Reminder: No update posts this weekend — see y’all Tuesday!
Whoever Came Up With This Marketing Campaign Is Automatically Hired
—
The owner of this fencing academy came up with a novel approach to selling their service to the public."FENCING: The Perfect COVID Sport"
*Masks
*Gloves
*If anybody gets closer than 6' of you, you stab them pic.twitter.com/yBaT9z6isK— Neil Lowenthal (@NeilLowenthal1) September 2, 2020
A positive note to end of the week
Today is the first day the US deaths/day dropped below 1,000 in nearly 7 consecutive weeks (of weekday data)
998.
And trending downward.@COVID19Tracking pic.twitter.com/ReHpv89aFO— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) September 4, 2020
Several drug makers developing #Covid_19 vaccines plan to issue a public pledge not to seek government approval until the shots have proven to be safe and effective, an unusual joint move among rivals. https://t.co/CilNjAPUef
— Anthony DeRosa ? (@Anthony) September 4, 2020
Kind of wild that major pharmaceutical companies see their reputations as being at risk for working with the federal government. https://t.co/OSPqbdei3U
— Seth Masket (@smotus) September 5, 2020
Warp Speed chief calls pre-election vaccine ‘extremely unlikely’ https://t.co/Agf59ZOtSx
— Rachel Van Dongen (@RachelVanD) September 4, 2020
The US had +52,853 new confirmed cases of coronavirus today, its highest number since August 15th, bringing the total to 6,389,057, and pushing the 7-day moving average back above 42k/day. pic.twitter.com/erWYEkOUkl
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) September 5, 2020
1/9 Covid Epi Weekly: Stalling and Failing
Continued spread of Covid in the US will continue to undermine health, jobs, economy, and education. A concerted, strategic approach would help, a lot. Fundamental error: Failure to recognize we’re all connected, all in this together.
— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) September 5, 2020
9/9 It ain’t over until it’s over. Continuous improvement of data on testing, isolation tracing, quarantine. 3W’s: Wear a mask, Watch distance, Wash hands. Smarter limitations on activity to balance jobs and health. Vaccine preparations including cold chain, community engagement.
— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) September 5, 2020
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#UPDATE The UN health agency said a "considerable number" of novel #coronavirus vaccine candidates are at final stage trials, but "in terms of realistic timelines, we are really not expecting to see widespread vaccination until the middle of next year" https://t.co/xJwIn3C4Lf pic.twitter.com/UscZuRV5kn
— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 4, 2020
India crosses four million coronavirus cases with record surge https://t.co/OczG5SxAvE pic.twitter.com/G3TerIOICT
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 5, 2020
South Korea posts fewest COVID-19 cases in three weeks after tightening distancing https://t.co/26qP9I53e8 pic.twitter.com/STxkUArIWf
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 5, 2020
Australia's virus hot spot chafes under lockdown as infection rate gradually improves https://t.co/mfBlC7Q5zB pic.twitter.com/WFs6jq1uNA
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 5, 2020
Spain's capital is further restricting family reunions and social gatherings to curb a sharp spike in confirmed coronavirus cases as most of Madrid's schools are set to reopen. https://t.co/3D1WNWYbXd
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) September 4, 2020
Brazil reports 51,194 coronavirus cases, 907 deaths https://t.co/vlCwU4heVc pic.twitter.com/Gs7NBRmRf5
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 5, 2020
Brazil's president draws more criticism after stirring doubt on coronavirus vaccinations. https://t.co/cQU99C9Ws2
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 5, 2020
Mexico records 6,196 new coronavirus cases, 522 more deaths https://t.co/SS5UcuhgtP pic.twitter.com/5Rqrq6KRt9
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 5, 2020
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Hearing a lot about the possibility of emergency use authorizations for #Covid19 vaccines? @matthewherper explains the nuts and bolts of what's going to happen — or at least what should happen — as Phase 3 trials proceed. https://t.co/Mx52qA9DdD
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) September 2, 2020
There are now 321 confirmed #COVID19 vaccine candidates. Of these, 32 have already entered clinical trials, with plans to enroll >280,000 participants from >470 sites in 34 different countries. The most advanced clinical candidates are in phase III trialshttps://t.co/eeXu1b7D8m pic.twitter.com/MFSINEH19b
— Microbes&Infection (@MicrobesInfect) September 5, 2020
Russian scientists have published the first paper on their Sputnik V vaccine. It highlights a problem with comparing the results from all the vaccine trials underway: they’re apples and oranges. Here’s my story for @nytimes https://t.co/Fq4AKgyO1y
— Carl Zimmer (@carlzimmer) September 4, 2020
What is COVID19 doing to the heart? Many survivors experience some type of heart damage, even if they didn't have underlying heart disease & weren't sick enough to be hospitalized. Some doctors are worried about a potential increase in heart failure https://t.co/pNUVjoII69
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 4, 2020
Trump’s MyPillow crony forestalled (for the moment):
This story is now in front of our paywall: https://t.co/Gh5pQsLiCN
— Alexander Gaffney (@AlecGaffney) September 4, 2020
The pandemic is ruining our sleep. Doctors say ‘coronasomnia’ could imperil public health. https://t.co/ZheEuURMPx
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 4, 2020
… The unusual, toxic cocktail of pandemic-era stresses that degrade sleep is so strong that physician Abhinav Singh, director of the Indiana Sleep Center, coined a mnemonic to explain it: “FED UP.” The letters stand for financial stress, emotional stress, distance from others, unpredictability, and personal and professional concerns…
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Meatpacking was already a dangerous job among California workers. The pandemic made it worse https://t.co/DrLxSpmsyM
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 4, 2020
The U.S. paid — in #Covid19 cases & deaths — for Memorial Day weekend parties. Tony Fauci is warning the country not to repeat the mistake this Labor Day weekend, @DrewQJoseph reports. https://t.co/rAfW6UGAYz
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) September 4, 2020
I've seen a lot of psychologizing of higher-ed and COVID: students are young & have a risk-taking brain etc. I think that's the wrong approach. We should, instead, sociologize the question. College is *also* about socializing. We all know this & pretending otherwise doesn't work. pic.twitter.com/sJvKwkcFVx
— zeynep tufekci (@zeynep) September 4, 2020
Pictures, thousands of words, etc. https://t.co/BmHboz9oEu pic.twitter.com/DkK0RdKRRp
— zeynep tufekci (@zeynep) September 4, 2020
I’m shocked, shocked that @KristiNoem’s decision to ignore “not be the subjects of an elite class of so-called experts” has worked out the way it has. https://t.co/y0kG1bHptp
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) September 4, 2020
SiubhanDuinne
Enjoy your vacation!
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s daily numbers. Six new cases. Two cases from local infection, both Malaysians: one in Kedah from the Telaga cluster, one in Sabah screened with severe acute respiratory infection. Four imported cases: two Malaysians, returning from Angola and Pakistan; two non-Malaysians, arriving from India and Bangladesh. The cumulative reported total is 9,391 cases.
21 more patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 9,113 patients recovered — 97.04% of the cumulative reported total. Active and contagious cases currently being isolated/treated in hospital fell to 150 patients; five are in ICU, three of whom are on respirators.
No new deaths since 1st September, and the total remains at 128 deaths — 1.36% of the cumulative reported total, 1.39% of resolved cases.
Baud
I assumed the weekend included today. I was surprised to see this post.
OzarkHillbilly
Take your break Anne, you’ve earned it. Of course, if you took what you earned we wouldn’t hear from you again until the 2nd year of Biden’s presidency and we’d all have a big sad from missing you.
NotMax
One way to fill the time when the college campus is shut down.
;)
raven
OzarkHillbilly
Covid-19 Vaccine Developers Prepare Joint Pledge on Safety, Standards
Translation: “The trump admin has FUBARed so many regulatory processes so often that we are well and fully cognizant of the fact that nobody in this country trusts them to not screw this up too. So please, trust us, we won’t let them fuck you up. We want you alive for as long as possible so that you are subject to our predatory pricing schemes.”
How fucked up is it that we are now in the position of having to trust the same people who gave us Oxycontin?
Sloane Ranger
I’m with Baud, I assumed you would have a three day short break. Have a relaxing weekend and thanks for the unexpected update.
NotMax
@raven
Cannot by any stretch of the imagination be described as peachy.
OzarkHillbilly
Here in Misery we’ve hit lucky 13% positivity test rate (7 day avg), largely on the backs of the fine folks in the Bootheel, but that blood red 2 county spot SW of STL?
“Hi…”
raven
@NotMax: We were lucky here when the virus hot while the students were gone and we’re not so lucky that 30,000 of them came back last week.
raven
@raven: hit
Aleta
@OzarkHillbilly: “The vaccine makers would also pledge to adhere to high scientific and ethical standards in the conduct of clinical studies and in the manufacturing processes.” So if they don’t adhere, or if the shots turn out unproven, they will assume liability? (I think not.) And I notice they don’t specify or quote the actual standards they will adhere to. ‘High standards’ seems to me more flexible in interpretation than ‘highest standards.’ The administration created a problem for them by undermining trust in their product months ahead of time, and they need to counter quickly.
OzarkHillbilly
@Aleta: Yeah, the words “trust” and “pharmaceutical companies” should only appear in the same sentence with a negative connotation.
WereBear
They wanted to undermine trusted authority and create a toxic cloud of FUD that filled the sky.
What are they complaining about?
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I expect this flu season will prove to be very interesting.
Anne Laurie
Oh, I’ll be around — I’m just not doing these update posts for the next few days!
(Which I hope will give me the time & mind-space for some of the other topics I want to cover.)
OzarkHillbilly
@Anne Laurie: Well than, enjoy your staycation doing whatever you want to do.
gkoutnik
@Baud: Me too. Pleasantly surprised. Enjoy the weekend, AL!
I guess I need to take issue with the argument that since socialization is a natural part of the college experience, we should not see the outbreaks as the result of inappropriate or unwise student behavior (i.e. parties). Self-preservation is a natural part of the human experience, yet we put it aside and go to war when faced with a threat that we feel requires us to act in a way that exposes us to injury or death.
They couldn’t have put “socialization” aside for a semester? Or even for a few weeks, out of four years, in the face of a global pandemic, a threat of enormous global and personal proportions? There are many ways to socialize that will not endanger your health or the health of those you’re socializing with, and, as noted, these alternate socialization strategies would only be necessary for a very short time.
And now they’re at home, in their childhood bedrooms or their parents’ basements, doing that physically distant kind of socializing until at least January.
I am sure that YMMV.
Central Planning
My kid’s university is doing COVID waste water testing for the dorms. The one where he works part time just noticed a spike in the sewage so he got a test yesterday. No classes or work until you get a test, not until you get the result (up to 48 hours). SMH.
ETA – typo
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m still shaky about having gotten the flu shot so early. The CDC hasn’t changed it’s recommendation that August is too soon for old people but the pharmacies were pushing it.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I don’t blame you. I had been planning on getting my shots as soon as they were available but thanx to you and your story I am waiting till October.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly:
CVS, Walgreens Lead Unprecedented Flu Season Prep As Covid-19 Converges
raven
Can vaccinating someone twice provide added immunity?
In adults, studies have not shown a benefit from getting more than one dose of vaccine during the same influenza season, even among elderly persons with weakened immune systems. Except for children getting vaccinated for the first time, only one dose of flu vaccine is recommended each season.
JPL
@raven: Ask if you can get another flu shot in January or February. Last year I was told that most of the flu shots are only effective for four or five months.
Barbara
@gkoutnik: Agreed. I don’t like these “boys will be boys” justifications for conduct that endangers the entire community. Among other things it papers over the indifference of the partiers to whether others get sick or have only limited means to cope with the consequences. Like a lot of college, it’s infantilizing and entrenching unjustified privilege.
JPL
@raven: That negates what I was told last year.
raven
I knew if I dug deep enough I’d find something positive!
Gvg
@raven: I personally think we will be in lockdown by the normal peak of flu season which will effectively stop flues from spreading. In addition, by later in the year infection rates will be higher and you won’t want to go out to a doctors office or pharmacy to get a shot. I think this year, early is fine. It’s just something to remember for a year that is normal.
raven
@Gvg: We’re on sort of lockdown anyway but we are going back to the beach in early October.
Gvg
Flu season is likely to be less this year anyway because all the social distancing and hand washing are cutting it’s transmission rate. I haven’t heard if the masks held for flu too, but I suspect it does.
OzarkHillbilly
@gkoutnik: @Barbara: I’m going to weigh in here.
His point is merely that expecting young adults to act like adults when they still have the hormones of a teenager running rampant in their bodies is kind of silly. It’s like asking water to not be wet or the sun to not be hot. Sure, some of them will in fact be adult in their behavior but those few are far outnumbered by those for whom the closest they have come to death is the funeral of a grandparent who had a heart attack.
JR
At least some people running these pharmaceutical companies remember Cutter Laboratories.
raven
@Barbara: Reposting from a local writer.
Barbara
@OzarkHillbilly: Not buying it. If there is blame it is the mixed messaging sent by school administrators who don’t want to or don’t know how to stand up to vested interests.
YY_Sima Qian
Yesterday, China reported 0 new domestic confirmed cases and 0 new domestic asymptomatic case.
At Ürumqi in Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region, there are currently 14 confirmed and 4 asymptomatic cases, with no cases in serious condition. 2 confirmed cases recovered yesterday and were discharged from hospitals, 2 asymptomatic cases were released from medical quarantine. There are 129 close contacts remaining under quarantine and medical observation.
Yesterday, China reported 10 new imported confirmed cases, 8 imported asymptomatic cases:
Today, Hong Kong reported 7 new cases, all from local transmission, 3 of whom do not have clear sources of identification.
gkoutnik
@OzarkHillbilly: Very true. It’s not something we expect in normal times. But these are not normal times.
My father was in his late 20s when he went off to fight in WWII, but many (most?) of the men he fought with were college age – hormones, unformed brains and all. They managed, for the most part, to put that all aside – including self-preservation – and do something magnificent (and I don’t believe it was because they were “The Greatest Generation” – any generation would have risen to the challenge).
With a President who is trying to normalize times, of course, one could probably forgive young people for not understanding what is at risk, and not rising to the challenge.
Gvg
@gkoutnik: That isn’t what we should take from this discussion. Recognizing a set of facts that had been overlooked can lead to smarter decisions and solutions. Recognize the truth in the story and then move on to “what do we do about it?”.
my 6th grade nephew is doing a virtual school. His mom is a hospital doctor so there was no chance she was risking him. He loves socializing not school work but school friends. He is starting a new school, middle school because the private he went to was only elementary. Because his mom gets exposed, he is at his Grandparents and rarely gets to see his mom or anyone else. Recipe for depression or loneliness right? Well his school district keeps the class discussion areas open for quite awhile after class and let’s the kids keep talking about whatever. I’m not clear how it works. They must have more time between classes and only 4 classes but my mother reports he has made new friends and always stays in these chats till the end. It helps. The school must have recognized the need. Also the chat group from his last years class is still up and working with the former teacher still cheering up those students.
i don’t know the solutions. I just started thinking about it after reading that article. The point is, ignoring it definitely won’t find a solution.
Ken
I can’t help but see these as related stories:
raven
@gkoutnik: And there is little relationship between this situation and WW2. Did half the people in the world think it was a hoax? I don’t think so.
Suzanne
Want to see something cool? Masks both work, and are not enough.
Barbara
@raven: I am not going around obsessing about how other people are behaving. Not. At. All. But then, it’s not my job to keep everyone safe. My office administrator, on the other hand, exercises iron control over who gets to go into the office. No one in my office even considers violating the rules. The only bit of wiggle room here for the people who are fucking up the future of everyone they know because they are prioritizing a little bit of fun that they believe they are entitled to is that their administrators have not threatened the kind of harsh consequences that they deserve. The difference, I gather, between you and me, is that when I went to a party school par excellence I knew that no one would ever hire me on the strength of my fraternity or sorority connections and never even tried to scratch that itch. Those are the people I worry about, the people who aren’t going home to an affluent parent who is going to continue coddling their immaturity.
gkoutnik
@raven: I think it was Joe Biden who said, recently, that the number of Americans who were dying every day was similar to the rate in WWII.
Barbara
@gkoutnik: And I am sure there were people in WWII who flouted various restrictions, who participated in the underground market for rationed goods and so on. Of course there were. But they mostly had to keep it secret because they knew that they could face serious repercussions. Imagine someone who insisted on keeping their lights on during a blackout because “they have rights.” But mostly, I don’t understand why so many feel so compelled to defend people who will spare no effort to defend themselves no matter how indefensible their conduct. They don’t need my help. When I read these apologies what I infer is that the writer is mostly defending the administrative decision makers who now look like idiots.
Sloane Ranger
No Robert Sneddon today so I’ll give the full UK figures. Usual warning about the unreliability of weekend figures here in the UK due to closures of admin offices.
There were a total of 1,813 new cases reported today. Of these, 1,477 were in England; 118 in Northern Ireland; 1412 in Scotland and 77 in Wales. The trend continues upwards but slowly.
There were 12 new deaths, 11 in England and 1 in Wales.
Wales continues to be the hardest hit home nation with 579.9 cases per 100,000 population. In England, the hardest hit regions are in the north west, Yorkshire and The Humber.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
There is ¢evil¢ and $Evil$ and $$$EVIL$$$
Also, dead customers don’t purchase anything.
Evil_Paul
I think placing the blame on “students acting irresponsibly” is misplaced in the (majority?) cases where the “adults” (school administrators, public health agencies, city/county/state governments) are acting just as irresponsibly. I mean, we got this story above about South Dakota eagerly hosting a State Fair hot on the heels of Sturgis, but if anything goes wrong it’s the fault of “those damned kids!”
No. Fuck that. “The kids” are just following the example of their leaders. They just happen to have less money, power and influence so it’s easier to blame them than anyone else.
There are schools that are doing things right. They’re testing aggressively, setting very clear policies about distancing and mask-wearing, and expelling students who break the rules. You get an outbreak in a place like that and it’s fair to blame the students since the standard was set and clearly communicated, and they had the means available to follow the rules.
But the colleges who are re-opening just to support their football program (or other financial reasons)? The only blame I got for students is for not recognizing that they were being taken advantage of by a pack of greed heads.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
I even see this in people older than teens and have for decades.
People like the person who didn’t have anyone he knew die until he was in his 40s. My first relative passed when I was 6 yrs old and the progression has been rather linear since.
BTW the temp right now 10:09 is 99 and is going to warm up to 113. Today and tomorrow. What with shitforbrains sitting on top of the pile of shit he’s created we are now cooking ourselves. Fun times.
Ruckus
@gkoutnik:
I was older than a lot of the people in my boot camp company. Not a lot older 2-3 yrs and there were others my age, but we were gramps, geezers in comparison. But in the military it is much more difficult to get away with acting like a moron and being congratulated/cheered on for it in the same way as at college.
Ruckus
@Ken:
Too late. Selfish people and self centered people need a lot of time and effort to affect their behavior. And who is the most selfish and self centered person in the country at this moment? Yes, I call him shitforbrains.
Mike in Pasadena
Thanks AL!
Barbara
@Evil_Paul: This is really not a morality tale. It is about how you can be the agent of fortune, your own and for others. Yes, many are acting irresponsibly and they all deserve blame. But some of those acting irresponsibly by the nature of their status and their actions are the fulcrum that triggers negative consequences for themselves as well as others. A person who refuses to wear a mask is wrong and a bad example. A person who refuses to wear a mask inside a nursing home is a menace. They might both be evil on an abstract scale but the practical consequences of the actions of the latter are much more significant for those around them. It isn’t fair that the governor of South Dakota hasn’t dropped dead from Covid-19, but rational people can see that their own conduct doesn’t give them the same kind of immunity from consequences. Otherwise, the only benchmark for any of us is to look around and find justification in imitating the lowest common denominator behavior. Capiche?
Another Scott
@Suzanne: Thanks for the pointer.
Cheers,
Scott.