Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #98

[weepingangel]

This is a new one. Don’t recall this being an issue elsewhere /previously
(The oxygen shortage yes, the water usage no)https://www.orlandosentinel.com/cor...0210820-f522oks5dvfwbozl5w7gcxg4oy-story.html

Orlando urges reduced water usage as liquid oxygen used to purify water goes to COVID patients
More at link
The city of Orlando and its water utility made an urgent appeal Friday afternoon for residents to cut back sharply on water usage for weeks because of a pandemic-triggered shortage of liquid oxygen used to purify water.

If commercial and residential customers are unable to reduce water usage quickly and sufficiently, Orlando Utilities Commission may issue a system-wide alert for boiling water needed for drinking and cooking. Without reductions in water usage, a boil-water alert would come within a week, utility officials said.

 

[anneg]

AstraZeneca’s antibody drug could protect people with weakened immune systems, a study shows. (NY Times)

An antibody drug developed by AstraZeneca was strongly effective in preventing Covid in a study that mostly enrolled high-risk people, the company announced on Friday.

The findings raise hopes that the drug, which is easier to administer and designed to stay in the body for much longer than the available antibody treatments for Covid, could provide long-lasting protection for people with weakened immune systems who do not respond well to vaccination.

 

[LaborDayRN]

I have to say, I would HATE to be up in the air with an unruly, aggressive passenger(s). It would be so scary for everyone on board. There is no way to remove yourself from the situation, get out of harms way.

I applaud the pilots who touch down at a nearby airport, and remove the unruly passenger(s) from the plane, before proceeding onwards.

I agree! Some of the videos I've seen are rather upsetting. I'm not a huge fan of flying anyway and this just makes it worse.

 

[WichitaFalls]

Yea!!!

More Americans Seeking COVID-19 Vaccination

Aug. 20, 2021 -- The pace of COVID-19 vaccinations keeps rising, with more than 1 million doses of vaccine administered in the United States on Thursday, including 562,000 people getting their first dose, White House COVID-19 Data Director Cyrus Shahpar said on Twitter.

Thursday was the first day more than 1 million vaccinations have been given in the U.S. in seven weeks, he said, noting it was a 31% week-over-week increase in the daily average of people completing the vaccine series. National vaccinations have slowed since hitting a peak of around 3 million in mid-April.
More at link above.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Yea!!!

More Americans Seeking COVID-19 Vaccination

Aug. 20, 2021 -- The pace of COVID-19 vaccinations keeps rising, with more than 1 million doses of vaccine administered in the United States on Thursday, including 562,000 people getting their first dose, White House COVID-19 Data Director Cyrus Shahpar said on Twitter.

Thursday was the first day more than 1 million vaccinations have been given in the U.S. in seven weeks, he said, noting it was a 31% week-over-week increase in the daily average of people completing the vaccine series. National vaccinations have slowed since hitting a peak of around 3 million in mid-April.
More at link above.

This is FANTASTIC news and I can only hope and pray that it continues. This may indicate that more and more people are coming around and believing the science behind the vaccines.

 

[Cool Cats]

Florida mayor urges water limits because of COVID-19 surge

Fri, August 20, 2021, 4:07 PM

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer on Friday, Aug. 2021, asked residents to stop watering their lawns and washing their cars for a least a week, saying water usage needed to be cut back because of the recent surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations.

The Orlando Utility Commission treats the city's water with liquid oxygen and supplies that ordinarily go toward water treatment have been diverted to hospitals for patients suffering from the virus, Dyer said.

“We acknowledge that the No. 1 priority for the liquid oxygen should be for hospitals," Dyer said at a news conference.

The city-owned utility typically goes through 10 trucks of liquid oxygen a week but its supplier recently said that it would be cut back to five to seven trucks a week to accommodate hospitals, said Linda Ferrone, OUC's chief customer and marketing officer.

About 40% of the utility commission's potable water is used for irrigation so any strains on the water supply will be greatly reduced if residents stop watering their lawns, washing their cars or using pressure washers, she said.

“We realize this is drastic and unprecedented," Ferrone said. “If worse came to worse, we would have to look at a boil water alert."

 

[nightowl1975]

I had thought it was 6 months so no idea why the govt decided to offer it at 8 mo for everyone else. Is 6 mo still when things have dropped considerably or is there some more info on 8 months out?

I’m just guessing here, but the mid-September roll out for boosters means those who got vaccinated during the first round of vaccines back in mid to late December will be 8 months out at that point. If they had said 6 months post-second shot for the booster, they would have a hot mess on their hands with all of those vaccinated in the initial 2 months of vaccine roll out between December and February becoming booster eligible all at once. It seems to me this is an attempt at staggering those who will be eligible for a booster so it doesn’t overwhelm the system.

 

[WildOrchid]

Orlando asks residents to limit water consumption due to COVID-19 impacts

 

[SouthAussie]

Orlando asks residents to limit water consumption due to COVID-19 impacts

It is a bit of a dichotomy in FL, isn't it?

Limit your water use because we need the oxygen due to all of our covid patients.
Don't wear a mask to try to limit the spread of covid.

 

[KALI]

I would not be sending my child masks or no masks, into an enclosed structure right now. I would only do Home schooling or remote learning, or a teacher hired to work with a small group of children outside.
What a dilemma for all of these parents.

Covid mask mandates for schools are essential. Without them, instruction must be virtual. (nbcnews.com)

Places where state governments, school districts and parents refuse to provide basic health safeguards should automatically face remote learning.

 

[SouthAussie]

.

As for when complete freedom will be restored, Professor Bennett suggested it might be a slow process.

"If we suppress transmission by two thirds around the world, we might not see another variant emerge as quickly as we saw Delta, which means vaccines targeting Delta will work for longer," she said.

"This means we will progressively grind it down to a level we won't see new variants … and the ideal situation is in a year's time we can treat COVID-19 like other infections such as the measles," she said.

What will life look like when we're 80 per cent vaccinated? This country offers a glimpse

 

[pocketaccent]

It is a bit of a dichotomy in FL, isn't it?

Limit your water use because we need the oxygen due to all of our covid patients.
Don't wear a mask to try to limit the spread of covid.

Yeah, and it's much safer and healthier to ask people to wear a mask than to reduce their water consumption. Oh wait, wouldn't restricting water consumption affect personal freedom and liberty? No more long relaxing shower?

Keep it simple. Wear a mask and you can take a long shower and enjoy personal freedom too.

 

[realanastasia]

Thought after reading the headline that this might’ve been an old article, but nope. I’ll be shocked if we don’t see other colleges/universities pulling the plug on in-person classes as students begin to congregate on campus!

Rice University Turns to Online Classes

 

[SouthAussie]

.
How does COVID-19 affect the brain? A troubling picture emerges.

Davis is among a large portion of COVID-19 patients—possibly as high as 30 percent, according to an estimate from the National Institutes of Health—who suffer some type of neurological or psychiatric symptoms. Even more troubling is that for many of these individuals, like Davis, these cognitive issues can linger for weeks or months after the initial infection.

“The big surprise was the people who never required hospitalization that are having persistent trouble.”

What’s less clear is how many people will eventually recover and how many will be left with devastating long-term effects.

These individuals had more trouble with reasoning, problem solving, and spatial planning on the test compared to people of their same age group and educational backgrounds who hadn’t been hospitalized with COVID-19.

Some previously hospitalized COVID-19 patients have such severe neurological and cognitive problems that they can’t participate in follow-up phone screenings about how they feel.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Thought after reading the headline that this might’ve been an old article, but nope. I’ll be shocked if we don’t see other colleges/universities pulling the plug on in-person classes as students begin to congregate on campus!

Rice University Turns to Online Classes

Rice University will move to online instruction for first two weeks of semester due to rise in COVID-19 cases

With the explosion of Covid cases and hospital crisis in Houston - it’s not surprising.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Houston’s Texas Medical Center issues open letter to the city, calls for vaccination, masking for all in schools

“As CEOs of large hospital systems serving the greater Houston region, we are constantly asked for advice regarding the return of our children to schools. Therefore, in the spirit of working together as a community to achieve a common goal of safely educating our children, we offer the following letter with scientifically and medically backed advice for schools, parents, and the broader Houston community.

In ordinary times, back-to-school season is a time of hopeful anticipation. Milestones are celebrated. New shoes and backpacks acquired. Children look forward to reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones. The new school year is full of promise and possibilities.

These are not ordinary times.”

There are guidelines listed in the article not only for schools but for parents.

If the parents are fighting masks then they certainly won’t be amenable to the other necessary steps to protect children.

Do parents want to return to managing multiple grades/ages doing remote learning at home this year? And try to work a full time job?

How many parents have been trying to get a teacher to teach a small in home bubble of kids? Months....no success.
A college student majoring in education perhaps? Nope.
JMO

 

[KALI]

I need to take a 6 hour flight. We're wanting to move out of California. I don't care about drinking on a flight. But, I swear, We're probably going to buy a place via zoom.

Flight attendants in the US are being trained in self defense and self-protection - at a police academy - due to the amount of physically aggressive passengers that they are encountering on their flights.

(NBC newsdesk) Q: What are the passengers fighting about?
(NBC live reporter) A: Mostly masks .... masks and alcohol.

(Alcohol has apparently been banned on flights until January.)

Source: NBC Today on TV in Oz, Saturday morning Aug 21st

 

[mickey2942]

School mask mandates: Which states ban them? What about vaccines?

I was at a meeting last night, that was absolutely insane. Adults were shouting, half of them were stating that mask wearing at school was unnecessary, that their children would have hard times breathing. The other half were almost as crazed, that non mask wearing children were a danger to the lives of their children. There was literally no middle ground. The county sheriff was at a school board meeting! Since when does a school board meeting need armed deputies present?

 

[SouthAussie]

Houston’s Texas Medical Center issues open letter to the city, calls for vaccination, masking for all in schools

“As CEOs of large hospital systems serving the greater Houston region, we are constantly asked for advice regarding the return of our children to schools. Therefore, in the spirit of working together as a community to achieve a common goal of safely educating our children, we offer the following letter with scientifically and medically backed advice for schools, parents, and the broader Houston community.

In ordinary times, back-to-school season is a time of hopeful anticipation. Milestones are celebrated. New shoes and backpacks acquired. Children look forward to reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones. The new school year is full of promise and possibilities.

These are not ordinary times.”

I saw a photo of a friend's little grandchild today, on her very first day of school, happily sitting in class with her pretty flowered mask on.
They live in a suburb of Houston. And (previously) had never really taken covid seriously, despite a few of the adults being infected themselves last year.

But perhaps when it comes to people's children, some people smarten up and do the best thing for the children.

 

[otto]

I discussed vaccine effectiveness and booster shots with my 20-something son today. Because vaccines were delayed in Canada, the general population who wanted the vaccine had their second shot sometime between May and July 2021. Vaccine was released by age, older and high risk people first. My son had his second shot in July, I had mine in June. I told him that he's good to go until Jan 2022 with the vaccine as long as the next variant is not worse.

It's an interesting situation around the world with Israel noticing first that double vaccine wears off after 6-8 months. Older adults who were given early priority with the vaccine are losing immunity just as the Delta variant is thriving globally. Age groups that had to wait their turn might be luckiest with the Delta wave. That is, it's possible that Delta will run its course before younger demographic groups experience weaker immunity.

Third doses might also be more available in 2022. It's already confirmed that a third dose is needed in less than a year, so manufacturing has to ramp up and increased distribution has to start soon.

Australia, with late vaccination schedules, might fare best in the long run. First dose in July / Aug means second dose in Sept / Oct. Six to eight months immunity means protection through to Spring 2022. By then, Israel will know whether a 4th dose is needed. Israel is pushing for a better vaccine, rather than a vaccine that is fails every 6 months.