Coronavirus Special Coverage

A collection of news posted throughout the week for those that want signal, not noise.

  • Previous coverage - all of our posts in this ongoing series.
  • Coronavirus status page - learn how to prepare for possible spread to your area. Scenarios, shopping lists, background info and everything else you need, all in one place.

Key developments for Thursday, October 22, 2020

2 Comments on Key developments for Thursday, October 22, 2020

The world has nearly 42 million cases.  The world has added 2.8 million cases since last Thursday. Case growth continues to climb. There have been over 1.1 million deaths. The US has over 8.6 million cases. Over 228,000 Americans have died—over 860 in the last 24 hours. The US has gained over 67,000 new cases since yesterday. The US continues to jockey with India for the lead in daily case growth. Qatar, Bahrain, Andorra, Aruba, French Guiana, Israel, Vatican City, Panama, Kuwait, and Peru continue to lead the world in cases per million.

Pandemic fatigue is definitely a real phenomenon. I’m seeing a lot of folks becoming complacent, and although I understand the pining for normalcy very fundamentally, I also know that complacency will only prolong the problem:

The University of Michigan has to have students shelter in place for two weeks after cases explode.

The AstraZenica trial is likely to resume soon.

Vanderbilt Health and other health systems in Tennessee implore residents to adhere to social distancing measures to help ease case load and community spread.

Persistent cognitive deficits in COVID survivors appear even in those with formerly mild illness:

People with Down’s Syndrome have a significantly higher risk of death from COVID. Before anyone gets conspiratorial, it should be understood that people with Down’s have shorter lifespans and tend to have underlying chronic illnesses and comorbidities (due to the genetic disorder) that would put them at elevated risk:

Folks are concerned enough about the twin possibilities of violent social/political unrest and pandemic resurgence that half of poll-takers were stocking up on goods in preparation (or planned to in the near future).

North Dakota is so overwhelmed with cases that folks are being asked to do their own contact tracing. Something tells me this is not going to go well:

https://twitter.com/ai6yrham/status/1319278896563449856?s=20

Millions of US children are floundering without access to education during the pandemic. More needs to be done, and quickly, to reach these kids and get them connected:

Moderna has finished recruiting after making a big effort to increase diversity in participants. It slowed its trial for a time to accomplish this task. It’s important to evaluate safety and efficacy in a diverse population:

Remdesivir is the first treatment for COVID-19 to get FDA approval:

A statement that gives me pause–It’s profoundly true, and profoundly disturbing in its implications:

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.

  • 2 Comments
    • Hardened October 24, 2020

      I’m curious to know how credible the cognitive deficits study is.  I suppose we should wait until it’s peer reviewed.

      4 |
      • Stephanie ArnoldContributor Hardened October 25, 2020

        It depends on the nature and development of the precipitating encephalopathy. There have been a few case reports of dementias secondary to COVID infection. Some encephalopathies are transient and don’t cause serious damage. Some are catastrophic or even lethal. I’m real interested to see what happens with rates of early-onset dementia–particularly in those with no known genetic risk factors. 

        5 |