Last week, week one of the US shutdown, President Trump expressed hope that the American economy could be open for business by April 12, Easter Sunday this year.
Those hopes were dashed by predictions that cases and US deaths from the coronavirus will be peaking at that time. The new target date to reopen the economy is April 30.
Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, warned that even if the US does everything right, we could still be looking at 200,000 dead.
Testing, antibodies, and numbers
The US now has the most reported cases of coronavirus of any country on the planet, but that might be because we have done the most testing of any country so far. As of today, one million people have been tested in the US. The latest testing development is an Abbot Labarotory POC, point of care test, that produces results within 5 to 15 minutes. The test received emergency authorization from the FDA.
The other test being developed is the antibody test. Several labs, the Mayo Clinic, the University of Minnesota, and others are working on antibody tests. The entire town of Telluride, Colorado is being tested with an antibody test right now.
Antibody tests can identify who has been exposed to COVID-19 and has either been asymptomatic or had a mild case of the virus and now has immunity. Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota explained the significance of knowing whether someone has been exposed and has immunity: “Identifying people with immunity to the virus “gives us the ability [to know] who wouldn’t need to be quarantined, who could be out and not infecting others.”
Knowing who has immunity could set a significant number of the US population free and help areas of the country that aren’t experiencing high rates of infection to get back to work.
According to STAT:
The “serological” tests — which rely on drawn blood, not a nasal or throat swab — can identify people who were infected and have already recovered from Covid-19, including those who were never diagnosed, either because they didn’t feel particularly sick or they couldn’t get an initial test. Scientists expect those individuals will be safe from another infection for at least some time — so the tests could signal who could be prioritized to return to work or serve as a frontline health worker.
Antibody testing can also help scientists to develop a treatment using blood plasma from coronavirus survivors. This type of treatment has been used in the past during the 1918 Spanish Flu, the Ebola crisis, and Avian Flu.
Again, according to STAT:
Patients who have recovered from a disease have permanent antibodies generated by the immune system floating in their blood plasma, the liquid component of blood. To turn that into a drug, the plasma is harvested, tested for safety, and purified to isolate those protective antibodies. When injected into a new patient, the “plasma-derived therapy” — also known as convalescent plasma — provides “passive immunity” until the patient’s immune system can generate its own antibodies.
Antibody testing is also important for scientists who need numbers and data to be able to assess the true impact of Covid-19 here in the US. With a truer number of cases, scientists can more accurately calculate the actual death rate which so far has been difficult to do.
Rachel Maddow eats crow
Rachel Maddow had to eat crow as the USNS Comfort arrived in New York today. She said that it wasn’t possible for the ship to make it to New York for weeks.
For your enjoyment, watch:
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2020
532 Responses
Great, thanks for sharing this blog.Really thank you! Will read on…
Great post.Really looking forward to read more. Great.
I truly appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thanks again
Really informative article post.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.
This is one awesome article.Really looking forward to read more. Great.
Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to far added agreeable from you! By the way, how can we communicate?
A big thank you for your article.Really thank you! Fantastic.
¡Excelente post! ¿Puedo compartirlo? Gracias.
wow, awesome post.Much thanks again. Really Cool.
Can I simply say what a reduction to find someone who really knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You undoubtedly know learn how to deliver an issue to gentle and make it important. Extra folks must learn this and perceive this side of the story. I cant imagine youre no more well-liked since you undoubtedly have the gift.
I really liked your post.Really thank you!
My coder is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on a variety of websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform. I have heard very good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!
Hey, thanks for the article post. Awesome.
Hi there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing several weeks of hard work due to no data backup. Do you have any methods to stop hackers?
Hey there, You have done an excellent job. Ill definitely digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I’m sure they’ll be benefited from this web site.
I value the article.Really thank you! Awesome.
Thanks a lot for the article post.Really thank you! Want more.
Qué maravilla de artículo.
Qué maravilla de artículo.
Im obliged for the blog post.Thanks Again.
I really like and appreciate your blog post.Really thank you! Fantastic.
I am so grateful for your post.Much thanks again.
Lo voy a mandar a compañeros.
Hey, thanks for the blog article. Fantastic.
Lo voy a mandar a compañeros.
Qué maravilla de artículo.
I value the blog.Much thanks again. Really Cool.
Very good blog article.Much thanks again.
Lo mejor que leí hoy.
Lo mejor que leí hoy.
Lo mejor que leí hoy.
Hey, thanks for the blog post.Really thank you! Much obliged.
This web page can be a walk-by for all the info you wanted about this and didnt know who to ask. Glimpse right here, and youll positively discover it.
Hey, thanks for the blog article.Much thanks again. Really Cool.
Hi, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just curious if you get a lot of spam remarks? If so how do you stop it, any plugin or anything you can suggest? I get so much lately it’s driving me crazy so any support is very much appreciated.
I’d like to thank you for the efforts you have put in penning this site. I really hope to see the same high-grade blog posts by you in the future as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my very own site now 😉
I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your theme? Superb work!
I appreciate you sharing this article.Much thanks again. Keep writing.
I loved your blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.
Very good blog post.Much thanks again. Great.