Thanks Jean.

Jane, we're told that this is still the first wave. The second wave will come, as you said, with this fall's flu season and the people who are tired, want to give up, and or believe all the conspiracy theories. Dr. Fauci said that we no longer have a chance to achieve herd immunity and the virus keeps mutating. He and other experts believe this disease won't go away but will be like the flu. Even people that have had the virus can get it again, like the flu, as our immunities lessen with time.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-you-become-immune-sars-cov-2-180974532/

Dr Fauci:

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/507953-fauci-young-people-are-driving-this-new-surge

COVID ACT NOW

See COVID data and risk level for your community.
All 50 states. 2,100+ counties.

https://covidactnow.org/?s=716119

"By now, the daily COVID-19 figures coming out of states like Arizona, Florida, Texas, and California are a grim reminder of just how quickly the virus has spread across the U.S. And while these hotspots have seen the most startling numbers, they are far from alone in watching the virus's pace quicken. Recent data shows that COVID-19 is spreading faster than it was in the spring in almost half of all U.S. states, according to a USA Today study.

Idaho, for example, originally saw low to stable increases in cases just months ago. In early April, the Gem State was reporting roughly five new cases per hour, before dropping to less than one per hour by mid-May, USA Today reports. But recent figures have shown that cases are now four-fold what they were before reopening in May, with about 20 new coronavirus cases cropping up per hour."

https://bestlifeonline.com/covid-spreading-faster-now/?nab=0&utm_source=msn&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=msn-feed

Thank you Diglady, I learned recently that during the ebola epidemic that Dr. Fauci was physically treating patients in 2015. I'll try to find that article.

Her's another; https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/08/health/fauci-coronavirus.html

From the Guardian re: this fall and winter with COVID-19

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/18/us-coronavirus-fall-second-wave-autumn?utm_term=LTIwMDcxOQ%3D%3D&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email

Your link is enough to scare the bejebbers out of anyone, Patricia.  I could only get it to open without the www since it's a seccure website.  For others for whom it wouldn't open:

theguardian.


It's going to be a long, difficult fall and winter, I think. 

jane

Sorry, Jane. Some people were telling me they didn't like Tiny URLs.

"John Oliver Taps John Cena, Alex Trebek to Help Debunk COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories"

https://tinyurl.com/y2xhwhsg

I asked the young woman being the "bouncer" outside of WalMart this morning if she'd had anyone refuse to wear a mask.  She said one woman who refused to wear one ...she said she'd shop elsewhere...and away she went.

I truly don't understand why people won't do this for their families, friends and themselves.

It would probably be a good idea if the news people suggested shields for people who have a problem breathing, but I haven't seen any info on the shields or where you can get them.

This is some info on them that I found Jean;

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/informational/aboutfsis/audience-employees/employees-face-coverings

https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2020/shields-compared-to-masks.html

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover-guidance.html

Some places to purchase face shields

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=wear+to+find+face+shields&atb=v229-5&ia=shopping

I didn't realize Amazon sold the shields.  We have plenty of masks but the next person who says they can't breath with a mask I'm suggesting a shield.

Evidently, most home improvement stores sell them.

Three days ago, Alaska's COVID -19 cases were at 1,795 As of Monday noon we were at 1,949. There were 66 new cases in nonresidents, for example, a fishing boat came into Bethel with 85 new cases with the crew.  Of the 75 Alaska residents, 35 are male and 40 are female. Four are under the age of 10; four are aged 10-19; 17 are aged 20-29; 19 are aged 30-39; nine are aged 40-49; six are aged 50-59; nine are aged 60-69; five are aged 70-79 and two are aged 80 or older.

Thus bringing instate nonresident case count to 466. There is no sign of it slowing down.

From Euronews;

" New symptoms due to coronavirus have emerged since the beginning of the pandemic as experts better understand how COVID-19 manifests itself in humans.

The most common symptoms, according to health bodies, include a fever, dry cough, and fatigue and the most serious symptoms could include shortness of breath, chest pain, and loss of speech, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention also warns to look out for any mental confusion or blue lips for signs of severe COVID-19 that would require someone to be hospitalised.

But there are also a variety of less common symptoms that have emerged as the disease continues to spread across the globe. It has so far infected more than 14.7 million people and killed more than 600,000 globally.

Those less common symptoms include: aches and pains, sore throat, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, headache, loss of taste or smell, a rash on skin, or discolouration of fingers or toes, according to the WHO.

So what are some of the official terms for some of these emerging coronavirus symptoms?"

https://tinyurl.com/y5m8f7k3

Good news from my daughter in Canada.  She was notified today that her Covid-19 test is negative.

Yay! Great news, Jean!

DHSS today announced 111 new people with COVID-19 in Alaska. 92 are residents in 18 communities: Anchorage (64), Fairbanks (5), Wasilla (5), Soldotna (3), Homer (2), and one each in Aleutians East Borough, Bethel Census Area, Eagle River, Juneau, Kenai, Kotzebue, North Slope Borough, Palmer, SE Fairbanks Census Area, Seward, Sitka, Sutton, and Valdez-Cordova Census Area. This brings the total number of Alaska resident cases to 2,041.

 An increase of 92 cases overnight. from 1,949 to 2,041.

Nonresidents i.e., fishing boats, canneries, and processors increased from 466 to 484

I am having issues in counting, so any errors outside of official counts are mine.

Great news, Jean!

FlaJean..
...such a weight off your shoulders and a weight lifted from daughter..think now you can both relax and breathe a little...

Locally and statewide, we're still doubling daily cases even with a state lockdown. The  ages in the majority are ten to twenty and thirty to thirty-nine. Most of the tracings are within family or friends. Before July 4th, we had gone just over three weeks without a new local case. Re-opening has not really worked, has it? And the new surge expected this fall along with flu season is going to be unprecedented. We had a death yesterday locally bring us four deaths out of the state's 19.

From Best Life

" In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, the general consensus was that COVID-19 was primarily threatening to the elderly and people with preexisting conditions. It seemed those were the people most likely to experience severe symptoms, or worse, die due to the virus. Younger folks were thought to be less susceptible to COVID and, in the event of infection, seemed more likely to recover from it. As this health crisis has progressed, however, it's become increasingly clear that all age groups are vulnerable to the virus. Not only that, but in early July, Anthony Fauci, MD, said the average age of COVID-19 patients in the United States had dropped dramatically since the onset of the pandemic—by 15 years, to be exact.

With that in mind, we calculated the data to determine the age group that accounts for the most total COVID-19 cases in each of the 50 states. Figures are based on the most recent data available from each state's department of health* at the time of publishing. Read on to see the age group most affected by the coronavirus in your home state. And for more on how the virus is spreading across the country, Here's How Quickly Coronavirus Is Spreading in Every State.

Editor's note: Unfortunately, specific age demographic data was not available on New York or North Carolina's health department websites, so they have been omitted from this list."

https://tinyurl.com/y3ws55v8 

Interesting Info, Patricia.

Basically, you look up your state in alphabetical order, and it tells you the percentages and the age group in each state most affected at this time. Vermont is really doing well out of all the states.

I haven't seen an international similar grouping.

US coronavirus cases surpass 4 million mark

The number of coronavirus cases in the US has now surpassed four million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The US has confirmed 4,005,414 cases since the start of the pandemic, the highest of any country.

Brazil has the second highest total in the world with around 2.23 million cases followed by India with 1.24 million.

A 9-year-old girl in Florida has died from coronavirus complications, becoming the youngest in the state to die from the virus, health officials said.

In their daily reporting of new COVID-19 cases and deaths, the Florida Department of Health said Wednesday that a 9-year-old girl was one of the fatalities, the Miami Herald reported. She lived in Putnam County, in the northeastern part of the state, and officials said that she did not contract COVID-19 from travel or a close contact with the virus, meaning it was likely from community spread.

Putnam County Health Officer Mary Garcia told CNN that she did not know if the girl had any preexisting health conditions.

In Florida, 28,087 children have contracted COVID-19, 282 have been hospitalized for treatment and five have died as of Wednesday night, the Herald reported. Prior to the 9-year-old's death, the youngest fatalities were in an 11-year-old boy in Miami-Dade County and an 11-year-old girl in Broward County.

The child's death comes just after Florida's Commissioner of the Department of Education issued an executive order requiring all schools to fully reopen in August. In response, the Florida Education Association, the state's largest teacher union, filed a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday to put a halt to the "unsafe" reopening of schools.

DeSantis had incorrectly claimed in April that COVID-19 does not "threaten kids" and that there had not been a "single fatality" nationwide of anyone under 25 years old, though there had already been at least five deaths in that age group at the time.

As of July 9, 241,904 children in the U.S. have contracted COVID-19, and 66 have died, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics' count of publicly available data.

Gov. DeSantis does whatever Trump says.  I read today that the Episcopal School that Trump's youngest son attends will be having online classes or possibly a partial opening.  It's an expensive private school and i'm sure they aren't going to go by what he says.

SCIENCECORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
Coronavirus in the U.S.: Where cases are growing and declining
UPDATED JULY 24, 2020, 9:16 A.M. E.T.

New daily confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S.

4,050,126 total cases

144,283 reported deaths

Texas has stopped reporting which of its hospitals have exceeded their capacity for COVID-19 patients. But signs point to a caseload crisis: One children's hospital in Houston is now admitting adult patients, and the U.S. military is sending medical staff to help support the state's beleaguered doctors. This week, a county in Texas announced its COVID-19 unit was full, and transfers to other overwhelmed hospitals were becoming impossible. "Our doctors are going to have to decide who receives treatment, and who is sent home to die by their loved ones," the Starr County Memorial Hospital said in a news release.

How to weigh a life
This inequality in resources directly affects patient care. As the U.S. faces an escalating curve of COVID-19 cases, Raymond says it's essential to consider how "decades of compounded racial disparity contribute to vulnerability."

"It's really important to recognize we are rationing medical care all the time—in the US, we fundamentally ration it by ability to pay," says Lynch. She believes that long-standing disparities in access to healthcare have likely worsened the pandemic, because lacking regular and appropriate healthcare has left many Americans with pre-existing conditions that put them at risk for severe cases of COVID-19.

In Arizona, for example, triage decisions involve scoring each patient based on a medical assessment that includes considering the patient's likelihood of dying within one and five years. While this decision is hypothetically made without regard to race or ethnicity, people of color are more likely to have conditions such as heart disease that limit their life expectancy.

In Arizona, intensive care unit beds are 90 percent full, morgues have run out of space, and counties are ordering refrigerated trucks to store additional bodies. In the midst of this surge, Arizona is the first state to enact crisis care standards—protocols for when healthcare systems are so overwhelmed by a catastrophic event that they can't provide normal care to patients.

Such dire straits raise important questions: how best to care for patients when there aren't enough resources to go around—and who has to make those triage decisions.

https://tinyurl.com/y64lvf3w

Here's what COVID-19 does to a child's body

https://tinyurl.com/y2dxe694

Just this minute caught on the morning news a second wave has started in Spain..

" Spain recorded 2,255 new cases of the virus on Friday ( yesterdays Friday ) compared to a daily average of just 132 in June "

We have a real mess here in Arizona. We are no longer listed as being the hot spot as the disease curve flattens out. The truth be told: Labs are 61,000 case behind in results. That right 61,000 cases with test done and results pending. Some people have waited greater the 15 days for results.

Good Grief, DigLady...from what I've heard the docs say, that means the tests are useless for tracking and to stop the spread.  It's amazing pro athletes and politicians can get those instant tests multiple times and us ordinary people can't. 

Our governor has made Dubuque Iowa stop testing so many people.  Their numbers were going up, up, up....so she's said they can just test 100 people a day...not several hundred.  Oh, yeah, that'll keep people from getting sick.   

jane

Politics as usual. It is amazing what someone will say or even believe, such as do fewer tests, and your numbers will lower. And the disease will be less. The US government has announced deep cuts in testing and tracing programs supposedly based on faulty testing procedures and mistaken claims.