THE LANCET SPEAKS OUT FOR THE CDC

Now that our Administration reportedly appears to be sidelining the CDC (U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention) https://www.cdc.gov, our friends across the Pond have tried to come to the rescue. 

A strongly worded Editorial in the venerable British medical journal Lancet is well worth reading.  

Here is the final paragraph:

The Trump administration’s further erosion of the CDC will harm global cooperation in science and public health, as it is trying to do by defunding WHO. A strong CDC is needed to respond to public health threats, both domestic and international, and to help prevent the next inevitable pandemic. Americans must put a president in the White House come January, 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics.  The Lancet

Here's a link to the entire editorial in the issue dated May 16, 2020: 
https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(20)31140-5.pdf

And check out the sidebar articles here too!

This editorial is just one page and says it all!
Share your views with your  Representatives in Congress (House and Senate).

Also see The Lancet online for many more relevant articles on COVID-19.  https://www.thelancet.com/

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TO MASK OR NOT TO MASK?

Here are somewhat differing views from respected sources which appear to focus on the extent to which masks protect the wearer.  (Note: these views may be most applicable to simple cloth or fiber masks, not the more expensive and protective N95 respirators.)   

CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy) at University of Minnesota has doubts, saying advisories on masks may not be based on sound data:

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/commentary-masks-all-covid-19-not-based-sound-data


Johns Hopkins School of Public Health (my public health alma mater) suggests it depends on what kind of mask:

https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-education-and-research-center-for-occupational-safety-and-health/can-a-mask-protect-me-putting-homemade-masks-in-the-hierarchy-of-controls

However these doubts do not appear to question the efficacy of wearing a mask to protect others from virus-bearing droplets the wearer might emit.  

So this blog will continue to urge wearing a mask in order to protect others.  

My own view at this time is based upon the Precautionary Principle: Since wearing a mask is not onerous or dangerous, and since it could be helpful in slowing or stopping COVID-19 virus transmission, why not?   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precautionary_principle


Whether or not a mask protects you from what others may emit, a covering over your nose and mouth can block droplets of fluid you may emit as you cough, sneeze talk or even breathe! 

These droplets may hold COVID-19 virus which you may be carrying even though you may not have any symptoms, thus infecting others.  

Given this information, and since wearing a mask is not dangerous or even burdensome for me, and since it could protect others around me, and could possibly even give me some degree of protection,  I'll continue to wear a mask whenever I leave my apartment, while still maintaining social distancing and other hygienic measures (washing hands, etc.)

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TEE UP, MR. PRESIDENT!

The golf links lie so near the mill 
That almost every day
The laboring children can look out
And see the men at play!*

CRISIS?  WHAT CRISIS?
COVID-19? WHO CARES!

FORGET COVID-19
THIS IS THE REAL CRISIS!

*The Golf Links by contemporary peace, suffrage and labor activist Sarah Norcliffe Cleghorn (1876-1959). 
Here is an interesting student paper about this poem: 
http://cwcs.ysu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Golf-Links.pdf

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A SPECIAL RESPONSE TO NEW YORK'S MASK CONTEST

Some readers of this blog may be familiar with the Space Alien Gazette (which I also edit) at  www.SpaceAlienGazette.com.

The Space Alien wanted to enter New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's "Wear a Mask" ad contest, but missed the deadline.    

Here are the finalists in that contest and their creative ads: 
https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/wear-mask

The message to all: Wear a Mask

As a courtesy, however, and because we  think readers of this blog would enjoy it, we are printing the Space Alien's entry here. 

Here is that entry.  The Space Alien recommends reciting it as a rap:

You don't have to ask,
I'll still Wear a Mask! 
At home or in space,
I'll cover my face!
Our friends will admire us,
And not catch this virus!
It's fashionable too,
And shows I love you!

And here is the Space Alien in a brand new "country and western" mask!

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Update: Tuesday, May 26, 2020, Friday, May 22, 2020 Governor Cuomo announced that there had been over 600 submissions to this contest to create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) and that over half a million people had voted. 

A similar post is at: 
http://spacealiengazette.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-space-alien-enters-mask-contest.html

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HAS THE CDC CHANGED COURSE ON SURFACES?

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) appears to have retracted some of its COVID-19 guidances, and now downplays the need to disinfect surfaces.  

Your Editor would like to know more about the scientific basis for this decision and will try to find out.  Until she does, and given the tendency of the current administration to place political expediency above public health, she will keep her Clorox-based spray handy!

Here are two articles on this revision: 

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/499142-cdc-updated-guidelines-state-coronavirus-does


https://www.foxnews.com/health/cdc-now-says-coronavirus-does-not-spread-easily-via-contaminated-surfaces

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A few more references: 

CDC's advisory How COVID-19 Spreads,
 updated April 13, 2020:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-covid-spreads.html

And related, from the Food & Drug Administration dated May 21 2020:
https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-frequently-asked-questions  

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CDC RELEASES LATEST REOPENING PLAN

Center for Disease Control (CDC) released its latest document on Opening America.  

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/php/CDC-Activities-Initiatives-for-COVID-19-Response.pdf

Entitled CDC Activities and Initiatives Supporting the COVID-10 Response and the President's Plan for Opening America Up Again, May 2020, this document subtitled: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-10) Response is dated May 2020 and purports to summarize "CDC's initiatives, activities and tools in support of the Whole-of Government response to COVID-19. "

According to Politico.com this is the most extensive document from CDC which has been the subject of much political controversy.

This article from Politico.com published May 20 2020 offers a review of the twists and turns as what should be straightforward scientific decision-making has been (in the opinion of Your Editor)  fed through the political sausage-making machine.   


https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/20/cdc-guidelines-reopening-coronavirus-270607

ANOTHER VOTE OF THANKS TO GOVERNOR CUOMO

In his daily televised briefings, which I find tremendously motivating and reassuring, New York's Governor Cuomo has given us a model that public officials at all levels would do well to emulate.

This picture says it all. Governor Cuomo's release of this photo on Sunday, May 17, will hopefully motivate others to be tested.

Unfortunately, the specific testing resources used by Governor Cuomo are only available in New York but what a great model for other Governors to follow, especially since the President has shown himself to be, in a word, useless (or worse!).    

The URLs in the caption and below relate to New York, but are still informative. 

Governor Cuomo takes a COVID-19 test at press briefing to demonstrate how easy it is.  
Also see: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news 
To receive briefings write: Email@exec.ny.gov

And see New York State's COVID-19 website here: 
https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/home
While much here is NY based, there's still much useful information. 

Every state should have a website like this!  
Here is Illinois': https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/

See my poetic Tribute to Governor Cuomo at: 
https://joanscovid19blog.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-tribute-to-governor-cuomo.html

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FREE DR. DEBORAH BIRX!

She's been throttled to some extent but manages to hang on to her job!  She served in the Army and maybe there learned knows strategy and tactics to use in a hostile environment.  

https://news.yahoo.com/senior-trump-administration-official-said-181419964.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tL3NlYXJjaD9laT11dGYtOCZmcj1hYXBsdyZwPURyLitEZWJvcmFoK2Jpcng&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKmd2HX5vSxHmtRNBI-7xbAf-WrA-Y8H8xHgOnxsbeTESn_i9upty3ozXyMtyntiCnbtrYabOTi91deQts9Nll-zn36_MVoqhTafRv_wRFMUvEIE4hYq_y-2DEJDM2Dz1CR5vD6Lh7zGl6TG8mvyRphgiWdsKA9HWlqB2zjzth61

Served in Army, etc

https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/a31680328/who-is-deborah-birx/

CDC GUIDANCE OF MAY 14, 2020

The latest reopening guidance from U. S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is discussed here:

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/delay-cdc-releases-guidance-states-safely-reopen/story?id=70687074

Here is the description from the above website:

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, while voluntary, is the most specific instruction yet from the federal government on how not to trigger an outbreak, as President Donald Trump pushes states to reopen and most have already started to do so."

Here is that newest CDC link:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html

It has many parts, with links to all at the above website.  It should supersede previous guidances from CDC.

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REOPENING PLANS -- UPDATE

MAY 13, 2020

(Note: This updates and supplants an earlier post at: 
https://joanscovid19blog.blogspot.com/2020/05/cdc-reopening-plan-partial-leak.html.  Please note that reporting on any of these documents from the Federal government has been hampered by what might most charitably be called a remarkable lack of transparency.  Joan is doing her best to sort it out and present this information in a comprehensible manner.)

-----------------------------------

https://apnews.com/d4fb9744fb3524b6aaff1036f3ba9cd2  

Headlined "AP Exclusive: CDC Guidance more restrictive than White House," this article published May 13, 2020, notes that the CDC guidance was "shelved by Trump administration officials"  as earlier reported on this blog. 

Here is a link to the "63 page document" referenced in this article.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6889330-Guidance-for-Opening-Up-America-Again-Framework.html

This document purports to be "more detailed than other, previously reported segments of the shelved guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It shows how the thinking of the CDC infection control experts differs from those in the White House managing the pandemic response."

You may wish to download and save your own copy of this document! 
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COVID-19 CONVERSATIONS WITH APHA AND NAM

American Public Health Association and National Academy of Medicine present a series of webinars called "COVID-10 Conversatons: Responding to COVID-19, A Science Based Approach."

https://covid19conversations.org


At this website you can watch these webinars in real time and eventually access past webinars. 

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WHAT'S IN A WORD? THREE TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW!

Isolation.  Quarantine.  Community Containment.

What do these terms mean?  

Here's a link to an article in the British Journal of Travel Medicine published by Oxford Academic Press. 

https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/27/2/taaa020/5735321

This table from that article discusses these terms. It's wider than the page of this blog but I think its importance justifies this!   

To see it all, please scroll sideways, back and forth! 

CDC REOPENING PLAN -- A PARTIAL LEAK?

PLEASE NOTE:  More recent "Reopening Plans" and "Guidances" are on this Blog.  Check them out! 

See, for instance,  
https://joanscovid19blog.blogspot.com/2020/05/reopening-plans-update.html 

and

https://joanscovid19blog.blogspot.com/2020/05/cdc-guidance-of-may-14-2020.html

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first printed here on May 11, 2020  The efforts of the Trump administration to bury the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report which was to be published on May 3, 2020 is discussed in this story published on May 6.   This article includes a copy of that plan.

https://apnews.com/7a00d5fba3249e573d2ead4bd323a4d4

In that article you will find this detailed reopening chart:
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6883736/CDC-documents.pdf


Also see the this CDC Interim Report referenced in the above article:  

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6883734-CDC-Business-Plans.html

To print (or save) follow these instructions:
To print the document, click the "Original Document" link to open the

original PDF. At this time it is not possible to print the document with

annotations.

Here is a link for the White House "Opening Up American Again" referenced in the AP News article above.  It was published a month earlier but, as the AP article notes, was less detailed.  
https://www.whitehouse.gov/openingamerica/

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THE U.S. CORONAVIRUS WEBSITE

The U. S. Coronavirus website sponsored by the CDC, FEMA and the White House, offers information on How to Prepare and Protect Yourself,  What to Do if You Think You Are Sick, and links to other resources:   www.coronavirus.gov

PUBLIC CITIZEN ON COVID-19

PUBLIC CITIZEN, A PERENNIAL SOURCE OF SOUND INFORMATION (WHERE I WAS PROUD TO WORK MANY YEARS AGO), OFFERS AN AWESOME ARRAY OF ARTICLES ON MANY ASPECTS OF COVID-19.  THE LINK BELOW IS DEFINITELY WORTH A LOOK!
  https://www.citizen.org/?s=Covid