Figures are increasingly grim: Florida reported 15,300 new cases today, the largest one-day total of any state since the pandemic began. Arizona had the highest death total today at 86. And these are Sunday figures, which in most states are typically lower than the weekly average.
News for July 12, 2020:
Vaccine status summary: https://news.yahoo.com/looking-ahead-to-a-covid-vaccine-who-will-make-it-who-will-receive-it-how-much-will-it-cost-154734127.html (link replaced 1/20/21). So again, there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 is or will become seasonal. It is entirely possible that the virus will mutate into a form that does not respond to certain vaccination strategies, so that a new vaccine is needed, but that could happen at any time of year.
Bloomberg: Comprehensive summary of vaccine, antiviral, and other drug development for COVID-19: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-coronavirus-drug-vaccine-status/ .
COVID-19 delaying retirements: https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/the-shocking-number-of-people-delaying-retirement-due-to-covid-19 .
WSJ: Focus on vaccine safety: https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-covid-19-vaccine-development-pushes-ahead-researchers-probe-safety-11594546201 .
WSJ: Failing grade on testing capacity: https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-american-failure-new-surge-in-coronavirus-cases-strains-u-s-testing-capacity-11594566000 .
Some data on July 4 travel; CDC opines that full school reopening presents highest risk of virus spread: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/12/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html . Again, young people are not immune from the virus. They are most likely to be asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. As such, they represent a significant risk for virus spread, especially if placed in an environment not designed for social distancing. On the other side, there is evidence that infected children do not transmit virus as much as infected adults. If my kids were still school-age, I’d be cautious about sending them to school.
Best plan would be clear and detailed national standards; state-by-state planning; and early communication by every school district to every child’s parents. It’s mid-July — governments better get moving. Even with the “best plan”, if my kids were still going to public school, I’d like to know there are online lesson plans from their teachers, and might well take vacation days to home school them for a couple of weeks to find out how things are going. There seems to be every chance that these re-openings will be less than smooth.
Trouble in South Carolina: Two children diagnosed with MIS-C: https://scdhec.gov/news-releases/south-carolina-announces-first-confirmed-cases-mis-c-associated-covid-19-daily-covid . And positive test rate hits 22.3% — 1,955 positives out of 8,769 tests. That’s a lot of positives in one day in a state with a population of 5 million.
Sun Belt counties obtaining refrigerated trucks for morgue overflow: https://www.aol.com/article/news/2020/07/12/phoenix-texas-counties-order-morgue-trucks-in-latest-grim-sign-of-rising-covid-19-rates/24557597/ . A necessary precaution.
College re-opening plans: https://www.npr.org/2020/07/22/893525083/colleges-spent-months-planning-for-fall-but-a-covid-19-surge-is-changing-everyth (link replaced 11/10/21). We have recently seen several cases of super-spreading in frat houses. So what is the age at which children start to be more effective spreaders? Will high school be more dangerous than elementary school?
Germany: More on Toennies: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-germany-abbatoir/german-meatpacker-under-fire-for-requesting-government-support-after-covid-19-outbreak-idUSKCN24D0EJ (link replaced 1/9/21).
Taiwan’s success: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/10/opinions/taiwan-covid-19-lesson-united-states-chen/index.html . And fifth, Taiwan is an island.
From the Max Plank Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology: https://www.aarp.org/home-family/friends-family/info-2020/toilet-paper-hoarding.html . Inquiring minds want to know.