Covering COVID-19 is a daily Poynter report on article concepts on the coronavirus and other hot topics for reporters, written through Lead Professor Al Tompkins. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox every morning of the week.
We have a tendency to pay attention to COVID-19 case numbers in such a local way that it’s easy to miss the much larger and more vital picture. The New York Times tracks the total number of cases at universities across the country and just published this staggering number:
A New York Times survey of more than 1,500 U. S. schools and colleges, adding all four-year public institutions, all personal schools that participate in NCAA sports, and others that have known cases, found at least 51,000 cases and at least 60 deaths. since the pandemic. has started.
The Times plotted the knowledge on an interactive map that we will travel through the school. The darker the point, the more cases have been reported:
The Times also has a lookup table that allows you to enter the names of schools and see the number of reported COVID-19 cases. Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina are among the states with the number of school and college campus cases. Texas has the highest number of cases so far.
However, The Times added a note on the data: There is no national government database of COVID-19 instances on campuses, prompting journalists to ask, “WHY? No, to report this. refusal to do so.
Just as we don’t have a database of prisons and prisons, which are COVID-19 hotspots and are connected to some of the most virulent super-spreading events, it’s hard to see how the government hasn’t led universities to report. instances of COVID-19. regularly. Ask public fitness officials why they don’t collect this data and make it public.
Even when they collect data, according to the Times, universities erase it.
In the absence of a national monitoring system, schools establish their own regulations on how to count infections. While the Times survey is the most comprehensive account available, it is also a safe maximum under-coverage. Among the schools Times contacted, many posted case data online or responded to requests for case numbers, but at least 360 others ignored inquiries or declined to answer questions. More than 170 have reported 0 cases.
Given the size disparities, reopening plans, and transparency between universities, this knowledge deserves not to be used for campus-to-campus comparisons. Some schools remove other people from your account once they recover. Some only report tests done on campus. And some, in the first place, provided insights that still stopped.
The Times also tries to separate the express fields from to see if certain educational branches disclose academics more than others. It found, for example, that universities with medical schools reported a significant number of COVID-19 cases:
Note that the Times noted that not all schools report knowledge, and even when they do, not all schools report corrupted knowledge through quick test fields, so direct comparison is not imaginable. from one school to another.
Almost certainly, for the Times, all the numbers are underrated.
In the world of drug trials, it does not correspond to a phase 3 trial to press the “pause” button. But when the hiatus hits one of the major COVID-19 trials, that’s news.
AstraZeneca announced Tuesday night that it would be taking a break to explore a serious-looking effect on a player in a drug trial in the UK. The progression highlights how difficult it is to wait for a date when an effective drug will emerge.
StatNews reported that the pause could send a chill over other drug trials underway:
A person familiar with the progression said the researchers were told the trial was suspended as a “great precaution. ” A current user familiar with the matter, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the discovery had an effect on other ongoing AstraZeneca vaccine trials, as well as clinical trials being conducted through other brands of AstraZeneca. vaccinations
Lately, there are nine phase 3 drugs worldwide.
I don’t know what to make of this study that made a lot of noise on social media on Tuesday. The study says, “We concluded that the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has generated very significant public conditioning costs, which we estimate to be at least $ 12. 2 billion. “
Interestingly, it claims that 19% of the 1. 4 million new COVID-19 cases in the US between August 2 and September 2 were related to the Sturgis rally.
The study went on to say that the figure is only an estimate that could be disrupted, so in a sense, don’t worry too much about the express numbers, but “nevertheless, we conclude that the local and national contagion this time around is substantial. “.
The study documented some main attractive points about this year’s rally, adding the fact that bars and restaurants were fully open and alcohol sales were up 27% from last year, which the study found may also mean that those who are in the rally around this time were even less worried. about the dangers of the usual. (Some on social media have warned that the construction possibly reflects other people choosing not to drink in crowded bars. )
The researchers used mobile phone pings to locate where other people were coming from and where they were going. Using this data, he analyzed trends in COVID-19 in the places where the maximum of other people lived. About 10% of the other people who attended the rally are from South Dakota, where the number of cases increased in the weeks after the rally. But, according to the study, “Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Washington, and Wyoming have seen a 10. 7% increase in COVID-19 cases. more than 3 weeks after the opening of the Sturgis Rally, and approximately two weeks after the closing of the events. These states were among the states with the highest representation at the meeting.
The exam becomes accurate. I’m going to list a few counties that some of you might need to dig deeper into:
The effects continue to show strong evidence that in the weeks following the Sturgis rally, instances of COVID-19 grew the fastest in the counties that attracted the most Sturgis attendees. In our absolute influx counties, comprised of Adams County, Colorado, Jefferson County, Colorado, Weld County, Colorado, Maricopa County, Arizona, Clark Array County of Nevada, Anoka County, Minnesota and Campbell County, Wisconsin, we see that the Sturgis rally is linked to a 13. 5% increase in COVID-19 instances.
Without touch tracking, I’m sure we can say with as much confidence as the test implies that everything is connected. It is also true that some of the counties that saw an increase in COVID-19 rates after Sturgis saw an expansion prior to the Sturgis event.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that now that the Senate is back in Washington after several weeks off, it could, later this week, present an adjusted COVID-19 stimulus bill. The Republican Party’s bill can fetch around $ 500, while House Democrats need a $ 2. 2 trillion stimulus.
Senate Republican Party bill includes for express groups, adding small businesses, daycare centers, and the post office. It is also renewing a war to provide shields for businesses if they are sued in case staff or consumers contract COVID-19 and blame businesses. It has been a debatable factor since the start of the pandemic and President Donald Trump has insisted on this protection. This is not a trivial matter, as the first wave of COVID-19-related lawsuits has begun to make its way through the courts.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said: “Let’s do a more specific bill now. If we want to do more in 30 days, we will continue to do more. But let’s keep American people and businesses. “
But Senator McConnell has said the looming election may be the biggest challenge preventing the approval of a momentary stimulus bill when either side gets in the way.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that the Senate bill “isn’t going anywhere. “
As corporations look for a way to help parents paint and care for young people who are home for classes, predictable friction is developing. Employees who do not have youth say they are forgotten. Employees without youth say they have more paints, while staff with youth say their peers simply don’t realize how difficult it is to paint and form a family circle right now.
The New York Times cited some examples:
The maximum tension between parents and nonparents obviously shows up on Facebook.
In March, Facebook presented workers with up to 10 weeks of paid time off if they needed to care for a child whose school or daycare had closed or an older relative whose nursing home had not. not open. Google and Microsoft have extended similar paid time off for workers who worry about young people at home or a parent in poor health.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO and father of two, also said the company will mark workers in terms of task functionality for the first part of 2020 because there is “a lot of replacement in our lives and our work. “
Every Facebook worker would get regularly booked bonuses for very smart functionality scores, frustrating some childless workers who felt those who worked harder were paid more.
A rather unpleasant exchange took place in an online worker chat room.
The Times noted that the friction is genuine and would possibly be wider than we know.
The resentment of youthless painters for the fringe benefits of parents existed, of course, in corporations before the pandemic. But the fitness crisis has amplified this tension. Parents who had been in control of balancing the paintings and the house find it difficult to help their children stay informed from a distance while doing their work.
In a July survey of 1,700 more people via ZipRecruiter, a homework directory, and a recruiting site, parents said that if schools don’t reopen at all this fall, it would reduce the number of hours they could just paint. Mothers said their operating hours would be reduced by 9%, while fathers said their operating hours would be reduced by 5%.
I wonder if some of that frustration is related to some other things. We all feel like we’re running harder and longer than ever as we leave the house. There is no separation from home and when home IS theArray AND since you can’t see how hard other people are running, it can seem like no one is running as hard as you.
It is also true that we all benefit from a well-educated population matrix . . . and that when our colleagues do not have to worry about family circle matters, they are more productive. There is also the more compassionate question of doing what we can to help our colleagues.
This theme has many layers. Hope you explore it for your reports and also how it works in your writing.
Detroit Free Press said automakers say it will take years to regain lost sales in the first component this year. The US auto industry is expected to sell 17 million cars in 2020. The true figure will approach 13 million.
But the pandemic also appears to be changing our attitudes about whether or not we should own a car. Before the pandemic, Americans were thinking more and more about public transportation and carpooling than buying a car and driving it ourselves. Now owning a car takes on a new shine.
USA Today said:
Among Americans buying vehicles lately, more than one in 5, or 22%, had no plans to buy one before the pandemic began, according to a recent survey via CarGurus car buying.
Times are tough for the industry. Car sales declined in 2020 due to the economic slowdown and record unemployment. The Center for Automotive Research, a nonprofit organization that tracks the industry, projected US sales of about 13 million cars in 2020, down from previous forecasts of about 17 million.
New car buyers can get great deals right now. According to Edmunds experts, “More and more 2021-style cars are entering showrooms as automakers ramp up production. Edmunds knowledge shows that 4. 6%, or about one in 20 cars sold, in August were 2021 styles, compared to 1. 8%, or about one in 50 cars sold, in July. “
Edmunds said the average Labor Day refund is $ 3,111, more than $ 150 more than a month ago and more than $ 300 since June.
Used cars are in high demand, partly due to the fact that other people don’t need to use public transportation.
Edmunds said:
Consumers who plan to sell or market their vehicle in the short or long term must raise the cause now.
Edmunds analysts say used car trade prices are also expanding significantly. Edmunds knowledge shows that the average price of all cars traded in July rose to $ 14,066 from $ 12,083 in June, an increase of 16. 4%, or just under $ 2,000. Our analysts note that a limited stock of new cars and a building Demand for used cars is driving prices up – Edmunds knowledge shows that the average number of response days for used cars has dropped to 38, 3 days in July compared to 44. 1 days in June. The 13. 1% drop is Edmunds’ biggest monthly drop on record.
While researching the car sales figures, I came across this little gem of history. While it is true that we will spend more time in cars and less in public transport, marketers are interested in the generation of cars that will allow you to control things from the touch screen of your car. Imagine that you come home and a place to eat that you love has a quick sale; receive an alert when you approach the place.
The generation of geofences would allow a place to eat to know how far it is to pick up an order. It may simply send you express weather alerts for your destination and update the weather along your route.
If you run out of gas, it will notify you of some places where you can refuel. And it can locate an open parking spot for you close to where you need to shop, then reserve the spot with just one tap on the screen. It can be your future.
KUER news director Elaine Clark was walking into her space Monday when a 100 mph wind gust roared through Utah and sent a branch out of her window. As she said in her Facebook post, “Well that’s where I am sitting. PS I’m fine. Just terrified.
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Al Tompkins is a full professor at Poynter. He can be reached at atompkins@poynter. org or on Twitter, @atompkins.