COVID-19 (f/k/a "the Coronavirus")

[rocky_warrior]

Yeah. I was the dope who said 3,000 - 4,000 by mid-January.

I'll go on and pretend your our optimist. 

[TSmith34, Inc.]

The "joke" is on us. We are Sweden!

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/16/trump-appointee-demanded-herd-immunity-strategy-446408


A trump official demanding that we kill Americans.

They.Don't.Care

[Warriors4ever]

He was still pushing for this even after the UK had kind of tried it and given it up.

[MU82]

Research by the Journal of the American Medical Association that was analyzed by the New York Times shows that a surprisingly high number of Americans between 25 and 44 years old have lost their lives to COVID-19.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/opinion/covid-deaths-young-adults.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20201217&instance_id=25129&nl=the-morning®i_id=108420427&segment_id=47190&te=1&user_id=d36dcf821462fdd16ec3636710a855fa

The largest burden of Covid-19 has undoubtedly fallen on people older than 65, accounting for around 80 percent of deaths in the United States. But if we momentarily eclipse that from our mind's eye, something else becomes visible: The corona of this virus.

Young adults are dying at historic rates. In research published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, we found that among U.S. adults ages 25 to 44, from March through the end of July, there were almost 12,000 more deaths than were expected based on historical norms.

In fact, July appears to have been the deadliest month among this age group in modern American history. Over the past 20 years, an average of 11,000 young American adults died each July. This year that number swelled to over 16,000.

The trends continued this fall. Based on prior trends, around 154,000 in this demographic had been projected to die in 2020. We surpassed that total in mid-November. Even if death rates suddenly return to normal in December — and we know they have not — we would anticipate well over 170,000 deaths among U.S. adults in this demographic by the end of 2020.

While detailed data are not yet available for all areas, we know Covid-19 is the driving force behind these excess deaths.

[GooooMarquette]

ICUs are at 100% capacity in all of Central and Southern California. And new cases are continuing to climb.

[rocky_warrior]

ICUs are at 100% capacity in all of Central and Southern California. And new cases are continuing to climb.

Yup   This is ruining my planned palm springs trip (even though we were basically planning on isolating the entire trip).  Too much guilt in case anything medical were to come up.

Idiots gotta' ruin everything.

[GooooMarquette]

A much more transmissible variant spreading around London?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/19/world/europe/coronavirus-uk-new-variant.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Alarmed by a fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson abruptly reversed course on Saturday and imposed a wholesale lockdown on London and most of England's southeast, banning Christmas-season gatherings beyond individual households.

The decision, which Mr. Johnson announced after an emergency meeting of his cabinet, came after the government got new evidence of a variant first detected several weeks ago in  Southeast England, which the prime minister asserted was as much as 70 percent more transmissible than previous versions.

The new measures, which take effect on Sunday, are designed, in effect, to cut off the capital and its surrounding counties from the rest of England. They are the most severe measures the British government has taken since it imposed a lockdown on the country back in March, and reflect a fear that the new variant could supercharge the transmission of the virus as winter takes hold.

[reinko]

A much more transmissible variant spreading around London?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/19/world/europe/coronavirus-uk-new-variant.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Alarmed by a fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson abruptly reversed course on Saturday and imposed a wholesale lockdown on London and most of England's southeast, banning Christmas-season gatherings beyond individual households.

The decision, which Mr. Johnson announced after an emergency meeting of his cabinet, came after the government got new evidence of a variant first detected several weeks ago in  Southeast England, which the prime minister asserted was as much as 70 percent more transmissible than previous versions.

The new measures, which take effect on Sunday, are designed, in effect, to cut off the capital and its surrounding counties from the rest of England. They are the most severe measures the British government has taken since it imposed a lockdown on the country back in March, and reflect a fear that the new variant could supercharge the transmission of the virus as winter takes hold.

Very oddly sourced article, basing much of it what their PM said, without much science behind it.

Weird article

[GooooMarquette]

Very oddly sourced article, basing much of it what their PM said, without much science behind it.

Weird article

Definitely not strong on the science. I suspect they published it because it is certainly newsworthy that London is effectively shut down and cut off from the rest of the UK.

[Jockey]

From the New York Times:

Often, Mr. [Kyle] McGowan [a former chief of staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and [his deputy] Ms. [Amanda] Campbell mediated between Dr. Redfield and agency scientists when the White House's guidance requests and dictates would arrive: edits from Mr. Vought and Kellyanne Conway, the former White House adviser, on choirs and communion in faith communities, or suggestions from Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and aide, on schools.

Wait, you're saying Ivanka overruled career employees in the CDC's handbag design and marketing division, right? Not on anything having to do with actual scien ... Oh, what fresh hell is this?

"Every time that the science clashed with the messaging, messaging won," Mr. McGowan said.

[Hards Alumni]

Definitely not strong on the science. I suspect they published it because it is certainly newsworthy that London is effectively shut down and cut off from the rest of the UK.

Oh, its very real.

[MU82]

The graphic that matters most ...



From the NYT, it shows how closely COVID-19 deaths track cases. Many say, "Why all the talk about cases? They're just the result of more testing." Well, that's why.

[Hards Alumni]

What frequently isn't talked about is the actual number of infections is much higher than reported confirmed cases.  Not everyone who is infected gets a test to confirm.

I'd be curious to see what the statisticians think about how many actual cases there instead of confirmed cases.

[Skatastrophy]

What frequently isn't talked about is the actual number of infections is much higher than reported confirmed cases.  Not everyone who is infected gets a test to confirm.

I'd be curious to see what the statisticians think about how many actual cases there instead of confirmed cases.

Good timing for a manuscript ready to be published in Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03095-6

In France detection is up from 7% early in the pandemic, up to just below 50% now (estimated).

[tower912]

What frequently isn't talked about is the actual number of infections is much higher than reported confirmed cases.  Not everyone who is infected gets a test to confirm.

I'd be curious to see what the statisticians think about how many actual cases there instead of confirmed cases.

Yes.   Particularly among the young who were fortunate enough to be asymptomatic but capable of spreading it to their family members.     Widespread, effective, accurate anti-body testing sure would have been a nice benchmark.   

[Skatastrophy]

Yes.   Particularly among the young who were fortunate enough to be asymptomatic but capable of spreading it to their family members.     Widespread, effective, accurate anti-body testing sure would have been a nice benchmark.   

The antibody study done in Chicago recently with preliminary results (n=1,545) analyzed at the beginning of November, showed that 20% of the population had antibodies. - https://news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2020/11/mcnally-discusses-covid-19-antibody-study-results-next-steps/

The problem is that these things take time and are a logistical problem. It's a lagging indicator, and our federal government has no appetite for trying to get good data on this thing.

[GooooMarquette]

The White House COVID Task Force continued airport screening for months after they realized it wasn't working, and putting customs and immigration officials at risk.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/21/white-house-covid-task-force-kept-airport-health-screeners-in-place-despite-risk.html

In interviews with dozens of federal employees and task force officials over four months, CNBC learned that the program proved not only ineffective but dangerous from its earliest days. One former official on the White House coronavirus task force estimated that that three- to four-dozen personnel were infected by the end of May. To compare, nine travelers out of hundreds of thousands screened in the program were detected to have been infected by the end of September.

Yet the White House chose not to dismantle it, in a bid to avoid worrying the public.

[MU82]

The White House COVID Task Force continued airport screening for months after they realized it wasn't working, and putting customs and immigration officials at risk.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/21/white-house-covid-task-force-kept-airport-health-screeners-in-place-despite-risk.html

In interviews with dozens of federal employees and task force officials over four months, CNBC learned that the program proved not only ineffective but dangerous from its earliest days. One former official on the White House coronavirus task force estimated that that three- to four-dozen personnel were infected by the end of May. To compare, nine travelers out of hundreds of thousands screened in the program were detected to have been infected by the end of September.

Yet the White House chose not to dismantle it, in a bid to avoid worrying the public.

More criminal negligence.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Dr. Birx announced that she is retiring at the end of Trump's term.

[Hards Alumni]

Dr. Birx announced that she is retiring at the end of Trump's term.

Real story is she wasn't asked to return, and if you're wondering why...

WASHINGTON (AP) — As COVID-19 cases skyrocketed before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, warned Americans to "be vigilant" and limit celebrations to "your immediate household."

For many Americans that guidance has been difficult to abide, including for Birx herself.

The day after Thanksgiving, she traveled to one of her vacation properties on Fenwick Island in Delaware. She was accompanied by three generations of her family from two households. Birx, her husband Paige Reffe, a daughter, son-in-law and two young grandchildren were present.

https://apnews.com/article/travel-pandemics-only-on-ap-delaware-thanksgiving-52810c22488fff7e6bb70746bdc9bc61

[Jockey]

Real story is she wasn't asked to return, and if you're wondering why...

WASHINGTON (AP) — As COVID-19 cases skyrocketed before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, warned Americans to "be vigilant" and limit celebrations to "your immediate household."

For many Americans that guidance has been difficult to abide, including for Birx herself.

The day after Thanksgiving, she traveled to one of her vacation properties on Fenwick Island in Delaware. She was accompanied by three generations of her family from two households. Birx, her husband Paige Reffe, a daughter, son-in-law and two young grandchildren were present.

https://apnews.com/article/travel-pandemics-only-on-ap-delaware-thanksgiving-52810c22488fff7e6bb70746bdc9bc61

Some might call her a poser.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Some might call her a poser.

She made the same mistake that many made, thinking she could influence the outcome from within. Instead, just like all those others, the only thing she accomplished was ruining her reputation.

[MU82]

If only Dr. Birx had committed some crimes on his behalf, she would have been pardoned instead of fired.

Oh well. All of us will always have the memory of Birx looking like she had just been hit on the head with an anvil as her boss was asking her to research the possibility of injecting disinfectant into the human body as a way to prevent COVID-19 infections.

That he later claimed he was being "sarcastic" is almost as funny (stoopid funny, not ha-ha funny) as the president of the United States actually thinking it was a good idea to inject humans with Lysol.

I mean, no screenwriter could have made up these last 4 years.

[Jockey]

I mean, no screenwriter could have made up these last 4 years.

I think the writers from The Three Stooges could have written his attempted coup script.

[wadesworld]

Another positive of this 4 year period ending is there have been no protests or violence as a result of the elections, as promised.