***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.”

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Sure, it's going to evolve, practically day to day at this point. There are still unknowns and concerns and many people tasked with doing the 'right' thing in a completely unprecedented time.

Yeah, there's going to be uncertainty.




I agree, unfortunately.... even before the major restrictions took place, my thought was that we'd never know if we overreacted, only if we didn't do enough.

And right on cue, people aren't seeing the exponential growth in their area and they're frustrated and wondering why things haven't open back up as of 2 weeks ago.

I think it's important to see all sides of it though. People are seeing their jobs gone, their money gone and such.

It's just a ****ed up situation.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

Spain and Italy among the highest rates of elevators per people.

NYC elevator usage statistics.

I was wondering what the commonality was between NY, Spain, and Italy. I never would have guessed elevator usage.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

I was wondering what the commonality was between NY, Spain, and Italy. I never would have guessed elevator usage.

Yeah, I would not have figured that one either

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by O.city

I just don't see how you can keep it going that long. People get exhausted with it and the economic situation could get extremely dire for some.

Some times you've gotta make the best of bad decisions.

I think the challenge is that, restrictions or not, the economy is tanked for the foreseeable future. Even if the only restriction remaining is the six-foot rule, that means that restaurants, theaters, stadiums, etc. are only going to be able to sell about 1/4th of their seats. That means 75% fewer people not only going to those venues, but also spending money on parking, bars, etc. People aren't going to be traveling, so tourism is going to be very low. It goes on and on.

We can have all the discussions about "opening things up" that we want, but the fact of the matter is that things aren't going to be anywhere close to "normal" for the next 1-2 years.

[Setsuna]

This thread still exists? Wow. Well with increasing talks of the country opening up all the usual suspects have disappeared. Interesting.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

I was wondering what the commonality was between NY, Spain, and Italy. I never would have guessed elevator usage.

End of the day it's population density.

Seems like this points to the droplet spread in enclosed spaces with many people combined bad air circulation (elevators or subways) could be a logical culprit.

[PAChiefsGuy]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I think the challenge is that, restrictions or not, the economy is tanked for the foreseeable future. Even if the only restriction remaining is the six-foot rule, that means that restaurants, theaters, stadiums, etc. are only going to be able to sell about 1/4th of their seats. That means 75% fewer people not only going to those venues, but also spending money on parking, bars, etc.

We can have all the discussions about "opening things up" that we want, but the fact of the matter is that things aren't going to be anywhere close to "normal" for the next 1-2 years.

That's true. With the economy the only thing that will fix is time. Just gotta wait it out but it WILL come back.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I think the challenge is that, restrictions or not, the economy is tanked for the foreseeable future. Even if the only restriction remaining is the six-foot rule, that means that restaurants, theaters, stadiums, etc. are only going to be able to sell about 1/4th of their seats. That means 75% fewer people not only going to those venues, but also spending money on parking, bars, etc.

We can have all the discussions about "opening things up" that we want, but the fact of the matter is that things aren't going to be anywhere close to "normal" for the next 1-2 years.

Yeah, some things will change. But 1-2 years? I don't see that.

Where some are pushing for a vaccine, you really don't know at this point that one is even possible. If it takes that long (with no mutation of the virus) we'll be at herd immunity before theres a vaccine anyway.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

End of the day it's population density.

Seems like this points to the droplet spread in enclosed spaces with many people combined bad air circulation (elevators or subways) could be a logical culprit.

I had no idea so many people in Spain and Italy lived in apartments. Its just not what you envision when thinking about those counties. I actually think of sprawling countryside for some reason.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by PAChiefsGuy

That's true. With the economy the only thing that will fix is time. Just gotta wait it out but it WILL come back.

Laughably stupid take.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Setsuna

This thread still exists? Wow. Well with increasing talks of the country opening up all the usual suspects have disappeared. Interesting.

What's "wow" about this thread still existing?

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by O.city

Yeah, some things will change. But 1-2 years? I don't see that.

Where some are pushing for a vaccine, you really don't know at this point that one is even possible. If it takes that long (with no mutation of the virus) we'll be at herd immunity before theres a vaccine anyway.

We can hope. But most projections I've seen say that you need 50%-80% infection rates to get there. That's not gonna happen in the next 1-2 years unless we completely give up on all the social distancing measures.

Obviously if the infection rates are hundreds of times higher than we think, that changes things, but that still seems like wishful thinking to me.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

I had no idea so many people in Spain and Italy lived in apartments.

You gotta remember the US is by far a huge outlier in terms of single family home utilization.

[O.city]

I mean sure, eventually the economy will come back.

Who the hell knows when.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

Laughably stupid take.

The answer to the virus is to hide and wait, the answer to fixing the economy is just to wait.