New research by two of Canada's most credible analytic agencies appears to prove that critics — who have complained that inflation data has been distorted by COVID-19 both here and in the U.S. — actually got it right.
The concern, expressed by credible financial publications, is that the pandemic has altered the selection of things people buy while the official "basket" of goods and services has not shifted. As the Wall Street Journal reported last month, "Inflation Is Already Here—For the Stuff You Actually Want to Buy."
The research by Statistics Canada and the Bank of Canada, covering the months of March, April and May, has shown that the COVID-19 outbreak really did shift Canadian spending patterns in a way that no longer reflected the consumer price index (CPI) basket of goods, which is only adjusted every two years.
https://www.cbc.ca/n...id-19-1.5765625
“If people aren’t prepared to live by the rules in a civil society, they don’t have to participate,” he said. “If you don’t want to take a B.C. ferry, get a water taxi, buy a boat, but do not put people at risk because you don’t believe that COVID-19 exists. It does, hundreds of people have died in British Columbia … and I’m personally not prepared to accept people disregarding facts and science.”
https://www.nanaimob...on-b-c-ferries/
Fraser Health reports new COVID-19 outbreaks at care home and meat packing facility
https://www.cbc.ca/n...ility-1.5767336
Initial findings from a study looking at the longer-term impact of COVID-19 has found that a large proportion COVID-19 patients discharged from hospital were still experiencing symptoms of breathlessness, fatigue, anxiety and depression two to three months after contracting the virus.
*snip*
The study took 58 patients with moderate to severe laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, who had been admitted for treatment at the Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust between March and May 2020. They also recruited 30 uninfected controls from the community, group-matched for age, sex, body mass index and risk factors such as smoking, diabetes and hypertension.
The participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of their brain, lungs, heart, liver and kidneys; spirometry to test their lung function; a six-minute walk test; cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET), as well as assessments of their quality of life, cognitive and mental health.
The C-MORE study found that two to three months after the onset of the disease, 64% of patients experienced persistent breathlessness and 55% complained of significant fatigue.
https://medicalxpres...d-revealed.html
A coronavirus swab has broken off into a woman’s lung at a hospital.
It was found in one of the 51-year-old patient’s lobar bronchi during a test for Covid-19 at a trust in Leicester.
She had a tracheostomy – an opening made at the front of the neck – following a medical procedure.
Part of the swab stylet broke off and fell through the trachesostomy site, the report, which has been published in the BMJ medical journal, said.
It has since been removed from the woman’s body.
“The above case highlights the potential dangers of taking a mucosal swab from a trachesotomy site,” the report’s authors said.
https://www.independ...r-b1071349.html
From factory to syringe, the world's most promising coronavirus vaccine candidates need nonstop sterile refrigeration to work.
But despite great strides in equipping developing countries to maintain the vaccine "cold chain," nearly 3 billion of the world's 7.8 billion people live in places with insufficient temperature-controlled storage for an immunization campaign to bring COVID-19 under control.
The result: Poor people around the world are likely to be the last to emerge from the pandemic. The cold chain hurdle is just the are not equipped for large-scale testing.
https://medicalxpres...-3b-people.html
Preliminary results show Chinese COVID-19 vaccine safe: The Lancet
http://www.ecns.cn/n...ys6709764.shtml
COVID-19 vaccine: UNICEF to stockpile more than half a billion syringes by year’s end
https://news.un.org/...2020/10/1075682
According to the latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released by the CDC, death rates from COVID-19 increased in Hispanic populations during the summer months, while death rates among Black, white, Asian, and all other ethnic groups decreased.
The report examined COVID-19—associated deaths in all 50 states reported to the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) for the period of May 1-August 31, 2020. It found that while the overall percentage of white people who died from COVID-19 decreased from 56.9% to 51.5%, and the percentage deaths of Black people decreased from 20.3% to 17.4%, the percentage of deaths from people of Hispanic origin increased from 16.3% to 26.4%. As the study notes, while the majority of people who died from COVID-19 were white, both Blacks and Hispanics were disproportionately affected:
Although a small decrease (2.9 percentage points between May and August) in decedents who were Black was observed, Black persons still accounted for 18.7% of overall deaths despite representing just 12.5% of the U.S. population. Similarly, Hispanic persons were disproportionately represented among decedents: 24.2% of decedents were Hispanic compared with 18.5% of the U.S. population. In addition, the percentage of decedents who were Hispanic increased 10.1 percentage points from May through August. Whereas Hispanic persons accounted for 14% of COVID-19–associated deaths in the United States during February 12–May 18, 2020, that percentage increased to approximately 25% in August.
https://www.fastcomp...ase-this-summer
Two weeks since exiting a hospital after being pumped with experimental drugs, Trump is attempting to regain a carefully cultivated persona of the businessman-turned-politician who can travel more than anyone, work (or tweet) at all hours and deliver roaring rally speeches for more than 90 minutes on his feet.
It’s an image of vitality and stamina Trump has promoted throughout his real estate career, his reality show and his presidency, suddenly upended by his Covid-19 diagnosis in the final month of the 2020 race. Now, in the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic and searing recession, Trump is closing out his campaign with this attitude of fighting, dominance and aggression rather than empathy and compassion many undecided voters may want in a moment of national uncertainty.
“He sees his ability to make calls late at night, function on little sleep and work no matter where he is as part of his appeal,” said one White House official. Covid “threatened to change that projected image.”
*snip*
Now, Trump’s post-Covid macho man routine could become a political liability as cases rise this fall across the nation.
“When he said, ‘Don’t let the virus dominate your life,’ I heard a million epidemiologists cry out in terror,” said Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. “The fact that when Trump recovered, it was all about him beating the virus and not about, ‘I went through this ordeal and here is what we can do to stay safe’ — that is a terrible disservice. As a president, you have the opportunity to educate people every day.”
*snip*
Unlike the first lady, the president did not use his Covid-19 diagnosis to connect with a broader swath of Americans or speak to their plight in navigating health care during a pandemic.
“What Trump most fears and denies is weakness,” said Tony Schwartz, the author who ghost-wrote “Trump: The Art of the Deal” and just published a memoir titled “Dealing with the Devil: My Mother, Trump and Me.” “I can only imagine he found it virtually intolerable to be in a hospital. ‘I am not a sick person, ever’ is how he sees himself.”
“He has always defined every outcome as a victory even when it wasn’t,” Schwartz added, saying half of the business transactions mentioned in “The Art of the Deal” actually were failures. “Trump’s advantage in promoting himself is that a victory is a victory, but he also declares victory in defeat.”
https://www.politico...al-brand-430096
Poland turning National Stadium into COVID-19 field hospital
https://medicalxpres...ovid-field.html
The Government's Test and Trace system has failed to reach nearly a quarter of a million close contacts of people who have tested positive for coronavirus, new analysis has found.
Private firms Serco and Sitel failed to get in touch with 245,481 contacts in England either online or from call centres over four months - missing nearly 40 per cent of contacts, the figures show.
SAGE has warned the system needs to call at least 80 per cent of all contacts and ensure they self-isolate, in order to stop the spread of infection.
https://www.dailymai...e-contacts.html
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Norwegian health authorities have detected a new mutation of the coronavirus with a higher transmission capacity in the central municipality of Trondheim, local chief physician Tove Rosstad told the NRK public broadcaster on Monday.
"We don't know where the virus came from. No such kinds of the virus have ever been seen in Norway before. We also searched international databases but did not find this kind there either", Rosstad told the broadcaster.
According to the official, the Norwegian health authorities concluded that the virus mutated after it began behaving differently and infecting people faster than before. Rosstad believes that the number of new cases will only grow moving forward, as stated in the report.
https://sputniknews....ion-properties/
China's economy accelerates as virus recovery gains strength
Retail spending rebounded to above pre-virus levels for the 1st time
https://www.cbc.ca/n...onomy-1.5767499
SINGAPORE: A Chinese couple on trial for obstructing COVID-19 contact tracing efforts will not be allowed to return to China before the trial resumes in January, after a High court review of a district judge's decision granting them permission to leave Singapore.
Justice Vincent Hoong on Monday (Oct 19) agreed with the prosecution's application to overturn the decision by District Judge Ng Peng Hong.
Judge Ng had granted the application on Oct 9 for Hu Jun, 39, and his wife Shi Sha, 37 to leave Singapore for China and to return in January before the trial resumes.
Judge Ng had increased bail by S$80,000 each and imposed conditions such as providing their travel details to their investigating officer.
*snip*
Hu and Shi are accused of obstructing contact tracing efforts by health authorities by omitting information about their whereabouts.
If convicted of the offences, they face penalties of up to six months' jail, a maximum S$10,000 fine or both, for each charge.
https://www.channeln...review-13312498
Has the coronavirus pandemic already peaked in India? And can the spread of the virus be controlled by early next year?
A group of India's top scientists believe so. Their latest mathematical model suggests India passed its peak of reported infections in September and the pandemic can be controlled by February next year. All such models assume the obvious: people will wear masks, avoid large gatherings, maintain social distancing and wash hands.
India has recorded some 7.5 million Covid-19 cases and more than 114,000 deaths so far. It has a sixth of the world's population and a sixth of reported cases. However, India accounts for only 10% of the world's deaths from the virus. Its case fatality rate or CFR, which measures deaths among Covid-19 patients, is less than 2% - among the lowest in the world.
India hit a record peak in the middle of September when it reported more than a million active cases. Since then the caseload has been steadily declining. Last week, India reported an average of 62,000 cases and 784 deaths every day. Daily deaths have also been falling in most states. Testing has remained consistent - an average of more than a million samples were tested every day last week.
https://www.bbc.com/...-india-54596707
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