Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

[Jezza]

The CDC's reputation has taken a battering during this pandemic.

[Jezza]

Latest numbers

Confirmed (Deaths) - Recoveries

USA = 1,648,283 (97,696) - 403,312
Russia = 335,882 (3,388) - 107,936
Brazil = 334,777 (21,215) - 135,430
UK = 254,195 (36,393) - Unknown
Spain = 234,824 (28,628) - 150,376
Italy = 228,658 (32,616) - 136,720
France = 182,219 (28,289) - 64,209
Germany = 179,730 (8,361) - 157,926
Turkey = 154,500 (4,276) - 116,111
Iran = 133,521 (7,359) - 104,072
...........................................................
Australia = 7,111 (102) - 6,494

5,293,557 confirmed cases
340,658 deaths
2,130,577 recoveries

Australia:
- Confirmed cases = 7,111
---- New South Wales = 3,086
---- Victoria = 1,602
---- Queensland = 1,060
---- Western Australia = 560
---- South Australia = 439
---- Tasmania = 228
---- ACT = 107
---- NT = 29
- Deaths = 102
- Recoveries = 6,494
- Case fatality rate = 1.43%

Active Cases = 2,822,322
- USA = 1,146,204
- Russia = 224,558
- UK = 217,802 (maximum)
- Brazil = 178,132
- France = 89,721
- India = 70,855
- Peru = 63,606
- Italy = 59,322
- Spain = 55,820
- Netherlands = 39,253 (maximum)
............................................
- Australia = 515

**(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

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%
21/05/2020 = 7,081 (2) = 0.03%
22/05/2020 = 7,095 (14) = 0.2%
23/05/2020 = 7,111 (16) = 0.2%

6,494 recovered, 102 deaths.

Cases doubling every 56 days.

607 cases of community transmission nationwide.

515 active cases.

South Australia, ACT and NT have no active cases.

WA had three new cases after serology tests found three individuals had antibodies for the virus. The three cases have been added to both the total case numbers and recovery numbers.

VICTORIA

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

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%
21/05/2020 = 1,581 (1) = 0.1%
22/05/2020 = 1,593 (12) = 0.8%
23/05/2020 = 1,602 (9) = 0.6%

1,484 recovered, 19 deaths.

Cases doubling every 54 days in Victoria.

171 cases of community transmission in Victoria.

99 active cases.

First new death since April 29.

[K]

We’ll Be Wearing Things on Our Faces for a Long Time

You can choose between a mask and a face shield, but you can’t choose nothing.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/05/pandemic-masks-face-shields/611971/

"If you think about it, “the face mask is the condom of our generation,” says Brian Castrucci, the president of the de Beaumont Foundation, a public-health nonprofit. Castrucci spent a decade working in state and local health departments, and he remembers when the HIV epidemic made condoms mainstream in the United States. No one was especially thrilled about it, but as the dangers of unprotected sex became clear, people came to accept them.

The same can now be said of face masks, which have gone from seeming like a silly overreaction to a ubiquitous pandemic necessity.
...

We’ll probably keep having to wear masks in public for the foreseeable future. Ben Cowling, the head of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, told me he recommends wearing masks on public transit or in crowded areas even after it’s safe to leave our homes again. Trish Greenhalgh, a primary-care professor at the University of Oxford, told me people should wear masks in public until “there are no new cases, or very few cases,” a goal that the U.S. is still very far from reaching.
...

If people get fed up with masks, one option might be to use face shields: clear-plastic guards attached to a headband. These at least allow you to see your interlocutor’s face, and for the hearing impaired, they allow for lip-reading. For people working in jobs that require a face covering, face shields might simply be more pleasant to wear all day. “I can imagine that if you were bagging groceries six hours a day that it would be probably much more comfortable to wear a face shield,” says Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University.

No studies have yet compared whether masks or face shields are more effective at preventing coronavirus transmission, but it’s possible that shields might keep us safer. Michael Edmond, a University of Iowa epidemiologist, has written* that face shields reduce exposure to more than 90 percent of flu droplets from a cough, and unlike masks, they have the added benefit of keeping viral droplets out of a person’s eyes. People wearing masks might also be tempted to scratch or touch their face, but people wearing shields physically can’t.

Yet Cowling said he doesn’t think a face shield would be as effective as a mask for this pandemic. While a shield could protect the wearer from large droplets, he said, it wouldn’t prevent them from spewing the virus. (Edmond points out that a cloth mask does not perfectly keep in droplets, either.)

Then there is face shields’ distinctive look. They are, well, dorky. Edmond says many of the staffers at the hospital where he works wear face shields, and they’ve gotten used to walking around looking like Lego welders. But regular people might not be ready."


* https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2765525

[K]

Moving Personal Protective Equipment Into the Community
Face Shields and Containment of COVID-19

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2765525

"The mode of transmission of respiratory viruses has long been a subject of debate. Evidence to date suggests that SARS-CoV-2 is spread like other respiratory viruses: by infectious droplets emitted in close proximity (ie, within 6 feet) to the eyes, nose, or mouth of a susceptible person, or by direct contact with those droplets (eg, touching a contaminated surface and then touching the eyes, nose, or mouth).6 Although droplet vs airborne transmission is likely to be a continuum, with smaller droplets able to be propelled further than 3 to 6 feet and remaining airborne longer after certain respiratory emissions,7 the implications of limited aerosol spread are most important in health care settings after aerosol-generating procedures, such as open suctioning of airways and endotracheal intubation or extubation.

Contact investigations for SARS-CoV-2 have confirmed community transmission rates that are consistent with droplet and contact spread (household attack rates of 10%, health care and community attack rates of <1%, and R0 ... of 2-3),5 and much different than for airborne viral pathogens, such as varicella zoster virus or measles (household attack rates of 85%-90% and R0 of 10-18 ).

This implies that simple and easy-to-use barriers to respiratory droplets, along with hand hygiene and avoidance of touching the face, could help prevent community transmission when physical distancing and stay-at-home measures are relaxed or no longer possible. The 2 major options for such barriers are face masks and face shields.
...

Most important, face shields appear to significantly reduce the amount of inhalation exposure to influenza virus, another droplet-spread respiratory virus. In a simulation study, face shields were shown to reduce immediate viral exposure by 96% when worn by a simulated health care worker within 18 inches of a cough.10 Even after 30 minutes, the protective effect exceeded 80% and face shields blocked 68% of small particle aerosols,10 which are not thought to be a dominant mode of transmission of SARS-CoV-2. When the study was repeated at the currently recommended physical distancing distance of 6 feet, face shields reduced inhaled virus by 92%,10 similar to distancing alone, which reinforces the importance of physical distancing in preventing viral respiratory infections. Of note, no studies have evaluated the effects or potential benefits of face shields on source control, ie, containing a sneeze or cough, when worn by asymptomatic or symptomatic infected persons. However, with efficacy ranges of 68% to 96% for a single face shield, it is likely that adding source control would only improve efficacy, and studies should be completed quickly to evaluate this."

[K]

Contact Tracing Is Harder Than It Sounds
An elite cadre of 20th-century syphilis hunters can teach us a lot about what it takes to stop infections.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/23/sunday-review/coronavirus-contact-tracing.html

"How likely are you to answer an unknown number popping up on your caller ID? And if you were to pick up, how likely is it that you would disclose personal information about yourself and your family, friends and colleagues to the stranger on the other end of the line?

Ask any census worker, public opinion pollster or cold caller, and they will tell you the answer to both questions is “not likely.” Indeed, the pickup rate for unfamiliar or unidentified numbers in those circumstances is as low as 6 percent. And the people who do answer are often wary and uncooperative, if not abusive.

That resistance is the crux of the problem with contact tracing, which health experts say is essential to containing the coronavirus.
...

“The best contact tracers that we have ever had came out of the V.D. investigation program started after World War II,” said Dr. William Foege, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who is credited with devising the global strategy that led to the eradication of smallpox in the 1970s.

This was an elite cadre of carefully vetted and trained individuals, who, starting in 1948, were tasked by the Public Health Service to contact trace cases of venereal disease, particularly syphilis.
...

The boss of the operation was the poker-playing biostatistician Lida Usilton. Under her direction, all P.H.A.s went through the same selection process. They had to have a college degree, liberal arts preferred, and a variety of work experiences and backgrounds was a plus. ...

The thinking was that contact tracers had to be able to talk as easily with a Wall Street banker as with a migrant worker. They were interviewed extensively to see whether they had the kind of emotional intelligence that made people want to talk to them and whether they could easily manage conversational curveballs, like when a female contact revealed she was biologically a man.
...

Today the process is different. Coronavirus tracers are hired according to various state or local health authorities’ requirements, for jobs paying from $15 to $30 an hour.
...

Relatively little instruction is given on how to build rapport with and earn the trust of people, particularly when they might be reluctant to reveal their contacts, like, say, a married lover or an undocumented employee.

For example, just one hour of the six-hour online training program developed by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which New York City and the state of New York are using, is devoted to interviewing techniques. It recommends memorizing catchphrases to use during calls such as “I hear you” and “This is a difficult time.” That is, the kinds of canned responses that might send someone into a blind fury when calling tech support.
...

P.H.A.s, by contrast, were taught that everything depended on their interviewing skills. They were sent away to a kind of interpersonal-skills boot camp where they spent an intense two weeks learning interviewing techniques, shadowing other contact tracers and interviewing people themselves under close supervision. Their success in the field was then closely monitored in terms of numbers of cases reached and contacts generated, as well as how many contacts got tested and treated."

[K]

CNN:

Around 12.5% of Moscow residents likely to have Covid-19 antibody, health officials say

"... following screening involving more than 50,000 residents over the past two weeks.

The Russian capital on May 15 formally launched a massive free coronavirus screening program, selecting Moscow residents at random to visit one of 30 city clinics for the free antibody tests. The city has also been screening medical workers and patients for antibodies."

[K]

Telegraph, London:

"... there are now 224 vaccines in development around the world - almost double the total of just a month ago.

Professor Adrian Hill said an upcoming Oxford vaccine trial, involving 10,000 volunteers, threatened to return "no result" due to low transmission of COVID-19 in the community.
...

This week, the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced a $US1.2 billion deal with the US to produce 400 million doses of an unproven coronavirus vaccine first produced in Hill's small Oxford lab. The British government has agreed to pay for up to 100 million doses, announcing that 30 million may be ready for British citizens as soon as September.
...

Hill said that of 10,000 people recruited to test the vaccine in the coming weeks - some of whom will be given a placebo - he expected fewer than 50 people to catch the virus. If fewer than 20 test positive, then the results may be useless, he warned.

"We're in the bizarre position of wanting COVID to stay, at least for a little while. But cases are declining."
...

Of the 10 vaccine candidates that have progressed to human trials globally, six are Chinese and it is the only country to have a candidate now firmly into phase two trials. That vaccine is being pioneered by the Chinese biotech firm CanSino Biologics and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology. It utilises a "non replicating viral-vector" design similar to the one being developed by Oxford University in England. The results of its phase one trial were reported in The Lancet on Friday.

High doses of the vaccine prompted a stronger immune response but it was also associated with greater side effects. "Severe fever, fatigue, dyspnoea, muscle pain, and joint pain were reported in some of the recipients in the high dose group," said the study."

[Jezza]

Victoria has now surpassed New South Wales for the total number of tests undertaken.

Andrews announces a further easing of restrictions.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-24/coronavirus-restrictions-ease-in-victoria-daniel-andrews/12280666

[Morrigu]

[Jezza]

Latest numbers

Confirmed (Deaths) - Recoveries

USA = 1,669,311 (98,740) - 446,982
Brazil = 349,113 (22,165) - 142,587
Russia = 344,481 (3,541) - 113,299
UK = 257,154 (36,675) - Unknown
Spain = 235,290 (28,678) - 150,376
Italy = 229,327 (32,735) - 138,840
France = 182,469 (28,332) - 64,547
Germany = 179,996 (8,375) - 158,606
Turkey = 155,686 (4,308) - 117,602
Iran = 135,701 (7,417) - 105,801
...........................................................
Australia = 7,114 (102) - 6,509

5,388,803 confirmed cases
344,468 deaths
2,223,752 recoveries

Australia:
- Confirmed cases = 7,114
---- New South Wales = 3,087
---- Victoria = 1,603
---- Queensland = 1,061
---- Western Australia = 560
---- South Australia = 439
---- Tasmania = 228
---- ACT = 107
---- NT = 29
- Deaths = 102
- Recoveries = 6,509
- Case fatality rate = 1.43%

Active Cases = 2,820,583
- USA = 1,123,589
- Russia = 227,641
- UK = 220,479 (maximum)
- Brazil = 184,361
- France = 89,590
- India = 74,167
- Peru = 64,466
- Italy = 57,752
- Spain = 56,236
- Netherlands = 39,414 (maximum)
............................................
- Australia = 503

**(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

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%
21/05/2020 = 7,081 (2) = 0.03%
22/05/2020 = 7,095 (14) = 0.2%
23/05/2020 = 7,111 (16) = 0.2%
24/05/2020 = 7,114 (3) = 0.04%

6,509 recovered, 102 deaths.

Cases doubling every 57 days.

616 cases of community transmission nationwide.

503 active cases.

South Australia, ACT and NT have no active cases.

VICTORIA

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

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%
21/05/2020 = 1,581 (1) = 0.1%
22/05/2020 = 1,593 (12) = 0.8%
23/05/2020 = 1,602 (9) = 0.6%
24/05/2020 = 1,603 (1) = 0.1%

1,498 recovered, 19 deaths.

Cases doubling every 55 days in Victoria.

180 cases of community transmission in Victoria.

86 active cases.

[pietillidie]

Bozo the Brexit Clown's mismanagement already rival's Trump's failures. Now, he's trying to outdo Captain Coronavirus by defending his own Kushner-like scumbag, Dominic Cummings.

How the hell do these reptiles manage to snake their way into power? That's rhetorical, of course; it's obvious who they con and how they do it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52792200

[K]

[K]