Key developments for Tuesday, November 24, 2020

2 Comments on Key developments for Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Here are some free resources for neighborhood crime statistics—but don’t let the notifications get you rattled. Crime-information overload could be an anxiety-inducing time sink. It’s best to put the data in perspective.

Shipping container bottlenecks are causing irregularities in supply and logistical headaches. In general, the shipping industry has been more robust throughout the pandemic than anticipated. Peas and lentils might be tougher to come by for a few months, though.

During periods of upheaval in the US, mason jars get really popular. They’re quite a good barometer of the economic clime. Here’s everything you’ve ever wanted to know about them:

There are over 60 million global COVID cases.  The world has gained over 4.1 million cases since last week. Case growth has held steady at over 4 million cases per week for a few weeks in a row. There have been over 1.4 million deaths. There are nearly 13 million cases in the US. There have been over 265,000 deaths in the US. Over 2,100 have died in the US since yesterday. The US gained over 169,000 new cases in the last 24 hours. India is second in the world in number of cases to the US, with over 9.2 million cases. Brazil is still second in the world in number of deaths, with over 170,000.

Arizona is out of ICU beds:

As time goes by we’re learning more about durable immunity. A cohort study from the UK suggests that prior infection offers approximately 67% protection against asymptomatic infection (although there’s a wide margin of error here), and nearly 100% protection against symptomatic reinfection, lasting at least six months.

Hospitals and hospital systems are getting overwhelmed in multiple states. Even some of our best prepared hospitals are struggling.  As the case curve surpasses hospital capacity and staffing levels, people will begin to die from lack of hospital services—we’re talking all-cause mortality here, not just from COVID.

Donald Trump, Jr. is isolating after contracting COVID.

The National Guard has now been called to Texas to assist with the disposition of the bodies of those who have died from the pandemic:

Greek authorities want folks to text before leaving their home.

Homicides have drastically increased during the pandemic. Rapes and robberies have decreased. Budget cuts to police departments are hampering homicide investigations.

Los Angeles County (home to more than 10 million people) is nixing outdoor dining. This, coupled with a 10pm curfew, spells doom for the local restaurant industry:

Numbers improve in late-stage AstraZeneca COVID vaccine trials—the vaccine is up to 90% effective.

Depending on age, COVID is anywhere from 3x-13x more deadly than the flu. Flu may be more deadly for small children, but not every study shows congruent results:

It turns out the reusing n95s causes fit failure. It’s probably a function of hours worn versus days used, and it’s probably still fine for folks to reuse n95s in grocery stores, but it’s bad news for clinicians working with COVID cases up close. The study does not mention what impact decontamination efforts have on these masks, either:

Over 700 theaters have closed in North America in the last week.

The slums in Mumbai have a 60% or greater COVID seroprevalence, where locations higher up the socioeconomic ladder have 20% or less. The slums are burning with COVID in India.

Make no mistake, children are drivers of COVID infection.

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
    • JustMe November 26, 2020

      Thank you for these blog posts, Stephanie. They’re always filled with information. And Happy Thanksgiving!

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