WTF Community

🤮 Coronavirus (Community Thread)

An excellent Covid tracker from one of the former heads of CDC.

CDC Gating Criteria

CDC Gating Criteria (Beta)

The CDC guidelines propose the use of six “gating” indicators to assess when a state should relax or increase its restrictions. The indicators are based on symptoms, cases, and hospitals.

This is a work in progress. As of May 31st, we’ve calculated 2 of the 6 gating indicators. You can find the code we use on GitHub. If you have feedback, send it to [email protected].

The data presented here was pulled from The COVID Tracking Project on Saturday, June 13th, 2020.

Indicators Based on Cases

To determine a downward trajectory, data are assessed using a smoothed curve. This differs from the typical approach of using a 3-day or 7-day rolling average.
‍

1 Like


image

Cruelty, racism, and gaslighting at once:

The White House is floating a theory that travel from Mexico may be contributing to a new wave of coronavirus infections, rather than states’ efforts to reopen their economies.



A Black pastor who called 911 after alleged attack was arrested. The sheriff apologized.

Pastor Leon McCray said he “was handcuffed in front of my assaulters,” and “they waved at me as I go down the road… . Do you know how disturbing that is?”

A sheriff in Virginia has apologized to a Black pastor who was mistakenly arrested after he called authorities for help during an alleged attack by a white family earlier this month.

Pastor Leon McCray was at his home on June 1 when he saw two people trying to dump a refrigerator on his property, he recounted during a church service Sunday. When McCray told them to stop, one person proceeded to verbally attack him and the other one went to get three other people.

McCray said that all five people started attacking him verbally and physically. They were “threatening to kill me… telling me that my Black life didn’t matter,” he said. That’s when he felt the need to pull his concealed firearm to save his life, he said. The group of people then left and McCray proceeded to call 9-1-1 for help.

But when authorities arrived, they didn’t ask McCray what happened, he said. They spoke to the white family of five who had just attacked him, he said.

“I was not given an opportunity to speak,” said McCray, adding that officers told him they had to arrest him for brandishing a gun. “And I said, what about the trespassing and the assault?”

Instead, McCray “was handcuffed in front of my assaulters” by an officer who has known him from the community for over 20 years, he said, adding “they waved at me as I go down the road… . Do you know how disturbing that is?”

It was “a day that changed my life,” the pastor said.

On Friday, Shenandoah County Sheriff Timothy Carter announced that the brandishing charge against McCray would be dropped and that five people were arrested after the sheriff’s office “obtained warrants for more severe charges regarding this investigation.”

Donny Salyers, 43, Dennis Salyers, 26, Farrah Salyers, 42, Christopher Sharp, 57, and Amanda Salyers, 26, are all facing charges for hate crimes and various degrees of assault. Both Donny and Dennis Salyers are also charged with assault and battery. Sharp and Amanda Salyers are also charged with trespassing.

“All persons are currently being held without bond. This is still an ongoing investigation,” said Carter.

The family’s arrest came after Carter met with McCray on June 3 to discuss the incident.

“It was apparent to me that the charge of brandishing was certainly not appropriate. Actually, as I told Mr. McCray, if I were faced with similar circumstances, I would have probably done the same thing,” Carter said in a statement, referring to the pastor’s pulling out his firearm in self-defense.

According to Carter, sheriff’s deputies responded to a call of “a person brandishing a firearm” on June 1. Upon their arrival, they arrested McCray.

“I have apologized to Mr. McCray, and I appreciate his patience as I have worked through these matters,” said Carter, adding that he placed two of his staff supervisors on unpaid administrative leave, “while I complete and administrative review of the initial incident.”

5 Likes

Will ‘vaccines’ be more like ‘preventative’ virus shots instead of total protection is a real question at this early stage? What can we hope for…and what will be develops are two very different expectations.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-15/the-first-covid-vaccines-may-not-prevent-you-from-getting-covid

PM PDT Corrected June 15, 2020, 7:16 AM PDT

FDA would consider approving a shot that prevents symptoms
‘There will never be a truly perfect vaccine,’ expert says

Desperation for a way to keep economies from collapsing under the weight of Covid-19 could mean settling for a vaccine that prevents people from getting really sick or dying but doesn’t stop them from catching the coronavirus.

Although a knock-out blow against the virus is the ultimate goal, early vaccines may come with limitations on what they can deliver, according to Robin Shattock, an Imperial College London professor leading development of an experimental shot.

“Is that protection against infection?” Shattock said. “Is it protection against illness? Is it protection against severe disease? It’s quite possible a vaccine that only protects against severe disease would be very useful.”

As countries emerge warily from lockdowns, leaders are looking to a preventive shot as the route to return to pre-pandemic life. Fueled by billions of dollars in government investment, vaccines from little-known companies like China’s CanSino Biologics Inc. and giants like Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc are in development.

3 Likes

FDA ends emergency use of hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus - POLITICO

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday withdrew emergency use authorizations for two coronavirus treatments promoted by President Donald Trump despite concerns about their safety and effectiveness.

The agency revoked the authorizations for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine after a request from Gary Disbrow, acting director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

3 Likes

Yes, counting the actual number of Covid cases is important. Not counting cases is a non-scientific way to get to ignore the problem.

3 Likes

A post was merged into an existing topic: US in crisis - Black Lives Matter Fallout - National and local responses

Tulsa Health Department director ‘wishes’ Trump rally would be postponed as local COVID cases surge

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/tulsa-health-department-director-wishes-trump-rally-would-be-postponed-as-local-covid-cases-surge/article_bac51435-a5d0-5b5c-ba74-182047453d53.amp.html

In an interview with the Tulsa World on Saturday, Dr. Bruce Dart said Tulsa is seeing a “significant increase in our case trends” that makes a large gathering like the rally dangerous for not only attendees, but the president himself.

“I think it’s an honor for Tulsa to have a sitting president want to come and visit our community, but not during a pandemic,” said Dart. “I’m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event, and I’m also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe as well.”

State officials on Saturday reported 225 new cases of COVID-19, once again marking a new high in daily increases for both the state and Tulsa County.

“COVID is here in Tulsa, it is transmitting very efficiently,” Dart said. “I wish we could postpone this to a time when the virus isn’t as large a concern as it is today.”

Dart said his concern stems from a sudden spike in cases he said likely comes from a combination of factors, but not increased testing. Health department data shows Tulsa County’s 7-day rolling average for COVID-19 cases has risen from 24.9 cases on June 7 to 51.4 as of Friday.

4 Likes

Pence urged governors to echo a misleading claim about infection spikes.

Vice President Mike Pence encouraged governors on Monday to adopt the administration’s claim that increased testing helps account for the new coronavirus outbreak reports, even though evidence has shown that the explanation is misleading.

On a call with the governors, audio of which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Pence urged them “to continue to explain to your citizens the magnitude of the increase in testing” in addressing the new outbreaks.

And he asked them to “encourage people with the news that we’re safely reopening the country.”

In fact, seven-day averages in several states with outbreaks have increased since May 31, and in at least 14 states, the positive case rate is increasing faster than the increase in the average number of tests, according to an analysis of data collected by The New York Times.

The vice president played down the overall size of the outbreaks, stressing that some states were seeing what he called “intermittent” spikes of the virus.

4 Likes

Missed this one from earlier

5 Likes

image

3 Likes

Yeah. Not over til it’s over.

The Washington Post: Top Stories | Coronavirus recommendations ignored as case numbers rise

Even as the number of infections rose and hospital beds filled in some places, voices clamored for an end to mandatory mask-wearing. And relaxation of restrictions designed to curb the novel coronavirus continued.

“They’re either just over it, or they’ve come to believe it’s a phony pandemic because their own personal grandmother hasn’t been affected yet,” said Andrew Noymer, an epidemiologist at the University of California at Irvine, in Orange County. Elected officials last week forced the county health department to scale back a mask-wearing order. “People just think this is a nothingburger. So they think the risk is exaggerated.”

…

Some political leaders, from President Trump on down, are refusing to issue a consistent public health message about wearing masks and maintaining social distance, said Vin Gupta, an assistant professor at the same University of Washington institute. Gupta called Trump’s planned rally this month in Tulsa “medical malpractice.

“It’s as though they’re actively trying to oppose their public health professionals,” he said. “There isn’t a lot of ICU bed capacity out there, so if they get this wrong or Tulsa ends up being a superspreader event . . . who knows what’s going to happen?”

Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, which represents 80,000 registered nurses, said “the idea that we are going to tolerate a certain number of deaths as a nation is outrageous. . . . It’s irresponsible of these governors to be so blasé about the idea that more people are going to be infected and die because they made a decision to reopen without the safety precautions that workers and consumers need.”

4 Likes

A missed story in the turmoil of recent weeks, combining more Trump regime racism with a bizarre attack on #H1B visas under the guise of protecting against COVID-19, even though Trump doesn’t believe in doing anything about it:

Trump Administration Considers Suspending H-1B, Other Visas Through the Fall

President is expected to take action scaling back employment-based immigration in move aimed at speeding economic recovery after pandemic crisis

Thread:
image


4 Likes

image

When in doubt, blame them darn young whippersnappers for your colossal screw-up, right?

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Criticizes Young People for Not Taking Coronavirus Seriously As Infections Rise

5 Likes

Texas - Mayors are requesting that Governor Abbott makes Texas have to wear masks and not optional. That seems the safest, but the least macho probably.

3 Likes

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Father Dies From Complications Of COVID-19

“No words can describe what he meant to me and all who knew him,” the Minnesota Democrat said.

5 Likes

image



image

I think I can hold it until I get home. Forever.

Flushing the Toilet May Fling Coronavirus Aerosols All Over

A new study shows how turbulence from a toilet bowl can create a large plume that is potentially infectious to a bathroom’s next visitor.

This article is from May 8th. Things haven’t gotten at all better since it was written.

Other countries are winning against the virus. We are quitting.

The population of the US is 330 million

The population of the EU is 446 million

image


There’s a whole thread of charts like that.

5 Likes

Florida is a hotspot for the Coronavirus. Gov. DeSantis has done little to keep on top of this virus.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said 260 workers at the Orlando International Airport have tested positive for the coronavirus after nearly 500 employees were tested.

“[An]Airport in Central Florida had a couple of cases, they did the contract tracing. They looked [at] almost 500 workers [and] 260 people working close together were positive, 52 percent positivity rate on that one,” DeSantis said.

More than 2,780 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Florida on Tuesday.

The state reports more than 80,100 people have tested positive from COVID-19 and 2,993 people have died from coronavirus.

4 Likes

GOP Logic vs. Covid logic
Covid always wins

This AZ Sheriff and proponent not to wear masks caught the highly contagious virus. He was also supposed to visit the WH in the last day or so but was tested and could not attend.

As the rest of Arizona followed a stay-at-home order imposed by the governor in May, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb proclaimed that the state’s attempt to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus was unconstitutional.

“The numbers don’t justify the actions anymore,” the defiant Republican sheriff told the Arizona Republic at the time, vowing not to arrest people or shut down businesses that violated the order. “Three hundred deaths is not a significant enough number to continue to ruin the economy.”

On Wednesday, less than two months after publicly challenging the state’s efforts to slow the spread of a virus that has now spiked in Arizona, Lamb announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus before a scheduled meeting with President Trump.

In a Facebook post, Lamb wrote he was invited on Tuesday to the White House as part of Trump’s meeting with law enforcement officials and the signing of his executive action on policing. As part of a mandatory coronavirus screening for all White House visitors, he learned he had the virus.

2 Likes

Businesses Want Virus Legal Protection. Workers Are Worried.

Businesses are lobbying Congress for protections against coronavirus-related lawsuits, but unions and Democrats fear a liability shield would encourage reckless behavior.

3 Likes

I just wish he wasn’t asymptomatic. I imagine he still thinks it’s nothing to be concerned about.

5 Likes