Dear Reader:

Worldometer (August 7): still over 19 million cases and over 718 thousand deaths worldwide. Over 5 million cases and over 163 thousand deaths in the U.S. More than 58 thousand new cases yesterday (Aug 6) in the US, an increase from the day before, and 1,203 new deaths yesterday, a decrease of 116 from yesterday. Yesterday, there was an increase of almost 3 thousand new cases in California and an increase of more than 2 thousand new cases in Florida than the day before. There was a decrease of almost 2 thousand new cases in Texas than the day before. There’ve been 20 fewer deaths in California,  105  fewer new deaths in Florida, and 16 more new deaths in Texas than the day before.

Yesterday, there were 789 new cases (an increase of 101 from the day before) and 6 new deaths (a decrease of 4 from the day before) in New York.

New deaths reported for yesterday in descending order, listing only the 4 and 3 digit numbers): 1,226 in Brazil, 1,203 in the U.S., 899 in India, 829 in Mexico, 306 in South Africa, 196 in Peru, 174 in Iran, 116 in Russia (same order as listed for the day before yesterday, in my post of Aug 6).

CNN: What you need to know about coronavirus on Friday, August 7: “More than 19 million people around the world have new been infected with the coronavirus, and 715,024 have died. The number of new daily cases has topped 200,000- a level not seen before July- for 23 days in a row… In India, the number of infections surpassed 2 million today. The speed at which the virus has spread around the country of 1.3 billion people is stunning. India reported its first case on January 30. It took almost six months to reach 1 million cases, then only three more weeks to add another million.

“Meanwhile, there are now 1 million reported cases in Africa- more than half of them in South Africa- although the World Health Organization said the actual number of infections in the region might be much higher than because testing remains a challenge. And Brazil, the world’s second worst-hit country, is fast approaching 3 million cases and 100,000 deaths.

“But it is the United States that is seeing the highest numbers of infections and deaths. More than 4.8 million Americans have been infected- approximately one in 75- and more than 160,000 have died… The numbers could get much worse. Several US states are seeing an increase in the percentage of tests coming back positive, and Dr. Anthony Fauci said this was a predictor of trouble ahead. ‘It’s a clear indication that you are getting an uptick in cases, as we’ve seen in the southern states, leads to surges, and then you get hospitalizations and then you get deaths,’ Fauci told CNN yesterday.

“The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now projecting more than 181,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by August 29. That means the CDC expects almost 1,000 Americans to die on average every day in the next three weeks… Looking further ahead, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine foresees nearly 300,000 US deaths by December 1. It doesn’t have to be that way. The institute said 70,000 lives can be saved between now and December, if only more people started wearing masks. ‘Starting today, if 95% of the people in the US were to wear masks when leaving their homes, that total number would decrease to 228,271 deaths, a drop of 49%, said IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray.

ABC News, Us Covid-19 death toll rises for 5th straight week (Aug 8): Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is urging the public to ‘not abandon’ public health measures ‘in anticipation of a vaccine’. ‘When you’re talking about public health measures, there are many, many things that we can do,’ Fauci said at a briefing Thursday hosted by the Alliance of Public Health. ‘But you can distill them down to five or six that everyone should be doing: masks, physical distancing, avoiding crowds, outdoor better than indoor, washing your hands with soap and water or with alcohol-based sanitizer.’

“Fauci said we could see different scenarios as we get into flu season this fall.. he hopes to see more people getting the flu shot this year. Approximately 170 million people did last year..

“France on Wednesday reported its highest single-day rise in coronavirus infections in more than two months amid concerns about a resurgence in Europe… the country recorded 1,695 new cases in 24 hours, the largest increase since May 30, when 1,828 ne2w cases were identified in a 24-hour reporting period… A tally kept by Johns Hopkins University shows South Africa with the fifth-highest number of diagnosed Covid-19 cases in the world..

“Since the start of the pandemic, a total  of 85 children under the age of 2 had tested positive for the virus in Nueces County (Texas, USA) by mid-July. Now, that number is ‘close to 167’, according to Annette Rodriguez, health director..  Nationwide, the number of Covid-19 cases among people under the age of 18 from March 1 to Aug. 3 were 40% Hispanic, 34% white and 19% Black. The ethnicity breakdown of those patients who died from the disease is 38% Hispanic, 34% Black and 25% white, according to the memo.

CNN, India coronavirus: More than 2 million cases confirmed (Aug 7): “After initially appearing to have curbed the spread of the virus, India, the world’s second most populous nation, has struggled to cope with the fast-expanding outbreak. Across the country, critically ill virus patients have been turned away from public and private hospitals for lack of beds, staff and equipment… Compared with other countries, India’s mortality rate remains low. According to JHU data, India has around three deaths per 100,000, compared with almost 67 deaths per 100,000 in the United Kingdom, which has the highest mortality rate of the top 20 most affected countries.”

Wikipedia, Operation Warp Speed: “a public-private partnership, initiated by the federal government of the United States, to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.. It was introduced by the Trump administration in early April 2020. Operation Warp Speed will promote mass production of multiple vaccines based on preliminary evidence.. The plan anticipates that some of these vaccines will not prove safe or effective, making the program more costly than typical vaccine development, but potentially leading to the availability of a viable vaccine several months earlier than typical timelines. Congress has allocated nearly $10 billion for Operation Warp Speed”.

ABC News: Experts, scientists confident in vaccine process, despite criticism of ‘Warp Speed’ (Aug 7): “Scientists who are working on the various coronavirus vaccine candidates agreed, noting that the rapid pace of the development is the result of a financial investment, rather than a scientific shortcut. Developing a new vaccine is expensive. Traditionally, cost-conscious pharmaceutical companies move slowly, starting with a product in a so-called ‘Phase 1’ of testing and ensuring it works before moving on to larger (and more expensive) Phase 2 and 3 trials. Now, all those steps are happening simultaneously- at great financial cost but not in a way that sacrifices the scientific integrity of the process…

“Meanwhile, companies are scaling up manufacturing before it’s clear if the vaccines work- many with the financial backing of Operation Warp Speed. ‘The leading companies are starting to mass-produce vaccines now, even before there’s any evidence of success,’ said Barouch. ‘If the vaccine fail, they will take millions of doses and discard them.. That has never been done to the best of my knowledge in pharmaceutical history.’

Meanwhile, companies are scaling up manufacturing before it’s clear if the vaccines work — many with the financial backing of Operation Warp Speed…

“Pau Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center.. said he’s concerned the Trump administration could apply pressure to approve a vaccine that Operation Warp Speed has supported because millions of doses already exist, even if data is still preliminary.. ‘What could happen is that the vaccine is far less effective than you think it is, in which case you’ve shaken what is a fragile vaccine confidence in this country’.. Twenty-seven percent of American adults said they wouldn’t get vaccinated against COvid-19 if a vaccine is approved, according to a ABC News/Washington Post Poll conducted in May. Half of those people said they don’t trust vaccines in general.”

anita