As the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States approaches, two of the country’s three most populous states — California and Florida — are seeing two very different epidemiological curves. Hard-lockdown California is — perhaps counterintuitively — recording significantly higher new case numbers and hospitalizations compared to the more open, less restricted state of Florida.
Florida as of this week has recorded a little over 1.5 million positive test results of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, while California has registered nearly 3 million.Per CDC figures, the two states are roughly equal in their population-adjusted case numbers per 100,000 residents, with California at around 7,300 and Florida at a little over 7,000.
A study of almost a dozen North Carolina school districts found an “extremely limited” rate of coronavirus transmission and no transmission from children to adults.
The study, conducted over a nine-week period, tracked 100,000 people across 11 school districts and found that only 32 coronavirus cases were acquired at school, and none of those instances involved child-to-adult transmission, according to ABC 11 News Raleigh-Durham.
A study in Scotland published in September came to a similar conclusion and suggested that individuals who spent significant amounts of time around children were less likely to contract the coronavirus.
Early trial studies have shown the antibody drugs decrease the viral load in patients, shortens symptoms and, most importantly, keeps people out of the hospital, Woodcock said.
However, some medical experts are concerned that there’s not enough evidence the drugs work. The Infectious Diseases Society of America has recommended against routine use of Eli Lilly’s treatment, citing a lack of data. And the National Institutes of Health, citing “insufficient data,” said the drug “should not be considered the standard of care.”
The Food and Drug Administration in November issued emergency authorizations for antibody drugs from Eli Lilly and Regeneron. The latter’s drug was given to President Donald Trump, who said it made him feel better “immediately” when he was hospitalized with the coronavirus in October.
— if distancing / masking worked, it would have stopped it the first time.
“Currently, there is no known difference in clinical outcomes associated with the described SARS-CoV-2 variants; however, a higher rate of transmission will lead to more cases, increasing the number of persons overall who need clinical care … and resulting in more deaths,” the CDC said.
Stepping up social distancing efforts would buy the U.S. the necessary time to boost lagging vaccination rates, the best possible chance at preventing steep transmission increases, the agency said. Scientists maintain that vaccines currently in distribution across the U.S. will offer people the same protection against this new strain as they do the current dominant strain. Still, the federal government will have to ramp up production and boost the very limited supply of available doses.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot says Chicago restaurants and bars need to be allowed to reopen “as quickly as possible” to cut down on instances of private parties where people don’t take proper precautions against COVID-19. https://t.co/EC4Df2tFs7— CBS Chicago (@cbschicago) January 14, 2021
Mayor Lori Lightfoot says Chicago restaurants and bars need to be allowed to reopen “as quickly as possible” to cut down on instances of private parties where people don’t take proper precautions against COVID-19. https://t.co/EC4Df2tFs7
A group of restaurants won a lawsuit Wednesday challenging New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s coronavirus restrictions, meaning they will be allowed to open for business.
The restaurants argued that the governor’s restrictions prohibiting them from offering indoor dining were arbitrary and not based on evidence related to the coronavirus. Judge Henry J. Nowak agreed, writing in his decision that the state Department of Health (DOH) used unreliable contract tracing data to determine which areas were put under various restrictions
A new peer-reviewed study from the American Academy of Pediatrics found that in-school transmission of COVID-19 is “extremely rare.”
In a collaborative study between Duke University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, researchers discovered that among 11 school districts with nearly 100,000 staff and students, there were no instances of children passing the coronavirus to adults during in-person instruction. Researchers found just 32 cases of either kid-to-kid or adult-to-adult coronavirus transmission over nine weeks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says to stem the spread of COVID-19, all Americans should wear a mask.
The New York Times says if one mask works, maybe two will be twice as nice.
“Football coaches do it. President-elects do it. Even science-savvy senators do it.
“Dr. Marr recommended wearing face-hugging cloth masks over surgical masks, which tend to be made with more filter-friendly materials but fit more loosely. An alternative is to wear a cloth mask with a pocket that can be stuffed with filter material, like the kind found in vacuum bags. But wearing more than two masks, or layering up on masks that are already very good at filtering, will quickly bring diminishing returns and make it much harder to breathe normally,” the paper writes.
The United States Supreme Court has ordered the governor of Nevada to respond to a lawsuit from a church alleging that the state’s restrictions on in-person worship services violate their constitutional rights.
According to the court’s order, one of many handed down on Monday, “The respondents are directed to file a response to the petition on or before noon, Tuesday, January 19, 2021. Petitioner may file a reply brief on or before noon, Thursday January 21, 2021.”
We simply cannot stay closed until the vaccine hits critical mass. The cost is too high. We will have nothing left to open. We must reopen the economy, but we must do it smartly and safely.#SOTS2021
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California health authorities reported Saturday a record one-day total of 695 coronavirus deaths as many hospitals strain under unprecedented caseloads.
On Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health announced new “guidance” for people in California who have the nerve to want to wander around their free country. CDPH wants Californians to stay within 120 miles of their residences except for “essential” travel.
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention refuted reports of a new strain of coronavirus in the U.S. based on what they said was speculation from White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Deborah Birx.
Reports of a highly contagious new variant in the United States, published on Friday by multiple news outlets, are based on speculative statements made by Dr. Deborah Birx and are inaccurate, according to several government officials.
The erroneous report originated at a recent meeting where Dr. Birx, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, presented graphs of the escalating cases in the country. She suggested to other members of the task force that a new, more transmissible variant originating in the U.S. might explain the surge, as another variant did in Britain.
Her hypothesis made it into a weekly report sent to state governors. “This fall/winter surge has been at nearly twice the rate of rise of cases as the spring and summer surges. This acceleration suggests there may be a USA variant that has evolved here, in addition to the UK variant that is already spreading in our communities and may be 50% more transmissible,” the report read. “Aggressive mitigation must be used to match a more aggressive virus.”
Dismayed, officials at the C.D.C. tried to have the speculative statements removed, but were unsuccessful, according to three people familiar with the events.
C.D.C. officials did not agree with her assessment and asked to remove it but were told no, according to one frustrated C.D.C. official, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Dr. Birx could not immediately be reached for comment.
In the week ended Jan. 3, more than 18,400 people died from COVID-19, bringing the pandemic’s total to over 351,000 deaths, or one in every 930 U.S. residents, according to a Reuters analysis of state and county reports.
New York Magazine just became the first of the corporate media to acknowledge that the COVID-19 virus, which plagued the world for most of 2020, may have originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
“You are limited ultimately to your hospital capacity,” he said, noting that no region, currently, has less than 30 percent capacity. When any region gets within “striking distance” of 15 percent, it is “going to be a red zone, closed down for that region,” the New York governor said.
Assembly Bill A416, introduced by Democrat New York State Assemblyman N. Nick Perry would give Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) the authority to remove or detain someone deemed a threat to the public health amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic – even if they are symptom-free – the Christian Broadcast Network (CBN) reports:
“Assembly Bill A416 states that a questionable individual or group of people ‘shall be detained in a medical facility or other appropriate facility or premises designated by the governor.’
As coronavirus cases surge nationwide, the flu has seen a remarkable dip. Reported cases of influenza reached record lows last week, with fewer than 40 diagnoses recorded during Dec. 13-19.
States throughout the U.S. are failing to distinguish between patients hospitalized because of COVID-19 and patients who merely test positive for the disease while being hospitalized for other reasons.
There’s no way 350K deaths were from chinavirus, logically literally or medically, this is not possible. Putting .2% in question. This means about half or more is fraud because of federal payments encouraging diagnosis of chinavirus ‘fatalities’. More than half of 350K are nursing home patients. Or those already dying.
Of course now she is hiding her account because shes a hypocrote POS democrat opposing science and protesting school opening so she does not have to go to work.
In a post on Instagram — on an account that has now been made private — Chambers wrote, “Spending the last day of 2020 by the poolside. We have the whole pool to ourselves. Then, we are going to old San Juan to get some yummy seafood mofongo.”
On Twitter, Chambers identified herself as a “socialist.”
Sarah Chambers, who WGN said is on the union’s executive board and an area vice president and claimed she “led four strikes,” is opposed to schools returning to in-person learning on Monday. Chambers made several posts on Twitter this week attacking the plan.
“I got 4 covid tests (2 rapid, 2 PCR) b4 coming here & wore 2 masks (N95). Scientists said airplanes are safer than grocery stores bc airplanes have ICU level filtration & everyone wears masks,” she wrote.
U.S. Middle District Judge Christopher Conner ruled his court cannot intervene in the absence of a civil rights violation which the Hershey Independent Restaurant Association and the owners of the Fenicci’s of Hershey and The River House Bar & Grill failed to demonstrate in their legal action.
SANDRA SMITH: A prominent doctor in California says he was fired after questioning stay at home orders in Contra Costa County. He said the lockdowns did more harm than good and caused needless suffering. Pointing out in a letter to county officials: “The science is clear that more lockdowns will lead to much more non-COVID morbidity and mortality.” Dr. Deboisblanc was removed from his post as trauma medical director for John Muir Health.
DR. MICHAEL DEBOISBLANC: It’s been a crazy week or so. A group of parents that we were working with the county tried to go back and forth with the county to try to get our kids back in school. The county was really not responding to any of their requests and they approached us and said, “Hey, would you mind writing a letter to the county to maybe express some of these issues?” All the data that I am aware of, looking at children and the virus, shows that it’s safe. There are many other states now that have months of track records showing that it’s safe for their kids to go back to school. And the state of California and the county is just not making that possible.
[…]
SMITH: Did they give you an explanation for that firing?
DR. DEBOISBLANC: It was clearly related to the letter. It was in a week of doing that. No, they have not put that down in writing. This isn’t really about me and John Muir. That’s a great hospital, they are doing amazing things. The doctors and nurses there taking care of COVID patients are risking their health every day. They just got the first round of the vaccine. And let me tell you, it’s a big relief for them.
White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx announced Tuesday she plans to retire after it was revealed Sunday she defied her own COVID travel guidelines over Thanksgiving.
“When counties DID have a mandate in effect, there were 667,239 cases over 3,137 days with an average of 23 cases per 100,000 per day. When counties DID NOT have a countywide order, there were 438,687 cases over 12,139 days with an average of 22 cases per 100,000 per day.”
“When states DID have a mandate in effect, there were 9,605,256 cases over 5,907 total days and averaged 27 cases per 100,000 per day. When states DID NOT have a statewide order there were 5,781,716 cases over 5,772 total days averaging 17 cases per 100,000 people per day.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) explained over the weekend why she received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine before more vulnerable populations, attributing it to a national security policy that aims to “ensure the continuity of governance during national emergencies.”
“California broke its statewide records for both coronavirus cases reported and deaths reported in a single day on Wednesday,” The Hillreports. “The state reported 51,724 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, breaking the previous record of 42,088 cases, which was just set on Monday, according to a Los Angeles Times tally.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — As COVID-19 cases skyrocketed before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, warned Americans to “be vigilant” and limit celebrations to “your immediate household.”
The day after Thanksgiving, she traveled to one of her vacation properties on Fenwick Island in Delaware. She was accompanied by three generations of her family from two households. Birx, her husband Paige Reffe, a daughter, son-in-law and two young grandchildren were present.
It appears that an excessive number of deaths for the year is not likely. To reach the level of total deaths in any year since 2017, the United States would need to experience between 8,395 to 10,579 deaths per day every day beginning on December 13th. This would be quite a feat given the fact that the case and infection fatality rates for COVID-19 have fallen significantly since the early pandemic with improved treatment.
Nearly one-third of Michigan’s approximately 5,600 restaurant operators believe they likely will be out of business within the next six months, according to research data. Two-thirds of the state’s approximately 850 hotels reported they can remain open for only six months more at the current revenue rate without additional relief.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court granted a temporary injunction to a Colorado church that was fighting Governor Jared Polis’s restrictions on capacity.
All of this explains how we got to the place where United Airlines could throw a 2-year-old girl off an airplane while presumably half the passengers supported her eviction and the other half was cowed into silence.
Speaking to Chris Cuomo, Fauci was asked if the masks could come off, to which he replied “Well, the answer is not unless you get the overwhelming majority of the country vaccinated and protected and get that umbrella of what we call herd immunity.”
California Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said in a video announcement on Wednesday that the lockdown rules in the state preventing outdoor dining are not a tool for safety, but rather a tactic to “keep people at home.”
A vast majority of Americans remain “confident” they are protecting themselves from the Chinese coronavirus by wearing masks, a Gallup survey found. The findings precede a Danish study that cast doubt on the efficacy of surgical masks and comes as experts emphasize the importance of social distancing.
A total of 3030 participants were randomly assigned to the recommendation to wear masks, and 2994 were assigned to control; 4862 completed the study. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 occurred in 42 participants recommended masks (1.8%) and 53 control participants (2.1%). The between-group difference was −0.3 percentage point (95% CI, −1.2 to 0.4 percentage point; P = 0.38) (odds ratio, 0.82 [CI, 0.54 to 1.23]; P = 0.33). Multiple imputation accounting for loss to follow-up yielded similar results. Although the difference observed was not statistically significant, the 95% CIs are compatible with a 46% reduction to a 23% increase in infection.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the emergency use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Friday as a second surging of the coronavirus continues to batter a pandemic-weary nation.
The approval clears the way for the first wave of American recipients — millions of health workers and nursing home residents — to begin getting shots very soon.
“The first vaccine will be administered in less than 24 hours,” Trump said Friday night at 9:30 p.m.
New weekly jobless claims jumped 137,000 to 853,000 in the week that ended December 5, the Department of Labor said Thursday. That is far worse than expected.
Across America and Europe, many government officials are resuming lockdowns and tightening restrictions in the face of rising COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
The collateral damage of lockdowns, which has been well documented, includes widespread poverty, depression, bankruptcy, and unemployment. Meanwhile, the benefits of lockdowns remain murky.
Several studies show there is little correlation between government restrictions and lower COVID mortality rates. Here are three of them.
Recent research concluded that if an infected person sneezes three feet away, the subsequent “vortex rings” will carry infectious particles to the face shield and stick to the edge of the plastic in approximately half a second. And if it just so happens that the person wearing the shield breathes in simultaneously, the wearer has a decent chance of becoming infected.
Governor Roy Cooper and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen today announced that North Carolina will begin a Modified Stay at Home Order after a rapid increase in North Carolina’s key COVID-19 trends. The Order requires people to stay at home between 10 pm and 5 am and takes effect Friday, December 11 and will be in place until at least January 8, 2021.
American Constitutional Rights Union (ACRU) president Lori Roman told The Kyle Olson Show this week it is time to stand up to the “crisis tyrants” using the coronavirus to impose restrictive orders that violate constitutional rights.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) last week refused to definitively say whether he would require Arizonans to get a vaccine for the Chinese coronavirus once it is ready and available, explaining that he wants to see “the maximum level of compliance.”
According to this graph constructed using data provided by the CDC from the last 6 years, total deaths have remained relatively constant and increases can be explained by various factors such as a larger population. The spikes in deaths in 2020 are consistent with historical trends, only topping 2018 by 11,292 deaths. There have been over 262,000 deaths attributed to Covid-19 in the United States, yet total deaths have not increased in any alarming capacity; they have only mirrored existing trends. In short, according to 6 years of data collected by the CDC, Covid-19 has not led to any significant increase in deaths.
I blocked the Health Dept. from collecting, cashing or depositing COVID fines. Charter gives me this authority. All fines come to my office. I set up a flexible payment plan. Fine of $1,000 or less: 20-years to pay. More than $15,000 fine:100-years to pay. https://t.co/aKsSKDv2rYpic.twitter.com/PXnwMTOhl7
I blocked the Health Dept. from collecting, cashing or depositing COVID fines. Charter gives me this authority. All fines come to my office. I set up a flexible payment plan. Fine of $1,000 or less: 20-years to pay. More than $15,000 fine:100-years to pay.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has repeatedly said the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in the U.S. on Jan. 19, 2020.
Now, the CDC is amending that timeline.
A new study shows testing found COVID-19 infections in the U.S. in mid-December 2019. The study, which was published Monday, identified 106 infections from 7,389 blood samples collected from donors in nine U.S. states between Dec. 13 and Jan. 17. The samples, collected by the American Red Cross, were sent to the CDC for testing, which showed antibodies in 39 samples from California, Oregon, and Washington state collected between Dec. 13-16.
Joe and Rosalie Vicari, the owners of the Andiamo chain and Joe Muer Seafood restaurants, wrote in a letter urging other restaurant owners to band together and fight back against the ban, Detroit Free Press reported.
“Our industry cannot survive another extended closure,” the letter reads. “Thousands of restaurants and tens of thousands of our employees can not survive it either. We need to band together and FIGHT BACK but we need to do this as a United Group of Michigan Restaurant Owners.”
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 23: Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, looks on before testifying at a Senate Health, Education, and Labor and Pensions Committee on Capitol Hill, on September 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. Dr. Fauci addressed the testing of COVID-19 vaccines and if they will be ready by the end of the year or early 2021. (Photo by Graeme Jennings- Pool/Getty Images)
No, he owes one to every single parent and school-age child in America. https://t.co/bOieJhtuqJ
Lockdown zealot Dr. Anthony Fauci was slammed this week for finally admitting that schools should have been open despite coronavirus restrictions, with critics charging that children have been subjected to eight months of hell for no good reason.
During a Sunday appearance on ABC’s “This Week”, Fauci stated that “The default position should be to try as best as possible, within reason, to keep the children in school, to get them back to school.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a news conference Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. Cuomo, center, held a more then hour long briefing with a maskless panel.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday crowed to reporters that his push for mask-wearing helped curb New York’s COVID-19 cases — while his tone-deaf panel of aides sat in the closed room without ever putting theirs on.
“What worked in the spring, and the reason you’re wearing a mask today, is because we told the truth, and New Yorkers responded,’’ the governor said at the more-than-hourlong Manhattan press conference.
Cuomo wasn’t wearing a mask at the time, nor were his five top aides on the dais, including state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker and SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras.
Marvis Gutierrez and Ariella Shua, the managing editors of the JHU newsletter, assured Lead Stories that the article/study was not censored. “The article in question was retracted last night, as it was being used to spread misinformation about the pandemic. We have preserved the article as a PDF and posted an Editor’s Note: with full clarification about our decision, highlighting the inaccuracies of the study…We were not censored, but decided to retract the article based on the reasons outlined in the Editor’s Note.”” The author of the article on Briand’s study, Yanni Gu, responding to the article being pulled, posted the following on LinkedIn:
Today, on November 27th, The News-Letter officially posted their reason for retracting the article, stating inaccuracies in the analysis. I am frustrated at the explanation, and I think it is disrespectful to Dr. Briand’s hard work putting data together and doing an honest analysis. If her analysis was to be contradicted, then at least an equal-level analysis should be done to provide more data and thus a new conclusion. Dr. Briand and her work deserve such respect. I have received many messages asking the reason for taking the article down, and so I would like to officially express my opinions here. I even got emails saying that thanks to me, people now will not be wearing masks or practicing social distancing. They called me “a COVID denier and a minimizer” and that I have no idea the damage and the lives cost in me writing such an article. I was devastated to receive such accusations, but I stand my ground. The goal is never to undermine the effects of COVID-19 but to suggest a possible over-exaggeration in death numbers due to the pandemic.
Professor Briand also responded to the pulling of the article, saying “Their decision to retract the article was their own. Yanni Gu did an excellent at reporting the content of the presentation. The full presentation is available at: Covid-19 Deaths: A Look at U.S. Data – YouTube. I explain during the presentation where I found and downloaded the data from, so anyone can easily replicate my analysis.”
The “hysteria” surrounding COVID-19 is causing Americans to police themselves for lockdown and mask violations for fear their neighbors or relatives will turn on them, a situation “similar to communist China,” a California psychiatrist warned recently.
The study found that “This trend is completely contrary to the pattern observed in all previous years.” In fact, “the total decrease in deaths by other causes almost exactly equals the increase in deaths by COVID-19.”
Briand concludes that the COVID-19 death toll in the United States is misleading and that deaths from other diseases are being categorized as COVID-19 deaths.
According to new data, the U.S. currently ranks first in total COVID-19 cases, new cases per day and deaths. Genevieve Briand, assistant program director of the Applied Economics master’s degree program at Hopkins, critically analyzed the effect of COVID-19 on U.S. deaths using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in her webinar titled “COVID-19 Deaths: A Look at U.S. Data.”
From mid-March to mid-September, U.S. total deaths have reached 1.7 million, of which 200,000, or 12% of total deaths, are COVID-19-related. Instead of looking directly at COVID-19 deaths, Briand focused on total deaths per age group and per cause of death in the U.S. and used this information to shed light on the effects of COVID-19.
She explained that the significance of COVID-19 on U.S. deaths can be fully understood only through comparison to the number of total deaths in the United States.
After retrieving data on the CDC website, Briand compiled a graph representing percentages of total deaths per age category from early February to early September, which includes the period from before COVID-19 was detected in the U.S. to after infection rates soared.
Surprisingly, the deaths of older people stayed the same before and after COVID-19. Since COVID-19 mainly affects the elderly, experts expected an increase in the percentage of deaths in older age groups. However, this increase is not seen from the CDC data. In fact, the percentages of deaths among all age groups remain relatively the same.
“The reason we have a higher number of reported COVID-19 deaths among older individuals than younger individuals is simply because every day in the U.S. older individuals die in higher numbers than younger individuals,” Briand said.
Briand also noted that 50,000 to 70,000 deaths are seen both before and after COVID-19, indicating that this number of deaths was normal long before COVID-19 emerged. Therefore, according to Briand, not only has COVID-19 had no effect on the percentage of deaths of older people, but it has also not increased the total number of deaths.
These data analyses suggest that in contrast to most people’s assumptions, the number of deaths by COVID-19 is not alarming. In fact, it has relatively no effect on deaths in the United States.
This comes as a shock to many people. How is it that the data lie so far from our perception?
To answer that question, Briand shifted her focus to the deaths per causes ranging from 2014 to 2020. There is a sudden increase in deaths in 2020 due to COVID-19. This is no surprise because COVID-19 emerged in the U.S. in early 2020, and thus COVID-19-related deaths increased drastically afterward.
Analysis of deaths per cause in 2018 revealed that the pattern of seasonal increase in the total number of deaths is a result of the rise in deaths by all causes, with the top three being heart disease, respiratory diseases, influenza and pneumonia.
“This is true every year. Every year in the U.S. when we observe the seasonal ups and downs, we have an increase of deaths due to all causes,” Briand pointed out.
When Briand looked at the 2020 data during that seasonal period, COVID-19-related deaths exceeded deaths from heart diseases. This was highly unusual since heart disease has always prevailed as the leading cause of deaths. However, when taking a closer look at the death numbers, she noted something strange. As Briand compared the number of deaths per cause during that period in 2020 to 2018, she noticed that instead of the expected drastic increase across all causes, there was a significant decrease in deaths due to heart disease. Even more surprising, as seen in the graph below, this sudden decline in deaths is observed for all other causes.
COURTESY OF GENEVIEVE BRIAND Graph depicts the number of deaths per cause during that period in 2020 to 2018.
This trend is completely contrary to the pattern observed in all previous years. Interestingly, as depicted in the table below, the total decrease in deaths by other causes almost exactly equals the increase in deaths by COVID-19. This suggests, according to Briand, that the COVID-19 death toll is misleading. Briand believes that deaths due to heart diseases, respiratory diseases, influenza and pneumonia may instead be recategorized as being due to COVID-19.
COURTESY OF GENEVIEVE BRIAND Graph depicts the total decrease in deaths by various causes, including COVID-19.
The CDC classified all deaths that are related to COVID-19 simply as COVID-19 deaths. Even patients dying from other underlying diseases but are infected with COVID-19 count as COVID-19 deaths. This is likely the main explanation as to why COVID-19 deaths drastically increased while deaths by all other diseases experienced a significant decrease.
“All of this points to no evidence that COVID-19 created any excess deaths. Total death numbers are not above normal death numbers. We found no evidence to the contrary,” Briand concluded.
In an interview with The News-Letter, Briand addressed the question of whether COVID-19 deaths can be called misleading since the infection might have exacerbated and even led to deaths by other underlying diseases.
“If [the COVID-19 death toll] was not misleading at all, what we should have observed is an increased number of heart attacks and increased COVID-19 numbers. But a decreased number of heart attacks and all the other death causes doesn’t give us a choice but to point to some misclassification,” Briand replied.
In other words, the effect of COVID-19 on deaths in the U.S. is considered problematic only when it increases the total number of deaths or the true death burden by a significant amount in addition to the expected deaths by other causes. Since the crude number of total deaths by all causes before and after COVID-19 has stayed the same, one can hardly say, in Briand’s view, that COVID-19 deaths are concerning.
Briand also mentioned that more research and data are needed to truly decipher the effect of COVID-19 on deaths in the United States.
Throughout the talk, Briand constantly emphasized that although COVID-19 is a serious national and global problem, she also stressed that society should never lose focus of the bigger picture — death in general.
The death of a loved one, from COVID-19 or from other causes, is always tragic, Briand explained. Each life is equally important and we should be reminded that even during a global pandemic we should not forget about the tragic loss of lives from other causes.
According to Briand, the over-exaggeration of the COVID-19 death number may be due to the constant emphasis on COVID-19-related deaths and the habitual overlooking of deaths by other natural causes in society.
During an interview with TheNews-Letter after the event, Poorna Dharmasena, a master’s candidate in Applied Economics, expressed his opinion about Briand’s concluding remarks.
“At the end of the day, it’s still a deadly virus. And over-exaggeration or not, to a certain degree, is irrelevant,” Dharmasena said.
When asked whether the public should be informed about this exaggeration in death numbers, Dharmasena stated that people have a right to know the truth. However, COVID-19 should still continuously be treated as a deadly disease to safeguard the vulnerable population.
A peer-reviewed study analyzing the effectiveness of a triple drug cocktail including hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19 patients found that the treatment was effective and that it significantly reduced hospitalization and mortality rates for those in the treatment group.
The study, authored by the controversial Dr. Vladimir Zelenko in partnership with two German doctors, was accepted for peer-review and will be published in the December issue of the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. An online-only version of the study was published Oct. 26.
The record surge in coronavirus cases across the US is likely far worse, with an estimated eight infections unreported for every one infection counted, according to a government report — which would put the true tally closer to 100 million.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calculated that by the end of September there had really been as many as 53 million Americans contract the deadly bug — just under eight times the confirmed cases reported at the time.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) has issued an executive order, to take effect Thanksgiving Day, that sets a fine of $10,000 for businesses that violate his Chinese coronavirus restrictions.
Countries that already experienced a stagnation or regression of life expectancy, with high income and NCD rates, had the highest price to pay. This burden was not alleviated by more stringent public decisions. Inherent factors have predetermined the Covid-19 mortality: understanding them may improve prevention strategies by increasing population resilience through better physical fitness and immunity.
Nobody under the age of 70 should be vaccinated ” First “. And only those with serious comorbidity. “Healthcare workers” Are not at-risk simply because they are almost all below age 70.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said Monday that the first 20 million people to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in the United States should be healthcare workers.
According to Sisolak, Nevadans and visitors are required to wear a mask at all times, whether indoors or outdoors, when not in the presence of someone who is part of their household.
No additional businesses will be closed. However, occupancy at both indoor and outdoor restaurants and bars occupancy will be reduced to 25 percent. No more than four people will be allowed at one table, and reservations will be required.
The administration of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf announced Monday that alcohol will be barred from being sold at restaurants and bars in Pennsylvania from Wednesday evening until Thanksgiving morning — an apparent edict intended to “slow the spread” of the China-originated novel coronavirus.
“On Wednesday, Nov. 25, restaurants and bars are ordered to suspend alcohol sales at 5 p.m. until 8 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 26,” directed Dr. Rachel L. Levine, the Secretary of Health for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, CBS Pittsburgh reported Monday.
A coronavirus vaccine developed by drug firm AstraZeneca and Oxford University has shown 70 percent effectiveness in trials involved 23,000 people, they said in a statement on Monday
New Jersey’s largest city, Newark has set up Police checkpoints on the roads coming into the city demanding people show proof of resident and proof they are doing an “essential activity.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced on Wednesday a rigid month-long lockdown order that bans all social gatherings of people who do not live in the same household, even if participants wear face masks and practice proper social distancing. On Saturday, Minnesotans went to Walz’s mansion to protest the drastic lockdown orders.
Upper Manhattan and parts of Staten Island and Long Island are set to land back into restrictive COVID-19 zones this week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned Sunday.
BREAKING: L.A. County announces they will restrict all dining (outdoor included) at restaurants, bars, wineries, and breweries beginning Wednesday at 10pm. Our 5 day case average has now crossed 4,000. If things get worse, we will return to a March style lockdown. @FOXLA
