Category: COVID through 2022

All my various postings tracking the COVID-19 pandemic through the end of 2022.

Post #562: Three rays of light on finding effective anti-viral drugs

An new antiviral drug proven effective in humans

My wife passed this on to me.  As it is not from a US newspaper, I thought it was worth sharing.

The Chinese government has reported identifying antiviral drug that is “clearly effective” for coronavirus (COVID 19).  Link is to the Guardian article is here.  This is billed as a clinical trial, so that seems like the real deal (i.e., randomized controlled clinical trial). Continue reading Post #562: Three rays of light on finding effective anti-viral drugs

Post #560: Real backpackers don’t use toilet paper: The arithmetic of panic shopping

Source:  Clipart-library.com

First, a brief public service announcement, prompted by my visit to the Pan Am Safeway two days ago.  The T.P. aisle was bare.  For those of us with standard American T.P. anxiety, note that a) 70% of the world’s population doesn’t use toilet paper, b) neither do hard-core backpackers, these days, and c) you can buy (or for that matter, easily improvise) a “handheld bidet“.

And that’s more than enough said about that.

But what about panic shopping in general?  When will it end, has it already ended, will it end?  Really, the underlying question is, when will we stop seeing empty store shelves?

I was asked this question yesterday, and I’m not quite sure what to say about it.  But that won’t stop me from writing. Continue reading Post #560: Real backpackers don’t use toilet paper: The arithmetic of panic shopping

Post #559: The intermediate and long run for COVID-19

 

Original graph source:  NPR.  Red X is not part of original graph.

If you read these posts, you’ve probably already figured out that this is not a “fun” website.  Or if not, you will shortly.

Edit:  Apparently the Feds came to this conclusion about six days ago, but that has only just today leaked out, per this NY Times article.  Take a peek at the US government response plan referenced in the NY Times article (.pdf).  Assuming that’s not a hoax, if that doesn’t make you say “oh, crap”, you’re not paying attention. Continue reading Post #559: The intermediate and long run for COVID-19

Post #558: What are the odds …

… that a randomly-chosen seemingly-healthy adult in Virginia is infected with coronavirus.  All other things being equal.

For example, suppose that a stranger accidentally brushed up against your hand at the store.  Is that tantamount to attempted murder?  Or is it more likely just a harmless social faux pas?

Here’s my estimate, based on facts I’ve presented in various recent posts. Continue reading Post #558: What are the odds …

Post #556: RESCINDED: Mail-in absentee ballot, can anything be done?

I take this all back.   My wife just found a story in today’s news stating that Department of Elections will allow anyone to use a mail-in ballot, in light of the epidemic.  Use Reason 2A.  Those are now official instructions from the Commonwealth.

This is the reference.

Skip the rest of this. Continue reading Post #556: RESCINDED: Mail-in absentee ballot, can anything be done?

Post #555: Updating Post #550, the week ahead — REVISED

EDITED, GRAPH REMOVED:  As it turns out, the US numbers are updated continuously throughout the day.  E.g., the current (2:30 PM) count is about 15% higher than the count I retrieved at noon.  I need to wait until 5 PM to update this in order to keep the counts consistent from day to day. 

Here it is, redone just prior to 5 PM today.  These numbers will be consistent with the prior ones.

Original graph from:  “The United States Is Not a Coronavirus Outlier”, by Kevin Drum, in Mother Jones.   Crudely updated (vertical lines) based on the noon EDT 5 PM EDT update of the Johns Hopkins coronavirus map. Continue reading Post #555: Updating Post #550, the week ahead — REVISED

Post #554: Italians sing, Americans stream

Why I’m giving up streaming video for the duration

Or, at least until more information is available.  Because while news reports have Italians responding to quarantine by singing in the streets, here in the USA, I think we’re all sitting around streaming video.  (With some exceptions.)

The only useful thing in this post is the following:  If you aren’t finding adequate course content for your kids via the FCPS Blackboard system, take a look at the Loudoun County Schools website.

My daughter also highly recommends Khan Academy as a resource for course materials. Continue reading Post #554: Italians sing, Americans stream

Post #553: Updating Post #550, the week ahead

In Post #550, I presented the results from:  “The United States Is Not a Coronavirus Outlier”, by Kevin Drum, in Mother Jones.  In a nutshell, most western countries appear to be following the same trend line that Italy set, in terms of number of cases.  I.e., they all have about the same growth rate in terms of confirmed coronavirus cases. Continue reading Post #553: Updating Post #550, the week ahead