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

November 10, 2020 -- This past summer, the global new daily covid-19 cases numbers were hovering around 250,000, as the world seemed to be settling on a high plateau. For the last week, the daily average more than doubled to 565,000, with a peak at 638,039 last Friday. Today, the US and a few other countries broke their daily records, while 54 countries reported more than 1,000 new cases, 13 reported more than 10,000 cases and 8 nations reported over 20,000 new daily infections. The global daily covid-19 death toll is reaching heights we had not reported since the middle of June. We also have positive news to report with yesterday morning's press release from Pharmaceutical leader Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, co-announcing encouraging results from their initial analysis from their experimental vaccine's phase three testing:

  • Vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis
  • Analysis evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants
  • Study enrolled 43,538 participants, with 42% having diverse backgrounds, and no serious safety concerns have been observed; Safety and additional efficacy data continue to be collected
  • Submission for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) planned for soon after the required safety milestone is achieved, which is currently expected to occur in the third week of November
  • Clinical trial to continue through to final analysis at 164 confirmed cases in order to collect further data and characterize the vaccine candidate’s performance against other study endpoints

An article about the report is featured below.

COVID-19 in the world today:

  • COVID-19 Global cases: 51,796,749 (+563,548)
  • COVID-19 Global deaths: 1,278,094 (+9,189)
  • COVID-19 Global death rate: 2.47%
  • COVID-19 Global testing*: 880,588,249 confirmed tests (+5,106,341)
  • COVID-19 Global positivity rate: 5.88%
  • COVID-19 Global single-day positivity rate: 10.62%

*: 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.
Pfizer’s Covid Vaccine: 11 Things You Need to Know | nytimes.com
As coronavirus cases surge in the United States and elsewhere, with little relief in sight, the world got good news on Monday. Pfizer and its partner, the German company, BioNTech, announced preliminary results that suggested their vaccine was more than 90 percent effective.

The news — the first results from any late-stage vaccine trial — buoyed stock markets and spirits as the public saw a glimmer of hope. But it’s worth noting that the news is still preliminary, and there is much that is still not known about how well the vaccine works.

And one thing remained clear: The vaccine will not come in time to rescue the world from the next several months, when the virus will take many more lives unless the public takes more stringent public health measures.

Here’s what we know, and don’t know, about the vaccine.

What did these scientists find out?

In July, Pfizer and BioNTech initiated a late-stage clinical trial on a coronavirus vaccine. Half of the people got the vaccine, while the other half got a placebo of salt water. The companies then waited for people to get sick to determine if the vaccine offered any protection.

So far, 94 participants out of nearly 44,000 have gotten sick with Covid-19. An independent board of experts looked at how many of those people got the vaccine, and how many got the placebo. That early analysis suggests the vaccine is over 90 percent effective.

As is standard for clinical trials, the data was “blinded,” meaning that no one except the independent board — not the volunteers, doctors, or the company’s top executives — knows how many of the 94 people sickened by the virus got the vaccine or the placebo. Given the estimate that the vaccine is over 90 percent effective, however, we can safely assume very few people who were vaccinated got Covid-19.
One In Five Covid-19 Patients Diagnosed With A Mental Illness Within Three Months Of Testing Positive, Study Finds | forbes.com
In another worrying set of findings for the long-term impact of Covid-19, a new peer reviewed study has confirmed reported links between psychiatric illness and Covid-19, with nearly one in five Covid-19 patients developing a mental illness within three months of testing positive for the virus and those with pre-existing mental conditions being 65% more likely to be diagnosed with Covid-19, even accounting for other risk factors. 
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 last week's national daily record of new cases with 135,574 new positive tests as of 6:00pm PST. The novel coronavirus killed 1,345 more Americans in the last 24 hours and 7,166 of our brothers and sisters in the last seven days (1,024 daily national 7-day average), while infecting 864,983 (123,569 daily national average over the last week). The north east is again showing active infectious spread and some of the initially battered states are now exhibiting uncontrolled outbreaks, particularly in Michigan, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Texas COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 1
  • 1,042,439 cases (+12,212) peak
  • 19,453 deaths (+123)
  • 9,851,884 tests (+58,549)
  • positivity rate 10.58%
  • 24hr positivity rate: 20.86%
Illinois COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 5
  • 511,183 cases (+12,623) peak
  • 10,645 deaths (+82)
  • 8,571,019 tests (+101,955)
  • positivity rate 5.96%
  • 24hr positivity rate: 12.38%
Colorado COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 26
  • 138,427 cases (+3,890) peak
  • 2,427 deaths (+19)
  • 1,367,027 tests (+15,532)
  • positivity rate 10.13%
  • 24hr positivity rate: 25.05%
Wyoming COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 46
  • 19,242 cases (+1,232) peak
  • 127 deaths (+13)
  • 305,408 tests (+7,000 est.)
  • positivity rate 6.30%
  • 24hr positivity rate: N/A
COVID-19 in the USA

  • Cases: 10,559,184 (+135,574) PEAK
  • Deaths: 245,799 (+1,345 highest since mid August)
  • Death rate: 2.33%
  • Testing: 160,594,526 individual tests (+1,305,985)
  • Positivity rate: 6.58%
  • Single-day positivity date: 10.38%
US top 5 infected states:

  1. Texas: 1,007,155 COVID-19 cases, 19,154 deaths
  2. California: 965,523 COVID-19 cases, 17,939 deaths
  3. Florida: 832,625 COVID-19 cases, 17,016 deaths
  4. New York: 558,950 COVID-19 cases, 33,786 deaths
  5. Illinois: 465,540 COVID-19 cases, 10,397 deaths
In California
California Coronavirus Update: 11 Counties Ordered To Impose More Restrictive COVID Measures With Many More Likely; Theaters Must Close Again In 3 Counties| deadline.com
After Governor Gavin Newsom warned yesterday that some of California’s counties would be falling back in his coronavirus reopening protocols, the state’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Mark Ghaly, announced on Tuesday that a total of 11 counties were being required to move back to more restrictive measures.

A total of 11 counties, including one of the state’s most populous, fell back in the governor’s tiering structure. Sacramento, Stanislaus and San Diego retreated to the most restrictive Purple tier. That means movie theaters in those counties — which had been allowed to reopen up to 100 people or 25%, whichever is less in the Red tier — must shutter indoor operations once again.
California will pass the 1 million cumulative covid-19 cases milestone this Thursday, the second state to do so after Texas. Today's daily case report is the highest since the middle of August.

  • COVID-19 California cases: 991,810 (+8,352)
  • COVID-19 California deaths: 18,070 (+65)
  • COVID-19 California death rate: 1.82%
  • COVID-19 California testing: 20,094,641 individual tests (+176,162)
  • COVID-19 California positivity rate: 4.94%
  • COVID-19 California single-day positivity rate: 4.74%
In the Central Valley
The Madera County Department of Public Health COVID-19 Update:

11/10/2020 COVID-19 UPDATE: Reporting 24 cases from the public bringing the total number of reported cases to 5,330. 
Of the 5,330:
  • 417 active case (including 6 Madera County residents hospitalized in Madera County) 
  • 4,837 recovered (17 released from isolation) 
  • 76 deceased
Madera County is averaging 21 new cases per day (13 per 100K), with 293 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 reported 1,171 new infections and 4 new coronavirus deaths. In the combined 7 counties, COVID-19 has infected 112,101 people and has killed 1,513 residents of our region since it claimed its first central valley victim, in Madera, on March 26, 2020. The County of Mariposa added 7 new cases over the weekend, a large number for the small county, skewing its percentage of new cases. 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: 88 cases, 2 deaths, 7,578 tests, 1.16+%
  • Merced: 10,193 cases (+53), 164 deaths (+1), 67,399 tests, 15.12+%
  • Madera: 5,330 cases (+24), 76 deaths, 82,197 tests, 6.48+%
  • Fresno: 33,162 cases (732), 456 deaths (+2), 389,199 tests, 8.52+%
  • Tulare: 18,610 cases (+181), 299 deaths (+2), est. 186,100 tests, 10.00+%
  • Kings: 9,108 cases (+38), 83 deaths, 123,558 tests, 7.37+%
  • Kern: 35,610 cases (+143), 429 deaths, 232,675 tests, 15.30+%

COVID-19 in the 7 counties together

  • 7 counties cases: 112,101 (+1,171)
  • 7 counties deaths: 1,513 (+4)
  • 7 counties death rate: 1.35%
  • 7 Counties tests: 1,088,706 (est.)
  • 7 Counties positivity rate: 10.30%
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.