***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.”

[jdubya]

From the Great Grandmaster Fauci himself: "Speaking broadly, Fauci says he supports kids going back to school for two main reasons.

"A, the detrimental effects on children who are kept out of school, psychological and otherwise, and B, the downstream unintended ripple effects that go beyond the children and go to the parents who may need to interrupt their work," he said"

Did you know that Fauci is the nations leading disease expert? He has spoken

[O.city]

Originally Posted by TLO

It actually appears that Missouri's 7 day % positive average is slowly dropping.

11.1% today. Not good - but at least it's not increasing.

Yeah, it's atleast stabilized.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by kgrund

In fairness to Pete the consequences we have been going through from this stupid virus has put many, if not all, a bit on edge.

It's not even that. We are just starting to lose all sense of objectivity and for nothing but fear of the unknown.

In the entire state of Kansas in ages 0-64 we have lost 91 people to Covid in 5 months. The youngest was 18. The next youngest was 20. Those are the only 2 deaths in the entire state for the 0-24 age group.

Nothing about these numbers at all says "don't have school". For the 2019-2020 flu season which is 9/1-5/31 the state lost 1516 people. On a relative basis to Covid deaths we lost 86 more people per month to the flu than we are to Covid.

This is simple math:
Flu related deaths per month during flu season 1516/9 = 168.44

Covid related deaths since March 2020 411/5 =82


And even with Covid cases increasing the deaths are not

No one gave a rat's ass about school being open then.

These are numbers that at any other point in time people wouldn't even think twice about sending their child to school. It's ****ing insane at this point to think everyone is going to start dropping dead when the the ****ing numbers show otherwise.

[O.city]

It looks like it's about 4-6 weeks during a spike then back down quick, so we should be hopefully coming to the endish of that here in MO.

[dirk digler]

https://apnews.com/586d95c9d56afa220...ign=SocialFlow

Trail of bubbles leads scientists to new coronavirus clue

A doctor checking comatose COVID-19 patients for signs of a stroke instead stumbled onto a new clue about how the virus may harm the lungs -- thanks to a test that used tiny air bubbles and a robot.

Dr. Alexandra Reynolds, a neurologist at New York’s Mount Sinai Health System, initially was baffled as she tracked “the cacophony of sound” made by those harmless bubbles passing through the bloodstream of patient after patient.

Yet the weird finding excited lung specialists who now are studying if it helps explain why often, the sickest coronavirus patients don’t get enough oxygen despite being on ventilators.

The tale illustrates how months into the pandemic, scientists still are struggling to unravel the myriad ways the coronavirus attacks -- and finding hints in surprising places.

So Reynolds turned to a new robotic version, a headset that once positioned over the patient can automatically do the tracking. She used it to perform what’s called a bubble study, a commonly used, painless test for stroke risk that involves injecting saline containing tiny air bubbles into a vein. As the microbubbles circulate, the smallest blood vessels in healthy lungs — called capillaries — will trap and filter them out of the bloodstream.

Over several nights in the ICU, Reynolds tested some of her sickest coronavirus patients — and repeatedly, NovaSignal’s robotic Doppler kept measuring bubbles that, instead of being filtered away, were somehow reaching their brains.

“This was really bizarre,” Reynolds said. Often bubbles avoid lung filtering by slipping through a heart defect that’s a well-known stroke risk, but “there’s no way everyone suddenly has a hole in their heart.”

But to Mount Sinai lung expert Dr. Hooman Poor, the bubble mystery might be “essentially the missing link” in why these patients weren’t getting enough oxygen: Maybe abnormally dilated lung capillaries, not a heart problem, were letting the bubbles sneak through.

Poor and Reynolds did more tests. By the end of the pilot study, 15 of 18 tested patients had microbubbles detected in the brain. And backing Poor’s theory, patients with the most bubbles also had the lowest oxygen levels, researchers reported earlier this month in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Why would capillaries matter?

Coronavirus patients on ventilators have what’s called ARDS or acute respiratory distress syndrome, an inflammatory lung failure that when caused by other infections blocks oxygen by stiffening lungs. But the coronavirus doesn’t similarly stiffen lungs, Poor explained.

His new theory: Doctors know the coronavirus attacks the lining of blood vessels, causing dangerous clots. The bubble study suggests maybe blood is being detoured from clogged vessels to unusually widened ones — and thus flowing through too fast to properly absorb oxygen.

A rare disorder called hepatopulmonary syndrome causes the same abnormality, and it’s diagnosed with a bubble study.

The findings are preliminary, not proof that dilated blood vessels are a problem. Still, some autopsies have linked COVID-19 to deformed lung capillaries.

Next up is a larger study that aims to see if measuring bubbles could help doctors monitor whether patients are improving or worsening.

The report “I think is really going to generate a lot of talk” among lung specialists, because it’s “more evidence that the blood vessel is really where the action is,” said Dr. Corey Kershaw of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who wasn’t involved in the pilot study.

He cautioned that researchers need to definitively prove a heart defect isn’t playing a role.

But, “it’s an example of, there are so many things we still don’t know,” Kershaw added, praising the creativity used to find this latest clue.

[Demonpenz]

People will knowledge like doctors are protecting kids.. Not some dumbass salesman from grasslands trying to sell mulch

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Demonpenz

People will knowledge like doctors are protecting kids.. Not some dumbass salesman from grasslands trying to sell mulch

The doctors saying kids should be in school??? Which doctors are we talking about?

[Demonpenz]

The doctors that say we should have locked down and distance learning is the way to go.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Demonpenz

The doctors that say we should have locked down and distance learning is the way to go.

These doctors?

U.S. Pediatricians Call For In-Person School This Fall
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronav...hool-this-fall

or was it these doctors?

America's Pediatricians Say Schools Should Reopen For The Fall
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ameri...b6ca9709157324

[petegz28]

Maybe it was the people at the CDC, penz?

Schools should open, CDC says
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/...open-cdc-says/

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Yes, I am aware of that. And the problem is some of the districts are taking everything to all remote including elementary. I don't know how more plainly it needs to be put but you CANNOT TEACH A 7 YEAR OLD OVER A COMPUTER!

I mean, we're sending all of our kids back to school in person, but why couldn't a 7 year old learn over a computer? What am I missing?

[eDave]

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

I mean, we're sending all of our kids back to school in person, but why couldn't a 7 year old learn over a computer? What am I missing?

If you have to ask then you're either being a troll as usual or you're a complete moron. As much of a douche as I think you are I do not think you a moron so......

[TLO]

Originally Posted by eDave

Very good

[petegz28]

FYI the age of the oldest person in KS to die from Covid is 106. I didn't even know you could live that long!!!