COVID Transmissions for 11-2-2020
Good morning! It has been 351 days since the first documented human case of COVID-19.
We’re done saving daylight! We will now be spending our vast daylight savings account during these winter months. Have a great week.
As usual, bolded terms are linked to the running newsletter glossary.
Keep the newsletter growing by sharing it! I love talking about science and explaining important concepts in human health, but I rely on all of you to grow the audience for this:
Now, let’s talk COVID.
>45 million cases globally, >9 million in the US
Recently, the global and US totals passed these two thresholds as cases spiked in many places around the world. The spikes that are happening now are not a big surprise to anyone who is familiar with these types of respiratory illnesses, and had been warned about by experts for quite some time. When we first entered this pandemic, Spring was beginning, and while the global spread was surprising and rapid, it was likely held back by the season.
Fall and winter, for several ill-defined reasons, are seasons wherein respiratory viruses spread faster and more effectively. As we understand it, dropping humidity in colder months makes the respiratory tract more permissive to viruses. As daylight grows shorter and the months grow colder, people are also more likely to be inside, and indoor environments help facilitate spread of SARS-CoV-2 and some other viruses. A similar pattern of seasonality was observed in 1918, as I understand it.
I fear that we are in for a bad winter in the global north, and I know I’m not the first to say it.
New York State travel quarantine modified
New York State, which has a rather robust COVID-19 management plan due to its being an early epicenter of the pandemic, is known for its travel-related quarantine policy. This policy requires a 14-day quarantine for individuals coming from states that are identified as COVID-19 hotspots.
Apparently, a plan is in the works to change this. The Governor’s office has modified the arrangement so that individuals coming to New York can quarantine for less time according to the following procedure:
Obtain a COVID-19 test, and quarantine for 3 days from time of testing
Get a negative result on that test
Have a second COVID-19 test on the 4th day
Continue to quarantine until a negative result is received on the second test
While this still implies a period of quarantine lasting between 1 and probably about 7 days, it is substantially shorter than 14 full days.
You can read all about it here: https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/11/01/new-york-travel-quarantine/
What am I doing to cope with the pandemic? This:
Watching
We watched the new Netflix limited series The Queen’s Gambit over the weekend, and it’s pretty fantastic. I understand from those who have read it that the book offers a deeper experience, but I felt that in visual form they did a nice job with a complicated and compelling story.
Join the conversation, and what you say will impact what I talk about in the next issue.
Also, let me know any other thoughts you might have about the newsletter. I’d like to make sure you’re getting what you want out of this.
This newsletter will contain mistakes. When you find them, tell me about them so that I can fix them. I would rather this newsletter be correct than protect my ego.
Though I can’t correct the emailed version after it has been sent, I do update the online post of the newsletter every time a mistake is brought to my attention.
No corrections since last issue.
Thanks for reading, everyone! Enjoy your week!
See you all next time.
Always,
JS