Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #73

[Tigerlily75]

The article did also mention businesses, which was my original question. $534m apparently.

"Under the support package, more than 80,000 struggling businesses in the lockdown area will be eligible for $5,000 grants to help them stay afloat.

Business owners and operators and sole traders will be eligible for $36m of mental health support and mentoring.


Pubs, restaurants and other hospitality businesses will receive support from a dedicated fund of $30m for the night-time economy.

Pakula acknowledged that foot traffic in the Melbourne CBD had been “uniquely” hit by people staying at home. The government will set up a $20m fund specifically for the CBD.

The package also includes support for regional tourism operators who will miss out on visitors from Melbourne due to the lockdown.

The government also announced an extended and expanded payroll tax deferral, which will allow eligible business with payrolls of up to $10m to defer liabilities for the first half of the new financial year.

The package is aimed at helping businesses to stay afloat through the lockdown and then recover on the other side, the ministers said."

"The new package took the Victorian government’s coronavirus support to $6bn so far, Pallas said."

Yes so there is both state and federal support. The packages outlined above is the state support from the Victorian Government, and then there is the federal support from the Australian Government also. The Federal government is in charge of JobKeeper (wage payments to support people to keep their jobs) and JobSeeker (payments for the unemployed) and lump sum business payments, and then the State Government also offers payments to businesses, as well as the one off isolation payments. (Among other things like emergency food relief, rent relief, mental health support etc).

So this outlines Victorian Government economic support: Department of Health and Human Services Victoria | Financial support for coronavirus (COVID-19)

And Federal Government economic support: Treasury.gov.au

So a Victorian can access both state and federal assistance.

 

[MimosaMornings]

I'm getting ready to make my annual blackberry and crabapple jam. Have made some sloe gin already, dandelion wine, elderflower champagne, (those last two have been drunk in lockdown) big bumper crop of crab apples so am going to try crab apple cider this year. All instructions have been from the net. For the first time in years we have no overdraft whereas we still have a 7k overdraft limit, so financially we are better off than we have been for years due to just spending less. Have even paid off two credit cards completely. It's quite eye opening. My clothes are falling to pieces mind you so will need a shopping trip very soon.

The elderflower champagne sounds delicious!
I envy you for spending less. We are spending a lot more each month - cost of groceries greatly increased and then buying essentials we didn’t need before such as gloves, masks, wipes, hand sanitizer, etc.
My former job allowed me to expense my meals and that used to defray costs.
So many things I took for granted.

 

[Sundog]

If you can find some Aloe vera gel to mix with them it might help to thicken them or a small spray bottle that mists it onto your hands. I have a small upside down spray bottle hanging from my rear view mirror that dates back to my First Responder days so I just refill that.

Good idea, I will try to find some Aloe vera gel and make sure that I get the right ratio of sanitizer and gel, so that I stay above the 60% alcohol requirement for the sanitizer to be effective. Turns out that the sanitizer they are selling is 80% alcohol, so I should be able to dilute it with gel to make it thicker and more user friendly in the car.

 

[CSIDreamer]

Indiana

784 new cases
4 new deaths 7/31 to 8/1
7.3% positivity rate

ISDH - Novel Coronavirus: Indiana COVID-19 Dashboard

 

[tresir2012]

The elderflower champagne sounds delicious!
I envy you for spending less. We are spending a lot more each month - cost of groceries greatly increased and then buying essentials we didn’t need before such as gloves, masks, wipes, hand sanitizer, etc.
My former job allowed me to expense my meals and that used to defray costs.
So many things I took for granted.

You probably won't believe this but I have saved at least £500 a month on credit card interest alone and have more than halved the total that I owe. I began by listing my balances in order of the % monthly interest I was paying. I began paying more off on those with the highest interest %. As I reduced them I was offered additional 0% deals which I also used to reduce the other balances. I began this more than a year ago and have more than halved what we owed from £46k to £18k, reducing monthly interest from £550 per month down to only £16 per month now. Obviously the more interest I have saved the more capital I have been able to pay off. When our lockdown began in March we owed £23k and now it is down to £18k and manageable.

 

[WildOrchid]

If you are preparing in the northeast by building your supplies up, what are you adding bit by bit? Beans, rice, water, tp? I’m starting and want to make sure I’m not missing anything for fall and winter. What I got to prepare for spring was different.

 

[musicaljoke]

From the study link in the article.

"Abstract
Now that various countries are or will soon be moving towards relaxing shelter-in-place rules, it is important that people use a face covering, to avoid an exponential resurgence of the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Adherence to this measure will be made explicitly compulsory in many places. However, since it is impossible to control each and every person in a country, it is important to complement governmental laws with behavioral interventions devised to impact people’s behavior beyond the force of law. Here we report a pre-registered online experiment (N=2,459) using a heterogenous, although not representative, sample of people living in the USA, where we test the relative effect of messages highlighting that the coronavirus is a threat to “you” vs “your family” vs “your community” vs “your country” on self-reported intentions to wear a face covering. Results show that focusing on “your community” promotes intentions to wear a face covering relative to the baseline; the trend is the same when comparing “your community” to the other conditions, but not significant. We also conducted pre-registered analyses of gender differences on intentions to wear a face covering. We find that men less than women intend to wear a face covering, but this difference almost disappears in counties where wearing a face covering is mandatory. We also find that men less than women believe that they will be seriously affected by the coronavirus, and this partly mediates gender differences in intentions to wear a face covering (this is particularly ironic because official statistics actually show that men are affected by the COVID-19 more seriously than women). Finally, we also find gender differences in self-reported negative emotions felt when wearing a face covering. Men more than women agree that wearing a face covering is shameful, not cool, a sign of weakness, and a stigma; and these gender differences also mediate gender differences in intentions to wear a face covering."

So it was only 2,459 in the survey and was not a representative sample.

The result is it has to be mandated if you want it done. I am not surprised by that or that men more so than women won't wear a mask voluntarily.
I think it would be good if it was a representative sample but as the survey was 19 pages I just pulled this small section which summarises.

Thank you @Tresir. You've captured what I was unsuccessful at summarizing from the article. Communicating by using the right words is critically important as you have highlighted. Just changing one word can make the difference between compliance and rebellion.

 

[10ofRods]

Dozens of COVID-19 vaccines are in development. Here are the ones to follow.

The latest development in a several vaccines and how they work- I prefer inactivated
virus- it seems safer to me---

Interesting - and I prefer the engineered mRNA ones, in part because they've come to testing so quickly, but also because I believe this technology is the future of vaccines and it's actually a small ray of sunshine in this pandemic that this technology has received focus and investment.

The mRNA vaccines seem very precise to me (and without the formaldehyde). Also, it's my understanding that the mRNA vaccines can be specifically targeted to the spike proteins that cause the severe symptoms, as opposed to asking the body to generate non-specific antibodies as well.

Both types have issues with causing mild symptoms (in my understanding) and both types can cause other issues - no vaccine is without risks.

At this point, I'll take whatever I can get first. I sure hope they roll it out in the places that are currently being hardest hit - all states need to have lots of doses, but here in California, there are definitely some high-need places where vaccines would help all of us.

 

[musicaljoke]

Ha! Looked like a zoo in his driveway, homeowner says, and when they tipped over the garbage can, the bear passed over homemade lasagna in favor of an Arby's sandwich! Great story, thanks for posting.

People put homeade lasagna in their trash cans?

<shakes head>

 

[musicaljoke]

If you are preparing in the northeast by building your supplies up, what are you adding bit by bit? Beans, rice, water, tp? I’m starting and want to make sure I’m not missing anything for fall and winter. What I got to prepare for spring was different.

In addition to food: sidewalk de-icer/salt, laneway markers, winter wiper fluid, check your winter clothing to see if you need anything repaired or replaced, batteries in all sizes, postage stamps, canning jars and lids, freezer bags, ... etc.

 

[10ofRods]

And what better design for one of the worst viruses, that they can infect children to such loads viral loads ( 100-1,000 times an adult), have delayed symptoms, and can pass it around through children to take back home to adults. Almost 50% of the kids in the Georgia camp took it back home. Thank goodness for such quick tracing, and would love o know the secondary and primary infection rates... and this would be even with one of the QUICKEST turnarounds and tracings in the US for a superspreader?

Looking forward to such, if scientists can get their hands on such data soon to write up reports in respected journals. Which might not be shared (and some spoke of China covering up, let's see how this superspreader event appears in journals ASAP as to their tracking and tracing!!)

The worst case virus ever, Doesn't kill most hosts is a hallmark .

When you say "50% took it back home" does that simply mean that 50% of the kids tested positive or that they actually transmitted it to someone, back at home? (To me it implies the second, as of course once a kid is positive they take it with them everywhere).

This event began around June 21, with the first person sent home on June 22. So, there's been plenty of time to trace what happened (even though, right now, it seems that the published governmental report only focuses on the numbers of kids infected in one setting - not what happened next).

Some of these kids were teens, some were not. Since the 6-10 year old group had the highest infection rate (IIRC) and they are almost entirely asymptomatic (although most kids still at least get the sniffles or feel a little fatigue), did their families now test positive? They should be testing positive if the kids are also strong transmitters.

I am intensely interested in this question because I miss my 6 year old granddaughter (we were caring for her 3 days a week, and I have been a primary caretaker for her since she was a baby). She sees few other children, but she does see her cousins at the beach.

Daycare centers that are open for the children of essential workers do not seem to have had the outbreaks that one would expect - but gosh darnit, it would be so nice if there was a nationwide effort to track such things.

Also be nice if there was a nationwide effort to contact trace across state lines (air travel, other travel, summer camps with participants from more than one state, people who've been on airplanes to hot spots).

 

[Tony1902]

If you are preparing in the northeast by building your supplies up, what are you adding bit by bit? Beans, rice, water, tp? I’m starting and want to make sure I’m not missing anything for fall and winter. What I got to prepare for spring was different.

Can you do a small fall/winter garden under a grow cover? Elliot Coleman did a wonderful book on growing under covers with simple materials. This way you can supplement your caloric intake.

 

[CSIDreamer]

If you are preparing in the northeast by building your supplies up, what are you adding bit by bit? Beans, rice, water, tp? I’m starting and want to make sure I’m not missing anything for fall and winter. What I got to prepare for spring was different.

Fall and winter meals lend themselves to freezer crackpot meals. Jmo

 

[MimosaMornings]

Fall and winter meals lend themselves to freezer crackpot meals. Jmo

Crackpot? Now that sounds interesting....

 

[MrX]

While that woman was beyond disgusting and potentially dangerous, I would not recommend recording or in any way provoking some stranger: these days that could be very dangerous: that loony woman could have pulled out a gun.

I have to agree. There are so many nuts walking around. I also wonder about what motivates someone, who is concerned enough about Covid to film other people, to leave the house in the first place. I'm starting to hear a lot of that around here - the attitude is that if people are so worried then they should just stay home. It's a very strange thought process that must make folks leave the safety of home to confront others who feel safe leaving home. I'm sure many books will be written!

 

[Warwick1991]

When a vaccine is finally available - or possibly vaccines - one concern I have is distribution and how it is done. In the 2009 H1N1 influenza epidemic, mild by today’s standards, the strain involved had not been identified far enough in advance to include it the then-available influenza vaccine. The vaccine was rushed into production, but distribution was an issue in many US states, including the New England state where I lived at that time. The CDC distributed batches to each state, but once it reached a state, people who wanted the vaccine were at the mercy of the state.

The state I lived in kept control of all of the doses. My asthma doctor could not get any for his patients. The state chose to ignore CDC guidelines as far as pre-existing conditions were concerned. Instead of allowing the vulnerable to be vaccinated, they hoarded the doses. Members of the state legislature and their families got the vaccination, as well as some first responders and politically connected individuals. The distribution could be followed through the CDC website, and people knew that the state received the doses, but not where they went. Several months later, when the epidemic had passed, the state suddenly announced that anyone who wanted a vaccine could get one. By that time, there were no takers, and thousands of hoarded, never-distributed, expiring doses were disposed of.

In order to obtain a vaccine, I drove several hundred miles to another state that had orderly distribution of the vaccine. I took a short vacation from my job to do it, and stayed in a hotel near the clinic. It was a lot of time and money to obtain something that was mandated to be free and available to people in all states. To avoid what happened in 2009, multiple distribution channels will be needed.

 

[anneg]

Fall and winter meals lend themselves to freezer crackpot meals. Jmo

We don't have a crackpot OR a crockpot.

 

[24Roses]

Iowa news today and last night: As of 10:30-11:00 a.m. today, we had 545 new confirmed cases for a total of 45,481 confirmed cases of which 32,919 (+114) have recovered. 2 more had passed away for a total of 874.COVID-19 case total pushes above 45,000
[URL="https://coronavirus.iowa.gov/pages/access"]Iowa COVID-19 Information[/URL]
Gov. Kim Reynolds receives lowest approval ratings in handling COVID-19 – KWWL
White House Task Force labels Dubuque a “red zone” for COVID-19 – KWWL
Iowa medical community calling on Governor to issue statewide mask mandate – KWWL
UIHC one of 120 sites testing new Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine – KWWL
Former State Epidemiologist Has a Warning for Iowans Who Aren’t Wearing Masks | who13.com

 

[Lilibet]

Fall and winter meals lend themselves to freezer crackpot meals. Jmo

Love those crackpot meals!

 

[24Roses]

Iowa news today and last night: As of 10:30-11:00 a.m. today, we had 545 new confirmed cases for a total of 45,481 confirmed cases of which 32,919 (+114) have recovered. 2 more had passed away for a total of 874.COVID-19 case total pushes above 45,000
[URL="https://coronavirus.iowa.gov/pages/access"]Iowa COVID-19 Information[/URL]
Gov. Kim Reynolds receives lowest approval ratings in handling COVID-19 – KWWL
White House Task Force labels Dubuque a “red zone” for COVID-19 – KWWL
Iowa medical community calling on Governor to issue statewide mask mandate – KWWL
UIHC one of 120 sites testing new Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine – KWWL
Former State Epidemiologist Has a Warning for Iowans Who Aren’t Wearing Masks | who13.com