***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.”

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by loochy

Itself.

I remember thinking that back when it was in posted.

If it's not effective then why would medical personnel need it?

Medical workers are still getting sick with masks but they don’t have the opportunity for social distancing like the general public can, it is their only form of protection .

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by stumppy

Going to be kind of hard to go back to work when the business you work for is shut down.

Well I guess there's that...

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

A necessary fib?

Yes. It's brutal, but would you rather have our healthcare workers without masks, or the general population?

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

3 weeks max for what? From when?

I'll give it end of April. People aren't gonna sit around and starve.

[O.city]

Hamas if you're lurking, why wouldn't clinical grade soluble human ACE2 work on this virus?

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by O.city

I'll give it end of April. People aren't gonna sit around and starve.

What are they going to do in 3 weeks?

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Monticore

Medical workers are still getting sick with masks but they don’t have the opportunity for social distancing like the general public can, it is their only form of protection .

I know.

It was a very poorly executed lie though.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Donger

Yes. It's brutal, but would you rather have our healthcare workers without masks, or the general population?

Yup.

Because there's some belief that had we just told everyone to wear masks suddenly said masks would materialize.

But the bottom line is that had that happened, we'd ultimately still have shortages in the general population and the spread would be nominally smaller. Meanwhile you're now making medical supply issues exponentially worse, dropout rates from sick healthcare providers skyrocket even faster, your 'capacity line' drops precipitously and truly all hell breaks loose.

It was the right thing to do. Now the right thing to do is carve through all this !@#$ing bureaucratic garbage and get those supplies out to those healthcare providers in high risk, high need areas.

[PAChiefsGuy]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

What are they going to do in 3 weeks?

This.

What are they going to do? If jobs aren't there the jobs aren't there. Employers aren't going to hire them without enough revenue coming in.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

In a herd of hogs a virus comes through , does it's damage and the rest of the herd builds immunity.

Same thing here. Unless the creators of this virus manipulated it to make it chronically mutate.

IMO it's not a natural mutation. It's man made and was released. The government told us over a year ago to have a 6 month supply of food on hand.

Now we know why.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Then nature does what nature do.

But ultimately there's a lot of truth to the fact that we'll have already found a treatment or powered through this by the time a vaccine comes online.

O.City is right - the working population will eventually say "to hell with this" and they'll go back to work. They'll maintain social distancing, social functions will largely evaporate, sports won't come back and family gatherings will be skipped. They'll do what they can to ensure that the burdens rest on them alone to power ahead with this disease as a shadow.

But they WILL power ahead. It's not killing them in waves. It's not killing their kids. They'll put up with this for a period of time and ultimately it may even be far longer than O.City or myself expect (I actually give people a little more 'credit' in that I think this can stretch through May before general backlash; that'd be about 10-11 weeks), but it damn sure won't make it through to a vaccine.

Because deep down in the darkest recesses of their minds, the vast vast VAST majority isn't worried about contracting it. They aren't even worried about you contracting it or most anyone else getting it for that matter. They're worried about maybe 5-10 people they know really well and care about a lot contracting it. And they're worried they'll be the ones that give it to them.

And that kind of fear, especially of the guilt associated with it, is a powerful motivator. But it's not the same as you dying or your kids dying. And it will eventually buckle under.

People are free to argue this point as loudly as they want or especially engage in some kind of normative response about what people SHOULD be willing to do. But in the end it just doesn't matter. I can't see any way that guilt and paranoia will simply yield an unlimited supply of patience.

I agree mostly. I disagree on the timeline I could see beigning of June being the limit for most.

I dont know if I'm "afraid " of getting this but obviously I'd rather wouldnt. I dont want to find out how good my immune system really is or have to get medical treatment which right now would cost me a fortune since switching careers I dont have insurance for another 1.5 months.

Realistically though how long can this country go without sports? Seems like a silly question but if we get into football season and it gets cancelled people are going to lose their shit.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by Donger

Yes. It's brutal, but would you rather have our healthcare workers without masks, or the general population?

Dont we risk doing that now anyway?

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

Dont we risk doing that now anyway?

Well, I haven't looked, but I presume that it's still rather hard for a non-HCW to get N95 masks and that the supply to HCW is improving, or will be improving soon.

[stumppy]

Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin

In a herd of hogs a virus comes through , does it's damage and the rest of the herd builds immunity.

Same thing here. Unless the creators of this virus manipulated it to make it chronically mutate.

IMO it's not a natural mutation. It's man made and was released. The government told us over a year ago to have a 6 month supply of food on hand.

Now we know why.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by PAChiefsGuy

This.

What are they going to do? If jobs aren't there the jobs aren't there. Employers aren't going to hire them without enough revenue coming in.

They'll do what they have to do. If people are willing to work, employers will eb bringing in revenue.