New study finds presymptomatic transmission

A study published by the CDC on Wednesday provided more evidence that the coronavirus can spread between people before the infected person knows they’re sick.

Researchers reviewed data for 243 reported COVID-19 cases in Singapore from Jan. 23 to March 16 and found that presymptomatic transmission accounted for about 6.4% of locally acquired cases. The transmission occurred one to three days before patients began experiencing symptoms.

“The possibility of presymptomatic transmission increases the challenges of containment measures,” the study said. “The potential for presymptomatic transmission underscores the importance of social distancing, including the avoidance of congregate settings, to reduce COVID-19 spread.”

An earlier study in China suggested that 12.6% of transmission was presymptomatic. – Grace Hauck

Florida joins list of stay-at-home states

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would be issuing an order for residents to stay at home for the next 30 days and only leave for essential services. DeSantis said the order will go into effect Friday at 12:01 a.m.

DeSantis had previously resisted issuing a stayat-home order but said on Wednesday he decided to issue the mandate when President Donald Trump extended the national social distancing guidelines for an additional 30 days. – Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal

Cuomo: NY state to hit ‘apex’ at end of April

New York state’s death toll from the coronavirus continued its sharp ascent, with 391 people dying the in latest 24-hour period, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. The virus has killed nearly 2,000 in the state, almost half the U.S. total.

“That number will continue to go up,” Cuomo said. “That is people who have been on ventilators for a period of time. If you go on a ventilator, there’s roughly only a 20% chance that you will come off the ventilator. The longer you’re on the ventilator, the lower the chance you’ll come off.”

Models indicate the apex of the coronavirus outbreak in the state will hit “roughly at the end of April, which means another month of this,” Cuomo said. He added that the model could change over time.

Cuomo showed one projection, from the Gates Foundation, that estimated 93,000 U.S. deaths, including 16,000 in New York state. “What that does say to the rest of the nation is that this is not just New York,” Cuomo said.

Pence likens U.S. virus situation to Italy

Vice President Mike Pence said on CNN that Italy “may be the most comparable area to the United States” in terms of coronavirus mortality rates and cases. He was responding to a question about the administration’s projection that 100,000 to 240,000 Americans could die from COVID-19.

Italy currently has the world’s largest number of coronavirus deaths and trails only the U.S. in the number of cases.

However, Italian health officials say they believe the death curve may have peaked.

Pence painted a fairly optimistic outlook when he said, “By sometime in early June, we could well have the coronavirus largely behind us as a nation, and put American back to work.” – Nicholas Wu