***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 TLO

Unfortunately, we don't have a whole lot of it. We can only pray it works for most people and they can ramp up production in a hurry.

Remdesivir is still not a silver bullet, it only help reduce recovery in one trial and showed no significant change in mortality rates.
I still has a ways to go, the one advantage it has so far was it seems like patients tolerated it quite well.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by O.city

Did you see my post about the new serology tests?

From Roche? Yeah. They had a substantial sample size. You'd like for it to be independently verified (didn't see that it was), but given that they're not a fly-by-night operation like a lot of these other hucksters claiming 99+% specificity with an N of 10 tests, it's quite a bit more comforting that this one might have real clinical utility.

[displacedinMN]

got to ask again.....

How can we get a vaccine for this virus and others but not the cold or others?

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

got to ask again.....

How can we get a vaccine for this virus and others but not the cold or others?

Cost/benefit analysis and adaptability.

HIV is a remarkably diverse pathogen, which is why it is what it is.

There are dozens of viruses that cause the common cold and they are not life-threatening. R&D on that many vaccines doesn't make much economic sense and doesn't add much in the way of productivity or years-gained to the public.

Viruses that targe the upper respiratory system initially (like this one) are harder to engineer a vaccine for due to the nature of the immune response in that part of the body.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

From Roche? Yeah. They had a substantial sample size. You'd like for it to be independently verified (didn't see that it was), but given that they're not a fly-by-night operation like a lot of these other hucksters claiming 99+% specificity with an N of 10 tests, it's quite a bit more comforting that this one might have real clinical utility.

Yeah it looks well done

There’s so much interesting data getting out now.

[displacedinMN]

Those of you talking about Twitter...yes there are times it is a cluster.
Good thing you can ignore most.

Today trending was
-Todd Bridges.
Sanford and Son
Christian Laetnner.


WTF?????

[displacedinMN]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Cost/benefit analysis and adaptability.

HIV is a remarkably diverse pathogen, which is why it is what it is.

There are dozens of viruses that cause the common cold and they are not life-threatening. R&D on that many vaccines doesn't make much economic sense and doesn't add much in the way of productivity or years-gained to the public.

Viruses that targe the upper respiratory system initially (like this one) are harder to engineer a vaccine for due to the nature of the immune response in that part of the body.

Money. Ugh.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

Money. Ugh.

In reality, what am I going to gain as a pharmaceutical company spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a vaccine for a virus that causes maybe 1% of the colds in the human population, a virus which, at its worst, is going to lead to two weeks of discomfort but no real morbidity or mortality?

There are more serious viruses like RSV, which are like a ramped up cold, that can be serious or lethal to children, for which we have developed effective, but expensive treatments.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

Those of you talking about Twitter...yes there are times it is a cluster.
Good thing you can ignore most.

Today trending was
-Todd Bridges.
Sanford and Son
Christian Laetnner.


WTF?????

Now everyone and their brother is missin' Kobe all over again over Last Dance newest episode.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by TLO

Yeah and the IMHE model at one point said we'd be around 60k deaths overall.

Yep. Just ten days ago or so. I was here trying to tell everyone it woud be way, way more than that. I have no idea who was inputting the data for their projections but you cant help but to think they were biased.

[Spott]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

Those of you talking about Twitter...yes there are times it is a cluster.
Good thing you can ignore most.

Today trending was
-Todd Bridges.
Sanford and Son
Christian Laetnner.


WTF?????

Did one of them die or something today?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

Money. Ugh.

Money is the key to all treatments and cures.

I suffer from Cluster Headaches, which are neurological headaches that are absolutely excruciating, 10x more painful than migraines in which "clusters" occur every day at the same exact time of day, for weeks or months on end.

But since only about 200,000 people worldwide afflicted, there's been very little research, let alone, cures or treatments, because there's no money in doing so.

Such is life.

[displacedinMN]

Originally Posted by Spott

Did one of them die or something today?

no. none. This is the cluster of twitter

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

Those of you talking about Twitter...yes there are times it is a cluster.
Good thing you can ignore most.

Today trending was
-Todd Bridges.
Sanford and Son
Christian Laetnner.


WTF?????

I see you guys are scheduled to begin practice june 1 so that's good probably means we will have college football this year.

[displacedinMN]

Some one figured out Bridges was on Little house on the prairie
Sanford and son had a good theme song
Young people cannot figure out why laettner was on the US Olympics team as an amature.