Coronavirus COVID-19 Thread

NaffNaffBobFace

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COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Wednesday 22nd of September:

- World: 31,673,086 confirmed cases and 972,372 confirmed deaths.

- US: When asked about the 200k deaths milestone, president Trump said it was a shame and indicated “I think if we didn’t do it properly and do it right, you’d have 2.5 million deaths.”

- UK: 6,178 new cases, up more than 1k on yesterdays total and the highest number of infections since the beginning of May.

- Japan: UV light that can kill COVID but is safe for human contact launched, normal UV lamps are too harsh for skin and eyes and will damage them.

- UK: New restrictions bought in, but scientists warn it may already be too little too late as witnessed with the first wave.

- Germany: Citizens urged to use contact-tracing app which uses Bluetooth to register who users have been close to, allowing people who don't know eachother to be alerted. Reports indicate the app has been available for months but not many people have used it.

- UK: 4% of countries schools now closed or have sent classes home to self-isolate due to COVID outbreaks, up from only 1% last week.

- Belgium: Slightly eases restrictions despite spike in cases, citizens now no longer need to wear masks outdoors and the quarantine time requirement has been reduced.

- UK: A freedom of information request reveals emails from the reaction to the Herd Immunity backlash of early in the pandemic. The governments top advisors requested assistance in calming academics who reacted unexpectedly to the suggestions of herd immunity, with one email saying the response to the furor should be to say that "...herd immunity is not the strategy. The strategy is to flatten the curve… and to shield the elderly… As we do this we will see immunity in the community grow". Although there has been no discovery of a statement directly saying Herd Immunity was the goal, it does appear to have been a desired outcome.

- Finland: To deploy sniffer dogs trained to detect COVID-19 at airports.

- Northern Ireland: 27 students suspended from Queens University Belfast as they broke COVID regulations.

- Indonesia: Record daily rise in cases.

- Israel: Record daily rise in cases.

- Netherlands: Record daily rise in cases.

- Austria: Consumer group sues the government for a COVID outbreak in Ischgl Ski Resort

- US: American trials of the Oxford University vaccine remain on hold following the illness of a UK participant, while they conduct their own investigation.
 

Montoya

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So it's about 14 days after Labor Day...I thought I'd check on the latest COVID numbers, and guess what? We have a new winner in the category of "highest number of new cases in a day." Congratulations to Texas! You definitely trounced the previous high, formerly held by New York...
View attachment 18779


In all seriousness...if COVID-19 is like other coronaviruses, it will likely get *worse* in the Fall and Winter...it was hoped we would see it really taper off during the summer and hit a low point, before we went into the potential worse time of the year, but instead we are heading in with some states reporting their highest numbers about now. I guess we just have to wait and see. Stay safe!
I see the same spike in other Texas charts, but I am not seeing anything on the news about it.

Is there some news article you guys have seen that explains the spike? Is its a correction to some previous incorrectly reported numbers?
 

Radegast74

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I see the same spike in other Texas charts, but I am not seeing anything on the news about it.

Is there some news article you guys have seen that explains the spike? Is its a correction to some previous incorrectly reported numbers?
The spike is a little weird...it is for the cases reported on Monday, and the following day numbers are much lower, so it could just be the "usual" weekend backlog that all gets dumped into the Monday bin. But, holy cow, 20,000+ new cases reported in a day...that is almost double the top NY number, and they were the epicenter of the COVID-19 infections when it started.

I guess we will just have to wait for more data to roll in. It does appear that in many other states, the numbers now are either the highest yet, or close to their previous Spring/Summer highs, so while one day may be a fluke, the overall trends show infections to be increasing.

EDIT: Just checked the Houston Chronicle, and found this story:

Besides being cute, also reminded me that the area just went thru Hurricane Sally, so there might have been disruption in the reporting process, and this was a "catch-up"...and/or the Hurricane resulted in more positives...
 
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Jolly_Green_Giant

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Look here, it does seem there's some anomalies in the testing and results. I haven't seen that before. They're saying its a 90% growth over 14 days. Some days are missing tests altogether, and some are ridiculously above average. If you look, it seems like there is even a negative spike in testing.
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Thursday 24th of September:

- World: 31,944,038 confirmed cases and 978,059 confirmed deaths.

- US: Study analyzed 5,000 seperate genetic samples of COVID and finds the virus is continuing to mutate, the report indicating that it is becoming even more contagious but did not see that its effects were changing or that it was becoming more deadly.

- UK: Records higest ever level of new cases, even higher than in the first wave.

- US: Director of the CDC indicates over 90% of the population not immune to COVID-19, knocking hopes of long term immunity on their ass.

- Scotland: 100 Glasgow University students test positive, before any classes have even taken place.

- Netherlands: Celebrities face backlash after publicly announcing they were turning their back on efforts to help contain the virus and were just going to carry on as before, using the hashtag ##ik doe niet meer mee which means 'I'm out'

- Netherlands: Record daily rise in cases.

- UK: As Ferlough comes to an end a new scheme is drawn up - instead of paying 80% of workers who have been put out to pasture's pay with them doing nothing, "Job Support" will now require workers to do at least one-third of their contracted hours, with the scheme and their employer paying two thirds each of the missing hours reducing the government contribution to a maximum of 22% (some support is better than no support) so a worker on one third of their hours would still recieve 78% of their normal wage. Large profitable companies will not be entitled to join the scheme unless they can prove they have lost a bunch of cash. Chancellor indicates, as when announcing the previous scheme, that he can't save every job.

- US: FDA attempts to bring in stricter vaccine rules. President ascertains this is a political move.

- France: Number of people in intensive hospital care over 1000 for the first time since 8th of June.

- Poland: Record daily rise in cases.

- Indonesia: Record daily rise in cases.

- Slovakia: Record daily rise in cases.

- UK: Launches contact-tracing app, however early users indicate issues such as not being able to use it on older Android operating systems and ecessive battery consumption with fears takeup may be as low as 10%.
 
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ColdDog

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I hope this woman sues the pants of the school district. Sitting outside, by her self, away from anyone, and she gets tazed? Yes, Ohio has a mandatory mask LAW... but to tazer her... that is very excessive. Something is wrong here. Guess we'll have Gulags pretty soon in Alaska.

This year it is masks, what is the control mechanism for next year.
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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I hope this woman sues the pants of the school district. Sitting outside, by her self, away from anyone, and she gets tazed? Yes, Ohio has a mandatory mask LAW... but to tazer her... that is very excessive. Something is wrong here. Guess we'll have Gulags pretty soon in Alaska.

This year it is masks, what is the control mechanism for next year.
She is quoted as saying "I’m not criminally doing nothing wrong!"... she said it herself, not doing nothing is doing something. 😜

As I don't know how the law works over there, can you sue for breaking a law? I agree the force used was disproportionate, was that what she could sue for?
 
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ColdDog

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As I don't know how the law works over there, can you sue for breaking a law?
She was be breaking the law... but in the US you just can't taser someone. I am fairly certain a police officer in the UK can't just walk up to you and say you are under arrest for not having a mask on, you say fuck you, and he tazes you for not having your mask on. That is excessive force... period. We are at a crossroads, rationality has gone out the window.

Don't you ever sleep?
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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She was be breaking the law... but in the US you just can't taser someone. I am fairly certain a police officer in the UK can't just walk up to you and say you are under arrest for not having a mask on, you say fuck you, and he tazes you for not having your mask on. That is excessive force... period. We are at a crossroads, rationality has gone out the window.

Don't you ever sleep?
Ahaaa, yes that makes perfect sense, so the excessive use of force is only seen in cases where Mask rules are involved?

Apologies, I think you can see where I am going with this so I won't dangle any further, excessive force could be seen in any instance where a lawbreaker resists compliance with the law. We have seen excessive force multiple times recently, especially high profile cases such as George Ffloyd, Breonna Taylor etc which have lead to widespread civil unrest.

I agree with you, there is a problem with authority and excessive use of force in the USA, however the COVID thread may not be the right place to discuss...? Well worth a new thread though 🙂
 

ColdDog

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I agree with you, there is a problem with authority and excessive use of force in the USA, however the COVID thread may not be the right place to discuss...? Well worth a new thread though 🙂
Weren't you folks talking about masks? This is a mask issue... don't you think? She was not tazed because of her lipstick.

Excessive force is not just a US problem... it is a UK problem/world problem too... South Africa, UK, Singapore, China, etc... you get the picture. Throwing stones at America is easy, because the UK is part of America, like it or not. The main issue, is trying to determine the correct action to take from a law enforcement perspective - what amount of force is needed to achieve the objective + what are the circumstances surrounding the issue - taking down her number (she was sitting away from people), and serving her a fine in the rear when there was obviously no danger to the rest of the people. This is why Americans have always rejected authoritarianism and why the US is no longer part of the UK, unlike Canada. People in the US has "almost" had enough with government overreach with unjustified laws (founded on unproven science\if you debate it, it is unproven) - not that it has anything to do with common sense)... and I am pretty sure the election will tell you where we stand on it.

There are laws in this world that are solid - mostly physics. Man made laws are not... they have always been fallible.
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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Weren't you folks talking about masks? This is a mask issue... don't you think? She was not tazed because of her lipstick.
Well, that is true enough, thanks for bringing the report up, please don't hesitate to I'm not trying to stop people from joining in the conversation, if anything I'd appreciate more people chipping in with what they have popping up locally 🙂
 

Radegast74

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On masks, everyone has them here in Victoria and I think we’re going to see them normalised even after the pandemic. Colds and flu cases are right down.
That's been remarked on by many people, that the use of masks has cut down the cases of other contagious diseases...it would be logical to think that it would be "smart" to carry forward such behavior, but again, the issue of wearing masks has been so politicized, that it has been totally divorced from everyday, common sense.
 

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That's been remarked on by many people, that the use of masks has cut down the cases of other contagious diseases...it would be logical to think that it would be "smart" to carry forward such behavior, but again, the issue of wearing masks has been so politicized, that it has been totally divorced from everyday, common sense.
I have to wonder if there would be any consequences from wearing masks. There are studies showing that having to clean of a lifestyle can lead to negative autoimmune responses while the other aspect of not being constantly exposed to new mutations helps mitigate the severity of the cold.
 

Jolly_Green_Giant

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As if things didn't feel like they were getting back to normal here already, I think this was one of the final steps. No more fines for not wearing masks and everything can open back up at full capacity with no intent on locking down again. I think people are still going to wear masks moving forward, because I know at least I am, but as for other people its going to be interesting to see what happens.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-reopens-desantis-lifts-remaining-coronavirus-restrictions/ar-BB19qqye?ocid=uxbndlbing


TALLAHASSEE – Bars and restaurants are no longer required to operate at less than full capacity, as Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Friday removing all remaining restrictions on businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the executive order, which takes effect immediately, also prohibits local governments from closing businesses or collecting fines related to pandemic-related mandates, such as mask requirements.
“We are today moving into what we initially called phase 3,” DeSantis said during a press conference in St. Petersburg. “And what that’ll mean for the restaurants is there will not be limitations from the state of Florida.”
“We’re also saying in the state of Florida everybody has a right to work,” he added. “(Local governments) can do reasonable regulations but they can’t just say no.”
There are four major provisions of the order:
-It removes all remaining state-level restrictions on businesses, including on bars and restaurants, which were capped at 75% capacity in Phase 3 of DeSantis' original reopening plan.
-It provides a general right to work and to operate a business. Local governments can limit and regulate businesses, but won’t be able to close businesses because of coronavirus concerns.
-Local governments won’t be able to prevent restaurants from operating at below 50% capacity. Under previous orders, local governments could go further than state-level restrictions, and counties in South Florida kept restaurants and bars closed after the state allowed them to reopen. Also, cities and counties won’t be able to impose any restrictions without an economic and health justification.
-Cities and counties can’t collect on any outstanding fines they issued as part of their pandemic response. The order, though, doesn’t compel local governments to refund anyone who has already paid a fine.
This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.
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Visit The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.) at www.OrlandoSentinel.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from aournd the world from today, Friday 25th of September:

- World: 32,356,829 confirmed cases and 984,813 confirmed deaths.

- World: We saw 31 million cases on Monday, meaning 1 million new cases recorded in the last 4/5 days.

- World: WHO warns 2 million deaths likely before vaccine available if urgent action not taken.

- EU: Warns pandemic in several member countries is now worse than it was in the March Peak with cases still rocketing.

- UK/US: Second vaccine trial begins in the UK, 10,000 subjects have taken the Novavax vaccine in only the second mass trial in the country.

- Canada: Prime Minister starts daily briefings again as cases climb - strip clubs to close and restrictions placed on bars and restaurants.

- UK: Reports indicate old failed Contact Tracing app would have worked on 97% of smartphones, whereas current app will not work on any iPhone over 5 years old or any version of Android older than Android 6.0

- US: Mayor announces outdoor dining to be made permanent in New York.

- Iceland: Cluster of 100 cases traced back to two french tourists who refused to isolate despite testing positive when arriving in August.

- France: Total cases pass 500,000.
 
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