Coronavirus Updates

[Sovereignty]

Herd immunity is more usually achieved through vaccination, though -- as I understand it, herd immunity is what happens when sufficient people have become immune to a virus, whether because of prior infection or vaccination, that the virus can no longer spread in a community.

Waiting for herd immunity to develop because so many people have been infects is no sort of solution, of course, but the same herd immunity will, one hopes, soon develop when a vaccine is discovered.

Mina argues that cheap, rapid result testing can provide benefits comparable to herd immunity. Right now he is mainly concerned with removing barriers to capital investment in the tests. Getting people to do the tests and act accordingly would be a big task, but it is moot if we don't have buy in from regulatory agencies.

The following is from a thread with slides from a presentation he gave recently.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Mina argues that cheap, rapid result testing can provide benefits comparable to herd immunity. Right now he is mainly concerned with removing barriers to capital investment in the tests. Getting people to do the tests and act accordingly would be a big task, but it is moot if we don't have buy in from regulatory agencies.

The following is from a thread with slides from a presentation he gave recently.

As I recall, right from the start, the WHO were telling governments that testing and contract tracing were essential, but governments were just too slow off the mark, for various reasons, and the disease spread so fast in many places that the testing programmes were overwhelmed.

In Europe now (including the UK) now that we're coming out of lockdown and economies are reopening, governments are trying to contain the virus by relying on testing and on reimposing local lockdows when the number of new cases is trending too high.

 

[Sovereignty]

As I recall, right from the start, the WHO were telling governments that testing and contract tracing were essential, but governments were just too slow off the mark, for various reasons, and the disease spread so fast in many places that the testing programmes were overwhelmed.

In Europe now (including the UK) now that we're coming out of lockdown and economies are reopening, governments are trying to contain the virus by relying on testing and on reimposing local lockdows when the number of new cases is trending too high.

They were slow off the mark but were also focusing on diagnostic tests. Those diagnostic tests are not suited to mass screening for people transmitting the disease. They don't scale up and have taken too long to carry out. ETA: They take too long even under good circumstances, hours instead of minutes.

 

[Sovereignty]

‘Instant Coffee’ COVID-19 Tests Could Be the Answer to Reopening the U.S.

ETA:

Cheap and quick, they could move us toward normalcy before a vaccine is widely available

 

[Free]

‘Instant Coffee’ COVID-19 Tests Could Be the Answer to Reopening the U.S.

The best part of waking up is NO COVID in your cup!

 

[Sovereignty]

The best part of waking up is NO COVID in your cup!

Twitter awaits you.

 

[Free]

Twitter awaits you.

 

[Sovereignty]

Robert Fullilove:

I think we have to agree that the problem with pessimism is that it gives folks the sense that there is nothing to be done and they become passive actors--if that's not a contradiction in terms--and I think the last thing we need at this moment in history is for a passive population. We've got to be clear that there are things we should be doing and pushing our leaders to do.

From "TWiV 655: Minority health with Robert Fullilove"

Fullilove, born in 1944, has had an interesting career. He was a 20 year old field secretary for SNCC in 1964 working in Mississippi. At one point he comments how he has always been optimistic such as when visiting a Mississippi sharecropper in his shack. Fullilove tried to get him to register to vote in part by pointing to the sharecropper's son and saying that child could one day be President of the United States. Fullilove teaches classes at the Columbia medical school today.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Covid-19 will be around for ever, says former UK chief scientific adviser

Prof Mark Walport says regular vaccinations are likely to be required to control coronavirus

www.theguardian.com

 

[Sovereignty]

ETA: UI scientists modeling COVID-19 say campus can safely reopen

 

[Free]

This is going to turn out just swell.

Trump announces a COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorization for blood plasma

Move reportedly happens over objections of health officials about limited data.

arstechnica.com

Today, President Trump held a news conference to announce that the FDA has granted an Emergency Use Authorization for the treatment of COVID-19 cases using blood plasma from those formerly infected. The move comes despite significant uncertainty regarding just how effective this treatment is, and comes just days after Trump attacked the FDA for delaying its work as part of a plot to sabotage his re-election.

You know why he sees it as a plot against his re-election? Because it's exactly what he would do!

 

[Sovereignty]

This is going to turn out just swell.

Trump announces a COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorization for blood plasma

Move reportedly happens over objections of health officials about limited data.

arstechnica.com

You know why he sees it as a plot against his re-election? Because it's exactly what he would do!

Someone told Trump this is an opportunity to make him look like he's leading the fight against COVID-19.

Convalescent plasma does not look so promising. Check out F.D.A.’s Emergency Approval of Blood Plasma Is Now on Hold.
Still, it has been hyped and the general public is ignorant of it's lack of results or the risks it poses. Of course, Trump does not care.

Apparently, one risk of convalescent plasma is that it contains extra platelets. That makes the blood clotting issue worse.

Daniel Griffin MD, PhD and working at Columbia University med school (saw the worst of New York City's coronavirus outbreak) on today's TWIV describes how he saw severely ill patients get even worse after being given convalescent plasma. Of course, that's just anecdotal evidence.

 

[Sovereignty]

Today's TWIV, "See, it can be done!" was excellent.

Daniel Griffin MD, PhD of Columbia med school gave a history of COVID-19 treatments. One question he considered is why are doctors doing a better job with COVID. He doesn't have a definitive answer, but he speculates it is due to using ventilators only if absolutely necessary and the use of cortical steroids. He is not impressed with Remdesivir. One issue he would like to see addressed is the proper use of anticoagulants. No one knows what's best.

At one point last spring he wanted to do a RCT on hydroxychloroquine. He couldn't get it done because patients were either convinced it would kill them OR they were convinced it was a god send. Either way, no one wanted to be in a RCT because they were deathly afraid of not getting what they wanted.

After Griffin's monologue, they had husband-wife MD's from Tennessee as guests. They specialize in elective surgery and consequently have had a lot of time on their hands. Not content to sit on their butts, early on they started organizing local efforts to manufacture PPE. After that, they started to work on organizing screening tests for high schools and colleges (e.g., Baylor and Purdue). They would love to see Mina's idea implemented, frequent rapid testing with paper-strip antigen tests (like home pregnancy tests), but they have had to make due with what's approved and, ergo, available. The episode is named for their segment, "See, it can be done!".

There was some interesting discussion after that, such as about convalescent plasma. See microbe.tv for the official show notes.

 

[Free]

 

[Free]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Obesity increases risk of Covid-19 death by 48%, study finds

Comprehensive study suggests vaccine may not work as well for overweight people

www.theguardian.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Non-woven masks better to stop Covid-19, says Japanese supercomputer

Disposable medical face masks beat those made of cotton or polyester in simulation

www.theguardian.com

 

[Free]

Non-woven masks better to stop Covid-19, says Japanese supercomputer

Disposable medical face masks beat those made of cotton or polyester in simulation

www.theguardian.com

Supercomputers don't care about the environment.

 

[Free]

In alarming move, CDC says people exposed to COVID-19 do not need testing [Updated]

It also updated guidance on how service workers should deal with violent COVIDiots.

arstechnica.com

In a mindboggling and dangerous move, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week quietly reversed its recommendation on COVID-19 testing for those exposed to the virus. Now, the CDC says that exposed but symptomless people do not need to be tested.

The change immediately alarmed and outraged public health and infectious disease experts. It is well established that SARS-CoV-2—the pandemic coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19—can cause completely asymptomatic infections in some and spread from other infected people before they develop symptoms (so-called "pre-symptomatic transmission"). In fact, some modeling studies have suggested that pre-symptomatic transmission may account for nearly half, or even more, of SARS-CoV-2 spread.

 

[Kalel]

In alarming move, CDC says people exposed to COVID-19 do not need testing [Updated]

It also updated guidance on how service workers should deal with violent COVIDiots.

arstechnica.com

i'm guessing this decision was based on influences and pressure from the current trump administration... logically it doesn't make sense.