***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.”

[BigBeauford]

Originally Posted by Fish

Regarding the bolded, I keep seeing people repeat this. But the reality is that you cannot simply vaccinate a small part of the population that really needs it and ignore the rest. Unless you physically put those people in a bubble, you might as well not even bother. A vaccine will never be anything close to effective with that kind of strategy, and it just gives the virus that much more of an opportunity to mutate into something potentially worse.

Just to piggyback off that, we think our 3 year old brought it home, and now I'm day 3 of a breakthrough case with my wife. She was pretty sick for a couple days. I can only imagine how much worse it would be without her being vaccinated. 35 y/o. Have to burn 5 days of PTO now.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I just think that social media has dulled our ability to consider nuance in anything. Everyone feels some weird tribal need to be right all the time, and they exaggerate everything to try and prove a point.

CHIEFSPLANET SET THE TREND BEFORE IT WAS COOL.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

Just to piggyback off that, we think our 3 year old brought it home, and now I'm day 3 of a breakthrough case with my wife. She was pretty sick for a couple days. I can only imagine how much worse it would be without her being vaccinated. 35 y/o. Have to burn 5 days of PTO now.

How is your little one doing?

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by InvinciBill

I agree with you 100%, and anyone who disagrees with you must be euthanized immediately in order for humanity to succeed.

- mod forgot to log out.

[carlos3652]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

Just to piggyback off that, we think our 3 year old brought it home, and now I'm day 3 of a breakthrough case with my wife. She was pretty sick for a couple days. I can only imagine how much worse it would be without her being vaccinated. 35 y/o. Have to burn 5 days of PTO now.

Hope your little one and your wife is ok.

My little one got Croup 3 weeks ago (brought it from childcare) and gave me something (not covid as I tested negative) and I have been dealing with it for 3 weeks now.

Luckily I work from home and only had to take PTO on my severe days, and could work remotely so I did not have to take more time off.

the little one got a reoccurring croup diagnosis this last weekend, so its like our house is just passing it back and forth... it sucks.

[BigBeauford]

Originally Posted by notorious

How is your little one doing?

He doesn't seemed bothered at all. Might have a diminished appetite, but it's hard to tell between that and his usual defiance.

[TLO]

I'm on a booster kick today.

All the data available (there's not a lot) shows that a 3rd shot of the mRNA vaccines boost antibody levels. Ok.. Cool.

But these levels are inevitably going to decline again in 4-8 months. Maybe sooner.

It does appear the booster adds some short term impact on someone catching the virus at all. (Again the data simply isn't there for a longer term outlook)

I'm conflicted.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

He doesn't seemed bothered at all. Might have a diminished appetite, but it's hard to tell between that and his usual defiance.

Good news. Covid needs to **** off when it comes to the little ones.

[Sure-Oz]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

He doesn't seemed bothered at all. Might have a diminished appetite, but it's hard to tell between that and his usual defiance.

Hope you all get well soon. Glad the child is doing ok.

[dirk digler]

It is going to be interesting to see if there will be a mass departure of nursing home staff here shortly after it was announced yesterday that they will be required to get the vaccine or the nursing home will lose federal funding. The Feds need to apply this to all healthcare facilities that get federal funding to be honest.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

It is going to be interesting to see if there will be a mass departure of nursing home staff here shortly after it was announced yesterday that they will be required to get the vaccine or the nursing home will lose federal funding. The Feds need to apply this to all healthcare facilities that get federal funding to be honest.

Agreed.

[lawrenceRaider]

Originally Posted by TLO

I'm on a booster kick today.

All the data available (there's not a lot) shows that a 3rd shot of the mRNA vaccines boost antibody levels. Ok.. Cool.

But these levels are inevitably going to decline again in 4-8 months. Maybe sooner.

It does appear the booster adds some short term impact on someone catching the virus at all. (Again the data simply isn't there for a longer term outlook)

I'm conflicted.

The real question for me is if the active antibodies even matter. Do we get a bone marrow level/long term immunity from the mRNA shots or not? If so, the short term antibodies don't matter that much. If not, the mRNA shots are short term band-aids and we need to be looking at more conventional vaccines.

If I understand correctly, the J&J shot is closer to a traditional vaccine and maybe that's why it is looking perhaps better against Delta.

[lawrenceRaider]

Originally Posted by carlos3652

Hope your little one and your wife is ok.

My little one got Croup 3 weeks ago (brought it from childcare) and gave me something (not covid as I tested negative) and I have been dealing with it for 3 weeks now.

Luckily I work from home and only had to take PTO on my severe days, and could work remotely so I did not have to take more time off.

the little one got a reoccurring croup diagnosis this last weekend, so its like our house is just passing it back and forth... it sucks.

Just saw a TV advertisement for a croup vaccine. Hadn't heard of it before.

[lawrenceRaider]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I kind of hate the 99% numbers whether we're talking about COVID risk or vaccine risk or anything else. I've generally found that most people don't even understand what the numbers mean, let alone how they relate to anything tangible, yet people love to throw them out as proof of something.

My favorite example recently was that a county commissioner here in Colorado recently said that kids are more likely to die from being hit by an asteroid than they are to die from COVID. I get the gist of what she was trying to say (that kids are relatively unlikely to die from COVID), but she was trying to compare the likelihood that the Earth would be hit by an asteroid in the next 300 years to the likelihood that a kid has died from COVID in the past year. (And...uh...not many kids have died from asteroids, so there's that.)

Shit like that happens all over the place, and it adds next to nothing to the conversation. Yes, you're relatively unlikely to die from COVID. Yes, you're even less likely to have an adverse affect from a vaccine. But saying that 99% of people are fine in either situation implies that it can't happen, when the reality is that 1 out of 100 people dying would be a **** ton of dead people. Because of that, there's a ton more to discuss than "99%" of anything.

A more apt comparison would be kids are more likely to be harmed/die in a car wreck than from COVID.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider

The real question for me is if the active antibodies even matter. Do we get a bone marrow level/long term immunity from the mRNA shots or not? If so, the short term antibodies don't matter that much. If not, the mRNA shots are short term band-aids and we need to be looking at more conventional vaccines.

If I understand correctly, the J&J shot is closer to a traditional vaccine and maybe that's why it is looking perhaps better against Delta.

If it produces a neutralizing antibody initially, I don't see how you wouldn't get some long term plasmoblasts and T cell initiation.