Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666
The news posted last week for the coronavirus 2019-nCoV (aka SARS-CoV-2), which produces COVID-19 disease, has been surveyed and some important articles are summarized here. The articles are more or less organized with general virus news and anecdotes first, then stories from around the US, followed by a few items from other countries around the globe. US totals are rising again due to sharp increases in the sunbelt. We set a record for new cases nearly every day this week. New cases have more than tripled since the 2nd week of June. Economic news related to COVID-19 is found here.
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Study links abnormally high blood sugar with higher risk of death in COVID-19 patients not previously diagnosed with diabetes – New research from Wuhan, China shows that, in patients with COVID-19 but without a previous diagnosis of diabetes, abnormally high blood sugar is associated with more than double the risk of death and also an increased risk of severe complications. The study is by Dr Yang Jin, Union Hospital and Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China, and colleagues. The study is published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes [EASD]). Previous studies have established that hyperglycaemia (abnormally high blood sugar) is associated with an elevated risk of mortality in community-acquired pneumonia, stroke, heart attacks, trauma and surgery, among other conditions. A number of studies have also shown links between diabetes and poor outcomes in COVID-19 patients. However, direct correlation between fasting blood glucose (FBG) level at admission to hospital and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients without diagnosed diabetes has not been well established. In this new study the authors examined the association between FBG on admission and the 28-day mortality of COVID-19 patients without previously diagnosed diabetes in two hospitals. The results showed that patients in the highest FBG group were 2.3 times more likely to die than those in the lowest, a statistically significant result. Those in the middle (pre-diabetic) FBG group were 71% more likely to die than those in the lowest group, although this result only had borderline statistical significance. The data also showed that men were 75% more likely to die than women; and that patients with higher CRB65 scores (and thus worse pneumonia) were also at higher risk of death: those with a score of 3-4 were more than 5 times more likely to die than those with a score of 0, while for those with a score of 1-2 there was a 2.7 times increased risk.
Study links fermented vegetable consumption to low COVID-19 mortality – An intriguing new study by researchers in Europe suggests that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality rates are likely to be lower in countries where diets are rich in fermented vegetables. Earlier this year, Jean Bousquet (Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin) and colleagues investigated whether diet may contribute to the significant variation in COVID-19 death rates that have been observed between countries. The study found that in some countries with low mortality rates, the consumption of traditional fermented foods was high.Now referring to the current study, “the negative ecological association between COVID-19 mortality and consumption of fermented vegetables supports the hypothesis previously reported,” writes the team. The researchers say that if their hypothesis is confirmed in future studies, COVID-19 will be the first infectious disease epidemic to involve biological mechanisms that are associated with a loss of “nature.”Significant changes in the microbiome caused by modern life and less fermented food consumption may have increased the spread or severity of the disease, they say.A pre-print version of the paper is available on the server medRxiv*, while the article undergoes peer review. However, this paper is a preliminary report and should not be regarded as conclusive or established information.
The FTC Has Sent Cease-And-Desist Letters To Over 150 Companies Who Claim To Have Covid-19 Cures -The Federal Trade Commission and Food and Drug Administration have sent over 150 cease-and-desist letters to companies claiming to have products that cure or foster coronavirus immunity; here are a few recently flagged scams:
- Butterfly Expressions in Idaho advertised blessed water, essential oils and tinctures to treat Covid-19 conditions like “coronavirus pneumonia” with claims like, “This formula is perfect for the fight against this most recent pandemic, COVID-19,” as stated in the FTC’s cease-and-desist from July 6.
- South Carolina-based Seanjari Preeti Womb Healing received a cease-and-desist in May for selling a “very strong molasses” product called “Covid-19 Cough Syrup” with the claim: “If you are living in a state where your numbers [of COVID-19 cases] are high or your numbers are starting to climb really really fast, do what’s in your power to get you some COVID [syrup].”
- Another company advertised a nasal gel called Swype Shield, saying it will “kill > 99.99% of all viral upper respiratory illnesses (VURI), including Coronavirus,” as stated in an FTC warning to the Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, company on June 26.
- A number of companies flagged by the FDA/FTC also claimed to sell traditional Chinese herbs and medicine to treat coronavirus with unproven claims like: “Lianhua Qingwen capsule has been proven effective for the treatment of COVID-19.”
These companies and the others receiving the FTC/FDA warning letters have been found to violate the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.The FTC and FDA requires that these companies immediately cease the sale of these products and send a letter within 48 hours of receiving the warning that describes the actions the company is taking to correct the violations and prevent their recurrence. All the aforementioned companies did not respond to requests to comment by the time of publication.
WHO still skeptical SARS-CoV-2 lingers in air – despite what the NYT says -If you happened to read The New York Times this week, you may be under the false impression that the World Health Organization significantly changed its stance on whether the pandemic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, spreads by lingering in the air.Around midday Thursday, the paper declared: “W.H.O., in Reversal, Affirms Virus May Be Airborne Indoors.” The paper also called it an “admission” and, in a subsequent article, said the WHO had “conceded.” The articles both noted that a group of more than 200 researchers had also published a commentary piece this week urging the WHO and other public health bodies to acknowledge and address the potential for airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2.The problem: the WHO did not change its stance on airborne transmission. And, as such, it did not issue any new recommendations or guidance on how people can stay safe. What the organization did do is release an update of its review of the data on transmission, which it said it had been working on for weeks – well before the published commentary.In its updated scientific brief on transmission, the WHO said basically the same thing it has said for months on airborne transmission. That is: the question of whether SARS-CoV-2 lingers in the air is a topic of active discussion, and, while it may be possible in some settings, the data in aerosol transmission so far is inconclusive or unconvincing. But, as always, the WHO welcomes more high-quality research on this topic. In the latest brief, the WHO reviewed recent physics studies looking at aerosol production, but it noted: “the proportion of exhaled droplet nuclei or of respiratory droplets that evaporate to generate aerosols, and the infectious dose of viable SARS-CoV-2 required to cause infection in another person are not known.” It reviewed experiments on droplets and aerosols from normal speech and coughing and concluded, “To date, transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by this type of aerosol route has not been demonstrated; much more research is needed.” Likewise, studies using nebulizers to suspend SARS-CoV-2 in the air “do not reflect normal human cough conditions,” the WHO concluded. The WHO noted that clinical reports of exposed health workers “suggest that aerosol transmission did not occur in this context.” And, the organization added, air sampling in health care settings has been inconsistent in finding genetic traces of the virus.
If the coronavirus is really airborne, we might be fighting it the wrong way – MIT Technology Review – This was the week airborne transmission became a big deal in the public discussion about covid-19. Over 200 scientists from around the worldcosigned a letter to the World Health Organization urging it to take seriously the growing evidence that the coronavirus can be transmitted through the air. WHO stopped short of redefining SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes covid-19) as airborne but did acknowledge that more research is “urgently needed to investigate such instances and assess their significance for transmission of COVID-19.” . “It doesn’t take WHO coming out to make a proclamation that it’s airborne for us to appreciate this is an airborne disease. I don’t know how much clearer it needs to be in terms of scientific evidence.” So what does “airborne” really mean in this context? It’s basically an issue of size. We’re pretty sure that SARS-CoV-2 is spread through tiny droplets that contain viral particles capable of leading to an infection. For a virus to be airborne, however, means a few different things, depending on the expert you’re talking to. Typically it means it can spread via inhalation over long distances, perhaps even through different rooms, of small particles known as aerosols. There is also some debate on what we mean by “aerosol.” The droplets that carry viral particles through the air can come in all sorts of sizes, but while the larger ones will drop quickly to the ground or other surfaces, the smaller ones (just a few microns across) can linger in the air for a while, giving them a chance to be inhaled. The word is mostly used to describe these smaller particles, although Brosseau would prefer the term “aerosol transmission” to cover the entire gamut of inhalable viral particles being expelled into the air – large and small alike. If SARS-CoV-2 is airborne, it’s far from the only disease. Measles is notorious for being able to last in the air for up to two hours. Tuberculosis, though a bacterium, can be airborne for six hours, and Brosseau suggests that coronavirus superspreaders (people who seem to eject a larger amount of the virus than others) disseminate the virus in patterns that recall the infectiousness of tuberculosis. The evidence that this type of transmission is happening with SARS-CoV-2 arguably already exists. Several big studies point to airborne transmission of the virus as a major route for the spread of covid-19. Other studies have suggested the virus can remain in aerosolized droplets for hours. One new study led by Roy and his team at Tulane shows that infectious aerosolized particles of SARS-CoV-2 could actually linger in the air for up to 16 hours, and maintain infectivity much longer than MERS and SARS-CoV-1 (the other big coronaviruses to emerge this century). Whether the virus is airborne isn’t simply a scientific question. If it is, it could mean that in places where the virus has not been properly contained (e.g., the US), the economy needs to be reopened more slowly, under tighter regulations that reinforce current health practices as well as introducing improved ones. Our current tactics for stopping the spread won’t be enough.
‘Compelling’ evidence air pollution worsens coronavirus – study – There is “compelling” evidence that air pollution significantly increases coronavirus infections, hospital admissions and deaths, according to the most detailed and comprehensive analysis to date. The research indicates that a small, single-unit increase in people’s long-term exposure to pollution particles raises infections and admissions by about 10% and deaths by 15%. The study took into account more than 20 other factors, including average population density, age, household size, occupation and obesity. There is growing evidence from Europe, the US and China that dirty air makes the impact of Covid-19 worse. But the study of the outbreak in the Netherlands is unique because the worst air pollution there is not in cities but in some rural areas, due to intensive livestock farming. This allows the “big city effect” to be ruled out, which is the idea that high air pollution simply coincides with urban populations whose density and deprivation may make them more susceptible to the virus. The scientists are clear they have not proven a causal link between air pollution and worse coronavirus impacts. Conclusive evidence will only come with large amounts of data on individual people, which is not yet available, rather than average data for regions as used in the analysis. But scientists said it was important to do the best research possible as understanding the link may be important in dealing with further Covid-19 outbreaks and could signal where subsequent waves will hit the hardest. Many scientists agree that air pollution is likely to be increasing the number and severity of Covid-19 infections, as dirty air is already known to inflame the lungs and cause respiratory and heart disease that make people more vulnerable. But not all agree that the evidence so far is good enough to demonstrate a large impact.
“Extremely Worrying”: Nearly 90% Of Discharged COVID-19 Patients Have Symptoms Two Months After Falling Ill – An Italian study tracking discharged coronavirus patients revealed that nearly 90% of 143 people tracked still have symptoms two months after falling ill, according to the Daily Mail. Almost half reported a worsened quality of life compared to before they were struck with the virus. Experts described the results as ‘extremely worrying’. It follows a study this week which suggested almost 10 per cent of patients who lose their sense of taste or smell during Covid-19 don’t get it back within a month. –Daily Mail The most common symptoms among those surveyed were shortness of breath, joint pain, chest pain, coughing and loss of smell. Keep in mind that these are people who were sick enough to require hospitalization, while most people who contract coronavirus do not. The study revealed that just 12.6% of discharged patients were completely free of COVID-19 symptoms, while 32% had one or two symptoms and 55% had more than two.More than half (53.1 per cent) of patients still had fatigue, 43.4 per cent shortness of breath, 27.3 per cent joint pain and 21.7 per cent chest pain. –Daily Mail Patients who continue to exhibit symptoms are often referred to as “long haulers,” and have taken to internet forums to describe their frustrating ‘waves’ of COVID-19 symptoms that just won’t go away months later. According to Epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz of New South Wales, Australia, the findings are “extremely worrying,” though noted on Twitter that many of these symptoms are typical for those recovering from pneumonia – which coronavirus causes in many of those who display symptoms form the disease. Dr Bharat Pankhania, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter, said the results of the study are ‘inconclusive’ due to the small size.However, he agreed with the study’s authors that ‘there may be a Covid-19 disease syndrome and that we must follow it up’, The Telegraph reports.It follows a study which suggested one in ten people who lose their sense of taste and smell with the coronavirus may not get it back within a month.A change in smell or taste is now recognised as a tell-tale sign of Covid-19, alongside a continuous cough and fever. –Daily Mail You can read about people’s experiences with COVID-19, including many ‘long haulers,’ here.
Virus immunity in recovered patients may be gone in months, researchers say People who have recovered from COVID-19 may lose their immunity to the virus within months, according to research released this month. The study is the first of its kind examining the antibody levels in confirmed coronavirus patients and evaluating how they change over time. Researchers analyzed immune responses of patients and health care workers at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ National Health Service Foundation Trust in London and found that levels of antibodies that destroy the virus quickly declined after peaking several weeks after patients exhibited symptoms. The study found that 60 percent of the patients had a “potent” antibody response at peak of their battle with the coronavirus. After about two months, however, just 16.7 percent of the patients had a potent antibody response. In some cases, the antibody response to the virus later became undetectable. “People are producing a reasonable antibody response to the virus, but it’s waning over a short period of time and depending on how high your peak is, that determines how long the antibodies are staying around,” Katie Doores, lead author on the study at King’s College London, told The Guardian in an interview published Sunday. The findings may impact how governments plan for the next phase of the pandemic and fund vaccine research and development. “This is an important study that starts to define the longer-term dynamics of the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2,” Lawrence Young, professor of Molecular Oncology at the University of Warwick, told AFP. “It further emphasizes the need for us to better understand what a protective immune response looks like if we are to develop an effective vaccine,” Young added. The professor was not involved in the research. The virus has infected more than 12.9 million people and killed 570,220 people globally, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
My battle with coronavirus shows why people must take it seriously –Back in April, I wrote a piece for a community newspaper in New York about my bout with the coronavirus. I had first denied that I would get sick since I was in excellent health until I passed out on my kitchen floor and ended in the emergency room at Mount Sinai hospital. It was right before the numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths skyrocketed to the dangerous highs of early April.I was diagnosed with a moderate case, kept in a coronavirus unit with oxygen and sent home on my own two days later. After the required seven day quarantine without symptoms, I felt home free and went about my business. So why am I recounting this? Fast forward to the beginning of June. I am over two months in recovery and begin feeling some of the same lethargy, lack of appetite, shortness of breath I had previously experienced. The next day I felt as if I were hit by a truck. I called the doctor and decided to get checked out at an urgent care site the following day. Could the coronavirus have returned? The chest xray at urgent care was inconclusive and the doctor suggested I go over to an emergency room and have my chest scanned. I headed over to the Mount Sinai emergency room with what I thought would be a short visit. So began my journey with a second round of an illness related to the coronavirus. After 24 sleepless hours in the emergency room and a plethora of scans and tests, I was rehospitalized for eight days, put on a steroid and anticoagulant, given oxygen and monitored closely. My body seemed to be playing tricks on me. The conventional wisdom is that once you’ve survived the coronavirus, you have a certain level of immunity with a host of antibodies and are not contagious. I have since discovered otherwise. The slew of doctors at Mount Sinai (attendees, residents, cardiologists, pulmonary specialists and infectious disease experts) had different theories. I tested negative for the coronavirus but had troubling inflammatory markers. The pulmonologist suggested that there was additional lung damage causing the shortness of breath but he didn’t hear any abnormalities when listening to my chest. The doctors had seen a few patients who returned with the coronavirus after a month or so of recovery but had not treated anyone in my situation who was three months post infection and symptomatic again. The consensus was that I had a case of what is called a “post inflammatory syndrome” of the disease. I call it coronavirus redux. The hospital stay where they administered the steroid treatment and monitored my organ markers was more debilitating than my initial bout of the coronavirus. I’m happy to say that my numbers have improved and that I am home recovering and getting my strength back. However, the doctors said the recovery could be slow and last until the fall.
My patient caught Covid-19 twice. So long to herd immunity hopes? – “Wait. I can catch Covid twice?” my 50-year-old patient asked in disbelief. It was the beginning of July, and he had just tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causesCovid-19, for a second time – three months after a previous infection.While there’s still much we don’t understand about immunity to this new illness, a small but growing number of cases like his suggest the answer is yes.Covid-19 may also be much worse the second time around. During his first infection, my patient experienced a mild cough and sore throat. His second infection, in contrast, was marked by a high fever, shortness of breath, and hypoxia, resulting in multiple trips to the hospital.Recent reports and conversations with physician colleagues suggest my patient is not alone. Two patients in New Jersey, for instance, appear to have contracted Covid-19 a second time almost two months after fully recovering from their first infection. Daniel Griffin, a physician and researcher at Columbia University in New York, recently described a case of presumed reinfection on the This Week in Virology podcast.It is possible, but unlikely, that my patient had a single infection that lasted three months. Some Covid-19 patients (now dubbed “long haulers“) do appear to suffer persistent infections and symptoms.My patient, however, cleared his infection – he had two negative PCR tests after his first infection – and felt healthy for nearly six weeks.I believe it is far more likely that my patient fully recovered from his first infection, then caught Covid-19 a second time after being exposed to a young adult family member with the virus. He was unable to get an antibody test after his first infection, so we do not know whether his immune system mounted an effective antibody response or not.Regardless, the limited research so far on recovered Covid-19 patients shows that not all patients develop antibodies after infection. Some patients, and particularly those who never develop symptoms, mount an antibody response immediately after infection only to have it wane quickly afterward – an issue of increasing scientific concern. What’s more, repeat infections in a short period are a feature of many viruses, including other coronaviruses. So if some Covid-19 patients are getting reinfected after a second exposure, it would not be particularly unusual.
Mississippi’s GOP governor: ‘Herd immunity is not anything like a realistic solution’ – Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) threw cold water on the notion of defeating the coronavirus pandemic with “herd immunity,” saying Monday that states’ health systems would be overwhelmed long before reaching that point. Reeves said in a Twitter thread that in Mississippi alone, the hospital system has “started to become stressed to the point of pain” at 36,680 confirmed cases and conservatively estimated that herd immunity would require 40 percent of the population to become infected, which he said would require more than 3,000 new cases daily for the next year. Over the last two weeks, our hospital system has started to become stressed to the point of pain. We are seeing the early signs and effects of it becoming overwhelmed. We had to suspend elective surgeries again. “We would need to TRIPLE our worst day – every day – for a year,” Reeves tweeted. “I’m not one of these guys that immediately dismisses any idea that challenges the expert status quo talking points. I’m pretty skeptical by nature. That’s healthy. But herd immunity is not anything like a realistic solution in the short or mid-term. I wish it was.” Reeves’s tweets come shortly after the publication of research suggesting antibody immunity after recovering from the coronavirus may not be permanent. “People are producing a reasonable antibody response to the virus, but it’s waning over a short period of time and depending on how high your peak is, that determines how long the antibodies are staying around,” Katie Doores, lead author on the study at King’s College London, told The Guardian in an interview published Sunday. Mississippi has seen more than 1,200 confirmed coronavirus deaths so far. Last week, 26 state lawmakers tested positive for COVID-19 after an outbreak at the Mississippi Statehouse.
What to Do if COVID-19 Is Here to Stay? – One great unknown about COVID-19 is whether individuals who recover from it can be reinfected. At the emergence of any new virus, it is impossible to know whether immunity is permanent or wanes, until enough time has passed for longitudinal studies to take place. At the moment, and with limited available data, medical scientists and epidemiologists are instead comparing SARS-CoV-2 to related coronaviruses, such as HCoV-HKU1 and HCoV-OC43, which are known to exhibit waning immunity. An early contribution by Kissler et al. (2020) assumed that immunity to SARS-CoV-2 wanes in approximately 45 weeks. A recent medical study (Long et al. 2020) found a significant drop in specific antibody levels after three months. Nevertheless, the duration of immunity in general is still far from understood.. If immunity wanes, the disease will become endemic, in sharp contrast to a model in which recovery confers permanent immunity. This column considers the possibility that immunity is indeed only temporary, and derives a stylised optimal containment policy to reduce the initial wave of contagion and then manage persistent infections. In practice, this means that partial lockdowns and social distancing measures may be the norm for years to come.
A plasma shot could prevent coronavirus. But feds and makers won’t act, scientists say – It might be the next best thing to a coronavirus vaccine. Scientists have devised a way to use the antibody-rich blood plasma of COVID-19 survivors for an upper-arm injection that they say could inoculate people against the virus for months. Using technology that’s been proven effective in preventing other diseases such as hepatitis A, the injections would be administered to high-risk healthcare workers, nursing home patients, or even at public drive-through sites – potentially protecting millions of lives, the doctors and other experts say.The two scientists who spearheaded the proposal – an 83-year-old shingles researcher and his counterpart, an HIV gene therapy expert – have garnered widespread support from leading blood and immunology specialists, including those at the center of the nation’s COVID-19 plasma research. But the idea exists only on paper. Federal officials have twice rejected requests to discuss the proposal, and pharmaceutical companies – even acknowledging the likely efficacy of the plan – have declined to design or manufacture the shots, according to a Times investigation. The lack of interest in launching development of immunity shots comes amid heightened scrutiny of the federal government’s sluggish pandemic response.There is little disagreement that the idea holds promise; the dispute is over the timing. Federal health officials and industry groups say the development of plasma-based therapies should focus on treating people who are already sick, not on preventing infections in those who are still healthy.Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said an upper-arm injection that would function like a vaccine “is a very attractive concept.”However, he said, scientists should first demonstrate that the coronavirus antibodies that are currently delivered to patients intravenously in hospital wards across the country actually work. “Once you show the efficacy, then the obvious next step is to convert it into an intramuscular” shot.
Global COVID-19 registry finds strokes associated with COVID-19 are more severe, have worse outcomes and higher mortality – Acute ischemic strokes (AIS) associated with COVID-19 are more severe, lead to worse functional outcomes and are associated with higher mortality , according to new research published yesterday in Stroke, a journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association. In “Characteristics and Outcomes in Patients with COVID-19 and Acute Ischemic Stroke: The Global COVID-19 Stroke Registry,” researchers analyzed data on patients with COVID-19 and AIS treated at 28 health care centers in 16 countries this year and compared them to patients without COVID-19 from the Acute Stroke Registry and Analysis of Lausanne (ASTRAL) Registry, from 2003 to 2019. Researchers sought to determine the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 and AIS. In both patient groups, stroke severity was estimated with the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and stroke outcome was assessed by the modified Rankin score (mRS). When AIS patients with COVID-19 were compared to non-COVID-19 patients:COVID-19 patients had more severe strokes (median NIHSS score of 10 vs. 6, respectively);COVID-19 patients had higher risk for severe disability following stroke (median mRS score 4 vs. 2, respectively); and COVID-19 patients were more likely to die of AIS. The researchers noted there are several potential explanations for the relationship between COVID-19-associated strokes and increased stroke severity: “The increased stroke severity at admission in COVID-19-associated stroke patients compared to the non-COVID-19 cohort may explain the worse outcomes. The broad, multi-system complications of COVID-19, including acute respiratory distress syndrome, cardiac arrhythmias, acute cardiac injury, shock, pulmonary embolism, cytokine release syndrome and secondary infection, probably contribute further to the worse outcomes including higher mortality in these patients. …
Coronavirus and the heart – Lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome have taken center stage as the most dreaded complications of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. But heart damage has recently emerged as yet another grim outcome in the virus’s repertoire of possible complications.COVID-19 is a spectrum disease, spanning the gamut from barely symptomatic infection to critical illness. Reassuringly, for the large majority of individuals infected with the new coronavirus, the ailment remains in the mild-to-moderate range. Yet, a number of those infected develop heart-related problems either out of the blue or as a complication of preexisting cardiac disease. A report from the early days of the epidemic described the extent of cardiac injury among 41 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: Five, or 12 percent, had signs of cardiovascular damage. These patients had both elevated levels of cardiac troponin – a protein released in the blood by the injured heart muscle – and abnormalities on electrocardiograms and heart ultrasounds. Since then, other reports have affirmed that cardiac injury can be part of coronavirus-induced harm. Moreover, some reports detail clinical scenarios in which patients’ initial symptoms were cardiovascular rather than respiratory in nature. The ways in which the new coronavirus provokes cardiac injury are neither that new nor surprising, according to Harvard Medical School physician-scientistsPeter Libby and Paul Ridker. The part that remains unclear is whether SARS-CoV-2 is somehow more virulent toward the heart than other viruses. Libby and Ridker, who are practicing cardiologists at Brigham and Women’s, say COVID-19-related heart injury could occur in any several ways.First, people with preexisting heart disease are at a greater risk for severe cardiovascular and respiratory complications from COVID-19. Similarly, research has shown that infection with the influenza virus poses a more severe threat for people with heart disease than those without cardiac problems. Research also shows that heart attacks can actually be brought on by respiratory infections such as the flu. Second, people with previously undiagnosed heart disease may be presenting with previously silent cardiac symptoms unmasked by the viral infection. In people with existing heart-vessel blockages, infection, fever, and inflammation can destabilize previously asymptomatic fatty plaques inside the heart vessels. Fever and inflammation also render the blood more prone to clotting, while also interfering with the body’s ability to dissolve clots – a one-two punch akin to throwing gasoline on smoldering embers.
Study suggests overall COVID-19 intensive care mortality has fallen by a third since the start of the pandemic – A systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies from three continents published in the journal Anaesthesia (a journal of the Association of Anaesthetists) shows that overall mortality of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units (ICUs) has fallen from almost 60% at the end of March to 42% at the end of May — a relative decrease of almost one third. The review also shows ICU mortality for the disease is not significantly different across the three continents included: Europe, Asia and North America. The study is by Professor Tim Cook, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, Bath, UK, and School of Medicine, University of Bristol, UK, and colleagues. The authors say: “The in-ICU mortality from COVID-19, at around 40%, remains almost twice that seen in ICU admissions with other viral pneumonias, at 22%.” There are, say the authors, several explanations for the findings regarding decreasing ICU mortality over time. They say: “It may reflect the rapid learning that has taken place on a global scale due to the prompt publication of clinical reports early in the pandemic. It may also be that ICU admission criteria have changed over time, for example, with greater pressure on ICUs early in the pandemic surge.” They add the findings are also likely to reflect the fact that long ICU stays, for example, due slow weaning from a ventilator, take time to be reflected in the data. Critical illness associated with COVID-19 can last for long periods, with approximately 20% of UK ICU admissions lasting more than 28 days, and 9% more than 42 days. They say: “The important message, however, is that as the pandemic has progressed and all these factors combine, survival of patients admitted to ICU with COVID-19 has significantly improved.”
Bad News For Moderna- More Evidence Shows COVID-19 Antibodies Disappear Not Long After Infection – Following trial results released yesterday showing Moderna’s vaccine candidate might not be safe for human consumption – apparently, the candidate caused “adverse” reactions in roughly 50% of patients who participated in a recent study – the dozens of companies, universities and governments working on COVID-19 vaccine candidates just received another piece of disheartening news: A growing body of evidence gleaned from research into the virus suggests that antibodies may not offer protection for more than 2-3 months, for many people. Now, a study produced by researchers at King’s College London is showing recovered patients antibodies declined significantly within months of infection, raising the critical question of whether a vaccine could ever provide lasting protection. Moderna’s vaccine candidate has shown the capacity to produce antibodies in test subjects, but it’s still unclear exactly how much protection this might provide.University of Nottingham Emeritus Professor in Immunology Herb Sewell, who consulted on the study, said it appeared to show that antibodies to the virus disappeared more quickly than antibodies for MERS and other coronaviruses. Viruses like SARS elicited an immune response that lasted at least a couple of years. This suggests that the eventual COVID-19 vaccine might need to be administered every year to offer a reliable level of protection.“If the vaccine response drops off like the natural response does, it does mean we’d have to give repeat ones,” he said. But that’s not set in stone – at least, not yet. As the FT points out, seeing some degree in decline of efficacy is typically expected. That doesn’t mean the body won’t be able to reproduce those same antibodies even more quickly the next time it is infected.
Pakistan COVID19 Antibodies Study: 90% of Virus Carriers Have No Symptoms – Key Findings:
• Survey revealed that 90% of the population who tested COVID-19 positive (screened via serologic test kits) were asymptomatic carriers of the disease, who would have otherwise not presented at a government-approved PCR testing facility.
• If the results of this study are extrapolated to the rest of the population with similar demographics, the total number of active COVID-19 infections in the country would go up to 4.11 million, which is 17.7 times higher than the current official number.
• While these findings are restricted to Pakistan’s urban, adult, working population in various metropolises, they still provide useful insights for guiding public health practices across the country.
• This is a groundbreaking research which can improve Pakistan’s public health response to COVID-19 by increasing testing capacity and ensuring that the true prevalence of the disease is captured via cost-effective methods, thereby reducing the burden on an already exhausted healthcare system.
Symptom tracker app reveals six distinct types of COVID-19 infection – (Reuters) – British scientists analysing data from a widely-used COVID-19 symptom-tracking app have found there are six distinct types of the disease, each distinguished by a cluster of symptoms. A King’s College London team found that the six types also correlated with levels of severity of infection, and with the likelihood of a patient needing help with breathing – such as oxygen or ventilator treatment – if they are hospitalised.The findings could help doctors to predict which COVID-19 patients are most at risk and likely to need hospital care in future waves of the epidemic.“If you can predict who these people are at Day Five, you have time to give them support and early interventions such as monitoring blood oxygen and sugar levels, and ensuring they are properly hydrated,” said Claire Steves, a doctor who co-led the study.Besides cough, fever and loss of smell – often highlighted as three key symptoms of COVID-19 – the app data showed others including headaches, muscle pains, fatigue, diarrhoea, confusion, loss of appetite and shortness of breath. The outcomes also varied significantly; some got mild, flu-like symptoms or a rash and others suffered acute symptoms or died. The study, released online on Friday but not peer-reviewed by independent scientists, described the six COVID-19 types as:
- 1 ‘Flu-like’ with no fever: Headache, loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat, chest pain, no fever.
- 2 ‘Flu-like’ with fever: Headache, loss of smell, cough, sore throat, hoarseness, fever, loss of appetite.
- 3 Gastrointestinal: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, sore throat, chest pain, no cough.
- 4 Severe level one, fatigue: Headache, loss of smell, cough, fever, hoarseness, chest pain, fatigue.
- 5 Severe level two, confusion: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain.
- 6 Severe level three, abdominal and respiratory: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, abdominal pain.
U.S. CDC head says mask-wearing could get COVID-19 under control within 4-8 weeks (Reuters) – U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield said on Tuesday that if all Americans wore a mask, the rising cases of COVID-19 could be under control within four to eight weeks. Redfield was speaking in an online interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA, a medical publication. “I think if we can get everyone to wear masks right now, we can bring this under control within four, six, eight weeks,” Redfield said. The CDC director also said wearing a mask was a public health issue and that he was “sad” to see it become so politicized. “I am glad to see the president and vice president wear a mask. Clearly, in their situation they could easily justify they don’t need to … but we need for them to set the example,” Redfield said.
Dog In Texas Confirmed Covid-19 Positive — A dog in North Texas was confirmed positive for Covid-19, becoming the first dog in Texas to test positive for it, though experts do not recommend regular animal Covid-19 testing and pets are not considered a major threat for spreading the disease. The domestic canine was tested for Covid-19 as a precautionary measure after its owners were confirmed positive for the disease, according to the Texas Animal Health Commission. “Based on current knowledge, there is no evidence that pets play a significant role in spreading SARS-CoV-2 to people,” said Dr. Andy Schwartz,the Texas State Veterinarian, echoing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.The two-year-old dog, who lives in Tarrant County, remains healthy. TAHC and CDC do not recommend routine Covid-19 testing for animals, but do recommend that pet owners with Covid-19 “resist contact” with their pets and other animals, including “petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, and sharing food or sleeping in the same bed.” The Texas dog is the fifth canine in the U.S. to test positive for Covid-19 – the others were confirmed positive in June in New York and Georgia, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. In addition to the dogs, five cats, one lion and one tiger have tested positive for the disease in the United States. In a study of domestic pets and Covid-19, researchers concluded dogs are less susceptible to the disease than cats and other animals, per Nature. The researchers found ferrets to be highly susceptible to the disease, reports Nature, which could make them promising subjects for vaccine and therapeutic testing.
30-year-old dies after Texas ‘COVID party,’ thought coronavirus was a hoax – — A San Antonio doctor said one of her hospital’s patients, a 30-year-old man, died after attending a so-called “COVID party” — a bizarre trend where young people intentionally get together with someone who’s infected. Dr. Jane Appleby, chief medical officer for Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital, said the patient thought the coronavirus pandemic was a hoax. “He thought he was young and he was invincible and wouldn’t get affected … One of the things that was heart-wrenching that he said to his nurse was, ‘I think I made a mistake,'” she said. Many who attend “COVID parties” are competing to see who can catch the virus first. During events reported in Alabama, some college students even gambled money to give to the “winner,” the one who catches COVID-19 first. Appleby said she is seeing more and more coronavirus patients in their 20s and 30s. She said she shared the story not to scare people, but to make sure they understand that the virus can affect anyone. On Friday, Texas surpassed 10,000 hospitalized patients for the first time, capping a week of grim markers that also saw the state exceed 10,000 new cases in a single day. And it has been the deadliest week of the pandemic in Texas, with 95 new deaths reported Friday.
Houston hospitals overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients as Texas continues to reopen – Houston, Texas has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and related deaths in the state, with 43,939 infections and 455 deaths. Dallas, Texas’ second-largest city, is in second place. Statewide, COVID-19 cases stand at 258,658, making up around 8 percent of total infections in the country. Texas continues to set new records in terms of those catching and dying from the disease on a weekly basis. Scenes familiar to what was witnessed in New York in the spring are appearing in Houston. At HCA Northwest Hospital, a refrigerator container truck is parked outside the hospital in preparation for overwhelmed morgues. Emergency rooms and ICUs are packed. The average daily rate of new hospitalizations due to COVID-19 was 360 at the Texas Medical Center hospitals in Houston, almost double the rate from two weeks ago. This is the context of the murderous back-to-work campaign being pursued by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who conceded in a leaked May 1 meeting that reopening would “ipso facto” cause an increase in COVID-19 cases. An executive order that mandates masks and a $250 fine for those not wearing them was signed by Abbott and went into effect on July 3, in an attempt to cover up his criminal role in facilitating the spread of the disease. The governor previously forbade mayors and local governments from requiring the wearing of masks and then quickly rolled back shutdown measures. The warning made by health professionals and scientists around the world that governments should not reopen too early and that masks are insufficient to prevent disease spread is being vindicated in real time. In an interview with a KLBK TV reporter on July 10, Abbott stated that “things will get worse” in relation to the virus. When questioned about what he would do if the mask mandate was “not enough to make a difference soon,” Abbott responded that “the next step would be a lock-down.” In Harris County, which is in the Houston area and the third most populous county in the country, South East Texas Regional Advisory Council numbers show 1,580 ICU beds out of 1,614 total are in use. In short, there are just 34 beds remaining for the whole county. According to numbers obtained by ProPublica and NBC, as of Thursday, overflow patients are receiving treatment in emergency rooms. Emergency rooms are neither equipped nor staffed with the specialized personnel required to handle illnesses like COVID-19, which can require an extended period of treatment and special equipment. Rather, they are primarily used to stabilize patients so they can then be sent to the relevant hospital department.
Texas reports record highs for daily coronavirus cases, deaths – Texas has set two grim records, setting new marks for the number of single-day deaths and new COVID-19 cases, as the Lone Star State continues to get rocked by a resurgence of the pandemic. The state reported 110 deaths and 10,791 new cases of the virus on Wednesday, bringing its total number of cases during the pandemic to 282,365. It was the second consecutive day that Texas broke its record for daily number of new cases. Texas was one of the first states to reopen its economy amid the pandemic, but the recent spike in cases forced Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to reinstate restrictions, including re-shuttering bars. Additionally, the governor has made it mandatory for most Texans to wear masks while in public. Wednesday was the sixth day in a row where the state has reported over 10,000 active COVID-19 hospitalizations. Because of the rising hospitalization numbers, Abbott announced that the Department of Defense was a sending a medical task force to the Rio Grande Valley to provide additional support to the hospitals there. “I am grateful to our federal partners at the Department of Defense for sending these teams to the Valley and working within the community to protect public health and combat this virus,” Abbott said in a statement. “These teams, coupled with our newly established partnership with local hotels, will aid in our efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 and ensure adequate hospital capacity in the Valley.” The Rio Grande Valley is almost out of ICU beds, reporting just 14 available beds on Wednesday.
Coronavirus deaths take a long-expected turn for the worse – A long-expected upturn in U.S. coronavirus deaths has begun, driven by fatalities in states in the South and West, according to data on the pandemic. The number of deaths per day from the virus had been falling for months, and even remained down as states like Florida and Texas saw explosions in cases and hospitalizations – and reported daily U.S. infections broke records several times in recent days. Scientists warned it wouldn’t last. A coronavirus death, when it occurs, typically comes several weeks after a person is first infected. And experts predicted states that saw increases in cases and hospitalizations would, at some point, see deaths rise too. Now that’s happening. “It’s consistently picking up. And it’s picking up at the time you’d expect it to,” said William Hanage, a Harvard University infectious diseases researcher. According to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day rolling average for daily reported deaths in the U.S. has increased from 578 two weeks ago to 664 on July 10 – still well below the heights hit in April. Daily reported deaths increased in 27 states over that time period, but the majority of those states are averaging under 15 new deaths per day. A smaller group of states has been driving the nationwide increase in deaths. California is averaging 91 reported deaths per day while Texas is close behind with 66, but Florida, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey and South Carolina also saw sizable rises. New Jersey’s recent jump is thought to be partially attributable to its less frequent reporting of probable deaths. Rublas Ruiz, a Miami intensive care unit nurse, recently broke down in tears during a birthday dinner with his wife and daughter. He said he was overcome by the number of patients who have died in his care. “I counted like 10 patients in less than four days in our ICU and then I stopped doing that because there were so many,” said the 41-year-old nurse at Kendall Regional Medical Center who lost another patient Monday. The virus has killed more than 130,000 people in the U.S. and more than a half-million worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University, though the true numbers are believed to be higher. Deaths first began mounting in the U.S. in March. About two dozen deaths were being reported daily in the middle of that month. By late in the month, hundreds were being reported each day, and in April thousands. Most happened in New York, New Jersey and elsewhere in the Northeast.
With Covid-19 Deaths on the Rise, Hardest-Hit States Report Hospitals are Near Capacity Following Early Reopenings – Following weeks of warnings from public health experts regarding the dangers of allowing the public into bars, restaurants, and other enclosed spaces while coronavirus case numbers continue to rise in several states, hospitals in two of the hardest-hit states showed signs that the pandemic has spun out of control in the United States’ current epicenters. According to Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, 85% of the state’s intensive care unit (ICU) beds were full as of Saturday morning. Fewer than 1,000 beds are currently available for patients who become critically ill with Covid-19 in a state where more than 11,000 new cases were reported on Friday. More than 9,000 new cases and 421 new hospitalizations were reported on Saturday.Across the country, in Arizona, 90% of ICU beds were reported to be full according to The Guardian. “We will have hospitals overwhelmed and not only in terms of ICU beds and hospitals – and that’s bad – but exhausted hospital staff and hospital staff that [are] getting ill themselves,” Hotez said. “So, we won’t have enough manpower, human power, to manage all of this.” In Florida, at least 52 hospitals are currently at full capacity in their ICU’s, but Gov. Ron DeSantis, a loyalist to President Donald Trump who began pushing to reopen the state’s economy in early May, downplayed the situation. “There’ll be articles saying, ‘Oh, my gosh. They’re at 90 percent,'” DeSantis said at a press conference Friday. “Well, that’s how hospitals normally run.” As tens of thousands of people in Florida became ill over the past two days, the state reopened Walt Disney World, one of its top tourist attractions, while DeSantis stressed the importance of schools reopening in the fall. DeSantis was forced on June 26 to direct bars to shut down again as case numbers skyrocketed, nearly two months after he began the process of reopening. But grim new statistics across the state indicated that the effects of the early reopening are coming to light now. Florida was among several states which recently saw significant increases in their seven-day averages for coronavirus deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. In Arizona on Friday evening, some morgues reported that they were near capacity, with Maricopa Office of the Medical Examiner saying it was 97% full. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat, criticized Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision to begin reopening the state in mid-May. “We opened way too early in Arizona. We were one of the last states to go to stay at home and one of the first to reemerge, and we reemerged at zero to 60,” Gallego told ABC News. “We had crowded nightclubs handing out free champagne, no masks. Our 20- to 44-year-olds, which is my own demographic, really led the explosion, and we’ve seen such growth in that area.”
Hospitals are running out of staff, supplies, and beds for Covid-19 patients – and this time could be worse -If hospitalizations continue to rise, health care workers in Arizona, Texas, and California fear they’ll be completely overwhelmed. With Covid-19 hospitalizations steadily approaching a record high in the US, states like Arizona have activated emergency plans and requested refrigerated trucks to prepare for overflow at morgues. Doctors there say packed emergency rooms and ICUs are forcing them to prioritize the sickest patients, leaving other ill patients to deteriorate while waiting for care they’d ordinarily receive right away. Hospitals in hot spots across the country are expanding and even maxing out their staff, equipment, and beds, with doctors warning that the worst-case scenario of hospital resources being overwhelmed is on the horizon if their states don’t get better control of the coronavirus. “With Covid, a lot of times people who aren’t sick enough yet get pushed to the back, and then they can become really, really sick unfortunately because we were focusing our efforts on the people who are on the brink of death,” an emergency room doctor at the Banner Health system in the Phoenix metro area, who asked to go unnamed fearing retaliation from his employer, told Vox. Other doctors in Arizona, where 88 percent of hospital beds statewide were in use Tuesday, say the scarcity of resources means they’ll soon be rationing medical care, as doctors in Italy were forced to do. It’s not just Arizona. Doctors and hospital experts in Texas and Southern California say capacity is a major concern for them as well, particularly if new daily cases keep rising. Several counties in California are facing major outbreaks of the virus, with hospital resources stretched thin to care for the sickest patients. Hospital organizations in Florida say facilities there can still expand capacity if needed. But they, like other hot spot hospitals, are starting to cut back on elective surgeries and procedures – leading them to furlough staff in some cases to compensate for massive losses in revenue – to accommodate the rising tide of Covid-19 patients.
Refrigerated trucks requested in Arizona, Texas as morgues reach capacity amid COVID-19 surge — Some Arizona and Texas counties are running out of space in their morgues and have put out calls for refrigerated trucks in which to store bodies and help take some pressure off of local medical examiners’ offices.A long-expected upturn in U.S. COVID-19 deaths across the U.S. has begun, driven by fatalities in states in the South and West. The number of deaths per day from the virus had been falling for months, and even remained down as states like Florida and Texas saw explosions in cases and hospitalizations – and reported daily U.S. infections broke records several times in recent days.Scientists warned it wouldn’t last. A coronavirus death, when it occurs, typically comes several weeks after a person is first infected. And experts predicted states that saw increases in cases and hospitalizations would, at some point, see deaths rise too. Now that’s happening.In hard-hit Houston, Texas, two top Democratic officials called for the nation’s fourth-largest city to lock back down as area hospitals strained to accommodate the onslaught of sick patients.As COVID-19 deaths rapidly increase in Texas and Arizona, the two emerging hot spots of the novel coronavirus are facing a similar scenario to New York’s experience during the onset of the pandemic in March.In Arizona, one Phoenix hospital has called for morgue trucks to help alleviate a rapidly growing death count due to the ongoing pandemic. A spokesperson for Abrazo Health told FOX 10 Phoenix that while its hospitals currently have adequate morgue space, the state has asked hospitals to implement emergency plans.”Abrazo hospitals currently have adequate morgue space. The state has requested that hospitals implement their emergency plans. Part of activating our plan includes the ability to handle overflow morgue capacity if needed. Abrazo has taken a proactive approach by ordering refrigerated storage in the event it may be needed during a surge of COVID patients,” the spokesperson said. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office is also making preparations for an influx in corpses amid a COVID-19 surge in Arizona.”Our planners at Unified Command are moving toward acquiring coolers and staffing because Office of the Medical Examiner is currently near capacity for body storage. This is a situation that occurs almost every summer and is further complicated by the current pandemic,” a statement from the medical examiner’s office said. The Arizona Department of Health Services said that 671 COVID-19 patients were on ventilators and 936 were occupying ICUs as of July 12. Hospitals were hovering around 90% capacity, according to FOX 10.
1,000 inmates at Texas federal prison test positive for COVID-19 – A North Texas federal prison has more than 1,000 inmates with COVID-19, one of whom has died from the virus, NBC News reports. According to the report, the Federal Correctional Institute at Seagoville has 1,798 inmates total and at least 1,072 have tested positive for coronavirus. One inmate, 65-year-old James Giannetta, died Thursday after testing positive June 26, NBC reports. He experienced shortness of breath and spent time on a ventilator. He reportedly had pre-existing conditions. Giannetta was in prison on a drug charge and a conspiracy to launder money charge. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the high count makes the Federal Correctional Institute at Seagoville home of the largest coronavirus outbreak of any US federal prison. Familes of prisoners told NBC News that inmates have complained that the prison is facing deteriorating conditions and air conditioning systems don’t work properly. 85 infants test positive for COVID-19 in Texas county amid alarming… FDA gives green light on ‘pool testing’ to increase diagnostic… Overall, 3,600 federal inmates and more than 300 prison staff throughout the country have tested positive for COVID-19. Thousands of inmates have also recovered from the virus and 97 inmates and one employee have died. The news Friday comes as correction facilities have become a hot spot for the virus, which spreads easily in closed spaces. Many have expressed concern that inmates are not protected from COVID-19 and some states, such as California, have taken measures to reduce their inmate population to prevent the virus from spreading. Tensions over the issue escalated to the point that a riot broke out at a New Mexico jail on Monday, as prisoners demanded better coronavirus testing capabilities and were angry over a reduction in hot meals due to a lack of kitchen staff.
85 infants test positive for COVID-19 in Texas county amid alarming spike – Eighty-five infants tested positive for the coronavirus this week in a Texas county amid an alarming spike in cases in the state. Nueces County’s public health director said at a meeting Friday that a review of the county’s coronavirus data unveiled the startling statistic. 1,000 inmates at Texas federal prison test positive for COVID-19 New York’s coronavirus hospitalizations fall to lowest number since… “These babies have not even had their first birthdays yet,” Annette Rodriguez said. “Please help us to stop the spread of this disease. Stay social distanced from others; stay protected. Wear a mask when in public and for everyone else, please do your best to stay home.” The statistics comes as Texas experiences a surge in coronavirus cases, recording 10,000 new cases per day for several days in a row this week. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has issued a statewide mask mandate to try to blunt the spread of the pandemic. Texas is one of several states, mostly across the south and west, to see spikes in cases after initially flattening the curve, raising fears of a broader, nationwide outbreak later in the year and renewing worries of a second economic downturn.
Florida reports 15,000 new coronavirus cases, smashing national record — Florida on Sunday reported more than 15,000 new coronavirus cases, smashing the daily record reported by any single state and once again putting an international spotlight on a place that does not have the virus under control. The eye-popping topline figure does come with some caveats. The Florida Department of Health received 135,992 results from people who have never been tested before, and 15,299 of those tests came back positive for Covid-19. The positivity rate of new infections was 11.25 percent, which is at least a two-week low and down significantly since the state’s record high of 18 percent reported on Wednesday. Still, public health experts express concern about positivity rates over 10 percent, a number Florida has not dipped below since June 23. In responding to the new numbers, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has continued its messaging strategy of putting them in a positive light, an approach that has increasingly drawn criticism as Florida has emerged as one of the biggest virus hot spots in the world. “Florida COVID positive cases decline for a third day in a row to 11.25% despite a record 142,981 tests results returned in a single day,” tweeted DeSantis’ communications director, Helen Aguirre Ferré, using a figure that includes those who have been tested multiple times. “Average age of those testing positive also decreased: 38 years old.” DeSantis has routinely turned to the median age of new positive cases to downplay the recent spike because, his administration says, younger people often show fewer symptoms and rarely require hospitalization, which means less of a strain on the state’s health care infrastructure. Left unacknowledged, however, is an increasing toll on state hospitals, especially those in South Florida, which is seeing the state’s biggest surge in new cases. On Friday for the first time, the DeSantis administration released current hospitalization numbers, which showed 6,974 patients hospitalized with coronavirus as their primary diagnosis, a number that jumped to 7,507 on Sunday.
Florida sees one-day high of 15,300 COVID-19 cases as pandemic inundates health care infrastructure – The coronavirus has infected over 13 million people globally, adding another million cases in less than five days. The world has seen over 200,000 daily cases five days running. Global deaths have also consistently stayed over 5,000 in the same period. Regardless of the factors that have been cited for decreasing case fatality rates – younger age, improved treatments, more testing capacity – by all accounts, international health agencies are bracing themselves for grim developments. Fatalities always lag behind cases by two to four weeks. The pandemic in the United States has qualitatively shifted in a dangerous direction, growing unimpeded by the lack of any meaningful effort by federal, state and local officials to contain, let alone curtail, its trajectory. Since June 14, the number of daily cases has tripled, with sustained rates of over 60,000 per day. As had been predicted, the fatality rate, after reaching its seven-day average low of 516 daily deaths on July 5, in less than a week has grown by 40 percent to 723 deaths per day. Florida shattered the record for a one-day high of 15,300 cases on Sunday, beating out previous one-day highs set by California last Wednesday at 11,694 and New York’s 11,571 on April 15. On July 9, Texas reported 11,394 cases. On Friday, Georgia set a one-day high of 4,484 cases. Wisconsin recorded a one-day high of 926 cases on Saturday, with COVID-19 cases almost quadrupling since mid-June. Similar spikes in new cases have been reported in Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia. Florida’s positive test rates have climbed from 5 percent last month to 19 percent. Yet the peak of hospitalizations remains weeks away. Advent Health’s CEO Terry Shaw said on “Face the Nation” that the situation is very stressful, but continued with his businesslike demeanor to promote and tout his facilities’ capabilities. He chose not to use the opportunity to demand the state be shut down, instead emphasizing the need for more personal responsibility. He did admit that Advent’s intensive care unit (ICU) capacity was running as high as 90 percent. Advent has over 30 facilities in the state. Questioned on the opening of Disney’s theme park, Shaw merely said he was confident of Disney’s ability to operate safely and that he was a Disney season ticket holder. In the face of the massive number of cases in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis dared to push for the reopening of schools in just a few short weeks, stating, “I’m confident if you can do Home Depot, if you can do Walmart, if you can do these things, we absolutely can do schools.” Clearly, schools and children are the equivalents of markets and commodities.
Florida Sets Coronavirus Death Record, Hours After Gov. DeSantis Said State Had ‘Stabilized’ – Florida set a new record for coronavirus deaths Tuesday, one of several metrics that show the state’s coronavirus crisis is still getting worse, even as Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed at a news conference Monday afternoon that the state’s situation had “stabilized.” Florida reported 132 deaths Tuesday, a massive increase from the 35 new deaths the state added on Monday and breaking the old daily record of 120, set on July 9. The key metric DeSantis said showed the state had “stabilized,” which is the rate of tests coming back positive, also took a big jump in the wrong direction. On Tuesday, the positivity rate rose back above 15%, reversing what had been a trend of decline, and far above Monday’s rate, which was below 11.5%. The median age of infection is another statistic DeSantis has continually cited to support his argument that the public health crisis in the state is overblown, but that, too, is headed in the wrong direction. That age has now risen to 41 – the highest number the state has reported since it started publicly releasing the statistic on a daily basis, beginning in mid-June, and hospitalizations are on the rise. There were 9,261 new cases reported in Florida on Tuesday, which is a decrease from recent days and far below Sunday’s national record of over 15,000, but there were also fewer tests reported Tuesday than any day since July 8. Florida is now one of the main contributors to the surge in U.S. cases, and new cases in the state are surpassing even what New York had reported at the pandemic’s height there in March and April. The state was one of the most aggressive in its economic reopening, but all bars in Florida have been ordered to close once again. Unlike many other states with a spike in cases, though, DeSantis has not mandated mask-wearing statewide and ignored questions about a mask mandate at the news conference Monday. The southern part of the state, particularly Miami-Dade County, has been the hardest hit by the virus. County Mayor Carlos Giménez appeared alongside DeSantis at the news conference Monday, but took a much more sober tone, warning that there will be further closures of businesses if current trends continue.
Almost one-third of Florida children tested are positive for the coronavirus -Florida health officials have identified a troubling trend; approximately 31 percent, or one-third, of children in Florida tested for COVID-19 yield positive results, according to the Sun Sentinel. State data indicates that out of 54,022 Florida children tested, 31.1 percent have returned positive results on average. This is higher than the statewide positivity rate, which reads in at about 11 percent. Aside from the staggering figure indicating the transmission of the virus, health experts fear it can cause potential lifelong damage in children. Alina Alonso, the health department director of Palm Beach County, reportedly told county commissioners on Tuesday that the long-term consequences of coronavirus in children are unknown. Alonso described X-rays that reveal damage caused to human lungs by the coronavirus, even for people without severe symptoms. “They are seeing there is damage to the lungs in these asymptomatic children. … We don’t know how that is going to manifest a year from now or two years from now,” Alonso told reporters. “Is that child going to have chronic pulmonary problems or not?” Throughout the pandemic, children have largely been exempt from severe COVID-19 infections, despite the recently discovered pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome that occurred in a small number of children who were exposed to the virus. Similar to the inflammatory illness Kawasaki Disease, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an alert and guidance page for children exhibiting symptoms. “We are learning something every day,” said Jorge Perez, who co-founded Kidz Medical Services and operates pediatric offices throughout South Florida. “We have to be knowledgeable about this and continue to monitor to see what effects it has in children.” This comes as states determine whether in-person education will resume in the fall. Outside of potentially hazardous consequences of a coronavirus infection to children, asymptomatic carriers pose a threat to teachers and other staff, who are demographically more likely to have a severe infection.
Florida Alone Just Exceeded the Entire U.K. in Confirmed Coronavirus Cases – Health officials in Florida reported on Wednesday that more than 10,000 additional residents had tested positive for the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the state’s total to 301,810.The state now has more virus cases than the 291,911 reported in the entire United Kingdom, a statistic only two other U.S. states – California and New York – reached in mid-July. Though the states’ case numbers are higher, their combined number of virus deaths is still thousands below that in the U.K., which had reported 45,053 deaths as of Wednesday.According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the number of cases in Florida also exceeds those in all countries except Brazil, India, Russia, Peru, Chile and Mexico. The U.S. has more virus cases than any other country in the world, with more than 3.4 million reported by Wednesday. Florida surpassed 300,000 total cases just one day after recording its highest number of COVID-19 deaths in a single day, with more than 4,500 deaths reported statewide by Wednesday. State health officials over the past several weeks have reported thousands of new cases every day. Officials added a record 15,300 new cases to the state’s tally this past Sunday, which broke a record New York set in April for the most new cases a single state reported in one day.
Florida temporarily shutters emergency operations center after 12 employees contract COVID-19 — Officials in Florida were forced to shutter the Division of Emergency Management’s operations center Thursday due to an outbreak of coronavirus. The Tampa Bay Times reported that 12 staffers in the building have tested positive for COVID-19, and were self-quarantining. The rest will reportedly vacate the building as it is deep-cleaned, according to the Times.”We’ve been conducting biweekly testing at the EOC for several weeks & mandated masks. The Division has had several positives throughout that period. Those individuals have been isolated while we continue to test. We also instituted teleworking at the EOC & remain at a level 1,” the agency said on Twitter.We’ve been conducting biweekly testing at the EOC for several weeks & mandated masks. The Division has had several positives throughout that period. Those individuals have been isolated while we continue to test. We also instituted teleworking at the EOC & remain at a level 1. – FL Division of Emergency Management (@FLSERT) July 16, 2020“The safety of my employees and their families is paramount. It is why we have had aggressive screening, temperature checks, since February, Mandatory masks and testing. We will continue to operate and respond throughout this period,” added Jared Moskowitz, the agency’s director. “We are all in this together.” Florida has emerged as an epicenter of new U.S. coronavirus infections in recent days as a surge of hospitalizations and new casesthreaten to overwhelm hospitals across the state.
Giveaways created a poverty sinkhole. Then the virus hit — —Coronavirus infections have been spiking for weeks in Louisiana’s northernmost big city, as they have across the South and West, from Florida to Arizona. At 61, Lynch is afraid that her respiratory disease and other health problems leave her vulnerable as the Southeast shatters daily records for new cases. “I just know people have been dying,” she says of her neighbors in western Shreveport. The COVID-19 mortality rate in Louisiana was on a downward slope for most of May and June. But the state’s case numbers are approaching new highs, and the daily death toll is ticking up again. Lynch has lived in Shreveport’s Mooretown neighborhood for almost four decades. Since April, it’s been a hot spot for the virus along with an area to the northeast, Queensborough. Many of the residents of the mostly Black neighborhoods are impoverished, and their homes encircle an oil refinery. Pipes and rail cars cut across the Calumet refinery grounds a short walk from Lynch’s front door. The 240 acres of flares and storage tanks are a hub for moving gasoline, diesel and jet fuel into the Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas markets. The century-old industrial site is a constant for everyone here. For years, Lynch has blamed its pollution for the breathing problems that cause her to rely on an oxygen tank. Louisiana saw a staggering growth rate of novel coronavirus cases starting in the spring. It stood out on the U.S. map, even as rocketing case numbers and dire hospital bed and equipment shortages in New York consumed national attention. By the end of March, Shreveport, the state’s third-largest city after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, would be nearly shut down by the pandemic.
Southeastern US experiencing harrowing rise in coronavirus infections – More than 3.5 million Americans have been infected by the coronavirus and more than 139,000 have died. The Southeastern states have seen sharp spikes in the rates of infection, hospitalization, and death due to the coronavirus in the last month and a half. Young or old, black or white, COVID-19 knows no boundaries. The outbreak poses particular risk to meat processing and factory workers, teachers and students, and hospital staff. From June 1 to July 10, South Carolina reported a mortifying 436.5 percent increase in newly reported cases in the 21-30-year-old age group. Dr. Joan Duwve, director of public health for the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has reported that 42 percent of the coronavirus cases in South Carolina to date have been reported in the past two weeks. The state reports a 75 percent ICU bed utilization rate along with a 25 percent utilization rate of ventilators. Coronavirus patients represent less than 20 percent of all hospitalizations, yet they utilize the greatest amount of resources. On Tuesday, the Mississippi Department of Health (MSDH) reported 862 new cases and 23 additional deaths. The MSDH reports that 805 Mississippians are currently hospitalized across the state with coronavirus infections, an increase of 119 from the previous high of 686 reported on July 9. Mississippi reported 1,092 cases on June 25, the highest one-day total in the state during the pandemic. The state’s current total of coronavirus cases is 37,542 with 1,272 deaths. Meanwhile, Arkansas has a current total of 29,733 cases of coronavirus and 323 deaths. The hospital system in Arkansas is being stretched to its limits on resources and bed occupancy In Alabama, 57,255 people are confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 and 1,164 have died. The number of confirmed cases has been rising by more than 1,000 for the last week. The Tennessee Department of Health (TDOH) reported an additional 1,514 cases on Monday, bringing the state’s total to 66,788. TDOH officials also included in their report 38,272 recoveries, 767 deaths, and 3,378 hospitalizations. On Friday, ICU beds were at over 80 percent occupancy, while on July 8, that number was at 75 percent occupancy, and 72 percent on July 7. In addition to ICU beds decreasing in availability, overall available hospital bed occupancy increased from 73 percent on July 7 to 82 percent on Friday. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) reports that 89,484 people in the state have tested positive for the coronavirus, with 1,552 deaths and 1,109 hospitalizations. According to the NCDHHS, 78 percent of ICU beds were occupied as of Friday, for which the total of hospitalizations in the state sat at 1,046, surpassing the previous record of 1,034 reported at the day before, marking the fifth record-breaking day in a row. The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) recorded the second highest single-day increase on Friday, seeing 2,600 new cases. This was the highest increase of cases in a 14-day observational period. As hospitalizations continue to rise, increasing from 75 to 1,362 people, 146 patients in the state are now on ventilators. The LDH reported a total of 82,042 cases Tuesday – an increase of 7,346 from Thursday – along with 3,337 deaths since the first cases were diagnosed in March. On Tuesday, the Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH) reported 123,963 confirmed cases of coronavirus, a 9,562 increase from Sunday, 2,662 ICU admissions, and 3,054 deaths. The number of available hospital beds to treat critically ill patients afflicted with COVID-19 is dropping across the state as more and more cases are reported. Statewide, 13,685 people are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19.
Young people are increasingly driving COVID-19’s spread – Younger Americans eager to get back to their social lives are increasingly responsible for the spread of the coronavirus, risking their own health and that of their family and friends under what health experts say is the misguided impression that the virus cannot cause them harm. Health departments across the country are reporting that younger people are making up larger shares of the total number of those infected with the virus. The greater infection rates among young people are occurring both in states that are getting a handle on their outbreaks and those that are not. “In these trends, we are seeing the impact of our collective decisions. We are jeopardizing the gains we made as a state,” Washington state Health Secretary John Wiesman said Friday, pointing to an increase in hospitalizations among people between the ages of 20 and 39. “[T]he actions each one of us takes now will determine what happens next.” In early June, just 10 percent of those who tested positive in Rhode Island were in their 20s. By the end of the month, that share had doubled. The average age of a Rhode Islander who tests positive fell from 47.5 years old to 39.2 years old in a week. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said this week the percentage of those under 35 testing positive for the virus is now 84 percent higher than it is for those over 35. In New Mexico, 44 percent of those who are testing positive for the virus are under 30 years old, according to state health data. In Illinois, there are more infections among people aged 20-29 than among any other age group. In California, those in their 20s make up the largest cohort of cases, followed closely by people in their 30s. “There is a sense that a lot of young people, you’re young, think you’re invincible,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said at a June 24 press briefing. “That can be a selfish mindset.” There are signs, too, that even children are vulnerable to the disease. More than 10 percent of confirmed cases in Arizona, Washington and Tennessee are among those under the age of 20, an analysis by Bloomberg found.
Hundreds of workers infected and four dead from COVID-19 at Los Angeles sweatshop – After months of reports and formal complaints filed by workers and advocacy groups in light of neglect for safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) ordered on July 10 the continued closure of the downtown Los Angeles garment manufacturer Los Angeles Apparel. Four deaths and more than 300 infections have been confirmed among the 400-strong total workforce. This marks the largest single outbreak in Los Angeles County to date. With evidence of what the DPH called “flagrant violations” of public health infection control orders and the refusal of the company to cooperate in the investigation, the authorities had already ordered the closure of the company’s South Los Angeles facility on June 27, after an inspection of the factory found multiple violations of distancing requirements and infection control protocols, such as the use of cardboard as a barrier between the workers. Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, stated: “The death of four dedicated garment workers is heartbreaking and tragic. Business owners and operators have a corporate, moral and social responsibility to their employees and their families to provide a safe work environment that adheres to all of the health officer directives – this responsibility is important, now more than ever, as we continue to fight this deadly virus.” These empty words come after months of ignored calls for safety measures and the implementation of a criminal return-to-work policy that is now producing a social disaster throughout the state and the US as a whole. The Democratic Party is fully responsible for the catastrophic situation in California, where voluntary “recommendations” have replaced regulations. In this context, it is no surprise that Los Angeles Apparel has been able to defend itself from legitimate claims of alleged negligence. Its owner, Dov Charney, founder and former chairman of American Apparel, complained about “a maze of conflicting directions.” He stated, “It’s morally irresponsible for the Health Department to speak on the infection rates at our factory without also addressing its connection to the issue at large: that the Latino community in Los Angeles is left vulnerable to COVID-19 in a healthcare system that provides no support with testing and no support or assistance for those that test positive.”
Newsom Orders Bars, Indoor Dining Closed Across California as Virus Spikes – Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced he is ordering the closure of bars, wineries and indoor restaurant dining statewide as cases of the coronavirus continue to spike in California.The governor made the announcement during his regular media briefing Monday afternoon.Newsom’s new order covers indoor operations for restaurants, wineries and tasting rooms, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos, museums and cardrooms. All bars, brewpubs, breweries and pubs must close indoor and outdoor operations. The state saw a 2.6% increase in COVID-19 cases since Sunday to more than 329,000. California’s virus-related death toll surpassed 7,000 as 11 a.m. Monday, according to data published on the state’s COVID-19 website.The new order also includes further indoor closures specifically for counties that have been on thestate’s watch list for three consecutive days or more in the following sectors: fitness centers, places of worship, indoor protests, offices of noncritical infrastructure sectors, personal care services, hair salons and barbershops and malls. There are more than two dozen counties on the watch list, including seven in the Bay Area: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. Among those seven, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties have been on the list for three straight days.
U.S. reports record 67,400 single-day spike of new coronavirus cases -The United States reported 67,417 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, setting yet another fresh record for new cases reported in a single day, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. Cases in the U.S. keep climbing, averaging about 62,210 new cases per day over the past seven days – more than triple the number just a month ago and up more than 21% compared with the seven-day average a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of the data from Hopkins. Texas, California and Florida accounted for 31,847 new cases on Tuesday, nearly half of all new cases reported across the country. President Donald Trump on Tuesday again attributed the increase in cases to ramped up testing. The country processed 760,282 tests on Tuesday, the second-highest number of tests conducted in a single day, according to data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project, an independent volunteer organization launched by journalists at The Atlantic. The U.S. has processed an average of more than 665,000 tests per day between July 1 and July 12, according to a CNBC analysis the Covid Tracking Project’s data. That’s up from a daily average of just over 174,000 diagnostic tests processed nationally per day through April, according to CNBC’s analysis. “Think of this, if we didn’t do testing, instead of testing over 40 million people, if we did half the testing we would have half the cases,” the president said Tuesday evening. “If we did another, you cut that in half, we would have, yet again, half of that. But the headlines are always testing.” Trump’s medical advisors, including Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, have said the recent surge in cases is a sign of an expanding outbreak, not the increased testing.
Coronavirus Deaths Are Rising Right on Cue – There is no mystery in the number of Americans dying from COVID-19. Despite political leaders trivializing the pandemic, deaths are rising again: The seven-day average for deaths per day has now jumped by more than 200 since July 6, according to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic. By our count, states reported 855 deaths today, in line with the recent elevated numbers in mid-July. The deaths are not happening in unpredictable places. Rather, people are dying at higher rates where there are lots of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations: in Florida, Arizona, Texas, and California, as well as a host of smaller southern states that all rushed to open up. The deaths are also not happening in an unpredictable amount of time after the new outbreaks emerged. Simply look at the curves yourself. Cases began to rise on June 16; a week later, hospitalizations began to rise. Two weeks after that – 21 days after cases rose – states began to report more deaths. That’s the exact number of days that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated from the onset of symptoms to the reporting of a death. Many people who don’t want COVID-19 to be the terrible crisis that it is have clung to the idea that more cases won’t mean more deaths. Some Americans have been perplexed by a downward trend of national deaths, even as cases exploded in the Sun Belt region. But given the policy choices that state and federal officials have made, the virus has done exactly what public-health experts expected. When states reopened in late April and May with plenty of infected people within their borders, cases began to grow. COVID-19 is highly transmissible, makes a large subset of people who catch it seriously ill, and kills many more people than the flu or any other infectious disease circulating in the country.
White House tells hospitals to bypass CDC on COVID-19 data reporting – Hospitals will begin sending coronavirus-related information directly to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), not the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), under new instructions from the Trump administration. The move will take effect on Wednesday, according to a new guidance and FAQ document for hospitals and clinical labs quietly posted on the HHS website. Previously, hospitals reported to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network, which the agency describes as the nation’s most widely used health care-associated infection tracking system. The CDC tracked information including how many beds are available, the number of ventilators available and how many COVID-19 patients the hospitals have. Beginning Wednesday, hospitals will report the same data but will bypass the CDC and send it to HHS directly. According to HHS, the goal is to streamline data collection, which will be used to inform decisions at the federal level such as allocation of supplies, treatments and other resources. But the move comes amid concerns that the White House has been sidelining the CDC and after Trump administration officials attacked Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and a member of the White House coronavirus task force.
Six more COVID-19 related deaths reported in City of Cleveland (WJW) – The Cleveland Department of Health (CDPH) has been notified of 88 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 and six new fatalities. According to a press release, that brings the total to 3,481 confirmed cases and 83 deaths. The city had not reported any additional deaths since July 2.“The fatalities include males and females ranging in age from their 30s to their 70s. The new confirmed cases include males and females whose ages range from under 1 year old to their 80s,” said officials. More detailed information on all Red Alert Level 3 counties can be found here: CDPH is working to identify anyone who may have had close contact with those individuals that would require testing or monitoring.
Kansas City metro reports record number of coronavirus deaths | The Kansas City Star – The Kansas City area saw its largest number of COVID-19 related deaths in a single day Thursday as 11 new deaths were reported.The previous record number of new deaths was eight, reported on June 20.The metro area also saw its largest number of new cases in over a week as 378 new cases were recorded. The area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas has recorded a total of 12,552 coronavirus cases.The seven-day rolling average of new cases in the metro is 290, the same as it was one week ago. Two weeks ago, it was 188.
US confirms over 75,600 coronavirus new cases, breaking single-day record – The U.S. reported over 75,600 COVID-19 cases on Thursday alone, marking a new daily record as cases continue to surge across the country. The grim milestone marks the 11th time in the last month that the U.S. has broken this single-day record, according to The New York Times. The prior record for daily recorded cases was set last Friday at 68,241 cases.Fatalities amid the coronavirus pandemic also reached new highs this week.Florida reported 156 new fatalities on Thursday, its highest record since the pandemic began in March. The new deaths bring the state’s total to at least 4,677 related to COVID-19.Florida was one of 10 states to set a single-day record for deaths this week, including Alabama, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Utah, according to the Times.The news comes after state leaders have begun zeroing in on face masks to stem the spread of the disease. Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued an order Thursday mandating that state residents wear face masks or coverings in public in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) also issued a statewide mask mandate Thursday. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) on Wednesday announced a mask mandate that is set to continue through the end of the month as COVID-19 cases continue to spike in the state. “Despite all our best efforts, we’re seeing increases in cases every day still occurring and we’re almost to the point where hospital ICUs are overwhelmed,” Ivey told reporters this week. The U.S. has reported over 3.5 million cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic and 138,268 fatalities as of Friday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
U.S. shatters coronavirus record with over 77,000 cases in a day – (Reuters) – The United States shattered its daily record for coronavirus infections on Thursday, reporting more than 77,000 new cases as the number of deaths in a 24-hour period rose by nearly 1,000, according to a Reuters tally. The loss of 969 lives was the biggest increase since June 10, with Florida, South Carolina and Texas all reporting their biggest one-day spikes on Thursday. More than 138,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, a toll that experts warn will likely surge following recent record spikes in case numbers and an alarming rise in hospitalizations in many states. The hardest-hit areas in Texas and Arizona are running out of places to store bodies as their morgues fill up and are bringing in coolers and refrigerated trailers. U.S. deaths peaked in April, when the country lost on average 2,000 people a day. Fatalities have steadily fallen, averaging 1,300 a day in May and under 800 a day in June before rising again in July, according to a Reuters tally. Americans have become increasingly divided on issues such as the reopening of schools and businesses and wearing face masks in public, hindering the fight against the virus. The current tally of 77,217 cases surpasses the previous record set on Friday when cases rose by 69,070. In June, cases rose by an average of 28,000 a day, according to a Reuters tally. In July, they have risen by an average of 57,625 a day.
More than 138k coronavirus deaths reported in the U.S. – The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the United States has passed 3.5 million infections.On Thursday afternoon, Johns Hopkins University reported more than 138,000 deaths. The hardest hit areas are struggling with diminishing resources. Now, a battle is brewing in Georgia as parts of the country consider whether to lockdown again.In Miami, a possible new stay-at-home order is on the horizon. In Texas, refrigerated trucks are being used as makeshift morgues and a hotel has been converted to a hospital. At least 39 states are reporting an increase in the number of coronavirus cases from the week before. The surges come after an ease of restrictions across the country.Georgia governor Brian Kemp is suing the mayor of Atlanta because of a mask mandate that he said violates his own emergency orders.The lawsuit comes just one day after the governor suspended all local government mask mandates. That’s despite the rise in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the state.
Florida And Texas Both Set Coronavirus Death Records Thursday –Florida and Texas have again set state records for coronavirus deaths, reporting the new highs on Thursday, as coronavirus deaths have steadily climbed during July in the United States.Texas reported 129 new deaths Thursday, setting a new record for a second-straight day. The sobering numbers from Texas came just hours after Florida , which gives its coronavirus update in the morning, broke its record for coronavirus deaths, with 156, topping the old record set just one week earlier.But there was a positive note from Thursday’s statistics: hospitalizations have now dropped for two straight days in Texas for the first time since Memorial Day.On Wednesday, states like Arizona and Alabama also set new death records, the same day that Alabama became the 25th state to issue a mask mandate. Deaths have risen during the month of July nationwide, ending what had been a steady fall in deaths starting in late April.The rise is coming from a wider range of states than what pushed death tolls earlier in the pandemic, when New York alone went weeks regularly reporting over 500 cases a day, peaking around 1,000 deaths a day at its height. Major indicators suggest the death count will continue to climb. According to The COVID Tracking Project, hospitalizations in the U.S. are at their highest numbers since April. The U.S. is also now regularly reporting over 60,000 new cases a day, by far the highest since the pandemic began, but significantly more tests are also being done compared to the first major surge in March and April. Deaths generally lag behind increases in infections and hospitalizations.
Pandemic-hit Arizona, Texas counties order coolers, refrigerated trucks for bodies – (Reuters) – Arizona and Texas counties hit hard by COVID-19 are ordering coolers and refrigerated trailers to store bodies as their morgues fill up, authorities said on Thursday. Arizona’s Maricopa County, home to the state’s largest city, Phoenix, is bringing in 14 coolers to hold up to 280 bodies and more than double morgue capacity ahead of an expected surge in coronavirus fatalities, officials said on Thursday. In Texas, the city of San Antonio and Bexar County have acquired five refrigerated trailers to store up to 180 bodies as some morgues at hospitals and funeral homes reach capacity, Mario Martinez, San Antonio Metro Health assistant director, said in a video. New York used dozens of refrigerated trailers in April as its daily COVID-19 deaths exceeded 700. The appearance of mobile morgues in Arizona and Texas reflects that the pandemic appears to now be spinning out of control in southern U.S. states. “We are likely to see the trends of deaths rise over the next two to three weeks,” Maricopa County health director Marcy Flanagan told a news briefing. Maricopa’s daily COVID-19 cases peaked in late June at over 3,000. Patients typically spend a few weeks in hospital before dying, Flanagan said.9:56 PM
July 17 COVID-19 Test Results; Record 77,233 Positive Cases – The US is now conducting over 700,000 tests per day. Based on the experience of other countries, the percent positive needs to be well under 5% to really push down new infections, so the US still needs to increase the number of tests per day significantly (or take actions to push down the number of new infections).There were 851,788 test results reported over the last 24 hours. This is a new record. There were 77,233 positive tests. This is a new record. This data is from the COVID Tracking Project.The percent positive over the last 24 hours was 9.1% (red line). For the status of contact tracing by state, check out testandtrace.com.
WHO warns coronavirus pandemic may get ‘worse and worse and worse’ As coronavirus cases hit record levels over the weekend and deaths increased in a majority of U.S. states, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned the pandemic is worsening and there will be “no return to the old normal for the foreseeable future.” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while several countries in Europe and Asia have been able to bring outbreaks under control, there is a lot to be concerned about if leaders fail to take the steps needed to curb the transmission of the virus. “In several countries across the world, we are now seeing dangerous increases in COVID-19 cases, and hospital wards filling up again. It would appear that many countries are losing gains made as proven measures to reduce risk are not implemented or followed,” Tedros said during a virtual news conference in Geneva Monday. “Let me be blunt, too many countries are headed in the wrong direction. The virus remains public enemy number one,” Tedros said. “If basics are not followed, the only way this pandemic is going to go. It is going to get worse and worse and worse.” Tedros, however, said there is a roadmap to a “situation where we can control the disease and get on with our lives.” “We need to reach a sustainable situation where we do have adequate control of this virus without shutting down our lives entirely, or lurching from lockdown to lockdown,” He said. Tedros said to get to this place there needs to be a focus on reducing mortality and suppressing transmission, an empowered and engaged community that takes individual measures to protect the community and strong government leadership and communication. WHO reported more than 230,000 infections globally Sunday, setting a record for new infections reported in one day. Tedros said nearly 80 percent of those cases were reported from just 10 countries, and 50 percent from just two countries. Both the U.S. and Brazil lead the world in the number of cases and deaths. Tedros criticized political leaders, without naming any specifically, saying “mixed messages” from leaders are “undermining the most critical ingredient of any response: trust.”
Coronavirus cases, deaths soar in Mexico and across Latin America — Mexico has now surpassed Italy in its number of known COVID-19 deaths, which currently stand at just over 35,000, making the country’s pandemic outbreak the fourth deadliest in the world after the United States, Brazil and the United Kingdom. Mexico now also reports just under 300,000 total coronavirus cases, and its pandemic curve mirrors those across Central and South America, a region which accounts for about a quarter of all cases and deaths internationally. To cope with its surging case rate and death toll, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum has announced that any household with one confirmed case of the virus will be required to stay home for at least 15 days, with the government providing food and supplies. The city has also been forced to enforce laws limiting the length of time a body can be buried to allow the dead in public cemeteries to be exhumed, making space for those who died from the pandemic. Older bodies are being cremated and replaced with a new one. In contrast to the dire situation across the country, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) claimed Sunday, “The bottom line is that the pandemic is on the downside, that it is losing intensity.” His remarks, which echo the numerous falsehoods uttered by US President Donald Trump about the pandemic, are an attempt to justify the economic reopening his administration has spearheaded even as the actual case and death numbers have continued to increase. AMLO’s pandemic policies have been criticized by former health officials. Salomón Chertorivski, who served as health minister from 2011 – 2012, argued against reopening the economy before cases and deaths were steadily decreasing. “There are three fundamental variables: a reduction in the last 14 days in the numbers of contagions, reduction in recent days in the number of deaths, and reduction in the number of hospitalized people,” Chertorivski told the Mexican newspaper Reforma. “None of those three parameters were achieved.”
COVID-19 outbreaks escalate across England – UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted this weekend, “Each week there are over a hundred local actions taken [in response to coronavirus outbreaks] across the country – some of these will make the news, but many more are swiftly and silently dealt with.” This statement made to the Telegraph is a marked increase on previously reported figures. The outbreaks are a confirmation that the UK’s epidemic, never fully suppressed, is again spreading out of control. In Sheffield, an outbreak at a warehouse run by Clipper for fashion retailer Boohoo has infected at least 25 workers. Many more had symptoms but were never tested. Breaking the story at the weekend, the Sunday Times reported the words of a 51-year-old father of two who contracted the virus: “I caught it from the warehouse. There’s no way I should have been working. How is distributing cheap women’s fashion essential?” He explained how he was forced to work 12-hour shifts throughout April and May, saying, “I needed to put food on the table for my kids.” His wife and son have now both tested positive for COVID-19. Another employee told the Times, “I watched workers from multiple households travelling to the warehouse in packed cars. It saves money.” As in all such cases, workers have been raising safety concerns for months, but have been smothered by the continued inaction of government agencies and local politicians. On March 26, a video was circulated on social media showing warehouse employees working close to each other, in clear breach of social distancing guidelines. Labour MP for Sheffield South East, Clive Betts, has received complaints from at least 50 different workers at the site. On March 31, eight days into the national lockdown, one wrote to him, “The warehouse is completely full, people are virtually on top of each other with nothing put in place for social distancing, no PPE [personal protective equipment] whatsoever. It’s a breeding ground for the virus and needs closing down ASAP!” Betts did nothing other than to write to Boohoo. Between April and June, Sheffield’s Labour council and Public Health England (PHE) investigated the warehouse and found it had taken “reasonable steps” to ensure workers’ safety. Following the Times investigation, Clipper and Boohoo were able to respond, “The warehouse has been inspected a number of times by Public Health England and Sheffield City Council and has been approved each time.” Echoing the excuse of corporations the world over, Sheffield Council’s director of public health, Greg Fell, said virus transmission was more likely to have occurred “within households in the local community.” He did not elaborate on the implications of this statement for the “local community,” nor what geographical location he was referring to.
“It’s Unlike Anything We’ve Seen” – Hong Kong Discovers COVID-19 Mutation That Makes Virus 30% More Infectious – As Hong Kong reimposes new social distancing restrictions and orders gyms and arcades to close, while asking restaurants to close dine-in service in the evenings, one of its top virus experts is warning the city state might be on the cusp of its biggest and deadliest outbreak yet, and that Hong Kongers must be careful to do their part to help stop SARS-CoV-2 from spreading. Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of the University of Hong Kong’s medical school and a frequently quoted voice whose statements and views help influence the government’s response, says he believes there are a least 50 hidden cases in the community, many caused by international travelers according to the SCMP. Moreover, the doctor warned, apparently citing evidence obtained from local researchers, that a new mutation had been discovered in Hong Kong – a mutation that, according to Dr. Leung, has caused the virus to become 30% more infectious. He highlighted Kowloon East and Sha Tin as two areas of heightened risk, and insisted that the city state provide more resources for the elderly there.Like all statements about mutations, this should be taken with a grain of salt, though some research certainly does suggest that minor variations that affect how the virus attaches to the human ACE2 reception could make the virus more infectious. “This is the start of a sustained massive local outbreak the likes of which we have never seen before,” Leung said during a radio interview on Sunday. The day before, HK health authorities warned that a third wave of the virus appears to be the most serious by far, as at least 61 people in the city are believed to have been infected, or highly suspected to have been but are awaiting final test results. Unlike when SARS swept through Hong Kong’s financial district in 2003, Hong Kong has been largely spared by COVID-19, with a total of roughly 1,500 cases and only a handful of deaths. Still, officials have remained on guard, and Dr. Leung warned that the location of the latest cases suggests that the city didn’t do a good enough job suppressing several known clusters. Saturday’s new local infections arose from restaurants in Ping Shek Estate of Kwun Tong district and in Jordan of Yau Tsim Mong district, along with an old folks home in Tsz Wan Shan.
Coronavirus: Hong Kong expert warns each infected person can now spread Covid-19 to four people – May Tse A top medical expert advising the Hong Kong government on Covid-19 has warned that each infected person could transmit the coronavirus to four others, as the virus has turned more infectious, while the city has now entered the most serious phase of the public health crisis. Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of the University of Hong Kong’s medical school, said he believed there were at least 50 to 60 hidden cases in the community as an international study indicated a strain of the virus had increased its infection rate by 30 per cent due to a DNA mutation. He highlighted Kowloon East and Sha Tin as two areas most at risk of an outbreak and urged the government to prioritise testing resources for the elderly. “This is the start of a sustained massive local outbreak the likes of which we have never seen before,” Leung said on a radio programme on Sunday. On Saturday, health authorities warned that Hong Kong’s third wave of Covid-19 was by far the most serious of the public health crisis to date, as at least 61 people in the city were either confirmed as infected or had tested preliminary positive. The city reported 16 local infections among 28 cases officially confirmed on Saturday, while another 33 people were awaiting confirmation they had caught the deadly virus. The continued surge takes Hong Kong’s Covid-19 total to 1,431 with seven deaths. Saturday’s new local infections included those from previously known clusters revolving around two restaurants – in Ping Shek Estate of Kwun Tong district and in Jordan of Yau Tsim Mong district – as well as an elderly care home.
Indonesia records over 1,000 COVID-19 cases every day for three weeks – Indonesia is becoming the new COVID-19 epicentre in East Asia. Over the past three weeks, more than 1,000 new cases were recorded every day. If the current trend continues, within the next two weeks the country’s official figures will surpass those of China, where the virus first broke out in January. During the same period, the death toll similarly climbed, with between 30 and 90 fatalities confirmed each day. The numbers currently stand at 75,699 infections and 3,606 deaths. Last Thursday, a new record was reached with 2,657 cases in one day. The spike was due to the discovery of a large cluster at a military academy in Bandung, West Java. Army Chief of Staff General Andika Perkasa revealed on Saturday there were 1,280 confirmed cases at the school. Of these, 991 were army cadets, while the rest were staff and their families. The vast majority showed no symptoms. Moreover, the 2,657 cases were discovered from testing only 12,554 people, suggesting an infection rate of over 20 percent. Indonesia’s testing rate, despite a mild expansion of capacity over the past month, remains among the lowest in the world. Ranked 162nd, according to website Worldometer, it conducts only 3,789 tests per million people. In the fourth-most populous country in the world, with over 273 million people, this is highly dangerous. The dramatic rise in figures partly corresponds to increased testing, but the government’s aggressive back-to-work policy has accelerated the spread of the virus across the nation’s 6,000 inhabited islands. Overcrowded urban centres have become viral hotbeds, since the large-scale reopening of workplaces, restaurants, and public transport began early last month. In response to Thursday’s spike, President Joko Widodo labelled the situation a “red signal” but blamed the spread of the virus on the behaviour of the population. He claimed that transmission would rise if the public did not cooperate with prevention measures. The government is seeking to divert popular attention from its own track record of mixed messages and blatant misinformation about the virus. Government ministers have variously advocated bean sprouts and broccoli to avoid contracting the virus. Widodo himself promoted drinking jamu, a traditional herbal drink. Others asserted that the coronavirus cannot survive in tropical climates. Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo was condemned last week by experts for claiming a necklace made from eucalyptus could help prevent transmission. The necklaces have been developed by the government and will be mass-produced in August.
Rouhani warns 25 million infected as Iran reimposes restrictions – (Reuters) – President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that 25 million Iranians have been infected with the coronavirus and that another 35 million were at risk of acquiring it as Iran reimposed restrictions in the capital and elsewhere. The figures Rouhani cited in a televised speech were far higher than Saturday’s official toll of 271,606. His office said they were based on “an estimated scenario” from a report by the health ministry’s deputy minister of research. “Our estimate is that until now 25 million Iranians have been infected with this virus and about 14,000 have lost their dear lives,” Rouhani said in the speech. “There is the possibility that between 30 and 35 million other people will be at risk.” He said more than 200,000 people had been hospitalised and that the ministry expected that number to double in the coming months. Authorities on Saturday reimposed one-week restrictions in the capital Tehran including banning religious and cultural functions, closing boarding schools, cafes, indoor pools, amusement parks and zoos. The Health Ministry reported 188 deaths in the past 24 hours to take Iran’s total to 13,979.
AP Explains: Why India cases are rising to multiple peaks – In just three weeks, India went from the world’s sixth worst-affected country by the coronavirus to the third, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. India’s fragile health system was bolstered during a stringent monthslong lockdown but could still be overwhelmed by an exponential rise in infections. India has tallied 793,802 infections and more than 21,600 deaths, with cases doubling every three weeks. It’s testing more than 250,000 samples daily after months of sluggishness, but experts say this is insufficient for a country of nearly 1.4 billion people. “This whole thing about the ‘peak’ is a false bogey because we won’t have one peak in India, but a series of peaks,” said Dr. Anant Bhan, a bioethics and global health researcher. He pointed out that the capital of New Delhi and India’s financial capital, Mumbai, had already seen surges, while infections had now begun spreading to smaller cities as governments eased restrictions. The actual toll would be unknown, he said, unless India made testing more accessible. The Health Ministry said Thursday that India was doing “relatively well” managing COVID-19, pointing to 13 deaths per 1 million people, compared to about 400 in the United States and 320 in Brazil. But knowing the actual toll in India is “absolutely impossible” because there is no reporting mechanism in most places for any kind of death, said Dr. Jayaprakash Muliyil, an epidemiologist at the Christian Medical College in Vellore who has been advising the government. Official data shows 43% of the people who have died from the coronavirus were between the ages of 30 and 60, but research globally indicates that the disease is particularly fatal to the elderly, suggesting to Muliyil that many virus deaths among older Indians “don’t get picked up” or counted in the virus fatality numbers. In India, public health is managed at a state level, and some have managed better than others. The southern state of Kerala, where India’s first three virus cases were reported, has been held up as a model. It isolated patients early, traced and quarantined contacts and tested aggressively. By contrast, Delhi, the state that includes the national capital, has been sharply criticized for failing to anticipate a surge of cases in recent weeks as lockdown measures eased. Patients have died after being turned away from COVID-designated hospitals that said they were at capacity. It led the Home Ministry to intervene and allocate 500 railway cars as makeshift hospital wards.But as the capital rushes to conjure new beds, officials admit that they’re worried about the lack of trained and experienced health care workers. According to Jishnu Das, a professor of economics at Georgetown University, there is “no central coordination” to move health care staff from one state to another, exposing India’s relative inability to use data to guide policy decisions.
India reaches over 1 million COVID-19 cases – India on Friday surpassed 1 million coronavirus cases, joining the U.S. and Brazil as the only countries to reach the grim milestone around the world. There are 1,003,832 confirmed cases of coronavirus in India as of Friday morning, according to data compiled from Johns Hopkins University. The country has confirmed over 26,600 fatalities. The peak comes after the country’s health ministry reported a record 34,956 infections in a 24-hour period on Friday, CNN reported. Schools and university across India have been shuttered since March in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, The New York Times reported. The country’s government has called on school systems to limit online courses to just a few hours a day. Over 100 million people in the country have lost their jobs amid the ongoing pandemic, with the country’s economy predicted to contract by an estimated 9.5 percent, according to the Times. In the beginning of the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for masks and social distancing and imposed a nationwide lockdown that lasted nearly three months. But recently, he called for the leaders of India’s 28 states and 8 territories to “unlock” amid the economic hit from the pandemic, the Times noted. On Tuesday, health officials in Brazil announced that the country has surpassed 2 million COVID-19 cases. The U.S. leads the world in COVID-19 cases, confirming 3,576,221 infections and 138,360 fatalities as of Friday morning, according to John Hopkins University.
Coronavirus updates: India passes 1m virus cases as Brazil hits 2m – BBC – There have now been more than 1m confirmed cases in India, and 2m in Brazil. The total in both countries has doubled in less than a month. Despite an increase in daily infections, the death rate in Brazil is largely flat. But in India, the number of people dying with Covid-19 each day is increasing. The Health Ministry has now confirmed that with more than 34,000 new infections in the last 24 hours, India has breached the one million mark. The number of deaths reported has now crossed 25,000.When India first went into lockdown, back in March, cases were hovering around 500. And when it started to gradually exit out of its lockdown on 8 June, confirmed cases had increased rapidly across states.With more than 1.3 billion people, the country was always a point of concern. With its densely populated cities, most experts anticipated India to become a big hotspot when cases were still in the thousands.From the first case, which was confirmed in January, to now, it took nearly 170 days to cross a million infections. Over the months, it raced past China, Europe’s worst-hit countries, and most recently, Russia, to confirm the third-highest caseload in the world.In the past two months, we’ve heard heart-breaking stories of people unable to get care and hospitals overwhelmed. Simultaneously, testing across states has increased which could help explain the rise in numbers too. But it’s worth noting that India’s active cases are still relatively low at around 340,000. The number of people recovering from the virus is optimistic – for every 100 confirmed cases, 63 have recovered. And the mortality rate, at 2.55%, remains encouraging. Brazil has now tallied more than two million confirmed virus cases. It was less than a month ago that Brazil reached one million cases – and there is little sign that the rate of increase is slowing. Brazil, which is home to around 210 million people, is the second worst affected country behind the US. But President Jair Bolsonaro, who tested positive for the virus, has continued to play down its health risks and fought against social distancing orders. More than 74,000 people have died from the virus – and the true figures are believed to be even higher.
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