https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/903601
Conventional laundering methods for hospital bedsheets left 60% of Clostridium difficile spores behind, increasing the risk of contaminating other bed linens and patients, new data show.

"The findings of this study may explain some sporadic outbreaks of C difficile infections in hospitals from unknown sources, however, further research is required in order to establish the true burden of hospital bedsheets in such outbreaks," senior author Katie Laird, PhD, head of the Infectious Disease Research Group, School of Pharmacy, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom, said in a news release.

. Bacterial co/secondary infection further increases morbidity and mortality of influenza infection, with Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Staphylococcus aureus reported as the most common causes. With increased antibiotic resistance and vaccine evasion it is important to monitor the epidemiology of pathogens in circulation to inform clinical treatment and development, particularly in the setting of an influenza epidemic/pandemic.

https://nypost.com/2020/03/03/top-us-doctor-says-coronavirus-now-an-outbreak-possibly-a-pandemic/

NEWS. ...New York Post...
Top US doctor says coronavirus now an ‘outbreak,’ possibly a ‘pandemic’
By Amanda Woods

March 3, 2020 | 8:42am

A doctor on the front lines of battling coronavirus in the US said this week that the rapid spread of the deadly bug has risen to the level of an “outbreak” — and possibly even a “pandemic.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, told NBC Nightly News’ Richard Engel Monday that the illness — which has infected 100 people, killing six in the US — is “an evolving situation.”

“We’re dealing with clearly an emerging infectious disease that is now reached outbreak proportions and likely pandemic proportions,” he said. “If you look at, you know, by multiple definitions of what a pandemic is, the fact is this is multiple sustained transmissions of a highly infectious agent in multiple regions of the globe.”

https://nypost.com/2020/03/07/cuomo-declares-state-of-emergency-as-new-york-state-coronavirus-cases-soar-to-76/

Saturday’s totals reflect a one-day jump of seven new cases in the city — more than double the tally, five, of the day before.

The Uber driver, who city officials said has an underlying respiratory issue, is being treated at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway.

He was not licensed by the city Taxi and Limousine Commission and so drove on Long Island, officials said.

­The mayor said other new city cases include:

• The wife and 11-year-old daughter of an Upper West Side man in his 50s who tested positive. “They are currently in mandatory quarantine and are mildly symptomatic.”

• Two Brooklyn women in their 60s and 70s who recently returned from a cruise to Egypt. They are both at home in mandatory quarantine.

• A 30-something man from Brooklyn hospitalized in serious condition after returning from a trip to Italy.

• A Manhattan man in his late 50s, who tested positive “after spending time with a COVID-19 positive person on a recent trip to Chile,” the mayor tweeted. The man is “symptomatic and under mandatory quarantine,” he added.

As of early Saturday, 18 New York City residents are under mandatory quarantine and 2,255 are under voluntary quarantine, the mayor added.