Category: Health

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Florida Shuts Down Bars Statewide As Record-High Cases Of Virus Reported

(photo by Maurício Mascaro via Pexels)
From the Miami Herald:

The Florida Department of Business and Regulatory affairs announced Friday it is suspending alcohol consumption at all bars statewide, amid a surging statewide coronavirus caseload.

The announcement was tweeted just before 11:30 a.m. by Department Secretary Haley Beshears. It was not immediately clear how the announcement would affect restaurants that serve alcohol, restaurants with bars that serve alcohol, or bars that serve food.

Earlier Friday, the state announced another record of reported COVID-19 cases.

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US Breaks Single-Day Record For New Coronavirus Cases (Again)

New York state is about to drop its face mask mandate as COVID-19 cases continue to drop in the Empire State.

For the second day in a row, the United States reported a record total of new coronavirus cases on Thursday – more than 41,000 new cases – on Thursday. Five states – Alabama, Alaska, Montana, Missouri, and Utah — reported their highest daily totals since the pandemic began. Florida continues to see high numbers reported – more than 8,900 new coronavirus cases on Friday – adding to the 10,000 new cases over Wednesday and Thursday, sending the Sunshine State’s total number of cases past 120,000, according to the New York Times. In Texas, with surging numbers of new cases being reported, Gov. Greg Abbott reversed course and ordered all bars to close on Friday. He also ordered restaurants to reduce operating capacity. This comes just a day after Abbott hit the ‘pause’ button on the Lone Star state’s reopening while at the same time telling Texans that going “backward” and closing down businesses was “the last thing we want to do.” But today Abbott said, “It is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars. The actions in this executive order are essential to our mission to swiftly contain this virus and protect public health.” And in Arizona, there’s alarming news for those who continue to maintain COVID-19 only affects the elderly or ill. Drive-up sites in Arizona are being swarmed by people asking to be tested, and those in the 20 to 44 age range make up nearly half of all cases. In Florida, the median age of residents testing positive for coronavirus is now 35-years-old, down from 65 in March.

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New Coronavirus Cases Hit Record Single-Day High In US

The first confirmed case of the omicron variant in the U.S. has been discovered in California.

Folks, it’s no hoax. From the Washington Post:

Across the United States, more than 36,000 new infections were reported by state health departments on Wednesday — surpassing the previous single-day record of 34,203 set on April 25. Texas, Florida and California led the way, with all three states reporting more than 5,000 new cases apiece.

Even as case numbers climb, reports circulated that the federal government is poised to stop providing federal aid to testing sites in some hard-hit states, including Texas, prompting a top federal official to respond that testing was on the rise. Since the start of the pandemic, the United States has recorded more than 2.3 million coronavirus cases and at least 119,000 deaths, while the global number of cases has soared past 9 million.

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COVID-19: Trump Administration May Shift Blame To CDC

Donald Trump at press conference (image via White House)
With Trump under fire for his handling of the outbreak, Oval Office advisers are looking to shift blame to the CDC. From Politico:

White House officials are putting a target on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, positioning the agency as a coronavirus scapegoat as cases surge in many states and the U.S. falls behind other nations that are taming the pandemic.

Trump administration aides in recent weeks have seriously discussed launching an in-depth evaluation of the agency to chart what they view as its missteps in responding to the pandemic including an early failure to deploy working test kits, according to four senior administration officials.

Part of that audit would include examining more closely the state-by-state death toll to tally only the Americans who died from Covid-19 directly rather than other factors. About 120,000 people in the U.S. have died of the coronavirus so far, according to the CDC’s official count.

Politically, Trump aides have also been looking for a person or entity outside China to blame for the coronavirus response and have grown furious with the CDC, including its public health guidance and actions on testing, making it a prime target.

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‘Major Breakthrough’ In COVID-19 Treatment Discovered In Low-Cost Steroid

The New York Times reports an inexpensive steroid drug has shown a clear, significant benefit in reducing coronavirus-related deaths following a 6,000 patient trial study in Britain.

The steroid, dexamethasone, reduced deaths by a third in patients receiving ventilation, and by a fifth in patients receiving only oxygen treatment, the scientists said. They found no benefit from the drug in patients who did not need respiratory support.

“Dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to improve survival in Covid-19,” said Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases at the University of Oxford, and one of the chief investigators for the trial, said in a statement. “The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment.”

Professor Horby said that dexamethasone should now become the “standard of care in these patients,” noting that it is inexpensive, widely available and can be used immediately.

More from Sky News in the UK below.

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FDA Withdraws Emergency Use Authorization Of Hydroxychloroquine For COVID-19

The first confirmed case of the omicron variant in the U.S. has been discovered in California.

The FDA has pulled the emergency authorizations for using hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19 due to concerns about effectiveness and safety. Donald Trump has spent the past couple of months heralding the drug as a miracle treatment for the novel coronavirus. Via Politico:

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday withdrew emergency use authorizations for two coronavirus treatments promoted by President Donald Trump despite concerns about their safety and effectiveness.

The agency revoked the authorizations for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine after a request from Gary Disbrow, acting director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

After reviewing new information from large clinical trials the agency now believes that the suggested dosing regimens “are unlikely to produce an antiviral effect,” FDA chief scientist Denise Hinton said in a letter announcing the decision.

Critics have accused the agency of caving to political pressure when it authorized use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in hospitalized Covid-19 patients in late March despite thin evidence.

More recent randomized controlled trials have found the drugs do not benefit coronavirus patients, and doctors have reported that hydroxychloroquine can cause heart problems.

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Florida Sets New Coronavirus Case Records 3 Days In A Row

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
The Tampa Bay Times reports the state of Florida has set new single-day records for new cases of coronavirus three days in a row. On Thursday, the state recorded 1,698 new cases. On Friday, it was 1,902 cases. On Saturday, it was 2,581. The state’s recorded infections now total 73,552, and the number of deaths stands now at 3,016. A Miami Herald analysis of public and non-public COVID-19 data found that as of June 3, new cases in the state had consistently been trending up since mid-May and the trends could not be attributed solely to increases in testing, which had been inconsistent and sometimes declining during that period. But keep opening up the state, Gov. DeSantis.

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New York State Making COVID-19 Picture Look Better Than It Is

(graphic via Axios)
Looking at national data, it appears the number of new coronavirus diagnoses are dropping, but that’s primarily due to the improving situation in New York and New Jersey. The two northeastern states were the hardest hit in April and May, and now that the situation there is definitely getting better, there’s a statistical illusion that the whole country is improving. Not true. As Axios reports, if you factor out New York and New Jersey, the number of new cases is holding steady (or increasing in some states) – not going down. Some states like Arizona, Texas, and Oregon have actually seen spikes in their communities. The local ABC News affiliate KVUE in Austin, Texas, notes that Texas reported 2,504 new cases and 32 new deaths on Wednesday this week. For the third day in a row, the state also reported a record-high number of new hospitalizations at 2,153. Only 16 states have seen steady declines in new cases over the past two weeks.

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News Round-Up: June 10, 2020

Paulo Batista (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy transgender bodybuilder Paulo Batista (above) is literally pumped to be back in the gym: “One of my first days back to a gym in a while! It felt great to get a real pump and sweat in!” • Buzzfeed News: Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling doubled down on her recent anti-transgender comments, releasing an extensive statement about her fears of “current trans activism,” which recycles dangerous anti-trans stereotypes and cliches. #DeeplyDisappointing • People: CNN anchor Anderson Cooper opens up about being a dad to adorable baby Wyatt. “This is a dream come true,” the veteran journalist says of parenthood. • Pride Month TV: The acclaimed documentary, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, celebrates one of the icons of the gay rights movement, and the self-described “street queen” of NY’s gay ghetto in the 1960s. When Johnson’s body was found in the Hudson River in 1992, police called it a suicide and didn’t investigate. David France’s film seeks to uncover the truth of her death while celebrating her legacy. Streaming now on Netflix.

• The Hill: The final testing stage for a potential coronavirus vaccine developed by Moderna is set to begin in July. John Mascola, the director of the vaccine research center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Wall Street Journal the trials will involve about 30,000 people at more than 50 sites, which will mostly be within the U.S. • Washington Post: Last week, the hashtag #LadyGraham exploded on social media in response to allegations made on Twitter by gay adult-film star Sean Harding against Sen. Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina. The hashtag purportedly refers to Graham’s nickname among male sex workers. What followed has been a mixed bag of political commentary, wanton speculation and downright trolling. • Politico: The Trump administration is preparing to open the door to oil and gas drilling off Florida’s coast — but will wait until after the November election to avoid blowback in a swing state whose waters both parties have long considered sacrosanct, according to four people familiar with the plan. • Out Music: Acclaimed out singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright drops his latest music video, “You Ain’t Big,” from his upcoming album Unfollow the Rules. “I originally wrote the song “You Ain’t Big” about the strange fact that in the music business worldwide until recently (our estimation has fallen considerably) no matter how well you’ve done anywhere else, if you couldn’t make it in the heartland of the US you weren’t really considered a true star,” shares Wainwright. “Think Little Richard, Elvis, the Beatles, and Julio Iglesias.” “Its vintage sound harkens back to the classical American country music sound of the 40s and 50s and with the help of opposing images in the video of how different life was for white people compared to black people in the 1950’s, as it has sadly remained,” adds the two-time Juno Award winner. “I think it rings appropriate for this time and professes a certain truth.”

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Alabama: New COVID-19 Cases On The Rise As Citizens Ignore Health Guidelines

As the death toll from COVID-19 nears 100,000 in the U.S., Reuters reports that 20 states saw an increase in new cases of COVID-19 for the week ended May 24, up from 13 states in the prior week. Alabama had the biggest weekly increase at 28%, Missouri’s new cases rose 27% and North Carolina’s rose 26%, according to the analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project. As folks in Alabama celebrated the Memorial Day weekend by hitting the beaches in droves with little-to-no social distancing or face masks. Even with the state’s relaxed guidelines, groups are supposed to be six feet away from each other. Groups are also supposed to consist of only people who live in the same household. CNN’s Gary Tuchman spoke to several beach-goers about any concerns they may or may not have about the coronavirus. The responses were eye-opening.

“I’m just here just to have fun and meet everybody and be cool, you know,” said the first young man. “When it’s my time to go, it’s just my time to go.” “Everybody’s gotta go somehow. I don’t wanna die, but I mean, if that’s what God has in store for my life then that’s okay,” said a 21-year-old woman. Said another 20-something: “My family has the same mindset as me. We kind of just agreed that if we get it we get it. We’re gonna handle it as a family and just get over it because that’s what a family does.” “Just like the flu, right,” said one woman. “People die from the flu also. To me, that’s just the way I look at it.” Asked if she was concerned about so many people being at the beach, one woman replied, “No, not at all. There’s enough wind and air that it’ll clear it all out.” “I just feel comfortable that we’re going to be ok,” said an older man when asked why he doesn’t wear a face mask. “The survival rate is so high…We’re all gonna get sick from something eventually.” And in a demonstration of presidential leadership, a bearded young man said he was taking his cues from Donald Trump. “I mean, if he’s not wearing a mask, I’m not gonna wear a mask. If he’s not worried, I’m not worried.” And there you have it. But it wasn’t just Alabama flouting the rules. Over in Missouri, public pool parties were just as busy. Several videos taken from the Lake of the Ozark Saturday showed people not social distancing. Hundreds of people were packed into a pool and no one was seen wearing a mask. Check out the report from local CBS News affiliate KMOV.