Apple co-founder Steve “Woz” Wozniak today tweeted that he and his wife may have been the first in the U.S. – patients zero – to have the COVID-19 coronavirus after returning from a trip to China.
Checking out Janet’s bad cough. Started Jan. 4. We had just returned from China and may have both been patient zero in U.S. (@ West Coast Sports Institute in Santa Clara, CA) https://t.co/MRNHqithEU
— Steve Wozniak (@stevewoz) March 2, 2020
The tweet was geotagged from Foursquare, indicating that he and his wife were being examined at Santa Clara’s West Coast Sports Institute.
According to the tweet, his wife Janet has been suffering from respiratory distress for nearly two months, noting that her symptoms started on January 4.
MacDailyNews Take: Get well, soon, Janet and Woz!
MacDailyNews Note: Currently, according to the latest figures from Caixin, there are 80,174 confirmed cases in China, 44,518 recovered, 715 suspected cases, and 2,915 deaths. Confirmed cases outside of China total 9,576, with 145 deaths in 65 countries.
Again, in the interest of perspective in the face of hyperbolic media coverage of the COVID-19 coronavirus, according to an editorial published on February 28, 2020 in The New England Journal of Medicine by Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., H. Clifford Lane, M.D., and Robert R. Redfield, M.D.:
The median age of the patients was 59 years, with higher morbidity and mortality among the elderly and among those with coexisting conditions (similar to the situation with influenza); 56% of the patients were male. Of note, there were no cases in children younger than 15 years of age. Either children are less likely to become infected, which would have important epidemiologic implications, or their symptoms were so mild that their infection escaped detection, which has implications for the size of the denominator of total community infections…
This suggests that the overall clinical consequences of Covid-19 may ultimately be more akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza (which has a case fatality rate of approximately 0.1%) or a pandemic influenza (similar to those in 1957 and 1968) rather than a disease similar to SARS or MERS, which have had case fatality rates of 9 to 10% and 36%, respectively…
Given the efficiency of transmission as indicated in the current report, we should be prepared for Covid-19 to gain a foothold throughout the world, including in the United States. Community spread in the United States could require a shift from containment to mitigation strategies such as social distancing in order to reduce transmission. Such strategies could include isolating ill persons (including voluntary isolation at home), school closures, and telecommuting where possible.
Read more in the full article here.
The situation with corona virus is fluid, to say the least. There is a lot about this virus, its transmission, and the course of the illness that it causes that we just don’t know. The article MDN cites was written some time before February 28, which is a very long time ago, when what is known is changing so fast. While the authors of this editorial are highly respected physician-scientists, their opinion can only be based upon what was known at the time the article was written. The only thing anyone can say for sure is that more shall be revealed in the next few days and weeks. No one, absolutely no one knows what the ultimate truth about this virus will be. What’s the average person to do? Take reasonable precautions, use good hand washing techniques, keep some distance from sick individuals, and let your doctor know if you’re not feeling well. Follow the suggestions of the public health officials responsible for your state or city. And finally, DO NOT look to MacDailyNews for medical advice. This whole situation has become political and there is a lot of blame to go around as to why this is happening. The staff of MDN have an obvious political point of view which has already colored the way they are presenting information about the virus and the disease it causes. This article from the New York Times provides some information about how little we know about the virus, especially compared to what we need to know to get this under control. https://nyti.ms/38hC3Ly
I would say that if you think the NYT is any less tainted by politics than MDN, your patients should consider a second opinion STAT.
He didn’t say that the NYT is unbiased. He expressed his opinion, as a practicing physician, that the particular article he cited provided useful information in an understandable format based on reliable sources. Not everything in the Times is biased. The sports scores, stock market reports, and weather forecasts are as accurate as exactly the same information in other publications.
Thank you for taking some of your valuable time to share your thoughts on the matter. Dumbfounded as to why someone would downvote this thoughtful post.
Is Woz the only person using Swarm!!??
Lol. Waz thinks he was Pt 0. Like he was the only one who traveled to China. I have two friends who were in China 3 weeks ago. Maybe they were Pt zero??? Maybe if they rich pricks they would also assume they were Pt zero.
Maybe I’m the only reader that finds Waz using Twitter to broadcast a suspicion of contracting the V is odd?
He’s a famous guy and all, but….