Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #56

[astheworldfallsdown]

Coronavirus: Dozens may have been infected with COVID-19 at Wisconsin anti-lockdown rally

Seventy-two people who tested positive for COVID-19 in Wisconsin are reported to have recently attended a "large gathering".

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) confirmed it had gathered tracing data on a number of individuals who had contracted the virus, according to US magazine The Progressive.


The findings came to light after hundreds of people in Wisconsin attended a mass rally against the governor's stay-at-home order on 24 April, where social distancing rules were flouted and only around a third of protesters wore face masks.

However it cannot be proven how many of these people contracted coronavirus at the protest as the health department is not tracking attendance of specific events.

 

[LadyL]

Locked down shoppers turn to vegetables, shun ready meals - study

Shoppers cut spending on ready-made meals and bought more fruit and vegetables, turning to healthier eating during coronavirus lockdowns, preliminary results of a research project showed.

People forced to stay home also tried new recipes and threw away less food, the survey of nearly 11,000 shoppers in 11 countries, including Ireland, found.

"Amid lockdowns people are eating healthier, are cooking their own food and are consuming more fruit and vegetables," said Charlotte De Backer, who coordinated the study at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

As they deserted offices and cooked at home, shoppers cut purchases of microwaveable food in all the countries surveyed – Ireland, Australia, Belgium, Chile, Uganda, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Greece, Canada, and Brazil.

[...]

Ms De Backer said the preliminary findings showed clear trends that were unlikely to be modified by new data, as the pandemic has strengthened people's attention to food and healthier options.

In all surveyed countries people bought more fresh, canned or frozen fruit and vegetables throughout lockdowns, a change Ms DeBacker said could be explained by heightened health concerns.

Careful planning to cut time spent in supermarkets could also have contributed, Ms De Backer said. "If you make a shopping list, you plan your meals ahead and you are less likely to add unhealthy food."

Respondents to the survey, who were mostly women, also tried new recipes during the pandemic and used more left-overs, reducing food waste.

This attitude is linked to fears of food shortages, Ms DeBacker said, and is likely to recede once consumers see no more empty shelves in supermarkets, which have suffered some supply disruptions during the pandemic.

But some of the eating habits are likely to outlast the epidemic, Ms De Backer added, because in many countries lockdowns lasted longer than the six weeks it takes to form a new habit.

[More at link]

Shoppers turn to vegetables, shun ready meals - study

this is awesome news! hope it's becomes a permanent change in society

 

[otto]

Great. So going out to eat dinner now includes inviting "Big Brother" or whoever into every tick of information on your cellphone.

Yeah, uh, I can see many people who would not be interested in that. And also, there is a section of the population, believe it or not, that still does not have a smartphone.

A lot of people view our tech world as normal, accepting on the day that they bought a cell phone their privacy was compromised. Many people view life as having nothing to hide, so who cares if someone knows that they ate at a particular restaurant one day. It would be foolish of anyone with a cell phone to think that their movements cannot easily be tracked - especially anyone in this community who for years has seen suspects successfully prosecuted because they owned a cell phone.

 

[Henry2326]

Carlos del Rio is Hubert Professor and Chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University and Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Assessment of Deaths From COVID-19 and From Seasonal Influenza
Jeremy Samuel Faust, MD, MS1; Carlos del Rio, MD2,3
Article Information
JAMA Intern Med. Published online May 14, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.2306

As of early May 2020, approximately 65 000 people in the US had died of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),1 the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This number appears to be similar to the estimated number of seasonal influenza deaths reported annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Preliminary In-Season 2019-2020 Flu Burden Estimates).

This apparent equivalence of deaths from COVID-19 and seasonal influenza does not match frontline clinical conditions, especially in some hot zones of the pandemic where ventilators have been in short supply and many hospitals have been stretched beyond their limits. The demand on hospital resources during the COVID-19 crisis has not occurred before in the US, even during the worst of influenza seasons. Yet public officials continue to draw comparisons between seasonal influenza and SARS-CoV-2 mortality, often in an attempt to minimize the effects of the unfolding pandemic.

The root of such incorrect comparisons may be a knowledge gap regarding how seasonal influenza and COVID-19 data are publicly reported. The CDC, like many similar disease control agencies around the world, presents seasonal influenza morbidity and mortality not as raw counts but as calculated estimates based on submitted International Classification of Diseases codes.2

2 Between 2013-2014 and 2018-2019, the reported yearly estimated influenza deaths ranged from 23 000 to 61 000.3 Over that same time period, however, the number of counted influenza deaths was between 3448 and 15 620 yearly.4 On average, the CDC estimates of deaths attributed to influenza were nearly 6 times greater than its reported counted numbers. Conversely, COVID-19 fatalities are at present being counted and reported directly, not estimated. As a result, the more valid comparison would be to compare weekly counts of COVID-19 deaths to weekly counts of seasonal influenza deaths.

5 The reported number of counted deaths from the previous week, ending April 14, was 14 478. By contrast, according to the CDC, counted deaths during the peak week of the influenza seasons from 2013-2014 to 2019-2020 ranged from 351 (2015-2016, week 11 of 2016) to 1626 (2017-2018, week 3 of 2018).6 The mean number of counted deaths during the peak week of influenza seasons from 2013-2020 was 752.4 (95% CI, 558.8-946.1).7 These statistics on counted deaths suggest that the number of COVID-19 deaths for the week ending April 21 was 9.5-fold to 44.1-fold greater than the peak week of counted influenza deaths during the past 7 influenza seasons in the US, with a 20.5-fold mean increase (95% CI, 16.3-27.7).5,6
more at link......

Assessment of Deaths From COVID-19 and From Seasonal Influenza

 

[dmac55]

But do 'hospitalisations ' automatically mean Covid19? Aren't other types of illnesses happening now too?

Yes, you're right
Other illnesses are happening now too

I should have included that the following information about COVID-19 hospitalizations, is available on Arizona's Department of Health Services website under the COVID-19 section

Hospitalization:

-Number of Cases Hospitalized
-Percent of Cases Hospitalized
-Number of COVID-19 Cases that are Hospitalized by Date of Hospitalization
-COVID-19 Hospitalized Cases by Age Group
-COVID-19 Hospitalized Cases by Gender
-COVID-19 Hospitalized Cases by Race/Ethnicity

ADHS - COVID-19 Data Dashboard
ADHS - Data Dashboard

 

[Sundog]

Can the coronavirus spread in pool water? What to know as summer approaches

CDC guidelines for pools, hot tubs and other water venues at -
Communities, Schools, Workplaces, & Events

 

[Henry2326]

Interesting experiment....counting down to look at Wisconsin charts on May 29th here at this link...
Wisconsin Coronavirus Map and Case Count
Today, slight dip down in cases while deaths look plateaued...my question, why the rush for an overpriced beer?...referring to people rushing out when they heard the news....not the bar owners...that's obvious...
--------------------------------------
"People flocked to bars in Wisconsin on Wednesday night, after the state Supreme Court voided the state's "Safer at Home" orders. The ruling quickly triggered a jumble of policies in counties and cities, as officials set their own rules related to COVID-19.

The court found that emergency orders issued by Gov. Tony Evers' administration were unlawful and unenforceable, prompting the Tavern League of Wisconsin, an industry group, to issue a statement encouraging all tavern and bar owners to open their doors immediately.

And some did just that. A photo posted by Nick's Bar in Platteville quickly went viral, showing at least 18 people crowded together at the bar, just 45 minutes after Wednesday night's reopening."

Wisconsin Bars Welcome Crowds After Court Strikes Down 'Safer At Home' Bans

 

[firebird]

A lot of people view our tech world as normal, accepting on the day that they bought a cell phone their privacy was compromised. Many people view life as having nothing to hide, so who cares if someone knows that they ate at a particular restaurant one day. It would be foolish of anyone with a cell phone to think that their movements cannot easily be tracked - especially anyone in this community who for years has seen suspects successfully prosecuted because they owned a cell phone.

If we're so easily tracked, why do they need an app? I'm certainly not going to make it any easier for them.

 

[Sundog]

NIH begins clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat COVID-19

 

[10ofRods]

A lot of people view our tech world as normal, accepting on the day that they bought a cell phone their privacy was compromised. Many people view life as having nothing to hide, so who cares if someone knows that they ate at a particular restaurant one day. It would be foolish of anyone with a cell phone to think that their movements cannot easily be tracked - especially anyone in this community who for years has seen suspects successfully prosecuted because they owned a cell phone.

I actually am fine with it. Not only do I only go to highly predictable places, I'm glad that if anything happens to me (carjackings aren't all that unusual in Los Angeles, I often work nights - when I'm doing my regular job on campus), it'll be pretty easy to see where my last known place was. I used to care more about "privacy" but there are so many cameras everywhere anyway, I might as well have a system where I can check on why my DH is late getting home and where he might be in traffic - and when to get dinner ready.

Works for us, don't care about the privacy thing any more. I'm not even sure who I'd be hiding from and why anyone would want to trace my whereabouts (aside from finding me if I'm lost), I don't know.

As I mentioned earlier, there are so many businesses that will provide better service if I use my phone to order - and some won't do it any other way. LaForchette/Tripadvisor App are very popular in the travel crowd. We store all our bookings on our phones, have had seamless great service at hotels ever since. I guess I started using it more when I had a 6 year period of traveling alone to Sacramento on college business. Uber works for me, etc.

ETA: It doesn't matter if 15-20% of Californians opt out or don't have phones, the Google analytics really does help public agencies like public health and law enforcement figure out what kind of activities are occurring in which CoVid could be transmitted. People flocking to the beach, in general, take their phones. People take their phones or their smart watches when they hike or job, etc.

Hiking in SoCal without a phone is...not recommended. Rattlesnake bites alone are a huge problem and need immediate medical attention - but we also have jellyfish stings (no one dies from them, much, but they are so painful that almost everyone feels the need to immediately call an ER...)

 

[MsJosie]

Federal Judge from Muskogee, OK has filed a temporary restraining order against Xephyr LLC and/or N-Ergetics and owners, Brad Brand, Derill J. Fussell and Linda Fussell.
they cannot sell or distribute Colloidal Silver. Claiming this was a cure or treatment for Covid 19 and other diseases


Court Orders Oklahoma Company to Stop Selling Colloidal Silver as Treatment for COVID-19


Link below is one of many about Colloidal Silver. It has not been proven by science it is of any benefit to the body. “Colloidal silver isn't considered safe or effective for any of the health claims manufacturers make. Silver has no known purpose in the body. Nor is it an essential mineral, as some sellers of silver products claim.”

“Rarely, excessive doses of colloidal silver can cause possibly irreversible serious health problems, including kidney damage and neurological problems such as seizures.

Colloidal silver products may also interact with medications, including penicillamine (Cuprimine, Depen), quinolone antibiotics, tetracycline and thyroxine (Unithroid, Levoxyl, Synthroid) medications.”

more info at link .
The truth about colloidal silver

 

[10ofRods]

In total 2 children under 15 have died in England & Wales of COVID-19.
Schools were open until 20th March
We locked down on 23rd March
Our death rate peaked around mid April.

It does seem that children are in a very low risk category. I personally know of one child who has had it, his mum is a nurse and she caught it working on a CV ward. They are (touch wood) the only people I know in real life who have had the virus, luckily both had extremely mild cases.

FactCheck: what are the coronavirus risks to children?

Yes, they are. But when you get something for which you are in a "low risk" category, you're now the person who has that thing. I was in a low risk category for pulmonary thrombosis - until I got it and almost died. Now I don't feel so lucky in general. Only about 1 in 120,000 people gets spontaneous pulmonary thrombosis. Lucky me?

There's only a small percentage of kids who have Diabetes Type I - but if it's your child, then it's a big deal. Childhood leukemia, even more rare - but to me, one of the most tragic of all diseases.

Fortunately the vast majority of kids who get CoVid will be fine. We think. And so will their parents. So, I am favor of the stratified shielding model talked about in the medical literature, which is underpinning "reopening" of our nations and states. But I do feel terribly sad for the few children who will die or fall very ill from CoVid. I believe in honest risk assessment. If there were only 38 children in all of Wuhan who required hospitalization, that's a very low rate indeed - but it's still sad to see kids in the hospital.

While most newborns from pregnant CV+ moms are free of CV, there have been a few newborns with CoVid (9 in China).

https://www.lusiadas.pt/pt/Covid19 ...ristics of novel coronavirus disease 2019.pdf

Human life is full of risk, and there are quite a few of us who like to know the probabilities, as far as we can. Nurses and doctors are almost always in this group, IME.

 

[The Night Watchman]

Carlos del Rio is Hubert Professor and Chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University and Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Assessment of Deaths From COVID-19 and From Seasonal Influenza
Jeremy Samuel Faust, MD, MS1; Carlos del Rio, MD2,3
Article Information
JAMA Intern Med. Published online May 14, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.2306

As of early May 2020, approximately 65 000 people in the US had died of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),1 the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This number appears to be similar to the estimated number of seasonal influenza deaths reported annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Preliminary In-Season 2019-2020 Flu Burden Estimates).

This apparent equivalence of deaths from COVID-19 and seasonal influenza does not match frontline clinical conditions, especially in some hot zones of the pandemic where ventilators have been in short supply and many hospitals have been stretched beyond their limits. The demand on hospital resources during the COVID-19 crisis has not occurred before in the US, even during the worst of influenza seasons. Yet public officials continue to draw comparisons between seasonal influenza and SARS-CoV-2 mortality, often in an attempt to minimize the effects of the unfolding pandemic.

The root of such incorrect comparisons may be a knowledge gap regarding how seasonal influenza and COVID-19 data are publicly reported. The CDC, like many similar disease control agencies around the world, presents seasonal influenza morbidity and mortality not as raw counts but as calculated estimates based on submitted International Classification of Diseases codes.2

2 Between 2013-2014 and 2018-2019, the reported yearly estimated influenza deaths ranged from 23 000 to 61 000.3 Over that same time period, however, the number of counted influenza deaths was between 3448 and 15 620 yearly.4 On average, the CDC estimates of deaths attributed to influenza were nearly 6 times greater than its reported counted numbers. Conversely, COVID-19 fatalities are at present being counted and reported directly, not estimated. As a result, the more valid comparison would be to compare weekly counts of COVID-19 deaths to weekly counts of seasonal influenza deaths.

5 The reported number of counted deaths from the previous week, ending April 14, was 14 478. By contrast, according to the CDC, counted deaths during the peak week of the influenza seasons from 2013-2014 to 2019-2020 ranged from 351 (2015-2016, week 11 of 2016) to 1626 (2017-2018, week 3 of 2018).6 The mean number of counted deaths during the peak week of influenza seasons from 2013-2020 was 752.4 (95% CI, 558.8-946.1).7 These statistics on counted deaths suggest that the number of COVID-19 deaths for the week ending April 21 was 9.5-fold to 44.1-fold greater than the peak week of counted influenza deaths during the past 7 influenza seasons in the US, with a 20.5-fold mean increase (95% CI, 16.3-27.7).5,6
more at link......

Assessment of Deaths From COVID-19 and From Seasonal Influenza

I think this is a great and important concept for an article, but the agenda seems kind of clear.

They say-

Between 2013-2014 and 2018-2019, the reported yearly estimated influenza deaths ranged from 23 000 to 61 000.3 Over that same time period, however, the number of counted influenza deaths was between 3448 and 15 620 yearly.4 On average, the CDC estimates of deaths attributed to influenza were nearly 6 times greater than its reported counted numbers. Conversely, COVID-19 fatalities are at present being counted and reported directly, not estimated. As a result, the more valid comparison would be to compare weekly counts of COVID-19 deaths to weekly counts of seasonal influenza deaths.

I would think the CDC would have a pretty solid analytical reason why they estimate higher flu death totals. The authors choose to disagree; so they do CV vs. flu analysis with counted flu deaths, instead of the estimated CDC deaths that are 6x higher. It would have been useful to explain why the CDC estimates 6x higher deaths from the seasonal flu, I'm pretty sure that is available.

From our analysis, we infer that either the CDC’s annual estimates substantially overstate the actual number of deaths caused by influenza or that the current number of COVID-19 counted deaths substantially understates the actual number of deaths caused by SARS-CoV-2, or both.

I read it a couple of times and can't follow the thought train to get to this conclusion.

Government officials may rely on such comparisons, thus misinterpreting the CDC’s data, when they seek to reopen the economy and de-escalate mitigation strategies. Although officials may say that SARS-CoV-2 is “just another flu,” this is not true.

I also can't recall a government official stating it is "just another flu", but maybe I missed that.

A nice objective study on this topic would be incredibly useful in explaining to people this important comparison.

 

[tmar]

Europe must brace for 'second and more deadly wave of coronavirus in winter', WHO official warns


Europe must brace for 'second and more deadly wave of coronavirus in winter', WHO official warns

Rebecca Speare-Cole
5 hrs ago
Europe should brace for a second and more deadly wave of coronavirus which could hit in winter, a top World Health Organisation official has warned.

Dr Hans Kluge, WHO director for Europe, delivered the stark warning on Thursday as countries begin to relax their Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

It comes as cases in countries like the UK, France, Italy and Spain begin to fall, however, numbers further east in Russian, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan have started rising.
...
He said countries should start to prepare for further waves by strengthening their public health systems and building capacity in hospitals, primary care and intensive care units.

“Singapore and Japan understood early on that this is not a time for celebration, it’s a time for preparation," Dr Kluge told the newspaper.

 

[Trino]

Minnesota businesses are allowed to reopen May 18, sans bars and restaurants, but the Mall of America has decided to open on June 1.

 

[tmar]

UK coronavirus death toll rises by 428 to 33,614


UK coronavirus death toll rises by 428 to 33,614

Peter Stubley
1 hour ago
Another 428 people have died from coronavirus in the UK, bringing the official government total to 33,614.

More than 3,400 new cases were also confirmed after a total of 126,064 tests were carried out in a day.

The total of positive test results across the four nations now stands at 233,151, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.
Britain’s death toll remains the highest in Europe and the second-highest in the world behind the US. It has the third highest number of cases behind US and Russia.
...
The results of the pilot study suggest an average of 0.27 per cent of the community population – excluding health and care workers – were infected with the virus over the period.

However, among people working with patients in health and social care roles, 1.33 per cent tested positive for Covid-19, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This includes NHS professionals, such as nurses and doctors, as well as social care workers, such as nursing home or home care workers.

 

[The Night Watchman]

Europe must brace for 'second and more deadly wave of coronavirus in winter', WHO official warns


Europe must brace for 'second and more deadly wave of coronavirus in winter', WHO official warns

Rebecca Speare-Cole
5 hrs ago
Europe should brace for a second and more deadly wave of coronavirus which could hit in winter, a top World Health Organisation official has warned.

Dr Hans Kluge, WHO director for Europe, delivered the stark warning on Thursday as countries begin to relax their Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

It comes as cases in countries like the UK, France, Italy and Spain begin to fall, however, numbers further east in Russian, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan have started rising.
...
He said countries should start to prepare for further waves by strengthening their public health systems and building capacity in hospitals, primary care and intensive care units.

“Singapore and Japan understood early on that this is not a time for celebration, it’s a time for preparation," Dr Kluge told the newspaper.

So the second wave is coming, and I wonder if this means there is a natural drop in infectiousness in the first wave until then, ie how can you have a second wave without a lull? I don't know.

Dr Kluge said: “We know from history that in pandemics the countries that have not been hit early on can be hit in a second wave."

This is where the Sweden experiment gets interesting. The higher rate of antibody positive population may blunt the damage of the second wave. Sweden's approach may end up saving lives. We shall see.

 

[tmar]

Indonesia plane crash: American pilot dies while attempting to deliver coronavirus supplies



Indonesia plane crash: American pilot dies while attempting to deliver coronavirus supplies

Louise Hall
1 hour ago
A missionary pilot from Maryland has died in a plane crash while on a trip to deliver emergency coronavirus supplies, officials have said.

Joyce Lin, who served as a pilot and field IT support specialist for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), left Papua, Indonesia airport in the early hours of the morning on 12 May. However, her plane crashed into a lake within minutes of take-off.

MAF said in a statement. Lin was the only person on the aircraft.
“Indonesian Search and Rescue divers later confirmed that Joyce did not survive the accident,"
The cargo on the plane included Covid-19 rapid test kits for the local clinic and school supplies.

Lin apparently reported technical problems two minutes after takeoff and sent a distress call before losing contact with traffic control.
...
The American missionary had two degrees in engineering from MIT and spent over ten years working as a computer specialist before joining MAF in 2017, according to Salem News.

“She has dedicated her life to transporting humanitarian supplies and missionaries to hard-to-reach areas in Papua,” Papua police spokesman Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said.

 

[LadyL]

I listened to an epidemiologist on CBC radio this morning, and he described a back to work scenario that might work for you, since you are staggering schedules already. He suggested working four days in a row, for example, Mon, Tues, Wed and Thursday, and then taking the next ten days off. During the week that you are off, your colleague will work Mon, Tues, Wed, Thur and then take 10 days off.

He said that this kind of schedule greatly increased the safety of workers and clients. If the employee becomes infected at work, the average incubation period is 5 days. By the time the employee is shedding the virus and subsequently showing symptoms, that employee is already off work for 10 days. Anyone who develops symptoms doesn't go back to work until they are cleared.

It's not foolproof, but it does take into account the typical pattern of CoV-19 spread. And it allows businesses to open for 4 days a week, if they have at least two employees.

that's brilliant

 

[katydid23]

It is interesting what you say about not being 'unified', because I never realised until this pandemic how fragmented the US is in terms of different state laws and governance. It is true that Americans hold slightly opposing values to many other countries; your individual and constitutional rights appear to be valued more highly than the rights and safety of society as a whole.

Nevertheless, as I have said from the start, this is a truly international crisis and in my opinion we must all try and help each other be it in terms of shared information, science, medicines, equipment, and even emotional support.

One of my favourite things about the United States is that our states have very different, unique, personalities. Different state laws and governance is necessary. I think it would be hard to have 353 million citizens spread across such varying types of climate and topography, and have the people be all the same. What attracts someone to Montana is very different from what attracts someone to NYC or Chicago.

Nor would I say that we hold our individual rights above those of society. To many citizens, our individual rights are what makes us a society, as we depend upon these inalienable rights to form a just, equal society. No one wants to place others at risk, but many are asking if there are ways we can do two things at once----protect our individual rights in some ways, as well as protect the health and safety of others. Surely buying plants in a big box store is not putting others at any more risk than buying alcohol or lottery tickets is. <<<That is the type of issue that many individuals are protesting. JMO