Quote
treaclefingers

Quote
Toru A
Miraculously, we didn't have super spreader at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 due to no spectators.
The 2020 Tokyo Paralympics start tonight without spectators.
I hope Paralympics and Paralympians will be also safe and secure.

Hospitals in Tokyo got many problems with to many covid cases.

First athlete tests positive for Covid-19 in Tokyo’s Paralympic village

ParalympicsGB embroiled in Tokyo Covid scare as two pinged athletes given special dispensation to compete

Just got this regarding the venue Buddy Guy is playing here in St. Louis:


Attention fans!

The Event Organizer has updated their health and safety requirements for The Factory.


LIVE MUSIC IS BACK
LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY

The Factory has made it a priority to heavily consider our community, our music fans, and most importantly our family & staff when coming to this decision.

Effective immediately, The Factory will require the following for ALL AGES

Proof of Full Vaccination
OR
Negative Covid-19 Test within 72 hours of showtime.
Tickets purchased prior to Monday, August 16th can be refunded at point of purchase between now and September 3rd, 2021.
In addition to the above, face masks will still be required to enter the venue.

Proof of vaccination & negative Covid test can be a physical copy or mobile photo and must match photo ID and be presented upon entry.

This is being done in an abundance of caution for our patrons, our staff, and the health of the live music industry.

A list of free St. Louis Testing Sites can be found at https:fctry.live/TESTSITES.

Illinois governor Pritzker announced today that a state-wide indoor mask mandate is back on. Before anyone starts disparaging this plan or the governor, let me say I applaud this move and can say most people in Chicago had already been wearing masks indoors at grocery stores and the like for a few weeks now.

Jon12345-I'm in Peoria and I also applaud. I was hoping for this about 2 weeks ago. Before school started back up.

With more than 100,000 people in the hospital with Covid-19 in the US, this August is worse than last, expert says

Coronavirus

More than 100,000 people are hospitalized with Covid-19 in the US -- the first time that level has been reached since January -- as medical workers say they're once again struggling to treat waves of patients. The latest figure, amid a summer surge in Covid-19 cases driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant, is also more than double what it was on the same day last year, when vaccines were not available as they are now. Hospitals and researchers have been saying the vast majority of this year's hospitalized patients are unvaccinated. The availability of vaccines makes the current hospitalization surge tragic, Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the US Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory committee, told CNN Wednesday. "The numbers now ... are actually in many ways worse than last August," Offit said. "Last August, we had a fully susceptible population, (and) we didn't have a vaccine. Now, we have half the country vaccinated ... but nonetheless the numbers are worse. "The Delta variant is one big game changer," he said. Covid-19 hospitalizations and cases have soared since late June as the Delta variant gained dominance in the US. More than 100,317 Covid-19 patients were in US hospitals Wednesday -- more than six times higher than the figure was roughly nine weeks ago, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. The only other period that figure was above 100,000 was from late November to early January, when the country saw a major surge in cases. Fully vaccinated people are far less likely than unvaccinated people to be hospitalized with Covid-19, a recent study from Los Angeles County affirmed. Infection and hospitalization rates among unvaccinated people were 4.9 and 29.2 times, respectively, those in fully vaccinated persons on July 25, researchers from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health wrote in the study, which was published this week by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Very few fully vaccinated people with coronavirus infection went to a hospital: 3.2%, of them were hospitalized, 0.5% were admitted to an intensive care unit and 0.2% required mechanical ventilation, the researchers said. The study included data on coronavirus infections that occurred in Los Angeles County from May 1 through July 25. The data, which involved both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, included only laboratory-confirmed cases of infection and were representative of infections in the county alone, not the entire United States. "The findings in this report are similar to those from recent studies indicating that Covid-19 vaccination protects against severe Covid-19 in areas with increasing prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant," the researchers wrote. The country has averaged more than 152,400 new Covid-19 cases a day over the past week -- more than 13 times what the figure was about nine weeks ago, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Quote
Hairball
With more than 100,000 people in the hospital with Covid-19 in the US, this August is worse than last, expert says

Coronavirus

More than 100,000 people are hospitalized with Covid-19 in the US -- the first time that level has been reached since January -- as medical workers say they're once again struggling to treat waves of patients. The latest figure, amid a summer surge in Covid-19 cases driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant, is also more than double what it was on the same day last year, when vaccines were not available as they are now. Hospitals and researchers have been saying the vast majority of this year's hospitalized patients are unvaccinated. The availability of vaccines makes the current hospitalization surge tragic, Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the US Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory committee, told CNN Wednesday. "The numbers now ... are actually in many ways worse than last August," Offit said. "Last August, we had a fully susceptible population, (and) we didn't have a vaccine. Now, we have half the country vaccinated ... but nonetheless the numbers are worse. "The Delta variant is one big game changer," he said. Covid-19 hospitalizations and cases have soared since late June as the Delta variant gained dominance in the US. More than 100,317 Covid-19 patients were in US hospitals Wednesday -- more than six times higher than the figure was roughly nine weeks ago, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. The only other period that figure was above 100,000 was from late November to early January, when the country saw a major surge in cases. Fully vaccinated people are far less likely than unvaccinated people to be hospitalized with Covid-19, a recent study from Los Angeles County affirmed. Infection and hospitalization rates among unvaccinated people were 4.9 and 29.2 times, respectively, those in fully vaccinated persons on July 25, researchers from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health wrote in the study, which was published this week by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Very few fully vaccinated people with coronavirus infection went to a hospital: 3.2%, of them were hospitalized, 0.5% were admitted to an intensive care unit and 0.2% required mechanical ventilation, the researchers said. The study included data on coronavirus infections that occurred in Los Angeles County from May 1 through July 25. The data, which involved both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, included only laboratory-confirmed cases of infection and were representative of infections in the county alone, not the entire United States. "The findings in this report are similar to those from recent studies indicating that Covid-19 vaccination protects against severe Covid-19 in areas with increasing prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant," the researchers wrote. The country has averaged more than 152,400 new Covid-19 cases a day over the past week -- more than 13 times what the figure was about nine weeks ago, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The number of people with Covid who need help in hospitals is rising very fast. The situation changes from day to day.

Quote
treaclefingers
In British Columbia, our provincial government is pushing back Stage 4 opening from Sep. 7...though no official date for review at this point. I expect they'll review it month by month, so Oct. 7 maybe.

In other news, we'll be the second province to be issuing vaccine passports (after Quebec), which will be required in all 'non-essential' businesses ie restaurants, bars, events...more details this afternoon.

We currently have just under 84% with first vax, just over 75% with both. (over 12 years of age).

Cases have been on a steady rise since July and now hospitalizations and ICU are starting to increase as well. Mostly in one or two regions of the province, with traditionally lower vaccination rates.

Also, as of yesterday masks are mandatory again at all indoor facilities.

Get well, Paul!

Kiss Cancel Show After Paul Stanley Tests Positive for Covid


[www.rollingstone.com]

Quote
MAF

Quote
treaclefingers

Quote
Toru A
Miraculously, we didn't have super spreader at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 due to no spectators.
The 2020 Tokyo Paralympics start tonight without spectators.
I hope Paralympics and Paralympians will be also safe and secure.

Hospitals in Tokyo got many problems with to many covid cases.

First athlete tests positive for Covid-19 in Tokyo’s Paralympic village

ParalympicsGB embroiled in Tokyo Covid scare as two pinged athletes given special dispensation to compete

No super spreader? Well, you didn't see the news, I guess. Many, many, mostly younger, Japanese gathered at interesting Olympic related locations to have their photos taken. Sooooo many, soooo close and soooo many without mask (and if any people should know the use of masks, it's the Japanese). Indirectly the Olympics had an impact on the sharp rise of positives in Tokyo!

Honto ni warui, desu ne.

I'm a GHOST living in a ghost town

Quote
DGA35

Quote
treaclefingers
In British Columbia, our provincial government is pushing back Stage 4 opening from Sep. 7...though no official date for review at this point. I expect they'll review it month by month, so Oct. 7 maybe.

In other news, we'll be the second province to be issuing vaccine passports (after Quebec), which will be required in all 'non-essential' businesses ie restaurants, bars, events...more details this afternoon.

We currently have just under 84% with first vax, just over 75% with both. (over 12 years of age).

Cases have been on a steady rise since July and now hospitalizations and ICU are starting to increase as well. Mostly in one or two regions of the province, with traditionally lower vaccination rates.

Also, as of yesterday masks are mandatory again at all indoor facilities.

Yup...probably a good idea before the schools open up again...try to get the numbers down.

Personally, I think they let it go a bit too long. Over 700 new cases a day. We were around the 20+ case level in May/June if I'm remembering the timeframe correctly.

The diagrams on this are quite scary and interesting. One symptomatic person with Covid will spread it to the unvaccinated in short order.


CDC study shows unvaccinated teacher started Delta COVID outbreak at Marin school

[www.sfgate.com]

COVID-19 cases in South Dakota increase more than 450% since start of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

BY CAITLIN O'KANE
AUGUST 27, 2021

[www.cbsnews.com]

'There is no room to put these bodies,' Alabama health official says as Covid-19 deaths climb

Coronavirus

The rate of Covid-19 deaths has increased in 42 US states in the last week, according to new data, as the spread of the more virulent coronavirus Delta variant has upended a spring of reopenings and led to increasing concern headed into autumn. In 14 states, Covid-19 deaths increased by more than 50% over the past week, while another 28 states saw an uptick of at least 10%, data from Johns Hopkins University on Friday shows. In Alabama, one of the hardest-hit states in the latest surge, overall hospitalization numbers continue to climb, driving health officials to use mobile trailers to house bodies because Covid-19 deaths are soaring, state health officer Dr. Scott Harris said Friday. The state activated two of its four refrigerated trailers for the first time since the pandemic began, Harris said, in Mobile and Baldwin counties this week. "These are typically held in case of a mass casualty event for example, when a large number of bodies appear at one time. This is actually a situation that is happening in Alabama hospitals now," Harris said. "We have enough people dying ... that there is no room to put these bodies," he added. "We are really in a crisis situation. ... I don't know how much longer we're going to be able to do this."

Alabama reported 50 Covid-19 related deaths Thursday and saw "double digit numbers of deaths" in the past two to three weeks, Harris said. At least 5,571 Alabama children tested positive for Covid-19 last week, Harris said Friday, noting that officials aren't sure where the children contracted the virus. The state currently has a 23% Covid-19 positivity rate, among the highest in the nation, Harris said. Alabama is seeing a surge in pediatric cases from last year, Harris explained. Of the 2,879 people hospitalized with Covid-19 on Thursday, 45 of them are children, with at least five of them on ventilators, Harris said. "Many schools are struggling now on keeping the doors open and many are going to virtual," he said.

All 50 states have high rates of Covid-19 transmission, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday, as millions of children who are unable to be vaccinated return to school. The CDC identifies virus transmission to be high when the total new cases per 100,000 people in a 7-day period is 100 cases or more. With roughly 32% of people ages 12 to 17 fully vaccinated, adolescents have been tough to vaccinate, but there are some highlights. More than 86% of those ages 12 to 17 who received a first dose would later complete their vaccinations, which is necessary for optimal protection against the Delta variant, according to a CDC study. The study stresses the importance of vaccinating eligible children and young people as schools return. "Improving vaccination coverage and implementing Covid-19 prevention strategies are crucial to reduce Covid-19-associated morbidity and mortality among adolescents and to facilitate safer reopening of schools for in-person learning," researchers wrote in the study.

Covid-19 is hitting school staff and students
Back-to-school season has been devastating to some states and districts that are seeing a distressing number of students contract the virus. Preventative measures such as quarantining are happening nationwide. In Mississippi, 28,990 students were quarantined between August 16 and 20 after possible exposure to Covid-19, according to data from the state's department of health, up from the 20,334 students who quarantined August 9 to 13. It's unclear how many of those are new student quarantines, or students who have had to remain quarantined from the prior week. Schools report numbers, not the names, of those quarantined, according to the department of health. A total of 11,766 students and 2,383 employees have tested positive for Covid-19 in Mississippi schools since the beginning of August when schools began, health officials said.

In California, the Los Angeles Unified School District reported 2,847 active Covid-19 cases among students and staff across all as of Friday evening, according to the district's dashboard. The district said that as of Tuesday, 3,000 students and 500 employees were required to isolate at home while 3,500 students and 500 employees had to quarantine at home. The second largest district in the country enacted some of the strongest mitigation measures throughout its more than 1,000 schools. But officials remain on guard about the spread. "We anticipate an upward trend in outbreaks as our schools have reopened, but we're continuing to work hard to prevent, investigate and manage them as they happen," Los Angeles County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said during a weekly briefing on Thursday.

Health care resources are stretched thin for non-Covid-19 patients
As increases in Covid-19 cases persist, medical attention for other health needs is being curtailed. Three Ohio Health hospitals decided to temporarily pause elective surgeries that require an overnight stay due to an influx of Covid-19 hospitalizations, spokesperson Colin Yoder told CNN in a statement Friday. The move, effective Monday, frees hospital capacity and staff, he explained. "Due to the fluid nature of this fourth surge, we will continually monitor capacity and pause or resume elective surgeries with an overnight stay as needed," Yoder said.

Difficulties in maintaining a high level of health care are not limited to staffing issues. There has also been a shortage in the monoclonal antibody treatment used to treat both hospitalized Covid-19 patients and those with serious chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. The treatment Actemra was granted emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration in June to treat those with Covid-19. The medication reduces inflammation that can make patients sicker. It is regularly used for those with rheumatoid arthritis, yet Genentech, the company that makes Actemra, doesn't have enough for everyone who needs it. Last week, the company said demand for the drug went up more than 400% beyond pre-Covid-19 levels, in a span of two weeks. Supplies of several dose levels of the medicine have been out of stock in the US since last Monday. On Thursday, Genentech told customers it's "working as urgently as possible to expedite replenishments and increase manufacturing capacity and supply wherever possible." The company said the medicine should be available for distribution starting Monday, but "given continued tight supply, Genentech anticipates additional intermittent periods of stockouts in the months ahead if the pandemic continues at the current pace."

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

I still am amazed at the stupidity of some people. There are safe and effectives vaccines but some go for "moo juice" instead

Clamoring for ivermectin, some turn to a pro-Trump telemedicine website

[www.nbcnews.com]

When users visit the telemedicine website SpeakWithAnMD.com, they are immediately hit with a warning: “Due to overwhelming demand, we are experiencing longer than usual wait times.”

The demand is for ivermectin, a drug primarily used to deworm animals that has become the latest false cure for Covid-19. And the website, in partnership with the organization America’s Frontline Doctors, whose founder stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, has become well-known in the Facebook groups and Reddit communities where anti-vaccination sentiment thrives.

In those groups, people trade dosing directions and purchasing advice for ivermectin.

“Please consider that even if you can get an Rx for IVM, the pharmacy may not fill it for 1-3 days claiming they don’t have it in stock, which is pure bulls---,” a Reddit user wrote in the ivermectin community this month. “HAVE SOME HORSE PASTE ON HAND,” the user added, referring to the tube form that ivermectin meant for horses comes in.

Originally introduced as a veterinary drug for livestock animals in the late-1970s, ivermectin quickly proved useful in combating certain human diseases caused by parasites, a discovery that won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 2015. It comes in pills and pastes, in versions meant for humans and for animals.

Ivermectin has been called a “wonder drug” because of its use in treating parasitic diseases, but it has not shown the same results in studies against viruses.

The drug was the subject of research into possible use as a Covid-19 treatment — including a promising non-peer-reviewed study that was later determined to be “flawed” and taken down by the website Research Square, which hosts preprints of research papers that have not yet been published in academic journals.

The groups highlight the challenge public health officials and tech companies face in cracking down on Covid-19 misinformation — and the lengths some people will go to embrace fringe and misleading Covid advice. NBC News obtained access to several groups that are dedicated to ivermectin or have recently embraced the drug. Some groups have tens of thousands of members and can easily be found through Facebook’s search feature.

More than a year and a half into the coronavirus pandemic, various drugs have had their moments in anti-vaccination communities and among some conservatives in the U.S. — and ivermectin is not particularly different. But it comes at a time when parts of the country are in another Covid wave, this one fueled by the delta variant of the virus and with a safe and effective option available: the vaccines.

“It’s hard to understand why people would turn down an FDA-approved Covid preventative in favor of a treatment that’s not only unapproved but has a large body of evidence showing it doesn’t work,” said Dr. Nathan Boonstra, a pediatrician at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa, and co-host of the podcast “Voices for Vaccines.” “But antivax groups will eat up any opportunity to make it seem like a vaccine isn’t needed. This has been true about anti-vaccine groups long before the pandemic.

“There is a lot of shared space between pro-ivermectin and anti-vaccine groups,” he added.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory Thursday warning of a rapid increase in ivermectin prescriptions and reports of severe illness by people using ivermectin products. Data from the National Prescription Audit showed a dramatic spike in ivermectin prescriptions in recent weeks — more than nine times pre-pandemic levels.

Facebook spokesperson Aaron Simpson said in an emailed statement that the company removes any content that "attempts to buy, sell, donate or ask for Ivermectin."

"We also enforce against any account or group that violates our COVID-19 and vaccine policies, including claims that Ivermectin is a guaranteed cure or guaranteed prevention, and we don’t allow ads promoting Ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19," he wrote. "Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have removed 20 million pieces of COVID misinformation, labeled more than 190 million pieces of COVID content rated by our fact-checking partners, and connected over 2 billion people with authoritative information through tools like our COVID information center.”

Reddit is reviewing the ivermectin communities, spokesperson Cameron Njaa said in an emailed statement that underscored its commitment to providing accurate information, resources and support to its users.

The groups suggest ways to buy ivermectin and plenty of encouragement to do so. Some commenters push users to online cattle supply companies or pet stores. Others recommend SpeakWithAnMD.com.

The website advertises consultations for $90 and fills prescriptions through Ravkoo Pharmacy, an online pharmacy that America’s Frontline Doctors advertises as “partners,” who provide “the option to have that prescription delivered right to your door, the same day.” On a SpeakWithAnMD.com intake form viewed by NBC News, prospective patients are asked, “What medication do you prefer?” The user is then presented with three options: “Ivermectin,” “Hydroxychloroquine” or “Not sure.”

A user visiting for other reasons may not have much luck. The website makes it clear: “Controlled substances (such as narcotics) will never be prescribed.”

Reached by phone, Ravkoo Pharmacy CEO Alpesh Patel declined to comment about the relationship with America’s Frontline Doctors and hung up. America’s Frontline Doctors and SpeakWithAnMD did not respond to requests for comment.

From hydroxychloroquine to ivermectin
Much as the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine became an unproven remedy for Covid deniers after former President Donald Trump embraced it, ivermectin has emerged in recent weeks as a favorite treatment of some conservatives and anti-vaccination activists.

Ivermectin first drew some attention late last year as a possible Covid treatment, with interest remaining reasonably low until July, according to Google search data.

In recent weeks, a variety of conservative figures and anti-vaccination activists have embraced the drug. Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson have mentioned it.

Phil Valentine, the conservative radio host who died from Covid-19 this week, also turned to ivermectin after his diagnosis and urged his listeners to do the same. (He later encouraged listeners to get vaccinated.)

“Have a doctor on speed dial who will write you a prescription for ivermectin,” he wrote on Facebook.

Public health officials have scrambled to respond.

While ivermectin is generally safe in low doses, high doses can be toxic in humans. The Food and Drug Administration warned that ivermectin in large doses can cause side effects including “skin rash, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, facial or limb swelling, neurologic adverse events, sudden drop in blood pressure, severe skin rash potentially requiring hospitalization and liver injury.”

The State Health Department in Mississippi, where at least two people had been hospitalized for ivermectin toxicity, warned residents against taking the medicine this week.

And in perhaps a prime example of the exhaustion with which some public health professionals have confronted ivermectin, the FDA recently tweeted: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”

‘Moo juice’
The warnings have done little to stunt enthusiasm for ivermectin in some Facebook groups and Reddit communities. After self-medicating, some community members report back to the group with side effects, like gastrointestinal upset or dizziness, or wonder whether they have overdosed.

The link to the SpeakWithAnMD website has been shared in dozens of public Facebook groups, including Unmask Our Kids, Nevada! It has also been shared by prominent anti-vaccination influencers, including Dr. Christiane Northrup, who posted the link to her 550,000 followers on Facebook with the caption: “To get the right treatment or prevention. No need for fear. Many of us have known this all along.”

America’s Frontline Doctors is not SpeakWithAnMD’s only link to the far right. Conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi also provides his audience with a vanity link to the website, which was created in March 2020 and offers no information about its ownership.

SpeakWithAnMD is closely tied with America’s Frontline Doctors, a group that went viral last year when its makeshift news conference in Washington got millions of views after one of the physicians, Dr. Stella Immanuel, falsely called hydroxychloroquine a “cure” for Covid-19. Trump retweeted a video of the news conference pushed on social media by the conservative media site Breitbart.

The website for America’s Frontline Doctors directs people to SpeakWithAnMd through a button that reads “Contact A Physician,” and the America’s Frontline Doctors logo is prominent on the SpeakWithAnMD homepage.

Simone Gold, founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, was arrested and charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct after she entered the Capitol during the riot on Jan. 6. She pleaded not guilty to all charges. Gold, who is awaiting trial, spoke at an anti-vaccination protest in Santa Monica, California, last weekend.

Gold has spent the last year barnstorming churches, schools and event spaces throughout the U.S. on “The Uncensored Truth Tour,” in which she gives a presentation sowing doubt about Covid vaccines.

Gold did not respond to requests for comment.

The popularity of the site has sent some Facebook users back to the feed store. Losing patience with SpeakWithAnMD’s wait times, users on Facebook’s ivermectin groups sometimes share anecdotes about other telemedicine apps on which doctors have prescribed the drug prophylactically, or they try to persuade one another to buy it over the counter at pet stores.

The Facebook groups, which have names like Ivermectin MD Team, lead some users to believe they are talking to medical experts and doctors, but any one of the 25,000 members can post advice or suggestions about taking the deworming drug.

The communities are filled with advice for off-label drug cocktails featuring the dewormer. The pages frequently feature ways to make the paste more palatable, such as mixing it with jellies or eating it as a sandwich. The flavor frequently has users wondering how to hide its pungent taste.

“I take it by hiding it in a banana or bread,” a Reddit user wrote. “The flavor sort of bothers me.”

Some users sell what they claim to be ivermectin in the comments sections. Desperate for what they believe is a miracle drug, commenters frequently oblige, often leaving their WhatsApp addresses or phone numbers in replies to complete transactions.

Worried about crackdowns due to increasingly bad publicity, moderators of the Facebook groups are also creating backup channels on smaller social media channels, like MeWe and Telegram, in case they are banned from Facebook. Users have also cut back on the use of the words “vaccine” and “ivermectin,” calling them “v” and “ivm,” respectively.

Some users have begun to call ivermectin more colloquial names, like Moo Juice, because many have been ingesting the gel version. Others ask users how much their “horse” weighs when they dole out advice for dosages.

“I identify as a horse and can report no ill effects from the directed dosage as recommended by professionals, taken on a weekly basis,” a Reddit user wrote. “I like mine with a side of strawberry jam.”

Quote
daspyknows
I still am amazed at the stupidity of some people. There are safe and effectives vaccines but some go for "moo juice" instead

Clamoring for ivermectin, some turn to a pro-Trump telemedicine website

[www.nbcnews.com]

When users visit the telemedicine website SpeakWithAnMD.com, they are immediately hit with a warning: “Due to overwhelming demand, we are experiencing longer than usual wait times.”

The demand is for ivermectin, a drug primarily used to deworm animals that has become the latest false cure for Covid-19. And the website, in partnership with the organization America’s Frontline Doctors, whose founder stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, has become well-known in the Facebook groups and Reddit communities where anti-vaccination sentiment thrives.

In those groups, people trade dosing directions and purchasing advice for ivermectin.

“Please consider that even if you can get an Rx for IVM, the pharmacy may not fill it for 1-3 days claiming they don’t have it in stock, which is pure bulls---,” a Reddit user wrote in the ivermectin community this month. “HAVE SOME HORSE PASTE ON HAND,” the user added, referring to the tube form that ivermectin meant for horses comes in.

Originally introduced as a veterinary drug for livestock animals in the late-1970s, ivermectin quickly proved useful in combating certain human diseases caused by parasites, a discovery that won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 2015. It comes in pills and pastes, in versions meant for humans and for animals.

Ivermectin has been called a “wonder drug” because of its use in treating parasitic diseases, but it has not shown the same results in studies against viruses.

The drug was the subject of research into possible use as a Covid-19 treatment — including a promising non-peer-reviewed study that was later determined to be “flawed” and taken down by the website Research Square, which hosts preprints of research papers that have not yet been published in academic journals.

The groups highlight the challenge public health officials and tech companies face in cracking down on Covid-19 misinformation — and the lengths some people will go to embrace fringe and misleading Covid advice. NBC News obtained access to several groups that are dedicated to ivermectin or have recently embraced the drug. Some groups have tens of thousands of members and can easily be found through Facebook’s search feature.

More than a year and a half into the coronavirus pandemic, various drugs have had their moments in anti-vaccination communities and among some conservatives in the U.S. — and ivermectin is not particularly different. But it comes at a time when parts of the country are in another Covid wave, this one fueled by the delta variant of the virus and with a safe and effective option available: the vaccines.

“It’s hard to understand why people would turn down an FDA-approved Covid preventative in favor of a treatment that’s not only unapproved but has a large body of evidence showing it doesn’t work,” said Dr. Nathan Boonstra, a pediatrician at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa, and co-host of the podcast “Voices for Vaccines.” “But antivax groups will eat up any opportunity to make it seem like a vaccine isn’t needed. This has been true about anti-vaccine groups long before the pandemic.

“There is a lot of shared space between pro-ivermectin and anti-vaccine groups,” he added.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory Thursday warning of a rapid increase in ivermectin prescriptions and reports of severe illness by people using ivermectin products. Data from the National Prescription Audit showed a dramatic spike in ivermectin prescriptions in recent weeks — more than nine times pre-pandemic levels.

Facebook spokesperson Aaron Simpson said in an emailed statement that the company removes any content that "attempts to buy, sell, donate or ask for Ivermectin."

"We also enforce against any account or group that violates our COVID-19 and vaccine policies, including claims that Ivermectin is a guaranteed cure or guaranteed prevention, and we don’t allow ads promoting Ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19," he wrote. "Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have removed 20 million pieces of COVID misinformation, labeled more than 190 million pieces of COVID content rated by our fact-checking partners, and connected over 2 billion people with authoritative information through tools like our COVID information center.”

Reddit is reviewing the ivermectin communities, spokesperson Cameron Njaa said in an emailed statement that underscored its commitment to providing accurate information, resources and support to its users.

The groups suggest ways to buy ivermectin and plenty of encouragement to do so. Some commenters push users to online cattle supply companies or pet stores. Others recommend SpeakWithAnMD.com.

The website advertises consultations for $90 and fills prescriptions through Ravkoo Pharmacy, an online pharmacy that America’s Frontline Doctors advertises as “partners,” who provide “the option to have that prescription delivered right to your door, the same day.” On a SpeakWithAnMD.com intake form viewed by NBC News, prospective patients are asked, “What medication do you prefer?” The user is then presented with three options: “Ivermectin,” “Hydroxychloroquine” or “Not sure.”

A user visiting for other reasons may not have much luck. The website makes it clear: “Controlled substances (such as narcotics) will never be prescribed.”

Reached by phone, Ravkoo Pharmacy CEO Alpesh Patel declined to comment about the relationship with America’s Frontline Doctors and hung up. America’s Frontline Doctors and SpeakWithAnMD did not respond to requests for comment.

From hydroxychloroquine to ivermectin
Much as the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine became an unproven remedy for Covid deniers after former President Donald Trump embraced it, ivermectin has emerged in recent weeks as a favorite treatment of some conservatives and anti-vaccination activists.

Ivermectin first drew some attention late last year as a possible Covid treatment, with interest remaining reasonably low until July, according to Google search data.

In recent weeks, a variety of conservative figures and anti-vaccination activists have embraced the drug. Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson have mentioned it.

Phil Valentine, the conservative radio host who died from Covid-19 this week, also turned to ivermectin after his diagnosis and urged his listeners to do the same. (He later encouraged listeners to get vaccinated.)

“Have a doctor on speed dial who will write you a prescription for ivermectin,” he wrote on Facebook.

Public health officials have scrambled to respond.

While ivermectin is generally safe in low doses, high doses can be toxic in humans. The Food and Drug Administration warned that ivermectin in large doses can cause side effects including “skin rash, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, facial or limb swelling, neurologic adverse events, sudden drop in blood pressure, severe skin rash potentially requiring hospitalization and liver injury.”

The State Health Department in Mississippi, where at least two people had been hospitalized for ivermectin toxicity, warned residents against taking the medicine this week.

And in perhaps a prime example of the exhaustion with which some public health professionals have confronted ivermectin, the FDA recently tweeted: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”

‘Moo juice’
The warnings have done little to stunt enthusiasm for ivermectin in some Facebook groups and Reddit communities. After self-medicating, some community members report back to the group with side effects, like gastrointestinal upset or dizziness, or wonder whether they have overdosed.

The link to the SpeakWithAnMD website has been shared in dozens of public Facebook groups, including Unmask Our Kids, Nevada! It has also been shared by prominent anti-vaccination influencers, including Dr. Christiane Northrup, who posted the link to her 550,000 followers on Facebook with the caption: “To get the right treatment or prevention. No need for fear. Many of us have known this all along.”

America’s Frontline Doctors is not SpeakWithAnMD’s only link to the far right. Conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi also provides his audience with a vanity link to the website, which was created in March 2020 and offers no information about its ownership.

SpeakWithAnMD is closely tied with America’s Frontline Doctors, a group that went viral last year when its makeshift news conference in Washington got millions of views after one of the physicians, Dr. Stella Immanuel, falsely called hydroxychloroquine a “cure” for Covid-19. Trump retweeted a video of the news conference pushed on social media by the conservative media site Breitbart.

The website for America’s Frontline Doctors directs people to SpeakWithAnMd through a button that reads “Contact A Physician,” and the America’s Frontline Doctors logo is prominent on the SpeakWithAnMD homepage.

Simone Gold, founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, was arrested and charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct after she entered the Capitol during the riot on Jan. 6. She pleaded not guilty to all charges. Gold, who is awaiting trial, spoke at an anti-vaccination protest in Santa Monica, California, last weekend.

Gold has spent the last year barnstorming churches, schools and event spaces throughout the U.S. on “The Uncensored Truth Tour,” in which she gives a presentation sowing doubt about Covid vaccines.

Gold did not respond to requests for comment.

The popularity of the site has sent some Facebook users back to the feed store. Losing patience with SpeakWithAnMD’s wait times, users on Facebook’s ivermectin groups sometimes share anecdotes about other telemedicine apps on which doctors have prescribed the drug prophylactically, or they try to persuade one another to buy it over the counter at pet stores.

The Facebook groups, which have names like Ivermectin MD Team, lead some users to believe they are talking to medical experts and doctors, but any one of the 25,000 members can post advice or suggestions about taking the deworming drug.

The communities are filled with advice for off-label drug cocktails featuring the dewormer. The pages frequently feature ways to make the paste more palatable, such as mixing it with jellies or eating it as a sandwich. The flavor frequently has users wondering how to hide its pungent taste.

“I take it by hiding it in a banana or bread,” a Reddit user wrote. “The flavor sort of bothers me.”

Some users sell what they claim to be ivermectin in the comments sections. Desperate for what they believe is a miracle drug, commenters frequently oblige, often leaving their WhatsApp addresses or phone numbers in replies to complete transactions.

Worried about crackdowns due to increasingly bad publicity, moderators of the Facebook groups are also creating backup channels on smaller social media channels, like MeWe and Telegram, in case they are banned from Facebook. Users have also cut back on the use of the words “vaccine” and “ivermectin,” calling them “v” and “ivm,” respectively.

Some users have begun to call ivermectin more colloquial names, like Moo Juice, because many have been ingesting the gel version. Others ask users how much their “horse” weighs when they dole out advice for dosages.

“I identify as a horse and can report no ill effects from the directed dosage as recommended by professionals, taken on a weekly basis,” a Reddit user wrote. “I like mine with a side of strawberry jam.”

In other related news, in large swaths of the Southern US people are reporting no longer having worms.

Ivermectin side benefit! Thank you COVID!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-08-29 05:36 by treaclefingers.

Some good advice and insight for those attending concerts:

[www.seattletimes.com]

In Los Angeles, price for admission at nation’s second-largest school district is a negative covid test — every single week
Los Angeles Unified’s mandatory mass testing program seen as model for nation


LOS ANGELES — As hundreds of thousands of kids return to class in the nation’s second-largest school district, they’re participating in what amounts to a massive public health experiment unfolding in real time: Every single student, teacher and administrator in the Los Angeles public schools must get tested for the coronavirus every single week — indefinitely. Even the fully vaccinated are required to get tested. Those who test positive stay home for at least 10 days. And those who decline to get tested can’t come at all. Along with multiple other protocols the Los Angeles Unified School District is implementing — including masking for all and mandatory vaccines for teachers and staff — it amounts to by far the most aggressive anti-coronavirus campaign undertaken or announced by a major school district in the United States. And it comes as classrooms nationwide struggle to return to in-person learning amid the delta variant surge, with some governors trying to block mask mandates even as outbreaks have shut down schools or delayed planned re-openings in Florida, Texas, Iowa and elsewhere.

In Los Angeles, by contrast, the vast majority of parents, teachers and students are embracing or at least tolerating the stringent measures the district has adopted, with fewer than 3 percent of the district’s 450,000 K-12 students opting for remote learning instead. And while it remains to be seen whether L.A.’s ambitious approach will prove successful in keeping the district’s approximately 1,000 schools open for the entirety of the school year, local leaders and public health experts say the district is raising the bar in a way that’s being watched closely and could influence educators nationwide. “I think we’re setting the standard on reopening schools safely in 2021,” said Smita Malhotra, the district’s medical director. “What our district has done is really quite amazing.” To pull off the daunting task of administering some 500,000 coronavirus tests weekly across the sprawling district, L.A. Unified has contracted with two medical companies that provide around 1,000 licensed health-care practitioners. These health workers travel from school to school with mobile units conducting and overseeing nasal-swab tests — the PCR tests that produce the most accurate results. The tests are flown twice-daily to a lab in Northern California that aims to turn around the results in 24 to 36 hours. The price tag is hefty for the chronically underfunded district: around $350 million. L.A. County is paying for about $80 million of that sum, and the district is trying to get the federal government to cover the rest.

School started Aug. 16 for students in L.A. Unified, and by the end of the second week the district was reporting nearly 3,000 active positive cases among students and others. The number was rising by the day, but only seven cases had been linked within a school setting, all at an elementary school in Hollywood that — like the rest of the district’s schools — remained open. Anyone testing positive was sent home to quarantine, and close contacts were identified and also required to quarantine unless they’re vaccinated and asymptomatic. Some students and parents reported long lines or other logistical problems that were preventing everyone from getting tested weekly as intended, which the district said individual schools should address. Experts say it will become clear within a few months whether the program is working as intended — and if it does, other districts should take note. “If you can do it with half-a-million kids, teachers and staff in the district once a week, it just takes away the excuse for others that ‘it’s too big, too complex, we can’t do it,’ ” said Andrew Sweet, managing director of the Rockefeller Foundation’s covid-19 response initiative. “It’s almost like an education Marshall Plan for a specific district.”

More. > Coronavirus

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

This falls into the category of "You were a covidiot". No mask, Strike 1. No vax, strike 2. Ivermectin, strike 3 and you are out. You exercised your freedom but now you are dead. How did that work?

I feel sympathy for his wife and especially his kids. They didn't deserve this. Didn't some of our Covid experts say just fat old people die from Covid?

Texas anti-mask organizer, 30, dies of COVID

[www.sfgate.com]

Caleb Wallace, a Texas anti-mask organizer who allegedly treated himself with the horse dewormer ivermectin, has died after contracting COVID-19. He was 30 and is survived by his pregnant wife and three children.

Wallace founded the anti-mandate group "The San Angelo Freedom Defenders." Its Facebook page says its goal is to "encourage [citizens] to actively participate in their duty to secure God-given and constitutionally protected rights." On the Fourth of July, Wallace organized a so-called "Freedom Rally" for people "sick of the government being in control of our lives."

Because of his views, he was a regular presence at San Angelo city council meetings and on the local news.

“My health has nothing to do with you. As harsh as that sounds, our constitutional, fundamental rights protect that. Nothing else," Wallace said at a November 2020 San Angelo COVID update meeting. "I’m sorry if that comes off as blunt and that I don’t care. I do care. I care more about freedom than I do for your personal health."

By late July, Wallace was infected with the coronavirus. According to the San Angelo Standard-Times, he tried to treat himself with ivermectin. Ivermectin is widely available as a deworming agent for livestock, but over the last year has become increasingly popular among fringe groups who distrust doctors and vaccines. The FDA has repeatedly cautioned against self-dosing with the livestock treatment.

"Ivermectin tablets are approved at very specific doses for some parasitic worms, and there are topical (on the skin) formulations for head lice and skin conditions like rosacea," the FDA says on its website. "Ivermectin is not an anti-viral (a drug for treating viruses)."

By early August, Wallace was unconscious and required intensive care at the hospital. His wife Jessica Wallace, who is eight months pregnant, posted frequent updates on his condition on her GoFundMe page.

"You all have the right to feel the way you feel as Caleb once fought for his beliefs," she wrote on Friday. "He was an imperfect man but he loved his family and his little girls more than anything. To those who wished him death, I’m sorry his views and opinions hurt you. I prayed he’d come out of this with a new perspective and more appreciation for life."

On Saturday, she confirmed that her husband had died. "Caleb has peacefully passed on," she wrote. "He will forever live in our hearts and minds."

Shortly before his death, Jessica Wallace spoke with the San Angelo Standard-Times. She said she believes in wearing a mask.

"Caleb would tell me, 'You know masks aren't going to save you,' but he understood I wanted to wear them," she said. "It gives me comfort to know that maybe, just maybe, I'm either protecting someone or avoiding it myself."

Read online that Marc Bernier, a Daytona Beach right wing radio host and covid denier has died of Covid 19!
Also, Jimmy DeYoung, a Tennessee Christian radio host who linked vaccines to the mark of the beast, has died of covid.

Quote
daspyknows
This falls into the category of "You were a covidiot". No mask, Strike 1. No vax, strike 2. Ivermectin, strike 3 and you are out. You exercised your freedom but now you are dead. How did that work?

I feel sympathy for his wife and especially his kids. They didn't deserve this. Didn't some of our Covid experts say just fat old people die from Covid?

Texas anti-mask organizer, 30, dies of COVID

[www.sfgate.com]

Caleb Wallace, a Texas anti-mask organizer who allegedly treated himself with the horse dewormer ivermectin, has died after contracting COVID-19. He was 30 and is survived by his pregnant wife and three children.

Wallace founded the anti-mandate group "The San Angelo Freedom Defenders." Its Facebook page says its goal is to "encourage [citizens] to actively participate in their duty to secure God-given and constitutionally protected rights." On the Fourth of July, Wallace organized a so-called "Freedom Rally" for people "sick of the government being in control of our lives."

Because of his views, he was a regular presence at San Angelo city council meetings and on the local news.

“My health has nothing to do with you. As harsh as that sounds, our constitutional, fundamental rights protect that. Nothing else," Wallace said at a November 2020 San Angelo COVID update meeting. "I’m sorry if that comes off as blunt and that I don’t care. I do care. I care more about freedom than I do for your personal health."

By late July, Wallace was infected with the coronavirus. According to the San Angelo Standard-Times, he tried to treat himself with ivermectin. Ivermectin is widely available as a deworming agent for livestock, but over the last year has become increasingly popular among fringe groups who distrust doctors and vaccines. The FDA has repeatedly cautioned against self-dosing with the livestock treatment.

"Ivermectin tablets are approved at very specific doses for some parasitic worms, and there are topical (on the skin) formulations for head lice and skin conditions like rosacea," the FDA says on its website. "Ivermectin is not an anti-viral (a drug for treating viruses)."

By early August, Wallace was unconscious and required intensive care at the hospital. His wife Jessica Wallace, who is eight months pregnant, posted frequent updates on his condition on her GoFundMe page.

"You all have the right to feel the way you feel as Caleb once fought for his beliefs," she wrote on Friday. "He was an imperfect man but he loved his family and his little girls more than anything. To those who wished him death, I’m sorry his views and opinions hurt you. I prayed he’d come out of this with a new perspective and more appreciation for life."

On Saturday, she confirmed that her husband had died. "Caleb has peacefully passed on," she wrote. "He will forever live in our hearts and minds."

Shortly before his death, Jessica Wallace spoke with the San Angelo Standard-Times. She said she believes in wearing a mask.

"Caleb would tell me, 'You know masks aren't going to save you,' but he understood I wanted to wear them," she said. "It gives me comfort to know that maybe, just maybe, I'm either protecting someone or avoiding it myself."

Well... aside from the obvious, all I can say is... Texas.

It's amazing what people will choose to believe even when given facts.

Quote
GasLightStreet

Quote
daspyknows
This falls into the category of "You were a covidiot". No mask, Strike 1. No vax, strike 2. Ivermectin, strike 3 and you are out. You exercised your freedom but now you are dead. How did that work?

I feel sympathy for his wife and especially his kids. They didn't deserve this. Didn't some of our Covid experts say just fat old people die from Covid?

Texas anti-mask organizer, 30, dies of COVID

[www.sfgate.com]

Caleb Wallace, a Texas anti-mask organizer who allegedly treated himself with the horse dewormer ivermectin, has died after contracting COVID-19. He was 30 and is survived by his pregnant wife and three children.

Wallace founded the anti-mandate group "The San Angelo Freedom Defenders." Its Facebook page says its goal is to "encourage [citizens] to actively participate in their duty to secure God-given and constitutionally protected rights." On the Fourth of July, Wallace organized a so-called "Freedom Rally" for people "sick of the government being in control of our lives."

Because of his views, he was a regular presence at San Angelo city council meetings and on the local news.

“My health has nothing to do with you. As harsh as that sounds, our constitutional, fundamental rights protect that. Nothing else," Wallace said at a November 2020 San Angelo COVID update meeting. "I’m sorry if that comes off as blunt and that I don’t care. I do care. I care more about freedom than I do for your personal health."

By late July, Wallace was infected with the coronavirus. According to the San Angelo Standard-Times, he tried to treat himself with ivermectin. Ivermectin is widely available as a deworming agent for livestock, but over the last year has become increasingly popular among fringe groups who distrust doctors and vaccines. The FDA has repeatedly cautioned against self-dosing with the livestock treatment.

"Ivermectin tablets are approved at very specific doses for some parasitic worms, and there are topical (on the skin) formulations for head lice and skin conditions like rosacea," the FDA says on its website. "Ivermectin is not an anti-viral (a drug for treating viruses)."

By early August, Wallace was unconscious and required intensive care at the hospital. His wife Jessica Wallace, who is eight months pregnant, posted frequent updates on his condition on her GoFundMe page.

"You all have the right to feel the way you feel as Caleb once fought for his beliefs," she wrote on Friday. "He was an imperfect man but he loved his family and his little girls more than anything. To those who wished him death, I’m sorry his views and opinions hurt you. I prayed he’d come out of this with a new perspective and more appreciation for life."

On Saturday, she confirmed that her husband had died. "Caleb has peacefully passed on," she wrote. "He will forever live in our hearts and minds."

Shortly before his death, Jessica Wallace spoke with the San Angelo Standard-Times. She said she believes in wearing a mask.

"Caleb would tell me, 'You know masks aren't going to save you,' but he understood I wanted to wear them," she said. "It gives me comfort to know that maybe, just maybe, I'm either protecting someone or avoiding it myself."

Well... aside from the obvious, all I can say is... Texas.

It's amazing what people will choose to believe even when given facts.

So this person loved his freedom more than he loved being a father to his children and a husband to his wife. S-E-L-F-I-S-H

First, surges in Covid-19 infections led to shortages of hospital beds and staff. Now it's oxygen (CNN)

Like I said before, this is a problem that may well take care of itself in the not so long run. Nice to clear the worms from the system in the meantime though.

jb

My dogs take Heartgard once a month. Will the anti vaccers try that next?

EU takes US off safe travel list; backs travel restrictions

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN
August 30, 2021

[apnews.com]

Sad and worrisome...

US Surgeon General urges parents and officials take these steps to protect children from Covid-19

"Vaccination is key to protecting against Covid-19 and the serious illness that could come with it.
But for many children, vaccination still isn't an option".

Corona US

A return to in-person learning has led to thousands of students having to quarantine across the US, with Covid-19 cases among children surging to levels not seen since winter. With the increased threat, the US surgeon general is urging parents and officials to take measures that reduce the risk of a child's environment. "If they are around people who are vaccinated, everyone in the household gets vaccinated, that significantly reduces the risk to our children," Dr. Vivek Murthy said in a conversation hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation. In the classroom, there are layers of protection that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has laid out to keep children safe -- including wearing properly fitting masks, properly ventilating buildings and regular testing, Murthy said. "Even though our kids do better, that doesn't mean that Covid is benign, it doesn't mean that it's harmless in our children," Murthy said. "In fact, we've lost hundreds of children to Covid-19."

The misperception that young people don't have to worry about Covid-19 may also be hindering their motivation to get vaccinated, Murthy said. As of Saturday, teens ages 16 and 17 had the highest rate of infection among all age groups, according to a CNN analysis of data from the CDC. Cases overall have surged across the US, with the daily average of newly reported infections surpassing 155,000. Vaccination is key to protecting against Covid-19 and the serious illness that could come with it. But for many children, vaccination still isn't an option. Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine has been fully approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, but only for those 16 and older, and emergency use authorizations only extend to children as young as 12. Children ages 5 to 11 are the next group in line to become eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, and an updated emergency use authorization from the FDA would make at least 28 million additional children, but the process of authorizing a vaccine may not come until the end of the year, Murthy told CNN's Briana Keilar earlier this week. In the meantime, Murthy stressed that "there are steps we can take to keep our kids safer. It's all the more important with Delta."

Students sent back into quarantine
The stress over safety precautions in schools is growing, as many students have already faced exposure to Covid-19 in the early days of their new school year.
At least 14,746 students and 2,984 employees have tested positive for Covid-19 throughout the 15 largest school districts in Florida since the start of school, according to a CNN analysis. Several districts in the state have been at odds with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over mask mandates in the classroom after the governor banned such measures and some districts chose to implement them anyway. A judge on Friday ruled against DeSantis, saying he did not have the authority to prevent local measures. In Georgia, six schools in Henry County are temporarily conducting remote learning through August 27 due to "a consistent increase in the number of the individuals required to quarantine." With the start of school fast approaching for New York City, officials there announced a change to last year's quarantine policy based on vaccinations. City Department of Education Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter and Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that only unvaccinated students will be subject to quarantine if exposed to positive cases. "This is crucial to remember -- anyone vaccinated who is not symptomatic, adult or child, even if there's been contact, they're going to stay in school," de Blasio said Thursday. "I don't want people thinking of last year's model and assuming everything's the same now. It's not the same. Why? Because of vaccination."

Hospitals stretched thin as ICU beds run out
The rise in cases has overwhelmed many health care workers trying to keep up with the more than 100,000 Americans hospitalized with Covid-19. In Georgia, many hospitals have requested ambulance transports be sent to other facilities because they're stretched thin. The Georgia Department of Public Health on Thursday asked residents to help reduce the strain on EMS and emergency departments by getting vaccinated, wearing a mask and getting tested for Covid-19 somewhere other than the state's hospitals. And in Illinois, ICU beds are running out, particularly in southern Illinois and parts of central Illinois, Illinois Department of Public Health Dr. Ngozi Ezike said. Nearly all of the people hospitalized with Covid-19 are unvaccinated, Gov. J. B. Pritzker said Thursday, and those hospitalizations have "multiplied" the state's ICU usage "by a factor of seven this summer." Kentucky has also seen a steep increase in hospitalizations. On July 14, 239 people were hospitalized with Covid-19 -- on Wednesday that number had grown to 2,074, marking 42 straight days of increases, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. Some states are calling for reinforcements to support staffing at overwhelmed hospitals. The Texas Department of State Health Services will deploy 2,500 additional medical staff to support health care facilities in the state, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced. Medical equipment such as ventilators, oxygen concentrators, heart monitors, IV pumps, feeding pumps, and hospital beds will also be provided. In Nebraska, the shortage of nurses and spike in hospitalizations has prompted Gov. Pete Ricketts to declare a hospital staffing emergency. Ricketts announced two new measures to help address the personal strain: making it easier for health care professionals to defer continuing education or licensing requirements and limiting elective surgeries.
By limiting elective surgeries across the state, Ricketts hopes "to help free up hospital capacity, to take on some of the other patients that are coming into the hospital, both non-Covid and Covid patients," he added.

Health departments get death threats, West Virginia governor says
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said health departments are getting death threats over local mask mandates. During a Friday briefing, Justice said people blame the health departments for mask mandates in schools, but clarified that those decisions have been left up to the local boards of education and superintendents. "You know, I mean, do we really need to get to this? I mean, this is an absolute shame and surely to God above, we'll stop threatening the very men and women that work so hard to save our lives," Justice said. Justice reiterated that he is not an advocate of mandates or masks, but repeatedly encouraged everyone to get vaccinated. West Virginia is reporting 1,328 new cases of Covid-19 with 547 Covid-19 patients hospitalized and 178 people in the ICU, Justice said. The state is also reporting 18 new deaths in the past two days.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Another variant. No name yet but Mu is after Lambda? The nutcases can call Ivermectin Mu juice now.

South African researchers keep wary eye on yet a new coronavirus variant

[www.cnn.com]

(CNN)Genetics researchers who have been watching for new coronavirus variants say they've seen a troubling new lineage that carries many of the same hallmarks as other strains, including Alpha, Beta and Gamma.

The variant they are watching, called C.1.2, has popped up across South Africa as well as in seven other countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the researchers report. They're not sure whether its constellation of mutations will make it more dangerous, but it carries changes that have given other variants increased transmissibility and the ability to evade the immune system's response to some degree.
Having more mutations does not necessarily equal more danger -- some mutations can weaken a virus and it's the combination of changes that affects whether a virus becomes more efficient. One extra mutation could cancel out the effects of another.
But the team -- which includes virologist Penny Moore of South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases -- say they are keeping an eye on it.
"We are currently assessing the impact of this variant on antibody neutralization following SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa," they wrote in a report posted online as a preprint.

"This variant has been detected throughout the third wave of infections in South Africa from May 2021 onwards and has been detected in seven other countries within Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. The identification of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants is commonly associated with new waves of infection."

It's too soon for the variant to be designated a variant of interest or a variant of concern by the World Health Organization, so it does not yet have a Greek alphabet designation. WHO currently names four variants of concern, which are more easily transmitted, affect severity of disease or evade tests, vaccines or treatments: Alpha or B.1.1.7; Beta or B.1.351; Gamma or P.1; and Delta or B.1.617.2. Variants of interest, which have troubling mutations and have caused clusters of illness, include Eta or B.1.525; Iota or B.1.526; Kappa or B.1.617.1 and Lambda or C.37, according to WHO.

Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead on Covid-19 for WHO, noted that very few people diagnosed with coronavirus have been found to be infected with the C.1.2 variant.
"To date there are around 100 sequences of C.1.2 reported globally, the earliest reports from May '21 from South Africa," she said on Twitter.
"At this time, C.1.2 does not appear to be rising in circulation," she added. She said WHO would update people on its website and via news conference if that changes.
"Monitoring & assessment of variants is ongoing & critically important to understand the evolution of this virus, in fighting COVID-19 & adapting strategies as needed," she added. So far, the Delta variant is still dominant, Van Kerkhove said.

Some variants, such as Alpha and Delta, have quickly spread to become the dominant variants in much of the world. Others have spread more regionally, including Beta and Gamma. Others have looked troubling but caused only sporadic outbreaks.

On the radio,
I just heard the news
Lawdagawd, I gots the variant blues

jb
don't give up your day job

Quote
jbwelda
On the radio,
I just heard the news
Lawdagawd, I gots the variant blues

jb
don't give up your day job

Robert Johnson was KING of the Deltavariant Blues.

Quote
Rocknroll1969
My dogs take Heartgard once a month. Will the anti vaccers try that next?

I hear the antivaxxers are considering either ALPO or Dr. Ballards as a couple of alternatives. I have a friend who is an antivaxxer...I can find out for sure.