Coronavirus II : The Virus Strikes Back

[K]

"The Victorian government will place an order for two million reusable face masks by the end of July, along with one million disposable masks."

...

"Priority groups such as public housing tenants will be the first to receive these masks.

Mr Andrews said home-made masks and scarves would be acceptable.

People over 18 are being asked to wear them in public if they cannot adhere to social distancing rules.

Studies show that the use of masks helps to reduce transmission of coronavirus by 60 per cent, the government said."

(Fairfax)

[David]

^ Great! About time.

[Jezza]

[Dark Beanie]

[K]

[eddiesmith]

[K]

COVID-19 Cases Are Rising, So Why Are Deaths Flatlining?

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/why-covid-death-rate-down/613945/

"What follows are five possible explanations for the case-death gap. Take them as complementary, rather than competing, theories.

1. Deaths lag cases—and that might explain almost everything. ...

2. Expanded testing is finding more cases, milder cases, and earlier cases. ...

The epidemiologist Ellie Murray has also cautioned that identifying new fatal cases of COVID-19 earlier in the victims’ disease process could mean a longer lag between detection and death. This phenomenon, known as “lead time bias,” might be telling us that a big death surge is coming.
...

3. The typical COVID-19 patient is getting younger. ...

4. Hospitalized patients are dying less frequently, even without a home-run treatment. ...

Indeed, other countries have seen the same. One study from a hospital in Milan found that from March to May, the mortality rate of its COVID-19 patients declined from 24 percent to 2 percent—"without significant changes in patients’ age.” British hospitals found that their hospital mortality rate has declined every month since April.

So what’s going on? Maybe doctors are just getting smarter about the disease.
...

5. Summer might be helping—but probably only a little bit. ...

Finally, as more people wear masks and move their activities outside in the summer, they might come into contact with smaller infecting doses of COVID-19. Some epidemiologists have claimed that there is a relationship between viral load and severity. With more masks and more outdoor interactions, it’s possible that the recent surge is partly buoyed by an increase in these low-dosage cases."

[Jezza]

Deaths per million (Countries with the top 32 most confirmed cases + Australia)

Belgium = 844
UK = 657
Spain = 607
Italy = 578
Sweden = 545
France = 459
USA = 410
Chile = 349
Peru = 343
Brazil = 326
Ecuador = 278
Mexico = 260
Canada = 232
Iran = 146
Germany = 109
Colombia = 93
Kuwait = 79
Russia = 74
Iraq = 72
South Africa = 63
Turkey = 63
Saudi Arabia = 60
Qatar = 51
Belarus = 48
Argentina = 38
Egypt = 35
UAE = 33
Pakistan = 23
India = 16
Bangladesh = 14
Kazakhstan = 14
Indonesia = 12
Australia = 4
China = 3

Deaths per million in the last 7 days (Countries with the top 32 most confirmed cases + Australia)

Chile = 39
Peru = 38
Brazil = 34
Mexico = 34
Colombia = 21
Iraq = 18
South Africa = 15
Ecuador = 15
Iran = 14
USA = 13
Saudi Arabia = 10
UK = 9
Qatar = 9
Sweden = 9
Russia = 8
Argentina = 7
Egypt = 5
Belarus = 5
India = 3
Pakistan = 3
Canada = 3
Italy = 2
Turkey = 2
Bangladesh = 2
Belgium = 2
Kazakhstan = 2
Germany = 1
France = 1
Indonesia = 1
UAE = 1
Spain = 0
China = 0
Australia = 0

[K]

[Tannin]

[Jezza]

Victoria

Confirmed Cases:
- 1). Hume = 331
- 2). Melbourne = 318
- 3). Wyndham = 234
- 4). Brimbank = 211
- 5). Moonee Valley = 198
- 6). Moreland = 166
- 7). Casey = 133
- 8]. Banyule = 116
- 9). Stonnington = 114
- 10). Whittlesea = 108

Active Cases:
- 1). Melbourne = 226
- 2). Hume = 167
- 3). Wyndham = 151
- 4). Moonee Valley = 120
- 5). Brimbank = 82
- 6). Moreland = 63
- 7). Whittlesea = 42
- 8]. Maribyrnong = 30
- 9). Darebin = 25
- 10). Yarra = 25

New Cases Today:
- 1). Melbourne = 97
- 2). Moonee Valley = 38
- 3). Hume = 32
- 4). Wyndham = 23
- 5). Brimbank = 14
- 6). Moreland = 9
- 7). Whitehorse = 8
- 8]. Darebin = 7
- 9). Hobsons Bay = 7
- 10). Banyule = 6

[Morrigu]

[K]

‘Whack-a-Mole’ Against Virus Sounds Reasonable, Unless You’re the Mole
When the city of Leicester was shocked with a second lockdown, it lashed back with anger and recriminations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/world/europe/09virus-uk-leicester-lockdown.html


[The article says Leicester has a lot of sweatshops with underpaid workers from SE Asia.]

...................

Leicester lockdown: No plans for extra Covid cash, minister says

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-53343197

"The latest weekly figures from Public Health England, released on Thursday, showed 116 new cases per 100,000 people in the city in the week up to 5 July.

This is down from 141 per 100,000 the week before, but still far ahead of any other area of England.
...

Newly released data shows, since the beginning of the pandemic, Leicester had a positive test rate of 1,116 per 100,000 of population, compared to 294 in nearby Melton, 475 in neighbouring Charnwood and a national average of 440 per 100,000."

[eddiesmith]

So its still pretty much Melbourne and the west, north west.

If we had Trump here, he'd help us build a wall

[K]

Telehealth changes:

"From July 20, GPs will have to prove "an existing and continuous relationship with a patient" in order for Medicare rebates to be paid for telehealth unless the patient lives in Melbourne where lockdown measures are in place.
...

Under the new rules, telehealth rebates will be available for patients who have seen the same practitioner, or another doctor at the practice, for a face-to-face consultation in the last 12 months.

Homeless patients and children aged under 12 months are exempt from the restriction.
...

The AMA is pushing for the COVID-19 Medicare telehealth rebates, due to end September 30, to be extended with the new restrictions."

(Fairfax)

[Okay. Good. As long as they keep it.]