WSJ: US round-up: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-latest-news-08-17-2020-11597652915 . News from New Zealand, Lebanon and India is in last paragraphs.
WSJ: Novavax vaccine advances: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccine-candidate-from-novavax-starts-midstage-trial-11597645503 .
Vaccine timeline: Distribution by March 2021 is most optimistic realistic timeline: https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-vaccine-timeline-trump-operation-warp-speed-timeline-2020-8 .
More on the testing decline: https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2020-08-14/nationwide-coronavirus-cases-are-down-but-so-is-testing?src=usn_nl_coronavirus . I remain outraged at the failure to provide adequate, timely testing.
Why sunlight isn’t helping the pandemic: https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/a-study-just-blew-up-everything-we-thought-about-sunlight-and-covid-19 . In any data analysis, we look for the relevant variables. Once again, data shows the driving force in the pandemic to be personal behavior.
Hydroxychloroquine, part 2: Oleandrin: https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-sneak-peek-e47f79a5-96aa-4931-9856-34d9fefec0c3.html . So, not only does oleandrin have no demonstrated medical efficacy, it’s highly toxic and has resulted in at least one fatality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleandrin . There’s a lot of medical information on this drug, but when the first sentence on Wikipedia includes “toxic cardiac” and “poisonous”, you know where this is headed. Where did this idea come from? As Axios points out, the “My Pillow” guy has invested in the company.
New doc on COVID-19 task force: https://apnews.com/886b59d445a3d20739e2f77600976ea0 . The White House continues on its anti-science crusade, seeking out people with credentials but not qualifications. Radiology has no application to pandemics or public health.
CDC study: Serious increase in US mental health issues: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6932a1.htm .
WSJ: Working families reach breaking point: https://www.wsj.com/articles/working-parents-are-hitting-their-coronavirus-breaking-pointand-paying-for-it-11597483801 . An upended budget can survive for a while on savings, but then there is free-fall. Failure to continue the relief package will leave lasting scars.
WSJ: Relief package stalemate enters campaigns: https://www.wsj.com/articles/stimulus-stalemate-leaves-vulnerable-lawmakers-empty-handed-11597496400 .
Post Office: Pelosi reconvenes House: https://apnews.com/559a52649084ae8c53c7fd4117b9273e . DeJoy to testify before House committee: https://apnews.com/8cd319f66ae12bc23f4cadd38cc21f5f . More on working conditions: https://www.businessinsider.com/postal-workers-are-squeezing-between-mail-parcels-in-dispatch-rooms-2020-8 .
WSJ: Bare-bones virtual conventions: https://www.wsj.com/articles/during-covid-19-pandemic-political-parties-without-conventional-perks-11597656601 .
WSJ: California: Bay-area exodus: https://www.wsj.com/articles/remote-work-is-reshaping-san-francisco-as-tech-workers-flee-and-rents-fall-11597413602 .
WSJ: California: Heat wave stresses power grid: https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-braces-for-more-blackouts-as-heat-wave-scorches-west-11597613285 .
LA schools: Massive testing, tracing initiative: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-16/l-a-schools-announce-massive-covid-19-testing-tracing-initiative-for-all-students-staff . Pro bono research support from UCLA and Johns Hopkins, looking to design a national model.
UNC abruptly reverses course, goes virtual: https://www.si.com/college/unc/football/unc-goes-virtual . More: https://www.unc.edu/posts/2020/08/17/shift-to-remote-cm/ . One of the more unusual University communications I’ve ever seen, but understandable if you’ve seen the recent videos of campus life. A repeat of the lesson we keep learning: It doesn’t matter what the rules are, it’s the community behavior that drives the pandemic.
WSJ: New Zealand delays election by 4 weeks: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-coronavirus-outbreak-prompts-new-zealand-to-postpone-election-11597636388 .
WSJ: South Korea faces infection rise: https://www.wsj.com/articles/south-korean-health-officials-concerned-over-rise-in-daily-coronavirus-infections-11597599041 .
Update on Danish Crown, largest European pork exporter: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/europes-biggest-pork-exporter-reopens-plant-shuttered-by-covid .
WSJ: Cyclical stocks driving latest market gains: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cyclical-stocks-are-leading-the-latest-leg-of-the-markets-recovery-11597593600 .
WSJ: The pandemic grows Internet usage: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-lockdown-tested-internets-backbone-11597503600 .
WSJ: The pandemic raises Home Depot: https://www.wsj.com/articles/home-depot-covid-coronavirus-home-improvement-lockdowns-stimulus-check-remodel-11597426959 .
WSJ: Another face of the WeChat ban: https://www.wsj.com/articles/wechat-links-many-americans-to-family-abroad-thats-now-in-jeopardy-11597587629 . Wondering about how some people are manipulated so easily by made-up stories on the Internet? So did a college kid: https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/14/1006780/ai-gpt-3-fake-blog-reached-top-of-hacker-news/ . This provides another perspective on McLuhan’s “The medium is the message” – see the posts on July 2 (“Your brain on information”) and July 8 (WSJ: Baseball).