask image, https://www.guidesmag.com/gas-mask/

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Eyeless on Campus

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Pages

Friday, February 28, 2020

THE CORONAVIRUS RODEO--Interview with Dr. Mark Pandori--NEVADA STATE HEALTH LAB

BREAKING: Second man in King County with coronavirus dies

Monday, February 17, 2020

CORONAVIRUS, USA--Lab Testing Procedure---NV HEALTH LAB DIR INTERVIEW

How the New Coronavirus Spreads and Progresses - And Why One Test May Not Be Enough

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

CORONAVIRUS, CALIFORNIA--Wuhan Tent City in Los Angeles &-- LOGISTICS SNAFU

Coronavirus: 350 evacuees from Wuhan, China arrive at Travis Air Force Base

CDC Tests for 2019-nCoV

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, CDC prepare to receive quarantined China evacuees

5th evacuee from MCAS Miramar hospitalized

An American woman evacuated from China over the Wuhan coronavirus filmed her journey and flight home with her 8-year-old daughter

Sunday, February 2, 2020

CORONAVIRUS, CALIFORNIA-- Invasive Species Strikes Golden State--ASIAN FLU, 1957

Fear of coronavirus fuels racist sentiment targeting Asians

CORONAVIRUS--Paranoia, Polemics and Politics--@ HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY

Thai doctors deploy HIV drugs: Virus update

Biden slams Trump response to coronavirus epidemic: This is no time for "fearmongering"

Wuhan virus may transmit along faecal-oral route, Xinhua reports

ER doctor confronts Pence over Medicaid cuts in diner

Saturday, February 1, 2020

CORONAVIRUS--A Witness to Universal Health Care @ -- #IOWACAUCUS

China reports 304 virus deaths, fires officials for poor job