Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #65

[JerseyGirl]

Coronavirus cases through July 1: Texas sets daily record with 8,076 new cases

Wednesday’s case count for Texas was at 8,076, more than double coronavirus numbers from two weeks ago.

The positivity rate is also now 13.58%.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Brink of capacity: Houston hospitals now transferring COVID-19 patients to other cities

Overwhelmed Houston hospitals transfer coronavirus patients to other cities as cases spike

Harris Health Systems (HHS) the public health system which operates Ben Taub and LBJ hospitals in Houston is now transferring COVID-19 patients to other healthcare facilities in outlying areas like Kingwood and the Woodlands. Combined ICUs at Ben Taub and LBJ Hospitals are now at 85% capacity.

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Barbers and hairdressers say it's 'Christmas on steroids' - some even organised midnight openings

Ireland

THERE WERE QUEUES outside barbers from midnight, as Phase Three came into effect, and men waited to get their first hair cut in several months.

There were also queues outside several hairdressers first thing today as people finally got the chance to get their lockdown locks cut.

Hugh McAllister, the owner of the country-wide Grafton Barber chain, told TheJournal.ie that between 50 to 60 people were queued outside many shops.

On Grafton Street, staff didn’t finish cutting hair until nearly 4am.

“We were looking at the weather, thinking it’ll be a non-runner,” McAllister said. But by 10.45pm last night, 20 to 30 people were waiting outside barber shops in Dublin.

“People are on a mission,” he said.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Party Guests Won’t Talk After 9 Test Positive. Now They Face Subpoenas.

On June 17, a crowd of up to 100 people, most of them in their early 20s, attended a party at a home in Rockland County, N.Y.

The event violated a state order in effect at the time that capped gatherings at 10 people in an effort to slow the coronavirus’s spread.

For local officials, that was just the start of the problem.

The party’s host, who was showing signs of being sick at the time, later tested positive for the virus. So did eight guests.

County officials, eager to keep the cluster from growing, dispatched disease tracers to try to learn who else might have been exposed to the virus at the party.

The tracers hit a wall.

“My staff has been told that a person does not wish to, or have to, speak to my disease investigators,” Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, the county’s health commissioner said. Of those being contacted about the party, she added: “They hang up. They deny being at the party even though we have their names from another party attendee.”

Frustrated by the response, county officials took the unusual step of issuing subpoenas to eight people who they believe were at the June 17 party. Those who do not comply and share what they know by Thursday will face fines of $2,000 a day, officials said.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Alabama students throwing 'COVID parties' to see who gets infected: Officials

“Students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 have been attending parties in the city and surrounding area as part of a disturbing contest to see who can catch the virus first, a city council member told ABC News on Wednesday.”



He posted his regrets over attending a party in California. The next day, he died of coronavirus — CNN

“A friend who was at the party reached out to Macias to say he had coronavirus, and he was aware of the diagnosis when he attended the gathering but didn't think he could infect anyone because he had no symptoms, Lopez said. “

“Our understanding is that a gentleman had called him and said 'hey I was at the party, I knew I was positive. I didn't tell anybody,'" Lopez said. "I think the gentleman was regretting not telling everybody, and he was calling people who were at the party to recommend they get tested.”
——————
Knowing that you tested positive and infect your friends, killing one.

 

[Trino]

Probably some are not going to like my comments on this story. My comments are: Get over it. There is more to life than sports. What will you do post high school if you aren't on a college team? What about choir members and chess club members? Have they somehow moved on?
Report: High depression, anxiety reported in high school student-athletes after COVID-19 closures

 

[JerseyGirl]

Closing bars to stop coronavirus spread is backed by science

Authorities are closing honky tonks, bars and other drinking establishments in some parts of the U.S. to stem the surge of COVID-19 infections — a move backed by sound science about risk factors that go beyond wearing or not wearing masks.

In the words of one study, it comes down to the danger of “heavy breathing in close proximity.”

Crowded indoor spaces filled with people yelling, leaning close to hear one another and touching the same sticky surfaces are “the opposite of social distancing,” said Dr. David Hamer of the Boston University School of Medicine.

“Young people have less severe illness, so they may be infected and able to infect others inadvertently,” Dean said, noting outbreaks in Japan and South Korea associated with restaurants, bars and karaoke parties.

“Congregation at a bar, inside, is bad news,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told a Senate panel Tuesday. “We really have got to stop that.”

 

[tresir2012]

July 1 update on COVID-19 in Minnesota

This link was posted in the last thread and I really like the graphics in the article. All the info in one graph.

Death rate, hospitalizations continue to ebb
The latest news on the disease from state officials came hours after the Health Department reported statistics showing continued hopeful trends in deaths and hospitalizations from COVID-19 in Minnesota.

The agency on Wednesday reported four more deaths from the disease, putting the toll at 1,445 since the pandemic began. However, the average daily rate of deaths reported the past 10 days remains in single digits.

The counts of people currently hospitalized (260) and needing intensive care (125) — two closely watched metrics as officials try to manage the spread of the disease — continue to flatten, with an overall downward trend the past few weeks. The daily ICU count is the lowest its been since late April.

Of the 36,716 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota during the pandemic, 87 percent of those infected have recovered to the point they no longer need to be isolated.

Among those who’ve died, nearly 80 percent were living in long-term care or assisted living facilities, and nearly all had underlying health problems.

Fears of the Fourth
The newest counts come as worry about new outbreaks if people ease up on safety measures over the holiday.

Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm and others are imploring groups gathering over the Fourth of July to meet outdoors instead of inside and to wear masks and social distance even when outside.

The median age of confirmed cases in Minnesota has been dipping and is now just under 39 years old, Malcolm noted Wednesday as she cautioned young adults to not let their guard down.

“Remember that you’re not invincible and neither are your loved ones,” she said.

 

[COSCitizen]

As we know, our state of Victoria - well, the city of Melbourne - is really having a struggle now. Cases rising, 16 suburbs locked down, roadblocks making sure people are leaving their suburb only for good and acceptable reason.

And now they are finding that some school children have innocently passed the virus to each other. (No link, I am watching the early evening news.)

Plus, at least several people have decided to take the back roads into my state! WTH. Our borders are closed to them.

And the Victorian motor vehicle depts have noticed a spike in people wanting to change the address on their drivers license. Presumably to avoid lockdown and get the heck out of Dodge.

Apparently we have our fair share of covidiots.

Their Premier has warned them that if they don't quit fooling around he will shut down their whole state.

I live in an area where wildfire is a big problem (Of course, I don't have to tell an Aussie about that.) Seven years ago, we had the Black Forest fire which was massive, and caused a lot damage. There was a wide area that was evacuated.

At that time, there were people on local media who said that law enforcement should shoot looters on sight. (There was very little looting, but it was a big concern.) There were also people who were boasting about slipping through the back ways and crossing private property to check on their own properties. What could possibly go wrong? Fortunately, LE did not get trigger happy, and the National Guard was used to establish checkpoints into the area so that fire fighting units, LE, and animal rescue groups could go in and do their jobs.

 

[Lilibet]

There is a company called Menards that operates in Minnesota - much like Home Depot. They absolutely require masks, have a security guard (beefed up) at the door. No mask? Buy one for $1.00 or go elsewhere. This works for me (and others). IMO the sooner more businesses require masks, the more people will wear them.

Businesses in Oregon no longer have a choice about requiring masks. They have to as of yesterday, July 1, for which I’m grateful. However, I don’t think many businesses can afford security guards, so they will have to enforce the law themselves. As long as customers cooperate, it will be fine, as the Northwest Grocery Association makes clear below. But mask rebels abound here, so it could be difficult. I expect they will all claim to have a “medical condition” preventing them from wearing a mask. JMO

The Northwest Grocery Association is urging people to wear masks in order to protect grocery store workers and customers.

"We cannot enforce this by ourselves. We need the public to step up. When you look at the governor’s mandate, it’s really clear, there are two enforcement vehicles in this. One, is the business and the retailers, but one is the public. We need everyone to do their part," said Amanda Dalton with Northwest Grocery Association.

Oregon OSHA could issue fines to businesses that don't enforce mask mandate

 

[oviedo]

Party Guests Won’t Talk After 9 Test Positive. Now They Face Subpoenas.

On June 17, a crowd of up to 100 people, most of them in their early 20s, attended a party at a home in Rockland County, N.Y.

The event violated a state order in effect at the time that capped gatherings at 10 people in an effort to slow the coronavirus’s spread.

For local officials, that was just the start of the problem.

The party’s host, who was showing signs of being sick at the time, later tested positive for the virus. So did eight guests.

County officials, eager to keep the cluster from growing, dispatched disease tracers to try to learn who else might have been exposed to the virus at the party.

The tracers hit a wall.

“My staff has been told that a person does not wish to, or have to, speak to my disease investigators,” Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, the county’s health commissioner said. Of those being contacted about the party, she added: “They hang up. They deny being at the party even though we have their names from another party attendee.”

Frustrated by the response, county officials took the unusual step of issuing subpoenas to eight people who they believe were at the June 17 party. Those who do not comply and share what they know by Thursday will face fines of $2,000 a day, officials said.

CBS this mornings’ Vlad is covering this story- I’m trying not to be surprised that 100 people got together when the limit is 10 -
IMO

 

[JerseyGirl]

A Dire Warning From COVID-19 Test Providers

Yesterday, Quest Diagnostics, one of the country’s largest medical-testing companies, said that its systems were overwhelmed and that it would now be able to deliver COVID-19 test results in one day only for hospitalized patients, patients facing emergency surgery, and symptomatic health-care workers. Everyone else now must wait three to five days for a test result.

“This is very bad,” an epidemiology professor at Harvard, told us. Rapid test-turnaround times are the only way to control the coronavirus without forcing every potentially contagious person—everyone who’s had contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19—into quarantine.

“We hit the wall three weeks ago,” an executive chairman of BioReference Laboratories, told us. “At that point, most laboratories were already running at capacity, as far as I can tell.”

In mid-June, four changes hit all at once. Large companies began to test their employees en masse, hospitals started to test every patient who needed an elective procedure, and nursing homes started regularly testing their employees and some residents. The American public also seemed to seek out voluntary tests in greater numbers this month. The surge in testing overwhelmed both the testing company’s capacity and its equipment suppliers.

 

[ilovewings]

I'm a big proponent of social distancing, wearing masks, and sometimes being just plain anti-social. But I have trouble with the beach thing. My sense, based on zero scientific evidence, is that the virus gets easily diluted and disappates
in that type of environment. Not to mention, my father-in-law, God rest his soul, always said that salt water cures everything (well at least poison ivy). I also heard it's gonna be hot as heck in the south this weekend - so what's the alternative - everyone socializes indoors where the A/C will re-circulate all those germs? I say keep the beaches open, stay on your own blanket, and keep 6 feet from strangers.

I agree with you about beaches being safer, if people in fact did social distance- but if you look at some of the photos, many people on those beaches are not doing that: some of the beaches, the people are very close together and there are a lot of them. i do think that being outdoors is safer, even under those circumstances, but I believe without social distancing there will be some cases that arise from crowded beaches

 

[MimosaMornings]

All those people on the beach will be using the same portajohn.

 

[tabitha111]

Paper written by VCU faculty, Virginia Commonwealth University. We should start to see similar analyses to this paper demonstrate similar effects as vital records data becomes available.
Excess Deaths From COVID-19 and Other Causes, March-April 2020
July 1, 2020

"These estimates suggest that the number of COVID-19 deaths reported in the first weeks of the pandemic captured only two-thirds of excess deaths in the US. Potential explanations include delayed reporting of COVID-19 deaths and misattribution of COVID-19 deaths to other respiratory illnesses (eg, pneumonia) or to nonrespiratory causes reflecting complications of COVID-19 (eg, coagulopathy, myocarditis). Few excess deaths involved pneumonia or influenza as underlying causes"

[...]

"Large increases in mortality from heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases were observed. Further investigation is required to determine the extent to which these trends represent nonrespiratory manifestations of COVID-19 or secondary pandemic mortality caused by disruptions in society that diminished or delayed access to health care and the social determinants of health (eg, jobs, income, food security)."
BBM

 

[JerseyGirl]

I'm a big proponent of social distancing, wearing masks, and sometimes being just plain anti-social. But I have trouble with the beach thing. My sense, based on zero scientific evidence, is that the virus gets easily diluted and disappates
in that type of environment. Not to mention, my father-in-law, God rest his soul, always said that salt water cures everything (well at least poison ivy). I also heard it's gonna be hot as heck in the south this weekend - so what's the alternative - everyone socializes indoors where the A/C will re-circulate all those germs? I say keep the beaches open, stay on your own blanket, and keep 6 feet from strangers.

I agree with you about beaches being safer, if people in fact did social distance- but if you look at some of the photos, many people on those beaches are not doing that: some of the beaches, the people are very close together and there are a lot of them. i do think that being outdoors is safer, even under those circumstances, but I believe without social distancing there will be some cases that arise from crowded beaches

There’s no concrete evidence that there’s a greater risk of catching the coronavirus from the water, or even that the virus can survive in salt water very long, but scientists are studying it. Some of them have suspicions about its behavior based on past virus outbreaks.

A leading atmospheric chemist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego said research suggests there’s a chance that in areas where ocean water mixes with untreated wastewater contaminated by the virus, the belch of the ocean waves could aerosolize the virus into particles and coastal winds could carry it back to shore.

When beaches reopen, are you safe from coronavirus in the water?

Other sampling, though, has found the virus in feces, which can wind up in the waterways from heavy rains or from sewer line breaks. So it’s conceivable there might be coronavirus in ocean water near sewage runoffs.

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Coronavirus: Scotland to keep two-metre rule and make face coverings in shops mandatory

The two-metre rule is going to remain in place in Scotland - and wearing face coverings in shops will become mandatory on 10 July.

Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement during a statement on the next steps of the country's coronavirus response.

She told reporters that the science "on physical distancing has not changed."

"As the distance between people decreases, the risk of transmitting COVID increases."

She told the press conference: "The continued low prevalence of the virus means we can go ahead with changes.

"That means outdoor hospitality such as pavement cafes and beer gardens can reopen from Monday... and although tourism won't open fully until 15 July, self-contained holiday accommodation... can reopen from tomorrow."

"We will also, from tomorrow... lift the guidance advising people not to travel more than five miles for leisure purposes."

Ms Sturgeon encouraged responsible behaviour while people travelled throughout the country and to continue to follow public health advice.

However, she added that a small outbreak had been identified in Gretna, and contact tracing and testing was taking place in the area.

Those living in Annan, Gretna, Dumfries, Lockerbie, Langholm, and Canonbie have been told to continue following travel restrictions while the testing and tracing takes place.

 

[jjenny]

Very sad story.
"A California man posted his regret on Facebook about contracting the coronavirus after he attended a party in June. A day later, he died from COVID-19."
California man who posted regret for attending party died a day later of coronavirus

 

[jjenny]

There is a company called Menards that operates in Minnesota - much like Home Depot. They absolutely require masks, have a security guard (beefed up) at the door. No mask? Buy one for $1.00 or go elsewhere. This works for me (and others). IMO the sooner more businesses require masks, the more people will wear them.

They also have on-line website where you can buy KN95 masks.

 

[jjenny]

All those people on the beach will be using the same portajohn.

Good point. Also, tourists flock to beaches, they stay at hotels, they eat at restaurants, they go into bars and shops. So it's not like people show up, socially distance on the beach, then leave (which presumably would be relatively safe). Several beaches emerged as hot spots for covid spread.