Today’s Headlines

October 31, 2020:

University of Texas study suggests construction sites could be key to curbing COVID-19

[DMN] Construction workers are five times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than their peers in other professions, according to a new study from University of Texas at Austin researchers.

“Allowing unrestricted construction work was associated with an increase of COVID-19 hospitalization rates through mid-August 2020,” the study’s authors note in their findings. They analyzed five months of hospitalization data in Austin.

The study also highlights the disproportionate representation of Hispanic workers in the construction industry in the U.S., including in Texas, and the compounded risks facing that growing demographic.

About 30% of construction workers nationally are Hispanic or Latino — almost twice the percentage they comprise in the overall labor force. The Hispanic population is known to experience more underlying health conditions linked to severe cases of COVID-19. They’re also more likely to have more people living in the same house, and feel pressure to continue working even when sick, according to the authors.

Although Hispanics account for 40% of Texas’ population, they represent 56% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths, according to the latest data from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Household spread of Covid-19 is common and quick, a new CDC study finds

(CNN) The spread of Covid-19 among members in a household after one person is infected is “common” and occurs quickly after illness onset, according to a new study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The person exposed or suspected of having Covid-19 should be isolated before getting tested and before test results come back to protect others in the home, said the study, published Friday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

“Because prompt isolation of persons with COVID-19 can reduce household transmission, persons who suspect that they might have COVID-19 should isolate, stay at home, and use a separate bedroom and bathroom if feasible,” wrote a CDC-led team of researchers.

In addition, all members of the household should wear masks at all times in common spaces, the team said.

US coronavirus cases break global daily record. Experts warn it will only get worse

(CNN) The US reported 99,321 new Covid-19 cases on Friday [ OBLIVIOTS – Worldometer puts the number at 103,530 ] — the highest single day number of cases recorded for any country. The top five records in daily cases all occurred within eight days, and an expert says he worries the upward trend will push hospitals past capacity.

Friday’s number surpassed the previous daily record held by India, which reported 97,894 coronavirus cases in a single day on September 17, according to India’s health ministry.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in the US is at least 9,047,792, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US also reported more than 1,000 additional deaths Friday, bringing the US toll from the pandemic to 229,708.

Some 46,688 Covid-19 patients were in hospitals on Friday, according to the Covid Tracking Project. That’s up 63.2% from a three-month low of 28,608 on September 20, and it’s the highest total since August 13.

October 30th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

103,530 New U.S. cases – ALL TIME RECORD
23,126 New Brazil cases
18,283 Russia cases
48,120 New India cases
6,000 Mexico cases
4,889 New cases in California

Over 45.8 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 9.3 million
Over 103k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 45,899,858
Daily new cases: 579,277 – A NEW RECORD
Global deaths: 1,193,755 with 7,532 new deaths
Global recovered: 33,249,483
Mortality rate: 2.60%
Recovery rate: 72.44%

U.S. cases: 9,316,297
U.S. new cases: 103,530 – ALL TIME RECORD
U.S. deaths: 235,159
U.S. recovered: 6,024,512
U.S. Daily fatalities: 982

Texas cases: 949,971 with 7,485 new cases
Texas deaths: 18,507 – 105 Today
Dallas County cases: 101,883
Dallas County new cases: 832
Dallas County deaths: 1,254 – 11 today

Today’s Headlines

October 30, 2020:

Taiwan just went 200 days without a locally transmitted Covid-19 case

(CNN)As much of the world struggles to contain new waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, Taiwan just marked its 200th consecutive day without a locally transmitted case of the disease.

Taipei’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been one of the world’s most effective. The island of 23 million people last reported a locally transmitted case on April 12, which was Easter Sunday. As of Thursday, it had confirmed 553 cases — only 55 of which were local transmissions. Seven deaths have been recorded.

Easter was an important milestone in the United States because President Donald Trump had said a month earlier he wanted the country “opened up and just raring to go” by the holiday.

At that point, 1.7 million people had been infected and 110,000 had been killed by the virus — globally. On Friday, those figures had passed 45 million cases and more than 1.1 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Taiwan’s landmark achievement comes in a week when France and Germany are enacting new lockdowns and the United States identified a record 88,000-plus cases in a day. The state of Florida, which has a similar population size to Taiwan, with approximately 21 million people, identified 4,188 cases on Wednesday alone.

Taiwan has never had to enact strict lockdowns. Nor did it resort to drastic restrictions on civil freedoms, like in mainland China.

Instead, Taiwan’s response focused on speed. Taiwanese authorities began screening passengers on direct flights from Wuhan, where the virus was first identified, on December 31, 2019 — back when the virus was mostly the subject of rumors and limited reporting.

October 29th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

92,016 New U.S. cases
26,647 New Brazil cases
17,717 Russia cases
49,281 New India cases
5,948 Mexico cases
4,250 New cases in California

Over 45.3 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 9.2 million
Over 92k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 45,320,581
Daily new cases: 570,799 – A NEW RECORD
Global deaths: 1,186,223 with 7,144 new deaths
Global recovered: 32,992,305
Mortality rate: 2.62%
Recovery rate: 72.80%

U.S. cases: 9,212,767
U.S. new cases: 92,016 – ALL TIME RECORD
U.S. deaths: 234,177
U.S. recovered: 5,983,345
U.S. Daily fatalities: 1,047

Texas cases: 942,486 with 7,673 new cases
Texas deaths: 18,402 – 113 Today
Dallas County cases: 101,051
Dallas County new cases: 656
Dallas County deaths: 1,243 – 8 today

October 28th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

82,721 New U.S. cases
28,852 New Brazil cases
16,202 Russia cases
49,912 New India cases
5,595 Mexico cases
4,068 New cases in California

Over 44.7 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 9.1 million
Over 82k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 44,749,782
Daily new cases: 513,037 – A NEW RECORD
Global deaths: 1,179,079 with 7,771 new deaths
Global recovered: 32,725,332
Mortality rate: 2.63%
Recovery rate: 73.13%

U.S. cases: 9,120,751
U.S. new cases: 82,721
U.S. deaths: 233,130
U.S. recovered: 5,933,212
U.S. Daily fatalities: 1,046

Texas cases: 934,813 with 7,295 new cases
Texas deaths: 18,289 – 97 Today
Dallas County cases: 100,395
Dallas County new cases: 624
Dallas County deaths: 1,235 – 6 today

Today’s Headlines

October 28, 2020:

Covid: Melbourne’s hard-won success after a marathon lockdown

[BBC] — Melbourne’s grinding second coronavirus lockdown began in the chill of winter.

In early July, the nights were long and dark, and Australia’s cultural capital was confronting the terrifying reality of another deadly wave of infections.

More than 110 days later, experts say it is emerging as a world leader in disease suppression alongside places including Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

Raina McIntyre, a biosecurity professor at the University of New South Wales’ Kirby Institute, told the BBC that Australia’s response had been “light years ahead” of the US and the UK.

“It is just thoroughly shocking. When we think of pandemics we don’t think that well-resourced, high-income countries are going to fall apart at the seams, but that is exactly what we have seen,” she said.

At the end of Tuesday, Melbourne’s five million residents will see an end to strict stay-home orders that put an entire city into a type of protective custody.

Why deaths aren’t rising as fast in Covid-19’s second wave, despite big spikes in new infections

(CNN)Europe is drowning in the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic. Infection rates are skyrocketing across the continent. Governments are imposing strict lockdowns. Economies are shutting down again. But there is a glimmer of hope: The virus, while still deadly, appears to be killing fewer people on average.

Recent case and fatality figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show that while recorded Covid-19 cases are spiking in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany and other European countries, deaths are not rising at the same rate.

“The fatality rate has declined, in the UK, we can see it going down from around June to a low point in August,” said Jason Oke, a senior statistician at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences. “Our current estimate is that the infection fatality rate is going up a little bit, but it hasn’t come up to anywhere near where we were and that’s unlikely to change dramatically unless we see a really surprising increase in the numbers of deaths.”

October 27th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

75,247 New U.S. cases
29,353 New Brazil cases
16,550 Russia cases
42,965 New India cases
5,942 Mexico cases
4,914 New cases in California

Over 44.2 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 9 million
Over 75k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 43,776,586
Daily new cases: 432,790
Global deaths: 1,194,515 with 5,433 new deaths
Global recovered: 32,444,043
Mortality rate: 2.65%
Recovery rate: 73.34%

U.S. cases: 9,038,030
U.S. new cases: 75,247
U.S. deaths: 232,084
U.S. recovered: 5,877,964
U.S. Daily fatalities: 535

Texas cases: 927,518 with 7,064 new cases
Texas deaths: 18,192 – 74 Today
Dallas County cases: 99,771
Dallas County new cases: 597
Dallas County deaths: 1,229 – 7 today

Today’s Headlines

October 27, 2020:

[OBLIVIOTS] — The latest International High Growth Rate Covid-19 data set of graphs.

These graphs compare the highest growth rate countries as of EOD 10/26/2020. The top 3 (U.S., India and Brazil) outdistance everyone else by a large margin, so I have to break up the data sets in relative chunks to give a visual index you can compare. But as you can see, for the most part, everyone has completely lost control of this virus. Just look at the growth curves for most countries. Very few are flattening their growth rate. The U.S. has set all time high daily new case records in the last week and it looks like we are headed in that direction again. The U.K., Spain, France, Argentina and Italy are all reporting extremely high new case numbers daily.

Russia, has been trending in the 15k-17k per day range. As a point of reference, their all time high stretch was 11k daily for about 2 weeks in Mid May. Then is started dropping and was averaging 4k-6k per day until late September when they started to lose control. Now they are posting numbers 50% higher than their previous peak. October 6th was when they started posting 11k numbers again and it seems to have leveled off in the last week. Keep in mind, we have no reason to believe these numbers are not under-reported. So for all we know the real numbers are much higher.
Brazil has leveled off at about half of what their peak was back in the summer when they were posting 60k new cases per day.
India is also down from their summer peak of 80k-90k per day in early September. They are currently reporting in the mid 50k to mid 60k new daily cases.
The U.S., however is the black sheep of the family (don’t start. That is not a racial comment). The U.S. last week posted their highest new daily case count of 85,302 cases. The previous high was 78,336 on July 24th. Yesterday was 76,832. Historically, daily case count plummets on Sunday and Monday and starts its upward climb to a Friday peak, then starts down and repeats. So we may see a new record high towards the end of the week.

Current global daily case counts have been averaging over 400k per day with our highest day 507,388 new cases reported on October 22nd. At this rate we are adding a million new cases every 4 days. Just think about that. Current estimates are that 90% of those infected, even mildly, will have some future diminished capacity, heart problems, vascular problems, shortness of breath, etc. The long-term implications of this are still unclear, but if this is true, think of the fiscal impact per country of people who can no longer work to support themselves and the impact on their families / living conditions / homelessness, etc. If these projections are even off by 50%, that is still a lot of people with less functionality. The impact on society as a whole will be devastating. THIS is why we all need to behave like EVERY.LIFE.MATTERS. Not just NOT DYING, but NOT having your functionality diminished by enough to radically impact your quality of life.

October 26th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

73,604 New U.S. cases
17,422 New Brazil cases
17,347 Russia cases
36,838 New India cases
4,166 Mexico cases
4,387 New cases in California

Over 43.7 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.9 million
Over 73k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 43,776,586
Daily new cases: 432,790
Global deaths: 1,194,515 with 5,433 new deaths
Global recovered: 32,179,652
Mortality rate: 2.66%
Recovery rate: 73.51%

U.S. cases: 8,962,783
U.S. new cases: 73,604
U.S. deaths: 231,045
U.S. recovered: 5,883,824
U.S. Daily fatalities: 535

Texas cases: 920,454 with 6,960 new cases
Texas deaths: 18,118 – 52 Today
Dallas County cases: 99,174
Dallas County new cases: 498
Dallas County deaths: 1,222 – 2 today

Today’s Headlines

China is testing millions after one case found

(CNN) China has rolled out mass coronavirus testing for nearly 5 million people and imposed lockdown measures in the prefecture of Kashgar in the far western region of Xinjiang, after a single asymptomatic coronavirus case was reported on Saturday.

The testing drive has so far identified 137 additional cases — and all are asymptomatic, according to Xinjiang’s regional health commission. This is the highest daily number of asymptomatic Covid-19 cases reported in China in nearly seven months.

As of Sunday afternoon, some 2.8 million people have been tested. The government expects to finish testing all of Kashgar’s 4.7 million population by Tuesday.

The outbreak is Xinjiang’s second since China’s initial wave of coronavirus infections was brought under control in March.

Australia’s coronavirus epicenter records no new cases as the US and Western Europe struggle

(CNN)Melbourne, the city at the epicenter of Australia’s coronavirus epidemic, will move out of lockdown this week after the Victoria state health department on Sunday reported no new cases and no deaths due to the virus for the first time in more than four months.

Announcing the relaxation of restrictions at a news conference on Monday, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said starting on Tuesday at 11:59 p.m., Melbourne residents will be allowed to leave their homes and most businesses in the state can reopen with restrictions on the number of people.

“With 0 cases and so much testing, we are able to say that now is the time to open up. Now is the time to congratulate every single Victorian who has stayed the course,” Andrews said.

The remarkable milestone of no new cases comes just months after Andrews declared a “state of disaster” to stem an outbreak that saw as many as 725 people in the state test positive for the virus in a single day.

Spain imposes national night-time curfew to curb infections

[BBC] Spain has declared a national state of emergency and imposed a night-time curfew in an effort to help control a new spike in Covid-19 infections.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the curfew, which came into force on Sunday night, would be in place between the hours of 23:00 and 06:00

Under the measures, local authorities can also ban travel between regions.

Mr Sánchez said he would ask parliament to extend the new rules, initially in force for 15 days, to six months.

Spain was hit hard during the first wave of the pandemic earlier this year and at the time imposed a much more restrictive lockdown – one of the toughest in the world.

Like many other European regions, however, it has been hit by a second wave of infections.

In Italy, new restrictions were also announced on Sunday. The government said the steady rise in cases there was causing a huge strain on the country’s health services.

Meanwhile France has reported a record number of new daily infections. A total of 52,010 infections were reported on Sunday, up from just over 45,000 on Saturday.

At least 5 of Vice President Pence’s aides test positive for coronavirus

(CNN) At least five people in Vice President Mike Pence’s orbit have tested positive for coronavirus in recent days, including chief of staff Marc Short, close aide Zach Bauer and outside adviser Marty Obst, sources told CNN.

There are concerns that more people within Pence’s inner circle will test positive in the coming days, a source said. “They’re scared,” the source said of staffers in the vice president’s office.

Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence each tested negative for coronavirus on Sunday, a White House official said. Despite contact with multiple people who recently tested positive, Mike Pence is refusing to quarantine in defiance of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

Pence’s office announced Saturday evening that Short had been diagnosed with Covid-19. Sources told CNN that Obst, who is a senior political adviser to Pence but is not a government employee, and at least three staffers in Pence’s office have also tested positive for the virus.

Bauer, one of the staffers who tested positive, according to two sources familiar with the matter, is Pence’s “body man,” meaning his job is to accompany Pence throughout the day and night helping him with a wide range of duties, putting him in close proximity to the vice president. A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Bauer has not been in the office since Tuesday, when he went home to quarantine after coming into contact with Obst. Bauer tested positive Saturday.

October 25th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

61,247 New U.S. cases
12,904 New Brazil cases
16,710 Russia cases
45,158 New India cases
4,360 Mexico cases
2,681 New cases in California

Over 43.3 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.8 million
Over 61k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 43,328,174
Daily new cases: 383,575
Global deaths: 1,159,082 with 4,233 new deaths
Global recovered: 31,900,636
Mortality rate: 2.67%
Recovery rate: 73.63%

U.S. cases: 8,889,179
U.S. new cases: 61,247
U.S. deaths: 230,510
U.S. recovered: 5,772,498
U.S. Daily fatalities: 442

Texas cases: 913,494 with 3,745 new cases
Texas deaths: 18,066 – 40 Today
Dallas County cases: 98,676
Dallas County new cases: 803
Dallas County deaths: 1,220 – 3 today

Today’s Headlines

Expert issues dire warning about next 6 weeks

[CNN] The US continues to report an upward trend in new coronavirus cases as Dr. Michael Osterholm warns that the next 6-12 weeks could be the darkest period of the pandemic. CNN’s Nick Watt

Watch video

Dr Fauci: Covid vaccine could come by end of 2020

[BBC] Dr Anthony Fauci says a Covid-19 vaccine could be available in the United States before the end of the year if proved to be “safe and effective”.

The US government scientist told the BBC’s Andrew Marr that the limited first doses would go to people according to a set prioritisation – and that it would take “several months into 2021” before it was more widely available.

He added that the vaccine wouldn’t replace the need for public health measures to be in place to help protect people from the virus for a considerable time.

Watch video

US reports second-highest day of coronavirus cases since the pandemic began

(CNN) As the fall surge continues, the United States has reported its second-highest day of new Covid-19 cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Saturday saw 83,718 new cases, just 39 cases shy of the all-time record that was reported Friday.

Health experts have warned that the fall season would bring a resurgence of cases — and since the US never lowered its daily case baseline enough, they say compounding cases will likely get worse. Already, the national cases total more than 8.5 million and 224,891 people have died, according to JHU.

“We easily will hit six-figure numbers in terms of the number of cases,” Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNN Friday night. “And the deaths are going to go up precipitously in the next three to four weeks, following usually new cases by about two to three weeks.”

Social gatherings and family events moving indoors to avoid the colder weather is largely to blame for the high rates of spread, officials said over the weekend.

In Maryland, the governor said this week family gatherings were the No. 1 source of transmission in the state, followed by house parties. In North Carolina, health officials reported its highest daily case count Friday and said they continue to see clusters “from social and religious gatherings.”

October 24th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

80,979 New U.S. cases
25,574 New Brazil cases
16,521 Russia cases
50,224 New India cases
6,025 Mexico cases
4,272 New cases in California

Over 42.9 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.8 million
Over 80k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 42,944,599
Daily new cases: 456,233
Global deaths: 1,154,849 with 5,625 new deaths
Global recovered: 31,670,386
Mortality rate: 2.69%
Recovery rate: 73.75%

U.S. cases: 8,827,932
U.S. new cases: 80,979
U.S. deaths: 230,068
U.S. recovered: 5,741,611
U.S. Daily fatalities: 784

Texas cases: 909,749 with 6,463 new cases
Texas deaths: 18,026 – 72 Today
Dallas County cases: 97,873
Dallas County new cases: 778
Dallas County deaths: 1,217 – 3 today

Today’s Headlines

U.S. Covid-19 New Case Count Reaches a New High

October 24, 2020 — A graphical representation of U.S. Covid-19 growth as of EOD yesterday.

Yesterday the U.S. reported its highest ever daily new cases of 85,302. The previous high of 78,278 was reported on July 16th. We were doing much better throughout August and September, but in the last two weeks, we’ve been trending higher in the 50k-70k range. As you can see from the blue graph, the last two days have seen a significant spike in new cases. If our pattern continues as usual, tomorrow and Monday will be significantly lower and then we will start working our way back up again.

The dual line graphs track new case per day growth for the highest growth states, broken down into Tier 1, which is 3,000 cases and up – and Tier 2 which is up to the 3,000 case per day range.

As you can see, the trend is indicative of what all the authorities on epidemiology keep telling us. The virus is out of control.

Literally, if EVERYONE would mask the hell up and keep a significant distance from other people – and NOT CONGREGATE with anyone outside the immediate family — for about 6 weeks, we could get a handle on this.

Or we could keep being spoiled brats who “don’t want to be told what to do” and this will drag on for another year and a half.

Covid-19 Cough Clouds And How They Travel In Closed Spaces Mapped

The more we learn about Covid-19, the more the importance of transmission through airborne respiratory droplets, particularly in confined spaces without adequate ventilation, becomes apparent.

Most research has focused on how far droplets from coughs can travel, usually with an accompanying video or image that will make you feel quite ill.

However, less is known about the way the properties of a cough cloud can change as the cloud travels through the air. Researchers from the American Institute of Physics have sought to address that in a new study looking at how cough clouds evolve over a journey, and the effect face masks have on their volume and spread.

“When a person coughs, what is the volume of air that gets contaminated due to the cough ejected out by the person?” the team asks in their paper published in Physics of Fluids. “The answer to this question is not straightforward because the surrounding air gets entrained into the cough-cloud coming out from the person’s mouth and, eventually, becomes its part; therefore, a much larger volume than initially ejected is affected by coughing.”

The team hoped that by answering this question, they could discover effective ways to reduce infection indoors, such as by determining the maximum number of people that can safely be housed in an enclosed space, like a hospital ward or cinema. They also wanted to find out the effect of temperature and humidity on the spread of cough clouds, to determine how much ventilation is needed in an office or an aircraft cabin in order to reduce infection.

October 23rd #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

85,302 New U.S. cases – ALL TIME HIGH
23,016 New Brazil cases
17,340 Russia cases – ALL TIME HIGH
54,028 New India cases
6,604 Mexico cases
5,876 New cases in California

Over 42.4 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.7 million
Over 85k new U.S. cases – ALL TIME HIGH

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 42,488,366
Daily new cases: 496,353
Global deaths: 1,149,224 with 6,493 new deaths
Global recovered: 31,423,798
Mortality rate: 2.70%
Recovery rate: 73.96%

U.S. cases: 8,746,953
U.S. new cases: 85,302 – ALL TIME HIGH
U.S. deaths: 229,284
U.S. recovered: 5,698,161
U.S. Daily fatalities: 903

Texas cases: 903,286 with 7,045 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,954 – 76 Today
Dallas County cases: 97,095
Dallas County new cases: 612
Dallas County deaths: 1,214 – 3 today

Today’s Headlines

Europe braces for tough new restrictions as coronavirus cases soar

London (CNN) Tens of millions more people across Europe face tougher coronavirus restrictions going into the weekend as countries across the region battle to bring down rising infection rates.

A two-week “firebreak” lockdown comes into force at 6 p.m. local time Friday in Wales, under which everyone except critical workers is expected to stay at home.

The restrictions are the toughest seen in Wales since the spring, when the United Kingdom was badly hit in the first wave of infections to sweep Europe.

New restrictions also came into force Friday morning in northern England’s Greater Manchester region, following a protracted tussle between national and local leaders over financial support.

Regions in Italy, France, Spain, Germany and elsewhere are also introducing curfews in a bid to stem the spike in cases. And Slovakia has announced strict new limits on people’s movement and activities from Saturday.

Ireland on Thursday became the first country in Europe to reimpose a national lockdown.

The Irish measures, which prohibit social gatherings and require people to work from home unless they are providing an essential service, will remain in place for six weeks.

Over Half a Million New Cases Reported Today

[OBLIVIOTS] October 22, 2020 — A milestone has been reached today that no one ever hoped for. In one day, 507,338 new cases were added globally to the Covid-19 numbers. We have been trending in the 300,000 to high 400,000 numbers in the last two weeks or so, but as this week winds down, the numbers have been rapidly accelerating.

The largest contributors in order of highest infection rates are:

USA – 76,832 New Cases
Brazil – 31,985
India – 54,482
Russia – 15,971
Spain – 43,880
Argentina – 16,325
France – 41,622
Colombia – 8,570
UK – 21,238
Italy – 16,078
Germany – 12,519
Belgium – 16,746
Netherlands – 9,271
Chechia – 14,150

This is not a good trend at all. This indicates that globally we have dropped the ball.

October 22nd #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

76,832 New U.S. cases
31,985 New Brazil cases
15,971 Russia cases
54,482 New India cases
6,612 Mexico cases
6,302 New cases in California

Over 41.9 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.6 million
Over 76k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 41,992,013
Daily new cases: 507,388 – A NEW RECORD
Global deaths: 1,142,731 with 6,396 new deaths
Global recovered: 31,184,436
Mortality rate: 2.72%
Recovery rate: 74.26%

U.S. cases: 8,661,651
U.S. new cases: 76,832
U.S. deaths: 228,381
U.S. recovered: 5,655,301
U.S. Daily fatalities: 972

Texas replaces California as #1 Covid-19 cases

Texas cases: 896,241 with 6,728 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,878 – 92 Today
Dallas County cases: 96,483
Dallas County new cases: 435
Dallas County deaths: 1,211 – 6 today

Today’s Headlines

Over Half a Million New Cases Reported Today

The largest contributors in order of highest infection rates are:

USA – 76,832 New Cases
Brazil – 31,985
India – 54,482
Russia – 15,971
Spain – 43,880
Argentina – 16,325
France – 41,622
Colombia – 8,570
UK – 21,238
Italy – 16,078
Germany – 12,519
Belgium – 16,746
Netherlands – 9,271
Chechia – 14,150

This is not a good trend at all. This indicates that globally we have dropped the ball.

Covid-19 anti-vaxxers use century-old arguments

(CNN)As we get closer to an effective vaccine for Covid-19, we should expect to see a renewed push of disinformation and vocal resistance from the anti-vaccination movement.

Over the past year, seemingly endless conspiracy theories and misinformation campaigns have gained traction online amid rising Covid-19 infection rates worldwide.

Looking at the history of these movements can help us understand why they can be so effective at capturing a popular following.

As a historian of medicine, it has become clear from researching the history of vaccines that those who promote anti-vaccination consistently use a standard set of strategies. Although it can be hard to see patterns of argument in the modern context, looking back at a historical instance of epidemic and misinformation provides a useful case study for revealing today’s recurring anti-vaccination strategies.

One popular pamphlet published in 1885 during the smallpox epidemic in Montreal is a great example. Over a century later, we have the benefit of living in a world that has eradicated smallpox using a vaccine. Yet in the past, smallpox vaccination was hotly contested, despite the evidence in favor of its effectiveness.

The number of older people getting coronavirus in Europe is rising again. That’s really bad news

(CNN) Europe is deep in the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic, and a particularly worrying trend is beginning to emerge: More older people are becoming infected.

Over the summer months, the continent saw infection clusters popping up mostly among younger people who were venturing out into bars, restaurants and other public spaces. While that wasn’t ideal, it meant the death rate stayed relatively low, since younger people are statistically less vulnerable to the virus and most avoid getting seriously ill.

However, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has warned that more older people are now becoming infected. According to the ECDC’s latest situation report, at least 13 countries in Europe saw new infection rates among people aged 65 or over rise to what ECDC defines as “high” last week — between 64 per 100,000 in Croatia and 206 per 100,000 in the Netherlands.

A sharp increase in infections among older people in recent weeks can be seen in almost all European countries where data is available.

Covid-19 infection rates among over-65s in some Eastern European countries are now more than double what they were during the first wave — over 100 in the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia and Hungary.

Higher infection rates among the elderly are worrying because older people are much more likely to end up in hospital and to face a significantly higher risk of dying.

According to the World Health Organization, almost 88% of all deaths in Europe were among the over-65 age group, as of late August. In the Czech Republic, over-65s made up 14% of weekly infections, but 94% of deaths as of October 11.

Faulty US Covid-19 response meant 130,000 to 210,000 avoidable deaths, report finds

[CNN] The Trump Administration’s faltering response to the coronavirus pandemic has led to anywhere between 130,000 and 210,000 deaths in the United States that could have been prevented, according to a report released Thursday by a team of disaster preparedness experts.

Insufficient testing, a lack of national mask mandates or guidance, a delayed overall response and outright mocking of basic public health practices by the administration has put the US at the top of the global coronavirus death toll, the report from Columbia University Earth Institute’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness finds

“We estimate that at least 130,000 deaths and perhaps as many as 210,000 could have been avoided with earlier policy interventions and more robust federal coordination and leadership,” the report reads.

“Even with the dramatic recent appearance of new COVID-19 waves globally, the abject failures of U.S. government policies and crisis messaging persist. U.S. fatalities have remained disproportionately high throughout the pandemic when compared to even other high-mortality countries,” it adds.

“The inability of the U.S. to mitigate the pandemic is especially stark when contrasted with the response of high income nations, such as South Korea, Japan, Australia, Germany, France, and Canada, as well as low- and middle-income countries as varied as Thailand, Pakistan, Honduras, and Malaysia. All of these nations have had greater success in protecting their populations from the impact of the coronavirus.”

Ireland imposes strictest coronavirus lockdown in Europe

[CNN] Ireland has now moved to “Level 5” measures — in what is now Europe’s strictest coronavirus lockdown.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced the restrictions on Monday when the country’s case count topped 50,000. The restrictions are set to be in place for six weeks to deal with the “deteriorating situation with the disease across the country.”

Martin tweeted late Wednesday, “This evening, as we think about the next six weeks of increased restrictions at Level 5, we just need to remember that we are doing this to protect our families and the most vulnerable in our communities. We will come through it and we will see each other again. #LockdownEve.”

Covid-19 hospitalizations continue to rise in several states, and Wisconsin is now using an overflow facility

[CNN] With the number of people with Covid-19 being admitted to hospitals rising, several states are looking at their supply of beds.

On Wednesday, an overflow medical facility set up at the Wisconsin State Fair Park in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis received its first patient.

“We are thankful to have this facility available to Wisconsinites and our hospitals, but also saddened that this is where Wisconsin is at today,” Gov. Tony Evers said. “Folks, please stay home. Help us protect our communities from this highly contagious virus and avoid further strain on our hospitals.”

The facility will take patients who meet specific criteria, and doctors and nurses there can give remdesivir and oxygen treatment, according to the governor’s statement.

The seven-day average for the number of people in the hospital has risen from 749 two weeks ago to 1,098 as of Tuesday, according to data from the state health department.

Wisconsin is not alone in rising numbers. Over the past two weeks, 42 states have seen hospitalizations increase by more than 5%, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

October 21st #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

64,512 New U.S. cases
25,832 New Brazil cases
15,700 Russia cases
56,000 New India cases
6,845 Mexico cases
3,690 New cases in California

Over 41.4 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.5 million
Over 64k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 41,484,625
Daily new cases: 444,006 – A NEW RECORD
Global deaths: 1,136,335 with 6,744 new deaths
Global recovered: 30,910,869
Mortality rate: 2.74%
Recovery rate: 74.51%

U.S. cases: 8,584,819
U.S. new cases: 64,512
U.S. deaths: 227,409
U.S. recovered: 5,602,116
U.S. Daily fatalities: 1,260

Texas replaces California as #1 Covid-19 cases

Texas cases: 889,513 with 6,620 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,786 – 106 Today
Dallas County cases: 96,048
Dallas County new cases: 589
Dallas County deaths: 1,205 – 4 today

Today’s Headlines

Texas is fixin’ to surpass California as the state with the most Covid-19 cases.

Texas will either today or tomorrow, surpass California as the state with the most Covid-19 cases. And California has roughly 30% more population than Texas.

October 20th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

63,654 New U.S. cases
23,690 New Brazil cases
16,319 Russia cases
54,422 New India cases
5,788 Mexico cases
3,744 New cases in California

Over 41 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.5 million
Over 63k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 41,040,619
Daily new cases: 393,053
Global deaths: 1,129,591 with 6,607 new deaths
Global recovered: 30,625,859
Mortality rate: 2.75%
Recovery rate: 74.62%

U.S. cases: 8,520,307
U.S. new cases: 63,654
U.S. deaths: 226,149
U.S. recovered: 5,545,619
U.S. Daily fatalities: 927

Texas cases: 882,893 with 5,816 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,680 – 81 Today
Dallas County cases: 95,459
Dallas County new cases: 510
Dallas County deaths: 1,201 – 7 today

Today’s Headlines

10 people have died after every resident of a Kansas nursing home got Covid-19

(CNN)Ten people living at a Kansas nursing home have died after an outbreak of Covid-19 infected every resident, according to a news release Monday from the Norton County Health Department.

All 62 residents at the privately owned Andbe Home in Norton have tested positive for the virus, the release states.

“Steps are being taken to prevent any further outbreak including quarantining residents in their rooms and not allowing outside visitors into the facility,” the release says, adding that relatives of all residents have been notified.

Some staff members have also tested positive, and the rest are being tested, the release states.

Nationwide, some 252,939 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported among nursing home residents, and more than 59,600 have died, federal data show. Nursing home workers also have contracted the disease, and some have died.

One resident of Andbe Home is hospitalized and the remaining 51 are being cared for at the facility, the health department said. Norton, near the Nebraska line, is about five hours’ drive west of Kansas City.

Covid-19 cases are climbing in more than half of US states

(CNN)Covid-19 numbers are once again climbing back up across the country, with more than half of US states reporting a rise in new infections in what experts say is the dreaded fall surge.

And there’s several factors that got the country here, one expert told CNN.

Among them are college and school reopenings, Dr. Tom Inglesby, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told CNN Monday night. But that’s not all.

“I think there’s some, what people might say, pandemic fatigue, in some places people not really following the advice, the public health guidance that’s out there — masking, or distancing, or telecommuting. There’s more people going back to large gatherings, family gatherings.”

And those gatherings will likely multiply as the holidays approach and more people transition indoors, where the virus can spread more easily.

Across the country, more than 8.2 million people have been infected with the virus since the start of the pandemic.

At least 12 states reported their highest seven-day average of daily cases Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, the nation’s seven-day average climbed to more than 56,000 cases — a level not seen in the past 12 weeks. And on Friday, the US reported the most new infections in a day since late July.

October 19th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

68,854 New U.S. cases
15,783 New Brazil cases
15,982 Russia cases
46,498 New India cases
3,699 Mexico cases
5,314 New cases in California

Over 40.6 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.4 million
Over 68k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 40,647,566
Daily new cases: 369,359
Global deaths: 1,122,984 with 4,663 new deaths
Global recovered: 30,352,918
Mortality rate: 2.76%
Recovery rate: 74.67%

U.S. cases: 8,456,653
U.S. new cases: 68,854
U.S. deaths: 225,222
U.S. recovered: 5,503,268
U.S. Daily fatalities: 448

Texas cases: 877,077 with 6,913 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,599 – 17 Today
Dallas County cases: 94,949
Dallas County new cases: 382
Dallas County deaths: 1,194 – 0 today

Today’s Headlines

Masks made Czech Republic the envy of Europe. Now they’ve blown it

(CNN) Inside the intensive care unit at Prague’s Na Bulovce Hospital some patients are hooked up to ventilators through tracheostomy tubes, others are lying face down, to help them breathe. The doctors and nurses don head-to-toe hazmat suits; as coronavirus cases surge in the Czech Republic, the country can’t afford to have health workers sidelined by the virus.

There are currently more new Covid-19 cases per million people recorded in the Czech Republic than in any other major country in the world. On Friday, more than 11,100 new cases were reported in a single day, a new record. In the first 17 days of October, more people have died of the virus in the Czech Republic than during the previous eight months of the epidemic combined.

The Czech Medical Chamber and the health minister have called on Czech doctors living abroad to return home to help fight the virus. Medical students and people with medical training have also been encouraged to come forward. More than 1,000 qualified nurses who’ve left the profession have offered to come back to help.

For now, the Na Bulovce hospital has enough beds for everyone. But it’s preparing for the worst.

“We have other back-up beds prepared in other departments in case the capacity exceeds our current possibilities,” said Dr. Hana Rohacova, the head doctor at the hospital’s infection disease clinic. This weekend, the government began setting up a temporary field hospital in Prague. Czech Health Minister Dr. Roman Prymula told CNN he expects the extra beds will be needed as soon as the end of this month.

It’s a stunning development. Less than two months ago, the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis boasted his country was among the “best in Covid.”

Italy’s second coronavirus wave feels different. Here’s why

[CNN] Italy recorded a record number of positive coronavirus tests for the fifth day running on October 18, but in a marked contrast to the ‘first wave’, the number of patients in intensive care remains relatively low. CNN’s Ben Wedeman reports from Naples.

Watch video

Fauci: Covid would have to be ‘really, really bad’ to implement a lockdown

(CNN)Despite the US seeing a rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths, Dr. Anthony Fauci says that things would have to get “really, really bad” for him to advocate for a national lockdown.

The US is averaging more than 55,000 new cases a day — up more than 60% since a mid-September dip — and experts say the country is in the midst of the dreaded fall surge. On Friday, the US reported the most infections in a single day since July. As of Saturday, more than 8.1 million cases of the virus had been reported in the US and 219,666 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

With all the previous and current measures to offset the spread of the virus, “the country is fatigued with restrictions,” said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during an interview on “60 Minutes” Sunday night.

“We want to use public health measures not to get in the way of opening the economy, but to being a safe gateway to opening the economy,” Fauci told CBS News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jonathan LaPook during the interview.

“So instead of having an opposition, open up the economy, get jobs back, or shut down. No, put shut down away and say ‘we’re going to use public health measures to help us safely get to where we want to go.’ “

Covid-19 vaccine company under investigation for misrepresenting its role in Operation Warp Speed

New York (CNN Business) California biotech company Vaxart, which is working on a Covid-19 vaccine, is under federalinvestigation and is being sued by a number of investors for allegedly exaggerating its involvement in the US government’s Operation Warp Speed program for developing Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.

Vaxart stated in an October 14 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it’s being investigated by the SEC and federal prosecutors, and that it was served with a grand jury subpoena in Julyfrom the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

In June, Vaxart (VXRT) issued a press release that said “Vaxart’s Covid-19 Vaccine Selected for the US Government’s Operation Warp Speed.” The news helped propel Vaxart’s stock price to nearly $17, up from approximately $3, and hedge fund Armistice Capital, which partly controlled Vaxart, sold shares for a profit of more than $200 million, according to its SEC filings.

A few weeks before the announcement, Vaxart granted amendments to the warrants agreements, which allowed Armistice to sell almost all of their stock, which they did once the stock price skyrocketed.

Covid-19: Italy tightens rules after coronavirus cases surge

[BBC] — A mask-wearing PM Giuseppe Conte said the measures were needed “to avoid a new lockdown”.

Mayors will get powers to close public areas after 21:00 and the opening times of restaurants and the size of groups allowed will tighten.

The moves came as Italy recorded its highest daily infection rate for the second day in a row.

Another 11,705 new cases were announced on Sunday, beating the previous record, which came a day earlier on Saturday, of 10,925.

Italy was the European nation hardest hit at the start of the pandemic. It has now recorded 414,000 confirmed coronavirus cases. Its 36,500 deaths place it second to only the UK in Europe.

The prime minister said in a televised address on Sunday evening: “We cannot waste time, we must put in place measures to avoid a generalised lockdown, which could severely compromise the economy.

“The government is here but everyone has to do their part.”

October 18th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

45,134 New U.S. cases
10,982 New Brazil cases
15,099 Russia cases
55,511 New India cases
4,119 Mexico cases
1,806 New cases in California

Over 40.2 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.3 million
Over 45k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 40,279,207
Daily new cases: 321,309
Global deaths: 1,118,321 with 3,694 new deaths
Global recovered: 30,112,204
Mortality rate: 2.78%
Recovery rate: 74.76%

U.S. cases: 8,387,799
U.S. new cases: 45,134
U.S. deaths: 224,730
U.S. recovered: 5,457,684
U.S. Daily fatalities: 448

Texas cases: 870,164 with 2,770 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,582 – 28 Today
Dallas County cases: 94,567
Dallas County new cases: 592
Dallas County deaths: 1,194 – 4 today

October 17th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

54,387 New U.S. cases
22,792 New Brazil cases
14,922 Russia cases
62,092 New India cases
5,447 Mexico cases
2,075 New cases in California

Over 39.9 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.3 million
Over 54k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 39,956,898
Daily new cases: 382,236
Global deaths: 1,114,627 with 5,529 new deaths
Global recovered: 29,884,788
Mortality rate: 2.79%
Recovery rate: 74.79%

U.S. cases: 8,342,665
U.S. new cases: 54,387
U.S. deaths: 224,282
U.S. recovered: 5,432,192
U.S. Daily fatalities: 927

Texas cases: 867,394 with 4,225 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,554 – 93 Today
Dallas County cases: 93,975
Dallas County new cases: 647
Dallas County deaths: 1,190 – 3 today

Today’s Headlines

Life as a Covid-19 Long-Termer

[ROLLING STONE] — On a damp and unseasonably cool late-March day in Southern California, Nicole Batenhorst looked around the triage tent and realized that getting a folding metal chair made her one of the lucky ones. She had just arrived at her local hospital in an ambulance after her heartbeat had become dangerously erratic, and was still wearing pajamas. The emergency room was full, so she was ushered into a triage tent set up outside, bursting with overflow patients desperate to get help and stay dry in a place with no available beds or blankets.

After about a half hour in the tent, she was given a bed inside when her heart rate dropped to 36 beats per minute. A doctor came to check on her, and almost immediately started crying. He told Batenhorst that he had to send her home because there were other patients who needed the bed more. “That was terrifying — seeing a male, middle-aged ER doctor cry like that,” says Batenhorst. “He also said that three people had died just since his shift started that morning. It was 10 a.m.”

…Now, seven months after her hospital visit and eight months after her symptoms began, Batenhorst is still debilitatingly ill. In this time, she has experienced shortness of breath, dizziness, intense headaches, severe gastrointestinal issues (causing her to lose a significant amount of weight), a consistent fever, extreme fatigue, brain fog, chest pain, arrhythmia, joint inflammation, and organ failure, among other complications. Batenhorst hasn’t left her home since her trip to the hospital in March, and hasn’t gotten an antibody test. But for a variety of reasons — including the test’s high rates of false negatives and the fact that it’s still unclear how long antibodies last after infection — the results wouldn’t necessarily clear things up.

We Just Got More Evidence Your Blood Type May Change COVID-19 Risk And Severity

Research is coalescing around the idea that people with Type O blood may have a slight advantage during this pandemic.

Two studies published this week suggest that people with Type O have a lower risk of getting the coronavirus, as well as a reduced likelihood of getting severely sick if they do get infected.

One of the new studies specifically found that COVID-19 patients with Type O or B blood spent less time in an intensive-care unit than their counterparts with Type A or AB. They were also less likely to require ventilation and less likely to experience kidney failure.

These new findings echo similar findings about Type O blood seen in previous research, creating a clearer picture of one particular coronavirus risk factor.

Patients with Type O or B blood had less severe COVID-19

Both new studies came out Wednesday in the journal Blood Advances. One looked at 95 critically ill COVID-19 patients at hospitals in Vancouver, Canada, between February and April.

They found that patients with Type O or B blood spent, on average, 4.5 fewer days in the intensive-care unit than those with Type A or AB blood. The latter group stayed, on average, 13.5 days in the ICU. The researchers did not see any link between blood type and the length of each patient’s total hospital stay, however.

They did, however, find that only 61 percent of the patients with Type O or B blood required a ventilator, compared to 84 percent of patients with Type A or AB.

October 16th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

71,963 New U.S. cases
30,574 New Brazil cases
15,150 Russia cases
65,126 New India cases
6,751 Mexico cases
3,107 New cases in California

Over 39.5 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.2 million
Over 71k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 39,574,662
Daily new cases: 404,179
Global deaths: 1,109,098 with 6,050 new deaths
Global recovered: 29,655,454
Mortality rate: 2.80%
Recovery rate: 74.94%

U.S. cases: 8,288,278
U.S. new cases: 71,963
U.S. deaths: 223,644
U.S. recovered: 5,395,401
U.S. Daily fatalities: 927

Texas cases: 863,169 with 6,067 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,491 – 98 Today
Dallas County cases: 93,328
Dallas County new cases: 480
Dallas County deaths: 1,187 – 3 today

Today’s Headlines

Covid: Remdesivir ‘has little or no effect’ on survival, says WHO

Anti-viral drug remdesivir has little to no effect on Covid patients’ chances of survival, a study from the World Health Organization (WHO) has found.

[BBC] — The WHO trial evaluated four potential medications for Covid-19, including remdesivir and hydroxychloroquine.

Remdesivir was among the first to be used to treat coronavirus, and was recently given to US President Donald Trump when he was in hospital.

The drug’s manufacturer Gilead rejected the findings of the trial.

In a statement, Gilead said the findings of the study were “inconsistent” with others, and that it was “concerned” that the results have yet to be reviewed.

Global new cases exceed 400,000 for the first time

[OBLIVIOTS] — Worldwide we added 426,000 new cases yesterday. Just think about that.

Think about the entire population of Tulsa Oklahoma being infected in ONE DAY.

Or Tampa Florida

Or Arlington Texas

In ONE DAY

The global daily new case numbers have been trending above 200,000 since July 7th, and in the 250,000 to 300,000+ range since the end of July. Our previous high day was Wednesday at 390k. Yesterday was a watershed moment with such a drastic increase.

U.S. cases have been trending dangerously upward in recent weeks as well. After weeks of reporting in the 40,000 range for daily cases, yesterday was 66,000+.

We are headed into very dangerous territory.

I’m not suggesting lockdowns. I think that is biting off your nose to spite your face. I just had someone point out the mortality rate is very low, which is apparently the big factor for a lot of people. That is actually true. In the U.S., we have maintained a daily mortality under 1,000 a day since September 24th. That’s great. But the mortality rate should not be the big deciding factor and we need to stop thinking that way. The infection rate should be the big concern.

Because:

We are accruing more and more “long haulers” – people who have “recovered” from Covid-19 but who, months later, are still battling debilitating consequences. And there is literally no end in sight for many of these previously healthy people. With NO contributing factors. Many are YOUNG. It is not just us Old Farts who are getting really sick. And it is not just people with underlying / contributing factors like obesity, heart conditions, diabetes, etc. LOTS of perfectly healthy people with no contributing factors are getting very sick. Some die. A growing number of others are becoming the “long haulers” as they like to call themselves. Their lives have changed, possibly forever. They cannot work to support themselves, they struggle to get enough oxygen. Previously active people with regular exercise routines are unable to even walk any distance, let alone do actual exercise.

The goal should not be to “survive” this disease, but to “avoid” it. It is also not unusual for people to be facing $100k in hospital bills if they survive this disease. So even if you think it’s “just the flu”, the expense alone should influence your behavior.

The reason we are looking at these kinds of high infection numbers (again) is sheer willful ignorance on the part of around 40% of the population. Worldwide. It’s not just the U.S. with large numbers of stupid, stubborn people. It is everywhere. And this is going to kill the global economy due to travel restrictions / quarantines, to say nothing of the loss of vital, healthy citizens.

If we could just get EVERYONE to mask the hell up and stay home (except for mandatory provisioning, etc.) for a few weeks, we could get a handle on this. But there are far too many imbeciles who hate being “told what to do” when this is “just the flu”.

Well, the virus HATES being disrespected and tends to go after those who do so.

This is NOT the flu. It simply is NOT even remotely true that “99% of people survive” (a popular mantra of the willfully ignorant). The current global mortality rate is 2.82%. That is 28 times the seasonal flu average.

Let’s all just make an attempt at being part of the solution and NOT part of the problem, OK?. Try thinking of your fellow travelers on this whirling ball for a change.

All this data is in the spreadsheet embedded above.

International New Cases

U.S. Daily Cases and Deaths:

Modern aircraft ventilation systems aren’t spreading viruses, DoD study suggests

(CNN) — A new study released Thursday suggests that people don’t need to worry about circulating air spreading coronavirus on airplanes.

The US Department of Defense study supports earlier research showing the ventilation systems on aircraft filter the air efficiently and take out particles that could transmit viruses.

The study, which was released without peer review, did not take into account other ways that people could catch the virus on aircraft — including from others coughing or breathing directly on them, from surfaces or from confined spaces such as restrooms.

The US Transportation Command, The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) and the Air Mobility Command used Boeing 777-200 and 767-300 aircraft loaded up with sensors meant to duplicate the effect of a fully loaded passenger flight.

October 15th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

66,282 New U.S. cases
29,498 New Brazil cases
13,754 Russia cases
60,439 New India cases
5,514 Mexico cases
3,010 New cases in California

Over 39.1 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1.1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.2million
Over 66k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 39,170,483
Daily new cases: 426,619 – ALL TIME HIGH
Global deaths: 1,102,926 with 6,050 new deaths
Global recovered: 29,378,708
Mortality rate: 2.82%
Recovery rate: 75.00%

U.S. cases: 8,216,315
U.S. new cases: 66,272
U.S. deaths: 222,717
U.S. recovered: 5,320,139
U.S. Daily fatalities: 874

Texas cases: 857,102 with 5,702 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,393 – 85 Today
Dallas County cases: 92,848
Dallas County new cases: 589
Dallas County deaths: 1,184 – 4 today

October 14th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

59,790 New U.S. cases
26,675 New Brazil cases
14,231 Russia cases
67,988 New India cases
4,056 Mexico cases
3,435 New cases in California

Over 38.7 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8.1million
Over 59k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 38,743,864
Daily new cases: 390,018 – ALL TIME HIGH
Global deaths: 1,096,876 with 5,384 new deaths
Global recovered: 29,123,526
Mortality rate: 2.83%
Recovery rate: 75.17%

U.S. cases: 8,150,043
U.S. new cases: 59,790
U.S. deaths: 221,843
U.S. recovered: 5,278,753
U.S. Daily fatalities: 970

Texas cases: 851,400 with 5,744 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,308 – 112 Today
Dallas County cases: 92,259
Dallas County new cases: 504
Dallas County deaths: 1,180 – 7 today

Today’s Headlines

Herd immunity is another word for mass murder

Herd immunity is another word for mass murder. That is exactly what it is,” Haseltine said on CNN’s “New Day” on Wednesday.

[CNN] Haseltine went on to say that if the virus is allowed to spread, as the Trump Administration is allegedly advocating, “we are looking at two to six million Americans dead – not just this year but every year.”

“This is an unmitigated disaster for our country – to have people at the highest levels of our government countermanding our best public health officials,” Haseltine said. “We know this epidemic can be put under control. Other countries have done it. We are doing the opposite.”

Fauci: I hope these coronavirus numbers jolt Americans

[CNN] Dr. Anthony Fauci tells CNN’s Jake Tapper that he hopes the dire number of coronavirus cases in the US serve as a wake-up call to Americans to stay vigilant and take protective measures against the virus.

Watch video

Dutch woman dies after catching Covid-19 twice

(CNN) An elderly Dutch woman has become the first known person to die from catching Covid-19 twice, according to experts, raising serious questions about how long immunity and antibodies can last.

The woman, 89, suffered from a rare type of bone marrow cancer called Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia. Her immune system was compromised due to the cell-depleting therapy she received, the researchers at Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands wrote in a paper accepted for publication in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

However, the researchers said her natural immune response could still have been “sufficient” to fight-off Covid-19, as the type of treatment she received for cancer “does not necessarily result in life threatening disease.”

The patient was initially admitted into hospital earlier this year with a severe cough and fever, testing positive for Covid-19.

She was discharged five days later when “besides some persisting fatigue her symptoms subsided completely,” according to the report.

But two days into chemotherapy treatment — 59 days after the start of the first Covid-19 episode — the woman developed fever, cough and difficulty breathing.

October 13th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

52,464 New U.S. cases
11,415 New Brazil cases
13,868 Russia cases
63,517 New India cases
4,295 Mexico cases
3,756 New cases in California

Over 38.3 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8 million
Over 52k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 38,353,846
Daily new cases: 313,783
Global deaths: 1,090,756 with 5,384 new deaths
Global recovered: 28,846,587
Mortality rate: 2.84%
Recovery rate: 75.21%

U.S. cases: 8,090,253
U.S. new cases: 52,464
U.S. deaths: 220,873
U.S. recovered: 5,226,427
U.S. Daily fatalities: 862

Texas cases: 845,656 with 6,087 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,196 – 98 Today
Dallas County cases: 91,755
Dallas County new cases: 638
Dallas County deaths: 1,173 – 4 today

Today’s Headlines

Johnson & Johnson pauses Covid-19 vaccine trial after ‘unexplained illness’

(CNN) Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson said Monday it has paused the advanced clinical trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine because of an unexplained illness in one of the volunteers.

“Following our guidelines, the participant’s illness is being reviewed and evaluated by the ENSEMBLE independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) as well as our internal clinical and safety physicians,” the company said in a statement. ENSEMBLE is the name of the study.

“Adverse events — illnesses, accidents, etc. — even those that are serious, are an expected part of any clinical study, especially large studies.” The pause was first reported by Stat News.

Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine arm is developing the shot. The company did not say what the unexplained illness was, but one point of clinical trials is to find out if vaccines cause dangerous side effects. Trials are stopped when they pop up while doctors check to see if the illness can be linked to the vaccine or is a coincidence.

The Pandemic Has Claimed Far More Lives Than Reported, Study Says

[NBC DFW] Far more Americans have died as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic than have been counted and reported, according to new research published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“For every two Americans that we know of who are dying of COVID-19, another American is dying,” said Dr. Steven Woolf, author of the new research and director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University.

October 12th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

45,791 New U.S. cases
8,429 New Brazil cases
13,592 Russia cases
54,265 New India cases
3,542 Mexico cases
2,979 New cases in California

Over 38 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 8 million
Over 45k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 38,040,063
Daily new cases: 272,832
Global deaths: 1,081,419 with 3,924 new deaths
Global recovered: 28,347,260
Mortality rate: 2.87%
Recovery rate: 75.11%

U.S. cases: 8,037,789
U.S. new cases: 45,791
U.S. deaths: 220,011
U.S. recovered: 5,184,615
U.S. Daily fatalities: 316

Texas cases: 839,569 with 3,737 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,098 – 15 Today
Dallas County cases: 91,117
Dallas County new cases: 330
Dallas County deaths: 1,169 – 0 today

Today’s Headlines

Thousands signing up to be deliberately exposed to Covid-19

London (CNN)As most of us obsess with avoiding Covid-19 at all costs, a rapidly growing group of people around the world say they are prepared to deliberately take on the virus.

Tens of thousands of people have signed up to a campaign by a group called 1 Day Sooner to take an experimental vaccine candidate and then face coronavirus in a controlled setting.

Among them is Estefania Hidalgo, 32, a photography student in Bristol, England, who works at a gas station to pay the bills.

“I do night shifts there, and it can be very lonely,” she recalled on a sunny day near her home. Passing those long lockdown hours with just podcasts to keep her company, she describes discovering the challenge trial movement — and hearing volunteers’ motivations — as a revelatory moment.

“I was shaken,” she said. “No one should be left behind. Old people, poor people, people of color. Everyone just deserves to be healthy.”

“This was a way for me to take back control of the situation, to feel like I was in a less hopeless place, and a less hopeless world, and be like, OK, I can do this. To make it better, I chose not to be in fear.”

So-called human challenge trials, while sometimes controversial, are nothing new. They have been used for cholera, typhoid, malaria, and even the common cold. But unlike for those diseases, we do not yet have a completely effective treatment for Covid-19, should the experimental vaccine fail.

China to test 9 million people as coronavirus cluster detected in city of Qingdao

Hong Kong (CNN) The Chinese port city of Qingdao plans to test some nine million people in the coming five days, after 12 locally-transmitted coronavirus cases were reported sparking concerns of a wider outbreak.

China has been largely coronavirus free since mid-August, with all cases reported by the country imported from elsewhere. But as of October 11, Qingdao has reported a dozen locally transmitted cases, all of which have been linked to a hospital treating imported infections, the city’s Municipal Health Commission said in a statement Monday.

Mass testing has already been carried out at the Qingdao Chest Hospital, which has been placed on lockdown, with 114,862 people, staff and patients, having tested negative as of Monday.

Testing will now be rolled out citywide for the entire population of nine million, repeating the type of mass response previously seen in Beijing and other cities across China where clusters of infections have been detected.

Those responses have been successful in keeping China’s overall infection rate low since the country’s initial outbreak was suppressed in March. That has enabled life to return to relative normality, with more than 600 million tourists traveling this month for Golden Week, a national holiday around the Mid-Autumn Festival.

October 11th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

46,493 New U.S. cases
3,139 New Brazil cases
13,634 Russia cases
67,757 New India cases
3,175 Mexico cases
2,723 New cases in California

Over 37.7 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 7.9 million
Over 46k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 37,740,724
Daily new cases: 272,832
Global deaths: 1,081,419 with 3,924 new deaths
Global recovered: 28,347,260
Mortality rate: 2.87%
Recovery rate: 75.11%

U.S. cases: 7,945,505
U.S. new cases: 51,027
U.S. deaths: 219,282
U.S. recovered: 5,128,162
U.S. Daily fatalities: 413

Texas cases: 835,832 with 2,904 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,083 – 28 Today
Dallas County cases: 90,787
Dallas County new cases: 433
Dallas County deaths: 1,169 – 2 today

October 10th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

51,027 New U.S. cases
34,650 New Brazil cases
12,846 Russia cases
74,535 New India cases
4,577 Mexico cases
3,114 New cases in California

Over 37.4 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 7.9 million
Over 51k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 37,467,892
Daily new cases: 356,905
Global deaths: 1,077,495 with 4,783 new deaths
Global recovered: 28,112,547
Mortality rate: 2.88%
Recovery rate: 75.03%

U.S. cases: 7,945,505
U.S. new cases: 51,027
U.S. deaths: 219,282
U.S. recovered: 5,089,842
U.S. Daily fatalities: 634

Texas cases: 832,928 with 3,475 new cases
Texas deaths: 17,055 – 63 Today
Dallas County cases: 90,354
Dallas County new cases: 492
Dallas County deaths: 1,167 – 2 today

Today’s Headlines

Tool’s Maynard Keenan Suffering From Lung Damage due to Covid-19

[LOUDWIRE] Keenan got COVID-19 in late February, before the pandemic was officially declared. “I kind of didn’t want to run around screaming it. But it’s real. And there’s after-effects,” Keenan shared with AZ Central. “I had to go through some major medications to undo the residual effects. Still coughing. There’s still lung damage.”

When asked if he’s currently feeling alright, Keenan answered, “Well no. I still have the cough. Every other day, I have these coughing fits because my lungs are still damaged at the tips. And I just got over the inflammation that was going on with my wrist and hands. I had an autoimmune attack on my system in the form of, like, a rheumatoid arthritis. Basically, from what I understand, it attacks weird spots and it’s random. So that’s what I got. That was my prize.”

Several regions sound alarm as US reports most Covid-19 daily cases in nearly 2 months

[OBLIVIOTS] Just as I was preparing an update on this topic, the following article came up in my newsfeed.

Just to illustrate what a piss poor job Americans are doing of limiting this virus expansion. Yesterday we added another 60,000+ new cases. As you can see from this graph, the last time we had that many new cases in a day was August 14th. We were improving. Then a lot of Murkins decided they were “over it”. Well kiddies, the virus is tireless. And our piss poor excuse for leadership at most levels is in denial. They are focusing on “getting the economy going” without imagining the long-term consequences of this action. Sure, we will get people back to work and schools open. And then all hell will break loose because this virus is not going to take a vacation. Ever. It is relentless. And the long-term effects, even on people who were never hospitalized, is proving to be daunting at best. You need to consider the growing number of “long haulers” that have what may very well turn out to be lifetime disability due to the ravages of Covid-19 on numerous body systems and organs.

To keep banging the same damned drum…

You are either part of the solution or part of the problem.

Read CNN’s report this morning:

(CNN) Just as the US reported the highest number of daily Covid-19 infections in nearly two months, several experts offered grim outlooks if Americans don’t take the right precautions.

Florida, which over the summer became the country’s hotspot, is “ripe for another large outbreak,” an infectious disease expert told CNN.

Late last month, the state cleared the way for bars and restaurants to fully reopen and this week reported more than 6,000 cases over a two day-period.

“What they’ve done is opened up everything as if nothing had ever happened there and you and I could be talking probably in eight to 10 weeks, and I will likely bet that Florida will be a house on fire,” Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNN Friday.

White House Coronavirus Task Force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx also cautioned Friday of “early suggestions” of alarming trends in the Northeast, urging residents to take action and help prevent the spread before the virus takes off again.

“The actions this time have to happen at the personal level, in our private homes, rather than just the public spaces,” she said.

October 9th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

60,715 New U.S. cases
27,651 New Brazil cases
12,126 Russia cases
73,196 New India cases
5,263 Mexico cases
3,785 New cases in California

Over 37.1 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 7.8 million
Over 60k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 37,110,987
Daily new cases: 359,485
Global deaths: 1,072,712 with 5,856 new deaths
Global recovered: 27,897,001
Mortality rate: 2.89%
Recovery rate: 75.17%

U.S. cases: 7,894,478
U.S. new cases: 60,715
U.S. deaths: 218,648
U.S. recovered: 5,064,300
U.S. Daily fatalities: 910

Texas cases: 829,453 with 4,641 new cases
Texas deaths: 16,992 – 106 Today
Dallas County cases: 89,862
Dallas County new cases: 448
Dallas County deaths: 1,165 – 4 today

Today’s Headlines

Ontario faces ‘runaway train’ of COVID-19 cases if families don’t scrap Thanksgiving gatherings

[CBC] Ontario could be “on the brink of disaster,” a Toronto epidemiologist said Wednesday, as officials continued to urge families to scrap Thanksgiving gatherings amid soaring COVID-19 cases.

This week, the province — and public health officials in the hot zones of Toronto and Ottawa — stressed the safest way to celebrate is with only members of your own household.

Should Ontarians not heed those warnings, some weekend gatherings could become superspreading events once infected attendees return to their homes, schools and workplaces, said Dr. Jeff Kwong, a professor of family medicine and public health at the University of Toronto.

“It’s not just about this one transmission event; it’s the onward transmission,” he said. “Ten people gathering, say four or five get infected, then they go on to their social circles and infect another five or 10, and so on.”

The result could be like a “runaway train” given the millions of residents potentially congregating indoors with extended family members from different households, he said.

Rexburg emerges as national hotspot for COVID-19 cases

[REXBURG IDAHO] Rexburg has reached the New York Times’ number one rank for cities with rising active COVID-19 cases within the last two weeks.

According to data compiled by the New York Times, Rexburg has had 766 recent cases with a population of 53,006. This places the city at 100.3 daily cases per 100k, ranking it number one on the Times’ list of metro areas with the greatest number of new cases relative to their population.

Eastern Idaho Public Health reported as of Oct. 6, Madison County has 266 active cases, the most out of any county EIPH tracks. Per 10k cases, 66.7 are active.

Rexburg Mayor Jerry Merrill said during a Facebook Live video the city will start a new initiative that asks businesses to be more aggressive about notifying people that masks are required to enter their business.

“We’re going to ask all of our businesses to cooperate with us in that so that we can get more of a culture of wearing the masks when we’re out in public.”

Businesses will also be asked to be more thorough about sanitation, Merrill said.

He said most people in the city are recovering. EIPH has reported two deaths in Madison County due to COVID-19 as of Oct. 6.

October 8th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

57,539 New U.S. cases
27,182 New Brazil cases
11,493 Russia cases
70,824 New India cases
5,300 Mexico cases
3,617 New cases in California

Over 36.7 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 7.8 million
Over 57k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 36,751,502
Daily new cases: 364,397 – ALL TIME HIGH
Global deaths: 1,066,856 with 6,438 new deaths
Global recovered: 27,664,655
Mortality rate: 2.90%
Recovery rate: 75.27%

U.S. cases: 7,833,763
U.S. new cases: 57,539
U.S. deaths: 217,738
U.S. recovered: 5,025,193
U.S. Daily fatalities: 954

Texas cases: 824,812 with 4,820 new cases
Texas deaths: 16,886 – 103 Today
Dallas County cases: 89,414
Dallas County new cases: 238
Dallas County deaths: 1,161 – 2 today

Today’s Headlines

Is Texas getting it right with their Covid-19 response?

[OBLIVIOTS] I’ve just spent the last hour assembling this so y’all can see what has actually been going on in Texas relative to our Covid-19 growth and responses.

This starts with the beginning of publicly available reported data.

If you want to read all the details, Wikipedia has a very thorough article here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Texas

Just to inform everyone who says we should be easing restrictions and that we are doing well in this slow-motion disaster…

this graph illustrates the number of new cases per day over time all the way up to yesterday’s addition of 5,669 new cases. While it is true our deaths per day are fairly low overall, Texas makes up a higher percentage than it should of fatalities per day across the U.S. based on per capita deaths.

For example:

The U.S. reported a total of 962 fatalities yesterday, out of which, Texas contributed 119. or 12.3%

Texas currently comprises 9.03% of the population.

832 deaths in one day is our all time high, reported on August 21st. The current 7 day average is in the low 90s – so on a per capita basis you could say we are about average.

At our peak on August 4th, our 7 day average was 276 fatalities per day.

But this is not as important a factor as many, if not most would like to hang their hat on.

The big factor is the long-term health impact on those who have “survived” hospitalization for Covid-19. We have a lot of growing data documenting long term medical problems that are not abating over time. These people are calling themselves long haulers and there is copious data on this issue.

So let’s all be careful out there, OK?

#MASKUP

#BePartOfTheSolution

#CoronavirusLife

October 7th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

53,478 New U.S. cases
31,404 New Brazil cases
11,115 Russia cases
78,809 New India cases
4,580 Mexico cases
3,445 New cases in California

Over 36.3 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 7.7 million
Over 53k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 36,386,805
Daily new cases: 345,022
Global deaths: 1,060,418 with 5,814 new deaths
Global recovered: 27,407,224
Mortality rate: 2.91%
Recovery rate: 75.32%

U.S. cases: 7,776,224
U.S. new cases: 53,478
U.S. deaths: 216,784
U.S. recovered: 4,983,380
U.S. Daily fatalities: 962

Texas cases: 819,992 with 5,669 new cases
Texas deaths: 16,783 – 119 Today
Dallas County cases: 89,176
Dallas County new cases: 222
Dallas County deaths: 1,159 – 5 today

Today’s Headlines

Trump mounts bizarre and misleading White House return despite warnings

(CNN) A strongly medicated President Donald Trump bolted from his VIP hospital bubble Monday, staging a bizarre White House comeback that included an irresponsible mask removal and a reckless pronouncement there is nothing to fear from Covid-19, which has already killed 210,000 Americans.

His actions show him, if anything, entrenched deeper in denial over the virus than ever before and more committed to trashing scientific protocols that could slow the pandemic.

“We’re going back. We’re going back to work. We’re gonna be out front. As your leader I had to do that. I knew there’s danger to it but I had to do it,” Trump says in a strange campaign video whipped up by aides within an hour of his return to the White House, in which the President framed himself as a warrior who took on the virus and won.

“I stood out front. I led. Nobody that’s a leader would not do what I did. I know there’s a risk, there’s a danger,” Trump said, despite his doctors earlier saying he is still not fully “out of the woods” in his fight with the virus.

October 6th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

43,102 New U.S. cases
30,454 New Brazil cases
11,615 Russia cases
72,106 New India cases
32,943 Mexico cases
2,734 New cases in California

Over 36 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 7.7 million
Over 43k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 36,041,783
Daily new cases: 343,521
Global deaths: 1,054,604 with 8,662 new deaths
Global recovered: 27,145,526
Mortality rate: 2.93%
Recovery rate: 75.32%

U.S. cases: 7,722,746
U.S. new cases: 43,102
U.S. deaths: 215,822
U.S. recovered: 4,935,545
U.S. Daily fatalities: 790

Texas cases: 814,323 with 4,763 new cases
Texas deaths: 16,664 – 100 Today
Dallas County cases: 88,954
Dallas County new cases: 316
Dallas County deaths: 1,154 – 5 today

Today’s Headlines

Trump mounts bizarre and misleading White House return despite warnings

His actions show him, if anything, entrenched deeper in denial over the virus than ever before and more committed to trashing scientific protocols that could slow the pandemic.

CDC guidelines update on risk of airborne transmission – coronavirus can infect people more than 6 feet away

[USA Today] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its website to warn that the coronavirus can spread through the air, something public health experts have been warning about for months but went unacknowledged by the agency until Monday.

The CDC says people can be exposed to the virus in small droplets and particles that can linger in the air for minutes to hours, potentially infecting people who are farther than 6 feet away and even people who come into the area after an infected person has left.

“There is evidence that under certain conditions, people with COVID-19 seem to have infected others who were more than 6 feet away,” the CDC says on its website.

The CDC’s previous guidance said the virus spreads primarily among people who are in close contact with one another – within about 6 feet – through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks. The current guidance says that’s still the greatest risk.

October 5th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

42,732 New U.S. cases
25,210 New Brazil cases
10,888 Russia cases
59,893 New India cases
0 Mexico cases
3,123 New cases in California

Over 35.6 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 7.6 million
Over 42k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 35,698,262
Daily new cases: 301,783
Global deaths: 1,045,942 with 4,142 new deaths
Global recovered: 26,866,678
Mortality rate: 2.93%
Recovery rate: 75.26%

U.S. cases: 7,679,644
U.S. new cases: 42,732
U.S. deaths: 215,032
U.S. recovered: 4,895,078
U.S. Daily fatalities: 421

Texas cases: 809,560 with 4,075 new cases
Texas deaths: 16,564 – 59 Today
Dallas County cases: 88,638
Dallas County new cases: 450
Dallas County deaths: 1,149 – 1 today

Today’s Headlines

Countries across Europe set grim Covid-19 records as restrictions are reimposed

London (CNN)As Europe transitions from summer into fall, countries that claimed to have the coronavirus under control are once again seeing a surge in infections. The United Kingdom, which has the biggest death toll on the continent, reported 12,872 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, more than double the country’s most recent seven-day rolling average, according to official figures.

Although the UK government blamed the spike on a “technical issue” where previously unreported infections from the past week had been added to the total, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Sunday: “This could be a very tough winter for all of us.

“It’s gonna continue to be bumpy through to Christmas,” Johnson told the BBC’s Andrew Marr. “It may even be bumpy beyond,” he said. According to the British government, the UK so far has a total of 480,017 recorded Covid-19 cases and 42,317 deaths.

Other countries have been setting grim records: Europe’s death rate has been rising, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said Thursday in its weekly report.

In France, the national health agency recorded a daily record on Saturday, with 16,972 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, surpassing last week’s record of 16,096. On Thursday, heath minister Olivier Véran warned that Paris is in danger of returning to lockdown as soon as Monday, after the government said the situation was worsening in the capital.

October 4th #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

36,066 New U.S. cases
8,456 New Brazil cases
10,499 Russia cases
76,767 New India cases
3,712 Mexico cases
3,104 New cases in California

Over 35.3 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 7.6 million
Over 36k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 35,396,479
Daily new cases: 263,916
Global deaths: 1,041,800 with 3,839 new deaths
Global recovered: 26,619,926
Mortality rate: 2.94%
Recovery rate: 74.21%

U.S. cases: 7,636,912
U.S. new cases: 36,066
U.S. deaths: 214,611
U.S. recovered: 4,849,038
U.S. Daily fatalities: 334

Texas cases: 805,485 with 3,305 new cases
Texas deaths: 16,505 – 25 Today
Dallas County cases: 88,188
Dallas County new cases: 976
Dallas County deaths: 1,148 – 4 today

Today’s Headlines

Trump’s alternate reality of Covid-19 crumbles as the White House obfuscates

CNN) Some seven months into a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans, the nation is now facing a grave governing crisis with its commander in chief hospitalized — his condition hinging on his progress over the coming days –as the White House events of the past week serve as a textbook example of how not to handle a deadly virus.

Late Saturday night, the public learned new details about why President Donald Trump was airlifted to the hospital Friday, when chief of staff Mark Meadows said during an interview with Fox News that Trump had a fever on Friday morning and his oxygen level had”dropped rapidly.” Meadows added that Trump has made “unbelievable improvements from yesterday morning.”

A memo from Trump’s physician earlier Saturday night said that Trump had “made substantial progress” since his diagnosis but “is not yet out of the woods.”

Speaking from a White House that already has a huge credibility problem with the public, Meadows’ statement capped a 24-hour period that served as a master class in opacity and contradiction that raised major questions about the President’s health — and renewed questions about this administration’s ability to tell the truth.

The President became furious at Meadows earlier in the day, according to reporting Saturday night by the New York Times, when the chief of staff gave a statement to the press pool as an unnamed official stating that the President’s vitals Friday were “very concerning,” hinting that his condition was more worrisome than his doctors let on.

For much of this year, Trump has spun an alternate reality about the dangers of coronavirus — disputing science and the efficacy of masks, downplaying the risks to the American people, and making false statements about how 99% of coronavirus cases in America are “totally harmless” or that the virus “affects virtually nobody.”

He encouraged his aides and advisers to live in that dangerous fantasy land, pushing his luck to the limits as late as this past week when he again recklessly gathered thousands of unmasked Americans at his political rallies and packed the top officials in government into a Rose Garden ceremony for his Supreme Court nominee. All the while, White House officials embraced the fallacy that administering rapid coronavirus tests frequently at the White House could provide a shield of immunity.

The President’s construct crumbled Friday when he was airlifted to Walter Reed after contracting the virus, while many aides, advisers and allies were testing positive for Covid-19 after interacting with him over the past week.

October 3-4, 2020 Covid-19 Trend Analysis

[OBLIVIOTS] — With two major EU cities going back into lockdown after massive new case spikes, it should be obvious to even the most casual observer, that we are losing the battle with Coronavirus on all fronts. Madrid and Paris both announced this week that they are going back into lockdown due to large new case spikes and hospital resource usage. (see articles below)

Russia was doing very well for an extended stretch (if you believe their data — I don’t). But for a long time they were reporting 5,000-6,000 (under 6,000) cases per day. This was after a startling spike of 11,000 cases per day during their peak in early May. They started bringing it down in mid-May. This trend continued in the 8k-10- per day range until is broke the 8k barrier on June 17th. Their trend continued down until it broke through the 6k barrier a month later. From mid July until September 19th, Russia continued to report daily new cases in the 4.8k to 5.9k range. Then they headed in the wrong direction. Starting on September 19th, they have been slowly reporting more cases every day. In the last week it has gone from the mid 7k range until today, October 4th, where for the first time since May, they broke the 10k barrier. Today’s new case count for Russia is 10,499. Russia, along with most of the EU, seems to have completely lost control. If you look at the Global new case graphs, you will see the trend.

India and Brazil, the two big trouble spots worldwide, are actually trending down in recent weeks. This is a good sign, As India was trending just below 100k new cases a day for some time. And Brazil was over 60k at one point.

The charts below are comparison data ending October 2, 2020. As you can see, we are nowhere near coming to grips with this deadly pandemic. While U.S. daily fatalities are definitely down, new cases are once again on the upswing. Over two dozen states are reporting much higher daily / weekly new cases, and of course our president and first lady + a growing number their closest associates have tested positive. And new cases are coming to light with each passing day. All of this because our poor excuse for “leadership” creates events like the SCOTUS announcement in the recently gutted rose garden with no social distancing or mask wearing. This is the very definition of irresponsibility.

Worldwide, the virus continues its inexorable march to ever higher numbers and if you look at the global daily case graphs, you will note the steady increase. We are currently adding one million new cases every 3-4 days. If this is hard to conceptualize, consider this. Putting this in perspective, it is as if the entire city of Dallas, Texas was infected every 4 days.

Or the following entire cities infected every 3 days:

San Jose, California
Indianapolis, Indiana
Jacksonville, Florida
San Francisco, California
Austin, Texas

Get it?

In the United States, we are now averaging between 40,000 and 60,000 new cases every day. So consider these figures.

This is as if every single living person in each of these cities became infected every WEEK:

Garland, Texas
Scottsdale, Arizona
Irving, Texas
Fremont, California
Birmingham, Alabama
Rochester, New York
San Bernadino, California
Spokane, Washington
Richmond, Virginia
Des Moines, Iowa
Modesto, California

This will continue to get WORSE, rather than better until we ALL get it together and ALWAYS wear a mask and socially distance. At ALL TIMES. This virus is not going away just because we are all “over it”. This virus is here to stay. A vaccine is a year away. Maybe more. Count on that. Act appropriately. I must have said the following a thousand times in my life.

For the one thousand and first time:

In ALL THINGS

You are either PART OF THE SOLUTION

or PART OF THE PROBLEM

How do you want to be remembered?

Because history will judge you harshly if you are part of the problem.

Your children will judge you harshly if you are part of the problem.

Your grandchildren will judge you harshly if you are part of the problem.

(if they survive)

Or if you ARE the problem.

So peruse these graphs. All of the data is in the spreadsheet embedded above.

The 3rd sheet in the spreadsheet calculates the per capita case and fatality percentages for the high growth countries.

You should go look at that, because the U.S. is one of the top 5 worst performers. As of yesterday we are 2.28% cases per capita and .06% deaths per capita.

The only countries with a worse case per capita record are Peru at 2.49% and Israel at 2.99% (recently dropped the ball on this virus)

So the U.S. is number 3 for highest per capita case load.

Fatalities? A lot of people get excited about how we “only” have 200,000+ fatalities. How cavalier…

At .06% fatalities per capita, the U.S. is the same as Mexico, UK and Italy.

The only countries higher are:

Brazil, Spain and Chile at .07%
Belgium at .09%
Peru at .10%

All of this can be dropped directly on the Resolute Desk where our president sat and ignored this problem as the virus raged from sea to shining sea unchecked for two months.

But then the rest of the blame in on you and me.

What are you doing to make this better?

or worse?

I’m not even bothering to discuss Texas today. Our useless excuse for a governor (Governor Greg AbbottAndCostello) makes me nauseous. As our cases continue higher, he opens up more of Texas.

U.S. Covid-19 High Growth States Comparison

U.S. Daily Cases / Fatalities

Covid-19 Global Daily Cases / Fatalities

Global Covid-19 comparison data ending October 2, 2020

Covid-19 Global High Growth Countries

October 3rd #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

51,523 New U.S. cases
24,602 New Brazil cases
9,859 Russia cases
75,479 New India cases
4,863 Mexico cases
3,054 New cases in California

Over 35.1 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 7.6 million
Over 51k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 35,123,563
Daily new cases: 352,549
Global deaths: 1,037,961 with 4,735 new deaths
Global recovered: 26,033,601
Mortality rate: 2.95%
Recovery rate: 74.10%

U.S. cases: 7,600,846
U.S. new cases: 51,523
U.S. deaths: 214,277
U.S. recovered: 4,818,509
U.S. Daily fatalities: 864

Texas cases: 802,180 with 5,036 new cases
Texas deaths: 16,480 – 135 Today
Dallas County cases: 87,212
Dallas County new cases: 712
Dallas County deaths: 1,144 – 5 today

October 2nd #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

54,652 New U.S. cases
33,002 New Brazil cases
9,412 Russia cases
79,974 New India cases
4,775 Mexico cases
3,997 New cases in California

Over 34.8 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 7.5 million
Over 54k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 34,828,807
Daily new cases: 352,549
Global deaths: 1,033,226 with 5,595 new deaths
Global recovered: 25,889,974
Mortality rate: 2.97%
Recovery rate: 74.35%

U.S. cases: 7,549,323
U.S. new cases: 54,652
U.S. deaths: 213,524
U.S. recovered: 4,776,824
U.S. Daily fatalities: 864

Texas cases: 797,144 with 6,677 new cases
Texas deaths: 16,345 – 94 Today
Dallas County cases: 86,500
Dallas County new cases: 0 – NO data from Dallas Today
Dallas County deaths: 1,139 – 6 today

Today’s Headlines

Paris at risk of total lockdown as Europe cases rise

(CNN)Paris is in danger of going back into lockdown next week after the French government said the coronavirus pandemic was worsening in the capital.

“Since yesterday, in the last 24 hours, Paris has passed the threshold that would put it in the maximum alert category,” French minister of Health Olivier Véran said Thursday evening.

France’s “maximum alert” threshold is reached when the incidence rate reaches 250 per 100,000 people, at least 30% of intensive care beds are occupied by coronavirus patients, and the rate among the elderly passes 100 per 100,000.

The Paris region had already fulfilled the last two criteria.

Speaking from Bichat-Claude Bernard hospital in the city, Véran said that if the “evolution” was confirmed in the coming days, “we will not have any choice but to place Paris and its closest suburbs in maximum alert category as soon as Monday.”

“We will re-examine indicators on Sunday, with the Paris mayor and elected officials,” he added.

Aurelien Rousseau, head of the Paris region health authority, told radio station France Inter on Wednesday that 34% of intensive care beds were occupied by Covid-19 patients in the region and the incidence rate for people over 65 was more than 100 per 100,000 inhabitants.

He said the rate was also very high for people between the ages of 20 and 30, at 450 cases per 100,000 people.

POTUS, FLOTUS test positive for Covid-19

[OBLIVIOTS] It certainly is nice to see my favorite twin sisters Irony and Karma have been busy this week.

The irony of this headline is palpable. Donald Trump, after 7 months of denial, minimizing, downplaying and outright lying about a virus that has to date killed over one million people, finally contracts the “Kung Fu Flu” himself. Will this become a national holiday? It should. The POTUS FLOTUS Flu day. I think that would be downright poetic.

Today’s headlines on Every.Single.News.Outlet are shouting this fabulously good news from the rooftops. “Trump has Covid” is on everyone’s lips. Let us all send good thoughts to the universe for a speedy and miserable ICU / ventilator experience for our bloviating bad boy in quarantine. Our pestilent world “leader” has continuously flouted mask wearing, made fun of Joe Biden for intelligently and responsibly wearing masks, and generally set a very bad example for the entire country. Now he gets exactly what he deserves. In fact, it is astounding he has not come down with the “Wuhan Flu” sooner. I have commented about this for months. And finally… Our patience is rewarded with a Twofer! Both Donnie Dipshit and Melanoma (did I get that right?) have now come down with Covid. We need to savor this moment. It is truly delicious.

(CNN) President Donald Trump announced early Friday that he and his wife both tested positive for the coronavirus, an extraordinary development coming months into a global pandemic and in the final stretch of his reelection campaign in which he has flouted experts’ guidance on preventing the disease’s spread.

The diagnosis amounts to the most serious known health threat to a sitting American president in decades. At 74 years old and obese, Trump falls into the highest risk category for serious complications from the disease, which has killed more than 200,000 Americans and more than 1 million people worldwide.

His infection with the disease could prove destabilizing in an already fraught political climate, and stock market futures tumbled on news of Trump’s infection.

October 1st #COVID19 Status

Highest Growth Zones:

47,389 New U.S. cases
35,643 New Brazil cases
8,945 Russia cases
81,673 New India cases
5,099 Mexico cases
3,169 New cases in California

Over 34.4 million Global cases
Global Deaths topped 1 Million
U.S. Cases topped 7.4 million
Over 47k new U.S. cases

Details, Details, Details…:

Global cases: 34,476,258
Daily new cases: 321,622
Global deaths: 1,027,631 with 8,862 new deaths
Global recovered: 25,666,466
Mortality rate: 2.98%
Recovery rate: 74.45%

U.S. cases: 7,494,671
U.S. new cases: 47,389
U.S. deaths: 212,660
U.S. recovered: 4,736,621
U.S. Daily fatalities: 920

Texas cases: 790,467 with 3,196 new cases
Texas deaths: 16,251 – 119 Today
Dallas County cases: 86,500
Dallas County new cases: 0 – NO data from Dallas Today
Dallas County deaths: 1,133 – 0 today

Today’s Headlines

Madrid locks back down as European leaders sound alarm on Covid-19 surges

(CNN) Madrid is going back under city-wide lockdown measures after a surge in coronavirus cases in the Spanish capital, in a dramatic move that illustrates the growing intensity of Europe’s battle against a snowballing surge of infection.

People will not be able to leave or enter their area except for work, education or health reasons, gatherings will be limited to six people and stores, bars and restaurants will have to reduce capacity by 50% and close by 10 p.m.

“Madrid is special because the health of Madrid is the health of Spain,” Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa told a news conference Wednesday as he announced the measures, calling the situation “complex” and “worrying.”

The restrictions will apply to municipalities with more than 500 cases per 100,000 people in the past 14 days, where the number of positive cases surpasses 10% of all diagnostic tests or where Covid-19 patients make up more than 35% of occupied ICU beds.

New document reveals scope and structure of Operation Warp Speed

WASHINGTON — When President Trump unveiled Operation Warp Speed in May, he declared that it was “unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project.”

The initiative — to accelerate the development of Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics — lacks the scale, and the degree of secrecy, of the effort to build the atomic bomb. But Operation Warp Speed is largely an abstraction in Washington, with little known about who works there other than its top leaders, or how it operates. Even pharmaceutical companies hoping to offer help or partnerships have labored to figure out who to contact.

Now, an organizational chart of the $10 billion initiative, obtained by STAT, reveals the fullest picture yet of Operation Warp Speed: a highly structured organization in which military personnel vastly outnumber civilian scientists.

The labyrinthine chart, dated July 30, shows that roughly 60 military officials — including at least four generals — are involved in the leadership of Operation Warp Speed, many of whom have never worked in health care or vaccine development. Just 29 of the roughly 90 leaders on the chart aren’t employed by the Department of Defense; most of them work for the Department of Health and Human Services and its subagencies.

Operation Warp Speed’s central goal is to develop, produce, and distribute 300 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by January — and the military is intimately involved, according to Paul Mango, HHS’ deputy chief of staff for policy. It has already helped prop up more than two dozen vaccine manufacturing facilities — flying in equipment and raw materials from all over the world. It has also set up significant cybersecurity and physical security operations to ensure an eventual vaccine is guarded very closely from “state actors who don’t want us to be successful in this,” he said, adding that many of the Warp Speed discussions take place in protected rooms used to discuss classified information.

Operation Warp Speed chart