Our Response to COVID-19: Information
Globally
Good evening,

October 30, 2020 -- For the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, one country broke the 100,000 new cases mark in one single day. With this devastating new record, the United States is again distancing itself from all other nations with more cases and a nationwide prospect of overwhelmed hospitals, shortages of front-line health workers, PPEs, and supplies, including body bags. As we have learned the hard way, the coronavirus deaths will lag by about two weeks, and their numbers will stun our nation. Just yesterday, in full campaign mode, the White House broadcast a fake reality to its adoring fans, claiming victory over covid-19. Today, as if on cue, the virus roared back and accelerated its spread even further into 49 states and Puerto Rico, leaving one single state still relatively protected: Hawaii. Our president has failed to protect us. Election day is this coming Tuesday. Do your part.
 
The world reached a new peak, adding 578,757 new cases in one day. Beside the US, many countries peaked including Russia, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Ukraine, Holland, Poland, Romania, Portugal, and Austria. Many other countries flirted with their peak: France, Spain, Argentina, Great Britain, Iran, Czechia, Canada, Morocco, and Sweden. Facing unbridled spread of the disease, France, Germany, and Belgium have just entered a second lockdown that will likely last 4 to 6 weeks. Germany is reportedly taking in patients from the already overwhelmed Belgian medical infrastructure. Belgium has the highest patients density of any country in Europe.
 
The next report will be published at the end of next week.

COVID-19 in the world today:

  • COVID-19 Global cases: 45,892,167 (+578,757) peak
  • COVID-19 Global deaths: 1,193,214 (+7,476)
  • COVID-19 Global death rate: 2.60%
  • COVID-19 Global testing*: 814,037,467 confirmed tests (+5,836,840)
  • COVID-19 Global positivity rate: 5.64%
  • COVID-19 Global single-day positivity rate: 9.83%

*:incomplete data set.
Tip: click on any of the graphs for larger and clearer images and click on READ MORE to view the complete articles. Also, please forgive the occasional typos.
Russia COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 4
  • 1,599,976 cases (+18,283) peak
  • 27,656 deaths (+355)
  • 59,866,561 tests (+582,442)
  • positivity rate 2.67%
Italy COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 13
  • 647,674 cases (+31,079) peak
  • 37,321 deaths (+199)
  • 15,568,575 tests (+215,085)
  • positivity rate 4.16%
Austria COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 50
  • 99,576 cases (+5,627) peak
  • 1,082 deaths (+26)
  • 2,203,993 tests (+50,927)
  • positivity rate 4.52%
France COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 5
  • 1,1331,984 cases (+49,215)
  • 36,276 deaths (+256)
  • 15,836,818 tests (+243,862)
  • positivity rate 8.70%
Portugal COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 37
  • 137,272 cases (+4,656) peak
  • 2,468 deaths (+40)
  • 3,361,537 tests (+34,317)
  • positivity rate 4.08%
Poland COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 26
  • 340,834 cases (+21,629) peak
  • 5,351 deaths (+202)
  • 4,653,611 tests (+78,276)
  • positivity rate 7.32%
Taiwan Counts 200th Day Of No New Local Coronavirus Infections—Here’s How They Did It | forbes.com
Taiwan on Thursday counted its 200th day without recording a single domestically transmitted coronavirus case, just as other regions of the world—like the U.S. and Europe—are battling record-breaking surges in new cases, making the island country a rare success story of the pandemic.

It’s no small feat, especially considering how many people live there—with nearly 24 million residents, it would fall between Florida and Texas in terms of population, but in comparison, those U.S. states have counted 790,000 and 931,000 cases, respectively, along with more than 16,000 and 18,000 deaths each.

“Taiwan is the only major country that has so far been able to keep community transmission of Covid eliminated,” Peter Collignon, an Australian National University Medical School professor told Bloomberg, adding that the country has “probably had the best result around the world.”

Taiwan was served well by shutting down borders early on and heavily monitoring travel as well as the mandatory two-week quarantines of new arrivals ever since—while no new locally spread cases have been reported, the country has counted 20 new cases coming from overseas in the past 14 days, according to a Bloomberg report, with 3 registered on Thursday alone.

The country’s past brush with SARS in a 2003 outbreak that infected hundreds and killed dozens is said to be fresh enough in people’s memory that the widespread wearing of face coverings and other means of mitigating viral spread was easily accepted by most of the population, and the government also already had systems in place to quickly address a public health disaster like coronavirus, the Washington Post reported.

The country has also made quarantine easier for residents by providing grocery and food delivery services, although steep fines of up to $35,000 have also been put into place to discourage people who would break quarantine, according to Bloomberg.

553. That’s how many confirmed cases Taiwan has counted as of Thursday, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Taiwan has counted seven deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and no new local cases have been reported since mid-April.
Scientists mobilize against herd immunity approach

An international group of scientists has written a response to a push for a "herd immunity" approach to managing the pandemic, which would involve letting the virus spread.

The WHO last week denounced the herd approach—a term used for vaccines—as "scientifically and ethically problematic," because it could greatly boost deaths and expose more people to a virus that may have long-term health consequences. However, a document, known as the Great Barrington declaration, with a list of supporters of the approach was reportedly embraced by the White House.

The Infectious Diseases Society of America has denounced the document, and pushback gained more steam today with the publication in The Lancet of the John Snow Memorandum, which includes scientific references and has now been signed by more than 2,000 scientists, researchers, and health professionals.
In the US
Today, 36 states reported at least 1,000 new COVID-19 infections. The US broke the daily record of new cases with a stunning 101,358 new positive tests as of 6:00pm PDT. The novel coronavirus killed 985 more Americans in the last 24 hours and 5,872 of our brothers and sisters in the last seven days, while infecting 562,281 more patients. The US map above indicates that Hawaii is the only state reporting a slow disease growth, with most coastal states at risk of an outbreak, and the heartland painted in red, indicating an active or imminent outbreak.
Ohio COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 12
  • 212,823 cases (+3,826) peak
  • 5,341 deaths (+16)
  • 4,401,763 tests (+48,746)
  • positivity rate 4.83%
  • 24hr positivity rate: 7.85%
Iowa COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 24
  • 125,109 cases (+2,755)
  • 1,706 deaths (+10)
  • 965,140 tests
  • positivity rate 12.96%
  • death rate: 39.27%
Minnesota COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 22
  • 145,465 cases (+3,154) peak
  • 2,491 deaths (+19)
  • 2,803,338 tests (+32,888)
  • positivity rate 5.19%
  • 24hr positivity rate: 9.59%
South Dakota COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 38
  • 44,559 cases (+1,559) peak
  • 415 deaths (+12)
  • 256,656 tests (+3,142)
  • positivity rate 17.36%
  • 24hr positivity rate: 49.62%
COVID-19 in the USA

  • Cases: 9,316,194 (+101,358) PEAK
  • Deaths: 235,156 (+985)
  • Death rate: 2.52%
  • Testing: 142,796,279 individual tests (+1,126,951)
  • Positivity rate: 6.50%
  • Single-day positivity date: 8.99%
US top 5 infected states:

  1. Texas: 949,971 COVID-19 cases, 18,507 deaths
  2. California: 929,944 COVID-19 cases, 17,627 deaths
  3. Florida: 800,216 COVID-19 cases, 16,720 deaths
  4. New York: 542,094 COVID-19 cases, 33,655 deaths
  5. Illinois: 408,660 COVID-19 cases, 9,994 deaths
In California
Coronavirus is far more widespread in Orange County than reported, study shows | latimes.com
The number of COVID-19 infections in Orange County may be nearly eight times higher than previously thought, a new antibody study suggests.

Although the screening, a collaborative effort between UC Irvine and the O.C. Health Care Agency, demonstrates that the coronavirus may be far more widespread — though less deadly — than official numbers indicate, researchers said more work is needed to understand the level of protection that antibodies provide and how best to address disparities in how the virus affects different populations.

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“Our study demonstrates that, while a significant number of O.C. residents were already exposed and developed antibodies to COVID-19, much of the county still remains vulnerable to the virus,” Bernadette Boden-Albala, director of the university’s Program in Public Health, said in a statement. “For researchers, there is a lot more work to be done.”

From July 10 to Aug. 16, nearly 3,000 county residents were tested for an array of coronavirus antibodies, which are produced as part of the body’s natural immune response to a virus.

Of those screened, 11.5% were found to have antibodies for COVID-19.

“There was this lurking suspicion that there’s a large fraction of people who have had it that did not know,” Tim Bruckner, an associate professor of public health at UCI, said in a statement. “Either they had symptoms and did not seek care, or they did not have symptoms and had no reason to go.”
  • COVID-19 California cases: 929,944 (+4,889)
  • COVID-19 California deaths: 17,627 (+56)
  • COVID-19 California death rate: 1.90%
  • COVID-19 California testing: 18,444,523 individual tests (+120,752)
  • COVID-19 California positivity rate: 5.04%
  • COVID-19 California single-day positivity rate: 4.05%
In the Central Valley
The Madera County Department of Public Health COVID-19 Update:

10/30/2020 COVID-19 UPDATE: Reporting 27 cases from the public and 1 from Valley State Prison (total 28 cases) bringing the total number of reported cases to 5,094. 
Of the 5,094:
  • 338 active case (including 9 Madera County residents hospitalized in Madera County) 
  • 4,680 recovered (17 released from isolation) 
  • 76 deceased
Madera County is averaging 18.43 new cases per 100,000 residents, with 258 new cases revealed over the last 14 days. We need to get down to an average of 11 cases per day or 154 cases over 14 days to switch from purple to red (from "widespread" to "substantial" contagion risk).

Today, the seven local counties together confirmed 424 new infections and 7 new coronavirus deaths. In the combined 7 counties, COVID-19 has infected 107,059 and has killed 1,476 residents of our region since it claimed its first central valley victim, in Madera, on March 26, 2020. Our friends and neighbors are needlessly dying, many families are suffering. Science and the courage to follow its logic will solve this pandemic, any other discourse is inadequate.
COVID-19 in Madera + 6 local counties (+% is the positivity rate)

  • Mariposa: 81 cases, 2 deaths, 7,141 tests, 1.13+%
  • Merced: 9,674 cases (+51), 156 deaths (+1), 68,536 tests, 14.12+%
  • Madera: 5,094 cases (+28), 76 deaths, 73,895 tests, 6.89+%
  • Fresno: 31,594 cases (+104), 443 deaths (+4), 360,440 tests, 8.77+%
  • Tulare: 17,852 cases (+52), 293 deaths (+1), est. 148,767 tests, 12.00+%
  • Kings: 8,456 cases (+35), 83 deaths, 113,208 tests, 7.47+%
  • Kern: 34,308 cases (+154), 423 deaths (+1), 220,352 tests, 15.57+%

COVID-19 in the 7 counties together

  • 7 counties cases: 107,059 (+424)
  • 7 counties deaths: 1,476 (+7)
  • 7 counties death rate: 1.38%
  • 7 Counties tests: 992,339 (est.)
  • 7 Counties positivity rate: 10.79%
Cases in the local counties have been inching up for two weeks -- up 33 from last week and 443 from the previous week -- while covid-19 related fatalities are down by 6 since last week. Yesterday, the COVID-19 infections risk levels were raised from "slow disease growth" to "at risk of outbreak" for Kings and Fresno counties, and for the state of California.
Keep observing the simple yet proven safety habits of physical-distancing, mask-wearing, and frequent hand-washing, that will help drive down new infections and new deaths numbers, to a level low enough so as to give us a chance to reopen our schools for onsite education and thus, reopen our economy. Nothing else will work until we have a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.
From our hearts to yours,

Fredo and Renee Martin
Workingarts Marketing, inc.
+1-559-662-1119

PS: We welcome comments and questions. If you wish to review previous reports, we now host past issues here.