Lobby of the the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, now known as the Hyatt at the Bellevue
Good morning. This is Jonathan Spira reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on the 1,062nd day of the pandemic.
Much attention has been paid to using wastewater samples to determine the spread of SARS-CoV-2, polio, and other viruses, but little has been said about an extremely effective measure one can take at home to greatly reduce the spread of germs and viruses, namely closing the lid on the toilet before flushing.
Research suggests that the humble toilet plume likely plays a contributory role in the transmission of infectious diseases. While respiratory droplets are the main driver of Covid spread, there are multiple other sources to which attention must be paid, given that SARS-CoV-2 is found in urine and feces.
Concerns over the toilet plume are hardly new. In 1975, microbiologist Charles Gerba wrote in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology that “there is a possibility that a person may acquire an infection from an aerosol produced by a toilet.”
Research hasn’t fully demonstrated or refuted the possibility of spreading Covid and other viruses in this manner, but evidence continues to pile up. It is believed that airborne dispersion played a key role in the outbreak of viral gastroenteritis on board a cruise ship, where the infection rate was twice as prevalent among passengers who used a shared toilet versus among those with a private privy.
While the jury may still be out, the next step is clear: Close the lid before flushing, and if you are using a public toilet sans lid, run for the hills when it flushes.
In other news we cover today, a university professor in San Diego died of Legionnaires’ Disease, the United States is ending the coronavirus testing requirement for Chinese travelers, and cruise ships continue to be Petri dishes of disease.
UNITED STATES
In Massachusetts, citing a falling demand, officials said they will close free coronavirus testing centers.
Meanwhile, in California, a state appeals court rejected a religious objection to a coronavirus vaccine from the mother of a child living in a group home. The court said that the youth must comply with the vaccination order despite the parent’s objection.
Officials in Connecticut reported that the death toll for the first three years of the pandemic is over 12,000 people. This is equivalent to approximately one in every 300 people who lived in the state when the pandemic began in 2020. In addition, according to a new report from the Connecticut Hospital Association, the pandemic left a huge financial impact on hospitals and the healthcare system.
TRAVEL
The United States will end coronavirus testing requirements for travelers from China, the Washington Post first reported. The requirement for a Chinese traveler to present a negative coronavirus test in order to fly to the United States was announced in December and went into effect on January 5 of this year.
GLOBAL
New research shows that the same gene that protected 40% of the population from the Black Death when it spread across Europe, killing one-third of the population, may be serving the same function during the coronavirus pandemic. It was individuals with rs2549794-C who benefitted from such protection, according to Fergus Hamilton of the University of Bristol. However, those who have the gene are also more likely to develop autoimmune disorders, providing a good example of an oft-theorized idea in genetics, namely that genes can be in antagonistic pleiotropy.
OTHER HEALTHCARE NEWS
Meanwhile, a professor at San Diego State University, Michael Buono, died on March 4 of Legionella pneumonia, also known as Legionnaires’ Disease. The university is investigating whether the infection was contracted on campus.
Legionnaires’ disease acquired its name in July 1976, when an outbreak of pneumonia occurred among people attending a convention of the American Legion at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. Of the 182 reported cases, mostly men, 29 died.
Finally, cruise ships continue to be a good place for a virus to hide. In the course of the February 26 voyage of Princess Cruises’ Ruby Princess, 284 passengers and 34 crewmembers reported becoming ill from the yet-to-be identified illness.
The CDC said that the cruise ship attempted to mitigate the outbreak by increasing cleaning and disinfection efforts on board and informing travelers about the outbreak. The ship also collected stool samples from those passengers taken ill and sent them to the CDC where they will be analyzed in an attempt to find the source of the outbreak. The CDC also sent a team of epidemiologists and environmental health officers to investigate the matter.
TODAY’S STATISTICS
Now here are the daily statistics for Wednesday, March 8.
As of Wednesday morning, the world has recorded 680.9 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 0.1 million cases, and 6.81 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 653.9 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.2 million.
The reader should note that infrequent reporting from some sources may appear as spikes in new case figures or death tolls.
Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Wednesday at press time is 20,220,471, a decrease of 73,000. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 20,179,925, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 40,546, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical has not changed over the past three months.
The United States reported 23,808, new coronavirus infections on Wednesday for the previous day, compared to 14,774 on Tuesday, 1,567 on Monday, 1,671 on Sunday, 69,509 on Saturday, 62,111 on Friday, and 89,261 on Thursday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 7-day incidence rate is now 37,529. Figures for the weekend (reported the following day) are typically 30% to 60% of those posted on weekdays due to a lower number of tests being conducted.
The average daily number of new coronavirus cases in the United States over the past 14 days is 32,399, a figure down 10% over the past 14 days, based on data from the Department of Health and Human Services, among other sources. The average daily death toll over the same period is 388, an increase of 6% over the same period, while the average number of hospitalizations for the period was 25,525, a decrease of 11%. In addition, the number of patients in ICUs was 3,325, a decrease of 10% and the test positivity rate is now 8.2%, a figure that is down by 15% over the same period.
In addition, since the start of the pandemic the United States has, as of Wednesday, recorded 105.4 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.15 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 44.7 million, and a reported death toll of 530,775.
The newest data from Russia’s Rosstat state statistics service showed that, at the end of July, the number of Covid or Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic there in April 2020 is now 823,623, giving the country the world’s second highest pandemic-related death toll, behind the United States. Rosstat last reported that 3,284 people died from the coronavirus or related causes in July 2022, down from 5,023 in June, 7,008 in May and 11,583 in April.
Meanwhile, France is the country with the third highest number of cases, with 39.6 million, and Germany is in the number four slot, with 38.2 million total cases.
Brazil, which has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 699,276, has recorded 37.1 million cases, placing it in the number five slot.
The other five countries with total case figures over the 20 million mark are Japan, with 33.3 million cases, South Korea, with 30.6 million cases, placing it in the number seven slot, and Italy, with 25.6 million, as number eight, as well as the United Kingdom, with 24.4 million, and Russia, with just under 22.4 million.
VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of the past Thursday, 269.6 million people in the United States – or 81.2% – have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of that population, 69.3%, or 230.1 million people, have received two doses of vaccine, and the total number of doses that have been dispensed in the United States is now 672.1 million. Breaking this down further, 92.1% of the population over the age of 18 – or 237.8 million people – has received at least a first inoculation and 79% of the same group – or just under 204 million people – is fully vaccinated. In addition, 19.6% of the same population, or 50.5 million people, has already received an updated or bivalent booster dose of vaccine, while 22.7 million people over the age of 65, or 41.4% of that population have also received the bivalent booster.
Starting on June 13, 2022, the CDC began to update vaccine data on a weekly basis and publish the updated information on Thursdays by 8 p.m. EDT, a statement on the agency’s website said.
Some 69.7% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Wednesday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 13.32 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 759,312 doses are now administered each day.
Meanwhile, only 28% of people in low-income countries have received one dose, while in countries such as Canada, China, Denmark, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, at least 75% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.
Only a handful of the world’s poorest countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Nepal – have reached the 70% mark in vaccinations. Many countries, however, are under 20% and, in countries such as Haiti, Senegal, and Tanzania, for example, vaccination rates remain at or below 10%.
In addition, with the start of vaccinations in North Korea in late September, Eritrea remains the only country in the world that has not administered vaccines.
Anna Breuer contributed reporting to this story.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
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