Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Arizona coronavirus: Identified cases now top 400, with 6 known deaths

Coronavirus cases in Arizona continue to rise, with 401 identified cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, reported by the state Wednesday.
Mohave County reported its first identified case. Maricopa County reported it now has two cases in people under age 18.
Identified cases have increased 23% since Tuesday morning's numbers update from the state. The percentage increase was lower Wednesday than it was on Monday and Tuesday.
On Tuesday, there were at least 326 identified cases and five known deaths reported by the state in its morning numbers update. The state's database now reflects the sixth death, which was announced by Coconino County late Tuesday. 
Three known deaths have occurred in Maricopa County, according to county data, as well as one in Pima County and one in Coconino County. It is unclear in which county one of the deaths happened. Coconino County's first known death related to COVID-19 was announced on Tuesday. 

Doctor tests positive

A physician at Phoenix Children’s Hospital tested positive for COVID-19, the hospital announced Wednesday morning. The doctor worked at one of the hospital’s ambulatory clinics. They had treated one patient on Friday and did not examine any other patients in person last week, the hospital said. They were not symptomatic while working on Friday and followed best practices for infection control.
“Per guidance from the CDC, Maricopa County Department of Health and our precautionary measures exercised in the clinic, exposure is unlikely,” the hospital said in a statement.
Still, the hospital notified the family and staff members who had been in contact with the physician.
While off-duty on Friday evening, the doctor started showing symptoms, and the test came back positive. The doctor is now isolating and recovering at home. They are believed to have been exposed to the virus in a community setting, the hospital said.
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No other doctors or staff members have developed symptoms, the hospital said.
“We will continue to do our best to safeguard patients’ health, curb the spread of the virus and support our clinicians who are providing the best possible care in the most challenging of circumstances,” the hospital said.

Numbers likely higher than official counts

The number of cases is likely much higher than official numbers suggest. People have reported trouble getting tested, as health professionals confront confusion over who to test and a lack of supplies.
The state health department's publicly reported numbers only provide positive test results from private labs, not the total number of people tested, leaving the online data incomplete.
The entry of private labs into testing appears to be helping the state identify cases, as the majority of reported positive cases are coming from private labs. Of the 401 identified cases reported Wednesday morning, 357 were reported by private labs while 44 came from the state lab.

On Tuesday, cases were reported in several areas that weren't previously publicly reported. The Gila River Indian Community announced two positive cases of COVID-19 from patients who visited a Gila River Health Care facility on Tuesday. Arizona State University said it has 15 students who have tested positive, while three members of the University of Arizona community had positive tests. 

Numbers increase in several counties

A majority of Arizona's identified cases were in Maricopa County, with a total of 251 Wednesday, according to data on the state health department's website.
The Maricopa County Department of Public Health provides additional details about its cases, including:
  • The majority of identified cases are males, at 55%.
  • There are now two identified cases in people under age 18.
  • The largest age group represented in identified cases is those aged 18 to 39, at 38%.
  • People aged 40 to 59 represent 33% of cases, while those over age 60 represent 28%.
  • Of the 251 cases, 35, or 14%, are hospitalized.
  • Thirteen are in the intensive care unit.
  • Three have died.
Pima County had identified 49 cases, Navajo County had 37 cases, Pinal County had 23 and Coconino County had 23, according to state data. Apache County had seven cases and Yavapai County had four cases. Yuma County had three, while Graham County had two. Cochise and Santa Cruz counties each had one.
No cases had been identified in La Paz, Greenlee and Gila counties as of Wednesday morning, the website showed.
Mohave County announced its first identified positive case in the Lake Havasu City area, the county announced Tuesday. State numbers do not currently reflect the case. 
The announcement also means the county may have to follow Gov. Doug Ducey's order on limited service at restaurants, and close bars, gyms and theaters, if the case is confirmed positive by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The person is an adult, is not hospitalized and is recovering at home, the county said. The Mohave County Department of Public Health said it could not be more specific about the person’s gender or age.
Close contacts of the person will be interviewed, and the county is recommending that each person monitor for symptoms and quarantine for 14 days.
“With new cases increasing daily around the country and throughout Arizona, it is not surprising to see our first case here in Mohave County,” said Denise Burley, the county health department’s director.
On Tuesday evening, the Navajo Nation announced the number of COVID-19 cases rose to 49, which is up 10 from their report on Tuesday morning. This includes 43 in Arizona. There are 30 in Navajo County, seven in Apache County, six in Coconino County in Arizona, four in McKinley County and two in San Juan County in New Mexico. 
The "stay at home" order issued by Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez remains in effect. This requires residents on the Navajo Nation to stay home and eliminates non-essential travel.
Residents of the Navajo Reservation can also now sign up for emergency alerts issued by the Navajo Department of Emergency Management. An alert was issued on Monday urging all Navajo residents to stay home, the press release states. To sign up for the emergency alerts, text "Navajo Nation" to 888777 or register online at www.nnalert.com.
Reporter Shondiin Silversmith contributed to this story. 
Reach reporter Rachel Leingang by email at rachel.leingang@gannett.com or by phone at 602-444-8157, or find her on Twitter and Facebook.
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Coronavirus

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.
Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.  Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.
The best way to prevent and slow down transmission is be well informed about the COVID-19 virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. Protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol based rub frequently and not touching your face. 
The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it’s important that you also practice respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow).
At this time, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19. However, there are many ongoing clinical trials evaluating potential treatments. WHO will continue to provide updated information as soon as clinical findings become available.
Stay informed:
Prevention
To prevent infection and to slow transmission of COVID-19, do the following:
  • Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, or clean them with alcohol-based hand rub.
  • Maintain at least 1 metre distance between you and people coughing or sneezing.
  • Avoid touching your face.
  • Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.
  • Stay home if you feel unwell.
  • Refrain from smoking and other activities that weaken the lungs.
  • Practice physical distancing by avoiding unnecessary travel and staying away from large groups of people.

  • Symptoms
  • The COVID-19 virus affects different people in different ways.  COVID-19 is a respiratory disease and most infected people will develop mild to moderate symptoms and recover without requiring special treatment.  People who have underlying medical conditions and those over 60 years old have a higher risk of developing severe disease and death.
    Common symptoms include:
    • fever
    • tiredness
    • dry cough.
    Other symptoms include:
    • shortness of breath
    • aches and pains
    • sore throat
    • and very few people will report diarrhoea, nausea or a runny nose.
    People with mild symptoms who are otherwise healthy should self-isolate and contact their medical provider or a COVID-19 information line for advice on testing and referral.
    People with fever, cough or difficulty breathing should call their doctor and seek medical attention.

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Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Martial Law by Executive Order

President Obama’s National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order of March 16 does to the country as a whole what the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act did to the Constitution in particular — completely eviscerates any due process or judicial oversight for any action by the Government deemed in the interest of “national security.” Like the NDAA, the new Executive Order puts the government completely above the law, which, in a democracy, is never supposed to happen. The United States is essentially now under martial law without the exigencies of a national emergency.
Even as the 2012 NDAA was rooted in the Patriot Act and the various executive orders and Congressional bills that ensued to broaden executive power in the “war on terror,” so the new Executive Order is rooted in the Defense Production Act of 1950 which gave the Government powers to mobilize national resources in the event of national emergencies, except now virtually every aspect of American life falls under ultimate unchallengeable government control, to be exercised by the president and his secretaries at their discretion.
The 2012 NDAA deemed the United States a “battlefield,” as Senator Lindsey Graham put it, and gave the president and his agents the right to seize and arrest any U.S. citizen, detain them indefinitely without charge or trial, and do so only on suspicion, without any judicial oversight or due process. The new Executive Order states that the president and his secretaries have the authority to commandeer all U.S. domestic resources, including food and water, as well as seize all energy and transportation infrastructure inside the borders of the United States. The Government can also forcibly draft U.S. citizens into the military and force U.S. citizens to fulfill “labor requirements” for the purposes of “national defense.” There is not even any Congressional oversight allowed, only briefings.
In the NDAA, only the president had the authority to abrogate legitimate freedoms of U.S. citizens. What is extraordinary in the new Executive Order is that this supreme power is designated through the president to the secretaries that run the Government itself:
• The Secretary of Defense has power over all water resources;
• The Secretary of Commerce has power over all material services and facilities, including construction materials;
• The Secretary of Transportation has power over all forms of civilian transportation;
• The Secretary of Agriculture has power over food resources and facilities, livestock plant health resources, and the domestic distribution of farm equipment;
• The Secretary of Health and Human Services has power over all health resources;
• The Secretary of Energy has power over all forms of energy.
The Executive Order even stipulates that in the event of conflict between the secretaries in using these powers, the president will determine the resolution through his national security team.
The 2012 NDAA gave the Government the right to abrogate any due process against a U.S. citizen. The new Executive Order gives the government, through the Secretary of Labor, the right to proactively mobilize U.S. citizens for “labor” as the government deems necessary and to coordinate with the Secretary of Defense to maintain data to coordinate the nation’s work needs in relation to national defense.
What is extraordinary about the Executive Order is that, like the NDAA, this can all be done in peacetime without any national emergency to justify it. The language of the Order does not state that all these extraordinary measures will be done in the event of “national security” or a “national emergency.” They can simply be done for “purposes of national defense,” clearly a broader remit that allows the government to do what it wants, when it wants, how it wants, to whomever it wants, all without any judicial restraint or due process. As Orwell famously said in 1984, “War is peace. Peace is war.” This is now the reality on the ground in America.
Finally, the 2012 NDAA was hurried through the House and Senate almost like a covert op with minimal public attention or debate. It was then signed by the president at 9:00 PM on New Year’s Eve while virtually nobody was paying attention to much other than the approaching new year. This new Executive Order was written and signed in complete secret and then quietly released by the White House on its website without comment. All this was done under a president who studied constitutional law at Harvard.
It is hard to know what to say in the face of such egregious disregard for the integrity of what America has stood and fought for since its founding. It is hard in part because none of us thought such encroachments would ever happen here, certainly not under the watch of a “progressive” like Obama.
At one level, the prospect for war with Iran is probably an immediate justification. But the comprehensiveness of the Executive Order, like that of the 2012 NDAA, speaks to something much deeper, more sinister. I would suggest that this Order, like the NDAA, has been in the works for some time and is simply the next step in the logic of the “global war on terror.” Our political elites have come to consider democracy an impediment to effective governance and they are slowly and painstakingly creating all the democratic legalities necessary to abridge our democratic rights with impunity, all to ensure our “security.” Of such measures do republics fall and by such measures tyrants emerge.
The only thing that really remains is the occasion to test the new rules of the game. Perhaps that will be war with Iran, perhaps some contrived emergency, or perhaps, as long as the public and media remain asleep, no occasion will be necessary at all. It will just slowly happen of its own accord and we, like the frog in the pot of slowly boiling water, will just sit there and be consumed by our own turpitude.

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