Pandemic – Page 5 – surfing the universe

20200413M Day 104: Dr. Robin Armstrong, M.D. in Texas, Interview with Joe Piscopo about COVID-19 Treatment at Nursing Home

Screen Shot 2020-04-15 at 8.10.28 PM — Dr. Robin Armstrong, medical director of The Resort at Texas City nursing home. April 7, 2020. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

SANTA CRUZ, California – I have been interested in treatments for COVID-19 since my brother sent me a treatment involving hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and azithromycin. When I heard that a doctor in Texas, near my hometown, was treating patients at a nursing home, which was on Logan Street, I had to learn more. Here are the notes I took from an interview that Dr. Robin Armstrong had with Joe Piscopo on April 13.

JP: Are older folks affected most?

RA: Yes, they are more predisposed to COVID-19, just as with other similar illnesses.

JP: Does this virus keep circulating in a closed area?

RA: Yes, this virus is transmitted very easily with RO of 2-3. It can live on surfaces up to 48 hours. That’s why this virus is different. It’s also different because people shed the virus while they are asymptomatic.

Susan, 68yo: If symptomatic, do I ask for a drug from the beginning, or wait until breathing problems occur.

RA: We really don’t know. In our nursing home, we wait until someone becomes symptomatic. The majority of people have mild symptoms and get over this. In India, they are taking it prophylactically now. I’m not recommending that yet here.

JP: Hydroxychloroquine usage in India? The deaths there are much less.

RA: A friend of mine in India says people there are taking hydroxychloroquine prophylactically. Patients having mild symptoms are improving. Our study is suggestive that it works as well. Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin together are effective at moderating mild symptoms.

JP: What about platelets?

RA: You can harvest blood plasma with anti-covid-19 antibodies and some people have had success with that. This is for very ill hospital patients. My goal is to keep people out of the hospital.

JP: [Asked about politics]

RA: I’m on the Republican national committee now and that’s why some in the mainstream media has been attacking me regarding this treatment.

JP: What is the agenda of the mainstream media in attacking this?

RA: Their entire focus is on defeating Trump and anything that brings him down, that’s what they are aiming for. I treated my patients based on the studies out of China and France – not because Trump suggested it.

RA: We have an ample supply of it – Bayer is the maker of it – it shows promise and we should be prescribing it for people.

JP: Texas will open soon I hear?

RA: I’m sure hoping so. Texas has not been as hard hit as New York City. We are more spread out and rural, so it’s harder for the virus to jump from person to person. We need to listen to the scientists and do it in a wise manner.

20200409h Day 100: First 100 Days in a Pandemic Wormhole in NY Daily News Front Page Headlines

Screen Shot 2020-04-11 at 6.45.56 AM — “Out With The Old” — The Jan 1, 2020 New York Daily News front page appears, in retrospect, to warn us of the elderly targeting pandemic that is coming our way.

Santa Cruz, CA: The New York Daily News was founded in 1919 during the 1918 flu pandemic. It was the first U.S. daily newspaper printed in tabloid format. With a 100 year history, it seems like a good one to review the first 100 days of my universe surfing through what feels to me like a wormhole into a pandemic and back.

The first day front page headline “Out With The Old” could mean many things. The least on people’s mind then would be a warning of an upcoming pandemic that would kill the elderly at the highest level since the 1918 flu pandemic.

Here are the first 100 days of front page headlines from the NY Daily News:

Out With The Old
How Hate Looks
U.S. Kills Top Iran General
Iran Vows Payback
The Return of Fear
N.Y. At Her Best – 20,000 march against hate
Bolton: I’m Ready to Sing
Iran Hits Back
Brit Hits the Fan – Harry, Meghan to Ditch Royal Life
Iran Shot Down Jet (accidentally killing 176). PowerBall jackpot $277M
She was 92, Sicko (21yo charged with sexual assault and murder of 92yo)
Revolving Door Lunacy
Sicko’s Lame Defense (21yo denies attack despite video evidence)
The Last ‘Stro (foreshadowing a world without major Sports events)
May The Farce Be With You! (foreshadowing an epic struggle with truth)
Schmear Campaign – Mayor who eats pizza with a fork sparks new fury by TOASTING a fresh bagel
The Good News, He’s UNDEFEATED – The Bad News, He’s UNEMPLOYED (foreshadowing a world where even though shelter-in-place keeps more people alive, it kills their means of employment)
‘ICE’ Cold Slap at Bill (New York’s sanctuary city policies come under attack)
No ‘Bettor’ Place to Be – Jersey crushes N.Y. in sports gambling
Bloomy’s Blitz for Black Votes – Mike Bloomberg Touts mega-bucks for homes, businesses, and poor neighborhoods (Even multi-billionaire Bloomberg can’t fathom the “mega-bucks” stimulus to come)
Get Out of My City! (foreshadowing a world with travel restrictions and screening)
Close 2 Perfect
Wein Stains (about the connection of sexual assault with power and the presidency)
Trainwreck (foreshadowing the world and US mishandling of pandemic)
Devil Duo
Do Not Panic
Kobe Bryant – Hoops Legend, 41, killed in helicopter crash (the first of a wave of unexpected celebrity deaths)
Chicken Kiev – Mitch refuses to budge on witnesses despite Bolton’s Ukraine bombshell
Coward’s End
Road Kill – Uber & Lyft doomed cabbie biz; Center of the Storm; Weinstein Sex Games
Come on, GOP, it’s your last chance to … Show Some Spine
Baby-Faced Butcher
No One Would Listen (foreshadowing U.S. and world leader’s ignoring warnings of coming pandemic)
City Hall’s ‘Gangsta’ Problem (anti-gang activists accused of acting like a gangster)
Caucus Chaos (foreshadowing chaos to come in U.S. presidential election)
Who Won? Who Lost? Who Knows! – And This Guy [Trump] Definitely Doesn’t Care
Our Long National Nightmare is Over (Far From It) (foreshadowing the coming statement from Trump that the U.S. is going to get back to work, and yet we are likely only in the beginning fight against the coronavirus pandemic)
No Safe Haven from ICE
The GOP father
Trouble at the Polls (more foreshadowing of what is yet to come)
‘Assassin’
Gunning for NYPD
Pimp & Circumstance – Kerik’s best man ran sex cult at posh college
Menace 2 Society
Pamper Party Playboy – Accused of drugging, raping underage girls
Just Did It
Bust in Tessa’s Killing
End of the Wein?
Stuck in the Middle
Cuffed for 30 Hours
Bloom Goes the Dynamite
Roger & Over
Split Happens; Remember the ‘Miracle’
Jackpot!
Grisly Machete Attack
#WeToo
School Bus Horror
Buggin’ Out! (Second front page about coronavirus pandemic does not appear until Feb. 27)
Turnstile Justice (back to jail revolving door); Streets of Death (foreshadowing?)
Mask Hysteria
Joe Yeah!
It’s Here!
Go, Joe Rabbit!
Smokin’ Joe
Bloom and Bust
Spread Dread Grows in City
Hero Fights for Life (foreshadowing the coronavirus deaths to come from our heroes who are working to save us); Stumped By Disease
Way Off Course; N.Y. State of Corona Emergency
Time for the Truth; Virus finds a new route into city
Cuo-Rona Cleaner; Dow Suffers Worst Drop Ever
New Roch-hell – Mile-wide swath of W’chester city shut, schools closed, National Guard deployed
War on COVID-19 – President Trump bans all travel from Europe for 30 days
Goin’ Bunkers – Mayor de Blasio declares a state of emergency in New York City
Anger Goes Viral – Mayor de Blasio came under fire Friday from parents and advocates for keeping city schools open in the face of the coronavirus pandemic
Terrible ‘Strain’ – Healthy but panicked people are draining resources. New York has its first two deaths from COVID-19. President Trump tests negative for coronavirus and says he’s totally “normal.”
School’s Out – Virus risk forces mayor to send 1.1M kids home for more than a month. Mayor de Blasio announced Sunday that city schools would be closed until at least April 20
Last Call – Restaurants, bars shut to limit crowds. Parents grapple with school closures. Trump finally concedes virus’ threat
Helter Shelter – Blaz, Cuomo at odds over “quarantine” for city. Streets of Little Italy and rest of city are mostly deserted Tuesday. Mayor de Blasio was ready to order residents to shelter-at-home before Gov. Cuomo ruled against draconian measure.
Help is on the Way
Send in The Army – With coronavirus cases skyrocketing, deaths doubling and the city in dire need of medical supplies, Mayor de Blasio urges President Trump on Thursday to send in the military for functions like setting up field hospitals before coronavirus cases ravage the city.
Long Pause – Gov. Cuomo shuts down all non-critical staff in New York on Friday for an undetermined period as the state’s coronavirus cases soar. With the worst still to come, Mayor de Blasio begs for medical supplies, personnel.
Ground Zero – New York City is the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with over 8,100 cases. Gov. Cuomo chastizes sunbathing millennials.
Coming up Empty – Desperate city gets only more promises from Trump as Congress fails on $1T aid package
Javits (Medical) Center
Easter Basket Case – Hare-brained Trump wants churches full for holiday – even as he calls NYC ‘very hot spot’
Our Grim Reality – “Probably more than half of all New Yorkers will be infected with this disease,” NYC Mayor de Blasio said on Wednesday about coronavirus, noting most would have less serious symptoms. “But for a lot of other people, it’s going to be really tough – and we’re going to lose some people.” The majority of sick patients are under the age of 50. (New York Daily News)
Labor Pains – 3.2M people in the United States file for unemployment as coronavirus crushes businesses. (New York Daily News)
Fire Kills Rail Hero; Checks are on the way; ‘Death sentence’
Getting the RonaRound – Gov. Cuomo questioned the legality of President Trump’s surprise idea to shut down the entire N.Y. metro area before Trump backed down. (New York Daily News)
Chow will they survive? – Without financial help soon, many city eateries will die. Jimmy’s Diner in Brooklyn and hundreds of other restaurants across the city wonder if they have served their last meals. (New York Daily News)
Hope floats – Navy ship arrives in city to ease strain on hospitals. The Navy Hospital ship Comfort sails into New York Harbor and is welcomes by a grateful crowd (inset) before docking Monday on the West Side. (New York Daily News)
“We’re on a suicide mission’ – Bronx hospital staff fights through fears, tears to save lives even as colleague dies. Sean Petty, a pediatric nurse at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, wears his desperate need for a proper mask on his face. Petty is among countless nurses and doctors at city hospitals forced to fight coronavirus pandemic without adequate personal protective equipment. (New York Daily News)
Gov Fears 16,000 Dead – The grim state death toll from the coronavirus would dwarf the tally from 9/11. (New York Daily News)
Running Out Of Air – In six days, New York will deplete its ventilator supply as cases soar toward 100,000 in the state. (New York Daily News)
If Only It Were A Muzzle — President Trump announced on Friday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded all people in the U.S. should wear “a basic cloth or fabric mask” whenever they go outside. Trump said, “I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.” (New York Daily News)
Ride On! — MTA getting 250G N95 masks to protect workers from infection. (New York Daily News)
COVID-19 fosters new pain – CUNY kids forced from dorm return to city-provided parents. Queens College student Marcus Diego, who grew up in foster care, said it’s cruel to send students back to homes that are not really theirs. (New York Daily News)
COVID Field – City eyes Hart Island for mass burials as grim toll nears 3,000. Hart Island north of the Bronx (inset) could be used as temporary resting place for coronavirus victims as funeral homes get overwhelmed. (New York Daily News)
Death at Dad’s Door – Brooklyn man, 33, joins grim list of virus victims to die at home after hospital visit. Jorge Cruz of Brooklyn (with son, Logan) died Friday, apparently of COVID-19, after being sent home from hospital. Now his 2-year-old also has the disease, along with the tot’s mother. (New York Daily News)
Out Of Order — On March 12, the courtroom of Brooklyn Judge Johnny Baynes was jammed. He died of complications from COVID-19 two weeks later. (New York Daily News)

As I read through the headlines, it was interesting to see how delayed the news was to covering the coronavirus pandemic as it was raging away in China and entering the US. Since the NY Daily News is a local paper, it can only feel the virus when it is local. This is similar to universe surfing in that we can really only feel the universe we are in. It is very difficult to quantum sense other universes, especially those that are far away. I would bet that the reporters and writers did quantum sense in January what was coming, and yet were too wrapped up in the matrix of the universe to write about what they were sensing. It is a hard enough to quantum sense and even more difficult to make a classical decision in the universe you are in that doesn’t align well with all of the other classical stuff going on in your universe. A ‘hack’ I use is to acknowledge that what I am sensing is a “quantum” variety, and not of this particular universe. Then, I feel like I can access it more readily and it requires less free will to talk about.

20200407T Day 98: Santa Cruz Moonset Sunrise Sunset Moonrise

20200407_NaturalBridgesPanoSunriseMoonset

Santa Cruz, CA: Day 98 was an interesting day. I was blessed to see the moonset, sunrise, sunset, and moonrise along West Cliff. Parking lots are still closed. Announcements have gone out to let people know that the beaches will be closed for Easter in order to discourage visitors.

I had planned to move into a new place but the shelter-in-place has caused a delay in my plans as I negotiate social distancing rules with my current and new community households.

I made it to the dump and got rid of some construction debris from my RV tear down.

20200402F Day 93: Human Coronaviruses in the Multiverse

Screen Shot 2020-04-03 at 7.29.17 AM — A) The number of tests performed to detect any of the four human coronaviruses (HCoVs) -OC43, -NL63, -229E, and -HKU1 reported to the National Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Surveillance System (NREVSS) by week, July 2014–June 2017, B) The percentage of tests positive for HCoVs -OC43, -NL63, -229E, and -HKU1 reported to NREVSS by week, July 2014–June 2017. (Killerby et. al., Apr 2018, 10.1016/j.jcv.2018.01.019)

Santa Cruz, 0403F: Yesterday, I clearly felt two distinct sets of universes. In one set, the world is in a state of crisis and fear due to a novel coronavirus that is causing a fast spreading pandemic of deadly respiratory disease. In the other set, the world is in a state of peace and prosperity. I can sense wormholes connecting to the two sets of universes.

One of the wormholes I sense is there is a novel coronavirus circulating the world, and it is as deadly and infectious as it is in this universe, but the degree of news and fear around the coronavirus varies from one side of the wormhole to the other.

Another one of the wormholes I sense is there is a novel coronavirus circulating the world, and it is feared as it is in this universe, but the degree of deadliness and infectiousness varies from one side of the wormhole to the other.

A third wormhole I sense is there is a novel coronavirus circulating the world, and it is as deadly and infectious as it is in this universe, and it is feared as it is in this universe, but the degree of beneficial action people and governments are taking varies from one side of the wormhole to the other. The beneficial action involves things such as social/physical distancing to slow the spread, manufacturing of PPE for health workers and masks for everyone, financial support for individuals and businesses affected by the shelter-in-place orders, widespread testing and surveillance of the disease, investigations of treatment options to reduce mortality rates, and development of vaccines to decrease the chance of a future outbreaks in the following years.

In the figure above, testing of the four human coronaviruses is plotted for a 3-year period. It can be seen that testing peaked at around 10K tests/week and the percent of these tests that were positive for one coronavirus or another totaled around 10% during the winter season.

20200331 Day 91: How Chloroquine affects Viruses in the Multiverse

1-s2.0-S0924857920300881-gr1 — A composite of some of the ways Chloroquine acts as an antiviral in the multiverse. From Devaux, et. al. Mar. 2020 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105938

Since I’m posting a day late and trying to catch back up, I wanted to make a short post about this recent journal article which summarizes past research on the antiviral properties of Chloroquine. Since the COVID-19 pandemic is such a big effect on the world right now, I was curious if ripples of this event could be felt in the past. I found the following:

1. Effects of Chloroquine on viral infections, an old drug against today’s diseases, Savarino et. al., Nov. 2003

We raise the question of whether this old drug whose parent compound, quinine, was isolated in the late 19th century from the bark of the tropical cinchona tree, may experience a revival in the clinical management of viral diseases of the era of globalisation.

and also this quote seems relevant due to possibility that SARS-CoV-2 induced cytokine storm is being seen in some COVID-19 patients:

The chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine-induced suppression of the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNFα may be beneficial in decreasing the inappropriate immune activation characteristic of HIV infection.

and this suppression of the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines is also given as a hypothetical mechanism of action in SARS cases.

gr3_hypothesis_chloroquine — Hypothetical model for the potential effects of chloroquine (CQ) on the immunopathogenesis of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Proinflammatory cytokines are thought to be important in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).⁵⁶ We hypothesise that chloroquine (black arrow), by inhibiting TNFα and interleukin 6 (IL6) production, might block the subsequent cascade of events, which leads to ARDS. (https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(03)00806-5)

and this final summary of the paper deserves special recognition:

Finally, we want to share with the scientific community the speculative hypothesis that chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine, due to its antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, may have some effect on SARS. We emphasise the need of testing in cell cultures infected with SARS coronavirus the effects of chloroquine, as well as those ofother substances possessing in-vitro activity against members of the coronaviridae family. We should remember that the possibility of new outbreaks of SARS cannot be excluded. In the absence of effective inhibitors of SARS coronavirus, the possibility of an inhibition, at least in vitro, of the replication of this virus would represent a breakthrough in the knowledge of SARS.

2. Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread, Vincent et. al, Aug. 2005

We have identified chloroquine as an effective antiviral agent for SARS-CoV in cell culture conditions, as evidenced by its inhibitory effect when the drug was added prior to infection or after the initiation and establishment of infection. The fact that chloroquine exerts an antiviral effect during pre- and post-infection conditions suggest that it is likely to have both prophylactic and therapeutic advantages.

3. New Insights into the antiviral effects of chloroquine, Savarino et. al., Feb. 2006

The broad spectrum antiviral effects of chloroquine deserve particular attention in a time in which the world is threatened by the possibility of a new influenza pandemic, and the availability of effective drugs would be fundamental during evaluation of an effective vaccine.