Eight weeks to control, or wishful thinking? Covid-19 news for July 15, 2020
Fighting over numbers, protective gear and other supplies gets in the way, while too many people are falling for distractions like the whisper campaign against scientists.
Now they’re saying it, but will anyone listen? “I think if we could get everybody to wear a mask right now, I really do think in four, six, eight weeks we could bring this epidemic under control," said CDC Director Robert Redfield in a discussion with the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The pace of new confirmed cases of Covid-19 is quickening, with both Florida and California reporting more than 10,000 new cases Tuesday and more than 11,000 more in each state Wednesday. Hospitalization and deaths are also rising. In California, outbreaks at indoor work places as well as private gatherings (parties) are fueling the epidemic.
With more than 65,000 new cases nationwide each day and no indications of any slowing, hospitals throughout the USA are experiencing surges. Without federal coordination, states are scrambling.
A Miami hospital executive raises concerns about hostility between mask users and mask refusers as the Jackson Health System has seen a 226% increase in Covid-19 patients in a month.
Playing with the numbers #1: Tuesday’s order for hospitals to report their daily data to Trump administration officials in Washington instead of to the CDC, as has been the norm, has a lot of nuance. Even if the new federal Covid case database is a good idea, whoever developed the new order seems to be detached from our existing public health system. It’s also curious that officials who seemed to deny data until now suddenly want ton be the sole keepers of it. More than anything, who thinks it’s a good idea to make a massive change like this during the pandemic?
Playing with the numbers #2: A Florida TV station reports that some labs have reported 100% positivity rates on Covid-19 tests, which appears unlikely. In at least one instance, the report found that the positivity rate reported was 10 times the actual number. If widespread, this casts doubt on the almost daily record-shattering case numbers from Florida. Pro-Administration bloggers are hot on the “inflated” numbers story, even though infectious disease experts believe that confirmed tests are missing tens of thousands of other, undetected infections throughout the country.
Walmart joins the ranks of Best Buy, Costco, Starbucks and other retailers requiring customers to wear face coverings. The world’s largest retailer said staff at store entrances will have free masks for anyone arriving without one and that staff will be trained on how to handle any exceptions. Previously, mask policies at Walmart varied depending on local regulations.
Dallas County pushed the federal government aside and took over operations of a COVID-19 test center after finding that the federally operated center was taking two weeks for results in one of the hardest hit areas, the Dallas News reports. Other sites are turning results around in two days. Faster results are essential in order to isolate infected individuals before they pass COVID-19 along to others.