Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #57

[firebird]

My kids are using the term 'PP' ====Pre-Pandemic

I really can't stand the "new normal" "before covid" buzz words. I don't hear it anywhere but here and a little on the nextdoor app. Most people I know are excited to get back to the old normal. jmo

 

[Rocco]

At some point, schools have to come back. I imagine masks will be required? They can't close them down for another year, can they? Can they really teach online all the time? I'm glad those are issues that I don't have to solve, if they rear their ugly head this Fall.

I can't even imagine requiring kids to wear masks for hours every day. What would be the effect of breathing back in the carbon dioxide that they had just exhaled---- for hours every day? And doing that for 5 days a week.
I start to feel light headed after wearing a mask for an hour.

 

[firebird]

Triple-drug combo of hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and ZINC helped COVID-19 patients | Daily Mail Online

Triple-drug combo of anti-malaria pill hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and ZINC improved coronavirus patients' chances of being discharged and cut death risk by almost 50%, study finds

• Researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine looked at 932 coronavirus patients hospitalized between March 2 and April 5
• Half were given a combination of hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and zinc sulfate and the other half did not receive zinc
• Patients receiving the triple drug combination were 1.5 times more likely to recover enough to be discharged and 44% less likely to die
• The team believes hydroxychloroquine helps zinc, which has antiviral properties, get into infected cells

 

[firebird]

I can't even imagine requiring kids to wear masks for hours every day. What would be the effect of breathing back in the carbon dioxide that they had just exhaled---- for hours every day? And doing that for 5 days a week.
I start to feel light headed after wearing a mask for an hour.

Ridiculous. I honestly hope this is the beginning of the end for public schools, but my guess is that the goal is to sell the real estate and go 100% online over time. Will be fun to see how the SPED entitlements are handled.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Hello all from Jeff Davis parish:
Almost no one wearing masks, except me & MrTony. The Harrowing Times have proven too much for me, since I believe I got something in January, along with a friend.
Dishwasher broke $2k MrTony is Doctor on furlough, so is my son who will surely die if he catches this & the V.A. Has its way.

And Harry, our ginger tom, (yea, I just had to name the stray that) got in a brawl with a raccoon several nights ago & is MIA. We think the coyotes got the raccoon last night. If I’m quoting the Red Queen correctly: ‘...it takes all the running I can do to stay in the same place.’

Have mild SOB upon minimum exertion & fatigue. And the back-end-of-rag-doll blues. Most days I just lurk. @Bravo & HKP, hope you improve. Blessings to all.

Merci Tony and sending you lots of love

 

[katydid23]

oh please do try to find the links. I remain so curious about India. I do believe a lot has to with diet, and the lack of overweight people. But with all the jam packed towns and villages in India.... there must just be something more goig on...

New study to provide insight on hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 prevention in health care workers

New study to provide insight on hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 prevention in health care workers

April 29, 2020

The Henry Ford Health System in Detroit recently announced it is leading the WHIP COVID-19 study, which will assess whether hydroxychloroquine will prevent or impede COVID-19 in health care workers and first responders.

Researchers aim to enroll 3,000 volunteers for the randomized, double-blind study, and preliminary results may be ready in as soon as 4 months, according to a press release from the institution. The trial is one of many underway to better understand how to treat COVID-19.

We also recognized that in both Italy and China, up to 15% of patients with COVID-19 were hospital workers. It was apparent that there is a huge risk that hospital workers would become infected.

When we looked at the literature, we saw a note from a publication that about 187 patients with lupus in China who were taking chronic hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine therapy did not get COVID-19. There was a question as to whether or not hydroxychloroquine was effective in preventing COVID-19. The drug has also been used for malaria prophylaxis.

The question then is: Would hydroxychloroquine, given prophylactically, prevent COVID-19 infection? There was no literature and no data on this. We were extremely concerned about the risks of COVID-19 to our health care workers. Unfortunately, that has borne to be true; more than 800 Henry Ford employees have been infected by the novel coronavirus. (Editor’s note: This number was accurate as of the time of publication.) Use of personal protective equipment and other equipment is helpful, but it would be better to find something more definitive for prevention of COVID-19.


https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD013587/full

Despite lack of data on prophylaxis, the Indian Council of Medical Research has already recommended HCQ as pre‐exposure prophylaxis for frontline healthcare workers having “high‐risk” contact with patients with suspected or confirmed COVID‐19, and post‐exposure prophylaxis for household and healthcare worker contacts of patients with confirmed COVID‐19 (ICMR 2020). The background section of this recommendation states there is in vivo evidence for efficacy of HCQ for treatment of COVID‐19, and prophylactic efficacy is inferred from therapeutic efficacy (ICMR 2020).

 

[tresir2012]

I honestly think they need (all of them) to consider skipping praise and worship for now. Jmo

I just wonder why they have specifically publically identified 3 of the 102 Arkansas deaths to a rural church. Where did the other 99 deaths get infected/occur and have they shut those places down too? Also, this happened in March, before WHO announced a pandemic.

 

[Cool Cats]

May 19, 2020, 2:15 PM EDT

Coronavirus patients who tested positive twice cannot pass on virus, South Korean study finds

The findings of the South Korean study will be welcomed by countries starting to ease their lockdowns, including the UK - AP

Patients who tested positive for Covid-19 after recovering from it could not then transmit coronavirus, according to a study by South Korea's disease control centre.

Tests carried out on almost 300 patients strongly imply that they have acquired immunity after becoming infected, in a major boost to hopes of overcoming the pandemic.

The South Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention examined 285 Covid-19 survivors who had recovered, tested negative and then tested postive for a second time.

 

[tresir2012]

I wonder what the prison death toll is?

Indiana was around 45% care home total last time I looked. Jmo

I don't expect prison deaths to be so severe due to the age of inmates. I am guessing the over 65's are a minority. The care home deaths seem to be coming out around 50% of the figures all over so far. MOO.

ETA I see Tillicum has just mentioned some Ohio prison statistics.

 

[tresir2012]

Scientists propose a 50 days on, 30 days off coronavirus lockdown strategy

Fifty days of strict lockdowns followed by 30 days where measures are eased could be an effective strategy for reducing Covid-19 deaths while ensuring some level of economic protection, scientists claim.
...
In the first scenario, no mitigation or social-distancing measures were imposed. In every single country, this led to the number of patients requiring treatment in intensive care units (ICUs) quickly and significantly exceeding available capacity. Ultimately, this would result in 7.8 million deaths across the countries included in the analysis, researchers said, and the duration of the epidemic would be almost 200 days in the majority of those nations.

The second scenario modeled a rolling cycle of 50-day “mitigation measures” followed by a 30-day period where those measures were relaxed. Analysts defined mitigation measures as strategies that gradually reduced the number of new infections, such as social distancing, hygiene rules, isolating individuals with the virus, school closures and restricting large public events. These measures did not include a total lockdown.

This scenario was likely to reduce the R number — the reproduction rate of the virus — to 0.8 in all countries, the study showed. However, while it proved effective for the first three months, after the first relaxation period scientists found the number of patients requiring ICU care would exceed hospital capacities. This would lead to 3.5 million deaths across the 16 countries used in the simulation, with the pandemic lasting around 12 months in high income countries and at least 18 months in other nations.

Researchers also modeled a third scenario, which involved a rolling cycle of stricter “suppression measures” for 50 days followed by a 30-day relaxation period. Suppression measures were defined as those that led to a faster reduction in the number of new infections, achieved by applying strict lockdown measures on top of other mitigation measures.

In the third, most stringent scenario, the R number would be reduced to 0.5 and keep ICU demand within national capacity across all countries, scientists concluded. As more people would remain susceptible to catching the virus at the end of each cycle, however, the pandemic would be prolonged and last for more than 18 months in all countries.

But the Covid-19 death toll during the pandemic would be significantly reduced in this scenario, with just over 130,000 deaths expected across the 16 countries included the analysis.

A continuous, three-month strategy of strict suppression measures would be the fastest way to end the pandemic, with most countries able to reduce new cases to near zero in this scenario, scientists said.
...

I wonder if these scientists accounted for 50% care home deaths, plus factories plus prisons? If they worked out how to stop the spread in places like that we would likely have deaths reduced by 75% alone rather than locking away the whole population like some guinea pig experiment. MOO.

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Coronavirus: Captain Tom Moore to be knighted after raising £33m for NHS

Coronavirus: Captain Tom Moore to be knighted after raising £33m for NHS
The World War Two veteran, who raised funds by walking up and down his garden, says he is "absolutely overwhelmed" at the award.

Captain Tom Moore, who raised almost £33m for the NHS as it battled to cope with coronavirus, is to be knighted, Boris Johnson has said.

The 100-year-old World War Two veteran, who raised the extraordinary sum of money by walking up and down his garden, said: "I am absolutely overwhelmed. Never for one moment could I have imagined to be awarded with such a great honour.


"I'd like to thank Her Majesty the Queen, the prime minister and the Great British public. I will remain at your service.

"This started as something small and I've been overwhelmed by the gratitude and love from the British public and beyond.

"We must take this opportunity to recognise our frontline heroes of the National Health Service who put their lives at risk everyday to keep us safe."

The prime minister, who recommended the award, which the Queen approved, called Captain Moore a "true national treasure" who "provided us all with a beacon of light through the fog of coronavirus".


I'm thrilled for him, he deserves every bit of his fame.

 

[tresir2012]

Coronavirus: Captain Tom Moore to be knighted after raising £33m for NHS

Coronavirus: Captain Tom Moore to be knighted after raising £33m for NHS
The World War Two veteran, who raised funds by walking up and down his garden, says he is "absolutely overwhelmed" at the award.

Captain Tom Moore, who raised almost £33m for the NHS as it battled to cope with coronavirus, is to be knighted, Boris Johnson has said.

The 100-year-old World War Two veteran, who raised the extraordinary sum of money by walking up and down his garden, said: "I am absolutely overwhelmed. Never for one moment could I have imagined to be awarded with such a great honour.


"I'd like to thank Her Majesty the Queen, the prime minister and the Great British public. I will remain at your service.

"This started as something small and I've been overwhelmed by the gratitude and love from the British public and beyond.

"We must take this opportunity to recognise our frontline heroes of the National Health Service who put their lives at risk everyday to keep us safe."

The prime minister, who recommended the award, which the Queen approved, called Captain Moore a "true national treasure" who "provided us all with a beacon of light through the fog of coronavirus".


I'm thrilled for him, he deserves every bit of his fame.

Great news. Arise Sir Tom !

 

[Simply Southern]

When your cousin goes to the White House, so proud. Very grateful for aid to all farmers, nationwide.

WATCH NOW: Pittsylvania County farmer speaks at White House event; Trump says 'I love his accent'

After Pittsylvania County farmer Robert Mills made some brief comments about the state of American agriculture, the first response from President Donald Trump had nothing to do with agriculture.

“I love his accent,” he said of Mills’ southern drawl. “I love that accent.”

The Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, which Trump announced Tuesday, will send $16 billion directly to farmers and ranchers nationwide. Through this program, farmers will be eligible to receive up to 80% of the difference between prices before the coronavirus and current prices for all types of livestock and agricultural products.

“Little did we know that President Trump was going to call on each one of us,” Mills told the Register & Bee.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I don't know how this may complicate things for them. Even with india looking pretty good.

(CNN)Millions of people in India and Bangladesh are in the path of a cyclone which is due to make landfall in less than 36 hours, bringing damaging winds and heavy rain to a region already struggling with the coronavirus pandemic.

India and Bangladesh brace for the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal

geeeez.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

The days are starting to feel more and more surreal to me too. At least once a day I'll stop whatever I'm doing and think, "This is just bizarre." More and more deja vu and waking dream moments, I feel like.

Well ...glad you stated this, for it is what a number of my friends and I am feeling... just this hazy hazy feeling of "what is actually happening". It's not quite the same as a common feeling in Florida------>Watching beautiful sunny skies, but knowing a level 5 hurricane is on its way. This feeling is just more bizarro.....

 

[tresir2012]

Coronavirus updates: Brazil's virus daily death toll reaches record levels - BBC News

Coronavirus world news from the BBC.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Thank you so much for that! I have seen it thanks to a couple other beautiful websleuther are and it gives me a lot of hope. It contradicts the CDC’s designation of asthmatics as high risk so I will continue to take precautions but it’s hopeful and we need that right now.

Here is another story about a church and recent COVID outbreak that is sad but can help us protect ourselves because the exact numbers are known.


One church's large coronavirus outbreak was traced back to a pastor and his wife who attended a service before they developed symptoms, CDC says


At this church, 92 people attended a service where a pastor and his wife had COVID. They infected 35 people and three of those people died.


That’s a 38% contagion rate (at least for people who are symptomatic) and an almost 8% death rate for those who caught it and a 3.5% death rate for the congregation as a whole.

Who wants to take those odds?


I think this proves that it isn’t “living in fear” to expect reasonable safeguards for a while like wearing masks when possible and staying six feet apart.

If we are going to open up I don’t think it’s an imposition on people’s constitutional rights to mandate that in businesses and public areas people stay six feet apart and wear masks when around others, when reasonable.

Side note: What’s with the improperly worn masks? I see quite some people wearing a mask but it doesn’t cover their noses. And they aren’t wearing glasses necessarily. I mean what’s the point?

I guess at least it protects others somewhat from their exhalations and coughs. It does nothing to protect from their sneezes, however. And it doesn’t provide any protection to the wearer at all, unless they only breathe through their mouths.

Yes, published yesterday in the CDC MMWR https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6920e2-H.pdf?deliveryName=DM28707

High COVID-19 Attack Rate Among Attendees at Events at a Church — Arkansas, March 2020

The couple (the index cases) attended church-related events during March 6–8, and devel-oped nonspecific respiratory symptoms and fever on March 10 (wife) and 11 (husband). Before his symptoms had developed, the husband attended a Bible study group on March 11. Including the index cases, 35 confirmed COVID-19 cases occurred among 92 (38%) persons who attended events held at church A during March 6–11; three patients died.

The age-specific attack rates among persons aged ≤18 years, 19–64 years, and ≥65 years were 6.3%, 59.4%, and 50.0%, respectively.

During contact tracing, at least 26 additional persons with confirmed COVID-19 cases were identified among community members who reported contact with church A attendees and likely were infected by them; one of the additional persons was hospitalized and subsequently died. This outbreak highlights the potential for widespread transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, both at group gatherings during church events and within the broader community.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Coronavirus: Captain Tom Moore to be knighted after raising £33m for NHS

Coronavirus: Captain Tom Moore to be knighted after raising £33m for NHS
The World War Two veteran, who raised funds by walking up and down his garden, says he is "absolutely overwhelmed" at the award.

Captain Tom Moore, who raised almost £33m for the NHS as it battled to cope with coronavirus, is to be knighted, Boris Johnson has said.

The 100-year-old World War Two veteran, who raised the extraordinary sum of money by walking up and down his garden, said: "I am absolutely overwhelmed. Never for one moment could I have imagined to be awarded with such a great honour.


"I'd like to thank Her Majesty the Queen, the prime minister and the Great British public. I will remain at your service.

"This started as something small and I've been overwhelmed by the gratitude and love from the British public and beyond.

"We must take this opportunity to recognise our frontline heroes of the National Health Service who put their lives at risk everyday to keep us safe."

The prime minister, who recommended the award, which the Queen approved, called Captain Moore a "true national treasure" who "provided us all with a beacon of light through the fog of coronavirus".


I'm thrilled for him, he deserves every bit of his fame.

I hope he eventually gets his ceremony in person, and I know that all of us here were rooting for him to get such when this was breaking news. Great news.

 

[mickey2942]

Coronavirus updates: Brazil's virus daily death toll reaches record levels - BBC News

Coronavirus world news from the BBC.

This. From a president who fired the Minister of Health back in April, for encouraging social distancing for a "bit of flu".
Bolsonaro fires health minister over coronavirus

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

I hope he eventually gets his ceremony in person, and I know that all of us here were rooting for him to get such when this was breaking news. Great news.

That's a ceremony I'd love to see. It's history in the making, a 100 year old man who raised 33million walking in his garden, had a No 1 single, a fly past for his birthday, promoted to Colonel and now a Knighthood. And all in the middle of a pandemic!