If you want to live a satisfying, long life, neuroscientist Daniel Levitin has some advice for you: Stay busy. What is the ideal age to retire? Never. Even if you’re physically impaired, it’s best to keep working, either in a job or as a volunteer. Lamont Dozier, the co-writer of such iconic songs as “Heat…
via What is the ideal age to retire? Never, according to a neuroscientist — ideas.ted.com
A prospective study of 992 healthy children (median age 10.1 years) of healthcare workers from across the UK found that 68 (6.9%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.1 Half of the children testing positive reported no symptoms, but for those that did the commonest were fever (21 of 68, 31%); gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhoea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps (13 of 68, 19%); and headache (12 of 68, 18%). Latest findings from the Covid-19 Symptom Study app,2 which was launched in late March to track people’s symptoms, also show that gastrointestinal symptoms occur frequently in children with positive swab tests.3
Covid-19: UK studies find gastrointestinal symptoms are common in children — Citation: BMJ 2020;370:m3484 — https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3484
Gaughan reported the room had dirt on the bed and on the ground, as well as an unclean sink and curtains. When she asked the hall coordinators why the room was in that condition, they said they had not anticipated anyone contracting COVID-19 within the first move-in day, so the rooms were not prepared, and spoke to her with indifference, she said.
Gaughan said she felt uncomfortable when she said she reported she was told she could not tell her parents that she tested positive for COVID-19, as it would cause “unnecessary chaos”. She added that the resident assistant informed her that he was told that none of the individuals herself and her roommate had come into contact with would be quarantined or notified of her testing positive.
‘I felt like a guinea pig’: student’s ‘awful’ quarantine experience prompts UI apology — https://dailyiowan.com/2020/08/20/i-felt-like-a-guinea-pig-students-awful-quarantine-experience-prompts-university-of-iowa-apology/
Colleges and universities are seemingly ill-prepared to deal with Covid-19 outbreaks on campuses. One commentator on this story wrote “they don’t care about students only their institutional survival” which is an opinion I share. Schools had months to prepare for reopening for the fall semester. From the stories I’ve read most institutions get an F in Infectious Diseases 101. Read this entire story yourself. Here are the points I gleaned from this story:
Poor planning from bad assumptions.
Bad assumptions led to poor judgment.
Poor judgment resulted in poor decisions.
Zero contact tracing (don’t tell your parents and we won’t tell anyone you’ve been in contact with).
Apologize because an apology for your ineptitude solves everything.
Apologize (but keep their money). College Clusterfuck 2.0 – “It’s a Dystopian Hell” – Updated.
Oh…I almost forgot. Blame the kids and take no responsibility.
In an email from Assistant Dean and Director of Student Accountability Angela Ibrahim-Olin, the University of Iowa reiterated that students can held accountable for off-campus behavior.
Off-campus behavior may lead to suspensions or cancellations of housing contracts — https://dailyiowan.com/2020/08/25/off-campus-behavior-may-lead-to-suspensions-or-cancellations-of-housing-contracts/
Statins remain our safest and most effective drug for primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease. However, a cult of statin deniers has taken hold on the internet and their efforts often result in patients inappropriately stopping statins, an outcome which can have lethal consequences. Early in the pandemic a patient of mine in…
Statins Are Your COVID-19 Friend: Keep Taking Them — The Skeptical Cardiologist
Thank you doctor.
Note to my readers: I encourage you to follow the link and read the entire post and the comments to fully understand Dr. Pearson’s message.
And if you’re a statin denier don’t bother reading the full post because we’re not here to engage in an argument or to change your opinion on this medication.
Update
University of California – San Diego. “Statins reduce COVID-19 severity, likely by removing cholesterol that virus uses to infect.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200923164603.htm (accessed September 24, 2020).
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200923164603.htm
“I just didn’t think I needed it yet, and I’ve committed most of my financial resources to my business,” says Silkoff, 31, the president and co-founder of MyRoofingPal.com, an online marketplace that connects property owners with roofing contractors.
COVID-19, though, forced Silkoff to consider his mortality. “I don’t want to leave my wife in debt should something happen to me,” he says. “Also, during the slowdown, I had more time to do the research.” So Silkoff purchased a 10-year term life policy with $500,000 of coverage for about $30 a month.
Life Insurance In The Age Of COVID-19 — https://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/life-insurance-in-the-age-of-covid-19?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=life-insurance-in-the-age-of-covid-19#.X1PyadR7nb0
A life insurance policy is an act of love.
Think about it.
Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines for novel coronavirus have been found to be safe for a period of 42 days and capable of inducing antibody responses in all the 42 participants within 21 days. But the Phase-1/2 trials were open, not randomised, did not have a control group, and included totally 76 participants.
According to the authors, the unpublished data of animal studies show “robust humoral and cellular immune responses were elicited in non-human primates, providing protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection”. They also write that the vaccine showed “100% protectivity in a lethal model of SARS-CoV-2 challenge in immunosuppressed hamsters”. No antibody-dependent enhancement of infection was seen in vaccinated animals.
Russia’s coronavirus vaccine is safe, elicits immune responses in Phase-1/2 trials — Science Chronicle
Safe? 76 humans and an undisclosed number of hamsters.
Why am I not impressed?
Click on the link for the NEJM Journal Watch weekly update. NO paywalls on any of the links in this article. (paywalls bother me). There are some really good links in this week’s edition. https://www.jwatch.org/fw117010/2020/09/05/latest-covid-19-news-week-ending-sept-5
Meanwhile in South Carolina…
Shortly after opening its doors to students, the University of South Carolina has recorded 1,026 positive coronavirus tests and in the past week saw a test positivity rate among students and faculty of 26.3 percent, according to its COVID information dashboard.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/university-south-carolina-records-1-026-covid-cases-n1239174
Clusterfuck!
“The lowest risk sexual activity during COVID-19 involves yourself alone.”
Cite this: Wear a Mask While Having Sex, Canada’s Top Doctor Suggests – Medscape – Sep 02, 2020 — https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/936773?src=rss
You can’t make this stuff up.
But I suppose if you were six feet apart…
The world has gone mad.
Data on the recent true infection fatality rate (IFR) of COVID-19 have been difficult to come by. Investigators writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine today have, however, provided us with a solid estimate of the Covid-19 IFR in the state of Indiana for those over the age of 11 years and not living in…
What Is Your Chance of Dying From Covid-19 in Indiana? — The Skeptical Cardiologist
Again, thank you Dr. Pearson. Interesting statistics.
Update 09.05.20
What could be worse than being stuck at home with Mom and Dad for months on end isolated from friends, activities restricted?
Going back to Mom and Dad to be stuck at home for even longer because you got expelled from college AND telling them they just paid for a year of college and housing for nothing.
The students were part of a special one-semester program for first-year students and according to Globe, the prepaid $US 36,500 cost for the semester won’t be refunded. Students won’t be able to take courses from home but are eligible to return in the fall.
11 freshmen at Northeastern were dismissed for violating COVID-19 rules. Their $35,000 tuition won’t be reimbursed. — https://www.businessinsider.com.au/11-northeastern-students-dismissed-breaking-covid-19-rules-party-2020-9
jordanschachtel.substack.com — America’s college students are returning to campus for the Fall semester, and many are finding themselves in an environment that no longer resembles an academic institution, but something closer to a correctional facility for young adults. It’s not just a handful of schools that are pursuing extreme restrictions and punitive measures in the name of “stopping the spread” of the coronavirus, but something that has become a nationwide norm.
Tales from America’s COVID college campuses — https://muckrack.com/jordan-schachtel/articles
College campuses have transformed into some of the most restrictive environments in America. After hearing about these conditions, I sent out a post on social media asking for testimonials from students, parents, and educators. The responses below are some of the many replies I received discussing what students are experiencing in colleges and universities that have allowed for students to return to campus.
Tales from America’s COVID college campuses — https://jordanschachtel.substack.com/p/tales-from-americas-covid-college
From what I can tell Jordan Schachtel is an investigative journalist. If you follow the link in the second quote above you’ll find a bevy of quotes from both students and parents on college life 2020 pandemic edition. What you’ll read is absolutely jaw dropping. A lot of prison analogies…
This is not going well nor will it end well. Online education will become the new operating model for higher education sooner rather than later. See my earlier rant Post Pandemic Changes in Consumer Behavior for Professor Galloway’s opinion. He says it’s simple math.
Funny to think how colleges and universities will succeed now that they all have to focus on education and teaching their students. Not sports. No longer modern day fiefoms that exist solely to enrich the clueless intellectual elites. My Dad always told me the purpose of college was to teach you how to think, not what to think. High time to get back to what a “higher” education should be.
lifeunderwriter.net 
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