***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.”

[TLO]

In other somewhat confusing news:

I was listening to the St Joe City Council Meeting a short while ago. There was some discussion over the 3rd Covid death in Buchanan County. The mayor brought up the point that the man was in his 70s and had pre-existing conditions. All stuff we already knew .

Our health director pretty much repeated the same thing our Mayor said, but then the Mayor brought up an interesting point. He said talked to the doctor at the hospital and the man had a stroke, and that was what ended up killing him. It wasn't determined until later that he was covid positive. The mayor seemed confused as to why this was counted as a covid death but then they sorta just stopped talking about it.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by O.city

Pardon everyone tested negative

Have you guys had an up-tick in positive cases at all?

[O.city]

Originally Posted by TLO

That's good news.

Cases in St Joe have been trending downward over the past month or so. Our major spike at Triumph spread somewhat throughout the community, but now we're down to anywhere between 2-5 cases per day. Hopefully the numbers stay at that level or drop off even further.

Been the same here. Usually it’s one per day then there’ll be a random 6 day or something

[eDave]

ARIZONA

Cases: We've hit new highs on every case chart yet again. Today is the highest number of positive cases added in a single day. 43K+ cases in the state.

Testing: PCR testing is up by a couple thousand tests over yesterday again! (Good!) This is one of the highest PCR testing numbers reported ever.

Spread: Overall PCR positive test percentage ticked up again from 8.9% to 9.1% (based on 379K tests, up from a 6.6% low) and the average for this week is 15% (based on 9K cases, same % as last week).

Hospital Utilization: COVID Hospitalizations are up by 5% yet again (another all time high). ICU beds for COVID patients hit all time high again. (Overal ICU usage went up from 83% to 84%) Ventilators in use for COVID were flat, overall vent. usage hit 40% for the first time. Itubations for COVID patients dropped 20%.

[petegz28]

The CEO if Kinsa was on CNBC saying how he is worried about 4 states including MO and AZ......and people need to buy the instant thermometer device and app from his company.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by petegz28

The CEO if Kinsa was on CNBC saying how he is worried about 4 states including MO and AZ......and people need to buy the instant thermometer device and app from his company.

Of 4 states to worry about, why would Missouri be one of them?

[Kellerfox]

Originally Posted by eDave

ARIZONA

Cases: We've hit new highs on every case chart yet again. Today is the highest number of positive cases added in a single day. 43K+ cases in the state.

Testing: PCR testing is up by a couple thousand tests over yesterday again! (Good!) This is one of the highest PCR testing numbers reported ever.

Spread: Overall PCR positive test percentage ticked up again from 8.9% to 9.1% (based on 379K tests, up from a 6.6% low) and the average for this week is 15% (based on 9K cases, same % as last week).

Hospital Utilization: COVID Hospitalizations are up by 5% yet again (another all time high). ICU beds for COVID patients hit all time high again. (Overal ICU usage went up from 83% to 84%) Ventilators in use for COVID were flat, overall vent. usage hit 40% for the first time. Itubations for COVID patients dropped 20%.

State wide antibody testing has returned a 3% positive rate. The sample size is large enough to apply this ratio to the entire population. This works out to 219,000 recoveries against 1,239 deaths for a mortality rate of 0.56% (the Flu is 0.1% for reference). This is at a 99% confidence interval specific only to Arizona.

This is both good news and bad. Good news in that it is quality data that makes COVID a lot less scary than we initially thought back in April. Bad news in that it is still very contagious and has a lot of room (up to 97% of the state population) to run. At a national level, a 0.56% mortality rate is still close to one million deaths (or more) over the next year if 50-70% of the population contract it.

My anecdotal experience is that no one out here, at least in Phoenix, gives a damn about protecting each other. Mask use has declined significantly over the last month, people aren’t distancing even when dots are set up in restaurants/stores, and I’ve just seen some really nasty/idiotic/thoughtless stuff like sneezing into a hand then opening a door. Not surprised at all that cases are spiking out here.

I actually got tested at the drive through testing site Banner has set up at the state fair grounds yesterday. A family member I was in contact with 2 weeks ago tested positive and I’ve been having some mild symptoms. Took 2 hours because there were easily 500+ cars there with an average of 2-3 people each. Test results are also currently lagging 7-10 days in Arizona through the three primary providers/labs.

[jdubya]

Got my first haircut today since all this began. Needed to make an appointment ahead of time, no walk ins. On arrival before entering everybody wears a mask and they splashed my hands with alcohol and checked my temp. All good. Sat down in the barber chair that looked freshly wiped down with alcohol. This shop had 4 barbers and 4 chairs going at once. Felt good to get the cut and shave. A few doors down from the barber is my gym. Sign on the window said they are opening July 1st. They apparently have UV lights now for decon.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by TLO

Of 4 states to worry about, why would Missouri be one of them?

He didn't say, just said OK, MO, AZ and another I don't recall

[O.city]

Originally Posted by petegz28

He didn't say, just said OK, MO, AZ and another I don't recall

No clue why MO would be on there

[MVChiefFan]

Originally Posted by O.city

No clue why MO would be on there

Yeah, that makes no sense at all.

[WhawhaWhat]

NEW: Californians are now REQUIRED to wear face coverings in public spaces.

Together -- we can slow the spread.

Do your part. Wear a mask.

LEARN MORE: https://t.co/xtXFwVeWc2

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 18, 2020

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

NEW: Californians are now REQUIRED to wear face coverings in public spaces.

Together -- we can slow the spread.

Do your part. Wear a mask.

LEARN MORE: https://t.co/xtXFwVeWc2

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 18, 2020

3 weeks ago people were bragging about SF and how low their death count was.......

[eDave]

Originally Posted by MVChiefFan

Yeah, that makes no sense at all.

I bet if you guys watch the video, you'd have your answer. Check it out: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2020/06/1...and-maine.html

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by petegz28

3 weeks ago people were bragging about SF and how low their death count was.......

At first I saw it was just Orange County, which is still over 3 million people, and now it's the whole state. We'll see if others follow.