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Key developments for Tuesday, October 20, 2020

7 Comments on Key developments for Tuesday, October 20, 2020

There are over 40.9 million global cases.  2.6 million cases have been added to the tally over the last week as growth ramps up. There have been over 1.1 million deaths. There are over 8.5 million cases in the US. There have been over 226,000 deaths in the US. Over 825 have died in the US since yesterday. The US gained over 57,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, overtaking India in daily case growth. Brazil is second in the world in number of deaths, with over 150,000.

IHME Mathematical models are predicting a rough winter. The best-case scenario (with ubiquitous mask wearing) predicts an additional 100,000 deaths at minimum. The worst-case scenario projects nearly 200,000 additional deaths by the end of winter. Meanwhile, we’ve got uncontrolled spread in most states:

Remdesivir did not perform as hoped in WHO global platform trial.  The WHO trial was large but has been criticized for its less rigorous design. The WHO trial found that the drug did not reduce the rate of death after 28 days or reduce the need for breathing machines compared to routine care. The results will need be reviewed in detail once published.

US hospital are overwhelmed with COVID cases in Utah, Wisconsin, and Indiana. The National Guard is helping to build field hospitals where needed. Medical personnel shortages are also problematic in multiple states. Kansas City hospitals have had to divert ambulances.

Tennessee is breaking records in case growth:

Brain lesions and new-onset stutter after long-COVID? A concerning case:

40% of gun sales in California have gone to first-time owners during the pandemic. Concerns about lawlessness, prisoner release, and even government collapse are fueling new purchases. 110,000 people have purchased a gun in CA since the pandemic started.

Wintertime pandemic panic shopping has already started. Apparently canned corn and frozen pizza are really hard to come by right now.

Digital health passports might be on the horizon. It sounds mighty dystopian to me. Then again, you couldn’t pay me to get on a plane right now. Perhaps this is what it might take to keep the aviation industry alive.

Unemployment aid will be cut for millions in the coming months. Nothing’s been put in place to replace the CARES Act safety net. No second-round stimulus has been approved.

Pfizer expects a vaccine results read-out by the end of the month and is beginning large-scale production in anticipation of Emergency Use Authorization in the US. Hundreds of thousands of doses have already been produced, and tens to hundreds of millions are planned.

UNICEF is stockpiling syringes to the tune of half a billion:

Let’s dispel the myths that COVID cases are over-diagnosed, and that COVID deaths are falsely inflated:

Winter is coming:

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.

  • 7 Comments
    • Cia October 22, 2020

      A volunteer in the AstraZeneca trials in Brazil has died. It’s said that he had received the placebo rather than the Covid vaccine being tested, but the placebo used was a meningitis vaccine, not a true placebo like saline. The meningitis vaccine has always been dangerous: when it was introduced in the U.K. in November 1999, it caused so many severe reactions and deaths that that version was taken off the market. In the US trial which will start soon, they say that only saline will be used as a placebo, which is unusual for the industry. Probably because over half of Americans say they (we) won’t take it when it’s released.

      https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/astrazeneca-starts-30-000-subject-u-s-phase-3-covid-19-vaccine-trial

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      • Stephanie ArnoldContributor Cia October 22, 2020

        I question the ethics of using a placebo during a pandemic. I understand the rationale, I suppose, but still feel there’s too much at stake to give the placebo. 

        6 |
    • JustMe October 22, 2020

      Well, that was a depressing read. 

      6 |