***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.”

[O.city]

Originally Posted by staylor26

I don’t think you do bud. You’ve been pretty much in the middle about all of this.

Well of course i don't. I meant everyone else.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by O.city

via GIPHY

To be fair, I DO trust Bill Gates' opinion more than you...

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by O.city

Well of course i don't. I meant everyone else.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by DaFace

To be fair, I DO trust Bill Gates' opinion more than you...

I mean, i have a bachelors in Microbiology and Chemistry and a minor in cell and molecular biology from a state school so.....

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by O.city

Gonna be pretty difficult with a virus.

Well that sucks. I see Gilead is testing out an inhaler for Remesidever and I have heard of some others trying to use an inhaler. We need something that people can take at home.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by DaFace

There's been a lot of evidence to suggest that kids (especially young kids) aren't likely to be common sources of spread, so this makes sense to me.

I think a lot of the equation might be harms on the education side. As in, older kids might be able to do OK-ish with online learning, but that younger kids absolutely won't, and having younger kids stay home will severely damage their level of learning and education.

If the pandemic were deadlier then it wouldn't matter, and you just accept that kids of a certain age are going to be stunted a bit, but as it is, its a difficult decision.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Anything specific? I think there's just lots of random things that people are playing around with.

My favorite lately has been seaweed.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90532822...vir-in-the-lab

I saw that.

I don't have a lot of specifics right now. What I have seen speculated is an antiviral that would have a good enough safety profile to be used at home that would in theory keep more people out of the hospital.

This is pure speculation on my part but I'm curious if it is
favipiravir.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Well that sucks. I see Gilead is testing out an inhaler for Remesidever and I have heard of some others trying to use an inhaler. We need something that people can take at home.

If it favipiravir, it actually is a drug that can be taken orally. That's a big IF though.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Well that sucks. I see Gilead is testing out an inhaler for Remesidever and I have heard of some others trying to use an inhaler. We need something that people can take at home.

Mainly because of the timing I think. Viral treatment is the best before it really replicates.

I'm guessing they'll have some breakthru things though.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by O.city

Oh yeah when he says it

I still have bruises from the bars of soaps in socks from when i said it a month ago.

ikr?

[ChiliConCarnage]

KU Med is going to be one of Oxfords phase 3 US test sites

[suzzer99]

Originally Posted by O.city

Everyone has an agenda

My agenda is to keep myself and my loved ones safe, and decide what to do with my investment money. So it's very cut and dried. My only goal is to try to filter out the noise and figure out what's actually going to happen next.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by ChiliConCarnage

KU Med is going to be one of Oxfords phase 3 US test sites

Nice. I'd sign up if I knew I was getting the vaccine and not the placebo. But that kind of defeats the purpose.

[Donger]

(CNN)Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday warned several states including Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky to get a handle on rising coronavirus cases, saying the nation couldn't afford the kinds of surges seen further south and west.

Fauci's comments to ABC's "Good Morning America" echoed fellow White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Deborah Birx, who recently visited those states to warn their numbers were headed the wrong way.

Test positivity rates there have been rising, Fauci said. Tennessee on Monday saw its highest seven-day average of new daily cases, at well over 2,000.

Tennessee's average was around 750 per day a month ago, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

"We just can't afford, yet again, another surge" like that seen in recent weeks in Florida, Texas, Arizona and California, Fauci told ABC.

Wearing masks, social distancing, closing bars where virus spread is high, and washing hands can help turn the tide, he said. He also repeated what he'd recommended in April: Reopen economies in phases, crossing each phase only after seeing cases decrease over 14 days. States largely ignored that advice.

"We would hope that (states) all now rethink at what happens when you don't adhere to that," Fauci told "Good Morning America."

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by O.city

I mean, i have a bachelors in Microbiology and Chemistry and a minor in cell and molecular biology from a state school so.....

Get a degree in IT like Pete and you’d be real knowledgeable.