***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.”

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

I could also propel myself through the air faster by sitting on a pound of Semtex and then detonating it instead of jumping, but that doesn't make it an idea even worth considering.

Thank you for repeating pretty much exactly what I said. It's almost like you didn't even read the first sentence of the post you decided to provide a rather ridiculous reply too.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Thank you for repeating pretty much exactly what I said. It's almost like you didn't even read the first sentence of the post you decided to provide a rather ridiculous reply too.

It was not exactly what you said. You need to learn that language is not merely the dictionary definition of words. Connotation and structure matter too. You consistently have problems with this. When you say, "ripping off the Band-Aid and stopping the hiding," your phrasing suggests that it is an option to be considered, "even if it's not the most sensible." It's not sensible at all, and it also paints mitigation strategies in a negative light when they are proven to work.

You had the same problem when saying that hospitals are fudging numbers, as though that isn't fraud.

[BleedingRed]

Originally Posted by lewdog

I'm not talking about a single hospital. You're the guy for weeks coming in and saying "28,000" bed capacity!" Totally not understanding bed capacity vs ICU vs equipment needs vs staffing. People keep mentioning surge beds. I promise you, you don't want to see the care provided on a surge unit.

Area hospitals running around 90% here, and guess what, not enough staffing to support the level of care needed. Current COVID over-flow of 20 patients, in a hospital by us, are being managed in the emergency department. Sucks for the people coming into that hospital with life threatening injuries not related to COVID. Sorry for you, you might be exposed while you're here in our ER!

Phoenix is bringing in out of state nurses to work, not enough RN coverage and moving new grads nurses from ortho floors to the COVID ICU. We can put your loved one in a hospital that can't support the care that's needed.

Respiratory therapy staffing is the other major concern with ventilator use. They have doubled the amount of patients an RT is handling right now in area hospitals. They are even moving to consider RN's and Speech-Therapists to assist in managing ventilators. I've worked around vents and tracheostomies but God damn that surely isn't in my Scope of Practice. Think my professional liability insurance will cover me?!

Hopefully if your family member needs care, they don't end up in the hospital being forced to take short cuts for care.

Lmao first of all Texas a whole has much more than 28,000 licensed beds. 28,000 is the number on World Meter based on their metric which we are never going to come close to using.

Your fear porn is dying, I know it suck but just get over it.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I'm not going to do it, but a part of me wants to ban you from the thread for this just to watch the world burn.

I’ve been a little worried about you lately, DaFace

Don’t make me topple your statue and burn your store down

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Easy 6

I’ve been a little worried about you lately, DaFace



Don’t make me topple your statue and burn your store down

If there's a statue of me, you have my full blessing to tear that shit down. That would be creepy.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

It was not exactly what you said. You need to learn that language is not merely the dictionary definition of words. Connotation and structure matter too. You consistently have problems with this. When you say, "ripping off the Band-Aid and stopping the hiding," your phrasing suggests that it is an option to be considered, "even if it's not the most sensible." It's not sensible at all, and it also paints mitigation strategies in a negative light when they are proven to work.

You had the same problem when saying that hospitals are fudging numbers, as though that isn't fraud.

I know, when I started my sentence with "I am not saying this is the most sensible..." it meant something completely different in your eyes because you just want to bitch at me. Whatever, dude.


You read what you wanted to read but I am used to it.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by BleedingRed

Lmao first of all Texas a whole has much more than 28,000 licensed beds. 28,000 is the number on World Meter based on their metric which we are never going to come close to using.

Your fear porn is dying, I know it suck but just get over it.

Understanding the difference between numbers on a sheet and quality of care is not my problem but definitely is yours.

I am sharing what is going on in my community, which is likely relatable to other parts of the country where hospitalizations are surging. It's not a black and white numbers game like you're making it through this entire thread.

I will fully acknowledge that many parts of this country have shown improvement. Texas is not included in that conversation.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Understanding the difference between numbers on a sheet and quality of care is not my problem but definitely is yours.

I am sharing what is going on in my community, which is likely relatable to other parts of the country where hospitalizations are surging. It's not a black and white numbers game like you're making it through this entire thread.

I will fully acknowledge that many parts of this country have shown improvement. Texas is not included in that conversation.

Do you think Texas and Arizona's surge and Mexico's surge are a pure coinkyidnk? I would suspect not given the natural traffic between two border states with Mexico. Supposedly Covid is exploding south of the border and the Mexican government is doing little about it.

Edit: You can toss CA into that as well.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by petegz28

And I am not saying this is the most sensible way but the quickest way to get there is to stop all the hiding. Ripping the band aid off always comes with the additional pain.

That “additional pain” would come in the form of hundreds of thousands more deaths before 60% had immunity, if most people even get immunity.

Just a minor bit of “additional pain”

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Eleazar

That “additional pain” would come in the form of hundreds of thousands more deaths before 60% had immunity, if most people even get immunity.

Just a minor bit of “additional pain”

Thus my saying it isn't the most sensible solution but you go ahead and cherry pick what you want so you can find something to bitch about.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Thus my saying it isn't the most sensible solution but you go ahead and cherry pick what you want so you can find something to bitch about.

Why aren’t you doing your part for herd immunity? How hard are you trying to get the virus?

[petegz28]

So back to the topic and actual numbers...

Today was the highest number of new cases since April 25th.

On April 25th we had over 2k new deaths and had been between 1.5k to 2.5kish deaths leading up to that time.

Today we had just a scratch over 800 new deaths by comparison. So hopefully this surge in cases is not going to come with a surge in deaths and thus far it has not.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Eleazar

Why aren’t you doing your part for herd immunity? How hard are you trying to get the virus?

Why aren't you eating glass?

Maybe you should post some more Ethical Skeptic tweets then pretend you don't really support those findings one way or another?

[jdubya]

I am a bit buzzed but I am in my mid 50`s with some life experience. The exchange between "Hamas" and "Pete" remind me of exchanges between a general contractor and an architect on a building site. The architect is showing the builder why something will work on paper while the builder is physically showing the architect why it is impossible to build in reality. (Those of you in construction know what I am talking about lol)

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Why aren't you eating glass?

Maybe you should post some more Ethical Skeptic tweets then pretend you don't really support those findings one way or another?

I stopped posting them because with dipshits like you here, presenting information that needs to be evaluated critically is like handing matches out at a daycare