There are now more than 2.6 million global cases. The US has over 837,000 of those cases. The US had over 1,400 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Truck drivers keep the country moving, but truckers are getting hit by the downturn:
Small truckers critical to supply chains are heavily exposed to a deepening downturn. “Nobody can survive six months like this.” https://t.co/HZERG70FfP via @WSJ
— WSJ Logistics Report (@WSJLogistics) April 22, 2020
Global famine? The UN warns that widespread famine is possible. The Middle East, Africa, South America, and Haiti are the most at risk. The number of people suffering hunger could nearly double to over 250 million due to the pandemic and its effects on economies and food production.
Is trial and error an acceptable exit strategy? Strategies to relax lockdowns but still keep people safe are not easy to produce. The three primary means of control are social distancing, contact tracing, and border restrictions. Immunity will also play a role, but we don’t know how protective it will be. Dialing down our controls means lives will be on the line. Periods of easing control and tightening control back up again are likely.
Roche CEO says many antibody tests are garbage: he asserts that finger-prick tests produce too many false positives and false negatives. Here’s the rub: his company makes nasal swab tests. In addition, Roche makes antibody tests that require venipuncture by a health care worker. He might be right, but he might also be trying to tamp down the competition.
Governor Newsom orders more autopsies to determine how far back COVID-19 deaths were occurring in California. Some autopsies show CA had deaths as early as February:
The #coronavirus likely circulated in the Bay Area considerably earlier than previously thought. Autopsies in Santa Clara County have revealed COVID-19 killed two people in February and one in early March. https://t.co/FqWca25Sxp
— KQED Science (@KQEDscience) April 22, 2020
There’s controversy over recent serology studies. No matter which study you look at, though, it’s clear that we do not have herd immunity anywhere.
You’ll want to view this whole thread… Las Vegas Mayor willing to use her constituents “as a control group”—when asked if she would be out shoulder-to-shoulder with casino workers adds, “Well, first of all, I have a family!”:
Anderson Cooper: You're talking about encouraging hundreds of thousands of people to come to Las Vegas … smoking, drinking, touching slot machines, breathing circulated air, doesn't that sound like a virus petri dish?!
Las Vegas Mayor: It sounds like you're being an alarmist! pic.twitter.com/meAlEMpntl
— Lis Power (@LisPower1) April 22, 2020
Six Southern states are working together to reopen. Many in the coalition are easing stay-at-home orders at the end of the month or early in May.
Chicken plant problems: scores of workers sick at one, and millions of chickens to be euthanized at another. Union urges shuttering of a third. I’m left once again to worry about food security in this country.
We mentioned Rick Bright’s leave yesterday, but it looks like it wasn’t voluntary:
BARDA’s Rick Bright says he was removed from post after clashes with HHS leadership & resisting “efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections.” Cites disagreements over chloroquine #COVID19 By @maggieNYT https://t.co/m3w2YH9CVr
— Meg Tirrell (@megtirrell) April 22, 2020
California hospitals can resume non-emergent surgeries starting Wednesday.
An at-home testing kit for health care workers has been approved by the FDA.
You are reporting the comment """ by on