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United States Medicine

In the Last Week America Experienced 1 Million New Coronavirus Cases (cnn.com) 276

The total number of U.S. coronavirus cases since the pandemic started has now surpassed 12 million, CNN reports — "an increase of more than 1 million cases in less than a week."

Researchers at John Hopkins University calculate that over a quarter of a million Americans have now died from the disease. Almost every state has reported a rapid surge in cases, and nationwide numbers have been climbing much faster than ever before — with the country reporting a staggering 2.8 million infections since the beginning of the month. On Friday, more than 195,500 new infections were reported — the country's highest for a single day, and far beyond what the nation was seeing just weeks ago. The highest number of single-day cases during the country's summer surge was a little more than 77,100 in July, Johns Hopkins University data shows.

The U.S. on Friday also recorded its highest number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals on a given day: just over 82,100 — according to the COVID Tracking Project. Rising death rates typically follow rising hospitalizations. In just the past week, more than 10,000 U.S. deaths have been reported — nearly double the weekly death toll of just a month ago... The virus is still running unabated in the U.S. and the rate of rising cases is now "dramatically" different from what it was before, White House Coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx told CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta....

The good news? Experts say promising vaccines are on the horizon and until then, there are things the American public can do to help hold down the virus. Those include wearing a mask, social distancing, avoiding crowds and washing hands regularly. The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projected this week about 65,000 lives could be saved by March 1 if 95% of Americans wore masks.

The rising graph (midway through the story) says it all.

UPDATE: CNN reported Sunday that in just the month of November America experienced three million new Covid-19 infections.
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In the Last Week America Experienced 1 Million New Coronavirus Cases

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  • In other words (Score:5, Insightful)

    by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Saturday November 21, 2020 @06:50PM (#60752262)

    In just the past week, more than 10,000 U.S. deaths have been reported

    We experienced three 9/11 attacks, plus a few Oklahoma City bombings in one week, and there are millions of people who won't bat an eye.

    • by shanen ( 462549 ) on Saturday November 21, 2020 @07:04PM (#60752302) Homepage Journal

      I'm mostly wondering why we keep seeing so many of these stories. If you're sane, you already figured it out. If you're crazy, then you never will. And never the twain shall meet.

      We already know the best solution. Arrest everyone. (China.)

      Second best solution. Test like crazy. (South Korea and a few other success stories.)

      Third best solution. Masks. (Japan and others.)

      Fourth best solution. Muddle through. (Most of Europe.)

      Worst anti-solution. Pretend Covid-19 is a political problem. (America is #1.)

      Not sure where Africa fits in. They seem to be doing pretty well based on having learned something from their experiences with Ebola. And it ain't communism. I was recently provoked into checking the data, and ultra-communist Cuba has 131 deaths (to be contrasted with pseudo-communist China).

      Why am I so hung up on solutions? Why doesn't America divide and conquer the virus instead of the nation itself?

      Punchline? There's a purely capitalist solution to the economic side of the Covid-19 crisis. It's called insurance. Companies have to buy various kinds. If the insurance companies can't sell pandemic insurance (and so far they haven't), then we are forced into the usual fiasco of forcing the government to act as insurer of last resort--but even then we're doing it in a crazy politicized way. Why not let the insurance companies use their expertise in handling the damage claims? On the other side, the premiums still have to be paid from the future tax revenues, but that's where we already are, except without any accountability.

      Meanwhile, the REAL #1 priority should be the medical problem that is Covid-19. But we can't even agree on stopping the dying. FREEDOM! /s

      • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Saturday November 21, 2020 @07:58PM (#60752394)
        but what *does* work is providing safe places for people to quarantine ala Vietnam. If I get sick there's nowhere for me to quarantine besides my home, guaranteeing I spread it to everyone in my household.

        We also need to, as AOC pointed out, pay people to say home. Our entire economy shouldn't collapse just because Karens can't get their morning Mimosa and the theaters & bars are closed. It's not like those things produce anything, they're sevices, meaning in real terms nothing is lost by paying those people their wages while they can't safely work (except our puritanical notions that human life must be "earned").

        Other than that you're spot on.
        • by shanen ( 462549 )

          I was pretty sure I shouldn't say "good" in connection to the extreme Chinese approach. More like it was "bad" from the perspective of the coronavirus? But the main point to me was that the Chinese seem to be ready for a zombie apocalypse.

          I considered including Vietnam. Definitely a success story, but I'm not sure about their blend of responses. However the Chinese did also provide isolation rooms to prevent family members from catching it. The Japanese talked about doing that, but it never seemed to me tha

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          Chances are people you live with already have it if you test positive.

          Isolating at home is a good solution if support is available. A friend in China had to do it when she returned from overseas, and every day the local government sent people to deliver her shopping from local stores and check she had everything she needed. Compensation for lost work was available.

      • Have a look at what the State Government did in Victoria, Australia.
        It is under control from being basically out of control.

        https://www.theglobeandmail.co... [theglobeandmail.com]
        https://www.abc.net.au/news/20... [abc.net.au]

        Good luck America, but I think the horse has bolted.
        • I donâ(TM)t think other countries want to even can lock their people up for four months.

          • by shanen ( 462549 )

            No one wants to, but if the financial part was properly separated from the medical part, then at least it would be much more reasonable to try.

            Another countermeasure that I think should have been implemented is large-scale blood testing looking for the antibodies. Should be part of all routine blood work by this late date, just to give them a substantial body of data about the spread of the virus. However I don't think any country has pushed in that direction.

      • by sabri ( 584428 ) on Saturday November 21, 2020 @08:06PM (#60752420)

        Meanwhile, the REAL #1 priority should be the medical problem that is Covid-19.

        Fresh CDC numbers:

        11,843,490 cases, 253,600. As of right now

        That's a 2.14% death rate, which is -slightly- less than the worldwide death rate of 2.41% (55.6 million cases, 1.34 million deaths).

        Back in March, the CDC [cdc.gov] estimated 3.0% on the high side.

        In 2018, there were 11,164 [cdc.gov] deaths related to influenza.

        I respectfully disagree with you. The #1 problem is disinformation originating from anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers, and other individuals with lower-than-average cognitive abilities.

        • by tony dafish ( 7476412 ) on Saturday November 21, 2020 @09:26PM (#60752588)
          Thanks for playing, but your your math mixes apples and kumquats. Those 253k deaths represent cases that have run their course, 12 million infections include both active and concluded cases. The true US mortality rate, listed by Worldometer [worldometers.info] is running about 3.4% [ 261.8k / 7,665.6k ]
          • Also, the virus is running out of easy to infect/kill people. A good chunk of the vulnerable people died in the first wave, the pockets of elderly/ comorbid people hopefully are practicing better hygiene and social distancing, the rest of the population will be limited to easy symptoms/no symptoms but become spreaders to everyone else.
            Not the best way to deal with a pandemic, but eventually the vaccine will put a stop to the spread.

          • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            Is that only deaths directly confirmed to be COVID related?

            In the UK officially we have about 55k official COVID deaths, but that only includes people who died within 28 days of a positive diagnosis. If you look at the total number of reported deaths this year compared to what you would normally expected based on the weather you can easily add another 20k to that, probably more.

            I say probably more because with us bouncing in and out of lockdown and local restrictions there have been fewer deaths due to road

        • Statistics from earlier this year are not comparable to now. There is so much more testing now and there was massive under counting then.
      • by quenda ( 644621 )

        We already know the best solution. Arrest everyone. (China.)

        I originally feared that only authoritarian countries like China could eliminate the virus, but that proved wrong.
        Short-term partial lockdowns combined with vigorous testing and contact tracing have been successful in Australia, NZ, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Iceland. People are ordered into home isolation if exposed, but no mass-arrests.

        So it can be done. It turns out that even in a modern democracy, people are willing to accept border closures, travel restrictions and curfews whe

        • by shanen ( 462549 )

          I knew I should have been more precise than "good". I definitely don't like the idea, but it was effective. I actually see the extreme response as evidence that the Chinese are prepared for a bioweapon from one of their neighbors.

      • Not sure where Africa fits in.

        Africa very much took approach number 2 in many of its countries. There are a few standouts trying to be American though.

      • I mean, the best solution seems to be New Zealand's "What if everyone just stays home for a month, we test and act like adults". And, it worked. It could work in the US.

        If you really wanted to go free market, you don't ask the insurance companies to use their expertise in damage claims. You have to account for people spreading it to other people, and treat people exhaling COVID as polluters.

        • " ... act like adults". And, it worked. It could work in the US.

          Are you NUTS! Did you not read the news?

          (Acting like a two year old is a thing for almost 50% of the US population).

      • Worst anti-solution. Pretend Covid-19 is a political problem. (America is #1.)

        If you have incompetent leaders then Covid-19 _IS_ a political problem: how can you work around/replace those leaders so we can start to address it. The US may be leading but the UK lead by Trump-lite is not doing much better and up in Canada, Alberta is in much the same situation. Although here the situation is more complicated because we have a strong provincial leader who is clueless about science and refuses to listen to the experts and we have a pathetic, albeit relatively intelligent, prime minister

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        We already know the best solution. Arrest everyone. (China.)

        Second best solution. Test like crazy. (South Korea and a few other success stories.)

        Third best solution. Masks. (Japan and others.)

        China actually had less of a lockdown than most other countries did. SK and Japan both had lockdowns as well.

        I wonder if this lack of knowledge and the misinformation about China has made things worse in the US. Maybe because people think China "arrested everyone" they resisted the only thing that could have helped America: a proper lockdown.

    • by hey! ( 33014 )

      At present, yes.

      Quite remarkably, deaths in the US overall have followed a linear trend in the past month or two while infections have been on more of a quadratic rise. So it looks like the case fatality *rate* must be dropping. But there are discontinuities ahead as active cases outstrip resources like hospital beds in certain localities. You can see that in places like South Dakota now -- the case fatality rate is rising, which at this stage of the game it shouldn't be.

      We're so close, but if we allow

      • by NFN_NLN ( 633283 )

        > but country-wide: we've got to flatten the curve.

        "Flatten the curve" was to slow the hospitalization rate so there wasn't a run on hospital beds and supplies that were in short supply.
        Is there a new definition? Or do you see hospitals being overwhelmed?

        • At least where I live. There's no hospital space. People who work in hospitals have been telling their friends "we're sticking people in rooms we never knew existed...."

          It's scary. If I need to be hospitalized for any reason, COVID, car accident, or other, I'm toast. Dying from all causes is going to shoot up, because medical intervention just won't be there.

          --PM

      • At present, yes.

        Quite remarkably, deaths in the US overall have followed a linear trend in the past month or two while infections have been on more of a quadratic rise. So it looks like the case fatality *rate* must be dropping. But there are discontinuities ahead as active cases outstrip resources like hospital beds in certain localities. You can see that in places like South Dakota now -- the case fatality rate is rising, which at this stage of the game it shouldn't be.

        The case fatality rate did drop but that was mostly up to the early summer. There are two things that are really are causing the lowered fatality rate you are seeing. The first wave of cases hit the elderly population very much, especially the elderly ethnically diverse population in New York. After that, in the summer everything changed and the transmission was almost all through young people travelling and partying. Now, that's changing back again and the disease is starting to reach older rural popula

      • Re:In other words (Score:5, Interesting)

        by angel'o'sphere ( 80593 ) <angelo.schneider ... e ['oom' in gap]> on Saturday November 21, 2020 @10:25PM (#60752698) Journal

        You are making the common mistake of "anti vaxers" (not implying you are one) and other people who are simply bad in understanding dynamic systems.

        Today you see:
        - the infection rate from yesterday
        - the infections of the last week etc.
        - the hospitalization of people who got infected 5 to 20 days before - not yesterday, not last week
        - the death rate of people who got infected 14 to 30 days before - not today, last week or the week before

        Current deaths, current hospitalizations, have nothing to do with current infection rates. You will see the death rate of current infection: when those people die - and that i not now or today.

      • Quite remarkably, deaths in the US overall have followed a linear trend in the past month or two while infections have been on more of a quadratic rise. So it looks like the case fatality *rate* must be dropping.

        I've talked to doctors about this, and they have affirmed that yes, they are getting a lot better at treating COVID, so fewer patients are dying.

        • by shilly ( 142940 )

          Well, sort of.

          I spoke to a senior ICU specialist about dexamethasone back when that news first came out. I was excited about a further big drop in mortality rate as a result, but he settled me right down by saying every ICU had started trying steroids such as dexamethasone from pretty early on, especially when they heard the words cytokine storm. So the net new drop from the study was going to be quite small. Protocol tweaks eg to proning, how dry to run pts, when to ventilate, etc have indeed made a differ

    • Dr. Evil: "1 Million New Coronavirus Cases!"

      Number Two: Don't you think we should ask for *more* than a million New Coronavirus Cases? A million dollars isn't exactly a lot of New Coronavirus Cases these days. China alone has over 9 billion New Coronavirus Cases a year!"

      Dr. Evil: " One... Hundred... BILLION ! New Coronavirus Cases!"

    • by GuB-42 ( 2483988 )

      You could ignore 9/11, you can't ignore Covid-19.

      Take travel restrictions for instance. After 9/11 you had a few flights cancelled, and it made boarding less convenient. With Covid-19, you essentially can't travel anymore. I don't think I know anyone who isn't personally affected by the pandemic in some way or another. Just after 9/11, it was business as usual for most people.

      The pandemic caused a variety of reactions, not all of them reasonable, but "not batting an eye" is probably the least common of all.

    • by antdude ( 79039 )

      And President still hasn't changed after experiencing the virus! :(

  • by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Saturday November 21, 2020 @07:28PM (#60752342)

    A team of 36 National Guard troops has been deployed to "provide mortuary affairs support," [cnn.com] according to the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM).

    Last month, funeral homes in the county prepared refrigerated units to house bodies in case they became overloaded. The county also requested four additional mobile morgues last week, which would bring the total of mobile morgues to 10.

    But yeah, no big deal that over a quarter million people are dead, so far, because the con artist has refused to do anything except enrich his friends and family at the taxpayer expense.

  • https://www.thelancet.com/jour... [thelancet.com]

    "Rapid border closures, full lockdowns, and wide-spread testing were not associated with COVID-19 mortality per million people"

  • If it is so important to stay at home to contain the spread of COVID-19 then why is Congress in session?

    If Congress believes it so vital for people to stay at home then they need to pass a law to pay people to stay at home, then they need to stay at home as well.

    If any of these elected officials want to argue that they need to go to work because their job is "essential" then that just opens the door for anyone else to argue that what they do is "essential".

    I'll stay home once all the elected members of Cong

    • by nagora ( 177841 )

      If it is so important to stay at home to contain the spread of COVID-19 then why is Congress in session?

      Nobody cares enough about them to have told them and they're too busy organising backhanders to watch the news.

Keep up the good work! But please don't ask me to help.

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