There are over 44.2 million global cases. The world has gained 3.3 million cases since last week, and case growth continues to increase. There have been nearly 1.2 million deaths. There are over 9 million cases in the US. There have been over 232,000 deaths in the US. Over 964 have died in the US since yesterday. The US gained over 71,000 new cases in the last 24 hours. Brazil is still second in the world in number of deaths, with over 157,000.
Cases are exploding in the US and hospitals are reaching or exceeding capacity in many different states and regions. This is not to say that some areas aren’t having troughs in hospitalizations—some are. But the general trend is worrying. Tennessee has had record high single-day cases and deaths, for example.
In Idaho, one hospital may have to start sending coronavirus patients to Seattle or Portland.
In Missouri, medical centers have had to turn away ambulances.
In Wisconsin, an emergency field hospital at the state fairgrounds has started taking patients.https://t.co/FnEHvpDReL
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) October 23, 2020
The US is back to record highs:
BREAKING: U.S. reports more than 83,000 new coronavirus cases, biggest one-day increase on record
— BNO Newsroom (@BNODesk) October 23, 2020
COVID tests are now available at Costco, but they’re pricey:
#pandemic COVID-19 tests at Costco now… pic.twitter.com/lJA1pGewLy
— AI6YR (@ai6yrham) October 23, 2020
Even after the devastation in Wuhan, only ~4% of people sampled had antibodies for COVID in the spring. It really makes you wonder what it takes to achieve herd immunity… And it also shows that aggressive social distancing measures work.
Folks are burning through their nest eggs during the pandemic. It is a catastrophe on multiple fronts.
AstraZenica and Johnson & Johnson are resuming their halted vaccine trials. The FDA has given the green light for the trials to continue.
People are holding back on spending on what is perceived (probably rightly) to be unsafe. Fewer people are dining out or going to the gym, and this kind of weakened demand is crushing the economy. The truth is, nothing is going to fix this until the pandemic is dealt with. If we want the economy to recover, we’ve got to get case numbers controlled. In the absence of vaccines, we’re left with test-trace-isolate, which we’re not doing systematically. Reduced tax revenue is also hurting city, county, and state budgets:
A reminder of the pandemic's impact on our economy:
– 77.5% decline in the hotel tax
– 49.5% decline in the amusement tax
– Ground transportation tax down 47.8%
– Parking taxes down 48%
– Motor vehicle fuel tax down 48.5%
– City share of the sales tax down 35%#Chi2021Budget— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) October 26, 2020
El Paso is back in lockdown:
NEW: El Paso, Texas, issues stay-at-home order due to surge in COVID cases, says "all area hospitals have reached capacity" pic.twitter.com/lCBO4WjzYC
— BNO Newsroom (@BNODesk) October 25, 2020
China could be facing serious food shortages because of pandemic-related hits to its agriculture sector. Infectious diseases among livestock (like swine flu and bird flu) are also contributing to the problem.
10,000 evictions have been filed in five states. A huge housing crisis is coming our way because of pandemic-related joblessness.
There’s some argument (and evidence) that wiping down groceries is not necessary. Many still do. I say it’s better to be safe than sorry. Fomite contamination is not the primary driver of spread, but it’s not unheard of, either:
Science has changed. Behavior is a good bit slower. Aka why people are still wiping down their groceries (which you don't need to do) https://t.co/KCRdJZCLns
— Bethany Brookshire (@BeeBrookshire) October 26, 2020