Americans at High Risk From Coronavirus Urged to Stay Home
/By Pat Anson, PNN Editor
A senior U.S. health official warned Sunday that Americans with underlying health conditions should avoid large crowds and not board airplanes or cruise ships because of the coronavirus outbreak. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also said quarantines of infected areas in the U.S. may become necessary.
"It's possible," Fauci told host Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. "You don't want to alarm people, but given the spread we've seen, anything is possible, and that’s the reason we have got to be prepared to take whatever action is appropriate to contain and mitigate the outbreak."
Italy’s Prime Minister on Sunday ordered a quarantine of northern Italy, after a spike of over a thousand new coronavirus cases was reported. Italy has recorded nearly 6,000 cases and 233 deaths, the most fatalities outside of mainland China. About 16 million people live inside the quarantine area.
"We have to be realistic," said Fauci, when asked if similar travel bans could be imposed in the U.S. "I don't think it would be as draconian as nobody in and nobody out, but if we continue to get cases like this, particularly at the community level, there will be what we call mitigation, when you'll have to do essentially social distancing: keep people out of crowded places, take a look at seriousness -- do you really need to travel? And I think it particularly important among the most vulnerable.”
Fauci says elderly people with heart disease, chronic lung disease and diabetes should avoid high-risk situations, such “crowded places, getting on airplanes, and absolutely don’t get on a cruise ship.”
‘You’re Going to See More Deaths’
The comments from Fauci and other leading health officials signaled the U.S. was shifting from a failed effort to contain the virus to mitigation, such as closing schools and cancelling large gatherings.
"Initially, we had a posture of containment so that we could give people time to prepare for where we are right now. We're shifting into a mitigation phase, which means that we're helping communities understand you're going to see more cases. Unfortunately, you're going to see more deaths. But that doesn't mean that we should panic," U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said CNN's State of the Union.
“We have to implement broad mitigation strategies. The next two weeks are really going to change the complexion in this country. We’ll get through this, but it’s going to be a hard period. We’re looking at two months, probably, of difficulty,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration said on CBS’ Face the Nation.
As of today, there are 21 deaths and 521 confirmed cases of coronavirus in at least 33 states, although the actual number is likely to be higher because testing for the virus in the U.S. has been limited. There are over 109,000 cases worldwide and 3,799 deaths.
Early information out of China suggested the chances of a coronavirus patient dying were about 2.3 percent. But last week the World Health Organization raised the fatality rate to 3.4 percent, which is far higher than seasonal flu, which kills about 0.1% of those infected.
While symptoms are mild for most coronavirus patients, the elderly and those with chronic health conditions are most at risk. A study done by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that people over the age of 80 have the highest fatality rate of all age groups at 14.8 percent, followed by people in their seventies (8%) and sixties (3.6%).
People with the following health conditions also have a higher risk of dying:
10.5% Cardiovascular disease
7.3% Diabetes
6.3% Chronic respiratory disease
6.0% Hypertension
5.6% Cancer
According to the CDC, people at higher risk from the COVID-19 virus should stay home and “avoid crowds as much as possible.”
