U.S. healthcare conferences disrupted by coronavirus
A growing number of conference organizers are cancelling, postponing or transitioning to virtual meetings as the coronavirus spreads across the globe and the U.S. This week’s HIMSS Conference (Orlando, FL) was canceled for the first time in its nearly 60-year history. President Donald Trump was scheduled to speak at the healthcare IT conference set for March 9-13. The famed tech, film and music SXSW Conference (Austin, TX), scheduled for March 13-22, was also canceled. STAT has a comprehensive list of U.S. and worldwide healthcare conferences affected by the spread of coronavirus here.
Hospitals keep close eye on supplies during coronavirus outbreak
The coronavirus outbreak has hospitals keeping a close eye on their supplies. Washington state, for example, has seen the largest cluster of cases and has used a lot of protective equipment when treating patients with the virus. “I am concerned we will have some shortages of that,” said George Roberts, president of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, during a briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., last Friday. “We certainly have our eyes on the supply chain,” Doug Allred, spokesperson for Cone Health (North Carolina), told Fierce Healthcare. “Certain supplies are on allocation from distributors, which means we cannot get amounts over and above our normal usage. So it is important that staff are aware of the situation.”
Governments worldwide intensify efforts to combat global spread of coronavirus
Saudi Arabia has followed Italy in enacting new travel restrictions, Iran has suspended flights to Europe and the U.S. has warned citizens against cruise travel to combat the global spread of coronavirus. U.S. cases topped 500 this past weekend. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said public health officials are getting a better sense of the scale of the crisis and the outlook is worrisome. “Unfortunately, that better sense is not encouraging, because we’re seeing community spread,” Dr. Fauci told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “If you’re a person with an underlying condition, particularly an elderly person with an underlying condition, you need to think twice about getting on a plane, on a long trip — and not only think twice, just don’t get on a cruise ship.”
Tracking COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
BuzzFeed News charts the COVID-19 disease, caused by the novel coronavirus, and its spread in the U.S. here. These charts and maps will automatically update with latest data compiled by researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
Quarantine of U.S. regions possible, health director says
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made the rounds on Sunday morning’s national talk shows, refusing to rule out isolating areas of the U.S. where coronavirus outbreaks are particularly severe. “You don’t want to alarm people, but given the spread we’ve seen, you know, anything’s possible,” Dr. Fauci told Fox News Sunday. “And that’s the reason why we’ve got to be prepared to take whatever action is appropriate to contain and mitigate the outbreak.” China, Italy and South Korea have all severely restricted movements in the wake of the outbreak.
More coronavirus resources from The Journal of Healthcare Contracting:
- FAQ/Insights – Helpful and relevant links to help you keep track of the ongoing epidemic