***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.”

[Donger]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

The only way we can come up with less deaths is to construct fairy tales that don't come true and then claim the measure taken saved us from the imaginary numbers made up.

What we were actually sold first was a lockdown to "slow the spread for 30 days" and delay infections for a bit to help out the hospitals.

Then...once they had us there the old bait and switch. Now we are saving lives! No explanation for how they are doing this or the proof of it has been presented as of yet.

We can have fewer deaths over all by reducing cases. You understand that, yes?

Flattening the curve was called for to prevent the number of cases, which in turn led to fewer hospitalizations (and not overwhelming them) and fewer deaths. It was never one or the other, as you can see from that quote from Fauci.

There was no bait and switch, despite the apparent fact that you want there to be for whatever reason.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by Donger

We can have fewer deaths over all by reducing cases. You understand that, yes?

Flattening the curve was called for to prevent the number of cases, which in turn led to fewer hospitalizations (and not overwhelming them) and fewer deaths. It was never one or the other, as you can see from that quote from Fauci.

There was no bait and switch, despite the apparent fact that you want there to be for whatever reason.

They started with 30 days to slow the spread and let's all pitch in for 2 weeks or so. Now Biden's Covid advisor is pushing an additional 12-18 months of fun medical experiment time.

If they told us your lives will now all be devoted to this for the next year they would have had massive pushback. They did a bait and switch.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by TLO

I'm not crying out "CONSPIRACY!!!1!" or anything resembling it - but a lot of places suck ass at reporting things accurately.

Here's an attempt to compare Day of Death (Houston) with Reported Death (Harris Cnty) Houston~50% of Harris Cnty Pop & ~62% of C19 Deaths.
-It gives a decent look at how C19 Deaths occurred much earlier than are being reported (most in June or before)@Hold2LLC @EthicalSkeptic pic.twitter.com/nG8iLqTt5v

— Dr. Chris Summers, Ed.D. (@summers_llm) July 17, 2020

Given that that's been a "problem" since the beginning, it seems to me that that's more of an issue of comprehending what the numbers mean than about accurate reporting. I know you guys love the aggregators like Wordlometers, but they're the main sources that aren't able to distinguish between dates of death vs. reported dates. That's why you always see the Sunday dips.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

They started with 30 days to slow the spread and let's all pitch in for 2 weeks or so. Now Biden's Covid advisor is pushing an additional 12-18 months of fun medical experiment time.

There have been some that have said all along that flattening the curve would take 12-18 months to work.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by petegz28

There have been some that have said all along that flattening the curve would take 12-18 months to work.

Well, they didn't have that in front at all in any of the media I saw.

And I was all about trying to help if the measures were temporary. Once they changed from helping the hospitals to zero cases as a policy goal they lost me.

I now firmly oppose this.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Given that that's been a "problem" since the beginning, it seems to me that that's more of an issue of comprehending what the numbers mean than about accurate reporting. I know you guys love the aggregators like Wordlometers, but they're the main sources that aren't able to distinguish between dates of death vs. reported dates. That's why you always see the Sunday dips.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

They started with 30 days to slow the spread and let's all pitch in for 2 weeks or so. Now Biden's Covid advisor is pushing an additional 12-18 months of fun medical experiment time.

If they told us your lives will now all be devoted to this for the next year they would have had massive pushback. They did a bait and switch.

We actually did a decent of driving new cases growth down for a while, particularly in some places, with the mitigation efforts. But, some places didn't follow the task force guidelines for reopening, and here we are.

Why are you bringing up Biden's advisor?

[KCUnited]

Its like no one has ever walked into a state/county run hospital. It's like revisiting the 70s from an admin standpoint. There's workers hunting and pecking on green screens.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

Well, they didn't have that in front at all in any of the media I saw.

And I was all about trying to help if the measures were temporary. Once they changed from helping the hospitals to zero cases as a policy goal they lost me.

I now firmly oppose this.

I don't disagree it wasn't out front but I read a lot of articles that claimed it would take 12-18 months. Whether that is accurate or not I don't know.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Given that that's been a "problem" since the beginning, it seems to me that that's more of an issue of comprehending what the numbers mean than about accurate reporting. I know you guys love the aggregators like Wordlometers, but they're the main sources that aren't able to distinguish between dates of death vs. reported dates. That's why you always see the Sunday dips.

I think that's a fair point, actually.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by Donger

We actually did a decent of driving new cases growth down for a while, particularly in some places, with the mitigation efforts. But, some places didn't follow the task force guidelines for reopening, and here we are.

Why are you bringing up Biden's advisor?

There is no evidence any of this has achieved anything. I am in NY and the only way you can stop the virus is very early before it gets going. Once it has arrived efforts to stop it don't move the graph at all.

California probably did "flatten the curve" and what that means is that their hospitals mostly sat empty for months and this has dragged out for them.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

There is no evidence any of this has achieved anything. I am in NY and the only way you can stop the virus is very early before it gets going. Once it has arrived efforts to stop it don't move the graph at all.

California probably did "flatten the curve" and what that means is that their hospitals mostly sat empty for months and this has dragged out for them.

Would you like me to post the NY graphs which prove that false?

[jdubya]

Man I remember when it was reported in my county that the SIP was only going to last 2 weeks. Seems so long ago

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by Donger

Would you like me to post the NY graphs which prove that false?

I know what the NY graphs look like. I know when the interventions took place. I live here.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

I know what the NY graphs look like. I know when the interventions took place. I live here.

NY locked down on March 22 when the state was seeing about 1,500 new cases/day.