Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #69

[ZoriahNZ]

I went to lunch today and took my wife's car. Got to the restaurant and realized I didn't have a mask. Car was loaded with kitchenware from someone we are helping move - I found an old dirty apron and wrapped that around my face. It got quite the reaction from the staff, so at least they are paying attention!

I had to use a scarf one time when I forgot my mask while grocery shopping. Good on you for doing your best to keep people safe!

Edited: Oops sorry for the double post!

 

[tabitha111]

Abdominal and testicular pain: An atypical presentation of COVID-19

Am J Emerg Med. 2020 Jul; 38(7): 1542.e1–1542.e3.

This case report describes a man who was referred to the ED for abdominal and testicular pain who was subsequently found to test positive for COVID-19. Due to the lack of respiratory symptoms, proper protective equipment (PPE) was not donned, and it led to several patients and health care workers being exposed.

Oh this is just AWFUL! HCW need to always wear PPE - no matter what, we just don't know enough about this virus!

 

[WichitaFalls]

WATCH: Full interview with Fauci on reopening schools, coronavirus vaccine and White House tension

The U.S. needs a “reset” on moving to the next phase of reopening to get areas of the U.S. where cases are spiking under control, says Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert.

Americans can successfully reboot efforts to contain the coronavirus if everyone wears face masks and steers clear of crowds, and if places like bars close, Fauci told the PBS NewsHour managing editor and anchor Judy Woodruff.

“I think if we do that, for a couple of weeks in a row… I think we’re going to see a turnaround because we know that that works,” Fauci said.

U.S. cases and deaths tied to the virus continue to grow as states reopen their economies. Some states in recent weeks have had to scale back reopening plans as cases and deaths surged. The United States has drawn criticism for the way it has handled the pandemic. It’s now the world’s epicenter for the virus with roughly a quarter of all global deaths and more than 3.6 million confirmed cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
WATCH: Full interview with Fauci on reopening schools, coronavirus vaccine and White House tension

 

[10ofRods]

Some good news:

MIT partners to make a rapid CoVid test.

There's an "explosion" of new ways to test for CoVid, which will aid immensely in controlling it.

Canadians have figured out a super-mask that guards against 99% of CoVid virions.

Some...interesting news:

Speech may be a main transmitter of CoVid. (up there with sneezing and coughing). Speech produces droplets, not aerosols like breathing. I have to say that as someone with a professional interest in European prehistory/plagues, it makes me wonder about how certain customs developed as a response to infection (standing shoulder to shoulder and slightly spaced while talking, there's certainly a military aspect to it - but also, a plague-fighting aspect).

 

[musicaljoke]

It comes directly from the test results. The same results that each county submits to the CDC and to the State.

It is higher than WHO recommends, which is why the governor has done what he's gone and basically gone back to Stage 1 (sometimes with even more restrictions) for the some 30 counties or so that are causing that number to be what it is.

San Francisco County, OTOH, is fine (low positivity rate, lots of testing, few deaths, etc). It gets to stay in whatever stage it's in.

It was certainly not pulled out of the air and anyone who wishes to calculate it can go back through the already published data and come up with the same number. My own county has seen a rise in positivity (which is one of the things that gets a county on the watch list) along with too few ICU beds in several cities. So we don't get to have in person school until that changes.

We might be misunderstanding one another. The 8% which I spoke of, was "the state’s self-imposed benchmark of keeping the positivity rate at 8 percent or less before reopening the economy.” (quoted from the o.p.)

How did the state come up with the benchmark of 8% when the WHO benchmark was 5%?

 

[tabitha111]

One positive from all of this was discovering food shopping at Walmart. We'd always just go to our local chain, but started trying Walmart. Amazed at the price difference on the same items, and for whatever reason their cheap meat makes great burgers.

If you really want to be blown away by how much you can save...try ALDI...I am an ALDI addict....beats Walmart hands down.

 

[musicaljoke]

This is expressly about schools reopening, a very important subject which needs addressing.

And as was pointed out in that article, they didn't ask for just Redfield. They said ANYONE from the CDC. There's no excuse for not letting a single official from the CDC testify about something so vital for public health.



It's their job to collect and disseminate information which is important for public safety. It's their job to make recommendations and public guidelines based on scientific consensus. And yet once again the CDC is being gagged. The guidelines for reopening schools is also being held back from being published. Why?



The same thing happened in May when the CDC worked on a 17 page report for COVID-19 guidelines for reopening. Again, why?

AP report: Trump administration shelves CDC guide to reopening country

The number of people who will die because the CDC has been neutralized is just staggering. I'm sure if you asked Americans six months ago if this could ever happen, they'd think it was unimaginable. It's like cutting the strings on your parachute.

jmo

 

[SouthAussie]

Why are we worrying about power outages? Jmo

I have been wondering the same thing. Why would the power go out due to covid?
And if the power does go out due to winter storms, surely there will still be workers to fix the problem?
Covid is not affecting everyone with the same levels of severity.

 

[155etta]

The curve upwards on deaths shows a small but rising uptick about 5-7 days after the case numbers go up, but really hits the top of the curve around 2-4 weeks out. So we wait. In this most recent round of cases, there are proportionately fewer people 80+ and way more 18-44. We're probably still looking at 2% of cases dying, at least (I hope I'm wrong), maybe 3%.

Right now, we stand at ~3.8% known case mortality rate.

That would mean that if we do hit 100,000 new cases a day as some are predicting, we'd see 2000-3800 deaths per day about a month or so after (probably less, since obviously, hospitals will be full, etc). My guess is that it will be 3000 per day.

The people wearing lace masks are despicable and ridiculous. I can't say what I think about this and stay within ToS.

I hope and pray that today's numbers will be the same or slightly better than yesterday's, even though at 75,000 new cases a day, we are still looking at 2,000 deaths per day in future (at the peak, with some deaths occurring early and later than the peak). It'll probably peak at 2200-2500 deaths for a few days.

That's almost one 9-11 event per day.

We're going to be at 150,000 deaths total in about 10 days in any case. So much was preventable.

I'd love to see headlines from everyone's local papers (or close to local). I'm noticing that in some places, CoVid isn't much of a front page story, other places it is. My city's "newspaper" has almost only CoVid news (this is new), because they're closing government buildings (again) and we're down to only 5 ICU beds in the main hospital.

I'm also really curious as to how many of you still have cable television?

Headline from my hometown. Sigh.
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2020/...L8DqDYGkzZO-vI9-4loNEbx7-tACDHD4yWo3noXZjUYhg

 

[155etta]

the only way to prepare for a power outage is with a generator-and they cost a fortune

And fuel to run it. A lot of fuel.

 

[CSIDreamer]

Headline from my hometown. Sigh.
Rexburg City Council votes against mandatory masks, passes resolution encouraging them | East Idaho News

I've been thinking about this mask issue all day. I really think retailers are getting it right. Private businesses need to require masks. If the business enforces it, LE can back them up if they call for help as in fights, unruly customers, customers refusing to leave, etc. Win, win. Jmo

 

[Bravo]

I think the power failure discussion stemmed from folks talking about stocking up their freezers. Some live in areas of very active weather causing power failures and the chance of losing all the foods they have frozen. Reasonable concern.

 

[SouthAussie]

Headline from my hometown. Sigh.
Rexburg City Council votes against mandatory masks, passes resolution encouraging them | East Idaho News

Half measures. Why is everyone so afraid of going the whole hog and implementing tough measures?
Getting on top of this virus will take nothing less than tough measures. imo

 

[Tillicum]

And fuel to run it. A lot of fuel.

Unless it's solar powered.

 

[SouthAussie]

Unless it's solar powered.

That would work well in southern states. Not so well in the cold and snowy northern areas.

 

[Bravo]

I do think the mask issue should come from the top. It has to be unnerving for stores trying to enforce it. Fights, shootings etc etc. Stores have enough on their plate. Keeping themselves safe and their customers.

 

[CSIDreamer]

I do think the mask issue should come from the top. It has to be unnerving for stores trying to enforce it. Fights, shootings etc etc. Stores have enough on their plate. Keeping themselves safe and their customers.

The governors, though, need an entire state to get on board. That's hard. If the retailers push it, it makes it very local. Jmo

 

[SA55]

Why are we worrying about power outages? Jmo

Earlier today @gngr-snap posted an entry referencing a conversation she had with someone as below. I replied the “power outage “ was a concern of mine because I have no way to prepare - I believe that’s how this was started
“His comment was "think about how you are set up for food, water, power and medical supplies. (Not so different than hurricaine planning)"
"I hope that you are taking steps to prepare yourself for uncertainty."

 

[CharlestonGal]

Poor Texas.

COVID 19: State count tops 307,000, area count nears 8,000, death tolls rise

The state reported a total of 307,572 cases Friday, an increase of 14,916 over Thursday, but said the count included about 4,600 earlier cases from Bexar County delayed by a lab backlog.

The statewide death toll now stands at 3,735.

Of the total count, 141,646 cases were active Friday and 162,191 patients have recovered.

More than 3 million tests have been administered, and the virus is present in all but five of the state’s 254 counties.

According to a document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force first published by the Center for Public Integrity, Texas is one of 18 states in the coronavirus “Red Zone.”

Red Zone metro areas in Texas include not only the state’s largest cities and counties, but also Waco and McLennan County.

 

[Tillicum]

I have been wondering the same thing. Why would the power go out due to covid?
And if the power does go out due to winter storms, surely there will still be workers to fix the problem?
Covid is not affecting everyone with the same levels of severity.

It was brought up in this post this morning. Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #69