Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

It’s easier to kill a dangerous animal than a man who just happens to have different thoughts/values than one’s own.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Their freedom requires your slavery.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

We won’t go back.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Come on, man.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

When the time comes to make an endorsement, the pain of NYT editors will be palpable as they reluctantly whisper “Biden.”

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday/Friday, September 24-25

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday/Friday, September 24-25

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… Dr. Shelly Miller is an environmental engineer at the University of Colorado Boulder. For decades, she’s studied the way pollutants and infectious diseases spread in indoor spaces, and over the summer helped her own university prepare for when students and faculty return to campus.

You want to control the source of the contaminants. And, in this pandemic, the sources are the infectious people inside. And so, to control the release of virus, you want to wear a mask, and you also want to be outside of their personal cloud.

But some of the virus can potentially leak into the environment, and then you have to clean the environment. And the way to do that is the filtration and ventilation.

The simplest way to do that, she says, open a door or window.

But in many parts of the country where it’s still too hot, or becoming too cold, to do that, Miller says there are different ways to increase a building’s mechanical ventilation and filtration.

Here’s a basic guide: Buildings up to code should already be replacing the inside air with outside air three times an hour. But with coronavirus, that should be doubled, to six exchanges per hour, and, ideally, to nine exchanges per hour.

And, crucially, the more people there are contained in a space, the more exchanges are needed. HEPA filters, which stands for high-efficiency particulate air, should also be added to ventilation systems to increase protection…

Even portable air cleaners can help, and Dr. Miller and her colleagues have created a guide for schools on these, which you can find on our website. The bottom line: If you’re thinking about going back to the gym, to a restaurant, your office or school, keep washing your hands, keep wearing your mask, and keep social distancing. But don’t let those deep cleans fool you. Ask what they have done about the air.

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If it were only their own lives the GOP Death Cult were risking…

Ivy-league humblebrag:

Reader Interactions

30Comments

  1. 1.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Yesterday, China reported 0 new domestic confirmed cases and 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases. The new cases were reported by Qingdao in Shandong Province, both are handlers working at the port there. Such persons are deemed high risk workers and are tested regularly (seems like every 2 weeks). They had previously tested negative on 9/8, handled imported frozen seafood on 9/19, and tested positive during regular screening on 9/24. So far, 147 close contacts, 228 Tier 2 close contacts (of close contacts) and 4,341 contacts have been tested, all negative so far. 1,440 environmental and frozen product samples have been tested, 51 positive. It appears to be another instance of fomite transmission via international cold chain logistics.

    Harbin in Heilongjiang Province reported an imported asymptomatic case testing positive again after being released from medical quarantine, currently still asymptomatic. The case is a 12 year old child who returned from the US with his mother at the end of July. The mother was a diagnosed as a moderate case upon entry at Shenyang I. Liaoning Province. The child tested positive during entry quarantine, was sent to medical observation under the care of his father (who did not visit the US), and tested negative twice before being released from quarantine. Father and son drove from Shenyang to Harbin in early Sept., and entered mandatory 14 day home quarantine. The child tested positive in follow up screening at the end of home quarantine. He is probably a self healed case currently shedding dead viral particles. The father has continued to test negative. 9 close contacts have been placed under quarantine.  This case is not counted in yesterday’s data, as he is not a new case, and it is not yet clear if he is currently infected.

    Yesterday, China reported 8 new imported confirmed cases and 16 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality- 4 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Ethiopia, 1 from Gabon, and 1 US national coming from the States
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 2 confirmed cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Indonesia; 11 asymptomatic cases, 8 Chinese nationals returning from Indonesia, 2 from Singapore and 1 from France
    • Beijing Municipality – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a Chinese student returning from Pakistan
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese National returning from the Philippines
    • Nanjing in Jiangsu Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Japan
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, 1 Chinese national returning from the Philippines
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released

    Today, Hong Kong reported 2 new cases, both from local transmission, both has clear sources of transmission identified.

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    FYI. Grave new world (emphasis added).

    Nowhere in Hawaiʻi is the loss of tourism felt more by businesses than on Maui, according to a joint survey in July by the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaiʻi. Of the respondents, 62 percent said their business was down 90 to 100 percent (essentially no revenue coming in).
    [snip]
    Old Lahaina remains a ghost town. Front Street was deadly quiet Monday, except for the blaring of NFL football on TVs and one lone musician playing reggae.

    More than 120 businesses along Front Street were closed, and they have been for more than six months. Some already have closed for good.… Source

  3. 3.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Cornell University has done well, too. Its location certainly helps! Small town in the rural part of allow prevalence state, having its own highly regarded vet school with labs that can process RT-PCR tests. Students don’t really venture into the town of Ithaca even during normal times.

    100% arrival testing, and robust surveillance testing of 5 – 6K tests done per day during weekdays, 2 – 3K tests per day over the weekends. 0 – 2 confirmed cases per day, 0.02% positive rate. Masking mandate, no visitors allowed on campus, capacity limited to 50%, and no group gatherings larger than 10 people.

    Of course, in China the campus would have gone under lock down as soon as the first case is detected, with students confined to dorm rooms and classes online, until the cluster is snuffed out.

  4. 4.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Speaking of human challenge trials, I distinctly remember the snickering chatter in western MSM and social media that the CCP regime absolutely will resort to human challenge trials to help recover from an outbreak it will not be able to control. Instead, it is the UK that is going ahead, and the US where it is being actively prepared.

    While it is true that China could have already conducted challenge trials with its roster of vaccine candidates (on young soldiers, for example), without publicizing the effort. On the other hand, the situation in China is not so dire that the authorities and the vaccine developers can afford to wait a few months for the results from Phase III trials at Brazil, the Gulf States, Turkey, etc.

    The COVID-19 is turning the world upside down, and upending deeply and comfortably held worldviews. Or it should be.

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I’m so darn proud of our students for having no social life. Makes me relate to them so much more.

    I resemble that remark.

  6. 6.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily CoviD-19 numbers. 111 new cases, for a cumulative reported total of 10,687 cases.

    107 new cases from local infection. 76 Malaysians: 67 in Sabah including 48 from the Bangau-bangau cluster; seven in Kedah, all from the Sungai cluster; one each in Selangor and Pahang, both individuals who had recently travelled to Sabah. 31 non-Malaysians: 30 in Sabah including 26 from the Bangau-Bangau cluster, one in Kedah from the Sungai cluster. (for some reason, today’s Health Ministry twitter feed does not have the usual complete breakdown for individual states.)

    Four imported new cases, all non-Malaysians, arriving from Singapore, India, and Indonesia (two, in a shipboard cluster).

    30 more patents recovered and were discharged, for a total of 9,696 patients recovered — 90.73% of the cumulative reported total. 858 active and contagious cases are currently being isolated/treated in hospital; four are in ICU, three of them on respirators.

    No new CoviD-19 deaths were reported today, and the total stands at 133 deaths — 1.24% of the cumulative reported total, 1.35% of resolved cases.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @NotMax: There is no going back to “normal”. Even with a 99% effective vaccine, things will have changed and there is no putting that genie back in the bottle. On Oct 1st the airline industry will cross the Rubicon and forever after be different. Same for tourism and entertainment, the cruise industry, etc etc.

    We live in interesting times.

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    COVID-DENIER Conspiracy theorist Trump supporter Tony Tenpenny who dismissed coronavirus as ‘socialist’ hoax is killed by disease

    Vice Mayor Jim Shulman shared that Tenpenny had been hospitalized for almost a month after contracting the disease. He had been placed on a ventilator in early September.

    “I am always saddened when I learn of the death of a former elected official. My thoughts and prayers are with his family as they face this loss,” Shulman said.

    However, the rest of you plebes can’t die soon enough.

  11. 11.

    Mousebumples

    @NotMax: More than 120 businesses along Front Street were closed, and they have been for more than six months. Some already have closed for good.…

    ? I’ve been to Maui twice. Not a surprise, but still disappointing. Another way in which the federal response has been terrible.

  12. 12.

    Mousebumples

    @OzarkHillbilly: On Oct 1st the airline industry will cross the Rubicon and forever after be different. Same for tourism and entertainment, the cruise industry, etc etc.

    Why October 1? New fiscal year? Something else that I’ve missed?

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Mousebumples:
    Major US airlines to lay off thousands of workers as Covid-19 support expires

    Major US airlines have warned they will lay off tens of thousands of workers in October when the Cares Act payroll support program for the industry expires, raising the prospect of devastation for many workers and their families.

    Fired airline workers will enter an economy still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and where weekly unemployment claims remain above 1m. The airline industry is among several where large employers have announced plans to conduct mass job cuts over the next few months.
    …………………..
    Globally, the airline industry faces an estimated $84bn in losses in 2020, while several US airports are expecting further downturns as coronavirus cases have climbed in several parts of the country since the end of June 2020.

    American Airlines has warned it could lay off up to 20,000 employees. According to an American Airlines spokesperson, “more than 41,000 team members have opted for an early retirement, a reduced work schedule or a partially paid leave”, with numbers not yet available for employees who opted into additional leave and early-out programs opened in mid-July.

    “Flight attendants with less than four years of seniority are in very real danger of furloughs. There is no predetermined amount of time as far as lengths of time out. It’s very unsettling,” said a flight attendant with American Airlines based in North Carolina who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

    United Airlines said in early July 2020 it could lay off 36,000 employees, about half its workforce in the US.

    Nearly 30% of employees, about 17,000, at Southwest have taken voluntary retirement or extended leave as the airline tries to avoid layoffs and furloughs.

    At JetBlue, over 60% of its workforce, around 20,000 employees, have taken voluntary leave to reduce furloughs in October.

    Spirit Airlines expects to furlough between 20% to 30% of its frontline workers in October, from its workforce of about 9,000 employees.

    Alaska Airlines intends to cut its workforce by 7,000 employees by the end of 2020, while 30% of its 23,000 employees have volunteered for a leave of absence.

    Smaller US airlines are expected to roll out layoffs in October, including Hawaiian Airlines which announced the airline, currently employing over 7,000 workers, is likely to be 15% to 25% smaller by next summer.

    Delta Air Lines managed to avoid plans to conduct furloughs and layoffs so far due to 20% of their workforce taking voluntary retirements.

    Airline revenues in 2020 to go down by 44% over 2019: IATA

    NEW DELHI: Airline revenues globally in 2020 is set to decline by 44% in revenues over 2019, as airlines ground flights due to poor passenger demand and countries closing borders to control the spread of Coronavirus, the International Air Transport Association (IATA)

    “Revenue loss of $250 bn in 2020 over 2019… which is a 44% decline over 2019… Before any recovery takes place, airlines may run out of cash,” said Brian Pearce, chief economist at IATA.

    Earlier, in February, IATA had estimated that global airlines would lose about $113 bn in revenues due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

    IATA DG Alexandre de Juniac said that the airlines would need support from the government to be flying in this case.

    “We would ask the governments to act fast in providing financial relief to airlines. Some countries have done it and that is a positive sign,” Juniac said.

    The GOP Senate has 5 days to help the airlines but I don’t see them doing it. They have a Supreme Court seat to fill. By the time this all shakes out, and I expect it to take at least 1 year, more like 2, The airline industry will be different. I couldn’t find the article I had read but some are expecting a lot of consolidation, a lot.

  15. 15.

    Mary G

    The  OC continues to improve rapidly. Fewer than 100 new cases today and we’re down to 3.2% positive tests even though more people are being tested. Less than 10% of ICU beds occupied by Covid19 patients.

    Wednesday I went outside my house and grounds for only the second time since March, and got out of the car for the first time, for a doctor appointment Medicare mandates done face to face. Got good results and a flu shot. Afterwards we drove around a little bit so I could see and smell the ocean. It wasn’t that enjoyable – I may need therapy after the vaccine because I felt unsafe seeing a lot of unmasked people walking around and may be coming down with agoraphobia!

  17. 17.

    mrmoshpotato

    10 for 10 Trump states. Coincidence?

    I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I give Dump a 10.

    Oh wait, yes I can – the mass-murdering Soviet shitpile mobster conman.

  19. 19.

    Sloane Ranger

    Update from the UK.

    Yesterday we had 6634 new cases. This beats our previous all time high of 6201 on 1 May. Cases distributed as follows,

    England – 5632

    Northern Ireland – 189

    Wales – 348

    Scotland – 465.

    Deaths – There were 40 deaths yesterday, 37 in England, 2 in Scotland and 1 in Wales.

    Tests – 232,268 tests were processed yesterday out of a capacity of 263,971.

    Healthcare – There were 1542 people in hospital on 22 September. 228 were on ventilators as of Wednesday.

    Haven’t seen Robert Sneddon here recently so will report that Scotland has a cluster of cases relating to the University in Glasgow. Nicola Sturgeon has asked students not to go out to pubs, bars parties etc. this weekend. Personally, I think she has as much chance of them following her advice as she has of getting them to stop breathing, but we’ll see. there have also been issues of students isolating being abandoned by the University with allegations that no provisions for feeding, providing for their other needs having been provided. She’s also hinting that they may not be allowed home for Christmas.

    Speaking of human challenge trials, I am not really surprised that we will be doing them. I know many people, particularly Americans (not anyone here of course) think of the UK as some Ruritania with a full service monarchy, olde worlde pubs and some very archaic customs, but there has always been a steak of ruthlessness in our culture, a willingness to do whatever we consider necessary.

  23. 23.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Sloane Ranger: The challenge trials, if they go ahead will be limited to young healthy people who have been treated with the Oxford/AstraSeneca vaccine. The planned trial is not double-blinded or a wide-spectrum candidate (old, young, co-morbidity, racial etc.) protocol and it will only be carried out after the vaccine has been approved as being safe for use in the general population. A challenge trial will produce efficacy data on a given vaccine quicker than waiting for the virus to spread through the vaccinated population and it’s easier to track the effects since the targets are enrolled in the trial rather than being spread throughout the general population.

     

    Basically young people right now are the major vectors for COVID-19 in places like colleges and schools with no sign of abatement so a properly-formulated challenge trial is less of a giant leap into the unknown than it may seem at first glance.

  24. 24.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Robert Sneddon: 

    I am actually not against properly run human challenge trials (which seems to be the case according to the FT article), when the situation is bad enough to call for it (which is the case for the US and the UK). Likewise, I am not against gaining function research of viruses, with proper oversight, despite the controversy associated with it. Compensation seems to be in the low side, though.

    However, imaging the sanctimonious hand wringing in Anglo-sphere press if China or Russia is to announce that they will conduct human challenge trials.

  25. 25.

    bluefoot

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    Challenge trials make no sense right now.  There are enough places with high prevalence/spread that one could do a regular clinical trial without deliberately infecting people.  We don’t have effective treatments nor understand all the long-term effects of even mild COVID post-recovery.  (myocarditis? neuropathy?)  I don’t see how challenge trials are sufficiently ethical right now.  If I were on an IRB, I would say no way.

  26. 26.

    StringOnAStick

    My understanding is that CO School of Mines, a heavy STEM school, is doing well too.  They did extensive work to the building ventilation systems over the summer and as a hard to get into engineering school, it has the opposite reputation of CU; it’s an anti-party school.

  27. 27.

    Robert Sneddon

    @bluefoot: The disease is still going to be in common circulation even after vaccines (plural) have been developed, tested and released to consumers. A challenge trial of young, otherwise-healthy and vaccinated volunteers is simply exposing them to controlled amounts of a virus that, given yesterday’s numbers, over 6,000 people in the UK contracted “in the wild”. By implication several tens of thousands more people were exposed to infection but did not catch the disease this time around. Tomorrow they may catch it or the day after, perhaps. The challenge test candidates will be vaccinated, they are not J Random Punter who has to take their chances working on a food production plant packing line or driving a bus while un-vaccinated.

    No-one is going to be forced to take part in the challenge trials — there was some suggestion that Chinese or Russian challenge tests would be carried out on serving military personnel under orders but that’s not something that would pass an ethics board pre-evaluation in the UK or the US.

  28. 28.

    Jay

    So, 2 Associates came down with Covid 19,

    27 Associates now in 14 day self quarantine, (25% of the staff)

    All from one Covidiot Mouthbreather.

  29. 29.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    I’m so darn proud of our students for having no social life. Makes me relate to them so much more

    I’m kind of glad that’s an external tweet, because it’s funny, but I also have that urge to jump in “don’t confuse sufficient prudence and wisdom for a lack, or a failure!”

    Let’s see, agree that it’s funny? Or point out that, “come on, let’s not dis those doing the right thing *too* much, not even in jest!”

  30. 30.

    rjnerd

    And FloriDuh’s governor has just lifted all restrictions, despite a >10% positive rate on tests. Towns prohibited from fining those that refuse to wear masks in public, and bars and restaurants allowed to open at 100% capacity.

    I hope that the guv qualifies for his Herman Cain Medal soon. (Awarded posthumously to those that take a public stand against mask wearing, etc).

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