Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

How Covid-19 Might Spread to You

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    • More Than 1,000 TSA Employees Test Positive For COVID-19

    Employees are now required to clean or change gloves between passenger interactions and wear face shields in addition to masks.

    More than 1,000 employees of the Transportation Security Administration have tested positive for COVID-19, according to figures released Thursday by the agency.

    At least 907 were airport security officers who worked screening passengers. Six workers and a contractor have died of the disease, per the TSA.

    Union President Hydrick Thomas acknowledged an ongoing struggle to keep workers and passengers safe as travelers start flying again.

    “Right now they’re bringing people back to work and the social distance is not in total effect,” Thomas told The Washington Post. “Employees are still complaining there’s too many of them in one area.”

    The TSA implemented new safety measures just before the July 4th holiday, following a complaint in June over “gross mismanagement” of safety protocol by whistleblower Jay Brainerd, a TSA director who supervises security at airports in Kansas. TSA officers must now clean their gloves or change into a fresh pair between interactions with passengers to avoid cross-contamination, Brainerd told CNN. Officers must wear face shields in addition to masks.

    Transparent screens will also be erected between TSA officers and passengers at locations where they interact without social distancing, such as during ID checks.: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tsa-w...b63a72c33f8581


    Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
    it's been blown way out of proportion.
    Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

    Comment


      • If everyone wears a mask, 58% of Covid-19 deaths could be prevented by fall, study says

      A new Covid-19 prediction model makes another compelling case for wearing masks and cloth face coverings.

      If practically everyone in America wears masks while out in public, it could prevent tens of thousands of Covid-19 infections and deaths by the fall, according to researchers at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).

      “It is hard to imagine any health intervention that would be more cost-effective,” Theo Vos, professor of health metrics sciences at the IHME, tells CNBC Make It. “Even if causing a small amount of discomfort to everyone.”

      Currently, with mask use as it is (between 20% and 60%, according to IHME) the model predicts over 208,200 cumulative deaths by Nov. 1. The model also predicts predicts over 100,000 infections a day by late September, topping out at nearly 168,000 projected new infections on a single day on Nov. 1.

      To date, there have been at least 3 million infections and 132,000 Covid-19 deaths in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and Medicine. The U.S. hit a record single-day Covid-19 infections on July 8, with 60,000 daily infections reported.

      But that could all change if 95% of people now start wearing masks anytime they’re in public, according to the model. Universal mask usage could prevent nearly 45,500 projected Covid-19-related deaths by Nov. 1, or about a 58% reduction, Vos says.

      “In the mask scenario, assuming we can get 95% of people to always wear a mask, the cumulative deaths will reach 162,808 [by Nov. 1],” Vos says.

      As for infections, the model predicts that universal mask usage could reduce the number of infections on Nov. 1 to a little under 33,500, an 80% reduction.

      This is “quite a big difference,” Vos says.

      So what does this mean for you? Wear a mask whenever you mingle with people, Vos says. Masks and cloth face coverings create a barrier to keep your respiratory droplets from spreading to other people and potentially infecting them, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

      A recent Gallup poll suggests that while mask usage among Americans is becoming more common — the percentage of U.S. adults who said they had worn a mask in public in the previous seven days went from 51% in early April to 86% in late June — not everyone is on board: 11% of US adults surveyed in June said they have not considered wearing a mask.

      Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that he’s “strongly in favor of” mandating the use of face masks because of their efficacy.

      This most recent IHME projection has not yet been peer-reviewed, but Vos says the results have been shared with the CDC and a group of modelers, convened by the World Health Organization, for comparisons. The IHME will submit a number of papers on the model at the end of this week, he says.

      But the findings track with other studies on masks and their effect on Covid-19.

      A model from the University of Cambridge found that if 100% of people wore masks all the time in public, it could prevent a second wave of Covid-19 in the 18 months that it will likely take to get a vaccine to market. (The United States is still experiencing the first wave of Covid-19; the second one would occur when the virus returns or when a new strain of the virus develops.)

      “As we all have come to recognize, wearing masks can substantially reduce transmission of the virus,” IHME director Dr. Christopher Murray said in a press release. “Mask mandates delay the need for re-imposing closures of businesses and have huge economic benefits. Moreover, those who refuse masks are putting their lives, their families, their friends, and their communities at risk.”: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/10/stud...-november.html
      • Underreported US death count: 136,682

      Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
      it's been blown way out of proportion.
      Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

      Comment



        • Lower cognitive ability linked to non-compliance with social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus outbreak

        New research provides evidence that working memory is associated with engaging in social distancing in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The new study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

        On March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 to be a global pandemic. Governments around the world urged people to follow preventive health measures such as frequent hand washing and physical distancing. But not everyone abided by the safety guidelines.

        “At the moment, successful containment of the COVID-19 outbreak critically relies on people’s voluntary compliance with social distancing guidelines. However, there is widespread non-compliance in our society, especially during the early stage of this pandemic (and more recently after reopening),” said study author Weizhen Xie (Zane), a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

        The researcher noted that there have been numerous media reports about Americans failing to physically distance themselves from one another in public spaces.

        “As a researcher in cognitive psychology, I feel that it is our duty to figure out why some people follow the developing norm of social distancing while others ignore it. Addressing this issue may help mitigate the current public health crisis due to the COVID-19,” Xie said.

        In two studies, the researchers surveyed 850 U.S. residents between March 13 and March 25, 2020 — the first two weeks following the U.S. presidential declaration of a national emergency about the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to collecting demographic information and assessing social distancing compliance, the surveys included assessments of working memory, personality, mood, and fluid intelligence.

        Xie and his colleagues found that those with better working memory capacity were more likely to indicate that they had followed social distancing guidelines, such as not shaking hands and avoiding social gatherings.

        “Our findings reveal a novel cognitive root of social distancing compliance during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said co-author Weiwei Zhang.

        The researchers also found that higher levels of fluid intelligence and agreeableness were associated with greater social distancing compliance. But the link between working memory and social distancing held even after controlling for these factors and others.

        Those with better working memory capacity also tended to view social distancing has having more benefits than costs and were more likely to have a preference for fairness during an Ultimatum Game, which partially explained the association.

        “The decision of whether or not to follow social distancing guidelines is a difficult one, especially when there is a conflict between the societal benefits (e.g., prevent staining public health resources) and personal costs (e.g., lost in social connection and financial challenges). This decision critically relies on our mental capacity in retaining multiple pieces of potentially conflicting information in our head, which is referred to as working memory capacity,” Xie told PsyPost.

        “Realizing this cognitive bottleneck, the bottom line is that we should not rely on people’s habitual following of a norm because social distancing is not yet adequately established in U.S. society. Policy makers should develop strategies to aid people’s decision by making information or debriefing materials succinct, concise, and brief.”

        As with all research, the study comes with a few caveats.

        “We expect that the contribution of working memory will decline as new social norms, such as wearing a mask or socially distancing, are acquired by the U.S. society over time,” Xie said.

        “Our observations are correlational in nature. It remains to be established whether or not certain strategies to break the cognitive bottleneck, such as working memory training and translational brain stimulation, could reduce social distancing non-compliance and subsequently mitigate a public health crisis.”

        The study, “Working memory capacity predicts individual differences in social-distancing compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States“, was authored by Weizhen Xie, Stephen Campbell, and Weiwei Zhang.: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2.../09/2008868117 - https://www.psypost.org/2020/07/covi...outbreak-57293
        • Underreported US death count: 137,405

        Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
        it's been blown way out of proportion.
        Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

        Comment



        • Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
          it's been blown way out of proportion.
          Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

          Comment


            • China's CanSino in talks for COVID-19 vaccine Phase III trial overseas

            Chinese vaccine developer CanSino Biologics is in talks with Russia, Brazil, Chile and Saudi Arabia to launch a Phase III trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, its co-founder said on Saturday.

            China’s success in driving down COVID-19 infections has made it harder to conduct large-scale vaccine trials, and so far only a few countries have agreed to work with it.

            “We are contacting Russia, Brazil, Chile and Saudi Arabia (for the Phase III trial), and it’s still in discussion,” Qiu Dongxu, executive director and co-founder of CanSino, told an anti-viral drug development conference in Suzhou, in eastern China.

            He said its Phase III trial was likely to start “pretty soon,” and the company plans to recruit 40,000 participants for the test.

            Its COVID-19 candidate, Ad5-nCov, became the first in China to move into human testing in March but is running behind other potential vaccines in terms of trial progress. Two experimental vaccines developed by Sinovac Biotech and a unit of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) are already approved for Phase III trials.

            Qiu said its Phase II trial involving 508 people has yielded “much better” results than the Phase I about the safety and ability to trigger immune response. He did not disclose specific evidence.

            He said its new factory under construction in China will allow it to produce 100-200 million doses of coronavirus vaccines per year by early 2021.

            China’s military, whose research unit is co-developing the vaccine candidate, approved its military use last month, while Sinopharm’s two experimental shots are offered to employees at state-owned firms travelling overseas.

            Zeng Guang, former chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the conference that Chinese construction groups overseas in particular are keen to take experimental vaccines.

            He also said discussion should start whether to launch emergency inoculation of experimental vaccines “right now.”: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKCN24C0HS



            Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
            it's been blown way out of proportion.
            Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

            Comment


            • Thailand - Govt plans B100bn soft loans to help tourism, services

              The government plans 100 billion baht of new soft loans to help small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tourist and services sector hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the finance minister said on Monday.

              The loans will offer more relaxed conditions than the central bank's 500-billion baht soft loan scheme, Uttama Savanayana told reporters.

              "These will reduce operators' costs and give them liquidity to keep jobs. It should be released soon," he said.

              The loans, to be provided by the Government Savings Bank, will follow various relief measures for SMEs which the finance minister has said employs 80% of the total workforce.

              Although Thailand has recorded no domestic transmissions for more than one month, the global impacts of the pandemic have hit the economy badly, especially tourism, with a border closure keeping visitors out and weaker demand for international air travel set to slow its recovery.

              The economy is forecast to contract by a record 8.1% this year, with foreign tourist numbers tumbling by 80%, according to the central bank.

              Separately, some 20 billion baht of soft loans will be offered to retail vendors affected by the outbreak, Mr Uttama said.: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business...erbox#cxrecs_s

              Originally posted by Somchai Boonporn View Post
              Perhaps a blessing in disguise for the Golden Land.

              Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

              Comment


              • WHO head: There will be no return to the "old normal" in near future

                World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned Monday that "there will be no return to the 'old normal' for the foreseeable future," but that there is a "roadmap" for struggling countries to get the virus under control.
                Why it matters: A record 230,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported to the WHO on Sunday, as total infections approach 13 million worldwide.
                • About 80% of the new cases were reported from 10 countries, while 50% came from the U.S. and Brazil — the two worst-hit countries in the world.
                What he's saying: “Let me be blunt: Too many countries are headed in the wrong direction," Tedros said. "The virus remains public enemy No. 1, but the actions of many governments and people do not reflect this. ... If the basics aren’t followed, there is only one way this pandemic is going to go. It’s going to get worse and worse and worse."
                The big picture: Countries must make the following goals a priority in order to mitigate the disease, Tedros said:
                • Focus on reducing mortality and suppressing transmission.
                • Foster an engaged community that takes individual behavior measures in the interest of each other.
                • Establish strong government leadership and coordination of comprehensive strategies that are communicated clearly and consistently.: https://www.axios.com/world-health-o...68a656bd0.html

                yesterday's update.

                Coronavirus Cases: 13,133,976

                Deaths: 573,267

                World population: 7,800,000,000 projection: 340,451,558 deaths

                Underreported US deaths: 138,095

                Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
                it's been blown way out of proportion.

                Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

                Comment




                • Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
                  it's been blown way out of proportion.
                  Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

                  Comment


                  • Just checking. US is still #1



                    Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
                    it's been blown way out of proportion.

                    Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

                    Comment


                      • First data for Moderna Covid-19 vaccine show it spurs an immune response

                      Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine led patients to produce antibodies that can neutralize the novel coronavirus that causes the disease, though it caused minor side effects in many patients, according to the first published data from an early-stage trial of the experimental shot.

                      The results were published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Moderna had previously released some results in a press release, but many experts said they were not sufficient to draw many conclusions. Even now, many are withholding judgment.

                      “It certainly is a good beginning,” said Betty Diamond, director at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, who was not involved in the trial. “There are certainly lots of things we don’t know yet right now.”

                      The study, which was run by the National Institutes of Health, showed that volunteers who received the vaccine made more neutralizing antibodies than have been seen in most patients who have recovered from Covid-19. But a second injection, four weeks after the first, was required before the vaccine produced a dramatic immune response.: https://www.statnews.com/2020/07/14/...mune-response/
                      • White House tells hospitals to bypass CDC on COVID-19 data reporting/ Hospitals will begin sending coronavirus-related information directly to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), not the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), under new instructions from the Trump administration.

                      The move will take effect on Wednesday, according to a new guidance and FAQ document for hospitals and clinical labs quietly posted on the HHS website.

                      What could go wrong: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcar...data-reporting


                      Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
                      it's been blown way out of proportion.
                      Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

                      Comment


                      • Immunity to covid-19 could disappear in months, a new study suggests

                        The lowdown: Immunity to covid-19 may be short-lived, according to a new longitudinal study of people who have caught the disease and recovered.

                        The study: Researchers at King’s College London repeatedly tested 96 patients and health-care workers at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust for antibodies between March and June. All the participants were confirmed to have had covid-19, either via a PCR test or a positive antibody test. The researchers found that levels of virus-fighting antibodies peaked about three weeks after symptoms started and then rapidly fell away. Although 60% of participants produced a “potent” antibody response while they had covid-19, only 17% had the same level of potency at the end of the three-month testing period. Antibody levels were higher and longer-lasting in people who had had more severe cases of covid-19. For some milder cases, it was impossible to detect any antibodies at all at the end of the three months. The research is published in a preprint paper in medRxiv, which means the findings have yet to be subjected to peer review.

                        What it means: The study raises the prospect that, like other coronaviruses, covid-19 could reinfect people repeatedly. If that’s the case, “herd immunity” may never arrive, either through a one-shot vaccine or through community spread of the virus, as any protective antibodies would wane with time. However, antibodies are not the only way people can fight off covid-19. T cells, which seek and destroy cells infected with SARS-CoV-2, could also provide some protection. In short, we have not yet generated enough data from patients to be able to draw conclusions on immunity with a high degree of certainty. There have been anecdotal reports of people catching covid-19 for a second time, but none have been confirmed.: https://www.technologyreview.com/202...tudy-suggests/


                        Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
                        it's been blown way out of proportion.

                        Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

                        Comment


                        • US still #1………..


                          in deaths

                          Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
                          it's been blown way out of proportion.

                          Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

                          Comment


                            • Bangkok property market takes Bt150bn hit ‘with worse to come’

                            The virus crisis has wiped a whopping Bt150 billion off the value of the residential market in Bangkok and surrounding provinces, Krungthai Bank research revealed today.

                            Meanwhile, the reservation rate for new apartments and houses fell from 20 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 15 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 before falling again in the second quarter to 12 per cent.

                            Phacharaphot Nuntramas, director of the bank’s Compass research centre, said the property business has been hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis, with demand for new residences still falling.

                            Domestic consumers have been affected by an economy expected to shrink by up to 8.8 per cent this year, while foreigners – especially the Chinese – were hit by lockdown measures that hindered purchase or transfer of ownership, he added.

                            The research centre estimates the value of the residence market in Bangkok and nearby provinces has dropped by 27 per cent from Bt570 billion to Bt420 billion.

                            The director said that businesses may have to suspend construction of new projects until the economy recovers.

                            “Unsold stock could expand by 5 per cent this year to reach 185,000 units, although developers have cut new projects by 40 per cent compared to the last year,” he added.

                            He estimates the residential market will take four or five years to return to levels seen before the virus outbreak.

                            Phacharaphot also expressed concern over the trend of non-performing loans in the property and business sectors, saying it needed to be monitored.: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/...ernal_referral

                            Originally posted by Somchai Boonporn View Post
                            Perhaps a blessing in disguise for the Golden Land.

                            Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

                            Comment


                            • More COVID-19 Patients in ICUs Are Surviving Now

                              Even as new coronavirus infections soar in the United States, a study released Wednesday offered one piece of good news: Severely ill COVID-19 patients are significantly more likely to survive now compared to a few months ago.

                              In fact, deaths for COVID-19 patients in intensive care units have fallen by nearly a third in North America, Asia and Europe since the start of the pandemic, researchers report.

                              Overall, ICU deaths fell from nearly 60% at the end of March to 42% by the end of May.

                              That translates to tens of thousands of lives saved and "may reflect the rapid learning that has taken place on a global scale" of what drugs work (for example, remdesivir and dexamethasone) or don't (hydroxychloroquine) to beat back COVID-19, according to a team led by Tim Cook. He's a consultant in anesthesia and intensive care medicine at Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust in England.

                              But just because fewer very ill COVID-19 patients are dying doesn't mean societies can become complacent about the threat, experts said.

                              "Any successful treatment, when not coupled with good public health measures to keep the new case rate below the limit of existing health care resources, will erase any gains made over the last few months by simply overwhelming the ICUs that have just become better at treating COVID-19," stressed Dr. Eric Cioe Pena. He directs global health at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

                              Indeed, COVID-19 death rates are beginning to rise again in the United States, despite improvements in care. By Wednesday, the U.S. coronavirus case count passed 3.4 million as the death toll passed 136,000, according to a New York Times tally.

                              And after plateauing earlier this month, U.S. death counts are rising again. By Monday five states -- Arizona, California, Florida, Mississippi and Texas -- broke records for average daily COVID-19 fatalities over the past week, the Washington Post reported.

                              Still, if you are unlucky enough to land in an ICU with COVID-19, your odds of leaving alive are better now, Cook and his team found.

                              Their report was based on an analysis of 24 studies from around the world, involving more than 10,000 patients. All studies focused on ICU deaths among adults battling COVID-19 published up to May 31.

                              The data suggest that the credit for improved survival doesn't rest with any one specific therapy, the researchers said. They published their findings July 15 in the journal Anaesthesia.

                              Still, something must have changed over the study period. Besides all the new data on what drug therapies may help beat COVID-19, "it may also be that ICU admission criteria have changed over time, for example, with greater pressure on ICUs early in the pandemic surge," Cook said in a journal news release.

                              His team also noted that longer ICU stays for COVID-19 patients take time to be reflected in the published data. In fact, severe COVID-19 illness can last for long periods, with about 20% of COVID-19 ICU admissions in the United Kingdom lasting more than 28 days, and 9% for more than 42 days.

                              "The important message, however, is that as the pandemic has progressed and all these factors combine, survival of patients admitted to ICU with COVID-19 has significantly improved," the researchers concluded.

                              Still, it's too early for congratulations. As Cook's group noted, even at around 42% the death rate for COVID-19 patients in the ICU is still nearly double the death rate of ICU patients battling other viral pneumonias (22%).

                              Even so, the findings suggest that "as the pandemic progresses, we may be coping better with COVID-19," the team said.

                              For his part, Pena says the study "rightly concludes something that we expect: As we learned more about this virus and its effect on the critically ill, we became better at treating it and its complications."

                              Dr. Syed Iqbal is an ICU physician at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills in New York City, which was hit hard by COVID-19 early in the pandemic. Reading over the study findings, he agreed that "the disease does have a prolonged course and some patients died after a pr olonged ICU stay. It also shows that the death rate is much higher than other viral illnesses.": https://www.usnews.com/news/health-n...ving-now-study



                              Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
                              it's been blown way out of proportion.

                              Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

                              Comment


                              • American Airlines warns 25,000 workers of potential furloughs/American Airlines Begins Issuing WARN Notices To 25,000 Employees

                                In a July 15th letter to employees viewed by Simple Flying, American announced that it was beginning to issue WARN notices to unions and represented team members in some states. American will send these notices as it plans on being overstaffed by about 20,000 employees.

                                The WARN notices are federally mandated requirements that give employees notice about potential furloughs. Alongside this, American is offering employees additional extended leaves or early out programs– usually, some of the better offers the airline will provide amidst the current crisis.

                                Who are getting WARN notices?
                                The 25,000 notices will be divided up to the following workgroups:

                                2,500 pilots (18% of the workgroup)
                                9,950 flight attendants (27% of the workgroup)
                                3,200 maintenance & related personnel (22% of the workgroup)
                                4,500 fleet service personnel (26% of the workforce)
                                2,900 passenger service personnel (30% of the workforce)
                                1,000 in the reservations team (23% of the workforce)
                                175 in dispatch (36% of the workforce)
                                50 flight crew training instructors and simulator pilot instructors (15% of the workgroup)
                                10 flight simulator engineers (7% of the workforce)workgroup

                                American Airlines Group Inc. AAL, +16.16% shares dipped 2% in after-hours trading Wednesday after it sent notices to 25,000 workers -- about one-fifth of its workforce -- about potential furloughs as the airline copes with what it calls slackening demand for air travel during the pandemic. American, which is prohibited from slashing jobs or pay rates through Sept. 30 under terms of $25 billion in federal payroll support, also urged employees to take buyout and early retirement packages before being forced to cut their jobs. The airline, which reported an 80% plunge in June revenue, says it will be overstaffed by 20,000 when federal aid expires Oct. 1. Earlier this month, United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL, +14.58% warned its workers it could furlough 36,000 of them and likely move to layoffs in August, the Wall Street Journal reported. United had 96,000 employees as of December.: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/am...ghs-2020-07-15 - https://simpleflying.com/aa-warn-notices-25000/



                                Originally posted by Boon Mee View Post
                                it's been blown way out of proportion.


                                Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

                                Comment

                                Valentina Jewels gets pounded like a btich dog ?????? ??????? ????????? ???????? ???? diferentes tipos de bajinas
                                antalya escort bayan
                                Working...
                                X