How Covid-19 Might Spread to You

[S Landreth]

Coronavirus Cases: 29,701,681

Deaths: 938,203

Underreported US death count: 200,147

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

World War I - 116,516
Vietnam War - 58,209
American Revolutionary War – 8,000
Iraq War - 4,576
War in Afghanistan - 2,216
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 192,494

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[S Landreth]

• China says it could have a coronavirus vaccine ready to use as early as November

A coronavirus vaccine being developed in China could be ready as early as November, according to a senior Chinese health official.

The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention's chief biosafety expert, Wu Guizhen, said on Monday that one of the four vaccines being developed in the country could be ready for use as early as the winter months, according to a Reuters report.

Guizhen, told the state broadcaster CCTV on Monday: "It will be very soon. The progress is currently very smooth."

China has been giving key workers shots of an experimental coronavirus vaccine since July. Zheny Zhongei, the head of the National Health Commission (NHC) science and technology center, indicated that health workers and border officials were among those on whom the vaccine was being tested.

Guizhen said that she had taken an experimental vaccine herself in April and had experienced no adverse reaction to it.

It comes amid a global race for a vaccine which has already seen Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, announce that scientists in Moscow had developed one which is safe and effective.

Putin's announcement was widely criticised, however, amid suggestions the vaccine had not been tested fully.

Germany's health minister Jens Spahn said he was "very sceptical" that Russia's vaccine had been proven to be fully safe, while Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious-disease expert, said he "seriously doubts" whether Moscow had yet developed a safe and effective vaccine that was ready for use.


There are 176 coronavirus vaccines being developed across the world, and there are likely to be at least fifty undergoing human trials by the end of 2020, according to a Business Insider review.

A total of 32 vaccine candidates are now being tried on humans in clinical trials, one of which could be proven as safe as effective by the end of 2020.

You first: https://www.businessinsider.com/coro...ficials-2020-9

• Coronavirus Cases: 29,756,176

Deaths: 939,706

Underreported US death count: 200,197

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

World War I - 116,516
Vietnam War - 58,209
American Revolutionary War – 8,000
Iraq War - 4,576
War in Afghanistan - 2,216
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 192,494

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[S Landreth]

Thailand - New B3,000 handout approved for 10m people

The government has approved a 3,000-baht handout to 10 million people, which must be spent in the last quarter of this year, to help boost the virus-hit economy.

The 30-billion-baht budget for the handout is part of a 51-billion-baht package approved on Wednesday. The remaining 21 billion baht will go to 14 million welfare card holders, who will each get 500 baht more every month for three months from 1,000 baht currently.

The government's Centre for Economic Situation Administration made the decision at a meeting at Government House on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said after the meeting that the most important thing at this time was to help low-income earners, while maintaining government and private investment in projects that would generate a sustainable national income in the future.

Economic support measures were necessary because no one knew when the coronavirus disease crisis would end, he said.

Kanchana Tangpakorn, director of the Bureau of Tax Policy, said the cash handouts would be in two parts.

Step one would increase the monthly financial assistance paid to 14 million holders of state welfare cards by 500 baht for three months, from October to December.

The other would be a 3,000-baht cash handout for 10 million people, who must register to receive it.

Recipients could spend it at a rate of no more than 100 baht a day, or 3,000 baht a month, to buy food, beverages and general goods (excluding lottery tickets, alcoholic drinks, tobacco and services) from small vendors. The scheme did not cover convenience-store franchises.

Spending was set for between Oct 23 and Dec 31.: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand...erbox#cxrecs_s - https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30394654

Perhaps a blessing in disguise for the Golden Land.

[serrollt]

Underreported US death count: 200,197

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

World War I - 116,516
Vietnam War - 58,209
American Revolutionary War – 8,000
Iraq War - 4,576
War in Afghanistan - 2,216
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 192,494

The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was about 40 million: estimates range from around 15 to 22 million deaths^[1] and about 23 million wounded military personnel, ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history.
116,516 dead seppos

Vietnam war casualties
Total deaths: 1,353,000
58,290 dead seppos

Iraq war casualties
109,032 deaths including 66,081 civilian deaths.
4,576 dead seppos.

Afghanistan War Casualties
Est. 200,000~
2,216 dead seppos

[S Landreth]

• Study hints antibody drug may cut COVID-19 hospitalizations

A drug company says that partial results from a study testing an antibody drug give hints that it may help keep mild to moderately ill COVID-19 patients from needing to be hospitalized, a goal no current coronavirus medicine has been able to meet.

Eli Lilly announced the results Wednesday in a press release, but they have not been published or reviewed by independent scientists.

The drug missed the study’s main goal of reducing the amount of virus patients had after 11 days, except at the middle of three doses being tested. However, most study participants, even those given a placebo treatment, had cleared the virus by then, so that time point now seems too late to judge that potential benefit, the company said.

Other tests suggest the drug was reducing virus sooner, and the results are an encouraging “proof of principle” as this and other studies continue, Lilly said.

The company said it would talk with regulators about possible next steps but that it was too soon to speculate on whether these interim results might lead to any action to allow early use.

“I’m strongly encouraged” by the results, said Dr. Myron Cohen, a University of North Carolina virologist. He had no role in the Lilly study but helps direct antibody studies for a public-private research group the federal government formed to speed testing of these drugs.

“This seems to demonstrate what we thought” — that such drugs would give a benefit, he said.

Antibodies are proteins the body makes when an infection occurs; they attach to a virus and help it be eliminated. The blood of survivors is being tested as a treatment for COVID-19 patients because it contains such antibodies, but the strength and types of antibodies varies depending on each donor, and doing this on a large scale is impractical.

The drugs that Lilly and other companies are testing are concentrated versions of specific antibodies that worked best against the coronavirus in lab and animal tests, and can be made in large, standardized doses.

They are being tested to treat newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients in hope of preventing serious disease or death, and to try to prevent infection in people at high risk of that such as nursing home residents and health workers.

Wednesday’s results come from 450 people in a mid-stage study testing an antibody jointly developed by Indianapolis-based Lilly and the Canadian company AbCellera in people with COVID-19 symptoms not severe enough to warrant hospitalization. The drug is given once through an IV and was tested at three doses. Neither the patients nor their doctors knew which patients received the drug or placebo infusions.

Hospitalization or ER visits occurred in 1.7%, or 5 of 302 patients given the drug and 6% or 9 of 150 of those given placebo. The company did not disclose whether those results met scientific tests to rule out that they could have occurred by chance alone.

The company felt that giving the actual numbers "told the story in the most balanced way,” said Lilly’s chief scientific officer, Dr. Daniel Skovronsky.

The difference seems large enough to suggest a true benefit and the result is “promising” even though the study missed its main goal, said Dr. Peter Bach, a health policy expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York with no role in the study.

The study will continue to test the antibody drug in combination with another from a Chinese company, Junshi Biosciences. Three late-stage studies of it also are underway, including two sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Lilly has already started manufacturing its antibody drug, hoping to have hundreds of thousands of doses ready by fall if studies give positive results.

Another company that developed an antibody drug cocktail against Ebola — Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. — now is testing a two-antibody drug for coronavirus.: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireSt...tions-73044990

• Coronavirus Cases: 29,941,728

Deaths: 942,766

Underreported US death count: 200,930

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

World War I - 116,516
Vietnam War - 58,209
American Revolutionary War – 8,000
Iraq War - 4,576
War in Afghanistan - 2,216
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 192,494

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[S Landreth]

Coronavirus Cases: 29,951,526

Deaths: 942,933

Underreported US death count: 201,013

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

World War I - 116,516
Vietnam War - 58,209
American Revolutionary War – 8,000
Iraq War - 4,576
War in Afghanistan - 2,216
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 192,494

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[S Landreth]

Little more

Bt51bn consumption stimulus package gets green light

The government's Centre for Economic Situation Administration (CESA) on Wednesday approved a three-month consumption stimulus package worth Bt51 billion.

The package will cover 24 million mainly low-income people via two schemes.

In the first scheme, 14 million welfare cardholders will receive an extra monthly discount of Bt500 from October to December on their shopping. The budget for this scheme is Bt21 billion.

Meanwhile, under the “Kon La Khreung” (Let’s Go Halves) scheme, 10 million people will get daily discounts of up to Bt50 on food, beverages and household essentials (not including alcohol, tobacco or lottery tickets). The subsidy is capped at Bt,3000 per person. Thai citizens aged 18 or over can register online.

A CESA meeting chaired by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha agreed on the Bt51-billion budget to maintain domestic consumption and increase purchasing power for low-income groups and the general public, as proposed by the Finance Ministry.

The budget will be allocated from the government’s Bt400 billion recovery loan and proposed to the Cabinet on September 22, with registration scheduled to open on October 16.

About 100,000 small stores and street vendors are expected to participate.: https://www.nationthailand.com/busin...ernal_referral

Perhaps a blessing in disguise for the Golden Land.

[S Landreth]

Coronavirus Cases: 30,063,255

Deaths: 945,542

Underreported US death count: 201,348

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

World War I - 116,516
Vietnam War - 58,209
American Revolutionary War – 8,000
Iraq War - 4,576
War in Afghanistan - 2,216
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 192,494

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[serrollt]

The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was about 40 million: estimates range from around 15 to 22 million deaths^[1] and about 23 million wounded military personnel, ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history.
116,516 dead seppos

Vietnam war casualties
Total deaths: 1,353,000
58,290 dead seppos

Iraq war casualties
109,032 deaths including 66,081 civilian deaths.
4,576 dead seppos.

Afghanistan War Casualties
Est. 200,000~
2,216 dead seppos

[S Landreth]

• COVID pushes millions more children deeper into poverty, new study finds

Globally, the number of children living in poverty soared to nearly 1.2 billion – a 15 per cent increase since the pandemic hit earlier this year, according to a technical note on impact of COVID-19 on child poverty, issued on Thursday by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the NGO Save the Children.

Although the analysis paints a dire picture already, UNICEF warns the situation will likely worsen in the months to come.

“COVID-19 and the lockdown measures imposed to prevent its spread have pushed millions of children deeper into poverty,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.

“Families on the cusp of escaping poverty have been pulled back in, while others are experiencing levels of deprivation they have never seen before. Most concerningly, we are closer to the beginning of this crisis than its end.”

The study – based on data on access to education, healthcare, housing, nutrition, sanitation and water from more than 70 countries – also finds that around 45 per cent of children were “severely deprived” of at least one of the critical needs in the countries analyzed before the pandemic.

It notes that child poverty is much more than a monetary value, and while measures of monetary poverty such as household income are important, they provide only a partial view of the plight of children living in poverty.

To understand the full extent of child poverty, all potential, multidimensional, deprivations must be analyzed directly, the study adds, highlighting the need for social protection, inclusive fiscal policies, investments in social services, and employment and labour market interventions to support families and preventing further devastation.

“This pandemic has already caused the biggest global education emergency in history, and the increase in poverty will make it very hard for the most vulnerable children and their families to make up for the loss”, said Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children.

“Children who lose out on education are more likely to be forced into child labour or early marriage and be trapped in a cycle of poverty for years to come. We cannot afford to let a whole generation of children become victims of this pandemic. National governments and the international community must step up to soften the blow.”

Worsening inequalities
The study also finds that not only are more children experiencing poverty than before, the poorest children are getting poorer as well. Some children may suffer one or more deprivations and others experience none at all, therefore the average number of deprivations suffered per child can be used to assess how poor children are.

Before the pandemic, the average number of severe deprivations per child was around 0.7. It is now estimated to have increased by 15 per cent to around 0.85, it notes.

Against this backdrop, governments must prioritize the most marginalized children and their families, underscored Ms. Fore, calling for rapid expansion of social protection systems including cash transfers and child benefits, remote learning opportunities, healthcare services and school feeding.

“Making these critical investments now can help countries to prepare for future shocks.”: https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1072602

• Coronavirus Cases: 30,167,619

Deaths: 947,256

Underreported US death count: 201,652

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

World War I - 116,516
Vietnam War - 58,209
American Revolutionary War – 8,000
Iraq War - 4,576
War in Afghanistan - 2,216
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 192,494

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[serrollt]

The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was about 40 million: estimates range from around 15 to 22 million deaths^[1] and about 23 million wounded military personnel, ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history.
116,516 dead seppos

Vietnam war casualties
Total deaths: 1,353,000
58,290 dead seppos

Iraq war casualties
109,032 deaths including 66,081 civilian deaths.
4,576 dead seppos.

Afghanistan War Casualties
Est. 200,000~
2,216 dead seppos

[S Landreth]

• Nearly 60% of people undergoing treatment for lung cancer experienced disruptions in care this spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis to be published Thursday by JAMA Oncology.

Just under 40% of lung cancer patients at a major health system in Canada saw delays or discontinuation of "palliative chemotherapy," while slightly less than 15% had their treatment stopped completely, because of the danger of contracting or spreading the virus, the researchers said.

For some patients, treatment delays incurred between March 2 and May 30 lasted a month or more, the data showed.

"A significant proportion of patients experienced a change or modification in their cancer treatment plan as a direct result of the pandemic," study co-author Dr. Arielle Elkrief told UPI.

"This study shows that the pandemic deeply affected every aspect of lung cancer care, [and] it reinforces the need for hospitals and care units to keep track of these changes and their outcomes," said Elkrief, a resident in medical oncology at McGill University in Montreal.

Approximately 230,000 Americans are diagnosed with lung cancer each year, and more than 130,000 die from the disease annually, according to the American Cancer Society.

In the United States, more than 60% of lung cancer patients surveyed by ACS said that the COVID-19 pandemic had affected their care in some way, while nearly 40% reported treatment delays as a result.

The decision to delay treatment for lung cancer patients was likely made by "patients made in collaboration with their physicians," based on their risk for infection and more severe illness, Elkrief said.

People with lung cancer are at greater risk for serious illness and death from COVID-19, and the effects of chemotherapy on the immune system may place them at increased risk for infection, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

For this study, Elkrief and her colleagues reviewed the cancer treatment of 275 patients receiving care at McGill's thoracic oncology clinic. Of these patients, 211 were undergoing active treatment when the COVID-19 outbreak began in Canada in early March, the researchers said.

Overall, 121 patients -- or 57% -- experienced at least one change in their treatment plan because of the pandemic, and 55% of them were receiving chemotherapy, immunotherapy or both, the data showed.

Just over 26% had adjustments made to their treatment dose or schedule, while 3% stopped treatment completely, the researchers said.

Nearly 7% of the patients also had routine follow-up appointments postponed or cancelled, according to the researchers.

"Since no clear evidence has emerged that cancer treatments increase the risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes, evidence-based cancer care should continue to proceed with caution," Elkrief said.

"Now we know which measures need to be taken, and how to prevent virus transmission thanks to clear infection control procedures.": https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2020...6901600263868/

• Coronavirus Cases: 30,296,361

Deaths: 949,391

Underreported US death count: 202,067

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

World War I - 116,516
Vietnam War - 58,209
American Revolutionary War – 8,000
Iraq War - 4,576
War in Afghanistan - 2,216
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 192,494

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[S Landreth]

• Internal AstraZeneca safety report sheds light on neurological condition suffered by vaccine trial participant

CNN has obtained an internal safety report by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca that sheds light on the neurological condition suffered by one of the participants in its coronavirus vaccine clinical trial.

The report details how the study volunteer, a previously healthy 37-year-old woman, "experienced confirmed transverse myelitis" after receiving her second dose of the vaccine, and was hospitalized on September 5.

Four days later, AstraZeneca dismissed media reports about the participant having a confirmed case of the rare neurological condition, in which the spinal cord becomes inflamed.

The document, which is labeled an "initial report," describes how the study participant had trouble walking, weakness and pain in her arms, and other symptoms.

The internal safety report is dated September 10, and on September 11 it was sent out to doctors who are running the study's clinical trial sites.

Last week, AstraZeneca announced the study volunteer's "unexplained illness," and said it was voluntarily pausing the trial worldwide. On Saturday, the trial in the UK resumed. The trial has not resumed in the US.

As the world closely watches the development process of a number of vaccines, hoping for an end to a deadly pandemic, some scientists say AstraZeneca's communications about the patient's condition have not been fully transparent.

A company spokesperson says, as the trial sponsor, they "cannot disclose medical information."

In a press release last week, the pharmaceutical giant stated that "we are committed to the safety of our participants and the highest standards of conduct in our trials."

Fourteen days after receiving her second dose of the vaccine, the woman, who lives in the UK, "experienced confirmed transverse myelitis," with symptoms including trouble walking and pain and weakness, the safety report said. Researchers were sufficiently concerned that they filed a SUSAR, or Suspected or Unexpected Serious Adverse Reaction report.

After the patient's condition was reviewed by safety experts, the trial resumed in the UK and Brazil.

Much more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/17/healt...ent/index.html

• Coronavirus Cases: 30,407,305

Deaths: 951,469

Underreported US death count: 202,266

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

World War I - 116,516
Vietnam War - 58,209
American Revolutionary War – 8,000
Iraq War - 4,576
War in Afghanistan - 2,216
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 192,494

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[S Landreth]

• Moderna shares Covid-19 vaccine trial blueprints, Pfizer follows

US biotech firm Moderna, one of nine companies in the late stages of clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine, became the first to publish the complete blueprints of its study following calls for greater transparency.

Pfizer, the other American company currently carrying out Phase 3 trials in the US, followed suit a short time later and there is now added pressure for the remainder to do the same.

Phase 3 is the final stage before approval, in which a vaccine and a placebo are tested on thousands of participants to verify the medicine is safe and effective.

The vaccine race has become deeply politicized in the US in the run-up to the presidential election in November, as President Donald Trump touts a quick vaccine in response to criticism of his handling of the pandemic.

Trump repeated on Wednesday that the first vaccine would be approved by October, increasing concerns that the White House will place pressure on the approval body, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"I don't trust Donald Trump," his rival from the Democratic party Joe Biden said Wednesday.

Experts and officials in the Republican president's administration agree that it's not possible to predict the results of the trials that are underway, and it's highly unlikely to have strong data before the end of 2020.

accine doses will be initially very limited, according to health authorities.

Moderna's CEO Stephane Bancel said on Thursday his company would know whether their vaccine works by November.

October is possible but unlikely, he told CNBC.

The trial protocol published Thursday, which runs to 135 pages and is marked "confidential," fixes the parameters of the experiment.

The most important of these is how it will judge whether results are conclusive.

Wait for it

The reality of an immunization trial is that it's necessary to wait until a certain number of volunteers become naturally infected, in order to compare outcomes in the placebo group against the group given the vaccine.

So the decline in the rate of infection in the US could theoretically delay the results -- possibly until December, said Bancel.

As of Thursday, Moderna had recruited 25,296 volunteers. Among them, 10,025 had received their second dose, 28 days after the first.

It'll take a few more weeks to recruit the full quotient of 30,000 participants and for them to receive their second doses.

Only Covid-19 infections recorded two weeks or more after the second dose are counted, to give the vaccine sufficient time to take effect.

Interim analyses by a committee of independent experts are planned over the course of the trial to verify whether a high statistical threshold of effectiveness has been reached, and to monitor for serious side effects.

The FDA has stated its bar for approval is a vaccine that reduces the risk of falling sick with Covid-19 by 50 percent.

The Moderna trial protocol "has the key information (for) stopping rules, interim analyses and efficacy assumptions. Applaud their transparency," Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Institute and one of the critics leading the charge against possible political interference, told AFP.

Pressure on

Moderna also said that 28% of its participants were from racial minority groups.

Having sufficient participants among black and Hispanic people in particular is crucial in obtaining statistically representative results for these communities that have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic.

The decision by Moderna, which has received $2.5 billion in US government money, left a spotlight on Pfizer, whose CEO has repeatedly said the company will have its results by the end of October, which is in line with Trump's wishes.

A spokeswoman told AFP Pfizer has traditionally not shared the full in-depth study protocol, but "the Covid-19 pandemic is a unique circumstance and the need for transparency is clear."

"As a result, the company is making the full protocol for its self-funded Covid-19 vaccine pivotal study available to reinforce Pfizer's longstanding commitment to scientific and regulatory rigor that benefits patients."

The other frontrunner is AstraZeneca, which has co-developed a vaccine with the University of Oxford.

The medicine's global trials were suspended last week after a participant had an unexplained illness, but were later restarted in the UK, Brazil, and South Africa. The US remains the exception for reasons that aren't yet known.: https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/19...erbox#cxrecs_s

• Coronavirus Cases: 30,490,264

Deaths: 952,223

Underreported US death count: 202,552

US conflicts and 911 Casualties………

World War I - 116,516
Vietnam War - 58,209
American Revolutionary War – 8,000
Iraq War - 4,576
War in Afghanistan - 2,216
911 Casualties – 2,977

Total US Casualties in the conflicts above and 911 Casualties: 192,494

it's been blown way out of proportion.

[serrollt]

The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was about 40 million: estimates range from around 15 to 22 million deaths^[1] and about 23 million wounded military personnel, ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history.
116,516 dead seppos

Vietnam war casualties
Total deaths: 1,353,000
58,290 dead seppos

Iraq war casualties
109,032 deaths including 66,081 civilian deaths.
4,576 dead seppos.

Afghanistan War Casualties
Est. 200,000~
2,216 dead seppos