***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.”

[Bwana]

Originally Posted by DaFace

It's not a government order that's shut them down, right? Are there other vets (non-emergency) in your area that are open?

No it's not an order, this gal must have gotten some kind of Rona OCD/PTSD or something. There are some other ones that are open, but they told me they are not taking any new patients right now.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Bwana

The refineries are already running on Skelton crews around here. Between P-66 and Exxon Mobil, they laid off over 1500 people and that was clear back in mid March.

Yep...



I think this has been updated since last week.

[stevieray]

Originally Posted by PAChiefsGuy

Right... They are going to have to get creative to keep businesses afloat but I mean the economy isn't going to come back in full force until a vaccine comes out

Not even close to feasible.

Can't just lay down and die.

[Setsuna]

Originally Posted by Donger

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

The stipulation that there are no politics in the thread. It's laughable really. I thought they'd just close the thread because of how impossible that stipulation is.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Setsuna

The stipulation that there are no politics in the thread. It's laughable really. I thought they'd just close the thread because of how impossible that stipulation is.

It seems to be decidedly non-political, actually.

[Bwana]

Originally Posted by Setsuna

The stipulation that there are no politics in the thread. It's laughable really. I thought they'd just close the thread because of how impossible that stipulation is.

You know how many people have been booted from this thread? There are a couple more on the bubble as well, but the people that insisted on making it political were shown the door.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

There is a distinct possibility that a viable vaccine never results. With that said, there are strategies to overcome this-- the first is mitigation, which we are doing now. The second is to ensure that there is effective testing and contact tracing, which we haven't yet established, but this can be made easier by implementing changes like mask wearing and effective hygiene. If this is done intelligently, then the spread can be severely curtailed. Other countries have already shown us the blueprint.

[IowaHawkeyeChief]

Originally Posted by Donger

U.S. crude prices plunged to their lowest level in more than 30 years on Monday as traders continue to fret over a slump in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. The price of the nearest oil futures contract, which expires Tuesday, was the hardest hit, detaching from later month futures contracts with a drop of more than 30%. This suggests that some believe there could be a recovery later in the year.

West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery tanked 42.2%, or $7.75, to $10.52 per barrel.

I believe this is mainly due to future contracts going to cash value, this should be a temporary situation as contracts further out are in the mid 20's. Still, not great news, at $11 or $25.

[petegz28]

NY's first and hopefully only post of the day 478 new deaths. By far the lowest is weeks.

[IowaHawkeyeChief]

Perhaps some more good news on a study out of Boston:

https://www.businessinsider.com/coro...exposed-2020-4

A test of 200 people just outside Boston found that 32% had been exposed to the coronavirus, compared to an official rate of 2%

If extrapolated out to the general population, this would mean we are closer to herd immunity than previously thought, and the IFR is much lower.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

There is a distinct possibility that a viable vaccine never results. With that said, there are strategies to overcome this-- the first is mitigation, which we are doing now. The second is to ensure that there is effective testing and contact tracing, which we haven't yet established, but this can be made easier by implementing changes like mask wearing and effective hygiene. If this is done intelligently, then the spread can be severely curtailed. Other countries have already shown us the blueprint.

With the testing issues and the actualities of the virus, we don't even know who has this thing.

I just don't see unless testing is scaled to a massive level what good it really does. Until the positive tests compared to the tests we're doing gets down around 1%, we're catching like a fraction of the virus.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Setsuna

The stipulation that there are no politics in the thread. It's laughable really. I thought they'd just close the thread because of how impossible that stipulation is.

It's actually going pretty well... 90% has been meta-political talk in at least the past week, if not longer.

We should just start booting people who keep bringing up the idea of politics in this thread, huh?

[O.city]

Originally Posted by IowaHawkeyeChief

Perhaps some more good news on a study out of Boston:

https://www.businessinsider.com/coro...exposed-2020-4



If extrapolated out to the general population, this would mean we are closer to herd immunity than previously thought, and the IFR is much lower.

There's some issues with the set up of these studies from what i've read but it's encouraging atleast.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by IowaHawkeyeChief

Perhaps some more good news on a study out of Boston:

https://www.businessinsider.com/coro...exposed-2020-4



If extrapolated out to the general population, this would mean we are closer to herd immunity than previously thought, and the IFR is much lower.

Again, the issue is that it just doesn't pass the sniff test. If 32% were exposed, that means that tripling the number of deaths per capita should yield a maximum per-capita death rate. But according to Covidly, Massachusetts is at 251 compared to New York at 924. It's hard to reconcile that, though I know that things are still settling out.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by O.city

There's some issues with the set up of these studies from what i've read but it's encouraging atleast.

You've read more than I have - is the reliability of the serology tests an issue? I've seen some suggestions that some of the antibody tests are turning out to be junk, but I don't have a feel for how big of an issue it is.