***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.”

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Do you think it's wealthy people who eat raw meat?

I eat pussy so....

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Close contact with any species increases the risk of zoonotic illness. Thousands of people die from resistant bacterial infections every year because of our agricultural practices.

[ChiliConCarnage]

Could we snip the OP down so it's not so long? It's not really news I think anyone is reading at this point and just makes me scroll a lot. #firstworldproblem

As much as you can have a first world problem when you might have to start using leaves to wipe your ass because you can't obtain toilet paper.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Close contact with any species increases the risk of zoonotic illness. Thousands of people die from resistant bacterial infections every year because of our agricultural practices.

What practices and what animals?

[FlintHillsChiefs]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

It remains be seen how many people end up getting the virus.

I believe a CDC official said 20% of the population might get the virus in a plausible bad case scenario.

There are around 80 million Americans between the age of 30 and 50. If 20% of that age group get the virus and only 1% need intensive care, that is 160,000 hospital beds.

There are only around a hundred thousand ICU beds in the US and it isn't like they are mostly sitting empty during normal times.

Hence the need to slow the spread.

Most figures I've seen are 40% to 70% of Americans get affected. 20% is super low, and might have been a goal with a competent administration, but that horse has left the barn.

I don't see any way we don't look like Italy in 7 days or so. I do have a degree in biology and worked years formulating PCR based kits like we're trying to pump out for CV19. The truth is, we don't have the tests, medical stockpile, or central pandemic response team to handle this - thanks to Trump. His ineptitude is going to cost thousands of American lives.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by eDave

Ostrich Festival cancelled.

Wait, am I not allowed to be with ostriches now? This just got real.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by SupDock

Your post confuses me.

Why are post-surgical patients already on a vent when they get a nosocomial infection?

You have never seen a post-op patient develop a nosocomial infection and die?

sure people die in ICU’s. Your in an ICU. Something bad is happening health wise with you. I was just saying that if your already on a vent, the COPD wouldn’t be the cause to lose the step-dad post op. Sorry for any confusion.

[Donger]

Bushmeat and viruses

The latest research shows the genome of the new virus is 96% identical to a coronavirus found in bats, making them the most likely source – as was the case with SARS. It is not yet clear how the virus made its way into the human population. Zhong Nanshan, head of a National Health Commission expert panel and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has suggested bamboo rats or badgers may have been an intermediate host. Research published on 7 February by the South China Agricultural University claims that pangolins – one of the most trafficked mammals in Asia – could also be a link. There is as yet no definitive conclusion, but close contact between humans and an intermediate host would have allowed the virus to jump the species barrier.

A price list from the Huanan market, circulated online, shows that prior to its closure on 31 December, meat from animals such as the bamboo rat and civet cat were openly on sale. The civet cat is believed to have been the intermediate host in the SARS epidemic.

Bushmeat is an important part of the cuisine of the mountainous south-east of China. Consuming wild animal meat to improve health is also connected to traditional Chinese medicine. But this tradition has been taken to extremes, with beliefs that the meat of animals with certain characteristics, such as strength, will boost that characteristic in the consumer, and that the “wilder” an animal is the more health benefits it provides. Civet cats are the most prized of all.

As well as encouraging the hunting of wild animals, this demand has led to some bushmeat species being farmed at scale and sold through established channels. A China Central Television programme on money-making has promoted bamboo rat farming more than once – most recently in June last year – saying that 500 grammes of bamboo rat meat, described as “popular online”, can sell for 80 Chinese yuan (US$11). Farmers featured on the programme were earning up to 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) a year.

[O.city]

Over half the cases in French ICUs at this point are people under 60

[ChiliConCarnage]

Spain announces Nationwide lockdown

[eDave]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Wait, am I not allowed to be with ostriches now? This just got real.

It was at the Ostrich's request.

[Donger]

The French just surrendered (again)...

(CNN)French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announced on Saturday that his country will increase social distancing to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a televised press conference, Philippe said that starting at midnight Saturday, all places that are not essential to French living, including restaurants, cafes, cinemas and clubs, will be closed.

The closure order includes all businesses except those that are essential.
"Markets and food shops, pharmacies, gas stations, banks, newspaper and tobacco stores will remain open," Philippe said. "Places of worships will remain open, but religious ceremonies and gatherings will be postponed."

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Donger

What practices and what animals?

CAFOs require massive amounts of antibiotics. We use about 60 percent of our antibiotics on livestock. This contributes to antibiotic resistance, treatment failure, and death. Other countries use an even higher percentage.

WHO has taken an explicit stance against such use

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail...tic-resistance

[Donger]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

CAFOs require massive amounts of antibiotics. We use about 60 percent of our antibiotics on livestock. This contributes to antibiotic resistance, treatment failure, and death. Other countries use an even higher percentage.

WHO has taken an explicit stance against such use

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail...tic-resistance

And the antibiotics used cause thousands of people to die every year?

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by FlintHillsChiefs

Most figures I've seen are 40% to 70% of Americans get affected. 20% is super low, and might have been a goal with a competent administration, but that horse has left the barn.

I don't see any way we don't look like Italy in 7 days or so. I do have a degree in biology and worked years formulating PCR based kits like we're trying to pump out for CV19. The truth is, we don't have the tests, medical stockpile, or central pandemic response team to handle this - thanks to Trump. His ineptitude is going to cost thousands of American lives.