Author: BlackMask Financial

Though some public health experts expected coronavirus transmission to wane in the summer as temperatures rise and the air becomes more humid, cases have actually skyrocketed in some of the hottest and stickiest parts of the country.\ Engineers and ventilation experts said this may be in part because residents escape the heat by retreating indoors where heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems could exacerbate airborne transmission with unplanned air currents. “The main way (air conditioning) can contribute to spreading coronavirus is by creating strong air currents that can move the droplets … and contribute to increase risk,” said William Bahnfleth, chair of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers’ Epidemic Task Force (ASHRAE) and professor at Penn State University.

Even in bars and restaurants where social distancing is observed, air ventilation can carry respiratory droplets or aerosols that contain virus, said Len Horovitz, pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published initial findings of an outbreak linked to the airflow in a Guangzhou, China, restaurant. Over the course of 12 days, nine people who dined at the restaurant Jan. 24 fell ill as a result of another patron with a COVID-19 infection, the authors determined. Within five days, three people sitting at the infected patron’s table were infected along with another below the air conditioner. Of the 91 people in the restaurant during that hour, only those at tables in the way of the air conditioner’s airflow contracted the virus. The World Health Organization only recently recognized that aerosolized droplets can lead to infection after more than 200 medical experts wrote an open letter urging the agency to react to mounting evidence and go a step further with its recommendations. “Ventilation is the key control point for an airborne virus,” said Dr. Julian Tang, one of the authors of the paper. “Based on multiple studies done by the authors, we believe that optimized ventilation is the way to move forward, removing the virus from the air before people inhale it. We think that’s one of the main ways it’s transmitted.” The best ventilation will always be outside. In hot Southern states where people want to stay indoors and enjoy the air conditioning, ventilation is dependent on HVAC systems. Though Bahnfleth said it’s possible to increase outside air through these systems, experts are not sure how much outside air is enough to diffuse virus particles as the dose of infection is unclear.

“Even if you try to increase the ventilation rate, HVAC systems have not been designed to prevent transmission of these infectious airborne diseases,” said Dilip Goswami, president, co-founder and CTO of Molekule, an indoor air purification company.

After ventilation, the next line of defense in an HVAC system is filtration. Most commercial and residential HVAC systems have a MERV 6 or 8 filter, which takes care of the basic pollen, dust, dust mites, mold and bacteria. It’s unable to capture small particles that contain virus, which can be about 1 micron.

More air-quality-conscious establishments boast a MERV 13 filter that can partially capture virus carriers, but some HVAC systems aren’t equipped to handle it. Though ventilation from the outside is able to diffuse virus particles in the air, filters can capture the virus only when it comes into the system. “Most air conditioning systems won’t filter (virus) out, and if it did filter it out, it probably went right by and right into your face first,” said Wendell Porter, senior lecturer at the University of Florida. Which brings us back to air currents. Goswami said it’s possible to manipulate air currents to make it safer for people indoors, but most establishments don’t think that far ahead. ASHRAE’s task force was established to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and provide guidance to ensure buildings are prepared for epidemics. Its recommendations include ventilation control, filtration and maintenance.

WHO agrees with more than 200 medical experts that COVID-19 may spread via the air

ASHRAE is a professional society, not a formal legal body. It’s up to states, localities and building codes to adopt recommendations to ensure a safe return to work, school and leisure.  Goswami said it’s important for people to take these recommendations seriously, especially in bars and restaurants where patrons need to remove their masks to eat and drink. Many establishments enforce social distancing and mask wearing, but few take a second look at their HVAC systems to see whether they go above the minimum standards. “We knew something like this could have happened and that airborne transmission is a major problem to contain,” he said. “We need to be aware of it and make sure we do everything possible instead of the minimum of what’s possible.” Nick Note: the coronavirus has a aerosol component to it and your air conditioning is a deadly virus spreading machine.

Almost half of new infections are from Texas, Florida and California

• There were 67,417 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to more than 3.4 million infections across the US 
• More than 136,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 after 900 additional fatalities were added to the death toll 
• Texas reported a record 10,745 cases on Tuesday, while Florida reported 10,181 and California hit 7,346 new infections 
• Meanwhile, 46 states reported more new cases of COVID-19 last week compared to the previous week 
• Nationally, new COVID-19 cases have risen every week for six straight weeks
• Cases are only falling on a weekly basis in New York, Tennessee, New Jersey and Delaware

The United States has set yet another record for new coronavirus cases after hitting a single-day spike of 67,400 with almost half of those infections coming from Texas, Florida and California. Daily cases have been spiking in hot spot states in recent weeks and the US is now averaging about 60,000 infections per day.  There were 67,417 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to more than 3.4 million infections across the US.

More than 136,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 after 900 additional fatalities were added to the death toll.

Texas reported a record 10,745 cases on Tuesday, while Florida reported 10,181 and California hit 7,346 new infections.  Florida also surpassed its daily record for coronavirus deaths on Tuesday with 132 additional fatalities.

There were 67,417 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to more than 3.4 million infections across the US

More than 136,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 after 900 additional fatalities were added to the death toll. Deaths related to COVID-19 have been rising in the last week with about a dozen states reporting increases in deaths for at least two straight weeks, including California, Florida and Texas. Meanwhile, 46 states reported more new cases of COVID-19 last week compared to the previous week, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project.  Nationally, new COVID-19 cases have risen every week for six straight weeks. Cases are only falling on a weekly basis in New York, Tennessee, New Jersey and Delaware. With the virus is spreading quickly in the southern and western states, one of the country’s top public health officials offered conflicting theories about what is driving the outbreak.  CDC director Robert Redfield says the current spike in COVID-19 infections in the South may have been caused by people from the Northeast traveling there for vacation and not due to states reopening too quickly.   Addressing the alarming surge in coronavirus cases, Redfield said on Tuesday that infections in Sun Belt states ‘simultaneously kind of popped’ in the second week of June after reopening in various phases.  Redfield compared it to the initial outbreak in the Northeast in March, which he says spread out to various states from epicenter New York.

TEXAS CASES: Texas reported a record 10,745 new cases on Tuesday

 

TEXAS DEATHS: 87 new deaths were reported in Texas on Monday, down from the record 105 on July 9

CALIFORNIA: The state reported 7,346 new cases on Monday and 47 new deaths

FLORIDA CASES: The number of cases in Florida increased by 9,194, bringing the total to 291,629

FLORIDA DEATHS: Florida added a record 132 fatalities to its death toll on Monday

‘We tried to give states guidance on how to reopen safely. I think the guidance we put out was really sound,’ he said in an interview with Dr Howard Bauchner of The Journal of the American Medical Association. ‘I think if you look critically, few states actually followed that guidance, although I don’t think the reopening’s actually what’s driving the current Southern expansion right now. ‘If you look at the South, everything happened around June 12 to June 16. It all simultaneously kind of popped.  ‘We’re of the view that there was something else that was the driver. Maybe the Memorial Day, not weekend, but the Memorial Day week, where a lot of Northerners decided to go South for vacations.’ Redfield said some states in the South didn’t take social distancing measures as seriously as other parts of the country when they reopened because they didn’t have huge outbreaks.  This allowed the virus to spread rapidly once it was introduced and take hold in southern states, according to Redfield.  ‘Something happened in mid-June that we’re now confronting right now. It’s not as simple as saying it was related to the timing of reopening and no reopening,’ he said.

New cases have been spiking in Texas, Florida, Arizona and California in recent weeks and the US is now averaging about 50,000 to 60,000 infections per day. 46 states reported more new cases of COVID-19 last week compared to the previous week CDC director Robert Redfield said on Tuesday the current spike in COVID-19 infections in the South may have been caused by people from the Northeast traveling there for vacation and not due to states reopening too quickly. Redfield did not provide any data to back up his claim that Northeast vacationers may be partly to blame for the current surge in cases. CDC officials said that there are various possible explanations and that Redfield was offering just one.  Redfield said that he believes the US could get COVID-19 under control with four to eight weeks if all Americans wear a mask and continue to social distance. ‘I think if we can get everyone to wear masks right now, we can bring this under control within four, six, eight weeks,’ Redfield said.   ‘I am glad to see the president and vice president wear a mask. Clearly, in their situation they could easily justify they don’t need to… but we need for them to set the example.’

He said he was ‘worried’ about the fall and winter given it coincides with the flu season. 

‘I do think the fall and the winter of 2020 and 2021 are probably going to be one of the most difficult times that we’ve experienced in American public health because of… the co-occurrence of COVID and influenza,’ he said.

The Trump administration is instructing hospitals to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in reporting their COVID-19 data to the government each day, effective Wednesday. “As of July 15, 2020, hospitals should no longer report the Covid-19 information in this document to the National Healthcare Safety Network site,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in a document providing guidelines for hospitals on how to submit coronavirus data.  The National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) site is managed by the CDC. The administration says that it’s changing the way data is reported because it’s trying to streamline the process, stating that there are “many separate” government entities asking for duplicate information. According to guidance issued by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, the federal government will use the data to calculate how resources, treatment and supplies are allocated. The daily data reporting it demands from hospitals will be “the only mechanism” used to make the government’s calculations. In the past it has made “one-time requests for data” for use in determining how treatments like Remdesivir should be distributed. In the document, HHS directs hospitals and health care providers to submit data about their handling of the pandemic every day — including information about patients, the number of beds and ventilators available, and staffing shortages — through a portal on the HHS website that was launched on April 10. “The completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of the data will inform the COVID-19 Task Force decisions on capacity and resource needs to ensure a fully coordinated effort across America,” the document says. Nick Note: Did you take your stupid pill today. Trump is taking control of the data so they can hide the hospitalizations and death rate. Like any dictator would do…….

Mayor Lori Lightfoot Warns City Might Have To Move Back To Phase 3 If COVID Cases Continue To Rise; ‘We Are On The Precipice

CHICAGO (CBS) — Comparing herself to a mother who won’t simply turn the car around if her kids are acting up, but one who will make them walk home, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday warned the city is “dangerously close” to possibly going back to Phase 3 of reopening, following a recent rise in new COVID-19 cases, particularly among young people. “The last thing I want to do is have to take steps back. I certainly don’t want to be like other places in the country where we’re shutting down commerce and business,” she said. “If we continue to see this uptick in cases, we’re going to have no choice but to go back into Phase 3. That means shutting businesses down. That means imposing more restrictions on your mobility. No one wants to go back there, but we will have to go back there if people continue to ignore the public health guidance.”

Since June 15, nearly 30% of all new virus cases in Chicago are among people between the ages of 18 and 29, the mayor said.

“This should be all the proof that you need. If you are in the 18 to 29-year-old cohort, you are catching COVID-19, you are getting sick, and you’re not only putting yourself at risk,  you’re putting every single person that you come into contact with at risk as well,” she said. The mayor has repeatedly warned that, if Chicago’s virus numbers take a turn for the worse, she won’t hesitate to reinstate stricter public health requirements. “Some of you have joked that I’m like the mom who will turn the car around when you’re acting up. No friends, it’s actually worse, I won’t just turn the car around, I’m going to shut it off, I’m going to kick you out, and I’m going to make you walk home. That’s who I am. That’s who I must be for you and everyone else in the city to make sure that we continue to be safe,” she said. “I don’t want to be that person if I don’t have to, but I will if you make me, and right now we are on the precipice. We are dangerously close to going back to a dangerous state of conditions.” Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said, while Chicago is averaging fewer than 200 new cases per day, she expects to climb above that threshold soon. “When we get back above 200, we’re back in a high incident state, and for me, that means we are back in a caution state. It does not equal an automatic rollback,” she said. However, if and when Chicago does climb back above that threshold, public health officials will look at likely “problem areas,” such as bars, and could order them to close if needed. Arwady said, if Chicago reaches an average of 400 cases per day, that would be equivalent to the levels seen in states included in the city’s travel quarantine mandate, and would indicate a need to go back to Phase 3 of the reopening plan. Nick Note: the major cities of America will soon be shutting down…. Again. they never should have been reopened……

https://youtu.be/Qbw1rgNbtEQ

Experts believe that one of the biggest challenges with vaccines against the coronavirus species is the “potential for antibody-dependent enhancement of the disease”, which has been one reason for the lack of a vaccine against the 2003 SARS CoV strain. 

The largest U.S. banks signaled that the worst of the coronavirus recession is yet to come, opting to stow away tens of billions of dollars to prepare for an expected wave of loan losses. JPMorgan JPM 0.57% Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. C -3.93% and Wells Fargo WFC -4.57% & Co. said Tuesday they took large hits to their second-quarter profits to collectively stockpile $28 billion to cover losses as consumers and businesses start to default on their loans.

The provisions amount to a sharp increase above what they put away in the first three months of the year, reflecting a shift in their assumptions about the length and severity of the pandemic’s economic toll.

JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, said it put aside extra to prepare for an unemployment rate that remains at double digits well into next year and a slower recovery in gross domestic product than the bank’s economists assumed three months ago. “This is not a normal recession,” said James Dimon, JPMorgan’s chief executive. “The recessionary part of this you’re going to see down the road.” For years after the last financial crisis, banks made big profits lending to consumers and companies eager to take advantage of low interest rates. Heading into the current collapse, Americans had taken on record amounts of auto loans, credit-card debt and student loans. Corporate debt also reached record levels. After governments shut down a host of businesses to slow the spread of coronavirus, the outlook for that debt grew murkier. Bank executives said Tuesday they saw signs of a nascent economic recovery in May after states opened up. Now, a new spike in coronavirus cases that caused a wave of shutdowns has them preparing for an extended downturn.

“The pandemic has a grip on the economy, and it doesn’t seem likely to loosen until vaccines are widely available,” Citigroup Chief Executive Michael Corbat said.

JPMorgan set aside $10.47 billion to cover potential loan losses, cutting its profit in half. Wells Fargo posted its first quarterly loss in more than a decade and socked away $9.57 billion to prepare for a wave of loan defaults. Citigroup’s profit fell 73%, weighed down by the $7.9 billion the bank set aside for an expected increase in soured loans. Shares of JPMorgan rose 0.6%. Citigroup shares fell 3.9%, and Wells Fargo shares fell 4.6%. The economic collapse has been unusual in that banks have granted temporary pauses on payments for mortgages, auto loans and commercial loans. Also, the federal government has provided unprecedented stimulus to keep consumers afloat. Executives said Tuesday the requests for more assistance have tailed off in recent months. Credit-card customers who had requested help were largely returning to paying instead of seeking more relief. “It does appear the relief programs are working” Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason told reporters. But as relief measures roll of, banks are expecting trouble ahead. All three banks added to their loan-loss reserves for both their commercial divisions and their consumer banks. All told, the three banks have stockpiled $83 billion for credit losses. Hard-hit industries like retail and hotels are already struggling financially, but executives said they now expect the downturn to hit a wide range of businesses.

“May and June will prove to be the easy months in terms of this recovery,” said Jennifer Piepszak, JPMorgan’s CFO. “Now we’re really hitting the moment of truth in the months ahead.” Additionally, banks expect higher losses in consumer mortgages when payment deferrals end and higher credit-card losses due to elevated unemployment. Even as the recession deepened in the second quarter, the S&P 500 rose 20%. In a sign of that rift, banks reported some of their best trading results in years. Trading revenue rose 79% at JPMorgan and 55% at Citigroup. Both banks did brisk business advising companies raising funds through debt and equity sales. Executives at JPMorgan and Citigroup cautioned that second-quarter market revenues were abnormally high and trading likely would fall back to earth in the second half of the year. So far, the pandemic has hit Wells Fargo the hardest. The bank, already struggling to dig out of a four-year-old fake-accounts scandal, had to manage the economic fallout while staying within strict regulatory confines. In addition to increasing its loan-loss provisions, it noted a recent rise in charge-offs tied to its oil-and-gas and commercial-real-estate portfolios.

“Our view of the length and severity of the economic downturn has deteriorated considerably,” said CEO Charles Scharf.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) reported Tuesday morning that it delivered a total of 20 new commercial jets in the second quarter of this year. For the year to date, Boeing has delivered 70 new airplanes. The grounding of the company’s best-selling 737 Max halted sales of the company’s most popular plane in March of last year. Customers took delivery of just seven of the company’s 787 Dreamliners in the second quarter, compared with 36 deliveries in the year-ago quarter. Deliveries of the 777 fell from 10 to six, and 767 deliveries dropped from 14 to just four. The decline in 777 and 787 deliveries is due largely to the COVID-19 pandemic that has all but stopped new deliveries from both Boeing and its chief rival, Airbus, as airline customers cancel or delay plans to upgrade their fleets. For the first half of the year, Boeing has received a net 784 cancellations, including 353 for the 737 Max. Orders for 12 of the company’s 777 jets have also been canceled, as have four orders for the 747 jumbo jet. On the plus side, Boeing has written nine new orders for the 767 and 17 new orders for the 787. More than half of the cancellations (439) are related to an accounting standard adopted in January 2018 known as ASC 606. The standard specifies criteria beyond a firm contract that must be met before a company can recognize revenue from its backlog. Boeing has commenced flight testing its 737 Max jets following changes to the aircraft’s flight control systems and software but there remain weeks (at least) of testing and reviews and approvals before the U.S. grounding of the plane could be lifted. It is also likely that other national civil aviation authorities will want to conduct their own testing and reviews before lifting grounding orders. While the COVID-19 outbreak has decimated near-term demand for any new Boeing (or Airbus) aircraft, Boeing needs to get the 737 Max back in the air as soon as possible. There may be no new orders for the plane for a while, but the company has more than 4,100 unfilled orders for the 737 Max. Building and delivering the 737 Max will get Boeing’s cash flow running again. The company also has some 400 of the planes parked around the country awaiting delivery to customers. When the grounding order is lifted, Boeing can begin delivering those planes and getting paid for them. Boeing stock traded up about 1.0% in the noon hour Tuesday, at $177.42 in a 52-week range of $89.00 to $391.00. The stock’s consensus 12-month price target is $177.80. Nick Note: as the plague spread and more and more people realize  that the global spreading of the coronavirus was primarily on the aluminum petri dishes knows as a disease liner.  And it has not stopped.