Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #76

[10ofRods]

IMO that's like saying anyone who goes to a bar or restaurant or goes on vacation did not care for their fellow man and that just is not true.

Yes, I do think that's exactly what some of us are trying to say (except that many of us don't agree with your conclusion).

It's not black and white, of course. Some people care more for their fellow humans than others. Those that go about unmasked in public in an area experiencing a pandemic do not care for people the way some others care.

Masking is a good. It = caring in this situation. Also, people shouldn't sneeze on each other, etc. IMO.

 

[10ofRods]

Thanks for the good wishes. I am thinking if this guy has been in ICU for maybe a week, he has had to have been infected for longer than that and noone as far as i know on the golf league has symptoms at this point. My husband and I don't have symptoms. I am going to suggest to my husband that he not play any longer on that league, especially since there are only two more weeks of golf.

Okay - well, that's one plan.

I wish you all the best - I'd get tested anyway, so that certain early interventions could be made, but perhaps you already know what those are. I'd at least call his doctor. Do you have an oximeter?

 

[Trino]

Yes, I do think that's exactly what some of us are trying to say (except that many of us don't agree with your conclusion).

It's not black and white, of course. Some people care more for their fellow humans than others. Those that go about unmasked in public in an area experiencing a pandemic do not care for people the way some others care.

Masking is a good. It = caring in this situation. Also, people shouldn't sneeze on each other, etc. IMO.

I think bars, restaurants, vacations, and rallies like Sturgis are separate categories. Take-out is available at restaurants but not bars. Even indoors seating is different. Vacations? Depends on type. Airline travel or car? Masks are required on all airlines. Sturgis was unmasked individuals flaunting the system. Even the band entertainment said to f### the masks. Participants fully knew the high possibilities of spread and did not appear care.

 

[MimosaMornings]

A lot of the major airports require masks.
Except when you’re eating or drinking.
Children under the age of 10 are not required to wear a mask.

Busiest US airports passenger mask wearing requirements - Business Insider
———-

TSA agents that have tested positive - 1,739.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) information | Transportation Security Administration

Scroll down midway in the article there is a chart with a breakdown by individual airport.
—————

The security line - very little effort to social distance.

Confrontations at airport over masks.

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/video/738311

 

[TootsieFootsie]

The Oxford scientist behind one of the leading COVID-19 vaccines in the pipeline has told Australian pharmacists about juggling her triplets and trying to save the world.

Professor Sarah Gilbert delivered a webinar on Tuesday night to 1200 Australian, New Zealand, British and Egyptian pharmacists, detailing her “mission” to create the world’s first mass-produced COVID-19 vaccine, which could be administered in community pharmacies around the country.
It comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed more than 25 million doses of the University of Oxford vaccine, said to be one of the most advanced in the world, had been secured for Australians if trials proved successful.

No cookies | NT News

 

[dmac55]

After letting the news of this CDC update settle for a spell...
I'm not happy about it
It makes me feel like i can only trust my gut

CDC changes coronavirus testing guidance; asymptomatic people no longer require test | Fox News
CDC changes coronavirus testing guidance; asymptomatic people no longer require test

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Coronavirus: Payments to be given to people on low incomes isolating in high-risk areas

Payments of £13 per day will soon be given to people on low incomes who are self-isolating in areas that are deemed to be at high risk from coronavirus, the government has announced.

The scheme will be trialled from next week in Pendle, Oldham, and Blackburn with Darwen, which have all had extra coronavirus measures imposed.

Those who test positive for COVID-19 will receive £130 for their 10-day period of self-isolation.

 

[Lilibet]

After letting the news of this CDC update settle for a spell...
I'm not happy about it
It makes me feel like i can only trust my gut

CDC changes coronavirus testing guidance; asymptomatic people no longer require test | Fox News
CDC changes coronavirus testing guidance; asymptomatic people no longer require test

Yes, I have felt for a long time that we are pretty much on our own. I’ve picked experts to listen to based on their integrity and loyalty to science...Dr Fauci for one. And then it’s up to me to decide how to use that information to protect myself. This new CDC advisory means that asymptomatic cases won’t be detected, so I need to continue to be informed about local cases and be vigilant.

 

[tresir2012]

That Maine wedding
Coronavirus outbreak at Maine nursing home and jail linked back to wedding reception — CNN
Much more at link

As of Tuesday, there are six cases of the virus at Maplecrest Rehabilitation Center, over 100 miles away from where the wedding took place, according to Maine CDC. Two cases are staff members and four are residents, according to Shah. Those cases are counted in the 60.

Through contact tracing, Shah said they were able to determine that the virus entered the nursing home through a staff member who had been in contact with their parent. Their parent was infected by their other child, who had attended the wedding.


The wedding outbreak is also linked to the spread of the virus at York County Jail in Alfred, over 220 miles away from the August 7 event. Maine CDC has been investigating the outbreak at the jail since August 21.

On Tuesday, Shah said they have confirmed that a staff member of the jail, who was one of the very first positive cases at the jail, attended the wedding. There are 18 positive cases at the jail, he said. Of those cases, nine jail staff members, two employees with the York County government and seven inmates.




Millinocket wedding outbreak grows to 85 COVID-19 cases

Millinocket wedding outbreak grows to 85 COVID-19 cases
Wednesday, August 26th 2020
The CDC says 33 more people who weren't at the August 7 wedding got it from people who were.

Then, 20 more people became infected by those secondary cases.

The Maine CDC says the outbreak led to 18 cases at the York County Jail and six cases at Maplecrest Rehabilitation Center in Madison.

That wedding now has a similar amount of traced infections as the Sturgis rally.

 

[tresir2012]

With equal respect, I just as strongly disagree.

I can't speak for how it is in the UK, but in the US we know well enough that businesses being legally open absolutely does not mean the governing body agrees it's safe, because political pressure vastly outweighs actual medical knowledge and/or careful risk assessment.

In addition, if it happens that the governing body DOES believe it's safe to open, that does NOT mean it's actually safe to open. Even without political pressure (if there is such a place in the US), still, our governors, mayors, and other civic leaders are not medical experts.

There are perfectly workable ways to support one's community's local businesses without risking spreading the virus. Personally I bought myself "gift certificates" to two local restaurants, so that they got the benefit of my patronage while I could stay home or only go in during empty times, or get takeout. I don't hang out at a bar but if I did I would have done the same at the bar. Get a gift certificate for the amount I would normally spend in, say, three months. Then I can take my time using it up but the business doesn't suffer from my staying home more often.

Our UK bars have now been open approximately two months after being closed for 3 months. There has been some incidents where a pub has has to close and contact trace, disinfect, reopen but it is working it seems. Some communities have had to go back into lockdown but AFAIK it has been due to workplace (e.g. factories) and unauthorised gatherings (eg. raves) spreading it. The whole of Wales has not had any such events, despite currently being full of tourists from all over the UK ATM, so I am speaking from personal experience. We are obviously apprehensive but vigilant. If there is any increase, the government would jump on it as they have done in England, Scotland and Ireland.

 

[tresir2012]

With equal respect, I just as strongly disagree.

I can't speak for how it is in the UK, but in the US we know well enough that businesses being legally open absolutely does not mean the governing body agrees it's safe, because political pressure vastly outweighs actual medical knowledge and/or careful risk assessment.

In addition, if it happens that the governing body DOES believe it's safe to open, that does NOT mean it's actually safe to open. Even without political pressure (if there is such a place in the US), still, our governors, mayors, and other civic leaders are not medical experts.

There are perfectly workable ways to support one's community's local businesses without risking spreading the virus. Personally I bought myself "gift certificates" to two local restaurants, so that they got the benefit of my patronage while I could stay home or only go in during empty times, or get takeout. I don't hang out at a bar but if I did I would have done the same at the bar. Get a gift certificate for the amount I would normally spend in, say, three months. Then I can take my time using it up but the business doesn't suffer from my staying home more often.

That's fine to disagree. If one doesn't trust one's government's or local government decisions then I don't know how I would feel either. The only option then is to self isolate, I guess. I am still cautious as I am continuing to watch the situation as we approach our biggest bank holiday weekend coming up. Presently it is pouring and has been pretty bad for a week, so maybe higher powers are looking after us too in some cases, hopefully.

 

[tresir2012]

What would really speed things up is to just stop testing entirely. If someone has Covid symptoms, why test? Just call it Covid and carry on. How would that be any different than testing only those with symptoms?

It's the asymptomatic ones you really want to identify. The super spreaders and those who don't know they are the cause of community spread. But if you don't plan to test those w/o symptoms, then why bother test at all!

Has it actually been proved that asymptomatics do spread the virus? For some time it was thought children spread it to their families, but now they seem to think the opposite is true and children get it from their families and other adults.

WHO EMRO | Transmission of COVID-19 by asymptomatic cases | COVID-19 | Health topics evidence from contact tracing,transmission of the virus.

Maybe the CDC know this and have therefore deemed it unnecessary to test asymptomatics.

 

[Trino]

Yes, I have felt for a long time that we are pretty much on our own. I’ve picked experts to listen to based on their integrity and loyalty to science...Dr Fauci for one. And then it’s up to me to decide how to use that information to protect myself. This new CDC advisory means that asymptomatic cases won’t be detected, so I need to continue to be informed about local cases and be vigilant.[QUOTE)

Agree that we are on our own, but it shouldn’t be that way. Obviously, every city, county, state doing their own thing isn’t working. Where is our national government? The Sturgis Rally, simply to give the City of Sturgis an economic boost, should not have been allowed to happen because it is affecting us all. The LA Times mentioned that 61% of US counties had someone who visited Sturgis. That could be my life.

 

[Lilibet]

Agree that we are on our own, but it shouldn’t be that way. Obviously, every city, county, state doing their own thing isn’t working. Where is our national government? The Sturgis Rally, simply to give the City of Sturgis an economic boost, should not have been allowed to happen because it is affecting us all. The LA Times mentioned that 61% of US counties had someone who visited Sturgis. That could be my life.

No, it shouldn’t be that way, but unfortunately it is, so we have to take care of ourselves (and others) by taking precautions. For the people who value their “freedom” we are obviously expendable. I’m not going to count on the national or local governments to fix this. I guess I’m cynical.

 

[tresir2012]

DOJ seeks data on care home deaths in 4 Democrat-led states

70,000 US deaths are from care homes. 42% of national deaths are from care homes despite only making up 1% of the population. This is the real tragedy in the US and other countries IMO.

From the link -

"The governors' actions at the height of the pandemic were designed to ensure hospitals had enough bed space for the most serious COVID cases, but were almost immediately criticized by nursing homes and relatives for potentially putting frail, elderly care home residents at risk.


The New York order issued March 25, for example, specifically told homes they could not refuse to accept recovering COVID-19 patients from hospitals as long as the patients were “medically stable.” The order barred homes from even testing such patients to see if they still had the virus. Some homes said they feared they would lose their licenses if they didn't comply.

Cuomo, who said the state was following guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reversed the order under pressure May 10, long after New York’s death toll in care homes had climbed to among the nation's highest.

Long-term care facilities represent less than 1% of the U.S. population, but they account for 42% of the COVID-19 deaths, with more than 70,000 fatalities reported by the COVID Tracking Project.


In its statement announcing its request for data, the Justice Department said that hospital patients were sent “often without adequate testing” to ensure they would not spread the virus to residents. It also cited federal data showing New York, with nearly 32,600 dead, leads the nation in COVID-19 deaths, and is second only to New Jersey in the number of deaths per population."

Here's a link to the Long-term care data from the Covid Tracking Project. It has a map and data for the individual states.

https://covidtracking.com/data/longtermcare


Summary of long-term care facility COVID-19 deaths
The table below presents a summary of long-term care staff or resident confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths reported by states. Every state reports differently. Some states do not report at all. Refer to the state notes for more information.

(Table did not copy so please see the link above for the details)

 

[weepingangel]

Colleges in Mass. Have Had Lower Coronavirus Rates Than Elsewhere in the US
More at link
As students have begun returning to campuses and taking classes at colleges and universities across the country, schools in Boston and throughout Massachusetts have seemed to fare better than many in other parts of U.S.
In fact, among larger schools with student populations above 30,000, the University of Alabama and University of Georgia have both seen more than 500 positive cases, while BU has had just 28 positive test results.

Elmore says the school's ability to set up testing centers on campus and use its own labs to analyze results has been critical to keeping case numbers low.

"We're able to get those results back relatively fast, within a 24-hour period, and so that helps tremendously in our effort to manage positive cases," said Elmore.


Private schools in Mass. see uptick in interest following plans for public schools to go remote
More at link
At the end of July, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the largest teachers union in the state, released a statement pushing back on plans for schools to reopen with in-person learning. Without better COVID safeguards in place, it was too dangerous, the organization argued.

“Then, literally, when that hit the news that night, our phone started ringing off the hook,” said Thomas Carroll, the Archdiocese of Boston’s superintendent.



As COVID-19 Cases Spike in East Boston, City Looks to Contain Them
more at link

East Boston has emerged as a hot spot for coronavirus in the city.

The latest weekly numbers show people tested positive at a rate of over 11% according to city officials, while the rest of Boston is testing positive under 3.5%

 

[ilovewings]

Okay - well, that's one plan.

I wish you all the best - I'd get tested anyway, so that certain early interventions could be made, but perhaps you already know what those are. I'd at least call his doctor. Do you have an oximeter?

yes i have a pulse oximeter- i check my O2 every day since this pandemic started-
good idea---

 

[Sundog]

DOJ seeks data on care home deaths in 4 Democrat-led states

70,000 US deaths are from care homes. 42% of national deaths are from care homes despite only making up 1% of the population. This is the real tragedy in the US and other countries IMO.

From the link -

"The governors' actions at the height of the pandemic were designed to ensure hospitals had enough bed space for the most serious COVID cases, but were almost immediately criticized by nursing homes and relatives for potentially putting frail, elderly care home residents at risk.


The New York order issued March 25, for example, specifically told homes they could not refuse to accept recovering COVID-19 patients from hospitals as long as the patients were “medically stable.” The order barred homes from even testing such patients to see if they still had the virus. Some homes said they feared they would lose their licenses if they didn't comply.

Cuomo, who said the state was following guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reversed the order under pressure May 10, long after New York’s death toll in care homes had climbed to among the nation's highest.

Long-term care facilities represent less than 1% of the U.S. population, but they account for 42% of the COVID-19 deaths, with more than 70,000 fatalities reported by the COVID Tracking Project.


In its statement announcing its request for data, the Justice Department said that hospital patients were sent “often without adequate testing” to ensure they would not spread the virus to residents. It also cited federal data showing New York, with nearly 32,600 dead, leads the nation in COVID-19 deaths, and is second only to New Jersey in the number of deaths per population."

Here's a link to the Long-term care data from the Covid Tracking Project. It has a map and data for the individual states.

https://covidtracking.com/data/longtermcare


Summary of long-term care facility COVID-19 deaths
The table below presents a summary of long-term care staff or resident confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths reported by states. Every state reports differently. Some states do not report at all. Refer to the state notes for more information.

(Table did not copy so please see the link above for the details)

This is an important step to get justice for the elderly victims and their families. I hope there are public hearings.

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Coronavirus: Weekly COVID-19 cases in England decline for first time since July

The number of weekly COVID-19 cases in England has declined for the first time since July, new figures show.

A total of 6,115 people tested positive for coronavirus in the week from 13 to 19 August, figures from the government's test and trace operation have revealed.

That is 8% lower than the week before and the first decrease since the beginning of July.

 

[Sundog]

15-minute COVID tests will roll out in September, including at JFK and Newark airports - 15 minute tests with 97% sensitivity to detect positive cases

FDA greenlights Abbott's new $5 coronavirus test that provides results within 15 minutes