Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #75

[SouthAussie]

Yes. Canada's CoVid death rate in long term care was far, far worse than that which we see in Australia. LTC homes were sadly unprepared.

Ontario Launches Independent Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission

Fortunately, we live and learn. We are now locking down aged care facilities at the first sign of trouble.

A Sunshine Coast aged care centre has partially closed as it awaits COVID-19 test results for three residents displaying "respiratory symptoms".
https://www.smh.com.au/national/cor...dney-market-health-alert-20200818-p55mom.html

I sometimes think that initially no-one realised the dangers in aged care facilities, as the residents are not out and about. No-one considered that aged care workers often work at several care facilities as casual workers and could/would spread the virus around.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I think this info is showing our "old" data before they amended it.

Not that it makes me feel any better at all

Yes it is old. And yes it is horrible and sad. With 5 times the population but almost 100 times the current daily deaths, the US is fast catching up. I am really worried about another UK resurgence like other countries are having.

As of today US = 524 deaths per million, current rolling average = 1065 deaths per day
UK = 609 deaths per million, current rolling average = 13 deaths per day.

Some good news for America though; it does seem like the second peak of new cases is dipping again, so hopefully the deaths will start decreasing soon too.

All stats from: Coronavirus Update (Live): 22,034,904 Cases and 776,810 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic - Worldometer

 

[CoverMeCagney]

It's happened before in North Korea and it will happen again. In 2006 or thereabouts, when death from starvation was on the rise, people were boiling grass to make soup. People were boiling just about anything they thought might make soup. Kids were prioritized for any actual food. "Teas" were made of various herbs (zero calories, but the elderly in particular had nothing but zero calorie beverages).

They lived quite a while in this mode, the elderly did. No one knows the effects on the babies and toddlers, at least not as published by reliable science.

And before that, it had happened before. And it has happened in China, but longer ago. It still happens in Yemen and in Africa. People have literally nothing to eat. The movement to transform dogs into pets is fairly recent in North Korea (and in many cultures), but once people bond to their dogs, those dogs are no longer perceived as edible.

This is tragic.

This is sickening and heartbreaking. We will probably never know what really goes on in that country.

 

[mickey2942]

Oh - we'll catch up. In fact, it should only take about a month or so. Hardly anyone will notice or, apparently, care. It's still going to be mostly older people dying, which younger people view as entirely normal.

I was just reading about how many veteran homes have been exposed, and the Covid ran through the patients like a wildfire. The stories are based on this state, that state, not actually ONE article that tells the whole story. The veterans deserved better than this.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/...ns-home-where-76-died-amid-covid-19-outbreak/
Will anyone ask the hard questions? Did staff change PPE with every single patient? Were positive patients placed in a separate area, from negative patients, with CDC protocols for disease control?

No one is going to ask these questions. Shrug, they were old, move on.

 

[10ofRods]

And I'm a little surprised, but not shocked, that UCSB is opening dorms. I wonder how long that will last.

Sororities, IME, create "instant societies" and expect members to be at social events. Dorms are social, but you don't get demerit points for not attending the keg social. I wonder if UCSB is going to have 1 person per room (I hope, I hope).

I found the answer about UCSB:

Campus leadership is awaiting further guidance from the California Department of Public Health outlining the metrics needed for resuming in-person instruction for California colleges and universities. Assuming that we meet those metrics and the UC guidelines, we will offer a limited number of single occupancy rooms this fall in on-campus residence halls. The density in our campus undergraduate apartments has yet to be determined.

In short, not many single rooms and students must sign year long contracts if they want a dorm space. Food service available, but no self serve. Students are responsible to pay for their 9 month contract regardless of what happens (apparently), despite the announcement that the State of California can require online only instruction for as long as it wants to require it.

Santa Barbara County is currently on the "variance list," and supposedly, they are to limit all activities that bring people into close association with each other. AFAIK, they are at Level 1 in the system.

Students are supposed to self-sequester for 7 days upon arrival.

I think UCSB is hoping things will improve in the next 3 weeks - but the last 2 weeks show them (and my own county) going in the wrong direction.

It'll be interesting - but I think they'll end up putting nearly all classes (90%) online. Because SBCounty is not progressing through its levels. UCSB wants the students to come, but hasn't updated its educational plan since June 18. They've had 9-10 cases in just the last 2 weeks, but none of them were in student housing. 69 positive cases total in Isla Vista.

Isla Vista housing is mostly non-UCSB owned, IIRC. So students will do what students do there. It's our most famous party school (among the UC's).

 

[anneg]

Oh - we'll catch up. In fact, it should only take about a month or so. Hardly anyone will notice or, apparently, care. It's still going to be mostly older people dying, which younger people view as entirely normal.

I think you are right. I'm waiting to see what happens with school and college outbreaks and the families of students who get the virus.

 

[anneg]

And I'm a little surprised, but not shocked, that UCSB is opening dorms. I wonder how long that will last.

Sororities, IME, create "instant societies" and expect members to be at social events. Dorms are social, but you don't get demerit points for not attending the keg social. I wonder if UCSB is going to have 1 person per room (I hope, I hope).

I found the answer about UCSB:



In short, not many single rooms and students must sign year long contracts if they want a dorm space. Food service available, but no self serve. Students are responsible to pay for their 9 month contract regardless of what happens (apparently), despite the announcement that the State of California can require online only instruction for as long as it wants to require it.

Santa Barbara County is currently on the "variance list," and supposedly, they are to limit all activities that bring people into close association with each other. AFAIK, they are at Level 1 in the system.

Students are supposed to self-sequester for 7 days upon arrival.

I think UCSB is hoping things will improve in the next 3 weeks - but the last 2 weeks show them (and my own county) going in the wrong direction.

It'll be interesting - but I think they'll end up putting nearly all classes (90%) online. Because SBCounty is not progressing through its levels. UCSB wants the students to come, but hasn't updated its educational plan since June 18. They've had 9-10 cases in just the last 2 weeks, but none of them were in student housing. 69 positive cases total in Isla Vista.

Isla Vista housing is mostly non-UCSB owned, IIRC. So students will do what students do there. It's our most famous party school (among the UC's).

My grandson (he'll be a junior at UCSB) told me ALL his classes will be online this fall. Disappointing, but he still plans to return to SB next month for the fall quarter. He will be in a rental house in Isla Vista with a bunch of other students. They have to fill up the house because it's $$ (I don't actually know how much).

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I think you are right. I'm waiting to see what happens with school and college outbreaks and the families of students who get the virus.

Same here, Anne... we have about 12 million kids due back at school in the next 2 or 3 weeks.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

This article is unreal

UNC abruptly halts in-person classes after coronavirus outbreak on campus


After just one week, Chapel Hill shuts down school. Why do schools even open???? Oh well, they didn’t ask me. 135 positives in one week (actually, it must be 177 total)! “As of this morning, we have tested 954 students and have 177 in isolation and 349 in quarantine, both on and off campus,” UNC-Chapel Hill’s chancellor, Kevin Guskiewicz, and provost, Robert Blouin, said in a statement. The university has just four remaining quarantine rooms, according to its online coronavirus dashboard, which was updated earlier Monday.

And this is the TarHeel college paper with headline on the matter. Not doing a jpeg as it has a dirty play on words in the headline.
https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1295486410288496640

 

[CSIDreamer]

This is sickening and heartbreaking. We will probably never know what really goes on in that country.

BBM. That may be fortunate. Jmo

 

[SouthAussie]

This article is unreal

UNC abruptly halts in-person classes after coronavirus outbreak on campus


After just one week, Chapel Hill shuts down school. Why do schools even open???? Oh well, they didn’t ask me. 135 positives in one week (actually, it must be 177 total)! “As of this morning, we have tested 954 students and have 177 in isolation and 349 in quarantine, both on and off campus,” UNC-Chapel Hill’s chancellor, Kevin Guskiewicz, and provost, Robert Blouin, said in a statement. The university has just four remaining quarantine rooms, according to its online coronavirus dashboard, which was updated earlier Monday.

And this is the TarHeel college paper with headline on the matter. Not doing a jpeg as it has a dirty play on words in the headline.
https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1295486410288496640

As you know, we have school cases, quarantining and closures fairly frequently in NSW and Victoria.
Ours are fairly low figures due to our general containment measures and lower population.

It seems very obvious, to me - and probably many others - that school contamination will be much worse in the US. Due to the size of the population and size of the schools.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

23 members in one house!!!

There are people who quarantined for 3 weeks in one household (with one positive person) and managed not to give it to each other. Quite a few households have gone through this (and spouse to spouse transmission was the most common). People wore masks at home, of course (this is in Asia).

But how do 23 young women all get CoVid so quickly? Sharing vape pens? Lots of selfies with their faces touching? Tons of animated conversation, indoors, unmasked, 2-3 feet apart? Everyone packed into restrooms before breakfast and before evening activities? What the heck?

Did 2-3 have it already, or just 1?

Clearly, this could have been prevented. Sharing bedrooms without use of masks would transmit, but surely only 2 young women per room. If UNC allowed double occupation in bedrooms, someone ought to call them out. I wonder if there will be lawsuits over medical bills (or worse).

Oof. Double Oof.

Sororities in colleges can have "sleeping rooms" where every.single.person sleeps in one big area. Yep.

 

[anneg]

This article is unreal

UNC abruptly halts in-person classes after coronavirus outbreak on campus


After just one week, Chapel Hill shuts down school. Why do schools even open???? Oh well, they didn’t ask me. 135 positives in one week (actually, it must be 177 total)! “As of this morning, we have tested 954 students and have 177 in isolation and 349 in quarantine, both on and off campus,” UNC-Chapel Hill’s chancellor, Kevin Guskiewicz, and provost, Robert Blouin, said in a statement. The university has just four remaining quarantine rooms, according to its online coronavirus dashboard, which was updated earlier Monday.

And this is the TarHeel college paper with headline on the matter. Not doing a jpeg as it has a dirty play on words in the headline.
https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1295486410288496640

They opened largely because the Board of Governors ordered them to open. Political reasons. Very upsetting. (I'm a UNC grad) MOO

ETA that of course there were other reasons, such as financial ones.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

They opened largely because the Board of Governors ordered them to open. Political reasons. Very upsetting. (I'm a UNC grad) MOO

That TarHeel college paper from this morning is going to be a collectible MOO

 

[anneg]

Same here, Anne... we have about 12 million kids due back at school in the next 2 or 3 weeks.

It's really scary. Seems like it's going to be a slow motion disaster after kids return to school and the outbreaks begin. MOO

 

[anneg]

That TarHeel college paper from this morning is going to be a collectible MOO

Wish I had a hard copy!

 

[slowpoke]

Yet another study on neck gaiters’ efficacy:
Save the Gaiters!

This study tested two gaiters. One was a single-layer fabric made of 100 percent polyester. The other was a two-layer gaiter, made with 87 percent polyester and 13 percent spandex.

Both gaiters prevented 100 percent of very large, 20-micron droplets from splattering another foam head just 30 centimeters away. Both masks blocked 50 percent or more of one-micron aerosols. The single layer gaiter blocked only 10 percent of 0.5-micron particles, while the two-layer gaiter blocked 20 percent. Notably, when the single-layer gaiter was doubled, it blocked more than 90 percent of all particles measured. By comparison, a homemade cotton T-shirt mask, recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, blocked about 40 percent of the smallest particles.

 

[mickey2942]

Yet another study on neck gaiters’ efficacy:
Save the Gaiters!

This study tested two gaiters. One was a single-layer fabric made of 100 percent polyester. The other was a two-layer gaiter, made with 87 percent polyester and 13 percent spandex.

I don't know. When I see people who are wearing neck gaiters, the material is stretched thin, right in front of their mouths. It is almost like not wearing a mask at all.

 

[SouthAussie]

My DD (nurse) was checking out some cloth masks that I was given yesterday. She was holding them up to the light to see how thick they are - they are doubled denim-like material - maybe cotton twill.
Her opinion was that they looked okay but she could still see a little light through them, so if it becomes that we ever need to wear masks in my state, I should line them with a disposable mask.

 

[SouthAussie]

BBM

A new law went into effect in Illinois that could become the foundation for laws across the country that make an assault on a store worker who is trying to enforce the store's mask policy a felony.

New Law Hopes To End Attacks On Retail Workers Over Masks