Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

Well given most countries are doing a better job containing the spread than us perhaps screening is pointless.

 

New Coronavirus Cases Rise in U.S. Despite Slowdown in Testing

The U.S. reported more than 34,000 new coronavirus cases, higher than the daily totals of the past few days when testing slowed around the holiday weekend.

For Tuesday, the U.S. had 584,412 new tests, according to the Covid Tracking Project, comparing with 508,706 Monday. Both days were substantially lower than Sept. 3, when the number topped 900,000.

“If there is a Labor Day bump in cases, we probably will not be able to detect it until late September,” said Christine Ekenga, assistant professor of public health at Washington University in St. Louis.

 

A new study suggests a large percentage of positive cases can be traced back to frequenting restaurants, cafes, and bars. Researchers tracked people in several states and those that tested positive wore masks outside 71% of the time, and negative, 74%. Both sets had similar patterns of shopping too, but the one, big difference is eating out at restaurants or bars. The theory is, it is nearly impossible to eat and drink with a mask down, and when inside a restaurant, people let their mask/guard down, and that's when people get infected. All the more reason why I'm still not ready to dine in, and will be using Uber Eats and Grub Hub for the time being.

 

Another myth busted. Covid spread between children at daycare and small children then infected families

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-...dren-at-care-facilities-spreading-coronavirus

Two of three children who tested positive but were asymptomatic passed the virus on to someone else, according to the research.

Children at the facilities were not required to wear masks. The study suggested that mitigation strategies could have limited the spread in the facilities, but it also noted that some children who are too young to wear masks can still spread the virus, as was the case with an 8-month-old child who caught the virus and gave it to both parents.

 

28 year old teacher dead from covid

https://www.usnews.com/news/educati...us-death-highlights-vulnerability-of-teachers

Teachers and students knew her as Windsor Elementary's "songbird" for her beautiful singing voice. Friends called her "Demi."

She was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Friday, Sept. 4, exactly one week after she spent a day in her Columbia school for teacher professional development. By Monday, she was dead. Bannister was 28 years old.
......
Bannister is far from the first educator to perish from the ongoing pandemic. According to the American Federation of Teachers, 210 of its members have died since the outbreak began last spring. In New York alone, the State Education Department reported 75 deaths – 31 of them educators – at the close of the last school year.

To be clear, teachers are at higher risk of exposure to the virus – though not as high as health care professionals and first responders – and the recent deaths are counted among the approximately 1,000 people who are dying from the virus daily.

But Bannister's death, along with at least five other teachers scattered across Missouri, Mississippi, South Carolina, Iowa and Oklahoma who've died from COVID-19 since the start of the new school year, reignites fears over how and whether education officials can protect the country's 3.3 million public school teachers – one-third of whom are over the age of 50 or have some type of medical condition that puts them at risk for a more severe infection should they contract the virus.

 

It sucks being right.

 

Sounds like she had Covid before showing up at the school. Science tells us it takes about 5 days minimum for symptoms to start and death usually takes longer. So keep blaming this on the schools opening up. Most likely got it at home like the vast majority of infections.

 

in cases like this yes it does. the willful ignorance that has led us here sucks even worse. makes me mad when I think about it too much. Mom is back on room lockdown / isolation at Moosehaven in Orange Park after another CNA tested positive. Keeping fingers crossed it doesn't take her. The isolation is really starting to depress her though, I can hear it in her voice

 

please point out where I said she got it at school. 28 years old, dead. doesn't matter where she got it, this isn't just killing old or previously sick folks is the point. High community infection rates will kill more people, live schooling will only make rates go higher. Son is doing live school and it seriously scares me.

 

Found a new trail along the lake at Two Harbors today.

 

Dog enjoyed it too . . .

 

After our Norway in a day tour we took a day and drove out to see an old Stave Church. Only 28 out of over 2000 that were built that are left in Norway. Church used same workers that built ships and they would go to various towns and select the trees they wanted to use and they would girdle them and then come back the following year to harvest them to build the churches with. Wealthiest families stood in front, middle class families in the balconies, paupers outside.

Hopperstad Stave Church opened 1130 = One of the smaller ones but impressive nonetheless. Built without nails









view from above the ridge line that separated the Hopperstad valley from the upland valley. lots of sheep in that upland valley


same place but from below

 

You didn’t say it, it was implied by the article. It’s sad this teacher died, as is all death. Why do you think the news is reporting a teacher died of Covid? Especially mentioning that they returned to school. They are trying to sensationalize the teachers death. We can’t live at home permanently until there is a vaccine. My kids are both doing in person learning and I have zero fear for them. Much more worried about them going to and from school with a teenager driving them.

 

More results of Sturgis and ignorance. Dakotas leading the country in covid growth rates as they continue to refuse to mandate masks. Virus doesn't care where you are or what your political persuasion is but it sure seems to love some ignorance and vanity

Dakotas lead US in virus growth as both reject mask rules

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Coronavirus infections in the Dakotas are growing faster than anywhere else in the nation, fueling impassioned debates over masks and personal freedom after months in which the two states avoided the worst of the pandemic.

The argument over masks raged this week in Brookings, South Dakota, as the city council considered requiring face coverings in businesses. The city was forced to move its meeting to a local arena to accommodate intense interest, with many citizens speaking against it, before the mask requirement ultimately passed.

Amid the brute force of the pandemic, health experts warn that the infections must be contained before care systems are overwhelmed. North Dakota and South Dakota lead the country in new cases per capita over the last two weeks, ranking first and second respectively, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.

South Dakota has also posted some of the country's highest positivity rates for COVID-19 tests in the last week — over 17 percent — an indication that there are more infections than tests are catching.

Infections have been spurred by schools and universities reopening and mass gatherings like the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which drew hundreds of thousands of people from across the country.

 

not true. Five days is the norm, but it can be less. This is from the cdc.

Similarities and Differences between Flu and COVID-19

 

Expect a spike in Nevada next. Wonder how many people Trump will kill with this rally? Play stupid games, win stupid prizes for these people I guess. Too bad there will be people made sick that didn't attend but will come into contact with those that do. Feel bad for the secret service agents that have to cover this covid party. At least it is outside, hopefully that helps

No social distancing, few masks as crowd waits for Trump rally in Nevada

Attendees at a Nevada campaign rally for President Donald Trump on Saturday appeared to not be social distancing, and few people have been seen wearing face masks as they wait to go through security ahead of the event.

The rally-goers have been waiting in line for several hours to get inside the Minden, Nevada, airport rally site. The rally itself will be held on the tarmac of the general aviation field.

Trump supporter Maria Ainsclugh said she is excited to join a sizable crowd to hear the President speak. She said she feels safe and rejects the idea of wearing masks because she doesn't believe the pandemic is as serious as health experts say.

"I see people wearing masks on the street, avoiding getting close to other people -- it's sad. We have to be out and interacting, that's how we become immune. We need to develop immunity," Ainsclugh said.

Asked if she was concerned about catching the virus, she said no. "It's been eight months -- I think I'm immune. And if I get it, I go to the hospital a few days. It's not that bad," Ainsclugh said

 

a few more random shots from Norway before we move on to Ireland for the final 5 days of our 2019 European vacation. People were cordial enough but not what I would call friendly, more like stoic. Norway is expensive and I wasn't impressed by the food like I was with Spain. Thing that surprised me the most was lack of what I would call biomass. Not just big wildlife but birds, small wildlife, fish, etc. As someone who likes to photo wildlife and spends a lot of time on the water I kept an eye out for that sort of thing and didn't see much of anything. Was really surprising considering the amount of open land there and the quality of water that we saw. Would like to go back and see some more of the northern part of the country, especially along the coast, but think we made right choice to do SW part of country first as it seemed to have the most to offer. Voss was a small town with lots of outdoor adventure stuff in close proximity that I would have spent more time in if possible. We just got a small taste of it as that was the base for the whitewater rafting trip.

 

Israel locking down again.

Israel Headed for Second Nationwide Coronavirus Lockdown

Israel is set to enter a second coronavirus lockdown and become the only developed country to shut down again nationwide, after a botched reopening of the economy sent infections soaring.

An inner cabinet of ministers late Thursday approved a two-week, full-fledged lockdown, to be followed by two more weeks of strict limits on movement and economic activity. After that, if the situation improves, restrictions would be applied only to communities with large outbreaks. The plan is subject to the final approval of the full cabinet on Sunday and faces opposition from some ministers.

The inner cabinet took the extraordinary step after watching daily cases rise from five in late May to more than 4,000 this week. The lockdown is expected to take effect on Wednesday or Friday, according to the Ynet website -- politically fraught timing on the eve of the Jewish holiday season.

The economic damage would be fierce, with nearly one-fifth of the labor force still out of work even though the country reopened by late May. A monthlong lockdown would cost the Israeli economy about 15 billion shekels ($4.4 billion), the Finance Ministry’s chief economist estimated Thursday.

 

What part of “about 5 days” was confusing to you? The odds are that the teacher had it before attending school. It’s that simple.

 

Absolutely nothing was confusing, you said this:
“science tells us it takes about 5 days minimum for symptoms to start“.

That is an untrue Statement, five days is the median and around 2 days is the minimum, I did not claim she got it at school, I was only pointing that out. Hopefully contact tracing will figure out where she got it.