Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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Well how good are the test?
HHS chief overrode FDA officials to ease testing rules

Alex Azar took matters into his own hands, overriding objections from FDA chief Stephen Hahn.

Pressed on the matter during a private briefing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Aug. 31, Hahn told lawmakers that HHS’ legal division was responsible for the decision, a source familiar with his comments said.

The FDA’s own website, meanwhile, still insists that it has the power to regulate all manner of lab-developed coronavirus tests. “Please note that LDTs should not be used for clinical diagnoses without FDA’s approval, clearance or authorization during an emergency declaration for that disease,” the site reads.

For its part, HHS has offered limited public health rationale for sidelining the FDA at a pivotal moment in the response, as test production ramps up and the U.S. heads into a fall season that could bring a resurgence of both the coronavirus and the seasonal flu.

Supporters of the decision contend that the more lax approach could help speed newer, more innovative tests onto the market by allowing manufacturers to bypass the potentially cumbersome FDA review process.

And inside the administration, top HHS officials led by General Counsel Bob Charrow argued for months that the FDA lacked the legal authority required to regulate this particular slice of the testing market, which includes labs located in larger academic medical centers and smaller commercial laboratories, as well as a handful of large corporations.

That echoes a position long held by some clinical laboratories subject to the agency's regulation. Yet it encountered fierce resistance from FDA attorneys who maintained that the agency had long established its jurisdiction over lab-developed tests during prior public health emergencies like the H1N1 pandemic and Zika outbreak.

As the internal dispute mushroomed, some White House lawyers also expressed skepticism of the immediate need to pare back the FDA’s oversight activities, two people with knowledge of the situation said.

Azar nevertheless pressed ahead, a decision several officials said had soured relations with top FDA officials and career staff while accomplishing little measurable progress in the fight to contain the pandemic.

Indeed, the nation faced major testing access issues in February and March in part because there was no clear FDA pathway for emergency use of lab tests, said former FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan, who has advised HHS on testing strategy.

But "since then, I think they have kind of got it right, or at least made real progress," he said.

"There's no issue with LDTs or frankly any test getting quickly through the FDA right now," a Republican close to the administration added. Going to war with its own agency in the middle of a crisis, on the other hand, ranks "right up there with the dumbest things ever."
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/1 ... les-415400

We have idiots running the train rather than the trained engineers. So we are going off the tracks and more people will die. Trump Lie - People die
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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YankeeTarheel wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:36 am My town is starting to creep up again. 566 total cases and 72 deaths. Now definitely past the 550 and 70 marks. Our first 2 cases were in mid-March and by the following week all the kids were in remote schooling for 2 weeks, which eventually became the rest of the school year.

They had hoped to partially open the schools but so many staff were requesting leave--having their own kids in remote learning or being older or possibly exposing older people--that the system had to go full remote. The district couldn't replace them either, for the same reason. For us it's not bad, but for other families it's very tough. I'm retired, my wife hasn't traveled since early March and our teen is ok with it...especially after his older brother pointed out that his parents, being in their 60's, are THE high-risk category.
Overall, NJ is seeing a slow ratcheting up of daily cases. It's been 10 days since we had a day with LESS than 300 new cases and had 469 yesterday. People are weary since we got SLAMMED back in mid-March--6 solid months--and people are getting careless, especially the kids. I saw a whole cluster of maybe 10 kids on bikes all together without masks...and bicyclists leave a lot more potentially infected air than just ordinary respiration

Our town's cases are slowly ratcheting up, too. now at 567 cases and back down to 70 deaths...counts are adjusted for who really is a resident...but the lower threshold is now much higher than it was. 565 cases and 70 deaths seems to be the lower limit (that's just a WAG on my part--not a hard #).

Worldometer has the USA having exceeded 200,000 deaths now, and winter is coming. Our summer seems to be essentially over here--this morning it was 44°. People will be indoors more, and cold and flu season will make it tougher. The ONLY bright side is the vague hope that since many cold viruses are coronaviruses, it MAY (and that's a big "may") convey SOME resistance to the novel coronavirus.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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YankeeTarheel wrote: Wed Sep 16, 2020 8:31 am Our town's cases are slowly ratcheting up, too. now at 567 cases and back down to 70 deaths...counts are adjusted for who really is a resident...but the lower threshold is now much higher than it was. 565 cases and 70 deaths seems to be the lower limit (that's just a WAG on my part--not a hard #).

Worldometer has the USA having exceeded 200,000 deaths now, and winter is coming. Our summer seems to be essentially over here--this morning it was 44°. People will be indoors more, and cold and flu season will make it tougher. The ONLY bright side is the vague hope that since many cold viruses are coronaviruses, it MAY (and that's a big "may") convey SOME resistance to the novel coronavirus.
Peaks and valleys in terms of new cases seems to be the pattern for the foreseeable future. I really understand teachers and staff not wanting to go back to face to face instruction, as they are the most vulnerable and they have families.

Schools are shuddered in my county, I don't see them opening this school year. We're in the valley, the daily new cases are very low but the deaths keep increasing. Even with a vaccine with 70% protection, masks and physical distancing will still be needed as no vaccine is 100% effective. I fear for the US and worlds economies.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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highdesert wrote: Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:47 am
YankeeTarheel wrote: Wed Sep 16, 2020 8:31 am Our town's cases are slowly ratcheting up, too. now at 567 cases and back down to 70 deaths...counts are adjusted for who really is a resident...but the lower threshold is now much higher than it was. 565 cases and 70 deaths seems to be the lower limit (that's just a WAG on my part--not a hard #).

Worldometer has the USA having exceeded 200,000 deaths now, and winter is coming. Our summer seems to be essentially over here--this morning it was 44°. People will be indoors more, and cold and flu season will make it tougher. The ONLY bright side is the vague hope that since many cold viruses are coronaviruses, it MAY (and that's a big "may") convey SOME resistance to the novel coronavirus.
Peaks and valleys in terms of new cases seems to be the pattern for the foreseeable future. I really understand teachers and staff not wanting to go back to face to face instruction, as they are the most vulnerable and they have families.

Schools are shuddered in my county, I don't see them opening this school year. We're in the valley, the daily new cases are very low but the deaths keep increasing. Even with a vaccine with 70% protection, masks and physical distancing will still be needed as no vaccine is 100% effective. I fear for the US and worlds economies.
Ratcheting...the peaks are higher, the valleys are higher.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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Number tested positive going back up. Twenty more deaths today. We are now at 183+ per 100,000 population. That puts Hidalgo County above even New Jersey.

All Quiet on the Governor Front. He is appointing some locals to pretty much title but no authority positions like Nursing Facility Administrators Advisory Committee. Of course it is only folk with vested interests in the businesses.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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I don't often see criminal justice news out of Indonesia that I can support, but there are exceptions

https://www.ibtimes.sg/indonesia-forces ... ment-51560
Speaking to Tribune News, Cerme district head Suyono, said that he punished the eight persons who did not wear face masks by making them dig graves at a public cemetery in Ngabetan village.

"There are only three available gravediggers at the moment, so I thought I might as well put these people to work with them," Suyono told the outlet. He added that the local authorities, overseeing the grave digging, ensured that the health protocols were not violated during the burial process.

The gravediggers were also not allowed to participate in the burials of COVID-19 victims. Two defaulters were assigned to each grave digger at the burial site. While one was tasked with digging the grave, the other laid wooden boards inside the hole to support the corpse, the outlet reported

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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sig230 wrote: Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:37 pm Number tested positive going back up. Twenty more deaths today. We are now at 183+ per 100,000 population. That puts Hidalgo County above even New Jersey.

All Quiet on the Governor Front. He is appointing some locals to pretty much title but no authority positions like Nursing Facility Administrators Advisory Committee. Of course it is only folk with vested interests in the businesses.
I missed Guv's news conference. Was hoping he was going to endorse Biden. LOL

Seems he wants to spread CV19, rather than control. Sigh. Although RGV has been spared the new rules. I wonder why?? LOL I suspect he wants rest of the state to catch up.

Stay safe.
"Being Republican is more than a difference of opinion - it's a character flaw." "COVID can fix STUPID!"
The greatest, most aggrieved mistake EVER made in USA was electing DJT as POTUS.

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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Wino wrote: Fri Sep 18, 2020 7:47 am
sig230 wrote: Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:37 pm Number tested positive going back up. Twenty more deaths today. We are now at 183+ per 100,000 population. That puts Hidalgo County above even New Jersey.

All Quiet on the Governor Front. He is appointing some locals to pretty much title but no authority positions like Nursing Facility Administrators Advisory Committee. Of course it is only folk with vested interests in the businesses.
I missed Guv's news conference. Was hoping he was going to endorse Biden. LOL

Seems he wants to spread CV19, rather than control. Sigh. Although RGV has been spared the new rules. I wonder why?? LOL I suspect he wants rest of the state to catch up.

Stay safe.
They will need Abbotts support. Yesterday we passed 188 deaths per 100,000 population.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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In my county the data on new cases is still days behind and it's showing less than 100 new cases. County officials are desperate to open up more, hope that's not tainting the data. On 9/13 the total number of deaths was 814 and case fatality rate was 1.6%, the county is now reporting 908 deaths which is an increase of 94 deaths and the CFR is 1.7%. Daily cases might be down, but people are still dying.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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Texas is now 1,000 deaths fewer than NJ, having doubled in deaths since Aug 1. By the end of September it will almost certainly move into 2nd place behind NY on deaths, behind the "brilliant" leadership of yet another GOP moron governor, Greg Abbott. California is about 1200 deaths behind NJ, but could well pass us in October.

Meanwhile, North Carolina is rapidly moving in position to knock us down a level in total cases as it picks up 2x to 4x more new cases every day than NJ, and is just over 10,000 cases behind.

As a nation we will almost certainly reach 7 million cases and 204,000 deaths today, tomorrow at the latest. Trump wants 70% of America infected to get to herd immunity--so far we are at 2.1%-->67.9% to go, or 231.7 million infected. If only 1.3% die--that's 3 million people. If 3% die, that's nearly 7 million.

Imagine: 7 million Americans have to die to save Trump's worthless, miserable, totally criminal and degenerate hide. And people CHEER this murderous incompetent monster.

Correction: We have passed 204,000 deaths today.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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YankeeTarheel wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 7:32 pm And we passed 7 million cases today as well as 204,000 deaths. And people are STILL going to vote for the orange catastrophe? "Suicide is painless. It brings on many changes."
Theme from MASH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whhAg6bA3_o

LA County is seeing an uptick in cases and deaths. CA will surpass NJ, it will just take awhile.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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Expert blasts Trump administration hiding virus is airborne at far more than 6 feet

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday quietly changed its coronavirus official guidance to note that coronavirus droplets, or “aerosols,” can stay in the air far longer than previously thought and across far more than just six feet.

“There is growing evidence that droplets and airborne particles can remain suspended in the air and be breathed in by others, and travel distances beyond 6 feet (for example, during choir practice, in restaurants, or in fitness classes).”

This would be a revelation to many, who have relied on CDC guidance urging people to social distance, which it has consistently defined as staying six feet apart.

Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital physician Abraar Karan, who is working on Massachusetts’ COVID-19 respoinse, calls the CDC update “a significant shift.”

But the CDC also effectively loosened its guidance, suggestion to stay “at least 6 feet away from others, whenever possible.”

Under the “Protect yourself and others” section, the previous version, up until sometime on Friday, read: “Maintain good social distance (about 6 feet). This is very important in preventing the spread of COVID-19.”

Now it states:

Stay at least 6 feet away from others, whenever possible. This is very important in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Joe Lockhart, a CNN political analyst and former Clinton White House press secretary, took to Twitter to blast the administration.

“Actually seven months after @realDonaldTrump told Bob Woodward,” about just how deadly coronavirus is, and that it spread through the air, he wrote. “This is criminal and people need to go to prison for this.”

To be clear, President Trump knew.

“This is deadly stuff,” he told the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward, on tape. “You just breathe the air, and that’s how it’s passed.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/people ... an-6-feet/
For months, scientists and public health experts have warned of mounting evidence that the novel coronavirus is airborne, transmitted through tiny droplets called aerosols that linger in the air much longer than the larger globs that come from coughing or sneezing.

Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees. The CDC recently changed its official guidance to note that aerosols are “thought to be the main way the virus spreads” and to warn that poorly ventilated indoor spaces are particularly dangerous.

“There is growing evidence that droplets and airborne particles can remain suspended in the air and be breathed in by others, and travel distances beyond 6 feet (for example, during choir practice, in restaurants, or in fitness classes),” the agency stated. “In general, indoor environments without good ventilation increase this risk.”

The fitness industry is trying to lure gym members back — but experts say it’s using flawed data

While the CDC has not called for any new action to address the airborne threat of a virus that has now killed nearly 200,000 Americans, experts said the change should help to shift policy and public behavior.
More links in the WAPO article
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2 ... gn=wp_main

Hiding the information from the people doesn't solve the problem, it just makes it worse.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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Well isn’t this amazing.
CDC Reverses Guidelines Stating The Coronavirus Is Airborne Virus [UPDATE]

UPDATE: 12:40 p.m. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reversed an update made to its coronavirus guidance that stated COVID-19 is an airborne virus. The health agency said that update, posted to its website on Friday, was made in error.

“A draft version of proposed changes to these recommendations was posted in error to the agency’s official website,” the CDC said in a statement posted to its website on Monday. “CDC is currently updating its recommendations regarding airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). Once this process has been completed, the update language will be posted.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coronav ... 0e8972428d

We would never think this was ordered by the Trumpenfurhrer. :sarcasm:
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: How Many Cases in Your Town, Village, City, whatever?

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HHS secretary says all ‘Warp Speed’ vaccines will have ‘liability protection’ from lawsuits

Pharmaceutical companies that produce COVID-19 vaccines through the federal government’s “Warp Speed” program will automatically have liability protection, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar said on Monday.

Azar was asked about the progress of COVID-19 vaccine trials during an interview with Fox Business host Stuart Varney.

“We now have three vaccines in phase three clinical trials here in the United States, which is just unprecedented — the speed that we have been able to go given President Trump’s support of Operation Warp Speed,” Azar explained. “These are some of the largest clinical trials of vaccines in history.”

“We believe by the end of the year that it’s highly credible that we will have in the tens of millions of doses of FDA gold standard vaccine,” he continued. “We literally have made millions of doses of vaccine already thanks to Warp Speed.”

According to Azar, it will be up to states to decide whether vaccines are mandatory.

“Those would be local determinations,” he pointed out. “Right now my focus is let’s get FDA gold standard approved vaccine out there for the American people. Let’s get it out in quantities so we can especially get it to the most vulnerable and those most in need of it.”

Before ending the interview, Varney wondered if pharmaceutical companies would be shielded from lawsuits.

“Under the PREP Act, which is a provision in Congress, any treatment or vaccine for purposes of a national emergency pandemic like this actually comes with liability protection,” Azar explained. “Both the product as well as those who administer it or provide it.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/hhs-se ... -lawsuits/

The three vaccines that Trump is pushing are Lysol, Clorox, and PineSol. There is an oral dose vaccine of Grape Kool-Aid for the Christian Evangelicals. :sarcasm:
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

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