Corona Virus

[GwynnInTheHall]

It's really amazing that it is NOT required of employers to make sure returning employees have tested negative for Covid-19 it's a voluntary thing.

Where I used to work brought back employees without testing, held a re-orientation meeting without masks and once they DID have an employee test positive (they actually have several) they only quarantined those who'd come in contact with the infected. They told people NOT to let it be known there were positive tests and threatened action if it were disclosed. I'm sure there are MANY places of employment trying to get it right, but i'd also wager--there are a lot doing very similar things to my old stomps.

[The Feral Slasher]

It's really amazing that it is NOT required of employers to make sure returning employees have tested negative for Covid-19 it's a voluntary thing.

Where I used to work brought back employees without testing, held a re-orientation meeting without masks and once they DID have an employee test positive (they actually have several) they only quarantined those who'd come in contact with the infected. They told people NOT to let it be known there were positive tests and threatened action if it were disclosed. I'm sure there are MANY places of employment trying to get it right, but i'd also wager--there are a lot doing very similar things to my old stomps.

the story that my wife's employer went with is that they only informed people who were in close contact...but my wife occasionally/infrequently talked with the infected person. So they are trying to use the gray area about who is in contact or exposed. just very disappointing that they would go that route.

[chancellor]

It's really amazing that it is NOT required of employers to make sure returning employees have tested negative for Covid-19 it's a voluntary thing.

Where I used to work brought back employees without testing, held a re-orientation meeting without masks and once they DID have an employee test positive (they actually have several) they only quarantined those who'd come in contact with the infected. They told people NOT to let it be known there were positive tests and threatened action if it were disclosed. I'm sure there are MANY places of employment trying to get it right, but i'd also wager--there are a lot doing very similar things to my old stomps.

I remember you mentioning this. I work in heavy industry, and I haven't been to a place yet where they're not taking it dead seriously. Almost to the point of paranoia. In fact, a couple places, some union employees were pushing back on all the cleaning and contact tracing and mask wearing.

[GwynnInTheHall]

the story that my wife's employer went with is that they only informed people who were in close contact...but my wife occasionally/infrequently talked with the infected person. So they are trying to use the gray area about who is in contact or exposed. just very disappointing that they would go that route.

The story this place used was--it was a violation of the infected persons privacy and you could be sues for disclosing their illness.

[GwynnInTheHall]

I remember you mentioning this. I work in heavy industry, and I haven't been to a place yet where they're not taking it dead seriously. Almost to the point of paranoia. In fact, a couple places, some union employees were pushing back on all the cleaning and contact tracing and mask wearing.

Glad that they are--the sooner everyone does, the quicker we can get past this thing.

[The Feral Slasher]

The story this place used was--it was a violation of the infected persons privacy and you could be sues for disclosing their illness.

maybe, but they could send notice that a person was infected without naming names. Sort of like MLB.

[GwynnInTheHall]

maybe, but they could send notice that a person was infected without naming names. Sort of like MLB.

Agreed, they just didn't want it getting out that people who play there/work there had tested positive. They're pretty scummy. Well the owner is at least.

[rhd]

More good news from this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Z6wdu1eI0

The video is long (35 mins) but the summary is that long-term CV-19 immunity is very likely among infected persons, even in mild or asymptomatic cases, and also that vaccines are likely to be very effective. The video is by a New Zealand doctor who sounds like he knows what he's talking about. The info are from 3 different studies: 1 from the Univ of Washington about 122 persons on a commercial fishing boat that experienced an 85% infection rate, 1 Swedish study and another from the Univ of Washington. He says that all 3 studies agree w each other and basically reach the same conclusion. He also has some antibody level stats for various locations. E.g., he says the level for the NYC area is 6.9%, for London 17.5%, Mumbai and New Delhi India 24.0%, Stockholm 10.0%. So, we're still a long way away from herd immunity anywhere. So, it will take a while yet to defeat this virus but he is optimistic that it will be defeated.

[revo]

Just in case you didn't think GOPers are in lala land:

"A majority of Republicans said that the number of coronavirus deaths in the U.S. — now topping 176,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University — is “acceptable,” according to a poll released Sunday.

A CBS News-YouGov poll determined that 57 percent of Republican respondents said the U.S. death toll for COVID-19 was “acceptable,” while 43 percent said it was “unacceptable.” Republicans were the only partisan group of which a majority of voters said the number of deaths was acceptable.

Among Democrats, 10 percent said the coronavirus death toll in the U.S. was acceptable, while 90 percent said it was unacceptable. For independents, 33 percent labeled the death toll as acceptable, and 67 percent called it unacceptable.

Republican respondents also differed among all voters on whether the U.S.’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic is “going well,” with 73 percent agreeing with that assessment. A total of 38 percent of all voters said it was going well.

Most voters — 62 percent — said the pandemic handling is “going badly,” but only 27 percent of Republicans agreed. "

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/513301-57-percent-of-republicans-say-coronavirus-deaths-have-been-acceptable

[madducks]

The FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the use of convalescent plasma to treat Covid-19 on Sunday, saying the "known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product."

Convalescent plasma is taken from the blood of people who have recovered from Covid-19.

However, like blood, convalescent plasma is in limited supply and must come from donors. And while there are promising signals from some studies, there is not yet randomized clinical trial data on convalescent plasma to treat Covid-19. Some of those trials are underway.

Even if this approach does work, convalescent plasma has limitations.
"There's a limited donor pool -- it goes away as an epidemic wanes," Woodcock said. "It is not a standardized intervention and requires a blood type match for administration, which can be problematic in many settings."

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/23/healt...use/index.html

[rhd]

Another stats update as of 7:46 AM today. Last stats were from 8/17 at 7:46 AM, exactly 7 days ago. Mortality rate is figured using the current death total divided by the total cases from the update 3 weeks ago (8/3):

- 5,874,295 cases in the US, up from 5,567,765, an increase of 5.51% which is a much smaller increase than last time (7.07%). The new cases for this period were 306,530 which gives a 7-day daily average of 43,790, down sharply from 52,493. A comparison w last period's new cases (367,452) gives a new cases increase rate of 0.834, the lowest figure since I began keeping this stat and lower than that of the last update (0.951). Very encouraging.
- 180,605 deaths in the US, up from 173,139, an increase of 4.31% which is a smaller increase than last time (4.54%). At this rate of increase, the US projects to have 200,000 deaths by about 9/12. The new deaths for this period were 7,466, which gives a 7-day daily average of 1,067, down slightly from 1,074. The mortality rate is 3.75% (180,605/4,813,984), lower than last time (3.96% (173,139/4,371,992)). The rate for the week's new deaths is 1.69% (7,466/441,992), higher than last time (1.59% (7,520/473,298)).
- 23,595,204 cases worldwide, up from 21,833,432, an increase of 8.07% which is a smaller increase than last time (9.10%). The new cases for this period were 1,761,772, which gives a 7-day daily average of 251,682, down from 260,130. A comparison w last period's new cases (1,820,909) gives a new cases increase rate of 0.968, which is lower than last time (1.006).
- 813,784 deaths worldwide, up from 773,768, an increase of 5.17% which is a smaller increase than last time (5.30%). At this rate of increase, the world projects to have 1,000,000 deaths by about 9/22. The new deaths for this period were 40,016, which gives a 7-day daily average of 5,717, up from 5,568. The mortality rate is 4.47% (813,784/18,202,448), lower than last time (4.72% (773,768/16,395,861)). The rate for the week's new deaths is 2.22% (40,016/1,806,587), about the same as for the previous period (2.25% (38,974/1,732,076)).

Rates of increase for both cases and deaths were smaller than last time for both the world and the US. New case rate increases went down for both the US and the world. Overall mortality rates continue to decrease for both the world and the US.

Cases continue to surge in Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico, Spain, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, Ukraine and Iraq. And cases in have surged in Japan, France and Romania in recent weeks, as part of Europe seems to be experiencing a 2nd wave. In India, the daily new cases (over 60,000) continue to exceed that of the US.

[Ken]

In India, the daily new cases (over 60,000) continue to exceed that of the US.

Not saying much since they have 1 billion more in population

[rhd]

And now there's this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYQu7AXmSWw

This supposedly is the first proven case of CV-19 reinfection. The victim had a mild case of infection, then got reinfected 4.5 months later after returning from abroad. The 2nd reinfection was from a different CV-19 strain. He had a mild case the 1st time and an asyptomatic case the 2nd time. So we may need different vaccines for different strains.

[madducks]

Los Angeles is taking action against people who host house parties in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Blake Gray and Bryce Hall, two TikTok stars, were charged with misdemeanors on Friday after holding two large house parties in defiance of local health orders, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced.
The pair could face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000, according to Feuer.

Prosecutors allege that Gray and Hall held a party on August 8, and that they were issued a warning about the gathering by the Los Angeles Police Department, who responded to a complaint call about the party.
Less than a week later, police were back at the house responding to a "shots fired" call, according to Feuer.
Feuer says officers found no evidence of a gun but did find several hundred people celebrating Hall's 21st birthday.
When police spoke to Gray on August 14, he acknowledged the previous LAPD warning on August 8, according to Feuer. Gray was cited and given a final warning, Feuer says.
On August 19, as authorized by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, power was cut to the home in Hollywood Hills.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/28/us/bl...rnd/index.html

[nullnor]

eventually we are going to have the face the fact that the only choice is to open up everything and let the virus run it's course.

it's not the end of the world. it's a trial run for next time it happens.