Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #56

[Mo Thuairim]

‘Everyone’s on top of you, sneezing and coughing’: life inside Ireland’s meat plants

Workers share Covid-19 fears over lack of social distancing, crowded accommodation and being forced to buy their own PPE

(...)

“One hundred per cent, I know I got it in the factory,” (Marco) says. “If the disease was in the animals, they’d have closed the place. But for workers, the factories can do what they want.”

Marco is one of a number of workers who have contacted the Guardian about conditions in some meat plants since the pandemic began. Speaking on condition of anonymity, workers in factories across Ireland and Northern Ireland say that not enough was done at the start of the outbreak to minimise their exposure, and that though some protective measures are now in place, they still don’t feel safe at work.

For Marco, who has worked at the same factory for more than a decade, it’s too little, too late. “I felt frightened, “ he says. “The damage has been done.”

(...)

Now countries across the world with industrialised meat supply chains are grappling with serious coronavirus outbreaks in meat and processed food plants. Official figures show that there have been outbreaks at 12 plants in the Republic of Ireland and 571 workers have tested positive. In Northern Ireland, union officials have raised serious concerns, and last week one worker died.

Workers point to bottlenecks in toilets and washrooms; the locker-rooms, where workers pile in before and after work; and the canteens, where they gather to eat. The greatest risks are during eight-hour shifts on the factory floor where they work half a metre or less apart from colleagues on the production line.

(...)

Pablo says that until a few weeks ago, apart from posting government notices about Covid-19 on the walls, his factory didn’t put anything in place to protect its workers. “There was no checking of temperature, no masks, no 2-metre social distancing. When we asked for masks, they said no.” He says he he doesn’t feel safe at work, and is sure that he will get infected with the virus. “New workers are brought in to replace people who are out sick, but we don’t know if they’ve been screened.”

(Much more at link)

'Everyone's on top of you, sneezing and coughing': life inside Ireland's meat plants

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

‘Everyone’s on top of you, sneezing and coughing’: life inside Ireland’s meat plants

Workers share Covid-19 fears over lack of social distancing, crowded accommodation and being forced to buy their own PPE

(...)

“One hundred per cent, I know I got it in the factory,” (Marco) says. “If the disease was in the animals, they’d have closed the place. But for workers, the factories can do what they want.”

Marco is one of a number of workers who have contacted the Guardian about conditions in some meat plants since the pandemic began. Speaking on condition of anonymity, workers in factories across Ireland and Northern Ireland say that not enough was done at the start of the outbreak to minimise their exposure, and that though some protective measures are now in place, they still don’t feel safe at work.

For Marco, who has worked at the same factory for more than a decade, it’s too little, too late. “I felt frightened, “ he says. “The damage has been done.”

(...)

Now countries across the world with industrialised meat supply chains are grappling with serious coronavirus outbreaks in meat and processed food plants. Official figures show that there have been outbreaks at 12 plants in the Republic of Ireland and 571 workers have tested positive. In Northern Ireland, union officials have raised serious concerns, and last week one worker died.

Workers point to bottlenecks in toilets and washrooms; the locker-rooms, where workers pile in before and after work; and the canteens, where they gather to eat. The greatest risks are during eight-hour shifts on the factory floor where they work half a metre or less apart from colleagues on the production line.

(...)

Pablo says that until a few weeks ago, apart from posting government notices about Covid-19 on the walls, his factory didn’t put anything in place to protect its workers. “There was no checking of temperature, no masks, no 2-metre social distancing. When we asked for masks, they said no.” He says he he doesn’t feel safe at work, and is sure that he will get infected with the virus. “New workers are brought in to replace people who are out sick, but we don’t know if they’ve been screened.”

(Much more at link)

'Everyone's on top of you, sneezing and coughing': life inside Ireland's meat plants

The employers saying no to masks is just shocking.
I wonder can they stop the workers wearing masks if they brought them in themselves?

 

[tresir2012]

WHO Europe.

Statement – Older people are at highest risk from COVID-19, but all must act to prevent community spread

This is more than a month old but informative. European deaths were only at 30k then (2 April).

Part of the report below.

The majority of those who are infected with COVID-19 have a self-limiting infection and do recover. However, we know that a minority go on to suffer more severe disease, with 10% of cases requiring intensive care unit admission. Sadly, some patients will pass away: so far 30,098 persons are reported to have died with COVID-19 in the European Region, with 90% of the deaths occurring in the mainly affected countries of Italy, Spain and France.

Older adults are at a significantly increased risk of severe disease following infection from COVID-19. This is a very important observation for the European Region: of the top 30 countries with the largest percentage of older people, all but one (Japan) are our Member States in Europe. The countries most affected by the pandemic are among them.

We know that over 95% of these deaths occurred in those older than 60 years. More than 50% of all deaths were people aged 80 years or older. We also know from reports that 8 out of 10 deaths are occurring in individuals with at least one underlying co-morbidity, in particular those with cardiovascular diseases/hypertension and diabetes, but also with a range of other chronic underlying conditions.

Today I have three key messages for your regarding COVID-19, and the need to protect, care and support older populations.

First, we should emphasize that while older people are at highest risk from Covid-19, all of us, at all ages, need to act in solidarity to prevent the further community spread of the virus
Some of the reasons older people are greatly impacted by COVID-19 include the physiological changes associated with ageing, decreased immune function and multimorbidity which expose older adults to be more susceptible to the infection itself and make them more likely to suffer severely from COVID-19 disease and more serious complications.

But age is not the only risk for severe disease. The very notion that “COVID-19 only affects older people” is factually wrong. As a colleague of mine recently said, “Young people are not invincible”. 10% to 15% of people under 50 have moderate to severe infection. Severe cases of the disease have been seen in people in their teens or twenties, with many requiring intensive care and some unfortunately passing away.

Continued at link above.


This is a link to their latest news. There is a warning about antibiotics.

Latest updates

 

[SouthAussie]

The employers saying no to masks is just shocking.
I wonder can they stop the workers wearing masks if they brought them in themselves?

I read today that the Irish govt stance is about to change ... that they will now be encouraging the wearing of masks.


The Irish public could have been alerted sooner to the merits of basic masks ......
Advice on wearing face masks to reduce Covid-19 infection in public and in confined spaces where physical distancing of two metres is difficult to maintain, is about to be issued by National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).
Irish Times view on easing restrictions: Coming late to the face mask

 

[Mo Thuairim]

I read today that the Irish govt stance is about to change ... that they will now be encouraging social distancing and the wearing of masks.

The Irish public could have been alerted sooner to the merits of basic masks ......
Advice on wearing face masks to reduce Covid-19 infection in public and in confined spaces where physical distancing of two metres is difficult to maintain, is about to be issued by National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).
Irish Times view on easing restrictions: Coming late to the face mask

Social distancing is already a big thing here. We're currently under a strict lockdown. The mask advice is for when we begin to (very gently) ease the lockdown restrictions from Monday. Up until now we have been officially following WHO guidelines on masks but people were wearing them anyway when out shopping, from my experience. But looks like cloth masks will now be recommended for everyone for times when keeping two metres apart is impossible, on public transport, etc.

 

[SouthAussie]

Social distancing is already a big thing here. We're currently under a strict lockdown. The mask advice is for when we begin to (very gently) ease the lockdown restrictions from Monday. Up until now we have been officially following WHO guidelines on masks but people were wearing them anyway when out shopping from my experience. But looks like cloth masks will now be recommended for everyone for times when keeping two metres apart is impossible, on public transport, etc.

Yes, sorry. I just re-read the article and I had read it incorrectly. I see that masks will be advised where social distancing is not possible. Have now edited my post. Thanks.

 

[MimosaMornings]

What about a swim spa?

I don’t know much about those, will have to check them out!

 

[girlhasnoname]

MGM hotels and casinos plan to reopen with mandatory masks, no buffets, and hand sanitizer at slot machines.

• MGM Resorts International released a safety plan on Tuesday for reopening its hotels and casinos.
  
  
• The plan includes closing its buffets, putting hand sanitizer on casino floors, and encouraging social distancing throughout its properties.
  
  
• Acting CEO Bill Hornbuckle told NBC's "TODAY" show that he hopes to reopen doors to his Las Vegas properties by early June.
  MGM hotels and casinos plan to reopen with mandatory masks, no buffets, and hand sanitizer at slot machines

 

[weepingangel]

Take a look inside a COVID-19 floor at UMass Memorial Medical Center
Short video at link

A trip down the hallway at UMass Memorial Medical Center will take you past equipment and hardware, personal protective equipment and sanitation workstations.

UMass Memorial, now testing 70% of admitted patients, working to test all

UMass Memorial Medical Center is testing about 70% of its admitted patients for coronavirus and has plans to soon test all.
The hospital already tests pregnant women who have coronavirus symptoms, as well as some arriving for procedures, including vascular and urology patients. Now the hospital's leadership is working with its infectious disease and clinical operations teams to figure out how to test everyone admitted, Chief Nursing Officer Justin Precourt said in an online staff forum Friday

Rutland Pharmacy offers COVID-19 self tests

The site is part of a larger effort in which Health Mart stores, working with the state Department of Health and Human Services, have set up testing across the state Those who believe they have been affected by the novel coronavirus can visit doineedacovid19test.com to see if they qualify for a test, at no charge, Tuttle explained.

Drive-thru COVID-19 testing to open at CVS locations in Worcester, Charlton

According to CVS, self-swab tests will be available to individuals meeting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria, in addition to age guidelines. Patients must register in advance at CVS.com beginning Friday to schedule an appointment.

 

[weepingangel]

Baker: full reopening would be “incredibly irresponsible”

It would be "incredibly irresponsible" to send everyone back to work at the same time, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday, pushing back against critics who have accused him of moving too slowly to restart the state's economy as he simultaneously tries to steer the state through the COVID-19 crisis.
The governor also resisted calls for him to tease out details of his reopening strategy before Monday, urging patience as some legislators and industries, like restaurants, are clamoring to be told what businesses will be on the initial list to reopen and what might be expected of them.
"I would love to be able to open everything up tomorrow. That would be an incredibly irresponsible thing to do," Baker said.

Massachusetts planning to ramp up coronavirus contact tracing program

Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday said the state is planning to expand its contact tracing program, which it rolled out on April 12 as a way of measuring and containing the spread of coronavirus throughout Massachusetts.
“We’re going to ramp the tracing program up in a really big way so that we will contact people who do test positive and their close contacts,” Baker said.
To date, the collaborative has connected with roughly 18,000 residents who’ve tested positive for coronavirus, and another 14,000 or so of their contacts, Baker said. The number of people who may have come into contact with someone with the virus, and who received a phone call from tracers, is about double the figure the state reported last week.
The team of tracers includes more than 1,600 people making phone calls.

MassMutual, one of state’s largest employers, to keep offices closed through summer

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., one of the largest employers in Massachusetts, will keep its offices closed through the summer.
CEO Roger Crandall announced the decision during an all-staff meeting. Employees will return to their offices no earlier than the beginning of September.
Approximately 96% of MassMutual employees have worked from home since mid-March, with a limited number of essential staff still working on-site.

Mass. State Police catching people going more than 90 MPH on highways during pandemic

Massachusetts transportation officials said the number of fatalities on Massachusetts roads doubled in April, despite a reduction in traffic of up to 50% due to the coronavirus pandemic.

 

[Mo Thuairim]

Locked down shoppers turn to vegetables, shun ready meals - study

Shoppers cut spending on ready-made meals and bought more fruit and vegetables, turning to healthier eating during coronavirus lockdowns, preliminary results of a research project showed.

People forced to stay home also tried new recipes and threw away less food, the survey of nearly 11,000 shoppers in 11 countries, including Ireland, found.

"Amid lockdowns people are eating healthier, are cooking their own food and are consuming more fruit and vegetables," said Charlotte De Backer, who coordinated the study at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

As they deserted offices and cooked at home, shoppers cut purchases of microwaveable food in all the countries surveyed – Ireland, Australia, Belgium, Chile, Uganda, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Greece, Canada, and Brazil.

[...]

Ms De Backer said the preliminary findings showed clear trends that were unlikely to be modified by new data, as the pandemic has strengthened people's attention to food and healthier options.

In all surveyed countries people bought more fresh, canned or frozen fruit and vegetables throughout lockdowns, a change Ms DeBacker said could be explained by heightened health concerns.

Careful planning to cut time spent in supermarkets could also have contributed, Ms De Backer said. "If you make a shopping list, you plan your meals ahead and you are less likely to add unhealthy food."

Respondents to the survey, who were mostly women, also tried new recipes during the pandemic and used more left-overs, reducing food waste.

This attitude is linked to fears of food shortages, Ms DeBacker said, and is likely to recede once consumers see no more empty shelves in supermarkets, which have suffered some supply disruptions during the pandemic.

But some of the eating habits are likely to outlast the epidemic, Ms De Backer added, because in many countries lockdowns lasted longer than the six weeks it takes to form a new habit.

[More at link]

Shoppers turn to vegetables, shun ready meals - study

 

[Inthedetails]

MGM hotels and casinos plan to reopen with mandatory masks, no buffets, and hand sanitizer at slot machines.

• MGM Resorts International released a safety plan on Tuesday for reopening its hotels and casinos.
  
  
• The plan includes closing its buffets, putting hand sanitizer on casino floors, and encouraging social distancing throughout its properties.
  
  
• Acting CEO Bill Hornbuckle told NBC's "TODAY" show that he hopes to reopen doors to his Las Vegas properties by early June.
  MGM hotels and casinos plan to reopen with mandatory masks, no buffets, and hand sanitizer at slot machines

Hand sanitizer manufacturing must be working overtime! The demand is getting greater and greater with so many businesses installing dispensers - and the demand is only going keep going up.

jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

Locked down shoppers turn to vegetables, shun ready meals - study

Shoppers cut spending on ready-made meals and bought more fruit and vegetables, turning to healthier eating during coronavirus lockdowns, preliminary results of a research project showed.

People forced to stay home also tried new recipes and threw away less food, the survey of nearly 11,000 shoppers in 11 countries, including Ireland, found.

"Amid lockdowns people are eating healthier, are cooking their own food and are consuming more fruit and vegetables," said Charlotte De Backer, who coordinated the study at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

As they deserted offices and cooked at home, shoppers cut purchases of microwaveable food in all the countries surveyed – Ireland, Australia, Belgium, Chile, Uganda, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Greece, Canada, and Brazil.

[...]

Ms De Backer said the preliminary findings showed clear trends that were unlikely to be modified by new data, as the pandemic has strengthened people's attention to food and healthier options.

In all surveyed countries people bought more fresh, canned or frozen fruit and vegetables throughout lockdowns, a change Ms DeBacker said could be explained by heightened health concerns.

Careful planning to cut time spent in supermarkets could also have contributed, Ms De Backer said. "If you make a shopping list, you plan your meals ahead and you are less likely to add unhealthy food."

Respondents to the survey, who were mostly women, also tried new recipes during the pandemic and used more left-overs, reducing food waste.

This attitude is linked to fears of food shortages, Ms DeBacker said, and is likely to recede once consumers see no more empty shelves in supermarkets, which have suffered some supply disruptions during the pandemic.

But some of the eating habits are likely to outlast the epidemic, Ms De Backer added, because in many countries lockdowns lasted longer than the six weeks it takes to form a new habit.

[More at link]

Shoppers turn to vegetables, shun ready meals - study

What a change! For the good!

At the beginning of all this, I clearly remember seeing empty frozen food sections where the pizza, tv dinners, etc. were located.....while the produce area was brimming with gorgeous fresh food. One silver lining is that people are cooking more at home and looks like habits might be shifting to fresh and "real" ingredients.

Fresh produce is also a lot cheaper than packaged food! A sack of potatoes goes a lot further than a bag of frozen french fries, ykwim.

jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

bbm

"An alarming video from Japan that used a black light demonstrates how quickly the coronavirus can spread aboard a cruise ship or in a restaurant when just one person is infected....

Invisible fluorescent paint — visible only under a black light — was applied to the palm of one of the subjects, who was tapped as the “infected” person and coughed into his hand. The paint represented the deadly pathogen."

THE GOOD NEWS:

"In a separate experiment, the scientists set up the buffet taking measures to protect against disease transmission by separating dishes, replacing tongs frequently and encouraging diners to wash their hands before, during and after the meal.

In that scenario, the paint spread 97 percent less than it did initially and did not end up on any of the other participants’ faces, according to Forbes."

https://nypost.com/2020/05/14/video-shows-how-quickly-coronavirus-can-spread-at-a-restaurant/

Wash hands! Don't touch your face!

jmo

 

[anneg]

With California's leaders proclamations since last Friday, the writing is on the wall and we have to leave.
Our income has been cut to 40% of what it was, and we were on a very slippery slope even before this. We were holding our own, but, certainly not thriving.
Now, it is plain old unsubstanable.
Just the facts.
We certainly won't be the only ones losing our business and fleeing California.
I predict a huge crash in California. Yeah, we have tech companies here, but even they have been leaving for less expensive States. My daughter is a head hunter for computer technicians.
Once a job applicant learns the true costs of working and living in California they often decline, even 6 figure salaries.
So, we've got to go. We cannot survive the plans that our governor has in store for us.
We're looking at coastal North Carolina.
Anyone live in NC? If you have input, I'd love to hear. I'M please
Kali

I live in central NC. The NC coast is great to visit (not sure when we will be able to visit again) but I wouldn't live there mainly because of hurricanes. Hurricanes can cause damage where I live, too. The previous owners of our property lost dozens of trees when Hurricane Fran moved inland in 1996.

I think anyone who lives in what I think of as perfect-weather-soCal would find our hot, humid summers hard to take! JMO

 

[10ofRods]

Man refuses to wear mask in Los Angeles Target, police are escorting him out - fight ensues, Target employee has his arm broken (warning: video of the assault):

Man refusing to wear mask breaks arm of Target employee - CNN Video

 

[Inthedetails]

Man refuses to wear mask in Los Angeles Target, police are escorting him out - fight ensues, Target employee has his arm broken (warning: video of the assault):

Man refusing to wear mask breaks arm of Target employee - CNN Video

OMG! It is ugly out there. The poor teenage employee at an ice cream shop quit because customers hurled insults at her when service under the new conditions was slow. An employee at Target is physically injured.

These regular folk, just doing their regular jobs - not the enemy!! Not people to fight and insult.

Personal character shows in time of stress. I'm shocked, to be honest, how people are turning against each other as if that matters to the virus.

jmo

 

[10ofRods]

Fourth USDA inspector dies of CoVid contracted in packing facility:

Fourth USDA Inspector Dies From Virus Amid Meat Plant Outbreaks

 

[10ofRods]

OMG! It is ugly out there. The poor teenage employee at an ice cream shop quit because customers hurled insults at her when service under the new conditions was slow. An employee at Target is physically injured.

These regular folk, just doing their regular jobs - not the enemy!! Not people to fight and insult.

Personal character shows in time of stress. I'm shocked, to be honest, how people are turning against each other as if that matters to the virus.

jmo

It speaks to our underlying social ills. We're past the point of coming together in a civil manner, even in the face of a large threat. Plus, people seem to extoll more extreme reactions on social media, as if a bunch of people are wannabe criminals. Or wannabe clowns.

I think these incidents are happening in a lot of places, if they're happening at an ice cream shop.

I'm glad Target has its cameras. I'm just not getting why the young assailant thought it was worth it, over a mask. I assume he's used to getting his own way all the time and this is a case of an adult throwing a tantrum in public, with bad results for his victim and for him. Maybe it's the first time he's had consequences. OTOH, maybe he already has a criminal record.

I wonder where this is all going to go. Will people ever settle into the "new normal"? At least Target is open, by gosh.

 

[Mo Thuairim]

Explained: How long it takes a Covid-19 case to be completed now
(Ireland)

<snipped>

What is the standard?

Given Covid-19 is only four months old, international targets have not yet been set for completion times for the process required to suppress the disease.

But, in a way, the disease itself sets a standard.

Scientists, epidemiologists and mathematicians have worked out several numbers which provide useful bars to try to reach for turnaround times.

They have a number for the timeframe between the moment you’re exposed to the virus to the moment you can spread the infection. This timeframe is referred to as the latent period, and it’s about 3.5 days. If you get infected, 3.5 days later you start to spread the infection. Prior to that, the virus is only developing within your body.

The aim for health services across the world is to respond sufficiently quickly to reach the contacts of a suspected case and ask those contacts to self-isolate, before the contacts' latent period ends, and they can create a third case.

Anyone not part of a cluster who has the disease and is referred for testing is already beyond their latent period, as they have symptoms. By their nature they are a contact of a first case, as they’ve got the disease from someone, somehow. So the race is to stop their contacts getting beyond their latent period, 3.5 days.

However, the modellers and scientists also have a number called the serial interval.

This is the typical time duration between the point one person displays symptoms to the point a second person displays symptoms.

While the latent period is the time before you can infect someone, you won’t infect everyone you meet after that moment.

The serial interval is an estimate for how long it typically takes a person who has been infected to spread the virus to the next person, and for that person to become a potential spreader of the virus to a further person.

Having examined papers produced across the world, scientists in UCD have put this serial interval at 6.6 days. The Department of Health told Prime Time they are now using this number.

These are all imperfect numbers, but useful targets.

To stop the possibility of second cases creating third cases, you need to be catching positive cases in under 3.5 days, the latent period before they can spread the virus.

Ideally, you'd do it quicker, as people don't call their doctor to request a test the second they begin to experience symptoms. This delay between people getting symptoms and people calling their doctor is why some experts say the turnaround time from referral to contacting tracing being completed needs be down around 48 hours.

It allows for a 1.5 day delay between first symptoms and calling the doctor.

The plan to prevent consistent spread is to get the vast majority of cases completed, from referral to contact tracing, well within the latent period.

But to stop a typical second case creating a third case, essentially all cases need to be completed in less than 6.6 days, the serial interval.

Speaking to Prime Time, using a general number for the serial interval, Professor Philip Nolan, chair of the NPHET modelling group, said: "Once you hit the median serial interval or generation time, around 5-6 days, after that you’re only preventing about half of contact transmissions.

"We need to understand that distribution and we want as prevent as many cases as possible, by bringing back the timeline for testing and tracing being completed, but done properly, as short as possible, ideally under 72 hours."

[...]

Figure for the process

Using the information provided as of Tuesday, the HSE says the median time it takes to go from the point a GP refers someone for a test to contact tracing being completed is less than five days - Dr Henry described it as "approaching four" at the daily press conference.

That is based on approximately 43,000 tests done over the previous seven days.

Using the rounded five day number provided by the HSE, that means half of the cases are taking five days or less to complete, half are taking five days or more.

We know people in hospitals have tests turned around far quicker than tests done in the general population.

Asked to provide a breakdown between the two, the HSE said in an email: "End to end median in a hospital setting is one day (excluding contact tracing - add circa one day for contact tracing - although this is where there are more complex cases).

End to end median in the community is five days as per above (including contact tracing)."

[Long read, much more at link]

Explained: How long it takes a Covid-19 case to be completed now