Adios, March!
These photos were taken on Sunday. As of 12:30am there is yet a tiny bit of snow out there.
Stay tuned to see how Tuesday goes!
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Blood test can check for more than 50 types of cancer
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52090359
On the previous thread, Alan wrote re Abbott's new coronavirus test device: 'Well, when I looked it up it appeared roughly five feet wide, three feet deep and five or six feet high. It was on wheels, though. I think they said that there were 175 in the US." But according to the Tribune, these new devices won't go into production for another week. It sounds like Alan and the Tribune are talking about two different things.
ReplyDeleteThe big machine is used for various kinds of tests; what will be shortly going into production are the cartridges that go into the machine for coronavirus testing in particular. Typically for such machines there will be cartridges for various types of tests loaded into the machine. Barcoded samples will be loaded into the machine, and somehow or another it will be programmed to do test A on one sample, test C on another, tests B and Q on a third and so on. Although the machines are very expensive no one actually purchases them; they are sold on a reagent rental basis--rather like getting a Ford automobile for a thousand dollars (or FREE!) together with a contract to buy at least fifty gallons of Ford gasoline per week at seven dollars a gallon. The gas filler pipe on the car will, of course, only accept the gasoline dispenser device from a Ford pump.
DeleteAbbott sending 150,000 COVID-19 tests to customers in 18 states [Click] The Abbott test runs on the company's PCR-based m2000 RealTime System. [Click] So alleged five-minute test will probably take about three days from sample collection to reporting to the doctor’s office.
Deletehttps://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-abbott-new-fast-test-20200328-e3zv2relprdxnc2dveduytsiga-story.html. Here is the original Tribune story. Note that Alan says the Tribune reporter got almost every detail 100% wrong.
DeleteI stand partially corrected. It seems that Abbott simultaneously got clearance for two different tests on two different instruments--very soon after the FDA said approval by local (state?) public health departments would be OK for a while. The big, expensive instrument does a PCR test; I suspect the small instrument test must be an immunoassay for the antigen or the antibody. I have seen such things in the past for test cartridges that can be read just as easily by eye; they have the slight advantage of generating a printed result, and the slight disadvantage that they can't run multiple tests simultaneously. Thanks for the heads-up, Bill.
DeleteSituation in Fresno County
ReplyDeleteLast updated: March 30, 2020 at 4:30PM
Total cases: 53
17 (Travel-Related)
9 (Person-to-Person)
8 (Community-Spread)
19 (Under Investigation)
Total deaths: 0
*Data includes both confirmed and presumptive positive cases of COVID-19.
============================
I expect it will explode when it gets into the farmworkers and the small rural communities where most of them live.
Social distancing may have helped California slow the virus and avoid New York’s fate [Click] “May” is the operative word. The local authorities (notably including the local RC diocese) acted earlier in the local spread than did those in the San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego areas.
DeleteI sure do hope it helps California, Alan. That is where my Mother's Ring is that Wil got me for Christmas. It's in Sun Valley near LA, because they didn't quite resize it correctly and they were going to try again. I sent it there in early March, and the work was to take 7-10 days. So today I checked in via email and got a very nice reply explaining that they have CLOSED for the duration of the pandemic. I won't have my ring back for a long time. It has birthstones of each of my 5 children and I am really sad not to have it close, because for me it's like prayer beads for my family. I do know that this is a really minor thing, but I still cried a little. Even so, it'll work out eventually, and is such a minor concern. We are so lucky.
DeleteOhio, 2,199 COVID cases, 55 deaths.
ReplyDeleteI have dyscalculia - and inability to do anything other than simple math. It's kind of like dyslexia, except with numbers. Anyway, looking back over the numbers I've recorded it looks like Ohio is confirming around 300 new cases every day. Our doctor did tell us that tests are limited in number. Seems to be that way everywhere except where the famous, the rich and the celebrities are.
DeleteVermont today:
Delete293/13
4.4%
Susan, that's quite a jump.
DeleteYesterday 2%, today 2.5%
We had a jump in cases today of 37, which is our highest jump to date. Mind you, the population of our entire state is just 626,299 people.
In a 10-Day Span, ICE Flew This Detainee Across the Country — Nine Times - Click
ReplyDeleteFrom this morning's "Daily Briefing" curtesy of The New York Times:
ReplyDeleteThe Trump administration has sped up construction of a wall on the southern border [click], arguing that it will help limit the spread of the virus from Mexico. Public health experts say such a barrier would not mitigate the outbreaks already occurring in every state.
Ironically, according to the article, governors of Mexican states bordering the U.S. have requested that their president do more to prevent people crossing into Mexico from the United States.
From the same source:
DeleteZoom, the videoconferencing app whose traffic has surged, is under scrutiny by the New York attorney general’s office for its data privacy and security practices.
A couple of days ago Mexican citizens took matters into their own hands at a fairly busy border crossing (or was it more than one?) and blocked incoming traffic for a while.
DeleteFrom this morning's "Daily Briefing" courtesy of The New York Times:
ReplyDeleteTwo numbers that changed the president’s mind
President Trump’s decision to abandon his goal of reopening the U.S. by Easter was driven, his aides said, by the number of possible deaths and polling that showed voters overwhelmingly preferred to keep containment measures in place.
After asserting that shutting down the economy could be more damaging than the virus itself, Mr. Trump said on Monday that restrictions “may be even toughened up a little bit.” He also stressed the starkest projections given to him by public health officials, noting that more than two million Americans could have died in the absence of any measure to contain the virus.
The details: A survey released by the Pew Research Center showed that roughly nine in 10 Americans believed the current restrictions were necessary.
Quotable: “There’s an acknowledgment that there’s no getting ‘back to normal’ if the virus is still a threat,” said Kristen Soltis Anderson, a Republican pollster.
Changed the president's what?
DeleteWell, for lack of a better word.
DeleteJust before bedtime last night I went through my spam folder for the past 2-1/2 weeks and pulled out hundreds of messages that weren't spam. With today's end-of-quarter email I have just downloaded 526 messages.
ReplyDeleteYou're a popular guy, Bill!
DeleteWithout disputing Alan's assertion, I should point out that an unusual number of non-spam messages have been winding up in my spam folder of late as well, and an unusual number in my inbox open with the warning that Sea Monkey regards them as spam. Seems to be a lot of messages with Coronavirus in the subject line, which is most of them these days, either are sorted into the spam folder to begin with or are flagged as possible spam. Quite often, too, these are e-mails from senders I've been getting mail from for years, often even ones in my address book.
Delete15 new positive coronavirus test results today in Fresno County, for a current total of 68 active cases.
ReplyDelete6.5 earthquake in Idaho tonight.
ReplyDeletehttps://weather.com/news/news/2020-03-31-earthquake-boise-idaho-montana?fbclid=IwAR1A6JCe0scAcKvxp33CTJBX9VkA6wVbu5jB1VUhtwvGogfAZTxcLnzhWck
Vermont Teddy Bear Factory has stopped making Teddy Bears for now. Instead they are making masks. They aren't N.95 masks, but they are masks for others so the N.95s can be solely for medical personnel. Hurrah for VT Teddy Bear!! They already have the sewing capability and the skilled workers. It's a perfect match.
ReplyDeletehttps://vtdigger.org/liveblog/vermont-teddy-bear-factory-manufactures-masks/
Holyoke is a nearby city. The mayor, Alex Morse, quoted in the article, is mounting a primary challenge to Rep. Richie Neal, a challenge which yours truly supports. The disgraced superintendent of the Soldiers Home, Bennett Walsh, is the second oldest child of our neighbors one house removed. So, though I do not know him at all well, I have known him for some thirty years. Always liked him, thinking him the brightest of the bunch. *shrug*
ReplyDeleteCoronavirus: Holyoke Soldiers’ Home superintendent placed on leave, at least 5 residents die from COVID-19 - Click