Big Whoop

(COUGH)

"Fitness trackers may help in detecting COVID-19; A study of users of the Whoop Strap suggests it can signal signs of possible infection" by Hiawatha Bray Globe Staff, June 24, 2020

Testing for COVID-19 is time-consuming and uncomfortable, but what if there was a convenient device that could alert you to signs of infection and is so comfortable you forget you have it on?

Like, the fitness trackers worn by millions of sports enthusiasts?

Professional golfer Nick Watney was wearing such a device last week, a fitness tracker made by Boston-based Whoop. The device, called Whoop Strap, detected an unexpected spike in Watney’s respiration rate. Sure enough, a standard test confirmed that Watney had contracted COVID-19, forcing him to withdraw from the PGA Tour. Now the PGA is issuing hundreds of Whoop Straps to golfers and caddies.

If they can't get golf going, you can forget about $ports. The talk is all hot air.

It’s the latest evidence that fitness trackers could provide early warning of COVID-19 infections. Earlier this week, Whoop said that a new research study from Central Queensland University in Australia found the device, in some cases, was able to identify people with the coronavirus even before they showed any symptoms.

They are going to whip you with this bull$hit!

The new study is based on data from 271 people who used the Whoop Strap. Some had tested positive for COVID, and others tested negative but who suffered from symptoms of the disease. The researchers studied weeks worth of stored data showing the respiratory rates of Whoop users at night while they slept. They compared that data to the sleep respiration patterns of known COVID-19 patients.

Do you see the INSANITY of all this, readers?

They want their tracking monitor on you 24/7 and it will tell you if you presumably or probably have COVID because of a hitch in your breathing that could be cause by anything.

By measuring increases in the respiratory rates of infected people, the researchers say they identified 80 percent of users who had tested positive for COVID-19, and in 20 percent of those cases, the researchers said they correctly predicted the disease before the user had even begun showing symptoms.

The tests are $hit, sorry, liars. 

Douglas Johnston, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Cleveland Clinic who reviewed the Whoop study, called it “a very neat way to look at the potential effect of a respiratory virus on an individual.” He said that the results suggest the possibility that the respiratory effect of COVID-19 might be unique to that particular disease, making it easier to distinguish it from other flu-like ailments, but Johnston warned of one possible limitation of the study. “The people who tend to buy a Whoop device for their own use tend to be a very healthy population,” he said. More research will be needed to determine whether COVID-19 has the same respiratory effects on people who aren’t as physically fit.

The results suggest the possibility of a potential effect that might be, but possibly limited.

Excuse me while I put on the haz-mat suit due to the ocean of $hit they are shoveling.

The research was released prior to publication and has not been peer-reviewed. Whoop’s chief executive Will Ahmed stressed his company is not touting the Whoop Strap as a medical device. On Wednesday the company announced the launch of an international research project to confirm the value of the Strap as a diagnostic tool, with Harvard Medical School among the participating institutions, but if the results are confirmed by other scientists, it could give Whoop an early lead in a global race to track COVID cases against the tech companies that dominate the market — Apple, Fitbit, and Garmin.

Turns out the coronavirus contact tracing apps aren’t worth the health risk to Black and Latinx people with the concerns of surveillance are only compounded by the lingering question of efficacy because ‘no one has navigated something like this before,’ and there is doubt about who will pay for it. 

One in five US adults uses a fitness tracker, according to the Pew Research Center. They’re usually designed to transmit fitness data to the user’s smartphone over a wireless Bluetooth link, and they range in price from about $75 to several hundred dollars, but unlike its competitors, the Whoop Strap itself is free. Instead customers pay $30 a month for membership in a community of health and fitness buffs. The company collects and analyzes such data as heart rate, body temperature, and respiration. Through a smartphone app, members can get personalized information on their physical performance during exercise, at rest, and even when sleeping.

It was one of those members who raised the prospect of using the Whoop gadget as a COVID tracker. Emily Capodilupo, Whoop’s vice president of data science and research, said that in early March, a COVID-infected user in New York posted screen shots of his health data on the social media site Reddit. One image showed a big spike in his respiration rate. “To see it go up like 30 percent in this otherwise healthy guy all of a sudden was kind of shocking,” Capodilupo said. “That’s what really turned us on that we could detect something.”

Are you detecting anything now?

Shortly thereafter, Whoop added a feature to its app that let COVID-infected users identify themselves, so their data could be used for medical research. These users also received an online questionnaire asking about their symptoms. Within 24 hours, hundreds of users had signed up to share their data; today there are thousands.

Jennifer Radin, an epidemiologist at Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, Calif., noted that the Whoop study is based on only a small sample of infected people. Still, “I think Whoop is one device out of many that could help identify viral illness onset,” she said.

Yeah, STILL!!!!!

In January, before COVID became a national crisis, Radin published a study of 200,000 Fitbit users, which found that data from the fitness trackers could be used to monitor the spread of flu-like illnesses in the United States.

Today, she and her colleagues are testing a variety of fitness devices as potential COVID trackers. One is a ring called Oura that contains the same kinds of sensors found in fitness monitors and transmits health data to the user’s smartphone. Recent research from West Virginia University found that the Oura ring can predict the onset of COVID symptoms three days in advance with 90 percent accuracy. The National Basketball Association has said it will provide Oura rings to players when the league resumes play at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Into the woods or lake it goes, and who gives a f**k about the NBA or any other league?

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Related: Trump’s Shadow

He's caught in a noose, so cancel the election. Everyone knows the touch screens are riddled with fraud.

"Will Akili’s prescription video game be a winner?" by Rebecca Robbins STAT, June 24, 2020

Akili Interactive Labs proved last week that it could convince the Food and Drug Administration to let it market a treatment delivered through a video game. Now, the Boston-based company has a new challenge — trying to show that a prescription video game can make money.

How the game fares commercially could shape the fortunes of the emerging digital therapeutics sector, which is looking to Akili to chart a path for how to persuade doctors to prescribe software-based therapies — and how to convince insurers to pay for them.

Like you are a f**king Borg!

Let me show you where it Hertz, doc.

Some observers are optimistic: In a research note last week, analysts at the investment bank Jefferies forecast peak sales of the game at $300 million in the United States alone.

Who is going to pay for all this?

The video game, which is known as EndeavorRx and is cleared to be prescribed to kids with ADHD, does not yet have a price tag. Akili plans to announce its price when it launches the game commercially, which could be as soon as this summer. The company expects EndeavorRx’s price to be on par with other prescription treatments for children with ADHD, a spokesperson for Akili told STAT. (Commonly prescribed brand-name drugs such as Ritalin, Concerta, and Focalin have gone generic and generally cost a few hundred dollars for a monthly supply without insurance.)

Then it will be GAME OVER, kiddo!

These f**kers are SICK, folks!

Insurers and families might ultimately pay for ongoing access to EndeavorRx in a way that’s similar to the subscription model for streaming services like Netflix.

Why not drill a couple holes in the kid's head and just plug him in, or are you working on that?

In recent months, the company has rethought elements of its market strategy, shifting from a pharma-centric approach to one that’s more in line with the software industry, Akili’s CEO, Eddie Martucci, told STAT in January.....

As long as they are healthy, huh?

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Moving right along:


Segways have been a staple of indoor security detail, like security guards at malls, throughout the last twenty years (Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press/Associated Press).

You might want to walk that back:

"Segway to end production of its original personal transporter" by Johnny Diaz New York Times,June 24, 2020

The Segway, the two-wheeled vehicle once hailed as the future of personal transportation, has reached the end of the road.

“Within its first decade, the Segway PT became a staple in security and law enforcement, viewed as an effective and efficient personal vehicle,” Segway’s president, Judy Cai, said in a statement.  “This decision was not made lightly, and while the current global pandemic did impact sales and production, it was not a deciding factor in our decision,” Cai said.

#DeFund!

The company was founded in 1999 by inventor Dean Kamen, whose idea for the new transportation device grew from his early work on a motorized wheelchair that could climb stairs. Initially called the Segway Human Transporter, the vehicle was the subject of hype and fevered speculation before it was unveiled in 2001 on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The first models went on sale to the public through Amazon the next year, according to Segway.

Amazon is racist! That's one thing I've learned from the Globe!

The vehicle allowed users to ride vertically on a platform and change directions by shifting their balance and using the handlebars, but early on, the vehicles were banned in some cities because users tended to lose control. Since its debut, the Segway has been mocked for being overhyped and because of some high-profile mishaps.

In 2003, the company recalled the first 6,000 Segways it had sold after a glitch caused users to fall off the vehicles when the battery died. That same year, President George W. Bush tumbled off a Segway at his family’s estate in Kennebunkport, Maine.

That's the excuse they put out for him being drunk.

In 2009, a British businessman, James Heselden, acquired Segway Inc. A year later, he died after he plunged from a cliff in West Yorkshire while touring his property on a Segway, authorities said at the time. He was 62.

Looks like a Dr. David Kelly job to me.

In 2015, a cameraman riding a Segway ran into Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt as he took a victory lap at the world track and field championships in Beijing. Bolt fell backward onto the cameraman’s legs, then quickly returned to his feet uninjured.

Time to bolt out of here at full speed.

The Segway was also featured prominently in “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” a 2009 comedy film starring Kevin James as a security guard who patrols a shopping mall atop a Segway.

He was supposed to be the next Paul Newman.

Over the past two decades, Segway Inc. has expanded beyond its original core product. The company has introduced a compact electric unicycle and electric roller skates. In 2017, the company moved into the electric scooter business.....

What about the LOST JOBS?

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IMF moonwalk:

"IMF predicts deeper global downturn even as economies reopen" by Alan Rappeport New York Times, June 24, 2020

WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund warned Wednesday that the global economy faces an even deeper downturn than it previously projected as the coronavirus pandemic continues to sow uncertainty and businesses around the world struggle to operate amid the virus.

The forecast underscores the scale of the task that policymakers are facing as they try to dig out from what the IMF has described as the most severe economic contraction since the Great Depression. Even as countries begin reopening their economies, it is increasingly evident that the recovery will be uneven and protracted as cases continue to surge and consumers remain wary of resuming normal activity.

More than 35,000 new coronavirus cases were identified across the US on Tuesday, according to a New York Times database, the highest single-day total since late April and the third-highest total of any day of the pandemic. Other countries are also experiencing surges in new cases, complicating plans to reopen the global economy.

In an update to its World Economic Outlook, the IMF said it expected the global economy to shrink 4.9 percent this year — a sharper contraction than the 3 percent it predicted in April.

The fund noted that, even as businesses began to reopen, voluntary social distancing and enhanced workplace safety standards were weighing on economic activity. Moreover, the “scarring” of the labor force from mass job cuts and business closures means that the world economy will recover much more slowly, with the IMF projecting 5.4 percent global growth in 2021, far below its pre-pandemic projections.

I was told earlier we were ripe for a V-shaped recovery, so WTF?

Overall, the IMF expects that the cumulative loss of total output for the global economy this year and next year will top $12 trillion.

“We are definitely not out of the woods,” said Gita Gopinath, director of the IMF’s research department. “This is a crisis like no other and will have a recovery like no other.”

Gopinath said in a news briefing that the world was facing the worst downturn since the Great Depression; however, she said that the depth and duration of the economic collapse were not expected to be as severe, given the strength of the economy going into the crisis and the relative stability of the financial system.

Even the women can shovel $hit!

The path of the recovery remains difficult to track, she added, noting that much will depend on the development of a vaccine or cure for the coronavirus pandemic or whether future waves create the need for additional lockdowns.

You can bet on it!

The IMF forecast is more grim than global projections outlined earlier this month by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and its US forecast for 2020 is also less optimistic than what the Congressional Budget Office and the Federal Reserve have projected. The IMF now projects that the US economy will shrink 8 percent this year before expanding 4.5 percent next year.

That's when the printed ticker ran out of tape.

Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said on Wednesday that he expects a “broad recovery will take some time” in the United States, adding that “the future is more uncertain now than at any other time” in his professional career. “My forecast assumes growth is held back by the response to intermittent localized outbreaks — which might be made worse by the faster-than-expected reopenings,” Evans said. “Usually, we are able to look to the past for guidance on what is in store for the future, but in this situation, there is simply no relevant benchmark,” yet the Trump administration continues to suggest a more bullish outlook for the US economy.

Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, said Tuesday that he expected a V-shaped recovery, meaning a sharp, steady economic uptick on the heels of recession, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that he could foresee the recession being over in the US by the end of the year. “I think you’re going to see a spectacular rebound off the bottom in the third quarter,” Mnuchin said a virtual conference sponsored by Bloomberg on Tuesday. Prolonged economic pain could increase pressure on the Trump administration and US lawmakers to move forward with another round of stimulus measures. President Trump has suggested he would be open to another round of stimulus checks, which could land in peoples’ bank accounts just ahead of the November election.

As if that will buy him votes?

The checks will make him a symbol of people's misery -- like the Black man after the Civil War.

Not only that, they will be wanting the money back after the election because you will all have gotten rich!

The IMF cautioned that its forecast was more uncertain than usual because the trajectory of the pandemic remained hard to predict. It praised robust fiscal and monetary policy responses around the globe for helping to contain the economic fallout, but warned that mounting debt could constrain additional support as governments began to worry about ballooning deficits. The IMF report notes that, even in countries where infection rates are declining, major obstacles to a resumption of normal activity persist. Travel and mobility remain depressed, and the virus has dealt a blow to consumption and business investment.....

The only answer is au$terity, citizen!

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Related:

"Across the US, more than 36,000 new infections were reported by state health departments on Wednesday — surpassing the previous single-day record of 34,203 set on April 25. Texas, Florida, and California led the way, with all three states reporting more than 5,000 new cases apiece. Even as case numbers climb, reports circulated that the federal government is poised to stop providing federal aid to testing sites in some hard-hit states, including Texas, prompting a top federal official to respond that testing was on the rise. Since the start of the pandemic, the US has recorded more than 2.3 million coronavirus cases and at least 119,000 deaths, while the global number of cases has soared past 9 million. Meanwhile, hospital administrators and health experts warned desperately Wednesday that parts of the US are on the verge of becoming overwhelmed by a resurgence of the coronavirus, lamenting that politicians and a tired-of-being-cooped-up public are letting a disaster unfold. Dr. Joseph Gerald, a University of Arizona public health policy professor, said, “We are in deep trouble,’’ urging the state to impose new restrictions on businesses, which Governor Doug Ducey has refused to do. Without such steps, Gerald said, the death toll will reach “unheard-of” levels. “People got complacent,” said Dr. Marc Boom, CEO of the Houston Methodist hospital system, “and it’s coming back and biting us, quite frankly.”

That's when I swept the rest of that shit away, and the guilt trip based on a lie no longer works, sorry.

Going to have to learn to live with it:

"How the world is learning to live with a deadly pandemic" by Sui-Lee Wee and Benjamin Mueller New York Times, June 24, 2020

China is testing restaurant workers and delivery drivers block by block. South Korea tells people to carry two types of masks for differing risky social situations. Germany requires communities to crack down when the number of infections hits certain thresholds. Britain will target outbreaks in a strategy that Prime Minister Boris Johnson calls “Whac-A-Mole.”

Around the world, governments that had appeared to tame the virus are adjusting to the reality that the disease is here to stay, but in a shift away from damaging nationwide lockdowns, they are looking for targeted ways to find and stop outbreaks before they become third or fourth waves.

We are supposed to still be in the first one, and now they are talking third and fourth waves.

While the details differ, the strategies call for giving governments flexibility to tighten or ease as needed. They require some mix of intensive testing and monitoring, lightning-fast response times by authorities, tight border management, and constant reminders to their citizens of the dangers of frequent human contact.

Unless you are race rioting while lighting fire to and looting cities.

F**k you and your endless fear-mongering lies, a$$holes.

The strategies often force central governments and local officials to share data and work closely together, overcoming incompatible computer systems, turf battles, and other longstanding bureaucratic rivalries.

PFFFFFFFT!

The shifting strategies are an acknowledgment that even the most successful countries cannot declare victory until a vaccine is found. They also show the challenge presented by countries like the United States, Brazil, and India, where the authorities never fully contained initial outbreaks and from where the virus will continue to threaten to spread.

Why don't you shove that agenda-pushing jab up your ass?!!

“It’s always going to be with us,” said Simon James Thornley, an epidemiologist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. “We are going to need to learn to live with the virus.”

How odd coming from a place that is allegedly virus free!

Even in places where the virus appeared to be under control, big outbreaks remain a major risk.

Some countries, like China, are learning to ease back from their more Draconian methods.

In Beijing, officials told residents that they could take off their masks outdoors. Temperature screening in the city became less widespread.....

I never wear it outside! 

That's IDIOTIC!

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Related:

Russia holds a mostly mask-free victory parade

After they were allegedly hit hard by coronavirus.

Time to Round things up:

"Roundup Maker to Pay $10 Billion to Settle Cancer Suits" by Patricia Cohen New York Times, June 24, 2020

Bayer, the world’s largest seed and pesticide maker, has agreed to pay more than $10 billion to settle tens of thousands of claims in the United States that its popular weedkiller Roundup causes cancer, the company said Wednesday.

The TV ads still play here telling us what a trusted product it has been for 40 years, so WTF?

The figure includes $1.25 billion to deal with potential future claims from people who used Roundup and may develop the form of cancer known as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “It’s rare that we see a consensual settlement with that many zeros on it,” said Nora Freeman Engstrom, a professor at Stanford University Law School.

Bayer, a German company, inherited the legal morass when it bought Roundup’s manufacturer, Monsanto, for $63 billion in June 2018. It has repeatedly maintained that Roundup is safe and will continue to sell the product without adding a warning on the label.

I would say dump it, but where?

The settlement, which covers an estimated 95,000 cases, was extraordinarily complex because it includes separate agreements with 25 lead law firms whose clients will receive varying amounts.

Most of the lawsuits filed early on were brought by homeowners and groundskeepers, although they account for only a tiny portion of Roundup’s sales. Farmers are the biggest customers, and many agricultural associations contend glyphosate, the key ingredient in Roundup, is safe and effective.

Bayer still faces at least 25,000 claims from plaintiffs who have not agreed to be part of the settlement.

“This is nothing like the closure they’re trying to imply,” said Fletch Trammell, a Houston-based lawyer who said he represented 5,000 claimants not taking part in the settlement. “It’s like putting out part of a house fire,” but Kenneth R. Feinberg, the Washington lawyer who oversaw the mediation process, said he expected most current plaintiffs to join the settlement.

Oh, they brought in the heavy-gun paymaster, aka Feinberg the Fixer, to shut everyone up and forestall anymore lawsuits.

“In my experience, all those cases that have not yet been settled will quickly be resolved by settlement,” said Feinberg, a veteran mediator best known for running the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. “I will be surprised if there are any future trials.”

Bayer said the amount set aside to settle current litigation was $8.8 billion to $9.6 billion, including a cushion to cover claims not yet resolved. It said the settlement included no admission of liability or wrongdoing.

Individuals, depending on the strength of their cases, will receive payments of $5,000 to $250,000, according to two people close to negotiations.

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Now I've got a headache.