Dear Reader:

Worldometer(July 21): Almost 15 million cases worldwide, over 615 thousand deaths worldwide; very close to 4 million cases, and over 144 thousand deaths in the US. Almost 63 thousand new cases and 545 new deaths were reported in the US yesterday, July 20.

Within the US, Florida reported over 10 thousand new cases and 90 new deaths yesterday, California reported close to 9 thousand new cases and 56 new deaths, and Texas reported close to 8 thousand new cases and 118 new deaths yesterday.

Brazil reported close to 22 thousand new cases and 718 new deaths yesterday, and India reported close to 37 thousand new cases and 596 new deaths yesterday.

msn. com/ en- us/ health/ medical/ how deadly is covid-19 researchers are getting closer to an answer (July 21):

“research.. suggests that Covid-19 kills around 0.3% to 1.5% of people  infected. Most studies put the rate between 0.5% and 1.0%, meaning that for every 1,000 people who get infected, from five to 10 would die on average.

“The estimates suggest the new coronavirus is deadlier than the seasonal flu, though not as lethal as Ebola and other infectious diseases that have emerged in recent years. The coronavirus is killing more people than the deadlier diseases, however, in part because it is more infectious.. Covid is very contagious.. It’s the combination of the fatality rate and the infectiousness that make this such a dangerous disease… The fatality rate for an individual varies, sometimes markedly, depending on factors such as age, sex and the presence of pre-existing medical conditions, studies show… Researchers in the U.S. and Switzerland.. found those over 65 had an infection-fatality rate of 5.6%- 40 times the risk of someone in their 50s.

“Quality and access to health care and treatment could shift the mortality rate.. An infection-fatality rate of roughly 0.6% is six times greater than the 0.1% estimate for seasonal influenza, which is based on CDC data. Though researchers point out .. flu estimate doesn’t take asymptomatic cases into account.

“Diseases such as SARS.. MERS.. and Ebola are much deadlier, with case fatality rates ranging from roughly 10% to 50%. There have been far fewer deaths from those diseases than the new coronavirus and even the seasonal flu because they aren’t nearly as infectious or widespread. SARS and MERS have killed 774 and 858 people, respectively. More than 11,300 people have died from Ebola.

“Also, many doctors worry Covid-19 might result in longer-term complications for some patients, especially those who have spent weeks in the hospital before being discharged. ‘There’s this narrative I think a lot of people have that you get the disease and you die, or you’re fine. And that’s not true,’ Dr. Toner said. ‘There’s a large range of health-care consequences for people who get severely ill, not just death.'”

msn. com/ en- us/ health/ medical/ most people with severe coronavirus can’t get rid of these 2 symptoms (July 20):

“Leaving the hospital after recovering from Covid-19 is certainly a cause for celebration. But a new study suggests that more than half of patients continue to suffer from multiple symptoms of the trauma caused by the SARS-Cov2 coronavirus for weeks after they’ve been discharged… most of them were still dealing with two symptoms in particular: extreme tiredness and labored breathing.

“The study tracked 143 patients, ages 19 to 84, who spent an average of two weeks in a Rome hospital; one fifth of them needed ventilation support. Five weeks after being sent home, more than half of the patients (53%) reported fatigue and nearly half (43%) were still experiencing shortness of breath. The next two most common symptoms among the patients were joint pain (27%) and chest pain (nearly 22%), according to the study. Only 13% were completely free of Covid symptoms..

“but researchers aren’t necessarily surprised at the long recovery period. After the 2003 SARS outbreak, a study published in JAMA International Medicine found that some survivors interviewed four years after recovery still experienced chronic fatigue. ‘The harsh reality is that many patients continue to experience lingering symptoms for weeks and months after being diagnosed with and ‘recovering’ from Covid-19,’ Robert Glatter, MD, emergency medicine physician at New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital, told HealthDay. ‘While this small (Italian) study found that fatigue and shortness of breath were the two most common symptoms, many people also experience many other lingering symptoms including low-grade fevers, and neurological symptoms such as numbness and tingling.’

“Some researchers believe that the ongoing health problems may be due to chronic inflammation as the body’s immune system continues to attack the viral infection.”

anita