Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

[K]

[K]

The coronavirus is infecting and killing black Americans at an alarmingly high rate

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/07/coronavirus-is-infecting-killing-black-americans-an-alarmingly-high-rate-post-analysis-shows/

'The emerging stark racial disparity led the surgeon general Tuesday to acknowledge in personal terms the increased risk for African Americans amid growing demands that public-health officials release more data on the race of those who are sick, hospitalized and dying...

A Post analysis of available data and census demographics shows that counties that are majority-black have three times the rate of infections and almost six times the rate of deaths as counties where white residents are in the majority.
...

African Americans’ higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and lung disease are well-documented... But there never has been a pandemic that brought the disparities so vividly into focus.

The crisis is “shining a bright light on how unacceptable” those disparities are, Fauci said at the briefing. “There is nothing we can do about it right now except to try and give” African Americans “the best possible care to avoid complications.”
...

As pressure mounted, a CDC spokesman said Tuesday that the agency plans to include covid-19 hospitalizations by race and ethnicity in its next Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report...
...

“These structural inequities in our health care system do not ignore racial and gender disparities — and neither should our response to this pandemic.”'


COUNTY MAJORITY || COUNTIES || CASES PER 100K || DEATHS PER 100K

Asian | 6 | 19.5 | .4
Black | 131 | 137.5 | 6.3
Hispanic | 124 | 27.2 | .6
White | 2,879 | 39.8 | 1.1

Note: Data per 100k based on averages.
Source: John Hopkins University and American Community Survey.

[think positive]

[K]

The Pandemic’s Missing Data

We desperately need to release the statistics on race and ethnicity.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/opinion/coronavirus-blacks.html

"We health professionals fear that Covid-19 will further widen existing health gaps. That’s why my organization, the American Medical Association, is calling on laboratories, health institutions, state and local health departments and the Department of Health and Human Services to standardize, collect and publish race and ethnicity data so that we can begin to prioritize equity and effectively manage this pandemic.

We need to know who receives tests, who tests positive, who is hospitalized, who dies and eventually who receives treatment and a vaccine. That also goes for clinical trials, which, historically, have largely excluded black and brown people.
...

To be sure, the chaos around testing — unequal access to kits, unclear processing guidelines, backlogs of performed tests — will hinder us in fully understanding the impact of the virus.

And while it’s appropriate that we prioritize the testing of those who are critically ill, we are missing the chance to test those who may have been exposed to the coronavirus. This is further fueled by the fact that those most marginalized, such as communities of color, may not have the same access to testing as others and may distrust health institutions, preventing them from seeking care. This is a recipe for undercounting, keeping structural harms and disease burden invisible."

[stui magpie]

[swoop42]

[K]

But why visit your mum? To deliver her some groceries? You could be endangering her life!

Re. groceries, please everyone tell us what your supermarket shopping experience is like now. What times are you shopping and is it busy?

[K]

In N.Y.C., the Coronavirus Is Killing Men Twice as Often as Women

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/health/coronavirus-new-york-men.html

"To date, there have been nearly 43 COVID-19 deaths for every 100,000 men in the city, compared with 23 such deaths for every 100,000 women, according to figures reported by the city's health department. And men are being hospitalised with severe disease at higher rates.

The data, while disturbing, do not come entirely as a surprise. Similar trends have been observed in China and Italy...
...

While there were 712 cases per 100,000 women in the city, there were 932 cases for every 100,000 men. Men were also more likely than women to be hospitalised: 228.7 admissions for every 100,000 men, compared with 140.3 admissions for every 100,000 women. (The figures are crude rates and have not been adjusted for differences in age or other characteristics.)
...

"More than two-thirds of the intubated patients are men," said Dr Joseph Lowy, a palliative care and hospice doctor at NYU Langone Health, referring to patients on ventilators.

"I know of no other disease that has that type of predilection for one gender over another," excluding diseases of the reproductive system, he added.
...

A disproportionate effect on men has also been seen in California, which has reported 7296 COVID-19 cases among infected men and 6740 among women. In Italy, the case fatality rate was 8 per cent for infected men compared with 5 per cent for women, according to one analysis of 25,058 COVID-19 cases. (Men represented 70 per cent of 1697 deaths tallied by that study.)

In China, one of the largest analyses of COVID-19 cases reported a 2.8 per cent case fatality rate among infected men, compared with a 1.7 per cent rate among women.
...

One possible explanation for the disparity in COVID-19 may have to do with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, or ACE2, a protein on the surfaces of cells the lungs and other organs that is a key component of the system that regulates blood pressure, Sandberg said.

ACE2 is regulated differently in men and in women, Sandberg said, and the coronavirus binds to ACE2."

[think positive]

i went to aldi and coles yesterday about 10.30-11, coles had 3 or 4 different brands of toilet paper, and plenty of tissues! Aldi also had toilet paper. both coles and big w counting people entering, and leaving.

im shopping for 2 old ladies up the road, i leave their groceries on their doorstep, ring and walk to my car. and then they put the money in my letterbox later.

[K]

They are fortunate to have you, TP.

I'm kind of wishing the supermarkets were open 24hrs, so one could go at a crazy late hour when no one else shops.

(In NSW, they passed rules allowing supermarkets and pharmacies to open 24/7. Not sure how many do, though.

Coles quoted in SMH: "We appreciate the flexibility around trading hours and thank the federal, state and local governments for their rapid action to help us continue to serve customers during these challenging times.”

Woolworths: "We're looking at our trading hours week to week and will continue to adjust them as needed.")

[Jezza]

Latest numbers

Confirmed (Deaths) - Recoveries

USA = 402,471 (12,936) - 22,539
Spain = 146,690 (14,555) - 48,021
Italy = 136,162 (17,198) - 24,392
Germany = 109,426 (2,104) - 41,794
France = 109,069 (10,328) - 19,337
China = 81,805 (3,333) - 77,292
Iran = 64,586 (3,993) - 29,812
UK = 55,242 (6,159) - 1,918
Turkey = 34,109 (725) - 1,582
Belgium = 23,403 (2,240) - 4,681
...........................................................
Australia = 6,024 (50) - 2,813

1,453,395 confirmed cases
83,708 deaths
321,262 recoveries

Australia:
- Confirmed cases = 6,024
---- New South Wales = 2,734
---- Victoria = 1,212
---- Queensland = 943
---- Western Australia = 481
---- South Australia = 420
---- Tasmania = 107
---- ACT = 99
---- NT = 28
- Deaths = 50
- Recoveries = 2,813
- Case fatality rate = 0.83%

Active Cases = 1,048,307
- USA = 366,996
- Italy = 94,572
- Spain = 84,114
- France = 79,404
- Germany = 65,528
- UK = 47,165
- Turkey = 31,802
- Iran = 30,781
- Netherlands = 18,251
- Belgium = 16,482
............................................
- Australia = 3,161

[Jezza]

AUSTRALIA

Date = Confirmed Cases (New Cases) = Percentage of new cases

1/04/2020 = 4,864 (303) = 7%
2/04/2020 = 5,136 (272) = 6%
3/04/2020 = 5,362 (226) = 4%
4/04/2020 = 5,552 (190) = 4%
5/04/2020 = 5,693 (141) = 3%
6/04/2020 = 5,800 (107) = 2%
7/04/2020 = 5,919 (119) = 2%
8/04/2020 = 6,024 (105) = 2%

2,813 recovered, 50 deaths.

Cases doubling every 12 days.

560 cases of community transmission nationwide.

VICTORIA

Date = Confirmed Cases (New Cases) = Percentage of new cases

1/04/2020 = 968 (51) = 6%
2/04/2020 = 1,036 (68] = 7%
3/04/2020 = 1,085 (49) = 5%
4/04/2020 = 1,115 (30) = 3%
5/04/2020 = 1,135 (20) = 2%
6/04/2020 = 1,158 (23) = 2%
7/04/2020 = 1,191 (33) = 3%
8/04/2020 = 1,212 (21) = 2%

736 recovered, 12 deaths.

Cases doubling every 11 days in Victoria.

101 cases of community transmission in Victoria.

[K]

https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-current-situation-and-case-numbers


Current Cases -- ICU: 87 (Vic. 12).
Current Cases -- hospital admissions: 23 (Vic. 45).

Total tests conducted: 319,368 (1.9% positive); Vic. 60,000 (2.0% positive).

[K]

Questions about Spain's death toll emerging

"There is increasing suspicion, however, that the official toll is under-estimating a more traumatic reality.

In Madrid, there appears to be a significant discrepancy between the number of burials in the last two weeks of March and the official COVID-19 death toll compared to 2018 figures.

Madrid's Regional High Court said it signed more than 9000 burial certificates in the last two weeks of March, while only 4311 deaths were recorded across the whole month in 2018.

The official death toll from coronavirus in the Madrid region is 5586."

(Reuters)

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"The number of coronavirus-related deaths in the Netherlands seems to be falling, according to figures released by public health agency RIVM on Tuesday. ...

In total, the RIVM reported another 234 deaths on Tuesday... That brings the total number of coronavirus deaths in the Netherlands to 2,101. Nearly seventy percent of those who have died had an underlying health condition, like cardiovascular disease, hypertension, chronic respiratory problems, or diabetes."

(NL Times)

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Coronavirus: Quarantined Italian village turned into human laboratory

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-52159316/coronavirus-quarantined-italian-village-turned-into-human-laboratory [video]

"Last week, the village of Nerola, was suddenly declared a red zone, after a dozens of coronavirus cases were discovered.

It’s been sealed off by the army, and everyone who lives there put into quarantine. Now medical researchers are testing the entire population, in the hope they learn more about the virus."

[Pies4shaw]

51: A 76-year-old man from regional South Australia passed away last night from COVID-19 in hospital in Adelaide. The man acquired COVID-19 in the Barossa Valley.