Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #74

[Tadpole12]

August 7, 2020 Global covid-19 cases surpass 19 million

COVID-19 Map
19,141,627

Coronavirus Update (Live): 19,360,541 Cases and 719,622 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic - Worldometer
19,360,541

US death toll soars as global cases top 19 million

 

[beatrixpotter]

No, I can hear them behind the shield. I cannot hear masked people.

I'm sorry. I know I have some level of hearing loss as well and I'm in my early 40's. My dad is terrible but won't consider a hearing aid. But I need to see mouths or read subtitles with movies.

 

[ilovewings]

Alcoholics will drink hand sanitizer if it’s available.

You just have to shake your head in wonderment!!!

 

[10ofRods]

Here's a Twitter link to local news so this can be followed thru the weekend.


Rapid City Journal
@RCJournal
·
1h

Those attending the 80th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally this year will be able to have a new perspective on the downtown and the Black Hills from an over 100-foot observation wheel.



First-time rally vendors prep for rally week
rapidcityjournal.com

Also, here's a link to South Dakota worldometers stats.

South Dakota Coronavirus: 9,273 Cases and 141 Deaths (COVID-19 ) - Worldometer

Their highest daily death count for the whole of SD was 4. Total deaths for the whole state are 141. Deaths per million 159.

I think they can decide for themselves how risky it is IMO.

Both Vegas and Sturgis have similar views: it won't affect our hospitalization numbers because by the time people are really sick, they'll be gone.

And so that's how it rolls. Vast numbers of people gather (outdoors during the day, heavily packed into bars at night; in Vegas they're packed into casinos all day). Vegas is worse than Sturgis, of course. There was backlash against local media in Vegas for even mentioning this:

Vegas casino union reports 22 deaths of workers, relatives

but if you contact the union directly, you'll learn the death toll is higher.

Otherwise, the people getting CoVid in Vegas are mostly going home with it. This is a case of what happens in Vegas not staying in Vegas. Kern County knows this, but is doing little to keep its vast number of weekend gamblers/partiers away from Vegas.

TBF, some casinos are requiring masks...meanwhile, Nevada's numbers were exponential, have plateaued at a much higher rate than before reopening, of course:

Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count

Nevada only has 3 million people...729 new cases yesterday, 10 deaths. That's like California having 10,500 new cases - so not good. Scary for Nevada, for sure.

That's like UK having 14,000 new cases in one day (and 200 deaths).

The Sturgis riders come from all over, but mostly from northern states, almost none of which have quarantines when the riders come back - as if those riders would quarantine anyway. They'll leave Sturgis and we will see an uptick within the interstates' main cities as they head back home. We'll probably never learn the extent to which Sturgis spread CoVid (but they're now reporting cancellations in both motels and campgrounds and have revised their estimate of visitors downward by about 50%).

 

[ilovewings]

Yes, it's realistic. You can follow along at Coronavirus Update (Live): 19,358,362 Cases and 719,561 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic - Worldometer

Or the New York Times, which has the 14 day average.

You questioned these estimates before, but looking at the real figures shows more than 1166. None of us can predict the future, but yes, it's realistic.

Yesterday, we lost 1203 Americans (that we know of, a couple of states are having trouble updating their numbers).

Two days ago, it was 1319. For days, recently, it was around 1500.

The only time it drops below 1200 of late, is on Sundays.

I'd go by the CDC figures posted on Worldometer, not what the BBC's interpretation is. We are over 1000 deaths daily for more than 2 weeks, there's no sign we're changing our behavior. In fact, we're opening up schools (maskless in some places) and teachers are going home sick, one has died (at least) since yesterday.

Look for our deaths to hover around 1200-1300 for quite some time. Hopefully, the news will scare a few more people into wearing masks or staying home aside from work and essential shopping.

We have a lot of people out vacationing and driving all over the nation, as well. I don't see the numbers coming down by much - sure do hope I'm wrong. But 1166 deaths a day?

YES, it's realistic.

My husband has rental property in Gulf Shores Alabama- initially he had cancellations and i thought he would not have many renters. Let me tell you he is as busy as ever- constant rentals thru August and not one renter has asked about sanitizing or anything else. Just carrying on like everything is normal. We are
both surprised.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Gov. Cuomo says all New York school districts have met health criteria for reopening

Gov. Cuomo gave the green light for every New York school district to reopen this fall based on their positive COVID-19 test rates, but said schools must get final approval from the state Health and Education Departments before class begins.

“We are probably in the best situation in the country right now. If anybody can open schools, we can open schools and that’s true for every region in the state,” Cuomo said.

School districts will get feedback from the Health Department starting Monday.

 

[JerseyGirl]

U.S. surpasses 160,000 coronavirus deaths as school openings near

U.S. deaths from coronavirus exceeded 160,000 on Friday, nearly a quarter of the world’s total.

The country with the most coronavirus cases, the United States recorded 160,003 deaths and 4.91 million cases. Coronavirus deaths are rising in 23 states and cases in 20 states.

On a per-capita basis, the United States ranks 10th highest in the world for both cases and deaths.

The grim milestone marks an increase of 10,000 deaths in nine days in the United States.

Many of the new deaths have come from California, Florida and Texas, the top three U.S. states for total cases.

Dr. Deborah Birx warned that Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Washington could face outbreaks due to increases in the percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive.

Nearly 300,000 U.S. residents could be dead from COVID-19 by Dec. 1, University of Washington health experts forecast, although they said 70,000 lives could be saved if Americans were scrupulous about wearing masks

 

[10ofRods]

High school student suspended re: photo of crowded school...
How did this m#### superintendent get his job? No way to make kids wear masks and keep social distancing?
"Wearing a mask is a personal choice, and there is no practical way to enforce a mandate to wear them."
Georgia student suspended after posting a photo of a crowded school hallway says it was 'good and necessary trouble' - CNN

I'm really not happy about this suspension or the threatened suspensions of all students who take pictures of their schools. Shameful.

I think I posted awhile back but I could be wrong. The CDC being concerned about the suicide and overdose among school age individuals. According to the CDC Covid is the lesser of the evils.

COVID Webinar Series (TRANSCRIPT): Robert Redfield, MD - BUCK

CDC's Redfield should sound alarm about suicides amid coronavirus outbreak, critic says

Should be read in order.

Unfortunately, it seems like now we have high rates of both. And one reason some parents already homeschool is due to their depression and anxiety, often with a claim of bullying.

There's been no spike of kid suicides during the pandemic (under 18's) but I suspect we'll see that the combination of school openings and CoVid is not going to solve the problem - and may make it worse.

CDC isn't a group of psychiatric specialists, they are basing their viewpoint on very few facts and I'm surprised they haven't noticed that the suicides happen more during the school year than during the summer (there's some research on that - more than one variable).

 

[dixiegirl1035]

India currently has a population of 1,381,433,770 - and rising quickly.
USA's population - currently said to be 331,206,060 - is less than 1/4 of India's population.

(Just to put it in perspective.)

There is a big chance of numbers really blowing out in India, with their tightly packed and huge population. imo
If a vaccine ever becomes available, it is going to be a mammoth task to try to get the world vaccinated.

India Population (2020) - Worldometer
United States Population (2020) - Worldometer.

I meant to reply to your post, and when I caught up realized I had not done a reply on your post. India having 1.3 billion is staggering and seems so small as to vaccine support by Bill Gates in this post I was wanting to reply to you.

https://twitter.com/i/events/1291730043404615682

India's Serum Institute pledges to sell 100m doses of a possible COVID-19 vaccine for $3 each. The world's largest vaccine manufacturer has partnered with Gavi and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to make 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for low and middle-income countries in 2021. The Serum Institute currently has a partnership with the UK's Oxford University-AstraZeneca trial and the US' Novavax trial.

MOO - Bill is sticking with what he has wanted to do for all of his philanthropic life, to give vaccines to third world as priority to stamp out diseases. That's his record.

 

[mickey2942]

@10ofRods I wonder if Sturgis will be more likely to be a "super spreader" event because people who are more likely to travel to Sturgis this year, will also be the same "type" of people who would not wear masks.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Facebook extends coronavirus work from home policy until July 2021

Facebook has joined Google in saying it will allow employees to work from home until the middle of next year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Based on guidance from health and government experts, as well as decisions drawn from our internal discussions about these matters, we are allowing employees to continue voluntarily working from home until July 2021,” a spokeswoman said.

Facebook also said it will provide employees with an additional $1,000 to spend on “home office needs.”

Late last month Google also extended its coronavirus remote work provision, saying staff would be able to continue working from home until the end of June 2021.

 

[10ofRods]

I was reading an article about essential workers (at the grocery store) and how nasty customers can be when asked to wear a mask. A grocery worker said something to a customer like you will be preventing someone else from getting the virus if you wear the mask, and the customer said he didn't care about anybody else. That statement led me to believe that the strategy to get people to mask up has been all wrong: Let's face it, humans are self centered: some more, some less: but the most important thing to a person is him or herself. So, I think the strategy should have been that the mask prevents the virus for the person who wears the mask as well as the other person: but that is not what the message has been. the message was clear: the mask is to prevent the other person from getting the virus if you wear a mask. Recently public health workers have concluded that the mask does provide protection for the person who wears it as well. I wish these epidemiologists would change their message to indicate that the mask protects the person who wears it. The other day on MSNBC epidemiologists again said we should wear masks to protect others and didn't even mention that it can protect the person who wears it. That is the wrong message.

I guess you are right - and I'm very lucky to have been raised by an extended family where caring about others was extremely important. The self was not the focus. Then, I've been mostly involved with education, medicine and law. The composure and selflessness of jail employees has impressed me - I guess they must go home and be selfish??

If my dad had cared only about himself, he wouldn't have received his military decorations for saving others. That's just not how he rolled. In fact, as an adopted kid, I'm very grateful for all the people who did care about me and other abandoned kids. There are tons of people who do not care only about themselves.

I don't think people actually practice the rational self-interest to indicate they "care about themselves." People have been warned about everything from obesity to drug use and they don't listen.

The people in question think CoVid is no big deal and they know masks protect the wearer - they just don't think they can get it, or if they do, it will be mild. And many of them are right.

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

New Covid-19 restrictions for Kildare, Laois and Offaly to kick in from midnight

REGIONAL RESTRICTIONS FOR Kildare, Laois and Offaly will come into effect from midnight following an increase of Covid-19 cases in the three counties over the past two weeks.

<modsnip: Snipped to comply with 10% copyright rules>

 

[JerseyGirl]

U.S. lifts global health coronavirus travel advisory

The U.S. State Department and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) lifted global advisories recommending U.S. citizens avoid all international travel because of the coronavirus pandemic, and instead issued a raft of high-level warnings for individual countries.

<modsnip: Snipped to comply with 10% copyright rule>

 

[10ofRods]

@10ofRods I wonder if Sturgis will be more likely to be a "super spreader" event because people who are more likely to travel to Sturgis this year, will also be the same "type" of people who would not wear masks.

Yep. We've been watching their Sturgis cam for days (I've been in the region several times when the rally was going on - we'll see fatal accidents AND no mask wearing - as they don't wear helmets either).

Daytime looks relatively safe, although it's crowded. But tonight, the many, many bars and restaurants will be packed and that's where the transmission will occur. Average age looks to be about 60. Oddly, the only mask wearers we've seen are 2 people who look to be in their 30's.

 

[Tadpole12]

Practice mindful breathing

Solutions to Common Face Mask Frustrations – OhioHealth

Mindful Breathing (Greater Good in Action)

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I think I posted awhile back but I could be wrong. The CDC being concerned about the suicide and overdose among school age individuals. According to the CDC Covid is the lesser of the evils.

COVID Webinar Series (TRANSCRIPT): Robert Redfield, MD - BUCK

CDC's Redfield should sound alarm about suicides amid coronavirus outbreak, critic says

Should be read in order.

Yes, this pandemic is exacerbating all the statistics for many other diseases and conditions throughout the world.

Expected I think, down to the increase we are seeing/will see for at least the next year for depression and non fatal conditions. This virus has affected all our our lives in many ways. So many alarm signals, yet all points back to need for efforts to get this under control.

It just is a damn damn shame that there isn't a magic wand and there was a global plan. All of our lives will be imprinted forever, just as many of our parents (and some here g'parents) were affected by the rationings of war, the deaths associated with war, the food and supply chain issues during wars, the protests of war... etc etc. As @margarita25 has quoted the docs, the entire world is in a war with this virus.

This one war was natural.

 

[Simply Southern]

CEO's of major Fortune 500 companies have said that yes, we need to help small businesses. However, they didn't single out restaurants or similar businesses. Several states are looking at the fact that one entire segment of small businesses received almost no help, and those were doctors, dentists, radiologists and other private healthcare businesses, often run by a solo practitioner.

All I ever see on news (we watch NYC, Denver, SF and Los Angeles local news) are restaurants and gyms. Hair salons.

Nearly no reporting about how our gastroenterologist went out of business (high number of Crohn's patients, now having to join him at a regional practice and drive many more miles). Or how one of the 2 radiological labs in our town went out of business. Or how many pediatricians and primary care doctors in solo practice have gone out of business.

I could go on. Having bigger businesses go bankrupt is not so great either (Hertz stranded actual travelers by declaring bankruptcy).

It's too bad that the larger corporations are still paying enormous salaries, even if the business is slumping, instead of helping those small businesses who are their customers. But if the public has to pay for rescue, I suggest we think hard about what we decide is essential. When I think of the number of small business in Vegas, alone, that will need rescue...it's mind-boggling.

Should we rescue all small businesses? While having 50 kindergarteners in one online classroom, as is happening here and there? Hard decisions. Looks like it's not uncommon to have 40 older students in an online classroom (just because you can do it doesn't mean it works...)

I worry about our airlines. And the public is probably going to have rescue public transportation as well.

My post was to convey compassion and support for @KALI, a WS member who has shared her feelings. Kali has shared with us her family and business struggles just as others have shared struggles, for awhile.

I can't fix our problems, I can be supportive and encouraging.

Mho....

 

[mickey2942]

Yep. We've been watching their Sturgis cam for days (I've been in the region several times when the rally was going on - we'll see fatal accidents AND no mask wearing - as they don't wear helmets either).

Daytime looks relatively safe, although it's crowded. But tonight, the many, many bars and restaurants will be packed and that's where the transmission will occur. Average age looks to be about 60. Oddly, the only mask wearers we've seen are 2 people who look to be in their 30's.

Could this "anti mask" behavior be correlated with potential Antisocial behavioral disorders? Or is that too specific? It would be an interesting study to see what behavioral issues are correlated with non mask wearing vs. mask wearing.

And very relevant for schools, to manage mask behavior.

 

[MimosaMornings]

If You Love Your Family, Stay the Hell Away From Them — VICE

“People are letting their guards down while visiting loved ones, and it's putting them—and everyone else around them—at risk.”