5 Major Coronavirus Developments - Raimondo Is Focused on the Wrong Numbers
GoLocalProv News Team
5 Major Coronavirus Developments - Raimondo Is Focused on the Wrong Numbers
Again on Wednesday Raimondo highlighted that Rhode Island is number one in testing per capita in the United States, and that number would have value if it was assisting the state in keeping Rhode Islanders from becoming infected and dying, but it is not.
WATCH DR. MICHAEL FINE ON GOLOCAL LIVE EVERY DAY AT 12:30 PM
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMoreover, Rhode Island's testing data lumps both asymptomatic testing at the universities -- those who are not sick and those who are not and have not been exposed -- together in general reporting.
At Brown University, the school has conducted more than 74,000 tests in two months and had less than 30 positives. Those test results are included in the Rhode Island reporting. In contrast, Massachusetts has a separate data base for college results. The mixing of the two very different categories of data in Rhode Island diminishes the value of the state's numbers and masks actual outbreaks.
Here Is RI's Situation:
1) Rhode Island continues to be ranked as the state with the 6th highest per capita death rate per 100,000. While testing has value, the goal of all the strategies is to keep Rhode Islanders from becoming infected and minimizing the loss of life. Rhode Island is ranked 44th.
2) The national tracking site Covid ActNow has upgraded Rhode Island’s risk level to its highest category for “active or imminent outbreak.”
“Rhode Island is either actively experiencing an outbreak or is at extreme risk. COVID cases are exponentially growing and/or Rhode Island’s COVID preparedness is significantly below international standards,” reported COVID Act Now.
Covid Act Now provided the following data to place Rhode Island in its highest category — Rhode Island is the only state in New England and the Mid-Atlantic to currently have the designation.
* Daily new cases, 27.7 per 100K. “Dangerous number of new cases”
* Infection rate, 1.20 “Active cases are rapidly increasing”
* Positive Test Rate, 2.0%. “Indicates widespread testing"
* ICU Headroom Used, 18%. “Can likely handle a new wave of COVID”
* Tracers Hired, 14%. “Insufficient tracers, even if the program is run effectively"
3) Rhode Island's number of daily cases, number hospitalized and infection rate have all doubled or more in the past 30 days.
READ THE OTHER MORE EMERGING ISSUES BELOW
5 Major Developments in the Coronavirus - Raimondo Is Focused Got the Wrong Numbers - October 22
New Guidance From CDC is Concerning
The new guidance from the CDC should be concerning to everyone.
"Federal health officials issued new guidance on Wednesday that greatly expands the pool of people considered at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus by changing the definition of who is a 'close contact' of an infected individual," reports the Washington Post.
"The change by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is likely to have its biggest impact in schools, workplaces and other group settings where people are in contact with others for long periods of time. It also underscores the importance of mask-wearing to prevent spread of the virus, even as President Trump and his top coronavirus adviser continue to raise doubts about such guidance," adds the Post.
Rhode Island's Numbers Continue to Rise
On Wednesday, RIDOH reported the number of positive cases reported the day before was 284 — the fifth single highest day of cases since May.
The numbers were released more than five hours late on Wednesday, on what RIDOH claimed was a reporting issue by one of the labs.
Moreover, Rhode Island consistently re-adjusts totals after initial posting, so that -- and other daily numbers -- could change.
Boston Schools Closed to In-classroom Learning
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced the first major shutdown of the second wave in announcing the Boston Public Schools would go to virtual learning.
Supply Chain Concerns
One Central Falls testing location has run out of testing materials.
This may be the beginning of critical supply shortages.
Testing materials are not the only issue.
"The United States continues to struggle with shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing supplies due to high global demand and the fact that most supplies are made outside of the US, according to new findings from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO)," reports Regulatory Focus.
"In a wide-ranging report on the US federal response to COVID-19, the GAO issued 16 new recommendations for federal agencies spanning the medical supply chain, vaccines and therapeutics, COVID-19 data, economic impact payments, the Coronavirus Relief Fund, guidance for K-12 schools, tracking contract obligations, and cybersecurity weaknesses," writes RF.
The Economist Paints a Dark Picture of the Impact of COVID
A feature article published in The Economist titled, "The covid-19 pandemic is worse than official figures show" outines the global impacts of the disease:
Across the Atlantic the United States saw its official covid-19 death toll—higher than that of all western Europe put together—break the 200,000 barrier. India, which has seen more than half a million new cases a week for four weeks running, will soon take America’s unenviable laurels as the country with the largest official case count.
The world looks set to see its millionth officially recorded death from covid-19 before the beginning of October. That is more than the World Health Organisation (who) recorded as having died from malaria (620,000), suicide (794,000) or hiv/aids (954,000) over the whole of 2017, the most recent year for which figures are available.
