Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #52

[Lilibet]

That is so, so terrible LadyL! I can't imagine that you won't see him again, and I can relate.
My elderly father is being bounced frequently between a rehab facility and an acute hospital. He was living independently at the end of February but had to have a couple of major operations in March. The outcome is an amputated leg and delirium. He had bounced between facilities several times in the past couple of weeks. No one knows where to send him. I'm pretty sure I will never see him again. <sigh> And yet I feel for the medical staff. They don't have family members helping their patients or watching for their needs. <sigh again>

I’m so sorry @Snoopster. It’s hard to imagine that it’s come to this.

 

[Lilibet]

My decision was always based on how it sounded if you had to yell their name in the neighborhood or call them to dinner.

Anderson Cooper is going to be yelling Why, Why a lot.

LOL! That’s a good thought. I kind of doubt that will be a problem for AC in Manhattan. But of course he might move to a place where it would be.

 

[katydid23]

...snipped..
https://zoonosen.charite.de/fileadm...s-of-SARS-CoV-2-viral-load-by-patient-age.pdf
The surprising thing, really, is that among even the people who went on to be hospitalized, their most virulent point was 2-3 days after infection and before a fever appeared.

After the fever appeared, viral load dropped in many, which the authors indicate deserves further study, as do many other aspects of their findings.

While age made no difference in who was contagious; it makes a big difference in symptoms.

Because it was adult travelers who transmitted this disease around the world, and business communities and the families of adult workers were hit first, and because children are relatively asymptomatic, it's been perceived by some that "children can't transmit" but the above study states otherwise. There are a couple of other studies reaching the same conclusion.

So the 'precaution' of taking temps of people before they are allowed into the office, is not helpful at all.

 

[slowpoke]

Well, what a clever way to help social distance—open umbrellas!

(Great picture at the link of people with their colorful umbrellas, but I couldn’t insert it here, for some reason). Eta: oh, did it attach? Sigh, I wish I was more tech savvy...

Residents of Alappuzha, a city in the Indian coastal state of Kerala, are being told to use umbrellas when they go outside, regardless of the weather. Two people with open umbrellas are guaranteed to be a minimum distance of one meter from one another,” Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac tweeted this week. The city is reportedly providing thousands of umbrellas for free to residents who don’t have them.

Mandatory Umbrella Use and Other Social-Distancing Hacks From Around the World

 

[LadyL]

I’m so sorry @LadyL. Hugs to you and your family. I’m glad your Mom got in, but I know this has to be hard for you.

I'm happy for my Mom and Dad but also worried that my Mom might catch something ... she's elderly

 

[LadyL]

Well, what a clever way to help social distance—open umbrellas!

(Great picture at the link of people with their colorful umbrellas, but I couldn’t insert it here, for some reason). Eta: oh, did it attach? Sigh, I wish I was more tech savvy...



Mandatory Umbrella Use and Other Social-Distancing Hacks From Around the World

ok but why are they only required to be 1 metre and we are two (or 6 ft.)?

 

[LadyL]

I'm so sorry. I cannot imagine what you're going thru.

Prayers tonight for your Dad , Mom & yourself. May God send comfort in some way very soon.

thank you so much

 

[Curious Me]

I want to thank all of the members here who have reminded me why a persons birth date is important in properly identifying them.

I still want to know why LE needs this kind of information on people who test positive for the corona virus. It is a crime to be infected? JMO

MOO, every person is going to be experiencing some degree of injustices. I was going to list all the people experiencing injustices from this Covid crisis, but I'm sure you know what I mean.

I think you're right to try to know and have some control over who has your personal info.

Here's one "info oops" that is another injustice for some people.

The Small Business Administration just told thousands of businesses applying for disaster loans that their personal information was mistakenly leaked

"A bug in a federal government website exposed the personal information of thousands of small-business owners applying for economic injury disaster loans in March."

 

[Tadpole12]

ok but why are they only required to be 1 metre and we are two (or 6 ft.)?

IDK but garden parasols are 2 m wide.

 

[slowpoke]

ok but why are they only required to be 1 metre and we are two (or 6 ft.)?

Good question!
At this link, a rather humorous reason is offered (although this is re Singapore, which also asks for 1 meter apart):

Taking the total population and total area of space into consideration, many deem Singapore unable to comply with a social distancing measure of two metres. “If 2m apart, no place to stand,” said Kendrick Ng. Wah NJ added that if “we distance 2m, a lot might drop into the sea…and a lot can’t swim.”

Netizens question why social distancing is only 1 metre in Singapore but in other countries it is double the distance

 

[RANCH]

MOO, every person is going to be experiencing some degree of injustices. I was going to list all the people experiencing injustices from this Covid crisis, but I'm sure you know what I mean.

I think you're right to try to know and have some control over who has your personal info.

Here's one "info oops" that is another injustice for some people.

The Small Business Administration just told thousands of businesses applying for disaster loans that their personal information was mistakenly leaked

"A bug in a federal government website exposed the personal information of thousands of small-business owners applying for economic injury disaster loans in March."

I was thinking about identity theft when I first read Bravo's post but started to worry more about innocent peoples liberties after some further thought. JMO

 

[LadyL]

IDK but garden parasols are 2 m wide.

from the article:

Two people with open umbrellas are guaranteed to be a “minimum distance of one meter from one another,”

 

[cass523]

I don't know much about these contact tracing apps.

If you download the app does it start tracking you movements right away? If so who is getting this information?

Info for Apple and Google app

Apple Inc. and Google released the first versions of their Covid-19 contact-tracing tools to public health organizations on Wednesday so the agencies can start building applications ahead of the system’s launch in mid-May.

The tool set is a combination of software updates for iOS and Android, and software development kits to help developers build and test their apps. Apple released an early beta version of its software update that incorporates the technology, iOS 13.5, while Google is rolling out an update via its Google Play app store.

The first phase of the system will let health agencies build apps that allow a person who tests positive for Covid-19 to input their diagnosis. The system will then use Bluetooth technology to learn who the person has come into contact with and then notify those people of a possible exposure.

Apple released Xcode 11.5, a new version of its software development kit on Wednesday, while Google is providing an update of its SDK to select developers.

The companies also said that on Friday they will release sample code to help developers understand how the exposure-notification system will work, along with more information on which types of apps will be allowed.

Apple, Google Release Virus Contact-Tracing Tools to App Makers

In a few weeks, your smartphone may tell you that you've been close to someone infected by the coronavirus and that you may need to isolate yourself.

By mid-May, Apple and Google will offer a mobile software tool that will let iPhones and Android devices talk to each other and allow digital contact tracing, which tracks those with infections and alerts others who have been in close contact.

Apple and Google will release an API, or application programming interface, that helps a smartphone anonymously detect when it's been near the smartphone of someone who has reported they have the virus.

That API will let software developers build apps — distributed by public health authorities — that could alert users to potential exposures to COVID-19.

Digital contact tracing doesn't diagnose infections; it only tells users if they've encountered someone who is infected. While other companies are building contact tracing apps, the Apple/Google partnership could greatly expand tracing, since:

• In the U.S., about 81% of us own smartphones, according to a 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center.
• Of those, IDC estimates Android has 86% market share while iOS devices have 14%.

The article goes into more detail explaining how it works

Coronavirus contact tracing: App could warn you of COVID-19 exposure

https://www.washingtonpost.com/tech...s-thats-problem-big-techs-plan-slow-pandemic/

 

[Anance]

The federal government placed orders for well over 100,000 new body bags to hold victims of COVID-19 in April, according to internal administration documents obtained by NBC News, as well as public records. The biggest set was earmarked for purchase the day after President Donald Trump projected that the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus might not exceed 50,000 or 60,000 people.

An old quote - "Watch what they do, not what they say." In FL, I know we are underreporting in different ways. But, I remember reading that back in days of only newspapers, no shark attacks were ever reported and the newspapers had a "gentleman's agreement" to this effect. So, if you're at the beach (post-Covid) and see a bunch of marine biologists with spears, take note.

 

[Anance]

Ok, but it was reported by Global News ca

It's an old trick - publish in a sketchy publication, then it will get picked up by regular outlet and it spreads from there. Old-time going viral, I think.

 

[Anance]

I wonder if the numbers would be slightly different if schools were still in session, and university dorms still populated. These two groups, where young people spent a lot of time in confined spaces, were closed fairly early in the outbreak. But care facilities couldn't disperse their people.

That is so brilliant.

 

[Anance]

Yes. It's quite unimaginable. Having so many extra deaths per day quickly fills the the existing services to handle the deceased. Then tomorrow there are 400 more, the next day 400 more, and 400 more, relentlessly piling up with no facilities left to handle the bodies. Brazil isn't the only country to find themselves with this nightmare.

Outside the rich urban areas, it's a poor country. The dead will be left in place if it gets worse.

 

[tresir2012]

Then Worldometers is miscalculating somewhere. Or it's possible the over 90's have a 30% death rate, which would give a 20% overall death rate (I guess - I mean, I'd need to see the calculations). Since there are far more older people dying, we'd have to multiply their rate by their actual number of cases (but somewhere someone has to be dying at a way higher rate than 14.8% to get to an overall death rate of 20%).

Also, that's not proper data for the 0-9 group. See here (Table 2). The CDC doesn't report by the age brackets mentioned above so I assume WorldoMeter is doing extrapolation (which I teach my students to do, it's a valid thing to do as an information strategy).

At any rate the US has lost 9 children 14 and under as of 4/25. 4 were under the age of 1. That illustrates my earlier point about...infants are more vulnerable, those deaths under 1 year were mostly under 6 months, although I do remember a 1 year old with serious underlying conditions dying).

But 9 != zero. And worldwide, the number of children dead is greater than 9, so still not zero.

It's true that children are way less likely to die of CoVid19, so far. The Kawasaki-activation syndrome going on in UK is very very concerning). But that syndrome is in keeping with all else science is finding out about this novel Coronavirus.

Here's the link.

Coronavirus Age, Sex, Demographics (COVID-19) - Worldometer

It's not info from the US CDC but is Chinese CCDC data. Source in link.

 

[cody22]

Louisiana pastor Tony Spell's followers jammed police phone lines to protest his arrest. He says it'll keep happening until cops 'get this ankle bracelet off of me.'

Louisiana Virus News.....moo

 

[tresir2012]

'Walking dead': Inmates describe how coronavirus swept through an Ohio prison

80% positive for CV-19 including staff at Ohio's Marion State Prison. Marion prison officials reported that 95 percent of COVID-19 positive inmates are asymptomatic.

Conditions within Ohio's coronavirus-infected prisons described as 'war zone'

'Walking dead': Inmates describe how coronavirus swept through an Ohio prison

One action being taken is having the inmates sleep head to toe to help with social distancing. How is that working out?

See for yourself:

See shocking photo from inside a Marion
prison dormitory:

"Ohio residents with incarcerated loved ones are bracing themselves to hear the latest updates inside Marion, if any.

"Sometimes, I call my mom. I don’t want to worry her too much because she gets to crying," said Richard Williams, 27.
"To be honest, I’m scared. I’m nervous of being in here."
Williams’ mother, Sabrina White, is anxious for him to come home — although his sentence isn’t up until March 2024.

“My son deserved to serve a sentence. … He screwed up," White said. "This is supposed to be a correctional rehabilitation facility, not death row. Right now, it is death row.”

Is that there regular sleeping arrangements? No wonder they have such a high infection rate. Why are they all crammed in one dorm like that?