by Frank Schnittger
Fri Apr 3rd, 2020 at 04:15:52 PM EST
Today the UK has joined Italy, Spain, the USA and France in surpassing the total of Chinese deaths despite having had a couple more months to prepare and learn from the Chinese experience of dealing with what had been a new and unprecedented corona virus disease. European governments were slow to identify and react to the gravity of the threat while Trump dismissed the pandemic as nothing more than a Democratic party hoax and the deputy Chief Medical Officer for England dismissed WHO advice on dealing with the pandemic as being appropriate only for low and medium income countries.
by gmoke
Fri Apr 3rd, 2020 at 12:32:30 AM EST
"You could say that civil society is what unimpaired mutual aid creates; or that civil society is the condition and mutual aid the activity that produces it." - Rebecca Solnit, from A Paradise Built in Hell
[my notes at http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2016/07/notes-on-rebecca-solnits-paradise-built.html
------------------
Mutual Aid Networks
https:/www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/03/16/1927820-Mutual-Aid-Networks
Mutual Aid & Social Capital: The Power of Communities, Networks from Howard Rheingold, based upon the syllabus of a course he used to teach at Stanford on social media and including recent links to mutual aid networks forming to deal with Covid19 (which he will update)
https:/www.patreon.com/posts/34918526
More national links
https:crooksandliars.com/2020/03/now-time-all-good-folks-come-aid-their
Intellihelp group from Facebook - only ask and give posts
https:www.facebook.com/groups/1061901284171597/about
Autonomous Groups Mobilizing Mutual Aid Initiatives
https:/itsgoingdown.org/autonomous-groups-are-mobilizing-mutual-aid-initiatives-to-combat-the-coron
avirus
https:/www.mutualaidhub.org
https:docs.google.com/document/d/1j8ADhLEuKNDZ1a_opmzudywJPKMXcNKu01V1xY2MiIA/edit - how to neighborhood pod
https:docs.google.com/document/d/1-QfMn1DE6ymhKZMpXN1LQvD6Sy_HSnnCK6gTO7ZLFrE/mobilebasic - pod mapping for mutual aid
While at Home - Stay up to date on tools, resources, and supports made necessary during this time. #WhileAtHome is a clearinghouse for credible information and action steps. Bobak Emamian, DeRay Mckesson, William Donahoe, Chris Meyers, Nicky Chulo, Pawel Piekarski, Frank Chi, Nicholas Fulstra & Maestra.
https:/whileathome.org
----------------------
"Foldit is a revolutionary crowdsourcing computer game enabling you to contribute to important scientific research" through playing through the possibilities of protein folding.
Here are some of the current Coronavirus puzzles interested citizens can help scientists solve:
by IdiotSavant
Wed Apr 1st, 2020 at 03:19:55 AM EST
Hungary has been a virtual dictatorship for a decade now, as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has gradually eroded its democracy. But now, its official, with the passage of an indefinite emergency law allowing rule by decree:
Hungary's parliament has passed a new set of coronavirus measures that includes jail terms for spreading misinformation and gives no clear time limit to a state of emergency that allows the nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, to rule by decree.
Parliament voted by 137 to 53 to pass the measures on Monday afternoon, with the two-thirds majority enjoyed by Orbán's Fidesz party enough to push them through in spite of opposition from other parties, which had demanded a time limit or sunset clause on the legislation.
The bill introduces jail terms of up to five years for intentionally spreading misinformation that hinders the government response to the pandemic, leading to fears that it could be used to censor or self-censor criticism of the government response.
No parliament, no elections, no oversight, and no criticism. There are obvious parallels with the Enabling Act of 1933 - except that that law had a sunset clause, and German MPs had to go through the charade of renewing it twice. There are no such limits on Hungary's dictatorship. Will the EU permit this? Unfortunately, its permitted everything else: the suppression of the opposition and the media, the attacks on judicial independence, the establishment of concentration camps for refugees. But if the EU will permit one of its members to become a dictatorship, then what is the point of it?
by Frank Schnittger
Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 03:00:08 PM EST
Covid-19 seems to be doing what even Brexit could not achieve - reinforcing the border within Ireland. From the get-go Ireland and the UK have been pursuing different strategies to deal with the Pandemic. Ireland has been pursuing the WHO mandated strategy of physical isolation, closing all schools and non-essential workplaces, testing as much as possible and tracing and isolating the contacts of those who test positive.
The UK, on the other hand, flirted with a "herd immunity" strategy, was slow to shut down mass sporting events, schools and non-essential work places, tested only those hospitalised and never attempted contact tracing. When presented with evidence by epidemiologists that this could lead to a quarter of a million deaths Boris Johnson's government did a U-Turn and belatedly introduced much more comprehensive measures, all the while denying there was ever a change in policy.
However with the number of infections doubling every three days, the two week delay in implementing stricter measures could lead to a 32 fold increase in infections and deaths, and more if the health care system is overwhelmed. Even now, health care professionals in the UK cannot get tested unless hospitalised themselves, no contact tracing is being attempted, and suspect cases are told to self-isolate for 7 not 14 days, as is the case in the Republic of Ireland.
If the Republic succeeds in suppressing the disease while N. Ireland does not, the government may have little option but to close the border to prevent new infections being re-introduced via the north.
by Oui
Mon Mar 30th, 2020 at 02:24:41 PM EST
Whether to go to war in Syria or Iraq or to manipulate public opinion for putting sanctions in place on "imaginary" adversaries, BIG government possess very powerful tools to weaponize information. Clearly with tech powerhouses like Google, Facebook, Alphabet, Appel and Amazon the global community faces an imbalance to preserve elections and democracy itself. A nice chat on Al Jazeera between whistle-blower Christopher Wylie and Filipino journalist Maria Ressa before an audience is a boost to morale to fight the fight.
In a world moving at a fast pace, the populist, conservative politicians will seize every opportunity of created chaos like today's COVID-10 Pandemic to move forward on their agenda of BIG BROTHER 21st Century style with no scruples.
What has already passed in Asia with China, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong will soon come to pass inside the European Union. The signs are there today!!
More below the fold ...
by Frank Schnittger
Mon Mar 30th, 2020 at 02:16:22 PM EST
Perhaps its time to focus on some relatively good news in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The OECD estimates that the Irish economy will suffer the mildest shock of any OECD economy as a result of the crisis, a reduction of 15% in GDP. How anyone can make such estimates with any precision at this stage in the crisis is beyond me, but there is perhaps some logic behind that prediction.
The Irish economy is heavily invested in sectors where working from home is widely possible such as financial services and software development, and also in the pharmaceutical and medical devices sectors which may grow as a result of the crisis, and may actually make a major contribution towards combating it.
Medtronic, (based in Dublin and Galway) has just made the design specification and software of one of their ventilators public to enable it to be more widely produced by other companies, and a collective of medical equipment design engineers from a number of companies have just completed the design of a "battlefield" emergency ventilator which could be manufactured rapidly all over the world.
by Frank Schnittger
Sun Mar 29th, 2020 at 11:48:46 AM EST
The Leader of the Free World Gives a Speech, and She Nails It
Angela Merkel doesn't do drama and she doesn't give speeches on TV. So the mere fact that the German chancellor faced the camera across a desk and spoke to the nation Wednesday evening made the gravity of the situation clear. "Es ist ernst," she said--"This is serious"-- and those three bland words had more power than a hellfire sermon. Then she pivoted from statement to plea: "Take it seriously." Quickly, she moved on to historical context, the reason for her unprecedented impromptu appearance: "Since German unification--no, since the Second World War--no challenge to our nation has ever demanded such a degree of common and united action."
by Oui
Sun Mar 29th, 2020 at 09:06:30 AM EST
As the oldest veterans of WWII are dwindling to zero, the baby boomers and half a generation before are part of a healthy group because of food, physical exercise, and economic well being.
Today this group is callously put in harm's way by their own government.
Too many weird and strange policy initiatives have been launched by a handful of countries.
Coronavirus: How to understand the death toll | BBC News |
by Nick Triggle
by gmoke
Sat Mar 28th, 2020 at 06:13:46 PM EST
My friends and former co-workers, Marc and Sally, love to travel the world and this year spent some of February and March in Taiwan.
This is their account of the response of Taiwan to COVID19, the letter they sent to friends after they arrived back home on March 19, 2020:
As the Deads so eloquently sang, "What a long, strange trip it's been!"
Frontpaged with minor edit - Frank Schnittger
by Frank Schnittger
Sat Mar 28th, 2020 at 12:25:46 PM EST
The number of new confirmed cases of Covid-19 surged by 302 yesterday, the highest daily increase so far. There are now a total of 2,121 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland and 22 deaths to date. Update [2020-3-28 20:11:29 by Frank Schnittger]: 294 new cases and 14 new deaths today. Update [2020-3-29 18:27:1 by Frank Schnittger]: 200 new cases and 10 new deaths 29/3 - the first significant reduction in new cases in the series...[end update] The total number of cases has been doubling roughly every 4/5 days, which is somewhat better than was forecast at the start of the outbreak. Up to last Wednesday, 419 patients had been hospitalised with the disease and 59 of these had been admitted to ICU.
Given the shortage of ICU beds hospitals are now operating at close to capacity and the government has just issued its strictest restrictions yet, basically saying everyone should stay at home for the next two weeks except for the purposes of buying essential food or medical supplies or a much more tightly defined list of essential work.
It is a lockdown in all but name, and pretty much the last shot in the governments locker - one last attempt to "flatten the curve" and, if possible, suppress the disease. Compliance, so far, seems to be high. The first death of a healthcare worker is adding to the sombre mood, although the situation doesn't seem to be quite as chaotic as in the UK's NHS, h/t ThatBritGuy.
by Oui
Sat Mar 28th, 2020 at 10:23:18 AM EST
The Dutch better prepared for post-mortem citizens than taking care of the living, young and old, in a global pandemic.
A good read ...
Caught Between Herd Immunity And National Lockdown, Holland Hit Hard By Covid-19 | Forbes |
In a national address to the Dutch nation on Monday, March 16th, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said his country would aim to develop immunity to the novel coronavirus among its population by allowing large numbers to contract the illness at a controlled pace.
Initially, creating herd immunity for the novel coronavirus was one of two main objectives of Dutch government policy: Controlling spread of the virus while protecting vulnerable groups, including the elderly and people with underlying health conditions. By striking this balance rather than instituting a national lockdown, the thought was the nation could avoid a situation in which post lockdown - when society returns to normal - it would be exposed to the danger of a new outbreak as too few people would have become infected and therefore immune.
More below the fold ...
by gmoke
Fri Mar 27th, 2020 at 02:41:32 AM EST
MIT COVID19 Challenge - Beat the Pandemic
Friday, April 3 at 6:00pm - Sunday, April 5
Online
RSVP at https:/covid19challenge.mit.edu
We invite you to attend the MIT COVID-19 Challenge event, Beat the Pandemic, a series of virtual hackathons. The next event is April 3-5, 2020. In this 48-hour virtual event, we will help tackle the most critical unmet needs caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Participants will form teams on Friday, April 3rd to hone down on the problems, generate solutions, including proof of concepts, prototypes, and preliminary vision for execution. On Sunday, April 5th, teams will reconvene to present their work. After the weekend, the best ideas and teams will have the opportunity to co-develop and implement their solution with the support of our partners.
For more information and to apply as a participant, please check out our website: https:covid19challenge.mit.edu
The MIT COVID-19 Challenge is proud to be supported by organizations including the MIT Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship, MIT Hacking Medicine, MIT Innovation Initiative, MIT Sloan Healthcare Club, Digital Medicine Society, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Netherlands Innovation Network, MassBio, and many more.
We hope to see you (virtually) at the event!
--------------
Conserving Supply of Personal Protective Equipment--A Call for Ideas
https:jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763590
The editors of JAMA recognize the challenges, concerns, and frustration about the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) that is affecting the care of patients and safety of health care workers in the US and around the world. We seek creative immediate solutions for how to maximize the use of PPE, to conserve the supply of PPE, and to identify new sources of PPE. We are interested in suggestions, recommendations, and potential actions from individuals who have relevant experience, especially from physicians, other health care professionals, and administrators in hospitals and other clinical settings. JAMA is inviting immediate suggestions, which can be added as online comments to this article.
Corresponding Author: Howard Bauchner, MD (howard.bauchner@jamanetwork.org).
----------------
I read through the more than 50 entries to the JAMA Call for Ideas on Saturday, March 21. As I write now on Thursday, March 26, there are over 250. You can read what I found at Crowd Sourcing Solutions to COVID19 (https:www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/22/1930022-Crowd-Sourcing-Solutions-to-COVID19)
----------------
Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies
https:/www.facebook.com/groups/670932227050506
Mask Force: DIY mask production
https:/maskforce.org
------------------
There are many, many DIY mask and PPE initiatives now with many, many different designs. Probably one or more in your area and, if not, start one yourself.
------------------
Mutual Aid Networks are springing up all over the place (https:www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/15/1927820-Mutual-Aid-Networks)
Mutual Aid & Social Capital: The Power of Communities, Networks from Howard Rheingold, based upon the syllabus of a course he used to teach at Stanford on social media and including recent links to mutual aid networks forming to deal with Covid19 (which he will update)
https:/www.patreon.com/posts/34918526
Mutual Aid Networks article from NYTimes
https:www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-aid-group.html
Spreadsheet of mutual aid networks
https:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1HEdNpLB5p-sieHVK-CtS8_N7SIUhlMpY6q1e8Je0ToY/htmlview
Mutual Aid Initiatives to Combat the Coronavirus
https:
itsgoingdown.org/autonomous-groups-are-mobilizing-mutual-aid-initiatives-to-combat-the-coron
avirus
Intellihelp Facebook group - only ask and give posts
https:/www.facebook.com/groups/1061901284171597/about
------------------
"You could say that civil society is what unimpaired mutual aid creates; or that civil society is the condition and mutual aid the activity that produces it." - Rebecca Solnit, from A Paradise Built in Hell (http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2016/07/notes-on-rebecca-solnits-paradise-built.html)
The sooner we organize to help each other the better off we all will be.
Once we start exercising our freedom to build mutual aid networks that support and empower each of us individually and collectively we will have reclaimed some of our own liberty and power (swaraj - self-rule). Mutual aid networks are part of what Gandhi called swadeshi, local production, the heart of satyagraha, nonviolence, and a lifelong daily practice of community (sarvodaya) (http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2014/04/sarvodaya-swaraj-and-swadeshi.html), all who are for the benefit of all, as the ethicist Milt Raymond, author of Social Reason (https://www.amazon.com/Social-Reason-Milton-Raymond/dp/0557086043) would say.
"Make the world work, for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone." R Buckminster Fuller
by Frank Schnittger
Thu Mar 26th, 2020 at 10:49:27 PM EST
The table above is continuously updated here and by John Hopkins University here.
The pandemic patterns are changing, with the highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases now in the USA, despite a lack of a timely and comprehensive testing regime. Italy and Spain are still leading the mortality column with France also moving up the table. On a per capita basis, Luxembourg and Switzerland actually have a higher confirmed infection rate per million inhabitants and there is some hope that the rate of new infections is actually beginning to slow down in Italy where new infections have increased by less than 10% per day for the past four days in a row.
by Oui
Thu Mar 26th, 2020 at 08:54:33 AM EST
Concerns the COVID-19 Pandemic originating in Wuhan, China in December 2019.
Western nations not heeding the early warning warnings and data from China and the WHO.
'This beast is moving very fast.' Will the new coronavirus be contained--or go pandemic? | ScienceMag - Feb. 5, 2020 |
The repatriation of 565 Japanese citizens from Wuhan, China, in late January offered scientists an unexpected opportunity to learn a bit more about the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) raging in that city. To avoid domestic spread of the virus, Japanese officials screened every passenger for disease symptoms and tested them for the virus after they landed. Eight tested positive, but four of those had no symptoms at all, says epidemiologist Hiroshi Nishiura of Hokkaido University, Sapporo--which is a bright red flag for epidemiologists who are trying to figure out what the fast-moving epidemic has in store for humanity. If many infections go unnoticed, as the Japanese finding suggests, that vastly complicates efforts to contain the outbreak.
What did politicians in Europe know and why didn't react to the warnings?
More below the fold ...
by Frank Schnittger
Tue Mar 24th, 2020 at 10:45:56 PM EST
The Irish government, led by the most conservative major party in the state, has instituted a number of emergency measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic:
- The government will fund 70% of workers salaries up to a maximum of €410 per week tax free in businesses effected by the crisis.
- Social welfare, unemployment, and sick pay is increased from €203 per week to €350 p.w.
- The government is taking over all private hospitals and incorporating them into the public hospital system for the duration of the crisis.
- A rent freeze and ban on evictions.
- The cost of these measures is estimated to be €3.7 Billion over the next 12 weeks - greater than the total annual budget surplus estimated prior to the crisis.
by Oui
Tue Mar 24th, 2020 at 09:41:51 AM EST
The Dominic Cummings policy on the CoV-2 pandemic rears its ugly head again ... just as persistent as the virus that traveled the globe via their hosts traveling by air.
The writing has been on the wall for weeks in the UK, US and where I reside in The Netherlands. Lying liers ...
PM Mark Rutte had a broad explanation why it wasn't necessary and it was good policy NOT to do more tests as directly advised by the WHO.
More below the fold ...
by gmoke
Mon Mar 23rd, 2020 at 07:04:17 PM EST
https:/jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763590
The editors of JAMA recognize the challenges, concerns, and frustration about the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) that is affecting the care of patients and safety of health care workers in the US and around the world. We seek creative immediate solutions for how to maximize the use of PPE, to conserve the supply of PPE, and to identify new sources of PPE. We are interested in suggestions, recommendations, and potential actions from individuals who have relevant experience, especially from physicians, other health care professionals, and administrators in hospitals and other clinical settings. JAMA is inviting immediate suggestions, which can be added as online comments to this article.
Corresponding Author: Howard Bauchner, MD (howard.bauchner@jamanetwork.org).
I read through the more than 50 submissions at the JAMA site on March 20, 2020 and will attempt to summarize them along with some other resources I've come across:
A Belgium nonprofit worked with their government to design a DIY face mask:
https:maakjemondmasker.be
Korean DIY mask
https:/m.blog.naver.com/hohuk212/221838542113
An emergency mask from a T shirt:
https:www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3373043
Home-Made Face Masks
https:/www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/17/1928552-Home-Made-Face-Masks [three different versions of improvised face masks, including directions for 1918 Spanish flu design]
Use mask covers (surgical mask sleeves)
How to Make n95 Mask Covers
https:/www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/20/1929626-How-to-Make-n95-Mask-Cover
Mask Sewing Crowd Source on FB: https:/www.facebook.com/groups/1596375590537476
The Million Mask Challenge
https:/millionmaskschallenge.com
Swedish/St. Joseph's Providence is making homemade PPE [face shields]
https:/komonews.com/news/coronavirus/volunteers-making-homemade-equipment-to-combat-shortages-cause
d-by-covid-19
3-d printed face shield
https:boingboing.net/2020/03/20/prusa-research-develops-3d-pri.html
DIY substitute for N95 respirators, "create your own reusable respirator using only a face mask, an in-line ventilator filter, and two elastic straps. All for less than 3 dollars! Find instructions, details, and video at
https:www.childrenshospital.org/research/departments-divisions-programs/departments/surgery/surgic
al-innovation-fellowship"
We need quantities of Personal Protection Equipment [PPE] within the next week or two until the factories ramp up, Could a significant proportion of that need be supplied by a crowd-sourced production method? Can people in quarantine do whatever they can do from home in order to help the effort to "bend the curve" (make sure fewer people die) now and in the near future? Can they be paid in $$$, kind, or services to tide things over? (It would also be helpful to have utility and rent payment moratoriums as in France and, I've read, El Salvador. That would alleviate some worry, I suspect.)
It seems some form of short-term "universal basic income" [UBI] is going into legislation but what if it were combined with a possibility of universal service as well in this particular? What if we were thinking of this the way Churchill thought about Dunkirk and called out everyone who can help to help? What if we mobilized our own "little ship navy" to get all hands on deck to deal with this crisis?
Here are some more ideas from JAMA:
There is a 1975 study indicating that the material used in masks matters less than the fit. See Br J Surg. 1975 Dec;62(12):936-40. The efficiency of surgical masks of varying design and composition. Quesnel LB.
(And other studies suggest that any mask is better than none, down to a bandana across the nose and mouth.)
"On any surface, the virus dies off over time anyhow, so merely storing used masks for a week might adequately decontaminate them." I suspect exposing them to sunlight's UV radiation would be good too.
Sanitization for re-use:
Data from WHO suggests heat at 56°C kills the SARS coronavirus at around 10000 units per 15 min (quick reduction)
https:www.who.int/csr/sars/survival_2003_05_04/en
disinfect with alcohol and then dry at 60ºC of higher
gamma or e-beam radiation decontamination
SARS-coronavirus can be effectively eliminated at 56-65 deg C for 30-90 minutes. Heat PPE at 65 deg C in an oven for 90 minutes before reusing
(According to the CDC, flu viruses are killed by heat above 167º F
https:/www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/03/9581543/how-to-wash-outside-clothes-coronavirus)
ultraviolet decontamination for reuse although this needs testing as UV may degrade mask quality
ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilization for n95 and all PPE
rationing
Reusable gowns for patients in contact isolation have already been deployed at large medical centers (https:practicegreenhealth.org/tools-and-resources/ronald-reagan-ucla-medical-center-reusable-isola
tion-gowns), with the primary motivation being an overall reduction in waste and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the manufacture, transportation, and disposal of one time use gowns. [Margin note: there's going to be a lot of waste with all these one use items. Already there are reports of littering with used face masks in areas where many are used.]
categorize patients and have batch examinations so caregiver can use one set of PPE
schedule batch medication administration times so nurses can use just one set of PPE instead of multiples for patient care
wash gloves while still wearing them with alcohol hand sanitizer
use of telemedicine services such as https:doxy.me
robots
World's smallest cheapest ventilator
https:www.electronicsforu.com/india-corner/innovations-innovators/world-cheapest-smallest-ventilat
or-made-india
Mass-bio list of materials & supplies currently needed in MA
https:www.massbio.org/news/blog/calling-on-all-life-sciences-and-healthcare-organizations-to-donat
e-supplies-to-fight-covid-19-151858
Novel Coronavirus Fighting Products
https:
www.americanchemistry.com/Novel-Coronavirus-Fighting-Products-List.pdf
So that is JAMA's crowd sourcing ideas (and crowd sourcing home production) for dealing with this health emergency with some addition I found along the way. It looks like a good start.
Oh, and washing your face as well as your hands is a good idea.
Here is another example of crowd sourcing:
"There is a call for scientist volunteers by Dr. Michael Wells at the Broad [Institute]. pls see this Google form below and sign up if you are interested and are able to.
https:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScXC56q2tPgz0WbPrhP7WareiclfxfaKQFI0ZbXg4FkKan5iQ/viewform"
Broad Institute is part of the testing effort in MA as well as a leading biomedical research institution based in Kendall Square, near MIT.
I'm sure there is an overwhelming amount of research work that needs to be done in order to find possible treatments and possibly a vaccine for Covid19. Again, if people who can help with this work can apply their enforced leisure to these efforts, would we be able to use that help?
For instance, could students be brought up to useful speed through such events as this study group?
Learning Circle: COVID-19, Tackling the Novel Coronavirus (Week 1)
Tuesday, March 31
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM Every week on Tuesday until April 14, 2020
Online Meeting
https:
meet.jit.si/covid19-learning-circle
THIS MEETING WILL HAPPEN ONLINE AT https:
meet.jit.si/covid19-learning-circle
Learning circles are free, facilitated study groups for learners who want to take online courses. More information about learning circles can be found on the P2PU website: https:
www.p2pu.org/en.
Starting on March 31st and for 3 weeks, BosLab will host a learning circle to help participants study the FutureLearn course "COVID-19: Tackling the Novel Coronavirus" from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (https:/www.futurelearn.com/courses/covid19-novel-coronavirus).
More of this will and should be happening. A lot of people stuck at home have plenty of time to study this virus and crowd-source solutions to our current health crisis.
If as many of us as possible spend the next two weeks or so of quarantine or shelter in place or social distancing devoting as much time as we normally devote to our favorite sports team(s) or the Presidential campaign, could we maybe crowd source the sh!t out of this m*therf^cker? Already?
by Frank Schnittger
Mon Mar 23rd, 2020 at 11:53:13 AM EST
Update [2020-3-23 23:40:41 by Frank Schnittger]:Table updated
You can find the table above constantly updated here, where you can also sort it by each column header.
A number of factors can influence the spread and mortality rate of the pandemic in different countries:
- Timing - the number of days since the first case in a region
- Preparedness - the ability of local hospital facilities to cope with rapidly elevating demand
- Timing and effectiveness of counter-measures taken - principally non-pharmaceutical interventions like the closure of schools, pubs, restaurants, non essential business contacts, sporting events, and the practice of self isolation, physical distancing and personal hygiene.
- Level of testing and contact tracing
- Demographics - older people (and men), especially with pre-existing serious medical conditions, are disproportionately at risk
by Oui
Sun Mar 22nd, 2020 at 10:01:38 AM EST
No, Mark Rutte can be accused of intentional neglect by following the suggestion of his chosen scientists on "herd immunity". The RIVM is still not following WHO instructions to do the testing!
Minister President Mark Rutte of The Netherlands will be remembered in history, quite like Dutch PM Colijn during the military build-up in Germany and the outbreak of World War II ...
From my diary on March 14th ...
Outbreak -- Herd Immunity Is Damning!
More below the fold ...
Frontpaged- Frank Schnittger
by Oui
Sat Mar 21st, 2020 at 09:35:30 AM EST
I must admit, during my lifetime I've seen far more failures in leadership than succes.
In a democracy, the public is easily manipulated by PR and a non-critical media. Therefore, the popularity curve of leaders are far behind as a crisis develops. As new data is confronting the man in the street, the popularity polls catches up.
Interesting comparison I found was president Johnson's Vietnam War and George Bush in the Iraq War.
More below the fold ...
