COVID-19 | science, damage limitation, NO POLITICS

[Paulo Bizarro]

Comparing today's US counts with Canada:

US - 66,482 new cases, 866 deaths. 329 million people,
Canada - 435 new cases, 15 deaths. 35 million people

Per capita, US had today about 6 times more deaths than Canada

Last 24 hours USA reported 77255 new cases... even if these days the death rate of the virus is lower than it was, the potential for future deaths in large numbers is very real, unfortunately.

On another note, I was surprised to learn that today  the use of masks in closed spaces is not yet mandatory in France and the UK.

[jeremyrh]

On another note, I was surprised to learn that today  the use of masks in closed spaces is not yet mandatory in France and the UK.

It will become mandatory to wear masks in some shops in the UK on July 24.  Quite why that date, and why only some shops is a matter for another thread - we don't want to upset anyone.  Mask use in France (Paris at least) is pretty widespread, whatever the actual law - much more so than in the UK.

[jeremyrh]

No, it's apolitical. It has a rather charmingly naïve view of "facts", but that's a separate matter.

Jeremy

For example ... ?

[Manoli]

It will become mandatory to wear masks in some shops in the UK on July 24.  Quite why that date, and why only some shops is a matter for another thread - we don't want to upset anyone.  Mask use in France (Paris at least) is pretty widespread, whatever the actual law - much more so than in the UK.

Wait for the UK to play catchup.

Italy
Bus drivers in Rome are learning martial arts to defend themselves from the kicks and punches of passengers who refuse to wear masks.

A drivers’ union is offering courses in Krav Maga, an Israeli self-defence technique that blends boxing and karate. Italians have been generally cooperative with rules requiring them to wear masks in shops and on public transport but some bus passengers in Rome have proved an exception.

About 40 drivers have been assaulted in the past month and 30 are insulted daily by passengers, most of whom become enraged when told to put a mask on. This week a furious woman smashed the plexiglass barrier behind a driver after he stopped the bus and refused to set off until she put her mask on.

Earlier this month a bus driver in France died after he was attacked by passengers who refused to wear masks.  “In Rome the number of assaults and insults is double the rate pre-Covid and we don’t want a death like in France,” Claudio de Francesco, the union leader, said.

[Alan Klein]

Wait for the UK to play catchup.


Italy
Bus drivers in Rome are learning martial arts to defend themselves from the kicks and punches of passengers who refuse to wear masks.

A drivers’ union is offering courses in Krav Maga, an Israeli self-defence technique that blends boxing and karate. Italians have been generally cooperative with rules requiring them to wear masks in shops and on public transport but some bus passengers in Rome have proved an exception.

About 40 drivers have been assaulted in the past month and 30 are insulted daily by passengers, most of whom become enraged when told to put a mask on. This week a furious woman smashed the plexiglass barrier behind a driver after he stopped the bus and refused to set off until she put her mask on.

Earlier this month a bus driver in France died after he was attacked by passengers who refused to wear masks.  “In Rome the number of assaults and insults is double the rate pre-Covid and we don’t want a death like in France,” Claudio de Francesco, the union leader, said.

I thought all the crazies were in the US.

[jeremyrh]

I thought all the crazies were in the US.

There's crazy and crazy.

[Chris Kern]

I've never been overly impressed by Ctein's photography or his controversial post-processing theory―he argues that letting the printer manage colors is preferable to soft-proofing―but he is an intelligent guy and his essay on the coronavirus that was reprinted on Mike Johnston's The Online Photographer website struck me as offering a rather lucid metaphor, one that should be accessible to just about anyone, for the rationale behind employing the techniques currently supported by the evidence for bringing the pandemic under control.  Well-written, too.  (But I still plan to keep soft-proofing my prints.)

[Alan Klein]

Looks safer than going to the hospital.

A Covid-19 Lesson: Some Seriously Ill Patients Can Be Treated at Home
To ease pressure on hospitals, Northwell Health brought medical workers, oxygen tanks and intravenous equipment into patients’ homes. Now Florida is taking cues.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/health/coronavirus-home-care.html

[Manoli]

FWIW
description within the link

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-six-types-of-covid-19-identified-by-scientists-in-major-breakthrough-for-treatment-12030652

[Alan Goldhammer]

FWIW
description within the link

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-six-types-of-covid-19-identified-by-scientists-in-major-breakthrough-for-treatment-12030652

I don't put a lot of faith in an observational study based on just over 1000 self reported symptoms.  There already are large and growing number of lab tests that are highly predictive of severe COVID-19.  None of the six symptoms listed address this.

[faberryman]

Researchers look into cannabis as a potential COVID-19 treatment

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-cannabis-treatment-potential-cbd-covid-19/

It was only a matter of time.  Does anyone know whether marijuana stores were deemed essential businesses like liquor stores.

[hogloff]

Researchers look into cannabis as a potential COVID-19 treatment

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-cannabis-treatment-potential-cbd-covid-19/

It was only a matter of time.  Does anyone know whether marijuana stores were deemed essential businesses like liquor stores.

All the marijuana stores have been open just like the liquor stores. For many, both are essential to get through a day.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Interesting article that outlines that our immune response is more complex than the mere presence of anti-bodies. The role of T-cell response appear to be a large factor in achieving herd immunity, especially since COVID-19 anti-bodies seem to disappear relatively fast. There is still a lot to be learned about this novel SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Beyond antibodies, the immune response to coronavirus is complicated
T-cell-based immunity may offer longer protection, but initial results are confusing.

Ultimately, the only way for societies to return to some semblance of normal in the wake of the current pandemic is to reach a state called herd immunity. This is where a large-enough percentage of the population has acquired immunity to SARS-CoV-2—either through infection or a vaccine—that most people exposed to the virus are already immune to it. This will mean that the infection rate will slow and eventually fizzle out, protecting society as a whole.

Given that this is our ultimate goal, we need to understand how the immune system responds to this virus. Most of what we know is based on a combination of what we know about other coronaviruses that infect humans and the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2. But now, data is coming in on the response of T-cells, and it indicates that their response is more complex: longer-lasting, broadly based, and including an overlap with the response to prior coronavirus infections. What this means for the prospect of long-lasting protection remains unclear.

[Alan Klein]

Apparently the experts were wrong again.  It's this kind of thing that makes ordinary people throw up their hands in frustration and feel they're being screwed, lied too, or advised by so-called experts who don't know what they're talking about.   I'm Type A as my wife is and both of us had been worried.  Now it seems we worried too much.


Covid-19 Risk Doesn’t Depend (Much) on Blood Type, New Studies Find
"New studies show that people with Type A blood are not at greater risk of getting sick, as previous studies had suggested."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/science/coronavirus-blood-type.html?surface=home-discovery-vi-prg&fellback=false&req_id=468833730&algo=identity&imp_id=317820369&action=click&module=Science%20%20Technology&pgtype=Homepage

[jeremyrh]

Apparently the experts were wrong again.  It's this kind of thing that makes ordinary people throw up their hands in frustration and feel they're being screwed, lied too, or advised by so-called experts who don't know what they're talking about.

Maybe just accept that this is a complicated topic. Experts may be wrong but they don't lie. They give their best guess at the answer, which is not perfect but it's still better than yours or mine. I tihnk Fauci said much the same thing.

[Robert Roaldi]

Apparently the experts were wrong again.  It's this kind of thing that makes ordinary people throw up their hands in frustration and feel they're being screwed, lied too, or advised by so-called experts who don't know what they're talking about.   I'm Type A as my wife is and both of us had been worried.  Now it seems we worried too much.


Covid-19 Risk Doesn’t Depend (Much) on Blood Type, New Studies Find
"New studies show that people with Type A blood are not at greater risk of getting sick, as previous studies had suggested."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/science/coronavirus-blood-type.html?surface=home-discovery-vi-prg&fellback=false&req_id=468833730&algo=identity&imp_id=317820369&action=click&module=Science%20%20Technology&pgtype=Homepage

Your pointless bleating about experts is insulting.

There was an early conjecture about blood type, one more thing to check, and as more data accumulated a better understanding emerged. What, exactly, is it that you don't understand about that? Nobody, NOBODY, ever said it was a definitive finding, no action was ever recommended based on it, it did NOT affect ANYONE, including you.

Your constant whining about experts is nonsensical bafflegab. If you don't trust experts, stay away from this thread and take your cues from Trump or that clown Governor in Florida, they seem to tell you what you want to hear.

[faberryman]

Apparently the experts were wrong again.  It's this kind of thing that makes ordinary people throw up their hands in frustration and feel they're being screwed, lied too, or advised by so-called experts who don't know what they're talking about.

I don't think ordinary people do any of those things. I guess that makes you either abnormal or extraordinary, your pick.

By the way, how do you know the earlier articles are wrong? Maybe the earlier articles are right and this new article is wrong. How did you decide?

Frankly, I'm shocked you believe the new article anyway since it appears in the failing New York Times. Which reminds me, did they ever give back their "Noble" prizes. Something worth checking on.

[Alan Klein]

Your pointless bleating about experts is insulting.

There was an early conjecture about blood type, one more thing to check, and as more data accumulated a better understanding emerged. What, exactly, is it that you don't understand about that? Nobody, NOBODY, ever said it was a definitive finding, no action was ever recommended based on it, it did NOT affect ANYONE, including you.

Your constant whining about experts is nonsensical bafflegab. If you don't trust experts, stay away from this thread and take your cues from Trump or that clown Governor in Florida, they seem to tell you what you want to hear.

You're being insulting.  I don't appreciate it.  My wife and I, both elderly and both type A blood type, have been following this issue for weeks. We're not dummies.  My wife's smarter than me with two Masters. Both of us have been using masks and staying away from others.  Every article for weeks has been repeating the dangers to people with Type A blood.  I recall figures of up to 40% worse effects and death than those with other types.  So just to dismiss our concerns as nonsensical bafflegab now that they're reversing their concerns, is just insulting.  Asking people to cull the wheat from the chaff is often difficult.  You're the one making it a political issue, not me.  There's too much guessing and too many assumptions. 

[faberryman]

My wife's smarter than me with two Masters.

In epidemiology?

[Robert Roaldi]

You're being insulting.  I don't appreciate it.  My wife and I, both elderly and both type A blood type, have been following this issue for weeks. We're not dummies.  My wife's smarter than me with two Masters. Both of us have been using masks and staying away from others.  Every article for weeks has been repeating the dangers to people with Type A blood.  I recall figures of up to 40% worse effects and death than those with other types.  So just to dismiss our concerns as nonsensical bafflegab now that they're reversing their concerns, is just insulting.  Asking people to cull the wheat from the chaff is often difficult.  You're the one making it a political issue, not me.  There's too much guessing and too many assumptions.

What are you talking about? There were no issues to be concerned about. The original speculation about blood type was just that, SPECULATION that needed further study. And that's what happened. End of story. Your assertion that this shows that experts cannot be trusted is absurd.

If there were articles that repeated the dangers to people with Blood Type A they did not appear in scientific journals. It was the usual media repetition about things that they don't know anything about. Stop reading what you're reading and calling it expert opinion when it is definitely NOT that.

NO ONE is asking you to separate the wheat from the chaff in matters medical. Your doctors and public health authorities do that for you. Listen to them. Why are you wasting your time reading crap in the media. How many more times are we going to have this conversation?




I repeat, if you're not going to believe experts then stop reading the stuff. How many more times are we going to have to listen to that?