Coronavirus Tidbits #92 10/17/20
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News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty
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’m preoccupied with #GOTV efforts in Swing States. That’s been quite gratifying, and I would encourage others to join in. https://www.mobilize.us/ is a good place to start, or email me for other specific groups I like.
I'm so proud of our little "Women's Action Coalition" group in W. MD. We sent 5900 postcards! Such a great group of women (mostly) who I met only because of the election pic.twitter.com/KT9cQFfyh7
— Judy Stone (@DrJudyStone) October 18, 2020
Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that.
News
Very useful new Risk Calculator – mycovidrisk.com
see Tips for more info
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New Covid cases surge in Midwest as weather cools and resistance heats up
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin have seen a greater than 25 percent increase in coronavirus cases in the last two weeks compared to the two weeks before.
Minnesota has reported more than a thousand new Covid-19 cases for six days in a row, something that hasn’t happened since the start of the pandemic.
And states like Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming have some of the highest rates of new infections in the country,
nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-covid-cases-surge-midwest-weather-cools-resistance-heats-n1243381
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Doctors in rural Midwest struggle as COVID-19 overwhelms communities with limited resources
Denial and politics are huge drivers. Rural counties across Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana sit among the top in the nation for new cases per capita over the last two weeks…“One or two people with infections can really cause a large impact when you have one grocery store or gas station,”…One out of every 28 people in the (SD) county has tested positive in the last two weeks…
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Fauci: Trump’s rapid recovery from Covid-19, while welcome, ‘amplifies’ public misunderstanding of disease
(to say nothing of his irresponsible behavior, holding mega-rallies and ignoring masking and social distancing among his fans)
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Hundreds of Donald Trump's fans, most without masks, filtered onto an airport tarmac this afternoon awaiting a visit from the president amid soaring coronavirus cases across Wisconsin.
— Molly Beck (@MollyBeck) October 17, 2020
“This entire pandemic is a hoax," said Brandon Rice of Eau Claire. https://t.co/7cg11Hqv8o
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How the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally may have spread coronavirus across the Upper Midwest
Within weeks of the gathering that drew nearly half a million bikers, the Dakotas, along with Wyoming, Minnesota and Montana, were leading the nation in new coronavirus infections per capita. “Holding a half-million-person rally in the midst of a pandemic is emblematic of a nation as a whole that maybe isn’t taking [the novel coronavirus] as seriously as we should.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/10/17/sturgis-rally-spread/
Diagnostics:
still an incredible, negligent lack of testing.
While our testing is still shamefully inaccessible to many, inaccurate, and slow…
Chinese officials tested nearly 10 million people for Covid-19 in four days
The mass testing program was rolled out by authorities after three asymptomatic patients with links to a hospital treating imported cases were identified over the weekend.
Cases throughout China: China’s National Health Commission said 11 new cases were reported on Wednesday throughout the country. Ten of those were imported, and one was an asymptomatic case that started presenting symptoms.
Chinese authorities count asymptomatic cases separately from symptomatic ones.
Drugs:
"Friends of" also get access to experimental #Covid19 drugs: Chris Christie reveals he received Eli Lilly's unlicensed monoclonal antibody cocktail. https://t.co/Hznx5DXTfI pic.twitter.com/0OAeYFaBuw
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) October 15, 2020
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The U.N. health agency says the world's largest randomized trial of COVID-19 treatments found “conclusive evidence” that remdesivir, a drug used to treat Pres. Trump when he fell ill, has little or no effect on severe cases. https://t.co/FPLD7rNUMy
— ABC News (@ABC) October 16, 2020
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Pfizer will not seek an emergency authorization for its coronavirus vaccine until after the election, the final blow to President Donald Trump's repeated pledges to make a shot available before Americans cast votes https://t.co/DYe5VAFThr
— POLITICO (@politico) October 16, 2020
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We got a draft copy of the DSMB charter for the OWS-funded #COVID19 vaccine trials, which shows that Dr. Fauci plays a key role. But Pfizer's study is not part of his purview. https://t.co/rCqAIQ84r4
— Caroline Chen (@CarolineYLChen) October 16, 2020
with @iarnsdorf & @ryangabrielson
Gilead received the Solidarity manuscript ruling out a big impact from remdesivir on #covid19 mortality on 28 September according to @WHO.
— Kai Kupferschmidt (@kakape) October 16, 2020
On 8 October, before the results became public, Gilead signed a billion dollar deal with the EU Commission for remdesivir.
I have questions
Devices:
Epidemiology/Infection control:
White House Appears to Endorse Herd Immunity Strategy for COVID-19
In response to this “Great Barrington Declaration,” WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus stressed that the WHO was not endorsing anything like the Great Barrington document. “Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak, let alone a pandemic. It is scientifically and ethically problematic,” he said.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/89082?
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Is the U.S. heading for its third coronavirus peak?
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 15, 2020
After growth of the pandemic slowed in late summer, the daily count of new cases has been rising steadily since mid-September. https://t.co/Yh8PCusfdx
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COVID-19 Spread Unchecked at Indoor Hockey Game
— Case report offers evidence for sports as potential super-spreading events
https://www.medpagetoday.com/
Report finds COVID-19 rate among dentists is less than one percent
although assumed to be at higher risk.
https://www.eurekalert.org/
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— Dr.Krutika Kuppalli (@KrutikaKuppalli) October 17, 2020
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COVID: women are less likely to put themselves in danger
Women’s attitudes and behaviors may have contributed to their reduced vulnerability and mortality. A survey in 8 countries shows they consider Coronavirus a more serious problem than men and are more likely to approve and comply with health policies
https://www.eurekalert.org/
Tips, general reading for public:
StayAtHome
Wash your hands.
Rinse and repeat.
Very useful new Risk Calculator – mycovidrisk.com
https://twitter.com/meganranney/status/1315700084206698502?s=20
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How to Tell If Socializing Indoors Is Safe
As the weather gets colder, many Americans have no idea whether hanging out with other people inside is risky. That’s a big problem. . .
In some places, in-home gatherings are now responsible for the majority of new coronavirus cases.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/it-safe-have-dinner-together-inside/616568/
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Health experts’ Thanksgiving advice in the time of Covid: plan, plan, plan
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More on family gatherings:
Teen gave COVID-19 to 11 relatives across four states during gathering: CDC
Note: The girl tested NEGATIVE before the gathering
https://nypost.com/2020/10/13/teen-gave-covid-19-to-11-relatives-during-summer-gathering-cdc/
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6940e2.htm
Politics:
The inside story of how Trump’s COVID-19 coordinator undermined the world’s top health agency
Science, in a major investigation, recounts how the CDC’s effectiveness and reputation were damaged during the pandemic and put much of the blame on coronavirus task force leader Deborah Birx, MD. https://www.sciencemag.org/
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Big shock…Chris Christie spent 7 days in the ICU with COVID and received both remdesivir and the Eli Lilly experimental antibody treatment that’s not even FDA approved directly from the manufacturer so tell me again how everyone gets the same treatment https://t.co/ytBTT2lYFk
— Icculus The Brave (@FirenzeMike) October 16, 2020
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Chris Christie said he made a mistake in letting his guard down. He followed CDC guidelines for 7 months, then let his guard down at trump's Rose Garden event, "it was a mistake, and I was wrong." pic.twitter.com/RqZiXm6hBO
— Gamora (@exoticgamora) October 17, 2020
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Community outbreaks of Covid-19 have occurred in seven of the 14 cities that have held campaign rallies for Donald Trump since June.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/
Feel good du jour:
https://t.co/IjRb9TNDKL Nice story
— Judy Stone (@DrJudyStone) October 17, 2020
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https://twitter.com/dodo/status/1314913824559030275?s=20
Comic relief:
Local activist Ellen McDaniel-Weissler always brings a new perspective…often quite humorously
Perspective/Poem
Thoughtful thread:
"Gevalt!!! Never give up hope! There is no despair."
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) October 15, 2020
-Rebbe Nahman of Breslov, late 18th c. Ukraine
A thread about this statement, during a time when a lot of us are struggling with hope.
1/x thread.
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Sorting through some of my mom’s things and came across this letter @JoeBiden wrote to her 18 years ago, after my dad passed. This is no form letter. This is heart and human connection. Thank you for reaching out to her, Mr. Vice President. #BidenHarris2020 pic.twitter.com/UyZvE6u6jJ
— Catherine Cooke (@catherinecooke) October 15, 2020
Bits of beauty:
