Weekly coronavirus-related chat, questions, and minor updates - week of June 15

A data scientist that was working for the state of Florida has been fired after she inquired how to file a whistleblower complaint about how she was asked to alter data to make it appear Florida was ready to reopen.

Germany's contact tracing app has been released. Generally viewed as safe and a commendable effort. It's open source https://github.com/corona-warn-app/

It looks to substantially fulfill the requirements outlined by the CCC: https://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2020/contact-tracing-requirements - and the CCC has not criticized this app to my knowledge. Given the previous scrutiny, this is the best grade you can expect.

A paper outlines two potential attacks on the system. One of which could cause false positives, the other could cause privacy leaks. I've discussed the second one before on here; the major problem being that it is based upon the users actually publishing their tokens. That makes it an untargetable and avoidable attack. Similar criticisms have been voiced in german here: https://twitter.com/pavel23/status/1271881305614057474

I'll install it.

In the WHO's briefing today, they were clear that the pandemic is still accelerating and that yesterday was the worst day yet:

The pandemic is accelerating. More than 150 thousand new cases of COVID-19 were reported to WHO yesterday – the most in a single day so far. Almost half of those cases were reported from the Americas, with large numbers also being reported from South Asia and the Middle East.

It's really worrisome to see how many people seem to be treating it like we've somehow gotten past the worst of the situation, when in reality almost nothing has changed. I go out occasionally to pick up take-out food or groceries, and there are so many people out that seem to just be carrying on as normal, not wearing masks, and so on. Even the traffic feels like it's pretty much back to regular levels here. It seems like we just hit a limit on how long people are willing to inconvenience their normal lives for.

I created a website that visualizes the COVID-19 data from the Johns Hopkins University: https://covid19.evrim.io

Also, if anyone's interested, it is open-source: https://github.com/evrimfeyyaz/covid-19-in-charts.

I went to the BLM silent march in Seattle last Friday, so now I am on the lookout for symptoms. Everyone was wearing masks, and it was outdoors and pouring down rain, so I think I'll be alright.
King County recently determined that only 1% of protestors are testing positive for COVID, so they aren't recommending testing unless you have symptoms..

Last Sunday the boardwalk near my house became full of people looking for fun and leisure, so the mayor closed it for the time being. The beach was already boarded. I went out for a walk just now and inadvertently crossed into the forbidden zone — the signaling was not clear at all an there were no barriers so I figured it was fine. The police escorted me out — they were actually very nice (as nice as Brazilian police can be at least). The allowed zone is extremely dangerous, especially right now. I went there today and didn’t feel safe at all. I understand and approve his decision, but there are no parks around and the beach is the only way to get in contact with nature. The ocean was my daily scape. Now I can’t even look at it.

President of Honduras Tests Positive for Coronavirus

In a televised statement late Tuesday, President Juan Orlando Hernández said his wife and two of his two aides had also become infected. He said that he began feeling unwell over the weekend, and that the diagnosis was confirmed later Tuesday.

New Zealand has had a few new cases introduced from travelers (returning citizens/residents), after getting down to zero active cases on June 8. They allowed two cases out of the mandatory quarantine early and before they had been tested, so now there are concerns about how much they might have spread it.

Apple will re-close some stores in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Arizona due to coronavirus spikes

Mexico’s Central de Abasto: How coronavirus tore through Latin America’s largest market

While there are no official data, vendors can name dozens of people in the vegetable aisles alone who lost their lives — green-bean sellers, chili vendors, potato men — in one of the most brutal outbreaks in the city.

“Here we didn’t believe” the coronavirus was a threat, said 57-year-old Anastasio Ramón Alonso, a longtime tomato vendor. “But when people began to die and die and die, we lost our incredulity.”

[...]

The government had launched a major publicity campaign about the coronavirus, with nightly news conferences. But it failed to convince the tomato workers.

“Mexicans tend to say ‘the government is trying to screw us,’ ” explained Omar Martínez, whose family runs the tomato stand at Q-1.

That distrust had deep roots. Writer and activist Irene Tello Arista grew up in Iztapalapa, the densely packed borough that surrounds the market. She noted that many residents lacked even basic public services, such as reliable running water. Their attitude was: “If the government has never looked out for me in my daily life, why are they going to do it now?”

Up and down the vegetable aisles, word spread that hospitals were dangerous places where doctors were deliberately killing people. The stories were absurd. But many vendors believed them. They were used to poor health care.

[...]

The market supplies 80 percent of the capital’s food; some 300,000 buyers and delivery personnel visit each day. It couldn’t shut down.

Further complicating matters, it’s highly fragmented. The market management employs only about 1,000 of the 90,000 personnel — mostly janitors and administrative staff. The rest work for the entrepreneurs who own or lease the 7,418 stalls.

Nurses stage dueling demonstrations at St. Rose Hospital amid coronavirus outbreak and state violations

Dozens of nurses at St. Rose Hospital who belong to the California Nurses Association on Wednesday staged a demonstration outside the Hayward hospital alleging that managers have failed to keep workers there safe.

“We deserve this hospital’s support,” said Angelanne Fernandez, an intensive care nurse who has spent more than 13 years working at St. Rose.

But in a counter demonstration just yards away at the hospital’s entrance, other nurses and health care workers said they think leadership has done a good job of protecting workers.

“We’re here to support our hospital,” said Catherine Garcia, a surgical technologist who has worked at the hospital for nearly two decades.

The dueling viewpoints came to a head following a coronavirus outbreak among hospital staff that has sickened at least 38 workers and a June 12 Cal/OSHA report noting several safety violations unrelated to the virus. The state agency found that the hospital’s failure to implement an effective workplace violence prevention plan resulted in a nurse being injured when he was assaulted by a patient’s family member in November 2019.

‘They Just Dumped Him Like Trash’: Nursing Homes Evict Vulnerable Residents

Nursing homes across the country are kicking out old and disabled residents and sending them to homeless shelters and rundown motels.

Actor-comedian D.L. Hughley tests positive for coronavirus after collapsing onstage in Nashville

Hundreds test positive at Tyson Foods plant in Arkansas