COVID-19 day 133 : 📈 1,811.360 cases; 105,165 deaths : 01 June 2020
Is COVID-19 a vasculotropic virus? US sends hydroxychloroquine to Brazil; in WA state, COVID-19 patients are getting younger; New Zealand may list physical distancing restrictions next week
It’s day 133 since the first case of coronavirus disease was announced in the United States. One week ago, on Memorial Day, Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, 46, in Minneapolis, MN. On Tuesday, a bystander’s video upended an antiseptic police report. And a nation that has been in shock from coronavirus was once again confronted with police violence inflicted on black men.
This time, the protests spread across the country like a California wildfire. Perhaps the horrific video of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in southeast Georgia was one spark. Maybe the senseless murder of Breonna Taylor in her own Louisville home was another. And then there was the surreal video of Amy Cooper in Central Park. Another spark. Minneapolis police arresting CNN journalist Omar Jimenez while he doing a live standup. Another spark.
Localities that had slowly loosened restrictions on movement put in place to counter COVID-19 found themselves tied down even more severely than before. My small (40K) suburban Seattle community had a 5 pm curfew today. Protests continue to ripple across the country, reminiscent of 1968.
The two, protests and disease, are not as dissimilar as you might think.
“Racism is a social determinant of health. It affects the physical and mental health of blacks in the U.S. So I wouldn't weigh these crises separately.” Dr. Elaine Nsoesie, an assistant professor of global health at Boston University.
In the US, people of color have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, due in part to years of systemic racism and a resultant poor health. It’s also the kinds of jobs they hold: “people of color make up 75 percent of New York City’s frontline workers.”
"I think it's incumbent on all of us to realize that the health of all of us depends on the health of each of us," says Dr. Alicia Fernandez, a professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco, told NPR.
Nationally, African-American deaths from COVID-19 are nearly two times greater than would be expected based on their share of the population. In four states, the rate is three or more times greater.
In 42 states plus Washington D.C., Hispanics/Latinos make up a greater share of confirmed cases than their share of the population. In eight states, it's more than four times greater.
White deaths from COVID-19 are lower than their share of the population in 37 states and the District of Columbia.
People of color are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in the UK as well. In addition, “two-thirds of the more than 200 health workers who've died of COVID-19 are minorities.”
An open letter, “[i]nitially written by infectious disease experts at the University of Washington,” argues that the protests are vital and cities could reduce COVID-19 risk by refusing to use respiratory irritants, such as tear gas or smoke. Instead, we see a video of a police officer pulling a man’s mask from his face, attacking him with pepper spray not even at arm’s distance, and then walking away.
🦠Monday, Johns Hopkins reported 1,811.360 (1,790,191) cases and 105,165 (104,383) deaths in the US, an increase of 1.18% (1.15%) and 1.13% (1.53%), respectively, since Sunday (Saturday). A week ago, the daily numbers increased by 1.12% and 0.71%, respectively.
The seven-day average: 21,014 (20,947) cases and 1,127 (1,033) deaths
Percent of cases leading to death: 5.81% (5.83%).
Today’s case rate is 547.23 per 100,000; the death rate, 31.77 per 100,000.
One week ago, the case rate was 502.2 per 100,000; the death rate, 29.67 per 100,000.
Note: numbers in (.) are from the prior day and are provided for context. I include the seven-day average because dailies vary so much in the course of a week, particularly over a weekend.
🤓 Recommended reading
One of the most visible faces of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, the NIAID director also acknowledged the world will have limited data on the new vaccines when they are deployed, and may have to balance the need to save lives with the possibility of some adverse events.
Anthony Fauci on Covid-19 reopenings, vaccines, and moving at ‘warp speed’. STAT News, 01 June 2020
🔬 Research and medical news
▪️Researchers at the University of Washington have identified a shift in the demographics of Washington residents who become infected, from older to younger. After the virus peaked, 40% of the confirmed cases Washington were individuals younger than 40-years-old. “In eight weeks, our demographic slipped from majority over age 60 to majority under age 40,” Dr. Judith Malmgren, an epidemiologist and affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington’s school of public health, told the Daily Beast.
COVID-19 Confirmed Case Incidence Age Shift to Young Persons Age 0-19 and 20-39 Years Over Time: Washington State March - April 2020. medRxiv, 28 May 2020. Pre-print.
▪️Dana Smith has written a meticulously researched essay which suggests that SARS-CoV-2 is a “vasculotropic virus,” one that attacks blood vessels. For example, in April The Lancet, researchers wrote that “[c]ardiovascular complications are rapidly emerging as a key threat in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in addition to respiratory disease.”
Months into the pandemic, there is now a growing body of evidence to support the theory that the novel coronavirus can infect blood vessels, which could explain not only the high prevalence of blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks, but also provide an answer for the diverse set of head-to-toe symptoms that have emerged.
Coronavirus May Be a Blood Vessel Disease, Which Explains Everything. elemental+ Medium, 28 May 2020.
Sections (no jump links, sorry!)
1, Around the world; 2, Politics, economics and COVID-19; 3, Case count; 4, What you can do and resources
⓵ Around the world
❌ The US is sending 2 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to Brazil. A drug that has been shown to cause more harm than good for COVID-19 patients. Because the leaders of both countries think they know more than their scientists.
▪️In the UK, some secondary school students are returning to classes as the country continues to loosen restrictions on physical distancing.
✅ New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern may lift all remaining physical distancing restrictions next week.
'“Our strategy of go hard, go early has paid off … and in some cases, beyond expectations,” Ms Ardern said at a news conference.
South America is the current hot spot for COVID-19 cases.
⓶ Politics, economics and COVID-19
✅ Most of us still favor lives over dollars, and most of us are worried about the fall. From the Washington Post-ABC poll:
In the starkest split, 57 percent of Americans overall and 81 percent of Democrats say trying to control the spread of the coronavirus is most important right now, even if it hurts the economy. A far smaller 27 percent of Republicans agree, while 66 percent of them say restarting the economy is more important, even if it hurts efforts to control the virus. Nearly 6 in 10 independents say their priority is trying to control the virus’s spread…
Despite declines in the rate of new infections in some parts of the country,personal fears persist, with 63 percent of Americans overall continuing to worry that they or a family member will catch the coronavirus. That is not far below the 69 percent who two months ago said they were worried.
▪️ Trump postponed the G7 Summit until September. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would not come to Washington DC. He also said he was going to invite Australia, Russia, South Korea and India because the current list is a “very outdated group of countries.” The Group of Seven: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US.
📣 As if we didn’t have enough on our plates, the Atlantic hurricane season is here. Residents and public health officials in high-risk areas are planning how to juggle potentially two concurrent crises. Here’s the NASA forecast:
Multiple climate factors indicate above-normal activity is most likely.
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⓷ Case count
There is a lag between being contagious and showing symptoms, between having a test and getting its results. There is also a lag in reports of cases and deaths making their way into daily results; this lag is visible in predictable declines for both in weekend reports.
🌎 01 June
Globally: 6 057 853 cases (122 917 new) with 371 166 deaths (4 000 new)
The Americas: 2 817 232 cases (73 439 new) with 160 514 deaths (2 812 new)
US: 1 734 040 cases (17 962 new) with 102 640 deaths (1 073 new)
Johns Hopkins interactive dashboard (11.00 pm Pacific)
Global confirmed: 6,271,577 (6,171,182)
Total deaths: 375,632 (372,116)
Recovered: 2,697,094 (2,642,568)
🇺🇸 01 June
CDC: 1,787,680 (26,177 new) cases and 104,396 (696) deaths
Johns Hopkins*: 1,811,360 (1,790,191) cases and 105,165 (104,383) deaths
State data*: 1,799,761 (1,783,596 ) identified cases and 99,005 (98,536) deaths
Total tested (US, Johns Hopkins): 17,340,682 (16,936,891)
Take with a grain of salt. The CDC and at least 11 other states have begun combining the number of tests for active infections with the number of antibody tests, which boosts the total number of tests and thus drops the percentage who test positive.
View infographic and data online: total cases and cases and deaths/100,000.
* Johns Hopkins data, ~11.00 pm Pacific.
State data include DC, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands
The virus was not created in a lab and the weight of evidence is it was not released intentionally. Although early reports tied the outbreak to a seafood (“wet”) market in Wuhan, China, analyses of genomic data in January suggested that the virus might have developed elsewhere.
⓸ What you can do
Stay home as much as possible, period.
Digestive problems may be a symptom.
Resources
👓 See COVID-19 resource collection at WiredPen.
📝 Subscribe to Kathy’s COVID-19 Memo :: COVID-19 Memo archives
🦠 COVID-19 @ WiredPen.com
🌐 Global news
📊 Visualizations: US, World