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COVID-19: key developments for Thursday, May 28, 2020

1 Comment on COVID-19: key developments for Thursday, May 28, 2020

The world has over 5.8 million cases.  Cases have grown globally by over 700,000 since last week. The US has over 1.7 million cases and has had over 103,000 deaths. The US has gained over 21,000 new cases since yesterday.

CDC Guidelines for office re-openings: wear masks, space desks apart, no hand shaking, wash hands frequently, daily heath checks, stagger shifts and breaks when feasible, and more.

ER visits spike in Yuma, and cases rise dramatically in Arizona. ICU bed utilization has also increased in AZ and is approaching its limit in Yuma. Cases and hospitalizations are also rising in Arkansas. Hospitals in Arkansas are not yet overwhelmed.

Milwaukee, WI is having a similar problem as Yuma:

Ford uses an innovative way to decontaminate police cruisers: software that cranks the heat to 133 degrees F. The software self-monitors the internal temperature of the cruiser and then initiates a cooling sequence when done.

Rural areas seeing a rise in cases:

Henderson Farm in Evensville, TN had approximately 200 workers get infected—every single employee. This outbreak has created a county hot spot. All but a few are asymptomatic. The workers are isolating on the farm voluntarily.

The perception of the prepper lifestyle is changing for the better—some admire the foundation and practice of self-sufficiency. Others say we’re an asset to the community.

Brazil is starting to outstrip the US in case growth, with Russia close on its heels:

As states re-open, unemployment starts to shrink. GDP shrank by over 5% in the first quarter, and may be on pace to shrink by over 40% in the second quarter, which is the worst performance in US history. A rebound is expected as business practices normalize—but the new normal in business (as described by the CDC Guidelines above) may inhibit some of that rebound.

No country has herd immunity. Nobody is even close. Of the countries hardest hit, they’ve got a community seroprevalence of perhaps 5-10%. At the current rate of spread it would take many years to reach herd immunity. As we’ve mentioned before, the most expedient and safest way to get there is through immunization.

Cancer patients with comorbid COVID-19 have a mortality rate twice as high as COVID-19 patients without cancer. Older patients with cancer and cancer patients with higher levels of functional impairment fared worse than younger, healthier cancer patients.

700 vulnerable prisoners are being transferred to reduce risk of transmission of the pandemic virus:

Some businesses plan to refuse to allow patrons or workers to wear masks.

It might not ever go away, even with a vaccine. If it becomes truly endemic, we’ll need smart adaptations, like doors that open without having to touch them. I’m hoping that this goes the way SARS went. The idea of this virus being endemic is an unhappy mental exercise.

Stephanie Arnold | cosmicpixle

Stephanie Arnold is an advanced practice psychiatric nurse and a doctoral candidate in UA Tuscaloosa’s DNP program. Stephanie moonlights from time to time at UCLA teaching mental health nursing. She also likes making cold-process soap.

  • 1 Comment
    • lemur May 29, 2020

      Denmark and Norway have agreed to allow travel from one to the other staring June 15th. Sweden is miffed that it is excluded from this agreement. Travel to or from Sweden is still banned by quite a few countries in Europe. That’s something the Swedish government would like to fix, but the countries banning travel are not happy about the COVID-19 stats in Sweden.

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