Coronavirus Tidbits #95 10/29/20
Announcements:
I've been trying to stick on a 2x/week schedule recently, weekend and midweek. Since Sunday's issue failed to send, these two are back to back. But I know you won't mind, since there is such interesting content and pics, right?
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 still immersed in #GOTV efforts.
Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don't be shy about that.
News
Good way of viewing Coronavirus:
This updated version of the Swiss cheese model of interventions is an excellent way to understand that layers of mitigation, even if vulnerabilities exist in each, can still work is used in harmony. Great work. Share widely. https://t.co/vdOLsxy2hh
— James P. Phillips, MD (@DrPhillipsMD) October 28, 2020
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The Biden campaign purchased the domain name https://t.co/w3CXr25dlu and this is what it redirects to pic.twitter.com/5axG1Ku9OU
— Johnny Verhovek (@JTHVerhovek) October 23, 2020
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https://twitter.com/RepsForBiden/status/1320183000831827969?s=20
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Minnesota is reporting 3 COVID outbreaks related to Trump events held in September.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 26, 2020
At least 21 cases have been traced to outbreaks occurring at rally events in Bemidji on 9/18, a Pence speech on 9/24 in Minneapolis, and a Trump rally on 9/30 in Duluth.https://t.co/GM37qy2Dvu
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Turning the Corner on Covid in the US—Into an Oncoming Tsunami of Cases, Hospitalizations, and Death
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Trump, repeatedly: “We’re rounding the turn...”
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) October 28, 2020
Fauci, Wednesday: “I think it will be easily by the end of 2021 and perhaps into the next year before we start having some semblance of normality.”https://t.co/wNoITyZvpV
Diagnostics:
still an incredible, negligent last of testing.
Drugs:
Jaw. On. Floor. The FDA has issued full approval for remdesivir for hospital use for Covid-19 based on 3 trials - one with no non-remdesivir group - with a total of 1,322 people on remdesivir, ignoring the inconvenient results for 2,750 in SOLIDARITY trial https://t.co/ys5WpqTtru
— Hilda Bastian (@hildabast) October 22, 2020
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Moderna
The Trump administration labeled its vaccine czar a “contractor” to sidestep rules against personally profiting from government positions. The man holding this position owns $10 million in stock of a company working with his team to develop a vaccine. https://t.co/pEV4dq9MNA
— ProPublica (@propublica) October 24, 2020
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Growing drug shortages--thank our dependence on China (and India)
"As of now, 43% — or 67 of 156 — of acute care medicines used to treat various illnesses are running low. This group includes such staples as antibiotics, blood thinners, and sedatives."
https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2020/10/21/covid19-coronavirus-pandemic-shortages/
This issue of supply chain security is something that has worried me for some time and that I've written about: https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2018/06/01/fragile-antibiotic-supply-chain-causes-shortages-and-is-a-national-security-threat/#25a7bf89adf3
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Convalescent plasma showed no benefit in Covid-19 patients in trial
perhaps because it wasn't given early enough
https://www.statnews.com/2020/10/22/blood-plasma-showed-no-benefit-in-covid-19-patients-in-trial/
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Eli Lilly said its investigational monoclonal antibody bamlanivimab -- one of the agents used in treating former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie -- failed to improve outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
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AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson to resume COVID-19 vaccine trials
investigations found no link between those cases and the vaccine.
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COVID-19 vaccine nationalism could cost world up to $1.2 trillion: New RAND Europe study
Study shows global access to COVID-19 vaccines is best for world's health and wealth
https://www.eurekalert.org/
Devices:
Mask not what your country. can do for you. Mask is what you can do for your country.
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) October 24, 2020
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After 100 years, the advice in the New York Herald Tribune still holds... pic.twitter.com/jlIQV9YLUf
— Walter Isaacson (@WalterIsaacson) October 27, 2020
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Face Shields Staved Off COVID-19, HAIs at Texas Hospital
Epidemiology/Infection control:
Cases skyrocketing all over, esp the midwest/west
This is horrifying.
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) October 25, 2020
“Utah’s hospitals prepare to ration care as a record number of coronavirus patients flood their ICUs” https://t.co/jj80En3wXE
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Surges in Europe, US push exponential COVID-19 rise
As Europe's second COVID-19 surge intensifies with rising hospitalizations and deaths, government officials are announcing or considering sweeping new restrictions...
Europe cases surge, France mulls lockdown
Europe's cases rose by 33% last week, accounting for the greatest proportion of all new cases in the world, with France the hardest hit country, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its weekly epidemiological update. The region also reported one third of the newly reported global deaths.
US states report rising hospitalizations, deaths
Rates for COVID-19 hospitalization are also rising in the United States, which is now well into its third spike in cases. Compared to late September, 41 states and Puerto Rico have more hospitalized patients now, and 22 of the states have experienced increases of more than 50%, the Washington Post reported.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/10/surges-europe-us-push-exponential-covid-19-rise
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Two days is not a short window. You can go a lot of places in two days.
— Daniel Summers (@WFKARS) October 25, 2020
Wear a mask. https://t.co/f0OCJH3qhe
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BREAKING: *11* Trump rallies were followed by a surge in COVID cases. https://t.co/01DJu1D7QC
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) October 27, 2020
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A new @CDCgov report on health care personnel (HCP) and #COVID19 who required hospitalization (Total N 6,760; 438 HCP)
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) October 26, 2020
HCP comprised 6%, mean age 49, 90% with ≥ 1 underlying condition, 36% nurses, 28% admitted to ICU, 4% died https://t.co/94vyHkBbi5 pic.twitter.com/G3WqZCNmTg
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Airplane spread
Thirteen infected passengers on a 7-hour flight to Ireland -- which featured mask wearing and was at one-sixth capacity -- resulted in 59 total cases after visits to friends and family. (Eurosurveillance)
Tips, general reading for public:
StayAtHome
Wash your hands.
Rinse and repeat.
Use a humidfier--helps throughout the winter reduce respiratory infections.
Read this thread to better understand why:
https://twitter.com/VirusesImmunity/status/1320430656481120256?s=20
Politics:
By 2040, an estimated 40% of the American population will live in five states.
— Derek Thompson (@DKThomp) October 25, 2020
In the Senate, that means roughly half of the population will be represented by 16 senators; the other half by 84.https://t.co/HeApgOkhRi
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https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/1320503877989474304?s=20
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Freedom's just another word for getting other people sick https://t.co/glvGFIBJhw
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) October 25, 2020
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After Jared Kushner said that New Yorkers deserve to suffer extensive deaths and sickness of coronavirus because the governor did not beg Trump sufficiently for help, it is laughable that he wants to sue for having his words plastered across Times Square. https://t.co/QLGgbbXLHn
— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) October 27, 2020
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Proposed new immigration rule would threaten 12,000 doctors working in the US — during a pandemic when many have been putting themselves at risk and when hospitals in some places are near capacity. What a terrible proposal - should be rescinded. https://t.co/ReXLZEeDAU
— Tom Inglesby (@T_Inglesby) October 24, 2020
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For those who don't know what they are seeing. This is a 'time-lapse' of how much shit countries can sell to other countries since 1986. Watch Russia fall apart post 1990-ish and then the rise of China and the competition around 2015-2016 - and then Trump gets into office.... pic.twitter.com/3x60W34AnQ
— JΞSŦΞR ✪ ΔCŦUΔL³³°¹ (@th3j35t3r) October 26, 2020
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Folks: A standard portable toilet with hand sanitizer costs $249. We need your help. We are crowdfunding 401 portables toilets for voters in the south. Retweet and chip in here: https://t.co/OvN84CpDBy
— Southern Progress (@SouthProgress) October 22, 2020
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“As the COVID pandemic rages, the Court has failed to adequately protect the Nation’s voters,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent as the Supreme Court ruled against extending Wisconsin’s deadline to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day. https://t.co/gsbhAxkyUr
— Judy Stone (@DrJudyStone) October 27, 2020
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Breaking: New NYT tax report.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 27, 2020
Trump's federal income tax records show for the first time that, since 2010, Deutsche Bank and other lenders have forgiven about $287 million in debt that Trump failed to repay. https://t.co/iaTNEx8vPC
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Compliments of my new best friend @DrBonesMD:
— Dr. Nancy Glass (@DrNancyGlass1) October 27, 2020
"I never wished for the death of any man, but there were some obituaries I read with great pleasure."
-attributed to Mark Twain
Perspective/Poem
e. e. cummings https://t.co/8zr22IV45a
— LiteraryVienna (@LiteraryVienna) October 27, 2020
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In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
-- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Bits of beauty:
