Author: Dorron Blumberg

 

March 18, 2020 – Digestive symptoms are common in COVID-19, occurring as the chief complaint in nearly half of patients presenting to hospital according to a new descriptive, cross-sectional multicenter study from China by investigators from the Wuhan Medical Treatment Expert Group for COVID-19 published today in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, the official publication of the American College of Gastroenterology.
 

 

March 18, 2020 – Susan G. Komen®, the world’s leading nonprofit breast cancer organization, today suggested healthy women of average risk delay routine breast cancer screening until later this year.  The organization stressed that people who are displaying warning signs for breast cancer should contact their health provider to determine their need for diagnostic imaging.  Komen made the recommendation to minimize exposure to and potential spreading of COVID-19 and to help support the health care system’s need to focus scarce health care capacity and resources on managing the pandemic and those most in need of support. 
 

What

 

The virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is stable for several hours to days in aerosols and on surfaces, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA and Princeton University scientists in The New England Journal of Medicine. The scientists found that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel. The results provide key information about the stability of SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 disease, and suggests that people may acquire the virus through the air and after touching contaminated objects. The study information was widely shared during the past two weeks after the researchers placed the contents on a preprint server to quickly share their data with colleagues.
 

ST. PETERSBURG, FL, March 17 2020 – The VA Sunshine Healthcare Network (VISN 8) is taking additional steps to slow the spread of COVID-19 to protect healthcare system’s capabilities, healthcare workers and Veterans. Facilities within the VISN 8 Network include the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and Clinics, Miami VA Healthcare System, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System, Orlando VA Healthcare System, VA Caribbean Healthcare System, and the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center.