LyrArc Article Gist
Richard Levitan, a physician expert on patient oxygen levels treated patients at a New York Hospital, and found this very important fact about coronavirus and its attack on patient lungs. Early detection and treatment, use of pulse oximeter monitoring, are shown to be critical for coronavirus.  Covid or cornavirus pneumonia is different from normal pneumonia in that it attacks the lungs but patients can be low on oxygen without realizing it through shortness of breath. As it turns out and confirmed by this physician expert who has invented intubation techniques and served at a New York hospital to understand why coronavirus was killing patients, the patient simply breathes faster and deeper without knowing it and is not short of breath even though his oxygen saturation is going down. This delays treatment- use of pulse oximeter is therefore recommended, an easy test placed on a finger that shows the oxygen reading. This kind of fast breathing then suddenly leads to the complete collapse of the patient's lungs, which is why so many end up in hospitals late and end up later on ventilators. British prime minister Boris Johnson received this kind of monitoring and early treatment to be able to return to work.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The work of David Malpass at the World Bank in approving $1 billion for India's coronavirus emergency response and health preparedness project. 

This will help India move quickly to setup the contact tracing, isolation centers, treatment facilities, and healthcare preparedness for coronavirus, so that the transmission of coronavirus is strictly limited.

LyrArc Article Gist
Los Angeles and New York city with about 15% of the workforce in creative freelancing jobs where people work two, three, or four jobs to pay the bills, are being hurt by high unemployment. These jobs have little job protection and require people to leave their homes during coronavirus. This includes performers, production crews, ride share drivers, personal trainers and others. Los Angeles area unemployment has reached 21%.

LyrArc Article Gist
Any idea that herd immunity is the way out is dispelled by a simple look at these pictures from the NYT showing what the level of infections are today and what they would have to be for "herd immunity." No Asian nation has even mentioned the word. Most Asian nations have the most experience with virus of all sorts. The only government that supported the idea without saying so openly is Sweden as indicated in a report in FR24 on the amplification of coronavirus in Sweden compared to neighboring Denmark, Norway, Finland. Imagine with a threshhold of 60% of people having antibodies provided by experts for herd immunity, the current New York level of about 20% would have to triple, and Sweden's 7% would have to grow seven fold. It is hard to imagine New York going through something of these proportions. Looking at what works now that other countries handling it have set examples of what works provides a better way- low tech contract tracing the German way, and one used in Asian countries, and the cluster isolation through testing and contact tracing adopted in many Asian countries as well as Germany. Strengthening public health systems, and working one's way out of the crisis where there are no easy answers offers real and realistic hope. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
"Feierabend" is the German word for when you stop working for the rest of the day. It is also the period after stopping work and beginning a period of leisure and rest. Germans working from home for government, in software industry and in other business places, are using this time when work stops at say 4 or 5 pm to shift to exercize. Here Nils Backhaus, of Germany's Federal Institute for Health, marks the end of a day's work by taking his racing bike and cruising along the the tranquil landscapes of the Ruhr river, just outside Dortmund. Stress and recovery go hand in hand, it is the bodily rhythm for Nils Backhaus and many Germans. You cannot do double time the next day. You have to first regenerate and get renewed after a day's work. This improves both health and the productiveness of work. It also creates enthusiasm the next day to begin work. A clean disconnection is needed says this report and "Feierabend" helps one do it. Workers working from home can end up working too much with no demarcation that ends the day. During the coronavirus with many workers working from home this demarcation has been lost for many people resulting in overwork and fatigue of body and mind. Microsoft 365 team has seen this surge to the point where managers have the software do this demarcation to stop work, and ask people using the software to say how they feel. What better way than something like Feierabend where one makes a clean break from work and goes out and does something completely different. It gives the mind and body a chance to rest and to regenerate. Prof. Rothauge of the Catholic University of Eichstatt who has studied the history of the evolution of work says this comes from an historical context. The industrial revolution introduced new work habits and days structured around work routines. This also provided a period of breaking away from work to rest. It was important to see the rest period as a way to regenerate not simply engage in some other equally taxing work. It was all part of the same coin, resting and renewal of mind and spirit after a day's work ended enabled one to make a fresh start the next day. It was what made productive work possible and an integral part of it.  During the coronavirus it is very important to do this regeneration and renewal, and to start this by having a clear disconnection from work after several hours of intensive work or a day of normal pace work. Intensive work of 3-4 hours or 4-5 hours can make up a days work at home because of the uninterrupted nature of working remotely from home, say workers with extensive experience of working from home. At that point break away and make the clean break or disconnection to regenerate and renew for the next day. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
This Swiss scientist was one of the first of many scientists who asked questions about the origins of the coronavirus. Ms. Lentzos says not because we are conspiracy theorists, but because this is our profession. She says the scientific community that has disregarded different possibilities have strong vested interests, people who feared for their careers or their grants. Lentzos points out that in the scientific community like other communities it is not all about an idealized version of science, there are conflicts of interests, agendas, it is a social activity with good players and bad players. 

The WSJ did a lot of work on this, the Washington Post also, the New York Times totally silent, she says.

LyrArc Article Gist
Coronavirus testing is being ramped up in the U.S. as the Food and Drug Administration new regulations allow commercial labs to manufacture and distribute  coronavirus tests. Now many players can now acquire and conduct tests including state and local governments, hospitals, universities, and private companies. so that tracking nationwide distribution is still difficult. Deborah Brx the response coordinator of the White House task force on coronavirus says U.S. has completed 220,000 tests in last 8 days.  In New York the scaled up efforts in a region with over half the coronavirus cases in the U.S., 13,000 were tested on Monday, March 23. Some hospitals in New York such as Mount Sinai expect to do double or triple the tests a day in a scaling up effort by March 30. In Los Angeles a city councilman negotiated with a South Korean company for delivery of 100,000 tests a week, having already secured 20,000 new tests. Additionally swabs and protective equipment are also needed to conduct tests and labs need to process results with speed. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
For the regions hardest hit by the coronavirus and its variants- the US, Brazil, India, Europe, Russia, China and Africa, the researchers and the frontline workers in South Africa are doing an incredible job. This report by Stephanie Nolan in the NYT shows the work of researchers at KRISPS advanced medical research center and the frontline workers in South Africa, who are making a difference. Shown are researchers and scientists at KwaZulu Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform in Durban, South Africa on whom the world depends for stepping up the fight against the coronavirus- Dr Tulio de Oliveira, principal investigator of the national genetic monitoring network, and Saleem Abdul Karim, epidemiologist. On the frontline workers who visit patients homes to make sure immune compromised patients have access to their medications is Sizakele Mathe, community health worker. Stephanie Nolan has provided a much needed account of what work is being done on the frontlines to keep us all safe. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
If only there was a way to keep the streets in big cities such as Paris, New York, and Mumbai quieter after the coronavirus. This report looks at ways in which cities changed during the coronavirus with less noise pollution. Bicycle lanes are becoming popular and some cities have converted car lanes into bicycle lanes. In many cities on a walk through parks one could hear bird songs. The audio clips in this NYT report and with SONYC's project provide a glimpse of how life changed on streets during the coronavirus.

LyrArc Article Gist
Germany has shown that low tech contact tracing efforts work- no apps needed, a phone, a desktop computer with a centralized database, and most important the human relations skills of the person doing the calls. The  sensitivity to the situation facing each person being called, being able to talk to the person in the language they speak in a multilingual environment such as California, is shown here. A 40 person team operates in San Francisco consisting of public health officials, clinicians, medical students and librarians. They call the contacts of people with coronavirus, arrange tests, and as needed send packages of food and medicines to hotel rooms or homes. Every call is expected to last 15 minutes but all sorts of questions are handled.  English and Spanish are used. Here one of the persons doing the contact tracing says she does not use apps, just an open source software used in the fight against Ebola. Definitely low tech, no waiting, get going is the message to every city in the world. She says apps software such as what Google and Apple are putting out can tell you whether the person went to some place, but cannot tell you more about that person, cannot tell you about problems the person is having being tested, and how they are having difficulty providing for families. One of the big lessons from Germany and efforts such as this one in San Francisco, and in other places such as Paris, Singapore, Taiwan, is that there is a complex nature to contact tracing that cannot be solved by tech. In fact the best thing to do is to get started immediately, with a phone and a database on a computer, as long as you have a person who has the motivation and skills, empathy with people, a lot can be done. Waiting for apps is a dangerous waste of time is shown by the low tech German experience, and the experience in other places. Most important is starting immediately. The example shown here of working with migrant workers in contact tracing shows in the most vulnerable places it is these human relations skills that count, that no tech app can do. It requires detective skills to find out and get people to share their history of movements and contacts for 14 days . In Singapore crowded dormitories house 300,000 of 1.4 million migrant workers. Singapore using an app also but its use is secondary. Apps don't work in many situations but fail in the most critical situations such as these dormitories and other eccentric or atypical situations such as faced by South Korea with religious groups and gay communities, elderly people in Europe, that generate the worst dangers of spread and need to be cluster isolated quickly. Human contact tracing has a history of being an effective method and was used in China and South Korea during the 2003 SARS epidemic. More countries need to adopt the method used in Asia and in Germany, particularly Britain, the U.S., France and India. It is OK that Britain's NHS and India's national government with Aarogya Setu app have put out their own apps which balance privacy concerns with the need to act immediately and cover the entire country, but the hard slog of human contact tracing teams in each district is indispensable. This is why the former Health minister in Britain calls it Britain's national mission to do this. Speed is key- putting together teams across the country in every district from skilled volunteers or government workers, and pulling together the phone and a centralized database on a computer as basic equipment. The fact that this is easily doable and people with human skills needed can always be recruited as they have been in Germany- from public officials in local government who are less busy in lockdowns, medical students, clinicians, volunteers, people from different professions- makes it inexcusable not to learn from others experience and get going. Just Do It. You want to reopen business, professions, offices and public services- Just Do It, it makes this possible. You want to prevent spread of the virus- Just Do It, it makes this possible. You want to limit damage to the economy and get the recovery going- Just Do It, it makes this possible. People of all shades of opinion can agree on this- its the only thing that works, even when there is a lack of enough proper accurate testing. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Edison's learning mindset and his persistence has lessons in work today.

These lessons apply to individuals as well as countries and groups, to create a thinking mindset. Will this plan work, what are the assumptions and what is it based on, test it out. If it fails try changing it. Test again. Does it work. What were the assumptions and what is it based on, what if we change this part. Try again. In this way Edison found answers to difficult problems in his inventions. 

The search for a vaccine, other problem solving at the individual, small group, and national level, can be done in this way. For the vaccine there is the added factor of time- how quickly can we do this? The Oxford vaccine works with an approach that has worked for other types of coronavirus in the past research efforts, what component can be changed or inserted so that a tested approach can be used instead of starting from scratch in this case.

LyrArc Article Gist
Pfizer's coronavirus pill is 89% effective in preventing people at high risk of needing hospitalization if taken within 3 days of diagnosis. It is called Paxlovid. In the drug protease inhibitors work to disrupt and prevent smaller molecules being formed of the virus needed for virus spread in the body.

LyrArc Article Gist
Some excellent ways to cope with growing stress and anxiety during coronavirus and the elections. The important thing is to move to something else, to take a break and think of something beautiful. A short burst of exercize, a walk can be very helpful. Practice rhythmic yoga type breathing. Try doing some other things that are on your work list.

LyrArc Article Gist
New evidence from Britain that vaccination is reducing cases, deaths and transmission. Israeli experts also confirm that vaccination works to reduce deaths and cases of coronavirus based on Israel's vaccination drive, a pioneering effort in vaccination.

LyrArc Article Gist
Use of computers and information technology for remote work is increasing because companies are curtailing face-to-face meetings as a result of the coronavirus. This has also increased efficiency as location is not a barrier to getting work done. The potential for more and better remote work could be a result of the health crisis.

LyrArc Article Gist
The coronavirus pandemic has pushed New York into a $8.7 billion deficit for the fiscal year that began April 1, 2020. A bipartisan bill in Congress would have given $160 billion to state and local governments in the $908 billion bill. 

LyrArc Article Gist
Hospitals in Europe are filling up quickly in the second wave of coronavirus. Coronavirus patients had to be transferred by helicopter to Germany from the Netherlands because of overburdened Dutch intensive care units. National Guard troops were flown in from the U.S. to the Czech Republic to help. In France as cases approach cumulative 1 million about 2000 patients are admitted to hospital for coronavirus every day on October 29. At some point French hospitals could be overwhelmed this winter, and doctors having to choose which patients to save, says president Macron. In the Czech Republic a collapse of the health system is expected by mid-November says the prime minister. No one expected this to be this severe, he says.  About 40,000 patients are hospitalized for coronavirus in the U.S. During the last week the case are increasing by over 40% in the U.S. and increase in hospitalizations are expected. Recovery rate is improving from the first wave. At NYU Langone hospital system in New York with 5000 coronavirus patients hospitalized recovery rate is improving from 25% in March to 7% in October. Better handling of cases and knowledge gained by doctors is a big part of this. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
With only 4% of the people vaccinated in a population of 97 million Vietnam faces severe stress from the Delta variant. Ho Chi Minh City faces the effects of an extended lockdown. The outbreak of coronavirus and lockdowns have put millions of people out of work or on reduced pay.

LyrArc Article Gist
Coronavirus spread among farm workers is again an issue, this time in the second wave in November it is about crowded motels with farm workers returning to these motels after work. In the first wave it was more about conditions in the fields where steps were taken for social distancing and other precautions.

LyrArc Article Gist
Dr. Zhong Nanshan, China's leading epidemiologist and head of the Guangzhou Institute for Respiratory Health, talks to doctors in the U.S. at Temple University Hospital and Harvard University, about China's experience tackling the coronavirus. Other collaboration is happening between John Hopkins doctors and 80 other American doctors with Wang Jian-an president of the Second Affiliated Hospital at Zhejiang University. This hospital in China sent about 170 medical workers to Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus in China.  Three areas of interest for American doctors are the clinical course of the virus, what treatments work and what does not work, treating pregnant infected women, and preventing infections among medical workers.

LyrArc Article Gist
Lessons can be learned about careful reopening in fighting the coronavirus from other countries. Here the Netherlands experienced a rise of cases by 500% within two weeks of reopening after some poor decisions. The Mark Rutte government decided to open all bars and nightclubs resulting in a twelve fold surge in these locations in one week. Most of the new coronavirus cases were in people 18-29. Data from Dutch public health institute shows 4 out of 10 new cases linked to bars and nightclubs with 262% surge in cases for young people 18-24 years. This goes to show that with the vaccination drive what we see is the cases shifting to younger people, the unvaccinated, and to activities like nightlife. People going to work, or doing hybrid remote work with trips to the office, workers in factories, people doing essential shopping, are not causing the rise in cases. Much can be learned from these examples in working out reopening that does not lead to new crises with surging cases in new waves of coronavirus. Earlier in 2020 summer tourists who ignored mask and social distancing restrictions in Croatia brought on a post summer coronavirus wave to Germany and Austria. This time Greece and Portugal are introducing restrictions. Greece plans to make vaccine health pass required effective July 21 to go into restaurants. Another lesson from Netherlands this week is that a 20,000 person music event of 2 days in Utrecht where QR codes were required showing vaccination or PCR tests failed. About 1000 cases were attributed to the Utrecht event alone. Reasons given are that people faked the QR codes, or that the covid testing system produced too many false results as much as 20%. The same QR code system was followed at nightclubs resulting in big problems. One can never be sure that things work as expected and the risks are great as this adds up. Even vaccines offer limited protection and only if fully vaccinated depending on the type of vaccine. One dose of the vaccine is simply inadequate, and obesity, other morbidities can lead to problems. Withdrawing the mandatory use of face masks in most situations is also a risky decision of the Dutch government. Face masks offer the added protection at a time of variants that spread quckly, and when large parts of the population have only one dose of the vaccine, some elderly are still not vaccinated, and young people have not been vaccinated in large numbers. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The US state of Nebraska has 69,000 job openings and only a third of that in persons looking for work. After Nebraska at 1.3%, the unemployment rate is lowest in Utah at 2.2%, and in Idaho, South Dakota, Oklahoma, all with unemployment rates of below 3%. The US unemployment rate is 4.6% in October 2021.

Factors deterring people from looking for work in the US are fear of coronavirus, child care responsibilities especially for mothers, a desire for work-life balance, desire for stable employment with decent incomes, retiring early, and people moving away from restaurant, hotel, travel and entertainment industries that are hard hit during this pandemic. A sign of how this mismatch between demand for workers and the supply is happening is the national "quits rate,"  a measure of workers leaving jobs as a share of total employment, which is at a record rate of 3%. 

LyrArc Article Gist
Studies that show coronavirus cases are just as prevalent in the younger age groups 15-34 years as with older Germans. One such study uses data from the Robert Koch Institute and published in Eurosurveillance, a journal on infectious diseases. In this study scientists conclude that relative risk (RR) for coronavirus for residents of Germany 15-34 years, and particularly 20-24 years, was noticeably higher than in all other age groups. This study also determined that similar patterns emerged in South Korea where 20-29 years old age group had the highest number of detected cases.

This DW.com report attributes this higher coronavirus cases in younger age groups to work in high contact jobs in service industries, and to greater use of public transport. Laxity early on in following social distancing guidelines is also mentioned as a cause. Other causes could be greater attendance in sports stadiums and music venues.