- Sustained community spread of respiratory illness caused by COVID-19 has been reported in many countries.
- Older adults and travelers with underlying health issues should avoid situations that put them at increased risk for more severe disease. This entails avoiding crowded places, avoiding non-essential travel such as long plane trips, and especially avoiding embarking on cruise ships.
Like many other viruses and influenza outbreaks, COVID-19 appears to spread more easily between people in close quarters. Person-to-person spread of COVID-19 is occurring across the globe and many countries are reporting both travel-related cases and community spread of the disease.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has conveyed that COVID-19 is deadlier than the flu. It’s deadlier for young adults. It’s deadlier for older adults. In China, early data shows that it was 10 times deadlier. This chart from Business Insider compares US flu deaths to deaths in China from COVID-19.
The seasonal flu kills less than 1% of infected people who are over age 65. By comparison, Chinese authorities reported that COVID-19 has killed 8% of those infected who were 70-79 and almost 15% of those infected who were age 80 or older. That’s a statistically significant difference.
Google’s Response to COVID-19
Google is working on a website for coronavirus testing, according an announcement by President Donald Trump on Friday. During the press conference announcing a state of emergency Friday afternoon, President announced that Google has their engineers working on developing a screening website.
The screening website from Google Verily will allow people to fill out a questionnaire and learn how they can get a test for the coronavirus. Americans will be able to learn from the websites more about risk factors and symptoms of coronavirus. It is anticipated that the U.S. would have 1.4 million coronavirus test kits available within a week and around 5 million kits within the next month.
The triaging tool from Verily will help people find COVID-19 testing sites in the U.S. The company says this tool will target the San Francisco Bay Area, though they hope to expand coverage to more regions. The move is part of a public-private partnership to dispense COVID-19 testing to “millions of Americans” in the weeks ahead at places like Target, Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart parking lots, according to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence.
Public health officials and authorities from effected countries have used AI as part of solutions to detect and fight COVID-19 since the novel coronavirus emerged in December 2019. Testing to confirm COVID-19 infection has been a critical part of response plans in other countries around the world.
Preventing Spread
It has become clear that people with underlying conditions such as heart disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes, and other conditions that cause suppression of immune system particularly among the older adults, are at a high risk of serious disease if infected with the novel coronavirus.
To best protect these vulnerable individuals, we recommend that such individuals avoid situations that increase their risk of acquiring infections. This entails avoiding crowded places, avoiding non-essential travel such as long plane trips, and especially avoiding embarking on cruise ships.
Sources:
- https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/13/google-creating-coronavirus-site-to-help-find-testing.html
- https://www.businessinsider.com/we-have-to-stop-comparing-the-coronavirus-to-the-flu-2020-3?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=sf-bi-science&utm_medium=social
- https://venturebeat.com/2020/03/13/google-is-building-covid-19-screening-website-as-trump-declares-national-emergency/