Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #93

[nightowl1975]

Sounds like they're going through the motions of offering an online option, but making it very unsatisfactory so that most students will go in person.

The problem with this is the OP stated only half of the students are even allowed to attend in person. So it doesn’t matter what they want. They get to pay outrageous prices for a joke of an education.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

The rest of the story...facts that I hope will balance the previous Fox story.

Texas Gov. Abbott stalled federal offer to test migrants then blamed them for spreading Covid - CNNPolitics

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is stalling efforts by the Biden administration to provide federal funds for Covid-19 tests for migrants released from custody, a senior Homeland Security official tells CNN.

After relaxing state Covid restrictions this week, Abbott alleged, without evidence, that migrants coming into Texas are exposing the state's residents to the coronavirus.

"The Biden administration has been releasing immigrants in south Texas that have been exposing Texans to Covid," Abbott, a Republican, said in a CNBC interview Thursday.

But behind the scenes, the Department of Homeland Security has relayed plans to the governor's office to try and get assistance to cities and counties to mitigate Covid-19 spread, according to the official.

DHS has already set plans in motion to use Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to support community efforts to test, isolate and quarantine migrants released from Border Patrol custody, the official told CNN. But the grant money needs to be approved by the state before it can be distributed to border communities. CNN previously reported plans were underway to use FEMA funds to help localities acquire tests.

As of Wednesday, Texas had not yet provided a response to the administration since engaging with the Department of Homeland Security.

Thanks, Lilabet... We knew there would be more to the story:

"We hope that Governor Abbott will reconsider his decision to reject DHS's agreement with the Texan local authorities that would enable the very testing of migrant families that Governor Abbott says he wants," the spokesperson said.

I hope Texans will speak ..

 

[nhmemorymaker]

oh boy

Ontario doctor cautioned by regulators for spreading COVID-19 misinformation

I THOUGHT I had heard her name before... she touted hydrachloraqine as well...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/kulvinder-kaur-gill-tweets-cpso-1.5680122

Early Multidrug Outpatient Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (COVID-19) and Reduced Mortality Among Nursing Home Residents
We put forth the notion that the most important factor in this regard, is making available early therapeutic intervention as described here. These drugs include and under supervision by skilled doctors, combination/sequenced ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, colchicine, azithromycin, doxycycline, bromhexine hydrochloride, and favipiravir (outside the US), along with inhaled steroids such as budesonide and oral steroids including dexamethasone and prednisone, and anti-thrombotic anti-clotting drugs such as heparin). As the clinical trials data on treatments for COVID-19 mature, this early treatment therapeutic option deserves serious, urgent, and sober consideration by the medical establishment and respective decision-makers.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

We are hearing on our morning news (Friday morning here) that Astra Zeneca is only able to meet about 40% of its production requirements ... for the worldwide orders that have been placed with them.

There has been a bit of a bum fight because Australia is being hugely shorted - but because Australia is 'not considered vulnerable' Europe is getting the vaccines. Especially Italy because they are in such a mess.

Our health minister says for us just to relax (I think we are pretty relaxed ) because it will just be a few weeks and our own production of Astra Zeneca will start pumping out. Just puts us behind the rest of the western world, I guess, as far as getting people vaccinated.

I am not sure who is complaining. Maybe Qantas? They are itching to get flying internationally again. They published HUGE losses recently.

The irony really burns.
I am believing more and more is going to be getting to Americans faster and faster. At least Biden is more willing to do more internationally. But it still burns.

 

[mickey2942]

Sounds like they're going through the motions of offering an online option, but making it very unsatisfactory so that most students will go in person.

I have been a supervisory teacher for student teaching, and I have to tell you, I have NOT been impressed with the caliber of students doing student teaching who did all online course work.

And, my opinion is that many students who are completely unsuitable for teaching should have been assessed earlier in their program, and counseled regarding the situation. Rather than the school taking their money, and leaving the situation to the end of their program, to a non university staff member to make an assessment of their lack of skills.

There are a lot of issues with online learning.

 

[Satchie]

I have been a supervisory teacher for student teaching, and I have to tell you, I have NOT been impressed with the caliber of students doing student teaching who did all online course work.

And, my opinion is that many students who are completely unsuitable for teaching should have been assessed earlier in their program, and counseled regarding the situation. Rather than the school taking their money, and leaving the situation to the end of their program, to a non university staff member to make an assessment of their lack of skills.

There are a lot of issues with online learning.

I agree, I was sort of thinking along those lines. IMO, it's not in the interests of any type of school (that's not specifically distance education) to make it seem that students can just as successfully learn online from home.

 

[justbeachy]

The problem with this is the OP stated only half of the students are even allowed to attend in person. So it doesn’t matter what they want. They get to pay outrageous prices for a joke of an education.

Outrageous prices that may also include a "distance learning" fee in some cases!

UCF charges students distance learning fee during COVID-19

 

[GRT]

Looks like vaccine distribution is going well in many cities, but my friends in more rural places are having a rough time. A good friend lives 1.5 hours from the nearest vaccination center, and isn't comfortable driving herself home after the vaccine, having had vaccine reactions before.

I live 2 hours from her. I have 6 weeks to go until immunity kicks in and of course I can make an all day excursion of it. She's fortunate to be completely isolated, is only 50 but has a higher risk genetic condition.

I worry that there are people like this everywhere.

In other news, the college wants us back in classrooms at the end of August/early September. They've declared some buildings to be retrofitted with adequate ventilation, but naturally everyone wants those classrooms and they have some scheme where there are going to be cameras that automatically follow our movements, so that half the class can watch from home (yeah right) but it won't be captured permanently the way Zoom classes are, so the students have to be in front of their computers to "attend." I already know that I'll spend so much time getting them organized. They aren't sure how they're going to communicate all of this to students, but only half of them can show up on first day of class.

I can already envision the number of emails I'll get, and how confused students will be that it's not Zoom and that they can't just attend when it suits their schedule. This desire to regiment the students seems more important to the administrators than nearly anything else. I predict enrollments will be low and there will be lots of drops.

I finally was able to take my mother to get her first vaccine this morning. Like your friend, we live in a rural community and none of the vaccine sites were in our community--or so we thought. I'd called my mom's doctor at least once every other week for the past two months and had no luck. None of the online vaccine sites were nearer than an hour away Sam's, Walmart, Walgreen, etc., and my mom has "stomach" issues and is afraid to be gone to long. Early this week, the receptionist from my mom's doctor's office called me and said a new female doctor in town would be giving shots. I was directed to a private website where I was able to sign my mother up and at 11:30 am, she got stuck.

This vaccination site wasn't advertised anywhere and is not on the state list of sites. I almost got the Moderna shot myself. When I gave them my mother's paperwork, the nurse asked if I was getting a shot. I said I didn't qualify yet then she said I could have one because someone had cancelled and they had an extra dose. I really wanted it but the woman next in line behind us asked the nurse if there was one for her son, too, since he is younger but has diabetes. The nurse said, "We just have one extra." And, I said. "Let him have it." So, that was that.

But, my mom got hers and that's what I've been trying to accomplish for a very long time. And now, a young man with diabetes also has his.

Tell your friend to call around doctor's offices to see if they know anything. If I'd only checked the online lists, I never would have found this place.

 

[tabitha111]

BREAKING: All Arizona businesses are reopening at 100% capacity
Arizona businesses, restaurants can reopen at 100% occupancy, Ducey orders - Phoenix Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

 

[tabitha111]

BREAKING: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announces bars, restaurants, small businesses/retail stores, gyms, and museums can open to 100% capacity
West Virginia Can Now Have 100 % Capacity At Restaurants And Bars | WTRF

 

[WildOrchid]

We are going to tank AGAIN as a country with all of this willy nilly reopening without masks. All the anti maskers from closed states will gallivant off to open states where “their freedom” isn’t imposed upon and then it’ll get spread all over again. This is so dumb.

 

[Lilibet]

BREAKING: All Arizona businesses are reopening at 100% capacity
Arizona businesses, restaurants can reopen at 100% occupancy, Ducey orders - Phoenix Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

BREAKING: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announces bars, restaurants, small businesses/retail stores, gyms, and museums can open to 100% capacity
West Virginia Can Now Have 100 % Capacity At Restaurants And Bars | WTRF

Are they deliberately shooting themselves (and the rest of us) in the foot, or are they really this dumb or oppositional?

 

[tabitha111]

The Pandemic Has Turned Brazil Into A 'War Zone' : Goats and Soda : NPR


Brazil In Crisis: 'It Feels Like You Are In Stalingrad, in World War II'
March 5, 2021

The health-care system is about to collapse – even in Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populous city with the largest medical infrastructure in the country, Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian-born Duke University neuroscientist, told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly.

He describes a "horrible" situation with hospitals at full capacity, turning people away, with some left to die in ambulances or on the street. "They [hospitals] are refusing to take patients because they cannot find a bed in the ICU. So, let's say you have a heart attack or you have a stroke or you had a car accident ... people are actually dying, waiting for ICU bed."
[snip]
Nicolelis says Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is to blame, calling him "public enemy number one in the world related to the comeback to the fight of the coronavirus."

"He has told Brazilians not to be sissies about that pandemic," says Nicolelis, "despite the fact we should note that he himself has tested positive."

 

[HongKongPhooey]

We are going to tank AGAIN as a country with all of this willy nilly reopening without masks. All the anti maskers from closed states will gallivant off to open states where “their freedom” isn’t imposed upon and then it’ll get spread all over again. This is so dumb.

It does seem quite soon. Over here bars and restaurants will open for outdoor only from 12th April, but only providing certain conditions have been met. This current lockdown feels v long

 

[Lilibet]

As I read the list of 32 Oregon residents whose deaths were recorded yesterday and reported today, I was struck by the fact that over half (19) died at home. Some had been ill for weeks since testing positive. Did they ever go to ER as I did a week after testing positive, or did they just tough it out at home until it was too late? Did they have a pulse oximeter? Were they admitted to the hospital as I was for six days and then sent home, only to suddenly worsen and die? Were they not admitted to the hospital because they didn’t have low O2 and Covid pneumonia? Covid can affect other organs, but at the hospital where I was admitted, only pneumonia/low O2 wins you a hospital bed in the 10 bed Covid unit. I feel so sad for all who died, but especially for those who died at home.

Updated: Oregon reports 392 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 32 new deaths

 

[ilovewings]

Are they deliberately shooting themselves (and the rest of us) in the foot, or are they really this dumb or oppositional?

I am going with dumb and selfish

 

[MaryG12]

Which states have dropped mask mandates and why

Five states -- Texas, Mississippi, Iowa, Montana and North Dakota -- have ended, or soon will end, statewide mask mandates, despite the looming threat of COVID-19 and highly transmissible variants.

They're joining 11 other states -- Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Tennessee -- that never required face coverings statewide.
............................................

Having been to more sparsely populated parts (!) of the state of Florida during the pandemic I can attest to not everyone wearing a mask - only those from the bigger cities in the state such as the one where I live, where masks are far more common and people are more likely than not "Just got back from Italy before the pandemic". hrmph.

And soon it will be a full year since I started working from home. I think it was around the 18th of March last year?

My outdoors claustrophobia has really escalated within the last few weeks with seemingly 1/3 of the nation being down here. Instead of SRQ it ought to be SRO. Standing Room Only.

 

[Lilibet]

I am going with dumb and selfish

Yes to selfish! How could I forget?

 

[MimosaMornings]

As States Ease Restrictions, Study Says On-Premises Dining Linked To COVID-19 Spread — NPR

“As several states face criticism for lifting coronavirus-related public health restrictions, a study published Friday confirms that state-imposed mask mandates and on-premises dining restrictions help slow the spread of COVID-19.

The study, published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, looked at the impact of state-issued mask mandates and on-premises dining on county-level COVID-19 cases and deaths between March 1 and Dec. 31.

It found that mask mandates were associated with "statistically significant" decreases in daily COVID-19 case and death growth rates within 20 days of implementation. In contrast, allowing on-premises dining was associated with an increase in daily cases 41 to 100 days after reopening, and an increase in daily death growth rates after 61 to 100 days.

"Policies that require universal mask use and restrict any on-premises restaurant dining are important components of a comprehensive strategy to reduce exposure to and transmission of SARS-CoV-2," the study authors wrote. "Such efforts are increasingly important given the emergence of highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants in the United States."

 

[Deleted member 39678]

As States Ease Restrictions, Study Says On-Premises Dining Linked To COVID-19 Spread — NPR

“As several states face criticism for lifting coronavirus-related public health restrictions, a study published Friday confirms that state-imposed mask mandates and on-premises dining restrictions help slow the spread of COVID-19.

The study, published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, looked at the impact of state-issued mask mandates and on-premises dining on county-level COVID-19 cases and deaths between March 1 and Dec. 31.

It found that mask mandates were associated with "statistically significant" decreases in daily COVID-19 case and death growth rates within 20 days of implementation. In contrast, allowing on-premises dining was associated with an increase in daily cases 41 to 100 days after reopening, and an increase in daily death growth rates after 61 to 100 days.

"Policies that require universal mask use and restrict any on-premises restaurant dining are important components of a comprehensive strategy to reduce exposure to and transmission of SARS-CoV-2," the study authors wrote. "Such efforts are increasingly important given the emergence of highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants in the United States."

Since this study was from March 1 to December 31 of last year would current levels of vaccinations and natural immunity from having Covid-19 change the statistics?