COVID-19 in the USA (Timeline)

“About 18 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Arizona have been Indigenous people, where they account for 4.5 percent of the population. And still Arizonans in border regions actively resist changing their behaviors to curb the spread of disease.”

NYT: (US) Virus surges in Arizona USA, but the rodeo goes on (July 3, 2020)

STAT: As Covid-19 cases peak, a virus once again takes advantage of human instinct
(June 25, 2020)

“The virus takes advantage of human instinct. Its long course means that it is possible to believe that things aren’t going to get that bad — long after they are actually becoming catastrophic. And many experts fear — though they may not be able to say for certain — that the U.S. is nearing the point of catastrophe again.”
But “there’s a lot that we could do”. “There are many other countries that have gained control of their outbreak and they are in a much better place” than the US is in.

PopSci: Tear gas during COVID-19 is a public health disaster (June 8, 2020)

“Case studies on the crowd-control weapon show just how dangerous it can be for the lungs.”

STAT: How the world can avoid screwing up the response to Covid-19 again (June 5, 2020)

Although the title references the “world”, it is mostly about mistakes that have been made in the USA.

STAT: Optimism, not evidence, is driving America’s return-to-work strategy (June 2, 2020)

CSM: Ohio governor’s science-based COVID-19 response wins bipartisan praise

The governor of Ohio imposed restrictions early, even before the first Covid-19 case was detected.
“The moves may have seemed radical at the time, but as Ohio now begins to gradually reopen, having recorded just under 2,000 deaths so far, public health experts say the governor’s swift actions likely helped the state avoid the fate of its northern neighbor, Michigan, or that of many East Coast hot spots.”

NYT: Will Protests [in the US] Set Off a Second Viral Wave? (May 31, 2020)

SciAm: A Day in the Life of a COVID-19 Physician (May 28, 2020)

NYT: Hunger Program’s Slow Start Leaves Millions of Children Waiting (May 26, 2020)

Science: ‘Preposterous.’ 77 Nobel laureates blast NIH decision to cancel coronavirus grant, demand investigation (May 21, 2020)

77 scientists who have received a Nobel prize have criticized the US government for stopping the funding of the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China, which researches bat viruses. Some people believe that the Covid-19 pandemic began with the virus escaping this lab, but there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that supports this idea. These scientists know of scientific reasons for why the research done in this lab is very important for learning more about SARS-CoV-2.

It is important that the US government and the public understand why the WIV researches bat viruses and its importance for helping to end this pandemic and for preventing future pandemics. Start to learn why by reading yesterday’s SciAm article on “spillover”. – MH

NYT: In the Shadows of America’s Smokestacks, Virus Is One More Deadly Risk
(May 19, 2020)

SciAm: How COVID-19 Deaths Are Counted (May 19, 2020)

A death certificate contains spaces for the following information:
- Immediate cause of death.
- The events that led to the disease or incident.
- Contributing factors.
In a hospital it is generally easy to know whether or not Covid-19 was the “final straw” that caused death. Outside of the hospital it might be difficult to know who died “of” vs. “with” Covid-19. To know for sure would require an autopsy, which is expensive, time-consuming and also now dangerous. Moreover, at least in the US there already was before the pandemic a shortage of people who are qualified to perform one.
As state and local regulations differ in the US, this has increased public misunderstanding of how deaths should be recorded.

SciAm: COVID-19 Is like an X-ray of Society (May 14, 2020)

“The disease’s unequal impacts on different segments of the population are illuminating long-standing structural injustices.”

STAT: Testing failures have plagued the U.S. response to Covid-19. How did we get here?
(May 13, 2020)

CSM: Why Washington state was so prepared for its pandemic challenge (May 13, 2020)

CSM: ‘In each other’s shadows’: Behind Irish outpouring of relief for Navajo (May 13, 2020)

NYT: Fauci to Warn Senate of ‘Needless Suffering and Death’ (May 12, 2020)

Dr. Anthony Fauci “top infectious disease expert” in the US has appeared often lately in the media.
“If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to: ‘Open America Again,’ then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.” – Dr. Fauci
It seems unfortunate that the current pandemic has been very much politicized in the US during a period when political ideologies are split between Republicans (on the conservative side) and Democrats (on the liberal side). As I’ve indicated on my home page, knowing science is not enough for combating this pandemic, but it is my firm belief that knowing science is essential. We must also consider ethics during this situation of an unprecedented moral dilemma. I don’t have answers as to how much the lives cost of those who are dying with Covid-19. Science cannot and should not answer that question. Obviously, exaggerated measures will cause people to die in other ways. I believe the US should try to rise above political differences during this difficult time in order to reach compromises and avoid a potential tragedy from not properly respecting the truths that science can provide us with (from sources such as Dr. Fauci) and also knowing science’s limits and the importance of debating ethics above politics in as honest a way as possible. – MH

NatGeo: Coronavirus in the U.S.: Where cases are growing and declining (May 12, 2020)

NYT: Why the Path to Reopening New York City Will Be So Difficult (May 10, 2020)

“New York State is moving cautiously, anticipating a partial reopening later this month, mostly in rural areas.”
“Nobody can tell you,” New York governor answers about when New York City can reopen.
“The key to reopening is containing the virus, and that will take a vast infrastructure of testing and contact tracing unlike anything the United States has ever seen, public health experts say.”
New York City mayor “is working to close up 100 miles of city streets to make it easier for residents to practice social distancing”.
Measures considered for opening businesses include
- three shifts rather than one,
- temperature checks,
- not having big meetings,
- using shields and face guards when employees work near each other,
- removing salt and pepper shakers in cafeterias,
- not allowing reusable water bottles, and
- strict warnings when employees talk too near each other.
NYC governor “ordered that city subways cease round-the-clock service, a practical change to clean cars and remove those sleeping in them, but one that struck at the very heart of New York’s up-all-night identity.”

NPR: Public Health Experts Say Many States Are Opening Too Soon To Do So Safely
(May 9, 2020)

“The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak,” said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later, the island was back on lockdown.

AP: ICU nurse details challenges in virus fight (VIDEO) (May 8, 2020)

STAT: A snapshot of coronavirus in the U.S.: A high plateau of new cases portends more spread (May 7, 2020)

“One thing that has been at least an idea I’ve heard expressed many times is, ‘Well we’ve reached a peak and therefore it’s time to reopen,’” [a Harvard epidemiologist] said. “But viruses don’t know where they were in the past, they only know where they are in the present. And what I mean by that is if we had X number of cases per day at the start of imposing restrictions, and now we have a lot more than X cases per day, as seems to be the case in most places, but we’ve slowed down the increase, we’re in a worse position now than we were then.”

CNN: (May 5, 2020)

CNN: States are easing coronavirus restrictions and ‘it’s going to cost lives,’ researcher says
(May 2, 2020)

CNN: Another wave of coronavirus will likely hit the US in the fall. Here’s why and what we can do to stop it (May 2, 2020)

STAT: ‘It doesn’t stay where you started’: Reopening some states heightens the risk of coronavirus surges in others (April 30, 2020)

“If a company chooses to go back to work, what’s the role of that company if they end up seeding infections to the wider public?”
“The problem, experts say, is that diagnostic testing remains so limited that a second surge of cases could silently build.”
States should work together to “test widely to identify cases, isolate people who are sick, and track down and quarantine people they’ve encountered to see if they contracted the virus.”

STAT: How high will it go? As Covid-19 death toll in U.S. blows past 60,000, there are no easy answers (April 30, 2020)

“As some models stumble, and many no longer even try to project more than a few weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added models to those it highlights on its website.”
“We do not try to calculate how many of the Covid-19 deaths ‘substitute’ for other deaths; that is an important calculation that researchers will be eager to do once the crisis passes.”
“You may believe a different methodology paints a truer picture of how Covid-19 deaths compare to others. As we said, how to think about deaths is deeply personal.”

NYT: Amid Signs the Virus Came Earlier, Americans Ask: Did I Already Have It?
(April 24, 2020)

It seems that many people were already sick with Covid-19 in the US in January or February.

NYT: ‘Playing Russian Roulette’: Nursing Homes Told to Take the Infected (April 24, 2020)

NYT: The Coronavirus in America: The Year Ahead (April 20, 2020)

This is an informative article with many good explanations relating to science.

WSJ: When to Reopen: What We Know About Coronavirus Tests, Treatment and Vaccines
(April 17, 2020)

CNN: Heartland hotspots: A sudden rise in coronavirus cases is hitting rural states without stay-at-home orders (in the US) (April 17, 2020)

SFC: Coronavirus appears twice as deadly for blacks as whites in California
(April 17, 2020)

Berkeley: Faculty Expert Explains the COVID-19 Testing Lag, and How to Catch Up
(April 17, 2020)

Several reasons are given for the delay of Covid-19 testing in the US.

CNBC: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo outlines a gradual reopening of businesses:
(April 15, 2020)