Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #82

[Lilibet]

You can pick up the non-vented kind at Lowes.

And these vented ones might be in your local store, but they're not available online.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/3M-N95-DISPOSABLE-VALVED-5-CT/1003047222

Thanks @GRT. I have a stash of N95 masks for wildfire smoke in our go-bags. I’m looking for the n95 filter 10ofRods mentioned that can go in the pocket in my cloth mask.

 

[Lilibet]

The N95 filters on Amazon.

The shape makes them easy to insert into the mask pocket of most of our masks (I trim them for one of my masks). I just fold the edge outward (about half an inch does it) for my larger masks. I'm wearing the larger masks more these days.

Thanks! Ordered.

 

[10ofRods]

Out of interest, are there any cases in the US who have definitely caught it from A/C ?

No, we've not authorized any research of this type nor has the CDC the funding to do so. We have a huge number of "community spread" (unaccounted for) cases in the US - about 30% of our total.

We're using the Italian research. We can't get Americans to do contact tracing, and it would be hard, without the kinds of studies done in China and Italy, to know whether a person visiting an air conditioned space got it from ventilation or from another person present.

What we do know is that hospitals have found virions blowing out of their ventilation systems as well as other places but as you can imagine, they can't take those virions and put them into humans to see if they are still active - we can only guess.

Fortunately, a lot of research has been done in China and Italy, which show that virions in the air can survive for up to 24 hours (perhaps longer, often shorter). We haven't done that same research in the US - but we rely upon it.

HVAC specialists in the US have repeatedly found CoVid virions in ducting and being blown out of vents, but again, they can't go stick people in the air to see if they get CoVid.

Identification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Healthcare Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Units

But if people are worried about CoVid surviving on their mail or the contents of mailed envelopes, surely there's more concern about CoVid virions in the air - as it needs to get to your lungs in fairly large amounts to infect you. Touching your nose with the hand that just touched the mail is not going to transfer very many virions.

You can look through the research on the webpage I've posted twice if you're interested in how this research gets done. I find it very convincing.

There are 394 articles on how CoVid is spread within ventilation systems summarized here although you might not be able to get to it (scholarly article).

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Top US Military Leaders Quarantining After Coronavirus Exposure

Top U.S. military leaders, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, are self-quarantining after contact with U.S. Coast Guard Vice Commandant Charles Ray, who has tested positive for coronavirus.

A defense official told VOA the leaders were quarantining in order to comply with Defense Department guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control.

Milley, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and other senior defense officials have been tested frequently since last Sunday, when they attended a White House reception for “Gold Star” families of fallen troops. Both President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were at that event and tested positive for coronavirus later in the week.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Live updates: White House approves FDA coronavirus vaccine standards it tried to derail


The White House on Tuesday approved tough new standards for coronavirus vaccines after weeks of delay, but only after the Food and Drug Administration unilaterally published the guidelines on its own website as part of its briefing materials for outside vaccine advisers.


The standards, which would be used for an emergency authorization of a vaccine, are the same as the ones the agency proposed weeks ago as part of an effort to boost public confidence in an eventual vaccine. In many cases, they are close to the standards for a full approval. But the White House, worried the criteria would delay authorization of a vaccine, presumably beyond the Nov. 3 election, sat on the guidance.

Here are some significant developments:

• President Trump said Tuesday that the coronavirus relief talks were over until after the election, abruptly ordering Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to stop negotiating with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
• The stock market sharply plummeted in the last hour of Tuesday’s trading day, as investors reacted to Trump’s announcement.
• Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are in isolation after the Coast Guard’s No. 2 officer tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Pentagon said Tuesday in a statement.
• Vice President Pence is requesting that no plexiglass dividers be placed on his side of the stage at Wednesday night’s vice-presidential debate, a day after the Commission on Presidential Debates said dividers had been agreed to as a safety measure.
• Nearly a third of hospitalized covid-19 patients experienced some type of altered mental function according to a new study published Monday in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, the biggest study conducted so far focusing on neurological symptoms in coronavirus patients in the United States, the New York Times reported.
• At least 209,000 people in the United States have died of the coronavirus, according to data tracked by The Washington Post, while more than 7.3 million cases have been reported.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/06/coronavirus-covid-live-updates-us/

 

[LaborDayRN]

Top US Military Leaders Quarantining After Coronavirus Exposure

Top U.S. military leaders, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, are self-quarantining after contact with U.S. Coast Guard Vice Commandant Charles Ray, who has tested positive for coronavirus.

A defense official told VOA the leaders were quarantining in order to comply with Defense Department guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control.

Milley, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and other senior defense officials have been tested frequently since last Sunday, when they attended a White House reception for “Gold Star” families of fallen troops. Both President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were at that event and tested positive for coronavirus later in the week.

It certainly is spreading far and wide throughout the government.

 

[squareandrabbet]

Did you get the kind of N95s that have vents?

I did not! Thanks for the tip to go looking for the 3M version. I have seen a person or 2 wearing them but didn't think to flag them down to see where they came from.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Can anyone read/print the main thrust of this article from the NYTimes...it is behind a paywall for me....

White House Ignores Local Mandates, Giving Virus a New Hold in D.C.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Our people need this stimulus package NOW. I just wish that the WH would listen to Powell, at the Fed, rather than politic it.

Powell calls for more stimulus, says risk of doing too much is ‘smaller’
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell called for more stimulus to support continued economic recovery from the devastating pandemic that he said has been faster than expected.

The risks of doing too much “seem, for now, to be smaller,” the central bank chief told the National Association for Business Economics. Powell cautioned that backing off now would risk thwarting a recovery that has hit those on the lowest end of the wage scale hardest.

“The recovery will be stronger and move faster if monetary policy and fiscal policy continue to work side by side to provide support to the economy until it is clearly out of the woods,” Powell added. —Jeff Cox

Coronavirus live updates: Trump calls off stimulus negotiations until after election; Pentagon leaders quarantine

 

[LadyL]

California governor's office tells diners to wear masks 'in between bites'

they can't be serious

 

[LadyL]

I was more naturally inclined to wear mine, because it felt "safe." It eventually disintegrated...

maybe it was expired when you put it on

 

[CSIDreamer]

they can't be serious

Oh. But they are. I had a thought. I wear glasses and use clippie sunglasses. They can flip up. While I'm not one to flip my clippies, I wondered about goggles.

Maybe California can design a style of face flipping clippies for goggles for indoor dining. Jmo

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Yes I believe I did TY. As I said, if they are so unreliable, why did the FDA give them EUA? As we know, they also did this with HXC and then withdrew it. So how can the WH trust the EUA process?

I would think by respecting that this is a novel virus and things evolve. And as the letter dated in September to the company states "There is no adequate, approved, and available alternative to the emergency use of yourproduct. and e.g. in June the FDA said only for symptomatics.

This iirc is the lastest FDA letter re the test from September.

https://www.fda.gov/media/136522/download

 

[CharlestonGal]

Trump returns home on a steroid known to cause aggression and agitation

According to the Mayo Clinic, that steroid’s known side-effects include aggression, agitation, anxiety, irritability, mood changes and noisy, rattling breathing and weight gain.

It’s also possible the president could experience “trouble thinking, speaking, or walking” as a result of that steroid, which was prescribed to regulate President Trump’s oxygen levels. The drug is used to “suppresses the immune system to prevent the release of substances that can trigger inflammation,” according to Newsweek, which also warns it can cause “grandiose delusions.”

Pundits at CNN suggested throughout the day that the commander-in-chief should consider handing over control of the nuclear nation until he’s at 100%. Former presidential adviser David Gergin, who served three Republican and one Democratic heads of state, said the U.S. is “in the grips of a mad man."

 

[Sundog]

Trump returns home on a steroid known to cause aggression and agitation

According to the Mayo Clinic, that steroid’s known side-effects include aggression, agitation, anxiety, irritability, mood changes and noisy, rattling breathing and weight gain.

It’s also possible the president could experience “trouble thinking, speaking, or walking” as a result of that steroid, which was prescribed to regulate President Trump’s oxygen levels. The drug is used to “suppresses the immune system to prevent the release of substances that can trigger inflammation,” according to Newsweek, which also warns it can cause “grandiose delusions.”

Pundits at CNN suggested throughout the day that the commander-in-chief should consider handing over control of the nuclear nation until he’s at 100%. Former presidential adviser David Gergin, who served three Republican and one Democratic heads of state, said the U.S. is “in the grips of a mad man."

LOL. I had to take steroids for the short term for a slipped disc in my neck about a year ago. A lot of the studies are about long-term effects if a person takes these medications long term.

 

[Simply Southern]

Though he was young he had high blood pressure which is a pretty high risk factor: still he was so fit and in such good shape, you would think he should have survived this nasty virus. it is heartbreaking.

I know this area of Virginia, the hospital is about 80 beds. They are from Danville but went to a hospital 40 miles away in a much smaller town, with less medical resources. They only have a part time pulmonologist at the hospital. I don't understand why they didn't transfer him out to Duke or UVA or to Danville.

This has really upset the community.

Eta....this hospital does have Remdesivir, per report in local news paper.

Moo....

 

[Legally Bland]

they can't be serious

The picture in the tweet makes it clearer.

California governor's office tells diners to wear masks 'in between bites'

 

[dixiegirl1035]

It certainly is spreading far and wide throughout the government.

Two more today.

Jennifer Jacobs [URL='https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs']@JenniferJJacobs[/URL]
More White House aides have learned they are positive for coronavirus, including an assistant press secretary, Jalen Drummond, sources tell me. He is one of Kayleigh McEnany's deputies and was in the Rose Garden for the Amy Coney Barrett event.

Also, an unamed white house valet/military aide.

Jennifer Jacobs [URL='https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs']@JenniferJJacobs[/URL]
NEWS: One of the president's military aides, Coast Guard aide Jayna McCarron, has coronavirus, sources tell me. And so does one of the president's valets, who is also active duty military, and traveled with the president last week.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

It is a good thing that we are websleuthers...putting together the facts and the truth. I think this is very very important information to understand better how both the FDA and the CDS are becoming impotent..... when we need them to be super forces to help all Americans face this virus. We need collective wisdom like never before, but are we losing so much of that wisdom?

I really hope that we websleuthers can absorb some of this following information to evaluate what is really truly honestly helping and honoring Americans get through and out of our covid crisis.


House panel investigate meddling at CDC, FDA
A House oversight subcommittee has launched an investigation looking at whether White House officials unduly pressured the nation’s top health agencies throughout the pandemic.

Chairman of the subcommittee, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., sent letters to the leaders of the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requesting documents and information on agency actions, drafts submitted to the White House and changes made during the review process.

The letters emphasize the role of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, known as OIRA, in reviewing agency decisions. The OIRA is part of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget and has authority to review regulatory actions made by agencies.

“We are particularly concerned that a little-known office within the White House — the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, part of the Office of Management and Budget — is exerting influence over what is supposed to be non-partisan, scientific messaging,” Krishnamoorthi said Tuesday in a statement. —Will Feuer

Coronavirus live updates: Trump calls off stimulus negotiations until after election; Pentagon leaders quarantine

Senate Confirms Trump’s Pick for Regulations Czar

Acting OIRA head looks to ensure ‘government speaks with one voice’ on regulations | Federal News Network

 

[LaborDayRN]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>

We continue to learn as we move farther into the pandemic. The following information was updated today. It reports that deaths from Covid seem to be substantially higher, perhaps 10x higher than the flu.

COVID-19: There have been approximately 1,044,882 deaths reported worldwide. In the U.S, 210,196, people have died of COVID-19 between January 2020 and October 6, 2020.*

Flu: The World Health Organization estimates that 290,000 to 650,000 people die of flu-related causes every year worldwide.

The COVID-19 situation is changing rapidly. Since this disease is caused by a new virus, the vast majority of people do not yet have immunity to it, and a vaccine may be many months away. Doctors and scientists are working to estimate the mortality rate of COVID-19, but at present, it is thought to be substantially higher (possibly 10 times or more) than that of most strains of the flu.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 vs. the Flu