Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #51

[tresir2012]

People in the US don’t pay 35% towards payroll taxes. This is saying that 35% of the total revenue for the US comes from this tax. It’s just over 7% of the first $100k or so of income that the taxpayer pays, and lower income folks get most or all of this returned to them in the form of earned income tax credit.

I misunderstood then. What is the percentage of the employer payroll tax for Social Security? If employee pays 7% what does employer pay?

 

[tresir2012]

Coronavirus: Boris Johnson urges UK to stick with lockdown - BBC News


Kenya authorities share images of social distancing on ferry


Officials in Mombasa have tweeted some stunning aerial photos of a ferry boat. The images show hundreds of people practicing social distancing during their commute across Kilindini Harbour.

A range of restrictions are currently in place across Kenya. Schools, pubs, entertainment venues, churches and mosques have been shut, and night-time curfews are in force. Residents can also be arrested for travelling outdoors without wearing a mask.

Social embed from twitter

Mombasa County@MombasaCountyKe

Social Distancing well practiced at the Likoni Crossing Channel. Let’s all observe self-responsibility, discipline, wear masks, wash hands using soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub and observe public transport regulations.#Covid_19 #COVID19 #KomeshaCorona

Pics: Courtesy

 

[tresir2012]

Coronavirus: Boris Johnson urges UK to stick with lockdown - BBC News

1. Posted at 14:4314:43
   Watch: PM warns of ongoing virus risk
   Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a speech from Downing Street earlier today urging the UK public not to lose patience with lockdown measures.
   
   Mr Johnson said he refused to "throw away" the public's "effort and sacrifice" so far by relaxing coronavirus restrictions too soon.
   
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2. Posted at 14:3714:37
   Czechs allowed to travel - but where can they go?
   Rob Cameron
   
   BBC Prague Correspondent
   
   From today, people are legally allowed to leave the Czech Republic and travel to any destination they wish. Though, as PM Andrej Babis pointed out - where would you go? There are virtually no flights or trains, and most other countries are not letting anyone in.
   
   Also, anyone who leaves also has to present a negative Covid certificate on their return, or face 14 days of quarantine. The only outsiders being let in are EU business people or university students, also with negative Covid certificates or quarantine.
   
   The next stage of easing domestic restrictions begins today, with large retail outlets, gyms, libraries and zoos (outdoor spaces only) amongst the latest to open.
   
   Authorities are concerned at an apparent flashpoint in the town of Marianske Lazne (Marianbad) near the German border, where there has been a spike in infections in hospitals.
   
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3. Posted at 14:3114:31
   BREAKINGDeaths in England rise by 329
   A further 329 people who tested positive for the coronavirus have died in England.
   
   NHS England said the patients were aged between 29 and 100-years-old.
   
   The latest figure brings the total number of confirmed deaths in hospitals in England to 18,749.
   
   In Scotland, a further 13 people have died, bringing the total in the country to 1,262 patients.
   
   And in Wales, a further eight patients have died, totalling 796 in the country over the outbreak.
   
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4. Posted at 14:2914:29
   'Right' for public to question ministers - Downing Street
   Downing Street says it's "right" that members of the public, who are making "significant sacrifices", get to put questions to ministers and experts.
   
   Members of the public have been given the chance to ask a question at the government's daily virus update from Downing Street. There will be one question a day from a member of the public, in addition to the media.
   
   Anyone over the age of 18 can submit a question, which will be chosen by an independent polling organisation.
   

 

[weepingangel]

I misunderstood then. What is the percentage of the employer payroll tax for Social Security? If employee pays 7% what does employer pay?

Topic No. 751 Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates | Internal Revenue Service
The current tax rate for social security is 6.2% for the employer and 6.2% for the employee, or 12.4% total. The current rate for Medicare is 1.45% for the employer and 1.45% for the employee, or 2.9% total.Feb 14, 2020

 

[CSIDreamer]

Let's not forget our state, county, and city taxes. Whether it's all from sales tax or you also need to submit state income taxes (such as in Indiana), the states will feel it, too. It's all on a trickle down system. Jmo

I understand property taxes are separate. I'm talking about sales tax and state income taxes.

 

[tresir2012]

Topic No. 751 Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates | Internal Revenue Service
The current tax rate for social security is 6.2% for the employer and 6.2% for the employee, or 12.4% total. The current rate for Medicare is 1.45% for the employer and 1.45% for the employee, or 2.9% total.Feb 14, 2020

Ok thanks so 15.3% total employer and employee SS and Medicare.

So basically that's a lot of lost tax revenue from 26 million newly unemployed people is the point.

 

[tresir2012]

Let's not forget our state, county, and city taxes. Whether it's all from sales tax or you also need to submit state income taxes (such as in Indiana), the states will feel it, too. It's all on a trickle down system. Jmo

I understand property taxes are separate. I'm talking about sales tax and state income taxes.

A lot of lost revenue all round.

 

[tresir2012]

Coronavirus alert: Rare syndrome seen in children

This is very worrying. Please share this info.

NHS doctors have been warned to look out for a rare but dangerous reaction in children that may be linked to coronavirus infection.

An urgent alert sent out to GPs said that intensive care departments in London and other parts of the UK have been treating severely sick children with unusual symptoms.

This includes "multi-system inflammation" with flu-like symptoms.

Some, but not all, tested positive for coronavirus.

It is unclear how many children have been diagnosed with the new syndrome, although the numbers will be low.

• This is the moment of maximum risk, Johnson says
• How long does it take to recover from coronavirus?

The alert, which was issued to GPs in North London by their clinical commissioning group, said there was "a growing concern" that a coronavirus-related inflammatory syndrome is emerging in children in the UK or that there may be another, as yet unidentified, infection linked to these cases.

These young patients of varying ages were extremely ill. They had similar features to toxic shock syndrome, which can include a high temperature, low blood pressure, a rash and difficulty breathing.

Some also had gastrointestinal symptoms - tummy pain, vomiting or diarrhoea - and inflammation of the heart, as well as abnormal blood test results.

Experts say these are the signs you can see when the body is becomes overwhelmed as it tries to fight off an infection.

The alert, which has now been shared more widely, advises these cases need urgent treatment.

But experts stress that very few children become severely ill with coronavirus - evidence from around the world suggests they are the population least affected by the disease.

NHS England said it knew of fewer than 20 such cases in the country where an association has been noted by clinicians. Further investigations will continue, but no link has yet been established, said a spokesman.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said parents should be reassured by this, but if they are concerned about their children's health for any reason, they should seek help from a health professional.

Prof Simon Kenny, NHS national clinical director for children and young people, said: "The advice to parents remains the same: if you are worried about your child for whatever reason, contact NHS 111 or your family doctor for urgent advice, or 999 in an emergency, and if a professional tells you to go to hospital, please go to hospital."

When to seek help
Whilst coronavirus is infectious to children, it is rarely serious. If your child is unwell it is likely to be a non-coronavirus illness, rather than coronavirus itself.

The RCPCH advises parents seek urgent help (call 999 or go to A&E) if their child is:

• Becoming pale, mottled and feeling abnormally cold to the touch
• Has pauses in their breathing (apnoeas), has an irregular breathing pattern or starts grunting
• Has severe difficulty in breathing becoming agitated or unresponsive
• Is going blue round the lips
• Has a fit/seizure
• Becomes extremely distressed (crying inconsolably despite distraction), confused, very lethargic (difficult to wake) or unresponsive
• Develops a rash that does not disappear with pressure (the 'Glass test')
• Has testicular pain, especially in teenage boys

 

[CSIDreamer]

Morbid observation. I was just looking at obituaries on our local funeral home website. A lot of them are opting for no service at all. Or a procession to the cemetary for graveside services (you have to stay in your car). But if you choose a private funeral (10 mourners or less) the funeral can be live streamed, and saved on the individual obituary page. Some of the processions have been live streamed.

 

[KALI]

No. Guess the bullet train is off the table.
The whole homeless problem is another humongous mess.

At the end of all this, with the state owing 33 billion in workers comp, and Lord knows how much in Unemployment benefits, and how much in emergency aid, and medicaid, and the thousands of bankruptcies, both business and personal, will the state of California be economically stable?

 

[cody22]

Port Deposit business owner facing charges for Sunday crowds


Maryland Virus Bust......Maryland LE needs to work on their "social distancing"......... moo

 

[Ragnarok]

For me here in NY state there are the IRS tax, NY state tax, county/town property tax, school property tax, and state/county sales tax. Excluding the county/town/school tax determined by assessed value of property; the other taxes are determined by your income and purchases.

Is going to be interesting how the lost tax revenue will be recouped. Increasing taxes will speed up the exodus of New Yorkers for other states. I expect to see some companies decide to move out of the NYC metro area due to the impact to operations from Covid-19.

Interesting times.

 

[Henry2326]

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Sunday said he is worried about the potential for a second spike in coronavirus cases as the state begins loosening restrictions this week.

The Democrat announced early last week that the state would move into a "Safer At Home" phase on Monday, April 27, in which residents would not be ordered to stay in their home but are encouraged to stay there as much as possible. Polis told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" Sunday that the more aggressive, stay-at-home measure "has been effective in leveling and plateauing the curve which is absolutely critical if we're going to in ... any way sustain the social distancing," while adding, "We don't even have an end date in sight until there's a vaccine or cure."

Asked about a warning from the Colorado School of Public Health about the threat of a second spike in cases, Polis told Tapper, "Yeah, we're all worried about a potential for a second spike, whether it's in the Fall, along with flu season in September/October, whether it's July."

The governor, when asked if he would reissue another stay-at-home order if he saw a new surge in Covid-19 cases, told Tapper he would look at data and "adjust in real time" as needed.

Colorado governor says he's worried about possible second spike in Covid-19 cases as state set to reopen Monday

 

[10ofRods]

Thanks for your perspective. I agree The Worst Hard Time was an excellent book, and often distressing because of how people suffered. Another interesting book based on diaries is Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey, about women pioneers and their many hardships. And A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird, a 19th-century Englishwoman. That one is based on her letters and is really interesting.

I'd also like to recommend Ship Fever by Andrea Barrett. It's a collection of stories and the title story (a novella) is about a young doctor who treats patients during the tragic typhus epidemic among Irish immigrants in Quebec in 1847. They were fleeing the great famine and arrived in "coffin ships" full of dead and dying people. Which of course makes one think of cruise ships full of people sick with the coronavirus.

Andrea Barrett is one of my favorite authors.

Women's Diaries is an excellent book! I'm putting these on my reading list - just finished a novel last night (finally, instead of reading Coronavirus papers).

The United States seems to be plateauing at around 500 deaths per day (586 yesterday, I believe it was ~560 the day before). However, there are some changes in reporting that make those figures a bit more positive. The Veterans Administration is now reporting deaths in its systems separately, and reported ~400 deaths yesterday - making up the vast majority of US deaths. They had only reported a couple before, so it looks like that number is from a larger period of time than 1 day (it's a 10000% increase, so it looks like it may be for an entire month). Not all of the states have reported for yesterday, yet, so the number may go higher - but the VA figures are really skewing it.

US continues to see increases in the total number of cases per capita, but it's getting close to flat.

Of course, 500 deaths per day is 3500 a week and 14,000 a month. Nevertheless, it is less than projected by the initial IMHE model or any other model that I know. We stand at ~208,000 deaths world wide (reported - it's probably at least twice that) and 55,461 reported deaths in the US. This could have been much worse. There are still over 800,000 active cases in the US and 1.9 million worldwide, so we have a way to go.

With the minor easing up starting a few days ago and becoming more widespread over the weekend, we shall see in 4-6 days whether case numbers jump up a bit more. I sure hope not. If by end of May we have lost "only" 70,000 persons in the US, that is what we're now calling a "good outcome" compared to the initial 200,000. There will almost certainly be a flare-up when the weather turns cold and dry in late Autumn.

I am hoping that by end of May, the daily death rates will be much lower than 500 and that the 14,000 deaths mentioned above. If we could get below 100 deaths a day, that would be great, but it's hard to be that optmistic when we had yet another increase in cases per day and are at almost 18,000 new cases yesterday.

Hopefully, the broadened testing has picked up many of the less symptomatic.

 

[musicaljoke]

Coronavirus 'currently eliminated' in New Zealand

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that coronavirus has been “currently” eliminated in the country.

There were just five new Covid-19 cases reported on Monday with no widespread community transition.

Ardern said the country has so far managed to avoid the worst scenarios for an outbreak and would continue to hunt down the last few cases.

Look how cautiously they are proceeding. It must curl their hair to see how reckless we are here in the west.

From the article:
But the reality is that for many Kiwis, life will not change too much.

I asked a friend living there what the step down to Level Three meant to them. “A takeaway flat white,” she said.

It is of course a huge step for the businesses (including cafes and restaurants) which are allowed to reopen in a limited form. And for those parents who really need to have their children in school, the partial opening of classrooms is a big relief.

But the PM has as always acknowledged that even at Level 3, life is restrictive. People should still stay at home unless working, going to school, doing essential shopping, or exercising - and stick within their social “bubble”.

“We’re opening up the economy, but we’re not opening up people’s social lives,” Ms Ardern said.

 

[zecats]

Most articles I am reading are saying the same. There is no time to wait for a vaccine. We must develop the strongest, and most organized testing programs possible--especially in a country like the US, where people are not inclined to follow restrictions and rules.

To me, everything is in the magnitude of a testing program--that MUST address people with no symptoms. If we can eventually establish a registry of who has antibodies, and then follow-up to be able to eventually determine how long the antibodies last will be important for understanding new phases.

I hope we will also get a voluntary increase in blood and plasma donations as part of future stockpiling, and better planning.

We have 50 states out there "ramping up testing", but more than anything we need a true national strategic plan.

We need something like this public-private collaboration that becomes a national program we can trust.
National Covid-19 Testing Action Plan - The Rockefeller Foundation


We are learning that we may not have to stockpile as many ventilators as we originally projected, so hopefully more of that emergency funding can be shifted to a national testing initiative.
Subscribe to read | Financial Times

I’m scheduled to donate blood May 4. Hoping I might be able to get tested for antibodies. Just a thought if I tell them I’ve been living with a (recovered) positive person and perhaps had the virus too. I would donate plasma instantly.

In fact, I used to do so while in college, twice a week. It’s easy enough to do. Back in those days, we were paid to give it.

 

[KALI]

I'm pretty amazed that San Diego, California only has 111 deaths, with a population of 3.4 million.
We have an international airport and a ton of nursing homes and retirees here.
In my town of about 50 thousand people, we have only 12 positive Covit-19 cases. We too have many long care facilities here, small and large facilities.
Most everyone here is masked and gloved when out and about.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

For those that want to follow the leading state in the US... and what they are doing and strategy and affects and effects.... today's Cuomo presser

And the first today for Dr. Campbell video global update

 

[Sundog]

China puts pressure on EU to soften report about COVID-19 disinformation, threatening retaliation: report

 

[Sundog]

Reports of draft CDC guidelines for phased reopenings

CDC draft outlines phased reopening of child care, religious institutions, food industry amid coronavirus