China response. Everything they did hinged on testing cases,and finding cases. Once found.
1.Differentiated approach.Depending on the number of cases in an area.
2.Mobilized all medical workers.Moved them to cases.All workers not just medical
made to feel it was a duty to stop the spread.Non essential work shut down.All non essential business shut down.
Example. 40k additional medical workers sent to Wuhan a city of 15 million.
3. Re-purposed all of government. All jobs changed. Everything became about virus control and getting things where they needed to go.
Example. Department of transportation no longer was in charge of regulating transportation,but providing it in effected quarantine areas.
4.AI and big data used. Cell phones and wechat used to do much of the contract tracing in real time.Where was the now infected person,who had they been in contact with and near.
5.Hospitals. More than 90% converted to nothing but covid-19 treatment.Most non covid-19 medical issues are diagnosed via telecare.
Social distancing. Disinfecting. Hygiene. Sanitation. all the highest priorities. Isolation.
Food distribution. Online ordering and community drops. Has not worked that well,and they are trying to improve it.
Shipping issues from areas.
Almost no cases of non pneumonia cases(those that are asymptomatic transmitters it is a small percent 1:12 minutes into briefing)
Common cases,not in critical care where walking pneumonia.This is around 80% of cases.Many case stay in the category for 2-4 weeks.
Severe cases around 20% need oxygen support,and have a more likely hood of needed mechanical support.Of the 20% in this category most need full time support either oxygen,and in a few days possibly mechanical support.It is a huge number.This is the group that needs the most help.Whole hospitals. Average time in hospital is 4-6 weeks currently.%15 of this group go into critical care.Death rate is around 60% with care. Without enough proper care this rate is much higher.
51 minutes into his briefing,there is a cut in audio.Reuters first and second source of audio conflicting.
At 49-51 minutes he is talking about the new antibody test they have developed in China.
Individual hospitals with 1000 or so patients are using 60+ ventilators and ecmo systems 4+
The doctor says no western hospitals have the scale they do for support. They are moving in even more ventilators and ecmo systems.
They are doing very well at keeping more people alive.This is very different from current practices in the west.We are not prepared.
Doctor says if he gets it he wants treated in China.The mortality rate would be much higher without support.
60 minutes in.
Questions have started from reports.
Rapid Isolation key.We have counted on vaccines,and need to change our mindset to one of isolation and prevention not counting on things like a vaccine to slow the spread.
Being clear of the virus via test is good for 3 days.All workers retested every 3 days to be eligible to work(multiple provinces,but in his example 5 million are already part of that system.)
2 meter distance for all communication when not wearing ppe. They used a room with microphones to talk to each other without PPE,with the translators and everyone sitting one person per table.
If you have a runny nose,it is not covid-19. Less than 4% had any upper respiratory issues. 88% had fever and lower lung issues.
The complications of keeping people alive for weeks is not something we are prepared for.It has kept the death rate lower in China.The Chinese current death rate is around 4%,but that number has been going up over time.
1. Thing to do to prepare(governments and medical systems).Stop thinking it will not appear.Think it will be here tomorrow.
2.You will need beds.You will need to Isolate patients and contacts.
3.You have to have enough ventilators. You have to have to oxygenation ability.
4.You have to have testing ability. You have to have CT scanning capacity.You have to be ready to rapidly respond.
5.Can people ID suspected cases and contact trace rapidly?
6.Talk to the population.Prepare the population.Mask,and PPE will be needing in outbreak areas.As well as supplies and transportation of cases to care.
7.Find out and understand who in government can do what and when,before they have to do it.
8.You will have anxiety and fatigue of many medical workers,and officials. Plan a rotation system to try and give breaks.With hospitalizations lasting weeks not days people will need breaks.Patients of course need psychological support during care.This disease is something no one has ever had to deal with.Helplessness will be a common feeling. It is a battle we should prepare for.
9.Find cases as fast as you can. Having sever cases trip the system by already be critically ill is not going to work.
10.Everyone needs to be ready.No one is.Not psychologically or physically currently(oh but a few are…we are not many,but we exist.My comment not his in brackets).
One scientist on the trip thinks children where spreading this asymptotically. He does not. New antibody test for all children returning to school? They do not know enough yet.
Lower capacity countries will have much higher spread and fatalities. 1:40 in.They simply do not have the ability to have thousands on ventilators.
Smokers did not have a higher instance of disease.But age seems to be a very large factor,older patients recover more poorly.
It does hit all ages. Newborns and infants have died from the disease,other children have survived.It largely depends on care for the younger cases.
He gives an example of a 2 month old where the mother died and the nurses kept the infant in care(tested positive),and they are still surviving.
Test test test. You have to find cases. 300,000 flu samples from one province (taken in January)where retested for covid-19. Only .49% had it,but if they had not found those cases it would have contributed to the spread.
Currently,during this briefing the team has not briefed the WHO. They will be responsible for the release of the report.The WHO is in control of information from the team after this press conference.
I took an open approach to this.
It is a source of raw information.Not something we have seen very often related to covid-19.
I looked for facts and advise he was giving.
I understand the political aspect,and that China failed in some huge ways.But that is not what is import here.I put politics aside,and looked at facts he presented.
To me this was information I,and no one else had seen or heard from someone who had limited exposure to the actual area the largest epidemic had happened in.
It is information that can be used. I did my best to track and glean any information out of the 2+hour briefing and share it here.
