COVID-19 messes with Texas: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/504957-houston-hospitals-stop-reporting-covid-19-related-data-after-reaching-base (link replaced 6/30/21).
More on immunity, and what we don’t know: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/25/viral-immunologist-antibody-tests-covid-19-immuity-coronavirus .
What doctors have learned: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-lessons-special-re/special-report-as-world-approaches-10-million-coronavirus-cases-doctors-see-hope-in-new-treatments-idUSKBN23X1I5 . An important point: wider testing in the hospital saves PPE.
What the CDC doesn’t know: (MSN link has disappeared – the article concerned persons from out of state being quarantined upon entry – note as of 6/30/21). What we do know is that preventing movement into areas where the virus is contained does prevent further infection – look at Hawaii and New Zealand. The problem in the continental US is that we don’t have containment anywhere.
Areas in Asia like South Korea and (the island nations of) Japan and Taiwan have near-containment, occasionally interrupted by super-spreader events suppressed by testing, contact tracing and isolation. Also, South Korea is essentially an island, because there is little travel from the North. Quarantining air and water passengers thus works where land access is severely limited.
The failure in the US reflects re-opening too early, with the virus now imbedded in the population, and unwillingness to act boldly to either lock down again or implement effective contact tracing and testing. We continue to not effectively manage the pandemic by not managing R0.
Further info on NJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-jerseys-covid-19-death-toll-rises-14-when-probable-fatalities-added-11593109913 . Worldometers took this data and spread the deaths historically, which is a problem because they only show current data on the website. That’s why the US numbers on my worksheet added the deaths on the day they were disclosed. The US data is there to provide a reference point, this does not affect the 3 state tracking.
Not much follow-up on COVID-19 in Oklahoma: https://thehill.com/homenews/media/504818-oklahoma-reporter-tests-positive-for-covid-19-after-attending-at-trumps-tulsa (link replaced 6/30/21) . We really need to know to what extent large indoor groups are actual super-spreaders. Is follow-up being done in Arizona?
Race data in France: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/16/france-and-germany-urged-to-rethink-reluctance-to-gather-ethnicity-data (link replaced 6/30/21).
Other health news: Ebola: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/06/drc-declares-end-its-largest-ebola-outbreak-ever (link replaced 10/8/20).
Native Americans buying guns?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/gun-maker-remington-preps-for-bankruptcy-seeks-sale-to-navajo-nation-11593186468 . Reminds me of a cartoon from many years ago, a cowboy and an “Indian” negotiating, each with an advisor. The cowboy’s friend advises “Give them whiskey and we can take their land”; the Indian’s friend advises, “Give them gambling and we can take it all back”. Times change.