Coronavirus 3

[clueliss]

Hey, you can add Winn Dixie to your list of places to shop at - they've also reconsidered on masking.  And am now asking people to mask.  (um, who else thinks that they had a decided drop in sales)

 

And the smart states in the Northeast add Missouri to the quarantine list (about time)

Quote

 

Speaking of Missouri - they set a one day record of cases - 1134.  

Also Kansas residents going to Chicago have to quarantine for 14 days.

[Ozlsn]

More than 200 people who were supposed to be self-isolating at home in Queensland weren't at the address given when checks were done.

This is why we can't have nice things, seriously.  Outbreak in Queensland in 3, 2, 1...

Honestly the hotel system works better - providing you employ respectable firms who don't subcontract and recruit via WhatsApp, provide no actual training on the role and require people to provide their own PPE.

Even with that I am pretty sure the security guard and the person being quarantined knew they weren't supposed to be sleeping together.

Speaking of outbreaks in Victoria caused by inability to keep it in their pants, businesses in a rural area of the state have closed after a woman awaiting a test result went off to visit her boyfriend. Don't get me started on the stupidity of partner exemptions, the stupidity of being tested and not isolating before the results came back, the stupidity of then not staying in isolation after going out of the lock down region, and the stupidity of not just staying the hell home, getting some fun toys and coming up with imaginative videoconferencing iideas. Is every bloody outbreak in this state going to be caused by people thinking with their genitals?!

Positive note: my friend is off the ventilator, conscious and should be able to be moved to a less intensive care isolation room soon. Very relieved, although obviously it'll still be a long road to recovery.

[Cartmann99]

3 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

and the stupidity of not just staying the hell home, getting some fun toys and coming up with imaginative videoconferencing iideas. Is every bloody outbreak in this state going to be caused by people thinking with their genitals?!

Rub one out for Australia!

 

 

[thoughtful]

47 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

Rub one out for Australia!

Imagine the posters! And the PSAs!

 

[clueliss]

Sob

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[clueliss]

Well - that statistic is just 'comforting' (not!) since the students return in roughly two weeks

 

[Coconut Flan]

That's the pattern we're seeing in Southern California also.

[Ozlsn]

11 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

That's the pattern we're seeing in Southern California also.

And here in Victoria. Age range currently 0-100, but most cases are currently in the 20-29 age group, followed by 60-69, then 30-39. 

Deaths are still in the 60+ age group, with a sharp increase over 70.

[clueliss]

New daily record number of cases for Missouri 1301

 

and the Kansas Board of Education voted to OVERRIDE the governor's delay of the start of school.

Finally - the University of Missouri won't be telling Professors if students in their classes test postive.  

 

 

[clueliss]

Well per the Facebook rumor mill - the town I work in (~4.5k people) had 4 cases in children  and exposure happened in a church at VBS (Vacation Bible School) (remind me again why stuff like this makes sense in a pandemic?  Wait - it doesn't).  Yesterday the rumor mill told me that it's now at 10 cases (remind me again why sending kids back to school in a few weeks makes sense?  Wait - it doesn't).  My boss is on vacation until next Thursday or so.  I'm technically scheduled to return to work next Monday - only given that information - I'm going to take the boss up on the 'it's up to me' and 'you can continue as you have been for a while' end of it (I was thinking about returning).  

For these dingbats living in small towns - this is not just a 'city thing.'  It's not just a 'protestors thing' (and yes, I see that microaggression and what you're really saying there).  

[clueliss]

AMC Theaters push back opening to Mid to Late August because movie production still stalled.

 

[CTRLZero]

Today I read an article about an aluminum can shortage basically due to: 1) people not drinking in bars, and 2) stocking up on items in aluminum cans.  Earlier, I had read about banks wanting people to drop off coins because there is a coin shortage.  We collect cans and will soon be turning them into the metal recycler, so that should ease our region's aluminum crisis.  (Yes, we drink a lot of beer.  ?)  As soon as we can figure out how to safely drop coins off at our bank lobby, we'll do so.  Any other material shortages we can help with?

Aluminum can shortage article - CNN

Edited July 23, 2020 by CTRLZero
Always the typos!

[clueliss]

And where I live - we have a recycling issue.  Curbside recycling isn't currently taking place because of a manpower issue in the sanitation department.  So my guess is that recycling around here is probably off.  There are drop off points in town, but that's not quite a convenient as shoving it in a blue bag and setting it on the curb.  

[clueliss]

Two Johnson County, Kansas School Districts (Suburban KC) announce delays in return to school.  A third one meets tonight.  It will be interesting to see if this causes a chain reaction, at least in the more populated corridor around KC).

 

[Ozlsn]

I am slightly hopeful as the number of active cases in my local area, my sister's local area and my parent's local area all dropped for the first time since at least the start of July yesterday. My in laws local area continues to rise, and it looks like spread in some regional areas, notably coastal areas, may have occurred before the lock down as we're seeing increased cases there. 

The numbers I'm finding really interesting are out of NSW, which is looking like Victoria's numbers did about a month ago. I hope not, but that is what it's reminding me of right now.

Meanwhile in Western Australia there have apparently been multiple breaches of hotel quarantine, so who knows what will happen there.

[Ozlsn]

On 7/23/2020 at 6:57 AM, Ozlsn said:

And here in Victoria. Age range currently 0-100, but most cases are currently in the 20-29 age group, followed by 60-69, then 30-39. 

Deaths are still in the 60+ age group, with a sharp increase over 70.

Quoting myself - our health minister tweeted this table:

This is not just affecting the elderly.

[clueliss]

The third district that I referenced in my post above in Johnson County Kansas did vote to delay until after Labor Day.  

Locally the total active cases are below 200.  HOWEVER, we have over 600 people in quarantine!  I also found the by zip code map on my county site.  I will say that there is probably a tie between the drop in new cases/total active cases and the city I live in mask ordinance.  I'm just wondering if the new cases we're seeing are from the rest of the county where there is NOT a mask requirement.

[K'Z'K]

Wearing masks could help you avoid major illness even if you get coronavirus, experts say

Spoiler

As health experts urge the public to wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus, they continue to get pushback. Among the arguments of skeptics: If masks can’t fully protect me against COVID-19, what is the point of wearing them?

Scientists’ counterargument is that masks can help reduce the severity of the disease caused by coronavirus even if you get infected.

There’s now mounting evidence that silent spreaders are responsible for the majority of transmission of the coronavirus — making universal masking essential to slow the spread of the highly contagious virus, experts say.

This makes the coronavirus different from the seasonal flu. With seasonal flu, peak infectiousness occurs about one day after the onset of symptoms. But with the coronavirus, even among people who do end up becoming visibly sick, peak infectiousness can occur before they show symptoms.

In fact, experts say, significant amounts of virus can start coming out of people’s noses and mouths even when they feel well.

This is a key reason, they say, why tactics to deal with the coronavirus must be markedly different than with the seasonal flu. And the universal wearing of masks is key. Here’s a Q&A based on research and interviews with medical experts.

What’s the point of wearing a cloth face covering if it doesn’t filter out everything?

Cloth face masks still provide a major protective benefit: They filter out a majority of viral particles.

As it turns out, that’s pretty important. Breathing in a small amount of virus may lead to no disease or a more mild infection. But inhaling a huge volume of virus particles can result in serious disease or death.

That’s the argument Dr. Monica Gandhi, UC San Francisco professor of medicine and medical director of the HIV Clinic at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, is making about why — if you do become infected with the virus — masking can still protect you from more severe disease.

“There is this theory that facial masking reduces the [amount of virus you get exposed to] and disease severity,” said Gandhi, who is also director for the Center for AIDS Research at UC San Francisco.

What evidence supports this theory?

The idea that a lower dose of virus means less severe illness is a well-worn idea in medicine.

Even going back to 1938, there was a study showing that by giving mice a higher dose of a deadly virus, the mice were more likely to get severe disease and die, Gandhi said.

The same principle applies to humans. A study published in 2015 gave healthy volunteers varying doses of a flu virus; those who got higher doses got sicker, with more coughing and shortness of breath, Gandhi said.

And another study suggested that the reason the second wave of the 1918-19 flu pandemic was the deadliest in the U.S. was because of the overcrowded conditions in Army camps as World War I wound down. “In 1918, the Army camps [were] characterized by a high number of contacts between people and by a high case-fatality rate, sometimes 5 to 8 times higher than the case-fatality rate among civilian communities,” the study said.

Finally, a study published in May found that surgical mask partitions significantly reduced the transmission of the coronavirus among hamsters. And even if the hamsters protected by the mask partitions acquired the coronavirus, “they were more likely to get very mild disease,” Gandhi said.

What happens if a city dramatically masks up in public?

If Gandhi is right, it may mean that even if there’s a rise in coronavirus infections in a city, the masks may limit the dose of virus people are getting and result in less severe symptoms of illness.

That’s what Gandhi says she suspects is happening in San Francisco, where mask wearing is relatively robust. Further observations are needed, she said.

There’s more evidence that masks can be protective — even when wearers do become infected. She cited an outbreak at a seafood plant in Oregon where employees were given masks, and 95% of those who were infected were asymptomatic.

Gandhi also cited the experience of those aboard a cruise ship that was traveling from Argentina to Antartica in March when the coronavirus infected people on board, as documented in a recent study. Passengers got surgical masks; the crew got N95 masks.

But instead of about 40% of those infected being asymptomatic — which is what would normally be expected — 81% of those testing positive were asymptomatic, and the masks may have helped reduce the severity of disease in people on board, Gandhi said.

What has happened in other countries where residents have masked up?

The protective effects are seen in countries where masks have been universally accepted for years, such as Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore.

“They have all seen cases as they opened ... but not deaths,” Gandhi said.

The Czech Republic moved early to require masks, issuing an order in mid-March, Gandhi said; that’s about three months before Gov. Gavin Newsom did so statewide in California.

But in the Czech Republic, “every time their cases would go up ... their death rate was totally flat. So they didn’t get the severe illness with these cases going on.”

By May, the Czech Republic lifted its face mask rule. “And they’re doing great,” Gandhi said.

 

[therulesofjinx]

My state has a mask mandate going into effect on August 1st! We currently have the lowest number of total cases in the US (we have a very small population and most of the state is quite rural- also, New Englanders generally practice social distancing all the time anyway ?) but folks are getting worried about the number of cases that are spiking elsewhere AND we have thousands of college students set to return at the end of August. 

[clueliss]

Harris County  in TX is on school reopen delay

 

[clueliss]

McDonald's & Chipotle will begin requiring masks

Missouri had another record breaking number of cases.  (And my county hit 1000 total)

 

And tell me again why sending kids back to school is a good idea:  

 

[Cartmann99]

Local TV stations across the country set to air discredited 'Plandemic' researcher's conspiracy theory about Fauci

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New York (CNN Business) Local television stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group are set to air a conspiracy theory over the weekend that suggests Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top expert on infectious diseases, was responsible for the creation of the coronavirus.

The baseless conspiracy theory is set to air on stations across the country in a segment during the program "America This Week" hosted by Eric Bolling. The show, which is posted online before it is broadcast over the weekend, is distributed to Sinclair Broadcast Group's network of local television stations, one of the largest in the country. A survey by Pew Research Group earlier this year showed that local news was a vital source of information on the coronavirus for many Americans, and more trusted than the media overall.

In this week's episode of the show, Bolling spoke with Judy Mikovits, the medical researcher featured in the discredited "Plandemic" video that went viral earlier this year and which was banned from platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. Throughout the segment, the on-screen graphic read, "DID DR. FAUCI CREATE COVID-19?"

Bolling also spoke with Mikovits' attorney, Larry Klayman, a right-wing lawyer who also has a history of pushing misinformation and representing conspiracy theorists.

During the interview Mikovitz told Bolling that Fauci had over the past decade "manufactured" and shipped coronaviruses to Wuhan, China, which became the original epicenter of the current outbreak. Bolling noted that this was a "hefty claim," but did not meaningfully challenge Mikovits and allowed her to continue making her case.

Klayman, who did not respond to a request for comment, also pushed conspiracy theories about the coronavirus. He said the "origins" of the virus were in the United States. Bolling didn't meaningfully challenge Klayman either.

In the segment that immediately followed, Bolling spoke to Dr. Nicole Saphier, a Fox News medical contributor, to get her response to the claims from Mikovits and Klayman.

Bolling and Saphier agreed that it was, in Saphier's words, "highly unlikely" that Fauci was behind the coronavirus. But they went on to theorize about other possible explanations for what had happened. Saphier said it was possible the virus was "man-made within a laboratory" and escaped. That claim has been rejected by experts who have studied the virus' genetic sequence.

The segments were first reported on by Media Matters, a progressive media watchdog.

President Trump's allies in right-wing media have sought to discredit Fauci in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Trump administration officials even went as far as to publicly attack Fauci.

The Sinclair Broadcast Group has drawn criticism in the past for pushing a conservative political worldview in its newscasts and programming decisions. A spokesperson for the company did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Friday.

But Bolling, a former Fox News host, told CNN Business in a series of text messages that he invited Mikovits onto his show to "question and challenge her beliefs." Bolling also said he does not control the on-screen graphics that appear during his show.

"I did challenge her," Bolling said, noting he called her claim "hefty."

When pressed over whether calling a claim "hefty" constituted effectively challenging the conspiracy theory Mikovits pushed, Bolling said that he did believe he challenged her.

Bolling then told CNN Business that he was not aware of the viral "Plandemic" video Mikovits was featured in earlier this year, and said Saphier "was not originally booked on the show" and that he added her to "provide an opposing viewpoint."

"I don't know of any video she was in prior to or after appearing on my show. Frankly, I was shocked when she made the accusation," Bolling said. "I asked our producers to add Saphier to the show for the express purpose of debunking the conspiracy theory. I believe viewers see that I did not and do not endorse her theory."

When asked if he really was unaware that Mikovits had been in a viral video earlier in the year pushing misinformation about coronavirus, Bolling said he had been.

"I give you my word... this is the first I've heard of the video," Bolling said. "And the very first time I heard of Dr Mikovitz was the morning of taping."

But when asked whether, now that he was aware of the video, he had any second thoughts about airing the segment with Mikovits, Bolling replied, "I don't second guess my producers and bookers."

Bolling added, however, that he "certainly didn't endorse her theory."

[Ozlsn]

1 hour ago, Cartmann99 said:

Local TV stations across the country set to air discredited 'Plandemic' researcher's conspiracy theory about Fauci

Frankly I hope Fauci sues. This is bullshit.

[Howl]

5 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

Local TV stations across the country set to air discredited 'Plandemic' researcher's conspiracy theory about Fauci

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, @Cartmann99. I have a not unrealistic fear that someone may actually try to kill Fauci. He and his family are currently being protected because of death threats.  It's also pouring gasoline on a fire of conspiracy theory insanity already loose in our country.  

Also,  in a few hours, Category 1 Hurricane Hanna is anticipated to make land fall  just south of Corpus Christi, a coastal Texas city struggling with a high number of CV 19 cases.  This also puts The Valley (the southern tip of Texas on the border with Mexico) at risk for flooding. If you've been reading about the area in Texas where sick people are being sent home to die because there is absolutely no hospital capacity, it's The Valley, which is also home to some of the poorest counties in Texas. 

This has the potential for disaster on disaster, but hoping that it will not be that bad.