Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #98

[nhmemorymaker]

Did you catch this link (see below) to a Covid Dashboard for Florida? There seems to be rather a lot of information, so it isn't easy to quickly grab the numbers, but it's better than nothing, which is what we are getting now.

Jason Salemi, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida and a specialist in public health surveillance and data systems, said he understands the frustration people are having with the transition from a readily available state dashboard to multiple federal sites that are not as easy to navigate.

"Even for somebody like me, it is still a challenge to shift gears," Salemi said.

He's able to get about 90% of what the state was putting out on the COVID-19 dashboard he's created to provide a readily available one-stop shop for the public. "Federal sites are carrying lots of the data that the state used to push out and update on its dashboard each day," Salemi said.

COVID-19 in Florida (Dr. Jason Salemi)

HOW did you find this.... were you just sleuthing, or did you get a clear direction to "find this".

I want to keep watching his site to see more, if possible...

Thanks for finding this...

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Denial is a powerful thing IMO.

It is actually more than denial imo. It is the New Way of LIfe for "half of america"..... truly. They are always right and take no responsibility for any wrongs.

I watched the very heated video of the School Board having doctors and other experts explain the data and the truth about masks. To all those who came to "fight for the self freedom" , logic had absolutely zero influence.

Their children have little chance of growing up with a sense of responsibility and purpose, in my mind. They are just being taught to "fight" for ideology.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Yes, needless suffering! Needless death! Needless grief for loved ones! I'm in a province in Canada (Manitoba) population 1.35 million, where our Covid- 19 and variants case numbers, hospitalizations and ICU numbers were very high in May. As our vax percentage increased, all those numbers decreased. Now 81% of all eligible people born before Dec 31, 2009 here have had one dose and 75% have had two doses. Today we had only 4 in ICU with active Covid, 17 in hospital with active Covid , 37 new cases and under 300 cases total left in the whole province. Vaccines work!

And I assume most all of you stick together to do the right thing. AND really care about your neighbors who are getting sick.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I am NOT happy about getting a 3rd shot of this vaccine. I am extra unhappy that the two I already got, are already regressing their potency in just 9 months.
It's been said, that we won't need anymore shots after this 3rd one.
Do I believe them? He'll NO.
I also question how many people are going to get this 3rd shot?
Unless somehow mandated (no work, no restaurants, no gyms, no movies, etc) I just don't see the majority of people going for this 3rd shot.
Yes, hubby and I will get this shot, but, I can tell you, we'd like some straight answers from the powers that be, and. As a small business owner, I cannot possibly conceive of what's going to happen to our restaurant over the next year. I'm already exhausted and way behind on our restaurants rent.
How many more businesses are going to give up?

We really have to try to be together on this. ... just remember you are not alone. We all are suffering and I have lost a number of dear friends and acquaintances.

We get flu shots every year.... we may be getting covid boosters every year. i think it is easier to accept that than "fight" the third shot.
And remember.......... just look at Canada.......IF we had much more Americans willing to get the shot, we would absolutely be better off than we are.

 

[GRT]

He had tested positive for the coronavirus 10 days ago. He was under 50, mildly hypertensive but otherwise in good health. Eight days earlier he started coughing and having severe fatigue. His doctor started him on antibiotics. It did not work.

Fearing his symptoms were worsening, he started taking some hydroxychloroquine he had found on the internet. It did not work.

He was now experiencing shortness of breath while doing routine daily activities such as walking from his bedroom to the bathroom or putting on his shoes. He was a shell of his former self.

He eventually made his way to a facility where he could receive monoclonal antibodies, a lab-produced transfusion that substitutes for the body’s own antibodies. It did not work.

He finally ended up in the ER with dangerously low oxygen levels, exceedingly high inflammatory markers and patchy areas of infection all over his lungs. Nothing had helped. He was getting worse. He could not breathe.

His wife and two young children were at home, all infected with COVID. He and his wife had decided not to get vaccinated.

Last year, a case like this would have flattened me. I would have wrestled with the sadness and how unfair life was. Battled with the angst of how unlucky he was. This year, I struggled to find sympathy. It was August 2021, not 2020.

Outside his hospital door, I took a deep breath — battening down my anger and frustration — and went in.

Shouting through my N95 mask and the noise of the HEPA filter, I introduced myself. I calmly asked him why he decided not to get vaccinated.

“Well, I’m not an anti-vaxxer or anything. I was just waiting for the FDA to approve the vaccine first. I didn’t want to take anything experimental. I didn’t want to be the government’s guinea pig, and I don’t trust that it’s safe,” he said.

As a doctor in a COVID unit, I’m running out of compassion for the unvaccinated. Get the shot.

The sad thing is, the lack of proper messaging has allowed people to assume the worst about the vaccine.

Getting past that at this point is going to be difficult, I fear. Now, it's become an "us against them" situation, and people are digging in their heels.

We're seeing good people--smart people--getting caught up in the rhetoric, and some, unfortunately, are dying as a result.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Well, here in the USA, we've now run out of monetary assistance from our government.
Now we have Delta. Absolutely not one financial contingency plan to deal with this new wave for our citizens. Maybe they'll stop trying to force a 3 Trillion infrastructure and global warming bill down our throats and keep the money they are printing for helping our citizens and our businesses. I can only hope.

People complained like hell about the "free money" flowing to cover Covid expenses.
You can't have it both ways.
Everyone thought the "free living" in Florida was the BEST of the BEST ways to handle Covid. We are not even seeing the truth, here. Numbers are still hidden, and people keep dying.

The enemy is not the government. The enemy is us.

The unvaccinated, the unmasked, the unwilling-to-help have made this whole situation bonkers.

 

[SouthAussie]

Double posted. But while I’m here I will admit it seems a lot of people are running out of compassion for the wilfully unvaccinated who get ill. There are plenty of people who cannot have the shot, for medical reasons, full sympathy goes out to them. Every other adult in the UK and US has had plenty of chances to protect themselves.

It is nice to see the med staff asking why a person is not vaccinated.

I am positive that there are people who cannot be vaccinated, though I have yet to meet one (other than children, of course).

Two people I know couldn't be vaccinated while they were actively having chemo. But once that round of chemo had finished, they were both advised to get the covid shots (and they did).

There is another person I know who has a blood clotting issue. That person checked with their haematologist, and was given the okay to have the AZ shot (which was all that was available to us at that time). They went ahead and had it, and did just fine with it.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I’m not the OP @KALI, but in my area of Southern Oregon the stubbornness comes from believing conspiracy pseudo-science and being anti-government. The comments on any local news story on Facebook about Covid are insane. The level of willful ignorance is astounding. They refuse to believe any statistics about Covid cases. In my county of 220,000, it’s the local residents, not illegal immigrants, who are screaming about the government taking away their freeeeeedom. We routinely have the highest number of cases in the state. Our hospitals are almost at capacity.
A behind the scenes look at the overcrowded So. Oregon hospital system - KOBI-TV NBC5 / KOTI-TV NBC2

The Governor is routinely mocked and called a Nazi. I alternate between anger and despair.

Here are links to our local TV news FB pages and comments. Read them and weep.

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I read Zoriah's post regarding NZ.
How many in New Zealand blame their government FOR EVERYTHING????

Then I read your post, @Lillabit.
How many in the US blame their government FOR EVERYTHING???

You hit the nail on "my head".... I go from anger to despair every day. Often.
THIS NEVER HAD TO HAPPEN.
THIS NEVER HAD TO HAPPEN.

Stupidity is killing us.
Ideologists are killing us.[/QUOTE]

 

[nhmemorymaker]

What do you think of this report from the UK?

I find this report discouraging. I find it very, very discouraging. It seems like nothing we do will solve this Covid plague.

Some things we do may help, but nothing solves the problem. It goes on and on.

We have known this for a while....... I believe it is the main reason we just must acknowledge how severe Delta is.

And I guess I am hoping these pharmaceutical companies are working on THE NEXT vaccines.

This is why this thread is so valuable . Watching how New Zealand, Canada, GB, handle this Delta wave does keep talking to us.... IF Canada and NZ and AU can keep it under control better, it says one thing.

IF they cannot, then Delta wins. And hopefully we will have scientists at the drawing board, though the future for all of us looks dimmer.

 

[Skigh]

UK approves Covid antibody drug as medical watchdog finds it can PREVENT infection | Daily Mail Online


A Covid antibody cocktail drug used to treat former US President Donald Trump has been approved for UK patients.

Britain's medical regulator gave Ronapreve the green light after finding it could prevent infection and treat patients who were already sick.

Trials showed among patients with at least one risk factor for severe Covid given the drug it slashed their risk of death or hospitalisation by 70 per cent. A separate study found it dramatically reduced the risk of catching Covid.

Health officials will now decide who should get the drug. However, at a cost of £2,000 per patient, it is unlikely to be rolled out widely as a preventative.

Experts today called for it to be targeted at the most vulnerable Britons.

The treatment is the first developed specifically to target Covid, after steroids and anti-inflammatories were repurposed to treat the virus.

Boris Johnson said the drug will be an 'important weapon in fighting Covid, particularly for those who are immunocompromised'. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said it would be rolled out on the NHS 'as soon as possible'.

The treatment is not a substitute for vaccination because the protection against Covid it sparks only lasts for up to four weeks, far less time than that from jabs.

The drug — which uses two different man-made antibodies to fight the virus — is administered by injection or intravenously.

 

[SouthAussie]

We have known this for a while....... I believe it is the main reason we just must acknowledge how severe Delta is.

And I guess I am hoping these pharmaceutical companies are working on THE NEXT vaccines.

This is why this thread is so valuable . Watching how New Zealand, Canada, GB, handle this Delta wave does keep talking to us.... IF Canada and NZ and AU can keep it under control better, it says one thing.

IF they cannot, then Delta wins. And hopefully we will have scientists at the drawing board, though the future for all of us looks dimmer.

Live Science says this ....

Vaccine developers are working on the question of whether future COVID-19 shots will need to be tweaked for the delta variant, or other new variants. For now though, initial evidence hints that boosters of the original vaccine should add protection against delta.

For now, public health experts say the far bigger emergency is getting first and second doses into people who haven't had a single shot. Most people don't need boosters to prevent severe illness, and it's not clear when or if they will.

But companies are already looking into updating their vaccines for coronavirus mutations

If delta has taught us anything, it's that ideally, a future SARS-CoV-2 vaccine wouldn't be delta-specific, but rather universal to all potential SARS-CoV lineages

A universal vaccine could draw on similarities between the viruses — SARS-1, which emerged in 2003, is genetically 95% similar to SARS-CoV-2, after all.

"We could get there soon," Topol said. "That would hopefully be an enduring solution rather than an 'each Greek letter' solution."

Does the explosion of the delta variant mean we need a new COVID-19 vaccine?

 

[nhmemorymaker]

The sad thing is, the lack of proper messaging has allowed people to assume the worst about the vaccine.

Getting past that at this point is going to be difficult, I fear. Now, it's become an "us against them" situation, and people are digging in their heels.

We're seeing good people--smart people--getting caught up in the rhetoric, and some, unfortunately, are dying as a result.

Well the most problematic "proper messaging" came from--the very top of this country in 2020.
I am not sure what "caught up in the rhetoric" means. People believe lies. period.
This whole scenario was brand new to ALL of us... and the CDC was attempting, and working hard. Ups and downs yeah, but not trying to kill Americans.

If you really really really think about it....... Why did this have to turn political.
But you can buy your beer coozie... "Don't Fauchi my Florida".

 

[SouthAussie]

I wish we'd get some advice on boosters for those of us who had the J&J shot.

What to Know About Boosters if You Got the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

They are doing a Phase 3B study on the J&J vaccine right now, on front line workers in South Africa.

https://www.samrc.ac.za/news/sisonk...world-phase-3b-clinical-trial-investigational


This Live Science article seems to think that the (interim?) result looks good. Though it doesn't mention boosters.

Data is now emerging that the J&J vaccine likely prevents severe disease from delta as well.
Does the explosion of the delta variant mean we need a new COVID-19 vaccine?

 

[Cool Cats]

Doctors in North Texas considered taking COVID-19 patients’ vaccination status into account when determining who gets ICU beds

• The Dallas Morning News obtained an internal memo from a North Texas doctors group.
• It said COVID-19 vaccination status could be taken into account when assigning ICU beds in a crisis.
• A group leader later walked back the memo, saying vaccination status wouldn't be a factor in triage.

A North Texas doctors group released an email to members this week, telling them that vaccination status could be taken into account when determining which COVID-19 patients get beds in intensive care units if the region experiences another crisis.

The memo by the North Texas Mass Critical Guidelines Task Force was leaked to The Dallas Morning News, which published details of the memo on Thursday.

The memo boiled down to this: Since vaccination vastly improves the chances of survival from COVID-19, a patient's vaccination status could count as a plus or a strike when determining which patients get ICU beds. It could not be the sole determining factor, however.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

UK approves Covid antibody drug as medical watchdog finds it can PREVENT infection | Daily Mail Online


A Covid antibody cocktail drug used to treat former US President Donald Trump has been approved for UK patients.

Britain's medical regulator gave Ronapreve the green light after finding it could prevent infection and treat patients who were already sick.

Trials showed among patients with at least one risk factor for severe Covid given the drug it slashed their risk of death or hospitalisation by 70 per cent. A separate study found it dramatically reduced the risk of catching Covid.

Health officials will now decide who should get the drug. However, at a cost of £2,000 per patient, it is unlikely to be rolled out widely as a preventative.

Experts today called for it to be targeted at the most vulnerable Britons.

The treatment is the first developed specifically to target Covid, after steroids and anti-inflammatories were repurposed to treat the virus.

Boris Johnson said the drug will be an 'important weapon in fighting Covid, particularly for those who are immunocompromised'. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said it would be rolled out on the NHS 'as soon as possible'.

The treatment is not a substitute for vaccination because the protection against Covid it sparks only lasts for up to four weeks, far less time than that from jabs.

The drug — which uses two different man-made antibodies to fight the virus — is administered by injection or intravenously.

FROM ARTICLE:
"The treatment is not a substitute for vaccination because the protection against Covid it sparks only lasts for up to four weeks, far less time than that from jabs."

If Delta keeps rolling across the US, it will be interesting to see how this treatment will be used. It does almost become an ethical issue.

Florida is basically offering it as a free alternative to vaccination. No prescription, no referral.

So one $$$ dose saves one person, but that person only has antibodies for four weeks, so can get covid again?? Just keep giving $$$$ treatments?

What if the "infusion staff" believes these people coming in for treatment should be admitted to hospital? Before other doctors patients?

Will vaccinated people with "mild" breakthrough cases be denied said $$$ treatment, because they are not sick enough??

All the while, vaccinated people cannot get basic hospital treatment, or operations because, of less staff, and beds are covid filled?

 

[jjenny]

Regeneron antibodies are a good treatment. It's supposed be for those patients in the early stages of covid who have the potential of having a bad outcome if left untreated. DeSantis in Fl signed an order, so no referral or prescription is needed. Which likely means people will be getting it who don't fit what it was intended for, and it won't work for them or they didn't need it to begin with.

 

[weepingangel]

Correctional officers threaten legal action over COVID vaccine mandate
more at link
The union representing prison guards and other corrections officials in Massachusetts said Thursday it was pursuing “all legal and legislative” remedies to thwart Gov. Charlie Baker’s newly imposed mandate that all executive branch employees be vaccinated by mid-October.
The administration said it planned to work with unions on the policy and the “specific ramifications of non-compliance” for staff who are represented by unions.



Some bargaining units embraced the move, but the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union said it was “deeply disappointed” by the order, and felt Baker had gone back on his word to allow employees to make their own decision about whether to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Massachusetts orders state workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine
more at link
Get the COVID-19 vaccine or potentially lose your job. That’s the choice Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is giving to tens of thousands of state government workers.

The Republican governor announced Thursday that he is ordering all of the state’s Executive Branch employees to provide proof that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 17 or face “disciplinary action, up to and including termination.”

According to Baker’s office, the new mandate covers roughly 42,000 employees, from the governor’s office to departments of public safety, education, transportation, and others. It also covers around 2,000 additional contracted employees that work for the state’s executive departments.

Baker’s office said Thursday that employees will also be required to get COVID-19 vaccine boosters by a future, to-be-determined deadline, once federal officials release guidance for the additional shots.

The policy also applies to both employees working in-person and those who are teleworking, amid plans to shift nearly half the state’s workers toward more remote work.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Just imagine if half the population had refused vaccination against Polio back in the day.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Doctors in North Texas considered taking COVID-19 patients’ vaccination status into account when determining who gets ICU beds

• The Dallas Morning News obtained an internal memo from a North Texas doctors group.
• It said COVID-19 vaccination status could be taken into account when assigning ICU beds in a crisis.
• A group leader later walked back the memo, saying vaccination status wouldn't be a factor in triage.

A North Texas doctors group released an email to members this week, telling them that vaccination status could be taken into account when determining which COVID-19 patients get beds in intensive care units if the region experiences another crisis.

The memo by the North Texas Mass Critical Guidelines Task Force was leaked to The Dallas Morning News, which published details of the memo on Thursday.

The memo boiled down to this: Since vaccination vastly improves the chances of survival from COVID-19, a patient's vaccination status could count as a plus or a strike when determining which patients get ICU beds. It could not be the sole determining factor, however.

This will certainly heat up the boiling pot.

But can you imagine how all these totally exhausted doctors and nurses feel every single day.

It is gut-wrenching to listen and see our local talk shows on radio and local TV. These servants are angry. They are questioning their reasons for being in medicine. Teachers too. So many of them are telling us that the future of getting younger people to go into teaching is going to be harder than ever, when so many of them just want to quit.

It is downright criminal that they are all suffering soooooooo much.

For what?

 

[Skigh]

'Zero Covid' enclave New Zealand extends it lockdown as cases KEEP rising | Daily Mail Online


New Zealand extended a national Covid-19 lockdown on Friday as case numbers continued to rise and a Delta variant outbreak spread from Auckland to the capital Wellington.

It comes as Sydneysiders were told to stay home until October under strict lockdown rules that will not be lifted until at least 70 per cent of the population are fully vaccinated.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the initial three-day lockdown, which would have expired overnight Friday, would be extended by another four days.

She said New Zealand was still trying to assess the scale of the outbreak, which emerged in Auckland this week, ending the country's run of six months without community transmission