A coronavirus rendering. Via CDC.
Two more Upper West Siders tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday.
The wife of a 51-year-old man who had been diagnosed with the virus on Friday and their 11-year-old daughter have tested positive for the coronavirus, city officials said on Saturday. All three (the man, woman and child) are now under mandatory quarantine.
The woman and child are both “mildly symptomatic,” the mayor’s update said. Most people who get this virus have suffered relatively mild symptoms, though the disease can be much more serious for others. The people who become sickest tend to be older or have preexisting conditions.
City officials have not revealed what building the family lives in, nor have they disclosed the school that the child attends. Asked whether the child’s school had been thoroughly cleaned, City Councilmember Mark Levine wrote to us that he believes so.
“Health Dept’s disease detectives are tracing contacts for the affected families,” he wrote on Twitter. “Dept is not recommending closure of schools, though some privates have done so voluntarily. In general schools w/ possible cases have gotten deep cleaning, which I believe has been done in this case.”
We’ve asked Levine to confirm whether the deep cleaning was indeed completed.
As of Saturday morning, 18 New York City residents were under mandatory quarantine and 2,255 were under voluntary quarantine. Twelve people in the city have tested positive.
The city also said that the virus does not appear to live long in the air. “New York City disease detectives have determined new information about COVID-19. The virus can only transmit when bodily fluid, such as through a sneeze, cough, or spit, is transferred from a person who has the virus, directly into another person. Disease detectives have determined that the virus does not survive for more than two or three minutes in open air.”
People who feel sick should stay home and contact a health care professional.
stands by for 5/5 comments section
Where are people getting tested?
I’m not sure that statement about only person to person is correct. I read that the virus can live up to 9 days on surfaces.
Here’s the official info from the CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/transmission.html
I have no professional knowledge of this field, but I think I read that the flu (which is a form of coronavirus) can live up to 9 days on surfaces, so experts aren’t quite sure yet what the lifespan of this particular form of coronavirus is in the open air for that reason. Is it 9 days? Is it more? Is it less? The consensus is unclear.
The “city” saying it’s 2-3 minutes, isn’t sufficient for me personally. I’ll want to hear from JAMA, or the CDC before I put stock in that. (NOT the Surgeon General, as his Jake Tapper interview sadly demonstrates he is a sycophant and part of Trumps team of bullshit artists.)
CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/transmission.html
NYC has an excellent Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). We should all follow their recommendations,
‘the flu (which is a form of coronavirus)’
This statement is factually incorrect. Influenza and coronaviruses are different viruses. Influenza are negative sense RNA viruses and coronavirus are positive sense RNA viruses.
The public health official in city press conferences has stated multiple times the virus can only survive a minute or two outside of a host (aka on surfaces).
He or she is wrong. The CDC has said that it can live up to 9 days on surfaces.
9 days is for the specific coronavirus strain with the longest surface survival time, not COVID-19. It is expected that COVID-19 has a MUCH shorter survival time. 2-3 minutes seems short, but it’s likely a few hours not a few days.
9 days is also in a perfectly-controlled laboratory setting.
Walking around the UWS it was surprising to see some people that were clearly very sick going outside. A woman at Tal bagels this morning went in, skipped the line and was coughing nonstop, and looked like she was suffering quite a bit. Maybe stay put for a few days if you’re going through something? Ordering in won’t kill you.
The thought never occurred to you that it just might be allergies? 🤷♀️
Caroline
I too was at Tal Saturday morning. What time were you there?
Joel
At around 11-12ish
Why would authority release the name of the school?
Protect yourself: Wash your hands, do not touch your eyes, mouth and mucous membranes with dirty hands.
Use hydroalcolic solutions and a protective mask FFP2 N95.
Germ protection mask FFP2 N95 2x for 18$ : https://amzn.to/39s2nnX
Antibacterial Foaming Hand Soap 7.5OZ for 12$ : https://amzn.to/2uXPRgN
AntiBACTERIAL does not work on a VIRUS…
KateLin, antibacterial soap or hand wipes aren’t going to do anything to protect you from COVID-19. It’s a virus, not a bacteria.
Soap in general works great against coronavirus, which is enveloped, i.e. containing a lipid bilayer membrane, which is easily destroyed by detergent present in soap. The virus is rendered ineffective without the membrane and the spike protein that targets the ACE2 receptors in cells. It’s not the anti-bacterial bit of the soap that works against the virus this time.
Using a mask outdoors when you are not sick does more harm than good. Collecting germs and allergens around your face. Aside from in a healthcare setting, where you are likely to have people coughing and sneezing around you, masks are generally for keeping your germs in not other germs out. If this were airborne that would be a bit different.
There’s a reason why everyone in all the affected Asian countries (where the virus is seemingly FINALLY being contained) wear masks. If you’re not wearing a mask in South Korea you get yelled at. In Singapore masks were distributed to every household for free. If there wasn’t a huge shortage then this wouldn’t even be up for debate.
Think about it from a different – unselfish prospective. If we all wear masks to keep our germs in – will we better off? Yes! Because if the person happens to be sick but does not know it, but happens to wear mask – others will be better off! Do you think the person in Westchester intentionally spread the disease? He didn’t know he was sick with COVID-19. Had he worn mask – fewer people would have been infected. Being unselfish is good for everyone! So masks can help – you just need to think differently!
I would certainly agree that your thinking is indeed “different”. Oy!
It is airborne…
Re: “People who feel sick should stay home and contact a health care professional.”
Also consume lots of chicken soup, as in this moldy-oldy:
A bubbe (grandmother) is schlepping home from Fairway when she comes upon a crowd of people staring at several police officers tending to an injured man sprawled in the street next to a taxi.
Bubbe: “Get him some chicken soup!”
First Cop: “Ma’am, this man was hit by the taxi! He has a broken leg and possible internal injuries!
Second Cop: So what good is chicken soup?
Bubbe: It couldn’t hurt !
If the 3 members of the uws family is tested positive for the cov19, what happens to the 2 other daughters that are not positive. Do they stay with family members or continue to stay with their parents and run the risk of getting infected.
PLEASE!
If one is asked to self-quarantine, PLEASE be thoughtful of such request. Consideration and mindfulness of other humans both close and far goes a long way.
I shall think “how would I feel if the shoe was on the other foot?”
Thank you.
Sending well wishes to all who are impacted.
Uninformed comments and telling people to use masks is precisely the kind of misinformation that needs to be avoided. WSR, please don’t post “free advice” from commenters without credentials, you are adding to the panic!
Lots of ill-informed opinions in the comments. Soap works to destroy coronavirus not because it’s anti-bacterial or anything but because the detergent in soap destroys the outer membrane of the coronavirus which makes it unable to target cellular receptors i.e. infect people.
I don’t leave the house. My husband is at risk.
We have been ordering grocery from Whole Foods at Columbus Circle. Their delivery is impeccable. Additionally, all our orders have arrived exactly as requested and in perfect condition.
If your husband is at risk and you live with him then you’re also at risk. How long are you planning on staying inside? I don’t understand some of the reasoning in this thread.
My husband is at risk of dying if he gets Covid 19, because he has an underlying health condition. I would recover from Covids, but he probably would not if I passed it on to him, so it’s important that we both stay home.
I’m not bothered by having to stay indoors. At times, I have happily stayed at my computer for three month stretches (while he did all the shopping), totally engaged, without feeling deprived at all.
I apologize. I thought you meant that you stay inside, and your husband is at risk because he goes outside. which apparently isn’t the case. I’m sorry you’re both forced to stay in but now I understand it. I hope the virus will bypass both of you and that you’ll both remain healthy.
Do you mind if I ask how the deliveries are made? If we don’t know who has the virus then how do you know that the person selecting your food, packing your food into bags/boxes, lifting your food onto the truck, driving the truck, delivering your food (to your door?) hasn’t come in contact with someone with the virus? Obviously all of those people had to go outside to get to work to provide you with your groceries. Today I rode the subway, went to the hardware store, DR, FedEx, Citibank, several stores and delis along B’way. I didn’t come into physical contact with anyone other than someone handing me a pen to sign a receipt, but obviously I touched dozens of products and surfaces during the day. Is one way of shopping really safer than the other?
Gov. Cuomo has advised all elderly people to stay home.
The Whole Foods delivery men seem as scared of catching something as we are. They keep their distance from us. After we get the bags in, I sanitize my hands. I wait a few minutes and, to be even safer, I spray the bags with alcohol before opening them. NYS (or is it City?) states that the virus does not stay active on inanimate surfaces for more than two minutes. (I know that there are contradictions to that statement, but I’m doing all that I can, so that I don’t have to live with possible gnawing regrets).
Once the bags have been sprayed, I spray the packages as well and wash the produce.
I know that I can’t eliminate all risks, but I do my best to avoid the plethora that I would encounter by stepping outdoors, especially into our always-crowded grocery stores.
Ms. Remp: NYC guidance is here: https://twitter.com/NYCMayorsOffice/status/1236746621309911040/photo/2 The elderly and vulnerable are advised to avoid large gatherings. No where does it way that they are to stay inside all the time.
I am almost sure that, in one of his press conferences, Gov. Cuomo mentioned that elderly people should stay home. In doing so, he mentioned worrying about his elderly mother.
Delivery is still better, because you’re not standing in line = extended contact in a group of people. Yes, your comments are correct, that the people selecting your food, touching the bag, delivery the food could have the virus. Delivery is still the best of two evils. I got my delivery from Whole Foods today, and immediately transferred all of the food from the containers it came in, into zip lock bags. I then disposed of the grocery bags, and washed my hands. I also on purpose didn’t buy anything that didn’t come in a package (like loose produce). Only “clam shell” lettuce, kale, etc and frozen fruits and vegetables. Again, there is no way to completely minimize contact, there is just the best you can do to reduce it. For grocery items I couldn’t transfer into zip lock baggies (like yogurt) or boxed soup, I wiped down the packaging with an alcohol wipe before putting the item in the fridge. Excessive? Maybe, but I think there are sooooooo many more cases of the virus active and about than we even know, so for now I’m doing this.
Good tips about using the zip lock bags. Maybe I will give that online shopping a try next weekend. TY for explaining, Ivy and Danielle, and so sorry that your husband is at risk.
If you do, be careful that all the items you choose go into the right “cart”. The site deals with two other food-ordering services, and it’s easy for an item to end up in the wrong cart. Check your final list.
There is a very reasonable op-ed piece in the NYT titled “Coronavirus School Closing: Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late”. It provides some very sane reasons based on historical outbreaks and responses as to why communities should close schools sooner rather than later when outbreak starts within a community. There is also a petition on change.org that is calling for the immediate closure of NYC schools. As of the time of this post, it already had 33,000+ signatures. Link below for those who may be interested in signing.
https://www.change.org/p/andrew-m-cuomo-close-all-nyc-schools-because-of-coronavirus-outbreak-and-taking-classes-online?signed=true
Can’t just close down the public school system – too many ramifications – childcare, families who depend on school breakfast and lunch to feed their children, families that do not have internet or computer to use for remote school work – key factors
Histrionics like this is 90% of the problem. The other 10% is Corona.
I can’t for the life of me understand why people are saying masks aren’t effective. Of course they’re effective. That’s why health workers wear them lol. I can see officials telling us not to stockpile so we don’t run out. And some masks are definitely more effective than others. Perhaps wearing a mask as you walk the street is not necessary. But when you’re crammed into a packed bus or train than yes, a mask does reduce ones risk of airborne transmission.
Healthcare workers wear masks for a totally different reason. They wear masks to keep their germs from getting on the patient (you know, like a surgeon?).
When doctors and nurses are seeing a patient with a highly communicable disease, they wear much more than a silly little face mask (something more akin to a HAZMAT suit).
Also, most people wear masks incorrectly. Not very effective.
I am a health worker and we are specifically instructed not to wear them if we are healthy. The only people who do are those treating people who have the symptoms and are in very close proximity, or those who did not get their flu shot (state requirement). You risk wearing it incorrectly and it can cause you to touch your face more.
What I wonder about is how an infected person, who has a cough, sneeze and runny nose manages to keep a mask on.
The distance between people matters: COVID-19 is viable six (6) feet away from a source: flu, on the other hand, requires that you be within two (2) feet of an infected source to catch it. So masks probably help, and staying away from other people (for this virus, 6 feet away) also helps. Keeping healthy, taking Vitamin C, and using zinc lozenges (especially if you are lying down and letting the juice bathe the back of your mouth) is also good practice.
“New York City disease detectives have determined new information about COVID-19. The virus can only transmit when bodily fluid, such as through a sneeze, cough, or spit, is transferred from a person who has the virus, directly into another person. Disease detectives have determined that the virus does not survive for more than two or three minutes in open air.”
That’s why it spreading like wildfire? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an alarmist, and frankly, I think the frenzy is mostly misguided. That said, misinformation like this clearly is only makes things worse. No way this person is telling the truth about its ability to spread.
Agreed. Some experts say that the virus can stay for 9 nine days on metal surfaces, I was thinking if that’s true, what about loose change we all carry?
Dr Anthony Fauci on MSNBC special with Richard Engel
on now:
“We don’t know how long the virus remains active on a hard surface – there are many factors – temperature,
type of discharge(sputum, sneeze, cough).
There’s a real brain trust in these comment section… we’ll be lucky to make it to the end of the week
Spread is DROPLET (like flu) not AIRBORNE (like measles). This is why an individual needs direct contact with infected secretions, not just breathing the same air.
JCC just announced they are closing down school because a mother and daughter tested positive who were at an event there Saturday night. No coincidence I would guess to this case and maybe even same family.
NYC/Cuomo are negligent, shut down all events, shut down all services. If not we will be the next Italy. Local schools are houses of worship are negligent and should be held liable for continuing to host parties and other social events during this period.