Dr. Stuart Weiss: COVID-19 Update Monday 7-December-2020
By Dr. Stuart Weiss, Intelligent Crowd Solutions
Rapid Test Center of New York
Dr. Stuart Weiss, FACEP, FAAP, CBCP
December 7, 2020
CoViD-19 News and Information you can trust.Welcome new readers from the Rapid Test Center.
Topics: Where are we now? What’s up with HPAI H5N8?
| Where are we now? Our trend is getting worse as we enter the second week after Thanksgiving holiday gatherings. The worst will probably occur next week and bump right against the Christmas holiday season. Last week, the rolling 7 day average, which is a better marker for our trend than daily death rate because of daily fluctuations, hit its highest mark since the pandemic started. There were 2,249 deaths in the last week. The previous high was 2,232 set back in April. We are approaching 300,000 CoVid-19 related deaths. That number is enormous and is equal to almost half of all of the combat casualties we have ever had in any war we have fought since the war of independence started in 1775 (wikipedia article listes total US combat casualties for all wars = 666,441 since 1775). We are up to 200,000 cases per day which is an increase of 15% from two weeks ago. As numbers keep rising, hospitalizations keep rising. Since Dec 2nd, we have had over 100,000 CoViD-19 patients in hospitals across the US. As opposed to early on in the pandemic where the virus spread in urban environments, it is spreading most aggressively in midwest and mountain states. As per the NY Times, states with the highest number of cases per capita include: RI, UT, MT, IN, MN, ND, NE, WY, CO, SD, NM, KS, AK, NV and KY. The Governors of California and New York have announced aggressive new plans for shutting down some parts of their states based on hospitalization and ICU use. On the vaccine front, we are still waiting for FDA approval of our first two vaccines. One is made by Pfizer and one by Moderna. Overall, there are 41 vaccines in Phase 1 trials, 17 in phase two trials, 13 in large-scale phase 3 trials and none approved yet. In other vaccine news, it was reported today that the Trump administration turned down an offer from Pfizer to buy more vaccine. The US Government has a contract for 100 million doses, enough to vaccinate 50 million people. Pfizer had offered the US the opportunity to purchase more but our government turned down the offer. For reference, the European Union purchased 200 million doses with an option for 100 million more doses. Tomorrow, Britain will start a mass vaccination drive using the Pfizer vaccine making it the first Western nation to do so. What is up with HPAI H5N8? While we are all focused on coronavirus as the pandemic agent de jeur, I and many of my pandemic planning colleagues had previously been focused on Influenza virus as the most probable culprit causing a pandemic. We always were worried about a Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) getting into pigs and once there, mixing genes with human influenza and creating a human pandemic. This happens because pigs can catch both avian and human influenza viruses and influenza virus is good at shuffling its genetic material to make new versions of itself. So we watch HPAI viruses and there is one that has been popping up in birds for a while. It is an H5N8 virus and it newly popped up in Ukraine. According to the Univ of MN, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy News and Perspective (whose director, by the way, is on the Biden-Harris CoViD advisory panel), Ukraine joins Israel, South Korea and Japan in reporting H5 influenza in poultry. We will be keeping on eye on the H5N8 virus. For the moment, keep using good public health practices and keep your distance. The person next to you probably isn’t getting vaccinated anytime soon. Stay safe, we will all get through this together. Be well, Dr. Stu Weiss |
| COVID-19 HEADLINES FOR TODAY |
| Coronavirus update for December 7, 2020 World Wide Updates Canada orders 40 million doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine Greece will extend coronavirus restrictions through Christmas Denmark announces partial shutdown after surge in cases Restrictions eased in Italy’s last remaining “Red Zone” British Army may transport vaccine from Belgium to UK, minister says China’s experimental Covid-19 vaccines have arrived in Indonesia UK prepares to give first Covid-19 vaccinations as the world watches Bavaria records rise in Covid-19 infections Japan’s Self-Defense Forces to help with care of Covid-19 patients South Korean military and police called in to help contact trace Man who broke quarantine in Taiwan for 8 seconds fined $3,500 Bolsonaro to offer free Coviid-19 vaccine to all Brazilians France unlikely to end lockdown as planned on December 15 Italian government minister test positive Total Cases Worldwide: 67,847,826Total Deaths Worldwide: 1,548,542Total Recovered: 46,931,237 US Updates South Dakota resident says nearby facilities were so full, she was sent out-of-state for Covid-19 treatment 55 inmates in single unit at Brooklyn jail have COVID-19, as feds struggle to separate the sick from the healthy Former FDA commissioner says he “will not eat indoors in a restaurant” during the pandemic Fauci wants Biden administration to focus on “efficient and equitable” distribution of Covid-19 vaccines DC suspends organized sports for high school-aged athletes Covid-19 deaths in Minnesota top 4,000 Trump says Giuliani is “doing very well” following Covid-19 diagnosis FAA will evaluate coronavirus vaccine for pilots People who have tested positive for Covid-19 should still get the vaccine, doctor says New York governor orders hospitals to increase capacity by 25% Furloughed worker on stimulus relief negotiations: “Quit playing politics with people’s lives” This surge is different because “it’s really about health care capacity,” Surgeon General says New York City middle schoolers may be able to return to in-person learning as soon as January More than 14.7 million confirmed cases and more than 282,300 deaths in US since pandemic began The US averaged 196,233 new cases over the last week as of Sunday New Jersey reported 6,046 Sunday, topping the previous all-time high recorded Friday, Gov. Phil Murphy says California records more than 30,000 cases on Sunday, a new record high Trump’s pandemic blindness and election denial darkens America’s desperate winter Navajo Nation implements 3-week lockdown as ICUs near capacity Trump campaign says Giuliani tested negative for Covid-19 before trip to three states last week New Covid-19 stay-at-home orders set to take effect for nearly 33 million Californians Colorado governor’s husband hospitalized with worsening COVID-19 symptoms Congress races to hammer out $908 billion COVID stimulus package as shutdown deadline looms New hospital metrics could mean the end of NYC indoor dining soon, Cuomo says Total US cases: 15,319,880 Total US deaths: 290,153 Total Recovered: 8,948,830 Total Tested in US: 204,063,869 Total cases in CA: 1,381,522 Total deaths in CA: 19,972 Total cases in TX: 1,352,230 Total deaths in TX: 22,252 Total cases in FL: 1,065,785 Total deaths in FL: 19,282 Total cases in IL: 796,264 Total deaths in IL: 14,216 Total cases in NY: 750,650 Total deaths in NY: 35,082 |
| YouTube Channel |
| 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. |
