Written by Steven Hansen
The U.S. new cases 7-day rolling average are 4.2 % HIGHER than the 7-day rolling average one week ago and U.S. deaths due to coronavirus are now 15.6 % LOWER than the rolling average one week ago. Today’s posts include:
- U.S. Coronavirus New Cases are 79,440
- U.S. Coronavirus deaths are at 1,522
- U.S. Coronavirus immunizations have been administered to 39.0 % of the population
- The 7-day rolling average rate of growth of the pandemic shows new cases worsened and deaths worsened [new cases are now clearly on a worsening trend]
- Could an mRNA vaccine second dose reduce cellular immunity in previously infected individuals?
- AstraZeneca confirms strong vaccine protection after US rift
- European Medicines Agency sets up group to examine AstraZeneca vaccine blood clot link
- Top Yale Doctor/Researcher: ‘Ivermectin works,’ including for long-haul COVID
- FDA adds Guillain-Barré syndrome warning to GlaxoSmithKline’s shingles vaccine
- Scientists find evidence that novel coronavirus invades the mouth’s cells
- Food preservative may harm the immune system
- Why It Pays to Think Outside the Box on Coronavirus Tests
- Why is Europe having so much trouble vaccinating people? Shortages are just part of the problem
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Hospitalizations Are The Only Accurate Gauge
Hospitalizations historically appear to be little affected by weekends or holidays. The hospitalization growth rate trend is improving.
source: https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/covidnet/COVID19_3.html
Historically, hospitalization growth follows new case growth by one to two weeks.
As an analyst, I use the rate of growth to determine the trend. But, the size of the pandemic is growing in terms of real numbers – and if the rate of growth does not become negative – the pandemic will overwhelm all resources.
The graph below shows the rate of growth relative to the growth a week earlier updated through today [note that negative numbers mean the rolling averages are LOWER than the rolling averages one week ago]. As one can see, the rate of growth for new cases peaked in early December 2020 for Thanksgiving, and early January 2021 for end of year holidays – and it now shows that the coronavirus effect is now shrinking.
In the scheme of things, new cases decline first, followed by hospitalizations, and then deaths.
Will The New Variants Cause The Next Spike?
Maybe and maybe not. It all depends on vaccinations:
- the more people that are vaccinated reduces the pool of people that can be infected. Today we have removed over 39 % of the population from being infected which theoretically should reduce the infection rate by 39 % [it is unproven whether the vaccines prevent a vaccinated person from being a carrier of the virus even though showing no signs]. If the vaccines are shown to stop transmission, then in theory it would reduce the infection rate by double the percent vaccinated [in this case you prevent your own infection and do not pass it along to another].
- it is also unknown what the effective rate of the current vaccines is against mutations that seem to appear almost daily. As an example, if the effective rate drops to 60%, it means the 39 % reduction in the infection rate discussed above is almost cut in half. The South African and Brazilian variant is reported somewhat immune to the current vaccines.
- The pandemic should be over immediately if everyone could be vaccinated today. The problem is that every day brings a new mutation (which would not appear if the pandemic was stopped). The longer the immunization process takes – the more ineffective the vaccine will become.
- It is not clear whether the vaccine prevents those vaccinated from spreading the virus. It seems to be well documented that it normally stops the virus from taking hold and when it does not – the infection is mild.
Coronavirus News You May Have Missed
Food preservative may harm the immune system, shows new study – News-Medical
[editor’s note: right now, anything that harms the immune system works against ending this pandemic]
A food preservative used to prolong the shelf life of Pop-Tarts, Rice Krispies Treats, Cheez-Its and almost 1,250 other popular processed foods may harm the immune system, according to a new peer-reviewed study by Environmental Working Group.
EWG’s analysis of ToxCast data showed that the preservative tert-butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, has been found to harm the immune system both in both animal tests and in non-animal tests known as high-throughput in vitro toxicology testing. This finding is of particular concern during the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic has focused public and scientific attention on environmental factors that can impact the immune system. Before the pandemic, chemicals that may harm the immune system’s defense against infection or cancer did not receive sufficient attention from public health agencies. To protect public health, this must change.”
Olga Naidenko, PhD, Study Lead Author and EWG Vice President for Science Investigations
AstraZeneca confirms strong vaccine protection after US rift – AP
AstraZeneca insists that its COVID-19 vaccine is strongly effective even after counting additional illnesses in its disputed U.S. study, the latest in an extraordinary public rift with American officials.
In a late-night news release Wednesday, the drugmaker said it had recalculated data from that study and concluded the vaccine is 76% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, instead of the 79% it had reported earlier in the week.
Just a day earlier, an independent panel that oversees the study had accused AstraZeneca of cherry-picking data to tout the protection offered by its vaccine. The panel, in a harsh letter to the company and to U.S. health leaders, said the company had left out some COVID-19 cases that occurred in the study, a move that could erode trust in the science.
Some experts said the new data provided by AstraZeneca was “reassuring” and that the information was likely solid enough for U.S. regulators to authorize the vaccine.
“AstraZeneca may have just been too hasty in submitting the earlier, incomplete interim analysis rather than waiting to analyze and submit the full dataset,” said Julian Tang, a virologist at the University of Leicester who was not connected to the research. He said the updated details didn’t look substantially different from what was published earlier this week.
Data disputes during ongoing studies typically remain confidential but in an unusual step, the National Institutes of Health publicly called on AstraZeneca to fix the discrepancy.
[editor’s note: also read “One mistake after the other.” How AstraZeneca went from pandemic hero to villain]
Top US health officials say they’re encouraged by the accelerating Covid-19 vaccinations.
But not enough Americans are fully vaccinated yet to suppress the spread of the virus — and eased restrictions across the country coupled with spring break crowds could spell trouble, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday.
“What concerns me is the footage of what’s happening in spring breakers, in people who are not continuing to implement prevention strategies while we get fully scaled up,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House Covid-19 briefing.The coming weeks are especially critical: Covid-19 cases in the country have seen a slight increase, according to Walensky, while a highly contagious — and potentially more deadly — variant is circulating. Some experts have warned that by getting lax with safety measures, the country could see infections surge again.
And Walensky said that the latest Covid-19 data has her worried.
“Cases continue to increase slightly. The most recent seven-day average is nearly 55,000 per day, up about 3% from the prior seven-day average. The most recent seven-day average of new hospitalizations is about 4,600 per day and is similar to the data on Monday. And the latest seven-day average of deaths — approximately 968 per day — has also remained flat this week,” Walensky said Wednesday.
[editor’s note: whilst I do also think the uptick was aided by spring break and eased restrictions – simple statistical analysis shows that IF vaccinations were working as advertised, that there should still be a downward trend. Therefore, there is a disconnect either caused by the vaccines efficacy being lower than advertised, the variants (which reduce vaccine efficacy) are more widespread than headlined, the vaccine is creating little reduction in transmission, or some other belief we have about the vaccines is wrong. Incidently, the slowing trend of COVID infections began on 23Feb2021 – over one month ago and well before spring break – but the easing of COVID restrictions began in January 2021]
Why It Pays to Think Outside the Box on Coronavirus Tests – New York Times
Universities and other institutions looking to protect themselves from Covid-19 may benefit from sharing their testing resources with the wider community, a new study suggests.
Now, a new analysis suggests that schools, businesses and other organizations that want to keep themselves safe should think beyond strictly themselves. By dedicating a substantial proportion of their tests to people in the surrounding community, institutions could reduce the number of Covid-19 cases among their members by as much as 25 percent, researchers report in a new paper, which has not yet been published in a scientific journal.
“It’s natural in an outbreak for people to become self-serving, self-focused,” said Dr. Pardis Sabeti, a computational biologist at Harvard University and the Broad Institute who lead the analysis. But, she added, “If you’ve been in enough outbreaks you just understand that testing in a box doesn’t makes sense. These things are communicable, and they’re coming in from the community.”
The study has “really profound implications, especially if others can replicate it,“ said David O’Connor, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who was not involved in the analysis but reviewed a draft of the paper. As the pandemic enters its second year, he said, “We want to start using more sophisticated modeling and probably economic theory to inform what an optimal testing program would look like.”
Top Yale Doctor/Researcher: ‘Ivermectin works,’ including for long-haul COVID – TrialSite
A Yale University professor and renowned cancer researcher has pored over the COVID-19 literature and treated several dozen patients. He can remain silent no longer.
Dr. Alessandro Santin, a practicing oncologist and scientist who runs a large laboratory at Yale, believes firmly that ivermectin could vastly cut suffering from COVID-19. Santin joins a growing group of doctors committed to using the safe, generic drug both as an early home treatment to prevent hospitalization and alongside inpatient treatments like steroids and oxygen.
“The bottom line is that ivermectin works. I’ve seen that in my patients as well as treating my own family in Italy,” Santin said in an interview, referring to his father, 88, who recently suffered a serious bout of COVID. “We must find a way to administer it on a large scale to a lot of people.”
Santin’s statements carry the prestige of a leadership position at Yale School of Medicine and the gravitas of a top uterine cancer researcher, who has authored more than 250 science journal articles and pioneered treatment, used worldwide, for the most aggressive form of uterine cancer. At Yale, he is an OB/GYN professor, team leader in gynecologic oncology at the Smilow Comprehensive Cancer Center, and co-chief of gynecologic oncology.
FDA adds Guillain-Barré syndrome warning to GlaxoSmithKline’s shingles vaccine – Endpoints
[editor’s note: On the surface, this has little to do with COVID. However, a biotech wizard wrote me saying “… mass vaccination for shingles and other syndromes may be a mistake. Seems clear that we have to have models for how much population-wide tinkering we do with population health. There will clearly be a systemic limit, and countless agents that can play the role of the last straw that broke the camel’s back.“
The FDA late Wednesday sent out a safety communication to explain that while GlaxoSmithKline’s shingles vaccine Shingrix is a safe vaccine, it’s now added a new warning to the label noting an increased risk of a rare but debilitating disorder known as Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).
“In a postmarketing observational study, an increased risk of GBS was observed during the 42 days following vaccination with Shingrix,” the updated Warnings and Precautions section of the label now says. The FDA also determined that the benefits of vaccination with Shingrix continue to outweigh its risks.
The FDA said in its safety communication that it found the risk by combing through Medicare claims data from more than 3.7 million vaccinations with Shingrix between October 2017 and February 2020.
“The primary analysis (claims-based, all doses) found an increased risk of GBS during the 42 days following vaccination with Shingrix, with an estimated 3 excess cases of GBS per million doses administered to adults aged 65 years or older,” FDA said. “In secondary analyses, an increased risk of GBS was observed during the 42 days following the first dose of Shingrix, with an estimated 6 excess cases of GBS per million doses administered to adults aged 65 years or older, and no increased risk of GBS was observed following the second dose of Shingrix.”
Each year in the US, an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 people develop GBS, FDA said, which is about 10 to 20 cases of GBS per million people each year.
Scientists find evidence that novel coronavirus invades the mouth’s cells – EurekAlert
An international team led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has found evidence that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, infects cells in the mouth.
While it’s well known that the upper airways and lungs are primary sites of SARS-CoV-2 infection, there are clues the virus can infect cells in other parts of the body, such as the digestive system, blood vessels, kidneys and, as this new study shows, the mouth. The potential of the virus to infect multiple areas of the body might help explain the wide-ranging symptoms experienced by COVID-19 patients, including oral symptoms such as taste loss, dry mouth and blistering.
Moreover, the findings point to the possibility that the mouth plays a role in transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to the lungs or digestive system via saliva laden with virus from infected oral cells. A better understanding of the mouth’s involvement could inform strategies to reduce viral transmission within and outside the body.
“Due to NIH’s all-hands-on-deck response to the pandemic, researchers at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research were able to quickly pivot and apply their expertise in oral biology and medicine to answering key questions about COVID-19,” said NIDCR Director Rena D’Souza, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D. “The power of this approach is exemplified by the efforts of this scientific team, who identified a likely role for the mouth in SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission, a finding that adds to knowledge critical for combatting this disease.”
[editor’s note: also read: Salivary gland cells revealed as sites of COVID-19 infection]
Why is Europe having so much trouble vaccinating people? Shortages are just part of the problem. – New York Times
The European Union, where coronavirus vaccinations are moving at a maddeningly slow pace compared with those in United States and Britain, made clear this week that it is willing to flex its muscles to get more doses for its citizens, going so far as to curb exports of vaccine from the bloc.
But the E.U.’s trouble inoculating its population does not result from an inadequate vaccine supply alone.
Bureaucratic inertia, strategic errors, a diffusion of responsibility and logistical problems in booking appointments have all helped seriously undercut vaccination efforts.
Consider the northern Italian town of Cremona, an early victim during the pandemic’s initial explosion in Europe.
Over the weekend, the mayor got a call that the local vaccination center was empty. The region’s booking system had failed to contact and set up appointments with older residents — and more than 500 doses of vaccine were at risk of going to waste.
“There was staff, there were also vaccines, but there were no people,” said the mayor, Gianluca Galimberti.
Similar scenarios are playing out throughout the country, as the authorities struggle to get vaccines to older and vulnerable Italians who most need them.
But the problems getting people vaccinated are hardly limited to Italy.
Could an mRNA vaccine second dose reduce cellular immunity in previously infected individuals? – News-Medical
One dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine [Pfizer] induces robust cellular and humoral immune responses in both naïve and recovered individuals. In the first group, the T cell response wanes rapidly, but increases again after the second dose, along with spike-directed IgG production.
In the group of recovered individuals, the second dose actually reduces the specific T cell response elicited by the first dose. This could lead to the conclusion that the second dose should not be given, at least until further knowledge is gained on this aspect of vaccination, to maintain the high T cell response.
These startling findings need to be explained. Perhaps, the researchers say, “the effector memory CD4+ T cells expanded by first vaccine dose in COVID-19 recovered individuals may be prone to activation-induced cell death (AICD) after the second vaccination dose.”
It is also possible that the observed effect is due to functional exhaustion of the spike-targeting T cells but without a reduction in the actual number of long-term effector memory T cells. Phenotypic studies of the T cell subsets in both these groups are required to understand which of these explanations is correct.
However, in the face of current vaccine shortages, the use of specific tests to detect cellular immunity against SARS-CoV-2 may allow strategies to be designed that prioritize individuals without detectable pre-existing immunity against the virus for the second dose of the vaccine.
This should be accompanied by providing vaccination certificates to the recovered individuals after a single vaccine dose.
European Medicines Agency sets up group to examine blood clot links – CNN
Europe’s medicines regulator has announced it has asked a group of experts to provide their views on links to blood clots purportedly associated with some Covid-19 vaccines.
In a statement published on its website on Thursday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced the new group will meet with the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) on March 29 to discuss the possible reasons why some people developed blood clots after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine “to gain a deeper understanding of the observed events and the potential risk.”
The new group includes experts in hematology, cardiovascular medicine, infectious diseases, virology, neurology, immunology and epidemiology.
The outcome of the meeting will feed into PRAC’s ongoing evaluation around blood clots links to the Covid-19 vaccine, with any updated recommendations expected to be announced during its April plenary meeting, which takes place between April 6 and April 9.
The EMA’s announcement comes after its safety committee said on March 18 that investigations into the link between the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots had come to a clear scientific conclusion:
“This is a safe and effective vaccine,” EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke told a news conference after the committee had concluded.
However, the committee said it was unable to “rule out definitively” a possible link to blood clots.
The following are foreign headlines with hyperlinks to the posts
Bolsonaro under fire as Brazil hits 300,000 virus deaths
The Olympic torch relay started in Japan, though questions linger about whether the Games should go ahead.
Covid deaths on the rise again globally amid warning ‘worst yet to come’ for some countries
Why are more young people getting sick with Covid-19 in Brazil?
In Finland, leaders proposed a strict stay-at-home order for the first time during the pandemic.
Nearly All Havana to Receive Experimental Cuban COVID-19 Vaccines
Women in 40s, 50s Who Survive COVID More Likely to Suffer Persistent Problems: UK Studies
Poland records record number of coronavirus cases, mulls lockdown
Denmark extends its suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The emergency rooms are heaving, health care workers are falling sick, and misinformation about the coronavirus and its vaccines is running rife. It has all left Papua New Guinea, a tropical island nation just north of Australia, in the grip of a deadly crisis, as a tripling of infections over the past month has swamped an already fragile health care system.
Chile goes into new lockdown amid rapid surge in coronavirus cases
COVAX announces vaccine delivery delays from Serum Institute of India and AstraZeneca
Peru records highest daily number of Covid-19 cases since pandemic began
Sweden and Iceland partly resume AstraZeneca vaccine rollout
Why are more young people getting sick with Covid-19 in Brazil?
The following additional national and state headlines with hyperlinks to the posts
More than 40 states say they will meet President Biden’s goal of making every adult eligible for a vaccine by May 1.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York arranged special access to government-run virus testing for his family members early in the pandemic, before widespread testing was available.
Jobless claims fall to lowest level of the pandemic
The Biden administration on Wednesday promised $81 billion in new money to help reopen schools safely.
Antigen tests were not reliable for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic patients
COVID-19 vaccines may not produce sufficient antibody response in transplant recipients
Will COVID-19 vaccines need to be adapted regularly?
Fluoxetine (Prozac) performs strongly in vitro against SARS-CoV-2 (including mutants)
Vitamin D May Protect Against COVID-19, Especially in Blacks
Kaleido Biosciences Says Oral Drug Cuts COVID-19 Recovery Time, Hospitalizations
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that he will eliminate the age restriction for COVID-19 vaccines as of April 5.
Rutgers To Require Vaccine Proof For ‘All Students Planning To Attend This Fall’
Biden’s new goal is 200 million COVID-19 vaccinations in first 100 days
Over 60% of Twitter, FB Anti-Vax Content Originates From 12 People: Study
House Dems Call on Biden to Make COVID Vaccine Mandatory in Military
Michigan COVID Cases Increase Over 40% in Single Week
Florida’s Spring Break Hot Spots Reporting Slight Increases in COVID Cases
After a rebuke, AstraZeneca releases new data that shows its vaccine is still highly effective.
U.S. prisons start to resume allowing visits to inmates, with added virus precautions.
Senate extends pandemic assistance for small businesses for 2 months
White House launches new program to vaccinate dialysis patients against Covid-19
Today’s Posts On Econintersect Showing Impact Of The Pandemic With Hyperlinks
March 2021 Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Expands At A Faster Pace
Third Estimate 4Q2020 GDP Improves Marginally to 4.3%. Corporate Profits Improve.
20 March 2021 Initial Unemployment Claims Rolling Average Improves Again
Headed For A Collapsing Debt Bubble
People Gave Up On Flu Pandemic Measures A Century Ago When They Tired Of Them And Paid A Price
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.
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 when recovering from COVID-19. Herd immunity does not look like an option without immunization 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 significantly higher death rate as there is relatively few hospitalizations and deaths in younger age groups..
- There are at least 8 strains of the coronavirus. California and 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.
What we do or 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. Unfortunately, early in the pandemic, many health experts — in the U.S. and around the world — decided that the public could not be trusted to hear the truth about masks. Instead, the experts spread a misleading message, discouraging the use of masks.
- Current thinking is that we develop at least 5 months of immunity from further COVID infection.
- The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have an effectiveness rate of about 95 percent after two doses. That is on par with the vaccines for chickenpox and measles. The 95 percent number understates the effectivenessas it counts anyone who came down with a mild case of Covid-19 as a failure. But turning Covid into a typical flu — as the vaccines evidently did for most of the remaining 5 percent — is actually a success. Of the 32,000 people who received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine in a research trial, only one contracted a severe Covid case.
- To what degree do people who never develop symptoms contribute to transmission? Research early in the pandemic suggested that the rate of asymptomatic infections could be as high as 81%. But a meta-analysis, which included 13 studies involving 21,708 people, calculated the rate of asymptomatic presentation to be 17%.
- The accuracy of rapid testing is questioned – and the more accurate test results are not being given in a timely manner.
- Can children widely spread coronavirus? [current thinking is that they are a minor source of the pandemic spread]
- Why have some places avoided big coronavirus outbreaks – and others hit hard?
- Air conditioning contributes to the pandemic spread.
- It appears that there is increased risk of infection and mortality for those living in larger occupancy households.
- Male patients have almost three times the odds of requiring intensive treatment unit (ITU) admission compared to females.
- Outdoor activities seem to be a lower risk than indoor activities.
Treatments with solid scientific support:
- Dexamethasone
- Proning, or turning someone on their stomach
- Remdesivir
- Baricitinib
Treatments with potential but limited evidence:
- ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
- fluvoxamine
- Cyclosporine
- Famotidine
- Intravenous immunoglobulin
- Ivermectin
- Interferons
Drugs shown to be ineffective:
- The combination of lopinavir-ritonavir
- Hydroxychloroquine
- Insulin
- High dose zinc and vitamin C
- Convalescent plasma
- Monoclonal antibodies
- Tocilizumab
- Anti-coagulants
- A current scientific understanding of the way the coronavirus works can be found [here].
There is now a vaccine available – the questions remain:
- will there be any permanent side effects that will appear months from now,
- how long immunity will last [we can currently say we do not know if it will last more than 4 months],
- there is no solid evidence yet the vaccine will block transmission
Heavy breakouts of coronavirus have hit farmworkers. Farmworkers are essential to the food supply. They cannot shelter at home. Consider:
- they have high rates of 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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