Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #76

[Simply Southern]

You forgot to mention that private school do not have to take a student whereas public schools are required to educate all.

Very true. Many southern states allow private charter schools to receive a state stipend, making it much easier for charter schools to provide quality education to those that can not afford private school tuition.

I do admit private and charter schools are very limited and most can not afford to provide extensive resources needed for severely handicapped, mental health, and students with volatile behavior.

I fully support public education, am engaged with our local schools and work to provide financial support through a NFP to provide the extras public schools can not afford. It still leaves children with unmet educational and social needs.
Moo

 

[tresir2012]

Sweden developed herd immunity after refusing to lock down, some health experts claim, but others point to its high fatality rate

Published: Aug. 24, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. ET
Rupert Steiner

Leading Swedish health experts claim the country has a falling coronavirus infection rate because it was one of the few that didn’t go into lockdown and has rejected the need for masks.

Their record, according to your link, looks OK.

"Prime Minister Stefan Löfven thinks voluntary social-distancing rules and not closing schools but banning gatherings of more than 50 people has been the right approach: “Now there are quite a few people who think we were right,” he told a newspaper. “The strategy that we adopted, I believe is right — to protect individuals, limit the spread of the infection.”

Data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control show Sweden has a fortnightly infection rate of 37 cases per 100,000 people. This is much lower than France, with 60 cases per 100,000 and Spain at 152.7 cases per 100,000.

However, Sweden has an overall COVID-related death rate of 57.08 per 100,000, which is the ninth highest in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.

What’s more, Sweden, which has a population of just over 10 million, has had a fatality rate of 6.8%; that’s lower than those of Belgium, the U.K., Italy and Spain, but higher than the fatality rates of Brazil, the U.S., Mexico, France and Ireland."

 

[MrX]

Sweden developed herd immunity after refusing to lock down, some health experts claim, but others point to its high fatality rate

Published: Aug. 24, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. ET
Rupert Steiner

Leading Swedish health experts claim the country has a falling coronavirus infection rate because it was one of the few that didn’t go into lockdown and has rejected the need for masks.

Interesting - Sweden has about 850 documented cases per 100k, so at least there is a benchmark, of sorts. If that number, in fact, reflects some level of herd immunity, it would be interesting to see how quickly curves rose and declined in places where that line was crossed.

 

[weepingangel]

Usain Bolt has coronavirus: Olympic sprinter was at birthday party without mask


Usain Bolt’s 34th birthday party gave the former Olympian an unwanted present.

According to Reuters, Bolt has tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the party where most guests went without masks. Jamaica’s health ministry confirmed the diagnosis late on Monday

 

[MimosaMornings]

Usain Bolt has coronavirus: Olympic sprinter was at birthday party without mask


Usain Bolt’s 34th birthday party gave the former Olympian an unwanted present.

According to Reuters, Bolt has tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the party where most guests went without masks. Jamaica’s health ministry confirmed the diagnosis late on Monday

——
“I’m trying to be responsible, so I’m going to stay in and stay here for my friends.”

Trying to be responsible? After an indoor birthday party without masks.
Wonder how many more were infected at his birthday party?

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Coronavirus: Wales announces review into face masks in schools - hours after Scotland takes action

The Welsh government is to review whether children should wear face coverings in schools after Scottish pupils were told to put on masks in corridors.

Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething has asked a scientific advisory group to consider the current guidance for schools in Wales, which are due to return next week.

 

[ilovewings]

Perhaps you could provide reasons, as people were completely free to travel between states for recreational purposes? Nothing illegal took place and the infection rate has not been affected that I can see. Campsites and towns and the Black Hills were open for business.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem disparages face mask requirements for students

Here is just one reason: She has been very averse to doing things to keep people safe- i can find other articles about her but you can google her yourself and see how she is handling this virus.

 

[MimosaMornings]

I’m wondering about the effect Hurricane Laura will have on spreading the virus?
With the mandatory evacuations - people usually head to friends/relatives houses - a lot of people indoors in one house.

 

[weepingangel]

UA counts more than 500 confirmed COVID-19 cases
More at link
The University of Alabama on Monday released the first numbers of on-campus COVID-19 test results that raised alarm bells internally.

A total of 531 confirmed cases between students, faculty and staff were reported on the Tuscaloosa campus since classes resumed Aug. 19, UA announced Monday evening. The dashboard did not include how many were tested Aug. 19 through Aug. 23 or the rate of positive tests.

 

[weepingangel]

Massachusetts/biogen conference/more at link
Biogen conference likely the cause of some 20,000 coronavirus cases in the Boston area, study says

The Biogen conference in Boston that became a major site of coronavirus transmission in February is likely the source of roughly 20,000 infections in the Greater Boston Area, researchers involved in a new study told the Boston Globe.

 

[ilovewings]

Massachusetts/biogen conference/more at link
Biogen conference likely the cause of some 20,000 coronavirus cases in the Boston area, study says

The Biogen conference in Boston that became a major site of coronavirus transmission in February is likely the source of roughly 20,000 infections in the Greater Boston Area, researchers involved in a new study told the Boston Globe.

I am aware of what occurred because of the Biogen conference, but I am unclear if the attendees were aware of the virus at that point- do you know if they were? I can't imagine these sophisticated medical people would have gone to a conference with 100s of people if they knew there was coronavirus

 

[tresir2012]

Interesting - Sweden has about 850 documented cases per 100k, so at least there is a benchmark, of sorts. If that number, in fact, reflects some level of herd immunity, it would be interesting to see how quickly curves rose and declined in places where that line was crossed.

They are not dissimilar to Michigan, which has a similar poulation size around 10 million. Here are Michigan's figures.
Totals in Michigan
Total cases
108K
+868
Recovered
-
Deaths
6,665
+4

So has Michigan got herd immunity too?

 

[10ofRods]

Massachusetts/biogen conference/more at link
Biogen conference likely the cause of some 20,000 coronavirus cases in the Boston area, study says

The Biogen conference in Boston that became a major site of coronavirus transmission in February is likely the source of roughly 20,000 infections in the Greater Boston Area, researchers involved in a new study told the Boston Globe.

Wow. A lot of contact tracing there - and what a statistic!

I don't think the attendees were aware of the virus at that time - I wouldn't have known about it if I didn't have colleague who is so well-informed about pandemics in Asia and reads Asian news. There was little publicity and the CDC was taking a watch and wait, "it's not here yet" stance.

I'm sure it played into NYC's spread as well.

 

[Sundog]

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem disparages face mask requirements for students

Here is just one reason: She has been very averse to doing things to keep people safe- i can find other articles about her but you can google her yourself and see how she is handling this virus.

Sounds like she is not requiring masks, but leaving that decision up to local school boards.
From the article:

As for masks, that decision will remain with local school boards. It will likely leave a patchwork of local regulations similar to how cities enacted business restrictions during the onset of the pandemic in March.


Meanwhile, CDC guidance on reopening schools appears to support Noem's assertion that the benefits of in-person schooling outweigh the health risks. So far, fewer school-aged children have died of COVID-19 than flu-related deaths during each of the last five flu seasons, and "studies suggest that COVID-19 transmission among children in schools may be low," the agency said.

 

[tresir2012]

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem disparages face mask requirements for students

Here is just one reason: She has been very averse to doing things to keep people safe- i can find other articles about her but you can google her yourself and see how she is handling this virus.

That's not an unusual stance though regarding schools. Some schools are only requiring masks in hallways for example. Plus the governor and the school situation is pretty far removed from the tourist situation IMO.

 

[Sundog]

AstraZeneca begins trial for coronavirus antibody treatment

 

[tresir2012]

I am aware of what occurred because of the Biogen conference, but I am unclear if the attendees were aware of the virus at that point- do you know if they were? I can't imagine these sophisticated medical people would have gone to a conference with 100s of people if they knew there was coronavirus

This is a WHO interactive timeline which may answer what was known at the end of February.

Timeline: WHO's COVID-19 response!

 

[JerseyGirl]

Six States Set Out To Track COVID Infections From Sturgis Motorcyle Rally

Cellphone data shows 61% of the counties in the U.S. have had visits from someone who attended the Sturgis, S.D., rally. State news is from Minnesota, Nebraska, Wyoming, North Dakota, Washington, Louisiana, Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Maine and Montana, as well.

The hundreds of thousands of bikers who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally may have departed western South Dakota, but public health departments in multiple states are trying to measure how much and how quickly the coronavirus spread in bars, tattoo shops and gatherings before people traveled home to nearly every state in the country. From the city of Sturgis, which is conducting mass testing for its roughly 7,000 residents, to health departments in at least six states, health officials are trying to track outbreaks from the 10-day rally which ended on Aug. 16. They face the task of tracking an invisible virus that spread among bar-hoppers and rallygoers, who then traveled to over half of the counties in the United States.

 

[Satchie]

Sweden developed herd immunity after refusing to lock down, some health experts claim, but others point to its high fatality rate

Published: Aug. 24, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. ET
Rupert Steiner

Leading Swedish health experts claim the country has a falling coronavirus infection rate because it was one of the few that didn’t go into lockdown and has rejected the need for masks.

My problem with these kinds of main stream articles is, firstly, that the pandemic is not over. Not in Sweden, not anywhere.

So how can anyone claim something worked or didn't work, or compare statistics between countries, when everything is going to change, there will most likely be another surge this fall and more after that. That's like calling the outcome of a baseball game after the first inning.

Secondly, if you actually read the article, no one in Sweden is talking about having achieved herd immunity. That idea is inserted by whoever is writing these silly articles.

"Achieving herd immunity was one of Tegnell’s original aims – but antibody surveys suggest only about 20 per cent of people in Stockholm have been infected, similar to levels in London and New York. That is far short of near the 70 per cent level estimated to be needed".

Is Sweden's coronavirus strategy a cautionary tale or a success story?
(Even this article makes the same mistake of talking about the pandemic as though it's over).

The Swedish experts are explaining that the strategy was to encourage Swedes to take personal responsibility, rather than imposing rules that invite some to become defiant. This is precisely because the Swedish epidemiologist recognized this was going to be a long term pandemic, not a 2 month inconvenience.

“Voluntary restrictions work as well as legal ones,” says the architect of Sweden’s strategy, chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell.

"This appears to be true, in Sweden at least. The measures did work nearly as well in getting people to change their behaviour."

Sweden is a very unique country, with a highly educated, responsible, cohesive, respectful society. Swedes don't gather by by the thousands in motorcycle rallies etc, they don't get into fisticuffs over someone wearing a mask or not.

 

[tresir2012]

UA counts more than 500 confirmed COVID-19 cases
More at link
The University of Alabama on Monday released the first numbers of on-campus COVID-19 test results that raised alarm bells internally.

A total of 531 confirmed cases between students, faculty and staff were reported on the Tuscaloosa campus since classes resumed Aug. 19, UA announced Monday evening. The dashboard did not include how many were tested Aug. 19 through Aug. 23 or the rate of positive tests.

"The school previously announced re-entry testing for students yielded a less-than 1 percent positivity rate. The new dashboard put the positive test rate for reentry at 1.04 percent of the 29,938 tests. The new numbers do not include those 311 positive tests from reentry."


According to the link below they have 38,390 enrolled so 531 would be about 1.5 %.


https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/university-of-alabama-1051