COVID-19 day 136 : 📈 1,872,660 cases; 108,211 deaths : 04 June 2020
NEJM authors to us: wear your masks; FDA and “the wild, wild West” of antibody testing; hydroxychloroquine study: 'That dog won't hunt'; White House task force appears to be sidelined
It’s day 136 since the first case of coronavirus disease was announced in the United States. The national public rebellion against how police departments deal with people of color has broadened to a rebellion against how police and military treat protestors.
This is a medical research/politics/economics edition.
🦠Thursday, Johns Hopkins reported 1,872,660 (1,851,520) cases and 108,211 (107,175) deaths, an increase of 1.14% (1.08%) and 0.97% (1.89%), respectively, since Wednesday (Tuesday). A week ago, the daily numbers increased by 1.33% and 1.19%, respectively.
The seven-day average: 21,686 (21,326) cases and 1,396 (1,454) deaths
Percent of cases leading to death: 5.78% (5.79%).
Today’s case rate is 559.37 per 100,000; the death rate, 32.38 per 100,000.
One week ago, the case rate was 520.16 per 100,000; the death rate, 30.7 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
“I’ve spent the last several months of my life imploring and exhorting people to protect themselves, to reduce the spread of this virus and save lives,” said Dr. Clyde W. Yancy, a cardiologist at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine who is African American. But after Floyd’s death under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, he said, “it dawned on me that my greatest risk is not COVID-19. It’s the color of my skin.”
Cause of death: COVID-19, police violence or racism? LA Times, 02 June 2020.
🔬 Research and medical news
We understand that some people are citing our Perspective article (published on April 1 at NEJM.org)1 as support for discrediting widespread masking. In truth, the intent of our article was to push for more masking, not less.
Universal Masking in the Covid-19 Era. New England Journal of Medicine, 03 June 2020.
Across America, untold numbers of employers, employees and ordinary citizens are turning to a slew of sometimes pricey new COVID-19 blood tests. Knowing who’s already been infected could have important implications for understanding the spread of the disease, scientists say. But serious questions about the accuracy of some of the serology tests — and the usefulness of the results they provide — have prompted the federal Food and Drug Administration to try to rein in what several infectious disease experts described as “the wild, wild West” of antibody testing.
Hype Collides With Science As FDA Tries To Rein In ‘Wild West’ of COVID Blood Tests. Kaiser Health News, 03 June 2020.
Despite their fears of infection, and statistics showing Black communities are among the hardest hit, many Black men feel wearing a mask is a bigger threat than the coronavirus. Just as they are more likely than white people to be stopped and frisked, to be pulled over for traffic violations, and to be charged with drug crimes, Black individuals also appear more likely to be targeted by police for simply wearing masks. In a heartbreaking calculus, many are choosing not to wear them at all.
‘Which death do they choose?’: Many Black men fear wearing a mask more than the coronavirus. STAT News, 03 June 2020.
"As we say in Tennessee, 'That dog won't hunt' — it didn't work," said William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Schaffner, who was not involved in the trial, praised it as "rigorously done."
Hydroxychloroquine failed to prevent healthy people from getting coronavirus in trial. Stars and Stripes, 03 June 2020.
😎 Brighten your day
School food services and public transportation were suspended across [Minneapolis], affecting the school’s 970 students, about 60 percent of whom are eligible for free or reduced lunch… She and her staff emailed friends and others in the community, asking them to bring a total of 85 food kits to the school parking lot Sunday morning… By the end of the day, an estimated 30,000 food kits were delivered, and more than 500 families and individuals were able to stock their pantries and fridges.
A Minneapolis school asked people to donate food for students after looting closed stores. ‘Miles of cars’ lined up. Washington Post, 02 June 2020.
Sections (no jump links, sorry!)
1, Politics, economics and COVID-19; 2, Case count; 3, What you can do and resources
⓵ Politics, economics and COVID-19
Despite warnings that the outbreak is far from over, the White House task force has met only sporadically in recent weeks, adding to the sense that the White House is ready to move on from the crisis despite being in the midst of it. Meanwhile, the U.S. surpasses 1.8 million cases and 105,000 deaths.
White House Task Force Nudged Off Stage As Trump Looks To Shift Attention Away From Pandemic. Kaiser Health News, 03 June 2020.
Marks's abrupt switch was the latest sign of the FDA's struggle to fend off outside political pressure, particularly from the White House, amid the desperate search for a coronavirus cure. The agency rushed to greenlight the unproven coronavirus treatment hydroxychloroquine for wide use after President Donald Trump touted the drug. At the behest of the White House, FDA officials met with wealthy Trump donor Larry Ellison almost daily to discuss a hydroxychloroquine tracking project. The White House also has pushed the agency to authorize other treatments, like the Japanese flu drug Avigan, despite limited evidence the drug could treat Covid-19 and concerns it causes birth defects.
The unprecedented effort by the White House to intercede at an agency that's supposed to make independent judgments based on medical science is raising alarms among health experts inside and outside the administration.
FDA struggles to remain independent amid race for virus cure. Politico, 03 June 2020.
Months after Congress approved $175 billion in emergency aid to health providers, the Trump administration has yet to pay out the majority of the funds — nearly $100 billion…. The delay has prompted complaints by both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, and left the nation’s safety net hospitals and clinics with relatively little federal support during a pandemic that’s simultaneously thrust them onto the front lines and decimated their finances.
The Trump administration has yet to pay out billions in emergency health aid. Politico, 02 June 2020.
The Army has determined 16 West Point cadets have tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to the campus for a commencement address by President Trump scheduled for June 13.
At least 16 West Point cadets test COVID-19 positive before grad speech by President Trump. USA Today, 31 May 2020.
Rural Oklahoma communities are desperate to protect their vulnerable hospitals and hand the reins to management companies that say they’re turnaround experts. Instead some companies failed the hospitals, bled them dry and expedited their demise.
The Only Hospital in Town Was Failing. They Promised to Help but Only Made It Worse. ProPublica, 04 June 2020.
An anti-corruption watchdog group is calling on the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) to investigate top executives at the biotech company Moderna for allegedly manipulating the stock market and possible insider trading.
Watchdog group wants SEC to investigate coronavirus vaccine company Moderna. The Hill, 03 June 2020.
⓶ 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.
🌎 04 June
Globally: 6 416 828 cases (129 281 new) with 382 867 deaths (4 842 new)
The Americas: 3 022 824 cases (73 369 new) with 168 553 deaths (3 242 new)
US: 1 823 220 cases (24 890 new) with10 6 051 deaths (1 043 new)
Johns Hopkins interactive dashboard (11.00 pm Pacific)
Global confirmed: 6,639,092 (6,511,713)
Total deaths: 391,249 (386,073)
Recovered: 2,872,731 (2,807,420)
🇺🇸 04 June
CDC: 1,842,101 (14,676 new) cases and 107,029 (827) deaths
Johns Hopkins*: 1,872,660 (1,851,520) cases and 108,211 (107,175) deaths
State data*: 1,872,660 (1,843,315) identified cases and 102,101 (101,192) deaths
Total tested (US, Johns Hopkins): 18,680,529 (18,214,950)
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.
⓷ 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