Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #64

[JerseyGirl]

Lithuania has issued a new collector’s coin to mark the coronavirus crisis, bearing the inscription:

“After darkness, I hope for light”

The coin features rays of light illuminating the year 2020 while the perspective shadow of the date forms the international distress signal SOS.

 

[tresir2012]

To understand the danger of COVID-19 outbreaks in meatpacking plants, look at the industry's history

Think of hundreds or thousands of workers that all need to clock in or swipe a badge for their shift.
They have to swipe a badge, get a temp check (or go thru thermal scanning) and go thru turnstiles to get to their work area/station.

Going in - usually one entrance for employees, lined up, touching the person in front of them. You can’t social distance and get everyone in the building unless you start an hour before each shift and space people apart.

People huddled in the smoking area just outside the door access with masks off to smoke, talking while smoking, break rooms or communal eating areas. Pulling down masks to talk over the noise.

A lot of retrofits needed in these older plants and not sure if all were successful due to the age/setup of the plant.

Also I have read they have to keep the areas cold and Covid likes cool temperatures, so possible A/C moving infected air around.

Why are there outbreaks in meat processing plants?

 

[JerseyGirl]

No live fireworks, no low flying jets, no star-studded concert on Parliament Hill, and no crowds of tourists:

Canada’s official birthday celebrations today for the first time ever will be completely online. The night will end with Canadians holding their mobile devices to the sky to watch a virtual fireworks show.

Coronavirus live news: Australia puts 300,000 back into lockdown; tourist flights to Greece resume

Happy Birthday Canada!

 

[tresir2012]

Dupe

 

[ilovewings]

My husband just dropped a bombshell on me: he tells me he was talking to our neighbors across the street (they are perhaps 40): the wife told him they both tested positive for the virus. I am like, well how close did you get to the wife- well, not too close he says; well, what the hell is not too freaking close? he doesn't bother asking when they tested positive- was it a month ago, two days ago? i swear he is going to get us both sick. How long did he talk to her? i don't know. He was on his way out the door so i have to talk to him when he comes back about exactly how damn close he got to her outside of her house??? Both of them could still be contagious if the infection was recent.

 

[SouthAussie]

Airlines defend moves to full-capacity flights

The airline industry defended American Airlines for its new policy to fill planes to capacity following criticism from(CDC) Director Robert Redfield over concerns about spreading the coronavirus.

Redfield said there was “substantial disappointment with American Airlines” about the move in a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

Airlines for America (A4A), which represents and advocates for major U.S. airlines, defended the decision to fill planes on the basis that maintaining social distancing isn’t possible on planes anyway. American Airlines is a member of A4A.

“You can’t social distance on an airplane. We believe there are safety measures in place on a multilevel basis that makes flying safe, in fact safer than many other activities,” A4A CEO Nicholas Calio told reporters on a press call following Redfield’s statement.

Can't say that other airlines agree. When my friend returned to the US about a month ago, United Airlines seated everyone with 2 empty seats between them, and no-one directly in front or behind. Mandatory masks and sanitising, as well.

 

[tresir2012]

View attachment 253647

Map in The NY Times yesterday.

Red = hot spots
Dark orange = rising numbers
Lighter orange = steady numbers
Blue = falling numbers

Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count

Wow look at Florida, like a big red thumb. Was that the protests and disturbances around Tampa and Miami caused that?

 

[SouthAussie]

Wow look at Florida, like a big red thumb. Was that the protests and disturbances around Tampa and Miami caused that?

The NY Times also published a 'deaths' map in yesterday's article.



These are interactive maps, where you can hover over the different states and get more detail.

Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count

 

[musicaljoke]

Coronavirus overwhelms intensive care units near border

How Imperial County, along California-Mexico border, is handling a bi-national health crisis

White House eyes travel from Mexico as source of virus spike | Daily Mail Online

Three more articles.

If this is the major reason for the higher cases in these border states, then closing bars is not going to help IMO.

It's highly doubtful that cross border travel for treatment in California is the major, or even minor reason for the spike in cases. It is, however, a handy scapegoat for poor management practices. jmo

 

[beatrixpotter]

FLORIDA: Growing number of children in Hillsborough, Pinellas counties test positive for COVID-19

Since June 12:

Hillsborough County has seen 352 new cases in children -- that represents a 162.96% increase.

Pinellas County has reported a 200% increase with 212 new cases in children younger than 17.

As of midday on June 30, the hospital bed capacity dashboard showed 29.67% pediatric ICU availability for both Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

Hillsborough and Pinellas are not the only counties in Tampa Bay with children testing positive for COVID-19, however, they are the only two counties that report pediatric ICU bed availability.

Is my math right? "In three weeks, there have been 3,790 new cases according to the weekly pediatric data reports released by Florida Health." and "When it comes to children hospitalized, the numbers are much less. As of June 26, the state reported 155 children hospitalized." So does that mean 4 percent of kids infected in the last 3 weeks in Florida are hospitalized? Doesn't that actually seem kind of high for a disease not supposed to affect children much? Does the flu ever put that many kids in the hospital?

 

[JerseyGirl]

Wow look at Florida, like a big red thumb. Was that the protests and disturbances around Tampa and Miami caused that?

Nope. I don't even think there were any major protests in Florida. Florida's problem was a full month of Spring Break in March and still allowing vacationers in April, not closing any beaches, not closing bars or restaurants, a mid-shutdown in April but people still went out and about without masks to beaches and parks. Florida is hot, they don't want to sit in the air conditioning all day. Also, not all Florida beaches were shut down, people were traveling all over the state to open beaches, which were very crowded. In May, the Governor saw an uptick in cases and tried to blame in on people escaping NY and NJ. But now he blames it on the "young" people he opened those beaches, bars and restaurants to and not requiring masks at all, still to this day.

 

[beatrixpotter]

Back on April 20 when Georgia started reopening, there were reactions like this:

Washington Post:
Georgia leads the race to become America’s No. 1 Death Destination

The Atlantic:
Georgia’s Experiment in Human Sacrifice
The state is about to find out how many people need to lose their lives to shore up the economy.

Former Washington bureau chief at the Associated Press Ron Fournier:
“Mark this day. Because two and three weeks from now, the Georgia death toll is blood on his hands. And as Georgians move around the country, they’ll spread more death and economic destruction.”

But it’s now July 1, more than two months later. Over the past week, Georgia’s 7-day moving average of COVID deaths has been between 17 and 20–the best week since early April.

Georgia’s overall rate of COVID deaths (264 per 1 million) has remained well under the rate across the US as a whole (393 per 1 million), and remains dwarfed by the rate in the states such as New York (1,652), New Jersey (1,709), Connecticut (1,212), and Massachusetts (1,169), and far below other states such as Louisiana (695), Michigan (620), Illinois (562), and Pennsylvania (524).

When we first opened up everyone wore masks. That's stopped. As each week goes by I see less and less wearing them. Our numbers were level for quite some time. They are now skyrocketing. We won't know for a few weeks how that pans out death wise. But we are sure as heck not doing a good job here containing anything.

Surely you know by now how the CFR lags? Our numbers basically tripled daily in only the last week or two. If it's over all less fatal here now that would be amazing! But I am personally not thrilled with how this is spiraling out of control here number wise.

 

[COSCitizen]

Nope. I don't even think there were any major protests in Florida. Florida's problem was a full month of Spring Break in March and still allowing vacationers in April, not closing any beaches, not closing bars or restaurants, a mid-shutdown in April but people still went out and about without masks to beaches and parks. Florida is hot, they don't want to sit in the air conditioning all day. Also, not all Florida beaches were shut down, people were traveling all over the state to open beaches, which were very crowded. In May, the Governor saw an uptick in cases and tried to blame in on people escaping NY and NJ. But now he blames it on the "young" people he opened those beaches, bars and restaurants to and not requiring masks at all, still to this day.

I wonder if the protests about police lawbreaking actually helped the rates. At least it kept a lot of "young" people out of the bars while they were protesting, in the nice fresh air and sunshine.

 

[beatrixpotter]

Uh, I don't agree. I read stories about meat processing plants when I and some friends had symptoms of COVID in April!
We are convinced we got it from a local butcher.
However, with that being said, our tests were negative.
Even though I am 53 and haven't had a temperature over 100° since 1998.
I had a 103.7°. 91% O² saturation that dipped to 89% if I talked or walked. Shortness of breath and headache.
I got COVID "toe" and my right foot peeled an entire layer of skin.
My pinky toe nail turned black and the tip of my toe did too.
(About a month after I was sick)
I am still short of breath and have tiredness.
I'd get the antibody test if I had any faith the it was reliable, but I don't.
MOO

I'm so sorry you were so sick. I'd get the test anyway. It's my understanding that the more antibody tests done the more it effects it's accuracy. I can't for the life of me remember why that worked. I don't think I understood when I read the initial article on it.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Hollowed out public health system faces more cuts amid virus | Xfinity

The U.S. public health system has been starved for decades and lacks the resources to confront the worst health crisis in a century.

Marshaled against a virus that has sickened at least 2.6 million in the U.S., killed more than 126,000 people and cost tens of millions of jobs and $3 trillion in federal rescue money, state and local government health workers on the ground are sometimes paid so little, they qualify for public aid.

They track the coronavirus on paper records shared via fax. Working seven-day weeks for months on end, they fear pay freezes, public backlash and even losing their jobs...

 

[oviedo]

Wow look at Florida, like a big red thumb. Was that the protests and disturbances around Tampa and Miami caused that?

I can't help but think the lack of state wide mandatory mask rules (STILL) have led to this - it's not helpful at all leaving it up to the cities/counties to decide on their own. Memorial Day weekend people were gathering everywhere - no social distancing, no masks - and bars were opened and serving all last month. I wish I could work from home and not go out at all now.
JMO

 

[tresir2012]

Nope. I don't even think there were any major protests in Florida. Florida's problem was a full month of Spring Break in March and still allowing vacationers in April, not closing any beaches, not closing bars or restaurants, a mid-shutdown in April but people still went out and about without masks to beaches and parks. Florida is hot, they don't want to sit in the air conditioning all day. Also, not all Florida beaches were shut down, people were traveling all over the state to open beaches, which were very crowded. In May, the Governor saw an uptick in cases and tried to blame in on people escaping NY and NJ. But now he blames it on the "young" people he opened those beaches, bars and restaurants to and not requiring masks at all, still to this day.

Apparently there were some major ones in Dade and Brevard Counties IMO.

BREAKTHROUGH TREATMENT

Has anyone heard about this steroid breakthrough that is cutting treatment time by a third? Someone just told me about it on the phone so I googled and it has been in the news for more than two weeks. See link below.

Life-saving coronavirus drug 'major breakthrough'

"A cheap and widely available drug can help save the lives of patients seriously ill with coronavirus.

The low-dose steroid treatment dexamethasone is a major breakthrough in the fight against the deadly virus, UK experts say.

The drug is part of the world's biggest trial testing existing treatments to see if they also work for coronavirus.

It cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators. For those on oxygen, it cut deaths by a fifth.

Had the drug had been used to treat patients in the UK from the start of the pandemic, up to 5,000 lives could have been saved, researchers say.

Media captionKatherine Millbank spent 15 days in hospital and was put on the drug trial
And it could be of huge benefit in poorer countries with high numbers of Covid-19 patients.

The UK government has 200,000 courses of the drug in its stockpile and says the NHS will make dexamethasone available to patients.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there was a genuine case to celebrate "a remarkable British scientific achievement", adding: "We have taken steps to ensure we have enough supplies, even in the event of a second peak."

Chief Medical Officer for England Prof Chris Whitty said it would save lives around the world.

• What is dexamethasone and how does it work?
• Latest coronavirus updates
• The drug combination that may help us beat Covid-19

About 19 out of 20 patients with coronavirus recover without being admitted to hospital.

Of those who are admitted, most also recover but some may need oxygen or mechanical ventilation.

And these are the high-risk patients dexamethasone appears to help."

MORE AT LINK.

I cannot believe I have not heard of it.

ETA I just searched the last three threads and we did briefly mention it when it was announced on the 16th June and it was sort of joked about then but it seems like a real winner.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

Apparently there were some major ones in Dade and Brevard Counties IMO.

BREAKTHROUGH TREATMENT

Has anyone heard about this steroid breakthrough that is cutting treatment time by a third? Someone just told me about it on the phone so I googled and it has been in the news for more than two weeks. See link below.

Life-saving coronavirus drug 'major breakthrough'

Yes. We talked about it here.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Austin Mayor Steve Adler said the Texas capital has about two weeks to stem the tide of rising coronavirus cases, and the “messaging war” between state and national leaders could lead to potentially devastating consequences.

We have literally two weeks, if that, to be able to change the trajectory we're on, or we're going to be set at a place that overwhelms our hospitals,” he said.

Coronavirus pandemic: The latest updates from around the world

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he’s going to stop listening to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and key member of the White House’s coronavirus task force.

“It's that kind of messaging, it's the messaging also coming out of Washington that's really making for one of our most significant challenges and problems,” Adler said.

“The messaging coming from our lieutenant governor and from Washington is that there isn't a problem, that we shouldn't be wearing masks. It creates a confused message for my community,” Adler said, adding that “this messaging war that we're on right now is not helpful.”

 

[musicaljoke]

FDA: Coronavirus vaccine would have to be at least 50% effective

Great. Super comforting thought.

I see from the article that the FDA is already thinking that there may be pressure from the White House to release an untested vaccine just before the next election, so yes, there is a modest amount of comfort from seeing them put that concern into the discussion.