***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.”

[Pants]

Deaths are worse than cases.

In fact, I would go as far as to say deaths are the worst.

[O.city]

Deaths follow hospitalizations which follow cases. We have had a spike in cases but deaths didn't follow this time.

Now some will say we got better treating it, etc. Which we did.

But I also think we didn't catch anywhere NEAR the number of cases that occurred in the spring. I'm guessing we caught maybe 1 in 20.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Pants

Deaths are worse than cases.

In fact, I would go as far as to say deaths are the worst.

Trying not to laugh...

[Pants]

Originally Posted by O.city

Deaths follow hospitalizations which follow cases. We have had a spike in cases but deaths didn't follow this time.

Now some will say we got better treating it, etc. Which we did.

But I also think we didn't catch anywhere NEAR the number of cases that occurred in the spring. I'm guessing we caught maybe 1 in 20.

That's also the feeling I get. I am also thinking there are different strains with some being much less deadly than others.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Pants

That's also the feeling I get. I am also thinking there are different strains with some being much less deadly than others.

I dont' know about that. It's pretty quick for that to be it.

We were catching 20k cases per day back in April. I'm guessing there were actually about 200k atleast. Especially in hard hit areas.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by O.city

Deaths follow hospitalizations which follow cases. We have had a spike in cases but deaths didn't follow this time.

Now some will say we got better treating it, etc. Which we did.

But I also think we didn't catch anywhere NEAR the number of cases that occurred in the spring. I'm guessing we caught maybe 1 in 20.

Deaths actually did increase after the spike we saw in mid-June, but thankfully not like we saw in March/April, yes.

If we've had 140,000,000 infections, surely we'd start seeing a pretty consistent and rather dramatic decrease in cases pretty soon, no?

[O.city]

I dont' think they followed because the spike in FEB/MAR/APR was so massive.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by O.city

I dont' think they followed because the spike in FEB/MAR/APR was so massive.

I don't follow. You are saying that there wasn't an increase in deaths from the spike in case growth in mid-June through late July?

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Donger

I don't follow. You are saying that there wasn't an increase in deaths from the spike in case growth in mid-June through late July?

No, I didn't portray that very well.

I think the deaths were so high then vs now not because of just better treatment, but overall then there were way more cases than there even are now we just didn't catch them.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Donger

Deaths actually did increase after the spike we saw in mid-June, but thankfully not like we saw in March/April, yes.

If we've had 140,000,000 infections, surely we'd start seeing a pretty consistent and rather dramatic decrease in cases pretty soon, no?

Problem is, it wasn't widespread then. The hard hit areas are staying and keeping pretty low case wise. Areas not hit, aren't.

[O.city]

I don't think it's an outlandish statement to say that we've likely had 100 million infections at this point.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by O.city

Problem is, it wasn't widespread then. The hard hit areas are staying and keeping pretty low case wise. Areas not hit, aren't.

You still think that places like NY have reached herd immunity?

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Donger

You still think that places like NY have reached herd immunity?

I think so.

Look at other areas hard hit. Same thing happens it seems no matter what restrictions they put on afterwards.

We'll soon find out. NYC last I saw had a positive test rate at or below 1 percent which IIRC is within the range of all the tests being false positives.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by O.city

I think so.

Look at other areas hard hit. Same thing happens it seems no matter what restrictions they put on afterwards.

We'll soon find out. NYC last I saw had a positive test rate at or below 1 percent which IIRC is within the range of all the tests being false positives.

I guess we'll find out nationally over the next few months.

[Donger]

Israel is going into a second nationwide lockdown over Covid-19

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/14/middl...ntl/index.html