Consider This from NPR - New Symptoms; A Missed Chance At Early Detection

Episode Date: April 27, 2020

Challenges with testing and logistics, clashes between federal and state officials and even hospitals' fears of being stigmatized as a source of infection — all cost valuable time in detecting the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S., reports NPR's Lauren Sommer. The federal government has re-started the Paycheck Protection Program, which gives loans to small businesses. Lawmakers required some of the money to go community banks this time around.Also, the CDC recognizes new symptoms of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, Italy will start reopening the country next week. The country has suffered high death rates, second only to the U.S., and it was the first western nation to lock down. Plus, one of the top-grossing movie theaters in the country this past week was the Ocala Drive-In in Ocala, Florida. Find and support your local public radio stationSign up for 'The New Normal' newsletterThis episode was recorded and published as part of this podcast's former 'Coronavirus Daily' format.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache, and a loss of taste or smell. The CDC has added those things to the list of symptoms for COVID-19. That might mean more people will qualify to be tested. Meanwhile, the United States is approaching one million confirmed cases of COVID-19, with tens of thousands of new cases every day. We might even be there by the time you hear this. Coming up, lost time on an early plan to spot the virus and the new normal in Italy. This is Coronavirus Daily from NPR. I'm Kelly McEvers. It's Monday, April 27th. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend, or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees.

Download the WISE app today or visit WISE.com. T's and C's apply. Way back in mid-February, when Congress was still holding hearings, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told a Senate committee about a plan the government had for the coronavirus. As of today, I can announce that the CDC has begun working with health departments in five cities to use its flu surveillance network to begin testing individuals with flu-like symptoms for the China coronavirus. Those five cities were Seattle, L.A., New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.

And all of them have programs to monitor the flu each year. It's called sentinel surveillance in public health terms. And the idea was to look for the virus among people who had mild flu-like symptoms and had not recently traveled from an affected country. In other words, people who weren't getting tested for coronavirus under CDC guidelines at the time. About a month later... We're now moving the COVID-19 into that system. CDC Director Robert Redfield testified on Capitol Hill and said that a sixth city, Honolulu, was now part of the surveillance.

We started with the sixth. We're going to expand jurisdictions. But on the day he said that, only one city was able to get their test results back. Just to be clear on where we're at here, that day was March 12th. This astounding and unprecedented story continues to evolve. The day after the NBA shutdown. NBA is suspending the season. Tom Hanks had just announced he was sick. What a story. So we have Tom Hanks, we have Rita Wilson. With barely a thousand cases in the U.S., most Americans were still going to work and to school. And yet, the CDC, officials claimed,

had already been on the lookout for a month. This is a leading-edge indicator. If you don't look at it, you're missing the canary in the coal mine. You're waiting for the coal mine to collapse on you. Dr. Brad Spielberg is chief medical officer at the L.A. County USC Medical Center, which worked with local public health officials on testing. And in mid-March, Los Angeles was the only city out of the six that was able to get test results from its surveillance program. That was against huge resistance. The whole system was like, you're wasting our tests. Don't do this. Spellberg talked to NPR's Lauren Sommer, who reported on this delay, and why the CDC could not get the program working. The big reason is the same problem that public health officials point to over and over again. There were not enough tests.

As for what that lost time meant, a recent study from Northeastern University estimated that on March 1st, while there were just 23 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., there were thousands of undetected cases in cities across the country, including in New York, Seattle, Chicago, and San Francisco. All of those cities were supposed to be part of the CDC's early surveillance program. You can find a link to Lauren Summers' reporting in our episode notes. Today, Monday, the federal government restarted an emergency loan program for small businesses known as the Paycheck Protection Program. That program ran through its first $350 billion in less than two weeks. So Congress gave

it another $320 billion. And just like the last time, the government website that's used to process the loans jammed. But this time, more community banks are trying to get in. Lawmakers required that for phase two. After criticism, the last round of money went to big businesses or people who had existing relationships with big banks. NPR's Scott Horsley reports on one small bank that's trying to help customers get to the front of the line. In the last three weeks, Edward Berry and his team at Capital Bank made $172 million worth of loans to nearly 600 small businesses. That's about as much money as the Maryland-based bank ordinarily lends out in a whole year. And while the ink is barely dry on those loans,

Barry's getting ready to do it all over again. It's like being in a pie-eating contest where first prize is more pie. This process was more challenging because most of the bank's branches were closed. Barry and the rest of his team were working out of their homes. I have three kids at home or online doing their schoolwork. I got two dogs and my wife, and when it gets really crowded or noisy here, I tend to do my conference calls walking around my neighborhood. Barry pulled bankers off of other projects to work with small business people who needed loans, often at night and on weekends. People like Jennifer Taxon. She's the co-owner of a Washington business that sells light fixtures to commercial and residential customers. Taxon was forced to close her showroom last month

and idle some of her seven employees. She says the personal hand-holding made a big difference. Working with our small local bank, knowing who to call, getting guidance without being prompted on how this process works is a whole lot different than not knowing where you upload your documents, not knowing who you call, not hearing back from anybody. While many customers at big banks were left hanging, Taxon's loan was approved in about a week.

And since she's using the money to pay her employees, she doesn't believe she'll have to pay it back. We just received the funds. We will be bringing on everybody who we've had to either furlough or partially furlough. Next week, we'll have a full staff of gainfully employed people. Barry says his typical small business borrower has about a dozen employees. He's made loans for as little as $2,500. While some big banks drew complaints they were only lending money to preferred customers,

about a third of Barry's loans went to people who'd never banked with him before. The government is paying bankers both fees and interest to make these loans, but Barry says it also feels like an opportunity for banks to do their part to help those who are hurting. They're people you know, your neighbors, your friends, family members. It's your local restaurant, your local coffee shop, your pizza parlor. And that's what keeps people working so hard. Barry and his colleagues have been busy preparing a new batch of applications

for when the program restarts with another $320 billion. Once again, that money is likely to go quickly. And PR's Scott Horsley. Italy was the first Western country to go into lockdown to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. More than 26,000 people have died in Italy. Only the U.S. has a higher number of people who've died. The lockdown in Italy is a lot more restrictive than in the U.S. And it seems to have worked.

This month, the number of new cases is going down. And beginning next week, the country will start to reopen. Morning Edition host Rachel Martin talked about all this with NPR's Silvia Paglioli, who's in Rome. Hi, Silvia. Hi, Rachel. So this plan to slowly reopen was announced by the prime minister yesterday. He gave a speech to the country.

How's it going to work? Well, this is how Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the reopening roadmap. He said this is the start of phase two of coexistence with the virus. We have to be aware that the curve of contagion could rise again in some parts of the country. This risk exists, he said, and everyone must show responsible behavior. If you love Italy, keep social distance. So on May 4th, manufacturers, construction companies, and some wholesalers will reopen, but with strict security protocols in workplaces. Retailers, museums, and libraries open two weeks later, and sports teams resume group training. Restaurants, bars, and hairdressers will not

reopen until early June. And, you know, people's freedom of movement is going to be controlled for a while. Visits to relatives will be allowed, but wearing face masks will be required. And masks also have to be worn in closed public places and on public transport. Schools are going to stay closed. And that means for families, it's going to be a really problem with childcare, at least until September. Wow. So Italy's lockdown has been way more intense than anything that we're experiencing here in the US. Can you just explain what sorts of restrictions you have been living under, along with everyone else there? It's been really restringent.

It's very bad. You're allowed to go out only to buy groceries or to pharmacies for work, health, or some urgent need. Everyone has to carry a so-called self-declaration, give you the reason why you're out and about. And, you know, the vast majority of Italians have been very observant, but police have issued fines, some of them pretty heavy for violations of restrictions, including jogging in certain places. And you're also not allowed to

take a walk, except within 200 yards of your home. So what did people make of the Prime Minister's speech in this plan to start inching towards reopening? It's too early to say how public opinion is reacting. But, you know, as in other countries, there's this very strong tension between those who want to accelerate a return to business as usual and the more cautious ones. It seems the scientists' insistence on caution is prevailing. Everybody's going to be watching it. This has been the longest lockdown in Europe, and everybody's going to be watching it. This has been the longest lockdown in Europe and everybody's going to be watching how the reopening goes here. NPR's Silvia Paglioli in Rome.

One of the top grossing movie theaters in the country this past week was the Ocala Drive-In in Ocala, Florida. Never in a day thought that I would be the top in the box office, but I ended up the onlyIn in Ocala, Florida. Never in a day thought that I would be the top in the box office, but I ended up the only one in the box office, so it's not hard to be the top if you're the only one. John Watsky owns the place,

and it was the only theater in the country showing a new release last weekend, an arthouse horror movie called Shallow. It made $1,700. And that's with reduced parking so cars can stay further apart. Basically, I've lost over half of my parking that I normally would have, but we are filling up on Fridays and Saturdays. Unfortunately, we're having to turn people away. Not everyone is happy that they're still open, but Watsky says it reminds him of being on the Gulf Coast for Hurricane Katrina. Anything for a little bit of normal.

Coming from a family that's worked theaters for over 100 years, the old cliche, on the Gulf Coast for Hurricane Katrina. Anything for a little bit of normal. Coming from a family that's worked theaters for over 100 years, the old cliche, the show must go on, is not a cliche. It's a way of life. So the show must go on. John Watsky talked to NPR's All Things Considered. For more on the coronavirus, you can stay up to date with all the news

on your local public radio station and in our daily coronavirus newsletter, The New Normal. You can sign up at npr.org slash newsletters. We'll be back with more tomorrow. I'm Kelly McEvers.