Control, Contain COVID-19

"[This ... the finding of coronavirus in a hospital's air exhaust] suggests that small virus-laden droplets may be displaced by airflows and deposited on equipment such as vents."
National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore

"It's standard practice for the air-conditioning systems of cruise ships to mix outside air with inside air to save energy. The problem is that these systems can't filter out particles smaller than 5,000 nanometres."
"If the coronavirus is about the same size as SARS, which is2230 nanometres in diameter, then the air-conditioning system would be carrying the virus to every cabin."
"Cruise ships could minimize this problem by just using outside air and not recirculating it."
Professor James G. Dwyer, Purdue University, Indiana

"[Our fleet is equipped with cabin air filtration systems] of similar quality to those used in hospital operating theatres."
"In any confined area, there is a risk of contracting illnesses from other people."
"However, the risk is considered lower on aircraft because of the use of high efficiency particulate air [HEPA] filters, which are effective in capturing more than 99 percent of airborne microbes in filtered air."
Etihad Airways, UAE statement 

"An uninfected person poses no risk. If someone else within the family then develops symptoms they too should immediately isolate."
"Those in self-isolation should minimize interactions with household members [in a family setting]."
Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology, University of Nottingham

A market in Beijing this week. The Chinese economy has ground to a near standstill, and many small businesses say they may soon run out of cash.Credit...Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

"I think they did an amazing job of knocking the virus down,."
"But I don’t know if it’s sustainable. What have the Chinese really accomplished? Have they really contained the virus? Or have they just suppressed it?"
Michael T. Osterholm, director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota

"There’s no question that China’s bold approach to the rapid spread of this new respiratory pathogen has changed the course of what was a rapidly escalating and continues to be a deadly epidemic."
Dr. Bruce Aylward, leader, W.H.O. team that visited China

"[The numbers suggest that aggressive quarantine measures, when fully enforced, could choke the spread of the virus.]"
"This is the largest public health experiment in the history of humankind. They can’t turn it off, but they did turn it down."
"And it did provide the rest of the world with some extra time."
Dr. William Schaffner, infectious disease specialist, Vanderbilt University

Medical staff checking on a coronavirus patient at the Red Cross hospital in Wuhan on Friday. Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

New information is steadily emerging, day by fraught day, with respect to what medical science needs to know about COVID-19 transmission. Novel coronavirus has the potential of spreading around buildings through their air-conditioning systems, according to analysis that also suggests even a draught will do the trick. A hospital's air duct was found to contain traces of the virus, in Singapore. Swab analysis of rooms where three coronavirus patients were placed yielded the information that COVID=19 may be more contagious than anticipated.

Despite that only "mild" symptoms were seen in the patient in question, scientists discovered evidence of the virus in the air exhaust of the hospital. Coincidentally the chief scientific adviser to the U.K. government noted that officials were considering the need to isolate entire households in an effort for control of the outbreak following the second death in Britain from COVID-19. Experts have issued warning for people living in homes where someone exhibits symptoms to minimize contact and not share bathrooms, though they needn't remain isolated themselves.

The new findings, just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, will impact on the safety of people in buildings that recycle internal air. Cruise ships fall under the same category, where typically a mix of recycled air within the vessel and fresh air from the exterior is used as a cost-saving measure. This, after over 700 people were found to be infected with coronavirus, six of whom died on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

The close quarters of the Grand Princess cruise ship – seen here off the coast of San Francisco on March 8, 2020 – has proven to be a fertile breeding ground for infection.

JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images

The decision to quarantine the entire ship moored in Japan saw the ship become a "breeding ground" for COVID-19. And that experience is set to repeat itself on yet another cruise liner currently waiting off the coast of California as tests are taken on dozens of passengers on the Grand Princess. Maltese authorities are considering allowing the MSC Opera, carrying, 2,302 passengers to berth in Malta, causing the Maltese medical community to threaten striking should that proceed.

Globally, 3,412 deaths have ensued from the outbreak which virologists assumed that larger, heavier droplets would be associated with COVID-19 to survive outside the body. Current understanding that COVID-19 survives on smaller, lighter droplets increases its contagion potential. In the U.S. $11-billion is set for release to augment the country's capacity in testing for coronavirus, and funding additional measures to stem the outbreak that has hit 28 states with 417 cases and 22 deaths.

Italy is considering an unprecedented quarantine in its northern regions including Milan to stamp out the coronavirus [Andrew Fasani/EPA]

Globally, 90 nations now report coronavirus infections, with over 3,400 deaths worldwide out of 100,000 infected, the majority in China. France has declared the closure of nurseries and schools for 15 days starting Monday in the two areas coronavirus infections have hit hard; one north of Paris, the second in the northeastern part of the country. In Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the closure of schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the country until April 3. There have been 7,375 cases to date and 366 deaths in Italy.

The Milan train station on Sunday, where travelers are trying to leave the Lombardy region of Italy as it is locked down. Credit...Alessandro Grassani for The New York Times

In South Korea, the hardest hit country in Asia so far after China, 6,000 cases of infection were reported, resulting in a fatality rate of 0.6%, while the Islamic Republic of Iran, also hard hit, admits to 6,566 infections and 194 deaths in 31 provinces. The public health risk from the virus is ranked as low by the Public Health Agency of Canada, with 60 confirmed cases as of Sunday afternoon, most occurring in Ontario and British Columbia, with three in Quebec and one in Alberta.