Coronavirus thread

[Karl Henning]

France confirms 4,711 new cases, exceeding Wednesday's post-lockdown record
France confirmed 4,711 new coronavirus cases and 12 deaths in the past 24 hours, the country's health ministry announced Thursday, marking it the largest single-day jump in infections since before the country's lockdown was lifted in May.

The case count far surpassed Wednesday's 3,776 new cases.

[Karl Henning]

CDC director says South turning the tide as college parties fuel coronavirus concerns

[Todd]

Covid-19 Live Updates: Researchers Document First Case of Virus Reinfection

A patient was diagnosed with a second case of Covid-19 more than four months after the first, scientists in Hong Kong said.

[Jo498]

It's mostly the increased testing in Europe. The number of hospitalizations and deaths is at around 0.2% of the supposedly new infections, very different than in Spring. Either: these postive tests have lots of false positives (some claim that it is more noise than signal, amplified by far more tests than in spring). Or: the virus is not around 1-4% deadly but around 0.1%. Both should be good news but it is almost universally presented as horrible news. People are so terrified that they cannot apply middle school maths. All I say applies only to Germany and most of continental Europe. If you look at Italy, France, Germany, the "cases" (i.e. test positives) rise but the deaths stay very low at below or around 10/day. It should be 50-100 to keep up with the rising cases. But they don't, this is very clear.

[Que]

It's mostly the increased testing in Europe. The number of hospitalizations and deaths is at around 0.2% of the supposedly new infections, very different than in Spring. Either: these positive tests have lots of false positives (some claim that it is more noise than signal, amplified by far more tests than in spring). Or: the virus is not around 1-4% deadly but around 0.1%. Both should be good news but it is almost universally presented as horrible news. People are so terrified that they cannot apply middle school maths. All I say applies only to Germany and most of continental Europe. If you look at Italy, France, Germany, the "cases" (i.e. test positives) rise but the deaths stay very low at below or around 10/day. It should be 50-100 to keep up with the rising cases. But they don't, this is very clear.

An explanation I read is that this time around it is mainly the young and healthy, ignoring safety concerns, that get infected.
We have already seen that they are far less likely to get ill, recover more quickly, and very rarely die. Plus for the more serious cases there are some treatments available.

The cases that reach the hospitals seem to confirm this: young people that recover relatively quickly and leave again and thereby keeping the number of hospitalised low.

It's the elderly and vulnerable that stay cautious and avoid infection. And rightly so: IMO they run the same risks as before even though survival rates will be somewhat better.

The problem with this situation that although the young are generally not much affected, they keep spreading the virus.

And as links earlier posted  indicate: the virus seems to mutate enough to circumvent previously established immunity (like the flu). That would be very bad news indeed....

Q

[BasilValentine]

Plus for the more serious cases there are some treatments available.

The cases that reach the hospitals seem to confirm this: young people that recover relatively quickly and leave again and thereby keeping the number of hospitalised low.

And as links earlier posted  indicate: the virus seems to mutate enough to circumvent previously established immunity (like the flu). That would be very bad news indeed....

Q

The high mortality rate in New York and New Jersey in the spring, which to this day accounts for a high percentage of the deaths in the U.S, was due in part to the system being overwhelmed and patients simply not receiving necessary care because staffing and PPE was insufficient for the case load. This fact should probably be kept in mind before attributing the lower current mortality rates to the youth and health of patients alone. Part of the difference is likely just logistical. Another part is due to two efficacious drugs and refined treatment practices.

I haven't yet heard evidence that the virus mutates quickly or quickly enough to circumvent immunity. That would indeed be bad news.

[T. D.]

https://news.yahoo.com/fda-grossly-misrepresented-blood-plasma-121209062.html

What a f**g disgrace. The USA has become a laughing stock.

[71 dB]

The last week saw one new corona death in Finland and the count is now 334.

One new corona death in Finland: 335.

[71 dB]

https://news.yahoo.com/fda-grossly-misrepresented-blood-plasma-121209062.html

What a f**g disgrace. The USA has become a laughing stock.

A laughing stock yes, but these things have dead serious consequencies. 

[vandermolen]

My daughter sent me this:

[Pohjolas Daughter]

https://news.yahoo.com/fda-grossly-misrepresented-blood-plasma-121209062.html

What a f**g disgrace. The USA has become a laughing stock.

Wow! 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

My daughter sent me this:

Thanks for making me laugh Jeffrey (and daughter); I needed that!

PD

[vandermolen]

Thanks for making me laugh Jeffrey (and daughter); I needed that!

PD

Always a pleasure PD. It made me laugh too. 

[Que]

[T. D.]

Another day, another shameful development.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/26/coronavirus-cuomo-says-new-york-wont-follow-cdc-guidance-rips-into-agency-as-trumps-political-tool.html

As I said yesterday,

What a f**g disgrace. The USA has become is a laughing stock.

[Mandryka]

Another day, another shameful development.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/26/coronavirus-cuomo-says-new-york-wont-follow-cdc-guidance-rips-into-agency-as-trumps-political-tool.html

As I said yesterday,

What a f**g disgrace. The USA has become is a laughing stock.

In the UK they won't test asymptomatic people either, they say that the incidence of false negatives is too high and people who have been in close contact with someone with COVID should assume they've got it and isolate.

That being said, they are planning a massive programme of community testing starting in 2021, and that will include asymptomatic people - I think there are new tests which are easier to process coming on line which will make this feasible. I forget the numbers, maybe the plan is something like 500K tests a week, maybe more.

But BJ has some things in common with the potus, and ambitious plans often come to nothing more than a few headlines when they're announced, and then they're promptly forgotten about.

[71 dB]

In Finland about 10,000 tests are done daily (about the same amount per capita as the US) and the amount to positive test results is 20-40 per day meaning 0.2-0.4 % of the tests done. In comparison the amount of positive tests in the US is huge, 20-fold or so... 

[T. D.]

From Bloomberg News, emphasis added:

FDA Ousts Spokeswoman (1:46 p.m. NY)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has parted ways with its chief spokeswoman, according to a person with knowledge of the move, after the head of the agency exaggerated the benefits of an experimental therapy, and others in the Trump administration promoted the erroneous statements.

The spokeswoman, Emily Miller, joined the agency earlier this month. She came to the job with communications experience in past government positions, a stint at conservative media outlets, and work advocating for gun rights. But she had little to no health-care experience. The news was first reported by the New York Times.

Miller's ousting comes after a press conference Sunday at which FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said that convalescent blood plasma -- an experimental treatment that uses plasma from recovered Covid-19 patients to treat those currently infected -- could save 35 out of 100 people who would otherwise have died.

That was incorrect. The FDA only had data showing that a higher concentration of the treatment was better than a lower one.

[drogulus]

     Group Whose NIH Grant For Virus Research Was Revoked Just Got A New Grant

     Don't expect an announcement that the conspiracy theory against the Wuhan lab is defunct. That's not how it works. It's more like no one wants to prop it up any more.

     

[arpeggio]

My Trumpster brother is scaring me.

My ninety year old mother lives with them.  He listens to Fox new 24/7 and thinks people are being paranoid over the virus.

Thank God for my sister-in-law.  She is a nurse and takes this virus seriously.  She forces my brother to wear a mask to work and clean-up when he gets home.

I was talking with my mother today and she told me he is constantly trying to pressure then into going out and eating in a restaurant.  They used to eat out a lot.  They are refusing.