Coronavirus positives in Bradenton and Hillsborough Counties (Miami, Tampa: earnings, requirements)

[wondermint2]

Pfizer data suggest third dose of Covid-19 vaccine 'strongly' boosts protection against Delta variant

https://news.google.com/articles/CAI...S&ceid=US%3Aen

A third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine can "strongly" boost protection against the Delta variant -- beyond the protection afforded by the standard two doses, suggests new data released by Pfizer on Wednesday.

The data posted online, which are expected to be discussed in a company earnings call on Wednesday morning, suggest that antibody levels against the Delta variant in people ages 18 to 55 who receive a third dose of vaccine are greater than five-fold than following a second dose.

Among people ages 65 to 85, the Pfizer data suggest that antibody levels against the Delta variant after receiving a third dose of vaccine are greater than 11-fold than following a second dose.

There's "estimated potential for up to 100-fold increase in Delta neutralization post-dose three compared to pre-dose three," researchers wrote in the Pfizer data slides.

The data have not yet been peer-reviewed or published.

The data also show that antibody levels are much higher after a third dose than a second dose against the original coronavirus variant and the Beta variant, first identified in South Africa.

[wondermint2]

Several Manatee County Employees Test Positive For COVID-19: Report

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/se...ort/ar-AAMFmWm

Manatee County government is facing another COVID-19 outbreak.

During Monday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting, officials said that several employees working on the ninth floor of the county’s downtown Bradenton administration building tested positive for coronavirus and were sick and isolating at home, the Bradenton Times reported.

There were nearly 1,000 new COVID-19 cases reported in Manatee County July 16-22 and a countywide 15.4 percent new case positivity rate during that period, according to the Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 Weekly Situation Report

Commissioner Carol Whitmore said one county employee died from the virus over the weekend, according to reports.

"The whole ninth floor is sent home because everyone is contaminated by people with COVID. We have the top echelon in the county that are covid positive, and we just had another employee die this weekend of COVID,” Whitmore said.

She also noted that those who are sick are younger workers in their twenties and thirties, reports said.

Hopes added that he was told Sunday evening that he was exposed to an employee in his department who tested positive for COVID-19. He said that vaccinated employee was “very ill,” the Bradenton Times said.

A county-run summer camp also shut down for two days because a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, the Bradenton Herald reported. The camp at Braden River Elementary School at 6125 River Club Blvd. in Bradenton was closed Monday and Tuesday.

[wondermint2]

‘What’s Covid?’ Why People at America’s Hardest-Partying Lake Are Not About to Get Vaccinated

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/wh...ted/ar-AAMBI5A

Interviews with dozens of the clientele frequenting dockside bars, restaurants and resorts in this area, famously featured in the Netflix dark drama “Ozark,” revealed an opposition to the vaccine campaign and a disbelief in news around the Delta variant so intense it bordered on belligerence. No promise, they say, would entice them to voluntarily get vaccinated, not a $1 million check, or a plea from a loved one, or the encouragement of Donald Trump himself.

Among the few who admitted to getting vaccinated, some described being shamed by friends or family.

[wondermint2]

From what I gather this was a closed door meeting and the public wasn't informed of the meeting. The attendees included pseudo-scientists that agree with Desantis viewpoints and go against mainstream science. A parallel to this was Donald Trump hiring Scott Atlas for advice on the coronavirus.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Meets with Wild L.A. Vaccine Skeptic Despite Flooded Hospitals

https://www.thedailybeast.com/florid...oded-hospitals

Hours before federal officials on Tuesday issued new mask guidance to combat the surge of the Delta coronavirus variant across America, and even as his state’s hospitals were veering toward disaster, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis quietly met with anti-maskers.

Among the attendees at the Monday night meeting behind closed doors was at least one L.A.-based doctor who embraced conspiracist rhetoric about the same vaccines DeSantis has purported to champion as his only strategy to fight COVID-19.

The event, held at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, principally featured various COVID-19 masking skeptics. They included a Stanford professor with a history of opposing lockdowns, and a Tallahassee private school student who was “very concerned about masks being required this year.”

Still, the standout may have been Mark McDonald, a Los Angeles clinical psychiatrist.

[wondermint2]

Here'a the latest numbers for Manatee and Sarasota Counties from the CDC (see below). On Friday we'll get the new weekly case numbers from the FDOH. Things to note from this update:

The test positivity ratios are showing early signs of starting to roll over. However at this juncture it would be premature to claim that a top is in for cases - because testing (the denominator in the test positivity ratio equation) has started increasing. For the most recent reporting periods the percentage rise in new cases still exceeds the percentage rise in testing - suggesting that the community spread is still high despite the rise in testing. Also in absolute terms the test positivy levels are very high - suggesting that hospitalizations are going to continue rising for a while (even when cases peak).

It's a bit disturbing that for the most recent 7-day reporting periods hospitalizations are increasing at about the same rate as cases (in percentage terms). However some of this is due to the fact that hospitalizations lag new cases by about 2 weeks - so now hospitalizations are playing catch-up to the surge in cases.

Vaccinations have picked up a bit recently - probably because of the news about the severity of this wave. We'll see if this continues - however IMO at this juncture it's probably not enough yet to have much of an impact.

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From the CDC the 7-day numbers through Sunday, July 25th

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view

Manatee County

Test positivity ratio = 17.56% (increase of 2.93%)
New hospital admissions = 78 (increase of 53.57%)
Testing volume = 7117 (increase of 27.59%)

Sarasota County

Test positivity ratio = 13.32% (increase of 0.05%)
New hospital admissions = 123 (increase of 115.79%)
Testing volume = 6696 (increase of 30.15%)

Through July 27th the percent of total population vaccinated in Manatee County is 46.2%
Through July 27th the percent of total population vaccinated in Sarasota County is 56%

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For comparison purposes:

From the CDC the 7-day numbers through Tuesday, July 20th

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view

Manatee County

Test positivity ratio = 16.39% (increase of 4.08%)
New hospital admissions = 43 (+53.57%)
Testing volume = 5034 (increase of 1.39%)

Sarasota County

Test positivity ratio = 15.28% (increase of 6.2%)
New hospital admissions = 64 (+33.33%)
Testing volume = 4430 (decline of 12.55%)

Through July 23rd the percent of total population vaccinated in Manatee County is 45.8%
Through July 23rd the percent of total population vaccinated in Sarasota County is 55.7%

[loves2read]

You know the Bible had several examples of plagues sent to the Egyptians when they didn’t want to acknowledge the power of Yahweh and release the Israelites from slavery.
Pharaoh was as hardheaded as the people in the Ozarks…

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

It's a bit disturbing that for the most recent 7-day reporting periods hospitalizations are increasing at about the same rate as cases (in percentage terms).

Florida Hospital Admissions Break Covid Record Set in January

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...set-in-january

Total single-day admissions with confirmed Covid -- 1,288 on Saturday -- surpassed the previous Florida peak in January, even as older state residents fare better. In a sign of delta's infectiousness, the hospital surge has unfolded about three times faster than the previous one, which crested six months ago.

[wondermint2]

Some Are Chasing Extra Vaccine Shots, While Scientists Debate

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/so...ate/ar-AAMI68p

Many scientists say that vaccinated people probably won’t need a booster shot anytime soon. Some are getting them anyway.

They are going to local pharmacies, other states or even other countries — anywhere where there is no record of them having been vaccinated — to get extra doses out of concern about the Delta variant or because they are worried their protection may be wearing off. The news on Thursday that Israel would give them to some older people seems likely to spur the trend.

“You can’t get enough, that’s my feeling,” said Ida Thompson, a retired geology professor who got a Pfizer shot a few weeks ago in the United States, months after receiving two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Britain. “Bring it on.”

[wondermint2]

The daily case count for Florida is still above the 7-day average (which is also still rising).

Florida COVID update for Wednesday: 16,038 new cases, highest reported since January

https://www.bradenton.com/news/coron...bignews_latest

Florida has entered a peak of COVID-19 cases not seen since January’s surge as the state reported 16,038 new cases Tuesday to the federal government, the seventh consecutive day the state has reported more than 12,000 new daily cases.

The last time Florida had such high numbers of new COVID cases was on Jan. 7, when the state recorded 19,816 new cases, its highest single-day number of COVID cases.

Florida accounted for about 20 percent of Tuesday’s new reported COVID cases across the United States, according to the data Florida reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state also reported 92 new deaths on Tuesday.

Florida’s 7-day percent positivity rate climbed to 17.21% on Monday, up from 16.79% on Sunday, the state reported to the federal agency.

Statewide, 57 percent of Florida’s total population had received at least one dose of the vaccine, the CDC said Wednesday, in line with the U.S. average.

January was the worst month of the Florida pandemic, with daily case counts routinely topping 10,000. That followed a surge from last July, when daily case counts also topped 10,000.

The latter half of July 2021 has been the start of Florida’s third COVID-19 surge.

[GirlsAndDogs]

Who cares about daily numbers?, The only really important facts are the number of deaths, and they are minuscule. The 7 day average in the whole country is 333!! For 350 million people!! I bet there are more people died during these 7 days from slipping in their bathtub! But if you want to continue “the sky is falling” routine, knock yourself out. For reasonable people the pandemic is over.