Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #56

[tmar]

China has created a pandemic through 'gross negligence, obsessive secrecy and brazen dishonesty', top US diplomat says - as Australia secures EU support for an independent inquiry into coronavirus

China has created a pandemic through 'gross negligence, obsessive secrecy and brazen dishonesty', top US diplomat says - as Australia secures EU support for an independent inquiry into coronavirus

Alisha Rouse and Alana Mazzoni For Daily Mail Australia
5 hrs ago
The Chinese government has been accused of creating the coronavirus pandemic thanks to its 'gross negligence, obsessive secrecy and brazen dishonesty'.

Its communist leaders are even using the catastrophe to advance their interests abroad while the weakened world struggles with death and recession, the United States ambassador to Australia claimed.
...
Australian relations with China have been heavily strained since Mr Morrison - among other world leaders - began pushing for a global inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.

His comments come as Australia secured the support of the European Union's top foreign minister to launch an independent inquiry into the pandemic.

An important EU motion is underway to help bring about the inquiry, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been aiming for for weeks.
...
China has been lobbying for the inquiry to be stopped before it begins, claiming it is 'politically motivated'.

But both the United States and the United Kingdom have backed Mr Morrison's calls to uncover the origins of COVID-19.

China has since hit Australia with $1 billion trade strikes on its barley and beef.
It is now feared that the Chinese government is set to slap further restrictions on Australian exports in retaliation to Mr Morrison's calls for the international inquiry.

 

[tmar]

Drug promoted by Trump as coronavirus ‘game changer’ increasingly linked to deaths

Drug promoted by Trump as coronavirus ‘game changer’ increasingly linked to deaths

Toluse Olorunnipa,, Ariana Eunjung Cha,, and Laurie McGinley
3 hrs ago
For two months, President Trump repeatedly pitched hydroxychloroquine as a safe and effective treatment for coronavirus, asking would-be patients “What the hell do you have to lose?”

Growing evidence shows that, for many, the answer is their lives.

Clinical trials, academic research and scientific analysis indicate that the danger of the Trump-backed drug is a significantly increased risk of death for certain patients. Evidence showing the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in treating covid-19 has been scant. Those two developments pushed the Food and Drug Administration to warn against the use of hydroxychloroquine outside of a hospital setting last month, just weeks after it approved an emergency use authorization for the drug.
Alarmed by a growing cache of data linking the anti-malaria drug to serious cardiac problems, some drug safety experts are now calling for even more forceful action by the government to discourage its use. Several have called for the FDA to revoke its emergency use authorization, given hydroxychloroquine’s documented risks.

Testimony this week from a former top vaccine official removed from his post last month further highlighted allegations that Trump’s White House pressured government scientists to quickly sign off on the untested drug in March, at the same time the president was pitching it as a “game changer.”

 

[tmar]

China may have 640,000 coronavirus cases instead of 84,000, leaked data from country's military-run university suggests

China may have 640,000 coronavirus cases instead of 84,000, leaked data from country's military-run university suggests

Chris Pleasance for MailOnline
2 hrs ago
China may have logged hundreds of thousands more cases of coronavirus than it is publicly admitting to, new data leaked from a university suggests.

Officially, the country has reported just 84,029 cases of the virus but there has been widespread skepticism over this figure amid a lack of transparency from Beijing.

But now, a database leaked from the National University of Defence Technology in the city of Changsha suggests the country could have 640,000 cases.

The information comes from a database leaked to Foreign Policy and 100 Reporters, which carried out a brief analysis of the information it contains.
...
But allegations against Beijing go further, namely that it has deliberately covered up figures in an attempt to convince world leaders it out-performed them in terms of its response - or to buy time to stockpile PPE and medicines before the virus spread.

 

[SoCalDavidS]

China may have 640,000 coronavirus cases instead of 84,000, leaked data from country's military-run university suggests

China may have 640,000 coronavirus cases instead of 84,000, leaked data from country's military-run university suggests

I trust China's figures as much as I trust Russia's or Brazil's.

 

[katydid23]

Packing a Covid19 kit for my husband to take with him on the airplane tomorrow. I’m sending:
5 pairs of nitrile gloves
10 Lysol wipes
2 N95 masks

he has one connection each way. I’m also packing a lunch so he doesn’t have to eat airport food. He’s going to have to buy water once he’s through security but with the wipes he should be able to clean the outside of the bottle.

can anyone think of anything else that might be useful and can be brought through airport security without checking a bag?

Maybe remind him not to use or touch his pull down little table on the plane. Unless he wanted to thoroughly clean it with one or 2 Clorox wipes.

I wiped down my seat, esp the heAd rest area with a wipe before I sat down.

 

[ZoriahNZ]

Studies see ‘no benefit’ in hydroxychloroquine treatment for Covid-19 patients

The evidence keeps stacking up.

Hydroxychloroquine Fails to Help Coronavirus Patients in Largest Study of the Drug to Date

Hydroxychloroquine fails to help hospitalized coronavirus patients in US funded study

Luckily there are other drugs that are being studied which may be more promising in the long run. <modsnip>

 

[tmar]

Sweden's economy likely won't benefit from its decision to avoid a lockdown, according to analysts

Sweden's economy likely won't benefit from its decision to avoid a lockdown, according to analysts

Bryan Pietsch
8 hrs ago
Even though Sweden has chosen to avoid an official lockdown, keeping bars and restaurants open - and suffering a higher death toll than in neighbouring countries - the country is unlikely to avoid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, analysts told the Financial Times.

Sweden has reported more than 3,500 deaths from the coronavirus. That number pales in comparison to the tens of thousands of deaths in the US, but Sweden's smaller population of just over 10 million makes the country's death rate one of the highest.

Sweden's lead epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, said last week that he didn't anticipate the high death rate.

"We never really calculated with a high death toll initially, I must say," he said. "We calculated on more people being sick, but the death toll really came as a surprise to us."

 

[tresir2012]

Yes, the deaths are going to keep on coming because this is a pandemic. And there is no way to totally prevent all of the deaths unless everyone hides away for 2 years or more. and that<<< is impossible.

So the question becomes, should we slowly reopen, and have some moderation in the uptick of new cases NOW? Or should we stay locked down during the summer months, when the virus is more vulnerable to heat and sunlight, and then experience the same number of deaths, a few months from now?

Either way, the deaths are going to happen. All we can truly control is the timeline.

I googled flattening the curve and there are loads of articles basically but this Michigan one looked like it explained it in the simplest way.

Flattening the Curve for COVID-19: What Does It Mean and How Can You Help?

 

[tresir2012]

Studies see ‘no benefit’ in hydroxychloroquine treatment for Covid-19 patients

The evidence keeps stacking up.

Hydroxychloroquine Fails to Help Coronavirus Patients in Largest Study of the Drug to Date

Hydroxychloroquine fails to help hospitalized coronavirus patients in US funded study

Luckily there are other drugs that are being studied which may be more promising in the long run. I just wish that certain politicians would allow for the scientific community to finish their research before peddling miracle cures to the general public in an irresponsible way. JMO.

What are the other more promising drugs being studied?

 

[tresir2012]

Sweden's economy likely won't benefit from its decision to avoid a lockdown, according to analysts

Sweden's economy likely won't benefit from its decision to avoid a lockdown, according to analysts

Bryan Pietsch
8 hrs ago
Even though Sweden has chosen to avoid an official lockdown, keeping bars and restaurants open - and suffering a higher death toll than in neighbouring countries - the country is unlikely to avoid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, analysts told the Financial Times.

Sweden has reported more than 3,500 deaths from the coronavirus. That number pales in comparison to the tens of thousands of deaths in the US, but Sweden's smaller population of just over 10 million makes the country's death rate one of the highest.

Sweden's lead epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, said last week that he didn't anticipate the high death rate.

"We never really calculated with a high death toll initially, I must say," he said. "We calculated on more people being sick, but the death toll really came as a surprise to us."

I don't think anyone anticipated the terrible problem of care home deaths otherwise many nations could have halved their deaths if we had known. By the time we saw the problem in Spain (first time I remember it happening) our UK care homes already had it. I am sure it was the same with other European countries and the US.
Government must have known because of the initial advice for over 70's and vulnerable to isolate and the lockdown of care homes. MOO.

 

[tresir2012]

pure cv deaths? that is ridiculous! how do you possibly cta


The concept of "pure coronavirus is absurd"-- it is splitting hairs to try and separate "those dying due to CV" and "those dying with Coronavirus". IMO all of those deaths are people who would still be alive but for CV; many of them had co-morbidities, but they were living just fine with their diabetes, obesity, COPD, etc etc etc. Had they not contracted the virus they would still be on this erth. There is no doubt in my mind 99.9 of those people died due to the virus and of course they died with it. I don't get the point at all.

UK are splitting the numbers if you look at the ONS link I already posted. I believe some other countries do too. The death figure is often just the hospital numbers and then there are the care home and home deaths certified by doctors. Those cause the difference in numbers due to the lag in reporting. 9 out of 10 deaths had underlying conditions, we already know this, with dementia and alzheimer patients being the highest suffering group.

 

[tresir2012]

Tennessee, one of the first states to reopen restaurants and retail stores, has seen the biggest drop in new cases in the nation, down nearly 49%.
Where U.S. coronavirus cases are on the rise

That's really encouraging news. From your link.

"Nearly all 50 U.S. states have begun to allow some businesses to reopen and residents to move more freely, but only 14 states have met the federal government’s guidelines for lifting measures aimed at fighting the pandemic, according to a Reuters analysis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended states wait until their daily number of new COVID-19 cases falls for 14 days before easing social distancing restrictions.

While all 14 states saw at least two weeks of declining new cases, nine states saw new cases fall for four or more weeks, according to a Reuters analysis of data from the "); background-position: 0px 1.2rem; background-repeat: repeat-x;">COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-run effort to track the outbreak."

 

[tresir2012]

Sailors on sidelined carrier get coronavirus for the second time

Sailors on sidelined carrier get coronavirus for the second time

1 hour ago
Five US sailors on an aircraft carrier sidelined in Guam due to a COVID-19 outbreak have tested positive for the virus for the second time and have been taken off the ship, according to the US Navy.

The resurgence of the virus in five sailors on the USS Theodore Roosevelt underscores the befuddling behaviour of the highly contagious virus and raises questions about how troops that test positive can be reintegrated into the military, particularly on ships.

All five sailors had previously tested positive and had gone through at least two weeks of isolation.

As part of the process, they all had to test negative twice in a row, with the tests separated by a day or two, before they were allowed to go back to the ship.

So that is the second wave on the carrier right there. Will there be a second wave for care homes? I hope our governments have prepared for that. We are expecting a second wave in the community, but when? October or November or earlier?

 

[tresir2012]

Thinking about this situation....
Type 1 diabetes
A1c being maintained in good range
45 years old
Not overweight
Covid-19 infection
Subsequently dies.

COD - Covid-19?

Is this a known instance or a hypothetical? That age group does not have many deaths but it seems to also depend on race as well. MOO.

 

[tresir2012]

I agree. Texas has a population of 30 million and we have had 1,272 deaths. Yet we received an F rating according to some cockamamie Coronavirus chart.

Nearly half of the deaths have been contributed to senior care facilities.

Nearly half of Texas coronavirus deaths linked to senior care facilities | kvue.com

I think all states were F. I am wondering if it was a legit source or as you say a cockamamie one. Maybe the F stands for something else.

 

[tresir2012]

Packing a Covid19 kit for my husband to take with him on the airplane tomorrow. I’m sending:
5 pairs of nitrile gloves
10 Lysol wipes
2 N95 masks

he has one connection each way. I’m also packing a lunch so he doesn’t have to eat airport food. He’s going to have to buy water once he’s through security but with the wipes he should be able to clean the outside of the bottle.

can anyone think of anything else that might be useful and can be brought through airport security without checking a bag?

A covid19 travel kit. What a great idea. Someone will market this.

I love the addition of the ham sandwich. What about medications?

 

[tresir2012]

Do you then object that flu deaths be counted as due to flu if persons had pre-existing conditions? Most healthy people don't die from flu either. Again, we have a large increase in deaths compared to previous seasons. Clearly that large increase is due to covid.

I don't think flu is a reportable disease and patients possible die of pneumonia due to flu complications. If CV19 was not reportable we probably would not know about a lot of those deaths and it would be put down to the underlying condition anyway. It is not comparable to flu but targets the old and vulnerable in a similar way.

 

[jjenny]

Oxford vaccine is showing good results in monkeys.
"But it's what happened next that's giving the doctors hope. When they exposed the animals to coronavirus, the monkeys that weren't vaccinated developed pneumonia, a sign of COVID-19. But those that got the vaccine, and developed the protective antibodies, had no pneumonia and no virus in their lungs."
Monkey trial of Oxford vaccine shows encouraging results

 

[nhmemorymaker]

IIRC, some states were blocking cars from New York State , by telling them they had to quarantine for 14 days before they could go anywhere in the state. Was it Florida or Rhode island doing so? I can't remember.

Florida, for sure. But they caused massive traffic problems backed up into Georgia, and all they could do was "instruct" two weeks quarantine .... there was never any enforcement capability set up to follow people.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Statins may help older coronavirus patients avoid symptoms; COVID-19 more than respiratory illness

Statins may help older coronavirus patients avoid symptoms; COVID-19 more than respiratory illness

By Nancy Lapid
4 hrs ago
...
Statins may help protect frail older people from severe COVID-19 symptoms

Widely-used cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may be associated with substantially fewer symptoms in older, frail COVID-19 patients, a small study suggests. Among 154 coronavirus patients at two nursing homes, those who took a statin, such as Lipitor, were nearly three times more likely to be free of symptoms during their infection than those who did not, researchers in Belgium found. There was also slight trend toward lower risks for lengthy hospital stays and death that was not statistically significant.
...
The desperate need of severely ill coronavirus patients for mechanical ventilators to help them breathe had led many people to think of COVID-19 primarily as a respiratory disease, at least in adults. But among nearly 5,500 coronavirus patients in the largest New York health system, more than one in three hospitalized COVID-19 patients developed acute kidney injuries, and nearly 15% required dialysis, researchers reported on Thursday in the medical journal Kidney International. Other research teams have reported that the virus can infect cells in the small intestine. And on Wednesday, researchers reported in The New England Journal of Medicine that autopsies of 27 people who died of COVID-19 showed the virus in tissues of 17 hearts, 17 livers, 8 brains and the kidneys of 13 people. There have also been reports of the virus causing blood clots that can lead to strokes. ( https://bit.ly/3fYw9o3 https://bit.ly/2Z6KXLe)

This information does not seem revolutionary to me......... this is one of the reasons why I find it just so valuable to follow some of these doctor's youtube lectures and updates. One is Dr. Campbell who provides a tally of cases and issues from all over the world.

But the best for me is Dr. Roger Seheult. With the progression of his informative lectures we can see how the medical community is learning and changing their opinions of exactly what this virus really is, and what it does. Seeing how the virus hits the epithelium of the cells shows how this disease is truly an "immune system killer".

How it affects the heart.... shows why we have to get a good handle on ACE inhibitors, ARBs, hypertension and statins....

It is a shame that early victims on ventilators was not the right course.... which tells me the longer we can wait to possible get this virus..the better!!

And makes me wonder, why we haven't encourages an age based stay at home policy more agressively.