Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #90

[ilovewings]

https://nypost.com/2020/12/28/greg-norman-offers-warning-during-hideous-covid-19-battle/

Interesting article about Greg Norman's battle with the virus: I think, despite being a celebrity and getting the antibody infusion, he knows he is lucky and appreciates the treatment he got. I like his message to his followers and the larger community.

 

[10ofRods]

High Five! Yep. Where is the actual science on this? Yeah, I haven't seen any. Especially when it is based on "symptoms". How about asymptomatic people? Doesn't make sense to me.

The science on this is really really thin. It just hasn't been a priority (just like sequence of the genome of the under 75's who get severe COVID). Tons of work to be done, organized in patchwork fashion across the nation.

 

[mickey2942]

NBA Doesn’t Want Players To Jump The Line For Covid Vaccine, But Some Should Be Allowed To Do It

The NBA franchises are purveyors of education to help educate and lead communities to get vaccinated! That is really why key players should receive a Covid vaccine. To provide much needed leadership for communities to get vaccines.

Oh, the altruism of the NBA. The sacrifice! And here, I thought that they were really jumping the line to protect a bunch of overpaid, entitled athletes. And that the article was a pile of sanctimonious justifications to position themselves at the front of the line for vaccines.

 

[10ofRods]

Here you cannot get tested again for 90 days if you are positive as you will have a “false positive”! !!

Wow. So no one gets the "closed case" we need them to get: they are no longer contagious.

That's what we need to know. If that's true (here, you can get nearly unlimited tests - mostly for free), then the data from around the nation/world is going to take a long time to standardize.

What a mess. I feel like we're in phase 2 (hopeful for the vaccine, meanwhile soaring COVID rates that will dwarf what we've seen) and still such a long way to go to understand what's going on.

 

[Marysmith]

Wow. So no one gets the "closed case" we need them to get: they are no longer contagious.

That's what we need to know. If that's true (here, you can get nearly unlimited tests - mostly for free), then the data from around the nation/world is going to take a long time to standardize.

What a mess. I feel like we're in phase 2 (hopeful for the vaccine, meanwhile soaring COVID rates that will dwarf what we've seen) and still such a long way to go to understand what's going on.

I agree! Testing is free here and I probably *could* sign up to get tested again but the message is to not get retested for 90 days but you can go back to the community after 10... :/

 

[SouthAussie]

Dr. Osterholm did a valuable segment on the UK and SA variants:

“In this episode, Dr. Osterholm and host Chris Dall discuss reports of new SARS-CoV-2 variants from the UK and South Africa and potential implications, additional federal recommendations for vaccine prioritization, further information on vaccines for pregnant women, and the epidemiology of the pandemic heading into the holidays.“

Osterholm Update: COVID-19 |Episode 37: Now Is the Time | December 23. 2020

—-

Eta: My opinion re: his comments on the variants: as a lay person, IANAD, who realizes all this “strain business” is very deep, scientific stuff and way above my head, but is striving to keep up on a basic level, so we can at least have a minimal understand what is happening as it unfolds, and based on my very elementary, initial studies so far, I fully agree with Dr. Osterholm’s assessments, meaning I’ve been thinking the same thing, that the new variants are already likely here. He echoed what I said too about the US’ poor performance wrt genomic surveillance, as compared to the UK. He mentioned the comparison figures at something like US 300ish vs. 3000ish UK.

—

I highly recommend a listen to the above podcast, jmo.

We have our first confirmed case of the South African strain. The woman is a returned traveller and was tested (as normal) in hotel quarantine. As soon as they realised it was the South African variant that she is positive with, they chucked her in hospital to monitor her - which is not something they usually do, unless a person requires hospitalisation.


The woman tested positive while in hotel quarantine when she arrived in Queensland on December 22 and was immediately transferred to hospital for monitoring.

The new strain is believed to be more contagious than the existing COVID-19 virus.
"This will be the first positive case of the South African variant in Australia," Ms D'Ath said.

First case of 'more contagious' coronavirus strain detected in Australia

 

[Lilibet]

Just devastated. This sweet soul has passed this morning.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Cleavon_MD/status/1343335790600806401

Thats just heartbreaking. So young. I’m so sorry.

 

[Lilibet]

I have a question that I’m not sure there is an answer to, but I’ll throw it out there for @10ofRods and anyone else. I plan to get a vaccination as soon as it’s available to me here in Oregon. It should be within a few months at least since I’m 75 in a few weeks. I also will continued to stay home, wear a mask when I have to go out and take all the precautions I’m already taking until Dr Fauci says it’s safe to emerge.

Here’s the question: Dr Fauci estimates, with the caveat that no one really knows, that there will need to be 70-85% of the population immunized before herd immunity kicks in and that we will need to continue taking our current precautions until then. But communities will vary. Some will have more people who get immunized and others less. So is Fauci’s estimate an average for the entire country? Or world? If my community/county is lower than 70%, personally I would not view it as having reached herd immunity. So do I keep taking the precautions until it gets there? What if it doesn’t? If I travel someday, do I need to check vaccination rates for my destination? And even more specifically, when religious services are “back to normal” would the cautious among us like me need to know how many are vaccinated? I’m not sure that information could be obtained, but I’m sure there are at least a few in my congregation who wouldn’t get vaccinated since they don’t get a flu shot. I know these questions are for the future, and I’m not sitting here stewing about it, but I’m curious how it will work. TIA

 

[SouthAussie]

Mr Avery, 57, grew up in the Motor City and is aware that homicides and shootings are surging, even though before the pandemic they were dropping in Detroit and elsewhere.

In Detroit, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and even smaller Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Milwaukee, 2020 has been deadly not only because of the pandemic, but because gun violence is spiking.

"I think the pandemic — COVID — has had a significant emotional impact on people across the country," Detroit Police Chief James Craig said. "Individuals are not processing how they manage disputes. Whether domestics, arguments, disputes over drugs, there's this quickness to use an illegally carried firearm."

University of Pennsylvania economics professor David Abrams said crime began to spike in May and June when initial orders in some states were lifted.

.. retired Michigan State University sociology professor Carl Taylor ... "The COVID has been absolutely the trigger of an everlasting bomb that's exploding in many parts of our community," he added.

Nowhere is that more true than inside people's homes. "The COVID crisis and the economic shutdown is forcing people into their homes, creating conditions where people are more volatile," Kim Foxx said, the top prosecutor in Cook County, which includes Chicago. And the most jarring statistic that illustrates that volatility is this: The number of domestic-related homicides in the nation's third-largest city are up more than 60 per cent compared with last year.

As COVID-19 ravages the United States, shootings and killings are also up

 

[SouthAussie]

COVID-19 patients in ambulances are waiting EIGHT HOURS before entering ERs

California is at the breaking point

There is also a drastic shortage of nurses and other medical personnel, and California's leaders are reaching out to Australia and Taiwan to fill the need for 3,000 temporary healthcare workers.

California officials plead with public to stay home

 

[SouthAussie]

Has everyone heard this "Tribute to Covid-19 Heroes"?
By the One Voice Children's Choir (credit to Alicia Keys)

 

[sds71]

Children are more at risk of contracting coronavirus at a social gathering than in a classroom or childcare setting, according to a study released by the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Study: Children get COVID-19 at gatherings more than at school | 10tv.com

Factors Associated with Positive SARS-CoV-2 Test Results in Outpatient Health Facilities and Emergency Departments Among Children and Adolescents Aged 18 Years — Mississippi, September–November 2020 | MMWR (cdc.gov)

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Covid in Scotland: Confirmed cases pass 120,000

Almost 1,000 positive tests for Covid-19 have been recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases to more than 120,000.

The average number of new cases per day has been rising steadily following a spike of infections before Christmas.

The percentage of people testing positive in Scotland has also been higher than 12% for the past two days.

 

[dmac55]

Knowing this feels like hope to me

Assisted living facility residents, staff begin receiving COVID-19 vaccines in Arizona
Assisted living facility residents, staff begin receiving COVID-19 vaccines in Arizona

 

[IceIce9]

So the hospital system where I am employed just received word yesterday that many of the rapid tests were being performed improperly, causing false negative results.

Apparently the swabs were not being inserted properly when collecting samples. No one knows how many tests have been done improperly.

The bulletin gave instructions on how to collect a proper sample.

 

[MimosaMornings]

So the hospital system where I am employed just received word yesterday that many of the rapid tests were being performed improperly, causing false negative results.

Apparently the swabs were not being inserted properly when collecting samples. No one knows how many tests have been done improperly.

The bulletin gave instructions on how to collect a proper sample.

Is the nasal swab done differently for the rapid versus PCR?

 

[nhmemorymaker]

We have our first confirmed case of the South African strain. The woman is a returned traveller and was tested (as normal) in hotel quarantine. As soon as they realised it was the South African variant that she is positive with, they chucked her in hospital to monitor her - which is not something they usually do, unless a person requires hospitalisation.


The woman tested positive while in hotel quarantine when she arrived in Queensland on December 22 and was immediately transferred to hospital for monitoring.

The new strain is believed to be more contagious than the existing COVID-19 virus.
"This will be the first positive case of the South African variant in Australia," Ms D'Ath said.

First case of 'more contagious' coronavirus strain detected in Australia

Do we assume she is Australian? Where did she come FROM?

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

79-year-old Dublin woman first in Republic of Ireland to get Covid-19 vaccine

A 79-YEAR-old woman from Dublin has become the first person in the Republic of Ireland to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

Annie Lynch, a grandmother from Dublin’s inner city, was vaccinated at St James’ Hospital at around 1.30pm this afternoon.

She said: “I feel very privileged to be the first person in Ireland to receive the vaccine.

 

[Marysmith]

So the hospital system where I am employed just received word yesterday that many of the rapid tests were being performed improperly, causing false negative results.

Apparently the swabs were not being inserted properly when collecting samples. No one knows how many tests have been done improperly.

The bulletin gave instructions on how to collect a proper sample.

Oh no!!!!

 

[24Roses]

Iowa numbers and news for Mon. Dec. 28 and Tues. Dec. 29:
Dec. 28: No additional COVID-19 deaths reported in Iowa, 540 new cases
Dec. 29: 67 more COVID-19 deaths reported in Iowa, 1,475 new cases
Fired Tyson boss says COVID office pool was a 'morale boost'
State health data: Iowa October deaths 21% higher than usual
Some nursing homes are unsure of when they will receive their share of the vaccine
Iowa's first hospitalized COVID-19 patient is still recovering
Over 3,000 University of Iowa Health Care staff get first COVID-19 vaccine dose
Iowa's long term care facilities started getting COVID-19 vaccines Monday