Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #86

[PommyMommy]

WASHINGTON

NOV 4, 2020
Washington state reports highest ever single-day total of COVID-19 cases on Wednesday
The Washington State Department of Health on Wednesday reported 1,469 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 16 new deaths. The mark is the highest single-day total since the pandemic began, surpassing the previous high of 1,056 on July 6.

[...]

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 111,480 cases and 2,416 deaths, up from 110,011 cases and 2,400 deaths on Tuesday.

King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 28,926 cases and 822 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 12,061 cases and 279 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 10,879.

[...]

Coronavirus update: Washington state eclipses 111,000 total COVID-19 cases
[...]

Part of the state's COVID-19 increase comes from a record-breaking surge in Pierce County.

Pierce County Health officials reported 214 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, the highest single day total since the pandemic began.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department said they believe the spike is from community transmission as more people move indoors with the colder weather.

[...]

Pierce County has reported 1,408 COVID-19 cases in the past 14 days making their 14-day case rate per 100,000 156.1.

[...]

NOV 5, 2020
'We're going the wrong way fast': Experts concerned by COVID spike in Washington | king5.com
[...]

"We’re going the wrong way fast," said Dr. Kathy Lofy, health officer for the Washington Department of Health (DOH). "Yesterday, we reported almost 1,500 new cases, which is the highest number of cases the state has ever reported in a single day."

Data from the DOH showed the state reported 1,443 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and 1,068 new cases on Wednesday. As of Thursday evening, there are 112,550 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state, including 2,431 deaths.

Another measurement health experts are pointing to is the number of new cases per 100,000 people on a 14-day average, which should be 25 or less, but it's currently more than 146, according to the DOH.

[...]

 

[10ofRods]

For starters, Even though so late in the game, we need strong national public service programs to people. They have worked with other health issues in the past.
Thousands of people who were never in an accident, started wearing seatbelts.
Thousands of people started to understand how ugly all that litter was on the highways.

I don't know if America can experience compassion and empathy, anymore, but it sure is worth a try......
Compassion for allllll those health care workers risking their lives;
And empathy for all the families who have lost loved ones

Is it impossible? I don't think so. But it going to take a shiteload of work.

We can imagine a world in which our top leaders visit hospitals, speak to doctors and nurses, help narrate youtubes and PSA's that mourn the loss of life among healthcare workers, etc.

We can imagine a world in which most jurisdictions encourage 100% mask wearing - especially indoors. Sadly, some places are not going to do that (and I don't believe there will be or should be a federal mask mandate - but healthcare dollars could be attached to compliance with new CDC regs that are actually scientific and sensible).

The gutting of the CDC is a central problem in this whole mess. Many positions in the CDC were not filled when people left, were fired or driven out. We need to get a fully functioning CDC and the leadership needs to be completely science-based, not political.

If 5 year olds can successfully wear masks, as they do in so many nations, surely most Americans can do it too? In California, I do think it took a lot of deaths to get people to see that they had to wear masks (we still don't have full compliance but estimates put us at 85% and you can see it's working).

The whole emphasis on wearing masks only when in the public eye has to change. People who are essential workers may need to wear masks at home when positivity gets above 5%. If we could only have vast amounts of testing (employers should require it, many will revolt if any form of government requires it). In fact, the same people who would revolt are the ones who want their kids physically at schools - so schools should require some form of weekly testing in order for the kids to attend.

New research shows that while children are not strong transmitters of Covid, they do transmit among themselves (at all ages) and are early predictors of a rise in R0 rates in the adult population. Older kids (teens) do transmit to everyone.

 

[SouthAussie]

ETA Just jumping off your post SA, not aimed specifically at you...

Umm, FOURTH mobile morgue...still not a genocide? Scary, scary, scary stuff...

Your comment makes me think of the Statue of Liberty. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ......"

Why? Because compromised people are the ones who seem to be dying of covid the most.

 

[10ofRods]

there are still people, religious and otherwise, who believe that you just get it and what happens, happens- if you are not impacted too much, great. If you die, so be it. They really believe that.

Sadly, I sometimes believe that the virus just takes whomever is vulnerable. Not that people should not be cautious, and follow health measures, but I think I am seeing what everyone thought was an NYC phenomenon cut across the country. As with what I have read about the Spanish flu, the virus takes more time to get to remote and rural places, but it travels. I think there is an enormous urge to have this virus be "someone else's problem," thus the naming hoohaw, but it is a pandemic, so no one is safe. It is also so tempting to say that one does not have underlying conditions and is therefore safe but there is a Russian roulette aspect to the virus the way it just hurts and kills seemingly randomly. We want to find out exactly what factors make a person susceptible but we cannot totally pin that down. We have all these statistics on age, sex, ethnicity, blood type... and the virus rolls on. IMHO

Certainly a valid point of view - except that you, personally, cannot know whether you are "vulnerable" or not. There are the obvious vulnerability (most of us have at least one), but there are less obvious vulnerabilities that account for very healthy people (usually over 40) to be on lists for lung transplants. The list for lung transplants is now something like 2000 people due to Covid - and many are under 40.

Do you know all the genetics that go into clotting factors? I have none of the known ones, and yet I have a clotting disorder (which nearly killed me due to a drug reaction..a medicine commonly prescribed that causes blood clots in 1 in 120,000 people - I was one of those). I had no way of knowing why and after many genetic studies, doctors at UCLA say that my genome is in the database for comparison to others in hope that they'll figure how why people like me get blood clots more readily.

I found it out the hard way (by collapsing in the kitchen 16 years ago - I thought I was having an asthma attack and so did my primary care doctor).

Long story short: if you value your health and your life, please realize you can't know all your own physical properties (even with extensive gene sequences and family history results). It's a gamble to presume no pre-existing conditions...for everyone and many people will win that gamble. The chances of a healthy person under 40 dying of Covid are very small (1 in 100,000?) but the chances of having lung or heart scarring and therefore lifelong predispositions to further problems (including an underlying condition for any future viruses and the flu)...are much larger (1 in 20,000?)

If I were going to a sporting event with 20,000 attendees and knew that one person was going to die by sniper fire, I wouldn't go - I've become more risk averse since my blood clot episode.

 

[24Roses]

Iowa numbers today: As of 10:00-11:00 a.m., we had 3,533 new confirmed cases for a total of 144,142 confirmed cases of which 99,195 had recovered (+1,251). 14 more were reported to have passed for a total of 1,815. There are 44,947 active postive cases.
164 were hospitalize in the last 24 hrs. for a total of 912 (+73 new daily record). Here are the approximate daily age group increases (I'm short 1 total in a group): 0-17: 13,031 (+371); 18-40: 63,377 (+1,406); 41-60: 40,587 (+1,054); 61-80: 21,079 (+523); & 81+: 6,032 (+178). Nov. 6: 3,533 new COVID-19 cases in Iowa, 14 more deaths, 1,251 recoveries
912 Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19
Iowa COVID-19 Information
Iowa hospitals set for COVID-19 onslaught
Local business encouraging people not to wear face coverings amid rising COVID 19 cases
Tripoli schools canceled Friday due to positive COVID-19 case

 

[Niner]

Latvia has declared a state of emergency... We now have 7,219 cases with 88 deaths.
Masks are mandatory or you get fined 50 euros.

 

[SouthAussie]

Latvia has declared a state of emergency... We now have 7,219 cases with 88 deaths.
Masks are mandatory or you get fined 50 euros.

I think it is important to attach fines to non-mask wearing.

If we don't wear a seatbelt, we can be fined. If we litter, we can be fined.

Along with PSAs, fines can be very encouraging.

 

[sds71]

@AdamSchefter

More fines for more mask violations: NFL fined Steelers’ HC Mike Tomlin $100,000 and the team $250,000 for not wearing masks during win over the Ravens, sources tell ESPN.

*i love my 7-0 team but even Dobbs who has a degree in Aerospace Engineering was wearing his mask under his chin...not good
IMO

 

[Darling136]

Just found this in my fb feed

COVID-19 myths debunked

 

[margarita25]

Denver orders 30-day curfew in effort to curb rising COVID-19 infections

'Home By 10': Denver Under New Public Health Order To Combat Increase In COVID-19 Cases

 

[10ofRods]

A study in Boston shows that 1 in 5 grocery store workers are actively symptomatic for Covid (infectious) and most are asymptomatic:

Covid-19 Live Updates: U.S. Hits a Record 121,000 Daily Cases

Link is to the NYTimes, I think their Covid coverage is not behind their paywall.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

If I were going to a sporting event with 20,000 attendees and knew that one person was going to die by sniper fire, I wouldn't go

Good analogy. And as well as the one gun death there are several other people injured by flying bullets - some superficially, some catastrophically, some left with long term debilitating health problems for life.

Yeah, I wouldn’t go either...

 

[10ofRods]

Good analogy. And as well as the one gun death there are several other people injured by flying bullets - some superficially, some catastrophically, some left with long term debilitating health problems for life.

Yeah, I wouldn’t go either...

Yes - that's exactly the scenario (great revision). The only difference is that we know in advance it's going to happen.

Trader Joe's just announced that some 1700+ workers were ill with CoVid and tested positive. 2 died.

So if you get Covid, the chances of dying right now are about 4% in the US, but if you're in a high risk (high viral load) environment, it's...much higher. TJ's is known for having relatively young employees...

 

[mickey2942]

Denver orders 30-day curfew in effort to curb rising COVID-19 infections

'Home By 10': Denver Under New Public Health Order To Combat Increase In COVID-19 Cases

I am sure that there is more to this curfew than Covid. But it is a good proactive measure that many other municipalities should consider.

 

[SouthAussie]

Good analogy. And as well as the one gun death there are several other people injured by flying bullets - some superficially, some catastrophically, some left with long term debilitating health problems for life.

Yeah, I wouldn’t go either...

I would imagine that watching a person on a ventilator, and suffering - alone - with covid, would have traumatic impact as well. Just as the trauma of seeing a person wiped out by a sniper could leave a big trauma imprint on a person's mind.

 

[Trino]

Wisconsin has one of the highest rates of coronavirus. Guess what. There is really nothing to be said. Republicans rule the state legislature. Democratic governor.

A Wisconsin appeals court has reversed a lower court's ruling and blocked a statewide limit on gatherings and business capacities.

Emergency Order #3 is no longer in force, however Gov. Tony Evers' administration can appeal the ruling to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Appeals court blocks Wisconsin gathering order

 

[GRT]

Yes - that's exactly the scenario (great revision). The only difference is that we know in advance it's going to happen.

Trader Joe's just announced that some 1700+ workers were ill with CoVid and tested positive. 2 died.

So if you get Covid, the chances of dying right now are about 4% in the US, but if you're in a high risk (high viral load) environment, it's...much higher. TJ's is known for having relatively young employees...

Actually, if 2 died out of 1700 infected, the death rate (based solely on those numbers) would be .12%, not 4%, but I think the actual death rate is higher than .12% currently.

Grocery and big box stores are becoming hot spots for the virus and I think they need to start banning maskless persons from the stores. They all offer curbside delivery and online ordering so there's no reason non-masked people are in the stores.

 

[GRT]

I would imagine that watching a person on a ventilator, and suffering - alone - with covid, would have traumatic impact as well. Just as the trauma of seeing a person wiped out by a sniper could leave a big trauma imprint on a person's mind.

Maybe that would be a good image to use in a national campaign. Let people see the ravages of this virus with their own eyes. Too many still think they're immortal.

 

[SouthAussie]

Maybe that would be a good image to use in a national campaign. Let people see the ravages of this virus with their own eyes. Too many still think they're immortal.

We initially had SO many media articles showing people on ventilators. You would open up some info about covid, and there would be a graphic pic of a person on (or being put on) a ventilator along with the covid info. It was impossible not to see the complete and scary tragedy of it.

Our culture tends to be very in-your-face about these things. Our car accident PSAs are pretty confronting too.

Eg:
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...-elective-surgery-reboot-20200511-p54rwg.html
Australia has 'more than sufficient' ventilators, says Deputy CMO

 

[weepingangel]

Massachusetts drops from 121 to 16 'high risk’ cities and towns after state changes criteria


Education officials urge Massachusetts schools prioritize return to in-person learning

Massachusetts reports 2,038 new COVID cases, 21 deaths as second wave continues