Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #71

[SouthAussie]

If enough people get the vaccine then the virus won't find a host and will disappear hopefully IMO. UK have announced they will give a free vaccination to all over 50's an those with existing health conditions or shielding. Usually under 65's have to pay £10 for a flu vaccine so I think they are doing the same for that too. They have worked out a free vaccine costs way less than the hospitals filling up every winter.

Most people in England to be offered flu vaccine

I heard on the news tonight ... yes, a vaccine will come. But it would likely take a couple of years to be widely available. Even with the great progress and human trials that are being undertaken for about 27 potential vaccines around the world.

Its efficacy would likely be in the 70-80% range. And there will be a rush on glass vials, and other manufacture and distribution issues - due to the immense amount of people who would need the vaccine.

The expert (sorry, I forgot to write down his name) said that there would likely be a selection of covid vaccines that would become available. He also said that it is likely that all healthcare workers would be vaccinated first, as is usual. Then it would filter out to the general population.

 

[tresir2012]

This is what Dr. Fauci has said about the end of COVID:

If the speed and duration of the coronavirus pandemic is getting you down, spare a thought for Fauci. Are we there yet? How far are we on this journey through the pandemic? Near the finish line? Halfway? Or are we back where we started? “It’s a moving target,” he said. “I certainly don’t think we’re near the end of this if you look at what’s going on in the United States — that’s for sure.”

Who is touting this 90-95% success rate with masks?

ETA: Is it true?

"Minnesotans in their 20s now make up the age group with the most confirmed cases in the pandemic, with more than 11,600. The median age of Minnesotans infected has been trending down in recent weeks and is now 36 years old.

Health investigators are now starting to see more cases in 30- and 40-somethings as more people get together for family gatherings and summer fun without social distancing, Ehresmann said earlier in the week."

It's pretty clear from that graph what happened. The big increase in cases mid June in the age group 20-29 tells us exactly.

 

[tresir2012]

Confusion spreads over selection of priority groups for Covid-19 vaccines

As manufacturers around the world race to develop Covid-19 vaccines, a parallel effort has begun to figure out who in the United States should get them first — and how those doses should be distributed.

But already the effort is being complicated by tensions over who gets to make those critical decisions, with some groups feeling sidelined and multiple new actors crowding the stage.

On Tuesday, the National Academy of Medicine, tasked by top U.S. health officials, named an expert panel to develop a framework to determine who should be vaccinated first, when available doses are expected to be scarce. But that panel is ostensibly encroaching on the role of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel that has made recommendations on vaccination policy to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for decades, including drawing up the vaccination priority list during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic.

Related:
In unusual arrangement, deputy HHS secretary’s wife has been lobbying the agency on behalf of health care companies
There is also the matter of Operation Warp Speed, the government’s vaccine fast-tracking program that has claimed authority over, among other things, distribution decisions when it comes to Covid-19 vaccines.

Amid so many players, public health experts are expressing concern and confusion.

More at link

 

[musicaljoke]

I’m wondering who will teach the elementary children while the parents are at work. I’ve seen a lot of people posting that they had great success with homeschooling, how does that work with single parents that work full time?

It's really difficult for single parents who work full time. However, if the parents who are able to homeschool would take their children out of school, that would reduce class sizes.

In the spring, my DD homeschooled her three, plus the children of a single mom. There were some other family pairings going on in the community as well. Of course both families had to isolate with no other people in their social bubbles.

Parents need be involved in the planning in order for any kind of cooperative efforts to be organised. It just seems like the back to school planning is so rushed that all the alternatives have not been considered.

 

[margarita25]

2 Colorado children die of coronavirus-linked inflammatory condition

“At least two youths in Colorado have died after developing a rare coronavirus-linked inflammatory condition known as Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), health officials in the state said this week.

A total of seven children in the state have developed the syndrome, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) confirmed to Fox News on Friday. The cases have also been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).“

[...]

“These findings suggest that a substantial proportion of the patients in this series were infected with SARS-CoV-2 at least 1 to 2 weeks before the onset of MIS-C,” the study’s authors wrote.”

 

[MimosaMornings]

Mimosa, Did you buy beer?? My state AL is increasing in cases and deaths like crazy. I am afraid to go out but I have been afraid for months to venture out to the world. 2020 has been a twilight zone year.

I did - but it was back in January.
Seems so long ago!

 

[tresir2012]

I heard on the news tonight ... yes, a vaccine will come. But it would likely take a couple of years to be widely available. Even with the great progress and human trials that are being undertaken for about 27 potential vaccines around the world.

Its efficacy would likely be in the 70-80% range. And there will be a rush on glass vials, and other manufacture and distribution issues - due to the immense amount of people who would need the vaccine.

The expert (sorry, I forgot to write down his name) said that there would likely be a selection of covid vaccines that would become available. He also said that it is likely that all healthcare workers would be vaccinated first, as is usual. Then it would filter out to the general population.

Dr. Fauci thinks we'll get control of it. I posted this quote earlier. If you want to see the link, follow the back arrow to the post I quoted.

“I think with a combination of good public health measures, a degree of global herd immunity and a good vaccine, which I do hope and feel cautiously optimistic that we will get, I think when we put all three of those together, we will get control of this, whether it’s this year or next year. I’m not certain,” Fauci said. “I don’t really see us eradicating it.”

 

[tresir2012]

I just was looking at California figures to mentally compare them with NY when they were at the height of their wave. I found this good resource which has a good graph of all the counties.

California coronavirus cases: Tracking the outbreak


The latest trends

The number of cases in California is now on pace to double every 27.6 days, a number used to measure how quickly the virus is spreading.

Coronavirus can infect people so rapidly that it has continued to spread despite shutdown orders aimed at slowing the growth of new cases and flattening this line.

CasesDeaths

Cumulative

(graphic would not copy so see link)

Times survey of county and local health departments

Local governments announce new cases and deaths each day, though bottlenecks in testing and reporting lags can introduce delays. For instance, some agencies do not report new totals on weekends, leading to lower numbers on those days.

Over the past week, the state has averaged 9,449 new cases and 103.9 new deaths per day.

New cases by day

Deaths by day

The lines above are seven-day averages. They offer a more stable view of the trend than daily totals. That's why experts wait for lines like these to flatten before they say conditions are improving.

The chart below is adjusted to show how quickly new cases are being confirmed in each county. A good sign is when a line flattens, which indicates that transmission is slowing in that area.

(See link for charts and more info)

 

[SouthAussie]

Dr. Fauci thinks we'll get control of it. I posted this quote earlier. If you want to see the link, follow the back arrow to the post I quoted.

Of course we'll get control of it, at some point in time. That's a given. The question is will it be sooner rather than later.

If people cannot do the right thing - while waiting for the magic potion - there will be an awful lot to recover from. Economic losses, perhaps widespread chronic health effects, loss of family members ... and perhaps other things that we cannot even conceive of yet.

 

[SouthAussie]

Well, there is one positive thing that has happened for us this winter ... our flu deaths have dropped dramatically.

36 deaths from flu this year, as compared to 430 last year, Australia wide.

They are attributing this to the measures we are taking to keep covid under control.

This time last year 430 people had died from influenza. This year it's just 36

 

[Amonet]

I’m wondering who will teach the elementary children while the parents are at work. I’ve seen a lot of people posting that they had great success with homeschooling, how does that work with single parents that work full time?

In the UK, children of parents who were 'key workers' during the lockdown, and after, have had the option to keep going into school. Very small class numbers of those children and some others on vulnerable lists. I only personally know of one person who has a grandchild who's been going to school in this situation, aged about 8, and apparently she's been doing very well and been very mature about things like social distancing.

They've done the distancing and cohorting in those smaller classes, and there have been times when a cohort has to be pulled out for two weeks due to a virus case, and the school given extra cleaning, but there hasn't been a huge amount of news of that happening. And that's probably because the virus case numbers *did* start coming down so much during the period of lockdown.

I imagine it could also, theoretically, work if a family where the child(ren) wouldn't have a parent at home during the day to homeschool were to 'bubble' with a single other family for that purpose, if they had a neighbour or close-by relative who'd be willing to do that?

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Police turn 60 cars away from Snowdon before 8am

@tresir2012 better put the kettle on, you've got visitors!!

 

[JerseyGirl]

Two students tested positive for coronavirus after taking the ACT at an Oklahoma high school

 

[beatrixpotter]

Update on my in-laws with COVID:

All had a mild case. None were hospitalized including the aunt-in-law? who is on the transplant list and has an autoimmune disorder.

My FIL was prescribed Augmentin (antibiotic) to prevent pneumonia, and an inhaler to use every few hours. He had had recurring fever (back and forth) but it’s been better for several hours now.

He’s exhausted and sleeping a lot. His oxygen levels are pretty good but have gone below normal.

This is considered a mild case.

Again, he eats tons of immune system boosting things. He snacks on red cabbage. Raw. He eats a ton of garlic. Up to four celery stalks a day. An apple and a banana every day. He takes 2000 milligrams of Vitamin C a day and various other supplements and has for years.

The whole family are into health.

ETA:
Beta carotene, Vitamin D, zinc (other supplements he takes religiously).

I eat super healthy and a ton of vegetables every day so I hope I have an easier time of it. Thanks for sharing. It's encouraging to hear of older and higher risk people still doing well. Always nice to balance the sad news with good!

I also am a supplement guzzler. lol The one time my family got the flu I had the easiest case. I had a low grade fever and barely felt ill for 48 hrs. If family hadn't tested positive for flu B I'd never have guessed I actually had the flu. I also always use my infrared mat when ill and we have a sauna. Sauna seems to knock everything out for us.

I'm really worried about my parents though. My mom has type 2, doesn't eat well, has hypertension and my dad has lupus and hypertension. He lives off baked beans and grilled meat. :/

 

[tresir2012]

Of course we'll get control of it, at some point in time. That's a given. The question is will it be sooner rather than later.

If people cannot do the right thing - while waiting for the magic potion - there will be an awful lot to recover from. Economic losses, perhaps widespread chronic health effects, loss of family members ... and perhaps other things that we cannot even conceive of yet.

Well several countries have control of it now but I only know of one that has eradicated - NZ.

Economic and mental recovery is a whole other thing IMO.

 

[beatrixpotter]

Yeah I mean a mild case of COVID appears to be a really bad flu. So what’s a moderate case?

I will say I once had a bad flu - winter 1996/1997 - I was laid out for two weeks but I had after effects pretty intensely for a year and mildly for a couple years.

I thought I had AIDS.

I had strep throat like that once. It took a year for my titers to return to a half a point below positive. My throat was chronically swollen for years. I felt like garbage for YEARS. I am seriously dreading the idea of losing the ability to really function and be even worse off than I am. I think a lot of people have no clue what that's like and don't grasp the threat of it.

 

[beatrixpotter]

We hit 16 million this morning.

 

[tresir2012]

Police turn 60 cars away from Snowdon before 8am

@tresir2012 better put the kettle on, you've got visitors!!

I just got back from shopping and got out in time. The shoppers are queuing to get in now. I think a lot are on their way to Tenby LOL.

As we came home, there was a couple taking a breather at our gate. We had a chat, like we do in Wales. They were from Northampton. They are heading back your way tomorrow. LOL.

 

[beatrixpotter]

Also I saw someone online refer to it as "the mask of the beast" today. They said people who take the mask of the beast will take the mark of the beast and "we know who they are". lol Moron.....trying to seriously threaten and intimidate religious people into refusing to comply so they don't feel like they are committing some moral crime. It makes me just flat out angry.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Masks required: McDonald's will mandate face coverings starting Aug. 1

McDonald's will require customers to wear masks or face coverings when entering its 14,000 restaurants nationwide starting Aug. 1.

McDonald's said it also is pausing dining room re-openings for an additional 30 days and adding protective panels "to create even safer conditions for our employees and customers”.