***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.”

[FlintHillsChiefs]

https://seekingalpha.com/news/355178...s-andy-slavitt

[Raiderhater]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Absolutely. I wasn't exactly sure what you were getting at with your initial post. This is kind of along the lines as my response to Bwillie a while back, there definitely has to be a balance. It's somewhere in between freaking out and shutting down everything and doing nothing. I feel bad for people working in retail who are in contact with the general public every day, they're out there on the front lines. But we can't reasonably shut down every business out there. On a private business level, I think things have been handled pretty reasonably. I'm not aware of anything that I'd consider over the top.

I do not want it to be misunderstood, though I know I already am and will continue to be even with more in depth explanations (it’s the 49ers emotional support dog all over again - who has probably been putting in some over time since February).

Reasonable precautions like travel bans from host and highly affected nations is prudent. Shutting down the country, which we haven’t done but are eeking towards, is a whole new level of danger. The fact that nobody can find ****ing toilet paper on the shelves is a pretty good indicator that, as a whole, we are overreacting.

[arrowheadnation]

Reading through this makes me think some of you might have been rooting for Thanos.

[Raiderhater]

Originally Posted by SupDock

It's much easier to makes those decisions on a personal level than to make them for a nation

This is not an attempt to go political, this purely drawing a contrast -

It was easy enough for Obama to wait for a thousand deaths to declare a national emergency and the media not react as they are now over the swine flu.

All I am saying is that we faced this situations before, handled differently than we are currently and cane out of it with out much of a fuss.

[FlintHillsChiefs]

Originally Posted by Raiderhader

I do not want it to be misunderstood, though I know I already am and will continue to be even with more in depth explanations (it’s the 49ers emotional support dog all over again - who has probably been putting in some over time since February).

Reasonable precautions like travel bans from host and highly affected nations is prudent. Shutting down the country, which we haven’t done but are eeking towards, is a whole new level of danger. The fact that nobody can find ****ing toilet paper on the shelves is a pretty good indicator that, as a whole, we are overreacting.

Current growth suggests we'll be hitting 5k new cases and 100 + deaths a day within 10 days. Right now our cases are doubling every 2 days, and we've gone from 4 deaths to 58 in 3 days.

In answer to your post about SARS, the characteristics of Covid-19 and SARS are different and merit a different response. SARS was not contiguous while asymptomatic, and the R0 was almost half of Covid-19

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Raiderhader

I do not want it to be misunderstood, though I know I already am and will continue to be even with more in depth explanations (it’s the 49ers emotional support dog all over again - who has probably been putting in some over time since February).

Reasonable precautions like travel bans from host and highly affected nations is prudent. Shutting down the country, which we haven’t done but are eeking towards, is a whole new level of danger. The fact that nobody can find ****ing toilet paper on the shelves is a pretty good indicator that, as a whole, we are overreacting.

That's people acting on a personal level. We can't control that. Hell we can't even explain it.

[SupDock]

Originally Posted by Raiderhader

This is not an attempt to go political, this purely drawing a contrast -

It was easy enough for Obama to wait for a thousand deaths to declare a national emergency and the media not react as they are now over the swine flu.

All I am saying is that we faced this situations before, handled differently than we are currently and cane out of it with out much of a fuss.

This isn't H1N1

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

That's people acting on a personal level. We can't control that. Hell we can't even explain it.

Oh, I can explain it: Fear.

We won't know if it's rational or irrational until the crisis is over.

[Raiderhater]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

I'm not even sure who the experts are, or if they're even being truthful. So I'm approaching this by doing what I feel is necessary on a personal level based on what information I feel is accurate, which isn't much. Anything else is beyond my control and isn't really worth spending any amount of time worrying about.

And that is all we can do, apply our critical thinking to the situation and accordingly make adjustments based upon our conclusions.

I do not fault people taking some basic precautions. I do fear the outcome of a nation overreacting.

[Chief Roundup]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Yeah, Joe Rogan threw out the idea that maybe saunas would kill the virus. And others think 80 degree water will do the trick. A lot of people have ideas, but very few of those people really have the base of knowledge/data they would need to have much to contribute.

I hope nobody is listening to Joe Rogan. That would be really stupid of them.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Oh, I can explain it: Fear.

We won't know if it's rational or irrational until the crisis is over.

I can buy that when it comes to food or bottled water or beer as they are necessary for survival. Toilet paper isn't.

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by Chief Roundup

I hope nobody is listening to Joe Rogan. That would be really stupid of them.

Rogan brought that theory up in an interview with an infectious disease expert, who wished that theory as well as the vitamin drip theory. Joe essentially brought up every rumor about the virus and the expert tore them apart as professionally as possible.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Raiderhader

And that is all we can do, apply our critical thinking to the situation and accordingly make adjustments based upon our conclusions.

I do not fault people taking some basic precautions. I do fear the outcome of a nation overreacting.

That's fair and I agree. But with so many unknowns it's hard to say for sure what is and isn't an overreaction. Unfortunately we won't know until it's over with.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

I can buy that when it comes to food or bottled water or beer as they are necessary for survival. Toilet paper isn't.

Beer

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by Raiderhader

This is not an attempt to go political, this purely drawing a contrast -

It was easy enough for Obama to wait for a thousand deaths to declare a national emergency and the media not react as they are now over the swine flu.

All I am saying is that we faced this situations before, handled differently than we are currently and cane out of it with out much of a fuss.

I know this is political, but get your facts right, dude. Obama declared a public health emergency when there were only 20 cases (and no deaths) in the country. The Facebook share that you’re likely referencing makes it sound as if the Obama admin did nothing until a national emergency was declared.

https://www.politifact.com/factcheck...health-emerge/

The finger pointing that’s happening here (especially about past presidents or to argue that this is somehow an “overreaction”) has no place for a virus that is killing people today.

Alright - that’s all I got. Understand if it gets me banned.