Coronavirus thread for June

Parent Cafe
3121

New Mexico pauses reopening plans, governor says
From CNN’s Andy Rose

As confirmed coronavirus cases spike in the western United States, the governor of New Mexico says they are putting further economic reopening plans on hold.

“What we’re seeing around us, and what we’re seeing right here in our home state, is a clear indication that we’re not quite ready to go to phase two,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Thursday during a briefing.
While New Mexico’s case load has not gotten as dramatically high as its neighbors, Arizona and Texas, Grisham said there is still too much risk.

“We can manage being flat. Our goal should be to reduce cases,” the governor said.

Grisham said “the last thing anyone wants” is to have to roll back economic progress since businesses began to reopen.

“The virus has not gone anywhere. I think there’s a false sense of security now,” the governor said. “New Mexicans actually have gotten really lax, I think, about wearing masks and taking this seriously.”

Charleston, South Carolina, approves ordinance requiring face coverings
From CNN’s Jamiel Lynch

The Charleston City Council approved an ordinance to require face coverings to reduce the risk of exposure to Covid-19, according to a statement.

The ordinance will take effect on July 1.

“The ordinance is a fine-only offense and will be enforced primarily via educational efforts by civilian officers with the city’s Livability Department. It will remain in effect for a period of 60 days, unless otherwise terminated,” the statement said.

Check out this list of the states requiring people to wear masks when out in public.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/19/us/states-face-mask-coronavirus-trnd/index.html

This Florida city issued an emergency order requiring facial coverings
From CNN’s Mallory Simon

The city of Hollywood, Florida, issued an emergency order Thursday requiring public use of facial coverings due to Covid-19.

The order states “all persons beyond the legal boundary of their residential property are required to wear a facial covering consistent with current CDC guidelines that cover the nose and mouth, including individuals within the common areas of all buildings with multiple residences and at their place of employment unless exempted by Emergency Orders issued by the Governor of the State of Florida or Broward County.”

Children under the age of two, people engaging in outdoor exercise while maintaining six feet of distance from others, those with medical conditions that prevent facial coverings and people who are employed in a profession where a facial covering will interfere with their duties are exempt from the order.

The Hollywood Police Department will enforce the emergency measure and can issue warnings or citations, according to the order.

3122

A Texas lt governor? Really that’s what we are debating and researching. Arguing over? Literally who cares. Zero impact.

Did he put ill but not critical elderly patients in empty beds in nursing homes with unused hospital beds all over the state and field hospitals that went unused? I hope that’s not his plan. That’s a bad one. However even that can be chalked up to decision making in the fog of war. And on the fly. I’m sure he did his best too.

Name another any other lt. governor of outside of your own without looking it up.

This thread has really become nothing more than veiled political posturing through the lens of the pandemic. It’s supported by self curated article choices and internet surfing of news sources that exist to amplify that particular perspective.

It’s a good diversion but not nearly important enough to warrant the fracturing of all that was nice within this site and among posters.

It’s another casualty.

3123

Arizona governor says state’s reopening plan is “on pause” due to coronavirus resurgence
From CNN’s Andy Rose

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said the state’s reopening plans are now “on pause” as a result of a major spike in coronavirus cases.

“It’s growing, and it’s growing fast across all age groups and demographics,” he said at a news conference Thursday. “Anyone can get this virus, and anyone can spread this virus."
The state Department of Health Services reported new cases topping 3,000 as of last week, a pace which the governor said could overwhelm hospital intensive care facilities “very soon.”

Ducey said the state will not be rolling back their business reopening plans, but will be requiring businesses to follow social distancing rules that remain in effect.

“If they choose not to, there will be accountability, and there will be enforcement," he said.

Even with the new policy, Ducey said it’s too late to put an immediate dent in the coronavirus numbers.

“We expect that our numbers will be worse next week and the week following," he said.

UK study shows neurological complications in young patients with severe Covid-19
From CNN’s Marisa Peryer

More research shows that coronavirus can cause a range of neurological problems, from dementia to psychosis.

Some patients with severe cases of the disease have presented with several neurological conditions, according to a study of UK patients published in The Lancet Psychiatry Thursday.

These included newly diagnosed altered mental states in people under age 60, including a dementia-like cognitive syndrome, psychosis, inflammation and mood disorders like depression or anxiety.

And although strokes were markedly more common among patients above 60, they were also seen across all age groups included in the study.

“Strokes are very well recognized as a complication of Covid,” said Benedict Michael, a senior clinician scientist fellow at the University of Liverpool and the study’s co-senior author. “What our study found, surprisingly, was actually the next most common complication of Covid-19 on the brain was this alteration in mental state," he added.
How it works: Jennifer Loftis, a psychiatry professor at Oregon Health & Science who was not involved with the study, said inflammatory molecules, called cytokines, are found throughout the body, including the central nervous system. When these molecules proliferate, such as during a Covid-19 infection, elevations could also be in the brain —contributing to neuropsychiatric impairments like depression and impacting how cells talk to each other.

Still, the study published Thursday cannot discount the possibility that young patients had undiagnosed, pre-existing psychiatric conditions. As for younger Covid-19 patients in the study who have had a stroke, Michael said the possible causes include artery inflammation and changes in clotting proteins. This may also cause strokes for older patients, in addition to conventional risk factors for that population.

“We can’t tell the relative frequencies of these things, but it’s really what doctors are seeing and reporting,” Timothy Nicholson, one of the study’s co-authors and a clinical lecturer at King’s College in London, said in a statement.

“It’s really a sort of early-warning system of what we might expect," he added.

3124

Pretty much.

I’ve bought gas and whatever from stations over three states (being on the interstate, they’re only there in the first place because of travel, and I would like for them to continue to be there for when I need gas in the future.)

Grocery stores in the same three… even in NO which is the only place I’ve been in since this started that I heard someone coughing. (That she was wearing a mask didn’t keep the rest of the customers giving her several aisles and checkout lanes to her self, btw. Seems we can be taught, after all.)

Even stepped out and supported restaurant drive-thru’s a half-dozen times. Doing it in person, since I’m retired, building a house, and I’m not making any more money. Otherwise, I suppose I’d have the cash to pay for delivery… support the shut-in model.

I do, though, wonder how long the shut-in model would continue to be pushed, if government employees were laid off. Laid off as in paychecks stopped, that is. Figuring it wouldn’t last more than two, three weeks but I suppose I might be surprised.

3125

I have a data-thinking question:

It’s the case now that there can be some states where rates are going down (e.g. where I live, MA) and some where rates are going up (e.g. TX?) and maybe they both have 80 new cases on a given day next week.

That looks like the “same” data on that day. How accurately do we know the prognosis/pattern for both of them? Are there indicators if it would start to go the other way as a trend? (e.g. if MA cases would start going up instead from that 80, or TX would start going down)

Assuming that we can’t see what will happen from the spotlight data, how long of a trend should we be using to assess what’s going on? A week? A month? “Rolling” averages?

Is there an absolute number of new cases per day that is above a threshhold of concern? (Or a number of cases per population per day?) What counts as “very low” such that contact tracing etc. could be effective in a population?

3126

Health expert on Texas’ “dire” case spike: “I can’t stress enough how concerned I am”
From CNN Health’s Shelby Lin Erdman

Coronavirus cases are surging in Texas and hospital admissions are significantly increasing.

“It’s pretty dire,” Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

“We’ve got an enormous amount of community transmission. If you look at the curve of the numbers going up, it’s following what we call an exponential curve which is it looks initially flat, and then it accelerates very sharply, almost vertically. And that’s where we’re at right now,” Hotez added.
Hotez said that the state is not seeing increased deaths yet — but they will soon.

“Those deaths will start to mount up, I would say, in a couple of weeks,” he said.

Hotez said the projections for Covid-19 cases and deaths in Texas suggest as many as 4,000 cases a day by the Fourth of July weekend just over a week away.

“So, three or four times even this very high acceleration, a very high rate in Houston and similar things are happening now in Dallas, and all the metro areas, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio,” he said. “I can’t stress enough how concerned I am.”

He said the coronavirus infection pattern of racial disparity seems to be at play in the latest surge in Texas cases.

“We’ve seen in Houston and some of the other Texas cities a disproportionate impact on people living in low income neighborhoods where it’s harder to do the social distancing, where there’s higher rates of underlying diabetes and hypertension,” he said. “I’m especially worried at what’s happening to the African American, Hispanic, Latinx populations in Houston. We don’t have the data yet, but I’m guessing they are disproportionately being affected like we saw in New Orleans.”

3127

Doesn’t everyone remember the end of the world and breathless reporting around the federal government partial shutdown. I think that lasted a few weeks and vividly remember the stories around people not being able to pay rent or being able to buy gifts.

Haven’t seen many of those.

3128

Apple is closing more reopened stores in Florida due to continued spread of coronavirus
From CNN’s Kate Trafecante

Apple plans to close an additional 14 stores in Florida again after closing two last week due to an uptick in coronavirus cases in the state.

“Due to current Covid-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas,” Apple said in a statement. “We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible.”
The following stores in Florida will be closing again on Friday: The Galleria, The Falls, Aventura, Lincoln Road, Dadeland, Brickell City Centre, Wellington Green, Boca Raton, The Gardens Mall, Millenia, Florida Mall, Altamonte, International Plaza and Brandon.

Some more context: Apple reopened dozens of its 271 United States stores last month after shutting them because of the coronavirus.

However, Apple decided to once again shutter 11 locations last week in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Arizona due to a surge in cases in those states.

Coronavirus antibody tests work best 2 to 5 weeks after symptoms, study suggests
From CNN Health’s Jacqueline Howard

Timing is key when it comes to getting accurate results from Covid-19 antibody tests that are used to determine if someone has been infected with the novel coronavirus, according to a new Cochrane Review paper.

Antibody tests are better at detecting Covid-19 in people two or more weeks after their symptoms started, but there is not yet enough evidence to determine how well they work more than five weeks after, or among people who had milder disease or no symptoms at all, suggests the review, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews on Thursday.

“Time is critical. Use the test at the wrong time – it won’t work,” Jon Deeks, professor of biostatistics and head of the Biostatistics, Evidence Synthesis and Test Evaluation Research Group at the University of Birmingham in England, who was involved in the review, said during a virtual press conference with reporters on Thursday.
“This is largely driven by when the samples are taken from the patients,” Deeks said. “This isn’t a new science, but it’s something which has not been well thought through in a lot of the studies we were reviewing.”

A Cochrane Review is a systemic analysis of published studies on a given topic, and often physicians, nurses, patients, researchers or funders turn to Cochrane evidence to help with decision-making or better understanding a medical issue.

The new review on the accuracy of antibody tests, spanning more than 300 pages, was authored by Cochrane researchers from institutions across Europe and led by experts from the University of Birmingham.

3129

This Florida county is reporting a 27% Covid-19 positivity rate
From CNN’s Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt

Miami-Dade County in Florida reported a 27% Covid-19 positivity rate on Wednesday, according to data released by the mayor’s office. The positivity rate is tracked daily by the county.

According to the Miami-Dade Mayor’s office, the goal is to not exceed 10% positivity rate. The county has exceeded the 10% mark for the past 10 days. The current 14-day average is 13.68%.

Miami health system reports 108% increase in Covid-19 patients
From CNN’s Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt

A nonprofit academic medical system in Miami, Florida has reported an 108% increase in Covid-19 patients in the past 16 days, according to data posted by the hospital system on Twitter.

Jackson Health System said it recorded 104 Covid-19 patients on June 8. On Wednesday, health workers reported 217.

Florida does not release the total number of daily Covid-19 patients in the state.

3130

Why my wife told me to go fishing for a few days… said I was beginning to repeat myself, along with those other symptoms you mentioned.

3131

I found this article about child care encouraging – basically they did not have outbreaks. So maybe at least the younger kids can go back to school.
https://www.npr.org/2020/06/24/882316641/what-parents-can-learn-from-child-care-centers-that-stayed-open-during-lockdowns

Together with the lack of outbreaks from protests, I’m feeling a little bit more positive about our ability to live some kind of lives until a vaccine or treatment.

Stay physically apart, wear masks, be outside whenever possible. Small groups. No singing and no parties. Don’t get drunk and forget these things.

3132

@fretfulmother,

I like to look at a 7-day rolling average for test positivity, new cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths. If cases/admissions/deaths are skyrocketing, I look at a 3-day average because the 7-day average makes the numbers look smaller than they are.

For re-opening, what you want is few enough cases, and enough contact tracers, so you can do contact tracing on every case. You need a LOT of contact tracers.

3133

This asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic spreading is a winning strategy for the virus!

I’m so disappointed that our governing bodies are not handling this crisis much much better.

I really don’t want to see more civil unrest due to financial insecurity & anger. It scares me so.

Today was grocery store day, and I saw people on the street with cardboards signs asking for money in a suburb where one usually does not see that kind of thing.

@suzyQ7 I think you were asking about saliva tests? On TWIV they said in NY you can get one at CVS. Rutgers launched it?

https://www.rutgers.edu/news/fda-approves-first-home-saliva-collection-test-coronavirus

3134

One silver lining of the pandemic is the wake up call it provided for apparently many people who had no clue that so many of their fellow residents ( both citizens and noncitizens) were living on the edge, just a paycheck or two away from disaster. The degree of inequality that allows half of public school children to qualify for a free lunch is finally confronting people. Unfortunately, it may get even worse in the short term.

3135

Is it just me - or is this thread tagged with “Florida Internation University” on everyone’s screen?

3136

Yup @scout59! I see the tag, too. Weird.

3137

The virus doesn’t care about the economy. As cases resurge there is a choice to be made. Shut down the economy again or live with more deaths.

3138

Had a phone call to Wally World about a shipment that got damaged in the mail last week. The lady on the other end of the line asked, “So how are things going with the virus over there?” during a break in the shipment conversation.

Can’t say I’ve ever had anyone ask anything even remotely similar to how things are going in our country before, but we had a little bit of a Covid conversation. She’s in Colombia. It doesn’t sound safe there either. She’s worried.

I bet if we knew each other IRL we’d be good friends. It was nice being able to have a conversation with a stranger and make a connection. I hope her family stays safe.

3139

I am not suggesting that the virus cares about the economy. Or artificial political borders drawn on a map.

And tech stores likely have an easier time closing and then re-opening. Closing isn’t as much of an issue for them as for many other businesses.

And as has been seen on this board and in the real world, there isn’t universal agreement on the choice to be made.

3140

Have you ever been to a college bar? Half of them are dance clubs, where students are grinding against each other. The other half are too small to hold enough people to be economically viable if every person was 6ft apart. Then, how do you expect people to drink alcohol with masks on? If you want social distancing and masks, shut the college bars down.