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CIDRAP - White House debates broad mask use for COVID-19

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  • CIDRAP - White House debates broad mask use for COVID-19

    Source: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-pers...k-use-covid-19


    White House debates broad mask use for COVID-19
    Filed Under:
    COVID-19
    Stephanie Soucheray | News Reporter | CIDRAP News
    | Apr 03, 2020



    The White House coronavirus task force has yet to make a definitive recommendation concerning the use of masks or face coverings for Americans as a COVID-19 response measure, despite back-and-forth recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and top health advisors.
    Yesterday during the coronavirus task force briefing, Deborah Birx, MD, the task force coordinator, emphasized that masks, most likely homemade, cloth masks, should not offer a false sense of security to the public, and said Americans were still not doing enough physical (social) distancing.
    "This is not the time for cocktail parties," Birx said, saying that a continued influx of new cases is a sign to officials that not enough Americans are taking seriously the "30 Days to Stop the Spread" recommendations, which include keeping a 6 feet distance between yourself and others when in public.
    Several times this week President Donald ***** has said Americans can wear masks if they want, but remained ambivalent about official recommendations.
    Earlier this week Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti donned a black cloth mask during a press conference and urged his city's residents to wear a cloth covering or a bandana when out in public, while maintaining social distancing rules.
    New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio also said New Yorkers should cover their mouths and noses when outside. DeBlasio urged people to not use masks that could be better used by health workers, and instead rely on scarves, bandanas, and homemade masks.
    Today during his daily briefing from Albany, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said people can wear a mask if they want. "Might it help? I think it's fair to say yes, but don't get a false sense of security that now you don't have to social distance and you don't have to take the normal precautions because you're wearing a bandana," Cuomo said.
    The science on the use of masks to prevent COVID-19 disease or virus spread, however, is not strong.

    New York state tops 100,000 cases

    As of this afternoon, the US officials have confirmed 258,611 cases, and 6,660 deaths. This represents an almost 25,000-case jump in 24 hours, according to the tracker maintained by the New York Times.
    About 40% of those cases have been confirmed in New York state, which has seen 102,863 cases. The state also tracked nearly 600 more deaths in 24 hours, raising the death toll to 2,935 from 2,373, according to the governor's press briefing.
    Cuomo also announced he will seize and redistribute hospital materials, including ventilators, from parts of the state not experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, and lend them to hospitals that have an urgent need use for them.
    New Jersey has the next most cases, with 29,895, followed by California (11,277), Michigan (10,791), and Louisiana (10,297).

    3M told to stop exporting N95s; Mayo to launch antibody test

    Today ***** evoked the Defense Protection Act to halt the exportation of N95 respirators manufactured by Minnesota-based 3M. According to Business Insider, 3M CEO Mike Roman said *****'s characterization of the company is false. He said 3M is working tirelessly to import N95s from China, and could not stop exporting the masks to Canada or Latin America without causing a humanitarian crisis.
    Minnesota Public Radio reports today that the Mayo Clinic will unveil a new antibody test next week, which will show if a person has been infected with COVID-19. It takes 10 to 11 days after infection for a person to develop enough antibodies to the novel virus before they can be detected in the blood-based tests.
    Mayo said the tests could be used in plasma therapies, in which a recovered person's antibodies are infused into a critically ill patient’s body. Today the Food and Drug Administration announced that Mayo will be one of the national convalescent plasma treatment study centers
    The clinic also said antibody tests will help identify people who had asymptomatic or mild cases of COVID-19, which will help researchers understand the true case-fatality rate of the virus, among other information.










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