Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #73

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I read this too ... after Tony said that. But it is from April 2019. It is now July 2020 (well, just started August 2020 here).

Are the labs still closed? If not, can they not be used to assist with the backlog of testing? And if they are still closed, the facilities are there, can they not be opened up?

Rhetorical questions really. I can't find anything further about the labs being re-opened since then. I just am trying to understand why the labs and medico personnel would not be utilised to assist with the backlog, speed up the test results. At least in the handful of states where the labs are located.
Hopefully they got the bio-safety hazard problems resolved and are back in business.
 
New Study Shows How Coronavirus Began the Spread Outside China

The novel coronavirus needed just a few weeks to reach so many countries around the world, and that’s before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new infectious disease a pandemic. A new study looked at the COVID-19 transmission in the 11 weeks that preceded the WHO’s declaration and found the main reason the pathogen was able to spread around the world in such a short time. Unsurprisingly, it all has to do with travel.

Yes, and even in the pandemic of 1918 it was all about travel.

In Australia, a troop ship left Australia to travel to the war front and assist with WW1. They stopped somewhere (can't remember where, but it is in the link), senior officers were allowed to disembark for a few hours, they got back on the ship and armistice was announced. The ship turned around and headed back to Australia. By the time it arrived back in Australia, the whole ship was infected with the virus - due to those officers disembarking.

Historians think (but aren't positive) that the 1918 virus first emerged in troop camps in Kansas - as some kind of animal to human transmission - then spread out around the world due to troop interaction and movement.
No-one wanted to say that their troops were all ill (for defensive war reasons), and the Spanish were the first to reveal to the world that the virus was killing masses of people in their country, so it was then - unfairly - dubbed the Spanish Flu.

Australian Story link:
Lest We Forget

When I watched the whole episode of the Australian Story, it became apparent to me how much Australia is mimicking what they did back then to combat the 1918 virus - when we are trying to deal with today's virus. Closing borders, quarantining, isolating, and now masks.
 
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New Study Shows How Coronavirus Began the Spread Outside China

The novel coronavirus needed just a few weeks to reach so many countries around the world, and that’s before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new infectious disease a pandemic. A new study looked at the COVID-19 transmission in the 11 weeks that preceded the WHO’s declaration and found the main reason the pathogen was able to spread around the world in such a short time. Unsurprisingly, it all has to do with travel.
Yes, the same way that the 1918 flu pandemic spread worldwide. At the end of WW1, soldiers went home to many countries and took it with them.
 
COVID-19: Kyrgyzstan Observes National Day Of Mourning; Uzbek Deputy Finance Minister Dies

Flags are flying at half-staff in Kyrgyzstan as the country observes a national day of mourning to commemorate victims of the coronavirus pandemic that has swept across the Central Asian nation.

President Sooronbai Jeenbekov and other top officials attended a mourning ceremony on July 30 at the Ata-Beiit memorial complex, where a mass prayer was said to honor the deadly infection's victims.

In neighboring Uzbekistan, authorities said on July 29 that Deputy Finance Minister Yorqin Tursunov had died of COVID-19 at the age of 55.

According to the Finance Ministry, Tursunov was hospitalized with acute COVID-19 symptoms two days earlier.

I’ve been watching Uzbekistan after spending time there late last year, sadly it doesn’t look like they’re doing very well, with their healthcare system not coping. I was injured while in Khiva (very remote city) but didn’t have a whole lot of confidence in the healthcare system so I waited until I got back to Korea to see a doctor. Their tourism industry was really just starting to boom too as they opened up to the world and they were working so hard on it, so it’s just really sad.

Uzbekistan's Coronavirus 'Success Story' Rapidly Falls Apart

Turkmenistan is an interesting one to watch too. If you think North Korea, it’s somewhat similar, a very closed off society ruled with an iron fist. They have no official cases of Covid, but reports from the article you posted suggest hospitals there are overwhelmed with pneumonia patients and people are being told to bury their loved ones in flat graves not visible to satellites...
 
Coronavirus Australia live news: Queensland borders now closed to all of Greater Sydney after the city is declared COVID-19 hotspot
A pick-me-up for Victorians
If you live in Melbourne, what you probably need right now is a bit of inspiration.

ABC reporter Margaret Paul found this in Northcote today. Surely it’s enough to prompt a smile.

2a10bf5d-5a07-4e06-a702-4c02bbb1c38f_800.jpg


WE all need this.:):):)
 
RICHMOND, Calif. (KGO) -- As the coronavirus crisis worsens in Contra Costa County, and ICU beds are already at 47% capacity, a Richmond doctor shared his frustration.

"I bulls**t you not, it is time to become serious about this COVID," said Dr. Desmond Carson, a physician and resident of Richmond, as he implored people to wear masks, practice social distancing and wash their hands in his prepared remarks during a Friday press conference.

But it was during the question and answer session, when Carson was called back to the podium, that his frustration with the community and its treatment of COVID-19 boiled over.

"We had the national guard come out to stem nonviolent protesters who killed no one. We need the national guard to come out to tell these fools who don't want to wear masks, you're going to wear the mask or you're going to go home," he said.

"A grocery clerk should not have to fight a grown man to wear a mask. That's not their job. ... Our rights are going to kill us. Our rights to not wear a mask, that bulls--t is going to kill us."
'Embarrassed and a little pissed off': Richmond doctor tells off coronavirus deniers in passionate speech
 
WHO reports record daily increase of COVID-19 infections

WHO reports record daily increase of COVID-19 infections

Sky News Australia

5 hrs ago
...
The World Health Organisation has reported a record global increase in daily coronavirus cases.

The number of cases increased on Friday by 292,527 worldwide, surpassing the previous 24-hour record of 284,196 which was set last week.
The biggest daily case rises are from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa.

There have been 17.4 million coronavirus infections recorded globally and almost 675,000 deaths worldwide.
 
New Study Shows How Coronavirus Began the Spread Outside China

The novel coronavirus needed just a few weeks to reach so many countries around the world, and that’s before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new infectious disease a pandemic. A new study looked at the COVID-19 transmission in the 11 weeks that preceded the WHO’s declaration and found the main reason the pathogen was able to spread around the world in such a short time. Unsurprisingly, it all has to do with travel.
It was like Pandora's box once that had happened with no quick easy way of containing it after it had spread to those countries IMO.

Mexico's virus death toll world's third highest

Mexico is now third in the world after US and Brazil.

"It has now suffered at least 46,688 deaths during the pandemic, with a total of 424,637 infections."
 
How Italy Turned Around Its Coronavirus Calamity
AAapfVx.img

How Italy Turned Around Its Coronavirus Calamity

Jason Horowitz

2 hrs ago
...
ROME — When the coronavirus erupted in the West, Italy was the nightmarish epicenter, a place to avoid at all costs and a shorthand in the United States and much of Europe for uncontrolled contagion.

“You look at what’s going on with Italy,” President Trump told reporters on March 17. “We don’t want to be in a position like that.” Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive Democratic nominee, used Italy’s overwhelmed hospitals as evidence for his opposition to Medicare for All at a presidential debate. “It is not working in Italy right now,” he said.

Fast forward a few months, and the United States has suffered tens of thousands more deaths than any country in the world. European states that once looked smugly at Italy are facing new flare-ups. Some are imposing fresh restrictions and weighing whether to lock down again.

And Italy? Its hospitals are basically empty of Covid-19 patients. Daily deaths attributed to the virus in Lombardy, the northern region that bore the brunt of the pandemic, hover around zero. The number of new daily cases has plummeted to “one of the lowest in Europe and the world,” said Giovanni Rezza, director of the infective illness department at the National Institute of Health. “We have been very prudent.”

And lucky. Today, despite a tiny uptick in cases this week, Italians are cautiously optimistic that they have the virus in check — even as Italy’s leading health experts warn that complacency remains the jet fuel of the pandemic. They are aware that the picture can change at any moment.

How Italy has gone from being a global pariah to a model — however imperfect — of viral containment holds fresh lessons for the rest of the world, including the United States, where the virus, never under control, now rages across the country.
After a stumbling start, Italy has consolidated, or at least maintained, the rewards of a tough nationwide lockdown through a mix of vigilance and painfully gained medical expertise.
Its government has been guided by scientific and technical committees. Local doctors, hospitals and health officials collect more than 20 indicators on the virus daily and send them to regional authorities, who then forward them to the National Institute of Health.

The result is a weekly X-ray of the country’s health upon which policy decisions are based. That is a long way from the state of panic, and near collapse, that hit Italy in March.

This week, Parliament voted to extend the government’s emergency powers through Oct. 15 after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte argued the nation could not let its guard down “because the virus is still circulating.”

Those powers allow the government to keep restrictions in place and respond quickly — including with lockdowns — to any new clusters. The government has already imposed travel restrictions on more than a dozen countries to Italy, as the importation of the virus from countries is now the government’s greatest fear.
 
Tourist influx sees locals 'scared to go shopping'

_113763436_socialdistancingstives.jpg
Image copyrightJONATHAN PITTS
Image captionResidents described the situation in St Ives as "absolute madness"
Residents in popular resorts have said they are "too scared" to go food shopping because of visitors pouring down narrow streets and ignoring social distancing.

On social media locals have described some Cornish resorts as being "absolute madness," and "Benidorm on steroids".

Street marshals have been patrolling hotspots giving social distancing tips.

Visit Cornwall advised people to plan ahead and change plans if resorts were busy.

_113691362_socialdistancingperran2.jpg

Image captionSome people in Perranporth say it is the busiest they have ever known it
St Ives resident Claire Harris, 37, said her family was "too scared to go food shopping".

She told the BBC she had banned her children from the main shopping street and harbour front because of the crowds and said this was "the general consensus among friends".

Jonathan Pitts, who like Ms Harris manages holiday lets, said: "Sadly I think a lot [of tourists] have the same attitude - that they've come to escape it [Covid-19]."

_113757057_socialdistancingclaire.jpg
Image copyrightCLAIRE HARRIS
Image captionClaire Harris said her three children were currently banned from St Ives' main street for their safety
Vicky White, from Newyln, said: "It makes me very uneasy to go out with my two young kids. The pavements have been bustling.

"It is sad for residents to not be able to enjoy where they live."

More Cornish news at above link.


Welsh Coronavirus update below.

Up to 30 can meet outdoors and gyms to reopen

_113758380_gettyimages-1262301147.jpg
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionGroups of up to 30 people will be able to meet while social distancing outdoors in places like Cardiff Castle from Monday
Up to 30 people can meet outdoors and children under 11 will not have to social distance in Wales from Monday.

Swimming pools, gyms, leisure centres and indoor play areas, including soft play, will be allowed to reopen from 10 August.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said the new guidance for children was because of their lower rates of transmission.

Licensed wedding venues will be able to reopen from Monday, but receptions will need to be outdoors.

The changes are part of the latest review to the coronavirus rules in Wales.

Mr Drakeford admitted on Friday that new lockdown restrictions in the north west of England had given him "pause for thought" before easing the rules further.

But he said the changes bring those areas line with Wales, and declined to call for people not to travel from the places affected.

Plaid Cymru has called for measures to limit non-essential travel from the affected areas.

Continued at link above.
 
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A lot of pressure there ..... a lot of keeping track of who, when and where.
I wonder if there will be additional SSOs to help the schools stay 'safely' organised in their cohort groups.


"If a student, teacher or school staff member tests positive for the virus, they must stay home until released from isolation, defined as about 10 days after the onset of symptoms and at least 24 hours without a fever, according to the state health department.

Everyone in the infected person’s class or cohort must quarantine for 14 days, according to the guidance. If the school is not practicing cohorting or mixes cohorts, leaders should work to identify the infected person’s close contacts and have them tested within seven days or earlier if they display symptoms."
 
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When I was going to St Ives, I met a man with seven wives.

Since he had his seven wives with him, I hope you were able to wear your mask and socially distance while you passed them, and that they hadn’t infected their multitudes of cats and kittens carried in their 49 total sacks. :D Of course, since they were coming from St. Ives, if they were contagious, you might want to think twice about going there for the time being. Stuff we never had to think about...even in a rhyme. :eek:
 
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A lot of pressure there ..... a lot of keeping track of who, when and where.
I wonder if there will be additional SSOs to help the schools stay 'safely' organised in their cohort groups.


"If a student, teacher or school staff member tests positive for the virus, they must stay home until released from isolation, defined as about 10 days after the onset of symptoms and at least 24 hours without a fever, according to the state health department.

Everyone in the infected person’s class or cohort must quarantine for 14 days, according to the guidance. If the school is not practicing cohorting or mixes cohorts, leaders should work to identify the infected person’s close contacts...rsbm

Hi SouthAussie, it’s always such a pleasure to talk with you guys across the globe. And that gives me someone to talk to here during the “night shift”. :)

What is notable about the above quote that you referenced, is that it is exactly out of textbook contact tracing 101. These are exactly the measures recommended to anyone who is notified by a contact tracer.

Now here is where it gets interesting:

It USED to be, that the requirement for having no fever was 3 days. Now CDC says 24 hours with no fever.

Before there was this change, it was a strict rule. Not two days, not 2.45 days, THREE DAYS.

—-

Eta / reference:

“Other symptom-based criteria were modified as follows:

and the “decision memo” updated on July 22:

  • A summary of current evidence and rationale for these changes is described in a Decision Memo.
—-

Also, lots of new links here:
CDC / Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
What's New
Updated July 31, 2020

—-

Eta:
A question I ask myself a lot is was there pressure to revise these guidelines, and are some of these changes the result of this direct pressure.
 
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Catching up:

Article from Tuesday, July 28 re: comments from Dr. Redfield:

"The introduction from Europe happened before we realized what was happening," Redfield said. "By the time we realized (the) Europe threat and shut down travel to Europe, there was probably already two or three weeks of 60,000 people coming back every day from Europe," he added.”

[...]

“By the time the Trump administration banned travelers from Europe, the virus was already spreading in New York City, according to the report. Testing was also limited at the start of the epidemic there, allowing people with undetected cases to spread the virus.

During the ABC interview, Redfield also admitted that there have been problems with the federal response.“

[...]

“The CDC was ready to send in a team of scientists within a week, but the Chinese government refused to let them in, Redfield said, something he has said before and pointed to as a reason the US got a later start in identifying the dangerous virus and taking action.”

—-

Eta:
Iirc, they let WHO in pretty early, moo. I need to go back and check the date on that. I specifically remember Dr. Sylvie talking about the their examinations and findings at the Wuhan market re: evidence of CV on surfaces in one of their early conferences.)

Of course we know the lengths that China went to to hide this virus, suppressing Dr. LW, kidnapping citizens and journalists who were speaking out, censoring SM platforms universally, etc., so this is no surprise imo that China wouldn’t let them in.

IMO, while WHO was accused of being “China-centric”, etc., I think the way that WHO was able to actually get in and try to “learn information” and get teams on the ground was by handling China with kid gloves, jmo. There was no way they were going to get in there and get information from China, etc. if they accused them of not being transparent, hiding the virus, etc. They were trying to work with the very difficult Chinese government to get to the source of the problem. So they did what any good investigator would do. It’s like a hostage negotiator, there are psychological factors at play, and if they would’ve outed China publicly and taken a hostile approach, they wouldn’t have been able to get their investigative teams in, get access to their health data, etc., imo.

Again, this is my personal theory based on studying their words very closely in real time as it was going down live.
 
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