Speaker 1: Hey, that folks did. It is Tuesday, May twelfth, and
Speaker 1: is it freaking anybody else out that they keep telling
Speaker 1: us we shouldn't be freaking out about handa virus? And
Speaker 1: with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ.
Speaker 1: We just wanted to hop on and give everybody a
Speaker 1: quick update world. It seems like the thing that everybody
Speaker 1: keeps talking about, wondering about, and yes, even concerned about.
Speaker 1: But the doctors keep telling us there is nothing to
Speaker 1: worry about here.
Speaker 2: Uh yes, it's interesting. That is what we're hearing from
Speaker 2: the World Health Organization, from plenty of the doctors and
Speaker 2: much smarter people that we're listening to who are there
Speaker 2: in Nebraska who are overseeing all those passengers who made
Speaker 2: their way here. But then we have headlines like a
Speaker 2: Harvard health professor telling CNN telling the Today Show anyone
Speaker 2: on that ship is high risk. People are talking about
Speaker 2: a birthday party that happened in twenty eighteen where there
Speaker 2: wasn't close human to human contact like a shared bed.
Speaker 2: There was just a birthday party where people were six
Speaker 2: feet of part and it's spread. So look, it's a little,
Speaker 2: it's a lot confusing, and it is scary.
Speaker 1: So it's too much, is what it is. Because everybody,
Speaker 1: like we said, now going back to something in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 1: or thinking of some story or finding something anywhere around
Speaker 1: the world, and the headlines keep coming, and some of
Speaker 1: them are written actually too scare you. But some of
Speaker 1: this does need to be acknowledged as sincere and real,
Speaker 1: giving what we just went through the past five years.
Speaker 1: So this morning, I guess, rope the big headline the
Speaker 1: ship that we've been keeping an eye on for a
Speaker 1: week or so. Everybody's off, and that's a big deal.
Speaker 2: Yes, everybody's off who was supposed to get off. They're
Speaker 2: still cruising that ship up to the Netherlands. But yes,
Speaker 2: everyone has been or is in the process of being
Speaker 2: repatriated correct to their official countries. But every country has
Speaker 2: different policies on bringing their folks back and where they're
Speaker 2: putting them. And even with what we chose to do
Speaker 2: here in the United States, it's a bit confusing where
Speaker 2: our folks went.
Speaker 1: But we'll get into where all the Americans are at
Speaker 1: this point, who they are, and what their level of
Speaker 1: risk is. But again, given the ship one hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty passengers that were on board, what the process was.
Speaker 1: It is significant that this morning we are getting official
Speaker 1: word that every passenger has been safely taken off that ship.
Speaker 1: The ship is on its way to the Netherlands. It
Speaker 1: was a Dutch flagged ship, so it's going home essentially
Speaker 1: at this point. So as far as the ship goes
Speaker 1: and passengers go, there is no longer at least that connection. Now,
Speaker 1: all those people did get on planes and start going
Speaker 1: back homes under different protocols roads that you just mentioned,
Speaker 1: and so it's hard to keep up with the numbers.
Speaker 1: But here are the latest at least we can give,
Speaker 1: and you help me. You've been looking at some of
Speaker 1: the same information and different information, but at least right now,
Speaker 1: there were nine cases that they were working with. Seven
Speaker 1: of those have been confirmed to be the and strain
Speaker 1: of the haunt virus. Is that what you have?
Speaker 2: Yes, it is confusing. The numbers are all over the place.
Speaker 2: You kind of have to go to several different news
Speaker 2: outlets to try and cobble it together. But that is
Speaker 2: my best that's my best way to put it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: nine cases, seven of them are confirmed, but there are
Speaker 2: still some other here and there. Maybe this maybe that
Speaker 2: this person's experiencing symptoms I don't know why it's so
Speaker 2: difficult to test. Maybe there aren't many places in the
Speaker 2: world where you can test for this virus. And even
Speaker 2: hearing that it's on a spectrum, it's not a yes
Speaker 2: or no like a pregnancy test. It's you get a
Speaker 2: varying degree of results. So it is a little confusing.
Speaker 1: So all the cases we speak of again, several more
Speaker 1: could pop up. Several more people are symptomatic right now,
Speaker 1: even but those are the confirmed cases at least that
Speaker 1: we can give you. Nine suspected cases, seven confirmed now
Speaker 1: of these cases that we know of orgues. This is
Speaker 1: where we have three people among that group have died.
Speaker 1: Of course, the couple, the initial elderly couple on board,
Speaker 1: and then the German national, which I didn't realize until
Speaker 1: this morning was a woman. Is that right that was
Speaker 1: on board? You said the body of those Yeah, I had.
Speaker 2: No idea anything about that person.
Speaker 1: So that was a German national. Sales of three that
Speaker 1: have died. Now, all the other positive cases or suspected
Speaker 1: cases in that group, folks are from Netherlands, Britain, US, Germany, France,
Speaker 1: Switzerland and Spain. Wow, robes are kind of all over
Speaker 1: the place and some of the most metropolitan and major
Speaker 1: world powers in the world.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's crazy to think about how remote this ship was.
Speaker 2: But this ship, this is why cruise ships are concerning
Speaker 2: for a lot of virologists epidemiologists, because you've got people
Speaker 2: from all corners of the world coming together in close proximity,
Speaker 2: sharing buffet style meals, and so, yeah, if anything happens now,
Speaker 2: you're spreading something and then all of those folks go
Speaker 2: back home to all their corners of the world. And
Speaker 2: it's concerning when you have a virus like this take
Speaker 2: off on a ship like this.
Speaker 1: So this virus that was at the tip of the earth,
Speaker 1: at the literally the bottom of the earth for the
Speaker 1: most part, is now sitting in Nebraska quite literally. So
Speaker 1: let's give you the update on the Americans. Yes, among
Speaker 1: the group, one of them has tested positive and roll
Speaker 1: This was a little We watched this press conference live
Speaker 1: yesterday that they gave in Nebraska. It was it took
Speaker 1: a little while to nail down exactly what was happening
Speaker 1: with these At least are the numbers that we know.
Speaker 1: This is what they gave us. So if this is
Speaker 1: not accurate, it's on them.
Speaker 2: Exactly eighteen Americans slash passengers were flown back from that
Speaker 2: ship of or Among those passengers, sixteen or at the
Speaker 2: University of Nebraska Medical Center, and two a couple was
Speaker 2: taken down to Emery in Atlanta.
Speaker 1: So this was where things got a little confusion confusing.
Speaker 1: First of all, eighteen we were told it was seventeen,
Speaker 1: but the eighteenth happened to be a British national who
Speaker 1: has dual citizenship. Okay, I just want to throw that
Speaker 1: in Therefore, of this conversation, let's just say eighteen Americans
Speaker 1: were brought back. It was confusing as to why, and
Speaker 1: I think we have a handle on it now though,
Speaker 1: robes why did sixteen stay in Nebraska and why'd you
Speaker 1: need to send two down to Atlanta.
Speaker 2: It sounded as though there just wasn't enough room. At
Speaker 2: the end, it sounded as if they also needed to
Speaker 2: leave space in case any of the folks who they
Speaker 2: now have in quarantine get sick and have to be
Speaker 2: moved to a bio containment unit, which I believe they
Speaker 2: only have a limited amount. So they have of the
Speaker 2: sixteen who are in Nebraska, fifteen or in quarantine. One
Speaker 2: is in a bio containment unit because that person did
Speaker 2: test positive, and I think maybe they were just anticipating,
Speaker 2: given the long incubation period, that they could have more
Speaker 2: people that might have to move over into a biocontainment unit.
Speaker 2: So they just wanted to separate, especially one of the
Speaker 2: group that was showing symptoms. And I don't know if
Speaker 2: it was a hero she, but that couple, one of
Speaker 2: the two was moved down to Emory because they had
Speaker 2: a facility there to contain them in case they do
Speaker 2: test positive.
Speaker 1: And how he said it makes sense. He said, yeah, Nebraska,
Speaker 1: we want a couple other people get sick and then
Speaker 1: we have to scramble to try to fly somebody to Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Let's just go ahead and get them there now, and
Speaker 1: we're not in a panic situation. It made sense, But
Speaker 1: it took that press conference, those doctors, and those reporters
Speaker 1: a long time to get around to some clarity on
Speaker 1: exactly what all that.
Speaker 2: Means, to the point where it almost felt like we
Speaker 2: weren't getting the whole truth, and so reporters were asking
Speaker 2: follow up after follow up after follow up, and look,
Speaker 2: I just think you have a bunch of public health
Speaker 2: officials who don't want to alarm the public, don't want
Speaker 2: to misspeak, and to their in fairness to them, they
Speaker 2: hadn't had the opportunity to truly sit down with each
Speaker 2: of these passengers and figure out how they were exposed,
Speaker 2: when they might have been exposed, for how long they
Speaker 2: could have been exposed. They didn't have all the answers
Speaker 2: to all the questions, so it seemed it was a
Speaker 2: little confusing, and it did seem like we weren't getting
Speaker 2: all the information.
Speaker 1: We got there eventually, but this was a bunch of robes.
Speaker 1: How many people would you say were on stage at
Speaker 1: least seven, I think yeah was the number. And you
Speaker 1: had doctors. You have people who work in labs and
Speaker 1: deal with policy or in treating patients. They're not sometimes
Speaker 1: the best trained communicators, and so it wasn't you could
Speaker 1: tell it wasn't that well organized. It was one of
Speaker 1: these things where everybody had to step up and I'm
Speaker 1: from this group and this was our role, and then
Speaker 1: I'm from this place and this is what we do.
Speaker 1: And then I'm from the White House and the President
Speaker 1: is really concerned about that, Like everybody got their bit in.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And we see this in some of these massive
Speaker 2: press conferences where it just gets confusing. I believe at
Speaker 2: one point you said, man, we need Anthony Fauci right now.
Speaker 1: We need one dude. That's what I mean. You can
Speaker 1: have say what you want about Anthony Fauci. We just
Speaker 1: needed one voice. And quite frankly, a lot of us listen.
Speaker 1: He sounded like he knew what he was talking about,
Speaker 1: and he's spoke plain speak, and he spoke directly, and
Speaker 1: if he didn't know the answer, he'd tell you didn't
Speaker 1: know the answer, right, And just I appreciated him. It
Speaker 1: was too many people wrote from too many different places
Speaker 1: trying to send out one message, but it ended up
Speaker 1: each of them had their individual messages that we were
Speaker 1: stuck trying to piece together. I hope that this gets better.
Speaker 2: Yeah, agreed, And you know, I do think that when
Speaker 2: people are kind of telling you, don't worry, it's low risk,
Speaker 2: shouldn't be concerned. It's like there's nothing to see here people. Meantime,
Speaker 2: you've got everyone and has matt suits and quarantines and biohazard.
Speaker 2: Like it's just the visuals don't match the audio.
Speaker 1: And that's where the communication part comes in to play.
Speaker 1: Is that you just have to like even if you
Speaker 1: know as a doctor, there is nothing to worry about.
Speaker 1: You have to realize your audience doesn't have your same
Speaker 1: unique education to understand the level of risk. All I
Speaker 1: know is that y'all told me a lot of little
Speaker 1: bugs six years ago, and next thing you know, I
Speaker 1: can't find toilet paper. It's a grocery store. So really
Speaker 1: that's on our minds, that's all we hear.
Speaker 2: Real, Yeah, I'm thinking about body bags stacking up in
Speaker 2: nursing homes and coming off the cruise ships and all
Speaker 2: of those things. How it all began.
Speaker 1: So just a little consideration, don't just say nothing to
Speaker 1: see here, nothing to worry about. And they're saying it
Speaker 1: calmly with this no emotion, no nothing involved. Okay we're
Speaker 1: speaking not as journalists but as American sisens.
Speaker 2: Yes. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: Second, so the other thing here, robes is that we
Speaker 1: do have now fanned across the country people who are
Speaker 1: being monitored. These folks are not These folks were passengers,
Speaker 1: but understand they got off before the outbreak. So this
Speaker 1: thing started. What on April first, the ship took off,
Speaker 1: He got sick on April six, died on April eleventh,
Speaker 1: the first guy. But these people apparently hopped off.
Speaker 2: On April twenty fourth, so at least almost two weeks
Speaker 2: after that death. So that's concerning. And also just the
Speaker 2: difference in how those passengers are being monitored versus how
Speaker 2: these folks who just got off the ship are being monitored.
Speaker 1: We are texting me is not monitoring.
Speaker 2: That is concerning because look, as far as we know,
Speaker 2: the eighteen folks who are being now held at these
Speaker 2: different facilities in Nebraska and Atlanta are being held there
Speaker 2: for now, and I believe we're hearing that they're going
Speaker 2: to be individually assessed as to when they may be
Speaker 2: allowed to self isolate. But these other nine folks just
Speaker 2: they never went to a lab, they never went to
Speaker 2: a facility. They've never from what I've understood, physically been monitored.
Speaker 2: They're just yeah, texting, calling, checking in, taking their temperature
Speaker 2: twice a day.
Speaker 1: I feel better.
Speaker 2: But it's just a very different reaction to people who
Speaker 2: had the same level of exposure.
Speaker 1: Technically, yeah, technically potentially and maybe even probably on that ship.
Speaker 1: But those folks are just out there for forty two
Speaker 1: days or whatever the number is. They're throwing around that
Speaker 1: these folks need to be monitored and ropes. I never
Speaker 1: got a direct answer. Can anybody in Nebraska right now
Speaker 1: as being monitored get up and leave and go home?
Speaker 2: I don't think so, because from what I have read,
Speaker 2: they have said that they are going to individually assess
Speaker 2: people based on who they were exposed to, how long
Speaker 2: they were exposed to that person, and based on symptoms.
Speaker 1: And so I heard all that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so right now, I know they're not allowed to leave.
Speaker 1: Well, you say allowed, That's what I'm saying. Are they
Speaker 1: being detained? Are they not allowed? Will federal authorities not
Speaker 1: allow them to go home? I did. Look, if I
Speaker 1: was on that ship, I would love to stay at
Speaker 1: the best facility in the world, hope to monitory. Sure,
Speaker 1: But I never got that answer yesterday. Maybe it won't
Speaker 1: come up. Maybe there's no issue of them trying to leave.
Speaker 1: But is this a situation? Is the government can they
Speaker 1: hold you and tell you can't go home?
Speaker 2: I think that they can hold you, But will they
Speaker 2: do that? I don't know. The director of the biocontinment,
Speaker 2: you know who we saw in that press conference, says
Speaker 2: that they're going to encourage Chris passengers to stay quarantined
Speaker 2: for a full forty two days. In fact, she said
Speaker 2: she highly encourages it. And part of it was that
Speaker 2: only a certain like their facility and maybe the one
Speaker 2: down in Atlanta, has the care that they might need
Speaker 2: should they become ill. And if you look at what
Speaker 2: has happened when people become ill, it happens quickly, especially
Speaker 2: when you look at what happened with that woman in
Speaker 2: France who is now in critical condition. I was reading
Speaker 2: a report that she actually was fine when she got
Speaker 2: on the plane, but she had talked about how a
Speaker 2: few days earlier she had a scary coughing fit and
Speaker 2: they told her it was just anxiety that she was
Speaker 2: just feeling. And she's like, now I feel like maybe
Speaker 2: I'm feeling run down. They're like, you're just you're just
Speaker 2: having anxiety.
Speaker 1: So she was sick ahead, yes, but she.
Speaker 2: Didn't, but they didn't really. They were just like they
Speaker 2: told her to calm down, basically, so.
Speaker 1: She's probably symptomatic, yesgous correct.
Speaker 2: And then when she got on the plane, only more
Speaker 2: symptoms came out. And then sure enough she went from
Speaker 2: thinking I might feel a little sick, maybe it's in
Speaker 2: my head, to literally being in the ICU.
Speaker 1: What is the thing that? What's the It was COVID
Speaker 1: language two about the distance safe six feet six feet
Speaker 1: There was something they call when you stay in close proctivity,
Speaker 1: close contact is deemed you would have continuous prolonged contact
Speaker 1: is what they call it. Right, Yes, sick within six
Speaker 1: feet And I had to go look up again what
Speaker 1: that meant, because they keep telling us about this and
Speaker 1: the strain human and human hunt of ours robes. They
Speaker 1: keep saying, you would have to have prolonged close contact
Speaker 1: with somebody. I said, oh, most of us don't have that.
Speaker 1: Then I went back and looked at the definition robes.
Speaker 1: We have that with.
Speaker 2: Thirteen minutes six feet six feet apart.
Speaker 1: That's everybody sitting in the cabin with you. Yes, for
Speaker 1: the most part.
Speaker 2: But if you look at this birthday party that folks
Speaker 2: were talking about, where that was the only other really
Speaker 2: well known or documented case of human to humans spread
Speaker 2: of the ANDES virus in Argentina at a birthday party. Look,
Speaker 2: people are pointing out that there was not prolonged contact
Speaker 2: among some of those guests who ended up falling ill.
Speaker 2: I believe how many it was eleven people died at
Speaker 2: that birthday party. That's scary stuff, and we don't know
Speaker 2: how closely or how long they were talking and mingling
Speaker 2: with one another.
Speaker 1: So stay here with us, folks. We all wrap this
Speaker 1: up in a second. But when we come back, we'll
Speaker 1: tell you where everybody's being monitored here in the US,
Speaker 1: first of all. And the other thing. When you head
Speaker 1: to the airport, any chance you're going to be hopping
Speaker 1: on a flight with one of these folks who was
Speaker 1: on that ship, Well the answer is suppose to be no.
Speaker 1: We'll explain. All right, we continue here on this Tuesday morning,
Speaker 1: just giving me a quick update on all the developments
Speaker 1: yesterday and overnight having to do with the hauntavirus ship.
Speaker 1: Everybody is off that ship, but everybody is going back
Speaker 1: to their countries of origin. And Andy's strain of the
Speaker 1: hauntavirus has been confirmed in several places, and one of
Speaker 1: those patients is in the US roades. Talking about everybody
Speaker 1: in Nebraska, I think everybody knows. Now this is the
Speaker 1: maybe the best quarantine facility in the world, but it's
Speaker 1: in Nebraska, and that's where everybody is. Now. At some
Speaker 1: point those folks are going to get to go home.
Speaker 1: I don't exactly know when. I don't know who gets
Speaker 1: to make that call. Robes. But when they do, how
Speaker 1: are they going to get there? Would you be concerned?
Speaker 1: I mean we're all flying, we're all in close proximity
Speaker 1: on top of each other. Certainly here in New York.
Speaker 1: Are they going to put these people on commercial flights?
Speaker 2: Let's hope not that passenger in Spain that tested positive.
Speaker 2: Excuse me, wasn't there someone who shared a flight? Yes,
Speaker 2: eight are an isolation of France because they shared a
Speaker 2: flight with a sick person. So if you're on a
Speaker 2: flight with someone who either is suspected to have had
Speaker 2: it or has been exposed to it, and look, there's
Speaker 2: a whole concept and a concern about whether or not
Speaker 2: you can be or infect anyone if you're just a carrier,
Speaker 2: if you're asymptomatic and you test positive for hauntavirus, I
Speaker 2: just look, No, they should not be on a plane.
Speaker 2: I don't want to be on a plane with them,
Speaker 2: whether they're wearing a mask or not. No, thank you, There.
Speaker 1: Is no no, no, no no, no. This is not
Speaker 1: this is not some This is not COVID.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: I know we didn't know a lot about COVID in
Speaker 1: the beginning rodes, but forty percent death rate, Yeah, this
Speaker 1: is not. We can't mess around with.
Speaker 2: This forty two day incubation period.
Speaker 1: So that means you think you're in the clear and
Speaker 1: week two you might have another three weeks before you
Speaker 1: get sick. It's just we're not familiar with it. The
Speaker 1: doctors keep saying they have information on it, and they've
Speaker 1: known about hantavirus for a while, but ropes, we're just
Speaker 1: it's just not something that we deal with.
Speaker 2: Well, but I'm just curious. Okay, So how we get
Speaker 2: these folks back if they're allowed to leave in a
Speaker 2: matter of days? Okay, fine, say they charter these folks home,
Speaker 2: but who's to say, are they going to be on
Speaker 2: a no fly list?
Speaker 1: We do?
Speaker 2: We have all the name of not just the people
Speaker 2: who were on the ship, but people who they may
Speaker 2: have come into contact with, especially those who left the
Speaker 2: ship early on April twenty fourth, all the people that
Speaker 2: they almost certainly came into contact with going to didn't
Speaker 2: someone go to a wedding? I read? So, look, this
Speaker 2: is what happens. And I know that this doesn't spread
Speaker 2: like COVID spread, but it is still understandably disturbing.
Speaker 1: So the CDC is telling us, no, you don't have
Speaker 1: to worry about it. They are not. When they do
Speaker 1: leave Nebraska whenever it happens and go back to their
Speaker 1: cities and states, they will not to be putting them
Speaker 1: on commercial flights. They will make arrangements, So that's at
Speaker 1: least worth noting. We do know at least three people
Speaker 1: are from New York, one of them from Manhattan. That's
Speaker 1: there in Nebraska, so they will be coming back to
Speaker 1: New York City to the most populous and the densest.
Speaker 2: That's a good way to put it in.
Speaker 1: The country probably, so hopefully everything will be fine.
Speaker 2: Can we find out what neighborhood that person lives in?
Speaker 2: Is it Lower Manhattan? I would like to know, you.
Speaker 1: Know, they're people too. As somebody said, look, I just
Speaker 1: want to give you that updates. Even though they keep
Speaker 1: telling us nothing to worry about, a lot of people
Speaker 1: are worried. And the story seems to be robes expanding
Speaker 1: versus than wrapping up, if you will, we hear it
Speaker 1: new something every single day, so until this kind of
Speaker 1: gets wiped out, and maybe it's going to be forty
Speaker 1: five days.
Speaker 2: Yes, and so we'll continue to I mean, it's the
Speaker 2: first thing I look at when I wake up to
Speaker 2: see what's happening, what's going on. I just think it's
Speaker 2: all too soon for so many of us, for all
Speaker 2: of us who went through the pandemic, and it's understandable
Speaker 2: that each day we wake up with a little bit
Speaker 2: of concern and some skepticism from what we're hearing from
Speaker 2: leaders just because viruses didn't we learn this in COVID.
Speaker 2: This is what viruses do. They mutate, So I have
Speaker 2: that in the back of my mind. No one said
Speaker 2: anything about it, but it's obviously going to be in
Speaker 2: a lot of folks' minds for the next couple of
Speaker 2: weeks at least, so we will keep our eyes I
Speaker 2: on this ever developing story as usual, but we always
Speaker 2: appreciate you listening to us. Everyone. I'm Amy Roebuck alongside TJ. Holmes.
Speaker 2: We'll talk to you soon.