Day 11 in the countdown to an end to the COVID-19 panic.

Darren · Post by **Darren** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 4:40 am

Check back for updates during the day including Abbott now shipping tests. Detroit first responders get the first ones.

No film at 11:00.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 4:48 am

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 4:59 am

-"BB"-

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 11:37 am

Darren · Post by **Darren** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 12:49 pm

More good news, not only for the husband and wife, but for us too. You don't have to be afraid.

"Last week John and Marie McConnell made sure their wills were up to date.

Ill at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital Thursday night and awaiting results of a COVID-19 test after feeling poorly for about two weeks, John McConnell, 65, hit a turning point.

“I knew they were preparing me for ICU and probably a ventilator,” said McConnell, who’d heard survival rates were low for COVID-19 ventilator patients.

The odds were not good for McConnell, a fit, former nationally ranked college tennis player and former senior vice president of programming for ABC Radio who moved to Vero Beach full time in September.

Would he get moved onto a ventilator or try a pharmaceutical unapproved for COVID-19 use, one the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had reservations about?"

Read more:

https://techstartups.com/2020/04/01/hyd ... mith-says/

Darren · Post by **Darren** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 12:55 pm

More good news as promised, Detroit received the Abbott tests yesterday.

"Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said today on Wolf Blitzer’s CNN show that the city of Detroit is on track to be the first city to deploy Abbott Labs' five-minute COVID-19 test. The mayor said the test would be available for first responders. The goal, he said, was to test those first responders who are self-isolating but have yet to test positive for the virus.

The city of Detroit received the Abbott Labs tests today, April 1. They will be available for use within the next 24 hours, the mayor said."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/detroit-firs ... 26303.html

Gob · Post by **Gob** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 1:13 pm

Nearly 10 million Americans lost their jobs in the last two weeks of March (today’s 6.6m plus last week’s 3.3m).

It’s simply astonishingly bad.

Usually, the initial claims figure moves by a few thousand - it’s been comfortably below 300,00 for many months.

The previous spike, of 695,000, was set in 1982. Even during the great recession more than a decade ago, the worst single weak was 665,000 in March 2009.

More than 6.65 million people filed for unemployment benefits in the US last week, the latest official figures to highlight the devastating economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the American economy.

As reports emerged of long lines at unemployment offices, jammed phone lines and broken websites across the US, the federal labor department said Thursday that a new record number of people sought benefits after losing their jobs in the week ending 27 March.

Some 3.28 million had filed for unemployment the previous week, bringing total claims to 9.93 million for the two weeks. More people have filed for unemployment in the last two weeks than filed in the last six months.

The US now faces the sharpest rise in unemployment in its history, a surge that is already highlighting income inequality across the nation and comes as the global economy goes into a nosedive that is likely to exacerbate the situation in the months ahead.

“We are at the mercy of the virus,” said William Rodgers, former chief economist at the US Department of Labor. Rodgers calculates US unemployment, just 3.5% in February, has already reached 17% in just two weeks and that rates for African Americans have soared to 19% from 5.8%

Darren · Post by **Darren** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 1:15 pm

More reporting on hydroxychloroquine from the New York Times.

"The malaria drug hydroxychloroquine helped to speed the recovery of a small number of patients who were mildly ill from the coronavirus, doctors in China reported this week.

Cough, fever and pneumonia went away faster, and the disease seemed less likely to turn severe in people who received hydroxychloroquine than in a comparison group not given the drug. The authors of the report said that the medication was promising, but that more research was needed to clarify how it might work in treating coronavirus disease and to determine the best way to use it."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/heal ... laria.html

Darren · Post by **Darren** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 1:32 pm

A study of results with hydroxychloroquine worldwide from 6,200 physicians.

"NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Widespread confusion, conflicting reports, inconsistent testing, and off-indication use of existing and experimental drugs has resulted in no single source of information from the frontlines. To create a centralized and dynamic knowledge base, Sermo, the largest global healthcare polling company and social platform for physicians, leveraged its capabilities to publish results of a COVID-19 study with more than 6,200 physicians in 30 countries. The study was completed in three days. Data covers current treatment and prophylaxis options, timing to the outbreak peak, ethical choices, effectiveness of government responses, and much more. Multiple study waves including a deeper dive into treatments will be conducted over the next several weeks. To view results and countries visit sermo.com"

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/ ... 005460/en/

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 1:44 pm

And still absolutely nothing that says "it works".

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 2:33 pm

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 3:05 pm

Nearly 10 million Americans lost their jobs in the last two weeks of March (today’s 6.6m plus last week’s 3.3m)...

Thanks for posting that Strop, it's such great news!

It could have been 20 million but its only 10! I'm happy happy happy! Good times are right around the corner!

That'll teach those fearmongering naysayers!

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 3:24 pm

I finally applied for UI since my client returned home from rehab but his wife now refuses to allow his care team of PCAs to enter the house - poor guy.

Anyway I was pretty surprised how well the Massachusetts UI website functioned for me when I did the application Friday, and again on Tuesday when I submitted my first weekly claim. A week or so ago I’d read on a community Facebook page that folks were having trouble, so maybe I just missed the rush. It operated for me same as it has in past when I’ve used it. My benefits will be measly and I don’t know if I’ll qualify for any federal boost or not, but it’s something to keep myself and the dog fed at least.

Darren · Post by **Darren** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 3:36 pm

From the National Institutes of Health:

CONCLUSION:

Despite its small sample size our survey shows that hydroxychloroquine treatment is significantly associated with viral load reduction/disappearance in COVID-19 patients and its effect is reinforced by azithromycin.

Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32205204

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 4:41 pm

Exact same flawed study you have posted about in at least three other threads, critiques of which were referenced here and here:

Three statisticians published a review of the French study that argued that the way it was designed made the treatments look better than they actually are. They pointed to the lack of randomization, as well as an inappropriate control group composed partly of people who refused to take the drug. They also noted that the study dropped some patients from the analysis — the small study of 42 patients actually only included data from 36.

“The [French] study gave very little useful information about whether hydroxychloroquine might help,” Morris wrote.

There is such a torrent of good news to share that Darren is relegated to posting the same tired old soup in thread after thread.

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 4:46 pm

You do realize that the conclusion was not drawn by the NIH, nor even published by it ; it is a citation to a publication by French researchers in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. It is a citation pure and simple, and the NIH gave no opinion as to it.

Roy

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 4:52 pm

Darren · Post by **Darren** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 7:03 pm

One of the organizations working towards a vaccine.

"Researchers said the SARS-CoV-2 micro needle vaccine maintains its potency even after being thoroughly sterilized with gamma radiation, which is a key step toward making a product that’s suitable for use in humans.

“We had previous experience on SARS-CoV in 2003 and MERS-CoV in 2014," said co-senior author of the study Andrea Gambotto, associate professor of surgery at the Pitt School of Medicine. "These two viruses, which are closely related to SARS-CoV-2, teach us that a particular protein, called a spike protein, is important for inducing immunity against the virus. We knew exactly where to fight this new virus."

https://www.times-news.com/coronavirus/ ... cda43.html

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 7:11 pm

dales · Post by **dales** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 7:54 pm

One of my favorite songs.

Thanks, LJ!

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