Category Archives: Quarantine

The virus doesn’t care about November 3rd

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https://mailchi.mp/2480e0d1f164/the-weekly-gist-october-30-2020?e=d1e747d2d8

8 Big Reasons Election Day 2020 Could Be a Disaster - POLITICO

As the “third wave” of coronavirus continued to gain steam across the US this week, the nation passed another grim milestone, with more than 9M Americans now having tested positive for the virus, and the seven-day average number of new cases hitting a pandemic record of almost 72,000 new diagnoses daily. In states that we’ll surely be discussing a lot in the next week, cases were up 33 percent in Pennsylvania, 25 percent in Michigan, 23 percent in Wisconsin, 21 percent in Florida, and 16 percent in Arizona.

In a sign that the magnitude of case growth is not just an artifact of more testing, hospitalizations for COVID have risen 46 percent since the beginning of October, and are up 12 percent just this week. Nevertheless, as part of its “closing argument” to voters, the Trump administration this week touted “ending the COVID-19 pandemic” as one of its signature first-term accomplishments, although new polling data from Axios/Ipsos show that 62 percent of Americans believe the federal government is making the recovery worse, and 46 percent say the response has gotten worse since the first surge of cases in March and April.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the talismanic director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNBC this week that “if things do not change, if they continue on the course we’re on, there’s gonna be a whole lot of pain in this country with regard to additional cases, and hospitalizations, and deaths.”
 
In separate remarks, Fauci pulled back from earlier predictions for the timing of a safe and effective vaccine against the coronavirus. In comments made Thursday, he said he now expects a vaccine to be available to those in high-priority groups “by the end of December or the beginning of January.” 

The CEO of drug maker Pfizer, which is among the furthest along in vaccine development, urged patience as its Phase 3 trial nears full enrollment, and researchers prepare to review and submit safety data to the Food and Drug Administration. He again assured investors that the vaccine timeline would remain apolitical, stating “This is not going to be a Republican vaccine or a Democratic vaccine. It would be a vaccine for citizens of the world.” AstraZeneca, also ahead in development of a coronavirus vaccine, reported promising results regarding immune responses among participants in its clinical trials, being conducted jointly with Oxford University.

With the Presidential election just a few days away, it remains clear that neither the virus nor the scientific community’s efforts to combat it are conforming to the best-laid plans of political leaders.

The outcome of the looming political battle, however, will surely determine the context in which the larger fight against this pandemic takes place. Again, please vote—it’s a matter of life and death.

Coronavirus Update

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Asymptomatic Transmission, Clinical Testing, Contact Tracing, Coronavirus, Crisis, Crisis Management, Economic Crisis, Economic Recovery, Election, Evidence-based Leadership, Evidence-Based Plan, Evidence-Based Policy, False Hope, False Narrative, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Leadership Decentralized, Mortality, National Strategy, Out of Control, Pandemic, Public Health, Public Opinion, Public Perception, Public Safety, Public Schools, Public Trust, Quarantine, School Reopening, Scientists, Social Distancing, Transparency, Trust, Truth • Leave a comment
https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?trackId=5b63a342ade4e2779550ca1b&s=5f9c7bab9d2fda0efb583cb0&linknum=1&linktot=58

The latest

The United States reported a record high of more than 90,000 new coronavirus infections on Friday, and today’s count is on pace to go even higher. The country has now exceeded 9 million cases since the outbreak began, with the last 1 million added in just the last two weeks.

More than 1,000 coronavirus deaths were also reported Thursday, a sadly frequent milestone, which the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. effectively dismissed Thursday night when he claimed in a Fox News interview that the death rate had dropped to “almost nothing.”

As evidence, Trump Jr. cited a misleading graph on his Instagram page – apparently compiled from incomplete and already outdated federal data – which was used as evidence to suggest that the “death rate” has been falling dramatically in the last two weeks. In fact, daily deaths are slightly rising after a long plateau, and the situation is expected to worsen in November as the virus takes its toll on the newly infected. “I realize I am naive,” Ashish K. Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, tweeted in response to the interview. “But I’m still shocked by the casualness by which our political and media leaders and their families dismiss the daily deaths of nearly a thousand Americans.”

A federal program to inspect nursing homes in the early days of the U.S. outbreak cleared nearly 80 percent of them of any infection-control violations, including some facilities that were experiencing covid-19 outbreaks during the inspections. “All told, homes that received a clean bill of health earlier this year had about 290,000 coronavirus cases and 43,000 deaths among residents and staff, state and federal data shows,” our Business desk reported.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans will have coronavirus infections on Election Day, and options are dwindling for those who intend to vote. “Some will be required to get doctor’s notes or enlist family members to help,” our Investigations desk reported. “Others, in isolation, will need to have a witness present while they vote. Planned accommodations — such as officials hand-delivering ballots — may prove inadequate or could be strained beyond limits.”

Coronavirus surge threatens to shut schools down again

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Coronavirus, Crisis, Crisis Management, Economic Crisis, Economic Recovery, Evidence-based Leadership, Evidence-Based Plan, Evidence-Based Policy, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Leadership Decentralized, Mortality, National Strategy, Pandemic, Public Health, Public Opinion, Public Perception, Public Safety, Public Schools, Public Trust, Quarantine, School Reopening, Scientists, Social Distancing • Leave a comment
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The nationwide surge in coronavirus cases is forcing many school districts to pull back from in-person instruction, Axios’ Marisa Fernandez reports.

Why it matters: Remote learning is a burden on parents, teachers and students. But the wave of new infections, and its strain on some hospitals’ capacity, makes all forms of reopening harder to justify.

Where it stands: Over 60% of U.S. public school students will be attending schools with in-person options, up 20% from Labor Day, Education Dive reports. But some of those districts are pulling back.

  • Spikes in COVID-19 cases are forcing two Salt Lake County high schools to close their doors and switch to online-only instruction — in a district where half the high schools were already closed, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
  • Both Boston and Chicago’s public school districts shut down in-person learning as health officials investigate outbreaks in nearby suburbs.
  • Nineteen Minnesota counties are on the verge of closing their K-12 schools for the foreseeable future because of rising coronavirus cases, the Pioneer Press reports.
  • A high school in Milwaukee had to close after six staff members had to quarantine this week.

The other side: Early evidence suggests that in-person school reopenings have been safe — and fears that they’d become hotspots haven’t come to pass.

  • Some experts say local governments trying to contain their outbreaks should close bars and restaurants first, shutting down schools only as a last resort.
  • That’s the approach Germany took this week. The government will allow schools and day cares to remain open while paying bars and restaurants to shut down, in an effort to curb the rise in cases.

The bottom line: School districts are in a tough spot as they try to juggle the safety of their staff, frustrated parents and the needs of their students.

Covid in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count

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https://covid-19archive.org/files/original/ce33d05f1f89e57f13ea7f309f0e1592024f6fb8.png

At least 1,004 new coronavirus deaths and 90,728 new cases were reported in the United States on Oct. 29. Over the past week, there have been an average of 77,865 cases per day, an increase of 42 percent from the average two weeks earlier.

As of Friday afternoon, more than 9,078,400 people in the United States have been infected with the coronavirus and at least 229,200 have died, according to a New York Times database.

Covid in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count - The New York Times

Case numbers in the United States have reached alarming new records in recent days as outbreaks continue to grow across the country. Though rural counties and small metro areas continue to see some of the worst growth, infections are also rising rapidly around major cities like Chicago and Milwaukee.

The national trajectory is worsening rapidly. Wisconsin has opened a field hospital. North Dakota, which not long ago had relatively few cases, has grown so overwhelmed that it has now ended most contact tracing. Cases have reached record levels recently in more than 20 states, including Illinois, Tennessee, New Mexico, Nebraska and Utah.

Cartoon – Covid Coin Toss

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Editorial Cartoons News | Raleigh News & Observer

Cartoon – State of the Union

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Its not just GPs: “Critical Care units are turning away patients.” | NHS reality. An NHS soapbox. Speakers' corner for the NHS.

Cartoon – Turned Another Corner

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Turning A Corner Cartoons and Comics - funny pictures from CartoonStock

Cartoon – Problem with Turning the Corner

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We Have Finally Turned the Corner!! - A Recap of the Fltsatcom Project: M.J. Jack Friedenthal (E.M. Jay): Amazon.com: Books

Cartoon – Just Around the Corner

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The Sober Girl, Wife and Mum: Turning a corner

Almost half a million Americans contract COVID-19 in past week as infections surge

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https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-usa/almost-half-a-million-americans-contract-covid-19-in-past-week-as-infections-surge-idUSL1N2HI1Z9

Turning the Corner, LLC | HR, Management Training, and Job Seeker Services

Nearly half a million people in the United States have contracted the novel coronavirus in the last seven days, according to a Reuters tally, as cases and hospitalizations set fresh records in hot spots in the Midwest.

More than 5,600 people died from the virus nationwide in the last week, with hospitalizations shooting up 13%, a Reuters analysis showed.

Illinois, which has emerged as a hot spot in recent weeks, reported over 31,000 new cases in the last seven days, more new infections than any other state except Texas.

To try and contain the surge, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker imposed fresh rounds of restrictions in six of 11 regions.

Indoor dining in bars and restaurants will be suspended by Wednesday and gatherings will be limited to 25 people under a state formula that triggers ‘mitigation’ when the positivity rate tops 8% for at least two days in a row. The affected areas include some Chicago suburbs.

Other states have walked back reopening plans to curb the spread of the virus as cooler weather sets in across most of the nation.

Idaho Governor Brad Little on Monday announced indoor gatherings of more than 50 people would be prohibited, and outdoor gatherings are to be capped at 25% capacity.

Health experts believe the virus is surging because of private social gatherings, colder temperatures driving people inside, and fatigue with COVID-19 precautions.

Beyond the Midwest, the Texas city of El Paso is also facing a surge in cases that is overwhelming local hospitals, with officials setting up an alternate care facility to help relieve medical centers.

“We are seeing all sorts of patients. The narrative historically has been the above-65, those with multiple co-morbidities. But we’re seeing 20-year-olds. We’re seeing 30-year-olds, 40-year-olds,” Dr. Ogechika Alozie, an infectious disease specialist in El Paso, told Reuters. “There’s that exhaustion, but again, we buckle up and we take care of the patients.”

U.S. President Donald Trump, facing a tough re-election battle on Nov. 3, lashed out again at reports that the coronavirus is surging, and reiterated his false claim that the country is “rounding the turn” in its battle with the virus that has killed more than 225,800 people.

Pennsylvania, a hotly contested ‘battleground’ state in next week’s election, on Tuesday reported a fresh record in new coronavirus cases, according to the state’s health department.