Contagion Live News Network: Coronavirus Updates for April 14, 2020

Welcome to the Contagion Live News Network, I’m Michaela Fleming and this is your coronavirus update for Tuesday April 14, 2020.

There are now close to 2 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide.

World Health Organization Director General Dr. Tedros is warning that coronavirus cases will decrease much slower than the rate at which they increased. Tedros warned that as countries consider lifting social distancing that caution must be maintained. Control measures cannot be lifted all at once and can only be lifted if there are proper public health measures in place.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has indicated that the worst of coronavirus is over in New York if state residents continue to be smart and practice control measures. Cuomo has echoed that when the state “reopens” isolations will be eased over time and infection rates will be monitored. New York has seen more than 10,000 COVID-19 deaths, but it appears the hospitalization curve is flattering, and a plateau has been reached.

Governors of Northeast states including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Rhode Island will be announcing a coordinated plan to re-open the region. On the West Coast, the governors of Washington, Oregon, and California have formed a similar alliance.

Over the weekend the Infectious Diseases Society of America released the first part of their guidelines on the treatment and management of patients with COVID-19. The second part, which will focus on diagnostics and the third part which will focus on infection prevention will be added soon.

In case you missed it, last night Contagion® cohosted a live CME webinar with MJH Life Science’s Infection Control Today and Physicians Education Resource. The theme for the webinar was COVID-19 From the Frontlines and featured several frontline clinicians.

The featured speakers include Saskia Popescu, PhD, an infection prevention epidemiologist and Contagion® contributor; Kelly Cawcutt, MD, assistant professor of medicine, and associate director of infection control at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a member of the Contagion® Editorial Advisory Board; Matthew F. Pullen, MD, an ID and internal medicine physician at the University of Minnesota who is working on a hydroxychloroquine clinical trial; and Mohini Lata, RN, MSN, a registered nurse in the ICU at Kaiser Permanente.

For other stories relevant to COVID-19 and the latest infectious disease news, visit ContagionLive.com. To track the spread of the pandemic in the United States and abroad, be sure to use the Contagion® Outbreak Monitor.

For the Contagion Live News Network, I’m Michaela Fleming, thanks for tuning in.