I am living in the middle of the emergency over coronavirus in Finland. Due this reason the update cycle to make posting to this blog could be slowed down.
The Finnish government announced on Monday nationwide school closures in order to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. Read more on the following aricles:
Finland closes schools, declares state of emergency over coronavirus
https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/finland_closes_schools_declares_state_of_emergency_over_coronavirus/11260062
Daycare centres are to stay open but parents were asked to keep their kids home if possible. The government also published a 19-point list of emergency legislation that takes effect on 18 March.
Coronavirus latest: 359 cases confirmed in Finland, S-Group shuts its Helsinki eateries, bankruptcy fears mount
https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/coronavirus_latest_359_cases_confirmed_in_finland_s-group_shuts_its_helsinki_eateries_bankruptcy_fears_mount/11249610
Here is a link to an earlier post related to Coronavirus:
https://www.epanorama.net/blog/2020/02/12/mobile-trends-2020-mwc-canceled/
1,657 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Taiwan Counts 200th Day Of No New Local Coronavirus Infections—Here’s How They Did It
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2020/10/29/taiwan-counts-200th-day-of-no-new-local-coronavirus-infections-heres-how-they-did-it/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Valerie/#76616c657269
Taiwan on Thursday counted its 200th day without recording a single domestically transmitted coronavirus case, just as other regions of the world—like the U.S. and Europe—are battling record-breaking surges in new cases, making the island country a rare success story of the pandemic.
“Taiwan is the only major country that has so far been able to keep community transmission of Covid eliminated,” Peter Collignon, an Australian National University Medical School professor told Bloomberg, adding that the country has “probably had the best result around the world.”
Taiwan was served well by shutting down borders early on and heavily monitoring travel as well as the mandatory two-week quarantines of new arrivals ever since—while no new locally spread cases have been reported, the country has counted 20 new cases coming from overseas in the past 14 days, according to a Bloomberg report, with 3 registered on Thursday alone.
The country’s past brush with SARS in a 2003 outbreak that infected hundreds and killed dozens is said to be fresh enough in people’s memory that the widespread wearing of face coverings and other means of mitigating viral spread was easily accepted by most of the population, and the government also already had systems in place to quickly address a public health disaster like coronavirus, the Washington Post reported.
The country has also made quarantine easier for residents by providing grocery and food delivery services, although steep fines of up to $35,000 have also been put into place to discourage people who would break quarantine, according to Bloomberg.
553. That’s how many confirmed cases Taiwan has counted as of Thursday, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Taiwan has counted seven deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and no new local cases have been reported since mid-April.
While the vast majority of national economies have tanked since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Taiwan’s success in fighting off the virus has been rewarded as experts forecast the economy could grow by 1.77% this year thanks to spending picking back up and a government stimulus scheme.
Tomi Engdahl says:
England Will Reportedly Go On New Lockdown After Coronavirus Spike
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2020/10/31/england-will-reportedly-go-on-new-lockdown-after-coronavirus-spike/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie/#676f7264696
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/shelleykohan/2020/10/23/coronavirus-impact-on-customer-shopping-behavior-and-what-to-expect-for-the-holidays/amp/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stanford study: Trump campaign rallies led to 30,000 COVID cases, 700 deaths
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Stanford-study-Trump-rallies-deaths-super-spreader-15691006.php
Researchers at Stanford University believe President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign rallies — which are not socially distanced and mask wearing is sporadic — are responsible for 30,000 COVID-19 cases and 700 deaths across the country.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Millions of people have lost their jobs due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and now the machines will take away even more jobs from workers, according to the World Economic Forum.
U.S. Lost Over 60 Million Jobs—Now Robots, Tech And Artificial Intelligence Will Take Millions More
http://on.forbes.com/6181GhdKU
If we didn’t have enough to worry about—Covid-19, a nation divided, massive job losses and civil unrest—now we have to be concerned that robots will take our jobs.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) concluded in a recent report that “a new generation of smart machines, fueled by rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, could potentially replace a large proportion of existing human jobs.” Robotics and AI will cause a serious “double-disruption,” as the coronavirus pandemic pushed companies to fast-track the deployment of new technologies to slash costs, enhance productivity and be less reliant on real-life people.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fauci: U.S. Could Not ‘Be Positioned More Poorly’ For Winter And Coronavirus
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2020/11/01/fauci-us-could-not-be-positioned-more-poorly-for-winter-and-coronavirus/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie/#676f7264696
As levels of new coronavirus cases surge in the vast majority of U.S. states, Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview with the Washington Post that the U.S. is “in for a whole lot of hurt,” in the coming months and “could not be positioned more poorly” going into the fall and winter seasons.
“We’re in for a whole lot of hurt,” Fauci, the nation’s chief infectious disease official, told the newspaper. “It’s not a good situation.”
Fauci made the downbeat comments Friday, just as the U.S. detected 100,233 new infections, breaking both the American record and that of every country on earth for the highest number coronavirus cases counted in one day.
More than a dozen states reported Friday record-breaking numbers of coronavirus hospitalizations, as nationwide patients are being admitted at a rate 50% higher than just a month ago.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Covid-19 pandemic is threatening another lost decade for the American economy that could set back another generation of young new entrants into the labor force.
This Recession Could Create A ‘Lost Generation’ Of American Workers
http://on.forbes.com/6183GhjrL
The Great Recession of 2007-2009 did such lasting damage to the U.S. labor market that it took several years and a ton of stimulus for growth, jobs and wages to make a meaningful rebound.
Now, the Covid-19 pandemic is threatening another lost decade for the American economy that could set back another generation of young new entrants into the labor force.
A new paper from Berkeley economist Jesse Rothstein finds that the American job market began to deteriorate significantly even before the last recession, in 2005, and it only got worse from there.
“Starting with those who entered the labor market around 2005, each successive cohort has had lower employment rates, relative to older workers in the same labor market, than those before.”
Imagine what’s going to happen now. After falling to a historic low of around 3.5% for nearly a year, the U.S. jobless rate spiked to a post-Depression record of 14.7% in April.
It has since decreased to 7.9%—but that’s still really, really high. For context, the jobless rate peaked at 10% in the Great Recession, and it took us two years to get there.
Tomi Engdahl says:
In Moment Of Brutal Honesty, JPMorgan Says Economic Disaster And More Lockdowns Will Be Great For Stocks
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/moment-brutal-honesty-jpmorgan-says-economic-disaster-and-more-lockdowns-will-be-great
After reading months of ridiculously goalseeked Wall Street commentary, where first a Trump victory was the best outcome for stocks (at a time when Trump was seen as a favorite to win), then a Biden victory becoming the best-case outcome for risk assets (this predictably emerged around the time Biden took a lead in the polls), then a Blue Wave emerging as the most bullish outcome (around the time a Democratic sweep became the most likely outcome according to polls), and then following a brief detour when Wall Street briefly freaked out about Congressional gridlock when a split Congress suddenly became an all too real possibility, we went full circle and a Trump victory once again became the most bullish outcome (according to JPMorgan), traders and analysts would simply roll their eyes and snicker whenever a new “scenario” emerged from Wall Street’s strategy desks.
There was a simple reason for that: as One River’s Eric Peters explained earlier, ever since the arrival of MMT in March, the simple reality is that for stocks it no longer matters who is president
And for once, we had an honest, objective assessment from none other than JPMorgan, which in its latest Flows and Liquidity note published on Friday cuts to the chase and without any of the now ridiculous “narratives” writes that “The equity bull market should resume post US election.”
Why? For two simple reasons: i) a surge in debt which will boost stocks as it has for the past century, and ii) if it’s bad the Fed will step in.
In fact, the worse it gets the better it will be for stocks, and in a moment of brutal honesty from the largest US commercial bank, JPMorgan’s Nick Panigirtzoglou who is clearly tired of goalseeking why every single political scenario would be bullish for stocks, admits that even another economic catastrophe such as a new round of lockdowns will be great for markets
Yes – JPM did in fact state what “tinfoil blogs” had been saying for over a decade: that the worse the economy gets, the better it is for risk assets as the Fed has no choice but to step in and keep bailing out bulls as the alternative – a full-blown market crash – is simply an inconceivable scenario for a country where private sector financial assets now represent a record 6.2x the GDP…
And so, for all those wondering why the powers that be – certainly should Biden win the presidency – are rushing to enforce another full-scale lockdown of the economy, the answer is simple: they want to get even richer. Meanwhile, all those tens of millions of Americans who will certainly lose their jobs again, and all those proprietors of small and medium businesses who will see their companies snuffed out… well, for a handful of ultra rich to get even richer, others have to lose it all.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A huge chunk of the Covid-19 cases in Europe this summer came from a newly identified variant of the coronavirus that first emerged in a super-spreading event among farmworkers in Spain.
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/coronavirus-variant-spread-across-europe-from-spain-through-tourists/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Birx, Contrasting Trump, Warns ‘Most Deadly Phase’ Of The Pandemic Is Ahead, Calls For Aggressive U.S. Action
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2020/11/03/birx-contrasting-trump-warns-most-deadly-phase-of-the-pandemic-is-ahead-calls-for-aggressive-us-action/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie/#676f7264696
White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx became the latest senior official to openly contradict the president’s rosy Covid-19 claims in an internal memo circulated Monday, the Washington Post reports, urging “aggressive action” as the U.S. enters “the most concerning and most deadly phase of this pandemic,” marking a far cry from Trump’s claims that the country is “rounding the corner.”
Birx criticised the administration’s lack of response to the pandemic and suggested that rather than debating over lockdowns, the crisis was down to “an aggressive balanced approach that is not being implemented.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
The US just set a staggering new Covid-19 daily case record with more than 120,000 infections
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/05/health/us-coronavirus-thursday/index.html
Covid-19′s death toll could reach 266,000 by the end of November, according to an ensemble forecast published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Thursday saw at least 121,054 new cases nationwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were at least 1,187 reported deaths, a near 20% increase from the same day last week.
In just 10 months, more than 9.6 million people in the US have been infected with coronavirus, and more than 234,000 have died. Hospitalizations are also surging nationwide, with more than 53,000 people hospitalized with coronavirus on Thursday.
Tomi Engdahl says:
1 in 4 women are considering stepping back from their career because of COVID-19
https://qz.com/work/1911086/covid-19-has-working-mothers-considering-a-career-step-back
COVID-19 has hit women particularly hard, as school and daycare closures have meant women have taken on the bulk of childcare duties.
A poll by McKinsey has revealed 1 in 4 women are considering leaving their jobs, cutting back hours, or scaling back work as a result of the pandemic.
Rachel Thomas, CEO and co-founder of the nonprofit LeanIn.Org says it would be a major setback for the progress towards gender diversity.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Europe urges e-commerce platforms to share data in fight against coronavirus scams
https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/06/europe-urges-ecommerce-platforms-to-share-data-in-fight-against-coronavirus-scams/?tpcc=ECFB2020
European lawmakers are pressing major e-commerce and media platforms to share more data with each other as a tool to fight rogue traders who are targeting consumers with coronavirus scams.
After the pandemic spread to the West, internet platforms were flooded with local ads for PPE of unknown and/or dubious quality and other dubious coronavirus offers — even after some of the firms banned such advertising.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Denmark mink Covid crisis worsens. Here’s what it means
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/07/europe/mink-covid-19-denmark-update-intl/index.html
(CNN) – The United Kingdom has banned travelers from Denmark after the country reported a widespread outbreak of a new variant of the virus which causes Covid-19 in mink farms.
The development came days after the Danish government announced it planned to cull the nation’s entire mink population in order to contain the spread.
There are between 15 and 17 million mink in Denmark, whereas its human population stands at around 5.5 million.
Denmark announced it would cull its entire mink population after it discovered evidence that the disease that causes novel coronavirus had mutated in mink, after being passed on by humans. The new variant was also found to have spread to humans, with 214 confirmed infections as of Friday.
The Danish government also announced restrictions for the seven municipalities where the new strain was detected. “The virus has mutated in mink. The mutated virus has spread to humans,” Frederiksen said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dr. Joshua Liao explains why pinning a full return to normalcy solely on vaccines could alter our risk perceptions, encourage unsafe behaviors, and ultimately prolong suffering from the pandemic. #ForbesFrontlines
Why We Should Resist Over-Optimism About Covid-19 Vaccines
https://www.forbes.com/sites/coronavirusfrontlines/2020/11/03/why-we-should-resist-over-optimism-about-covid-19-vaccines/?sh=6ac48a836ae6&utm_source=FBPAGE&utm_medium=social&utm_content=4096100533&utm_campaign=sprinklrForbesMainFB
Dr. Joshua Liao explains why pinning a full return to normalcy solely on vaccines could alter our risk perceptions, encourage unsafe behaviors, and ultimately prolong suffering from the pandemic.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How The Biden Presidency Plans To Combat Covid-19
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2020/11/08/how-the-biden-presidency-plans-to-combat-covid-19/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Valerie/&sh=7f936a24629b
“Our work begins with getting Covid under control,” said President-elect Biden in his victory speech on Saturday. “We cannot repair the economy, restore our vitality, or relish life’s most precious moments — hugging a grandchild, birthdays, weddings, graduations, all the moments that matter most to us — until we get this virus under control.”
He made these remarks at a time when the pandemic is hitting one of its worst phases in the United States. Case numbers and hospitalizations are at all-time highs, and daily deaths from the disease have been rising since mid-October, according to the Covid Tracking project. On Saturday, the President-elect also promised to be someone “who doesn’t see Red and Blue states, but a United States”—a call that will be put to the test since the parts of the country currently hit hardest by the pandemic overwhelmingly voted for President Trump.
On Monday, Biden plans to announce a task force to put his Covid-19 plan into effect, a group that will reportedly be co-chaired by former FDA commissioner David Kessler and former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.
Nationwide Mask Mandates
The Federal government doesn’t have the power to implement a requirement that Americans wear masks, but it does wield a lot of influence. One of the cornerstones of Biden’s plan is to work with governors and local officials to urge a nationwide mask mandate for Americans when “they are around people outside their household.”
This alone could make a big difference, both for people’s lives and for the economy. A recent analysis by researchers at Vanderbilt University found that areas with mask mandates have lower hospitalization rates from Covid-19 than areas that don’t. And a Goldman Sachs estimate over the summer suggested a mask mandate would save the economy over $1 trillion.
More Accessible (And Free) Testing
The Biden Administration has proposed that the federal government help double the number of drive-thru Covid-19 testing locations, and ensure that the cost of tests are free.
Clearer Communication
The future Biden Administration proposes a more active role for the CDC in communicating information about Covid-19 and its response. In the transition website, the President-elect says that the CDC will be directed to provide clear guidance on how communities can respond to the spread of Covid-19 in their communities, including “including when to open or close certain businesses, bars, restaurants, and other spaces; when to open or close schools, and what steps they need to take to make classrooms and facilities safe; appropriate restrictions on size of gatherings; when to issue stay-at-home restrictions.”
Additionally, the President-elect has also called for the creation of a “Nationwide Pandemic Dashboard,” a website that would enable people to check on virus activity in their community in real time.
Financial Support For Communities And Businesses
Biden has called for Congress to pass an emergency package to ensure schools, local businesses and state and local governments all have sufficient funding during particular phases of responses to Covid-19.
Equitable Vaccine Distribution
Although nations like Taiwan, New Zealand and South Korea (and even states like Vermont) have shown it’s possible to contain Covid-19 through public health measures alone, the resurgence in the United States and Europe suggest that life won’t get back to normal in most of the world until a vaccine has been approved.
To that end, Biden plans to invest in a $25 billion manufacturing and distribution plan to provide free vaccines to Americans, though details of that plan are vague at the moment.
Promoting International Cooperation
Perhaps that sharpest break in policy with the Trump Administration, the President-elect promises to “immediately restore our relationship with the World Health Organization.” It also plans to restore other public health initiatives geared towards international cooperation that have been either eliminated or diminished under the Trump administration
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pfizer iski kultasuoneen rokotteellaan, jopa 90 prosentin suoja – “Tämä on suunnilleen paras uutinen maailmalle”
https://www.kauppalehti.fi/uutiset/pfizer-iski-kultasuoneen-rokotteellaan-jopa-90-prosentin-suoja-markkinat-nousevat-tuntuvasti/9703a1d5-2f7d-4dcf-90c1-30aaa3864d0b
Lääkeyhtiö Pfizerin ja BioNTechin rokoteuutinen oli odotettua parempi, ja se nostaa toiveita pandemian hallintaan saamisesta. Markkinoilla nähtiin hurja nousuralli maanantaina.
Lääkeyhtiö Pfizer julkisti iltapäivällä odotuksia paremmat tuloksensa rokoteaihionsa kolmannen eli viimeisen vaiheen tehotutkimuksistaan.
Pfizer ilmoitti, että rokotteella oltiin alustavasti todettu jopa 90 prosentin suojateho, kun analyytikot ovat puhuneet noin 60-70 prosentin suojasta.
Uutinen on se odotettu ensimmäinen iso rokoteuutinen, jonka myötä sijoittajat voivat odottaa, että pandemia saataneen hallintaan.
Pfizer on aiemmin sanonut, että se voisi hakea toimivan rokotteen myötä hätäkäyttölupaa riskiryhmille marraskuun kolmannella viikolla – kun viimeisistä rokottamisista on kulunut kaksi kuukautta.
Arviot hyväksyntäprosessille ovat liikkuneet 2-3 viikossa, joten periaatteessa Pfizerin rokote voisi olla jakelussa jo joulukuussa. Rokotteen tuotanto on jo käynnissä.
Pfizerin mukaan yhtiö pystyy vuoden 2020 aikana valmistamaan 50 miljoonaa rokotetta ja 1,3 miljardia annosta vuonna 2021.
Todennäköisesti rokote olisi aluksi priorisoitu riskiryhmille. Esimerkiksi Suomen rokotetyöryhmä suosittelee tilattavaksi lopulta kolmea rokotetta.
Kilpailevaa rokotetta valmistavan AstraZenecan osake kääntyi laskuun.
AstraZenecan ja Oxfordin yliopiston rokote oli ennakkosuosikki kansainvälisessä rokotekisassa, kunnes tämän rokoteaihion kokeet keskeytettiin Yhdysvalloissa sairastapauksen vuoksi syyskuussa. Sittemmin kokeet ovat jatkuneet.
Myös AstraZenecalta odotetaan kolmannen vaiheen tuloksia vielä loppuvuoden aikana.
Pitkällä rokotteensa kanssa ovat myös vastaavaa kuin Pfizerin rokotetta kehittävä yhdysvaltalainen Moderna sekä AstraZenecan ohella adenovirusrokotetta vastaavaa kehittävä Johnson & Johnson.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Covid vaccine: First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90% protection
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54873105
Tomi Engdahl says:
Thousands of small businesses have been shuttered—many permanently—by the COVID-19 pandemic. But there’s another essential but unsung part of our communities that could fall victim to the virus: museums.
What We Lose When We Lose Museums
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/at-work/education/what-we-lose-when-we-lose-museums
It’s hard to overestimate the dire impact the pandemic is having on education. As clusters of COVID-19 outbreaks continue to pop up, kindergartens to graduate schools oscillate precariously between online, face to face, and hybrid instruction; administrators, educators, parents, and students struggle to plan and react.
But one important part of the education sector that hasn’t been getting much attention is the informal education that occurs outside the classroom, in museums, science and technology centers, and historic sites. These essential cultural institutions are in peril.
The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the major professional association for museum staff and volunteers in the United States, released a report in June that found one-third of U.S. museums to be at significant risk of permanent closure in the next year and a half. Let that sink in for a minute. There are 33,000 museums in the United States. The people in the best position to know think that 11,000 of them could be gone by the end of 2021.
American Association of State and Local History, issued this eloquent statement: “Without substantial assistance, many museums, historical societies, preservation organizations, and other institutions will likely close forever. Communities across the country will be left without anchor institutions that provide context for contemporary challenges.”
Why does that matter and why should you care?
Museums are cultural institutions entangled in the lives of towns and cities. Museums have the power to transport visitors beyond their day-to-day experience. They can push you out of your bubble and into a whole new world.
For adults, they provide important opportunities for lifelong learning.
For children, museums offer a lively learning environment outside the classroom, one that can be fully immersive and experiential. “I have always loved science museums in particular—the interactive hands-on museums.… They just exude creativity,”
Beyond their educational value, museums are also economic engines for their communities. In pre-pandemic days, museum-goers racked up more than 850 million visits to their favorite U.S. sites, which easily eclipsed the 483 million visits to all major league sporting events and amusement parks. Across the United States, museums employ more than 372,000 people directly and support an additional 325,000 jobs in the community, for roles such as exhibit design and fabrication, scriptwriting, and catering.
And yet, unlike other sectors of the economy, museums have been largely left to contend with the ongoing crisis on their own.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists are hoping to cool down fears following reports from Denmark claiming a potentially dangerous mutated variant of SARS-CoV-2 has been found in mink and can spread to humans.
Scientists Call For Caution Over Mutant Mink Covid-19 Claims
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/scientists-call-for-caution-over-mutant-mink-covid19-claims/
Scientists are hoping to cool down fears following reports from Denmark claiming a potentially dangerous mutated variant of SARS-CoV-2 has been found in mink and can spread to humans.
The announcement led to some sensational headlines and wild speculation on social media, but scientists have warned that there’s currently very little scientific information available about the variant.
The Danish government announced on November 4 that it plans to cull its mink population of up to 17 million after Danish scientific authorities at Statens Serum Institut (SSI) found at least 12 people in the country have been infected with a mutated variant of SARS-CoV-2 that’s been found in five mink fur farms in the north of the country. Most shockingly, the SSI suggested that the mink variant is less sensitive to protective antibodies, raising concerns about vaccine development. This led Danish politicians to release statements to the media saying the mutated variant might “affect the effectiveness of the current candidate for a vaccine against Covid-19.”
This is a big claim, but most scientists outside of the SSI aren’t quite sure what it’s based on because the data has not yet been publicly released.
“This should not be a cause for panic,”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been working with the SSI and the wider scientific community to further understand this variant and to verify preliminary findings. There is still much to know, the WHO says, but they suggest the new variant appears to be similar to the many variants of SARS-CoV-2 viruses that have been identified around the world.
“Initial observations suggest that the clinical presentation, severity, and transmission among those infected are similar to that of other circulating SARS-CoV-2 viruses. However, this variant, referred to as the ‘cluster 5′ variant, had a combination of mutations, or changes that have not been previously observed. The implications of the identified changes in this variant are not yet well understood,” the WHO said in a statement.
Mutations might sound scary, but it’s totally normal for viruses to mutate or change over time. SARS-CoV-2, like all viruses, will have undergone countless changes across the world, most of which have little real consequence.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Eli Lilly Covid-19 Antibody Treatment Granted Emergency FDA Authorization
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/11/09/eli-lilly-covid-19-antibody-treatment-granted-emergency-fda-authorization/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
Tomi Engdahl says:
United Kingdom Reports Highest Covid Death Toll In 6 Months
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2020/11/10/united-kingdom-reports-highest-covid-death-toll-in-6-months/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Lockdown’ Is 2020’s Word Of The Year, According To Collins Dictionary
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2020/11/10/lockdown-is-2020s-word-of-the-year-according-to-collins-dictionary/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
After a year filled with coronavirus crackdowns and social distancing measures, Collins Dictionary felt it was only fitting for the 2020 word of the year to describe the state so many people worldwide found themselves in: “lockdown.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
One In Five Covid-19 Patients Diagnosed With A Mental Illness Within Three Months Of Testing Positive, Study Finds
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2020/11/10/one-in-five-covid-19-patients-diagnosed-with-a-mental-illness-within-three-months-of-testing-positive-study-finds/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Valerie
In another worrying set of findings for the long-term impact of Covid-19, a new peer reviewed study has confirmed reported links between psychiatric illness and Covid-19, with nearly one in five Covid-19 patients developing a mental illness within three months of testing positive for the virus and those with pre-existing mental conditions being 65% more likely to be diagnosed with Covid-19, even accounting for other risk factors.
By examining the health records of 69 million people in the U.S., including over 62,000 Covid-19 patients, researchers from the University of Oxford and NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre found evidence that Covid-19 increases a person’s risk of developing psychiatric illness, with one in five receiving a diagnosis within three months of testing positive.
The researchers said they found no clear signs of newly diagnosed psychotic disorders in Covid-19 patients, which includes schizophrenia, though they did note the higher likelihood of relapse in patients already living with the conditions.
Paul Harrison, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Oxford and leader of the study, said the findings validate worries that Covid-19 survivors will be at a greater risk of mental health problems. “Services need to be ready to provide care, especially since our results are likely to be underestimates of the actual number of cases,” he said. “We urgently need research to investigate the causes and identify new treatments.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Covid-Positive Nurses Allowed To Keep Working In North Dakota Amid Staffing Crisis
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2020/11/10/covid-positive-nurses-allowed-to-keep-working-in-north-dakota-amid-staffing-crisis/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
With hospitals at capacity and serious concerns about staffing as the coronavirus outbreak continues to worsen, North Dakota has taken the unprecedented step of allowing nurses who are actively infected with Covid-19 to continue going to work in some cases, an extraordinary move in a state that is dealing with the fastest-growing outbreak in the country.
The state has reached its capacity for hospitalizations, Burgum said, adding that the state’s healthcare system could soon be pushed well beyond its limits.
North Dakota is experiencing by far the most rapid coronavirus spike of any state in the U.S., according to data compiled by ProPublica, with the daily average for new cases, hospitalizations and deaths all spiking to new highs in the state.
With North Dakota hospitals at 100% capacity, Burgum announces COVID-positive nurses can stay at work
https://www.grandforksherald.com/newsmd/coronavirus/6753876-With-North-Dakota-hospitals-at-100-capacity-Burgum-announces-COVID-positive-nurses-can-stay-at-work
In an attempt to alleviate some of the staffing concerns, Burgum announced that the state health officer has amended an order that will allow health care workers with asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 to continue working in hospitals’ COVID-19 units. The Republican governor said hospital administrators asked the state to take the extraordinary step.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Economists at Deutsche Bank suggest a tax of 5% of a worker’s salary if they choose to work from home.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54876526
Working from home should be taxed to help support workers who jobs are under threat, according to a new report.
Economists at Deutsche Bank suggest a tax of 5% of a worker’s salary if they choose to work from home.
The tax would be paid for by employers and the income generated would be paid to people who can’t do their jobs from home.
This could earn $48bn (£36bn) if introduced in the US and would help redress the balance, the bank says.
It argues this is only fair, as those who work from home are saving money and not paying into the system like those who go out to work.
“For years we have needed a tax on remote workers,” wrote Deutsche Bank strategist Luke Templeman. “Covid has just made it obvious.”
“Quite simply, our economic system is not set up to cope with people who can disconnect themselves from face-to-face society.
A 5% work-from-home (WFH) tax on an average $55,000 salary works out at about $10 a day in the US. For the UK, the tax equates to about £7, based on a salary of £35,000.
However, there are millions more who can’t work from home, such as nurses and factory workers for example, and the tax should help support these roles, argues Deutsche Bank.
“The virus has benefitted those who can do their jobs virtually, such as bank analysts, and threatened the livelihoods or health of those who can’t,” added Mr Templeman.
By working from home, people aren’t paying for public transport or eating out at restaurants near their places of work, while expensive offices remain virtually empty.
The 5% tax rate “will leave them no worse off than if they had chosen to go into the office”.
The tax would be paid directly by employers who choose to let employees work home.
The tax revenues would be used for a very specific purpose – to give grants to the millions of workers who cannot do their jobs from home and who make less than $30,000 a year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home working here to stay, study of businesses suggests
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54413214
More home working is likely to be a permanent fixture for a majority of businesses, according to a study.
A survey of just under 1,000 firms by the Institute of Directors (IoD) shows that 74% plan on maintaining the increase in home working.
More than half planned on reducing their long-term use of workplaces.
A smaller survey of bosses whose firms had already cut workplace use suggested 44% of them thought working from home was proving “more effective”.
“Remote working has been one of the most tangible impacts of coronavirus on the economy. For many, it could be here to stay,” said Roger Barker, director of policy at the IoD.
“Working from doesn’t work for everyone, and directors must be alive to the downsides. Managing teams remotely can prove far from straightforward, and directors must make sure they are going out of their way to support employees’ mental wellbeing.”
Companies are not likely to switch fully to home working, he continued.
“The benefits of the office haven’t gone away. For many companies, bringing teams together in person proves more productive and enjoyable. Shared workspace often provides employees the opportunity for informal development and networking that is so crucial, particularly early on in a career.”
The study follows a BBC survey in August which suggested that 50 of the biggest UK employers had no plans to return all staff to the office full-time in the near future.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Feds Will Start Distributing Eli Lilly Covid-19 Antibody Treatment This Week
https://www.forbes.com/sites/elanagross/2020/11/10/feds-will-start-distributing-eli-lilly-covid-19-antibody-treatment-this-week/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters the government will begin distributing Eli Lilly’s coronavirus antibody treatment to state health departments this week, Reuters reported Tuesday, a day after the company received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration and the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. soared past 10 million.
Tomi Engdahl says:
You can view the online dashboard right here. The science behind the dashboard’s creation was reported in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
Live Map Lets You Track The Risk Of Catching Covid-19 At Events In Your Area
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/live-map-lets-you-track-the-risk-of-catching-covid19-at-events-in-your-area-/
What’s the risk of catching Covid-19 at a small party in an area with a sky-high infection rate? Or perhaps the chance of being infected at a jam-packed stadium in a low-risk city? This interactive real-time dashboard helps you to assess the risk of different events in your local area with the help of up-to-date case reports and data.
The new interactive dashboard was developed by scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta with the hope of providing the public, as well as policymakers, with data-driven information that can help them to make informed decisions regarding their risk of Covid-19 at events.
You can view the online dashboard right here.
https://covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Texas Climbs Past 1 Million Covid-19 Cases, Becoming The First State To Do So
https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/11/11/texas-climbs-past-1-million-covid-19-cases-becoming-the-first-state-to-do-so/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
Texas has now seen 1,010,364 confirmed cases of Covid-19, while 19,337 people who tested positive for the virus in the state have died.
The latest rise in cases follows Governor Greg Abbott’s order to reopen bars at 50% capacity in some counties from October 14, data suggests.
Yet Texas, with a population of 29 million, may actually have a higher tally of infections, seeing as the data does not account for people who have not been tested or who were unknowingly asymptomatic, the Associated Press reports.
It is also one of 39 states that does not meet the World Health Organization’s testing targets, which stipulates that before authorities allow reopenings, maximum 5% of tests carried out should be positive over a period of 14 days.
8.9 million. That’s how many Covid-19 tests have been carried out in Texas since the pandemic took hold in March.
Tomi Engdahl says:
U.S. Breaks Covid Hospitalization Record, Which Had Stood For Almost 7 Months
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2020/11/10/us-breaks-covid-hospitalization-record-which-had-stood-for-almost-7-months/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
For the first time in the coronavirus pandemic, more than 60,000 Americans are hospitalized for Covid-19, according to The COVID Tracking Project, which also reported yet another record for new cases Tuesday—130,989, as the pandemic continues to worsen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tulsa Has Run Out Of ICU Beds And El Paso Is Out Of Morgue Space—Here’s The Latest Grim Toll Of Covid
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2020/11/10/tulsa-has-run-out-of-icu-beds-and-el-paso-is-out-of-morgue-space-heres-the-latest-grim-toll-of-covid/?sh=1cb818842133
Tomi Engdahl says:
Study Confirms Existence Of ‘Long Covid,’ With 7 In 10 Patients Experiencing Debilitating Symptoms Weeks After Hospital Discharge
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2020/11/11/study-confirms-existence-of-long-covid-with-7-in-10-patients-experiencing-debilitating-symptoms-weeks-after-hospital-discharge/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
As many as seven in ten hospitalized Covid-19 patients followed in a study in the U.K. continued to experience debilitating symptoms for weeks after discharge, including a cough, breathlessness, fatigue and depression, a new paper into the phenomenon of “Long Covid” says, adding to the body of evidence that the disease frequently has long-term impacts, including psychiatric and physical effects.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Onko koronarokotetta testattu tarpeeksi? Voiko rokotettu tartuttaa yhä muita? – Kysyitte koronarokotteista, asiantuntijat vastaavat
Lue tästä jutusta vastaukset moniin lukijoita pohdituttaneisiin kysymyksiin.
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11641276
Tomi Engdahl says:
Around 18 percent of people who have had Covid-19 are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder such as anxiety, depression, or insomnia within three months of falling sick, including those with no history of mental health problems.
Mental Health Problems Found In One Fifth Of Covid-19 Patients After Recovery
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/mental-health-problems-found-in-one-fifth-of-covid19-patients-after-recovery/
Around 18 percent of people who have had Covid-19 are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder such as anxiety, depression, or insomnia within three months of falling sick, including those with no history of mental health problems, a new study has found.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lack of solidarity hampered Europe’s coronavirus response, research finds
https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/lack-solidarity-hampered-europe-s-coronavirus-response-research-finds.html?utm_source=FB&utm_medium=share
Competition between European countries for equipment, test kits and medicines needed to tackle Covid-19 may have hampered the region’s ability to respond to the pandemic.
Greater sharing of resources, hospital capacity and even healthcare staff are needed to cope with pandemics in the future, according to researchers examining the public health response to coronavirus across the European Union.
They have found that the level of preparedness was patchy across Europe, despite warnings for years, if not decades, from health experts that a global pandemic was likely.
While some countries had built up pandemic preparedness stockpiles of personal protective equipment (PPE), medicines such as anti-virals and other vital equipment, others had very little.
‘Countries that had those preparedness stocks, had trained nurses and doctors for how to respond to all kinds of different pandemics – they fared better,’ said Professor Gyöngyi Kovács, an expert in humanitarian logistics and supply chain management at the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki, Finland. ‘They bought themselves a lot of breathing time early in the first wave.’
This extra time allowed countries such as Finland and Germany to procure additional PPE supplies, for example. It also allowed them to put other measures such as Covid-19 testing and contact tracing in place more quickly, which have been crucial in helping to control the spread of the virus.
in many countries, healthcare professionals were initially overwhelmed in the early days of the first Covid-19 wave as crisis management plans were not detailed enough. Medical staff were also forced to work long hours to cope. Italy in particular suffered shortages of PPE and ventilators quite early on, while Sweden saw shortages of drugs.
‘There wasn’t maybe a coordinated effort of preparedness,’ said Prof. Kovács. ‘Even the EU’s own initiatives came a bit late into the game.’
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fauci Predicts Further Covid-19 Vaccine Success As Moderna Prepares To Submit Early Findings
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2020/11/12/fauci-predicts-further-covid-19-vaccine-success-as-moderna-prepares-to-submit-early-findings/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S.’ top infectious disease official, has expressed optimism that early data from Moderna’s Covid-19 phase 3 vaccine trials will show it to be as promising as Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine candidate, which early results Monday showed to be 90% effective at preventing infection — just before Moderna announced that it is preparing to submit early findings for independent analysis.
Tomi Engdahl says:
People could be asked to prove they’ve had Covid vaccine to get into sports events and concerts
Pfizer virus drug raises hopes entertainment venues will re-open in 2021
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ticketmaster-covid-test-events-vaccine-b1721397.html?utm_content=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1605182631
Ticketmaster could allow venues to ask people to prove they’ve had the coronavirus vaccine to get into sports events and concerts.
Drug company Pfizer announced earlier this week that early data shows their vaccine is 90 per cent effective raising hopes that venues will be able to start hosting events again in 2021.
Ticketmaster says it has been working on a post-pandemic plan that could use fans’ phones to verify their vaccination status or confirm they have tested negative before an event.
The company says the plan would be based on their own ticket app, third party health information firms and vaccine distribution providers.
After buying a ticket fans would need to prove they had been vaccinated or tested negative 24 to 72 hours prior to the event, according to billboard.com.
The length of time a negative test would cover could eventually be determined by local authorities, with fans testing in the window before the event.
The test results could then be delivered to a health pass company, such as CLEAR or IBM, and if they are negative or vaccinated the fan would be verified to Ticketmaster and issued event credentials.
Tomi Engdahl says:
No, Ticketmaster won’t force you to have a Covid vaccine
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-54920146
Tomi Engdahl says:
Korona riistäytyi käsistä Itävallassa – koko maa menee kiinni kahdeksi viikoksi, täydellinen ulkonaliikkumiskielto
Tänään klo 15:20
8,9 miljoonan asukkaan Itävallassa todettiin perjantaina 9 586 koronatartuntaa.
https://www.iltalehti.fi/ulkomaat/a/68696ba3-8c15-47ce-a665-768c8b3f3f64
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fauci Says New Stay-At-Home Orders Likely As Biden Advisor Warns Of Looming Disaster For U.S. Hospitals
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/11/15/fauci-says-new-stay-at-home-orders-likely-as-biden-advisor-warns-of-looming-disaster-for-us-hospitals/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease official, warned Sunday that new local lockdown orders are likely if the current spike in coronavirus cases can’t be contained by public health measures like mask-wearing, hand-washing and social distancing.
Asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper if he expects to see new stay-at-home orders in certain states and cities, Fauci said, “I think that likely will happen…if we don’t turn around this surge,” though he noted that he doesn’t think a new national lockdown is likely.
Some states have already implemented new mask mandates, including Utah, Iowa and North Dakota, and officials in Illinois, Maryland and Washington are considering more shutdowns, the Washington Post reported last week.
“Obviously, everyone is sensitive to what we call ‘Covid fatigue,’” Fauci said Sunday. “But we’ve got to hang in there a bit longer, particularly as we get into the holiday season and the colder weather.” Pfizer last week announced that early data from trials suggests its vaccine candidate is 90% effective in preventing infection, but it will be months before that vaccine or any other is widely available to the public.
177,224. That’s how many new coronavirus cases the U.S. recorded on Friday alone, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Man With Flu-COVID Infection Found In The US – But He’s Not The First
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/man-with-flu-covid-infection-found-in-the-us-but-hes-not-the-first/
As many of us get closer to our first COVID-19 winter, we have many things to feel optimistic about: vaccine results are on the horizon, mortality rates for those infected have fallen and established therapeutic strategies, such as treatment with the antiviral drug remdesivir, seem to be reducing illness. Unfortunately, winter also brings with it a whole swath of respiratory viruses, with influenza leading the charge. So should we be concerned about our chances of catching both influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses at the same time, known as a co-infection?
Recent news of a confirmed case of a flu-COVID co-infection in the Bay Area, California, is a stark reminder of the challenges that still lie before us in tackling this pandemic.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/16/moderna-reports-its-covid-19-vaccine-is-94-5-effective-in-first-data-from-phase-3-trial/?tpcc=ECFB2020
Tomi Engdahl says:
“there are only a few reported cases of hearing loss following COVID-19″
https://casereports.bmj.com/content/13/11/e238419
Coronavirus: Patient has sudden permanent hearing loss
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54526660
Tomi Engdahl says:
Study Finds Covid-19 May Have Been Circulating In Italy Far Earlier Than We Thought
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/study-finds-covid19-may-have-been-circulating-in-italy-far-earlier-than-we-thought/
A new study from the National Cancer Institute (INT) of the Italian city of Milan has put forward potential evidence that Covid-19 may have been circulating in Italy long before China first reported about a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown cause on December 31, 2019.
The pre-print study has yet to be peer-reviewed and was published by the INT’s Tumori Journal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Modernan koronarokotteesta hyviä uutisia, pörssien nousu kiihtyy
Jyri Tuominen16.11.202014:28SIJOITTAMINENPÖRSSILÄÄKKET
Modernan rokotteen teho on alustavien tietojen mukaan 94,5-prosenttisesti toimiva, eli rokote toimii vielä Pfizerin rokotetta tehokkaammin.
https://www.arvopaperi.fi/uutiset/modernan-koronarokotteesta-hyvia-uutisia-porssien-nousu-kiihtyy/2912c11b-6da6-4614-8910-62294fe524cf?utm_source=paidsocial&utm_medium=paidsocial&utm_campaign=AP_FB_112020&utm_content=AP_FB_112020&fbclid=IwAR2zNxUkgzCRi5NPXhmJPkgFUr_jplnyYOv0las4g41nVqZhjqGiVjXbfxg
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pfizer And Moderna Have Both Posted Great Vaccine Data. Here’s What’s Next
http://on.forbes.com/6185HEhYt
It seems the world breathed a collective sigh of relief when Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna recently reported the first efficacy analyses of their Covid-19 vaccines. Based on the results of more than 90 Covid-19 cases occurring in each trial, vaccine efficacy for the candidate vaccines was more than 90% and there were no serious concerns about safety.
The results exceeded many vaccine developers and scientists’ expectations, who are used to seasonal influenza vaccines with effectiveness calculations between 35-50%. It was also comforting that two large, independently run, phase 3 trials testing similar vaccine platforms yielded comparable data. (Though the full datasets have yet to be released.)
Recent polling has indicated that there’s a widespread reluctance among Americans to take the vaccine.
Despite the complexities of developing a Covid-19 vaccine and coordinating cold storage and shipping, the greatest challenge may be to convince people to line up and take it. Recent polling has indicated that there’s a widespread reluctance among Americans to take the vaccine, with only around 60% even willing to take a vaccine that shows the kind of efficacy Pfizer and Moderna’s interim data suggest. That’s likely not enough to generate the herd immunity needed to reverse the current skyrocketing pandemic curve, so public health officials will have their hands full here.
Tomi Engdahl says:
COVID-19 panic buying: Toilet paper, essentials fly off shelves again
https://nypost.com/2020/11/17/covid-19-panic-buying-toilet-paper-essentials-fly-off-shelves/?utm_source=facebook_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site+buttons&utm_campaign=site+buttons
With COVID-19 cases surging across the US, panic buying is back in vogue — as evidenced by a sea of empty shelves in supermarkets across the nation in scenes reminiscent of earlier this year, according to reports.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pfizer-BioNTech to seek Covid-19 vaccine approval ‘within days’ as trial shows 95 percent efficacy
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/pfizer-biontech-seek-covid-19-vaccine-approval-within-days-trial-n1248079
“With hundreds of thousands of people around the globe infected every day, we urgently need to get a safe and effective vaccine to the world,” Pfizer said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
1 In Every 1,000 North Dakota Residents Has Been Killed By Covid
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/11/18/1-in-every-1000-north-dakota-residents-has-been-killed-by-covid/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie
In a crisis exacerbated by a shortage of healthcare workers and a lack of virus-curbing measures from the state’s Republican leadership, North Dakota is battling the highest Covid-19 mortality rate in the world, with 1 in every 1,000 residents now dead from the virus.
The majority of North Dakota’s deaths and cases (which have now left around 1 in 12 residents infected with the virus) came in the past two months.
As a result, the state is facing a concerning shortage of intensive care beds—in early November, North Dakota’s department of health reported just 12 open ICU beds in the entire state—and health care workers.
These staff shortages prompted Gov. Doug Burgum (R) to order healthcare workers who tested positive for the virus but aren’t showing symptoms to still report for work.