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 an increased number of items from other countries around the globe. Growth of new US cases has slowed after picking up after a Thanksgiving reporting slowdown. Elsewhere, new cases continue rising globally, along with the global death rate. Economic news related to COVID-19 is found here.
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Summary:
We are continuing to hit records, but the growth of both new Covid cases and Covid deaths has slowed. New US Covid infections set a new record on Wednesday and beat that record on Friday, topping a quarter million new cases on each of those days, but our full week’s total was only 1% above that of last week because the average number of new cases for the first three days of this week was below 200,000 a day. It fell back below that level again on Saturday. Even so, this week’s covid infections in the US accounted for more than a third of the world total, and the new cases in California alone topped every country on the planet except for Brazil. Meanwhile, our Covid deaths hit a record on Wednesday, beating last week’s record by 10%, but our Covid deaths this week were only 5.5% above those of last week, mostly because deaths on Friday came in well below trend.
(I use the word “only” there with some reservation, since our daily Covid death rate is now close to that of our deaths from heart disease and cancer combined.)
I watch the interactive graphs on Johns Hopkins’s dashboard for the global trends and that crazy spike to nearly 1.5 million new cases last Wednesday is still there. (See chart below.) Take that odd spike out, and the growth rate of new cases globally has settled in below 2% weekly for the past several weeks. Meanwhile, the global death rate has been rising at a rate approaching 5% over the same period. If the death rate does not slow soon, that would suggest that an increasing number of cases are going undiagnosed.
The chart below from WorldoMeter shows the daily number of new cases for the US, updated through 19 December.
New cases globally continued to increase. (See Johns Hopkins graph below.) The growth rate has visibly slowed since the rapid acceleration in October. However, the advance is relentless with new records set every week. The new record 734,404 new cases was hit on Wednesday and was topped (735,615) on Thursday. (These records are ignoring the anomalous spike on December 10.)
Also, Johns Hopkins has a graph for global deaths (below) that I mentioned above. Deaths globally were up about 5% week-over-week. It appears that the death rate that had been accelerating since early November, corresponding to the accelerating pattern for new cases in October, has now decelerated from the previous 10% weekly growth.
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Calculated Risk tracks the daily testing rate and results. The 19 December graphic:
The count of testing has been quite eratic over the past couple of weeks, while the percent positive has turned it’s slow downturn back up to a new high for the fall a little over a week ago.
Of course, Steven Hansen summarizes and links the latest news related to the pandemic every day, 7 days a week, plus displays over a dozen important graphics updated at least daily. The most recent article at the time this is published: 19 December 2020 Coronavirus Charts and News: Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Authorized. 35% Of U.S. Adults Could Be Facing Eviction Or Foreclosure In The Next Two Months.
This article leads the daily newsletter from Global Economic Intersection every day. Newsletter subscription is free.
Here are the rest of the articles for the past week reviewed and summarized:
COVID-19 patients at higher risk of death, health problems than those with flu – Washington University — Almost a year ago, COVID-19 began its global rampage, going on to infect about 69.5 million people and kill about 1.6 million as of early this month. From the beginning, most scientists have said that COVID-19 is deadlier than the seasonal flu, while fringe theories have circulated widely, suggesting it is less deadly or flu’s equal. Evidence is accumulating, however, to show just how much deadlier COVID-19 is compared with the flu and the extent of complications related to the two illnesses. The new research – a deep dive into federal data by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System – reveals a clearer distinction between the two contagious viruses: Among hospitalized patients, COVID-19 was associated with an increased need for ventilators, more admissions into intensive care units (ICUs), longer hospital stays and nearly five times the risk of death than faced by those with the flu. And although both illnesses attack the lungs, the analysis showed COVID-19 also can damage other organs. It revealed that COVID-19 was associated with a higher risk of complications such as acute kidney and liver damage, as well as heart disorders, stroke, severe septic shock, low blood pressure, excessive blood clotting and new-onset diabetes. The findings are published online Dec. 15 ET in the journal The BMJ. “Many high-profile, public comparisons between COVID-19 and the flu have been made; however, those comparisons mostly were drawn using disparate data and statistical methods that have resulted in a lot of conjecture,” said senior author Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Washington University. “Our research represents an apples-to-apples comparison between the two diseases.”
COVID-19 spread increases when UV levels decrease Natural variations in ultraviolet radiation influence the spread of COVID-19, but the influence is modest compared to preventive measures such as physical distancing, mask wearing, and quarantine, according to new research from Harvard University. “These findings suggest that the incidence of COVID-19 may have a seasonal pattern, spreading faster in the winter when it’s darker than in the summer.”Analyzing daily COVID-19 and weather data from over 3,000 administrative regions in more than 170 countries, researchers found that the spread of COVID-19 through a population tended to be lower in the weeks following higher UV exposure. Findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.The seasonality of COVID-19 has been a mystery since the disease first emerged one year ago, though there have been some clues that UV could play a role. Related species of coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS were found to be sensitive to UV radiation and recent laboratory studies show that UV inactivates SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on surfaces. Attempts to understand the influence of UV in the real world, however, have been limited by scarce data and the difficulty of isolating climate variables from other drivers of transmission. To test for an environmental signal within the noise of the pandemic, the team compiled and cleaned data from statistical agencies around the world. To avoid potentially confounding factors that differ across regions, such as healthcare infrastructure or population density, the team examined how transmission within a particular population changed according to variations in sunlight, temperature, precipitation and humidity experienced by that same population.While this research shows that COVID-19 exhibits a seasonal pattern due to changes in UV, the full seasonality of COVID-19 remains unclear because of uncertain influences from other environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.
People Thought Covid-19 Was Relatively Harmless for Younger Adults. They Were Wrong. — The largest burden of Covid-19 has undoubtedly fallen on people older than 65; they account for around 80 percent of deaths in the United States. But if we momentarily eclipse that from our mind’s eye, something else becomes visible: The corona of this virus. Young adults are dying at historic rates. In research published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, we found that among U.S. adults ages 25 to 44, from March through the end of July, there were almost 12,000 more deaths than were expected based on historical norms. In fact, July appears to have been the deadliest month among this age group in modern American history. Over the past 20 years, an average of 11,000 young American adults died each July. This year that number swelled to over 16,000. The trends continued this fall. Based on prior trends, around 154,000 in this demographic had been projected to die in 2020. We surpassed that total in mid-November. Even if death rates suddenly return to normal in December – and we know that they will not – we would anticipate well over 170,000 deaths among U.S. adults in this demographic by the end of 2020. While detailed data are not yet available for all areas, we know Covid-19 is the driving force behind these excess deaths. Consider New York State. In April and May, Covid-19 killed 1,081 adults ages 20 to 49, according to statistics we gathered from the New York State Health Department. Remarkably, this figure towers over the state’s usual leading cause of death in that age group – unintentional accidents including drug overdoses and road accidents – which combined to cause 495 deaths in this demographic during April and May of 2018, the most recent year for which data are available to the public. After the Northeast’s horrific first surge this spring subsided, similar trends began to become apparent in other regions over the summer. As caseloads among the younger population rose nationwide, Covid-19 became a leading cause of death among younger adults in other regions. While deaths from the virus temporarily exceeded opioid deaths among young adults in some areas this year, we are also concerned that unintentional overdose deaths have increased during the pandemic as well. Nor is it an illusion that people of color constitute a disproportionate fraction of the dead. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among adults 25 to 44, Black and Hispanic people make up not just a disproportionate number but a majority of Covid-19 deaths through Sept. 30. Stay-at-home policies have saved lives, but their benefits have not been equally distributed. Among essential workers, many of whom are people of color, sheltering-in-place was never a real option. For too long, the message has been repeated – by us and our colleagues, by government officials and the public – that Covid-19 is dangerous for the old and that younger people do well. It’s true that deaths among adults ages 25 to 44 account for fewer than 3 percent of Covid-19 deaths in the United States, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. But what we believed before about the relative harmlessness of Covid-19 among younger adults has simply not been borne out by emerging data. In the past, it took us too long to respond to the epidemics of opioids and H.I.V./AIDS when the young started dying in large numbers. Now that we have similar information about Covid-19, we must immediately address it. We need to amend our messaging and our policies now. Outreach in the coming weeks and months is imperative. We know it can help. The use of lifesaving medications like methadone and buprenorphine increased after awareness of the devastation of the opioid epidemic became commonly understood, saving many lives. We need to tell young people that they are at risk and that they need to wear masks and make safer choices about social distancing.
COVID-19 can invade testicles, University of Miami researchers find. What can this mean? – COVID-19 can invade tissues in the testicles in some men who are infected with the novel coronavirus, according to a new study by a team of University of Miami Miller School of Medicine researchers. The UM study was published Tuesday in The World Journal of Men’s Health. “These findings could be the first step in discovering COVID-19’s potential impact on male fertility and whether the virus can be sexually transmitted,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, an associate professor and director of reproductive urology at UM’s Miller School. Ramasamy and eight colleagues analyzed testis tissue from the autopsies of six men who died of COVID-19 infection in Miami-Dade County. They found impaired sperm function in three of the testis specimens and evidence of COVID-19 using electron microscopy in the tissue of one. “We also identified the presence of the virus in a man who underwent a testis biopsy for infertility but had a previous history of COVID-19. So the patient tested negative and was asymptomatic after having COVID-19 but still showed the presence of the virus inside the testes,” Ramasamy said in a statement. The COVID-19-positive autopsy patients’ ages ranged from 20 to 87, according to the health journal. The COVID-19-negative patients’ ages ranged from 28 to 77. The average length of time from the first positive COVID-19 test to death was 11 days, with one case tested after the man’s death.“This is the first published research to report on the case of a live patient to demonstrate the presence of COVID-19 in testis tissue of a patient who recovered from the virus. The finding is novel, remarkable, and certainly worthy of further exploration,” Ramasamy said. Researchers know that COVID-19 can affect the lungs, heart, kidneys and liver. But until UM’s study, little was known about the pathogenesis of the virus in the testes, The World Journal of Men’s Health reported. According to the school, “it makes sense that the testes, which are responsible for sperm and testosterone production, are a target for COVID-19 infection. The virus has an affinity for angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptors, which are in many of the body’s organs – including the lungs, heart, intestines, kidneys and testes.” But there is still a question about how much of the virus needs to be present in the testes to be detected in semen, as well as what threshold of viral load is needed in the semen to be sexually transmitted. Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article247022937.html#storylink=cpy
Research strongly suggests COVID-19 virus enters the brain – More and more evidence is coming out that people with COVID-19 are suffering from cognitive effects, such as brain fog and fatigue. And researchers are discovering why. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, like many viruses before it, is bad news for the brain. In a study published Dec.16 in Nature Neuroscience, researchers found that the spike protein, often depicted as the red arms of the virus, can cross the blood-brain barrier in mice. This strongly suggests that SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19, can enter the brain. The spike protein, often called the S1 protein, dictates which cells the virus can enter. Usually, the virus does the same thing as its binding protein, said lead author William A. Banks, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a Puget Sound Veterans Affairs Healthcare System physician and researcher. Banks said binding proteins like S1 usually by themselves cause damage as they detach from the virus and cause inflammation. “The S1 protein likely causes the brain to release cytokines and inflammatory products,” he said. In science circles, the intense inflammation caused by the COVID-19 infection is called a cytokine storm. The immune system, upon seeing the virus and its proteins, overreacts in its attempt to kill the invading virus. The infected person is left with brain fog, fatigue and other cognitive issues. Banks and his team saw this reaction with the HIV virus and wanted to see if the same was happening with SARS CoV-2. Banks said the S1 protein in SARS-CoV2 and the gp 120 protein in HIV-1 function similarly. They are glycoproteins – proteins that have a lot of sugars on them, hallmarks of proteins that bind to other receptors. Both these proteins function as the arms and hand for their viruses by grabbing onto other receptors. Both cross the blood-brain barrier and S1, like gp120, is likely toxic to brain tissues. “It was like déjà vu,” said Banks, who has done extensive work on HIV-1, gp120, and the blood-brain barrier.
FDA endorses safety and efficacy of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine – A coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Moderna is on the verge of authorization after Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientists found it to be safe and 94 percent effective at preventing severe cases of COVID-19. The evidence will be discussed during a panel meeting of independent experts on Thursday. Based on the track taken by the vaccine manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech, the FDA could grant emergency use authorization for the Moderna vaccine as soon as Friday. The vaccine was effective across all races and genders, the FDA found, similar to the Pfizer vaccine. Both Pfizer and Moderna developed their vaccines using experimental mRNA technology, and both rely on two doses to be effective – Moderna’s must be taken 28 days apart, while Pfizer’s are given 21 days apart. Moderna is asking for authorization in people ages 18 and over, while Pfizer’s vaccine was cleared for people as young as 16. The lack of data among 16 and 17-year-olds led some of the members of the agency’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee to vote against Pfizer’s authorization. Side effects included chills, injection site soreness, fever, headache and fatigue, but most did not last longer than a day, the agency found. The FDA said there appears to be some protection against COVID-19 following one dose; however, there wasn’t enough information about longer-term protection beyond 28 days after a single dose. The anticipated authorization would give America two different vaccines against COVID-19. The Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed has invested $4.1 billion in federal funds in the development and distribution of Moderna’s vaccine. The federal government signed a deal last summer to deliver a total of 100 million doses in the first quarter of 2021. Last week the administration announced that it had purchased another 100 million doses from Moderna for the second quarter. Between Moderna and the vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech, health officials said they expect to deliver enough doses to vaccinate 20 million people with the first dose by the end of the year. Moderna’s vaccine is anticipated to create fewer logistical challenges, as it does not require the same ultra-cold storage of Pfizer’s vaccine. It can remain stable for up to 30 days at the same temperature as a standard refrigerator.
US plans to ship 6 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine straight after the FDA authorizes it – double its initial shipment of Pfizer’s shot – The US plans to ship 6 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine as soon as the Food and Drug Administration authorizes it for emergency use, officials said Monday – more than double the nation’s initial shipment of Pfizer and BioNTech’s shot.Emergency authorization by the FDA is “likely” to come by Friday, the head of the White House’s vaccine effort known as Operation Warp Speed said Sunday. A panel of FDA experts is scheduled to review the vaccine Thursday.Gen. Gustave Perna, the head of logistics for Operation Warp Speed, said during a press briefing Monday that the US would ship “just a little bit short of 6 million doses out to the American people” following authorization.”Our goal would be for the Moderna product to be available this time next week across the United States,” Perna said Monday.Six million doses would be more than double the US’s initial shipment of 2.9 million doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine.”The difference in quantities was about what was available when we were doing planning for initial delivery,” Perna said.”As early as November 15, I snapped the chalk line on what was available to Pfizer so states could do planning … We wanted them to have as much time to do planning and realize where they wanted it to go first.”The key is we catch up in our following cadence and allocations,” he added.Moderna’s initial doses are to be packaged and distributed to 3,285 sites across the US – significantly more than for the Pfizer-BioNTech shot. While Pfizer is shipping doses directly from its warehouses via FedEx and UPS because of its ultracold chain facilities, Moderna is using the medical-supply company McKesson, which in turn will work alongside FedEx and UPS for the final stages of delivery, Alex Azar, the secretary of health and human services, said at the briefing.
FDA gives green light to Moderna COVID-19 vaccine – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday cleared the nation’s second coronavirus vaccine, giving additional hope that the end of the pandemic could be in sight. The official emergency use authorization for the Moderna vaccine comes after an agency advisory panel voted 20-0 in favor of the vaccine Thursday. The authorization now allows the Trump administration to begin shipping nearly 6 million doses of the vaccine across the country. Once a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) panel meets and votes this weekend, vaccinations will be allowed to begin. Between Moderna and the vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech that has already been approved, health officials said they expect to deliver enough doses to vaccinate 20 million people with the first dose by the end of the year. Still, it will be a long time before vaccines are widely available. Even under perfect conditions, the general population likely won’t get vaccinated until late spring or summer. Until then, health officials are warning everyone that the coming months will be dire. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine require two doses, and officials said they intend to hold back the second dose and ship it to states separately to ensure there’s no waste. Both vaccines are about 95 percent effective for the general population, although Moderna’s was 86 percent effective for people over age 65. Moderna’s vaccine is anticipated to create fewer logistical challenges, as it does not require the same ultra-cold storage as Pfizer’s vaccine. It can remain stable for up to 30 days at the same temperature as a standard freezer. Unlike Pfizer, Moderna’s vaccine was developed with significant federal financial support. The administration’s Operation Warp Speed has invested $4.1 billion into the vaccine’s development and distribution, and the National Institutes of Health helped run clinical trials for the company. Moderna has also contracted the federal government directly to run the distribution, so the administration will have more control over the logistics than it has with Pfizer. The government has contracted with McKesson, one of the world’s largest wholesale drug distributors, for vaccine distribution. The vaccine will be shipped from the manufacturer to McKesson distribution sites, and then will be sent out to the 64 different jurisdictions that will receive doses. That approach contrasts with Pfizer, which because of the cold storage requirements, ships its vaccines directly to hospitals and health centers. The Trump administration signed a deal last summer to deliver a total of 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine in the first quarter of 2021. Earlier this month, Warp Speed officials announced that the administration had purchased another 100 million doses from Moderna for the second quarter.
Moderna, McKesson and U.S. Army general begin rolling out new COVID vaccine –(Reuters) – Distribution of Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine to more than 3,700 locations in the United States has begun, vastly widening the rollout started last week by Pfizer Inc, U.S Army General Gustave Perna said on Saturday. Moderna has already moved vaccines from its manufacturing plants to warehouses operated by distributor McKesson Corp where they are being packed into containers and loaded on to trucks on Saturday, Perna said during a news conference. Trucks will set out on Sunday and shipments will start reaching healthcare providers as soon as Monday, he said. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved an emergency use authorization for Moderna’s vaccine, the second COVID-19 vaccine to be approved. The jab developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE was approved Dec. 11. Workers in pharmaceutical services provider Catalent Inc’s facility in Bloomington, Indiana, are filling and packaging vials with Moderna vaccine and handing them to McKesson, which will ship doses from facilities including Louisville, Kentucky and Memphis, Tennessee. Those locations are close to air hubs for United Parcel Service Inc and FedEx Corp. The start of delivery for the Moderna vaccine will significantly widen availability of COVID-19 vaccines as U.S. deaths related to the respiratory virus set records. Perna apologized to U.S. governors for confusion on the vaccine’s availability after the U.S. government this week reduced allocation figures it had given to states to help them plan this coming week’s rollout. States including Oregon and Washington said this week their allocation had dropped by as much as 40%. Perna said he made an error estimating the number of doses that would actually be cleared by regulators for shipment, which was fewer than the number of doses that had been produced. He said there are no problems with Pfizer’s or Moderna’s manufacturing processes. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it still expects to deliver 7.9 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines nationally this week.
Surgeon general urges vaccine education among communities of color – Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Monday stressed the need for education about the COVID-19 vaccine in communities of color, specifically in Black communities, which have justifiably low levels of trust in health care institutions. “Having a vaccine is only the first step. We must now move from vaccines to vaccinations. And it would be a great tragedy if disparities actually worsened because the people who could most benefit from this vaccine won’t take it,” Adams said at a press conference from George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. “We know that lack of trust is a major cause for reluctance, especially in communities of color. And that lack of trust is not without good reason, as the Tuskegee studies occurred in our lifetimes. To encourage diverse enrollment in clinical trials, we must first acknowledge this real history of mistreatment and exploitation of minorities by the medical community and the government,” he added. Adams, who is Black, was referring to a project also known as the Tuskegee syphilis study, which was started by the Public Health Service in 1932. The premise of the study was to “record the natural history of syphilis.” The Black men who participated in the study were given free medical exams in payment but were never offered treatment for the disease, even after penicillin became the main form of treatment for syphilis. While all of the subjects agreed to be part of the study, they did so unaware of the nature of the study and were, in fact, misled by researchers. The federal study wasn’t ended until 1972. Today, disparities in the health care system have significant negative impacts on Black Americans. Black women are nearly three times more likely to die during childbirth than white women. The U.S.’s Black infant mortality rate is more than two times greater than its mortality rate for white infants.
FDA investigating allergic reactions to Pfizer vaccine reported in multiple states – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating allergic reactions to the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine that were reported in multiple states after it began to be administered this week. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told reporters late Friday that the reactions had been reported in more than one state besides Alaska and that the FDA is probing five reactions. “We are working hand in hand with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and we’ve actually been working closely with our United Kingdom colleagues, who of course reported the allergic reaction. I think we’ll be looking at all the data we can from each of these reactions to sort out exactly what happened, and we’ll also be looking to try to understand which component of the vaccine might be helping to produce them,” Marks said. “I think we have at this point the right … mitigation strategy with the availability of treatment for a severe allergic reaction being at the ready, and we’ll continue to monitor it very closely,” he added. Marks said the FDA was not certain what caused the reactions but indicated a chemical called polyethylene glycol, which is present in the vaccines produced by Pfizer and BioNTech as well as by Moderna “could be the culprit.” He added that the reaction some people have experienced could be more common than once thought. “We’ll obviously be monitoring very closely what’s going on. We’re working very closely with the CDC on these, and there have been meetings between the CDC and FDA pretty much every day this week making sure we’re keeping very close track of what’s going on,” he said. Overnight Health Care: CVS, Walgreens to begin nursing home… FDA gives green light to Moderna COVID-19 vaccine The reports of allergic reactions in Alaska follow two similar cases reported last week in Britain, the first nation to approve Pfizer’s vaccine. The FDA’s current guidance says that most Americans with allergies should be cleared to take the vaccine but that people who’ve had severe reactions to other vaccines should not get vaccinated. It also said Friday that people with a history of severe allergic reactions to any components of the Moderna shot should avoid getting that vaccine.
Further Discussion of the Red Flags in the Pfizer Vaccine Paper in the New England Journal of Medicine -Yves Smith – Earlier this week, we posted An Internal Medicine Doctor and His Peers Read the Pfizer Vaccine Study and See Red Flags [Updated]. Most readers responded very positively to the write-up by IM Doc, which included the reactions of the eight other members of his Journal Club who reviewed the article and its editorial, as they have done regularly with important medical journal articles. We have embedded the Pfizer article from the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) below; the link to the editorial is here.However, some took issue with IM Doc noting that two nurses in the UK had suffered anaphylaxis, a severe, potentially life threatening allergic reaction, after getting the Pfizer shot. IM Doc criticized the paper and editorial for not including or adding a discussion of any exclusion criteria, particularly since Pfizer’s proxies admitted that severe allergies were an exclusion criterion. From MedicalXpress: “Looking into the data, patients or subjects with severe allergic reaction history have been excluded from the clinical trial. Slaoui is the co-head of Operation Warp Speed and previously head of GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccine department. Other media outlets and professional medical writers (see here and here for examples) picked up his statement that subjects with severe allergic reactions were excluded. If you look at the article below, you will see that it is not searchable. That indicates an expectation that it would be read as a print out only. You will find it make no mention of “exclusion criteria”. Neither does the the separate editorial by NEJM editors. The article does does mention “protocols” in the text, twice, but does not have a link to where to find them, does not have a written URL, nor does it provide a name or location to assist in finding them. Some critics argued that the protocol (which you need to search through to find the selection process for candidates, including the exclusion criteria, for the Phase III trials) could “easily” be found in the Supplemental Materials and further asserted that any regular reader of medical papers would be able to find then. The fact that IM Doc, who has been reading medical papers for 30 years, and his eight colleagues did not locate them is already significant counter-evidence, particularly since the NEJM’s media kit lists the publication’s audience solely as physicians. No doubt scientists read it too, but the eyeballs advertisers really want to reach are doctors, academics or scientists in the employ of competitors. IM Doc could not find the Supplemental Materials because the PDF that the NEJM generates does not include them. It is in the online version, and opens up to a dropdown menu, with the first item “Protocols” which takes you to a document via an external link. Since readers have every right to assume that online and PDF versions of the same article are identical, there was no reason for him to look further.It turns out that the data waters appear to have been muddied by the NEJM itself…
FDA authorizes first fully at-home, over the counter COVID-19 test — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday granted emergency authorization to the first over the counter, fully at-home test for COVID-19. The move is a significant step forward in expanding the reach of rapid, at-home coronavirus tests, something experts have been advocating for months. Still, there will be limitations on supply and cost could be a barrier to widespread, repeated use. “Today’s authorization is a major milestone in diagnostic testing for COVID-19,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn. “By authorizing a test for over-the-counter use, the FDA allows it to be sold in places like drug stores, where a patient can buy it, swab their nose, run the test and find out their results in as little as 20 minutes.” A spokesperson for Ellume said the company’s “intention is to price the test at $30 or less,” adding that “while our initial investments in manufacturing are very large and the initial price may be higher, we are aiming to make this product as accessible as possible.” The company said it received $30 million from a National Institutes of Health program to spur test development, which helped speed up development. The test correctly identified 96 percent of positives and 100 percent of negatives in people with symptoms, the FDA said. In people without symptoms, that was 91 percent and 96 percent. “This test, like other antigen tests, is less sensitive and less specific than typical molecular tests run in a lab,” said Jeff Shuren, head of the FDA device center. “However, the fact that it can be used completely at home and return results quickly means that it can play an important role in response to the pandemic.”
Biogen conference linked to as many as 300K COVID-19 cases — A team of scientists using genetic sequencing found that between 205,000 and 300,000 coronavirus cases across the US are linked to a “superspreader” medical conference in Boston in late February. The conference was previously thought to have been associated with about 20,000 cases in the Boston metro area, but the researchers say it actually spread much further after about 100 people caught the virus at the gathering, CBS News reported. Through Nov. 1, the genetic marker found in the strain of the virus linked to the conference was found in 51,000 cases around Boston. It also spread to other locations where conference attendees returned, including in Florida, where 29 percent of the conference-linked cases ended up; Indiana and North Carolina. The strain of virus was found as far away as Australia and Slovakia, according to the research, published in the journal Science. “We don’t think these strains had a propensity to spread more than any other,” said Jacob Lemieux, the study’s lead author. “We suspect that these types of events have been happening over and over again, and are major contributors to the propagation and spread of SARS-cov2 throughout the world.
USC study: Young adults who identify as Republicans eschew COVID safety precautions — Young Californians who identify themselves as Republicans are less likely to follow social distancing guidelines that prevent coronavirus transmission than those who identify as Democrats or Independents, according to new USC study published today in JAMA Internal Medicine. The findings among 18- to 25-year-olds mirror what many have observed about America’s politicized response to COVID-19, and are a source of alarm for public health experts. The United States is now averaging 207,000 new cases and 2,319 deaths per day, as of Friday. “You might expect middle-aged or older adults to have established ideologies that affect their health behavior, but to see it in young adults who have historically been less politically inclined is unexpected,” said Adam Leventhal, director of the USC Institute for Addiction Science. “Regardless of age, we would never hope to find results like this. Public health practices should not correlate with politics.” Of the young adults contacted, 891 identified as Democrat, 148 as Republican, 320 as “Independent or Other,” and 706 declined to answer or said they didn’t know what political party they identify with. Researchers found that 24.3% of Republican young adults said they don’t frequently social distance from others, compared with just 5.2% of Democrats. Differences in social distancing practices were also found when Republicans were compared to Independents and young adults who did not report a political party affiliation. Researchers discovered that Republicans versus other groups were more likely to visit public indoor venues such as malls, restaurants, bars or clubs, or attend or host parties with 10 people or more.
Mink in Utah is first wild animal to test positive for COVID-19 – A mink in Utah has tested positive for the contagion – the first-ever known case in a wild animal, according to officials.While the small mammals are known to get infected – with Denmark infamously announcing plans to slaughter 17 million of them – they have until now only been found in farms.“To our knowledge, this is the 1st free-ranging, native wild animal confirmed with SARS-CoV-2,” the US Department of Agriculture said Monday as it announced the alarming discovery. Several animals from different wildlife species were sampled and all tested negative, the USDA added. The agency said it notified the World Organisation for Animal Health but maintained there is no evidence the virus has been widespread in wild populations around infected mink farms. Last month, an Oregon mink farm was put in quarantine after an outbreak was found – infecting staff along with the animals. COVID-19 has been found on mink farms in Michigan and Wisconsin, along with numerous other nations, including the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden and Spain. The virus has also been found in zoo tigers and household cats and dogs.
New Hampshire’s Republican governor is calling on people to wear masks after the state’s House Speaker died of COVID-19 – The Republican governor of New Hampshire is urging people to wear masks to stop the spread of COVID-19 after state Rep. and House Speaker Dick Hinch died from the virus. Hinch, 71, was found dead in his home on December 9, one week after he accepted a nomination for New Hampshire’s speaker of the house at an outdoor swearing-in ceremony, an event that hundreds of people attended and many opted not to wear masks, The Washington Post reported. At a press conference on Thursday, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu called Hinch’s death a “stark reminder” that “no one is immune.” He also criticized criticized Republican legislators for not wearing masks during large gatherings.
White House head of security has lost his lower right leg to COVID and spent three months in the ICU — The White House’s director of security has lost his right leg and part of his left foot to COVID after spending three months in the ICU, a friend has revealed.Crede Bailey, 54, was first revealed to have contracted the virus in early October but a friend who set up a GoFundMe has now revealed the full extent of his battle.He lost his lower right leg and the big toe of his left foot during the three-month battle which appears to have begin in early September, as much as a month before his illness was revealed.The married father of one’s role at the White House included overseeing the issuing of security credentials and liaising with the Secret Service. He is a career civil servant who previously worked for the Army. Two people familiar with Crede Bailey’s condition confirmed the details to Bloombergin a Monday report as a GoFundMe page for the White House aide, which was set up earlier this year, was revealed.Dawn McCrobie set up the GoFundMe page for Bailey, which as of Monday afternoon has raised more than $36,000 for his rehabilitation. It is not immediately clear if President Donald Trump, who tested positive for COVID early in October, has made a donation. McCrobie wrote on the page on December 7 to update contributors of Bailey’s condition. ‘Crede has recently been released from the ICU and is now at a full-time rehabilitation center where he is focused on gaining strength and learning to live a new normal,’ she wrote last Monday. While experts are still unsure the extent to which COVID-19 can affect the body, a possible symptom is loss of blood flow as the virus can attack the vascular system and cause blood clots.The White House has not publicized Bailey’s illness by request from his family, and Trump has never publicly acknowledged it despite the severity of his condition.Bailey was known for being a strong Trump supporter. Trump has repeatedly dismissed COVID-19 risks, including on his Twitter account in early October as he was recovering from the illness at Walter Reed Medical Center following the White House outbreak.
Minnesota state lawmaker dies of COVID-19 complications -Minnesota state lawmaker Jerry Relph (R) died on Friday of complications from the coronavirus, according to family and the state’s Senate majority leader. Relph, who was a first-term state senator, is reportedly the first lawmaker from the state whose death is connected to COVID-19, according to MPR News. “Jerry dedicated his life to service, and representing Senate District 14 was one of the highest honors he had,” his wife, Pegi Broker-Relph, said in a statement, according to MPR News. “I can’t count the number of times he would come home at night and tell me about helping solve a constituent’s problem, or a story he heard from someone in a parade or at a public event, or even just someone he met during a ‘day on the hill’ event.” He was elected in 2016 to the Minnesota Senate, where he filled a vacant seat after the incumbent did not seek reelection. He narrowly defeated Dan Wolgamott, who now serves in the Minnesota House. Relph was 76 years old and a Vietnam War veteran. The lawmaker went to the emergency room twice in November for coronavirus-related symptoms but was never hospitalized, even after a positive diagnosis. Following that, his family remained private about Relph’s condition, the news outlet reported. .
United Airlines helps to contact passengers after man on flight dies a possible COVID-19-related death — United Airlines is helping to contact passengers after it was determined that a man who passed away on a Monday flight could have died of a heart attack due to COVID-19 complications, The New York TImes reports.The plane, scheduled to fly from Orlando to Los Angeles, made an unplanned landing in New Orleans after a man aboard the flight suffered a medical emergency.While the man was being tended to for his cardiac arrest, flight crew members overheard his wife telling first responders that her husband had been experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19. He had not disclosed the symptoms, which included loss of taste and smell, prior to boarding the flight, according to the Times.It hasn’t been confirmed if the man had been infected or not.”We implore passengers not travel if they have been diagnosed with Covid-19 or have Covid-related symptoms,” United Airlines said. “If in doubt, the best option is to get tested.”The airline was contacted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after the incident, and has been complying with its request to provide passenger information, the Times reports.”We are sharing requested information with the agency so they can work with local health officials to conduct outreach to any customer the C.D.C. believes may be at risk for possible exposure or infection,” the airline said. News of the possible COVID-19 exposure to plane passengers spread on social media, with one passenger noting that they didn’t have their temperatures checked before boarding and there wasn’t a plane change after leaving New Orleans.
San Joaquin region are out of ICU beds as COVID-19 surges – A 12-county region in California is out of ICU-bed capacity as a second wave of COVID-19 ravages the state’s rural Central Valley. San Joaquin County, an agriculture hub where the majority of fruits and vegetables in the US are grown, has been hit particularly hard in recent weeks. ICU capacity at all seven hospitals in the county stood at 100 percent on Saturday, the highest rate anywhere in California, according to the state’s Department of Public Health.A team of 17 nurses is expected to arrive Monday at one local hospital that has built a second ICU area where it plans to take in coronavirus patients from San Joaquin County’s six other overflowing hospitals. Many of the patients are Latino farm workers. A doctor at Adventist Health Lodi Memorial hospital in Lodi, which is about 100 miles east of San Francisco, said that during the first COVID wave in the spring, 75 percent of patients were Latino. The hospital investigated the trend and found COVID warnings were not reaching many in the community, because of a lack of trust in the hospital staff and government. “We don’t have the same culture and the rigidity around following the guidance here than, for example, San Francisco [has]. We need to educate, educate, as much as we can so we can get some relief,” Dr. Patricia Iris said.
December 14 COVID-19 Test Results; Record 7-Day Cases and Deaths, Record Hospitalizations – Note: The week-over-week growth in positive cases has slowed. Hopefully that continues. The US is now averaging well over 1 million tests per day. Based on the experience of other countries, for adequate test-and-trace (and isolation) to reduce infections, the percent positive needs to be under 5% (probably close to 1%), so the US has far too many daily cases – and percent positive – to do effective test-and-trace. There were 1,883,575 test results reported over the last 24 hours.There were 193,384 positive tests.Almost 33,000 US deaths have been reported so far in December. See the graph on US Daily Deaths here. This data is from the COVID Tracking Project.The percent positive over the last 24 hours was 10.3% (red line is 7 day average). The percent positive is calculated by dividing positive results by the sum of negative and positive results (I don’t include pending). And check out COVID Exit Strategy to see how each state is doing. The second graph shows the 7 day average of positive tests reported and daily hospitalizations.
• Record Hospitalizations (Over 110,000)
• Record 7 Day Average Cases
• Record 7 Day Average Deaths
Oregon reports record COVID-19 deaths in single day – Oregon Health Authority reported a record number of COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday. The 54 new deaths bring the toll to 1,214. “Today’s record-high death toll tragically reminds us that the pandemic is far from over despite the arrival of vaccines in Oregon,” said OHA Director Patrick Allen. “These Oregonians and the ones who passed before them were loved ones who will be dearly missed by their families, for whom we express our sincerest condolences.” Officials said the record deaths are due in part to a surge in cases in November. It takes time to process COVID-19 deaths from death certificates and for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to review the cause of death. On Tuesday, OHA also reported 1,129 new confirmed and presumptive cases, bringing the total to 96,092. Hospitalizations have risen to 544 in Oregon, and 112 COVID-19 patients are in intensive care units. Officials are reminding the public to maintain six feet of distance, wear a face covering when outside the home, wash hands, avoid gatherings with non-household members, and if you have symptoms, consult a medical provider. Below are the deaths added on Tuesday:
California officials order 5,000 body bags as state’s intensive care units near full capacity – On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that state officials had ordered 5,000 additional body bags and 63 refrigerated trailers to store the exploding numbers of dead from COVID-19. Across California, a public health catastrophe is now unfolding, with coronavirus infections growing exponentially. On Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health reported over 61,000 new daily cases and 407 deaths, by far the highest rates of the pandemic. The average number of daily cases in California has more than quadrupled over the last month while the number of hospitalizations has more than tripled. With the virus spreading unchecked, hospitalizations will likely double again over the next month, putting unprecedented pressure on entire health care system. More than 12,000 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized statewide and hospital intensive care units (ICU) are nearing capacity. As of December 16, only about 4.1 percent of the state’s ICU beds were currently available. Even before the pandemic, ICU beds were typically run just above demand to minimize costs with hospitals routinely shuffling patients between ICUs and other hospital wards as needed. With about 2.1 ICU beds per 10,000 inhabitants, California was among the least prepared states in the nation to respond to the dramatic increase in the number of critically ill patients brought on by the pandemic. Overwhelmed hospitals in Orange County, Imperial County, San Bernardino County and elsewhere have set up field hospitals in tents and trailers. Emergency rooms and paramedic providers have reported that ambulances have had to wait hours to offload their patients, and hospitals are being forced to divert ambulances to other medical facilities. The situation is especially dire in southern and central California. Available ICU beds have dropped to 0.5 percent in the Southern California Region. Los Angeles County only had 56 ICU beds still available on Tuesday for a population of 10 million. The 16-county San Joaquin Valley Region in central California has seen its ICU capacity fall to zero percent, meaning that some critically ill patients will have to be treated without adequate equipment, or turned away altogether. Riverside County, population 2.74 million, also had zero ICU beds available as of Wednesday. In Orange County, average daily infections have grown by a staggering 500 percent over the last month, and on Monday, the county’s ICU capacity also fell to zero percent. Last week, Dr. Carl Schultz, director of Emergency Medical Services at Orange County’s Health Care Agency, warned that the county’s emergency medicine system was in a state of crisis and “may collapse unless emergency directives are implemented now.”
COVID-19 vaccine comes too late for the 300,000 U.S. dead – The cavalry was on its way this week after months of a devastating pandemic, but it came too late for the more than 300,000 people who have already died from coronavirusin the United States. The vaccine that could help conquer the virus began rolling out on the same day the country reached this grimmest of milestones. “The numbers are staggering — the most impactful respiratory pandemic that we have experienced in over 102 years, since the iconic 1918 Spanish flu,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert.It took four months for the virus to claim its first 100,000 American lives. But with cold weather driving people inside, where the virus spreads more easily, months of reluctance in many states to require masks, and an increase in gatherings over the holidays, some public health experts project 100,000 more could die before the end of January, Adam Geller and Heather Hollingsworth report. U.S. Vaccine Push: The largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history got underway with health workers getting the first shots. “Relieved” was the reaction of one nurse who got vaccinated. All will need another shot in 21 days. The injections begin an effort to try to beat back the coronavirus – a day of hope amid grief as the nation’s death roll hit another terrible milestone. How well initial vaccinations go will help reassure a wary public when it’s their turn next year, Lauran Neergaard reports.Hundreds more U.S. hospitals are also gearing up to vaccinate their workers, and federal health officials are reviewing a second vaccine. About 400 hospitals and other health care facilities will get their first shipments of the Pfizer vaccine today. State officials are rationing the first shots to front-line health workers and nursing home residents, Matthew Peronne reports. The Food and Drug Administration is set to publish its analysis of a second potential COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Moderna. If cleared, U.S. officials predict they will have supplies to give 20,000 first injections by year’s end.
Maine sees record-high 554 new coronavirus cases and 2 more deaths – Maine has marked its worst day yet in the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday with a record-high 554 new coronavirus cases and two more deaths. Wednesday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 17,311. Of those, 15,142 have been confirmed positive, while 2,169 were classified as “probable cases,” according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.The agency revised Tuesday’s cumulative total to 16,757, down from 16,760, meaning there was an increase of 551 over the previous day’s report. As the Maine CDC continues to investigate previously reported cases, some are determined to have not been the coronavirus, or coronavirus cases not involving Mainers. Those are removed from the state’s cumulative total. The Bangor Daily News reports on the number of new cases reported to the Maine CDC in the previous 24 hours, rather than the increase of daily cumulative cases. With these latest deaths, the statewide death toll stands at 267. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60. The two deaths reported Wednesday was a woman in her 80s from Androscoggin County and a man in his 80s from Oxford County.
Nevada sets record for COVID-19 deaths -Nevada reported a record number of coronavirus deaths in a single day and saw hospitalizations top 2,000 for the second time in three days, according to state data posted Wednesday. The 57 COVID-19 deaths eclipsed the previous record of 50 reported Dec. 10. It also drove the moving seven-day average of deaths reported daily to a record high of 38. The latest data from the state Department of Health and Human Services also showed 2,366 additional cases of the disease caused by the new coronavirus. That was well below the seven-day moving average of daily case reports of 2,538. The update brought Nevada totals to 2,653 deaths and 194,098 cases. The state’s two-week positivity rate, meanwhile, registered its seventh-straight decline to reach 20.7 percent. The rate, which tracks the proportion of people tested who are confirmed to have the disease, has now declined more than 1 percentage point since reaching a recent top of 21.8 percent on Dec. 8. Hospitalizations of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients in the state rebounded after a one-day decline, rising by 29 patients to 2,008. The state topped the 2,000 mark for the first time on Monday, when 2,025 patients were recorded.
NC breaks more records for COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations, positive test rates –North Carolina reported record highs for COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations and positive test rates on Wednesday. Play Video The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported 98 new COVID-19 related deaths in the state, more than on any other day since the onset of the pandemic. The previous daily high for deaths was 82 reported on Dec. 2. A total of 5,979 in North Carolina have died as a result of COVID-19. The state also had a record-high positive test rate, with 12.5% out of 37,467 tests conducted Monday. The previous high was 11.7%, first set on Dec. 7 and tied on Dec. 10. There are 2,811 North Carolinians currently hospitalized with the virus, topping the previous high of 2,735 reported Tuesday. Experts say many of the cases are linked to people gathering for the Thanksgiving holiday. With Christmas and New Year’s days away, there is reason for more concern, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, the state’s health secretary. “Hospitalization is a lagging indicator, and I am very concerned about where we’re going to be as a state in two to three weeks,” Cohen said last week. For North Carolina, there have been 451,874 cases overall since late March. The daily high of 7,540 was reported Friday. In Forsyth County’s Wednesday report, there were 189 new cases and no additional deaths.
Arkansas logs 58 virus deaths, a new daily record; 2,306 more cases reported – Arkansas on Wednesday set a new daily record for COVID-19 deaths. The state reported that 58 people had died from the virus, three more than the previous record set last week. Five of those deaths were probable and 53 were confirmed. The death toll is up to 3,074. The state on Wednesday reported 2,306 new cases of the virus, of which 1,638 were confirmed and 668 were probable. Total confirmed and probable cases were up to 191,504. There were 20,774 active cases. Hospitalizations increased by nine to 1,079. The state logged 8,885 daily PCR tests and 4,696 antigen tests, a new daily record. “Yesterday was a new record in antigen testing in Arkansas, and new cases are running flat week over week,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a written statement. “Regretfully, we also saw another record in new deaths, with 58 deaths reported yesterday. We are distributing the vaccine across the state for our health care workers, and we continue to see high levels of community spread.” Arkansas received its first shipment of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine on Monday. Hutchinson has said the vaccine could be widely available by late spring.
Coronavirus: California shatters another record as cases, hospitalizations, deaths reach new highs – On the same day the first American received the COVID-19 vaccine, the country’s death toll surpassed 300,000 and California shattered another record for daily infections, as officials warned the darkest days of the pandemic were still ahead, amid a glimmer of hope. Monday afternoon in Los Angeles, the first nurse in California was inoculated. But by the end of that day’s count, new cases around the state numbered 41,419, according to data compiled by this news organization, soaring past the previous record set last week. A sliver of intensive-care beds remained open around the state.“These are the folks we’re going to count on the most,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a Tuesday morning news conference, commending the initial vaccine doses reaching frontline workers. “As I’ve said often, there’s light at the end of the tunnel but we’re still in the tunnel. That means we’re going through perhaps the most intense and urgent moment since the beginning of this pandemic.”At approximately 32,800 cases and 164 deaths per day over the past week, California is averaging more new infections and fatalities from the virus than at any other point of the pandemic. It’s the fourth time since the start of December that California has broken its daily record for cases, coming most recently last Friday, when the state reported more than 35,000 new cases. In the past two weeks, the state’s average daily case count has increased 132% and its average daily death toll by even more: 157%. California’s cumulative death toll grew to 21,194, after counties around the state reported another 150 victims of the virus. A total of 1,145 Californians have been added to the state’s death toll in the past week, more than any other seven-day period of the pandemic. The past seven days have also been the nation’s deadliest, with more than 17,000 fatalities reported in the past week – an average of more than 2,400 per day – to bring the cumulative total over 301,000, according to the New York Times. Hospitalizations also continued to grow in California while capacity in its ICUs fell to its lowest point of the pandemic. A net of nearly 600 patients were admitted to hospitals around California on Sunday, bringing the active total to 13,635, 75% more COVID-positive patients than two weeks ago and nearly double its previous summertime peak. Statewide, ICU beds are 93.5% full but few remain available anywhere in the southern portion of the state. In all of the Southern California region, ICUs were filled to more than 97% capacity Monday, according to the latest data from the state, and in the San Joaquin Valley region, staffed and licensed beds had reached capacity. The According to estimates from state health officials – that about 12% of cases require hospitalization and at least 12% of those end up in the ICU – the record-shattering surge of cases over the past week, totaling nearly 230,000, could result in more than 3,000 new ICU patients in the coming weeks. There are currently just over 1,400 staffed and licensed beds available across the state.
L.A. County hospitals ‘under siege’ from COVID-19 as deaths, cases hit new daily highs – LA Times – A ferocious COVID-19 surge is besieging Los Angeles County’s hospitals like never before, officials said Wednesday, as the region reported an all-time daily high of 134 deaths from the disease and a record number of new infections. Single-day records were shattered across California Wednesday. A Times county-by-county tally found 51,724 new coronavirus cases reported, shattering the state’s single-day record broken on Monday, when 42,088 cases were reported. The Times tally also found 393 COVID-19 deaths Wednesday across the state, breaking the record set Tuesday, when 295 deaths were recorded. Cumulatively, California has now reported 1.7 million coronavirus cases and 21,887 COVID-19 deaths. California is now tallying an average of 203 COVID-19 deaths a day over a weekly period, and 35,200 cases a day – both records, and both quadruple the numbers from mid-November. A great deal of the state’s surge has been fueled by L.A. County, where the unrelenting rise in the number of coronavirus-infected Angelenos falling ill enough to require professional care is straining the county’s medical system, raising renewed fears that the need for beds could outstrip those available despite healthcare workers’ herculean efforts to expand capacity. Dr. Christina Ghaly, the county’s director of health services, put it bluntly Wednesday: “Our hospitals are under siege, and our model shows no end in sight.” More harrowing still, she said, is that “the worst is still before us.”
US officials report 3,500 new Covid-19 deaths, a record for the coronavirus pandemic – CNN – Wednesday brought more bad and good news as the US endures the 10th month of the coronavirus pandemic. There was a trio of all-time highs in the data. A record number of new deaths — more than 3,500 — was reported Wednesday and there were more than 240,000 newly reported coronavirus cases. And the number of people in hospitals was at a high for the 11th day in a row. The daunting numbers come on a day more people were vaccinated and we learned there is some evidence more doses of the vaccine can be derived from one vial than originally thought. The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is shipped with five doses in each vial. But some pharmacists have found they can get six and possibly even seven doses from each one. “FDA is aware of the issue and working with Pfizer to determine the best path forward, and will share additional updates as we have them,” an FDA spokeswoman told CNN. She said the FDA says it is acceptable to squeeze additional doses out of leftover solution, “pending resolution of the issue.” Right now hospital officials are vaccinating high-risk health care workers, and drug store chains CVS and Walgreens are helping to get shots to long-term care resident or staff members. In Pompano Beach, an 88-year-old resident at a long-term care facility was administered the vaccine as Florida became one of the first states to inoculate the most vulnerable residents. About 20 million people are expected to get their first shots by the end of this month. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said officials will soon provide a dashboard with the number of Covid-19 vaccinations completed, “so we know exactly how we’re doing on getting shots in arms.”
New U.S. Cases, Hospitalizations and Deaths All Set New Records – The U.S. logged its latest record-high number of newly reported Covid-19 cases in a day, while also setting new daily records for reported deaths and for hospitalizations. The nation reported more than 247,000 new cases on Wednesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, up from 198,357 a day earlier and surpassing the previous record of 233,133 reported for Friday. The data include a surge of cases in California, which on Tuesday reported a record 41,081 infections in addition to a backlog of around 12,500 cases. Johns Hopkins showed 63,817 cases for Wednesday in California, up from 33,249 Tuesday. Subtracting the backlog, the overall number of infections reported for Wednesday in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins, would be more than 234,000. The U.S. also reported 3,656 deaths for Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins data, surpassing a record 3,306 reported Friday. It reported 3,019 deaths for Tuesday. Overall, more than 307,500 people have died of the disease in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins data. Hospitalizations were also at a record high, for the 11th day in a row, according to the Covid Tracking Project, which reported 113,090 people in hospitals across the country. That included another record of 21,936 in intensive care. Meanwhile, the nation continued its vaccine rollout, with Pfizer planning to complete its first round of shipments Wednesday. A winter storm on the East Coast threatened to pose a challenge for distribution, but governors in affected states said they intended to keep deliveries rolling anyway. Nearly 17 million people in the U.S. have been infected with Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins data. World-wide, more than 74.28 million have been infected and nearly 1.65 million have died.
US sets new daily records of 3,700 Covid deaths, 250,000 cases – Al Jazeera – The United States set a double record on Wednesday registering more than 3,700 deaths and over 250,000 new Covid-19 cases in just 24 hours, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. With the new reported fatalities, the death toll in the US has now reached more than 307,291. The country has seen a spectacular spike in Covid infections for more than a month now, with some 113,000 people currently hospitalised due to the virus, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. The numbers far outpace the rest of the world. About five percent of the US population has contracted the virus, or about 17 million people. The United States has already rolled out its vaccination programme against COVID-19, and it aims to get 2.9 million doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech, by the end of the week. But Dr Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), earlier warned that the country’s healthcare system could face a collapse before vaccines become more widely available by next year. Earlier this month, the University of Washington’s influential Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation had projected the death toll could reach nearly 450,000 by March 1 without greater attention to social distancing and mask-wearing. Biden, Pence to get vaccine As this developed, the White House announced on Wednesday that US Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen will be vaccinated for COVID-19 on Friday in a public event. Surgeon General Jerome Adams also will get the vaccine on Friday. The announcement comes as sources close to President-elect Joe Biden say he is expected to receive the shot as soon as next week. Biden said on Tuesday that Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, advised him to get the vaccine “sooner than later”. Biden, 78, is in a high-risk category for the coronavirus because of his age.
As Pandemic Rages On, Analysis Finds 1 in 5 People in US Prisons Infected With Covid-19 -Amid swelling calls to reduce the nation’s incarceration rates in light of the ongoing pandemic, The Marshall Project and The Associated Press released a new analysis Friday finding that one in five state and federal prisoners has tested positive for Covid-19.That rate is “more than four times as high as the general population,” the analysis noted. More than 1,700 prisoners have died from the virus, the data also showed.The figures are based on data collected weekly in prisons since March, and account for cases and deaths as of Tuesday. The Marshall Project and AP have been tracking Covid-19 data in prisons since March. So far, they found, at least 275,000 prisoners have been infected with the virus – though the tally is likely an undercount.The analysis cites Homer Venters, former chief medical officer at New York’s Rikers Island jail Homer Venters, who said, “I still encounter prisons and jails where, when people get sick, not only are they not tested but they don’t receive care.”Included in the analysis are 24 state prison systems that had even higher rates than one in five. In South Dakota, for example, three out of five prisoners have been infected with Covid-19 – the highest rate. Arkansas had the second highest prisoner infection rate, with four of every seven having tested positive.The analysis further noted: Racial disparities in the nation’s criminal justice system compound the disproportionate toll the pandemic has taken on communities of color. Black Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of whites. They are also disproportionately likely to be infected and hospitalized with Covid-19 and are more likely than other races to have a family member or close friend who has died of the virus. Human rights groups and public health experts have been urging states to roll out plans for the early release of prisoners. Calls began as early as March for compassionate releases. The months since have seen soaring infection rates and prison officials beingaccused of mishandling the response to the virus and denying basic necessities to stop its spread.
Mississippi hospitals overwhelmed by surge in COVID-19 cases – Despite admonishing the public on the surge in new infections that have seen intensive care units (ICUs) reach full capacity, Mississippi Today reported that Republican Governor Tate Reeves is planning several Christmas parties at the governor’s mansion during the holiday season. The governor’s executive order to curb the tide of COVID-19 infections issued last week restricts social gatherings to no more than 10 people indoors and no more than 50 people outdoors. While the order includes a mask mandate for all schools statewide, Reeves has resisted issuing a general statewide directive. How people working in factories and busy warehouses will comply with these orders is a moot point. These measures are aimed at deflecting all responsibility for the mounting social crisis onto the backs of workers who are forced to brave dangerous conditions. Meanwhile, the soirees that include state House and Senate members are proceeding as they customarily have in the past, and without masks. Since early November, the pandemic has been surging again throughout the state, as cases began rising in a natural response to school openings that practically threw the door wide open for the virus. The seven-day average has peaked at over 2,000 cases per day. Daily fatalities have also been climbing, lagging by three to four weeks. The present spike in cases has been attributed to the Thanksgiving period. Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the State Health Officer, tweeted December 11, “9.8 percent of COVID cases end up in the hospital. Mississippi ICUs are full and many hospitalizations on the way. Beginning next Tuesday, elective surgeries that require hospitalizations must be delayed statewide.” Up to mid-November, the proportion of COVID-19 cases nationally that resulted in hospitalization stood at 3.5 percent. This has been declining more recently because as hospitals are filling up, fewer people are being admitted and those admitted tend to be more critically ill. However, according to Dr. Dobbs, the situation in Mississippi, with 9.8 percent of cases ending in hospitalization, would indicate that the patient population is in poorer health. To confirm this observation, we calculated the crude fatality rate in Mississippi due to COVID-19 and compared it to the national rate. For Mississippi, the crude fatality case rate stands at 2.9 percent, while it is 2 percent for the United States. The dire situation in the state can be traced to extreme levels of poverty and attendant poor health. The median household income in Mississippi is the lowest among the 50 states. It stands just under $45,000, far less than the national median annual income of almost $62,000. Mississippi leads in nearly every major category in cause of death compared to other states, which include heart, Alzheimer’s, and kidney disease. The state ranks second in cancers, stroke, diabetes, pneumonia, and infections. Obstetric statistics are abysmal, ranking first in preterm deliveries, low birth weight, and cesarean deliveries. The obesity rate is just above 40 percent. Life expectancy stands at 74.4 years of age, the lowest in the 50 states.
Nurses speak on burnout and PTSD as COVID-19 hospitalizations in US reach new highs – As the Democrats and Republicans and news media hail the release of new vaccines, the reality facing health care workers battling the current surge of COVID-19 cases is one of death, exhaustion, burnout and fear. While a vaccine should be celebrated, data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) shows that the rolling out of the vaccine will lower the projected deaths by April 1 by only 10,000. Considering the US is projected to see another 215,000 people die from the virus by the beginning of March, it is clear that immediate emergency measures must be implemented to stop the explosive spread of the pandemic and save hundreds of thousands of lives. This includes the shutdown of nonessential production and schools and providing compensation for all those affected by an emergency lockdown. The voices of nurses and other health care workers paint a vivid picture of the consequences of the bipartisan policy of “herd immunity,” which they are experiencing firsthand through the rapid increase in hospitalizations and breakdown of the nation’s health care infrastructure. In a recent thread on a national Facebook group “Nurses Talk Corona,” nurses discussed their experiences amidst the latest and worst surge of the coronavirus. Tara, a nurse from Indiana, wrote, “Our ICUs are maxed out. Our [cardiovascular] ICU and [medical surgical] ICU is now having to fill with COVID patients instead of surgical because of need. They filled our [pediatric] ICU with adults, so that’s four full ICUs with RNs having to work four and five shifts trying to make staffing better. They had to intubate and hold a patient on a regular floor until our ICU could make room.” Tara is describing a phenomenon experienced across the world where ICUs have run out of the beds as hospitalization rates reach all-time highs. COVID-19 hospitalizations in the US have now exceeded 110,000, an increase from 60,000 in July. If projections hold, hospitalizations will peak at 180,000 by January 15. According to data released from the CDC last week, within the past month all age groups have reached their highest weekly hospitalization rate since the start of the pandemic. As hospitalizations rise, already exhausted health care workers are spread increasingly thin. In many cases, nurses are pushed to take on patient loads far above pre-pandemic limits, an unsafe if not deadly state of affairs for patients and nurses alike. Some hospital units are forced to come up with strategies to cope with the onslaught of patients such as putting new, inexperienced nurses into settings that far exceed their skill level or requiring high levels of overtime hours.
US Coronavirus: Nation surpasses 17 million official Covid-19 cases as FDA panel recommends Moderna’s vaccine – The number of Americans in the hospital with Covid-19 was at a record high for the 12th day in a row Thursday as the US Food and Drug Administration said it plans to issue emergency use authorization for a second coronavirus vaccine for the country. More than 114,200 people were hospitalized with the disease, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The United States, which started distributing and using its first authorized vaccine this week, is also dealing with record rates of new daily cases and daily deaths. The FDA was widely expected to grant emergency use authorization for Moderna’s vaccine candidate — as it did for Pfizer’s vaccine last week — after its vaccine advisory panel voted to recommend it. The CDC would need to greenlight the vaccine before shots can be administered — and a CDC advisory panel is expected to meet on the matter Saturday, raising the possibility that the Moderna vaccine could be used next week. The recently authorized Pfizer vaccine, meanwhile, has been administered to hundreds of US health care workers this week, and drug store chains CVS and Walgreens are helping to get shots to long-term care residents and staff members. The Pfizer vaccine requires each patient to receive two doses about 21 days apart, and the Moderna vaccine also would require two doses. Assuming the Moderna vaccine is authorized, the two products could combine for an availability of 40 million doses, for 20 million people, by the end of December, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said. What we know about Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine and how it differs from Pfizer’s What we know about Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine and how it differs from Pfizer’s But as vaccinations begin, recorded cases, hospitalizations and deaths are rising to levels not previously seen, as hospital staff around the country warn they’re running out of space and energy toprovide sufficient care:
- • Average cases: The country’s average number of daily cases across a week was 215,729 on Wednesday — a record high, Johns Hopkins University data show. That’s more than three times what the daily case average was during a summer peak in July.
- • Cases in one day: The US recorded 247,403 cases on Wednesday, a record for one day.
- • Deaths: The nation averaged 2,569 deaths daily across the last week — the highest average yet. The total reported Wednesday — 3,656 — is a one-day high.
December 17 COVID-19 Test Results; Record 7-Day Cases and Deaths, Record Hospitalizations – Note: The week-over-week growth in positive cases has slowed. Hopefully that continues. The US is now averaging well over 1 million tests per day. Based on the experience of other countries, for adequate test-and-trace (and isolation) to reduce infections, the percent positive needs to be under 5% (probably close to 1%), so the US has far too many daily cases – and percent positive – to do effective test-and-trace. There were 1,499,146 test results reported over the last 24 hours. There were 241,620 positive tests. Almost 43,000 US deaths have been reported so far in December. See the graph on US Daily Deaths here. This data is from the COVID Tracking Project. The percent positive over the last 24 hours was 16.1% (red line is 7 day average). The percent positive is calculated by dividing positive results by the sum of negative and positive results (I don’t include pending). And check out COVID Exit Strategy to see how each state is doing. The second graph shows the 7 day average of positive tests reported and daily hospitalizations.
• Record Hospitalizations (Over 114,000)
• Record 7 Day Cases
• Record 7 Day Average Deaths
Coronavirus cases growing at ‘staggering rate’ in California – As California set a single-day record for coronavirus deaths, San Francisco imposed a 10-day quarantine on travelers arriving from outside the region. New coronavirus cases hit a record high of 52,330 in a single day across California Wednesday, and the state recorded 51,209 new cases on Thursday. In the Bay Area, new cases topped 4,500 on Wednesday and 4,000 on Thursday, down from the bleak all-time high of 6,775 on Monday. The number of open ICU beds statewide fell to its lowest level Thursday, just 3%. That means just 1,260 intensive-care beds were available for the state’s medical emergencies, down from more than 4,500 in April. Bay Area hospitals were doing better, but still hovered at dangerously low levels. ICU availability rose slightly to 13.1% Thursday from 12.9% the day before. California also set yet another record for single-day deaths. Across the state, 394 people died of COVID-19 Wednesday, topping the previous highest count of 295 lives lost to the virus, set just a day earlier. On Thursday, an additional 288 people died of COVID-19 across the state. “Cases are accelerating at a staggering rate, and we want to take every step possible to stop them,” San Francisco public health Director Grant Colfax said Thursday in announcing the travel order that takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday. While counties wait desperately for vaccines to arrive, their hope is that stay-at-home orders will reduce cases. The state’s orders were triggered this week for the nine Bay Area counties and Monterey and Santa Cruz counties after ICU availability fell below 15%. Six of the counties had earlier voluntarily adopted the restrictions, which includes a ban on outdoor restaurant meals, gatherings and store occupancy above 20%. “We have reached a point where COVID-19 is so widespread in California that just leaving the house is a risky behavior,” Dr. M ark Ghaly, California secretary of Health and Human Services, told The Chronicle. With its quarantine, San Francisco joined one other Bay Area county, Santa Clara, which ordered a similar restriction Dec. 2. Under the quarantine, people traveling into San Francisco from anywhere beyond these counties – San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Sonoma, Napa, Marin and Santa Cruz – are required to stay home and interact with no one outside of their household except in an emergency or if they need medical care. Doctors and first responders are among those exempted. Violating the travel ban is technically a misdemeanor, Colfax said at a news briefing, adding that the county isn’t expecting to fine people but hopes people will comply “because it’s the right thing to do.”
California breaks daily coronavirus case record again as deaths continue to rise – LA Times – More Californians are dying of COVID-19 now than at any other point in the pandemic.But as ferociously as the coronavirus has spread this autumn, it still continues to stalk certain communities much more than others.More than 1,500 people lost their lives to COVID-19 in the last week – a number that represents 7% of the state’s more than 22,000 total coronavirus-related fatalities.The death tolls seen Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – 295, 394, 288 and 265, respectively – represent the four deadliest days the state has seen throughout the entire pandemic, according to data compiled by The Times. California on Friday broke a record for most coronavirus cases in a single day with 53,326, topping the high last set Wednesday, when 52,330 cases were reported, according to The Times’ county-by-county survey. The state is now averaging more than 40,000 new coronavirus cases a day over the last week, a new record and 10 times the figure from Halloween. The record for the number of Californians currently hospitalized for COVID-19 has been broken for 20 days in a row, rising to 16,019 by Thursday, including 3,447 people in intensive care units. COVID-19 hospitalizations have multiplied sevenfold since mid-October. The state recorded 265 COVID-19 deaths Friday, its fourth-largest single-day tally. California is now averaging 226 deaths a day, also a new record, and five times the comparable figure from early November.
Illinois nursing homes hit new COVID-19 death records – Chicago Tribune — A record number of Illinois nursing home residents with COVID-19 died in the past week, as people in long-term care try to hold out until they can get vaccinated against the virus. An unprecedented 605 resident deaths were attributed to COVID-19 in the past seven days, state figures showed Friday – far more than the previous high of 480 two weeks ago. The number of recorded new infections in the state’s long-term care facilities also set a record with 5,063 new cases, surpassing the previous high of 4,536 from two weeks earlier. This second surge of the virus again exceeds the worst trends of the first wave of cases and deaths in the spring. The toll fell markedly in the summer but has risen again since November, following increases seen in the broader population. One encouraging sign is that the numbers of cases and deaths statewide have dropped slightly in recent weeks. Researchers have reported that nursing home deaths generally follow the trends in the wider community, as workers contract the virus and bring it into the homes. The Health Care Council of Illinois, which represents long-term care facilities, issued a statement looking forward to a “turning point” when vaccinations are scheduled to begin in nursing homes Dec. 28.
Canada’s far north Nunavut Territory faces major COVID-19 outbreak – Until early November, Canada’s sparsely populated Nunavut territory was among the few inhabited places on the planet that had not seen a single case of COVID-19. Located in Canada’s remote far north, the territory was able to remain COVID-free for eight months after the virus took hold in North America, by implementing strict travel controls and social distancing in grocery stores and other places. However, as a second wave of the pandemic developed in Canada’s south this fall as a result of the reckless back-to-work and back-to-school policies pursued by the federal and provincial governments, the virus inevitably found its way into the territory. After the first COVID-19 case was reported last month, the virus quickly spread, forcing small and isolated Nunavut communities to cope with major outbreaks in the midst of harsh winter conditions. Only residents and essential workers were permitted to enter the territory as of March 24. Those coming from elsewhere who were approved to enter the territory had to undergo a mandatory 14-day period of self-isolation beforehand in either Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton or Yellowknife. Health officials and community leaders in the territory knew that if the pandemic were to begin spreading in the isolated region, the consequences would be dire. The population of Nunavut, standing at just over 39,000 – 85 percent of whom are Inuit – has been burdened with simultaneous crises for many years. A chronic housing shortage, a food insecurity crisis and a decades-long struggle with tuberculosis are the main hardships already faced by those living there. In 2018, the federal government committed to ending TB among Inuit by 2030. But after just two years of effort, progress was officially stalled in January 2020 due to a lack of funding. Rates of tuberculosis among the Inuit are 300 times higher than those observed in non-Indigenous, Canadian-born citizens. Advocates for tackling the TB crisis in Nunavut acknowledge that the problem is inextricably bound up with a housing crisis, food insecurity and high levels of unemployment. Varied stressors of poor living conditions oftentimes allow for the disease to become active in a carrier, and this fact combined with the affected population living in overcrowded housing and suffering from malnourishment mean the likelihood of transmission is very high.Tuberculosis is a disease caused by bacteria that most commonly affect the lungs, causing chest pain, coughing and a host of other symptoms. A 2011Globe and Mail article labelled Nunavut as “one of the world’s worst places for respiratory health”
Barcelona hosts concert for 500 in COVID rapid-test experiment – Barcelona threw a free concert for 500 lockdown-weary residents Saturday – but they had to pass a rapid coronavirus test to get in. Barcelona’s Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation set up the live music event as an experiment to weigh the efficacy of rapid tests used for large, cultural events. More than 1,000 residents gathered at the Apolo Theatre, where they were given a COVID-19 antigen test. About 500 of the volunteers whose tests came back COVID-free were randomly selected as audience members for the five-hour music festival. Those who were sent home will form a control group that will allow organizers to compare the virus spread among them with the group who was let into the concert. The goal of the experiment is to judge whether antigen tests – which produce results within 15 minutes but are said to be less effective than PCR tests – can safely allow large gatherings to happen once again. “This is not a party, this is a scientific study,” Dr. Boris Revollo, the virologist who designed the study’s protocols, told The Associated Press.. “This could be useful in all types of events, from cultural events, to business congresses, to sporting events. . . . And young people, as we have seen, are holding their own clandestine parties because they have no other outlet.”
New data expose catastrophe of Turkey’s “herd immunity” policy – The record COVID-19 case numbers in Turkey reflect the results of the murderous “herd immunity” policy of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government, supported by the parliamentary opposition parties and trade unions. It shows that government “restrictions” on movement during the pandemic only aim to control the anger of the working class, not to halt the spread of the disease. With nearly 30,000 daily cases, Turkey is in third place in the world after the United States and Brazil and now has risen to first place in Europe. The number of daily deaths – over 200 in recent days – is the highest since March 11, when the first case was detected in Turkey. Until recently, the Turkish government has refused to announce real data over the pandemic so as to force workers back to work and contain public anger, making an arbitrary, unscientific distinction between “cases” and “patients.” However, growing popular outrage against inadequate restrictions and figures announced by the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and other institutions have forced the government to announce daily and total cases. On November 25, the Health Ministry announced 28,351 daily cases. The day before, it had announced only 7,381 “patients.” Sources: Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering. Last updated: December 13, 2020 On December 10, the Health Ministry also announced that there had been 1,748,567 total cases since the pandemic began. Case and death figures are still not reliable, however, and are likely underestimates. One of the world’s biggest cover-ups over the pandemic has taken place in Turkey as part of the criminal “herd immunity” policy implemented by governments all over the world in the interests of the financial aristocracy. Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Chair Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı stated that the Health Ministry’s latest figures are not completely transparent: “The table mentions 20 million tests. We know that the positivity rates, which were around 10 percent in March and April, have increased to 30 percent since mid-November. … [I]f there is a 15 percent average test positivity, the number of cases should be 3 million.” Experts also pointed out that it is unrealistic to record one-third of all cases in the last few weeks.
WHO accused of conspiring with Italy to remove damning Covid report — The World Health Organization has been accused of conspiring with the Italian health ministry to remove a report revealing the country’s mismanagement at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic – the publication of which was intended to prevent future deaths. Italy was the first European country to become engulfed by the pandemic. The report, produced by the WHO scientist Francesco Zambon and 10 colleagues across Europe, was funded by Kuwait’s government with the objective of providing information to countries yet to be hit. Called An Unprecedented Challenge: Italy’s First Response to Covid-19, the document was published on the WHO website on 13 May before being taken down the next day, as first reported by the Guardian in August. The 102-page report said Italy’s pandemic plan had not been updated since 2006 and that, due to being unprepared, the initial response from hospitals was “improvised, chaotic and creative”. It took time for formal guidance to become available, the report added. The document was allegedly removed at the request of Ranieri Guerra, the WHO’s assistant director general for strategic initiatives. Guerra was the director general for preventive health at the Italian health ministry between 2014 and late 2017, and was therefore responsible for updating the pandemic plan as per new guidelines laid out by the WHO and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Guerra is among the scientists on the Italian government’s Covid-19 taskforce. The outdated plan is a crucial element in the preliminary investigations being carried out by prosecutors in Bergamo – the Lombardy province hardest hit during the first wave of the pandemic – into possible criminal negligence by authorities. Covid-related deaths in Italy surpassed 60,000 on Sunday, the highest toll in mainland Europe.
Atmospheric pollution and COVID-19 spread in Italy – The spread of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the current pandemic outbreak, has been speculated to be linked to short-term and long-term atmospheric pollutants exposure, mainly particulate matters (PMs). It is in fact possible for people living in highly industrialized areas, therefore exposed to higher pollution levels, to show more severe symptoms. Further studies have pointed out that atmospheric pollutants can act as virus carriers and boost pandemic diffusion. A study recently published on Environmental Pollution searched for any potential short-term correlation between these two phenomena. The research led by the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) Foundation and carried out in collaboration with the University of Salento and the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) focused on the analysis of atmospheric pollutants concentrations (PM10, PM2.5, NO2) along with the spatio-temporal distribution of cases and deaths (specifically incidence, mortality and lethality rates) across the whole Italian country, down to the level of individual territorial areas, including four of the most affected regions, i.e. Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. “The data analysis has been limited to the first quarter of 2020 to reduce the lockdown-dependent biased effects on the atmospheric pollutant levels as much as possible”, explains Prof. Giovanni Aloisio, corresponding author of the study and also member of the CMCC Strategic Board, Director of the CMCC Supercomputing Center and Full Professor at the University of Salento, Dept. of Innovation Engineering. “Our results suggest the hypothesis of a moderate-to-strong correlation between the number of days exceeding the annual regulatory limits of PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 atmospheric pollutants and COVID-19 incidence, mortality and lethality rates for all the 107 Italian territorial areas under investigation, whereas weak-to-moderate correlations where found when the analysis was limited to four of the most affected regions in Northern Italy (Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto).”
Ukrainian mayor dies from Covid after re-election – Gennadiy Kernes, the mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city, died on Thursday from complications related to Covid-19, including kidney failure. “The great good heart of my best friend Gennadiy Kernes stopped,” Pavlo Fuchs, an oligarch who backed Kernes, wrote on social media. “The consequences of coronavirus infection caused serious complications to the work of vital organs and systems of his body. Eternal memory to you, my friend,” he added. Kernes had been treated at Berlin’s Charité clinic since September. In October, he was re-elected mayor of Kharkiv, a post he has held since 2010. The 61-year-old was paralysed from the waist down in April 2014 after being shot while jogging by an unknown sniper. The shooting took place after Kernes flipped politically to support a pro-western leadership that gained power in Ukraine after kleptocratic pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich fled for Russia amid the Maidan revolution. Kernes’ passing adds to a Covid-19 death toll of nearly 16,000 in Ukraine, while confirmed cases total 931,751. The coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of a handful of regional Ukrainian officials, of whom Kernes is the most prominent. President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top officials have recovered from Covid-19.
Father who ‘begged’ GP for an MRI scan dies from cancer after Covid backlog – A father-of-two who had to “beg” to get an MRI scan because of the coronavirus crisis has died of cancer, his family have revealed. Sherwin Hall, 27, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, went to hospital on March 23 suffering from leg pain but despite repeated visits he was only given a course of antibiotics for a misdiagnosis of prostatitis. After “begging for a scan” and 13 hospital visits in four weeks, Mr Hall was finally given an MRI on May 26 which revealed a 14cm malignant tumour in his pelvis and 30 small tumours on his lungs. Before his death, Mr Hall said: “I kept begging them in April and May to give me an MRI scan, but no-one would listen.. “Both my GP and my consultant told me that I couldn’t get one because scanning services were slowed down because of the coronavirus.” His widow, LaTroya Hall, who is being supported by the Catch Up With Cancer Campaign, said: “I am devastated. I have lost the love of my life. “If Sherwin’s cancer had been found earlier it is likely he would still be here today. He would want me to do everything I can to prevent other families suffering as we have. “It worries me that the Government and NHS leaders continue to say cancer services are back to normal; our family’s experience has been that, even now, this is simply not the case.” Mr Hall’s death comes as cancer patients, celebrities and NHS staff have launched a Christmas video as part of a campaign calling on the Government to boost cancer services “devastated” by the Covid-19 crisis. The Catch Up With Cancer campaign was launched by the parents of Macclesfield beautician Kelly Smith who died after her treatment for bowel cancer was stopped because of the pandemic.
Coronavirus latest: ‘We have failed,’ Sweden’s king says of Covid strategy – Sweden’s king has admitted that the Scandinavian country has failed with its coronavirus strategy, which has left it with a far higher death toll from the pandemic than its neighbours. Carl XVI Gustaf told Swedes in his annual Christmas address that the country had suffered “enormously in difficult conditions” and that it was “traumatic” that many relatives of the almost 8,000 people to die with Covid-19 had not been able to say goodbye to them. “I think we have failed. We have a large number who have died and that is terrible. It is something we all have to suffer with,” the king said in comments released on Thursday and due to be broadcast in full on Monday. Sweden’s light-touch Covid strategy with no formal lockdown, no recommendations to use face masks, and weaker quarantine rules than elsewhere in Europe has been intensely debated internationally. An opinion poll for newspaper Dagens Nyheter on Thursday showed support for Sweden’s public health agency and its state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell continued to slide but remained at higher levels than other countries. The proportion of Swedes that had strong faith in the agency fell 7 percentage points to 52 per cent while Mr Tegnell’s support slipped 6 percentage points to 59 per cent. Support has dropped ever since Sweden was hard hit by the second wave of Covid-19 in Europe, something Mr Tegnell had insisted in the spring and summer was unlikely due to the heavy first wave. Sweden’s death toll from Covid is 7,802 compared with 402 for neighbouring Norway and 472 for Finland, both of which have about half its population.
Almost 1,000 daily COVID-19 deaths in Germany: The criminal outcome of keeping businesses and schools open – The campaign to reopen businesses and schools in Germany amid a raging pandemic has led to a massive resurgence of COVID-19 in the country, with a record 952 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday. Despite these horrendous figures, all parties in the Bundestag (parliament) continue to put profit before lives and health. The so-called “hard lockdown,” which came into force yesterday, mainly protects the economy and does not go nearly far enough to save tens of thousands of lives. With the recent highs, a total of 23,427 people have been confirmed to have died from COVID-19 in Germany. If the numbers remain at this level, Germany could reach 40,000 deaths before the end of the year. It is more likely that they will be much higher, as the country’s hospitals are already on the verge of collapse. In Zittau, Saxony, a hospital director explained that in the last few days, his facility has already been forced to decide who is to be connected to ventilators and who is to be denied necessary treatment. Nursing homes are turning into death wards as these profit-oriented, cash-starved institutions do not even take rudimentary protective measures. Germany has long been advanced as a model for how to deal with the pandemic. Now, the daily death toll per capita in Germany has risen significantly higher than in the United States, the epicentre of the pandemic, where President Trump embodies like no other the ruthlessness of the ruling class and its anti-scientific ignorance. Germany’s policy, despite all the concerned rhetoric, differs little from that of the White House, neither in its criminal methods nor in its deadly consequences. The federal and state governments of all stripes accept tens of thousands of deaths in order to protect the profits of major banks and corporations. In the last few months, they refused to close any businesses. They kept schools open and even refused to restrict classes in schools, despite rapidly increasing numbers of infections. Workers were to be available to the companies without restrictions despite the pandemic. Thus, with the support of the trade unions and all the bourgeois parties, infection figures were pushed up, producing the terrible situation that is now claiming thousands of lives.
French President Macron tests positive for COVID-19 (AP) – French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, the presidential Elysee Palace announced on Thursday. It said the president took a test “as soon as the first symptoms appeared.” The brief statement did not say what symptoms Macron experienced. It said he would isolate himself for seven days. “He will continue to work and take care of his activities at a distance,” it added. It was not immediately clear what contact tracing efforts were in progress. Macron attended a European Union summit at the end of last week, where he notably had a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He met Wednesday with the prime minister of Portugal. There was no immediate comment from Portuguese officials. Macron on Wednesday also held the government’s weekly Cabinet meeting in the presence of Prime Minister Jean Castex and other ministers. Castex’s office said that the prime minister is also self-isolating for seven days. The French presidency confirmed that Macron’s trip to Lebanon scheduled for next week is being canceled.
New coronavirus strain spreading in UK has key mutations, scientists say(Reuters) – British scientists are trying to establish whether the rapid spread in southern England of a new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 is linked to key mutations they have detected in the strain, they said on Tuesday. The mutations include changes to the important “spike” protein that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus uses to infect human cells, a group of scientists tracking the genetics of the virus said, but it is not yet clear whether these are making it more infectious. “Efforts are under way to confirm whether or not any of these mutations are contributing to increased transmission,” the scientists, from the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium, said in a statement (bit.ly/3mhpTJX). The new variant, which UK scientists have named “VUI – 202012/01″ includes a mutation in the viral genome region encoding the spike protein, which – in theory – could result in COVID-19 spreading more easily between people. The British government on Monday cited a rise in new infections, which it said may be partly linked to the new variant, as it moved its capital city and many other areas into the highest tier of COVID-19 restrictions. As of Dec. 13, 1,108 COVID-19 cases with the new variant had been identified, predominantly in the south and east of England, Public Health England said in a statement. But there is currently no evidence that the variant is more likely to cause severe COVID-19 infections, the scientists said, or that it would render vaccines less effective. “Both questions require further studies performed at pace,” the COG-UK scientists said. Mutations, or genetic changes, arise naturally in all viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, as they replicate and circulate in human populations. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, these mutations are accumulating at a rate of around one to two mutations per month globally, according to the COG-UK genetics specialists. “As a result of this on-going process, many thousands of mutations have already arisen in the SARS-CoV-2 genome since the virus emerged in 2019,” they said. The majority of the mutations seen so far have had no apparent effect on the virus, and only a minority are likely to change the virus in any significant way – for example, making it more able to infect people, more likely to cause severe illness, or less sensitive to natural or vaccine-induced immune defences. Susan Hopkins, a PHE medical advisor, said it is “not unexpected that the virus should evolve and it’s important that we spot any changes quickly to understand the potential risk.” She said the new variant “is being detected in a wide geography, especially where there are increased cases being detected.”
UK says new coronavirus strain is more infectious, but vaccines should still work (Reuters) – A new strain of coronavirus identified in the United Kingdom is up to 70% more infectious but it is not thought to be more deadly and vaccines should still be effective, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and scientists said on Saturday. Johnson and England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said the variant strain had been discovered through Public Health England’s genomic surveillance and it was now confirmed that it spread more easily that the original version. “There’s no evidence that it causes more severe illness or higher mortality, but it does appear to be passed on significantly more easily,” Johnson told a news conference to announce tougher lockdown restrictions for millions of people. “Although there’s considerable uncertainty, it may be up to 70% more transmissible than the old variant, the original version of the disease. This is early data and it’s subject to review. “But it’s the best that we have at the moment and we have to act on information as we have it, because this is now spreading very fast.” Cases in Britain have soared in the last two weeks, and were rising fast, data showed. Britain’s Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance said COVID-19 vaccines appeared to be adequate in generating an immune response to the variant of the coronavirus. “We think it (the variant) may be in other countries as well,” Vallance told reporters. “It may have started here, we don’t know for sure.” Vallance said in parts of England, including London, the south east and east of England, the new variant was becoming the dominant form. “This virus has taken off,” he said of the mutation. “It’s moving fast and it’s leading inevitably to a sharp increase in hospital admissions.”
The Virus Trains: How Lockdown Chaos Spread Covid-19 Across India – India offered special trains to get fleeing migrant workers home during the pandemic. But they ended up spreading the virus across the country. – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s coronavirus restrictions sent migrant workers fleeing. To get them home, the government offered special trains. But the trains would spread the virus across the country. SURAT, India – The crowds surged through the gates, fought their way up the stairs of the 160-year-old station, poured across the platforms and engulfed the trains. It was May 5, around 10 a.m. Surat was beastly hot, 106 degrees. Thousands of migrant laborers were frantic to leave – loom operators, diamond polishers, mechanics, truck drivers, cooks, cleaners, the backbone of Surat’s economy. Two of them were Rabindra and Prafulla Behera, brothers and textile workers, who had arrived in Surat a decade ago in search of opportunity and were now fleeing disease and death. Rabindra stepped aboard carrying a bag stuffed with chapatis. His older brother, Prafulla, clattered in behind, dragging a plastic suitcase packed with pencils, toys, lipstick for his wife and 13 dresses for his girls. “You really think we should be doing this?” Prafulla asked. “What else are we going to do?” Rabindra said. “We have nothing to eat and our money’s out.” They were among tens of millions of migrant workers stranded without work or food after Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a national coronavirus lockdown in March.. By spring and summer, these workers were so desperate that the government provided emergency trains to carry them back to their home villages. The trains were called Shramik Specials, because shramik means “laborer” in Hindi. But they became the virus trains. India has now reported more coronavirus cases than any country besides the United States. And it has become clear that the special trains operated by the government to ease suffering – and to counteract a disastrous lack of lockdown planning – instead played a significant role in spreading the coronavirus into almost every corner of the country. The trains became contagion zones: Every passenger was supposed to be screened for Covid-19 before boarding but few if any were tested. Social distancing, if promised, was nonexistent, as men pressed into passenger cars for journeys that could last days. Then the trains disgorged passengers into distant villages, in regions that before had few if any coronavirus cases. One of those places was Ganjam, a lush, rural district on the Bay of Bengal, where the Behera brothers disembarked after their crowded trip from Surat. Untouched by the virus, Ganjam soon became one of India’s most heavily infected rural districts after the migrants started returning.
India hits 10 million coronavirus cases but pace slows (Reuters) – India exceeded 10 million infections of the new coronavirus on Saturday, much later than predicted only a month ago as the pace of infections slows, despite many in the country giving up on masks and social distancing. After hitting a peak of nearly 98,000 daily cases in mid-September, daily infections have averaged around 30,000 this month, helping India widen its gap with the United States, the world’s worst affected country with more than 16 million cases. India reported 25,152 new infections and 347 deaths in the past 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed. The virus has so far killed 145,136 people in the country. India took 30 days to add the last million cases, the second slowest since the start of the pandemic. The country expects to roll out vaccines soon and is considering emergency-use request for three types, developed by Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer and local company Bharat Biotech. But some health experts say the fall in cases suggests many Indians may have already developed virus antibodies through natural infection. “Herd immunity is a huge part of it … which is helping us to break the transmission,” said Pradeep Awate, a senior health official in India’s worst-hit state of Maharashtra, home to Mumbai. India’s richest state was in dire straits back in September when its daily cases averaged 20,000 and hospitals ran out of beds and oxygen. It is now reporting fewer than 5,000 cases. The national capital territory of Delhi said on Saturday its third and the worst surge in cases has now ended. It reported 1,418 new infections and 37 deaths on Friday. “If infections were surging, we would have seen the number of patients in hospitals go up, especially after the festival season. That has not happened,” said Raman Gangakhedkar, who until recently headed epidemiology at the Indian Council Of Medical Research. A government-appointed panel tasked with making projections based on a mathematical model has estimated that 60% of India’s 1.35 billion people have already been infected with the virus.
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