Molnupiravir stops COVID-19 transmission: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/361060 . Molnupiravir was originally developed for the flu. The available data for COVID-19 transmission is based on ferrets. If replicated in humans, this is a complete game-changer in COVID-19 treatment and suppression. (Treatment is affected because it could be used in hospitals to prevent transmission.)
Note how incredibly useful this would be if we had effective contact tracing. More: https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/vaccines/molnupiravir-mk-4482eidd-2801-antiviral . There is no truth to the rumor that you can only get Molnupiravir if you can pronounce it.
Vaccine distribution, cost Q&A: https://www.cnet.com/health/covid-19-vaccine-what-to-know-about-hidden-costs-when-youll-get-it-more/ .
Chief vaccine adviser thinks protection will last for years: https://www.boston.com/news/coronavirus/2020/12/06/chief-adviser-of-vaccine-development-thinks-shots-will-be-long-lasting .
Some California sheriffs push back on lockdown enforcement: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/california-faces-strict-new-coronavirus-lockdowns-some-sheriffs-push-back-idUSKBN28G0NK . Well, lock them up.
Experts hope for national testing strategy: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-epidemics-coronavirus-pandemic-michael-mina-ceeda0ed971631f47666882eaef89a8e . In other words, people with knowledge hope sanity will return.
Washington State: Seven nursing home deaths tied to Ritzville wedding superspreader: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/7-nursing-home-covid-19-deaths-reported-after-staff-attended-n1250116 . So tragic, so preventable. Here is previous reporting on this wedding.
FBI raids New Jersey testing lab, urges retests: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-raids-new-jersey-lab-urges-new-covid-19-tests-n1250153 . This sounds like a Tony Soprano operation.
Biden’s team to meet with vaccine distribution team: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-vaccine/biden-transition-u-s-coronavirus-vaccine-teams-to-meet-amid-surge-distribution-questions-idUSKBN28G0HN . One can only hope for a fast start from the Biden team.
Biden picks California AG Xavier Becerra to head HHS: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/06/xavier-becerra-health-human-services-443356 . WSJ: And Rochelle Walensky will lead the CDC: https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-to-select-rochelle-walensky-to-lead-the-cdc-11607306908 . The Biden team is so far easily the most diverse in US history. Also, each appointee is more experienced and qualified than their predecessor (for emphasis, that is not an opinion).
Rudy has COVID-19, is hospitalized: https://deadline.com/2020/12/rudolph-giuliani-has-tested-positive-for-covid-19-president-donald-trump-says-1234651236/ . Giuliani is 76. In other “news”, flatulence may be an early symptom of COVID-19: https://www.aol.com/entertainment/saturday-night-live-lampoons-rudy-052017171.html .
Tipped service workers face COVID-19 harassment, backlash: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/06/943559848/tipped-service-workers-are-more-vulnerable-amid-pandemic-harassment-spike-study . This feels like “blame the messenger”.
WSJ: Colleges cut tenure: https://www.wsj.com/articles/hit-by-covid-19-colleges-do-the-unthinkable-and-cut-tenure-11607250780 . Unfortunately, this may be long overdue. Between COVID and the internet, enormous strain is being placed on brick-and-mortar higher education.
Illnesses of US diplomats in China and Cuba most likely from microwave radiation: https://www.npr.org/2020/12/06/943531538/microwave-radiation-most-plausible-cause-of-diplomats-ailments-report-says . The expected, disturbing conclusion of this bizarre episode. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-diplomats-illnesses-likely-linked-to-pulsed-energy-attack-11607278210 .
“Relief” bill won’t include $1,200 payments: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-politics-coronavirus-pandemic-bernie-sanders-bills-93ae053eda56da2f24d82049f846ca0e .
UK gears up vaccine distribution program: https://apnews.com/article/immunizations-health-coronavirus-pandemic-germany-england-057828fe5237a32e1df744a8b00e0165 .
Sweden backs away from COVID-19 experiment: https://www.foxnews.com/world/swedens-pandemic-experiment-ends-spiking-coronavirus-cases . A large mistake was failing to prevent transmission in nursing homes. WSJ (source article): https://www.wsj.com/articles/long-a-holdout-from-covid-19-restrictions-sweden-ends-its-pandemic-experiment-11607261658 .
China fumbled early response in Wuhan due to corrupt deals: https://apnews.com/article/china-virus-testing-secret-deals-firms-312f4a953e0264a3645219a08c62a0ad .
China organizes vaccine distribution: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2020-12-05/china-prepares-large-scale-rollout-of-covid-19-vaccines .
Picking a nit: Here is an article from the September/October issue of Contingencies: https://contingencies.org/following-the-money-the-future-of-cash/ . This is an interesting article, and I found it generally well-informed. However, this sentence caught my eye: “One tragic story early in the pandemic was of a group of older players in Florida who picked up the virus in their regular home game, with all eight getting the virus and three of them dying.” Obviously, not everyone caught the disease at the poker game.
Here is some reporting of the incident: https://www.insider.com/retirees-dead-infected-after-aventura-florida-poker-game-2020-4 . Here we learn that the players played almost daily for a decade. At their last game, one player was coughing and sneezing, but the players ignored the risk.
So, Insider reports the scenario accurately. Our leading professional magazine for public consumption (and the best, in my view) does not. The author is not an actuary, but he is managing editor for member content at the Academy. I’m disappointed. If any group should clearly communicate the nature of transmission risk, shouldn’t it be actuaries? This is unfortunate in an official publication of the Academy, the home of the Actuarial Standards Board and the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline.
Separately, another Contingencies article (same issue) provides food for thought on declining US life expectancy in recent years: https://contingencies.org/dire-diagnosis-covid-19-the-great-recession-and-the-coming-underwriting-apocalypse/ . It’s also authored by a non-actuary. What’s up with that? If you have a good idea for an article, you can likely get published.
David Purdue sucks swamp water: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/perdue-ossoff-georgia-debate/ . And this fool led the election leading to the runoff by 80,000 votes.
Kelly Loeffler refuses to say Trump lost: https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-senate-elections-georgia-general-elections-elections-031879093d64bc82eb934e663136ed9f . It’s hard to imagine that the capacity of Joe Biden to govern depends on whether either of these two losers gets elected to the Senate. But that is the current state of US democracy. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/georgia-sen-loeffler-challenger-warnock-spar-in-debate-with-senate-control-at-stake-11607313583 .
WSJ (related): Did Democrats err by focusing on healthcare?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-2020-losses-some-democrats-question-partys-health-care-focus-11607274000 . One has to wonder what American voters are focusing on.
WSJ: We suck at economics: https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-stimulus-dollar-is-only-a-dollar-11607279296 . Again, while I studiously avoid WSJ opinion, the utterly ridiculous provokes comment. The velocity of spending, here dubbed “the multiplier effect”, is a well-known economic measure. It does indeed have its roots in the idea that the poor spend almost all of their income while the rich are able to save. Duh. And by the way, Obama’s use of Keynesian economics saved the US from W’s economic meltdown.
This moron would rather have the poor eat dirt than acknowledge the obvious. And the Amazon comment in an economic multiplier discussion is at best a joke. It demonstrates a complete ignorance of economics that goes well beyond his apples-and-oranges comparison of enterprise and spending. As to opinion, WSJ has now conclusively demonstrated that monkeys on typewriters turn out better content than the WSJ editorial review process. Just sayin’ …