Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #59

[mickey2942]

From the link (BBM):
"She [the author] wears hers [mask] inside and outside, especially if she's walking outdoors in a place where she can see other people. She tells people to imagine how far they can smell cigarette smoke or a barbecue. That's how far aerosols can travel between you and another person.

The good news, she says, is that recent studies have shown that homemade cloth masks can be as effective at blocking the virus as surgical masks. There's one big caveat, though. They have to fit to your face."

I can smell smoke and barbecue a LONG way away...sigh.

This has really made me wonder about the effectiveness of having a plexiglas shield in front of someone. Unless it goes floor to ceiling, it seems to be just a placebo.

 

[Chelly]

I wish I shared your optimism. However, as a restaurant owner in California, I cannot.
Personally at least in this State, I forsee a blood bath of independent businesses closing for good.
We will probably be one of them.
We cannot earn money at 50% occupancy. We are losing money at 50% occupancy.
Hubby and I refuse to put anymore of our savings into this business or any other business in California.
It's an upside down world at the moment, and actually has been for a long-time here.
<modsnip: politicizing>

Sounds like a good time to retire to a more senior-friendly state.

 

[10ofRods]

This has really made me wonder about the effectiveness of having a plexiglas shield in front of someone. Unless it goes floor to ceiling, it seems to be just a placebo.

It does trap/block aerosols traveling between two parties seated facing each other. While it's possible that aerosols could float over, it would be way, way fewer. This is back to viral load. Personally, I think that once CoVid is established in someone's lungs, that there's very little infectious material left in the mouth or nose. So deep breathing, panting, coughing, sneezing, singing, yelling, yawning and sighing all push way more virions into the air.

I'd hate to be having to breathe in someone's directly exhaled air in my face. If I'm wearing a mask and some aerosols float over a barrier, I'll get very few of them. I personally don't think CoVid does very well at establishing itself in this circumstance.

However, if I were immune-compromised or medically fragile, I'd want a face shield in addition to a mask and then I'd be happier with the addition of Plexiglass.

But the main purpose of it is to protect the worker who has to be face to face with unmasked persons who also may sneeze or cough. There's no question that being in the direct line of a sneeze, cough, yawn or singing person is going to put one at higher risk.

Hopefully, the plexiglass thingies are cleaned throughout the day.

 

[10ofRods]

Brazil's just getting warmed up. Soon they'll look back on 1,000 deaths a day as a good day.

Are you watching Arizona? The IMHE forecast says they won't hit their peak until mid-July! It's almost entirely the Phoenix area so far. But they are predicted to have 4,300+ deaths by mid-August.

Brazil is crazy because no effort is made to diagnose why people are dying in many places - it's a huge nation and only a few people have access to that kind of healthcare.

And did you see that article about the huge amount of CoVid in Florida's wastewater? Using that as a rough estimate of the spread of CoVid, researchers think way way more people in Florida are positive for CoVid right now. Excess death studies are not broken down by state for the past month - it will be interesting when that happens.

 

[SoCalDavidS]

This has really made me wonder about the effectiveness of having a plexiglas shield in front of someone. Unless it goes floor to ceiling, it seems to be just a placebo.

So is the 6 foot "social distancing" guideline.

 

[10ofRods]

So is the 6 foot "social distancing" guideline.

I think it does help. This whole game is a game of marginal effects. To me, it's clear that any kind of mask is better than no mask (although personally, I've got a source of 3M's best face filter to insert in my mask pocket if I ever have to go someplace where there are strangers - so far, pure avoidance is my tactic).

There are studies about how long it takes to get infected through a face-to-face unmasked encounter. At 3 feet, it's 14 minutes if one person is contagious (contagion peaks about 3-6 days before fever appears, at which point number of virions emitted through breathing goes down - talking makes them go up again).

Plexiglass barriers do help. That's why so few nurses who work in plexiglass booths (and hand meds through little sliding windows to ward patients who are lined up for them) have gotten ill, whereas those who have to be in rooms with patients, bending over them (even masked) are more likely to get the virus. Virus doesn't survive long on plexiglass (or glass) but does survive fairly well on the metal in operating rooms, where intubation is often done.

Masks probably cut down transmission by 40-75% depending on user error/success and mask choice. Doubling the 3 foot distance probably cuts down another 10%. Not talking probably helps unless the person is at the peak of contagion. Shielding the eyes probably gives another 10%. If the people around you are wearing masks, you can bump the mask percentage up - which is why it's so annoying when people don't wear them.

So, if you live someplace where there aren't that many cases, and you stay 6 feet or more away from other humans, you wear a mask and wrap around sunglasses and you wash your hands 10-12x a day, you're likely to reduce your chance of transmission by about 75-90%. If the plexiglass adds another 5%, I'm good with that - because even vaccines can fail and are not 100%.

If you're in a dry, cool air conditioned space (which adds to contagion) I think you'd want anything at all that would remove some of that risk. If you look at the nations where CoVid outbreaks have been rapidly controlled, many have developed further measures (silicon coated ventilation systems, hepa filters in hospitals from the get-go, distancing in children's classrooms, children learning to wipe down their own desks, many hand washing stations - not just hand sanitizer, etc)



The fastest vaccine ever developed was the mumps vaccine - it took four years.

 

[tmar]

Monkeys steal coronavirus blood samples in India

Monkeys steal coronavirus blood samples in India

4 hrs ago
LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - A troop of monkeys in India attacked a medical official and snatched away blood samples of patients who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, authorities said on Friday.

The attack occurred this week when a laboratory technician was walking in the campus of a state-run medical college in Meerut, 460 km (285 miles) north of Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh state.
...
Authorities said they were not clear if the monkeys had spilled the blood samples, but people living near the leafy campus feared further spread of the virus if the monkeys carried the samples into residential areas.

"No evidence has been found that monkeys can contract the infection," Garg told Reuters.

 

[tmar]

South Africa has virus testing backlog of nearly 100,000

South Africa has virus testing backlog of nearly 100,000

By CARA ANNA, Associated Press
6 hrs ago
...
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa says it has a backlog of nearly 100,000 unprocessed tests for the coronavirus, a striking example of the painful shortage of testing kits and reagents across Africa as cases steadily rise.

“This challenge is caused by the limited availability of test kits globally,” the health ministry said in a statement overnight putting the backlog at 96,480 as of Monday. Priority is given to processing tests from patients admitted to hospitals and health workers, it said.

South Africa has conducted more tests for the virus than any other country in Africa — more than 655,000 — and has the most confirmed cases with 27,403.

One of the latest people to die in South Africa was an employee with the National Health Laboratory Services. “We understand this tragedy will certainly test you,” the ministry said in a message to her colleagues, adding that the government is committed to providing proper protective gear.
That, too, faces shortages across Africa. More than 3,400 health workers on the continent had been infected as of a week ago, according to the World Health Organization.
...
He and others, including the WHO’s Ethiopian director-general, have raised the cry for equitable access, including for any vaccine or treatment that emerges.

Across Africa slightly under 2 million tests for the virus have been conducted, Nkengasong said, far below the target of testing 13 million people — or 1% of the continent’s population of 1.3 billion.
...
So far African nations have relied on tests donated by the Jack Ma Foundation, sourced via partners including the WHO and procured via a newly created platform that pools African countries’ purchasing efforts on the international market.

 

[tmar]

'A lot of nurses don't have a work ethic': An Atlanta drug rehab clinic is accused of firing its entire nursing staff during the pandemic

'A lot of nurses don't have a work ethic': An Atlanta drug rehab clinic is accused of firing its entire nursing staff during the pandemic

Michael Sainato
5 hrs ago
...

• Nurses at a drug rehabilitation clinic in Atlanta say management fired the entire nursing staff in April.
• Two nurses told Business Insider the team was terminated because they refused to take medical orders from the executive director, who does not have a medical background.
• In a phone call shared with Business Insider, the clinic's executive director could be heard saying, "I just assume that a lot of nurses don't have a work ethic. As a group, the nurses seem much more interested in 'whatever is more comfortable for me.'"
  
  While nurses around the world are being praised as heroes on the frontlines, healthcare workers at an Atlanta drug rehabilitation clinic allege management fired the entire nursing staff after characterising them as selfish and lazy.
  But Warren and another nurse allege the team was terminated because they refused to take medical orders from Stephens, who does not have a medical background.
  

 

[LadyL]

India is grappling with an incident straight out of a movie after several monkeys escaped from a laboratory with COVID-19-tainted blood samples in hand.

The monkeys attacked a lab technician before they escaped, the Times of India reports. One of the monkeys was seen eating a surgical glove, according to NDTV.

Monkeys escape lab with COVID-19 samples in ‘Planet of the Apes’ breakout - National | Globalnews.ca

 

[tmar]

99% chance that coronavirus vaccine will work, says Chinese firm

99% chance that coronavirus vaccine will work, says Chinese firm

Tom Cheshire, Asia correspondent
3 hrs ago
...
Chinese scientists working on a COVID-19 vaccine have told Sky News they are "99%" sure it will be effective.

Sinovac, a Beijing-based biotech company, currently has its coronavirus vaccine in stage 2 trials, with more than 1,000 volunteers participating. Sky News is the first British broadcaster to visit its labs.

The company also said it is in preliminary talks to hold stage 3 trials - the final part of the trials process - in the UK.

 

[LadyL]

India - Monkeys escape lab with COVID-19 samples in ‘Planet of the Apes’ breakout - 29 May 2020

 

[TristanP]

What in the actual....

 

[pocketaccent]

6 feet likely not far enough to stop COVID-19 transmission: experts
...

In a perspective article published in the journal Science, three experts wrote that aerosol particles can accumulate and remain infectious in indoor air for hours, while being easily inhaled deep into the lungs.

"Increasing evidence for SARS-CoV-2 suggests the 6 ft WHO recommendation is likely not enough under many indoor conditions where aerosols can remain airborne for hours, accumulate over time, and follow air flows over distances further than 6 ft," they said.

Chia Wang of National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan, as well as Kimberly Prather and Dr. Robert Schooley of the University of California, San Diego, said that a large proportion of the COVID-19 spread appears to be occurring through the airborne transmission of aerosols. They added the transmission was produced by asymptomatic individuals during breathing and speaking.

On Tuesday, the experts said that for society to resume as normal, measures must be implemented to reduce aerosol transmission, which includes the universal wearing of masks -- in addition to widespread testing. They believe both practices could help identify and isolate those infected asymptomatic individuals.
...
The six feet of social distancing guidelines by the WHO is based on studies of respiratory droplets in the 1930s. However, technology didn't exist at the time for detecting tiny aerosol particles, the experts stated.
...

This month, a study by scientists in Hong Kong found that using surgical masks could reduce the rate of non-contact transmission through respiratory droplets or airborne particles by up to 75 percent.
...

 

[jjenny]

Monkeys steal coronavirus blood samples in India

Monkeys steal coronavirus blood samples in India

..

"No evidence has been found that monkeys can contract the infection," Garg told Reuters.

No evidence found that monkeys can contract the infection? I beg to differ. Some of the vaccines developed are being tested on monkeys. If monkeys couldn't contract the infection, it would be impossible to conduct vaccine testing on them.

 

[KALI]

Monkeys steal coronavirus blood samples in India

Monkeys steal coronavirus blood samples in India

4 hrs ago
LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - A troop of monkeys in India attacked a medical official and snatched away blood samples of patients who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, authorities said on Friday.

The attack occurred this week when a laboratory technician was walking in the campus of a state-run medical college in Meerut, 460 km (285 miles) north of Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh state.
...
Authorities said they were not clear if the monkeys had spilled the blood samples, but people living near the leafy campus feared further spread of the virus if the monkeys carried the samples into residential areas.

"No evidence has been found that monkeys can contract the infection," Garg told Reuters.

Wow. Contagion!

 

[KALI]

Horrific imo

South Africa has virus testing backlog of nearly 100,000

South Africa has virus testing backlog of nearly 100,000

By CARA ANNA, Associated Press
6 hrs ago
...
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa says it has a backlog of nearly 100,000 unprocessed tests for the coronavirus, a striking example of the painful shortage of testing kits and reagents across Africa as cases steadily rise.

“This challenge is caused by the limited availability of test kits globally,” the health ministry said in a statement overnight putting the backlog at 96,480 as of Monday. Priority is given to processing tests from patients admitted to hospitals and health workers, it said.

South Africa has conducted more tests for the virus than any other country in Africa — more than 655,000 — and has the most confirmed cases with 27,403.

One of the latest people to die in South Africa was an employee with the National Health Laboratory Services. “We understand this tragedy will certainly test you,” the ministry said in a message to her colleagues, adding that the government is committed to providing proper protective gear.
That, too, faces shortages across Africa. More than 3,400 health workers on the continent had been infected as of a week ago, according to the World Health Organization.
...
He and others, including the WHO’s Ethiopian director-general, have raised the cry for equitable access, including for any vaccine or treatment that emerges.

Across Africa slightly under 2 million tests for the virus have been conducted, Nkengasong said, far below the target of testing 13 million people — or 1% of the continent’s population of 1.3 billion.
...
So far African nations have relied on tests donated by the Jack Ma Foundation, sourced via partners including the WHO and procured via a newly created platform that pools African countries’ purchasing efforts on the international market.

 

[KALI]

Praying this works. Wish it was Sweden instead though.
QUOTE="tmar, post: 16109212, member: 201678"]99% chance that coronavirus vaccine will work, says Chinese firm

99% chance that coronavirus vaccine will work, says Chinese firm

Tom Cheshire, Asia correspondent
3 hrs ago
...
Chinese scientists working on a COVID-19 vaccine have told Sky News they are "99%" sure it will be effective.

Sinovac, a Beijing-based biotech company, currently has its coronavirus vaccine in stage 2 trials, with more than 1,000 volunteers participating. Sky News is the first British broadcaster to visit its labs.

The company also said it is in preliminary talks to hold stage 3 trials - the final part of the trials process - in the UK.[/QUOTE]

 

[tmar]

Coronavirus started spreading in the U.S. in January, CDC says

(NOTE: loads of info about early cases)

Coronavirus started spreading in the U.S. in January, CDC says

Erika Edwards
40 mins ago
...
The coronavirus began quietly spreading in the U.S. as early as late January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday — before President Trump blocked air travel from China and a full month before community spread was first detected in the country.

More than four months into the pandemic that has killed at least 102,000 Americans, the new data is the first comprehensive federal analysis of when COVID-19 took hold in the U.S.
...
The CDC traced the early spread in several ways, including what's called syndromic surveillance of emergency department records, tests of respiratory specimens and analyses of the virus's genetic sequences from early cases.
...
Additionally, three separate COVID-19 cases in California confirmed "cryptic circulation of the virus by early February," the CDC authors wrote.

"Information from these diverse data sources suggests that limited community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States occurred between the latter half of January and the beginning of February, following an importation of SARS-CoV-2 from China," the authors wrote. SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 illness.
...
The virus then came into the U.S. from Europe, the CDC reported. "The findings do show that in late February, early March, there were several importations of the virus from Europe to California and northeastern United States and possibly elsewhere," Redfield said.

There was no indication the virus had been introduced into the U.S. earlier, in November or December 2019. "We looked for evidence of early widespread transmission and could not confirm it," Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases at the CDC, said during the media briefing Friday.
...
Health officials announced the first coronavirus case in the U.S. four months ago, on January 21. The patient, a man in his 30s who lived outside of Seattle, flew home on January 15 after traveling in Wuhan, China, where the pandemic originated.

But the CDC said it will likely never be known if the man was the first person in the U.S. with the virus. Now that it's clear COVID-19 can be spread among people who never have symptoms, it's even possible the man was infected by an asymptomatic passenger on the same flight from Wuhan.

It wasn't until January 30 when the CDC announced the first evidence of person-to-person spread — a married couple in Chicago. During a call with reporters on that day, Redfield said, "Based on what we know now, our assessment remains that the immediate risk to the American public is low."

 

[tmar]

Indian authorities probe deaths of migrant workers on trains

Indian authorities probe deaths of migrant workers on trains

7 hrs ago
...
NEW DELHI (AP) — A senior Indian railway official said Friday that authorities are investigating whether some migrant workers died of starvation or heat sickness this week while traveling on special trains to their home villages in blazing heat after losing their jobs in cities because of the coronavirus lockdown.
...
Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav said more than 5 million migrant workers and their families were transported this month from cities and towns to their home villages on 3,840 trains. He said 80% returned to two of India’s 28 states, eastern Bihar and northern Uttar Pradesh.
...
Indian media reported at least a dozen deaths in the past week on the trains, including a 35-year-old woman who was found in Muzaffarpur in Bihar state. A video of her body lying in the train station with her toddler playing nearby was widely shared on social media.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this Saturday, May 23, 2020, file photo, migrant workers line up to board trains to their home states at a railway station in Hyderabad, India. The head of India's massive railway system said Friday, May 29, that authorities are investigating whether some migrant workers died of starvation or sickness this week while traveling on special trains to their home villages in blazing heat after losing their jobs in cities because of the coronavirus lockdown. Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav said more than 5 million migrant workers and their families this month from cities and towns to their home villages on 3,840 trains. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A., File)