How Covid-19 Might Spread to You

[S Landreth]

^As I understand Grab (https://www.grab.com/th/en/) is doing well. They’ll even go to your small mom and pop shops to pick up for you.

[S Landreth]

ThaiBev founder Charoen takes Bt100bn hit from virus crisis

The market capitalisation of listed companies controlled by property magnate and ThaiBev founder Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi has slumped over Bt100 billion this year, while their first-half profit plummeted by 47 per cent to Bt2.9 billion, experts said.

Charoen is currently major shareholder in 10 listed companies, either personally or via affiliates, after his 11th firm, Goldenland (GOLD), filed for delisting from the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and stopped trading on August 10.

The combined market capitalisation of his 10 companies stands at around Bt356 billion, most of which comes from two companies – Berli Jucker (BJC) at Bt150 billion and Asset World Corporation (AWC) at Bt125 billion.

However, AWC shares have fallen 30 per cent from Bt6 to Bt3.92, helping to wipe Bt105 billion or 22.8 per cent off the combined market cap of both companies this year.

Charoen controls businesses in a variety of sectors, including real estate with AWC and Univentures (UC), industrial estates with Frasers Property (FPT), food with Oishi Group (OISHI) and Siamfood (SFP), insurance with Indara Insurance (INSURE) and Thai Group Holdings (SEG), and media with Amarin Printing and Publishing (AMARIN).

Combined profit of his 10 companies in the first six months this year was Bt2.9 billion, down 47.8 per cent year on year from Bt5.6 billion. Four companies recorded net losses, namely AWC (Bt768 million), SFP (Bt122 million), AMARIN (Bt85 million) and INSURE (Bt17 million).

An analyst at investment bank UOB Kay Hian said the bank has cut its 2020-2022 profit forecast for AWC profit after lower-than-expected results, adding that tourism is likely to recover slowly. AWC has invested heavily in hotels.

"AWC is not very attractive during this time although the company will grow in the long term because its share value is high," the analyst predicted.

An analyst at Bualuang Securities said AWC would gain benefit from the tourism recovery in the long term because it is the largest mid-range and luxury hotel business operator in Thailand.

"Based on the Discounted Cash Flows [DCF] method, we advise buying AWC shares with a Bt5 target price at the end of 2021, according to our new profit forecast, down from Bt5.80 per share," the analyst said.

Meanwhile BJC's net profit dropped by 47.7 per cent from Bt3.03 billion to Bt1.58 billion due to a decline in revenue. An analyst at Trinity Securities explained that BJC's packaging business revenue fell by 11.1 per cent after Covid-19 prevention measures such the alcohol ban took a toll.

"Pharmaceutical and technical business revenue fell by 5.9 per cent as consumers prioritised their health, causing less sickness and demand for certain drugs to drop," the analyst said.

"Retail business revenue fell by 11.4 per cent, while same-store sales dropped 17 per cent due to unnecessary product space restriction, limited opening times, and rent discount exemptions."

"Consumables was the only business that saw increased revenue, of 4.7 per cent, from logistics and overseas businesses in Vietnam, cleaning products, alcohols, and hand sanitisers demand and the decline in domestic consumption."

The analyst said the securities company has cut BJC’s profit forecast this year by 39 per cent to Bt4.78 billion, down 34.3 per cent year on year, expecting its profit in the second half to improve.

FPT's net profit rose around 250 per cent year on year from Bt763 million extra profit after it acquired GOLD shares at the beginning of this year, as well as profit from the sale of company's assets to FTREIT.

An analyst at DBS Vickers expected FPT's profit in the fourth quarter this year and the first half of 2021 to increase from the sale of company's assets to FTREIT, while the demand for factories and warehouses for rent is still high.

"However, the company's short-term income will be affected by the rental discount to relieve the Covid-19 burden on tenants," the analyst said.

Based on the DCF method, the analyst advised buying FPT shares at a new base price of Bt13.80.

"We increased the company's profit forecast this year by 18 per cent, but reduced its profit forecast next year by 19 per cent in response to more caution on GOLD's sales and transfers of residential and hotel businesses and assets," he said.

"We expect the company's profit from asset sales next year to drop to Bt1.2 billion from Bt2 billion this year.": https://www.nationthailand.com/busin...ernal_referral

Perhaps a blessing in disguise for the Golden Land.

[S Landreth]

• 4 changes doctors have made to better treat Covid-19 patients

Something I get asked a lot is: Have we actually learned anything about how to fight Covid-19?

Given the continued debate over (proven) tactics like social distancing and mask-wearing, and the reticence of some political leaders to take preemptive action to curb the disease’s spread, it’s not an unreasonable question.

But when I hear that question, the first thing I think about isn’t Zoom calls or isolating in a cabin or strapping on my mask before I walk into the grocery store. I think about remdesivir, dexamethasone, and prone positioning.

Because, in fact, doctors and nurses have learned a ton about the best medicine for treating Covid-19. It’s too soon to say exactly how many lives have been saved by gains in our collective knowledge, but some effect seems certain.

Coronavirus deaths have been rising again in the wake of this summer’s record spike in cases, but they have not reached the same heights seen in the spring. There are likely a few explanations for that trend. First, the US wasn’t testing enough in March or April to identify all of the Covid-19 cases then and so a “record” number of cases in June and July may have been a bit of a mirage. Younger people also made up a bigger share of cases in the summer wave, and they are less at risk of dying from the disease.

But the doctors and hospitals I’ve spoken with recently feel confident that improvements in their standards of care are having a meaningful effect, even if they are reluctant to put an exact number on it.

“There is a lot that has changed. We’ve made amazing progress,” Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, the chief of the infectious disease division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, told me in a phone interview last week. “Many of us do have the sense that we’ve gotten better at what we’re doing, and we are seeing less mortality, even among older hospitalized patients with Covid-19.”

Covid-19 deaths among Americans 65 and older peaked the week of April 15, when nearly 13,800 people in that age bracket died. In the first week of August, about 2,300 people over 65 died. At the same time, the number of confirmed cases was roughly twice as high as it was in the spring. (Again, these comparisons aren’t perfect, but the difference in death rates is stark.)

I talked with Kurtizkes about what we’ve learned about how to best treat Covid-19. There were at least four developments that seem to be improving patient outcomes and helping hospitals maintain sufficient capacity to treat their coronavirus patients.

1) Letting some patients ride Covid-19 out at home

Maybe the most important advance is one that doesn’t occur in the hospital at all.

Doctors have become more comfortable telling Covid-19 patients with a lower risk profile — younger, healthier, with less severe symptoms presenting — they can stay at home and monitor themselves, in consultation with their doctor, as their body fights off the disease, Kuritzkes told me.

By keeping those patients at home, hospitals can free up their beds and their staff to focus on the most at-risk patients.

Simple medical equipment makes it easier to have those less at-risk patients stay home. For example, patients can use a $50 at-home blood oxygen monitor to gauge how their lungs are working and whether their condition is deteriorating to the point that they should go to the hospital.

Doctors can rely more on home care now in part because many of the people getting infected are less at risk. The recent surges in Covid-19 cases have been concentrated, at least at first, among younger people. They are less vulnerable to developing serious symptoms (namely the difficulty with breathing) that require patients to be hospitalized. But it also reflects the growing confidence among doctors that they can manage these cases remotely.

2) Delaying ventilation as long as possible

Early on in the Covid-19 pandemic, some doctors were quick to put hospitalized patients who were struggling with their breathing on a mechanical ventilator. But they have done a 180-degree reversal in the months since, now striving to keep patients off ventilation if it’s at all possible.

“At the very beginning, there was some movement to intubate people quickly,” Kuritzkes said. “That turned out not to be the best move.”

There was a logic to putting patients on a ventilator early in the disease’s progression. Usually, doctors and nurses would prefer to do a controlled elective intubation rather than attempt to intubate a patient in the middle of a respiratory emergency. All kinds of things can go wrong when putting a patient on a ventilator; they can swallow the wrong way and end up with something damaging in their lungs. Doing it preemptively gave the staff more control over the situation. There were also early reports out of Wuhan, China, that indicated early intubation was a good idea, Kuritzkes said.

However, the initial conventional wisdom turned out to be wrong. Putting a person on a ventilator changes everything about their breathing and it can be very traumatizing to the body. Air is being pushed into the lungs and that puts pressure on the delicate air sacs that are responsible for processing oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide.

Considering Covid-19 is already damaging a person’s lung capacity, that was a dangerous combination. So now, hospitals are trying to delay ventilation as long as they can.

“We’re attempting to avoid that trauma as much as possible,” Kurtizkes said. “It would be better for patients than intubating them sooner if you could avoid it. For some people, we are able to get them through without needing to intubate them at all.”

3) Putting patients in the prone position

Hospitals have made another important change to their usual standard operating procedure for patients who are having trouble breathing: they should be put into a prone position, meaning they are lying on their stomachs, for a certain amount of time every day.

In many ways, caring for Covid-19 patients is the same as caring for any patients with significant respiratory distress. But prone positioning was a significant change from prior practices.

“That was something that was not done very commonly prior to this epidemic,” Kuritzkes said. “As soon as a few hospitals began reporting positive experiences, it was rapidly picked up.”

The University Health System in San Antonio, one of the first US hospital systems to have a major influx of Covid-19 patients because they took in evacuees from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess cruise ship, told me they quickly learned putting patients in the prone position led to better outcomes.

The science is pretty simple: Blood flow changes depending on how much pressure is being put on the lungs and where the pressure is coming from. Putting a patient on their stomach makes it easier for blood to reach different parts of the lungs and improves lung function. Research is still preliminary, but what’s available does indicate improvements in the blood oxygen levels of Covid-19 patients put in the prone position. (This is also helpful toward the goal of delaying intubation.)

“What you want to do is maximize the amount of blood going to the parts of the lung getting the best aeration,” Kuritzkes said.

It’s not easy to flip a hospitalized patient from their back to their stomach without dislodging all their tubes and drips. It requires a dedicated team. But at this point in the Covid-19 pandemic, hospital staff have much more experience with the process than they did at the beginning.

4) Using dexamethasone and remdesivir

The other piece of the treatment puzzle is the actual medicine. So far, the anti-inflammatory steroid dexamethasone and the antiviral medication remdesivir have proven the most promising and have been adopted by many hospitals across the US and around the world.

“Without question, the advent of remdesivir had a big effect,” Kurtizkes said.

Remdesivir has been shown in studies to help hospitalized Covid-19 patients improve more quickly, as STAT has reported. In one study with patients who had severe cases, they were shown to recover four days faster on remdesivir than patients who were given a placebo. In a different study, patients with mild Covid-19 symptoms were 65 percent more likely to see improvement after being given the drug.

Helping patients recover quickly is important to maintaining hospital capacity and preventing staff from being overwhelmed. It’s not yet clear whether remdesivir actually improves survival among Covid-19 patients, though a preliminary research paper presented at the AIDS 2020 Conference this summer did find lower mortality rates for patients who were given remdesivir.

Dexamethasone has been shown to reduce fatalities in Covid-19 patients with severe symptoms (those who require mechanical ventilation or oxygen support) and so it has also become part of the standard of care for those cases. However, it does not appear to make much of a difference for patients who do not need respiratory support, and doctors are still trying to figure out the best time to administer it.

Because dexamethasone is a steroid, it can have other deleterious effects on a patient’s body, making it more difficult to regulate blood sugar and sometimes leading to high blood pressure. Patients are also more vulnerable to opportunistic infections, Kuritzkes told me.

“You don’t want to give it where the benefits don’t outweigh the potential risks,” he said.

So there is still much to learn. And these are all imperfect measures. A vaccine or a cure would go even further toward reducing the coronavirus’s toll. Improvements in treatment are not a reason to be complacent about social distancing or wearing masks, either.

But heading into the fall, when many experts expect another uptick in Covid-19 cases, doctors are in a much better position to treat their patients than they were in the spring.: https://www.vox.com/2020/8/17/213718...ir-ventilators

• Coronavirus Cases: 22,458,981

Deaths: 787,503

Underreported US death count: 175,694

US conflicts………

Civil War (US Army) - 140,414
Korean War - 33,686

Total US deaths in the conflicts above: 174,233

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[S Landreth]

• Thailand - Youth suffer most from loss of employment opportunities in Covid-19 fallout

The number of unemployed youth in Thailand will double this year, while 220 million young workers in Asia will be vulnerable to labour market disruption caused by Covid-19, the Asian Development Bank said.

The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a massive disruption of labour markets, having a disproportionate impact on the employment of young people, said ADB report titled “Tackling the Covid-19 youth employment crisis in Asia and the Pacific”.

With lockdowns and travel restrictions in place, demand has slumped and many businesses have been forced to close or cut back on operations, having a serious impact on workers. Nearly 220 million people aged 15 to 24 in the region are particularly vulnerable given that they hold insecure, informal, part-time jobs in sectors that have especially been hit hard.

Given their relative lack of experience, young people face higher rates of unemployment than people above the age of 25 regardless of the business cycle. Young people are also more likely than adults to work in less secure, lower-wage jobs usually with limited legal rights, social protection and representation.

The Covid-19 crisis brings the vulnerabilities of youth labour markets to the fore but with the further complication of disrupted education and training pathways. Young people will be hit harder than adults in the immediate crisis and also bear higher longer-term economic and social costs. Pre-existing vulnerabilities of youth in the labour market will be exacerbated, with negative consequences for intergenerational poverty and inequality.

The crisis negatively impacts the prospects for youth through three channels: job disruptions from reduced working hours and layoffs; disruption in education and training as they try to complete studies; and difficulties transitioning from school to work and moving between jobs.

The crisis will affect young people differently depending on their situation in the labour market. The scale of the impact will depend on the length of the crisis, the choices governments make for socioeconomic recovery and the capacity of institutions to implement effective measures.

Youth in the Asia-Pacific region faced a challenging labour market situation before the crisis. The regional youth unemployment rate was 13.8 per cent in 2019 compared with 3 per cent for adults and the global youth unemployment rate was 13.6 per cent. More than 160 million youth (24 per cent of the population) were not in employment, education or training in 2019, and the region’s rates have been rising primarily as a result of the exclusion of young women who face an excessive burden of unpaid household and care work.

Four in five young workers in the region were engaged in informal employment – a higher share than among adults – and one in four young workers was living in conditions of extreme or moderate poverty.

At the onset of the crisis, nearly half of young workers in the region were employed in the four sectors destined to be hardest hit by the recession. These sectors – wholesale and retail trade and repair, manufacturing, rental and business services, and accommodation and food services – employed nearly half of all young people (more than 100 million) working in Asia-Pacific at the onset of the crisis. Young women are overrepresented in three of the four highly impacted sectors, particularly accommodation and food services.

The vulnerability of youth in labour markets was already visible in the first half of this year as the Covid-19 crisis unfolded. Youth unemployment rates jumped in the first quarter of 2020 from the last quarter of 2019 in all economies for which data is available.

Compared with the first quarter of 2019, youth unemployment rate increased in six of nine economies that have quarterly data available: Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam, as well as in Hong Kong which showed the largest increase of 3 percentage points.

All economies that experienced increases showed sharper jumps in youth rates than in adult rates.

The reduction in working hours is unprecedented. Working hours across the region dropped 7.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 from the fourth quarter 2019. The loss of working hours rose to 13.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2020. While the regional figure is not disaggregated by age, evidence from two countries – South Korea and Thailand – showed young workers experienced a significantly larger loss of hours than adults.

Job loss among youth will continue throughout 2020 and could result in youth unemployment rates doubling. Between 10 and 15 million youth jobs (full-time equivalent) may be lost across 13 Asia-Pacific countries 2020. These estimates are based on the expected fall in output and consequent decrease in labour demand for the year relative to a non-Covid-19 scenario. The estimates include large countries, such as India and Indonesia, as well as small ones such as Fiji and Nepal.

The projected rise in youth unemployment rates varies considerably across the 13 countries, but increases are expected in all countries. In Cambodia, Fiji, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand, youth unemployment rates are expected to at least double the 2019 estimates even if Covid-19 is contained.

Policy measures are urgently required to tackle the youth employment crisis in Asia-Pacific and recover lost ground on inclusive growth and sustainable development. Experience from past crises suggests that young people who try to enter the working world during a slowdown face long-term impacts on employment pathways, wages and productivity.

To minimise future “scarring” of the current generation, governments are called upon to urgently adopt and implement large-scale and targeted measures to stimulate the economy and youth employment, balancing the inclusion of youth in wider labour market and economic recovery measures with youth-targeted interventions to maximise efficiency in the allocation of resources.

Support measures, many of which should be directed at enterprises in the hardest-hit sectors where youth job losses are concentrated, to be prioritised include:

• Providing youth-targeted wage subsidies and public employment programmes;
• Expanding job information and employment services targeted to young jobseekers;
• Supporting apprenticeship programmes and focusing on demand-driven skills development;
• Increasing funds for upskilling and reskilling, especially in growth sectors;
• Investing in digital inclusion for equitable access to education, training and entrepreneurship; and
• Supporting young entrepreneurs through access to capital combined with non-financial services.

Three cross-cutting considerations should underpin an effective policy response: reaching the most vulnerable youth including the poorest and marginalised young women, meaningfully engaging young people in policy development and social dialogue, and facilitating disaggregation of crisis impact data by age and enhanced youth labour market information.: https://www.nationthailand.com/busin...ernal_referral

Perhaps a blessing in disguise for the Golden Land.

[S Landreth]

• How Does COVID-19 Affect the Heart?

We’re still learning about the long-term effects of COVID-19 on our bodies. Studies are being done across the globe, including here at Hackensack Meridian Health, to better understand how people are impacted by the virus.

Some patients who have recovered from COVID-19 may show signs of heart damage, even weeks or months after feeling better, according to two studies published in JAMA Cardiology.

Heart Health Hits Home
The studies were released days before news broke that Major League Baseball pitcher, Eduardo Rodriguez, would sit out the rest of the season after doctors discovered inflammation in his heart after being infected with COVID-19. Reports said the pitcher developed myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle.

“While there’s still much to be learned, we’re starting to understand that COVID-19 may lead to some heart problems that can have long-term consequences,” says Bhudev Sharma, M.D., a cardiologist at JFK Medical Center.

How does COVID-19 affect the heart?
Viruses attack the body by infecting cells directly. In the case of COVID-19, the virus primarily attacks the lungs. However, it can also cause your body to produce an overactive immune response which can lead to increased inflammation throughout the body.

Myocarditis can impair the heart’s ability to pump blood and send electrical signals. Severe forms of myocarditis can lead to more serious problems like abnormal heart rhythms, heart muscle disease and heart failure.

According to one study out of the University of Frankford in Germany, more than half of patients studied who had COVID-19 were found to have ongoing cardiac inflammation. Researchers noted that more than two-thirds of the patients who participated in the study had a mild illness and recovered at home from COVID-19.

“The concern now is that even with a mild case of COVID-19, there’s a possibility that there could be inflammation and damage to your heart,” says Dr. Sharma.

However, it’s important to know that the abnormalities seen in the study can happen with other viral infections and may be temporary. Many cases of mild heart inflammation may not show symptoms and get better on their own.

What are signs you should seek care?
If you’ve been infected with COVID-19 you should continue to monitor any lingering symptoms and check in with your doctor regularly. Some signs you should talk to your doctor are:

Chest pain
For those who have had COVID-19 and live in the New Jersey area, consider seeking care at Hackensack Meridian Health’s COVID Recovery Center for access to all the specialists you need, all in one place.

“Although more research needs to be done to understand the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the heart, we do know COVID-19 affects the heart in two ways,” says Dr. Sharma. “First, it can directly cause myocarditis and blood clots, and second, it can indirectly affect the heart by making existing heart conditions worse. Everyone should continue to do everything they can to protect themselves and others from getting the illness.” Some basic precautions you should take include:

Washing your hands often and using hand sanitizer when soap and water aren’t available. Make sure the hand sanitizer you use is at least 60% alcohol.
Wear a mask any time you can’t maintain 6 feet of social distancing from others when indoors or outdoors.
Know the signs and symptoms of COVID-19. Monitor for any signs of illness and get tested if you think you’ve been exposed to someone who has the virus.: https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth...ect-the-heart/

• Coronavirus Cases: 22,593,720

Deaths: 791,201

Underreported US death count: 176,342

US conflicts………

Civil War (US Army) - 140,414
Korean War - 33,686

Total US deaths in the conflicts above: 174,233

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[S Landreth]

• Nepal Health Facility Births Decline by Half During Covid-19 Lockdown/ Global Pandemic Exposes Gaps in Health Care and Safe Birth

Covid-19 has stretched threadbare health facilities in many parts of the world, often forcing the most difficult of choices – refusing medical care to one person to make room for another.

In Nepal, decades of progress in maternal and newborn health is now in jeopardy, according to new research published in the Lancet. The study, which looked at nine hospitals, found the number of births in these facilities fell by more than half during Nepal’s four-month lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19. The rate of neonatal deaths more than tripled, from 13 to 40 per 1,000 live births. Still births and pre-term births also increased. Disadvantaged ethnic groups, such as Madhesis, suffered greater declines in access to clinical services.

“Services for women were shut down [during the lockdown] and those doctors were moved to serve Covid patients,” explained Dr Lhamo Sherpa, an epidemiologist and medical doctor, adding that women were “sent away by the hospitals, saying ‘we do not want to take in cases.’”

The lockdown was aimed at providing authorities time to bolster the capacity of health care facilities. But the government response was poor, and the number of Covid-19 cases has been increasing since the start of June, with reports of community transmission in the crowded Kathmandu Valley.

Meanwhile, Nepal may have squandered hard-won achievements in maternal and neonatal health, amid other mounting social and economic costs.

Since 2000 Nepal has made significant gains in the number of women giving birth in clinics and hospitals, contributing to major decreases in maternal and neonatal mortality. Between 2000-2019, the number of institutional births more than quadrupled, while maternal mortality declined by 76 percent, and newborn mortality declined by 62 percent.

The study’s authors fear a reversal for women’s health and infant mortality. “The COVID-19 outbreak and response has reduced coverage of health facility births and widened inequalities in Nepal, with significantly increased institutional stillbirth and neonatal mortality rates,” they conclude, warning that there could be a similar decline in other low-income and middle-income countries.

The Nepal government should respond urgently to the study with steps to get back on the path toward reducing maternal and infant mortality. Other countries should take notice of the Lancet research and make it a priority to protect access to sexual and reproductive health services throughout the pandemic.: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/08/18/...lockdown-study

• Coronavirus Cases: 22,602,098

Deaths: 791,401

Underreported US death count: 176,342

US conflicts………

Civil War (US Army) - 140,414
Korean War - 33,686

Total US deaths in the conflicts above: 174,233

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[S Landreth]

• 'Silent spreaders' of COVID-19: Kids who seem healthy may be more contagious than sick adults, study says

A new study adds to growing evidence that children are not immune to COVID-19 and may even play a larger role in community spread than previously thought.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Mass General Hospital for Children found that among 192 children, 49 tested positive for the coronavirus and had significantly higher levels of virus in their airways than hospitalized adults in intensive care units, according to the study published Thursday in the Journal of Pediatrics.

“Kids are not immune from this infection, and their symptoms don’t correlate with exposure and infection,” said Dr. Alessio Fasano, senior author and director of the Mucosal Immunology and Biology Researcher Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The study comprised of children from ages zero to 22 who arrived at an urgent care clinic or hospital and were suspected of having SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Fasano said some children were brought to these settings after exhibiting symptoms, but others showed no symptoms and were brought in because they had been in contact with an infected person or lived in what was considered a high-risk area.

“During this COVID-19 pandemic, we mainly screened symptomatic subjects, so we have reached the erroneous conclusion that the vast majority of people infected are adults,” he said. “We should not discount children as potential spreaders for this virus.”

While the number of children who tested positive may come as a shock to some, Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s National Hospital in Washington D.C., said she's not surprised based on the patients she's seen.

"We know from other respiratory diseases, (children) are known to be vectors in the community," she said. However, she added this study is unique because it went a step further to quantify viral load.

Study authors challenged the current hypothesis that children are less likely to get sick from COVID-19 because they had fewer virus receptors than adults. The receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), binds to the coronavirus and enables it to infect healthy cells.

While they found younger children did have fewer receptors, they still carried high levels of virus. This led researchers to think children are more contagious, calling them "silent spreaders" of COVID-19, regardless of their susceptibility to developing infection.

Scientists also discovered only half of the children who tested positive for the disease had a fever, leading experts to question the heavy reliance of non-contact thermal scanners at building entrances.

"How likely are you to pick up every case of COVID? The answer is only 50% of the time," DeBiasi said. "You still have to put in all those other measures to try to prevent spread (because) children will be missed from screening methods."

Dr. Matthew Heinz, hospitalist at Tucson Medical Center in Arizona, has seen child-to-adult transmission firsthand. He said the study supports anecdotal reports.

“This is no way inconsistent from what I’ve seen in my own patients and their own families,” he said. “We’re seeing people that are experiencing what the study is confirming for us in real time.”

As the debate for schools to reopen continues, experts worry children may trigger another wave of coronavirus cases if schools solely rely on monitoring symptoms instead of wearing masks and social distancing. They say children could take the virus to multi-generational households and infect those more susceptible to severe illness.

“Kids are a possible source of spreading this virus,” Fasano said. “And this should be taken into account in the planning stages for reopening schools.”: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ts/3392088001/

• Coronavirus Cases: 22,640,225

Deaths: 792,205

Underreported US death count: 176,407

US conflicts………

Civil War (US Army) - 140,414
Korean War - 33,686

Total US deaths in the conflicts above: 174,233

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[serrollt]

Dead seppos:Korean War - 33,686

Korean War Casualties
Nearly 5 million people died. More than half of these–about 10 percent of Korea's prewar population–were civilians.

[S Landreth]

Thailand - Minister orders energy agencies to create more jobs

New Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow has instructed state energy agencies to draw up job creation plans to boost the virus-hit economy.

They must also seek ways to ease energy costs for people and consider measures to peg the cost of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas for vehicles (NGV).

He asked them to share the plans with one another in the next two weeks.

He said his policies focused on boosting the subdued economy, creating jobs, and laying a foundation for the country's future energy direction.

The planned community power plants project would continue, he said, with 30 days needed to revise details. The project is expected to invite applications to construct the plants late this year, with commercial operation expected to begin early next year.

On planned bidding for petroleum exploration and production rights, he has asked the Department of Minerals Fuel to gauge the number of potential bidders to assess whether it is worth calling an auction at present.: https://www.nationthailand.com/busin...ernal_referral

Perhaps a blessing in disguise for the Golden Land.

[S Landreth]

• study finds signs of altruism in people’s covid-19 worries

When it comes to worrying about the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study demonstrates that people are more concerned about whether their family members could contract the virus or if they are unknowingly spreading the virus themselves than they are with contracting it. The study, conducted by researchers from the Lifespan Brain Institute (LiBI) of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, also shows how increased resilience is able to reduce rates of anxiety and depression during the pandemic.

The findings were published online today by the journal Translational Psychiatry.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected not only people’s physical health, but also their mental health. Coping with these mental effects requires resilience, the ability to adapt in the face of adversity. Given the rapid spread of COVID-19 around the globe, the researchers at LiBI saw an opportunity to study resilience in the midst of a single global adversity.

In April, soon after stay-at-home measures were issued, the researchers launched an online survey at covid19resilience.org to study stress and resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey measured six potential sources of stress during the pandemic: contracting the virus; dying from the virus; currently having the virus; having a family member contract the virus; unknowingly infecting others; and experiencing a significant financial burden.

The study involved 3,042 participants from the United States and Israel, ranging in age from 18 to 79. Most were living in locations with active stay-at-home orders at the time of the survey, and approximately 20% of those taking the survey were healthcare workers. Once they completed the questionnaire, participants’ responses were measured for anxiety and depression. Of those who participated, distress about family members contracting the virus (48.5%) and unknowingly infecting others (36%) outweighed distress associated with contracting the virus themselves (19.9%). Rates of anxiety (22.2%) and depression (16.1%) were not significantly different between health care workers and non-health care workers.

“The opportunity to study mental resilience during this pandemic is unprecedented,” said Ran Barzilay, MD, PhD, lead author, child and adolescent psychiatrist at CHOP, and Assistant Professor at LiBI. “Our frontline health care workers are acutely aware of the mental health challenges facing everyone right now, so there is an urgent need to quantify the effects of resilience and determine how future studies might guide us toward improving mental health under these changing circumstances.”

Respondents with higher resilience scores had lower COVID-19-related worries, as well as a reduced rate of anxiety (65%) and depression (69%) across both health care workers and non-health care workers.

“Based on our study, it appears that people are more worried about others than themselves when reporting their COVID-19 related concerns, but encouragingly, resilience helps reduce these worries, as well as anxiety and depression,” said Raquel Gur, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and the director of LiBI. “As we get a better grasp of what constitutes resilience in people during COVID-19, we hope that soon we will be able to inform interventions that can enhance resilience, thereby mitigating the adverse effects of COVID-19 on mental health.”

The survey website not only provided data to researchers, but also supplied unique information to participants, who immediately received personalized feedback upon completing the survey, including a resilience profile.

“We received many responses from participants telling us that they liked the interactive nature of the survey,” said Dr. Barzilay. “Some of them explicitly said that they found the personalized feedback to be useful during these stressful times.”

The researchers are continuing to gather information from the survey as the pandemic unfolds. The survey has already been translated to Spanish, French and Hebrew, and the researchers hope to collect data around the globe. So far more than 7,000 people have taken the survey, and the research team hopes to collect data over time that will shed light on the long-term effects of the COVID-19 high-stress environment.: https://globalhealthnewswire.com/res...vid-19-worries - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-020-00982-4

• Coronavirus Cases: 23,010,446

Deaths: 799,640

Underreported US death count: 177,791

US conflicts………

Civil War (US Army) - 140,414
Korean War - 33,686

Total US deaths in the conflicts above: 174,233

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[serrollt]

Korean War Casualties
Nearly 5 million people died. More than half of these–about 10 percent of Korea's prewar population–were civilians.
33,686 dead seppos.

[S Landreth]

Coronavirus Cases: 23,065,281

Deaths: 801,907

Underreported US death count: 179,014

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

Civil War (US Army) - 140,414
Korean War - 33,686
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 177,210

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[S Landreth]

• How To Tell A Real COVID-19 Contact Tracer's Call From A Scammer's

State officials and federal agencies warn there's a new phone scam circulating: Callers posing as COVID-19 contact tracers are trying to pry credit card or bank account information from unsuspecting victims.

The grifters apparently are taking advantage of a genuine public health intervention that is crucial to stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus: contact tracing.

In one scam, detailed in a warning from the Montana attorney general, fraudsters are telling their victims, "I'm calling from your local health department to let you know that you have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19."

Then they move in for the kill, asking for payment information "before we continue."

Don't fall for that, say public health advocates and officials. Legitimate contact tracers don't ask for payment or seek other financial information.

"That is absolutely not part of the process," says Crystal Watson, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. "No one should give bank information or credit card information."

How genuine contact tracing works

Real contact tracers generally work for health departments. They contact COVID-positive patients to track symptoms. They help the people they call figure out how to isolate themselves from others until they clear the virus and determine which friends, neighbors, colleagues or acquaintances they might have been near in the days just before or after they tested positive for the coronavirus.

The contact tracers then race against the clock with more phone calls, hoping to reach the folks on that list who might have been exposed to the virus, and persuade them, too, to quarantine themselves for a brief period.

This tried-and-true public health tool (along with washing hands, wearing a mask in public and maintaining 6 feet of physical distance from people outside your household) is one of the few strategies available to slow the spread of the virus while scientists work on treatments and vaccines.

Legitimate contact tracing is being employed widely in some areas, including the District of Columbia and Hawaii, and has been credited with helping some countries, such as Taiwan and New Zealand, contain the virus.

But with this success has come bad actors, too. The Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the Better Business Bureau and state law enforcement groups from across the U.S. have issued consumer alerts about unscrupulous people who are not affiliated with health departments using phone calls, texts or emails to get personal information from those they scam.

Be discerning, but don't avoid real tracers

Legitimate tracing calls might be preceded by a text message, notifying patients of an upcoming call from the health department. Then, in that initial call, the legitimate tracer will seek to confirm an address and date of birth, especially if you are the COVID-positive patient, Watson says.

"They ask about your identity," Watson says, "to make sure you are the person they are trying to reach so they don't disclose potentially private information to the wrong person."

Given the prevalence of scammers, it's good to be initially suspicious of such a call, until you've sussed out its source, health officials say.

"Anytime someone calls you for information, you should be concerned about who is calling," says Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. "If they are legitimate, you can say, 'Give me your name and phone number' and you can always call them back" after doing some checking.

One thing to consider: Did the caller ID indicate the call was from a health department? Some, but not all, states are including that information. For example, Virginia's calls are from the "VDH COVID Team." Call the health department if you have any questions.

Be discerning, but don't avoid genuine help. Real contact tracers can also help people who must isolate or quarantine by connecting them with resources, such as food or medicine delivery.

"Some can even provide you with a separate place to quarantine safely" if, for example, you live in a multigenerational house with no separate bathroom or bedroom in which to isolate, Watson says.

Conspiracy Theories Aside, Here's What Contact Tracers Really Do

At the end of the call, a genuine contact tracer may ask if they can call or text you in the coming days to check on how any symptoms may be progressing. That's OK. Once you've ascertained they are a real contact tracer, providing them with that sort of information helps not just you, but your community, too.

So, what else should you watch for, to avoid being scammed?

Signs of a fraudster

Be concerned if you get an initial text asking you to click on a link, which might be spam and could download software onto your phone, the Federal Trade Commission warns.

"Unlike a legitimate text message from a health department, which only wants to let you know they'll be calling, this message includes a link to click," the FTC says. And contact tracers in most regions do not ask your immigration or financial status.

Another clear red flag: being asked for your Social Security number. Don't ever divulge that. And beware of any caller who gives you names of the COVID-19 patients they say led them to you — that's a sign of a scammer.

"An authorized contact tracer will not disclose the identity of the person who tested positive and is the starting place for that tracing effort," the Wisconsin attorney general's office notes in a recent statement outlining ways consumers can spot and protect themselves from such scams.

Finally, if you think you've been contacted by a scammer — by phone, email or text — report that to regulatory agencies, such as your state attorney general's office.

"If you see something, say something," said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a recent consumer alert his office issued. "We are working to track these impostors.": https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...rom-a-scammers

• Coronavirus Cases: 23,136,096

Deaths: 803,524

Underreported US death count: 179,200

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

Civil War (US Army) - 140,414
Korean War - 33,686
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 177,210

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[serrollt]

Korean War Casualties

Nearly 5 million people died. More than half of these–about 10 percent of Korea's prewar population–were civilians.
33,686 dead seppos.

[S Landreth]

^ thanks for the help flipping the page



Update

Coronavirus Cases: 23,148,448

Deaths: 803,783

Underreported US death count: 179,221

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

Civil War (US Army) - 140,414
Korean War - 33,686
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 177,210

it's been blown way out of proportion.