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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Texas Doctor Warns Patients ‘Might Die’ For Lack Of Beds: Live Updates

Courtesy of ZeroHedge View original post here.

Summary:

  • Texas sees another near-record jump in hospitalizations
  • Cuomo demands Trump "acknowledge" the COVID-19 threat
  • FDA warns on false positives for
  • US share of global COVID-19 cases north of 25%
  • NJ sees highest transmission rate in 10 weeks
  • NY hospitalizations fall to 817
  • Arizona tops 100k cases
  • Florida cases top 200k
  • Miami-Dade closes gyms, restaurants
  • Global case total nears 11.5 million
  • Victoria, home of Melbourne, closes borders, including with New South Wales
  • Goldman lowers 2020 GDP forecast over COVID-19 rebound
  • California prepares for a COVID-19-infused wildfire season
  • FDA approves new rapid-detection test

* * *

Update (1650ET): Texas followed Florida on Monday and passed the 200k case mark, leaving Texas just shy of Florida with the 4th largest outbreak in the country, behind NY, Cali, and Fla. But the bigger news was the hospitalizations, which saw another near-record jump in newly hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Hospitalizations rose by 517 to 8,698.

The state also reported another 5k+ new cases.

Doctors in Texas tell CNN that they're starting to run out of ICU beds, and that patients who would otherwise be excellent candidates for this type of treatment might die because of it.

CNN also reported that Texas has been struggling with outbreaks in childcare centers.

At least 1,335 people have tested positive from child care facilities in Texas, the state's Department of Health and Human Services reported Monday, citing figures from Friday.

Of those infected, 894 were staff members and 441 were children. The cases came from 883 child care facilities that are open in the state, DHHS said.

* * *

Update (1530ET): California Gov Gavin Newsom said Monday that Contra Costa County, Marin County and Solano County have joined the state's coronavirus "watchlist". Santa Clara, meanwhile, has been removed.

Meanwhile, the state reported another 5,699 new cases.

As the US coronavirus toll nears 3 million, the acceleration in new cases has pushed the US's share of global coronavirus cases past 25%.

Source: Worldometers

Finally, following today's news about Becton Dickinson receiving FDA approval for its rapid antigen test, the FDA has warned about the risk of false positives when using the company's tests.

  • FDA WARNS OF FALSE-POSITIVE RISK FOR BD SARS-COV-2 REAGENTS

Strangely, we haven't seen much more on that.

* * *

Update (1400ET): Andrew Cuomo has some advice for President Trump: acknowledge that COVID-19 exists.

Since we're all apparently confronting uncomfortable realities now, maybe Cuomo can look in the mirror and finally admit to himself that he killed grandma?

* * *

Update (1300ET): While the number of daily cases in NY stayed roughly the same compared with yesterday…

…New Jersey reported another 216 new cases…

…falling hospitalization rates…

…and just 20 deaths…

…but the rate of transmission in the state has climbed to its highest level in 10 weeks…

…as out-of-state residents (*cough* Floridians *cough*) bring more cases to the state and prevent its daily tallies from continuing to decline.

That's certainly not a vote of confidence in the tri-state area's 14-day quarantine order.

* * *

Update (1130ET): Florida isn't the only sun belt state seeing COVID-19 cases top key psychological on Monday: Arizona just saw its total top 100k on Monday as state health officials confirmed 3,352 new cases.

State health officials said ICU beds are at 89% occupancy, and a record number (3,212) of patients are hospitalized with COVID-19.

Ariz. is the 8th US state to top 100k cases. It's currently the 8th worst-hit state by cases.

* * *

Update (1100ET): Florida reported 6,336 new coronavirus cases on Monday, pushing its total above 200k, for a total of 206,447. Meanwhile, the 47 deaths reported brought the death toll to 3,778. 

The percent positivity rate was 14.97%.

The Mayor of Miami Dade just minutes after the release of the numbers confirmed that the county is going to close restaurants and gyms, stepping up recent efforts including closing beaches for the 4th of July and mandating mask wearing in public.

A sell-side heat map shows that Miami and the surrounding area, including Broward County and Palm Beach, are among the hardest-hit in the state.

Here's more from the Florida Department of Health's dashboard:

From Sunday to Sunday, Florida reported 59,036 new cases, the most in a one-week period since the pandemic began.

* * *

Update (0830ET): Texas Rep. Kevin Brady joined CNBC's "Squawk Box" Monday morning to discuss the situation inside the state's hospitals after Texas saw the biggest single-day jump in new patients seeking treatment for COVID-19 yesterday.

Hospitals have surge plans are in place, and they know what they're up against (many hospitals in Houston are reportedly adopting response strategies used by NYC hospitals during the height of the pandemic in New York).

* * *

Excuse us – we just couldn't help ourselves…

…after months of a global pandemic killing more than half a million people and infecting 11,470,637 globally (as of Monday morning, per Johns Hopkins University data), hundreds of scientists are joining together in an open letter to the World Health Organization urging the WHO to update its guidelines – which myriad critics (including many quoted on this website) have warned are woefully out of date – to account for the fact that there's a growing body of evidence showing that the virus is, in fact, airborne.

Following the fiasco over the WHO's disastrous flip-flops on its infection-control guidance on issues like the benefits of wearing masks, to the possibility of being infected by an asymptomatic patient (something one top WHO scientist once described as "rare"), few really pay attention to the agency's guidance anymore.

As of now, the WHO guidelines claim that evidence of the virus being "airborne" (ie can glom on to larger particles like air pollution etc) isn't especially convincing. More likely, aerosol droplets expelled when a person coughs, or sneezes or breathes are the primary transmission, and these 'aerosolized' droplets are too large to linger in the air, explaining why the risk of infection outdoors is much lower, so long as social distancing is maintained.

But in an open letter to the agency that will soon be published in a respected scientific journal, 239 scientists in 32 countries outlined the evidence showing that smaller particles carrying the virus that can linger in the air for longer and infect people, and that the WHO should amend its guidance claiming that this evidence "isn't especially convincing."

Of course, if true, this would create serious problems for restaurants as they try to reopen indoor dining, while also showing that health-care workers must wear N95 masks at all times or face odds of infection of virtually 100%.

News of the letter was published by the NYT on the 4th, but has garnered more attention Monday as Reuters approached the WHO for comment.

"We are aware of the article and are reviewing its contents with our technical experts," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said in an email reply to a Reuters request for comment.

A confidence-inspiring response, to be sure.

Meanwhile, the biggest news overnight comes out of Australia, where the border between Victoria and New South Wales, the country's two largest states, is being closed for the first time in 100 years as the number of new COVID-19 cases surge in Melbourne and the surrounding area, the latest step as the country – which recently touted its triumph over the virus – scrambles to stave off a resurgence. According to the AP, the hard-hit Australian state of Victoria suffered 2 COVID-19-linked deaths and its highest-ever daily tally of newly confirmed infections on Monday as authorities prepare to close the country's border with New South Wales. Both men – one in his 60s and one in his 90s – were in the median age range for deaths in the country, and their deaths brought Australia's death toll to 106.

Here's more from the AP:

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said of the 127 new cases, 53 were among 3,000 people who have been confined by police to their apartments in nine public housing blocks since Saturday.

Andrews said the high number of cases reflected a daily record number of tests exceeding 24,500.

Andrews also announced that the state border with New South Wales will be closed from late Tuesday night in an agreement between the two state premiers and Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Morrison had previously opposed states closing their borders.

It will be the first time Australia’s two most populous states have closed their border since the pandemic began.

New South Wales had previously banned travel from dozens of Melbourne suburbs that were locked down last week for a month due to high rates of infection.

NSW is clearly annoyed with its errant neighbor, with the state's leader warning that stringent action must be taken to stop Victoria from reinfecting the country. NSW's premier warned that the decision to close the border between the two states marked a new phase in the country's struggle with the outbreak.

The leader of Australia’s most populous state said her government’s decision to close its border with hard-hit Victoria marked a new phase in the country’s outbreak.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian had criticized states that closed their borders to New South Wales residents when Sydney, the state capital and Australia's largest city, had most of the country's COVID-19 cases.

She noted the overwhelming majority of new cases in Melbourne in recent weeks were from community transmission. Everywhere else in Australia, the vast majority of cases were people infected overseas or by a returned traveler, Berejiklian said.

"What is occurring in Victoria has not yet occurred anywhere else in Australia,” she said. “It’s a new part of the pandemic and, as such, it requires a new type of response."

New South Wales police will close the Victorian border from late Tuesday. Some flights and trains services would continue for travelers who are given permits and exemptions, Berejiklian said.

As we reported yesterday, Texas reported a startling spike in COVID-19-related hospitalizations yesterday, as more than 8k new patients have been hospitalized in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, California is preparing for wildfire season by once again relying on posses of prison inmates to "volunteer" to fight the blaze. The only problem is this year, they'll also be battling COVID-19.

Finally, Goldman revealed over the weekend that it was slashing its GDP forecast due to the COVID-19's "resurgence". 

And once again, the market is expressing its confidence in Goldman's house view by pushing Dow futures 400+ points higher following last night's torrid rally in China.

In other news, the FDA has granted emergency-use authorization to Becton Dickinson for a COVID-19 antigen test that can be administered at the point of care and produce results within 15 minutes.

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