As of noon today (May 11), there were 4.0 million coronavirus confirmed cases and over 279K deaths internationally, 1.3 million confirmed cases in the U.S. with over 80,000 deaths, and in Colorado nearly 20K cases and almost 1,000 deaths.
Americans are required to wear facemasks of any type including scarves to prevent the spread of the virus. However, it seems the younger Americans are more resistant to follow these guidelines by merging into groups at the beach or other popular places.
Some recent news reports indicate the coronavirus is a rich man’s disease. Pandemics throughout history have been associated with the poor, but the coronavirus is now classified as a upper class disease, carried by travelers returning from business trips in China or worldwide or tourists returning from vacations across the world!
Interestingly, from a recent study out of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, scientists examined the blood types of nearly 2,200 COVID-19 patients in hospitals in China, along with the blood types of about 27,000 individuals who didn’t have COVID-19 in the same areas. The results showed that those with ‘A’ blood types are at a significantly higher risk of contracting the coronavirus compared with other blood types. People with ‘O’ blood types had a lower risk of getting the infection, the scientists noted in the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed.
Another recent not-yet-reviewed study out of the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center also sought to examine the relationship between the coronavirus and blood type. The scientists looked at data from New York-Presbyterian Hospital on 1,559 individuals who were tested for COVID-19, 682 of whom were positive. Similarly, they found that those with ‘A’ blood types were 33 percent more likely to test positive than other blood types. Additionally, they also deduced that people with ‘O’ blood types were less likely to test positive.
There is concern over the nation’s food supply. The number of food inspections and citations has plummeted. In 2018 and 2019, the FDA averaged about 900 inspections a month, leading to 600 citations. In March, the numbers fell to 307 inspections and 167 citations. In April, just eight inspections took place, leading to two citations. Some of the reasons are ill or highly concerned inspectors.
President Trump has been promoting businesses to reopen, but many Americans are resistant to the idea as they feel a second wave of the virus will occur. Twelve states have a 15% to 20% increase in cases and six states have over 20% increase in cases. It appears that may be the case in Florida as more cases have developed after many businesses have reopened. Meanwhile,several White House staffers contracted the virus including the Press Secretary. The three top medical advisors have gone into self-quarantine due to exposure with the staff.
A dozen states across the country believe they have “flattened the curve” of infections enough to start their economies under new health guidelines and restrictions to protect citizens from the COVID-19 virus. The economy is still suffering with over 3 million Americans filing for unemployment. A Pew Research Center poll indicated nearly two-thirds of Americans were concerned about their state opening too early. Thousands of protestors in many states want to return to work for obvious reasons!
One of the more popular vacation destinations in the U.S. is Jackson, WY, Teton National Park, and Yellowstone National Park. In 2019, Grand Teton and Yellowstone received 3.4 million and 4 million recreational visitors, which brought in over a billion dollars of tourism revenue last year. Over three-quarters of those visitors came from June through September. Park concessionaires are tentatively planning to re-open Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Inn on June 15, but Grand Teton’s Jenny Lake and Jackson Lake Lodges are not expected to operate in 2020 (though that could change). Similar actions are expected in the other 60 national parks.
Stay Home, Stay Safe, and Stay Healthy!