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Thousands of American parents have already sent their children back to the classroom and millions more will soon join them amid fears about the raging pandemic and whether they’ll even be notified when coronavirus hits their campuses.
School districts, health departments and state agencies across the country have provided mixed messages about whether they will release information about coronavirus cases in students, teachers and staff at K-12 campuses.
Reporting by the USA TODAY Network also found little consistency in how schools and health departments plan to coordinate information and what, if anything, they will tell the broader public.
Many of these gatekeepers have pointed to medical and educational privacy laws as reasons to withhold even basic counts of coronavirus cases. That’s despite federal guidance saying those laws aren’t barriers to disclosure and legal experts who note that schools can share information as long as they don’t identify individuals.
There was a real mish-mosh of headlines for Covid-19 in Florida today. A high amount of deaths reported in Manatee County, a high weekly hospitalization number for the state of Florida, low emergency room visits in Florida for Covid 19, and a low amount of daily new cases reported throughout the state.
To make sense of all the competing headlines - the important thing to remember is that hospitalizations and deaths (even more so) lag the number of new cases. Also the way they report the deaths is that not all of them occurred in the past 24 hours. So don't be "faked out" by today's headlines - the new case numbers reported today for Sarasota & Manatee Counties looked encouraging. Just remember the old adage "the trend is your friend" - and the trend for Covid-19 cases in Sarasota and Manatee Counties is still down. Hospitalizations in Sarasota & Manatee County have been stable to slightly down since August 6th.
Also Monday is usually a day with lower reported case counts because test activity at labs is reduced on Sundays. So it's probably best not to get overly-exhuberant about today's low case numbers. Let's see what happens for the rest of the week. But so far so good.
The deaths of 35 Manatee County residents from COVID-19 were reported by the Florida Department of Health on Monday. That’s more than a third of the 91 new deaths recorded statewide.
The local deaths made up the highest reported tally in Manatee County in one day since the start of the pandemic. The previous record was reported on July 29 with 15 deaths.
Florida reported the lowest number of new COVID-19 cases since June 23.
With 4,247 new cases reported Monday, the count is less than half of the new infections only two weeks ago on July 27.
A positive trend also is evident in people who need emergency care. Emergency department visits for COVID-19-like illness also declined from just two weeks ago with about 3,200 fewer visits.
The Florida Department of Health announced 4,155 new cases of COVID-19 in the state on Monday, bringing the state’s total infections to 536,961 since the pandemic began.
Monday marked the 15th straight day the state reported fewer than 10,000 new cases. It's also the second time this month the number of daily new cases dropped below 5,000.
Ninety-one deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 8,277 for Florida residents since the pandemic began.
Manatee County had 35 new deaths reported since Sunday, for a total of 227. Sarasota County also reported eight new deaths, raising the toll to 147.
Sarasota County’s COVID-19 case numbers rose by 25 cases since Sunday, for a total of 6,256. Manatee County had 52 new cases, for a total of 9,340.
According to a state database, in Sarasota County 83 people are currently hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19. In Manatee County, 80 are hospitalized. Statewide, 6,953 are hospitalized.
Some more bad Covid-19 death news for Florida released today (see below). Keep in mind that although 276 deaths were reported today - the deaths could of actually occurred over multiple days.
Just to summarize where we're at now in Sarasota and Manatee counties - the weekly charts for new Covid-19 cases, test positivity rates, and hospitalizations are still in downtrends. It's my "opinion" that we could be bottoming out soon - but that hasn't shown up in the weekly charts yet.
The Florida Department of Health announced 276 new COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, the highest single day total of the pandemic.
A total of 8,553 Florida residents have died. Tuesday's numbers represent new recorded deaths that may have happened over multiple days.
The state also reported 5,831 new case of COVID-19 in the state since Monday, bringing the state’s total infections to 542,792 since the pandemic began.
Manatee County had seven new deaths reported since Monday, for a total of 234. Sarasota County reported 15 new deaths, raising the toll to 162.
Sarasota County’s COVID-19 case numbers rose by 58 cases since Monday, for a total of 6,314. Manatee County had 55 new cases, for a total of 9,395.
According to a state database, in Sarasota County 78 people are currently hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19. In Manatee County, 75 are hospitalized. Statewide, 6,754 are hospitalized.
Florida's number of official Covid-19 cases in children has more than doubled over the past month, data from the state showed Tuesday.
Covid-19 cases among children also spiked across the country during roughly the same period.
In Florida, the total number of cases in children 17 and under rose from 16,797 on July 9 to 39,735 on August 9 -- an increase of 137%, according to Florida Department of Health data.
Covid-19 hospitalizations among children in Florida rose from 213 to 436 during that same period, a 105% increase. Deaths among children rose from four to seven in Florida during that period.
Across the country, the total number of Covid-19 cases among children rose from 179,990 on July 9 to more than 380,000 on August 6 -- an increase of about 90% -- according to a report published Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.
Manatee County officials have announced the start of free antibody testing at Lincoln Park, 501 17th St. E. in Palmetto.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management began operating a COVID-19 testing site at the park in May, offering free walk-up tests to screen the community for new infections. The addition of antibody testing will allow adults to screen themselves for past infections.
“The immune system produces these antibodies — proteins that are critical for fighting and clearing out the virus,” the Mayo Clinic said on its website. “If test results show that you have antibodies, it indicates that you were likely infected with COVID-19 at some time in the past.”
Antibody tests are now available at Lincoln Park between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. every day. Visitors should be 18 or older and have a valid ID, but no prescription or appointment is necessary, according to a news release from the county spokesman, Nick Azzara.
“Unlike the nasal swab COVID screening, antibody testing involves a blood draw,” the release states. “Tests are processed on site, and results are available within 15 minutes.”
The Lincoln Park site is able to conduct 500 COVID-19 tests and 200 antibody tests per day. According to the Florida Department of Health, a negative antibody test can mean several things:
- The test did not find COVID-19 antibodies in the person’s blood at the time of his or her test.
- The person could have COVID-19 but his or her body needs more time to develop antibodies, which can take up to three weeks.
- It may take longer to develop antibodies, or the person may not develop any antibodies.
The state health department also cautioned residents who receive a positive antibody test. It said positive results were not a guarantee that someone is immune to COVID-19.
“There is no conclusive evidence at this time to show a person can’t be infected with COVID-19 more than once,” the department reported.
Last edited by wondermint2; 08-11-2020 at 03:10 PM..
A new study published in Science Advances is shedding light on which masks are most effective — and which may actually be hurting the effort to curb COVID-19.
The analysis, carried out by researchers at Duke University School of Medicine, relied on an “optimal measurement method” that uses a laser beam and cellphone camera to track the number of droplets that emerged from an individual while he or she wore a mask. Of the 14 masks, the two that proved least effective were a bandanna and what the researchers refer to as a neck fleece, also known as a neck gaiter.
The most secure mask, the N95, led to a droplet transmission of below 0.1 percent. But handmade cotton and polypropylene masks, some of which were made from apron material, proved beneficial, showing a droplet transmission ranging from 10 to 40 percent. One mask, which was knitted, released a higher number of droplets, with up to 60 percent droplet transmission. But none of the masks compared with the neck fleece, which had 110 percent droplet transmission (10 percent higher than not wearing a mask).
In my opinion the fact that the test positivity rates have levelled off recently (see link below) and appear to have stopped going down (even as the number of new cases are still going down) is another subtle hint that we're in the process of rounding into a bottom for Covid-19 cases. A bottom doesn't have to occur as a V on a weekly chart (where new cases shoot right back up again). On August 9th Sarasota County had a spike downward in new cases to only 27 new cases for the day. This was 65% below the previous weeks daily average number of cases (76.4). I suspect that on a daily chart the 27 new cases in Sarasota County reported for August 9th could turn out to be the exact bottom for this wave down.
That being said the weekly charts haven't turned up yet and are still in a downtrend.
Statewide, Florida’s Department of Health reported a positivity rate of 11.89% for Tuesday, the second-highest in two weeks, but that’s for new cases only and excludes anyone who previously tested positive. For all cases including retests of those previously infected, yesterday’s positivity rate was 16.5%, the highest in two weeks.
Florida might be minimizing the depth of its COVID-19 problem by underreporting its rate of positive tests, experts say.
The method used to calculate the “positivity rate” — a critical measure of the pandemic’s progression — puts more emphasis on negative tests, skewing the results in that direction.
A person who tests positive is counted only once, but negative tests can be counted repeatedly if the same person got more than one test.
In addition, just as the pandemic raced out of control this month, the state changed the formula. It now mixes two different types of tests, including one that produces more false negative results.
The upshot of both factors is that the rate of positive tests, as quoted by the state, could make the situation look significantly better than it is, experts say.
How much the rate would change, if calculated differently, is impossible to know because the state refuses to release key pieces of raw data.
“There is a peculiar odor around the data in Florida and there has been for some time,” said Dr. William Hanage, associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Last edited by wondermint2; 08-12-2020 at 12:44 PM..
"Over the years, Sarasota has been home to numerous drive-in theaters—but anyone born after the 1980s never got a chance to experience them. After debuting in the late ’20s, drive-in movies reached peak popularity during the 1950s before slowly dwindling to near-obscurity.
However, due to recent social distancing regulations, this classic form of entertainment is making a comeback. The Mall at University Town Center screened family classics in its parking lot this summer, and the Manatee Performing Arts Center gave an experimental performance of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown to a drive-in audience. It’s well worth a peek into the past and future of drive-in entertainment for Sarasotans."
"Over the years, Sarasota has been home to numerous drive-in theaters—but anyone born after the 1980s never got a chance to experience them. After debuting in the late ’20s, drive-in movies reached peak popularity during the 1950s before slowly dwindling to near-obscurity.
However, due to recent social distancing regulations, this classic form of entertainment is making a comeback. The Mall at University Town Center screened family classics in its parking lot this summer, and the Manatee Performing Arts Center gave an experimental performance of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown to a drive-in audience. It’s well worth a peek into the past and future of drive-in entertainment for Sarasotans."
WalMart is turning its parking lots into Drive-In theatres at 200+ of its stores. I'm not sure if any of them are around here though. Worth looking in to. I think it's free.
Several employees at Palmetto High School have isolated for 14 days after they were exposed to COVID-19 on campus, according to an email from the school principal.
“We were alerted today that we had a confirmed case of COVID-19 on our campus,” Principal Carl Auckerman said in a message to families on Wednesday evening.
“Direct exposure” means someone was within six feet of a person with COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes, according to the district’s guidance, which mirrors recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Word of the exposures began to circulate on social media. Before obtaining a copy of the email from a parent, the Bradenton Herald contacted district spokesman Mike Barber to verify whether COVID-19 affected Palmetto High or other campuses.
“Our plan is to provide a weekly update on Fridays, just like the one we sent out last week,” he responded, offering no confirmation of the Palmetto High exposures.
When pressed for answers, he responded with a one-sentence email: “The people impacted have been notified.”
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