Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #62

[ilovewings]

Yes, cases have gone up. But deaths have decreased by 90%.

And I think that is because the age of the cases has gone from average age of 62 down to average age of 37.

All us old folks that haven't died already, are hiding out at home. So the virus is finding new hosts that are much younger. And they are not dying at the same high rates. JMO

Good point: i know i am hiding out at home: we only go to the grocery store--- period. what you say makes a good deal of sense. younger people are definitely contracting the disease, most of them with few or no symptoms and recovering. The question of course is are they spreading it to older folks?

 

[tresir2012]

'Men make better coronavirus plasma donors'

Interesting.

Men who have had coronavirus are being urged to donate plasma from their blood to be used in research into treatments for Covid-19.

Studies suggest men are more likely to become seriously ill and therefore produce higher levels of antibodies than women.

This means their plasma could be more useful for saving lives.

NHS Blood and Transplant says the plasma could be used to treat hospital patients if trials are successful.

It started requesting blood and plasma from Covid survivors in April and, by mid-May, nearly 600 people had donated their plasma.

Of the donations from men, 43% had high enough levels of antibodies to be used in trials, compared with just 29% of those from women.

Higher antibody levels were also more often found in older patients, Asian patients and those who had been treated in hospital for Covid-19.

 

[SouthAussie]

Are you worrying about a second wave in Oz, as you are in midwinter too right? What are your thoughts?

Yes, mid-winter here. Most of our states are covid free (or almost covid free) with no local transmission ... so there is really no second wave to be had at the moment. I don't know if the flu vac is helping - we were all encouraged to get our flu vacs this year, and many complied.

Victoria and NSW have been isolated from the rest of the country (other states borders are closed to them). These are the two states that are receiving returning Aussies - some testing positive for the virus while in mandatory hotel quarantine.
Unfortunately, Victoria has some local transmission .... but they are jumping on that pretty hard, so we are hoping it will be contained soon.

Watching the flare-ups in the southern US states makes me wonder how much the hot weather helps.

 

[mickey2942]

Some of the news stories that popped up today. I'm sure there are more:

Coronavirus kills Florida 17-year-old, marking youngest COVID-19 death in state

Hamilton County reports second child death from coronavirus

Allegheny Co. Health Dept. Announces Death Of 23-Year-Old Coronavirus Patient, Bringing County Death Toll To 179

This is grim news. Especially when talking about going back to school in the Fall.

Can anything stop this "free fall" and cascading domino effect? Schools closed, people who have kids are really in a bind, jobs are being lost...

Some things that will be coming out soon, TSA is going to have to RIF people, there just isn't the work. USCIS is going to furlough 15,000 government employees in a month, and this in turn will put other businesses out of work.

Going to "Smiles" thread for awhile.

 

[JerseyGirl]

‘Grim reaper’ coming for Florida bars that don't follow guidelines
Finally -

Good! He was haunting them in early May on the Floridian beaches:

A lawyer dressed as the Grim Reaper is haunting Florida beaches to protest their reopening - CNN

 

[Footwarrior]

There's obviously a weekly cycle of reporting deaths. It's easier to see here:

View attachment 252440

United States Coronavirus: 2,424,493 Cases and 123,476 Deaths - Worldometer

Taking 2 individual days for comparison is statistically misleading. Otherwise I could just take Sunday's total of 267, compare it yesterday's 863 and claim deaths have increased by over 300% in the last 3 days.

I have no idea what the blue tick is for on his twitter profile, but if he's supposed to be a journalist he should be ashamed of himself.

But that's my guess as to why it's not getting more MSM coverage (it's not true).

The weekly cycle in death reports is an artifact created by paperwork not always getting done on the weekends.

The charts are also affected by the time it takes for this disease to progress and for the data to be processed.

A person infected with COVID-19 will not see symptoms immediately. Those normally show up 5 to 7 days later. Here in Colorado it typically takes another 5 days for the person to decide to get tested and for the test results to show up in our state data. The new cases we count today are people that were infected 10 to 12 days ago.

Deaths from COVID-19 are typically 15 to 20 days after the patient develops symptoms. It about a week for the death to be reported to the state and included in the official statistics. The deaths being reported today are from infections that happened four to six weeks ago.

We have to make decisions going forward based on what we see looking backwards. The good news is that we have some understanding about how this disease spreads and can create models to predict the future.

 

[ilovewings]

Good! He was haunting them in early May on the Floridian beaches:

A lawyer dressed as the Grim Reaper is haunting Florida beaches to protest their reopening - CNN

He should move his act to bars where they are drinking and standing shoulder to shoulder

 

[tresir2012]

Beloved 17-year-old Cypress Lake HS student dies of COVID-19

This article says she is the second 17 yo to die in Florida.

WINK News confirmed 17-year-old Carsyn Davis died of COVID-19 recently. She attended Cypress Lake High School.

Online, there is already an outpouring of support for Davis, who, as is evident, made an enormous impact on her community.

We confirmed Davis was airlifted from Golisano Children Hospital to Miami before she died from complications of COVID-19 Tuesday.

Davis was a member of the Cypress lake High School vocal department. The group posted online that it is heartbroken by the loss of a “young lady who brought so much light into the world.”

 

[ilovewings]

Challenge trials aren't the answer to a speedy Covid-19 vaccine - STAT

Challenge trials with the coronavirus may not be such a good idea.
This article pretty much describes concerns about trying to rush a vaccine too quickly.

 

[tresir2012]

Florida Airport Has Virus Numbers Contradicting Governor

Not sure if this has been posted.

DeSantis said at a news conference on Tuesday, while talking about outbreaks around the state in the past week, that an airport in central Florida — which he didn't identify — had tested 500 workers and that 260 cases had come back positive.

“52% positivity rate on that one," DeSantis said.

Not Kidding, Florida Woman Sues for...

Restaurants Across South Florida Calling...
But Phil Brown, CEO of Orlando International Airport, said in a statement Wednesday that last week's rate of positive cases from the 500 workers tested last week was only 0.4%. His statement was issued to clear up “what can be a confusing mix of data for the traveling public," he said.

 

[MrX]

Can anything stop this "free fall" and cascading domino effect? Schools closed, people who have kids are really in a bind, jobs are being lost...

Yes - accept that the virus is here and live with it. Check out of society or take your chances.

I'm curious what people think when they read these same threads, week after week, lamenting rising numbers, staying isolated at home, with no solution on the horizon. It's long past time for people to stop wishing for testing/tracing/distancing in the U.S.

You bring up a great point about people with kids and jobs - there are very real, day-to-day concerns that are way bigger than the virus to deal with - they don't have the luxury of watching this from the safety of retirement.

 

[JerseyGirl]

The EU is discussing reopening its borders, and U.S. citizens could remain barred

Thirty European countries decided to close their external borders in March to contain the spread of Covid-19. The travel restriction has been extended three times but it’s now due to end on Tuesday.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, suggested that European nations should open their internal borders by June 15 and slowly lift the travel ban on foreign visitors from July 1. The Commission also said that reopening external borders should be a coordinated exercise among European governments and reviewed on a regular basis.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks, added that representatives of the EU governments on Wednesday discussed the criteria for lifting the travel restrictions from abroad. That meeting finished without an agreement and representatives will meet again on Friday. At the moment, the main requirement would be the coronavirus infection rate in the country of origin, the official said.

A second EU official, who also didn’t want to be named, said: “The gradual reopening of EU external borders will be based on risk assessments based on best available scientific evidence. Travel from some third countries is likely to be allowed only a bit later, health situation allowing. Not decided yet which countries that would apply to, but (the) U.S. unfortunately is a candidate.”

 

[MajorHoople]

I wonder why McDonald's needs so many new employees?


Mcdonald’s Looks To Hire 260,000 People This Summer

"McDonald’s announced plans to hire more than 200,000 people this summer in the U.S. as it returns to normal business operations.

CNN reported that the added staffing comes as the restaurant chains prepare to reopen its dining rooms after many were closed due to the pandemic. The company laid out safety precautions for reopening, including social distancing, blocked-off tables, and closing its self-serve beverage bar.

More than 95 percent of its restaurants have continued to operate in some capacity through the shutdowns.

"We've put new minimum national standards and nearly 50 new processes in place in our restaurants as they continue to reopen safely and judiciously," said Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald's USA, in Thursday's press release. The company employs around 850,000 people in the United States."

 

[MrX]

I wonder why McDonald's needs so many new employees?

Probably because those getting the extra $600/wk unemployment think that's going to last forever.

 

[tresir2012]

Probably because those getting the extra $600/wk unemployment think that's going to last forever.

And maybe the existing ones don't want to wear a mask. I guess they will be mandatory?

 

[margarita25]

MSNBC is showing the holding area for today's rally in Phoenix, AZ. A few hundred people crammed together, and NOT A SINGLE PERSON WEARING A MASK. I kid you not. There was literally Nobody. The reporter mentioned the temperature would be 109 degrees today, the rally doesn't start for several more hours. He was standing beside a rotating fan blowing onto the crowd, and pointing out that fact, saying "hopefully this is not blowing the virus around."

Then he made the mistake of interviewing some of the people. OH MY GOD! They cut to a commentator who said, "It's like talking to my 15 Month old."

Hi, catching up.

I saw the news about the Phoenix rally—-all the young people, whom we know now account for large numbers of transmissions (I have posted infinite links on this), we know may be likely to spread this around further. Of course not all young people are being irresponsible, but many are (as are older people).

Phoenix is seeing such high numbers.

And all crammed in together indoors, cheering, no masks...

Makes zero sense and this is flat out terrifying that this is unfolding the way it is.

I don’t want to sound like a broken record but this is unacceptable and scary on so many levels as related to CV going forward.


<modsnip: quoted post was removed>

 

[JerseyGirl]

Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah, and Texas --- NY, NJ and CT say quarantine or stay away!

Travelers arriving to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut from regions with spiking Covid-19 infections rates will be subject to a 14-day quarantine, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday.

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut impose 14-day quarantine on travelers from coronavirus hotspot states

"As of today, the states that are above that level are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah, Texas," he said. "That's as of today. The states themselves can change as the infection rate changes and we will update daily what states are above that infection rate."

New York City began its phase two reopening on Monday, which allowed for in-store retail, outdoor dining and hair salons and barbershops to reopen with modifications.

On Tuesday, Cuomo said the city reported 1.2% of all tests conducted were positive. New York state reported a positivity rate of 1.1%.

Cuomo noted that coronavirus cases are rising across 27 states in the U.S. "Nationally, we should admit the reality. Denial is not a life strategy. It never is. Those 27 states are going up. More people are being infected and more lives will be lost," he said.

 

[JerseyGirl]

NYC Marathon, set for Nov. 1, canceled over virus

New York Road Runners announced the cancellation of the world's largest marathon after coordinating with the mayor's office and deciding the race posed too many health and safety concerns for runners, volunteers, spectators and others.

This is the second time in a decade that the New York City Marathon has been canceled. The 2012 race was called off following damage to the city caused by Hurricane Sandy.

Runners signed for the 2020 marathon will have the option of receiving a refund or deferring their entry to 2021, 2022 or 2023.

The 2021 New York City Marathon is scheduled for Nov. 7.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Arizona reported a record high of 3,591 new cases Tuesday, with nearly 60,000 known cases in the state overall. The swell in cases came as President Trump held a rally at a Phoenix megachurch Tuesday.

There was a surge in the number of inpatient beds occupied by positive or suspected COVID-19 patients, with 2,136 beds occupied, compared to 1,992 Sunday.

Meanwhile, 84%of intensive care unit beds were in use at Arizona hospitals and 83% of inpatient beds were in use as of Monday.

Facilities were also beginning to fall short in staffing of nurses and respiratory technicians, who help manage the ventilators.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said the majority of the cases were in the age ranges of 20-44.

Ducey originally blocked local lawmakers from being able to mandate that their residents wear masks, but he backtracked on that decision Wednesday. He has not issued a statewide version of such an order.

The state lifted its stay-at-home order in May.

Coronavirus hospitalizations surge in Arizona, Texas

 

[margarita25]

Coronavirus ‘Contact Tracer’ is One of the Most In-Demand Jobs Right Now. Here’s How to Get Hired

I applied but bilingual is a requirement - hey it’s worth a shot!

Bilingual is not a requirement for all contact tracing jobs.

I have officially been a contact tracer for some weeks now.

Imagine how a contact tracer feels, spending their time trying to help break the chains of transmission, advising people to stay home and wear a mask, when top leadership says and does otherwise. Imagine the kick in the face and the gut and the heart it is to us and our work, and the resistance we feel.