Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

[watt price tully]

"...Trump stunned many medical experts on Monday (Tuesday AEST) by claiming he has been ingesting the anti-malaria medication even though there is no scientific evidence it is effective in preventing COVID-19..."

https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/trump-defends-his-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-lashes-out-at-pelosi-20200520-p54ulu.html

Let's all hope he injects a hefty dose of disinfectant too as he was suggesting not too long ago as another cure.

I agree with Trump here though; should he inject a fair bit of disinfectant into his veins it would certainly be a cure for many.

[PyreneesPie]

[stui magpie]

[watt price tully]

[Jezza]

Latest numbers

Confirmed (Deaths) - Recoveries

USA = 1,572,231 (93,601) - 361,246
Russia = 308,705 (2,972) - 85,392
Brazil = 271,885 (17,983) - 106,794
UK = 248,818 (35,341) - Unknown
Spain = 232,037 (27,778) - 150,376
Italy = 226,699 (32,169) - 129,401
France = 180,809 (28,022) - 62,563
Germany = 177,835 (8,202) - 154,569
Turkey = 151,615 (4,199) - 112,895
Iran = 126,949 (7,183) - 98,808
...........................................................
Australia = 7,079 (100) - 6,444

4,970,376 confirmed cases
325,502 deaths
1,937,416 recoveries

Australia:
- Confirmed cases = 7,079
---- New South Wales = 3,081
---- Victoria = 1,580
---- Queensland = 1,058
---- Western Australia = 557
---- South Australia = 439
---- Tasmania = 228
---- ACT = 107
---- NT = 29
- Deaths = 100
- Recoveries = 6,444
- Case fatality rate = 1.41%

Active Cases = 2,707,458
- USA = 1,117,384
- Russia = 220,341
- UK = 213,477 (maximum)
- Brazil = 147,108
- France = 90,224
- Italy = 65,129
- India = 61,432
- Peru = 60,045
- Spain = 53,883
- Netherlands = 38,699 (maximum)
............................................
- Australia = 535

**(Maximum) = Recovery numbers are not counted, so only subtracts the number of deaths from the total number of confirmed cases.

[Jezza]

AUSTRALIA

Date = Confirmed Cases (New Cases) = Percentage of new cases

13/05/2020 = 6,975 (9) = 0.1%
14/05/2020 = 6,989 (14) = 0.2%
15/05/2020 = 7,020 (31) = 0.4%
16/05/2020 = 7,036 (16) = 0.2%
17/05/2020 = 7,045 (9) = 0.1%
18/05/2020 = 7,060 (15) = 0.2%
19/05/2020 = 7,068 (8] = 0.1%
20/05/2020 = 7,079 (11) = 0.2%

6,444 recovered, 100 deaths.

Cases doubling every 53 days.

601 cases of community transmission nationwide.

535 active cases.

South Australia and ACT has no active cases.

VICTORIA

Date = Confirmed Cases (New Cases) = Percentage of new cases

13/05/2020 = 1,512 (5) = 0.3%
14/05/2020 = 1,520 (8] = 0.3%
15/05/2020 = 1,540 (20) = 1.3%
16/05/2020 = 1,551 (11) = 0.7%
17/05/2020 = 1,558 (7) = 0.5%
18/05/2020 = 1,567 (9) = 0.6%
19/05/2020 = 1,573 (6) = 0.4%
20/05/2020 = 1,580 (7) = 0.4%

1,465 recovered, 18 deaths.

Cases doubling every 51 days in Victoria.

166 cases of community transmission in Victoria.

97 active cases.

No deaths in Victoria since April 29.

[K]

Pathology groups threatened COVID-19 test ban at height of pandemic

https://www.theage.com.au/national/pathology-groups-threatened-covid-19-test-ban-at-height-of-pandemic-20200520-p54uva.html

"The hard-nosed negotiations, which resulted in an increase of the COVID-19 test subsidy from $24.40 to $100, has produced what one company chief executive described as a "COVID-led recovery" for pathologists confronting an exodus of patients from other services.
...

Dr Michael Harrison, the chief executive of Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, a Brisbane company that forms part of the Sonic Healthcare group that provides pathology services across Australia, Britain, Europe and the United States, said the mass testing of people largely free of COVID-19 symptoms was unnecessary and wasteful.

"It is a waste of everyone's time and it is a waste of money," Dr Harrison said. "You need to find an index case (patient zero) and then you test around them. You don't have to test the whole community.

"People still want reassurance that there isn’t a lot of undiagnosed COVID-positive people out there. That should have been put to bed a long time ago. We think we have diagnosed over 90 per cent of all COVID patients in Australia.

"If you are swamped with collections from low-risk patients, it is likely to delay the ones you really want to get through. There is a certain craziness, which has swept through the country."

This claim is supported by test results. Of the 1.085 million tests conducted in Australia, only 0.7 per cent have returned a positive result. In Victoria, where more tests per capita have been conducted than in any other state, the positive rate is 0.4 per cent."

[K]

^ I'll let others comment on whether it's okay to threaten bans in the middle of a pandemic. But the pathology labs must be doing well now. If the payment has gone up from $25 to $100, that means they are making over $75 profit per test.


Dr. Michael Harrison is talking total bull****. It would already be almost miraculous if we've diagnosed over 90% of all symptomatic patients. Almost none of the asymptomatic patients have been diagnosed, because of the testing policy. And they account for probably 30-70% of the cases.

It's disgraceful that someone like him should talk such baloney.

Even if you ignore the asymptomatic cases, it's extremely difficult to get above 90% in anything. e.g. We don't get over 90% of eligible voters voting in elections, and that's compulsory. (It's reported that in the last federal election some electorates had a voter turnout of 75%. ) And that's before we talk about false negatives (probably at least 30%).


But what we need now is random testing. Almost nowhere in the world is doing that, so we still don't know basic stuff about COVID-19. The problem is psychological, I reckon (plus guys like Harrison are ignorant fools -- not that Harrison has any influence on testing policies in nations). It feels like "wasting" tests. But the only way not to "waste" a test like that is to test only those you're certain are infected. Stupidity.

[Morrigu]

[K]

New York transit agency launches UV light pilot program in effort to kill Covid

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/20/us/new-york-transit-uv-light-trnd/index.html

"The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Tuesday night that it will use "150 dual-headed mobile devices" from Denver-based start-up PURO Lighting to determine the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the UVC light technology, the agency said in a press release.

UVC, which is one of three types of light on the UV spectrum, is proven to eliminate Covid-19 and is most potent against viruses and bacteria, PURO Lighting said. PURO noted that their lamps also have UVA and UVB as well for full spectrum disinfection.
...

The lamps will be used during the overnight shut down on subway trains and periods where transit is out of service.
...

Photos from the MTA show the units mounted on poles in the middle of the car. The unit disinfects both surface and airborne pathogens and eliminates up to 99.9% of viruses and bacteria, according to PURO Lighting."

[K]

'We've been muzzled': CDC sources say White House putting politics ahead of science

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/20/politics/coronavirus-travel-alert-cdc-white-house-tensions-invs/index.html

"But now, mid- and higher-ranking staff members within the agency -- six of whom spoke with CNN for this story -- are starting to voice their discontent. Those six spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
...

A senior official inside the CDC told CNN that the agency also alerted the White House to the virus's rapid spread across Europe, but that "the White House was extremely focused on China and not wanting to anger Europe ... even though that's where most of our cases were originally coming from.""

[K]

Dozens of COVID-19 clusters found in Victoria, new report reveals

https://www.theage.com.au/national/dozens-of-covid-19-clusters-found-in-victoria-new-report-reveals-20200519-p54ug3.html

"The report* also highlights that just 9.8 per cent of COVID-19 cases linked to travel and included in the study came from Asia, while 41 per cent came from north-west Europe.

A "viral family tree" built for the study shows Victoria's virus comes from all over the world: there is no "Victorian strain".

Quarantines, lockdowns and quick detective work has stopped most introduced cases spreading too far. The average size of the clusters was just five people.

Only 34 clusters were identified that link people who caught the virus overseas and people who picked up the virus in Australia."


* https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.12.20099929v1


[The Fairfax article makes the now obligatory note that this has "not yet undergone formal and rigorous peer review", etc., and "the findings need to be treated with caution, as it is possible errors could be discovered".

That's okay... but it needs to be treated with caution even after the peer review. Sadly, much of the peer-reviewed medical literature is totally wrong. e.g. https://slate.com/technology/2016/04/biomedicine-facing-a-worse-replication-crisis-than-the-one-plaguing-psychology.html ]

[K]

Reader comment in NY Times:

'"I was feeling quite superior yesterday walking across 23rd street just past the park when I said to a young woman "Where's your protective facemask?" She answered in a flashing part of one second to me "I am suicidal". I hope she recovers.'

[K]

From Slate, for David:

"For example: In 2017, Australian media reported that Facebook’s algorithmic systems could target Australians and New Zealanders as young as 14 years old, and help advertisers to exploit them when they’re most vulnerable. This included identifying when users felt “worthless” and “insecure,” and in “moments when young people need a confidence boost.” While Facebook denied that it let advertisers target children and young people based on their emotional state, it clearly has the capacity to do so."

[David]

^ Not really the right thread, K, but thanks for the reminder – I was going to post this article about the COVIDsafe app:

https://theconversation.com/the-trade-offs-smart-city-apps-like-covidsafe-ask-us-to-make-go-well-beyond-privacy-138296