The entire plan in Europe now is build around regional lockdowns and mitigations. In France they have imposed curfews on Paris and eight other cities along with other measures. In Germany they are toughening restrictions in hotspots as it enters 'decisive' phase. Nearly all of Europe is now reversing direction and applying mitigations on a regional/city basis. At this point the measures are just one step short of a complete lockdown in many areas. Remeber that WHO merely said that national lockdowns are the last resort -- after regional lockdowns & mitigations have been applied. Effectively the plan in Europe now is effectively in the inverse of a phased re-opening; it is a phased closing down by region. Restrictions get tighter and tigher as the level of COVID rises in a city or region. It should be noted that the level of COVID in Germany is much lower than it is in the U.S. but they are already moving forward with significant mitigations by regions applied by a plan established by their federal government. Sadly the U.S. does not have a federal plan establishing when states, regions and cities should mitigate or open-up as the level of COVID infetions fall or rise. Due to this every state, county, and city is on their own --- and we will see a mish-mash of mitigations and lockdowns as we drive into the winter.
How We Survive the Winter The coming months of the pandemic could be catastrophic. The U.S. still has ways to prepare. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/09/how-america-can-survive-the-winter/616401/ On April 13, Robert Redfield, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, appeared on the Today show and assured viewers that the worst was nearly behind us. It had been a month since the last gathering of fans in an NBA arena; a month since the fateful week when Americans began panic-buying bottled water and canned beans. The segment’s host, Savannah Guthrie, was broadcasting from home in upstate New York. With the light of a makeshift camera reflecting in her glasses, she asked Redfield to address reports that we could be facing another three weeks of social distancing. “We are nearing the peak right now,” Redfield told her. “Clearly we are stabilizing in terms of the state of this outbreak.” By July, the number of daily cases had doubled. The death total had shot past 100,000. As Redfield looked ahead, his tone became more ominous. The fall and the winter, he said in an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association, “are going to be probably one of the most difficult times that we’ve experienced in American public health.” It is now widely accepted among experts that the United States is primed for a surge in cases at a uniquely perilous moment in our national history. “As we approach the fall and winter months, it is important that we get the baseline level of daily infections much lower than they are right now,” Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told me by email. For the past few weeks, the country has been averaging about 40,000 new infections a day. Fauci said that “we must, over the next few weeks, get that baseline of infections down to 10,000 per day, or even much less if we want to maintain control of this outbreak.” This may be the most salient warning he has issued at any point in the pandemic. Cutting an infection rate as high as ours by 75 percent in a matter of weeks would almost certainly require widespread lockdowns in which nearly everyone shelters in place, as happened in China in January. That will not happen in the United States. Donald Trump has been campaigning for reelection on just the opposite message. He has promised that normalcy and American greatness are just around the corner. He has touted dubious treatments and said at least 34 times that the virus will disappear. This disinformation is nearing a crescendo now that the election looms: Trump has been teasing a vaccine that could be available within weeks. The cold reality is that we should plan for a winter in which vaccination is not part of our lives. Three vaccine candidates are currently in Phase 3 clinical trials in the U.S., and the trials’ results may arrive as early as November. But even if they do—and even if they look perfect—it would not mean that a vaccine would be widely available. On Wednesday, Redfield said in a congressional hearing that a vaccine was unlikely to be widely available until summer of next year, if not later. Fauci may be even less optimistic. He told my colleague Peter Nicholas that if the clinical trials go well, it could mean a few million doses could be available by early 2021. By the time we got to 50 million to 100 million doses, he estimated, “you’re going to be well into 2021.” If each person needs two doses, as many experts expect, that would be enough to vaccinate roughly 11 percent of the population. The virus is here to stay. At best, it would fade away gradually, but that would happen after, not before, the winter. The sooner we can accept this, the more we can focus on minimizing the losses of the bleak and grisly coming months. Some of our fate is now inevitable, but much is not. There are still basic things we can do to survive. Some of the physical elements of winter weather make viruses more difficult to escape. The coronaviruses that cause the common cold reliably peak in winter months, as do influenza viruses. There is some mystery as to why. It seems partly due to the air: Viruses travel differently in air of different temperatures and humidity levels. In typical summer weather, the microscopic liquid particles that shoot out of our mouths don’t travel as efficiently as they do in dry winter air. Cold weather also drives us inside, where air recirculates. “As things get colder, activities and people will start moving indoors, and unfortunately that’s going to increase transmission risk, and the risk of super-spreading events,” Tom Inglesby, the director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins, told me. The public-health directives that have allowed many businesses to reopen in recent months—by opening windows and doing as much as possible outdoors—will no longer be feasible in regions where temperatures plunge as the days grow short. Winter days also wear on our body’s defense mechanisms. When people become more sedentary, our immune systems become less vigilant, and our overall resilience flags. Symptoms of depression, too, tend to run high in winter. This year these symptoms will be accompanied by restrictions on social life and concerns for health and economic security, leaving us physiologically vulnerable. “There is a growing sense of behavioral fatigue, and a real need for segments of the population to get back to work,” says Albert Ko, the chair of the department of epidemiology of microbial diseases at Yale School of Public Health. “I think the resurgence is going to be worse than what we’ve seen in the summer.” Isolated people may feel especially compelled to travel and gather at the holidays, even though those gatherings may be perilous. They could lead to bigger spikes in COVID-19 cases than some states saw after Memorial Day and July 4, when people who insisted on gathering could generally do so outdoors. The winter holidays often involve multigenerational gatherings for prolonged periods indoors—preceded and followed by interstate travel. This is a worst-case combination during a pandemic. “A lot of what we’re expecting about what might happen this winter comes from previous pandemics,” says Stephen Kissler, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health. Flu pandemics tend to travel in waves, and often the first fall and winter waves are the worst. There are striking similarities so far between the current pandemic and the 2009 influenza pandemic, Kissler told me. “There was patchy transmission in the spring, in New York City and some other places, but then there was a unified wave that hit the entire country. It started right around now, the beginning of September.” In a typical cold-and-flu season, many of us are protected—or partially protected—by antibodies to circulating viruses. But with COVID-19, the number of people with antibodies is still low. Even in the cities hardest hit by the disease, it seems that roughly 85 percent of people are still without antibodies. And if the immunity these antibodies confer is incomplete or short-lived, the number could effectively be even higher. This goes against the president’s allusions to how we might safely defeat the virus with “herd immunity.” Winter has already hit some places in the Southern Hemisphere hard. South Africa has seen a surge in COVID-19. Melbourne has been locked down due to a winter resurgence. The U.S. fell prey to our sense of exceptionalism in the early stages of this pandemic. We watched idly as the virus spread in China and Iran, South Korea and Italy, and only after it was circulating widely among us did we begin to accept that we were not somehow immune. If we cling to that fiction, we are setting ourselves up to be unprepared once again. This is not inevitable. There’s still time to break out of the patterns of thinking that have brought the U.S. to the point of leading the world in deaths and economic losses. There are basic measures we can take to mitigate and prepare. I’ve been worried about this winter since last winter, so over the past few months I’ve spoken with dozens of experts about what can be done. Here is a distillation of the recurring recommendations. None of them should be revelatory. But that’s precisely the point. Accept Reality “Outbreak responses are chess, not checkers,” says Stephen Thomas, the chief of the infectious-disease division at the State University of New York Upstate. We are playing against a tiny, inanimate ball of genetic material. We are not winning, because we are thinking short-term, moving in only one direction, and not seeing the entire board. Do not waste your time and emotional energy planning around an imminent game-changing injection or pill in the coming months. A pandemic is not a problem that will be fixed in one move, by any single medication or a sudden vaccine. Instead, the way forward involves small, imperfect preventive measures that can accumulate into very effective interventions. Groups of practices that minimize the spread of disease are sometimes known as prevention bundles. Our COVID-19 bundle includes important drugs, such as dexamethasone and remdesivir, which seem to help certain patients in specific situations. It also involves behaviors, too, such as distancing and masking. “Any action you take has the potential for numerous secondary and tangential benefits,” Thomas said. A vaccine will be part of our bundles, hopefully before too long. But it will not instantly eliminate the need for everything else. If we can accept that masks will be a part of our lives indefinitely, we can focus on improving their effectiveness and making them less annoying to wear, Yale’s Ko said. “And it’s not just the design of masks themselves; we can come up with more innovative ways to promote face-mask use.” For one thing, they could be made more ubiquitous by employers and state agencies. Governments could even, as Luxembourg’s did, send masks to everyone by mail. Plan for More Shutdowns America’s “reopening” process is going to be less an upward line toward normalcy and more a jagged roller coaster toward some new way of life. In July, California ordered businesses and churches in some counties to again halt indoor activities after the state saw a rise in positive tests and admissions to intensive-care units. In August, the University of North Carolina sent students home barely a week after they had arrived. These sorts of moves shock the system if it relies on uninterrupted forward progress. Everyone will be better prepared if we plan for schools to close and for cities and businesses to shut back down, even while we hope they won’t have to. “Many workplaces that have reopened don’t have clear guidelines as to when they will consider shutting back down or reducing capacity in buildings,” Kissler told me. Every place that’s reopening should assume that it might have to navigate further closures. “Having clear triggers for when and how to pull back would help us avoid what happened this spring, where everything shut down in a week,” Kissler said. “It was utter chaos. I’m afraid that scenario will play out again. We have the opportunity to avoid that.” Live Like You’re Contagious Even if you’ve had the virus, plan to spend the winter living as though you are constantly contagious. This primarily means paying attention to where you are and what’s coming out of your mouth. The liquid particles we spew can be generated simply by breathing, but far more by speaking, shouting, singing, coughing, and sneezing. While we cannot stop doing all of these things, every effort at minimizing unnecessary contributions of virus to the air around others helps. Along with masking and distancing, time itself can effectively be another tool in our bundles. It’s not just the distance from another person that determines transmission; it’s also the duration. A shorter interaction is safer than a longer one because the window for the virus to enter your airways is narrower. Any respiratory virus is more likely to cause disease if you inhale higher doses of it. If you do find yourself in high-risk scenarios, at least don’t linger. Fredrick Sherman, a professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, recommends that if someone near you coughs or sneezes, “immediately exhale to avoid inhaling droplets or aerosols. Purse your lips to make the exhaling last longer. Turn your head fully away from the person and begin walking.” Even as it gets colder, continue to socialize and exercise outdoors when possible—even if it’s initially less pleasant than being inside. It’s worth thinking about sweaters, hats, and coats as protective measures akin to masks. During the holidays, don’t plan gatherings in places where you can’t be outdoors and widely spaced. This may mean postponing or canceling long-standing traditions. For a lot of people, that will be difficult and sad. For some, it will be a welcome relief. In either case, it’s better than sending a family member to the ICU. Build for the Pandemic This is an overdue opportunity to create and upgrade to permanently pandemic-resistant cities, businesses, schools, and homes. Now is the moment to build the infrastructure to keep workers safe, especially those deemed essential. Poor indoor air quality, for example, has long been a source of disease. Businesses can minimize spread by making ventilation upgrades permanent, as well as enshrining systems that let people work from home whenever possible. “We should be decreasing the density of indoor spaces as much as possible through telecommuting, shifting work schedules, changing work or school flows to spread people out,” the Center for Health Security’s Inglesby said. Instead of being ordered to take down temporary street dining areas, restaurants might build roofs over them to bear ice and snow, and accommodate space heaters. Keeping people safe will save us economically: If restaurants, shops, offices, schools, and churches offer only indoor options, then they can expect attendance and business to suffer even further—either because of legally imposed limits to capacity or because people don’t feel safe going out. Building for pandemics also extends beyond physical infrastructure, to child care for workers, public transit, safe housing and quarantine spaces, and supply chains for everything from masks to air filters to pipette tips. We could make sure that sick people have places to go to seek care, and that they aren’t compelled to spread the virus by basic financial imperatives. Hunt the Virus Developing fast and reliable ways to detect the coronavirus will become only more crucial during the winter cold-and-flu season. Symptoms of the flu and other respiratory diseases can be effectively indistinguishable from early and mild symptoms of COVID-19. Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at the University of Florida, told me that testing will be needed to identify real cases and assure others in schools and workplaces that their coughs are not due to COVID-19. Being able to distinguish who among the sniffling masses truly needs to quarantine for two weeks will be vital to keeping essential workers safe and present. The flu vaccine will be useful in helping to prevent a disease that can look very similar to COVID-19. But returns to normalcy in the coming year will depend on advancements in testing for the coronavirus itself. As of now, PCR tests, the most widely used forms of diagnostic testing, are not suited for efficient, massive-scale screening. They cannot identify every infection reliably enough, and are too resource-intensive to use as a comprehensive surveillance system. Some experts hope that November will be a watershed month for new ways of testing, as numerous novel point-of-care tests should have come to market by then. These will theoretically allow for on-premises testing at schools, offices, and polling stations—with results obtained in minutes. There are already concerns about the accuracy of such tests, but if they work well, they would be the most effective tool in our bundle. Results would ideally be coordinated nationally, with real-time tracking, to inform precise and minimal shutdowns. All of these measures are contingent on reconceptualizing how this pandemic ends. They depend on common facts and clear information. There will be no fireworks or parades, only a slow march onward. Whether technological advances can help us chip away at the spread and severity of this disease will depend on how we use, distribute, and understand them. Throughout the pandemic, America’s most significant barrier to this progress has been Donald Trump. Since February, he has depicted his response to the virus as a success by minimizing the threat. He has exaggerated and lied about treatment options, about the availability of tests, and about the importance of preventive measures such as masks. This week, after Redfield testified that a vaccine would not be widely available until mid-to-late 2021, Trump contradicted him and said Redfield was “confused.” Trump’s insistence that normalcy is on the horizon trades long-term safety for short-term solace. Under his administration, the agencies that typically ensure the accuracy and proper usage of medical products like tests and vaccines—the FDA and the CDC—have been weakened and politicized. In August, the White House urged a rewrite of CDC guidelines to discourage testing asymptomatic people who have had high-risk exposures to people with COVID-19. This week, The New York Times reported that this happened over the objections of CDC scientists. In the coming months, “direct to consumer” sales of COVID-19 tests are expected to further clutter the information landscape. It will be up to the FDA to ensure that they work. Tests and vaccines will be worthless if the public can’t or simply doesn’t trust them. The lack of a scientific basis for a shared reality—and a willingness to accept that reality—continues to be America’s greatest weakness in this pandemic. This is all the more reason to prepare ourselves for the months ahead. Build emotional reserves where you can. Make concrete plans for how to isolate and quarantine; to maintain access to credible information; to get medical care quickly. Consider simple ways to help your communities. The process will serve you well, no matter how bad winter gets. Offer to help friends and family care for children. Ask yourself what you can do, right now, for the people who would be burdened most by new waves of illness. Do you have neighbors who wouldn’t be able to get out at all? Do you have elderly relatives who would be totally alone? “If you can teach them how to use Zoom right now,” Kissler advised, “that might be easier to do while we can still do it in person.”
You are truly an idiot. How many different ways can I say I think both Canada and California are using wrong models so it does not matter to me... who is doing better. If Canada is really doing better... and you can objectively measure it... great. I like Canada, I have nothing of my ego invested in it. I hope it does well. I hate seeing people suffer because of bad govt. And locking down the low risk is bad govt. And you never answer the hard questions. for instance you said Canada was predicting a second wave so its was no big deal that I was predicting it back during the shutdown... I asked you to show us when Canada's national govt first said a second wave was coming. You never came close to giving me a link...
Following the path in Europe, U.S. states are moving towards regional lockdowns and mitigations... Let's take a look at New Jersey. NJ governor hopes to use a ‘scalpel’ to deal with coronavirus hot spots not another broad shutdown https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/15/dem...il-murphy-hopes-to-avoid-covid-shutdowns.html New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday he hopes to avoid broad lockdowns to deal with rising coronavirus cases in the state and the nation. “We’re less likely to use blunt instruments we used in March and April ... and much more likely to use a scalpel,” he told CNBC. Murphy described the escalation of coronavirus cases in the state as “hot spots” and not everywhere. New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday on CNBC he hopes to avoid broad economic lockdowns to deal with rising coronavirus cases in the state and the nation. “I think we’re less likely, and please God that this is the case, we’re less likely to use blunt instruments we used in March and April when we shut the garage doors down on everything, and much more likely to use a scalpel and go into a particular community,” Murphy told “Squawk Box.” The governor acknowledged that new Covid-19 cases in New Jersey have been moving higher between 700 and under 1,000 per day recently. “We’ve come a long way but our numbers are up, there’s no question about it, over the past several weeks,” he said. “For instance, higher education has been a challenge,” adding he’s putting more resources behind contact tracing and testing at state colleges and universities. Murphy described the escalation of coronavirus cases in the state as “hot spots” and not everywhere. “But there’s a fair amount of community spread,” he said, explaining people are mostly following virus mitigation measures, such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing, when they are out in public. However, people are letting their guards down at homes and in “frat houses,” he stressed. Murphy urged people feeling ill to “take yourself off the field” and self-quarantine. He said government officials need to continue to stay on the “bullhorn” to encourage people to stay vigilant. The governor also said that while coronavirus testing has been a challenge and there’s been a lack a national strategy in responding to the pandemic, it’s not too late to get a federal mandate on mask-wearing and other measures that scientists recommend for helping protect against transmission. There is emerging concern that spikes in Covid-19 cases in Europe may be indicative of what the U.S. may see in the coming weeks as colder weather brings Americans indoors where risks of transmission of the disease are greater. New cases in Europe have recently been running at about 100,000 per day — about double the U.S. The British government on Thursday announced tougher coronavirus restrictions for London in an attempt to curb the rapid spread of the virus. The U.K.’s capital city will move to a “high” alert level starting midnight Friday, up from the current “medium” alert level. European nations generally saw their peaks a few weeks ahead the U.S. earlier this year.
Ohio is still trying to work out and communicate its approach for the winter. The state appears to moving towards regional lockdowns and mitigations. The governor wants to avoid a state-wide lockdown. Gov. Mike DeWine mum on whether he will again close businesses, schools as COVID-19 cases mount https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020...sinesses-schools-as-covid-19-cases-mount.html With coronavirus cases in Ohio rising at a record pace, Gov. Mike DeWine has repeatedly declined to say whether he would consider shutting down businesses or schools as he did in the spring. “We’re at the point where we have to live with this virus,” DeWine said during a televised briefing on Thursday. “The consequences of going in and shutting things down again would be devastating -- not just financially, but devastating to people in their individual lives. So, we do not want to be in a position to do that.” DeWine paused briefly. “But, let me make it really clear,” he continued. “This is not a situation where we don’t know what to do. This is not a situation where we don’t know what works.” What works, he said, is “basic things” such as wearing a mask and practicing social distancing. “We’ve got to not go to events that look like fun, but where you’re going to have family or friends there -- at least that are big gatherings,” he said. He also said he’s heard reports that people in several “red-alert” counties have planned events like pub crawls, car shows, and (in the final weeks of the 2020 campaign) political rallies. “Now is a really good time to think whether these are in the best interest of the community,” he said. Since DeWine took office last year, he has on more than one occasion given people a chance to take voluntary action before deciding to impose mandatory measures. It’s not clear whether DeWine was employing such a tactic during Thursday’s briefing, though he repeatedly warned Ohioans that they needed to do what’s needed now to curb the spread of the virus. “You look at the data today, the future that that paints is ugly,” the governor said, saying the next few months will be “very tough” ones. “We can avoid most of this pain. We can avoid losing a lot more people than we should be losing.” The governor also noted that after he imposed a statewide mask mandate in July, the number of COVID-19 cases in Ohio went down. It’s not the first time DeWine has made comments of this sort in recent days. Last week, he tweeted: “I don’t want to be an alarmist, but if you want your kids physically in school, we’ve got to slow this down. If there is spread in the community, more schools will end up going remote.”
Dead people can’t catch Covid. Flatten the curve! We have to find a way to prevent the spread of viruses without having to lock down everywhere for a month. I say everywhere because of our connected world. If you shut down some places, we get to play Whack-A-Mole indefinately with any high Ro virus. A global lockdown for 30 days and expecting 100% compliance doesn’t seem practical or necessarily effective. Now that PPE production is up and supplies are generally available, PPE mandates expanding to the use of googles and gloves in higher risk settings seems like a good, balanced approach. There should be instructions on how to properly use PPE in the news media, YouTube, schools, and in larger companies where someone in administration is assigned the task of PPE training and policy enforcement. I read an article a few years ago that anyone with about $200k and a few volunteers can produce a weaponized virus by modifying the “Interferon gene” and hold the world hostage. This article was written before $30 CRISPR kits came on the scene. It is astonishing global leaders have not yet created practical preparedness plans for the general population to address our severe vulnerability to natural and manmade biological hazards. We have seen massive livestock and poultry dieoffs in the last few years because of the Swing Flu and Avian Flu. We have seen very high CFR Ebola infect the populations of major cities in Africa. What happens if or when travel out of Africa becomes more frequent? What happens when a African native living in this US consumes Ebola infected bushmeat that he special ordered from a local butcher? The modern world has seen massive increases in population density and massive increases in the frequency of long distance travel increasing the global risk of deadly pandemic. Further, as we continue to encroach on formerly remote areas, emerging diseases have a greater chance of gaining a foothold in our civilization for which there is little or no natural immunity. Legislation has not caught up with our changing world, in spite of all the warning signs in the past few decades. This is a sign of global systemic weakness. Whether the cause of this weakness is cultural on a human scale, communication deficiencies, or sheer stupidity, it affects us all. At this point, it is best to consider that we are on our own when it comes to protecting ourselves and our families. We need to take the initiative to buy gloves, facemasks, goggles, and sanitation products and to learn how to use them properly. We need to learn how to identify and avoid high risk situations. We need to actively develop our situational awareness. Covid is a reminder that “Survival of the fittest” still applies in the modern world.
Let's see how Wales in the U.K. is preparing for winter... welcome to regional lockdowns. Coronavirus: 'Wales to enter 17-day circuit break lockdown', leaked letter reveals The lockdown will take Wales "back to the situation in March", when businesses shut and people were told they must stay at home. https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...break-lockdown-leaked-letter-reveals-12107052 A "circuit break" lockdown for Wales will start at 6pm next Friday and last for 17 days, according to a leaked letter from the transport union CPT. The Welsh government is not due to announce its decision on whether to impose a national lockdown until Monday, but details have been outlined in a letter to transport operators from John Pockett, director of the Confederation of Passenger Transport Cymru. It says the circuit breaker will start at 6pm on Friday 23 October and last until 0.01am on Monday 9 November. The letter, first published by political blogger Bubble Wales and verified by Sky News, says the lockdown will "take us back to the situation in March". It says: "Pubs, cafes, restaurants, hairdressers etc - will all be closed." The letter adds that while government ministers have not yet determined the details on schools, plans suggest primary schools will reopen on November 2 - after the half-term break. On Friday, First Minister Mark Drakeford said no final decision had been made about introducing a lockdown, which would deliver a "short, sharp shock". Sky News understands a final decision will be made on Sunday, before an announcement at lunchtime on Monday. In response to the leaked letter, a Welsh government spokesperson said: "The measures we have put in place at both a local and a national level, with help from the public, have kept the spread of the virus under check. "However, there is a growing consensus that we now need to introduce a different set of measures and actions to respond to the virus as it is spreading across Wales more quickly through the autumn and winter. "We are actively considering advice from SAGE and our TAC Group. A 'fire break' set of measures to control COVID-19, similar to that described in the SAGE papers, is under consideration in Wales. "As the first minister set out in his press conference on Friday, we have discussed this advice with stakeholders and partners. But no decisions have been made." Another 16,171 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the UK on Saturday, with 150 more deaths. The total number of positive cases nationwide now stands at 705,428, according to government figures. Another country mulling further lockdown measures is Ireland, with its cabinet set to discuss the pandemic on Monday after health chiefs recommended it move to Level 5 of its own restrictions framework. Level 5 is the highest stage and would see people being asked to stay within 5km of their home, as well as bars and restaurants offering only takeaway service.
Let's see how things are going in Germany as winter approaches and the mitigation measures they are putting in place. Note that Germany has a much lower COVID infection rate than the U.S. and had the best response in Europe. A mere 7,830 new infections is a record. Germany sets new daily infections record, as cases surge in Europe https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-...17-20-intl/h_0f746427e7fadf460ea464914ce9150d Germany recorded another daily record in new coronavirus infections, the country’s center for disease control reported on Saturday. The Robert Koch Institute said 7,830 new infections have been confirmed in a span of 24 hours, an increase about around 500 cases on the day before. A total of 33 patients died in that same period, bringing the total number of dead in Germany to 9,767. German politicians are trying to bring the situation under control, but the powerful governor of Bavaria, Markus Soeder, told German pubic media outlet ARD that authorities "are in danger of losing control in some areas of Germany." Merkel urges Germans to reduce contacts and travel as infections rise https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-germany-idUSKBN2720D2 Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to curb social contacts and keep travel to a minimum on Saturday after federal and state governments struggled to agree on how to contain a second wave of coronavirus infections. “We have to do everything to prevent the virus from spreading out of control. Every day counts,” Merkel said in a weekly video podcast. While Germany’s infection rates are lower than in much of Europe, they have been accelerating and hit a daily record of 7,830 on Saturday, according to the Robert Koch Institute for infections diseases. The death toll rose by 33 to 9,767. “We have to go further,” Merkel said. “I appeal to you: meet with fewer people, either at home or outside. (More at above url) Coronavirus: Germany toughens restrictions as it enters 'decisive' phase Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Germany was "already in a phase of exponential growth." Rules on wearing face masks and on how many people can meet have been tightened. https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-g...GK_RSS_SmartNews_Volltext_ENG-20051-xml-media
As coronavirus surges across the US, only 2 states are trending in the right direction https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/18/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html
Let's see how things are going in Russia as we approach winter. Keeping in mind that Russia does not even report COVID-19 data that can be considered truthful... Russia shuns tough restrictions even as infections soar https://apnews.com/article/virus-ou...urope-russia-79407b7e6a5f253e49114346a063436b It’s Friday night in Moscow, and popular bars and restaurants in the city center are packed. No one except the staff is wearing a mask or bothers to keep their distance. There is little indication at all that Russia is being swept by a resurgence of coronavirus infections. “I believe that everyone will have the disease eventually,” says Dr. Alexandra Yerofeyeva, an internal medicine specialist at an insurance company, while sipping a cocktail at The Bix bar in Moscow. She adds cheerfully: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” The outbreak in Russia this month is breaking the records set in the spring, when a lockdown to slow the spread of the virus was put in place. But, as governments across Europe move to reimpose restrictions to counter rising cases, authorities in Russia are resisting shutting down businesses again. Some regions have closed nightclubs or limited the hours of bars and restaurants, but few measures have been implemented in Moscow, which is once again the epicenter of the surge. On Friday, Russian authorities reported over 15,000 new infections, the highest daily spike so far in the pandemic. Moscow — with less than 10% of the population — accounts for up to 30% of new infections each day. The health minister says 90% of hospital beds for coronavirus patients have been filled. Three times this week, Russia’s daily death toll exceeded the spring record of 232. Even these soaring virus tolls are likely undercounts; experts have cautioned that official figures around the world understate the true toll, but critics have taken particular issue with Russia’s death tolls, alleging authorities might be playing down the scale of the outbreak. Right now, situation is “difficult” but “no restrictive measures for the economy are required,” Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. The spring lockdown hurt the country’s already weakened economy and compounded Russians’ frustration with plummeting incomes and worsening living conditions, driving Putin’s approval rating to a historic low of 59% in April, according to the Levada Center, Russia’s top independent pollster. Analysts say his government doesn’t want to return to those darks days. (More at above url)