International COVID-19 Updates & Discussion 2

[dualmeister]

(Reuters) - The United States saw a 46% increase in new cases of COVID-19 in the week ended June 28 compared to the previous seven days, with 21 states reporting positivity test rates above the level that the World Health Organization has flagged as concerning.

Yet ..............



People prepare to go tubing on Salt River amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Arizona, U.S., June 27, 2020. REUTERS/Cheney Orr

Stupid

 

[Alan]

(Reuters) - The United States saw a 46% increase in new cases of COVID-19 in the week ended June 28 compared to the previous seven days, with 21 states reporting positivity test rates above the level that the World Health Organization has flagged as concerning.

Yet ..............

View attachment 868259

People prepare to go tubing on Salt River amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Arizona, U.S., June 27, 2020. REUTERS/Cheney Orr

Stupid

Put up some BLM signs and the virus will spare them.

 

[buka001]

(Reuters) - The United States saw a 46% increase in new cases of COVID-19 in the week ended June 28 compared to the previous seven days, with 21 states reporting positivity test rates above the level that the World Health Organization has flagged as concerning.

Yet ..............

View attachment 868259

People prepare to go tubing on Salt River amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Arizona, U.S., June 27, 2020. REUTERS/Cheney Orr

Stupid

Arizona just announced that they are preparing to enact triage systems at hospitals in response to the increase in cases, as hospitals are expected to be stretched -

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1278096633406906369

 

[Gordon_R]

Interesting study, though I leave it to the experts to explain what it means:

Coronavirus: Immunity may be more widespread than tests suggest

A Swedish study found twice as many people had protective T-cells as tested positive for antibodies.

www.bbc.com

 

[tetrasect]

Interesting study, though I leave it to the experts to explain what it means:

Coronavirus: Immunity may be more widespread than tests suggest

A Swedish study found twice as many people had protective T-cells as tested positive for antibodies.

www.bbc.com

First of all T-cells will not make you immune to Coronavirus. At most they will (to a varying degree) prevent symptoms from developing. You will still test positive and will most likely be contagious (perhaps just for a shorter time).

Besides that I'm not sure this is a significant "discovery". It's not news that people have T-cells. What's not known AFAIK is how many of them are needed to fight covid-19 before it can do serious damage.

 

[Gordon_R]

First of all T-cells will not make you immune to Coronavirus. At most they will (to a varying degree) prevent symptoms from developing.

Besides that I'm not sure this is a significant "discovery". It's not news that people have T-cells. What's not known AFAIK is how many of them are needed to fight covid-19 before it can do serious damage.

My understanding is that it also affects the measurement of those who had asymptomatic infecttions, and the epidemiology of Covid-19.

 

[noxibox]

Getting the body to produce T-cells specific to a particular infection is the basis on which some vaccines work for infections that don't produce long lasting antibodies.

 

[Paulsie]

Slightly premature celebration, but one of very few countries to control the epidemic through early actions:

Coronavirus: Czechs hold 'farewell party' for pandemic

Thousands attended the festive event in Prague, sharing food and drink with people around them.

www.bbc.com

My family lives there and I can say the success is due to three main reasons: 1/ early introduction of mask wearing across the entire population, 2/ high compliance of the above across the entire population, 3/ excellent financial support of those staying at home (employed, self-employed or business) by government

 

[MiW]

First of all T-cells will not make you immune to Coronavirus. At most they will (to a varying degree) prevent symptoms from developing. You will still test positive and will most likely be contagious (perhaps just for a shorter time).

Besides that I'm not sure this is a significant "discovery". It's not news that people have T-cells. What's not known AFAIK is how many of them are needed to fight covid-19 before it can do serious damage.

I don't think you get the T-cells reference. They are storing memories, of previous pathogens encountered, and how to fight them effectively.
Instead of spending a week or two to figure antibodies for a specific virus, they can 'order' immediate the right defense.
It's the same when you get measles vaccine, antibodies disappear after sometime, but the T-cells carry the info.

 

[The_Right_Honourable_Brit]

Vaccine trial showing 'right sort of immune response'

A leading scientist behind the University of Oxford's potential Covid-19 vaccine said on Wednesday the team has seen the right sort of immune response in trials, which have entered the Phase III clinical stage.

Speaking at a parliamentary hearing, Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the university, said the trial has enrolled 8 000 volunteers for the Phase III of its trial into the vaccine, AZD1222, which was licensed to AstraZeneca.

She said she couldn't give a timeline for when the vaccine might be ready as it depends on the results of the trial.

- Reuters

 

[Vorastra]

And just like magic, BLM protests are not only good but HELP stop COVID.

This is what happens when you have woke scientists with access to grant money.

 

[buka001]

California going back into lockdown. Closing bars and restaurants again.

 

[tetrasect]

I don't think you get the T-cells reference. They are storing memories, of previous pathogens encountered, and how to fight them effectively.
Instead of spending a week or two to figure antibodies for a specific virus, they can 'order' immediate the right defense.
It's the same when you get measles vaccine, antibodies disappear after sometime, but the T-cells carry the info.

Idk, it's a bit confusing. Are they saying the T-cells are 100% specific to covid and therefore those people must have had the virus?
Or are they saying that a small number of the general population has T-cells that, while possibly not related to covid (but maybe resulted from a similar illness), can to a certain degree fight covid?

A bit tired now but I think I need to take a look at the study instead of trying to decipher that article. It's hard to tell which part is the journalists opinion, which is the scientists opinion and what is actually shown by the evidence in the study.

 

[The_Right_Honourable_Brit]

And in Texas...

Covid hospitalisations push Houston-area ICUs past full capacity

Intensive care unit beds in the largest hospital system in the US have passed full capacity, as a record daily increases of coronavirus cases in Texas weigh on the state's healthcare infrastructure. The Houston-based Texas Medical Center revealed on Wednesday there were 1,350 patients in its ICU wards in the area, surpassing normal capacity of 1,330.

Patients with coronavirus accounted for 36 per cent of those beds. TMC is using all of its normal ICU capacity and is having to implement plans to create new intensive care beds and by moving some patients to other parts of the hospital.

In an effort to expand hospital capacity, governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday ordered hospitals in four counties to suspend elective surgeries, having last week ordered hospitals in the regions around the state's biggest cities - Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio - to do the same.

Just over 6,500 people were currently hospitalised with coronavirus across Texas, according to the most recent data from Covid Tracking Project on Tuesday, a record high.

At the end of May, just 1,684 people were hospitalised with the disease, an increase of about 290 per cent through June. The state also reported nearly 7,000 confirmed cases of the virus yesterday, a record one-day increase.

-- Financial Times.

 

[Cage Rattler]

The definition of a positive case seems to have changed radically too in a number of places in the US.

 

[tetrasect]

I'm confused... today is the 1st of July. It's 13:30 in California right now. Are these people fortune tellers?

 

[The_Right_Honourable_Brit]

I'm confused... today is the 1st of July. It's 13:30 in California right now. Are these people fortune tellers?

It's done on European time I think.

 

[tetrasect]

It's done on European time I think.

GMT is 21:10 right now... something is not right. Maybe they meant to say June 30 but were finishing up the article last night just before midnight and then typed today's date in instead of yesterdays without realizing the new day had already begun?

That happened to me last year when booking a flight. Arrived at the airport a day early to everyone's amusement.

EDIT: Even then it would only work if they measured cases from 24:00 to 24:00 GMT but in California time that would be from 19:00 to 19:00 so that would not make a lot of sense either...

EDIT 2: The pic says Covid Tracking Project is the source but on the website there is no count yet for July 1st and the number of new cases yesterday was 6367. https://covidtracking.com/data/state/california#historical

 

[Geoff.D]

Idk, it's a bit confusing. Are they saying the T-cells are 100% specific to covid and therefore those people must have had the virus?
Or are they saying that a small number of the general population has T-cells that, while possibly not related to covid (but maybe resulted from a similar illness), can to a certain degree fight covid?

A bit tired now but I think I need to take a look at the study instead of trying to decipher that article. It's hard to tell which part is the journalists opinion, which is the scientists opinion and what is actually shown by the evidence in the study.

Exactly. Far better to access the original paper before commenting on anything the journalist think the authors meant.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech shows positive results

An experimental Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the drug giant Pfizer and the biotech firm BioNTech spurred immune responses in healthy patients, but also caused fever and other side effects, especially at higher doses.

www.statnews.com

An experimental Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the drug giant Pfizer and the biotech firm BioNTech spurred immune responses in healthy patients, but also caused fever and other side effects, especially at higher doses.

The first clinical data on the vaccine were disclosed Wednesday in a paper released on medRXiv, a preprint server, meaning it has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a journal.

“We still have a ways to go and we’re testing other candidates as well,” said Philip Dormitzer, the chief scientific officer for viral vaccines at Pfizer’s research laboratories. “However, what we can say at this point is there is a viable candidate based on immunogenicity and early tolerability safety data.”