Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #57

[tresir2012]

I encourage people to look at the list of what has yet to open in Ireland, but will be reopening soon. Garden Centres, Farmers' Markets, Hardware Stores, Bike & Phone Repair.

So why those?

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Asthma Doesn't Appear to Increase Risk from Coronavirus

For those of us with asthma , this is good news: i have read several articles that suggest asthma is not the serious risk factor it was thought to be. I hope they are right.

It's interesting. The group of colleagues infected at the same time as me (6 of us in total, third week in March), two have asthma. Their symptoms were less severe than the rest of us. All in our 50s, varying degrees of fitness and health.

Also, I was worried about Mr HKP due to his asthma. As he didnt get infected from me, and as my stranger symptoms developed he recognised them in a "flu" he had earlier in March, we now think he most likely had the virus before me. I said before, he commutes to London by train so was high risk to exposure. He was not as ill as I was either.

So based on my experience, I would agree with this.

However - in the UK we still await antibody tests so I should say we cant be 100% clinically certain that we had it (would eat my hat tho, textbook symptoms all round).

I still make sure Mr HKP uses his daily puffer and keeps stocked up

 

[tresir2012]

Armed demonstrators rally in downtown Raleigh during pandemic :: WRAL.com

So they were not protesting, just walking to get lunch. I don't follow the reasoning behind this. Are they in lockdown there or not?

 

[tresir2012]

Hubby and I watched the B movie "Carriers" today. This film was released in 2009.
Wow.
I don't know who wrote the script, but we were pretty blown away between what's happening today, and what the writer envisioned a decade ago.
It's free on Netflix.
Not going to do spoilers, however it's about a virus.

Now watch Contagion.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

A super-spreading funeral that led to three deaths

Interesting in terms of how the virus spread so quickly in the UK, but also re ICU ventilation practises.

Glad it was a happy outcome for this man, tragic for other family members though.

 

[tresir2012]

Interesting Yelp reviews: Annies Campground - Gresham, WI

(Remind me never to go camping in Wisconsin...MOO)

She sounds like a character LOL.

 

[tresir2012]

97% of the people in most places in the U.S. have not been infected. But that's going to change.

3 Months ago, 0% of the country was known to be infected. If you want a better idea what a country willing to get infected looks like, you can look no further than Russia, Sweden or Brazil.

So how will the rate of infection continue in your opinion, 1% per month till the 70% herd immunity is achieved would take 70 Months by the look of it. Also, Sweden does not look too bad IMO, half the deaths in care homes, like the rest of Lockdown Europe. Brazil and Russia, I agree look bad, so watching those two.

 

[Mo Thuairim]

I expect they may change that IMO. That's 3 months away ATM.

This article is from May 5 but this is the current official position on pubs reopening.

'There's a long way to go': Coveney says pubs reopening early is 'a possibility'

TÁNAISTE SIMON COVENEY has said there is “a possibility” that pubs would open before 10 August but that this would need to be “rigorously assessed” before any change to the current roadmap is made.

Under the plan laid out in the roadmap, pubs will not be able to open until phase five, currently scheduled to begin on 10 August.

However, restaurants and cafes will be allowed to reopen on a limited basis from phase three, which is currently expected to begin on 29 June.

Yesterday (May 4), the Licensed Vintners’ Association (LVA) and the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) said pubs should be allowed reopen at the same time and on the same basis as cafes and restaurants if they implement radical new social distancing measures.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Seán O’Rourke programme, Coveney said changes to the roadmap can be made but that each amendment must be discussed with the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet).

"Every three weeks, and in between those decision points, the government will debate the issues, take the advice from Nphet and make decisions either to stick with the plan, or to amend it. To either fast forward restrictions or to delay restrictions, or reimpose restrictions, if that’s what’s necessary to protect public health."

'There's a long way to go': Coveney says pubs reopening early is 'a possibility'

 

[katydid23]

Santa Ana PD: Robberies Increase By 50%, Suspects Using Face Covering Orders To Their Advantage


Santa Ana PD: Robberies Increase By 50%, Suspects Using Face Covering Orders To Their Advantage

SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — Pointing a gun right at a gas station clerk, a man in a traffic vest and a ball cap demanded money as his accomplice, wearing a mask, grabbed the cash.

“We’re sitting here not knowing who’s going to walk through that door,” Elias Khawan, the owner, said.

The thieves, who did not initially raise the clerk’s suspicion due to local orders for face coverings in light of the coronavirus pandemic, took off in a silver Nissan Altima last Friday at 2 a.m.


Khawan said he has never seen anything like it the 17 years he’s run his Santa Ana gas station and convenience store. He said local face covering requirements put his staff in danger.

“It’s horrible,” he said. “I mean, I know we have to take certain measures because of what’s happening with COVID-19, but it’s the perfect script or manual for a robber — the mask, the sunshade and a hoodie. You don’t know who’s coming, who’s walking in.”

Khawan and his staff feel so unsafe that he has cut his hours from being open all night to closing at 10 p.m., a 25% hit to his bottom line. He has also added signs at his store prohibiting hoodies, backpacks and handbags.

“They’re very scared,” he said. “I have two employees who said, ‘No, we don’t want to work at nighttime.'”

And Santa Ana police confirmed Thursday that robberies in the city have increased by 50% since the lockdown.

 

[tresir2012]

A super-spreading funeral that led to three deaths

Interesting in terms of how the virus spread so quickly in the UK, but also re ICU ventilation practises.

Glad it was a happy outcome for this man, tragic for other family members though.

Amazing stories from this Doctor. TY for posting this and the Asthma article.

 

[Cool Cats]

MAY 15, 2020, AT 6:00 AM
Many Americans Are Getting More Money From Unemployment Than They Were From Their Jobs

FiveThirtyEight (article = down on right side of page)

"...The researchers uncovered other kinds of inequality, too. In some professions, like janitorial work, people who are employed by essential businesses are continuing to show up to their jobs under hazardous conditions. But in doing so, they may be eligible for less money than janitors who have been laid off or furloughed by a nonessential business. In an ideal world, Ganong said, the people who have kept working at hospitals or grocery stores would be receiving some kind of hazard pay. “But that’s generally not the reality, which means there’s a weakness in the current system,” he said. “We’re giving more money to certain workers to stay home than to other workers who are putting themselves at risk by going to work.”

 

[tresir2012]

This article is from May 5 but this is the current official position on pubs reopening.

'There's a long way to go': Coveney says pubs reopening early is 'a possibility'

TÁNAISTE SIMON COVENEY has said there is “a possibility” that pubs would open before 10 August but that this would need to be “rigorously assessed” before any change to the current roadmap is made.

Under the plan laid out in the roadmap, pubs will not be able to open until phase five, currently scheduled to begin on 10 August.

However, restaurants and cafes will be allowed to reopen on a limited basis from phase three, which is currently expected to begin on 29 June.

Yesterday (May 4), the Licensed Vintners’ Association (LVA) and the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) said pubs should be allowed reopen at the same time and on the same basis as cafes and restaurants if they implement radical new social distancing measures.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Seán O’Rourke programme, Coveney said changes to the roadmap can be made but that each amendment must be discussed with the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet).

"Every three weeks, and in between those decision points, the government will debate the issues, take the advice from Nphet and make decisions either to stick with the plan, or to amend it. To either fast forward restrictions or to delay restrictions, or reimpose restrictions, if that’s what’s necessary to protect public health."

'There's a long way to go': Coveney says pubs reopening early is 'a possibility'

That's encouraging. I think we in the UK will be watching your progress with great interest.

 

[Cool Cats]

...https://www.sapeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/joke-corona-touching-face.jpg

 

[tresir2012]

Obama renews attack on Trump virus response

"More than 1,200 people have died with coronavirus in the US over the past 24 hours, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.

The total death toll now stands at almost 89,000, which is the highest anywhere in the world.

Mr Obama also spoke at length about the impact the pandemic is having on black communities in the US.

"A disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country," he said.

African Americans make up a disproportionate number of coronavirus deaths and hospitalisations in the US.

Skip Twitter post by @UNCF

UNCF

Thank you @BarackObama for your support for HBCUs—and for believing in the Class of 2020 as they set out to change the world. #ShowMeYourWalk




<modsnip>

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Coronavirus in Scotland - Concerns over workplace safety - BBC News

Scotland

Summary

1. Health and Safety Executive has been contacted 390 times since March with concerns about Scottish workplaces
2. More than £60k of Scottish government money allocated to groups supporting sex workers during the crisis
3. Reports that none of 2,000 extra contact tracers needed in Scotland have been recruited is 'deeply concerning' says Jackson Carlaw
4. According to the latest figures, 2,094 patients in Scotland have died after testing positive for Covid-19
5. Number of Covid patients in ICU fell to 59 on Saturday, while total number in hospital has also fallen

 

[tmar]

'Virus did NOT come from animals in Wuhan market', landmark study claims as Beijing thwarts global efforts to establish the source of Covid-19

'Virus did NOT come from animals in Wuhan market', landmark study claims as Beijing thwarts global efforts to establish the source of Covid-19

Ian Birrell for The Mail on Sunday
8 hrs ago
China’s claims that the pandemic emerged from a wild animal market in Wuhan last December have been challenged by a landmark scientific study.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that analysis of the coronavirus by specialist biologists suggests that all available data shows it was taken into the market by someone already carrying the disease.
They also say they were ‘surprised’ to find the virus was ‘already pre-adapted to human transmission’, contrasting it to another coronavirus that evolved rapidly as it spread around the planet in a previous epidemic.
The explosive claims come as Beijing thwarts global efforts to establish the source of the virus. The news will fuel concerns over the Communist regime’s cover-up since the disease emerged last year in the central Chinese city.

The new research is clear in its finding. ‘The publicly available genetic data does not point to cross-species transmission of the virus at the market,’ said Alina Chan, a molecular biologist, and Shing Zhan, an evolutionary biologist.
Their paper insists all routes for ‘zoonotic’ (animal to human) transmission – in this case from bats – must be examined. It says: ‘The possibility that a non-genetically engineered precursor could have adapted to humans while being studied in a laboratory should be considered.’

 

[tmar]

Mexico: adulterated alcohol deaths rise to over 100 amid ban on official sales

Mexico: adulterated alcohol deaths rise to over 100 amid ban on official sales

David Agren in Mexico City
2 hrs ago
More than 100 Mexicans have died from drinking adulterated alcohol over the past month in a string of mass poisonings which followed a ban on the sale of liquor during the Covid-19 pandemic.
...
Liquor sales have been banned in some states and municipalities since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, provoking a rampant black market for bootleg alcohol.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I wanted to share a first-hand experience from a job that I had in a small UK care home (although prob 20 years ago now!). One day a lady who was one of the more active residents (she helped in the garden), and usually needed only became very sick and one or two others were feeling unwell, so the GP was due to visit that afternoon. I finished my shift concerned about her but not really aware of the seriousness of the problem. I came back on duty in the morning to a nightmare. This lady was already dead and several others very sick. I will never forget being handed a chart of all the residents' names and the word "deceased" by her name and I think about 8 or so other residents already sick. I was pretty young and I remember being very shocked and scared. There weren't literally black crosses marked on the doors but it felt like it. We had an outbreak of norovirus (aka "the winter vomiting bug").

The deputy manager (experienced but not a trained nurse) had already set up PPE stations outside every room, outlined all the extra infection control procedures on top of normal ones, was giving all the staff info about the virus, how to help the residents get through it and what we needed to do to protect ourselves and our contacts. The building was already locked down to outsiders, families informed and anyone who had been in the building informed. Those of us who worked at other facilities stopped and informed them also.

My point is that even with a quick effective response, viruses will always be ahead of you. They are IN and SPREAD in congregate settings before you have a small cluster of symptomatic people that alerts you to the fact you have a problem. The next few weeks are a blur but I think about a third of the residents were affected some badly but no more deaths as I recall. About half of staff were sick at some point.

I just literally want to smash my head against the wall when I hear "experts" express surprise that Covid-19 has wreaked such havoc in care and nursing homes. Well, what did you think would happen? And hospital nurses are angels and heroes/heroines but there is an implication that the staff in these homes are uncaring and slack. I accept totally that homes should be held accountable and should be able to show what they did to try and prevent outbreaks but people need to understand just how difficult this would have been especially early on. So many risk factors:

Congregate settings, everything spreads easily, an elderly population and what is more, you have the unwell elderly with a high degree of underlying conditions. And these people cannot be distanced, without a lot of personal assistance from staff they cannot live anyway.

All you would need is an asymptomatic staff carrier, a patient carrying the virus transferred back to the home, and you will have very quick spread. There is always a lot of traffic between hospitals and homes. PPE is talked about a lot and of course it's important but it is not 100 % effective. I doubt any experienced health care worker believes that they will not eventually be exposed to Covid-19 if they are working in these settings. And as a manager, how do you find uninfected staff? You may well not be able to find staff at all. I know in the UK an experienced carer/nurse is at risk of being kidnapped off the street they are so in demand.

Thank you for sharing.........this was obviously such a strong memory from your past... that has stayed with you forever.... This is one of the reasons I just feel so sad when I think of elderly people in care homes. You just have to wonder if most of them think everyday "is this the way I am going to go", when all they really want is a safe normalcy with friends and visitors coming and going ....

 

[jjenny]

So how will the rate of infection continue in your opinion, 1% per month till the 70% herd immunity is achieved would take 70 Months by the look of it. Also, Sweden does not look too bad IMO, half the deaths in care homes, like the rest of Lockdown Europe. Brazil and Russia, I agree look bad, so watching those two.

If Sweden's population were the same as US population, Sweden would have 121,000 covid deaths. How does that not look bad?

 

[tresir2012]

If Sweden's population were the same as US population, Sweden would have 121,000 covid deaths. How does that not look bad?

Well I agree 121k would be bad as 90k looks bad in the US now of course, but with Sweden there was no lockdown, presumably no recession or unemployment or furlough costs and will be no second wave hopefully. That's how it does not look too bad IMO especially after removing the 50% care home deaths which are not seemingly improved by a lockdown. US and UK have had lockdowns and very high deaths, plus recession, high furlough costs and an expected second wave still to come.