Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #88

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Iowa numbers today and recent news: As of 10:00-11:00 a.m. we had 2,901 new "confirmed" cases for a total of 239,693 of which 152,331 are recovering (+5,179). 84 more were reported to have passed (all still from Nov.) 123 were hospitalized in the last 24 hrs. for a total of 1,000 (-124). According to KWWL, there are 84,759 active positive cases with a 24 hr. positivity rate of 38.2%.
Dec. 4: Record-high 84 more COVID-19 deaths reported in Iowa, most still from November
access Daily case counts updated at 11:00 a.m.
Iowa’s contact-tracing firm helped Trump, Reynolds campaigns
Iowa COVID-19 vaccine not available to public school K-12 students

I keep meaning to tell you @24Roses that I appreciate your Iowa reports all the way from Oregon. Friends of ours who lost their home in the Almeda fire in southern Oregon in September decided to move near family in Iowa. It’s hard to imagine the huge numbers you post, and I hope they will stay safe in their little rural town on acreage. Fortunately, they are sensible mask-wearers, but being in their 60’s with other conditions increases their risk.
 
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From Oregon government departments:

Taking care during difficult times

Winter can be difficult even in the best of times, but this year people in Oregon might find the season even more troubling. Being gentle with yourself and adjusting your expectations can help during times of stress and anxiety. Setting small actionable steps can be helpful when coping with stress and anxiety.

Here are some ideas:
  • Make a list of the top three things that you want to get done each day.
  • Find time to practice deep breathing.
  • Make a list of things that you feel grateful for.
  • Decide to do something physical. Even a short walk around the block or doing some stretches can be helpful.
  • Help others while you help yourself: check in with friends and neighbors to offer support, especially to those who might be struggling more during this time.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has more information on Coping with Stress during Infectious Disease Outbreaks.

It’s okay to ask for help. COVID-19 has changed our lives, and it can feel difficult for anyone. There’s support for you and the people you love. Local mental and emotional health resources for support can be found at Safe + Strong or you can call the Safe + Strong Helpline at 1-800-923-HELP (4357). The line offers free, 24-7 emotional support and resource referral to anyone who needs it – not only those experiencing a mental health crisis. (800-923-HELP).

Oregon Coronavirus Update
 
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I just finished watching the above CNN Video, which features the incoming President and Vice President addressing the pandemic. I thought it was very on point and feel more hopeful when I’m able to see such videos.



Eta: The above Dr. Fauci interview on Today (second video down in the middle) is also good. In response to reporter’s question, “how do you know it’s safe long term?”, he says that in the history of vaccinology, over 90% of adverse reactions occur within the first 30-45 days, hence the 2 month trials being a good indicator of safety (paraphrasing) - FDA said they won’t issue EUA until at least 60 days “beyond when 1/2 of the people received their last dose, so they’ve already baked in that 60 day period of observation...”. Dr. Fauci also talks about vaccine confidence as it relates to people of influence being vaccinated on camera.

Also, according to a survey by the American Nurses Association, 36% of nurses said they will not take the vaccine, 34% said yes, 31% are not sure.
 
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Guys, I'm really scared here in L.A. county. Everyday we are shattering record. I feel like we are in a sinking ship (Titanic) with not enough life boat onboard (hospital, medical staff). I worry about my little family getting sick and we may have nowhere to go to get proper treatment. We had wonderful lives to live and now our hopes and dreams are in jeopardy. This really sucks.:(:(:(
 
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Guys, I'm really scared here in L.A. county. Everyday we are shattering record. I feel like we are in a sinking ship (Titanic) with not enough life boat onboard (hospital, medical staff). I worry about my little family getting sick and we may have nowhere to go to get proper treatment. We had wonderful lives to live and now our hopes and dreams are in jeopardy. This really sucks.:(:(:(

Hang in there buddy, yeah LA County is getting hammered for sure...I am having a rough go here too, this does totally suck and I too am scared - what I’m trying to remember is Dr. Osterholm and others saying to hang in there, double down, there is light at the end of the tunnel, we are almost there with the vaccines (though this will take some time and major efforts/hurdles to get everyone vaccinated), but these vaccines are excellent news. Dr. O says “we just need to make it to the vaccines”.
 
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Yep. If we're not infected yet, we still have a chance to avoid it.

I'm really tired of people stating that it's no worse than the flu (there's a relatively well educated man on my FB that is claiming this). It's true that the death rate, per case, has gotten better (only 3%!!!!) but I see it misstated all the time as 0.01% (still high).

Again, if we aren't concerned about this, why should we be concerned about car accidents? Or murders?

Where I live, the number of fatal and other serious car accidents is so much higher than before the pandemic (reckless driving, speeding). I sometimes wonder whether there's a connection. If as a society we allow recklessness in one domain - why not another?

Sigh. Regardless of what the Young and the Reckless do - I hope you all stay safe. I think we have a good track record with our masks and our social distancing and our staying home as much as possible. Let's keep it up.
 
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Guys, I'm really scared here in L.A. county. Everyday we are shattering record. I feel like we are in a sinking ship (Titanic) with not enough life boat onboard (hospital, medical staff). I worry about my little family getting sick and we may have nowhere to go to get proper treatment. We had wonderful lives to live and now our hopes and dreams are in jeopardy. This really sucks.:(:(:(

Yep. Welcome to my world. Our county just shattered every record for positive Covid cases. Literally, almost everyone I personally know, either has Covid, is getting over it, or currently in quarantine. I don't even pick up take out food any longer.

Hunkering down, at home. Stay well.

I heard some Christmas music today. It was so impossibly out of sync with my current point of view, I couldn't even wrap my head around it. This is not "Christmas". I am not going to any parties this year, we are not having any family over. The whole situation is unbelievable.
 
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Guys, I'm really scared here in L.A. county. Everyday we are shattering record. I feel like we are in a sinking ship (Titanic) with not enough life boat onboard (hospital, medical staff). I worry about my little family getting sick and we may have nowhere to go to get proper treatment. We had wonderful lives to live and now our hopes and dreams are in jeopardy. This really sucks.:(:(:(

I live near L.A. County. I feel your pain. God forbid that any of us get in an accident of any kind (even a broken ankle) or otherwise need to go to an ER. That's why I am urging everyone to stay home. And I mean every non-essential errand must be stopped. Do not go to the grocery store. By now, we've all had the chance to stock up on rice, beans, frozen food, canned food. Now is the time to use it and just STAY HOME.

Your family probably has no where to go if they get sick (my family too). Let's worry about future hopes and dreams later. If the vaccine is available, take it. That will restore is to our lives (there's never any guarantee of a "wonderful life" but if we can't dream about it, life pretty much sucks).

Keep in mind that certain occupations are much more likely to get COVID (but that almost anyone you know could have had contact with someone in a high risk occupations). I live in fear and dread for my adult kids (although I understand they probably won't DIE from COVID - I worry about all the other things; I've watched too many people have longterm consequences from dysentery or flu or mumps or chicken pox etc to be comfortable with this new and poorly understood virus).

Get a good primary care physician (harder than it sounds - ours is not responding to a routine request for Rx refills, no idea why).

Anyway, you're not alone, you're not neurotic, you're not over-reacting. Fauci and others have been warning for months - now, here we are (and it's global).
 
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On a somewhat comical note (not really), I just cut the CRAP out of myself, to the point I was afraid I may need stitches, but I was able to control the bleeding by applying pressure, not before gushing blood all over the place...

This is can be described as an injury one would only get during a pandemic and being locked down: I’m very unhappy to be missing my regular teeth cleanings, so I ordered one of those sharp metal scraper tools they use at the dentist’s office to clean your teeth under the gum line - well I just fish hooked myself in the mouth/lip. Seriously. Just like a fish.

Additionally, I have another injury which thankfully has started to heal up, with a lot of care and angst, but really this is something that I needed to be seen for.

My point is, many people out there I am sure are not seeking medical attention when they may need to. There will be residual effects of this.

So, yeah, don’t try that home with the dental fish hook, or if you do, be very very careful. :rolleyes:
 
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Guys, I'm really scared here in L.A. county. Everyday we are shattering record. I feel like we are in a sinking ship (Titanic) with not enough life boat onboard (hospital, medical staff). I worry about my little family getting sick and we may have nowhere to go to get proper treatment. We had wonderful lives to live and now our hopes and dreams are in jeopardy. This really sucks.:(:(:(

I hear you @pocketaccent and I don’t blame you. Things are bad in CA and especially L.A. I think we all have that Titanic feeling. I feel the same way in my little town in Oregon. It’s not on the same scale as L.A. county, but there are only three hospitals in our county of about 220,000, two large and one small. It’s terrifying, depressing and infuriating regardless of our age or family situation or location.

But you know what? It’s OK to be scared...it will keep you safe while we wait for the hospitals to come up for air, vaccines to get on board and sanity to prevail. I posted a “self care” list from the state of Oregon a little while ago. The ideas seem simple, but powerful, so maybe that will help us all to stay the course. We can do this! But feel free to vent here anytime. Big hugs! :)
 
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On a somewhat comical note (not really), I just cut the CRAP out of myself, to the point I was afraid I may need stitches, but I was able to control the bleeding by applying pressure, not before gushing blood all over the place...

This is can be described as an injury one would only get during a pandemic and being locked down: I’m very unhappy to be missing my regular teeth cleanings, so I ordered one of those sharp metal scraper tools they use at the dentist’s office to clean your teeth under the gum line - well I just fish hooked myself in the mouth/cheek. Seriously.

Additionally, I have another injury which thankfully has started to heal up, with a lot of care and angst, but really this is something that I needed to be seen for.

My point is, many people out there I am sure are not seeking medical attention when they may need to. There will be residual effects of this.

So, yeah, don’t try that home with the dental fish hook, or if you do, be very very careful. :rolleyes:

@margarita25 please, please, please get medical help as needed! Your mouth/cheek injury sounds awful. I know we all want to spare the health care system and it’s workers as much as possible, but if we let small things turn into big things...well you know we all want you to keep yourself safe! My husband swears by Listerine mouthwash for those times he bites his tongue or cheek while chewing. I hope it heals quickly. Hugs!
 
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Wow, that's an interesting take. How would the average person know what caused a birth defect?

So you really think that a person's view on what caused birth defects (based on no science at all) should be encouraged to decide this on their own?

You'd be surprised at what people already believe about birth defects. The entire history of folk theories about birth defects shows that all of the folk theories were wrong, except perhaps a few related to prior pandemics...measles and some forms of flu can heighten the number of birth defects, but these theories were promulgated by big jumps in numbers in birth defects.

I'd hope that people would wait for epidemiological information to disentangle such a complex question. I am completely stumped as to how any particular individual observation could show that either COVID or the vaccine caused a particular condition, without a scientific study.
My use of birth defects/vaccines was intended only as only as an illustrative example. You’re right, by reading one person’s unsubstantiated idea the reader wouldn’t have enough info to make a decision but it might raise the question so they would be on the lookout for other information to learn the facts. And also to your point, who would take anything as a fact because one of one person’s unsubstantiated hypothesis? Almost no-one, so why does facebook need to step in to protect us from ourselves.

Another extreme example for illustrative purposes: Say the FB powers that be believe that Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” is bunk and the work of the Devil. An idea that encourages people to denounce our creator putting souls at risk? So they block any mention of Darwin’s theory to protect people from Satan thus saving their souls. There are a bunch of people who believe just that. Hopefully one of those people aren’t in charge of FB’s delete button, but what if they were?

Or what if the keeper knows something may be true but if word got out it would jeopardize a political or religious movement they believe in with all their soul. Might they delete that content for what they think were righteous reasons? Again an extreme and disturbing example, a Hitler fanatic deleting posts suggesting a government facility might actually be a concentration camp?

Obviously I don’t think anyone at FB is a Hitler proponent—it’s just an example. But what guarantee do we have that the person/people who are in charge of content screening believe something we might take issue with? Or believe they are doing the right thing by squashing facts for the greater good? While odds may be low, there IS no guarantee and for that reason I don’t want anyone controlling what content I and everyone else gets to see.
 
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Viral tweet shows dark reality for terminally ill US hospital patients
 
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Q&A with Dr. Mike & Dr. Maria
(Courtesy of @dixiegirl1035)

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04:24 | Dr. Mike Ryan (response to question):

“It’s fantastic, and for me especially this year we have developed and now potentially deploying an effective vaccine against SARS Co-V2, against COVID-19, but also we've managed to do the same with Ebola for the first time in almost 30 years, and to have a new vaccine and one of the vaccines against Ebola which is built with the same basic approach - it's a viral vector vaccine very similar to some of the candidates for SARS Co-V2, so what we're seeing is huge innovation out there and I think at last innovation that's aimed at the problems that people all over the world face, not just people in wealthy countries but people in poorer countries as well, and I think for me, and there is a way to go, I think Maria is correct, there's a way to go. We’ve likened it to reaching the base camp on Mount Everest but we still have to climb the mountain, so it's a great achievement, but we still have to get there and there are many obstacles to getting there in terms of the ability to produce enough of the vaccine, distribute it fairly, not only deliver it at national level but bring that down to communities, create the demand for the vaccine and deliver that vaccine to each and every individual who actually needs it. That’s not a small task. We’ve been trying to do that for measles for 50 years, we've been trying to do that with polio for 30 years and we haven't quite got there, despite billions of dollars of investment and huge amounts of effort, so in order for this to be successful, and many people have said this before me, it's not just the vaccines that matter, it's vaccination, it’s getting people vaccinated, so it will be very important that we focus on that delivery part...This is the first time ever in my experience, I think I said this previously at the presser but I think it's important to repeat it, never ever before in the history of science and the history of mankind, have we had a new threat, biologic threat, that we didn't understand, we didn't even know existed. We’ve struggled to respond and contain it, and everyone deserves huge credit for what you individually and personally all have contributed to keeping this virus under some kind of control, protecting those around you, but to drive the innovation needed amongst the public and the private sector, the philanthropic sector, the UN, the academic institutions, and so many others have come together, put aside differences, put aside rivalries and committed to a process that Dr. Tedros started way back last March/April and all make a contribution to delivering on a vaccine, and within 12 months to be in this situation is just incredible, and to do that with equity and access and fairness built in from the beginning, that's also unique, because most of the time, we've seen it with HIV and other drugs, we distribute them unfairly at high prices and eventually a number of years later we get a conscience and we decide “oh maybe poor people should get these“ and that becomes an afterthought. This is a forethought, this has been built in and engineered into this process since the very beginning. Now it won't be perfect, nothing is perfect, but it's the first time in my professional career I‘ve witnessed equity and access built into the system from the moment it began. That is a wonderful aspiration, it's an amazing aspiration, because too many people talk that talk but don't walk that walk and we've tried with our partners to walk that walk. On top of that, again there's a humanitarian buffer built in, which is really aimed at getting to people who may never be reached by governments, people living in non-government-controlled areas in the middle of shooting wars, who may not get access to the national allocation, and again there's a buffer dealing directly with those people, so ourselves and unicef and
unacr and msf and other organizations can have access to a special stock, so even those people who don't have the protection of a government, even those people who live in the most extreme and conflict affected environments in the world, we will be able to get vaccines to them, and again that's to me, as a humanitarian, as someone who works my whole life at that space, that's fantastic, because they're the last people in line in my experience. They’re the people sometimes it takes decades to create equitable access to anything, food even, so now to have this is fanta...I know I’m being very emotional about this, but this means a lot to me, because sometimes we fail in things and we fail but we try, sometimes we don't even try; this time we're really trying, really really really trying, to build in that and all of the agencies involved from the top right down to the bottom are important, in many ways the baton will be handed over over time...we need to develop more vaccines. We shouldn't stop. We need more than these three or four. We need to increase production. We need to pull the price down. We love/need a one dose vaccine because all of the vaccines so far are two doses, so the innovation is not finished. We need the research to continue and we need everyone to support that research. We need everybody to look into their own hearts and see how can they contribute. If you're offered a vaccine, it's not just for you - you represent that new firewall. You’re a tree in the forest - if you don't burn down, the rest of the forest doesn't burn down, so your responsibility in this is not just to yourself, it is to your community. So everyone, before the vaccines arrive and all the arguments start over this holiday period, I’d advise everyone to sit down and find out all they can about vaccination, find out all they can about the benefits, find out all they can about the risks, and make a good decision, but make a decision for you, make it for your family, make it for your community and make it for the world, and remember each and every person is a tree in that forest and you get to choose, and you should get to choose, but you're also part of a forest, so let us try also over the coming weeks not just think about the technology, but think about the psychology that we need to have to make vaccinations successful.”
 
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I miss the group hug emoji.. We really need one at this moment. Honestly, I never thought in my wildest dream that the US would be in this ridiculously precarious situation in which people are literally scared to death!

Yeah, we need to walk or swim (Jack - "Swim Rose, I need you to swim!") toward the light at the end of the tunnel. Breathe in slowly and deeply, exhale out all the worries, anxiety and fear.
 
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