Coronavirus Tidbits #40 4/28/20
Announcements:
First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I'm getting.
Tidbits will likely be a bit shorter and a little less frequent for the next little bit. I have been immersed in it and I need to spend a little more time on self-care, which for me means seeing the spring flowers emerge and digging in the dirt.
Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don't be shy about that.
News
New post: Spots On Toes And #Rashes Join Weird New Symptoms Of #Coronavirus via @forbes
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Coronavirus diagnosed at mink farms in North Brabant (Netherlands)
bad news as in the creation of an animal reservoir for the virus, via Prof. Willem van Schaik @WvSchaik
https://nos.nl/artikel/2331784-coronavirus-vastgesteld-bij-nertsenfokkerijen-in-noord-brabant.html
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U.S. reels toward meat shortages
Almost a third of U.S. pork capacity is down, the first big poultry plants closed on Friday and experts are warning that domestic shortages are just weeks away. Brazil, the world’s No. 1 shipper of chicken and beef, saw its first major closure with the halt of a poultry plant owned by JBS SA, the world’s biggest meat company. Key operations are also down in Canada, the latest being a British Columbia poultry plant.
While hundreds of plants in the Americas are still running, the staggering acceleration for supply disruptions is now raising questions over global shortfalls. Taken together, the U.S., Brazil and Canada account for about 65% of world meat trade.
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Trump and cronies push to open up states too early. Astute:
‘For black folks, it’s like a setup: Are you trying to kill us?’
The cynical part of me wonders if this could be Kemp's latest voter suppression ploy? Hard to believe he is that stupid.
Diagnostics:
still an incredible, negligent lack of testing.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican and chair of the National Governors Association, on Sunday dismissed as “absolutely false” Trump administration claims that states have adequate coronavirus testing capacity to begin gradually reopening their economies.
Drugs:
Another IL-6 inhibitor drug, Sarilumab, bites the dust.
Did Not Help Seriously Ill Covid Patients, Early Data Shows
The drug, sarilumab, sold as Kevzara, didn’t show benefits to patients who were hospitalized but not on ventilators. The study will continue with critically ill patients.
Devices:
Epidemiology/Infection control:
Wow. Ex-CDC head says if DeBlasio had listened to Health officials and implemented stay-at-home orders ten days earlier casualties from Covid-19 might have been 50-80% fewer. https://t.co/bs3ohbuToa
— Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) April 26, 2020
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More: According to epidemiologists, 90% of the COVID-19 deaths in America so far might have been prevented if social distancing policies had been put into effect two weeks earlier. And 60% if just one week earlier.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/opinion/covid-social-distancing.html
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Many states are far short of Covid-19 testing levels needed for safe reopening, new analysis shows
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WHO stresses "immunity passports" are not ready for prime time
no study has evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 confers immunity to subsequent infection by this virus in humans.
https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/immunity-passports-in-the-context-of-covid-19
Tips, general reading for public:
StayAtHome
Wash your hands.
Rinse and repeat.
Calls To Poison Centers Spike After The President’s Comments About Using Disinfectants To Treat Coronavirus
Don't listen to Trump's "advice" about anything. He is a menace.
from Covidiot-in-chief
DO NOT LISTEN
Politics:
Trump is endangering West Point cadets as he demands adulation
https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1254440698213994497?s=20
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Racism du jour:
"If Chinese students want to come here and study Shakespeare & the Federalist Papers, that's what they need to learn from America. They don't need to learn quantum computing" -- Sen. Tom Cotton proposes restricting Chinese students from studying science & tech at US universities pic.twitter.com/Sn6f6MMwtW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 26, 2020
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U.S. says will not take part in WHO global drugs, vaccine initiative launch
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Sad indictment of our "leader":
Feel good du jour:
Nice to see communities still coming together to support each other.
Providing groceries or meals is occurring nationally. For example,
Here in Cumberland, the Islamic Society held a food bank this past weekend, during the beginning of Ramadan.
Comic relief:
This is what I'm feeling I need after this week's idiocy. The stupidity burns.
Perspective/Poem
Bits of beauty:
Today's flowers are from Larry Lynam. Stunning!
