Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #70

[JerseyGirl]

‘If It’s Here, It’s Here’: America’s Retirees Confront the Virus in Florida

Now there are signs that the age of Floridians getting the virus is shifting. Jackson Health System, Miami-Dade County’s public hospital, said last week that 18% of its coronavirus patients were 80 or older. Two weeks before, that figure was 9%.

About 20% of Florida’s population is 65 or older, the highest percentage in the nation alongside Maine, and that age group has made up half of its coronavirus hospitalizations and over 80% of deaths. As of Saturday, more than 45,000 of the state’s 350,000-plus cases are among that age group.

The rise in cases among older residents most likely stems from the spread of the virus by young people who are not taking preventive measures like wearing masks.

 

[MrX]

If the state's official source data is all over the map like that, I'm not sure what the answer is, besides pretend no deaths are happening at all.

Quite the opposite. Arizona has an A+ Data Quality rating on Covid Tracking Project, which CNN used for the article. The answer is to report factually. Every news outlet in AZ that publishes the "reported" numbers for deaths and cases immediately follows that with the explanation that these numbers are an aggregate of the data received that day, and not reflective of events that happened on that day. The data is gathered and then graphed according to "date of death," or "date of test."

 

[JerseyGirl]

Disney World tightens mask requirement a week after reopening

The mask rule is still in effect, but it comes with a stricter footnote now.

Previously, Disney visitors were required to wear their masks at all times, except when actively eating and drinking.

The eating and drinking loophole meant guests could multitask -- such as walking around the park sipping a soda or munching on a pretzel while they ambled to the next ride or moved along a socially distanced queue for a ride.

Charles Stovall, Disney Park's global public relations manager, calls the updated mask guideline "just a clarification of our policy."

The update to the policy reads: "You may remove your face covering while actively eating or drinking, but you should be stationary and maintain appropriate physical distancing."

 

[Tillicum]

Aldi has joined finally.
As list grows, here are stores that require masks to enter

 

[tresir2012]

‘You have blood on your hands:’ Protesters interrupt Florida governor’s coronavirus update in Orlando

A news conference Gov. Ron DeSantis hosted in Orlando Monday afternoon to push for convalescent plasma donations to help COVID-19 patients got off to a rocky start as protesters interrupted just minutes into his remarks.

At first, the governor tried to continue on with his speech but when he realized his words were being drowned out, he paused and gave an uncomfortable smile.

He then laughed as protesters were being escorted out. No arrests were made.

What were their demands to bring down the death rate? This was a blood drive to try and save lives.

 

[JerseyGirl]

The Bahamas Officially Bans Americans from Visiting amid Coronavirus Pandemic

The Caribbean country will still allow visitors from Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union

 

[margarita25]

Governor Polis speaks:
Officials warn they lack key resources to confront surge in coronavirus cases

“”The national testing scene is a complete disgrace,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said Sunday on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” adding that tests sent to out-of-state private labs were taking as long as nine days to return results.”

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Here is the video referenced above.
See Dr. Francis Collins. He is awesome, I had posted his teleconference with Dr. Fauci a while back:

Meet The Press Broadcast (Full) - July 19th, 2020 | Meet The Press | NBC News

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National testing 'is a complete disgrace,' Polis says on 'Meet the Press'

“DENVER — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis criticized national COVID-19 testing labs for their slow turnaround in producing results during an interview Sunday morning on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Polis talked with moderator Chuck Todd about Colorado's statewide mask mandate and the reopening of schools. He became passionate when Todd asked him whether Colorado is doing well with its testing saturation, speed of results and contact tracing.

"The national testing scene is a complete disgrace," Polis said. "Every test we send out to private lab partners nationally -- Quest, LabCorp -- seven days, eight days, nine days. Maybe six days if we're lucky. Almost useless from an epidemiological or even diagnostic perspective."”

 

[JerseyGirl]

Jennifer Aniston Shares Her Friend's Harrowing Battle With Coronavirus In PSA to Fans

 

[CSIDreamer]

Aldi has joined finally.
As list grows, here are stores that require masks to enter

My employer notified us Dollar General joined the list. I'll look for the update.

ETA I cant find an official communication from Dollar General. Just the notice from my employer.

 

[margarita25]

Coronavirus updates: Los Angeles may reclose; Bahamas bans U.S. travel
Coronavirus updates: Russian elite getting vaccinated; Trump works on new stimulus package; NFL, players near deal for season

““You might need to see these (NFL) football players go to the ICU or end up dying for them to step back and cancel games," said Ravina Kuller, an infectious disease expert. Some players are wary, and we know stars are not exempt.”

[...]

“In Britain, the government has purchased "early access" to 90 million doses of at least one vaccine candidate. In Russia, Bloomberg News reports that some corporate leaders have been vaccinated with an experimental drug.“

[...]

“Cruise ship passengers don't stop infecting others when they disembark
Tightly packed cruise ships increase the risk of spreading infectious diseases – and the risk doesn't stop when passengers disembark. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has suspended sailings through the end of September, issued a wide-ranging report revealing the breadth of contact tracing that was done after some 11,000 passengers and crew members left ships that experienced outbreaks. The report also confirmed port officials' concerns that cruise ships pose a danger to the shoreside public once the cruise is over. Passengers and crew leave the ship and potentially take the virus back to their own communities and any others they visit while in transit.

"Now the virus is amplified ... and scattered," explained Dr. Martin Cetron, director for the division of global migration and quarantine for the CDC. "It's quite clear this is a formula for accelerated introduction, transmission and then accelerated spread."”

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Cruises amplify, scatter COVID-19 spread risk, per CDC official

“Most strikingly, it revealed the breadth of contact tracing that was done after some 11,000 passengers and crew members left ships that experienced outbreaks. The CDC said in its report that the legwork required "countless hours" of work by public health officials – even more than flight contact investigations. The report noted the CDC has expended an estimated 38,000 person-hours on the COVID-19 cruise ship response since March 14, though it's unclear how many of those were devoted to contact tracing.”

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CDC Extends Suspension of Cruising, Finding Cruise Lines Repeatedly Ignored or Violated Guidelines | Cruise Law News
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Cruise ship 'No Sail Order' extended through September 2020

 

[CSIDreamer]

Indiana, US

658 new positive cases
3 new deaths 7/12-7/17

9% positive testing rate

Looks like around 86 patients on ventilators.

ISDH - Novel Coronavirus: Indiana COVID-19 Dashboard

 

[kkdj]

Imo, the jury is still out on the blood type relation. I’ve seen reports go both ways:

Harvard / July 17:

“”This evidence should help put to rest previous reports of a possible association between blood type A and a higher risk for COVID-19 infection and mortality,” Dua said.”

COVID and Blood Type

eta: I see @slowpoke posted the same thing:


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Your blood type might not matter at all for COVID-19 risk, new studies suggest

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Blood types and coronavirus: Are certain types more vulnerable to Covid-19? - CNN

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Re: test,

I wonder if it’s similar to this?

Breakthrough: New Blood Test Detects Positive COVID-19 Result in 20 minutes

There are also saliva tests, and I saw one company from Sweden on the news the other day producing a breath test that detects gases.

Saliva Tests: How They Work and What They Bring to COVID-19

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes First Diagnostic Test Using At-Home Collection of Saliva Specimens

New COVID-19 Saliva Test Is Born in Columbia Fertility Clinic

Pilot Program Offers Free Saliva COVID-19 Testing For Tarrant County Residents

Coronavirus saliva test in Houston located near NRG | khou.com

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In South Africa, COVID-19 Breath Test Trial Set for June

Ohio State researchers testing breathalyzer to detect COVID-19

Team to develop Breathalyzer-like diagnostic test for COVID-19

BGU researcher develops one-minute COVID-19 breath test

Breath of Hope: COVID-19 breathalyzer testing in development | Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

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FDA:
Coronavirus Testing Basics

What Takes So Long? A Behind-The-Scenes Look At The Steps Involved In COVID-19 Testing
March 30

Answers to common questions about COVID-19 testing | Norton Healthcare Louisville, Ky.
May 19

CDC / Information for Laboratories about Coronavirus (COVID-19)
July 3

Thank you Magz. Very helpful.

 

[tresir2012]

My employer notified us Dollar General joined the list. I'll look for the update.

ETA I cant find an official communication from Dollar General. Just the notice from my employer.

I read on USAtoday that Dollar General changed their policy to voluntary masks. I'll see if I can find the link.

Here's the link. It is voluntary unles the State mandates it.

Family Dollar mask policy: Dollar Tree, Family Dollar reverse mandate

 

[margarita25]

“Los Angeles County public health officials on Sunday reported 2,848 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with the majority of those infected under the age of 41, as related hospitalizations reached a new high.

There are currently 2,216 people hospitalized with the virus, the county Health Department reported. This is the fifth consecutive day with hospitalizations higher than 2,100 and the first time hospitalizations have surpassed 2,200.

Among those hospitalized, 26% are in intensive care units and 19% are on ventilators.

As the dangerous surge in infections continues, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti delivered a fresh warning Sunday during an appearance on CNN that the city was “on the brink” of imposing new restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus. But he did not elaborate.“

Dangerous coronavirus spike continues in L.A. County as Garcetti warns of new restrictions

 

[dixiegirl1035]

These US virus hotspots broke records over the weekend I really wish we could get back to a time when news was reported as a statement of the facts of a matter, and the hyperbole was confined to the Editorial Section. The daily death reports for AZ, in this piece, are a misrepresentation of the facts. The daily high, per AZDHS (ADHS - Data Dashboard) is 65, NOT 147. It should be common knowledge, for folks tasked with reporting these stories, how numbers are reported. Whether it's laziness or "spin," it needs to stop. The same article shows a Johns Hopkins graphic listing AZ as one of only four states with a week-over-week decline in cases. It's disheartening to see actual "good news" buried under shoddy reporting.

147 on July 18th is listed as the high at Arizona Coronavirus: 145,183 Cases and 2,784 Deaths (COVID-19 ) - Worldometer and the Covid tracking project. It's possible that Worldometer and Covid tracking project picks up deaths the day they are reported as the Arizona site has two different ways of reporting

("As our federal partners have updated guidance for identifying COVID-19 deaths, ADHS has enhanced our processes to match. This change may cause the number of new deaths reported on our dashboard to increase more than expected for a few days. Deaths are shown on the bar chart of the COVID-19 deaths section of the dashboard using the date of death, not the day reported. New deaths on the summary section of the dashboard are displayed by the day reported to ADHS." at ADHS - Data Dashboard )

 

[MrX]

147 on July 18th is listed as the high at Arizona Coronavirus: 145,183 Cases and 2,784 Deaths (COVID-19 ) - Worldometer and perhaps is where they got the information from?

106 of the 147 deaths occurred prior to July 18. This article explains it better: Arizona virus toll spikes after review of death certificates

 

[tresir2012]

from the link.... All this is great news!!! Gives me hope and hope is all that gets me through the really tough days.


The company has agreed to supply over a billion doses to Europe, Britain, America, and Gavi, a vaccine finance group. The Serum Institute of India is also producing an additional one billion doses of the Oxford vaccine, mainly for low- and middle-income countries, of which 400 million will be made before the end of 2020. In Britain, 30 million doses will be available by September.

So if 30 million doses are for UK that should be enough for all those over 65 (approx 14 million) and those under 65 with an underlying health condition (approx 3 million) with about 13 million additional doses left for under 65's who may need it like Health workers, Emergency services, Police, School and University employees.

 

[ArianeEmory]

Another article on the LA County situation:

L.A. County reports record number of coronavirus hospitalizations

 

[tresir2012]

UK front pages tomorrow all feature "Vaccine for Christmas " stories.

The Papers - BBC News

 

[ArianeEmory]

Minnesota reports child COVID-19 death, more than 900 new cases