The New York City Coronavirus briefing. Mayor De Blasio provides his weekly Friday summary. Key Metrics: People admitted to hospitals 136 (up from 129 April 29th). People currently in ICUs 704 (from 705). Percentage of People City Wide tested positive 23% (up from 22%). Percentage People for Public Health Labs. 17% (down from 36%) De Blasio: “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Yesterday 2,637 confirmed cases. 202 lost lives yesterday. Looking at these compared to two weeks ago is good, but if I had given you these numbers it is staggering.” “Biggest reality is that this will be a…
Author: Brett Johnson
An Anti-body Test vs. Antigen Test vs. the Lateral Assay Test Tests for Covid-19 can be divided into polymerise chain reaction (PCR), serologic tests and soon lateral Assay tests. These tests use different kinds of samples to search for different hallmarks of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. PCR (polymerise chain reaction). We take a look at these different approaches and their relative merits. PCR Molecular Virus Test. The PCR test detects if the virus is there and someone is actively infected. genetic information of the virus, the RNA. By detecting viral RNA, which will be present in the body before antibodies form…
NYT Columnist Tom Friedman’s thoughtful piece on how to deal with Coronavirus seems to make the most sense of anything we’ve seen. In his 1500 word article he explores what Sweden is doing that may be the right balancing act. Below if our 500 word distillation. See full article. So what are they doing different? He starts by asking are we going to have a plan, like Sweden, or just have each of the 50 state wing it with their own approach. He spoke with Anders Tegnell, chief epidemiologist at Sweden’s Public Health Agency — the nation’s top infectious disease…
YouTube issued a statement Tuesday regarding the removal of a video press briefing with Accelerated Urgent Care doctors Dan Erickson and Artin Massihi. The video was the first of two videos playing the entire briefing from a press conference last week. YouTube pulled it for violating community guidelines. “We quickly remove flagged content that violate our Community Guidelines, including content that explicitly disputes the efficacy of local healthy authority recommended guidance on social distancing that may lead others to act against that guidance,” said the statement. Joseph Russomanno, a mass communication law professor at Arizona State University said the doctors’…
Is the cure worse than the disease? It appears physicians immersed in the midst of it all are seeing it that way. Most compelling was an opinion written by St. Barnabas Hospital Emergency director Daniel G. Murphy MD. The Bronx New York hospital which serves a lower income community is in the center of the pandemic. Another physician, Scott Atlas MD who is from Stanford has taken to the airwaves advocating an end to the lockdown. We summarize their perspectives as the controversy will likely grow. Both wrote opinions for the New York Post that appeared April 26th and 27th.…
Senegal Developing a One Dollar testing Kit. A country which has a wealth of experience in dealing with infectious diseases projects, according to Al Jazeera a one dollar testing kit.
Coronavirus tests require complex and pure reagents, such as enzymes, probes, and primers, which have been harder to come by during the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus tests require complex and pure reagents, such as enzymes, probes, and primers, which have been harder to come by during the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re the tip of the testing spear in the fight against the coronavirus. Reagents are the main ingredients of any chemical-based test, which in this pandemic includes inorganic solutions as well as enzymes, probes, and primers created to match the coronavirus’s genome. And they are a necessity for the coronavirus test kits…
The UK’s Daily Mail report on the origins of the Coronavirus, doesn’t look so good for China. Entitled: Wuhan doctor who went public over spread of coronavirus ‘goes missing’ gives a compelling presentation of the attempt to bury the story. If ever there was lesson to be learned, this was it. Transparency is critical to saving lives. The doctor, Dr Ai Fen, who identified the disease back in December and brought it to the attention of colleagues was severely reprimanded. The story provides a summary and timeline of how the Chinese Authorities knew this was happening but worked to cover…