***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 Baby Lee

Yeah! Get 'em!!!

Cross-forum fail. Impressive.

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Not sure how old you are, but 1 in 5 people under 40 have metabolic syndrome, a risk factor for heart disease bc of poor diet/lifestyle.

You’ll be able to get a vaccine within months whereas heart disease has been a major problem for decades.

50% of smokers will die from a smoking related illness while also causing harm to people around them , banning cigarettes seems easier than banning fat people if you want to save lives and reduce healthcare costs, might lower heart disease numbers you are talking about as well.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by O.city

So how are you guys proposing we do these things with obesity?

Comparing a contagious virus to obesity seems a bit off to me but have at it

We weren’t comparing it to only the virus. The previous post with most deaths by day with wars, 9/11 etc was the reference.

And yes we need to start making drastic changes to our system to help people be healthier. That includes helping poor people get access to healthy food.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Donger

Oh, so heart disease isn't spread by a contagious virus. Good to know.

It isn’t, which means that covid will be under control within a handful of months with the rollout of a vaccine.

Heart disease has been a problem before, now and will still be a problem.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

We could try yelling at every fat person we see?

Originally Posted by O.city

Could work

Stop yelling at me. I'm just big boned.

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by RunKC

It isn’t, which means that covid will be under control within a handful of months with the rollout of a vaccine.

Heart disease has been a problem before, now and will still be a problem.

completely reworking your economic and healthcare systems and the lifestyle of hundreds of millions of people should do the trick , easy enough.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by RunKC

It isn’t, which means that covid will be under control within a handful of months with the rollout of a vaccine.

Heart disease has been a problem before, now and will still be a problem.

It's a huge problem.

I've been told it's people's personal choice though, so there is no forcing anyone to do anything that could be helpful to everyone.

[petegz28]

So will they approve this today or tomorrow?

[TLO]

Originally Posted by O.city

Parsing thru the data, why isn't a single shot of the pfizer vaccine on the table? I understand for long term the 2nd, but damn after the 1 thats a hella response.

Originally Posted by TLO

I'm hoping they discuss this today.

Originally Posted by DaFace

I think the concern is that one dose wouldn't provide lasting immunity, but I know they don't have enough data to make any conclusions about that definitively.

In short, I'll leave that one up to the people who are smarter than me.

So this question was just asked by one of the doctor's on the panel to the Pfizer group.

If I understood the Pfizer groups answer, they started this as a 2 dose trial, so they simply don't have the data for a single shot and its efficacy long term.


The lady answering the question had her mic cutting in and out so I didn't hear everything she said.

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by O.city

It's a huge problem.

I've been told it's people's personal choice though, so there is no forcing anyone to do anything that could be helpful to everyone.

My wife pretty much spends all her days fighting with people trying to make them healthier , it is harder than it sounds.

[BigBeauford]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Roughly 655,000 people die of heart disease every year for reasons htismaqe listed. This does not count the diabetes rates skyrocketing over time which leads to future health problems.

If we truly care about about this, we’ll help people get healthy, make healthy food more available and promote healthy lifestyles.

Yes, I think we should follow suit and employ a sugar tax on sodas! That is if you truly care.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by TLO

So this question was just asked by one of the doctor's on the panel to the Pfizer group.

If I understood the Pfizer groups answer, they started this as a 2 dose trial, so they simply don't have the data for a single shot and its efficacy long term.


The lady answering the question had her mic cutting in and out so I didn't hear everything she said.

Makes sense. It's probably not dissimilar to Moderna's finding that the half dose was better. It may be true, but if they didn't collect enough data to conclude that confidently, they can't make it a recommendation at this point.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by petegz28

So will they approve this today or tomorrow?

If they're gonna approve it today, we should know in a couple hours

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by RunKC

We weren’t comparing it to only the virus. The previous post with most deaths by day with wars, 9/11 etc was the reference.

And yes we need to start making drastic changes to our system to help people be healthier. That includes helping poor people get access to healthy food.

Poor people in general (always exceptions) have access to healthy food, its ridiculous to claim otherwise at this point.

Eggs are cheap, vegetables are cheap, water is damn near free where as soda isn't etc....Maybe some education would help but lets be honest, a lot of obesity is driven by laziness and poor habits taught to children who grow into adults with poor habits.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

Yes, I think we should follow suit and employ a sugar tax on sodas! That is if you truly care.

Why not? They have additional taxes on cigarettes and alcohol, I'm fine with taxing sugar.

But I also want to have input on what the $ is used for.