Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #51

[katydid23]

Who gets California workers’ comp benefits for COVID-19? | CalMatters

“Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing intense lobbying from both business and labor as he weighs an executive order that would make it easier for essential workers such as nurses and grocery clerks to get workers’ compensation if they contract COVID-19.

His dilemma: whether to issue an order creating a legal presumption that essential employees were infected with the novel coronavirus at work, rather than in the community — making it easier for them to qualify for benefits. State lawmakers also have introduced two bills that would accomplish something similar, but the legislative proposals differ in their approaches and how many workers would be covered.

(BBM)
California officials and employers are gearing up for a wave of workers’ compensation claims that could top $33 billion as the state’s COVID-19 cases surpass 42,000 and millions of essential workers remain on the job — and at risk.

Already the state had received 1,527 COVID-related claims by April 16, according to a spokesman for California’s Department of Industrial Relations, which oversees workers’ compensation cases.”

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?

 

[SouthAussie]

Where does the remaining 43% come from though? Purchase taxes? Property taxes? Dividend taxes?

Another huge 35% of tax revenue comes from Social Insurance (payroll) tax - which supports things like Disability insurance benefits, Medicare benefits, and unemployment benefits.

This tax is paid half by the employee and half by the employer. Fewer jobs = less social insurance tax revenue.
Fewer jobs = more people who need the benefits from that same tax revenue.



What are the sources of revenue for the federal government?

How Much Social Security Tax Do I Pay? | The Motley Fool

 

[dixiegirl1035]

RSMB
RIGHT NOW, it is estimated that our unemployment rate has spiked to 30%. That means a 30% DEFICIT in tax revenue that would normally go to the government.

Be ready this Friday for the numbers to come out and the markets to react... At 8:30 a.m. EST on the first Friday of every month (with a rare exceptions), the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases the Employment Situation Summary, otherwise known as the Employment or Jobs Report

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Media reports are breaking all over the Netherlands of cases of Human to Animal transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

Coronavirus vastgesteld bij nertsenfokkerijen in Noord-Brabant

Two separate mink farms reported cases of their animals developing breathing and gastrointestinal issues and veterinary experts decided to inform the authorities for further investigations.

The Ministry Of Farming and Agriculture later issued official announcements that the farm animals were indeed infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes the deadly COVID-19 disease.

The Ministry officials confirmed that it was most likely human-animal transmission as some of the workers at the farm had previously tested positive of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

The animal infections were confirmed on Friday by researchers from the laboratory of Wageningen Bioveterinary Research in Lelystad.

The mink farm in Beek en Donk has 7,500 minks and the other in Milheeze has 13,000 animals. Both farms have imposed precautionary measures to prevent further spreading of the virus.

BREAKING! Netherlands Reports Cases Of Human To Animal Transmission Of COVID-19 In Mink Farms - Thailand Medical News

Ahhh. Some true "herd immunity" here. sorry.

Seriously though, I am curious about this statement.
There have already been cases of cats and dogs contracting the disease from humans in other countries.

Does anyone have the data regarding dogs contracting covid?

 

[dixiegirl1035]

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.

 

[BUF]

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.

Good news...hope it continues!!

New Zealand locked down right away which made a difference.

 

[Henry2326]

French researchers lead by Professor Remi Charrel from the Aix-Marseille University in southern France has discovered that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is able to withstand high temperatures even when heated to as high as 60 degrees Celsius (140 Fahrenheit) for an hour, as it was found the that the new coronavirus was still able to replicate.

It was found that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus could only be destroyed at a temperature almost close to boiling point.

The study, which is a pre print published in BioRvix (Evaluation of heating and chemical protocols for inactivating SARS-CoV-2 Pastorino, B., Touret, F., Gilles, M., de Lamballerie, X., Charrel, 10.1101/2020.04.11.036855 or Evaluation of heating and chemical protocols for inactivating SARS-CoV-2) has implications for the safety of lab technicians working with the coronavirus.

Also in a paper published in journal JAMA Network Open earlier this month, a team of Chinese researchers reported a cluster outbreak at a public bath in Huaian, in the eastern province of Jiangsu. A patient visited the centre on January 18 for a bath and sauna. Eight people, including a staff member, were subsequently infected over about two weeks though the bath had a temperature higher than 40 degrees Celsius and an average 60 per cent humidity. Possible Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a Public Bath Center in China

COVID-19 Research: Study Shows That SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Can Survive Exposure To High Temperatures - Thailand Medical News

 

[mickey2942]

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?

The state is also planning some sort of payment for people who are not eligible for the $1200 economic benefit. ie...people who are undocumented.

The presumptive eligibility for COVID19 workers comp is interesting. Would anyone debate that the TSA workers who came down with COVID19 were not due to their work environment? Or flight attendants? It is a slippery slope. I think that the Federal government gave out an additional two weeks of sick leave coverage for people who were under quarantine.

 

[zecats]

Be ready this Friday for the numbers to come out and the markets to react... At 8:30 a.m. EST on the first Friday of every month (with a rare exceptions), the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases the Employment Situation Summary, otherwise known as the Employment or Jobs Report

NJ Dept of Unemployment Benefits site was down all day yesterday for anyone trying to certify for weekly benefits and also for any new online applications. Phone service was shut done as well, though I'm not certain if that's a long-term thing. Speculation is the overwhelming amount of filings caused the system to have major problems. A message did appear on the site that it was an unexpected outage and would be restored by Monday, which it has been.

On a positive note for anyone collecting unemployment already, even though this presented a backlog, there were new times for each SSN to certify (which I was able to do successfully) and everyone will still get their weekly payment. Even better news is that the $600 extra was already and still in my account by early Monday morning despite that I hadn't yet certified or reported in. Says to me it's an automatic payment and is not influenced by the weekly reporting. Hopefully because it sure does help.

To your comment though, the numbers will likely be huge at the end of this week once again.

 

[Henry2326]

New York will restart its economy after the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in a multi-phase manner, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Sunday.

The strategy is to first reopen the construction and manufacturing sectors, and the second phase will be evaluating businesses on a case-by-case basis, depending on how essential they are, said Cuomo at his daily briefing.

There will be two weeks in between each phase to monitor the effects of the reopening and ensure hospitalization and infection rates are not increasing.

"One caveat is you can't do anything in any region that would increase the number of visitors to that region," the governor said.

Cuomo did not give a specific date for the implementation of the strategy, but he said part of the state could begin reopening as soon as May 15 -- the current deadline for the statewide shutdown.

New York state to reopen with phased strategy, says governor - Global Times

 

[realanastasia]

Where does the remaining 43% come from though? Purchase taxes? Property taxes? Dividend taxes?

Per the link I provided: "The rest of the federal government’s revenue comes from a mix of sources, including Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, excise taxes such as those on alcohol and gasoline, unemployment-insurance taxes, customs duties and estate taxes. Spending that’s not covered by taxes is paid for by borrowing."

 

[Henry2326]

I'm not sure where all this confidence about the U.S. having enough tests is coming from. That's not what I've been hearing. We are as woefully unprepared with the tests as we were and are with the PPE.

I am fortunate in that I will be able to work from home as long as is necessary. I do go into my office a couple of times a week, but I have largely stayed at home. All of these businesses may start opening again eventually here in CA, but I will likely not be patronizing them for a long time to come.

To your point.....not even close to where we need to be....although trying.....

COVID TRACKING PROJECT

Our daily update is published. We’ve now tracked 5.4 million tests, up 257k from yesterday.
Another huge testing day. 4/22 was a clear inflection point.
Note that we can only track tests that a state reports. For details, see: The COVID Tracking Project The COVID Tracking Project on Twitter

 

[Tony1902]

@margarita25

A big thanks for the post on UCSF COVID research,
DrTony is an alumni (45+years practicing) -
However, I’m at the point of demoting him to plain ole MrTony. He’s turning into a shrew.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

In reading your second link, it seems to be agreeing with what I was saying, that we will need to restart the economy gradually at some point. But it was published on April 8th, three weeks ago. So his assertions that we have no tests available are out of date now.


Reviving the economy
These days Paul Romer sounds exasperated. “We’re caught up in the trauma: kill the economy or kill more people,” he says. There is so much “learned helplessness, so much hand-wringing.” The New York University economist and Nobel laureate believes he has a relatively simple strategy that will “both contain the virus and let the economy revive.”

The key, says Romer, is repeatedly testing everyone without symptoms to identify who is infected. (People with symptoms should just be assumed to have covid-19 and treated accordingly.) All those who test positive should isolate themselves; those who test negative can return to work, traveling, and socializing, but they should be tested every two weeks or so. If you’re negative, you might have a card saying so that allows you to get on an airplane or freely enter a restaurant.

Testing could be voluntary. Romer acknowledges some might resist it or resist isolating themselves if positive, but “most people want to do the right thing,” he says, and that should be enough to snuff out the spread of the virus.

Romer points to new, faster diagnostic tests, including ones from Silicon Valley’s Cepheid and from the drug giant Roche. Each of Roche’s best machines can handle 4,200 tests a day; build five thousand of those machines, and you can test 20 million people a day. “It’s well within our capacity,” he says. “We just need to bend some metal and make some machines.” If you can identify and isolate those infected with the virus, you can let the rest of the population go back to business.

Indeed, in an early April survey by Chicago’s Booth School, 93% of the economists agreed that “a massive increase in testing” is required for “an economic restart.”

In a piece called “National Coronavirus Response: A roadmap to reopening,”former FDA director Scott Gottlieb also argued for ramping up testing and then isolating those infected rather shutting in the entire population. Likewise, Ezekiel Emanuel, chair of the University of Pennsylvania’s department of medical ethics and health policy, called for increasing testing in a New York Times piece called “We Can Safely Restart the Economy in June. Here’s How.” Harvard medical experts, meanwhile, have outlined similar ideas in “A Detailed Plan for Getting Americans Back to Work.”

The proposals differ in details, but all revolve around widespread testing of various sorts to know who is vulnerable and who isn’t before we risk going back to business.

....snipped for space...
One day we will have to reopen the economy. Perhaps we’ll be able to hold out until the pandemic is showing signs of receding, or perhaps the economic suffering will prove intolerable both to those in charge and to those living in hard-hit regions. When that day comes, if we do not have widespread testing, we will be sending people back to work without knowing if they’re at risk of getting the virus or spreading it to others. “We’re thinking about this the wrong way,” Romer says. The idea that one day you will be able to restart the economy without massive testing to see if the outbreak is under control is just “magical thinking.”


[TESTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN EVERY STATE THAT IS AFFECTED BY THE VIRUS. So this article is in agreement that a gradual reopen of the economy is a necessity. ]

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

 

[Henry2326]

HOPE THIS PANS OUT....GRANTED US WON'T GET THEM...SEE BELOW LINK FOR INDIA....APPATENTLY US HAS PUT OUR EGGS IN THIS BASKET.

LONDON (Reuters) - A million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed by British scientists are already being manufactured and will be available by September, even before trials prove whether the shot is effective, the team said on Friday.

The Oxford University team's experimental product, called "ChAdOx1 nCoV-19", is a type known as a recombinant viral vector vaccine and is one of at least 70 potential COVID-19 candidate shots under development by biotech and research teams around the world.

At least five of those are in preliminary testing in people.

UK scientists to make a million potential COVID-19 vaccines before proof
‐-----------------------------------------------------
India is among the largest manufacturer of generic drugs and vaccines in the world. It is home to half a dozen major vaccine makers and a host of smaller ones, making doses against polio, meningitis, pneumonia, rotavirus, BCG, measles, mumps and rubella, among other diseases.

Now half a dozen Indian firms are developing vaccines against the virus that causes Covid-19.

Coronavirus: How India will play a major role in a Covid-19 vaccine

 

[tresir2012]

Another huge 35% of tax revenue comes from Social Insurance (payroll) tax - which supports things like Disability insurance benefits, Medicare benefits, and unemployment benefits.

This tax is paid half by the employee and half by the employer. Fewer jobs = less social insurance tax revenue.
Fewer jobs = more people who need the benefits from that same tax revenue.


View attachment 244629
What are the sources of revenue for the federal government?

How Much Social Security Tax Do I Pay? | The Motley Fool

Ah ok like our National Insurance in the UK. But that's high for Americans when they don't have a NHS. So 35% from employers and employees plus they have to pay additional privately for medical insurance too. If I was an American and caught this from my workplace or transit or rental apartment, I think I would sue too or be left with huge medical bills to pay or for my relatives to pay I guess.

 

[tresir2012]

Per the link I provided: "The rest of the federal government’s revenue comes from a mix of sources, including Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, excise taxes such as those on alcohol and gasoline, unemployment-insurance taxes, customs duties and estate taxes. Spending that’s not covered by taxes is paid for by borrowing."

Ok. So most of those except business payroll taxes are paid for by citizens out of their income as well as additional state taxes, With businesses paying the wages in the first place, if businesses go bankrupt, the system fails big time. Hence the support to businesses in this situation. Prop them up in the hope the crisis does not last too long.

 

[tresir2012]

Germans don compulsory masks as lockdown eases

Masks mandatory in some German provinces.

Germans have started wearing facemasks outside the home as new rules come into force to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The use of cloth masks is now mandatory on public transport and, in most regions, within shops.

The rules vary among the 16 German states - Bavaria being the strictest, while in Berlin shoppers do not have to wear masks.

But the authorities are moving very cautiously in easing the lockdown.

Across the world countries are coming up with their own guidance on mask-wearing. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) advice suggests people should wear protective masks only if they are sick and showing symptoms, or if they are caring for people suspected to have Covid-19.

It says masks are not recommended for the general public because they can be contaminated by coughs and sneezes, and might offer a false sense of security.

• Is the advice on face masks going to change?
• Italy moves to ease Europe's longest lockdown

German media report that mask-wearing is now required in school corridors and when children go on breaks, but not in the classroom. Students sit in class spaced apart and there is more frequent cleaning with disinfectant.

Students preparing for their school leaving exams are also back in class. Most German schoolchildren are still at home under lockdown.

The German authorities require mask-wearing at stations and on buses and trains, but not yet on long-distance trains.

Image copyrightAFP
Image captionA vending machine for masks in a Berlin U-Bahn (underground) station
Home-made cloth masks are acceptable; people are not expected to wear hospital-style intensive care masks. These are now on sale in station vending machines and at markets.

 

[nightowl1975]

Ah ok like our National Insurance in the UK. But that's high for Americans when they don't have a NHS. So 35% from employers and employees plus they have to pay additional privately for medical insurance too. If I was an American and caught this from my workplace or transit or rental apartment, I think I would sue too or be left with huge medical bills to pay or for my relatives to pay I guess.

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.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

So this mink story and the tiger and cats that have all caught it from humans is interesting. Can they spread it back to humans and to other animals?

Hey I just thought? Do these cruise ships have the traditional ship's cat to keep mice and rats down?

I really doubt it because of people with allergies.