RI Hit with Multiple Cases of Coronavirus, 38 Being Monitored, Unknown Number May Have Been Exposed
Monday, March 02, 2020
In Rhode Island, there are now multiple cases of the new coronavirus, dozens are being monitored, and two schools have been closed for evaluation and cleaning.
The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) has now confirmed two presumptive cases of coronavirus and at least one other individual is being tested.
The new presumptive positive case is a teenager. According to RIDOH, she is at home with mild symptoms. The adult being tested is in her 30s and is also at home with mild symptoms.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThese two individuals went on the same trip to Europe in mid-February as the male in his 40s who RIDOH announced on Sunday morning as Rhode Island’s first presumptive positive case of COVID-19.
According to Heath, "All 38 of the people who went on this trip will be self-monitoring for symptoms at home for 14 days with public health supervision. They have been instructed to not go to school or work and to remain at home for these 14 days."
Two Schools Closed
Saint Raphael Academy, which organized the trip to Europe in mid-February, will be closed for the remainder of this week. The adult whose test results are still pending is a staff member at Achievement First Academy in Providence.
Achievement First Academy will be closed for two days, pending the results of the staff member’s tests. (The result is expected tomorrow, and the school is closing for an additional day to do environmental cleaning.)
Second U.S. Death
Washington State has announced a second death from the coronavirus.
"The coronavirus has been circulating undetected and has possibly infected scores of people over the past six weeks in Washington state, according to a genetic analysis of virus samples that has sobering implications for the entire country amid heightening anxiety about the likely spread of the disease," according to the Washington Post.
A lead researcher in Washington is drawing concerns at the behavior of the virus. Researcher Trevor Bedford in a series of Tweets said:
"The team at the @seattleflustudy have sequenced the genome the #COVID19 community case reported yesterday from Snohomish County, WA, and have posted the sequence publicly to http://gisaid.org. There are some enormous implications here.
This strongly suggests that there has been cryptic transmission in Washington State for the past 6 weeks.
It's possible that this genetic similarity is a coincidence and these are separate introductions. However, I believe this is highly unlikely. The WA1 case had a variant at site 18060. This variant is only present in 2/59 viruses from China.
I believe we're facing an already substantial outbreak in Washington State that was not detected until now due to narrow case definition requiring direct travel to China."
Around the World and Impact
- U.S. stock futures are positive on Monday morning. "Futures tied to the S&P 500 index rose 1.7%, signaling that the U.S. benchmark index may recover some lost ground after enduring its biggest one-week decline since the 2008 financial crisis," reports the Wall Street Journal.
- Global stocks are rebounding on Monday. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index reversed early losses and closed almost 1% higher.
- The Financial Times is reporting that "the [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] OECD sounded the alarm about coronavirus on Monday, warning of the possibility that it will halve global growth this year compared with its previous forecast.
The Paris-based group of mostly rich countries said a “longer lasting and more intensive" coronavirus outbreak could slash global economic growth to 1.5 percent in 2020. Its previous prediction was for a 2.9 percent expansion."
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