Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #70

[ArianeEmory]

Trump claims lowest COVID-19 mortality rate as US surpasses 140,000 deaths

Trump claims lowest COVID-19 mortality rate as US surpasses 140,000 deaths

Sky News Australia

2 hrs ago
...
United States President Donald Trump claimed the country has the lowest COVID-19 mortality rate in the world, despite contributing nearly a quarter of virus-related deaths to the global figure.

More than 140,000 people have died in the US after contracting the virus with more than 70,000 new cases and 912 fatalities recorded on Friday alone, marking the fourth consecutive day of deaths exceeding 900.

The nation’s mortality rate sat at 3.8 per cent with a reported 43 deaths per 100,000 people.

I know we can go around in circles with numbers, but going by deaths per million population, we’re the tenth worst on Worldometers. Some of the few countries with worse rates include the UK. France, Italy, San Marino. But San Marino was hard hit and also tiny.

 

[tmar]

Restaurants on footpaths: why Australia's indoor gatherings should be pushed outside in the Covid-19 era

Restaurants on footpaths: why Australia's indoor gatherings should be pushed outside in the Covid-19 era

Elias Visontay

5 hrs ago

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Allowing restaurants and cafes to spread their tables on to footpaths, and opening up public green spaces and car parks to small retailers are some of the suggestions epidemiologists and corporate leaders are making as indoor gatherings continue to pose the greatest coronavirus risk in the coming months.
Consideration of how businesses can continue to safely operate even as suburbs and cities experience outbreaks comes as leaders call for businesses based in high-risk settings, particularly indoor shops and restaurants, to be allowed to innovate their operations, which they hope will mean wide-scale lockdowns can be avoided while maintaining activity.
The suggestions for safe operation of traditionally indoor businesses – which would allow businesses that would otherwise be limited to a handful of customers to welcome more clients safely – have been backed by the Sydney Business Chamber executive director, Katherine O’Regan, who told Guardian Australia there was a social and economic benefit to spreading businesses outdoors.

“Indoor activities are the greatest threat in spreading the disease ... we know [they] act as a catalyst,” the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said on Friday.

 

[10ofRods]

I sure wish the US had national healthcare, then there wouldn't be squabbles about this kind of funding. Federal US taxes would pay for it all.

We have had covid testing available at every hospital and medical centre, in a special, clearly marked, sectioned-off area since this whole thing began (even the car parking for this area is sectioned off).
And then when they do the occasional blitz testing for a specific reason, the drive through sites are set up for a couple of weeks.

No-one argues about the testing sites. Where they should be. Who should pay for them. We all pay for them via our Federal national health tax contributions.

It would be cheaper too, in the long run. But, the insurance lobbies are huge, they'd all go out of business.

If we were in a less dystopian period of American life, we might even begin an entirely new system - right now. If the House and the Senate could work together.

 

[ArianeEmory]

Military teams sent to five California hospitals amid coronavirus staffing shortages

 

[ilovewings]

This is one of the worst things that could have ever happened to mankind, imo, not being able to gather with your own family.

There are so many things about this evil virus, sickening people severely, killing them, crushing our ability to make a living, affecting our children’s education, dividing our people.

There are not enough words for how terrible this virus is.

and when a loved one is dying they are isolated from their loved ones as they die
in agony and loneliness-- this virus is so evil---

 

[SouthAussie]

It would be cheaper too, in the long run. But, the insurance lobbies are huge, they'd all go out of business.

If we were in a less dystopian period of American life, we might even begin an entirely new system - right now. If the House and the Senate could work together.

Did you know that we also have private health insurance?
We are all covered by the national healthcare system ... but many of us also have private health insurance. This allows us to choose which dr we want to see, allows us to avoid surgery waiting lists, and other benefits.

So the insurance companies are still thriving.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Despite looking out for one another, a Texas family is devastated by COVID-19 — Houston Chronicle

“Before he was admitted to a Fort Bend County hospital, Alfonso Rodríguez Jr.’s dad had been complaining of an upset stomach for about a week.

The 86-year-old went to the emergency room, describing bouts of diarrhea and constipation.

He wondered: Could I have the virus?

At the ER, the elder Alfonso Rodríguez was told he likely had a twisted bowel and was sent home.

But days later he was admitted to the hospital and learned that he had COVID-19. Then the unthinkable happened — the disease tore through their family, claiming the lives of Alfonso Rodríguez Jr.’s father, his mother, Porfiria, 87, and his younger brother, Rudy, 55, in less than two weeks.”

 

[slowpoke]

I apologize if this has been posted before, as it’s an article from Mar 30. I really like the way this physician and immunobiologist Janko Nikolich-Zugich explains t-cells and our immune system as we age in layman’s terms (Soldiers. Mumbling.—haha!)
Here’s some of it. So interesting:https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/30/what-explains-coronavirus-lethality-for-elderly/
———————————
“Our immune systems have two sets of defenses against viruses and other pathogens: a first-line army of cells, called leukocytes, that attack invading microbes within minutes to hours, and a second-line force of precisely targeted antibodies and T cells that surge to the battle front as late as several days after.

With advancing age, the body has fewer T cells, which produce virus-fighting chemicals. By puberty, the thymus is producing tenfold fewer T cells than it did in childhood, Nikolich-Zugich said; by age 40 or 50, there is another tenfold drop.

That leaves the body depleted of T cells that have not yet been programmed to defend against a specific microbe. Fewer such “naïve T cells” means fewer able to be deployed against a never-before-seen microbe.

“We just have fewer soldiers dealing with attackers we’ve never experienced before, like the new coronavirus,” Nikolich-Zugich said. (The body does retain the “memory T cells” that learned to fight attackers in youth, which is why immunization against smallpox and many other viral disease lasts decades.)

Another age-related change keeps T cells away from battle. Even before T cells enter the fray, other cells recognize invaders and dispatch natural killer cells and other soldiers to destroy as many as possible in the first few hours after infection. Then these same front-line cells literally show the virus to T cells, saying in essence, this is the enemy; produce virus-killing compounds.

“But this communication doesn’t work as well as we get older,” Nikolich-Zugich said. The instructor cells grow scarce and start to do the biological equivalent of mumbling. T cells therefore respond too late and too little.”
———————————
https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/30/what-explains-coronavirus-lethality-for-elderly/

 

[MimosaMornings]

Nicklaus talks positive COVID-19 result from March

“Jack Nicklaus has revealed he and wife Barbara both contracted COVID-19 in March but have since recovered.

Speaking on CBS during a final-round weather delay of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide that he hosts at Muirfield Village, Nicklaus said the couple bunkered down at home for more than a month and managed to get through the virus without too much complication.

Both Jack and Barbara turned 80 earlier this year, putting them in the at-risk category for the virus that has caused devastation across the globe and claimed over 142,000 American lives.”
———
Wow. Good news that they both made it without too much complication especially at their age!

 

[Bravo]

I'm still reeling from this one from July 8th
US to advise health care workers to reuse PPE

 

[Tigerlily75]

I sure wish the US had national healthcare, then there wouldn't be squabbles about this kind of funding. Federal US taxes would pay for it all.

We have had covid testing available at every hospital and medical centre, in a special, clearly marked, sectioned-off area since this whole thing began (even the car parking for this area is sectioned off).
And then when they do the occassional blitz testing for a specific reason, the drive through sites are set up for a couple of weeks.

No-one argues about the testing sites. Where they should be. Who should pay for them. We all pay for them via our Federal national health tax contributions.

Yes, fortunately no issues with that here, there are tons of testing sites around Melbourne, they’re set up in places like shopping centre car parks, Bunnings, community centres, even the airport.

Also for anyone that needs to isolate but doesn’t have access to JobKeeper payments or enough sick leave etc and will need to miss work, they will get $1500 from the Vic Dept of Health. They don’t want anyone sneaking off to work because they can’t afford to stay home.

 

[Bravo]

I hear ya CharlstonG. I have been rather quiet the last few days. This just should not be happening Yet it is.......

 

[SouthAussie]

Yes, fortunately no issues with that here, there are tons of testing sites around Melbourne, they’re set up in places like shopping centre car parks, Bunnings, community centres, even the airport.

Also for anyone that needs to isolate but doesn’t have access to JobKeeper payments or enough sick leave etc and will need to miss work, they will get $1500 from the Vic Dept of Health. They don’t want anyone sneaking off to work because they can’t afford to stay home.

That is excellent to hear. We are going into a huge amount of debt with supporting our people like this. But someone (Dr Karl) explained that it is simply the govt borrowing money from the govt (Reserve Bank). The debt can be negated or reduced at some point in time, if required, because it is Aussies loaning money to Aussies.

 

[tmar]

A slaughterhouse for workers
A slaughterhouse for workers
It’s not Romanians spreading the virus, it’s capitalism. The exploitation of workers in German meat factories has to end
By Vladimir Bogoeski | 02.07.2020
...
Eastern European workers in German food production, particularly in agriculture and the meat processing industry, in spite of being declared essential in theory, are increasingly falling victim to massive Covid-19 infection outbreaks on farms and in slaughterhouses across the country. The most recent of these outbreaks, where 1300 workers in a slaughterhouse of the Tönnies group in Rheda-Wiedenbrück tested positive for the virus, expose the harsh treatment of workers in the meat industry as a disposable human resource.

This preventable disaster, however, has been met with a reform proposal by German labour minister Hubertus Heil. It seeks to abolish subcontracting in the meat processing industry from January 2021. While the reform is hitting the nail on the head by tackling domestic outsourcing through subcontracting in the German meat industry, one might rightly ask one question: Why did it take a full-blown pandemic for a regulatory reform proposal to reach decision makers’ tables? The horrific working and living conditions of slaughterhouse migrant workers that sustained cheap German meat over decades have long been well-known.

 

[SouthAussie]

I'm stunned right along with you. When I think it cannot get any worse, it does. When I think there may be light at the end of this tunnel, it is extinguished. When I used to think some semblance of normalcy was on the horizon, I had to face the reality that it is not. When I thought the US would slay this thing, I had to face the stark reality I would be better off in Vietnam, South Korea, Rwanda, or New Zealand.

I'm more than stunned. I think I am in some sort of surreal state of shock. Sorry all. I am not in a good place at the moment.

I think that you are maybe joining the rest of the world in the way that we are all more than stunned, too.

The division, the lack of cohesion, the massively growing cases. Please be heartened by the fact that we are all hoping for the very best outcome for you all during the worst of situations. We are all hoping for that miracle. That all in the US will finally see the sense of travel restrictions, masks, social distancing, staying at home - protecting everybody.

We explain what is going on elsewhere in the hopes that others will see the sense of locking down, containment, and suppression.

Who knows when the miracle will happen, but it sure as heck cannot go on like this forever.
Little point in hanging out for a quick fix (vaccine) when so much destruction is happening.

 

[Rose in SC]

WAITING ON TEST RESULTS - Well, I have an update to report . . . as I've mentioned before I work in a large church office. One of our members is a doctor with a busy GP practice. He spoke with our pastor today and said that the entire staff could meet in his parking lot tomorrow morning at 8am to be tested AND we would have results in 15 minutes!

Now I may still test positive and I will still be anxious (probably even more so) but at least I'll have something definite to be anxious about, lol.

It's funny but I have type A positive blood (unfortunately) and because I always expect the worst, DH says "A positive? No, you're definitely B negative".

 

[slowpoke]

WAITING ON TEST RESULTS - Well, I have an update to report . . . as I've mentioned before I work in a large church office. One of our members is a doctor with a busy GP practice. He spoke with our pastor today and said that the entire staff could meet in his parking lot tomorrow morning at 8am to be tested AND we would have results in 15 minutes!

Now I may still test positive and I will still be anxious (probably even more so) but at least I'll have something definite to be anxious about, lol.

It's funny but I have type A positive blood (unfortunately) and because I always expect the worst, DH says "A positive? No, you're definitely B negative".

Crossing fingers for you, Rose! I’ve got a long wait, yet. Lucky you.

Regarding blood type, a new Harvard study says:

“Blood type is not associated with a severe worsening of symptoms in people who have tested positive for COVID-19, report Harvard Medical School researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital.”

“This evidence should help put to rest previous reports of a possible association between blood type A and a higher risk for COVID-19 infection and mortality,” Dua said.”

I hope they’re right. I have type A, too.

COVID and Blood Type

 

[ilovewings]

and when a loved one is dying they are isolated from their loved ones as

Despite looking out for one another, a Texas family is devastated by COVID-19 — Houston Chronicle

“Before he was admitted to a Fort Bend County hospital, Alfonso Rodríguez Jr.’s dad had been complaining of an upset stomach for about a week.

The 86-year-old went to the emergency room, describing bouts of diarrhea and constipation.

He wondered: Could I have the virus?

At the ER, the elder Alfonso Rodríguez was told he likely had a twisted bowel and was sent home.

But days later he was admitted to the hospital and learned that he had COVID-19. Then the unthinkable happened — the disease tore through their family, claiming the lives of Alfonso Rodríguez Jr.’s father, his mother, Porfiria, 87, and his younger brother, Rudy, 55, in less than two weeks.”

The hospital ER made a fatal mistske--tbey should have entertained a diagnosis
of Covid and tested this man and gotten the result before discharging him

 

[zecats]

Crossing fingers for you, Rose! I’ve got a long wait, yet. Lucky you.

Regarding blood type, a new Harvard study says:

“Blood type is not associated with a severe worsening of symptoms in people who have tested positive for COVID-19, report Harvard Medical School researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital.”

“This evidence should help put to rest previous reports of a possible association between blood type A and a higher risk for COVID-19 infection and mortality,” Dua said.”

I hope they’re right. I have type A, too.

COVID and Blood Type

Same here. A positive. And I cared for a sick DH all through April, hospital said I should presume I was also positive, but never had symptoms, never got sick. Also never was tested.
Knock on some serious wood.

 

[Betty P]

I'm so happy other countries are taking the lead because white-hot divisions among our people are hampering a concentrated "Manhattan Project" approach to a vaccine.

I feel so sad that the CDC, at one time one of our country's crown jewels, representing our supremacy in science, medicine, and technology is (for some reason) sidelined or not working effectively.

The US is also giving money towards the development of this vaccine, along with 2 others. Here's some info from the last hearing on Operation Warp Speed.

Testimony on Operation Warp Speed: Researching, Manufacturing, & Distributing a Safe & Effective Coronavirus Vaccine

Personally, I have a little more faith in foreign countries developing a good vaccine. The US research and drug development system has changed over the last 20 yrs and is much more influenced by pharma companies and politics. It's similar to the trend in cancer research. European scientists are more free to pursue research without outside influence.