Corona Virus: It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

[El Guapo]

The vaccine will most likely be limited to a small group, since it's still experimental. Just as Putin's testing his on military personnel, trump will inject school teachers, first responders, hospital personnel, etc. He just needs campaign points. Whether or not it's safe and effective is a secondary consideration.

I'm concerned about how prematurely picking a winner will affect other trials. Will companies continue them if all that government money is already destined for someone else's pocket?

You're touching on something that brings up a tangent that I wonder about. What pharma company is going to release some rushed vaccine out the door? They are pretty risk averse. And why? To satisfy some unstable autocrat? Good luck with the endless lawsuits if it goes south. I think it is way more likely to be some magic trick or lip service than an actual roll out.

I don't doubt that Trump will do this. But at the same time, I'm skeptical that doing this would help Trump politically. It's something that most people wouldn't see directly, it wouldn't move the needle on coronavirus incidence rates. And maybe most importantly, seems unlikely to impress people outside the conservative media bubble. Fox News will presumably tout it as some great victory for the administration, but I think other outlets will cover it as "Trump touts rushed vaccine amidst concerns about safety", especially as the almost inevitable reports come out from responsible figures condemning it being rushed.

[malchior]

I don't doubt that Trump will do this. But at the same time, I'm skeptical that doing this would help Trump politically. It's something that most people wouldn't see directly, it wouldn't move the needle on coronavirus incidence rates. And maybe most importantly, seems unlikely to impress people outside the conservative media bubble. Fox News will presumably tout it as some great victory for the administration, but I think other outlets will cover it as "Trump touts rushed vaccine amidst concerns about safety", especially as the almost inevitable reports come out from responsible figures condemning it being rushed.

Oh I agree. Nothing he does makes any sort of sense in the traditional politics sense. It is all desperate. A different way to consider it as crazy as it sounds is to frame it as an authoritarian laying the groundwork to make his move if necessary. That is part of why it is worrying to me. He'll try to win by desperate action, stupid stunts like this, and the like but he needs to keep that base roaring, angry, and devoted in case he needs them. When all that negative stuff comes out it'll be #fakenews/#deepstate/#bidenpandemic.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Fox News will presumably tout it as some great victory for the administration, but I think other outlets will cover it as "Trump touts rushed vaccine amidst concerns about safety", especially as the almost inevitable reports come out from responsible figures condemning it being rushed.

You have much more faith in the non-Fox news media than I have.

[Smoove_B]

It is all desperate. A different way to consider it as crazy as it sounds is to frame it as an authoritarian laying the groundwork to make his move if necessary. That is part of why it is worrying to me. He'll try to win by desperate action, stupid stunts like this, and the like but he needs to keep that base roaring, angry, and devoted in case he needs them. When all that negative stuff comes out it'll be #fakenews/#deepstate/#bidenpandemic.

Even better - if a genuine miracle occurs and there is some type of vaccination that is developed and administered that not only works but is completely safe with no short or long term side effects? All hail the glory of dear leader Trump.

If a vaccine is rushed out and medical and public health professionals come out swinging against it based on lack of safety trials, then Trump gets to spin that into how the (D) are trying to keep the economy shut down. He can proclaim it's a working vaccination but the democrats are refusing to take it or allow it to be used in an effort to hurt Trump and make him look bad.

If a vaccine is rushed out and somehow provided to people and there are negative health consequences for all or some of the people that take it, he'll spin that into blaming the Obama administration somehow (they funded bad equipment, we didn't have enough refrigerators, etc...) or China (they sold us contaminated ingredients).

There's no good that can come from any of it.

[El Guapo]

Fox News will presumably tout it as some great victory for the administration, but I think other outlets will cover it as "Trump touts rushed vaccine amidst concerns about safety", especially as the almost inevitable reports come out from responsible figures condemning it being rushed.

You have much more faith in the non-Fox news media than I have.

It's more that I have faith in the incompetence of the Trump administration.

[Daehawk]

'Moana' Star Criticizes 'Reopen Hawaii' Protestors: Not a Single Native Hawaiian Seen

Gotta agree its a certain people who are stupid to COVID-19...white Trumpers.

"Moana" star Auli'i Cravalho took to Twitter early Tuesday to react to a "Reopen Hawaii" demonstration from this previous weekend. Retweeting a clip from a local news reporter, the native Hawaiian noted the protestors were comprised primarily of one particular group.

"Not a single Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) to be seen," wrote the actress on Twitter in response to video of locals protesting the state's new order to stay and work at home.

https://twitter.com/auliicravalho/statu ... 3059522561

[LordMortis]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/cvs-pharmacy ... oronavirus

CVS Health clarified its policy on Monday after one of the company’s district leaders in Georgia allegedly instructed local pharmacy employees not to notify customers whose prescriptions had been filled by someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

In a leaked email provided by a CVS pharmacy technician in Georgia, a district leader told workers to remove prescriptions that had been filled by an employee who tested positive from shelves, Business Insider reported. Workers were apparently told not to call customers who had already picked up the affected prescriptions.

CVS Health spokesman Michael DeAngelis said the instructions dictating when or when not to contact customers did not originate from the company’s corporate office and was not indicative of a company-wide policy. He confirmed CVS policy calls for employees to quarantine and replace any medication handled by someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.

https://www.businessinsider.com/cvs-tol ... nts-2020-8

A leaked email revealed a CVS district leader instructed employees not to tell patients that their medications had been filled by someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

CVS spokesperson Michael DeAngelis told Business Insider, "It is not our policy to prohibit our pharmacies from informing patients if their prescription was filled when an employee who tested positive for COVID-19 worked in the pharmacy."

A Georgia CVS technician shared the internal email with Business Insider. The email from the district leader asked employees to track down which prescriptions were filled by a COVID-19-positive employee and pull them from the shelves. However, if a patient had already picked up one of those prescriptions, the standard policy was to "NOT make an outreach call."

The technician said workers were threatened with disciplinary action or termination if they told customers that someone in the store had tested positive for COVID-19.

[Daehawk]

We had used CVS for years and years but stopped around 2013 because they kinda went nutty. They started weird things and not filling medicine that a doctor wrote and such.

Im curious how my little family pharm is going to give me a flu shot. They usually give it inside a private room. But they haven't let anyone inside since March. I asked the other day and they still had no idea. We always got ours in mid Oct so maybe they will open the room. Otherwise I dont see how they could do it. My car window wont lower so they'd need to climb i nthe passenger side and be in my confined space. If they simply try to give them outside I see that as a possible HIPAA violation on privacy. So shrug.

[Defiant]

A blog post from the medium (with links to articles)

A Supercomputer Analyzed Covid-19 — and an Interesting New Theory Has Emerged

When Summit was done, researchers analyzed the results. It was, in the words of Dr. Daniel Jacobson, lead researcher and chief scientist for computational systems biology at Oak Ridge, a “eureka moment.” The computer had revealed a new theory about how Covid-19 impacts the body: the bradykinin hypothesis. The hypothesis provides a model that explains many aspects of Covid-19, including some of its most bizarre symptoms. It also suggests 10-plus potential treatments, many of which are already FDA approved. Jacobson’s group published their results in a paper in the journal eLife in early July.

According to the team’s findings, a Covid-19 infection generally begins when the virus enters the body through ACE2 receptors in the nose, (The receptors, which the virus is known to target, are abundant there.) The virus then proceeds through the body, entering cells in other places where ACE2 is also present: the intestines, kidneys, and heart. This likely accounts for at least some of the disease’s cardiac and GI symptoms.

But once Covid-19 has established itself in the body, things start to get really interesting. According to Jacobson’s group, the data Summit analyzed shows that Covid-19 isn’t content to simply infect cells that already express lots of ACE2 receptors. Instead, it actively hijacks the body’s own systems, tricking it into upregulating ACE2 receptors in places where they’re usually expressed at low or medium levels, including the lungs.
In this sense, Covid-19 is like a burglar who slips in your unlocked second-floor window and starts to ransack your house. Once inside, though, they don’t just take your stuff — they also throw open all your doors and windows so their accomplices can rush in and help pillage more efficiently.

[Smoove_B]

Hadn't hear this (the use of AI), though I can say there is already a clinical trial addressing what our robot overlords have hypothesized.

Currently, there are two approved drugs that target the kinin system: icatibant (a B2R blocker) and the monoclonal antibody lanadelumab, which inhibits plasma kallikrein (there are no drugs yet approved that inhibit tissue kallikrein). van de Veerdonk contends that targeting the kinin system early in the disease, soon after a patient is hospitalized, and is hypoxic, but hasn’t yet developed ARDS, might be helpful.

That is what his group found in a small exploratory study published this month. COVID-19 patients taking icatibant showed marked improvement in oxygenation as evidenced by a substantial decrease in need for supplemental oxygen, compared to control patients.

Allen Kaplan, a professor at the Medical University of South Carolina and an expert on bradykinin who was not connected with the study, tells The Scientist that this preliminary observation supports the idea that icatibant might be helpful “and should therefore be studied in a double-blind placebo-controlled fashion [in COVID patients].”

Another multicenter randomized clinical trial in the US is testing icatibant in critically ill COVID-19 patients in the ICU.

[Smoove_B]

As predicted.

https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1301171032506675200

NEW: From this report, expect a photo-op of vaccines being delivered November 1.

CDC sends ‘urgent’ request for COVID vaccine plans by Nov. 1 | McClatchy Washington Bureau

[Daehawk]

Ill look into the state of a vaccine around 2021 Oct and see then. No way Id take anything rushed like this.

[Defiant]

Vox: Covid-19 death skepticism, explained by a cognitive scientist

So why has this misguided perspective about inflated death counts gained traction? Aside from the proliferation of misinformation about Covid-19, one important reason may be that we think we’re better at reasoning about causes and effects than we are.

In many cases, we are pretty good at causal reasoning — when a rock flies through a windowpane, even a young child can tell you what caused the window to break. But when we’re faced with the sorts of complex causal relationships found in the economy or the human body, our intuitive causal reasoning tools aren’t up to the task.

In these cases, we rely on mental shortcuts that can lead to reasoning biases of the sort that might make a Covid-19 skeptic’s argument about the “true” causes of death sound a little reasonable, even if we know it’s wrong.

[Defiant]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday issued a sweeping nationwide order temporarily halting millions of U.S. renters from being evicted, in a bid to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The order covers all 43 million U.S. residential renters as long as they meet income eligibility requirements, although an administration official said the government does not expect an "overwhelming" use of the program.

The order lasts through Dec. 31 and applies to individual renters who do not expect to earn more than $99,000 this year or $198,000 for joint filers. It also applies to renters who did not report income in 2019 or received a stimulus check earlier this year.

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/09 ... nters.html

[Smoove_B]

I legitimately have no idea how that's possible.

To be clear, something should absolutely be done. But it's hilarious that of all the options the Trump administration had, this is what they're doing in the ~60 days before the election.

[LordMortis]

I legitimately have no idea how that's possible.

To be clear, something should absolutely be done. But it's hilarious that of all the options the Trump administration had, this is what they're doing in the ~60 days before the election.

PBS tonight suggested this will prevent as many as 2 million evictions but it will also destroy the small landlords who won't have that cashflow for three months, still have liabilities, and still have tenants who can't pay in January much less pay four months back rent then.

[Smoove_B]

Right - the answer is a cash injection. But the Trump administration and Mitch McConnell can't be seen giving fat stacks to all poors. So instead they force the CDC to issue this (how? I really don't understand?) order (?) to say they're doing something ("We made it so people can't be evicted!"). Exactly as you point out - what happens to he landlords then that can't pay their bills? Will Trump sign an executive order protecting landlords from banks and creditors next?

All this could be fixed by just giving people (not corporations) money to stay home. As mentioned earlier, at any given point in time we are ~6 weeks away from reducing circulating virus nationwide by 90% or more. We just need support and a national level initiative to make sure people can stay home and away from each other for that long.

Instead, we're scrambling to open up schools while also bending over backwards to open restaurants, bars and movie theaters. And so this is life now in America either until 1/21/21 or the foreseeable future if the unspoken nightmare scenario actually happens.

[Smoove_B]

And history is still rhyming, by the way.

As it turned out, the H1N1 strain never made it out of Fort Dix, where only one Army recruit died. And, as it also turned out, this swine flu was not nearly as virulent as the 1918 influenza.

But fast-tracking the vaccine for broad distribution among the public carried risks. Of the 45 million vaccinated against the swine flu, an estimated 450 people developed the paralyzing syndrome Guillain-Barré and of those, more than 30 died. The National Academy of Medicine subsequently concluded that people who received the 1976 swine flu vaccine had an increased risk for developing Guillain-Barré.

The emergence of Guillain-Barré led the government to suspend and effectively end its mass vaccination effort in December.

[malchior]

Right - the answer is a cash injection. But the Trump administration and Mitch McConnell can't be seen giving fat stacks to all poors. So instead they force the CDC to issue this (how? I really don't understand?) order (?) to say they're doing something ("We made it so people can't be evicted!"). Exactly as you point out - what happens to he landlords then that can't pay their bills? Will Trump sign an executive order protecting landlords from banks and creditors next?

Cash injection is the least disruptive. There whole course introduces tons of uncertainty that you touch on. When the money doesn't arrive and the loans start defaulting...how will that go?

I haven't seen where anyone really explain where this authority comes from. They NY Times say CDC is using Section 361 of the Public Health Service. It isn't clear from a simple read how an eviction moratorium is authorized. The order is still unpublished in the Federal Register and ultimately no one seems to actually understand how it is legal. It wouldn't be a shock that it probably isn't legal but the administration is desperate.

All this could be fixed by just giving people (not corporations) money to stay home. As mentioned earlier, at any given point in time we are ~6 weeks away from reducing circulating virus nationwide by 90% or more. We just need support and a national level initiative to make sure people can stay home and away from each other for that long.

Instead, we're scrambling to open up schools while also bending over backwards to open restaurants, bars and movie theaters. And so this is life now in America either until 1/21/21 or the foreseeable future if the unspoken nightmare scenario actually happens.

1/21/21 is the rosy estimate. Even if he Biden gets into office in any sort of normal way, the fires they will have to put out to try to address this will be extremely challenging. And we don't know if he'll be in a running street fight with a future Congress. Keep prepping folks.

[LawBeefaroni]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday issued a sweeping nationwide order temporarily halting millions of U.S. renters from being evicted, in a bid to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The order covers all 43 million U.S. residential renters as long as they meet income eligibility requirements, although an administration official said the government does not expect an "overwhelming" use of the program.

The order lasts through Dec. 31 and applies to individual renters who do not expect to earn more than $99,000 this year or $198,000 for joint filers. It also applies to renters who did not report income in 2019 or received a stimulus check earlier this year.

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/09 ... nters.html

Just had beers with a realtor/property management friend.


Sept 1 is a big changeover day, lots of moving in and out. He's been going through properties filming video of available apartments (he says that's a thing now? Kids want to see tik toc video of the place from now, not photos from a few years ago?). He says he kept finding supposedly vacant apartments with people still living in them because evictions couldn't be served.

They will continue to live there and will continue to run up unpaid rent. This will go on their credit report making it harder to rent another place.

My question was what happens in Dec/Jan when there is a flood if bad credit renters that he can't rent to and a bunch of empty (finally evicted) apartments.

[Kraken]

Sept 1 is a big changeover day, lots of moving in and out.

Greater Boston ordinarily sees 250,000 students move into apartments every Sept. 1. This year, they aren't coming, so there are 13,000 vacant apartments in the city -- a number that should approach 0 around 9/1. The hardest-hit properties are those closest to our many colleges and universities, which should be in the highest demand. Landlords are actually offering enticements. That's unheard-of.

[malchior]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday issued a sweeping nationwide order temporarily halting millions of U.S. renters from being evicted, in a bid to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The order covers all 43 million U.S. residential renters as long as they meet income eligibility requirements, although an administration official said the government does not expect an "overwhelming" use of the program.

The order lasts through Dec. 31 and applies to individual renters who do not expect to earn more than $99,000 this year or $198,000 for joint filers. It also applies to renters who did not report income in 2019 or received a stimulus check earlier this year.

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/09 ... nters.html

Just had beers with a realtor/property management friend.


Sept 1 is a big changeover day, lots of moving in and out. He's been going through properties filming video of available apartments (he says that's a thing now? Kids want to see tik toc video of the place from now, not photos from a few years ago?). He says he kept finding supposedly vacant apartments with people still living in them because evictions couldn't be served.

They will continue to live there and will continue to run up unpaid rent. This will go on their credit report making it harder to rent another place.

My question was what happens in Dec/Jan when there is a flood if bad credit renters that he can't rent to and a bunch of empty (finally evicted) apartments.

This is something I'm wondering about. The discussion is kind of out of whack. Some landlords are making noise about not being able to evict and re-rent the property...but the question is who are they going to rent to? 30%+ missed partial or full mortgage/rent payments. Logically there is no real 'pent up demand' of folks with net positive cash flow waiting for housing to open up. Worse many of the states have judicial eviction processes and they'll be overwhelmed. The longer this goes on the worse that backlog gets. This all very well could be a time bomb.

[LordMortis]

So I look at worldometers every day and I probably shouldn't. Here is an anomaly I don't understand. So Texas got absolutely hammered late in the game by comparison. Now, already, 5/6 people infected have recovered. And yet in California, who escalated around same rate has 50% recovery, Arizona 25%, Florida 5 in 6 are still active.

[noxiousdog]

So I look at worldometers every day and I probably shouldn't. Here is an anomaly I don't understand. So Texas got absolutely hammered late in the game by comparison. Now, already, 5/6 people infected have recovered. And yet in California, who escalated around same rate has 50% recovery, Arizona 25%, Florida 5 in 6 are still active.

Recoveries are not really tracked in a lot of places. It's difficult to do, costly, and not a priority.

[malchior]

So I look at worldometers every day and I probably shouldn't. Here is an anomaly I don't understand. So Texas got absolutely hammered late in the game by comparison. Now, already, 5/6 people infected have recovered. And yet in California, who escalated around same rate has 50% recovery, Arizona 25%, Florida 5 in 6 are still active.

Recoveries are not really tracked in a lot of places. It's difficult to do, costly, and not a priority.

This and the data is not consistent everywhere.

[coopasonic]

So I look at worldometers every day and I probably shouldn't. Here is an anomaly I don't understand. So Texas got absolutely hammered late in the game by comparison. Now, already, 5/6 people infected have recovered. And yet in California, who escalated around same rate has 50% recovery, Arizona 25%, Florida 5 in 6 are still active.

Based on emails I have seen, Texas counts everyone as recovered two weeks after their positive test.

https://www.texastribune.org/2020/05/18 ... ecoveries/

Texas considers the surviving patients who required hospitalization recovered after 32 days and those who did not require hospitalization recovered after 14 days.

[Skinypupy]

November 1 vaccine deadline has "nothing to do with the election".

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar insisted Thursday that the government's Nov. 1 deadline for states to set up coronavirus vaccine distribution sites has nothing to do with the presidential election two days later.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked governors and health departments to prepare to distribute a vaccine as soon as November. In a letter dated Aug. 27, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said states will soon receive permit applications from medical supply company McKesson, which HHS tapped to help distribute the vaccine. He said they may need to waive some licensing and permit requirements that could delay the process.

[Smoove_B]

When I see stuff like this, it makes my blood boil. If only there were people - scientists even - that studied communicable diseases and how they spread through populations of people.

https://twitter.com/yellingatwind/statu ... 8860235777

U of Illinois brought back 40,000+ students to campus based on a model created by 2 very confident physicists, who said epidemiology was important but intellectually unchallenging.

Things are not going as planned, because it turns out students party and live together.

[Isgrimnur]

Next up, trying to solve the stock market!

[Smoove_B]

Funny. This was Nate Silver a few days ago:

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/statu ... 8633866241

Most of what makes political prediction markets dumb is that people assume they have expertise about election forecasting because they a) follow politics and b) understand "data" and "markets". Without more specific domain knowledge, though, that combo is a recipe for stupidity.

My public health peeps lit him up like a Xmas tree.

[LawBeefaroni]

For when the vaccine drops:

Amid these powerful emotions, it will be hard for any of us to weigh the evidence objectively. So I wanted to take time now, before a vaccine is approved, to think through the right way to react. Consider these eight questions to be a "cognitive toolkit" I'll use to evaluate whether the approval process has truly ensured a vaccine's safety and efficacy.

This isn't intended to be a box-checking exercise; it's not as though I'll fully trust a vaccine that clears, say, five of the hurdles below, but distrust a vaccine that clears only four. Rather, it's intended to lay out a structured way of thinking when "Approval Day" arrives.

[Holman]

My worry is that as the election draws near and a vaccine isn't close enough to claim victory, Trump and the GOP will pivot to straight-up COVID denial.

The base is already primed to believe that the virus is an exaggerated threat, and a Trump who went back to calling it a hoax would offer comfort not only to the conspiracy-minded but to regular folks who are tired of all the precautions.

[Anonymous Bosch]

For when the vaccine drops:

Amid these powerful emotions, it will be hard for any of us to weigh the evidence objectively. So I wanted to take time now, before a vaccine is approved, to think through the right way to react. Consider these eight questions to be a "cognitive toolkit" I'll use to evaluate whether the approval process has truly ensured a vaccine's safety and efficacy.

This isn't intended to be a box-checking exercise; it's not as though I'll fully trust a vaccine that clears, say, five of the hurdles below, but distrust a vaccine that clears only four. Rather, it's intended to lay out a structured way of thinking when "Approval Day" arrives.

Politics aside, I think it's safe to assume the U.S. cannot afford to recklessly roll the dice with the COVID‑19 vaccine that is ultimately deemed appropriate for U.S. servicemen. One of my best friends is an active duty USAF secret squirrel, so if at all possible I plan to get the same vaccine he receives.

[Holman]

For when the vaccine drops:

Amid these powerful emotions, it will be hard for any of us to weigh the evidence objectively. So I wanted to take time now, before a vaccine is approved, to think through the right way to react. Consider these eight questions to be a "cognitive toolkit" I'll use to evaluate whether the approval process has truly ensured a vaccine's safety and efficacy.

This isn't intended to be a box-checking exercise; it's not as though I'll fully trust a vaccine that clears, say, five of the hurdles below, but distrust a vaccine that clears only four. Rather, it's intended to lay out a structured way of thinking when "Approval Day" arrives.

Politics aside, I think it's safe to assume the U.S. cannot afford to recklessly roll the dice with the COVID‑19 vaccine that is ultimately deemed appropriate for U.S. servicemen. One of my best friends is an active duty USAF secret squirrel, so if at all possible I plan to get the same vaccine he receives.

Because we know this administration would never devalue the lives of American servicepeople for political gain.

[Anonymous Bosch]

For when the vaccine drops:

Amid these powerful emotions, it will be hard for any of us to weigh the evidence objectively. So I wanted to take time now, before a vaccine is approved, to think through the right way to react. Consider these eight questions to be a "cognitive toolkit" I'll use to evaluate whether the approval process has truly ensured a vaccine's safety and efficacy.

This isn't intended to be a box-checking exercise; it's not as though I'll fully trust a vaccine that clears, say, five of the hurdles below, but distrust a vaccine that clears only four. Rather, it's intended to lay out a structured way of thinking when "Approval Day" arrives.

Politics aside, I think it's safe to assume the U.S. cannot afford to recklessly roll the dice with the COVID‑19 vaccine that is ultimately deemed appropriate for U.S. servicemen. One of my best friends is an active duty USAF secret squirrel, so if at all possible I plan to get the same vaccine he receives.

Because we know this administration would never devalue the lives of American servicepeople for political gain.

Perhaps. But considering the significant steps that have been made towards lessening the burden on U.S. servicemembers and their families in terms of our seemingly endless foreign wars and military interventions, I doubt the USDoD is willing to recklessly squander the lives of U.S. servicemembers for any POTUS's political gain.

[Isgrimnur]

Death associated with wedding in Maine:

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said 32 positive cases of coronavirus have been linked to the wedding ceremony that was held at a church in East Millinocket and the reception that followed at the Big Moose Inn in Millinocket.

USA Today

The number of coronavirus cases linked to an outbreak at a Maine jail continued to climb Wednesday as authorities reported more results from universal testing of inmates and employees.

Public health investigators have linked the jail outbreak to a broader outbreak involving an Aug. 7 wedding in the Millinocket area. One guest who tested positive after attending the wedding works at the York County Jail, said Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah.

York County Sheriff William L. King Jr. said Wednesday that there are 46 cases among inmates, 19 among corrections officers, two among workers elsewhere in the York County government building and one support staffer assigned to the jail.
...
Investigators have also linked the wedding to an outbreak at the Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center in Madison, where there are now 13 cases, including seven residents and six staff, Maine CDC spokesperson Robert Long said Wednesday.

Although officials have linked the York County Jail and Maplecrest outbreaks to the Aug. 7 wedding, investigators are still working to determine how many of the additional cases are also linked to the wedding, Long said.

There are now 143 cases linked to the wedding, including one person who died, Long said.

[Daehawk]

As the White House claims to not be secretly pushing for herd immunity......

Trump administration quietly pulls funding for disinfecting NY subways, schools

NEW YORK — Transit systems, schools and other public spaces in New York could soon become a whole lot dirtier because of a policy change enacted by the Trump administration that will strip the state of millions of dollars in critical coronavirus aid, the New York Daily News has learned.

Since the outset of the pandemic, the Federal Emergency Management Administration has helped New York and other states cover the costs of coronavirus-related expenses such as deep cleaning government buildings and stocking up on personal protective equipment for public employees.

However, FEMA quietly updated its rules this week to say that “the operation of schools and other public facilities” are no longer considered “emergency protective measures eligible for reimbursement.”

[Grifman]

The independent panel that will make recommendations on a vaccine will meet on Oct 22. Trumpers are looking towards that meeting to be able to announce a vaccine soon afterwards. However, the head of the FDA has said that this panel is only advisory and that the FDA will have the final word. I somehow draw little comfort from this.

[Daehawk]

FDA now stands .....For Dumb Ass

[Enough]

Not sure if this was posted yet, but NEA database on COVID in schools here.