(Bloomberg) — Cold and stale air conditions allowed coronavirus particles to travel more than 8 meters (26 feet) at a German slaughterhouse, a study showed, giving an insight into how meat plants turned into hotspots for infections across the world.Authorities announced today that schools and child day care centers in the region will be shut temporarily following a dramatic increase in the number of confirmed Covid-19 infections among workers at the Toennies plant. More than 650 infected workers have been confirmed, with the number likely to rise as further test results become available. According to media reports 7,000 people are in quarantine. Researchers reconstructed the likely cause of the outbreak at a Toennies Group slaughterhouse in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck, where about 1,500 workers contracted the virus. Similar conditions at plants globally are a reason they’ve become virus epicenters, according to the report from groups including the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research. Meat plants from the U.S. to the U.K. and South America have seen the rapid spread of the virus, infecting thousands of employees who often work in close proximity on processing lines. Dozens of workers have died, and labor advocates have said that a lack of social distancing could continue to put people at risk. Outbreaks also forced American meat plants to close earlier this year, sparking some protein shortages. Meanwhile, China is ramping up testing of imports of cold food for the virus. Even as global scientific experts say that the likelihood of transmission through food is extremely low, the Asian country has slapped export bans on some abattoirs with cases, further fueling the urgency to contain the disease. The Toennies outbreak likely began from one employee in May and was largely transmitted in the plant’s dismantling area, where rooms are often chilled to 10C degrees (50 Fahrenheit). Chilly air circulated without frequent changes — coupled with a strenuous work conditions — helped particles move large distances, said Adam Grundhoff, a co-author of the study. “It is very likely that these factors generally play a crucial role in the global outbreaks in meat or fish processing plants,” said Grundhoff, a research group leader at the Heinrich Pette Institute, Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology. Under these conditions, a distance of 1.5 to 3 meters between workers isn’t sufficient to prevent transmission, he said.
Workers at meat plants represent some of the populations facing a disproportionate hit from the health crisis and its economic fallout.
In the U.S., about half are immigrants, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Employees also come from relatively low-income families, and about 44% of them are Hispanic and a quarter are African Americans, a demographic seeing a devastating toll both physically and financially. Minority workers at the U.S. plants have seen the biggest blow from the outbreaks. In a July Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that showed infection tallies through the end of May, data showed that of the of the cases that disclosed race and ethnicity, 87% involved minority workers — with employees identified as Hispanic accounting for 56% of infections despite making up less than a third of the overall workforce. The report’s findings show that no factory worldwide was built for such a crisis, and the company has invested in air filters and other mechanisms to protect employees, a Toennies spokesman said by email. Housing conditions — also often pinpointed as a factor in the outbreaks — were not found to play a significant role in the disease’s initial spread.
“The important question now is under what conditions transmission events over longer distances are possible in other areas of life,” said Melanie Brinkmann, a research group leader at the Helmholtz center.
(Adds de
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
Dr Deborah Birx issued the grave warning Wednesday during a call with hundreds of state and city leaders
The 11 cities include: Baltimore, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and St Louis
Dr Birx warned that the outbreak currently plaguing cities in Sunbelt states, like Phoenix and San Antonio, was now moving north
She warned leaders of the 11 cities that they should take ‘aggressive’ steps to stem their current outbreaks
Her warning came as the number of cases reported in the United States passed 4 million on Thursday
The head of the White House coronavirus task force, Dr Deborah Birx, has warned that 11 major cities – including Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Baltimore – need to take ‘aggressive’ steps to mitigate COVID-19 outbreaks. Dr Birx issued the grave warning on Wednesday during a phone call with hundreds of state and city leaders. The 11 cities she mentioned include: Baltimore, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and St Louis.
Dr Birx warned that the outbreak currently plaguing cities in Sunbelt states, like Phoenix and San Antonio, was now moving north, according to audio of the call obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.
Dr Deborah Birx, who leads the White House task force, issued the grave warning on Wednesday during a phone call with hundreds of state and city leaders ‘What started out very much as a southern and western epidemic is starting to move up the East Coast into Tennessee, Arkansas, up into Missouri, up across Colorado, and obviously we’re talking about increases now in Baltimore,’ she said. ‘So this is really critical that everybody is following this and making sure they’re being aggressive about mitigation efforts.’ She warned leaders of the 11 cities that they should take ‘aggressive’ steps in order to stem their current outbreaks. Dr Birx said it was vital for health officials to contract trace patients testing positive in areas where test positivity was increasing. ‘When you first see that increase in test positivity, that is when to start the mitigation efforts,’ she said. ‘I know it may look small and you may say, ‘That only went from 5 to 5-and-a-half [percent], and we’re gonna wait and see what happens’. If you wait another three or four or even five days, you’ll start to see a dramatic increase in cases.’
Indiana: Cases in the state of Indiana have been increasing since mid-June. The city of Indianapolis is on the list of 11 cities that Dr Birx has warned of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh currently has 6,817 confirmed COVID-19 cases
Baltimore, Maryland: There are currently 9,841 infections in Baltimore with cases trending upwards since late June
Columbus, Ohio: Columbus currently has 11,877 coronavirus infections Her warning came as the total number of coronavirus cases reported in the United States passed 4 million on Thursday, reflecting a rapid acceleration of infections in the country since the first case was recorded on January 21. It took the country 98 days to reach 1 million cases but just 16 days to go from 3 million to 4 million. The case total indicates that at least one in 82 people in the United States have been infected. As the pandemic has spread from the early epicenter of New York to the South and West, federal, state and local officials have clashed over how to ease lockdowns imposed to curb the infection rate, including in some states whether to rollback reopenings. The ordering of face coverings, a common practice around the world and recommended by the federal government’s own health experts, has also become highly politicized, with some Republican governors particularly resistant. Hostility to the idea appeared to be dwindling this week, including from the Republican administration of President Donald Trump, who once dismissed mask-wearing as an effort to be politically correct. Trump, who faces falling poll numbers over his handling of the health crisis ahead of the November election, has long refused to wear a mask in public but this week encouraged Americans to do so. While Trump did not issue a national mandate, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir on Thursday cited the importance of masks to bring the virus under control. ‘We have to do our mitigation steps: wear a mask, avoid the crowds. We won’t see hospitalizations and deaths go down for a couple of weeks because (they are) lagging indicators, but we are turning that tide,’ Giroir told Fox News Network. He also said the time it currently takes to get coronavirus test results back needs to be reduced.
Nick Note: this has a name… Its called a pandemic out of control. And it will kill millions. I am of the opinion that it has gone to far to contain. Please note its the poorly built highly congested cities. If your high on crack the last thing you are thinking about is isolation or social distancing. Remember the cites of America are stuffed with the poorly educated, cramped ignorant masses. And that is a fact. If black lives really matter why is no one trying to save them form the pandemic? More blacks have died of the coronavirus then all the blacks killed by polices, vigilantes and the clan combined. As a mater of fact not one PC incorrect statue has killed anyone. I did hear of a black man injured when one of those civil war statues was pulleddown on him!
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Prices of crude ticked lower on Friday as inventors’ concerns over coronavirus remained in focus. The United States surpassed 4 million confirmed cases of infection, while both India and Mexico registered a record high in the number of COVID-19 cases in the past day. Meanwhile, US oil stockpiles jumped by 4.9 million barrels to 536.6 million barrels last week. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for September settlement went down by 0.83%, selling for $40.73 per barrel at 3:36 am ET, while Brent for deliveries in the same month slid 0.53% a minute later to go for $43.08 per barrel. The coronavirus cases increased in many countries, though a flurry of announcements about a potential COVID-19 vaccine and a European Union fund to revive economies hit by the pandemic curbed losses. “As things stand, prices are not likely to produce any sizeable gains very soon, until a signal that the pandemic slows down,” said Rystad Energy’s head of oil markets Bjornar Tonhaugen. “Even though in Europe the virus has been cornered, the Americas and some Asian states still have a long way to go.” More than 15 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus globally and more than 1,000,000 have died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the pathogen, according to a Reuters tally. An experimental coronavirus vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and Britain’s University of Oxford was safe and produced an immune response in early-stage clinical trials, data showed, keeping alive the hope it could be in use by the end of the year. More than 150 possible vaccines are in various stages of development with U.S. drugmaker Pfizer (PFE.N) and China’s CanSino Biologics also reporting positive responses for their candidates on Monday. “Over the past few weeks, crude oil prices have actually been uncharacteristically quiet, suggesting a potentially sharp move could be on the cards soon,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst with ThinkMarkets. “If the recovery in demand turns out to be quicker and more robust than expected, the supply surplus could diminish fast given the ongoing supply restrictions by the OPEC+ group. This should mean higher oil prices, everything else being equal.” While fuel demand has recovered from a 30% drop in April after many countries imposed strict lockdowns, usage is still below pre-pandemic levels. U.S. retail gasoline demand is falling again as infections rise. Rising tension between China and the United States also put pressure on prices. Saudi Arabia’s 84-year-old ruler, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, has been admitted to hospital, suffering from inflammation of the gall bladder. The king has ruled the world’s largest crude oil exporter and close U.S. ally since 2015. Nick Note: Bottom line as the days go by more and more people are figuring out the 2 shot vaccine plus booster shot good for maybe 90 days are a cruel kill the cats joke. Little more then a publicity stunt to fool the fools. AND every day that goes by more and more people test positive, enter hospitals and die all in record amounts. Unless the testing kills people more testing is not whats going on here. Try more and more and more deadly coronavirus infections. Lock Downs will occur in two was. Either the sold out politicians stop pandering to the bossiness open her up lobbies. Or so many people are sick and dying things shutdowns occur any way. As far as oil… It will soon be in the twenties……..
The major indexes in Asia traded lower as the discord between the United States and China continued to mount. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Chinese President Xi Jinping of tyrannical pretensions and stressed the US administration will not give in to China’s demands. Chinese Foreign Ministry responded by claiming that Pompeo’s actions directed against the Asian country are “futile.” China ordered the United States to close its consulate in the western city of Chengdu on Friday, ratcheting up a diplomatic conflict at a time when relations between the two countries have sunk to their lowest level in decades. The move was in response to the Trump administration’s order this week for Beijing to close its consulate in Houston after Washington accused Chinese agents of trying to steal medical and other research in Texas. US-Chinese relations have soured amid a mounting array of conflicts including trade, the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, technology, spying accusations, Hong Kong and allegations of abuses against Chinese Muslims. The Shanghai Composite tumbled 3.03% at 7:15 am CET and the Shenzhen Composite Index plunged 3.98% a minute later. The Hang Seng sank 2.29% at 7:32. The Kospi Composite in South Korea dipped 0.66% at 7:33 am CET. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia decreased by 1.20% concurrently. Nick Note” As you know when the Chinese indices did their moon shit last week i KNEW it was ANOTHER trap for the new Etraders milliners. We call it raw meat AKA new crop! I also gave you a minor trade to capitalize on this. THe US and China are at war. Trade wars end up in shooting wars. When goods do not cross borders armies do!
BILL Gates has warned that multiple doses of any coronavirus vaccine could be necessary as he slammed Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic.
Microsoft billionaire Gates said “serious mistakes” have been made by the White House as he predicted schools could be closed until fall 2021.
Speaking during an interview with Norah O’Donnell on CBS News, Gates said he had faith in the development of a coronavirus vaccine. However, he warned it could take an “unbelievably big number” of doses to beat the virus. He said: “None of the vaccines at this point appear like they’ll work with a single dose. “That was the hope at the very beginning.” The philanthropist – who is worth $98 billion, the second-richest man in the world – has offered £300million to help fund research into the vaccine. Gates also described the closures of schools as the “biggest cost” of the pandemic after deaths as he said classes likely won’t be all back until fall 2021. He said: “This next academic year does hang in the balance. It is extremely important.” More should be done to help schools take learning online to ensure kids get their educations, he said. The 64-year-old tech boss now spends most of his times working with the Global Health division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He had been warning of the threat posed to humanity by pandemics since 2015 before the coronavirus outbreak.
During the interview, Gates was also heavily critical of the Trump administration – with the US having the highest death and case count in the world with 146,192 and 4.1million.
Gates said: “Some of the policies were a mistake. Opening up bars – the economic benefit versus the infection risk – a lot of policies like that made it a mistake.” The Microsoft mogul emphasized that social distancing, wearing masks and developing a vaccine are now key in beating Covid-19. He conceded however some of the “serious mistakes” were made because of a lacking of understanding of the virus. Gates said Europe responded better to the pandemic than the US – with its leaders “communicating with a clear voice”. And he also condemned reports that Trump is silencing experts like Dr Anthony Fauci. He said gagging experts was “holding us back” and said you could “never have predicted” the butting of heads between scientists and the White House. Dr Fauci has been feuding with Trump, with anonymous officials even briefing against him by releasing a list of his mistakes over Covid-19. President Trump insisted that the US has the best mortality rate in the world during a briefing at the White House this week. Gates however said Trump’s claim was “not even close” – adding “by almost every measure, the US is one of the worst”. He added: “We actually had criteria for opening up with cases declining, and we opened up with cases increasing.” Nick Note: two things you can take from this interview. In essence their will be no vaccine. And at the very least Trump is the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time. And he has really blown it. The coronavirus is out of control in the US. Isolation is impossible at this point. The only CHANCE is total lockdown. And under Trump facing a humiliating defeat in the fall elections that will not happen.
(Bloomberg) — Recovering from Covid-19 may not offer much lasting protection from future infections for those with only mild cases, according to a report that suggests caution regarding so-called herd immunity as well as the durability of vaccines. The correspondence in the New England Journal of Medicine outlined research on antibodies taken from the blood of 34 patients who had recovered after symptoms began, with a second after about 86 days, or less than three months. The researchers found that antibody levels fell quickly, with a half-life of about 73 days between the two time frames. The loss of antibodies occurred more quickly than with SARS, an earlier type of coronavirus infection. The antibody response is being closely studied by scientists worldwide for indications of how long-lasting immunity may be. While there’s little evidence to suggest reinfections are broadly occurring, health experts have yet to pin down specifics. The latest findings raise concern that protection from reinfection may not last long in those with mild symptoms, which accounts for the majority of cases. Further studies will be needed “to define a quantitative protection threshold and rate of decline of antiviral antibodies beyond 90 days,” according to the researchers led by F. Javier Ibarrondo, from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles. While the protective role of antibodies against infection isn’t fully understood, they are generally considered a good representation of some protection against infection in general, according to the report. A recent study from King’s College London showed that the level of antibodies may drop to a degree that makes them undetectable as soon as three months after infection. Nick Note: by definition a vaccine is a mild case of the virus. By the fact the antibodies drop so quickly is proof the vaccines WILL NOT WORK!
The energy supermajors are about to release dismal quarterly reports as low oil prices are compounded by refining losses
For the first time since the West’s five energy supermajors were created in the early 2000s, all of them are set to post a quarterly loss. Once a money-making machine, Big Oil is now relying on ever-increasing amounts of debt, raising the pressure on highly prized dividends. BP Plc may cut its payout for the first time since the Deepwater Horizon disaster a decade ago. Nick Note: demand is not returning and they can rev up the spin machine but it does not change the facts we are going back into lockdowns.
The high-profile case of the Dakota Access oil pipeline ordered shut earlier this month has overshadowed another legal dispute over a smaller pipeline carrying crude out of the Bakken shale basin in North Dakota, which was also ordered shut, potentially stalling a recovery in the Bakken. The Tesoro High Plains Pipeline was also ordered shut in early July, after 67 years of operations, by the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs for trespassing on land owned by Native Americans. The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs preempted a mediation meeting set for August and served a formal notification of trespass to Tesoro officials, Jodi Rave, who owns undivided interest in two tracts of land on which Tesoro runs its pipeline, wrote in Grand Forks Herald earlier this month. The right-of-way for the Tesoro High Plains to cross 90 acres of the Fort Berthold Reservation was first initiated in 1953 and was renewed every 20 years, in 1973 and in 1993, court documents reviewed by Bloomberg show. But in 2013, the then owner of the pipeline, Andeavor, acquired by Marathon Petroleum in 2018, failed to secure the right of way for the pipeline. The Bureau of Indian Affairs ordered Marathon Petroleum to pay US$187 million in trespass damages and gave the company 30 days to appeal the decision. This is the second oil pipeline ordered shut in North Dakota, after a federal judge ruled on July 6 that the Dakota Access Pipeline, in operation since 2017, must be emptied and shut down within 30 days, by August 5, until a new comprehensive environmental review is completed. Last week, a U.S. Appeals Court ruled that Dakota Access can continue to operate while the court considers whether the pipeline should be shut down as ordered by a lower court’s ruling. If the two pipelines – which carry over one-third of the oil pumped in the Bakken as per Bloomberg estimates – were to shut down, they would make life much harder for Bakken shale drillers which may have to contend with higher shipping costs via rail or trucks while oil prices continue to languish in below-profit-making territory for the average well in the region. Nick Note: The party is over. Like most people the oil industry and their bankers buddies are in extreme denial. You will starting next year massive liquidation 75% of the business closed will never ever open again. Lets face facts. With easy credit Americans built to mush of everything. Now we will have to little and nothing.
Listen to City pull your dick talking production increases and $60 oil. he has never been right no one not ever. Demand is not Not NOT going to come back. He has got to be right because they have Hugh investments in oil companies and recent acquisitions…..
July 22 (Reuters) – Baker Hughes Co posted its second consecutive quarterly loss on Wednesday and said it would rein in costs as it prepares for a longer period of volatility in oil prices that has crushed demand for its oilfield services. Oil producers halted drilling new wells and drastically cut their budgets following a collapse in crude oil prices in March and April, clipping demand for services offered by Baker Hughes and rivals Schlumberger and Halliburton. Revenue from Baker Hughes’ oilfield services business, which roughly accounts for about half of total sales, tumbled 26% to $2.41 billion in the second quarter. Total revenue fell 21% to $4.74 billion. U.S. crude futures were trading around $41 per barrel, at the bottom end of what most producers need to be profitable, despite a recent uptick. Some smaller oilfield service firms have filed for bankruptcy, including fracker BJ Services, in which Baker Hughes holds a minority interest, and fracking sand provider Hi-Crush. Baker Hughes has cut its 2020 budget by over 20% year-on-year and has disclosed plans to accelerate the exit or shutdown of non-core product lines, including North American full-service drilling and completions fluids business. Net loss attributable to the company widened to $201 million, or 31 cents per class A share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from $9 million, or 2 cents per share, a year earlier. The company said the quarter included an income-tax gain of $75 million related to the CARES Act. Excluding charges, Baker Hughes lost 5 cents per share, worse than analysts’ average expectation of 1 cent, according to Refinitiv IBES data. Nick Note: i am seeing the biggest loses for big oil EVER. But still they spin increasing demand. Inventories are at record levels, Demand at record lows. And OPEC is increasing production. How do you think that will turn out?
