Coronavirus News (97)

Republicans and Democrats barrel toward collision on voting by mail Voters want the option to vote absentee more easily. But Republicans in Congress oppose a mandate, and a fight looms over funding to facilitate it............ Americans want to be able to vote by mail in November — but Democratic proposals to require it appear to be going nowhere fast in Congress........ House Democrats have sought to drastically overhaul the American electoral system in light of the pandemic, arguing dramatic change is needed to allow Americans to vote safely..........

nearly three-in-five voters nationwide said they either strongly or somewhat support a federal law that would mandate that states “provide mail-in ballots to all voters for elections occurring during the coronavirus pandemic.”

....... House Democrats have proposed mandating that states send all voters a ballot in the case of emergencies — in their most recent coronavirus relief package, dubbed the HEROES Act, along with other sweeping changes to the elections. The bill would also require universal “no-excuse” absentee voting, online and same-day voter registration and expanded early voting, among other changes. ........ seven in 10 adults supported allowing any voter to vote by mail if they want to. ......... all forms of voting need to be available in November. Those include "expanded vote by mail, significant early voting opportunities, and then safe in-person voting opportunities on Election Day," he said. "We need all three of those things.” ....... House Democrats are seeking to allocate $3.6 billion in additional funding to election officials to help prepare their states for holding elections in the middle of the pandemic. The first CARES relief package included $400 million for that purpose. ........ Wisconsin’s conflict-ridden April 7 election saw a drastic increase in the proportion of mail ballots cast, from about a 12 percent absentee voting rate in the spring of 2016 elections to over 70 percent of ballots being cast by mail this year. The increase came with no policy changes from state officials, and only minor tweaks from the courts.

'This virus may never go away,' WHO says The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could become endemic like HIV ........

this would take a “massive effort” even if a vaccine was found — a prospect he described as a “massive moonshot”.

........ vaccines exist for other illnesses, such as measles, that have not been eliminated. ....... “very significant control” of the virus was required in order to lower the assessment of risk, which he said remained high at the “national, regional and global levels”. .........

extreme caution is needed to avoid new outbreaks

..... “We need to get into the mindset that it is going to take some time to come out of this pandemic”

WHO’s chief scientist offers bleak assessment of challenges ahead

It will be ‘four or five years’ before Covid-19 is under control

......... whether it mutates, what containment measures are put in place and whether an effective vaccine is developed ...... there was “no crystal ball” and the pandemic could “potentially get worse”. ........ A vaccine “seems for now the best way out”, but there were “lots of ifs and buts” about its efficacy and safety, as well as its production and equitable distribution ..... A vaccine could also stop working if the virus changed ......... control of the virus depended on the development of an effective vaccine, but said the “elimination” of the disease “is going to require much, much more”. ......... “We will have to find a way as societies to live with this” and change from lockdowns to more “granular, targeted types of interventions”. ......... Sweden had a much higher fatality rate than its neighbouring Nordic countries, which was “not looking good . . . I wouldn’t say right now it looks like open society approach has worked really well” ......... the pace at which countries were able to control the virus “depends a great deal on if we’re able to organise ourselves better than we have so far as societies”. ......... Inefficient bureaucracies and public sector procurement had hampered many countries’ ability to test for and trace the virus ........ There is “no option but to invest more in testing”.



First to close and last to open? California takes 'appropriately cautious' path in combating coronavirus
India's Modi promises $266 billion to protect economy from Covid-19 small businesses would be able to access almost $40 billion in loans without providing collateral until October 31. Foreign companies would also be prevented from tendering for contracts with a value of up to $26.5 million to protect local businesses ...... the fiscal and monetary stimulus package is equivalent to about 10% of the annual output of India's economy. ....... the virus, which has infected more than 74,000 Indians ....... India's economy was struggling before the outbreak.

Will Antibodies After COVID-19 Illness Prevent Reinfection? scientists don't know whether people who have been exposed to the coronavirus will be immune for life, as is usually the case for the measles, or if the disease will return again and again, like the common cold. ....... 'What is the full exit strategy to this and how long are we going to be contending with it?' " ........

antibodies are by no means a guarantee a person will be protected for life — or even for a year.

......... four coronaviruses that cause the common cold. "They're very common and so people seem to get them quite often," Shaman says. Ninety percent of people develop antibodies to those viruses, at least in passing, but "our evidence is those antibodies are not conferring protection." ........ "That's why people get colds over and over again," he says. "It doesn't really tickle the immune response that much." ....... one of the most severe coronaviruses, the one that causes SARS, and he's found that the degree of immunity depended on the severity of the disease. Sicker people remained immune for much longer, in some cases many years. ......... for some people the symptoms of COVID-19 are no worse than a cold, while for others they are severe ........ most people who recover from the coronavirus have developed antibodies that neutralize the coronavirus in a petri dish. ......... One goal is to identify people who produce especially strong, protective antibody responses. She says the antibody-producing cells from those people can potentially be turned into vaccines. .......... "Because you might be immune, you might have protected yourself against the virus," she says, "but it still might be in your body and you're giving it to others." ........

It would have huge public health implications if it turns out people can still spread the disease after they've recovered.

US job losses have reached Great Depression levels. Did it have to be that way?
The Economic Lockdown Catastrophe The worst jobs report in history shows why the economy must reopen. ........ When we wrote on March 19 about “Rethinking the Coronavirus Shutdown,” the reaction in elite media quarters was horror and denunciation. Well, after Friday’s horrific jobs report, how do you like the shutdown now? The people who said we have to sacrifice the economy to crush the virus have succeeded in the former even as the virus will be with us for many more months or longer.

Goldman Sachs says a second wave of coronavirus could make the Fed rethink negative interest rates Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday reiterated that the central bank is not considering negative interest rates. ...... A second wave of coronavirus that causes another “big setback” in the U.S. economy could prompt the Fed to consider a range of new policy options, including cutting interest rates into negative territory ......... But such a monetary policy wouldn’t be “very helpful” to the economy ........ the experience of some European countries and Japan which have struggled to grow their economies even after adopting negative rates for years. ...... The U.S. dollar has stayed strong in recent weeks as investors seek safer assets to park their money in after the coronavirus pandemic dampened economic prospects globally.

Wisconsin supreme court strikes down governor's stay-at-home order
CDC guidelines shelved by Trump administration spell out far stricter road map to reopening One major discrepancy between the White House and CDC guidelines surrounds nonessential travel. In the White House plan, nonessential travel can resume as early as Phase 2. The CDC, however, recommends that nonessential travel be avoided until Phase 3, and even then suggests it "may be considered" and advises caution....... The first phase suggests schools that are closed should remain so and employees who are able to telework should keep working from home. Large venues, including some restaurants, can operate under strict social distancing protocols. Gyms can open as long as they maintain social distancing guidelines, but bars should remain shuttered. Phases 2 and 3 gradually decrease the recommended restrictions. ........ Public health professionals have repeatedly stated that reopening the country too soon could lead to

a second wave

of coronavirus cases and result in more deaths. ....... more than 84,000 Americans had died from Covid-19 and more than 1.39 million cases had been reported in the United States