***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.”

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Has anyone talked about the Gilead drug that is helping 2/3 of severe patients recover?

That seems like a possible game changer

I guess a report was released today that was very positive, from a hospital in Chicago. Stock market futures have spiked up 900 points for tomorrow.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/16/...-to-treatment/

[dirk digler]

Oxford researchers was just on CNN and they are very confident they will have a vaccine ready to go by September. They are doing a large human trial starting next week

Maybe the Brits will save all of our asses

[BigRedChief]

Oxford study link

https://www.ovg.ox.ac.uk/news/oxford-covid-19-vaccine-programme-opens-for-clinical-trial-recruitment

[Bwana]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Oxford researchers was just on CNN and they are very confident they will have a vaccine ready to go by September. They are doing a large human trial starting next week

Maybe the Brits will save all of our asses

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Oxford researchers was just on CNN and they are very confident they will have a vaccine ready to go by September. They are doing a large human trial starting next week

Maybe the Brits will save all of our asses

Wonder what "ready to go" means.

[stumppy]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Oxford researchers was just on CNN and they are very confident they will have a vaccine ready to go by September. They are doing a large human trial starting next week

Maybe the Brits will save all of our asses

Oh great! We'll never hear the end of it from Donger.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Oxford researchers was just on CNN and they are very confident they will have a vaccine ready to go by September. They are doing a large human trial starting next week

Maybe the Brits will save all of our asses

I've seen this movie...

[Donger]

Originally Posted by stumppy

Oh great! We'll never hear the end of it from Donger.

It's a good thing we abandoned the American colonies and permitted them home rule.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Monticore

Drill in the skull to relieve a bleed, I had a fairly big subacute subdural hematoma with 9mm midline shift( brain being pushed over passed center)

Uh, you should let an actual doctor do that. Definitely not a DIY type of thing.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Donger

I've seen this movie...

Go ahead and spoil the ending for us....

[2112]

University of Chicago Medicine researchers said they saw “rapid recoveries” in 125 COVID-19 patients taking Gilead Sciences Inc.’s experimental drug remdesivir as part of a clinical trial, according to a Thursday afternoon report.

Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc. GILD, +2.55% jumped 12.7% in after-hours trading on Thursday following the publication of the Stat News report.

There are no proven treatments or vaccines for the novel coronavirus which has sickened more than two million people world-wide and killed nearly 150,000 people, but remdesivir is considered a front-runner in the race to develop a treatment for COVID-19 infections that works. Though the findings reported by Stat are promising, they are not based on full clinical trial data from the company.



According to Stat, 125 people with COVID-19 receiving care at the University of Chicago are participating in two Phase 3 clinical trials conducted by Gilead; 113 of them have severe forms of the disease. Stat said it obtained a recorded video discussion about the trial among University of Chicago faculty members in which a physician said when some people start taking the drug, fevers come down and some come off ventilators.

One trial is evaluating remdesivir in 2,400 people with severe forms of the disease, the other is testing the drug in 1,600 patients who are moderately ill. Both trials are being conducted at multiple sites around the world. According to ClinicalTrials.gov, both trials began in March and are expected to conclude in May.


a statement to Stat News on Thursday, Gilead said: “What we can say at this stage is that we look forward to data from ongoing studies becoming available.”

It has been a dramatic week for Gilead’s stock, starting with the release last Friday of a small clinical data set showcasing that 68% of 53 hospitalized patients who had received remdesivir on a compassionate-use basis showed clinical improvement. At that time, a J.P. Morgan analyst called the data “a promising first look” but warned the results “need to be kept in context.”

On Wednesday, shares tumbled after a clinical-trial listing was updated to say Chinese authorities had stopped recruiting for a remdesivir clinical trial in severely ill COVID-19 patients there. Shares rose again on a Bloomberg News report that Gilead is considering taking a stake in Arcus Biosciences Inc. RCUS, +89.34%.

Year-to-date, Gilead’s stock has gained 17.8%, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.58% is down 13.8%

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ra...ort-2020-04-16

Hamas, what do you know about This drug remdesivir? may be the real deal. Driving the Dow futures up

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Wonder what "ready to go" means.

Ready to give to mass population. Biggest obstacle will be massive production. He said they are working on that as well. Seems very promising.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Ready to give to mass population. Biggest obstacle will be massive production

Yeah, that's what I'm getting at. I'm confident there will be number of vaccines that would do the trick. The challenge is making billions of them.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by 2112

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ra...ort-2020-04-16

Hamas, what do you know about This drug remdesivir? may be the real deal. Driving the Dow futures up

I'd also like to ask if it's a drug that we might have a decent stockpile of? I believe I've read where it's not currently all that readily available.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Yeah, that's what I'm getting at. I'm confident there will be number of vaccines that would do the trick. The challenge is making billions of them.

Hopefully they will share so we can produce it as well.