***NON-POLITICAL COVID-19 Discussion Thread***

[JakeF]

A couple of reminders...

Originally Posted by Bwana

Once again, don't come in this thread with some kind of political agenda, or you will be shown the door. If you want to go that route, there is a thread about this in DC.

Originally Posted by Dartgod

People, there is a lot of good information in this thread, let's try to keep the petty bickering to a minimum.

We all have varying opinions about the impact of this, the numbers, etc. We will all never agree with each other. But we can all keep it civil.

Thanks!

Click here for the original OP:

Spoiler!

Apparently the CoronaVirus can survive on a inanimate objects, such as door knobs, for 9 days.

California coronavirus case could be first spread within U.S. community, CDC says
By SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA, JACLYN COSGROVE
FEB. 26, 2020 8:04 PM

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating what could be the first case of novel coronavirus in the United States involving a patient in California who neither recently traveled out of the country nor was in contact with someone who did.

“At this time, the patient’s exposure is unknown. It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States,” the CDC said in a statement. “Community spread means spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown. It’s also possible, however, that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected.”

The individual is a resident of Solano County and is receiving medical care in Sacramento County, according to the state Department of Public Health.

The CDC said the “case was detected through the U.S. public health system — picked up by astute clinicians.”

Officials at UC Davis Medical Center expanded on what the federal agency might have meant by that in an email sent Wednesday, as reported by the Davis Enterprise newspaper.

The patient arrived at UC Davis Medical Center from another hospital Feb. 19 and “had already been intubated, was on a ventilator, and given droplet protection orders because of an undiagnosed and suspected viral condition,” according to an email sent by UC Davis officials that was obtained by the Davis Enterprise.

The staff at UC Davis requested COVID-19 testing by the CDC, but because the patient didn’t fit the CDC’s existing criteria for the virus, a test wasn’t immediately administered, according to the email. The CDC then ordered the test Sunday, and results were announced Wednesday. Hospital administrators reportedly said in the email that despite these issues, there has been minimal exposure at the hospital because of safety protocols they have in place.

A UC Davis Health spokesperson declined Wednesday evening to share the email with The Times.

Since Feb. 2, more than 8,400 returning travelers from China have entered California, according to the state health department. They have been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days and limit interactions with others as much as possible, officials said.

“This is a new virus, and while we are still learning about it, there is a lot we already know,” Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “We have been anticipating the potential for such a case in the U.S., and given our close familial, social and business relationships with China, it is not unexpected that the first case in the U.S. would be in California.”

It is not clear how the person became infected, but public health workers could not identify any contacts with people who had traveled to China or other areas where the virus is widespread. That raises concern that the virus is spreading in the United States, creating a challenge for public health officials, experts say.

“It’s the first signal that we could be having silent transmission in the community,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. “It probably means there are many more cases out there, and it probably means this individual has infected others, and now it’s a race to try to find out who that person has infected.”

On Tuesday, the CDC offered its most serious warning to date that the United States should expect and prepare for the coronavirus to become a more widespread health issue.

“Ultimately, we expect we will see coronavirus spread in this country,” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “It’s not so much a question of if, but a question of when.”

According to the CDC’s latest count Wednesday morning, 59 U.S. residents have tested positive for the new strain of coronavirus — 42 of whom are repatriated citizens from a Diamond Princess cruise. That number has grown by two since Messonnier’s last count Tuesday, although the CDC was not immediately available to offer details on the additional cases.

More than 82,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported globally, and more than 2,700 people have died, with the majority in mainland China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

But public health leaders have repeatedly reminded residents that the health risk from the novel coronavirus to the general public remains low.

“While COVID-19 has a high transmission rate, it has a low mortality rate,” the state Department of Public Health said in a statement Wednesday. “From the international data we have, of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, approximately 80% do not exhibit symptoms that would require hospitalization. There have been no confirmed deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States to date.”

CDC officials have also warned that although the virus is likely to spread in U.S. communities, the flu still poses a greater risk.

Gostin said the news of potential silent transmission does not eliminate the possibility of containing the virus in the U.S. and preventing an outbreak.

“There are few enough cases that we should at least try,” he said. “Most of us are not optimistic that that will be successful, but we’re still in the position to try.”

[TLO]

Big news: The JNJ vaccine results of 44,000 Phase 3 trial, a single dose. Overall 66% efficacy, with the contrast of 72% in US but 57% in South Africa, confirming immune escape/resistance of B.1.351 variant seen by Novavax pic.twitter.com/0WfXgkZVos

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) January 29, 2021

This news is certainly welcome, clearly fulfills FDA threshold and adds to the vaccine tool chest. It is a clear drop down from the 2-dose mRNA efficacyhttps://t.co/Pgkdm1ggIg @matthewherper @statnews

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) January 29, 2021

[Marcellus]

Looks like the rolling 7 day average for new cases has hit the Nov 17th levels so one would have to think that along with the vaccine should help keep that trend steady dropping.

[Rain Man]

I'm not thrilled with those J&J results. I'm hoping I can pick one of the other vaccines when my turn comes up.

[neech]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I'm not thrilled with those J&J results. I'm hoping I can pick one of the other vaccines when my turn comes up.

Which one are you leaning towards getting? My opportunity to get a shot is coming up in a month or so supposedly. I'm favoring the Pfizer but can be persuaded.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I'm not thrilled with those J&J results. I'm hoping I can pick one of the other vaccines when my turn comes up.

They're good solid results. Not quite to the level of Pfizer but if you had told us before any of this these would be what we'd get, we'd be ecstatic.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by neech

Which one are you leaning towards getting? My opportunity to get a shot is coming up in a month or so supposedly. I'm favoring the Pfizer but can be persuaded.

Get whichever is available to you.

If you're in line for a month or so you'll likely only have a chance for Moderna or Pfizer.

Take either one.

[sd4chiefs]

New Chinese Covid Anal Probes May Be The Most Accurate Way To Test For Travel

https://viewfromthewing.com/new-chin...om+the+Wing%29

[In China] they face a new indignity: the addition of anal swabs — yes, you read that right — to the testing regimen for those in quarantine.

Chinese state media outlets introduced the new protocol in recent days, prompting widespread discussion and some outrage. Some Chinese doctors say the science is there. Recovering patients, they say, have continued to test positive through samples from the lower digestive tract days after nasal and throat swabs came back negative.

[neech]

Originally Posted by TLO

Get whichever is available to you.

If you're in line for a month or so you'll likely only have a chance for Moderna or Pfizer.

Take either one.

Thanks, I'll have Dr. Josef Mengele inject me with the solution ASAP.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by sd4chiefs

New Chinese Covid Anal Probes May Be The Most Accurate Way To Test For Travel

https://viewfromthewing.com/new-chin...om+the+Wing%29

[In China] they face a new indignity: the addition of anal swabs — yes, you read that right — to the testing regimen for those in quarantine.

Chinese state media outlets introduced the new protocol in recent days, prompting widespread discussion and some outrage. Some Chinese doctors say the science is there. Recovering patients, they say, have continued to test positive through samples from the lower digestive tract days after nasal and throat swabs came back negative.

** The following statement is not politically correct **

**** China.

Thank you.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by neech

Thanks, I'll have Dr. Josef Mengele inject me with the solution ASAP.

Might want to avoid the corpse of Dr. Mengle or anyone associated with him/his corpse.

[louie aguiar]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I'm not thrilled with those J&J results. I'm hoping I can pick one of the other vaccines when my turn comes up.

Agreed - I think that many will rather wait for one of the mrna vaccines that have 95% efficacy rather than the J&J or AZ vaccine with efficacy in the 60s

[ChiliConCarnage]

Originally Posted by ChiliConCarnage

Total Doses Administered
17,546,374

Up about 1 million.

It'll be interesting to see how some of the countries going fast infection rates do. UAE and Israel are going to have enough people stuck that you'd think it'd start to make a big difference over the next month

A week later and 26.2 million doses administered total. Seems like it's speeding up a bit but nothing drastic


21.7 people with the first dose and 48 million distributed.

[BigBeauford]

Those Johnson and John results aren't super great. It appears it does a great job with symptom reduction and hospital avoidance, but not so much with reducing the spread.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by O.city

They're good solid results. Not quite to the level of Pfizer but if you had told us before any of this these would be what we'd get, we'd be ecstatic.

Yeah, six months ago this would be great news. Now? Meh. I feel like an incredible jerk for saying this, but it's great for third-world countries who can't pay. I'll pay the thirty bucks or whatever if I have to to get the top of the line stuff.

Originally Posted by louie aguiar

Agreed - I think that many will rather wait for one of the mrna vaccines that have 95% efficacy rather than the J&J or AZ vaccine with efficacy in the 60s

Yeah, like this.

Originally Posted by neech

Which one are you leaning towards getting? My opportunity to get a shot is coming up in a month or so supposedly. I'm favoring the Pfizer but can be persuaded.

I've traditionally been 51/49 Moderna over Pfizer, since it seemed to show fewer side effects, but I don't know if that's still holding true. They seem to be pretty much identical in outcomes, so I'm not picky between those two.

Novavax reported good results today at 89 percent but it tanked down to 49 percent for the South Africa variant, which is troublesome. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021...t-south-africa

I'm starting to think that a new decision factor for me (assuming I have a choice) would be performance against variants. I haven't read how Pfizer and Moderna are doing against South Africa. Apparently Astrazenica will have results out next week on that topic, but I don't think their general efficacy was very strong, right? How did that discrepancy turn out with Astrazenica where they were showing 90 percent after one round and 62 percent after two rounds?

Being at the back of the vaccine line is nice on one hand because I can watch what's happening as more data is collected. But I'll be unhappy if I get to the front of the line in June or July and they say, "Hey, we got a big batch of low-efficacy vaccine so we'll give you that instead of the 95 percent stuff." Any vaccine is better than no vaccine, but I'll pay the thirty bucks if I can to get the high-end stuff.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Yeah, six months ago this would be great news. Now? Meh. I feel like an incredible jerk for saying this, but it's great for third-world countries who can't pay. I'll pay the thirty bucks or whatever if I have to to get the top of the line stuff.

I'm with you provided that we eventually have the option for either of those before J&J is available. If someone said "you're up tomorrow, but only if you get J&J," I'd do it without blinking.