National COVID-19 Update

April 3, 2020

Current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures show a total of 239,279 confirmed and presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. in 55 states and U.S. territories, with 5,443 deaths. New York state leads the nation with more than 90,000 cases, followed by New Jersey which has more than 25,000 cases and Michigan which has more than 10,700 cases.

The CDC has updated its guidance on how to clean and disinfect a facility when someone is sick.

The CDC pointed to stringent preventive measures, including social distancing, as crucial steps after early cases of COVID-19 were identified in a Seattle independent/assisted living facility. Three in four residents who tested positive for COVID-19 had no symptoms, according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Symptom-based screening may overlook asymptomatic positive cases, underscoring the importance of following CDC guidance to prevent COVID-19 transmission in senior living communities.

CDC security officials have been working with multiple law enforcement agencies to track a campaign of phishing emails claiming to be from the CDC that reference a flu pandemic. The body of the email instructs the user to open an attached Microsoft Office document for details on how to prevent the spread of influenza. This email is not legitimate. It is actually from a malicious actor hoping to install malware on victim computers. If opened, the attached document will download and install ransomware called ‘Gandcrab’ on your computer, encrypting both local files and files on any network file shares you may be connected to. An associated ransom note promises the decryption key in exchange for a Bitcoin payment, but there is no guarantee that the attackers would actually provide that key. More on COVID-19 phishing and phone scams from the CDC is available here.

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a summary of its actions taken in response to the COVID-19 virus, as part of the ongoing White House Task Force efforts.

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has developed a coronavirus webpage containing a variety of free resources, including guidance on how to optimize personal protective equipment (PPE).

The latest WHO situation report shows more than 972,600 COVID-19 cases globally, with over 50,300 deaths. The European Region leads the world in cases and deaths, with more than 542,000 confirmed cases with over 37,000 deaths. The Region of the Americas (includes the U.S.) is in second place, reporting more than 247,000 cases and 5,600 deaths.