***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.”

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Research is a Level 1 Trauma Center so they get all the super bad cases from all over the KC area. Main reason why the person I know wanted to work in there ICU.

Yeah I knew that I figured Truman was too. Had to go to Trumans ER twice both times they were bringing in gunshot victims. ****ed up place idk how people work in those environments.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Those little sour gummi worms are my weakness. I could eat 5 pounds of those things (prior to passing out from sugar overload).

[Mecca]

OMG Gamestop just sent me an email saying come get your work from home necessities to stay productive......

I opened it and its a keyboard mouse and monitor for gaming.....several controllers for consoles, headsets.......then animal crossing, borderlands, cod, nba, red dead..

These sound like some serious needs at my work guys.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Those little sour gummi worms are my weakness. I could eat 5 pounds of those things (prior to passing out from sugar overload).

Your wife is now going to start working them into her baking....

[wazu]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I read yesterday that it's roughly 80% in NYC and that some doctors were starting to think they shouldn't bother.

China had reported stats that 80% of their ventilator patients died.

[Three7s]

Originally Posted by Mecca

OMG Gamestop just sent me an email saying come get your work from home necessities to stay productive......

I opened it and its a keyboard mouse and monitor for gaming.....several controllers for consoles, headsets.......then animal crossing, borderlands, cod, nba, red dead..

These sound like some serious needs at my work guys.

Sounds like you're living the dream!

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Three7s

Sounds like you're living the dream!

I'm gonna buy all this shit and charge it to them since they're covering expenses, I'll just tell them they said this was needed to be productive.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

Yeah I knew that I figured Truman was too. Had to go to Trumans ER twice both times they were bringing in gunshot victims. ****ed up place idk how people work in those environments.

To get major xxperience and they enjoy the rush...but they aren't right now though

[BryanBusby]

Originally Posted by Mecca

OMG Gamestop just sent me an email saying come get your work from home necessities to stay productive......

I opened it and its a keyboard mouse and monitor for gaming.....several controllers for consoles, headsets.......then animal crossing, borderlands, cod, nba, red dead..

These sound like some serious needs at my work guys.

Enjoy the same stuff you can buy at Walmart, marked up 50%

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I read yesterday that it's roughly 80% in NYC and that some doctors were starting to think they shouldn't bother.

Has to be a tough choice. I know if I got this I would fight like hell not to go on one.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by Mecca

OMG Gamestop just sent me an email saying come get your work from home necessities to stay productive......

I opened it and its a keyboard mouse and monitor for gaming.....several controllers for consoles, headsets.......then animal crossing, borderlands, cod, nba, red dead..

These sound like some serious needs at my work guys.

Can you get me Madden on PC for the low?

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

Can you get me Madden on PC for the low?

Do they even still make that on the PC?

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Has to be a tough choice. I know if I got this I would fight like hell not to go on one.

Some doctors moving away from ventilators for virus patients

NEW YORK -- As health officials around the world push to get more ventilators to treat coronavirus patients, some doctors are moving away from using the breathing machines when they can.

The reason: Some hospitals have reported unusually high death rates for coronavirus patients on ventilators, and some doctors worry that the machines could be harming certain patients.

The evolving treatments highlight the fact that doctors are still learning the best way to manage a virus that emerged only months ago. They are relying on anecdotal, real-time data amid a crush of patients and shortages of basic supplies.

Mechanical ventilators push oxygen into patients whose lungs are failing. Using the machines involves sedating a patient and sticking a tube into the throat. Deaths in such sick patients are common, no matter the reason they need the breathing help.

Generally speaking, 40% to 50% of patients with severe respiratory distress die while on ventilators, experts say. But 80% or more of coronavirus patients placed on the machines in New York City have died, state and city officials say.

Higher-than-normal death rates also have been reported elsewhere in the U.S., said Dr. Albert Rizzo, the American Lung Association’s chief medical officer.

Similar reports have emerged from China and the United Kingdom. One U.K. report put the figure at 66%. A very small study in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the disease first emerged, said 86% died.

The reason is not clear. It may have to do with what kind of shape the patients were in before they were infected. Or it could be related to how sick they had become by the time they were put on the machines, some experts said.

But some health professionals have wondered whether ventilators might actually make matters worse in certain patients, perhaps by igniting or worsening a harmful immune system reaction.

That's speculation. But experts do say ventilators can be damaging to a patient over time, as high-pressure oxygen is forced into the tiny air sacs in a patient's lungs.

“We know that mechanical ventilation is not benign," said Dr. Eddy Fan, an expert on respiratory treatment at Toronto General Hospital. “One of the most important findings in the last few decades is that medical ventilation can worsen lung injury — so we have to be careful how we use it.”

The dangers can be eased by limiting the amount of pressure and the size of breaths delivered by the machine, Fan said.

But some doctors say they're trying to keep patients off ventilators as long as possible, and turning to other techniques instead.

Only a few weeks ago in New York City, coronavirus patients who came in quite sick were routinely placed on ventilators to keep them breathing, said Dr. Joseph Habboushe, an emergency medicine doctor who works in Manhattan hospitals.

But increasingly, physicians are trying other measures first. One is having patients lie in different positions — including on their stomachs — to allow different parts of the lung to aerate better. Another is giving patients more oxygen through nose tubes or other devices. Some doctors are experimenting with adding nitric oxide to the mix, to help improve blood flow and oxygen to the least damaged parts of the lungs.

“If we're able to make them better without intubating them, they are more likely to have a better outcome — we think,” Habboushe said.

He said those decisions are separate from worries that there are not enough ventilators available. But that is a concern as well, Habboushe added.

There are widespread reports that coronavirus patients tend to be on ventilators much longer than other kinds of patients, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University.

Experts say that patients with bacterial pneumonia, for example, may be on a ventilator for no more than a day or two. But it’s been common for coronavirus patients to have been on a ventilator “seven days, 10 days, 15 days, and they’re passing away,” said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, when asked about ventilator death rates during a news briefing on Wednesday.

That’s one reason for worries that ventilators could grow in short supply. Experts worry that as cases mount, doctors will be forced to make terrible decisions about who lives and who dies because they won’t have enough machines for every patient who needs one.

New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said Wednesday that officials are looking into other possible therapies that can be given earlier, but added “that's all experimental."

The new virus is a member of the coronavirus family that can cause colds as well as more serious illnesses. Health officials say it spreads mainly from droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. There is no proven drug treatment or vaccine against it.

Experts think most people who are infected suffer nothing worse than unpleasant but mild illnesses that may include fever and coughing.

But roughly 20% — many of them older adults or people weakened by chronic conditions — can grow much sicker. They can have trouble breathing and suffer chest pain. Their lungs can become inflamed, causing a dangerous condition called acute respiratory distress syndrome. An estimated 3% to 4% may need ventilators.

“The ventilator is not therapeutic. It’s a supportive measure while we wait for the patient’s body to recover," said Dr. Roger Alvarez, a lung specialist with the University of Miami Health System in Florida, who is a leader in the effort to use nitric oxide to keep patients off ventilators for as long as possible.

Zachary Shemtob said he was “absolutely terrified” when he was told his 44-year-old husband, David, needed to be put on a ventilator at NYU Langone last month after becoming infected with the virus.

“Needing to be ventilated might mean never getting off the ventilator,” he said.

Shemtob said the hospital did not give any percentages on survival, but he got the impression it was essentially a coin flip. He looked up the rates only after his husband was breathing on his own six days later.

“A coin flip was generous it seems,” he said.

But Shemtob noted cases vary. His husband is relatively young.

“David is living proof that they can really save lives, and how incredibly important they are,” Shemtob said.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireSt...ients-70048940

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Do they even still make that on the PC?

This past season I believe they did

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

Meh it's not a big deal, but it seems like some of the social distancing measures are just tedious and more of an inconvenience than providing any significant benefits.

I wish that was happening here in LA.

At least we'd have somewhere safe to go since the parks, trails and beaches have been closed for weeks and may not open until the Fall.