***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.”

[philfree]

It's been three weeks to the day that my symptoms started and this morning I feel pretty normal. Still a little gunk in my eustachian tubes maybe.

[Baby Lee]

Masking mandates likely well into 2022.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Masking mandates likely well into 2022.

Pathetic

[el borracho]

Moran:

[TLO]

Originally Posted by el borracho

Moran:

Thank you for positing. He has some other interesting videos as well.

[O.city]

Deaths going back up now. Not good.

We’re not really in the 3rd wave, it’s just the first wave hitting areas not previously hit. Midwest etc

[TLO]

Originally Posted by O.city

Deaths going back up now. Not good.

We’re not really in the 3rd wave, it’s just the first wave hitting areas not previously hit. Midwest etc

Crossing my fingers that we've hit our peak locally. Cases are holding steady if not dropping a bit over the past 14 days. Hospitalizations have been fluctuating between 50-60, but there's a trend downwards overall. Of course that can all change in the blink of an eye.

[TLO]

I thought we'd have heard something on monoclonal antibodies and their EUA application by this point.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by O.city

Deaths going back up now. Not good.

We’re not really in the 3rd wave, it’s just the first wave hitting areas not previously hit. Midwest etc

43 states are seeing an increase in cases according to NBC. That calls into a question a lot of things we have been told as well as the sensitivity of the tests.

I know there are spots that have people refusing to wear masks but more people are wearing masks than there were months ago but the cases are surging.

The latest cluster info from Kansas shows that long term facilities, corrections and meat packing facilities are the real issue.

I'd be curious to know what the case count would be if the cycles on the tests were at the 32 or whatever everyone says they should be at instead of 40?

[O.city]

Originally Posted by petegz28

43 states are seeing an increase in cases according to NBC. That calls into a question a lot of things we have been told as well as the sensitivity of the tests.

I know there are spots that have people refusing to wear masks but more people are wearing masks than there were months ago but the cases are surging.

The latest cluster info from Kansas shows that long term facilities, corrections and meat packing facilities are the real issue.

I'd be curious to know what the case count would be if the cycles on the tests were at the 32 or whatever everyone says they should be at instead of 40?

Hospitalizations and deaths are going back up.

As the cases went up, even if it’s people who it doesn’t really effect it just eventually spreads into areas of people who don’t do well.

A lot of the increases in testing now are antigen tests iirc which will help woth speed.

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by TLO

Crossing my fingers that we've hit our peak locally. Cases are holding steady if not dropping a bit over the past 14 days. Hospitalizations have been fluctuating between 50-60, but there's a trend downwards overall. Of course that can all change in the blink of an eye.

6 weeks in to the mandatory mask mandate. It was never going to have an impact.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by O.city

Hospitalizations and deaths are going back up.

As the cases went up, even if it’s people who it doesn’t really effect it just eventually spreads into areas of people who don’t do well.

A lot of the increases in testing now are antigen tests iirc which will help woth speed.

Everyone I know who has been tested recently have had the PCR test for the most part.

Either way, deaths have ticked up slightly and hopefully we see similar to the last surge in cases where deaths did not go up nearly at the same rate. I don't anticipate that we will given we have more treatments now than we did in July which was more than we had in March, etc.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Everyone I know who has been tested recently have had the PCR test for the most part.

Either way, deaths have ticked up slightly and hopefully we see similar to the last surge in cases where deaths did not go up nearly at the same rate. I don't anticipate that we will given we have more treatments now than we did in July which was more than we had in March, etc.

It’ll come down to hospital strain. If they can stay ok hopefully the death rate won’t go up much

If cases end up getting above 100k daily I’d imagine they’ll get pretty stretched

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

6 weeks in to the mandatory mask mandate. It was never going to have an impact.

Meh, JoCo has been under a mask mandate for a few months and there has been really no change pre or post mandate for all intents and purposes.

With the exception of a day here or there we have been in the same general range since July. And we see the same demographics. The largest group of cases continues to be the 20-29 age range but they are a very miniscule amount of the hospitalizations and deaths. The same narrative has carried on. The older the age group the less cases but the harder the impact.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by O.city

It’ll come down to hospital strain. If they can stay ok hopefully the death rate won’t go up much

If cases end up getting above 100k daily I’d imagine they’ll get pretty stretched

Honestly I think it comes down to who is being hospitalized. If they are younger they generally are in and out fairly quickly. There is still plenty of beds available at the moment and we are not seeing a strain on resources at the time though we are busy.