COVID-19

"During a Buck Institute Webinar streamed on July 14, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield promoted the general reopening of schools, highlighting the low coronavirus risk for children without preexisting conditions and the unfortunate spike in suicides and drug overdoses, which Redfield said are “far greater” in number than COVID-linked deaths in the young."
....
"Speaking of the risks of the China-originated coronavirus to children, Redfield said data shows the flu is some five to 10 times more deadly, adding that the odds of a child dying a COVID-linked death is “one in a million.”

https://www.dailywire.com/news/cdc-director-threat-of-suicide-drugs-flu-to-youth-far-greater-than-covid

Remdesivir (new drug approved for Covid):

"What are the important possible side effects of Veklury (remdesivir)?
Possible side effects of Veklury are:
• Allergic reactions. Veklury can cause allergic reactions, including serious reactions, during and after infusion.
Tell your healthcare provider or nurse, or get medical help right away if you get any of the following signs and
symptoms of allergic reactions: low blood pressure, changes in your heartbeat, shortness of breath, wheezing,
swelling of your lips, face, or throat, rash, nausea, vomiting, sweating, or shivering.
• Increases in levels of liver enzymes. Increases in levels of liver enzymes have been seen in people who have
received Veklury, which may be a sign of inflammation or damage to cells in the liver. Your healthcare
provider will do blood tests to check your liver before you receive Veklury and daily while receiving Veklury.
These are not all the possible side effects of Veklury. Veklury is still being studied so it is possible that all of the
risks are not known at this time.
Not a lot of people have taken Veklury. Serious and unexpected side effects may happen. The side effects of
getting any medicine by vein may include brief pain, bleeding, bruising of the skin, soreness, swelling, and
possible infection at the injection site."
....
"What is Veklury (remdesivir)?
Veklury is an investigational antiviral medicine used for the treatment of certain people in the hospital with COVID19. Veklury is investigational because it is still being studied. There is limited information known about the safety
and effectiveness of using Veklury to treat people in the hospital with COVID-19. Veklury was shown in a clinical
trial to shorten the time to recovery in some people. There are no medicines approved by the FDA as safe and
effective to treat people in the hospital who have COVID-19. Therefore, the FDA has authorized the emergency
use of Veklury for the treatment of COVID-19 under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). For more information
on EUA, see the “What is an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA)?” section at the end of this Fact Sheet."

https://www.fda.gov/media/137565/download#:~:text=not%20a%20lot%20of%20people,infection%20at%20the%20injection%20site.

Read that second paragraph. Based on that, I guess you could say they chose Remdesivir over HCQ.

"To clarify-Zelenko protocol is not about hcq. It is 1-identitify high risk patients; 2-tx asap; 3-use ZINC, hcq, azithromycin or doxycycline." - Dr. Zelenko

Post Edited (ChristianWithLyme) : 8/6/2020 1:13:37 PM (GMT-6)

the problem is that even though children are far less likely to die of covid they can still spread it. So they can get infected and bring it home to grandma and grandma can then die.

The other issue is that once puberty hits then students are much more likely to die of covid and many in high school are post pubescent.

"Almost 6 months into the pandemic, accumulating evidence and collective experience argue that children, particularly school-aged children, are far less important drivers of SARS-CoV-2 transmission than adults."

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/146/2/e2020004879

dcd2103 this might sound a bit odd but maybe the reason kids are less likely to spread it is because their lungs are smaller.
I can't find the study right now but I recall that with COVID the deciding factor about how bad of a case you get is all about quantity in terms of transferred pathogen load.

TuffyR: I think everyone shares the concerns you've been discussing. Our basic values probably aren't so different either... They just seem different because of two fundamental points where we disagree:

1: You seem to believe that if the virus is allowed to saturate the populace, society would still be able to function somewhat normally. I don't believe this is so.

2: You believe (or have implied elsewhere) that herd immunity can be achieved naturally through infections. I believe this is unlikely. Considering what you've said previously regarding the prospects for a successful vaccine against coronaviruses, you might want to reconsider your belief about natural herd immunity to coronaviruses as well.

Decisions like whether to open schools or not, are more tricky when you believe as I do on the two points above.

Post Edited (potsnpans) : 8/7/2020 12:15:09 PM (GMT-6)

You can't stop a virus with a lock down. Parts of Australia (specifically heard about Melbourne where they are currently incorporating rules like you can't travel more than 5km from your home, can't go to store in twos, only allowed out for an hour a day, etc.) are initiating extremely strict measures because of a spike in virus cases/deaths after reopening. Someone said the measures will "make effectively Australian people prisoners in their own home". Other countries that imposed strict lock downs are also having flares in cases/deaths.

Sweden's daily deaths now are close to zero and some wonder if in the long run they won't even be in the top 20 in terms of death rate. Right now, their deaths per million are up there (comparable to some European countries), but other countries aren't done with deaths - Sweden could be farther along considering their strategy.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/australias-second-largest-city-goes-into-tough-coronavirus-lockdown-expected-to-cost-economy-up-to-6-5-billion

There's a lot of talk about T-Cell immunity. That's something to consider.

I can't confirm this, but I heard a medical doctor say recently that we've never gotten beyond about 20% herd immunity with any coronavirus. The virus has always jumped to another vector (like an animal) when herd immunity gets up around 20%.

The governor of OH had an antigen test done recently (he was going to meet with president) and tested positive for COVID. He tested via PCR test about 10 hours later and tested negative. I think he did a couple PCR tests to confirm the negative.

Post Edited (ChristianWithLyme) : 8/7/2020 2:15:25 PM (GMT-6)

You still can't explain Sweden. They have an epidemiologist.

Some countries could have had more spread (immunity) before locking down.

You have to look at early treatments for each country when evaluating cases/deaths.

We still don't know how it's going to pan out for some of those countries in the long run.

You have to remember population differences when comparing countries also.

I've heard that the WHO and others up until recently thought lock downs for a pandemic were a bad idea. The WHO and others have flipped on more than one idea now that we're dealing with COVID. We're really living through an experiment.

Post Edited (ChristianWithLyme) : 8/7/2020 2:36:13 PM (GMT-6)

ChristianWithLyme said...
You still can't explain Sweden. They have an epidemiologist.

Well if Swedens approach was so great it would work here we are basically doing the same thing. The US and current administration has done very little to curb the spread. There is no 100% compliance. Id be surprised if compliance to lock-down measures even measured 50%.

Theres no harm in stating a statistic about Sweden because its interesting but to draw conclusions from it I think is a mistake. Maybe folks in the nordic countries have a common gene that makes them less susceptible. Swedes spend a lot of time outside in the summer the sun is always up. Who knows? Maybe the virus will come raging back. Many countries have taken Swedens approach it hasnt worked for them.

The US mucked this up early on and now we are living with the filth left behind.

“You can see the nations that did a hard lock down, plus high testing rates, plus conact tracing are basically virus free. Not 100% virus free, but very close to it.

then look at the US. Our deaths / day fell but now its rising sharply again. Why? no contact tracing, abysmal testing pre capita rates, and no hard lock down. Its actually really simple. Epidemiologists have been studying this stuff for well over a century now. They have LOTS of data on it, they know how it works.”

In Canada we have 118,000 cases so far.
I believe our Province is at 38,000 cases.
Early on (March) not a lot of testing was done. But that changed when cases started spiking.
Our Provincial Health Officer has heavily relied on contact tracing and credits that to our low numbers. That along with daily preaching on staying within your bubble and shutting down non essential services for a few months.

There has been a spike lately now that we have opened up restaurants, gyms, and other non essentials.
Allowing international incoming flights to our major airport has also contributed to an increase in our numbers.

Our “leaders” ( provincial and federal )are all on board .
Our Provincial Health Officer and Health Minister were doing daily televised reports of the situation.

When I watch the US news - it’s crazy - everyone seems to be doing their own thing... and constant disagreements on what is the best action.

Girlie said...

Early on (March) not a lot of testing was done. But that changed when cases started spiking.
Our Provincial Health Officer has heavily relied on contact tracing and credits that to our low numbers. That along with daily preaching on staying within your bubble and shutting down non essential services for a few months.

.

Right, contact tracing is key and in the US there has been next to none and when health officials do call and try to do it they get push back from whiny selfish spoiled babies who don't want to be told what to do.

The response from my fellow Americans on this pandemic is quite frankly embarrassing as all hell. I feel like I live in a country full of egotistical children who don't care about anyone but themselves.