Economy
U.S. ‘wasted’ months before preparing for virus pandemic (Adam)
“We basically wasted two months,” Kathleen Sebelius, health and human services secretary during the Obama administration, told AP.
As early as mid-January, U.S. officials could see that hospitals in China’s Hubei province were overwhelmed with infected patients, with many left dependent on ventilator machines to breathe. Italy soon followed, with hospitals scrambling for doctors, beds and equipment.
SARS-CoV-2 viral load and the severity of COVID-19 (Paul M.)
The initial dose of virus and the amount of virus an individual has at any one time might worsen the severity of COVID 19 disease. Viral load is a measure of the number of viral particles present in an individual. Higher SARS-CoV-2 viral loads. might worsen outcomes, and data from China suggests the viral load is higher in patients with more severe disease. The amount of virus exposure at the start of infection – the infectious dose – may increase the severity of the illness and is also linked to a higher viral load.
How the coronavirus job cuts played out by sector and demographics (Sparky1)
And, perhaps ironically in the middle of a health crisis, the health care sector was among the most afflicted as providers of nearly any service apart from acute care for sufferers of COVID-19, the lung ailment caused by the novel coronavirus, suspended operations and stopped seeing patients.
The following charts offer a picture of how March’s job losses – certain to be revised higher and followed by even larger cuts in April – played out across various industries and demographic groups.
State unemployment systems tested by surge of applicants (Sparky1)
New York’s Department of Labor said its phone system recorded more than 8.2 million calls last week, compared with 50,000 in a typical week. Its online filing system received 3.4 million visits during that time, compared to the usual 350,000. The site has crashed several times in recent weeks under the burden.
‘A perfect storm’: US facing hunger crisis as demand for food banks soars (Sparky1)
The national guard has been deployed to help food banks cope with rising demand in cities including Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Phoenix amid growing concerns that supplies may run low as the crisis evolves. Overstretched food pantries are switching to drive-thrus and home deliveries to minimize the spread of Covid-19 as almost 300 million Americans are urged to stay at home.
To help stop coronavirus, everyone should be wearing face masks. The science is clear (Sparky1)
In other words, Covid-19 moves like a silent assassin, with unwitting accomplices. Maybe you’ll be one of them. The best way to ensure that you’re not: wear a mask, and keep your distance from others. Don’t wear an N95 respirator, the type in desperately short supply in hospitals, which is designed to keep doctors safe even when doing potentially dangerous medical procedures. But almost any kind of simple cloth covering over your mouth, such as a home-made mask, or even a bandanna, can stop the assassin in its tracks.
Pandemic hurts ability of nations to face natural disasters (Sparky1)
Valdés, a seismologist who now works in Costa Rica, said he has since sent Mexican authorities his thoughts on how to handle such a situation. Among other things, he said, is the need to reserve one hospital for earthquake victims to separate them from infectious coronavirus patients.
Subtypes of COVID: Mild, Silent Hypoxemia (can cause iatrogenic injury when patients are intubated in this phase), Indolent- Fine then Not (Intubated or Not-Inflammatory Markers), Hyperacute
COVID-19 raises concern over range of pregnancy complications (Sparky1)
“However, most women, even if pregnant, have mild symptoms and likely will not have to seek medical attention. My colleagues and I are triaging these calls over the phone to ensure that potentially ill patients are evaluated at the hospital while most are staying home,” Brandt said.
Explainer: How an old tuberculosis vaccine might help fight the new coronavirus (Piotr S.)
The BCG vaccine contains a live but weakened strain of tuberculosis bacteria that provokes the body to develop antibodies to attack TB bacteria. This is called an adaptive immune response, because the body develops a defense against a specific disease-causing microorganism, or pathogen, after encountering it. Most vaccines create an adaptive immune response to a single pathogen.
Nations with Mandatory TB Vaccines Show Fewer Coronavirus Deaths (Piotr S.)
Gonzalo Otazu, assistant professor at the New York Institute of Technology and lead author of the study, started working on the analysis after noticing the low number of cases in Japan. The country had reported some of the earliest confirmed cases of coronavirus outside of China and it hadn’t instituted lockdown measures like so many other countries have done.
A Plan to End this Madness (thc0655)
I cannot say for certain what will happen but I imagine group 3 will be composed of people who already recovered from COVID-19 or think that they have developed immunity, young adults with no risk factors, and those skeptical of the severity of the outbreak or the risk of death or serious complication. And who knows, maybe, like the old Belgian woman who gave up her ventilator, brave grandparents will join 3, either as a noble sacrifice for their grandchildren or as a way of committing suicide due to the sadness over the whole situation that might infect their hearts.
Where will the bodies go? Morgues plan as virus grows (Sparky1)
With U.S. medical experts and even President Donald Trump now estimating the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic could reach 240,000 nationwide, the sheer practicalities of death — where to put the bodies — are worrying just about everyone as cities, hospitals and private medical groups clamor to secure additional storage.
The Burning Platform: Unprecedented Power Grab (thc0655)
Since January, elites sold their entire stock and bond portfolios and went to cash. I know 100% that they were even tipped off to do so without necessarily outlining the objectives, just stating there was this virus. Over the past weeks, governments have used this virus to expand their powers in unprecedented ways, all in an amazing effort to save us from certain doom. In Thailand, the government seized the power to censor the media. In South Korea, we find officials began using people’s cellphone, credit-card, and GPS records to track patients with Covid-19 in real-time, all to ensure they would know everyone’s contacts.
Never Has So Little Done So Much Harm to So Many (000)
In February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) – never known for its accuracy or consistency – declared a “Pandemic” for the coronavirus and claimed that the mortality rate for the novel coronavirus disease now designated as COVID-19 was 3.4%, while that for the seasonal flu was 0.1%. Of course, the news media ran with those numbers and splashed scary headlines across the World stating how much more deadly this new virus was than the seasonal flu. The problem with WHO’s statement, however, was that they applied two different formulas for the two viruses. For the COVID-19 disease, for example, they simply didn’t count any of the mild cases of COVID-19 that resolved themselves; yet, they did with the seasonal flu. If WHO were to apply the same formula to seasonal flu cases as it did with COVID-19 cases, then the seasonal flu is revealed more truthfully as being twice as deadly as the COVID-19 virus.
The JackPot Chronicles Scenario 1: Force Majeure (thc0655)
The signs were certainly there that we were nearing some kind of archetypical “shoeshine boy”moment or phenomenon. Complacency in passive investing, extreme overabundance in the unicorn population, the fact that there exists (existed) an entire industry around arbitraging long term leases with short term rentals via AirBnB, there was a sense of Roaring 20’s around it all and all those vile contrarians were wondering “just how long can this go on?”
The sheriffs of America have great power and authority where unconstitutional executive overreach is concerned. All the sheriffs of our nation should start conferencing with Sheriff Nichols immediately to learn more about the limits of their offices. Frankly, I’m surprised it took this long for one to come forward with this common-sense response to unlawful acts by state officials. Perhaps a good exercise for people stuck on lockdown would be to call their local sheriff’s office and find out where the local sheriff stands on this very important issue of the people’s rights.
China Plans To Win The Pandemic World War (thc0655)
For example: Guayaquil, Ecuador is one of a handful of major seaports on the west coast of South America, and it has the best location and by far the largest natural harbor. Guayaquil touts itself as the main port city and gateway to the Pacific Rim, including China. Now Coronavirus is breaking out in Guayaquil at about the same pace it did in Milan a month ago, but Ecuador does not have a slim fraction of Italy’s medical capacity to deal with it. In a month, Guayaquil might be a medical catastrophe, and America will be in no position to send help.
Doug Casey: Speculate on Silver, Not Gold (thc0655)
It’s not like copper or aluminum or iron, where it’s “consumed.” Gold is held, because its primary use is money. How much silver has been mined? In the Earth’s crust, there’s probably about 10-15 times more silver than there is gold. And that’s reflected in the annual production figures: roughly 80 million ounces of gold, 800 million ounces of silver.
Bill McKibben: Big Oil is using the coronavirus pandemic to push through the Keystone XL pipeline (Sparky1)
Meanwhile, on the southern side of the border, a series of states quickly adopted laws making it a felony to protest “critical infrastructure” like pipelines. (Last week South Dakota, a crucial link on the KXL route, made it a felony even to “incite” such protest.) And the Department of Health and Human Services issued a memorandum exempting pipeline construction from stay-at-home orders because such work was “critical” – that is, the department is asserting it is essential to build oil pipelines at the precise moment that the world is swimming in oil and that the Trump administration is boasting about getting Saudi and Russian autocrats to cut supply.
Forest fire near Chernobyl boosts radiation level (Sparky1)
The blaze is within the 2,600-square-kilometer (1,000-square-mile) Chernobyl Exclusion Zone established after the 1986 disaster at the plant that sent a cloud of radioactive fallout over much of Europe. The zone is largely unpopulated, although about 200 people have remained there despite orders to leave.
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The post Daily Digest 4/6 – U.S. ‘Wasted’ Months Before Preparing For Pandemic, Unemployment Systems Tested By Applicant Surge appeared first on Peak Prosperity.
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