Dr. Stuart Weiss: COVID-19 Update Monday 24-November-2020
| By Dr. Stuart Weiss, Intelligent Crowd Solutions – Rapid Test Center of NY s |  | ||
Rapid Test Center of New York
Dr. Stuart Weiss, FACEP, FAAP, CBCP
Nov 23, 2020
CoViD-19 News and Information you can trust.Welcome new readers from the Rapid Test Center.
Topics: Another new vaccine, Thanksgiving worries, Thanksgiving Day Parade
| New Vaccine Info Today, we got news about a third new vaccine that seems to be effective and safe. This is great news as we now enter the most challenging two-three months in the pandemic so far. Today, the drug maker AstraZeneca together with Oxford University announced that its vaccine is 70.4% effective in preventing CoViD-19. Earlier this month, we heard similar good news from Pfizer and Moderna.The trials of the AstraZeneca vaccine involved two different dose regimens. One achieved a 90% effective result and the other on 62% effective. This new vaccine seems to help reduce the spread of the virus and prevented severe cases or hospitalizations. The great news about this vaccine is its relatively simple storage requirements. As you may remember, I wrote about the Pfizer vaccine requiring -70 degree storage. The Moderna vaccine can stay in a regular refrigerator for up to a month and the AstraZeneca vaccine will require refrigeration but they haven’t told us yet exactly what that will be. Thanksgiving Worries Despite warnings from public health, we re on the move for Thanksgiving. The TSA reported that more than 3 million Americans passed through airport security checkpoints over the weekend. This is among the highest numbers since the pandemic began. Please pay attention when you gather for Thanksgiving. If you have families from different households coming together, make sure you socially distance them from each other. Keep at least 6 feet apart and wear face masks unless eating. Have different family units or kids home from college sit at different tables and don’t share food across different groups. If you are in a warm climate, eat outside. If you are not able to do that, open the windows if you can. Keep vulnerable folks separated. Perhaps this is not the year to bring elderly or high risk people to your place for dinner. IF you can, get kids coming home from school tested. In my family, all of us are getting tested to make sure we are safe. Social distancing, hand washing and face coverings will go a long way to keep the holiday safe for you and your family. Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade This year, we are assisting the folks at Macys events hold the annual parade. For 94 years, the parade on Thanksgiving morning has been a staple of American life. This year, we were asked to help them keep it CoViD safe. After being involved with some of the planning, I have to say that the folks at Macys are amazing. They will be bringing a spectacular parade together while being safe and socially distant. We are testing thousands of staff, volunteers, performers and crew and helping to implement protocols to keep everyone safe. It’s a huge job and we are so proud to be part of it. So get up and watch the parade on Thursday morning. Stay safe while you enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. Be well, Dr. Stu Weiss |
| COVID-19 HEADLINES FOR TODAY Coronavirus update for November 23, 2020 World Wide UpdatesCoronavirus pandemic hits a new peak in Turkey UK hopes to start vaccinating people next month AstraZeneca vaccine comes with advantage of easier storage, WHO chief scientist says England lockdown to end next week as planned, prime minister says Toronto begins a 4-week lockdown today The US has had 13 consecutive days of record-breaking current hospitalizations Mass testing in China as Hong Kong battles fourth wave Australian state of New South Wales reopens border with Victoria after 4 months Lockdown looms for Luxembourg after tiny nation reports 1,000 new cases Chile to allow foreign visitors to fly into Santiago after eight-month shutdown Qantas to require vaccinations for international flights AstraZeneca says its coronavirus vaccine candidate is 70% effective on average The Chinese city of Tianji found a handful of new cases Friday and is testing 2.6 million residents for the virus UNICEF organizing “mammoth operation” to deliver vaccines UK regulator will make decision on Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in “shortest time possible” France culls 1,000 mink after detecting coronavirus outbreak Chaotic scenes at Shanghai airport after workers test positive for Covid-19 Pakistan’s “second wave” of virus shutters schools Oxford scientist shares excitement over vaccine results Dance studio cluster drives spike in Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong Russia reports more than 25,000 new Covid-19 cases in a day for the first time AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine results are “incredibly exciting” Seoul declares “emergency period” with new restrictions as cases spike Indian state chief warns people to take precautions to avoid coronavirus “tsunami” Shanghai airport tests all cargo workers following coronavirus outbreak Japan reports more than 2,000 new Covid cases for fifth consecutive day UK PM Boris Johnson to announce expanded Covid-19 testing program New infections in Gaza spiraling out of control Russia suffers worst daily caseload increase Total Cases Worldwide: 59,431,341 Total Deaths Worldwide: 1,400,518 Total Recovered: 41,069,525 US Updates The US has recorded more than 3 million new Covid-19 infections in November Defense Department reviewing plans to distribute vaccines to key military and civilian personnel US stocks open and finish higher on growing optimism about vaccines Pennsylvania will suspend sale of alcohol at bars and restaurants on the night before Thanksgiving Regeneron monoclonal antibody therapy ready to go out to patients Tuesday, Azar says Fauci says he doesn’t agree with states separately reviewing Covid-19 vaccine data New York, New Jersey and Connecticut jointly surpass 1 million Covid-19 cases Oklahoma reports more than 3,000 new Covid-19 cases for the third day in a row Texas governor announces Covid-19 vaccine allocation process Atlanta airport expecting one-third fewer holiday passengers than 2019 NYC’s top health official says “small social gatherings” are a major source of Covid-19 33 states are showing upward trends in new Covid-19 cases Chuck Grassley expects to return to the Senate next week after testing positive for Covid-19 Pennsylvania could run out of ICU beds “within a week,” top state health official says New York City’s Covid-19 positivity rate is 2.95%, mayor says Air travel surges in the US ahead of Thanksgiving holiday despite CDC warning Two Kansas City Fire employees die of coronavirus, in “worst-case scenario” for first responders White House plans holiday party amid COVID pandemic Man wearing Trump gear seen deliberately exhaling on women outside President’s golf club is charged California governor tests negative after his children were exposed to the virus Nevada governor warns cases are spreading at “wildfire level,” announces new restrictions US reports more than 142,000 new Covid-19 cases Florida’s new cases per week have tripled since Gov. DeSantis reopened the state Regeneron CEO explains why Trump got antibody treatment Los Angeles County to shut down outdoor dining amid infection surge White House vaccine chief says first Americans could be vaccinated next month Republican Wisconsin congressman Byran Steil tests positive for COVID Mass COVID-19 vaccination gets a dry run in a Louisiana parking lot US vaccine train won’t be derailed, Warp Speed leader says New Jersey police chief says cops won’t enforce ‘draconian’ coronavirus-containment measures Florida bar shuts down two days after re-opening because of coronavirus Massachusetts man spat on hikers who weren’t wearing masks, said he had coronavirus, cops report Total US cases: 12,732,828 Total US deaths: 263,460 Total Recovered: 7,518,959 Total Tested in US: 179,385,222 Contact us |
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| The Doctor Stu YouTube channel is up and running but we haven’t added new videos in a little while. I’ll get back to that after the New Year. Go to www.DoctorStu.org to submit questions. DoctorStu YouTube channel |
