Coronavirus Tidbits #315, October 7, 2024

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Announcements:

First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I'm getting.

Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don't be shy about that.

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It's shocking to me that the election polls are so close.

Please help defeat the GOP and protect democracy.

Given what is going on with the Supremes and in the world, it's clearly more important than ever that we work to do this. There are so many ways you can help, from GOTV, to supporting various grassroot efforts, to phone banking, etc.

There are 3 groups I work with and recommend:

I strongly suggest checking out:

NOPE Neighbors https://nopeneighbors.org/

VoPro Pros: vopropros.com (A lot of people have been dropped from the poll books in PA, Ohio, NV, and other swing states. Much of the VoPro work calling people who don't know they have been dropped from the polls and helping them reregister. Also ballot curing--helping voters fix minor errors on their ballot.)

or Text to register Dems in swing states. Field Team 6: MISSION: Register Democrats. Save the World. https://www.fieldteam6.org/ Mostly textbanking.

Please share: Great explanation of BlueVoterGuide.org - How to build the blue wave in 2024! Helps people know more about the candidates and who to vote for.

also, Maryland is now important to get involved in. If Hogan wins the Senate race, he will work w the Right wing Republicans. He is not the "moderate" many believed him to be as governor.

This week's news is progressively scarier, with the TFG highlighting his vengeful, violent plans. We had the dockworkers strike, with their head being buddies with Trump. Surprisingly, they have backed down until January. And Bibi is escalating into Lebanon and made clear there will be no talk of a ceasefire. He and TFG are of the same ilk.

This is no time to sit out the election because you don't like Harris.

I've also texted with VoteRiders this week--and you can, too. They're focus is on helping voters get the ID that is needed for states with restrictive ID laws like Wisconsin, Ohio, and Georgia.

Want other suggestions? Prefer calling? Email me. Thanks.

Check your voter status--swing states (esp) have been busily dropping people from the roles!

In Ohio,, 155,000 people were removed from the voter registration rolls, most are voters of color. https://t.co/Cj837XPdH9

News

Mike Hoerger: COVID transmission remains extremely high, but we're entering a "lull" in the U.S. sooner than anticipated. Among all summer/fall waves, the 22% 1-week drop in transmission is steepest all-time. (see here for details).

The United States is coming down from a 9th Covid wave and will soon transition into a 10th. We are still #DuringCOVID. The peak will likely be around New Year's Eve, though some models suggest slightly later.

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JP Weiland: Oct 4th update: We're entering a relative lull for Fall. Infections were 72% higher in 2022 and 33% higher in 2023 and 2021 for the same week. No sign of slowdown in the decline.

Estimates: 430,000 new infections/day

1 in every 78 people currently infected

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Think of Covid if someone has GI symptoms...

"These days, when someone complains of nausea, diarrhea, or vomiting, “I always get a COVID test on that patient,”..."Despite its reputation as a respiratory virus, SARS-CoV-2 can also have a profound impact on the gut. Although most people don’t realize it, “COVID-19 really is a GI-tract disease” as well as a respiratory illness" Source: archive.md/WTtvv

"Half of London has this bug where they feel really nauseous and unwell for about a week, not hungry, weak and shivery. No cold. Negative for Covid." -- (but that is likely only on one RAT, which misses a lot, especially early on.)

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Mask Ban News:

KY Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced plans for police to begin enforcing Ordinance 130.01 to ban masks. People who wear masks can be fined up to $100 or imprisoned up to 50 days, or both.

The mayor's office noted the ordinance doesn't carve out an exemption for people wearing masks for medical reasons.

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2024/10/01/louisville-mask-ordinance-what-is-it-who-is-exempt-upcoming-changes/75468091007/

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Long Covid:

The study, which followed 5367 children, found that 20% of kids (ages 6-11) and 14% of teens met researchers' threshold for long COVID.

By some estimates, up to 5.8 million kids and teens have the disorder. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/long-covid-rates-kids-revised-upward-what-know-2024a1000hzi?form=fpf

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After the RECOVER-TLC Long Covid meeting at NIH last week:

Jeanne Marrazzo, NIAID Director made a very tone-deaf comment to STAT:

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Covid and Hearing:

SARS-CoV-2 can infect inner ear cells, specifically hair cells and Schwann cells, which are crucial for hearing and balance. Some COVID-19 patients developed hearing loss, tinnitus, and vertigo, suggesting a link between the virus and these symptoms. nih.gov/news-events/ni

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Avian Flu:

More than half of cats drinking raw milk at dairy farms w/H5N1 have died. Here's what their hemorrhagic brain looks like. Reports describe muscle atrophy, blindness, circling, copious nasal discharge, stiffness & brain cell necrosis in cats w/bird flu. -- @amymaxmen

Refs wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30 & sciencedirect.com/science/articl

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@amymaxmen

A reminder that 7 months into this outbreak, samples must be sent to the CDC because their H5N1 test has issues. kffhealthnews.org/news/article/b ...and apparently the agency's antibody assays do too.

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@amymaxmen

I've been reporting H5N1 for months & have gotten so used to hearing about potential, untested cases among farm workers that I hardly note it. I already wrote this: kffhealthnews.org/news/article/b This means we don't know how susceptible people are to H5 infections. That's a problem.

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@cbarbermd

WHAT A MESS. Bird flu: Human-to-human transmission?? Health officials in MO @HealthyLivingMo and @CDCgov didn't test 5 healthcare workers or a close contact of the MO patient with bird flu when those individuals had symptoms, bc the individuals had already recovered. So, the plan was to do serology testing to look for antibodies that would show evidence of prior infection. Those results were expected late last wk/early this wk. NOPE. SURPRISE. Now, we are being told that due to key changes in a protein on the outside of the virus, the CDC needs to develop a new serology test before they can do the testing.

@CDCgov had genetic sequence info on this virus a few weeks ago. It's not clear why they didn't figure this out earlier? Also, serology testing will not be done on any asympto contacts or family members of the MO patient, or of the one hcare worker who was symptomatic but tested neg by PCR, though I understand he was tested late(potentially a FN?) It's a blood test, why not test more broadly? So, it will now be mid-October before we know whether the 6 symptomatic individuals also had bird flu, which would likely mean that human-to-human transmission occurred (unless they all drank raw milk or had a similar exposure.) And we still have no idea(or at least have not been told) how the MO individual may have caught bird flu in the first place. It's been 6 weeks since the patient was first hospitalized--we still have so few answers from public health officials. We must do better. statnews.com/2024/10/02/mis

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LA Times: H5N1 in 56 dairy farms in California (reportedly Tulare and Fresno), with 50-60% of cows showing clinical signs, 10-15% dying, and barn cats dying after drinking contaminated raw milk.

at one dairy, cows were shedding virus 14 days before they showed clinical signs of illness. It then took another three weeks for the cows to get rid of the virus.

Cows are also not returning to 100% production after they’ve cleared the virus, said Beal. Instead, he and others say it’s closer to 60%-70%.

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-10-04/bird-flu-deaths-increasing-among-california-dairy-cows

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@KrutikaKuppalli

#California is actively testing for #H5N1 #BirdFlu and found three unrelated human cases Imagine how many other cases in humans there have been in other states we don’t know about.

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Pertussis:

In Galicia, vaccination coverage against whooping cough is 95% in children under 2 years of age, which is a very high level of protection. However, in the whole country, cases of whooping cough have increased by 674% this year.

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Pertussis also in elementary school in Frostburg--1 confirmed, 3 suspected cases

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Marburg virus:

@CDCgov issues Health Advisory for the #Marburg outbreak in #Rwanda: - 36 cases, 11 deaths (CFR 31%) - 19 cases in health workers - 300 people under monitoring Recommendations: - Post-arrival symptom monitoring by health departments - 21-day work exclusion in US health facilities for those returning from Rwanda's health settings emergency.cdc.gov/han/2024/pdf/c

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10/6 Now up to 49 confirmed cases and 12 deaths. Doses of an experimental #Marburg vaccine — designed at the @NIH's Vaccine Research Center & being developed by@sabinvaccine— arrived in Rwanda on Saturday where a clinical trial will soon get underway. -- Helen Branswell. Frontline providers are being vaccinated today.

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HIV:

Gilead agrees to make ‘Gamechanger’ HIV prevention drug available cheaply in 120 countries! A twice year injection that showed 100% success in protecting against HIV infection!

campaigners said the deal “abandons” many countries with a high HIV burden, particularly in Latin America, and urged transparency over exact pricing.

it is sold for $42,250 a year under the name Sunlenca in the US. Researchers say it could be profitably produced for just $40 (£30) a patient, a year.

Gilead is largely abandoning upper middle-income countries, where new infections are highest, with nearly all of Latin America left out,”

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/oct/03/gamechanger-hiv-prevention-drug-to-be-made-available-cheaply-in-120-countries

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Chlorine gas:

A shelter-in-place order for all of Rockdale County has been extended indefinitely, authorities announced Monday morning. Environmental officials are investigating a fire at BioLab, a chemical facility in Conyers, that sent a colossal wall of smoke that billowed into the air Sunday afternoon and led to the evacuation order of about 17,000 people and several road closures, including I-20, which remain closed Monday. ajc.com/news/atlanta-n via @ajc

BioLabs has had problems repeatedly...

Diagnostics:

still an incredible, negligent last of testing.

Drugs:

Devices:

Epidemiology/Infection control:

Tips, general reading for public:

Ventilate

Vaccinate

Mask

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Paypal

PayPal is updating their ToS to let themselves give your data to merchants starting Nov & they're banking on people not knowing to opt out, SO to opt out before they start: go to Settings >Data & Privacy > Manage shared info >Personalized shopping, & toggle that shit off -- @EllenDatlow

Politics:

Covid:

Stanford host Covid conference with "fringe" Covid-deniers.

https://stanforddaily.com/2024/10/03/from-the-community-levin-academic-freedom/

Some of Our Top Schools Are Embarrassing Themselves Over Covid “Why are places like Stanford and Johns Hopkins hosting gatherings of well-known coronavirus cranks” By Gregg Gonsalves for ⁦@thenation https://www.thenation.com/article/society/stanford-covid-symposium-misinformation/

Abortion:

A state court struck down Georgia's six-week abortion ban, allowing clinics to resume essential care in the state. This is a victory for our right to abortion. - @aclu

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Judge McBurney in Georgia overturning the abortion ban and allowing the procedure to continue has some REMARKABLE quotes.

"Women are not some piece of collectively owned community property the disposition of which is decided by majority vote. Forcing a woman to carry an unwanted, not-yet-viable fetus to term violates her constitutional rights to liberty and privacy, even taking into consideration

"For these women, the liberty of privacy means that they alone should choose whether they serve as human incubators for the five months leading up to viability. It is not for a legislator, a judge, or a Commander from The Handmaid’s Tale to tell these women what to do with their bodies during this period when the fetus cannot survive outside the womb any more so than society could -- or should -- force them to serve as a human tissue bank or to give up a kidney for the benefit of another."

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@TexasTribune

Doctors are boycotting conferences in Texas due to abortion restrictions. A breast cancer surgeon has established a California alternative to a major Texas event, while other medical conferences have relocated.

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GOP/TFG

Hurricane: TFG accuses Biden of misdirecting FEMA $$ to illegal immigrants. WaPo Fact Checker: "No, Biden didn’t take FEMA relief money to use on migrants — but Trump did."

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In 2019, Donald Trump was fined $2 million- and three of his children ordered to take training classes - as their penalty for misappropriating funds from charities they ran for their own use. twitter.com/meridithmcgraw

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on Iran:

@Acyn

Reporter: Do you believe you should’ve been tougher on Iran after they had launched ballistic missiles in 2020 on US forces leaving more than 100 soldiers injured? Trump: What does injured mean? You mean because they had a headache.. no one was tougher on Iraq.

34 troops diagnosed with brain injuries days after Trump dismissed them as ‘headaches’ Trump said he does not consider potential brain injuries to be as serious as physical combat wounds

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Jan 6: Liz Cheney: "Donald Trump was handed a note informing him that a civilian had been shot at the door to the chamber of the house of representatives. Donald Trump put the note down on the table in front of him, continued to watch the attack on television."

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JD Vance video by MSNBC & Rachel Maddow. JD Vance wants to shut down American universities & business using extra constitutional powers. He wants to rip them out like a tumor and install political religion. Vance is following the plans of right-wing blogger Curtis Yarvin who suggests deleting the entire Federal Government and replace it with a dictator | CEO. (Trump, Musk) Maddow has the receipts and video. https://twitter.com/i/status/1840934133658169590

More at https://x.com/cborkowski/status/1840934135478587482 and https://x.com/cborkowski/status/1840956705753973034 on Maddow's lead-in and historical notes on the JD Vance / Curtis Yarvin plan

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@TheRealThelmaJ1

I love how J.D. Vance always links his mother's addiction with the border. She stole drugs from the hospital, J.D. They came from the drug factory in a box that said Purdue Pharmaceuticals on the side.

Not only did JD Vance’s mother steal drugs, she would then sell them to the local drug addicts. She was literally the same thing JD Vance complains about people coming across the border doing.

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“In honor of JD Vance & Usha Vance. YLS Class of 2013 stands against scapegoating & demagoguery drawn straight from the playbooks of fascism. With love & a prayer that JD and Usha find the moral strength to reverse the course of their lives.”

JD Vance's Yale Law Classmates Donate >$10,000 To Undo His Damage To The Springfield, Ohio, Haitian Community

https://abovethelaw.com/2024/10/jd-vances-yale-law-classmates-donate-money-to-undo-his-damage-to-the-springfield-ohio-haitian-community/

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Elon: Super important to get all your friends and family to register to vote.

@mayemusk (his mother)

"The Democrats have given us another option. You don’t have to register to vote. On Election Day, have 10 fake names, go to 10 polling booths and vote 10 times. That’s 100 votes, and it’s not illegal. Maybe we should work the system too."

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Oklahoma: Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles

"Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material."

Only 2 seem to fit these criteria, both coincidentally endorsed by Trump: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible ($60) and the We The People Bible ($90)

https://oklahomawatch.org/2024/10/03/state-education-department-seeks-bids-for-55000-classroom-bibles/

Just to underscore the audaciousness of this grift - the “Trump Bible” is 20 TIMES more expensive than other bibles available online AND Oklahoma is requesting 55,000 bibles, which is nearly 30 percent more than the number of classroom teachers in the state

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A tiny town in North Carolina that’s just been devastated by hurricane Helene could end up severely disrupting the global supply chain for microchips and solar panels.

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Taxes

Kamala Harris released 20 years of tax returns. Tim Walz released 15 years of tax returns. J.D Vance and Trump haven't released any.

In 2016, Donald Trump paid $750 in taxes.

In 2017, Donald Trump paid $750 in taxes.

In 2024, Mark Cuban paid $288,000,000 million dollars in taxes.

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Hurricane Helene

Rep Gerry Connolly:

"we passed a bill...that included $18.8 billion for FEMA's hurricane response. Every Florida Republican voted "No."

https://twitter.com/Ronxyz00/status/1842287669755457814

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Helene: and election impact:

Major NC USPS alert. All retail and delivery mail services are suspended in zip codes beginning in 286, 287, 288, 289, and also 39 other listed post offices. Besides the human tragedy, for election officials who could not place 190,000 absentee ballots in the mail until Sept 24 because of an 18-day delay ordered by a vote of the State Supreme Court, this is also a major potential threat to voting, especially since the 2023 legislative session ended the 3-day grace period. @gercohen

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@QasimRashid

MAGAs condemning FEMA for running out of funds this Hurricane season should know: 1. This has happened now two years in a row 2. GOP led House controls FEMA spending & budgeting FEMA is short on funds because House MAGAs don't believe in climate change & don't know how to budget

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Alabama:

Really significant. Alabama challenged more than 3,200 people to prove their citizenship to vote and placed them into inactive status. DOJ (which is suing) says at least 717 so far have turned out to actually be citizens. That's an error rate of more than 22% from Alabama. @srl

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Colorado:

A new Colorado law goes into effect 10/1. It requires Catholic hospitals to be open and honest about what procedures they WON'T perform due to faith (including abortions, tubal ligations, vasectomies, and more). https://t.co/AbXsEP3PXT

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County Clerk and election denier Tina Peters allowed MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to use her security card to breach Dominion voting machines in the 2020 election. The judge just sentenced her to 9 years in prison after dragging her for FILTH. “You are one of the most privileged people to ever sit in that chair. You are a charlatan and you’re going to prison.”

Worth a watch/listen to the judge: https://x.com/i/status/1841933359942930499

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Florida:

Cherokee Trail of Tears was caused by "prejudices on both sides." Ask your sixth grader. His Florida social studies textbook tells him so. - @marvindunn4

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Georgia:

The same judge in Georgia who struck down the state’s republican 6-week abortion ban has now ruled today (10/1) that the Georgia Election Board MUST certify the result of November’s election.

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Nevada:

Former MAGA candidate for Gov of NV Michele Fiore was just convicted of embezzling money from a charity to honor a fallen police officer to use it on her plastic surgery and daughter’s wedding.

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Tennessee:

@tobymorton

It seems fascist @MarshaBlackburnfailed to secure her campaign domain SenatorBlackburn2024.com so I bought it and built her new accurate website. Take a look!

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Texas:

“When the federal government’s pandemic-era protections ended last year, Texas moved swiftly, kicking off more people faster from Medicaid than any other state… Nearly 1.4 million people who lost coverage were disenrolled for reasons like failing to return a form.” [ProPublica] (via Ruth Ann Crystal)

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Telehealth:

Do you use telehealth? Does somhttps://t.co/DbCHHVFoL0eone you care about? This is your weekly reminder that Americans are on course to lose telehealth access at the end of this year. There are 3 bills in the House & 1 in the Senate to extend, but they haven't budged. *Call your MoCs* & urge them to push forward bills HR 8261, HR 7623, HR 4189 & S 2016. - link https://t.co/DbCHHVFoL0%MCEPASTEBIN%

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Afghanistan:

Top EU court rules gender, nationality enough for Afghan women to be granted asylum reut.rs/4gToR4k

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Finland

Being able to identify hoaxes, avoid scams and debunk propaganda is a civic skill required in today's information society. That's why the curriculum of students in Finland includes media literacy lessons, aimed at safeguarding a precious resource: the truth. Correspondent Chris Livesay reports. cbsnews.com/video/in-finla

Feel good du jour:

The first salmon in more than a century has been spotted swimming in waters long blocked by the Klamath River dams. The return of the fish is seen as an early success for the dam-removal project...

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Some centuries, it's really hard to get out of bed. (Abbey of Sainte Foy, circa 1050).⁠ pic.twitter.com/h7yTynzHay
— The Museum of Curiosities (@CuriosMuseum) September 29, 2024

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My cousin found this and I think it’s the most delightful thing I’ve seen all week. pic.twitter.com/Mcv94vGkgw
— Kate Rietema (@KateRietema) September 29, 2024

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"I found a considerable lack of work after doing concerts for Palestinian children.. if that's the way it has to be, that's the way it has to be. If you support human rights, you gotta support them everywhere." - Kris Kristofferson

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Lovely video of Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand: Evergreen

https://x.com/BarbraStreisand/status/1840841426738823183