Coronavirus

[Gob]

A coronavirus vaccine being developed by Oxford University will enter human trials as early as this Thursday, according to the U.K.’s health secretary.

The U.K. government will provide £20 million ($24 million) to the university’s team and a further £22.5 million to Imperial College, where scientists are also working on a vaccine. Scientists at Oxford have previously said the aim is to produce a million doses of the vaccine by September.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock praised both teams for making “rapid progress” and said the U.K. will throw “everything we’ve got” at developing a vaccine.

He also said the government would invest in manufacturing capabilities so that if either vaccine was successful it could be available for British people “as soon as humanly possible.”

“We are going to back them to the hilt and give them every resource that they need to get the best possible chance of success as soon as possible. The upside of being the first country in the world to develop a successful vaccine is so huge that I am throwing everything at it,” Hancock said.

[Lord Jim]

I pray for their success. A proven vaccine that could be administered by September would be far ahead of the most optimistic timelines, but if it can happen, it would truly be a great blessing...

[Gob]

Over-50s – especially Britons who are overweight – should stay at home during the coronavirus crisis to protect the NHS, an expert has claimed.

Mike Fischer CBE, who runs a medical research lab in Oxford, warned the actions of those in their 50s and beyond will be 'critical' for the NHS.

Official data - collated by the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre from NHS critical care units - shows more than 54 per cent of COVID-19 patients admitted for urgent care are aged between 50 and 69 years.

Almost three quarters of critically ill people are either overweight or obese.

It comes as scientists argue people in their 60s should be included in Government’s total isolation guidance because they are at an increased risk of severe COVID-19 illness or death.

They point to data from countries such as China and Italy that show those in their 60s are at high risk of complications and death from the novel coronavirus.

This risk is lower compared with those aged 70 years or older, however.

Current Government guidance suggests those aged 70 or older should be more rigorous in following social distancing measures.

The guidance also applies to those under 70 who have underlying health conditions or a weakened immune system.

The average age of critically ill COVID-19 patients in the UK is 60, data from the first reported 5,578 patients shows.

Some 19 per cent were men in their 50s, and 7.8 were women in their 50s. Men account for more COVID-19 patients overall.

More than 22 per cent and eight per cent were men and women aged between 60-69 years, respectively, according to the report from ICNARC which collects data from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Asked if those in critical care tend to have underlying health conditions, Mr Fischer said: 'They do. But that’s not that different to the population in general.

'It is also true that most of the people in critical care are somewhat overweight but that’s not that different to the population in general. So yes, if you are overweight and have underlying health condition it is even more important.

According to the ICNARC report, people of a healthy weight make up a minority of critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Almost three quarters (74 per cent) are carrying extra weight.

Some 35 per cent have a BMI between 25 and 30, which is regarded as 'overweight' by the NHS, 31 per cent are obese, and just over seven per cent are severely obese.

For comparison, in the general population of England, 64.3 per cent of adults are either overweight (35.6 per cent) or obese (28.7 per cent), Government data from 2019 shows.

Mr Fischer is in the midst of establishing a network of labs in the hopes of dramatically increase coronavirus testing, and donated £1,000,000 of his own money to do so.

His comments come as scientists publish an article today, in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, that argued over 60s should be shielded from society.

Professor Azeem Majeed, head of the department of primary care and public health at Imperial College London, said: 'The UK's policy is at variance with the World Health Organisation, which states that those above the age of 60 years are at the highest risk, requiring additional preventative measures.'

[TPFKA@W]

https://twitter.com/RubinReport/status/ ... 69538?s=20

haha, I want to have coffee with this guy.

[Joe Guy]

That poor guy needs to come out of his shell and speak up a little.

(or should I say, spit it out?)

[Gob]

The coronavirus was killing Americans in the US weeks before health officials, doctors or the government realized, it emerged early on Wednesday.

Health officials now say two people died from Covid-19 in California in early February before the first reported death from the disease in the United States.

Santa Clara county officials, in northern California, said they now know a 57-year-old woman died in her home on 6 February and and a 69-year-old man died in his home on 17 February. The woman, Patricia Dowd, was a San Jose resident, according to public death records.

The first official recorded death in the nation from the virus was reported on 29 February in Kirkland, in the state of Washington. Before the results from the three deaths, officials believed the first case of community-transmitted coronavirus in Santa Clara county had not occurred before 28 February.

The medical examiner-coroner of Santa Clara county, received confirmation on Tuesday that tissue samples obtained during autopsies and sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested positive for the virus, officials said.

A third such death – a 70-year-old man – had occurred on 6 March. Santa Clara county is south of San Francisco and includes San Jose.

“What these deaths tell us is that we had community transmission, probably to a significant degree, far earlier than we had known and that indicates that the virus was probably introduced and circulating in our community far earlier than we had known,” said Dr Sara Cody, health director in Santa Clara county.

The first officially confirmed case of coronavirus in the US was on 21 January, in Washington state. The latest news from California indicates to officials that coronavirus was spreading in the community by early to mid-January, much earlier than thought.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... an-thought

[Lord Jim]

haha, I want to have coffee with this guy.

I'd suggest he stick with decaf...

His mortgage proposal sounds pretty reasonable to me...

[RayThom]

I like his passion, he's actually turning red while making his case. Fully committed.

Vic for president!

[TPFKA@W]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... e=emb_logo

Another from Vic. I wondered if that was spit or rain. Turns out it was spit.

[Lord Jim]

United States
Coronavirus Cases:
880,204
Deaths:
49,845

And even with NY's numbers coming down, another 2000 plus dead today:

29973 new cases and 2341 new deaths in the United States

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

What these numbers mean is that by sometime in the next week, we will have lost more people to this scourge in about a month and a half than we lost in the 12 years of the Vietnam War...

Yeah, this is just like the ordinary flu...

[ex-khobar Andy]

Just to clarify - LJ's comment refers only to US deaths from COVID-19 and US deaths in the Vietnam War. There are now close to 200,000 deaths worldwide and of course the total deaths in Vietnam were more like 3,000,000 over the period 1955 to 1975.

[datsunaholic]

Yeah, this is just like the ordinary flu...

These numbers:

Closed Cases: 136,165

Recovered: 85,922 (63%)
Deaths: 50,243 (37%)

And today, our moron-in-chief suggested INJECTING disinfectants as a way to kill the virus. Well, he's half right- it will kill the virus. Mainly as the virus can't "live" in a dead host.

[Joe Guy]

And today, our moron-in-chief suggested INJECTING disinfectants as a way to kill the virus. Well, he's half right- it will kill the virus. Mainly as the virus can't "live" in a dead host.

[TPFKA@W]

I propose that all politicians be put in clinical trials for this treatment. Let's fast track it.
Maybe we should just expose them to high doses of gamma radiation. It worked for David Banner.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Just to clarify - LJ's comment refers only to US deaths from COVID-19 and US deaths in the Vietnam War. There are now close to 200,000 deaths worldwide and of course the total deaths in Vietnam were more like 3,000,000 over the period 1955 to 1975.

Don't forget that "we" included:
South Korea 5,099 dead; 4 missing
Australia 521 dead
Thailand 351 dead
New Zealand 37 dead
Republic of China 25 dead
Philippines 9 dead

[Bicycle Bill]

Q  U  A  R  A  N  T  I  N  E     R  E  A  D  I  N  G     L  I  S  T
(or: When Librarians Get Bored)

 

(just read the titles, in sequence, left to right)

-"BB"-

[Lord Jim]

A few days ago Poppy Harlow on CNN gave Tony Fauci a list of names of actors who might play him on SNL, and asked him which he would prefer...

One of the names was Brad Pitt. "Brad Pitt, of course" Fauci jokingly replied...

Well, last night on SNL:

[RayThom]

Other than Alec Baldwin's SNL impersonation of Trump, Pitt's was one of the funnier cold openings in quite some time.

Has the serial sexual abuser in the White House tweeted about Pitt's performance yet?

[Joe Guy]

[BoSoxGal]

From the Sacramento Bee:

First known coronavirus victim in U.S. died of ‘burst’ heart, pathologist says
BY DAVID DEBOLT AND THOMAS PEELE BAY AREA NEWS GROUP
APRIL 26, 2020 10:39 AM, UPDATED 7 HOURS 20 MINUTES AGO

A Santa Clara County woman now believed to be the first person in the United States killed by the coronavirus died of a ruptured heart caused by her body’s struggle to defeat the virus, her autopsy shows.

Patricia Dowd, 57, of San Jose, died at home on Feb. 6 of what seemed like a heart attack while suffering from what seemed like the flu. But The Mercury News reported Thursday that officials now say she had the coronavirus, which they didn’t know at the time.

A report on her autopsy, posted Saturday night by the San Francisco Chronicle, shows that her body struggled so hard against the virus that a valve in her heart ruptured, a pathologist who reviewed the document told The Mercury News.

Dr. Judy Melinek, a Bay Area forensic pathologist who reviewed the autopsy report, said it showed the heart “muscle was infected, that’s what caused her heart to rupture.”

Dowd’s heart was a normal size and weight, Melinek said. Heart ruptures like the one Dowd suffered typically occur in people who have bad cholesterol levels.

“There’s an indication the heart was weakened,” Melinek said. “The immune system was attacking the virus and in attacking the virus it damaged the heart and then the heart basically burst.”

Dowd’s husband, citing his wife’s strong exercise habits and overall good health before falling ill, had requested an autopsy.

The results showed the role the virus played, which wasn’t known at the time of death, and is now considered a crucial missed opportunity in the battle against the virus and COVID-19, the disease it causes. Dowd’s death, as well as two others, on Feb. 17 and March 6, show the virus was spreading on the West Coast well before the first known U.S. case was flagged in Solano County in March.

Bay Area counties didn’t issue the country’s first stay at home order until nearly six weeks after Dowd’s death.

“If we had understood then that people were already dying … we probably would have acted earlier than we did,” said Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody at a Wednesday press briefing.

What was then thought to be the first coronavirus death in Santa Clara County was publicly reported March 9. As of Saturday, the county health department had reported 99 deaths attributed to the virus.

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/coronavirus ... rylink=cpy