Government 'herd immunity' strategy tipping Britain towards huge death toll | ESSF |

Jeremy Corbyn's latest message says that the government must be pressed to explain more clearly the science behind their strategy. Absolutely pathetic. In this life and death emergency, studied caution is hardly the point. And Labour's response fails to understand that `science' is being used as a cover for a far-right project of authoritarianism and Social Darwinist eugenics.

The Johnson/Cummings Tories have their priorities. They are to protect the rich and big business, to put profit before people, to keep as much of the economy as possible working regardless of the public health risk, and to allow `surplus people' - the old, the poor, the sick - to die in order to achieve `herd immunity'.

Labour - and the trade unions - should be defending health workers, working people generally, and the most vulnerable, who are overwhelmingly working class. It should be opposing top-down Tory diktat, increased police power, and the defence of corporate interests. It should be arguing for - indeed, organising for - a bottom-up, community-based, democratically-structured response to the crisis.

Don't trust the Tories. Don't trust the corporations. Don't trust the police. We need popular action to protect ourselves and our families, friends, and colleagues from a global pandemic created by capitalist agribusiness and fostered by decades of neoliberal attacks on the welfare state.

Budgeting for covid-19: changing the narrative and narrating the change

The UK government's plan for dealing with covid-19 has now moved from the "contain" phase to the "delay" stage. This is just a recognition of reality. The World Health Organization has confirmed that the outbreak is now a pandemic, and the spread of disease is moving as expected. The move to the "delay" phase raises the question of what an effective UK reaction to pandemic covid-19 is going to look like, other than to buy us some preparation time.

ITV's political editor Robert Peston has a close working relationship with sources inside Boris Johnson's government, and his latest blog outlines the government's "herd immunity"strategy.  It is worth quoting: "The strategy of the British government in minimising the impact . . . is to allow the virus to pass through the entire population so that we acquire herd immunity, but at a much delayed speed so that those who suffer the most acute symptoms are able to receive the medical support they need, and such that the health service is not overwhelmed and crushed by the sheer number of cases it has to treat at any one time."

Peston reports that the government's plans are based on scientific advice that covid-19 cannot now be contained and that the draconian measures seen in China are likely only to delay its spread, which will resume once freedom of movement returns.

Dutch PM Mark Rutte parrots the Pentagon, Trump and now Boris Johnson on the scientific advice to control the COVID-19 pandemic ...

Excerpt of Prime Minister Rutte's National Address in English | NL Times |

The reality is that the coronavirus is among us and will remain among us for the time being. There is no easy or quick way out of this very difficult situation. The reality is that in the near future a large part of the Dutch population will be infected with the virus.

That is what the experts are telling us now. And what they also tell us is that, pending a vaccine or medicine, we can slow down the spread of the virus while at the same time building group immunity in a controlled way.

I have to explain that.

Those who have had the virus are usually immune afterwards. Just like in the old days with measles. The larger the group that is immune, the less chance that the virus will jump to vulnerable elderly people and people with poor health. With group immunity you build, as it were, a protective wall around them.

That is the principle. But we have to realize that it can take months or even longer to build up group immunity and during that time we need to shield people who are at greater risk as much as possible.

All in all, there are three possible scenarios. The first scenario is: maximally controlling the virus. This leads to controlled distribution among groups that are least at risk.

That is our scenario of choice. Maximum control means that we try to use measures to level off and smooth the peak in the number of infections and spread it over a longer period.

With this approach in which most people will only get minor complaints, we build immunity and ensure that the healthcare system can handle it. With the aim that nursing homes, in-home care, hospitals, and especially intensive care units are not overloaded. So that there is always sufficient capacity to help the people who are most vulnerable.

Ethical and Legal Considerations in Mitigating Pandemic Disease: Workshop Summary

Given limited supplies of vaccines, antiviral drugs, and ventilators, non-pharmaceutical interventions are likely to dominate the public health response to any pandemic, at least in the near term. The six papers that make up this chapter describe scientific approaches to maximizing the benefits of quarantine and other nonpharmaceutical strategies for containing infectious disease as well as the legal and ethical considerations that should be taken into account when adopting such strategies. The authors of the first three papers raise a variety of legal and ethical concerns associated with behavioral approaches to disease containment and mitigation that must be addressed in the course of pandemic planning, and the last three papers describe the use of computer modeling for crafting disease containment strategies.

More specifically, the chapter's first paper, by Lawrence Gostin and Benjamin Berkman of Georgetown University Law Center, presents an overview of the legal and ethical challenges that must be addressed in preparing for pandemic influenza. The authors observe that even interventions that are effective in a public health sense can have profound adverse consequences for civil liberties and economic status. They go on to identify several ethical and human rights concerns associated with behavioral interventions that would likely be used in a pandemic, and they discuss ways to minimize the social consequences of such interventions.

The next essay argues that although laws give decision makers certain powers in a pandemic, those decision makers must inevitably apply ethical tenets to decide if and how to use those powers because "law cannot anticipate the specifics of each public health emergency." Workshop panelist James LeDuc of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and his co-authors present a set of ethical guidelines that should be employed in pandemic preparation and response. They also identify a range of legal issues relevant to social-distancing measures. If state and local governments are to reach an acceptable level of public health preparedness, the authors say, they must give systematic attention to the ethical and legal issues, and that preparedness should be tested, along with other public health measures, in pandemic preparation exercises.

LeDuc's fellow panelist Victoria Sutton of Texas Tech University also considered the intersection of law and ethics in public health emergencies in general and in the specific case of pandemic influenza. In particular, Sutton identified several "choke points"--particularly thorny ethical and legal issues--that present barriers to pandemic mitigation. In addition to the problem of leadership, which is addressed in the next chapter, these issues include the role of interdisciplinary and intersectoral approaches in decision-making; the tradeoffs between personal freedom and public good that are implicit in social-distancing measures; the global implications of quarantine and travel restrictions; the need for consistency among various disease-control policies; and the definition of appropriate, measurable "triggers" for when to impose each potential countermeasure.

SARS, the First Pandemic of the 21st Century

Related reading ...

○ Feasibility of controlling COVID-19 outbreaks by isolation of cases and contacts | The Lancet - Feb. 28, 2020 |
○ Scientists were close to a coronavirus vaccine years ago. Then the money dried up | Texas Galveston Lab - James LeDuc |

○ Dutch Breaking News: Death toll rises to 43 and a total of 1705 cases, of which 389 people are working in health care | RIVM |

From Mark Rutte yesterday:

"That is what the experts are telling us now. And what they also tell us is that, pending a vaccine or medicine, we can slow down the spread of the virus while at the same time building group immunity in a controlled way.

... it's important, continue to use common sense and listen to the experts."

○ New Coronavirus Research Shows That The SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Has A Fourth Route Of Attacking Human Host Cells Making It A Real Super Virus | Thailand Medical - March 15, 2020 |

Yet more proof, if you ever needed any, that the @nytimes has completely lost its bearings: "Some Ask a Taboo Question: Is America Overreacting to Coronavirus?" [_link]

— Tikun Olam (@richards1052) March 17, 2020

Trial of Coronavirus Vaccine Made by Moderna Begins in Seattle. On the cutting edge, where Seattle likes to be. [_link]

— Tikun Olam (@richards1052) March 17, 2020

The first shipment of masks and coronavirus test kits to the US is taking off from Shanghai. All the best to our friends in America. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/LTn26gvlOl

— Jack Ma (@JackMa) March 16, 2020

Breaking News: China said it would expel American journalists working for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post [_link]

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 17, 2020

Recebi essa imagem como os médicos cubanos chegando à Itália. Novamente Cuba apoia os q sofrem. A querida Itália, q tanto acolhe migrantes e refugiados das guerras e fome, precisa de apoio.
Q deste encontro mundial nasça o fim do bloqueio e o início de uma era de fraternidade. pic.twitter.com/TghlLQLdAF

— Maria do Rosário (@mariadorosario) March 16, 2020

Pfizer and BioNTech to Co-Develop Potential COVID-19 Vaccine

NEW YORK & MAINZ, Germany -- Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE today announced that the companies have agreed to a letter of intent regarding the co-development and distribution (excluding China)  of a potential mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine aimed at preventing COVID-19 infection. The companies have executed a Material Transfer and Collaboration Agreement to enable the parties to immediately start working together.

The collaboration aims to accelerate development of BioNTech's potential first-in-class COVID-19 mRNA vaccine program, BNT162, which is expected to enter clinical testing by the end of April 2020. The rapid advancement of this collaboration builds on the research and development collaboration into which Pfizer and BioNTech entered in 2018 to develop mRNA-based vaccines for prevention of influenza.

"We are proud that our ongoing, successful relationship with BioNTech gives our companies the resiliency to mobilize our collective resources with extraordinary speed in the face of this worldwide challenge," said Mikael Dolsten, Chief Scientific Officer and President, Worldwide Research, Development & Medical, Pfizer.

BioNTech's Chinese Partnership

As part of the development program, BioNTech announced a strategic alliance with China's Fosun Pharma to jointly develop its vaccine in China.

○ Coronavirus: German, US companies sign deal to develop vaccine | DW |
○ BioNTech Signs Collaboration Agreement with Pfizer to Developm RNA‐based Vaccines for Prevention of Influenza | Press Release - Aug. 16, 2018 |

%@$#€*! First Communist Cuba and now our greatest foe Communist China ... social isolation and ComIntern. Bah!

Austerity has crippled the UK's response to the coronavirus crisis | Letters [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) March 17, 2020

Coronavirus: Rishi Sunak announces £330bn bailout package for businesses - video [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) March 17, 2020

○ Coronavirus news - live: Police given power to arrest infected as chancellor promises businesses £330bn in loans and UK death toll rises to 71 | The Independent |

○ White House considering giving Americans checks to combat economic impact of outbreak | NBC News |

Some 314 required hospitalization, the RIVM said. Nearly 100 were in intensive care [50% under 50 yrs], according to one Dutch medical association. Roughly 23 percent of those infected work in the healthcare field. The RIVM said that part of the reason there were more reported infections in this field is because those workers are tested more frequently [???].

There were 634 patients known to be living in Noord-Brabant. Another 197 were reported in Limburg, and 175 in Zuid-Holland, the RIVM said.

Dutch gov't to cover 90% of salaries lost for work hours reduction: Report

The ruling Dutch Cabinet said it would expand a program to provide relief to employers who have been negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The program concerns businesses in crisis that want to temporarily reduce their salaried workers' contracted hours and adjust their pay accordingly. The scheme currently provides government funding to cover 75 percent of the lost wages, paid directly to the employee, with the employer covering the remainder.

That is set to increase to a 90 percent maximum guarantee from the government, reported broadcaster NOS based on anonymous sources. The move is in addition to the expanded BMKB financing program for small and mid-sized businesses, where a credit facility is provided by the bank with the government committing to repay up to 90 percent of the money lent if the company is unable to repay.

Dutch flag carrier KLM was one of the companies to apply to the ministry for permission. It planned to slash the hours of 70 percent of its staff as it reduced its passenger schedule down to just 10 to 20 percent of normal operations.

Het kabinet heeft besloten om vanwege het coronavirus uitzonderlijke economische maatregelen te nemen. Doel is om naast onze gezondheid ook onze banen en inkomens te beschermen.

Een overzicht van de maatregelen ⤵️[_link]#coronavirus #COVID2019 pic.twitter.com/5wHMBHrFcZ

— Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat (@MinisterieEZK) March 17, 2020

UK 'prepares to seek Brexit transition extension' as coronavirus crisis grows | Telegraph |

Detailed Brexit trade negotiations planned for this week were cancelled on Monday, with Government sources indicating that the UK is preparing the ground to seek a mutually agreed extension to the talks in the coming weeks.

As the coronavirus crisis deepened, senior Whitehall sources also confirmed that civil servants who had been working on Brexit "no deal" preparations were being actively redeployed into virus crisis management.

The U.K.'s Coronavirus `Herd Immunity' Debacle| The Atlantic |

There was a time when it seemed possible for the world to contain COVID-19--the disease caused by the new coronavirus. That time is over. What began as an outbreak in China has become a pandemic, and as a growing number of countries struggle to control the virus, talk of "flattening the curve" is increasing.

...
Almost every country is trying to achieve this goal through the standard arsenal of public health--testing people and tracing contacts--and through more restrictive measures that include instituting quarantines, closing public spaces, banning mass gatherings, and issuing strong advice about social distancing.

But on Thursday, at a press conference, Boris Johnson seemingly revealed that the United Kingdom would adopt a different strategy. The government would no longer try to track and trace the contacts of every suspected case, and it would test only people who are admitted to hospitals. In lieu of any major social-distancing measures, Johnson instead offered a suite of soft advice--people with symptoms should stay home; no school trips abroad; people over 70 should avoid cruises.

...
To avoid a second peak in the winter, Sir Patrick Vallance said the U.K. would suppress the virus "but not get rid of it completely," while focusing on protecting vulnerable groups, such as the elderly. In the meantime, other people would get sick. But since the virus causes milder illness in younger age groups, most would recover and subsequently be immune to the virus. This "herd immunity" would reduce transmission in the event of a winter resurgence. On Sky News, Vallance said that "probably about 60 percent" of people would need to be infected to achieve herd immunity.

[Read on ...]

In The Netherlands, PM Mark Rutte followed suite .... warned everyone should unite behind his policy and avoid criticism ... the Dutch sheeple were brave and applauded the master. I did not as I have lost trust in the PM for being too right-wing and lacks honesty. I know math and numbers, I didn't buy this policy from the outset. Fortunately, more opposition is coming from across the globe: WHO Europe, Prof. Roberto Burioni from Milan, Italy and in both the US and UK.

○ I'm an epidemiologist. When I heard about Britain's 'herd immunity' coronavirus plan, I thought it was satire | The Guardian |

Just concluded press briefing on #COVID19. My key message: Europe is at the epicenter of the first pandemic of #coronavirus. Every country, every community, every person needs to take their boldest actions to stop or slow the virus spread. In full 👉 [_link]

— Hans Kluge (@hans_kluge) March 17, 2020

Do you know flattening the curve means? What about social distancing? @normanswan explains some of the terms that have come into the lexicon with #coronavirus. #abc730 #COVIC19 pic.twitter.com/uuL7R1tM7f

— abc730 (@abc730) March 16, 2020

LIVE: Sen. Sanders discusses coronavirus outbreak response on primary election night in Florida, Illinois and Arizona.[_link]

— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 17, 2020

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper: "The Department of Defense will make available up to 5 million and N95 respirator masks and other personal protective equipment from our own strategic reserves to the Department of Health and Human Services for distribution." pic.twitter.com/qHncgDAwKJ

— The Hill (@thehill) March 17, 2020

Coronavirus: 45-year-old father becomes youngest UK victim [_link]

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 17, 2020

EU leaders confirmed the proposed closure of the EU's external and Schengen borders for at least 30 days on Tuesday (17 March). @alex_owski and @NatashaFoote report.[_link]

— EURACTIV (@EURACTIV) March 18, 2020

Some thoughts on the history of civil defence in relation to Covid-19 @kingscolllon @kingsartshums @kingshistory @kingscbh @kingschostm [_link]

— David Edgerton (@DEHEdgerton) March 17, 2020

When it comes to national emergencies, Britain has a tradition of cold calculation | The Guardian |

What's the best way to respond to a global health emergency? For countries like Italy, Spain, South Korea and Denmark, the answer is closing schools and public spaces to limit infection.

...
The British state has always been good at making shrewd utilitarian calculations. In two crucial moments during the 20th century, the government thought that it wasn't worth attempting to protect the population in any serious way because the damage wrought by drastic policy interventions would be too great. Both Neville Chamberlain and Harold Macmillan's governments made minimal preparations for anticipated disasters: bombing in the 1930s, and nuclear war in the 1950s. In both cases, the government aimed to do the minimum necessary to allay fears.

In a roundabout way, they thought the future wellbeing of British citizens would depend on the government's parsimonious decision to not overinvest in defensive infrastructure. Both governments hoped to avoid war by deterring an attack and by keeping the economy strong. Far better to spend on methods of attacking Germany and the Soviet Union than on buttressing the island against attacks from the air.

...
The most famous prewar structure was the flimsy Anderson shelter, a set of corrugated iron sheets erected in people's gardens. It remains an emblematic image of the late 1930s. The shelter was named after the minister responsible for air raid precautions, Sir John Anderson, who had a PhD in chemistry.

It's NOT that mankind is powerless, the political leaders are ill prepared and lack vision.

○ Global arms trade is a nearly 200 billion business and the US drives nearly 80% of it | CNBC |

Still military expenditures to counter the Red Menace are insufficient, Trump finds ... soon modern mini-nukes to be placed in Europe.

○ NATO's Original Purpose: Double Containment of the Soviet Union and "Resurgent" Germany

Get well soon, Neil. Thank you for all of the important work you and your team have done so far [_link]

— Imperial College (@imperialcollege) March 18, 2020

Our Professor Neil Ferguson, Director of @Imperial_JIDEA, and the @MRC_Outbreak team have just published important new evidence about the spread of #COVIDー19 coronavirus and how interventions impact on it [_link] (1/4)

— Imperial College (@imperialcollege) March 17, 2020

Scientists have been sounding the alarm on coronavirus for months. Why did Britain fail to act?

Most of the 41 people described in this first report, published in the Lancet, presented with non-specific symptoms of fever and cough. More than half had difficulties in breathing. But most worryingly of all, a third of these patients had such a severe illness that they had to be admitted to an intensive care unit. Most developed a critical complication of their viral pneumonia - acute respiratory distress syndrome. Half died.

The Chinese scientists pulled no punches. "The number of deaths is rising quickly," they wrote. The provision of personal protective equipment for health workers was strongly recommended. Testing for the virus should be done immediately a diagnosis was suspected. They concluded that the mortality rate was high. And they urged careful surveillance of this new virus in view of its "pandemic potential".

#humanity is not a word in the vocabulary of the Trump/Pence White House.

UK presses US to ease Iran sanctions to help fight coronavirus | The Guardian |

U.S. Seen Spurning China's #Coronavirus-Linked Call for #IranSanctions Relief

"The regime can't be trusted to channel whatever money it would gain from the easing of pressure toward humanitarian activity." said a U.S. official on condition of anonymity.[_link]

— Kayhan Life (@KayhanLife) March 16, 2020

Zarif urges world states to join `global campaign to disregard' US bans | PressTV |

UAE sends medical aid to Iran as coronavirus outbreak intensifies | al-Monitor |

Lombardy death toll up 319 in single day

Graphs are useful but to really get what that rising curve is, have a look at the obituaries page of this Bergamo daily newspaper, comparing one from February with one from now pic.twitter.com/78mgZseyVt

— Ben Phillipsu (@benphillips76) March 14, 2020

Bergamo: Quasi 400 salme che attendono sepoltura (senza i loro cari).
Il #COVID19 si ferma se restiamo a casa perché non cammina da solo nell'aria ma è trasportato dalle persone. Rispettati! Rispetta!
L'eterno riposo dona loro Signore. pic.twitter.com/hZqaEiPgAD

— Francesco Cristofaro (@CristofaroFranc) March 18, 2020

The coronavirus threat to economy -- 'Shut it down now' | CNBC |

WATCH: The Dow plunges more than 2,000 points as the coronavirus pandemic roils markets. [_link]

— CNBC (@CNBC) March 18, 2020

In his Address to the Nation on Monday:

Kijk live mee met de toespraak van minister-president Rutte over de stand van zaken rond het #coronavirus ⬇ [_link]

— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) March 16, 2020

The reality is that the coronavirus is among us and will remain among us for the time being. There is no easy or quick way ou of this very difficult situation. The reality is that in the near future a large part of the Dutch population will be infected with the virus.

That is what the experts are telling us now. And what they also tell us is that, pending a vaccine or medicine, we can slow down the spread of the virus while at the same time building group immunity in a controlled way.

I have to explain that.

Those who have had the virus are usually immune afterwards. Just like in the old days with measles. The larger the group that is immune, the less chance that the virus will jump to vulnerable elderly people and people with poor health. With group immunity you build, as it were, a protective wall around them.

That is the principle. But we have to realize that it can take months or even longer to build up group immunity and during that time we need to shield people who are at greater risk as much as possible.

Asscher (PvdA) legt vinger op zere plek: "Na de toespraak van Rutte is het probleem ontstaan dat groepsimmuniteit het doel is. Dat was de bedoeling niet, maar zo is het wel overgekomen." #coronadebat

— Peter Winterman (@WintermanAD) March 18, 2020

"Asscher (PvdA) puts a finger on the sore spot: After Rutte's speech, the problem arose that group immunity is the goal. That was not the intention, but that is how it came across."

○ Jaap van Dissel appointed as Director of the RIVM Centre for Infectious Disease Control

All his tweets in a timeline ... from outbreak in China from January 21 onwards. Ill prepared and ill informed of the facts. Rutte claims today he was following the lead from WHO ... another BIG lie as I have written just a few days ago!

○ Boris Johnson's Herd Immunity Debacle, Mark Rutte follows suite

○ The Coronovirus in tweets from RIVM - a timeline | Elseviers |

All NYSE markets will continue to operate under normal trading hours despite the closure of the trading floors."
[...]
The Dow closed down 6.3%, or 1,338 points, and has now erased most of its gains accumulated under the Trump administration. The S&P 500 is also edging closer to falling below its January 2017 level. The index finished down 5.2%. The Nasdaq Composite closed down 4.7%.

Operation Wuhan - 100,000 testing kits | The Guardian |

"Facebook Acknowledges a Bug Is Blocking Coronavirus News." After having four Facebook posts removed today after being falsely marked as spam, this somehow does not reassure me. [_link]

— Tikun Olam (@richards1052) March 19, 2020

A Chinese team of seven health experts is providing guidance and medical assistance to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraq. The team arrived in Baghdad on March 7 and is expected to stay in the country for one month. #CombatCoronavirus #UnityIsStrength pic.twitter.com/k0Z1W6WGqn

— CCTV (@CCTV) March 19, 2020

Chinese medical experts arrived in Padova, Italy from Rome on Tuesday. #CombatCoronavirus #UnityIsStrength pic.twitter.com/XauScMHlzn

— CCTV (@CCTV) March 19, 2020

China Daily has launched a COVID-19 subsite to share reliable information about the disease and China's experience in overcoming it with the rest of the world. #CombatCoronavirus [_link] pic.twitter.com/M07adhutum

— CCTV (@CCTV) March 19, 2020

New Post: Likud's Soft Coup Under Pretext of [_link] Likud's election defeat has led to a soft coup and a normalization of the surveillance state.
[_link]

— Tikun Olam (@richards1052) March 19, 2020

Russia has reported its first coronavirus-related death, a 79-year-old Russian woman with pre-existing conditions who died in a Moscow hospital [_link]

— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) March 19, 2020

○ Moscow to Build New $135M Coronavirus Hospital - Reports

Russia said it has sent 800 test kits for the novel coronavirus to ex-Soviet states including Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, as well as to Iran, North Korea and Mongolia [_link]

— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) March 12, 2020

○ Coronavirus: Temporary hospital being built in Moscow | BBC News Report |

Under the plan, individuals making up to $75,000 annually would be eligible for a $1,200 check from the federal government. [_link]

— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 20, 2020

👀 [_link]

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 20, 2020

It is stomach-churning that the first thoughts these Senators had to a dire & classified #COVID briefing was how to profit off this crisis.

They didn't mobilize to help families, or prep response. They dumped stock.

Sen. Loeffler needs to resign, too. [_link]

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 20, 2020

Republican senators sold stocks before markets plunged on Covid-19 fears - reports | The Guardian |

Tucker Carlson calls on Burr to resign amid reports of stock selloff | The Hill |

CoV-2: Dutch deaths increase 40% in a day; infections increased by 534 to nearly 3000 total

Thus far, the public health services in the Netherlands said they are able to test about a thousand t per day. That limitation means they test the elderly, those in vulnerable health, and health care workers first. They no longer test the immediate family of coronavirus patients when relatives show symptoms. The RIVM confirmed to NL Times that they assume they are infected, and act accordingly, but they are not logged in the official statistics unless a positive test is recorded.

"The actual number of infections with COVID-19 is higher than the number of reports in this update, because not everyone with potential infection is tested anymore," the RIVM said.

LATEST: A "concerning trend" from Italy is showing "mortality in males seems to be twice in every age group of females," White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx says. [_link]

— ABC News (@ABC) March 20, 2020

This may be the best #corona news I have heard in 3 weeks. In combination with 2 more weeks of quarantine, @army corps making beds and #defense production act making masks.This will save our country from catastrophe. Economy opens back up May 1ish [_link] @CDCgov

— John Boockvar (@johnboockvar) March 20, 2020

A small study but at day 6 post-inclusion, 100% of #coronavirus patients treated with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin were virologicaly cured compared with 57.1% in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine only, and 12.5% in the control group (p<0.001).[_link] pic.twitter.com/dS9B7uJsmk

— John Boockvar (@johnboockvar) March 20, 2020

Gautret et al. (2020) Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID‐19: Journal of Antimicrobial Agents

Binnen! Afgelopen weken hebben inkopers van het @ErasmusMC en het ministerie gewerkt aan een toelevering van FFP2-maskers voor NL. Eerste lading van zo'n 690.000 mondkapjes is net binnen en wordt zo snel mogelijk gedistribueerd naar de plekken waar de nood het hoogst is. 😷🦠💪 pic.twitter.com/QorC90A4tv

— Hugo de Jonge (@hugodejonge) March 21, 2020

Which Masks Actually Protect Against Coronavirus?