Written by Steven Hansen
The U.S. new cases 7-day rolling average is 39.4 % HIGHER than the 7-day rolling average one week ago. U.S. deaths due to coronavirus are now 31.4 % HIGHER than the rolling average one week ago. U.S. hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are now 20.7 % HIGHER than the rolling average one week ago. Today’s posts include:
- U.S. Coronavirus New Cases are the lowest seen in the last 7 days.
- U.S. Coronavirus deaths today declined to 614
- U.S. Coronavirus hospitalizations are at a record 69,864
- U.S. Hits 11 Million Coronavirus Cases, Adding 1 Million In A Week
- Will Thanksgiving Be a COVID-19 Disaster? In Canada, the Answer Was ‘Yes’
- Moderna says preliminary trial data shows its coronavirus vaccine is more than 94% effective
- COVID Spread To Europe Months Before China Reported It, Study Claims
- SARS-CoV-2 Was Circulating in New York City Earlier Than Thought, Serological Survey Finds
- Europe Keeps Schools Open, Not Restaurants. The U.S. Has Other Ideas
- Lessons From Europe, Where Cases Are Rising But Schools Are Open
- COVID-19 reveals how obesity harms the body in real-time
- Not All Seniors Face the Same Pandemic Risk
- US holiday spending on par with last year, but choices differ
The recent worsening of the trendlines for new cases should be attributed to going back to college/university, cooler weather causing more indoor activities, possible mutation of the virus, fatigue from wearing masks / social distancing, holiday activities, political rallies, and continued loosening of regulations designed to slow the coronavirus spread.
My continuing advice is to continue to wash your hands (especially after using the toilet as COVID first sheds in your stool), putting down the toilet seat (as flushing the toilet releases a plume), wear masks, avoid crowds, and maintain social distancing. No handwashing, mask, or social distancing will guarantee you do not get infected – but it sure as hell lowers the risk in all situations – and the evidence to-date shows a lower severity of COVID-19. In addition, certain activities are believed to carry a higher risk – like being inside in air conditioning and removing your mask (such as restaurants, around your children/grandchildren, bars, and gyms). It is all about viral load – and outdoor activities are generally safe if you can maintain social distance.
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Hospitalizations (grey line) and Mortality (green line) For Week ending 07NOV2020
source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html
Coronavirus News You May Have Missed
Lessons From Europe, Where Cases Are Rising But Schools Are Open – NPR
Across Europe, schools and child care centers are staying open even as much of the continent reports rising coronavirus cases, and even as many businesses and gathering places are shut or restricted. Countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy appear to be following the emerging evidence that schools have not been major centers of transmission of the virus, especially for young children. And experts say these nations are also demonstrating a commitment to avoiding the worst impacts of the pandemic on children.
The U.S. has taken a different approach. As new cases climb above 100,000 per day, there are very few places in the U.S. where classrooms have remained full even as restaurants and bars are empty. In cities such as Boston and Washington, D.C., schools are remote, but indoor dining is allowed. This week, Detroit announced it was closing its schools through January, while indoor dining and bars there remain open at 50% capacity. Meanwhile, in states like Florida and Texas, schools — along with most businesses — have stayed open, even with very high and rising case rates.
Andreas Schleicher has a global view on education from his position in Paris overseeing the PISA international assessment program at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. He says that while schools in Europe were initially closed out of an abundance of caution, “Research has shown that if you put social distancing protocols in place, school is actually quite a safe environment, certainly safer than having children running around outside school.”
At the same time, he says that in Europe, “I do think people have understood fairly quickly how much damage the school closures have done, particularly to disadvantaged learners.” He says the science especially favors opening elementary schools, with young children both less likely to spread the disease and less able to benefit from remote learning.
Europe Keeps Schools Open, Not Restaurants. The U.S. Has Other Ideas. – New York Times
Across much of Europe, even as coronavirus cases rise anew, governments are keeping classrooms open while forcing restaurants and bars to shut their doors. But in some American cities, officials have opted to keep students home even as dining rooms bustle with customers.
Facing a second wave of the virus, New York City stands on the precipice of once again closing its classrooms. But with restaurants still serving customers in the city, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration faces a now-familiar conundrum: As the virus gains ground, should dining rooms be shuttered before classrooms?
The question reflects the complicated calculus that the pandemic has foisted onto cities all over the world, asking officials to balance livelihoods against lives, and to weigh the survival of today’s economy against the education of a generation of children.
There are no simple trade-offs, and it is possible that both schools and indoor dining will close in the coming days or weeks. For now, though, the city appears headed toward a discordant new status quo, asking hundreds of thousands of children to learn in front of their laptops even as New Yorkers are still making indoor dinner reservations.
… A mounting body of evidence from across the globe indicates that elementary schools in particular are not the superspreader sites they were once feared to be, though the science is more muddled for older children.
Several prominent public health experts have come forward in recent weeks to say they are now more confident that schools can reopen safely, as long as they implement strict safety measures and community transmission remains relatively low.
“I would not put schools high on the list of things driving community transmission that need to stop right now,” said Denis Nash, an epidemiology professor at the CUNY School of Public Health.
Meanwhile, the evidence that indoor dining is a high-risk activity has been steadily growing. Restaurants, gyms, cafes and other crowded indoor venues likely accounted for some eight in 10 new infections in the early months of the U.S. coronavirus epidemic, according to a new analysis that used cellphone mobility data from 10 U.S. cities from March to May.
Moderna says preliminary trial data shows its coronavirus vaccine is more than 94% effective – CNBC
Moderna said preliminary phase three trial data shows its coronavirus vaccine is more than 94% effective in preventing Covid-19 — a result CEO Stephane Bancel called a “game-changer.”
The analysis evaluated 95 confirmed Covid-19 infections among the trial’s 30,000 participants. Moderna, which developed its vaccine in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said 90 cases of Covid-19 were observed in the placebo group versus 5 cases observed in the group that received its two-dose vaccine. That resulted in an estimated vaccine efficacy of 94.5%, it said.
Shares of the company jumped by more than 11% in premarket trading.
The announcement follows on the heels of similar news last week from Pfizer’s late-stage Covid-19 vaccine trial as pharmaceutical companies across the world race against the clock to find ways to prevent the virus, which has spread to more than 54.4 million people, killing more than 1.3 million.
“This is a pivotal moment in the development of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate,” Bancel said in a statement. “Since early January, we have chased this virus with the intent to protect as many people around the world as possible. All along, we have known that each day matters. This positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent COVID-19 disease, including severe disease.”
Will Thanksgiving Be a COVID-19 Disaster? In Canada, the Answer Was ‘Yes’ – Time / MSN
As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations spike across the United States, public-health officials, local leaders and others are urging Americans to rethink their typical Thanksgiving plans this year. “I would encourage everyone to follow the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s] guidelines and plan for a smaller dinner, with your immediate household family only,” New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said during a Nov. 5 press briefing; his state, like many others, is facing a frightening new wave. “We do not want anyone’s Thanksgiving to lead to more cases of COVID-19.”
Prolonged indoor gatherings of many people from different households, after all, are a major risk factor for viral spread. Moreover, it’s tough to keep a mask on when you’re busy shoving grandma’s turkey and stuffing into your face, and alcohol consumption can make people less careful about practicing social distancing. One especially alarming analysis suggests the odds of having at least one COVID-19-positive person at a moderately-sized Thanksgiving gathering this year could be nearly 100% in some hard-hit parts of the country, and only slightly less elsewhere.
Will this year’s Thanksgiving gatherings lead to more viral spread in the U.S.? For a decent prediction, we need only look to our friends to the north, as Canada celebrated its version of Thanksgiving almost exactly a month ago, on Oct. 12. While Canada was already on an upward trajectory for COVID-19 even before Thanksgiving, several Canadian experts told me that, yes, the holiday almost definitely made things even worse.
“It’s not that we were flat and all of a sudden Thanksgiving happened and there we see an increase,” says Dr. Laura Rosella, associate professor and epidemiologist at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. But, she adds, “the reason why we’re fairly confident Thanksgiving did increase cases is that we saw our highest numbers yet in the two weeks following Thanksgiving, which is consistent with the incubation period, when people would show symptoms and get reported.”
States split on COVID-19 responses as cases surge – The Hill
Governors across the country are grappling with an alarming surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, so far putting forward a fractured response.
Despite the escalating public health crisis, many governors have taken only modest actions; most states still allow major sources of spread such as bars and indoor restaurants to remain open.
Experts are urging governors to impose stronger measures such as closing bars and gyms, prohibiting indoor dining, mandating masks, and advising people to limit in-person gatherings.
“There are many very troubling warning signs in outbreaks across the U.S.,” said Anita Cicero, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “I do feel that more immediate action is required.”
While most state actions have been relatively minor, stricter rules are starting to pop up, particularly from states with Democratic officials, underscoring the red versus blue divide on public health measures reminiscent of earlier this year.
[editor’s note: this post is hard to summarize and deserves a full read]
COVID-19 reveals how obesity harms the body in real time – LiveScience
Initially physicians believed that having obesity increased only your risk of getting sicker from COVID-19, not your chance of being infected in the first place. Now, newer analysis shows that not only does obesity increase your risk of being sicker and dying from COVID-19; obesity increases your risk of getting infected in the first place.
In March 2020, observational studies noted hypertension, diabetes and coronary artery disease as the most common other conditions – or co-morbidities – in patients with more severe COVID-19 disease. But it was the editors of Obesity journal who first raised the alarm on April 1, 2020 that obesity would likely prove to be an independent risk factor for more severe effects of COVID-19 infection.
Additionally, two studies including nearly 10,000 patients have shown that patients who have both COVID-19 and obesity have a higher risk of death at days 21 and 45 compared to patients with a normal body mass index, or BMI.
And a study published in September, 2020 reported higher rates of obesity in COVID-19 patients who are critically ill and require intubation.
It is becoming overwhelmingly evident from these studies and others that those with obesity are facing a clear and present danger.
SARS-CoV-2 Was Circulating in New York City Earlier Than Thought, Serological Survey Finds – GenomeWeb
A serological survey suggests SARS-CoV-2 was circulating in New York City well before the first confirmed case was detected, and that 20 percent of the city’s population has already been infected with the virus.
The first case of COVID-19 was reported at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York on February 29, 2020. Following that, the city experienced a rapid rise in infections and subsequent deaths. New York State issued a stay-at-home order on March 22, after which the number of new cases in the city began to decline in April and May.
By analyzing more than 10,000 plasma samples obtained from patients at Mount Sinai between early February and early July, researchers pieced together when anti-SARS-CoV-2 arose among two different groups of patients, those seeking emergency care and those undergoing routine care. As the Mount Sinai team reported on Wednesday in the journal Nature, their testing uncovered seropositive samples from as early as mid-February, suggesting the virus was circulating in New York earlier than thought.
“We now know there were many asymptomatic and mild-to-moderate cases that likely went undetected,” study author Emilia Mia Sordillo from the Icahn School of Medicine said in a statement. “In this study, we aimed to understand the dynamics of infection in the general population and in people seeking urgent care.”
… The first seropositive sample from this survey dated to the week of February 23 — before the first confirmed SARS-CoV-2 case in New York City. This suggested that the virus was likely introduced to the city a number of weeks earlier than thought.
With a seroprevalence of 22 percent, the researchers estimated that at least 1.7 million New Yorkers may have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 thus far. Still, they noted that the seroprevalence in the city falls below the expected threshold for potential community immunity, estimated to be about 67 percent. Additionally, they reported that the antibody titers among their cohort remained stable between May and July.
Using these numbers, the researchers calculated an infection fatality rate of 0.97 percent for SARS-CoV-2 — a rate they noted is much higher than the rate of between 0.01 percent and 0.001 percent calculated for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
They added that they plan to continue this serological survey for at least a year. “Knowing the detailed dynamics of the seroprevalence shown in this study is important for modeling seroprevalence elsewhere in the country,” senior author Florian Krammer from Mount Sinai said in a statement.
COVID Spread To Europe Months Before China Reported It, Study Claims – Newsweek
Scientists in Italy believe COVID-19 may have been circulating in the country since September last year, suggesting the virus spread beyond China months earlier than previously thought.
According to the World Health Organization, an outbreak of the disease now known as COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, in central China, in December. Italy’s first COVID patient was detected on February 21 in a town near Milan, in the northern region of Lombardy.
But a study by the researchers at the National Cancer Institute in Milan found COVID-19 antibodies in blood samples from as early as September last year. The findings “may reshape the history of the pandemic,” the researchers said.
… It found that more than 11 percent had developed coronavirus antibodies specific to the new COVID – SARS-CoV-2 – well before February, including 14 percent from blood samples taken in September last year. Around 30 percent of the antibodies detected were from the second week of February when the virus started to grip Lombardy, the scientists found.
“This study shows an unexpected very early circulation of SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic individuals in Italy several months before the first patient was identified,” the study authors wrote. “Finding SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in asymptomatic people before the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy may reshape the history of the pandemic.”
Not All Seniors Face the Same Pandemic Risk – Newsweek
To make the best decisions, we all must recognize that different people face different levels of risk.
There is no question that COVID-19 is dangerous and extremely contagious. But a healthy 67-year-old isn’t in the same danger as an 87-year-old with a pulmonary disease. The risk of grave illness from the coronavirus doesn’t suddenly shoot up when you hit retirement age, but rather increases steadily as you age. Compared with 18-to-29-year-olds, those between 65 and 74 are five times more likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19, those between 75 and 84 are eight times more likely and those 85 and older are 13 times more likely, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Other factors make a difference too. Men are at higher risk than women, and a range of underlying conditions, including cancer, heart disease and obesity, also increase the level of peril.
As seniors make their health decisions, they need to weigh the risk of catching the virus against other hazards. In particular, social isolation during the pandemic has contributed to a substantial rise in mental health problems, substance abuse and suicidal thoughts.
US holiday spending on par with last year, but choices differ – The Conference Board
Despite COVID-19, holiday shoppers intend to spend about the same dollar amount as last year ($673, on par with 2019’s $675), according to an estimate from The Conference Board. That is good news in the final stretch of 2020 as the economy loses momentum—with low consumer confidence and high unemployment. However, consumers will spend their dollars differently this year:
- Toys and games set for biggest spending increase, as consumers continue cocooning
- Gift cards get a boost
- Jewelry expected to suffer a major decline
With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise, retailers should prepare for a surge in online traffic: 52 percent of consumers say they plan to make at least half of their purchases online, compared with 42 percent last year.
Dr. Fauci Warns US Likely To Cancel Christmas, Hints That Masks & Social Distancing Are Here To Stay – ZeroHedge
As angst about the spoiled Thanksgiving holiday simmers, Dr. Anthony Fauci acknowledged Sunday during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” that American families should probably prepare to skip Christmas dinner, too.
While Dr. Fauci has repeatedly praised Pfizer and Moderna, and assured the American public that the FDA’s first vaccine emergency-use authorization could be handed down within days, he cautioned during Sunday’s interview that people should continue to wear masks and observe social distancing even after they’ve been vaccinated.
It’s just the latest unsettling hint that social distancing requirements could be here to stay.
“I would recommend to people to not abandon all public health measures just because you’ve been vaccinated,” Fauci said during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. “Because even though for the general population it might be 90% to 95% effective, you don’t necessarily know for you how effective it is.”
Later in the interview, Dr. Fauci agreed, with some trepidation, with Jake Tapper’s assessment that Christmas “is probably not going to be possible.”
The following are foreign headlines with hyperlinks to the posts
The WHO has an outbreak: 65 staffers have been infected with the coronavirus
As Mexico copes with one of the world’s worst outbreaks, Mexico City will close all bars and restaurants for two weeks.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is as “fit as a butcher’s dog” after being instructed to self-isolate for 14 days because he recently came in contact with someone who has since contracted coronavirus
Amnesty International said Belgium authorities “abandoned” thousands of elderly people who died in nursing homes during the pandemic in a report that described those actions as “human rights violations.”
Tokyo Olympics: Athletes, coaches and fans arriving for next year’s postponed Games are likely to face requirements to be vaccinated to protect the Japanese public
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who spent 3 days in critical care with COVID-19 in April, is back in isolation after exposure to an infected person.
The World Health Organization advised against using antiviral remdesivir for the sickest COVID-19 patients in critical care units.
So much for the Swedish strategy: a surge of new infections there may be the fastest rise in infections in all of Europe, according to data from the European CDC.
How South Korea Avoided a COVID-19 Lockdown
France appears to have ‘passed the peak’ of second surge, health minister says
Surging Pandemic Has Ontario Close to Cancelling Non-Essential Surgeries Again
China Claims COVID Vaccine Is 90% Effective, Week after Pfizer Announcement
6,000 U.K. Volunteers to be Injected in New COVID-19 Vaccine Trial
Europe’s pandemic recovery package is at risk after Poland and Hungary blocked the E.U. budget.
Germany’s partial lockdown appears to be working. Whether it will be extended remains unclear.
Sweden bans public events of more than eight people
UK orders 5m doses of Moderna coronavirus vaccine
The European Union has struck a deal for up 405 million doses of German biotech firm CureVac’s 5CV.DE potential COVID-19 vaccine, the head of the EU executive said on Monday, taking total supplies secured by the bloc to nearly 2 billion doses.
South Australia goes on high alert after first outbreak in months
India Records Lowest 24-Hour Tally in Four Months
New Zealand makes masks mandatory on domestic flights, Auckland public transport
The following are additional national and state headlines with hyperlinks to the posts
President Trump has refused to let his coronavirus task force communicate with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team
A larger than normal number of U.S. medical practices have closed this year.
States enact more Covid-19 rules as the US hits 11 million cases
Biden’s scientific advisers, meanwhile, plan to meet with vaccine makers even as a stalled presidential transition keeps them out of the loop on government plans to inoculate all Americans against COVID-19.
Poll workers in some U.S. states who came in contact with voters on Election Day have tested positive. Public health officials caution, however, that there’s no way to determine whether in-person voting on Nov. 3 is to blame as COVID-19 spreads rapidly nationwide
COVID-19 infections are soaring. Lockdowns could be coming. A list of restrictions in your state.
How the COVID-19 surge will affect holiday shopping
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer declares a 3-week lockdown
NCAA to move March Madness to single-site
Some doctors are giving up completely — retiring early or closing their practices and taking less intense jobs.
North Dakota issued a statewide mask mandate.
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), at 87 the oldest and longest serving congressman, tested positive for COVID-19.
Should Inmates, Prison Staff be First In Line for COVID Vax?
At Least 231 People In Texas Jails And Prisons Have Died From COVID-19
New Jersey limits indoor, outdoor gatherings ahead of Thanksgiving as COVID surges
Rapid Testing Is Less Accurate Than the Government Wants to Admit
33% in U.S. Won’t Require Masks at Thanksgiving Celebrations
Washington Governor Jay Inslee Orders Sweeping COVID Restrictions
Tourism in New York City may not recover until 2025.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told CNBC that the Food and Drug Administration will move “as quickly as possible” to clear Pfizer and Moderna‘s coronavirus vaccines for emergency use.
Johnson & Johnson began a new late-stage trial to test its experimental Covid-19 vaccine and evaluate potential incremental benefits of a second dose, Reuters reports.
Francesca’s will close 140 stores, may file for bankruptcy
More than 1 million children in the U.S. have had Covid-19
CDC panel to decide who gets COVID-19 vaccine first
Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine candidate is “more flexible” because “it can be kept in regular freezer refrigeration,” US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Monday on Fox and Friends.
Today’s Posts On Econintersect Showing Impact Of The Pandemic With Hyperlinks
November 2020 Empire State Manufacturing Index Declined
A Growing Trade Deficit? Medical Goods Imports Plays A Role
Short-Term Rentals Plummet As Pandemic Halts Travel
Ingredients In Flu Vaccine Won’t Hurt You – Two Pharmacists Explain Why
Warning to Readers
The amount of politically biased articles on the internet continues to increase. And studies and opinions of the experts continue to contradict other studies and expert opinions. Honestly, it is difficult to believe anything anymore. A study usually cannot establish cause and effect – but only correlation. Be very careful what you believe about this pandemic.
I assemble this coronavirus update daily – sifting through the posts on the internet. I try to avoid politically slanted posts (mostly from CNN, New York Times, and the Washington Post) and can usually find unslanted posts on that subject from other sources on the internet. I wait to publish posts on subjects that I cannot validate across several sources. But after all this extra work, I do not know if I have conveyed the REAL facts. It is my job to provide information so that you have the facts necessary – and then it is up to readers to draw conclusions.
Analyst Opinion of Coronavirus Data
There are several takeaways that need to be understood when viewing coronavirus statistical data:
- The global counts are suspect for a variety of reasons including political. Even the U.S. count has issues as it is possible that as much as half the population has had coronavirus and was asymptomatic. It would be a far better metric using a random sampling of the population weekly. In short, we do not understand the size of the error in the tracking numbers.
- Just because some of the methodology used in aggregating the data in the U.S. is flawed – as long as the flaw is uniformly applied – you establish a baseline. This is why it is dangerous to compare two countries as they likely use different methodologies to determine who has (and who died) from coronavirus.
- COVID-19 and the flu are different but can have similar symptoms. For sure, COVID-19 so far is much more deadly than the flu. [click here to compare symptoms]
- From an industrial engineering point of view, one can argue that it is best to flatten the curve only to the point that the health care system is barely able to cope. This solution only works if-and-only-if one can catch this coronavirus once and develops immunity. In the case of COVID-19, herd immunity may need to be in the 80% to 85% range. WHO warns that few have developed antibodies to COVID-19. At this point, herd immunity does not look like an option although there is now a discussion of whether T-Cells play a part in immunity [which means one might have immunity without antibodies]
- Older population countries will have a higher death rate.
- There are at least 8 strains of the coronavirus. New York may have a deadlier strain imported from Europe, compared to less deadly viruses elsewhere in the United States.
- Each publication uses different cutoff times for its coronavirus statistics. Our data uses 11:00 am London time. Also, there is an unexplained variation in the total numbers both globally and in the U.S.
- The real question remains if the U.S. is over-reacting to this virus. The following graphic from the CDC puts the annual flu burden in perspective [click on image to enlarge]. Note that using this data is dangerous as the actual flu cases are estimated and not counted – nobody knows how accurate these guesses are.
What we do not know about the coronavirus [actually there is little scientifically proven information]. Most of our knowledge is anecdotal, from studies with limited subjects, or from studies without peer review.
- How many people have been infected as many do not show symptoms?
- Masks do work.
- Do we develop lasting immunity to the coronavirus? Another coronavirus – the simple cold – does not develop long term immunity.
- To what degree do people who never develop symptoms contribute to transmission?
- The US has scaled up coronavirus testing – and the accuracy of the tests has been improving. However, if one loses immunity – the coronavirus testing value is reduced.
- Can children widely spread coronavirus? [current thinking is that they are becoming a major source of the pandemic spread]
- Why have some places avoided big coronavirus outbreaks – and others hit hard?
- What effect will the weather have? At this point, it does not seem hot weather slows this coronavirus down – and it seems air conditioning contributes to its spread.
- Outdoor activities seem to be a lower risk than indoor activities.
- Can the world really push out an effective vaccine in 12 to 18 months?
- Will other medical treatments for Covid-19 ease symptoms and reduce deaths? So far only one drug (remdesivir) is approved for treatment.
- A current scientific understanding of the way the coronavirus works can be found [here].
Heavy breakouts of coronavirus have hit farm workers. Farmworkers are essential to the food supply. They cannot shelter at home. Consider:
- they have high rates of the respiratory disease [occupational hazard]
- they travel on crowded buses chartered by their employers
- few have health insurance
- they cannot social distance and live two to four to a room – and they eat together
- some reports say half are undocumented
- they are low paid and cannot afford not to work – so they will go to work sick
- they do not have access to sanitation when working
- a coronavirus outbreak among farmworkers can potentially shutter entire farm
The bottom line is that COVID-19 so far has been shown to be much more deadly than the data on the flu. Using CDC data, the flu has a mortality rate between 0.06 % and 0.11 % Vs. the coronavirus which to date has a mortality rate of 4 % [the 4% is the average of overall statistics – however in the last few months it has been hovering around 1.0%] – which makes it between 10 and 80 times more deadly. The reason for ranges:
Because influenza surveillance does not capture all cases of flu that occur in the U.S., CDC provides these estimated ranges to better reflect the larger burden of influenza.
There will be a commission set up after this pandemic ends to find fault [it is easy to find fault when a once-in-a-lifetime event occurs] and to produce recommendations for the next time a pandemic happens. Those that hate President Trump will conclude the virus is his fault.
Resources:
- Get the latest public health information from CDC: https://www.coronavirus.gov .
- Get the latest research from NIH: https://www.nih.gov/coronavirus.
- Find NCBI SARS-CoV-2 literature, sequence, and clinical content: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sars-cov-2/.
- List of studies: https://icite.od.nih.gov/covid19/search/#search:searchId=5ee124ed70bb967c49672dad
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