The Countdown to the restart of the economy has begun.

[Scooter]

WHO warning: No evidence that antibody tests can show coronavirus immunity

The World Health Organization issued a warning Friday about coronavirus testing, saying there’s no evidence serological tests can show whether a person has immunity or is no longer at risk of becoming reinfected.

“These antibody tests will be able to measure that level of serology presence, that level of antibodies, but that does not mean that somebody with antibodies” is immune, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit.

So-called serological, or antibody, tests can indicate whether a person has had Covid-19 in the past and was either asymptomatic or recovered.

More than 560,000 of the 2.1 million coronavirus cases across the world are marked as recovered, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, infectious disease experts say the case total is likely much higher as people go undetected and countries struggle with testing.

In the U.S., antibody tests have just begun to roll out. President Donald Trump has recommended states use the tests as they start relaxing some of the strict social distancing measures imposed to combat the pandemic, which has infected more than 671,000 people in the United States.

Kerkhove said WHO officials discovered many countries suggesting these tests would be able to “capture what they think will be a measure of immunity.”

“What the use of these tests will do will measure the level of antibodies. It’s a response that the body has a week or two later after they’ve been infected with this virus,” she said at a news conference at WHO’s Geneva headquarters. “Right now, we have no evidence that the use of a serological test can show that an individual is immune or protected from reinfection.”

Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s emergencies program, said scientists are also still determining the length of protection antibodies might give a person who has been infected with the coronavirus.

“Nobody is sure whether someone with antibodies is fully protected against having the disease or being exposed again,” he said.

“Plus some of the tests have issues with sensitivity,” he added. “They may give a false negative result.”

Earlier this week, WHO officials said not all people who recover from the coronavirus have the antibodies to fight a second infection, raising concern that patients may not develop immunity after surviving Covid-19.

“With regards to recovery and then reinfection, I believe we do not have the answers to that. That is an unknown,” Ryan said Monday.

A preliminary study of patients in Shanghai found that some patients had “no detectable antibody response” while others had a very high response, Kerkhove said Monday. Whether the patients who had a strong antibody response were immune to a second infection is “a separate question,” she added.

[Scooter]

[Darren]

Now we know why the CDC test kits were defective. Trump needs to award more door knob bruises to asses.

" (CNN)Contamination in manufacturing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention test for the coronavirus caused weeks of delays that slowed the US response to the pandemic, multiple health officials have told CNN, a problem that stemmed in part from the CDC not adhering to its own protocols, according to a US Food and Drug Administration spokesperson.

"CDC made its test in one of its laboratories, rather than in its manufacturing facilities," the FDA spokesperson told CNN on Saturday. "CDC did not manufacture its test consistent with its own protocol.""

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/18/politics ... index.html

[Lord Jim]

Ohio!

As usual with Darren, there is far less here than he seeks to imply...

All Gov. DeWine has done is put in place a procedure as of May 1st, which will allow some businesses to apply to to re-open, provided they can comply with a list of strict protective protocols (some of which are still being developed and wont be announced till next week...

Here's what they are so far:

Some of those safeguards outlined by the governor include:

Distancing – keeping customers and employees the recommended 6 feet apart
Masks – it could become commonplace to see employees and customers wearing protective masks
Barriers – barriers should be placed where social distancing isn’t possible, both in retail and in manufacturing where appropriate.
More frequent cleaning and sanitizing of surfaces
Employees wearing gloves and ample opportunities for employees to wash and sanitize their hands
Standard arrival and departure times for employees, and staggered breaks to avoid crowds
Working from home where available
Wellness checks for employees when they arrive to work
Limits to the number of people allowed inside a business at one time.

“We need to protect employees and protect customers,” DeWine said. “That’s it. Everything kind of flows from there.”

More details of the plan are expected to be announced next week, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said.

And:

DeWine said he asked Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to work with all types of Ohio businesses to come up with best practices on how to deal with COVID-19 when the economy reopens.

“What we are seeing is companies that have done quite a job good,” DeWine said.

He said one of those companies is RPM International Inc., whose CEO Frank Sullivan is heading up the advisory board. DeWine gave examples of what RPM has done during the past month to operate during the pandemic:

Regular checks of PPE stock, supply and lead items
Limit visitors and screen for health upon entry
Give clear guidelines on hygiene
Instruct on self monitoring for illness
Assist employees with alternatives to public transport
Enforce six feet of physical distance

“That’s the type of protocol we’re looking to put together as people look to start [getting] back in,” DeWine said. “We’re looking to begin this process on May 1.”

I see nothing at all reckless and irresponsible in the way Darren would like to see in that, or any reason to revise my opinion that Mike DeWine is among the most responsible, realistic, and science driven state leaders on this.

[Lord Jim]

Just call me Kreskin:

Unfortunately, I'm sure that in a state this size we'll eventually see some of those idiotic death-wish Trumpanzee protestors...(maybe gathering in Sacramento or on some SoCal beaches)

Scores gather in Huntington Beach to protest coronavirus stay-at-home orders

[Please note that number: "scores"...]









Scores of protesters defying stay-at-home orders gathered in downtown Huntington Beach on Friday, rallying for an end to restrictions on businesses and public gatherings that health officials say are needed to save lives during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mobilized largely through social-media posts, several dozens of protesters gathered at Main Street and Walnut Avenue shortly before 1 p.m. The crowd grew to more than 200 people, according to police.

Many had signs, such as “Live free or die.” Some wore masks. The group periodically chanted “U.S.A” as some passing vehicles honked in support.

In a posting on social media Friday evening, Huntington Beach police said that while the protest was peaceful, it could have escalated into something more dangerous.

“While the department worked to get enough resources there to manage the protest effectively, the people at the location began violating some of our local ordinances regarding public assembly including walking in the middle of the street and carrying signs with large sticks that could be used as weapons,” the police department said on Facebook. “Once we had sufficient officers in place, they utilized great restraint in dealing with circumstances that could have escalated into significant police action.”

Police contacted the organizers of the protest and eventually dispersed the majority of the crowd without incident. No arrests were reported.

More text and pics of death wish idiots:

https://www.ocregister.com/2020/04/17/d ... me-orders/

[Lord Jim]

Good on you Gavin:

Newsom tells protestors he won't be swayed by politics

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Saturday that he won’t be swayed by the protests that erupted in his state demanding an end to the stay-at-home order.

“We are going to do the right thing, not judge by politics, not judge by protests, but by science,” Newsom told the Los Angeles Times.

Newsom said he encourages residents to “practice your free speech” so long as they maintain social distancing guidelines while doing so.

“I just want to encourage people that when you practice your free speech — which I don’t [just] embrace, I celebrate — just do so safely. This virus knows no political ideology. It doesn’t know if you are Republican or Democrat, supporting the president, opposing the president, so practice physical distancing,” Newsom said.

Several protests have popped up in the California this week, including one in Huntington Beach against the governor's social distancing measures.

“Make sure that you are not infecting others. Even if you feel healthy and have no symptoms, you can spread this,” he added.

Growing unrest due to social distancing guidelines have resulted in dozens of protests across the country as groups demand an end to their state’s executive orders. The protests have mostly been spearheaded by local conservative groups.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said Thursday night that the protests in her state are the “kind of irresponsible action that puts us in this situation where we might have to actually think about extending stay-at-home orders, which is supposedly what they are protesting."

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watc ... y-protests

[BoSoxGal]

That doesn’t really look like 10 score to me, but maybe the photos are somehow misleading.

Makes me crazy seeing young kids dragged to these protests - and all the standing togetherness.

[Scooter]

[RayThom]

Very little will change until there is comprehensive testing for ALL... followed by a proven vaccine.

Like the flu, this virus may very well become seasonal so what will we be doing in November?

On a side note: mail-in ballots for all.

[Scooter]

How low can we go? Killing grandma as an act of patriotism?

Oh, no. Like a bad virus, the toxic argument that two to three percent of deaths in America is an acceptable trade-off for easing and ending mitigation efforts for the coronavirus is making a new comeback.

This argument flared up briefly at the end of March when there was a sudden outbreak of the theory that older Americans would be happy to die if it meant a speedier return to the pre-coronavirus economy.

This was most succinctly expressed by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

“No one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’” the 69-year-old Patrick said. “And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in.”

Others, like conservative media figures Brit Hume and Glenn Beck, validated that sentiment.

Hume called Patrick’s view “entirely reasonable.” And Beck, who is 56, said people his age should think of the big picture.

“Even if we all get sick, I would rather die than kill the country,” Beck said.

This let-the-olds-die approach — borrowed seemingly from a Dystopian science-fiction movie — lasted for only a few days.

Dead and gone, I thought. But no. This past week the Grim Reaper Caucus made its zombified return.

This time on Fox News with a pair of TV doctors.

Dr. (Mehmet) Oz took time out from his sketchy hyping of the malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, as a COVID-19 cure, to turn his attention to quantifying acceptable levels of otherwise preventable deaths in the U.S.

“I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing the opening of schools may only cost us 2-3 percent in terms of total mortality,” Oz told Sean Hannity. “Any life is a life lost but to get every child back into a school where they are safely being educated, being fed, and making the most of their lives, with the theoretical risk on the back side, might be a trade-off some folks would consider.”

Here we go again.

That was Wednesday night. The next night, Dr. Phil (McGraw) — a non-licensed psychologist — was on Laura Ingraham’s show on Fox News.

“The fact of the matter is we have people dying: 45,000 people a year from automobile accidents, 480,000 from cigarettes, 360,000 a year from swimming pools, but we don’t shut the country down for that,” Dr. Phil said. “But yet, we are doing it for this, and the fallout is going to last for years because people’s lives are being destroyed.”

This is a twisted argument, based on an either/or choice that doesn’t exist.

There’s no reason to shut down public gatherings because of swimming pool and automobile deaths because these deaths aren’t spread by exhaled water droplets.

And we have significant mitigation measures in place to curb swimming and driving deaths, such as seat belts, speed limits, pool alarms and fences.

Deaths from COVID-19 can also be lessened by mitigation measures. It starts with social distancing followed by routine and repeated testing with tens of millions of tests administered to non-symptomatic people on a regular and repeated basis.

“Anybody that wants a test can get a test,” President Donald Trump said on March 6.

It’s still not true more than six weeks after he said it. But making it true would be a life-saving pathway to getting the economy started again while also preserving the lives of the millions of Americans who are too old or too sick to survive the virus.

The economy could open safely with the contact tracing of those nascent infections. As cases pop up, they can be identified and quickly isolated from the rest of the population.

Restarting public gatherings without being able to identify the non-symptomatic carriers of the virus is just a recipe for a relapse into more infections and deaths.

Tragically, some people have concluded that it’s easier advocating for more death than more tests.

So here’s my suggestion. The next time you hear some meathead say that we can’t afford to take measures that would save millions of American lives, recommend the following three-step plan.

Step 1: Designate the relative or loved one you are willing to sacrifice.

Step 2: Conduct an immediate funeral before the infection occurs. Sure, it’s a little awkward with the dead person being alive, but it’s the only way you’ll get to say a proper goodbye.

The way COVID-19 is, once the infected person’s on a ventilator, the hospital won’t let you in the room and your loved one will die alone. You don’t want that.

Step 3: Remind yourself how proud this makes you feel for doing your part to “keeping the America that all America loves.”

[Lord Jim]

Makes me crazy seeing young kids dragged to these protests -

Me too; absolutely infuriating...

[RayThom]

So says Uncle Phil and Ozzie, with one eye on the stock market.

I bet they voted for Trump.

[Darren]

Cuomo has good news for everyone. The state of NY thinks the peak is past!

"NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday that New York will undertake the "most aggressive statewide antibody testing survey in the nation" in the next week.

Antibody testing determines whether an individual has had the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, by checking for antibodies that are built up to fight the virus after an individual is infected.

The governor says that the survey will reveal for the first time what percentage of the population has actually been infected with COVID-19. In Central New York, doctors at Upstate University Hospital estimate that number could be over 8,000 people.

The testing survey is part of an unprecedented effort to bring testing to scale, including diagnostic testing, as the state prepares a plan to reopen. Cuomo offered limited details on how the survey will be conducted.

During his announcement, Cuomo reported that the state believes New York is past the virus' peak and is now descending "the other side of the mountain.""

https://cnycentral.com/news/coronavirus ... ong-island

[Bicycle Bill]

Any pandemic/epidemic will ease as it runs out of victims, just as any fire will weaken as it runs out of fuel.  

So what does Governor Cuomo do?  Brings out a huge can of gasoline!!

-"BB"-

[Scooter]

What drugs are you on?

[Bicycle Bill]

What drugs are you on?

None.  But just making that statement — that he believes NY, meaning pretty much NYC, is over the peak and descending "the other side of the mountain", as if less than a certain number people dying per day is acceptable collateral damage (so long as it continues to decline) — without any specific proof will just provide further inspiration (fuel) for the nutjobs like those that blocked traffic in Michigan, California, and Minnesota a couple of days ago, or those Florida wackos who crammed themselves onto the beaches.

And if any of that antibody testing shows even the slightest possibility that it can detect antibodies, even though there is as yet no proof that the mere presence of antibodies confers immunity, let alone the possibility of asymptomatic infection despite the presence of antibodies — well, the "LIBERATE (your state's name here)" crowd will be blazing like the fires in Australia were this past January.

-"BB"-

[Scooter]

Cuomo says that New York has slowed the virus' infection rate so that every 10 people infect about 9 people, and says that the state needs to bring the infection rate down even more in order to safely reopen the economy.

In order to reopen, Cuomo says that the state needs to:

• Do no harm
• Be smarter - develop new testing
• Learn the lessons - build back better

That doesn't sound like someone who is preparing to let his guard down anytime soon.

[Darren]

Cuomo says that New York has slowed the virus' infection rate so that every 10 people infect about 9 people, and says that the state needs to bring the infection rate down even more in order to safely reopen the economy.

In order to reopen, Cuomo says that the state needs to:

• Do no harm
• Be smarter - develop new testing
• Learn the lessons - build back better

That doesn't sound like someone who is preparing to let his guard down anytime soon.
[/quote

Look for the results of the antibody testing in New York. The Abbott supplied tests are the game changer. CYA is a required subject for all would be politicians to pass Politics 101. The antibody test results will do nicely to cover his ass.

The unsaid is with good antibody testing results he has to reopen otherwise he loses all of his atta boys and misses out on subbing for slow Joe at the convention.

Western and up state New Yorkers are already pissed at him. With De Blasio begging Trump for billions, the city will be pissed too if Cuomo isn't the rainmaker they think.

[Econoline]

[Scooter]

Sorry Darren, me no speak word salad.