COVID-19 ongoing thread part 2

[ray245]

Click on the link and look at the graphs. Essentially Sweden's economic growth seems as bad as its neighbours but with much higher casualty rate. The only saving grace is the believe that over the long term, their neighbours will get worse casualty rates so it evens out, while Sweden gets herd immunity.

Herd immunity requires a massive amount of population to get infected, and you cannot have a herd immunity strategy that ensure only the young people will get it. And given that this virus spread via cluster infection, it's exceeding difficult to ensure any herd immunity strategy is going to be viable.

The only herd immunity strategy viable is via vaccine.

[FaxModem1]

So, Evictions are going to be happening pretty soon in the US. And if nothing is done to stop them, expect families to be doubling up in houses, or on the streets. You know what's great for viruses, a condensed space like a house holding over a dozen people because families are looking out for each other. Or even better, a bunch of people sleeping on the street in tents.

[ray245]

Health officials in South Korea have concluded that the idea of a community forming herd immunity from Covid-19 is "wishful thinking".

The Deputy Director of the Korean Centre for Disease Control (KCDC), Kwon Jun-wook, said the organisation had come to that conclusion after analysing both domestic and international data.

South Korea has started antibody tests in random samples of the population to find out the true infection rate within the country. The serology tests will examine the blood of around 6,000 people to find out who has immunity to the virus. These tests will be conducted every two months and will be completed by the end of the year.

So far, in random blood tests of over 1,500 people, officials found that 0.1% of the samples had anti-bodies for Covid-19.

This would suggest that nearly 50,000 people have had coronavirus in South Korea when only 12,800 have so far tested positive for the disease.

The KCDC has emphasised that these are only initial findings and not conclusive at this stage.

To gain herd immunity, it will require a massive death toll to make it possible without a vaccine.

[mr friendly guy]

Herd immunity requires a massive amount of population to get infected, and you cannot have a herd immunity strategy that ensure only the young people will get it. And given that this virus spread via cluster infection, it's exceeding difficult to ensure any herd immunity strategy is going to be viable.

The only herd immunity strategy viable is via vaccine.

Yep. The number statisticians come up with is around 70% for COVID 19. That's lower than some diseases we vaccinate against like measles which is over 90%. Now imagine if have a fatality rate of 5% out of those 70% infected. Just put your country's population numbers in. For my country with a population of 25 million, that's 875 k dead. But wait it gets worse. That 5% fatality is predicated on a few factors, but can be summed up as if the health system doesn't get overwhelmed, because the fatality rate looks much worse. Look at countries with fatality rates in the double digits for example.

Now Sweden's idea is to spread out the cases, so they don't occur at once so not to overwhelm the health system. The goal is similar to those who advocated lock down measures. However the numbers are showing its clearly not as effective at spreading out the cases compared to its Nordic neighbours who used some lockdown strategies because they are getting more cases at a faster rate. This is putting more strain on their health system causing more deaths.

[ray245]

Yep. The number statisticians come up with is around 70% for COVID 19. That's lower than some diseases we vaccinate against like measles which is over 90%. Now imagine if have a fatality rate of 5% out of those 70% infected. Just put your country's population numbers in. For my country with a population of 25 million, that's 875 k dead. But wait it gets worse. That 5% fatality is predicated on a few factors, but can be summed up as if the health system doesn't get overwhelmed, because the fatality rate looks much worse. Look at countries with fatality rates in the double digits for example.

Now Sweden's idea is to spread out the cases, so they don't occur at once so not to overwhelm the health system. The goal is similar to those who advocated lock down measures. However the numbers are showing its clearly not as effective at spreading out the cases compared to its Nordic neighbours who used some lockdown strategies because they are getting more cases at a faster rate. This is putting more strain on their health system causing more deaths.

Didn't Sweden has some rather restrictive criteria for people to go to ICU? Their excess mortality this is is exceptionally high, and with Sweden not having the testing capacity as some countries, I won't be surprised if their actual mortality from COVID is much higher than what's been reported in actual figures.

I won't be surprised if there is some amount of racism at play, as it seems that the migrant population were hit exceptionally hard compared to white Swedish population.

[The Romulan Republic]

Sweden might not have got as much bad press for it, but their response is every bit as inhumane and callous as America's or Britain's.

[The Romulan Republic]

US buys up entire global stock of COVID-19 treatment drug remdesivir. No other country will be able to purchase it for at least three months. The drug is under patent to Gilead, which will sell it for $3,200 per treatment.

https://theguardian.com/us-news/2020/ju ... id-19-drug

The drug, which was invented for Ebola but failed to work, is under patent to Gilead, which means no other company in wealthy countries can make it. The cost is around $3,200 per treatment of six doses, according to the US government statement.

The deal was announced as it became clear that the pandemic in the US is spiralling out of control. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading public health expert and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Senate the US was sliding backwards.

“We are going in the wrong direction,” said Fauci. Last week the US saw a new daily record of 40,000 new coronavirus cases in one day. “I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around,” he said. He could not provide an estimated death toll, but said: “It is going to be very disturbing, I guarantee you that.”

The US has recorded more than 2.5 million confirmed cases of Covid-19. Some states lifted restrictions only to have to clamp down again. On Monday, the governor of Arizona ordered bars, cinemas, gyms and water parks to shut down for a month, weeks after they reopened. Texas, Florida and California, all seeing rises in cases, have also reimposed restrictions.

Buying up the world’s supply of remdesivir is not just a reaction to the increasing spread and death toll. The US has taken an “America first” attitude throughout the global pandemic.

In May, French manufacturer Sanofi said the US would get first access to its Covid vaccine if it works. Its CEO, Paul Hudson, was quoted as saying: “The US government has the right to the largest pre-order because it’s invested in taking the risk,” and, he added, the US expected that “if we’ve helped you manufacture the doses at risk, we expect to get the doses first”. Later it backtracked under pressure from the French government.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau warned there could be unintended negative consequences if the US continued to outbid its allies. “We know it is in both of our interests to work collaboratively and cooperatively to keep our citizens safe,” he said. The Trump administration has also invoked the Defense Production Act to block some medical goods made in the US from being sent abroad.

Nothing looks likely to prevent the US cornering the market in remdesivir, however. “This is the first major approved drug, and where is the mechanism for access?” said Dr Hill. “Once again we’re at the back of the queue.”

The drug has been watched eagerly for the last five months, said Hill, yet there was no mechanism to ensure a supply outside the US. “Imagine this was a vaccine,” he said. “That would be a firestorm. But perhaps this is a taste of things to come.”

Remdesivir would get people out of hospital more quickly, reducing the burden on the NHS, and might improve survival, said Hill, although that has not yet been shown in trials, as it has with the other successful treatment, the steroid dexamethasone. There has been no attempt to buy up the world’s stocks of dexamethasone because there is no need – the drug is 60 years old, cheap and easily available everywhere.

Hill said there was a way for the UK to secure supplies of this and other drugs during the pandemic, through what is known as a compulsory licence, which overrides the intellectual property rights of the company. That would allow the UK government to buy from generic companies in Bangladesh or India, where Gilead’s patent is not recognised.

The UK has always upheld patents, backing the argument of pharma companies that they need their 20-year monopoly to recoup the money they put into research and development. But other countries have shown an interest in compulsory licensing. “It is a question of what countries are prepared to do if this becomes a problem,” said Hill.

This is nothing short of a hostile act against the rest of the world, one that may cost thousands of lives. Other nations should sanction the US and Gilead, and seize their assets.

[mr friendly guy]

More evidence that this virus has been spreading to countries outside of China much earlier than previously detected.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 20140731v1

The study hasn't been peer reviewed yet, but it would indicate it was around in Brazil in November 2019. Again the first time China reported atypical pneumonia was in late December.

SARS-CoV-2 in human sewage in Santa Catalina, Brazil, November 2019
View ORCID ProfileGislaine Fongaro, View ORCID ProfilePatricia Hermes Stoco, Doris Sobral Marques Souza, View ORCID ProfileEdmundo Carlos Grisard, View ORCID ProfileMaria Elisa Magri, View ORCID ProfilePaula Rogovski, View ORCID ProfileMarcos Andre Schorner, View ORCID ProfileFernando Hartmann Barazzetti, View ORCID ProfileAna Paula Christoff, View ORCID ProfileLuiz Felipe Valter de Oliveira, View ORCID ProfileMaria Luiza Bazzo, View ORCID ProfileGlauber Wagner, View ORCID ProfileMarta Hernandez, View ORCID ProfileDavid Rodriguez-Lazaro
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.26.20140731

This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.
AbstractInfo/HistoryMetrics Preview PDF
Abstract
We analysed human sewage located in Florianopolis (Santa Catalina, Brazil) from late October until the Brazil lockdown on early March. We detected SARS-CoV-2 in two samples collected independently on 27th November 2019 (5.49 ± 0.02 log genome copies/L). Subsequent samplings were positive until 4th March 2020 (coinciding with the first COVID-19 case reported in Santa Catalina), with a SARS-CoV-2 RNA increase of one log (6.68 ± 0.02 log genome copies/L). Our results show that SARS-CoV-2 has been circulating in Brazil since late November 2019, much earlier than the first reported case in the Americas (21st January 2020, USA).

All I can say is watch this space.

[ray245]

More evidence that this virus has been spreading to countries outside of China much earlier than previously detected.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 20140731v1

The study hasn't been peer reviewed yet, but it would indicate it was around in Brazil in November 2019. Again the first time China reported atypical pneumonia was in late December.

SARS-CoV-2 in human sewage in Santa Catalina, Brazil, November 2019
View ORCID ProfileGislaine Fongaro, View ORCID ProfilePatricia Hermes Stoco, Doris Sobral Marques Souza, View ORCID ProfileEdmundo Carlos Grisard, View ORCID ProfileMaria Elisa Magri, View ORCID ProfilePaula Rogovski, View ORCID ProfileMarcos Andre Schorner, View ORCID ProfileFernando Hartmann Barazzetti, View ORCID ProfileAna Paula Christoff, View ORCID ProfileLuiz Felipe Valter de Oliveira, View ORCID ProfileMaria Luiza Bazzo, View ORCID ProfileGlauber Wagner, View ORCID ProfileMarta Hernandez, View ORCID ProfileDavid Rodriguez-Lazaro
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.26.20140731

This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.
AbstractInfo/HistoryMetrics Preview PDF
Abstract
We analysed human sewage located in Florianopolis (Santa Catalina, Brazil) from late October until the Brazil lockdown on early March. We detected SARS-CoV-2 in two samples collected independently on 27th November 2019 (5.49 ± 0.02 log genome copies/L). Subsequent samplings were positive until 4th March 2020 (coinciding with the first COVID-19 case reported in Santa Catalina), with a SARS-CoV-2 RNA increase of one log (6.68 ± 0.02 log genome copies/L). Our results show that SARS-CoV-2 has been circulating in Brazil since late November 2019, much earlier than the first reported case in the Americas (21st January 2020, USA).

All I can say is watch this space.

One thing I don't get is why does it take so long for the scale of the spread to be detected in some countries that are supposedly infected much earlier, while countries much closer to China ( like Vietnam) basically got away with it?

[muse]

Best healthcare system racket in the world

[mr friendly guy]

Didn't Sweden has some rather restrictive criteria for people to go to ICU? Their excess mortality this is is exceptionally high, and with Sweden not having the testing capacity as some countries, I won't be surprised if their actual mortality from COVID is much higher than what's been reported in actual figures.

I won't be surprised if there is some amount of racism at play, as it seems that the migrant population were hit exceptionally hard compared to white Swedish population.

Can't recall anything about Sweden specifically, but a quick web search suggest it wasn't just Sweden. The health system was just under that much strain in some European countries, so I wouldn't single our Sweden unless they had some really different criteria. I did hear though that Swedish doctors were told to be very strict with sending nursing home residents to hospital, ie they did not send them to hospital which could have contributed to deaths. I would take that information with a pinch of salt though, its from a Swedish doctor on his social media account.

Sweden has a reputation of being quite humanitarian and supposedly there is much less racism in Sweden than say, the US. I am inclined to think of mistakes rather than malice given things like they failed to appreciate immigrant communities had more extended family staying with them compared to ethnic Swedes.

quote=ray245 post_id=4104043 time=1593517097 user_id=4259]
One thing I don't get is why does it take so long for the scale of the spread to be detected in some countries that are supposedly infected much earlier, while countries much closer to China ( like Vietnam) basically got away with it?
[/quote]

If you think about it, parts of China which are closer to Hubei got away with it as well. For example Tibet had like, 1 case IIRC. I think it must be to do with travel routes. Wuhan had lots of planes travelling overseas, while I suspect most Vietnamese travel to the PRC is via Guangxi province, which has a whole province between Guangxi and Hubei. Once it spread outside, then we have to look at the travel route from that country to say Brazil (I have been told not a lot of Chinese travel to Brazil).

[ray245]

Can't recall anything about Sweden specifically, but a quick web search suggest it wasn't just Sweden. The health system was just under that much strain in some European countries, so I wouldn't single our Sweden unless they had some really different criteria. I did hear though that Swedish doctors were told to be very strict with sending nursing home residents to hospital, ie they did not send them to hospital which could have contributed to deaths. I would take that information with a pinch of salt though, its from a Swedish doctor on his social media account.

I've heard a lot of different comments from various Swedish sources about the same thing. And given Sweden is massively undertesting the cases, and it has a massively higher mortality rate than most other Nordic countries, I think Sweden is basically trying to protect its ICU at the expense of people's lives. Apparently you need to ensure you meet the criteria of having a chance to be saved by medical intervention to be admitted into the ICU.

Sweden has a reputation of being quite humanitarian and supposedly there is much less racism in Sweden than say, the US. I am inclined to think of mistakes rather than malice given things like they failed to appreciate immigrant communities had more extended family staying with them compared to ethnic Swedes.

I don't think it is active malice, but I am saying it's racism because the authorities failed to understand the structural reasons why migrant communities might be more vulnerable than others. Apparently the authorities didn't even think about communicating to migrant communities in their own languages until it's too late. That's structural racism at work.

If you think about it, parts of China which are closer to Hubei got away with it as well. For example Tibet had like, 1 case IIRC. I think it must be to do with travel routes. Wuhan had lots of planes travelling overseas, while I suspect most Vietnamese travel to the PRC is via Guangxi province, which has a whole province between Guangxi and Hubei. Once it spread outside, then we have to look at the travel route from that country to say Brazil (I have been told not a lot of Chinese travel to Brazil).

The thing is, even those provinces in China managed to contain the explosion of cases without a lockdown. Why did cases explode first in Italy, but not in Brazil or in other provinces of China? Why not in Hong Kong? Or in Singapore?

[bilateralrope]

US buys up entire global stock of COVID-19 treatment drug remdesivir. No other country will be able to purchase it for at least three months. The drug is under patent to Gilead, which will sell it for $3,200 per treatment.

Or the rest of the world could decide to just ignore that patent due to national security concerns.

[Eulogy]

Or the rest of the world could decide to just ignore that patent due to national security concerns.

This. What's Gilead going to do, sue the rest of the world? Not even the US has enough clout to make the world pay "damages" to the greedy little fucks trying to pauperize the other countries, so now they're going to realize that when you're a greedy little asshole people will be more than happy to fuck over your bottom line.

The funny thing is, if Gilead had lopped off a couple zeros on their final asking price people would be more than happy to buy from them, but nope, gotta be a bunch of greedy little fucks who'll shoot themselves in the dick when their patent gets ignored! Hell, there's going to be plenty of Americans who'll buy the treatment from foreign countries at a far cheaper price, and there is little the government or Gilead can do about it. Because Gilead is a bunch of greedy assholes.

[The Romulan Republic]

US buys up entire global stock of COVID-19 treatment drug remdesivir. No other country will be able to purchase it for at least three months. The drug is under patent to Gilead, which will sell it for $3,200 per treatment.

Or the rest of the world could decide to just ignore that patent due to national security concerns.

We can hope.

[mr friendly guy]

Apparently COVID parties are a thing in the US

https://abcnews.go.com/US/alabama-stude ... b5Ad3pa2so

Alabama students throwing 'COVID parties' to see who gets infected: Officials
Rising infections prompt Gov. Kay Ivy to extend 'Safer at Home' orders.
By
Bill Hutchinson
2 July 2020, 04:43
8 min read

Students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 have been attending parties in the city and surrounding area as part of a disturbing contest to see who can catch the virus first, a city council member told ABC News on Wednesday.

Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry said students have been organizing "COVID parties" as a game to intentionally infect each other with the contagion that has killed more than 127,000 people in the United States. She said she recently learned of the behavior and informed the city council of the parties occurring in the city.

She said the organizers of the parties are purposely inviting guests who have COVID-19.

"They put money in a pot and they try to get COVID. Whoever gets COVID first gets the pot. It makes no sense," McKinstry said. "They're intentionally doing it."

Tuscaloosa Fire Chief Randy Smith told the City Council on Tuesday that he has confirmed the students' careless behavior.


City of Tuscaloosa - Government/FacebookTuscaloosa Fire Chief Randy Smith speaks to the Tuscaloosa city council on June 30, 2020.Tuscaloosa Fire Chief Randy Smith speaks to the Tuscaloosa city council on June 30, 2020.
City of Tuscaloosa - Government/Facebook
In a briefing to the City Council, Smith expressed concern that in recent weeks there have been parties held throughout the city and surrounding Tuscaloosa County, "where students, or kids, would come in with known positive," according to a video recording of the meeting obtained by ABC affiliate station WBMA in Birmingham.

"We thought that was kind of a rumor at first," Smith told the council members. "We did some research. Not only do the doctors' offices confirm it but the state confirmed they also had the same information."

In his presentation, Smith, who wore a face mask, did not say what is being done to curb the behavior or what schools the students were from. Tuscaloosa is the seventh-largest city in Alabama and home to The University of Alabama and several other colleges.

Just hours after Smith's briefing, the City Council unanimously passed an ordinance requiring people to wear face coverings when out in public.

They put money in a pot and they try to get COVID. Whoever gets COVID first gets the pot.

On Wednesday, Holly Whigham, a spokesperson for the fire department, told ABC News, "We are not releasing any statements about what was said last night."

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It was unclear if the COVID-positive students infected anyone at the parties they attended.

Richard Rush, a city spokesman, said in a statement to ABC News that the city "is currently working with local agencies and organizations to ensure that we do everything in our power to fight this pandemic."

McKinstry said she fears that some people will attend the parties not knowing their intent and be exposed to infected guests.

"We're trying to break up any parties that we know of," McKinstry told ABC News, adding the infected students are obviously disregarding guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to self-quarantine for two weeks.

MORE: Coronavirus map: Tracking the spread in the US and around the world
"It's nonsense," McKinstry added. "But I think when you're dealing with the mind frame of people who are intentionally doing stuff like that and they're spreading it intentionally, how can you truly fight something that people are constantly trying to promote?"

Arrol Sheehan, spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Public Health, said the state's "Safer at Home Order" explicitly states that people who test positive "shall be quarantined to their place of residence for a period of 14 days."

Sheehan stressed that violation of the heath order is a misdemeanor and fines for each violation can be up to $500.

"Suspected violations of the home quarantine order should be reported to law enforcement and the local health department," she said in a statement to ABC News.

As of Wednesday, Alabama had recorded 38,422 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 10,696 in the last 14 days, according to data provided by the state Department of Public Health. At least 947 people have died in Alabama from the virus.

MORE: How air purifiers and cleaners may help keep you safer indoors from COVID-19
In Tuscaloosa County, 2,049 people had contracted the contagion and 38 deaths had occurred in the county, according to the Department of Public Health.

Word of the COVID parties came on the same day Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced she is extending the "Safer at Home" orders through July 31 because coronavirus infections continue to rise.

MORE: Scientists test which face covering style best protects against the coronavirus
Under the extended orders, gyms, entertainment venues, child care facilities and barbershops are required to follow sanitation and social distancing rules. Retail stores are allowed to open with a 50% occupancy rate.

"Personal responsibility means it is everyone's responsibility," Ivy said at a news conference. "If we continue going in the wrong direction, and our hospitals are not able to handle the capacity of patients, then we're going to reserve the right to come back in and reverse course."

Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris, who joined Ivy at the news conference, urged people to wear face coverings although they are not required statewide.

"We know face coverings aren't perfect and they don't stop everything," Harris said. "But they do limit transmission."

[ray245]

Apparently COVID parties are a thing in the US

They might as well ask those people to volunteer for vaccine trials. Because what they are essentially doing is to give scientists the opportunity to do exposure challenge without the ethical dilemma.

[The Romulan Republic]

Apparently COVID parties are a thing in the US

They might as well ask those people to volunteer for vaccine trials. Because what they are essentially doing is to give scientists the opportunity to do exposure challenge without the ethical dilemma.

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the people stupid or selfish enough to do COVID parties are also hard-core anti-vaxers, though.

[bilateralrope]

"They put money in a pot and they try to get COVID. Whoever gets COVID first gets the pot. It makes no sense," McKinstry said. "They're intentionally doing it."

I'm guessing they don't have a plan for what happens if someone doesn't qualify for testing under current criteria. Or if someone takes an unreliable test. I'm hoping their stupid ends with a lawsuit instead of deaths. But it will probably be both.

[ray245]

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the people stupid or selfish enough to do COVID parties are also hard-core anti-vaxers, though.

Sell it to them as if they get vaccinated, they can party as often as they want.

[mr friendly guy]

Meanwhile in Australia, Victoria gets its largest increase in COVID cases for a while.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-02/ ... s/12409436

Victoria records 77 new coronavirus cases and jump in community transmission of COVID-19

Another 77 people in Victoria have been diagnosed with coronavirus and the state has recorded its single biggest increase in community transmission to date.

Of the 77 new cases, 13 are linked to outbreaks, 37 were discovered through routine testing and 27 are still under investigation.

None of the new infections are from hotel quarantine.

It's the fourth-highest daily increase in Victoria to date, and the largest daily increase since March.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said 31 of the state's infections had been classed as community transmission, bringing the total to 332.

Locally acquired cases are classified as community transmission if, after investigation by the health department, no source of infection can be found.

Due to the time taken to investigate the source, the 31 additional community transmission cases are not necessarily a part of the 77 new infections announced today.

So South Australia has delayed opening the border with Victoria. NSW are screening arrivals from Victoria.

I know SA has opened borders with WA, but WA hasn't done so yet. I think the central and western states/territories (NT, SA,WA) should consider opening borders with each other and leaving borders with the eastern states closed until things improve there.

[mr friendly guy]

Good news, sort of. Gilead is being a dick with its drugs, but not that big a dick. Doesn't make it ok though.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-02/ ... r/12414154

Gilead has linked up with generic drug-makers based in India and Pakistan to supply remdesivir in 127 developing countries, but it has not discussed its supply strategy for developed nations outside the US.

What's the betting those 127 developing countries do not include countries the US maladministration hates.

Further information.

The Department of Health and Human Services said Mr Trump had secured 500,000 treatments of the drug through September, representing 100 per cent of Gilead's July production capacity and 90 per cent of its capacity in August and September.

Given vaccines are predicted to be available sometime in 2021, that still gives a few months where others can buy the drug from Gilead.

Some developed nations including Australia, Germany and UK say they have "sufficient" supply available.

[bilateralrope]

Given vaccines are predicted to be available sometime in 2021, that still gives a few months where others can buy the drug from Gilead.

The only estimate I've seen on how long it will take to produce enough vaccine for everyone was the WHO estimating 2.5 years, which was in an article I posted here recently. Everyone else is just talking about when the vaccine will passed all its testing, as if that makes it magically available for everyone.

[Mr Bean]

Herman Cain in hospital with Covid

Herman Cain, the Godfather’s Pizza magnate who twice ran for president and was briefly considered as a potential Federal Reserve Board nominee under President Donald Trump, was hospitalized Wednesday and is being treated for the coronavirus.

Cain, 74, was told Monday that he had tested positive for the disease, according to a statement posted to his official Twitter account. By Wednesday, he “had developed symptoms serious enough that he required hospitalization,” the statement said.

Cain is currently being treated at an Atlanta-area hospital, the statement said, where he is “resting comfortably” and is “awake and alert.”
On Wednesday – two days after Cain was said to have tested positive – he tweeted his apparent support for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s decision not to require mask-wearing or social distancing during Trump’s upcoming visit to Mount Rushmore.
“Masks will not be mandatory for the event, which will be attended by President Trump,” Cain tweeted. “PEOPLE ARE FED UP!”
Cain is not on a ventilator and is doing well, his staff told Newsmax, the conservative news outlet where Cain has worked as a contributor since April.

A spokeswoman for Cain could not immediately be reached for comment.

Last month, Cain attended Trump’s much-hyped rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the kickoff event for the president’s reelection bid after the coronavirus pandemic forced him off the campaign trail for months.

Critics, including local public health officials, had urged Trump to postpone the rally, warning that hosting a large gathering of people could spread the disease.

Cain posted a photograph of himself at the June 20 rally sitting in close proximity to other attendees, none of whom appeared to be wearing masks, as many health officials currently advise.

Herman Cain for those who don't recall him from the long-long ago of 2012 was the former CEO of Godfather Pizza, pitcher of the 9-9-9 tax plan and of course delivered speeches with Pokemon The Movie references. The classic perennial candidate who has a gimmick, gets some nice press then fades quietly away. He's said to be doing fine, one can only hope.

[mr friendly guy]

As a non American I remember Cain as the candidate who didn't know China already had nuclear weapons, said who cares who the president of Ukbeky beky beky stan is (presumably he meant to say Uzbekistan) and was finally brought down by a sex scandal.

It seems he was anti mask wearing as well. Not a good idea since he is in his 70s and a member of a vulnerable group.