***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 Donger

The 18 to 44 demographic has always had the highest number of cases.

Not to this extent. It’s also highly lowered in the amount of the elderly.

The south and southwest has much more vitamin d as well so hopefully that is helping

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by O.city

Couple things I’m curious about in regards to hospitalizations as well. Everyone going in for anything gets tested now. So if I’m in for an appendix problem and i test positive I’m now a Covid pt even if I’m Asymptomatic for it.

So how is this being documented?

I assume you test positive you are considered a COVID patient for hospital purposes and treated/isolated like 1 as like any other infectious disease, i am not sure if it is counted as a COVID hospitalization by the health unit, I would assume so though.

If you have an appendicitis you probably would symptoms that are similar to COVID ones though .

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by O.city

Couple things I’m curious about in regards to hospitalizations as well. Everyone going in for anything gets tested now. So if I’m in for an appendix problem and i test positive I’m now a Covid pt even if I’m Asymptomatic for it.

So how is this being documented?

I brought this up last week. You will be hospitalized with covid but not because of covid. Confusing it can be from a reporting perspective.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by O.city

Here it is

It's hard to draw a lot of conclusions to that due to confounding factors, here is why:

1) The drug most commonly used for PrEP is Truvada, which is TDF/FTC. Those who use PrEP will skew younger. Do we have data on patients taking Truvada for PrEP vs. patients taking Truvada for control of HIV? It seems like that would be worth looking at.

The cohort is also very small, but why is it small? Is the drug helping?

Additionally, TAF is still tenofovir, it's just a different salt form, and is available with FTC in a formulation called Descovy. I'm not sure as to who would receive TAF vs. TDF in Spain, but in the US, TAF is preferred in general due less renal toxicity and fewer issues with bone mineral density. However, TDF is used far more often (and is also coming off patent soon). Is there an unknown HIV-negative cohort taking Truvada that has substantially lower risk for COVID that isn't demonstrated in this trial? We don't know. It might be that patients receiving TAF have lower renal function and are older (with a concurrently increased chance for comorbidities), and that might be the true reason for the morbidity/mortality difference. I didn't see that they controlled for that, but I may have overlooked it in haste. There might be an unknown benefit to TDF that we have not yet discovered.

2) What is the underlying control of disease for these patients? It's hard to draw conclusions without knowing their T-cell levels and viral loads, especially since HIV leads to many inflammatory issues.

For what it's worth, tenofovir is used in other diseases beyond HIV (Hep B).

I wouldn't rush out to start giving this to people prophylactically, especially since there will already be large cohorts of men in (mostly) major US cities taking Truvada, which will be disclosed on any medication history upon admission to the hospital (should they require it for COVID).

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by O.city

Not to this extent. It’s also highly lowered in the amount of the elderly.

The south and southwest has much more vitamin d as well so hopefully that is helping

https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/show...ostcount=36239

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by petegz28

I brought this up last week. You will be hospitalized with covid but not because of covid. Confusing it can be from a reporting perspective.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I am not sure if there are enough of those cases to make a big difference in the overall picture .

[Donger]

MIAMI, FL — Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced late Friday night he plans to shut down Miami-area beaches during the upcoming July 4 holiday weekend and possibly longer in response to the recent surge in coronavirus cases.

"After consulting with our county's public health experts, I will be signing an emergency order on Saturday to close all beaches in Miami-Dade County starting Friday, July 3, and ending Tuesday, July 7," the mayor said in a statement released Friday night.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/show...ostcount=36239

Definitely a lot of interesting stuff on vitamin d

[TLO]

Originally Posted by O.city

Definitely a lot of interesting stuff on vitamin d

Unfortunately there seems to be so much conflicting information on quite literally every topic of discussion. I suppose this probably isn't all that surprising considering we've only had experience with the virus for a short time.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by O.city

Definitely a lot of interesting stuff on vitamin d

Do you participate in spread eagling your asshole to the sun for at least 15 minutes a day?

[keg in kc]

Went to Walmart early this afternoon here in OP, and I was legit shocked how many people weren't wearing masks. It had been in the 75-80% range (est...) in masks the last few months, but it was well under 50% today, at a time when it was much more crowded than in the early morning, when I usually shop.

I bought more masks. This thing isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

[Bugeater]

Going into a Walmart without a mask seems like it would be a suicide mission. As I've mentioned before, wearing a mask into Walmart is probably a good idea even when there isn't a pandemic going on.

[TLO]

Something I've been pondering on today..

We've all seen that the CDC has claimed that for every case diagnosed, 10 are missed.

Doesn't that make case count numbers virtually irrelevant?

[TLO]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Going into a Walmart without a mask seems like it would be a suicide mission. As I've mentioned before, wearing a mask into Walmart is probably a good idea even when there isn't a pandemic going on.

Funny that you mention that. I'm surprised we haven't seen more high profile stories about retail stores having huge outbreaks.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by TLO

Funny that you mention that. I'm surprised we haven't seen more high profile stories about retail stores having huge outbreaks.

Eh it’s not prolonged time or exposure.