Written by Steven Hansen
The U.S. new cases 7-day rolling average are 20.5 % HIGHER than the 7-day rolling average one week ago and U.S. deaths due to coronavirus are now 0.2 % HIGHER than the rolling average one week ago. Today’s posts include:
- U.S. Coronavirus New Cases are 62,045
- U.S. Coronavirus deaths are at 948
- U.S. Coronavirus immunizations have been administered to 43.6 % of the population
- The 7-day rolling average rate of growth of the pandemic shows new cases were little changed and deaths worsened [new cases are now clearly on a worsening trend]
- T cells induced by COVID-19 infection respond to new virus variants: U.S. study
- Health Care Workers Bragging About Forged Vax Cards As Fake “Passports” Hit The Street
- The Pandemic vs. Vaccinations – This Fourth Spike Should Be Lower Than January’s Peak.
- Dramatic Drop in Common Viruses Raises Question: Masks Forever?
- Scientists wonder if a mix-and-match approach to vaccines could be the way to go
- What Happens If You Have COVID When You Get the Vaccine?
- Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern
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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.
The New Variants Are The Primary Cause Of This Fourth Wave
Even with vaccinations picking up, the fourth wave is now underway.
- the more people that are vaccinated reduces the pool of people that can be infected. Today we have removed over 43 % of the population from being infected which theoretically should reduce the infection rate by 43 % [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 43 % 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.
The real question is whether the vaccines will be mitigating this surge – and to what extent.
Coronavirus News You May Have Missed
COVID Vaccine For Animals Developed, Will Launch April – Newsweek
Russia has registered the world’s first COVID vaccine for animals, which could be rolled out as early as April.
The country’s agriculture safety watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, said on Wednesday the drug’s development followed clinical trials that started last October on dogs, cats, Arctic foxes, minks, foxes and other animals.
The watchdog’s deputy head Konstantin Savenkov told reporters that the vaccine, Carnivak-Cov, “is the world’s first and only product for preventing COVID-19 in animals,” according to news agency TASS.
He said research had shown the vaccine was safe and effective because all vaccinated animals developed antibodies to the novel coronavirus.
Savenkov added that the jab was estimated to be effective for “no less than six months” and its mass production could begin as early as April, the agency reported. The announcement did not specify which animals the drug will work on.
T cells induced by COVID-19 infection respond to new virus variants: U.S. study – Reuters
[editor’s note: we covered this in yesterday’s COVID article in T cells recognize recent SARS-CoV-2 variants – EurekAlert – but this is an important subject and this article discusses it in layman’s language]
A critical component of the immune system known as T cells that respond to fight infection from the original version of the novel coronavirus appear to also protect against three of the most concerning new virus variants, according to a U.S. laboratory study released on Tuesday.
Several recent studies have shown that certain variants of the novel coronavirus can undermine immune protection from antibodies and vaccines.
But antibodies – which block the coronavirus from attaching to human cells – may not tell the whole story, according to the study by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). T cells appear to play an important additionally protective role.
“Our data, as well as the results from other groups, shows that the T cell response to COVID-19 in individuals infected with the initial viral variants appears to fully recognize the major new variants identified in the UK, South Africa and Brazil,” said Andrew Redd of the NIAID and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who led the study.
… From those samples, they identified a specific form of T cell that was active against the virus, and looked to see how these T cells fared against the concerning variants from South Africa, the UK and Brazil.
They found the T-cell responses remained largely intact and could recognize virtually all mutations in the variants studied.
The findings add to a prior study that also suggested T cell protection appears to remain intact against the variants.
[editor’s note: also read CD8+ T cell responses in COVID-19 convalescent individuals target conserved epitopes from multiple prominent SARS-CoV-2 circulating variants ]
Caution vs. optimism – New York Times
The news about the state of the pandemic in the U.S. has been largely positive in the past few months. The vaccines are highly effective, and millions of people are receiving doses each day. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths have fallen sharply from their January peaks.
But infections are rising again. The U.S. has averaged 65,000 new cases a day over the past week — a 19 percent increase from two weeks ago. That puts the country close to last summer’s peak, though still far below January levels.
By The New York Times | Sources: State and local health agencies
As those numbers make clear, the pandemic isn’t over yet. And it may get worse in the next few weeks. But there are still strong reasons to be optimistic about Covid’s trajectory in the U.S.What’s driving cases up?
Several factors are fueling the upturn, Apoorva Mandavilli, a Times science reporter, told us. A more contagious variant (the one first identified in Britain, called B.1.1.7) is spreading. Some mayors and governors have continued to lift restrictions and mask rules. Many Americans are behaving less cautiously. And vaccinations have not gotten the country near herd immunity.Many experts aren’t surprised. “For literally a month and a half, we’ve all been predicting that the second half of March is when B.1.1.7 would become the dominant variant in the United States,” says Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health. “And sure enough, here we are.”
The increase is not distributed equally. “New York and New Jersey have been bad and are not getting better, and Michigan’s cases are rising at an explosive rate,” Mitch Smith, a Times reporter covering the pandemic, said.
Hospitalizations are also rising rapidly in Michigan, with Jackson, Detroit and Flint among the metro areas experiencing the highest rates of new cases in the country.
The outlook is more encouraging in much of the West and South, though cases have started to tick up in Florida, where officials in Miami Beach instituted a curfew this month to prevent crowds of spring breakers from gathering.
Still, Mitch noted, “compare the country to where we were in January, it’s hands-down way better.”
What happens next? Cases could continue to rise in the coming weeks, Apoorva says. Between vaccinations and prior infections, half the country may have some form of immunity to the virus, according to Jha: “That still leaves a lot of vulnerable people who can get infected.”
But the success of the country’s ongoing vaccination drive should keep deaths and hospitalizations well below their January peaks. Many of the people at the greatest risk of severe illness have already been inoculated, which means new cases are likely to be concentrated among younger and healthier people.
And there are many reasons to expect the state of the pandemic to improve as summer approaches. More and more Americans will get vaccinated. The arrival of warmer weather will let more people spend time outside, where the virus spreads less easily. And cities and states could blunt some new cases by keeping indoor mask mandates.
Health Care Workers Bragging About Forged Vax Cards As Fake “Passports” Hit The Street – ZeroHedge
Healthcare workers across the country are taking to social media to brag about stealing COVID-19 vaccination cards from their jobs in order to falsify their vaccination status – allowing them to falsify their vaccine status.
“I work at a pharmacy and grabbed blank ones for me and my hubby,” said one TikTok user, who was identified by other users as a pharmacy tech in Illinois – and promptly reported to state healthcare authorities, according to the Daily Beast.
“Can I pay you to ship a couple to me,” another TikTok user identified as a Texas nurse wrote under the original video bragging about the theft – and was also promptly reported to Texas healthcare authorities.
“I got a template if u want it,” posted one TikTok user under a viral video about faking vaccination cards.
Becca Walker, one of the two users sounding the alarm, posted: “I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to steal from your job. And I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to steal blank vaccination papers for COVID-19 to falsify information and claim that you and your husband were vaccinated when in actuality you were not.“
“Stop hating on me! I don’t care what any of you think. I did what is best for my husband and I,” posted the Illinois pharmacy tech right before she wiped her TikTok account history – only to try and cover her tracks by posting a fake TikTok claiming to be a 16-year-old British girl doing a social media experiment for her filmmaker father.
… According to a CNN report, the vaccine passports, which could be ready in weeks, will be a condition of the United States returning to “normalcy” before the end of the year.
However, it appears as though street scammers have already beaten the government to the chase.
Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern – Science
Loss of neutralizing epitopes in the spike protein in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants could reduce protection induced by vaccination based on wild-type spike. Most vaccinated people develop neutralizing antibody (Ab) with an IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) within the protective margin, although precise correlates of protection (CoP) are unknown. Variants with E484K mutations and future escape mutants may bring protection below this margin, prompting the need for new vaccines.
The faster-spreading B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 first detected in the United Kingdom, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is quickly on its way to becoming the dominant variant of the virus in the United States, according to a study from scientists at Scripps Research and the COVID-19 test maker Helix.
The findings, which appear today in Cell, suggest that future COVID-19 case numbers and mortality rates in the United States will be higher than would have been otherwise. The analysis suggests that the variant, which has been detectable in an increasing proportion of SARS-CoV-2 samples, is 40-50 percent more transmissible than SARS-CoV-2 lineages that were previously dominant. Other studies have found evidence that the B.1.1.7 variant may be about 50 percent more likely to cause fatal COVID-19.
“B.1.1.7 rapidly became the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant in the U.K. and other countries after its emergence late last year, and the U.S. is now on a similar trajectory,” says study co-senior author Kristian Andersen, PhD, a professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research and director of Infectious Disease Genomics at the Scripps Research Translational Research Institute. “We need immediate and decisive action to minimize COVID-19 morbidity and mortality.”
New coronavirus variant with E484K mutation detected in Arizona – News-Medical
Arizona joins the ever-growing list of American states harboring a variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A study led by Efrem S. Lim of Arizona State University confirms evidence of the B.1.243.1 with an E484K mutation on the spike protein.
The E484K mutation is concerning for its ability to escape the immune response and reduce monoclonal antibodies’ neutralizing power. Their results show the variant is spreading in Arizona and is beginning to cross state borders to New Mexico & Texas.
B.1.427 and B.1.429 were first reported in California, and recent work has shown an emergence of the B.1.525 and B.1.526 variants in New York. This is in addition to other circulating coronavirus variants that were first detected in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and South Africa.
The researchers write:
“Based on the mutation profile, regional introduction and phylogenetic evidence, we recommend vigilant monitoring of B.1.243.1 as a potential variant of interest. This study demonstrates the need for sustained genomic surveillance in public health strategies and responses.”
[editor’s note: also read New COVID Strain Detected in Israel; Pfizer Vaccine Purchase Bid Delayed]
Dramatic Drop in Common Viruses Raises Question: Masks Forever? – Medscape
Masks and physical distancing are proving to have major fringe benefits, keeping people from getting all kinds of illnesses — not just COVID-19. But it’s unclear whether the protocols will be worth the pain in the long run.
The teachers at New Hope Academy in Franklin, Tennessee, were chatting the other day. The private Christian school has met in person throughout much of the pandemic — requiring masks and trying to keep kids apart, to the degree it is possible with young children. And Nicole Grayson, who teaches fourth grade, said they realized something peculiar.
“We don’t know anybody that has gotten the flu,” she said. “I don’t know of a student that has gotten strep throat.”
It’s not just an anecdote.
A study released this month in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, led by researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, found that across 44 children’s hospitals the number of pediatric patients hospitalized for respiratory illnesses is down 62%. The number of kids in the US who have died of the flu this season remains in the single digits. Deaths have dropped dramatically, too, compared with the past 10 years: The number of flu deaths among children is usually between 100 and 200 per year, but so far only one child has died from the disease in the US during the 2020-2021 flu season.
Adults aren’t getting sick either. US flu deaths this season will be measured in the hundreds instead of thousands. In 2018-2019, a moderate flu season, an estimated 34,200 Americans died.
Scientists wonder if a mix-and-match approach to vaccines could be the way to go. – New York Times
In January, Britain made a change to its vaccine guidelines that shocked many health experts: If the second dose of one vaccine wasn’t available, patients could be given a different one.
The new rule was based on sheer guesswork. There was no scientific data at the time demonstrating that mixing two coronavirus vaccines was safe and effective. But that may change soon.
In February, researchers at the University of Oxford began a trial in which volunteers received a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine followed by a dose of AstraZeneca’s formulation, or vice versa. This month, the researchers will start analyzing the blood of the subjects to see how well the mix-and-match approach works.
As growing numbers of vaccines are being authorized, researchers are testing other combinations. A few are in clinical trials, while others are being tested in animals for now.
Mixing vaccines might do more than just help overcome supply bottlenecks. Some researchers suspect that a pair of different vaccines might work better than two doses of the same one.
What Happens If You Have COVID When You Get the Vaccine? Scientists Explain – Newsweek
Getting a COVID vaccine while infected with the virus may not cause harmful effects, scientists have said—but it could cause the vaccine to be less effective. Google search trends show U.S. citizens are wondering what would happen if they were to receive the shot while already ill with COVID.
It is important to note that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that people should not get a COVID vaccine if they are ill with COVID symptoms, and says they should wait until they meet the criteria for coming out of self-isolation.
This advice also extends to people who are not showing symptoms, but are having to quarantine because they came into contact with someone who does have COVID.
Dr. David Margolius, an internal medicine specialist at MetroHealth, told Ohio news network Ideastream: “The reason we ask people to wait until they have recovered from COVID before getting the vaccine is to keep all the health care workers and others safe during the process.”
Whilst it is important to quarantine when necessary to prevent COVID spread, scientists have said that if a person were to receive a vaccine while infected with COVID, it would not necessarily cause harmful effects—though this may depend on whether they are showing symptoms and how severe the symptoms are.
The following are foreign headlines with hyperlinks to the posts
Beyond the pandemic: London tourism braces for slow recovery
Researchers in Britain are exploring the possible benefits of pairing doses from different Covid vaccines.
Brazil: Political crisis and Covid surge rock Bolsonaro
Compared with other wealthy countries, Canada had the worst record for COVID-19 deaths in long-term care homes.
Obesity and ethnicity identified as key risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 exposure in UK
SARS-CoV-2 mutation T478K spreading at alarming speed in Mexico
COVID-19 outbreak reported along China-Myanmar border
Data Withheld From WHO Team Probing COVID-19 Origins in China: Tedros
China accuses US of “political manipulation” and lashes out at countries that criticized WHO report
India Reports Its Highest Daily Number Of COVID-19 Deaths So Far This Year
China Forcing People To Take Vaccines Against Their Wishes, Reports Suggest
Macron announces new restrictions, putting France into a third national lockdown for a month
Turkey forbids gatherings as virus cases surge and Ramadan nears.
Yemen receives first Covid-19 vaccines as infections surge
Austria likely to order 1 million Sputnik V vaccines “as early as next week”
Iraq reports highest number of daily Covid-19 cases since start of pandemic
Cuba reports record number of Covid-19 cases
Spain is seeing a clear and slow increase in Covid-19 cases, health minister warns
Hungary reports record number of COVID deaths despite high vaccination rates
The following additional national and state headlines with hyperlinks to the posts
Vaccine passports are already turning into a culture war
More than 53 million Americans are now fully vaccinated, according to the latest CDC data.
Young people are fueling upticks in coronavirus case counts, hospitalizations, and case severity in parts of the U.S. and Canada.
Pivotal trial data showed the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had 100% efficacy in 12-to-15-year-olds (with symptomatic illness as the endpoint), prompted strong antibody responses, and was well tolerated, the companies said; they’ll now request an EUA amendment.
Two-thirds of 77 epidemiologists, virologists, and infectious disease specialists surveyed by the People’s Vaccine Alliance thought coronavirus mutations could render current vaccines ineffective within a year.
The percentage of Black adults who said they’ve either been vaccinated or want to be as soon as possible rose to 55% in March, but hesitancy remained strong among the remainder.
Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital repeatedly billed patients more than $3,000 for routine COVID-19 nasal swab tests — 30 times the typical cost
Race made no difference in ICU Outcomes of COVID-19 patients
Prioritise opportunities to say final goodbye during COVID-19 pandemic, study finds
Why SARS-CoV-2 replicates better in the upper respiratory tract
New mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate shows promise in vivo. Researchers report that a new lipid nanoparticle mRNA coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine candidate protected 70% of mice expressing the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), while all the non-vaccinated mice died.
Infliximab may hinder the effectiveness of some COVID-19 vaccines
SARS-CoV-2 inhibits the cellular response to interferon
CDC: COVID-19 Was Third Leading Cause Of Death In 2020, People Of Color Hit Hardest
Pfizer Says COVID-19 Vaccine Shows ‘100% Efficacy’ In Adolescents
Peace Corps announces second-ever domestic deployment to assist with vaccination efforts
Kentucky libertarian party compares vaccine passports to Holocaust badges
Fourth Stimulus Check Could Lift 7M Americans Out of Poverty: Analysis
A Wisconsin court strikes down the state’s mask order.
Eating disorders are up sharply among people stuck at home during the pandemic.
Delta Air Lines will resume booking middle seats for the first time in a year.
About 1 in 6 US residents are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, CDC data shows
CDC releases new Covid-19 guidance for adult day service centers
Pfizer says it has met its end-of-March commitment of 120 million doses ready to ship to US
US and Germany are the biggest investors in Covid-19 vaccine research and development
Today’s Posts On Econintersect Showing Impact Of The Pandemic With Hyperlinks
March 2021 Chemical Activity Barometer Index Improves
February 2021 Headline Pending Home Sales Again Significantly Declines
March 2021 Chicago Purchasing Managers Barometer Improves
March 2021 ADP Employment Grew 517,000
Europe Battles Third Wave As The U.S. Fears A Fourth
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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