Which Western, industrialized country has the highest test positivity and lowest testing capacity? France. And, it’s not even close. Test positivity is currently above 20%! Testing capacity is abysmally low. The U.S. testing rate is about 4 times that of France, and the U.K. testing rate is 6 times greater than France.
France’s death rate is a bit better than the U.S. This may have to do with a healthier population. France has much less obesity, less diabetes, less cardiovascular disease, etc …
I believe the French are “healthier” due to their consumption of red wine. If I am not mistaken their parents introduce wine to their children with meals like we serve milk or juice here in the U.S.
I believe various news broadcasts have done segments on red wine consumption over the years.
The first time I heard about it was from a 60 Minutes segment years ago.
Italians have done the same. And you may be right about healthier
There may be a silver lining to the coronavirus pandemic. We’ve learned a lot about some of the health conditions over which we have some control that can put people at higher risk of severe disease. Healthier living is good in many ways, including prevention of complications from the coronavirus.
Yes, I agree that being “healthy” can make a difference in most cases, however, I do recall reading about a personal trainer (they are about as healthy as a human can be I imagine) who caught the virus at the beginning of the pandemic and almost died from it. He did survive and eventually was released from the hospital but the medical staff was not very hopeful.
The partisan talk on coronavirus policy is beginning to irritate me. This time, it’s people on the left who aren’t being nuanced. To declare “Europe” has done everything right, and the U.S. has done everything wrong is, simply put, fake news.
What got me upset was Bill Gates’ comments on testing in the U.S. I agree that testing has encountered numerous roadblocks in the U.S. But, it is NOT the worst in the world. In fact, it’s gotten better over time, with the testing rate well above average at this point. Delays in getting results continue to be a problem. But, we’re not alone in that regard. European countries, such as France, the Netherlands, and Spain have experienced testing issues. These three countries also have much lower testing rates than the U.S.. and France and Spain have higher test positivity than the U.S.
European policy is not monolithic. Not on testing, not on masks, not on anything. Some countries have done better than others. And, we’ll continue to see variation moving forward.
The U.S. is unique in terms of the shape of its epi-curves with multiple peaks (cases and deaths). Federal and state policies are to blame for this. As a critic of U.S. policy my focus has been on this aspect, with a lot of my criticism aimed at governors, who ignored the reality of Covid-19 and prioritized “reopening” (whatever that means, especially in states that didn’t really shut down – I’m looking at you, Georgia and Texas). Trump deserves blame for constant mixed messaging and an inability to follow through and address Covid-19 systematically.
It has been the state governors that have gotten us through this pandemic. The White House (our president) has been pretty much useless. No real leadership from DC at all. I will also include both sides of Congress as well.
Covid-19 is losing steam in the U.S. The battle hasn’t been won. But, it’s clear that new daily cases are diminishing. It’s a rather steep decline. From a very high peak, so still troublesome.
Deaths are declining, too, as are hospitalizations and ICU cases. This is encouraging.
The HUGE question going into the fall is whether there will be a second wave. Or, are a sufficient number of people protected (antibodies, T memory cells) to prevent major outbreaks, like the ones we’ve been seeing in Texas?
Dan Patrick is reporting that the Pac-12 and Big Ten have decided to call off the college football season. The ACC and the Big 12 are on the fence. The SEC is trying to salvage the season by bringing in more teams to join the conference.
Trump is pushing for college games. I listened to dr adalja. He makes sense. Pro sports are in a bubble. These kids are students first. They go back to the classroom.
Not looking promising for football as a sport, college or professional.
97,000 kids tested positive for covid in the last two weeks of July.
But let’s put kids back in schools because kids don’t get covid…..and in this somehow the fact teachers and staff are not kids.
It would appear that the “bubble” sports (NBA, NHL) will likely get through their perspective seasons while the sports that travel (MLB, NFL, NCAA) are questionable at best.
Texas positivity rate 20% and they are saying test numbers have dropped. Joshua, I’d love your thoughts?
Texas is still in trouble. Positive tests have only dropped there because of fewer tests.
Arizona is seeing some improvement, as are Florida and California. Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Nevada, and Idaho are still in trouble.
I don’t consider Massachusetts in the trouble category. Nor other Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Midwest is seeing an uptick, but it’s not as pronounced as the increase in the South last month.
Philip, I agree that many of our governors have done a reasonable job. I would not include Abbott, Ducey, and DeSantis in that category. There have been missteps by Newsom and Cuomo as well. But, they did correct their own mistakes.
Trump’s team has been inconsistent at best. Had he taken the pandemic seriously early on he’d be in the driver’s seat to win a second term. In fact, had he not issued “liberate” tweets to at least a dozen states in April, I believe he’d be in the driver’s seat. He was far too impatient, should have given a real lockdown a chance, and gave Americans the impression that everything was going to be okay.
But, as I stated above, Trump is not the only leader to have failed. It’s not good to romanticize the European response. I feel like some are doing this. I love Europe. Lived there for many years. Consider Holland my second home. But, I refuse to romanticize it. Is Europe in a better position than the U.S. right now? Yes. But, it had a horrific start to the pandemic. And, there are currently major hot spots brewing throughout Europe, with testing issues, crazy mask `debates’ in some countries, and even some hiding of statistics going on.
C-19 for 8-11 is up. Please note that the C-19 post and the weather post today are in reverse order from how they are typically posted.
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Which Western, industrialized country has the highest test positivity and lowest testing capacity? France. And, it’s not even close. Test positivity is currently above 20%! Testing capacity is abysmally low. The U.S. testing rate is about 4 times that of France, and the U.K. testing rate is 6 times greater than France.
France’s death rate is a bit better than the U.S. This may have to do with a healthier population. France has much less obesity, less diabetes, less cardiovascular disease, etc …
I believe the French are “healthier” due to their consumption of red wine. If I am not mistaken their parents introduce wine to their children with meals like we serve milk or juice here in the U.S.
I believe various news broadcasts have done segments on red wine consumption over the years.
The first time I heard about it was from a 60 Minutes segment years ago.
Italians have done the same. And you may be right about healthier
There may be a silver lining to the coronavirus pandemic. We’ve learned a lot about some of the health conditions over which we have some control that can put people at higher risk of severe disease. Healthier living is good in many ways, including prevention of complications from the coronavirus.
Yes, I agree that being “healthy” can make a difference in most cases, however, I do recall reading about a personal trainer (they are about as healthy as a human can be I imagine) who caught the virus at the beginning of the pandemic and almost died from it. He did survive and eventually was released from the hospital but the medical staff was not very hopeful.
The partisan talk on coronavirus policy is beginning to irritate me. This time, it’s people on the left who aren’t being nuanced. To declare “Europe” has done everything right, and the U.S. has done everything wrong is, simply put, fake news.
What got me upset was Bill Gates’ comments on testing in the U.S. I agree that testing has encountered numerous roadblocks in the U.S. But, it is NOT the worst in the world. In fact, it’s gotten better over time, with the testing rate well above average at this point. Delays in getting results continue to be a problem. But, we’re not alone in that regard. European countries, such as France, the Netherlands, and Spain have experienced testing issues. These three countries also have much lower testing rates than the U.S.. and France and Spain have higher test positivity than the U.S.
European policy is not monolithic. Not on testing, not on masks, not on anything. Some countries have done better than others. And, we’ll continue to see variation moving forward.
The U.S. is unique in terms of the shape of its epi-curves with multiple peaks (cases and deaths). Federal and state policies are to blame for this. As a critic of U.S. policy my focus has been on this aspect, with a lot of my criticism aimed at governors, who ignored the reality of Covid-19 and prioritized “reopening” (whatever that means, especially in states that didn’t really shut down – I’m looking at you, Georgia and Texas). Trump deserves blame for constant mixed messaging and an inability to follow through and address Covid-19 systematically.
It has been the state governors that have gotten us through this pandemic. The White House (our president) has been pretty much useless. No real leadership from DC at all. I will also include both sides of Congress as well.
Covid-19 is losing steam in the U.S. The battle hasn’t been won. But, it’s clear that new daily cases are diminishing. It’s a rather steep decline. From a very high peak, so still troublesome.
Deaths are declining, too, as are hospitalizations and ICU cases. This is encouraging.
The HUGE question going into the fall is whether there will be a second wave. Or, are a sufficient number of people protected (antibodies, T memory cells) to prevent major outbreaks, like the ones we’ve been seeing in Texas?
Dan Patrick is reporting that the Pac-12 and Big Ten have decided to call off the college football season. The ACC and the Big 12 are on the fence. The SEC is trying to salvage the season by bringing in more teams to join the conference.
Trump is pushing for college games. I listened to dr adalja. He makes sense. Pro sports are in a bubble. These kids are students first. They go back to the classroom.
Not looking promising for football as a sport, college or professional.
97,000 kids tested positive for covid in the last two weeks of July.
But let’s put kids back in schools because kids don’t get covid…..and in this somehow the fact teachers and staff are not kids.
https://www.boston.com/news/coronavirus/2020/08/05/heres-how-many-coronavirus-cases-each-mass-town-has-had-over-the-last-14-days
It would appear that the “bubble” sports (NBA, NHL) will likely get through their perspective seasons while the sports that travel (MLB, NFL, NCAA) are questionable at best.
Texas positivity rate 20% and they are saying test numbers have dropped. Joshua, I’d love your thoughts?
Texas is still in trouble. Positive tests have only dropped there because of fewer tests.
Arizona is seeing some improvement, as are Florida and California. Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Nevada, and Idaho are still in trouble.
I don’t consider Massachusetts in the trouble category. Nor other Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Midwest is seeing an uptick, but it’s not as pronounced as the increase in the South last month.
Philip, I agree that many of our governors have done a reasonable job. I would not include Abbott, Ducey, and DeSantis in that category. There have been missteps by Newsom and Cuomo as well. But, they did correct their own mistakes.
Trump’s team has been inconsistent at best. Had he taken the pandemic seriously early on he’d be in the driver’s seat to win a second term. In fact, had he not issued “liberate” tweets to at least a dozen states in April, I believe he’d be in the driver’s seat. He was far too impatient, should have given a real lockdown a chance, and gave Americans the impression that everything was going to be okay.
But, as I stated above, Trump is not the only leader to have failed. It’s not good to romanticize the European response. I feel like some are doing this. I love Europe. Lived there for many years. Consider Holland my second home. But, I refuse to romanticize it. Is Europe in a better position than the U.S. right now? Yes. But, it had a horrific start to the pandemic. And, there are currently major hot spots brewing throughout Europe, with testing issues, crazy mask `debates’ in some countries, and even some hiding of statistics going on.
C-19 for 8-11 is up. Please note that the C-19 post and the weather post today are in reverse order from how they are typically posted.