***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.”

[FloridaMan88]

Originally Posted by Monticore

It is always going to be easier to make predictions after the fact, in real time in jan/feb they made a choice based on the info they had , not closing the schools and being wrong would be a lot worse than closing them and being wrong.

I am not a public health policy expert, but even I was questioning the strategy to close schools last month...

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

So cancel schools and remove children from a controlled environment, generally separated from higher risk segments of the population for 8+ hours a day and increase their exposure to the rest of society?

Seems like the study is basically confirming what I said in early March.

[SuperBowl4]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

They are projecting 1903 deaths today let's see how close they get

Is that the line? I'm betting on the under.

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

I am not a public health policy expert.

FYP

[stumppy]

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

Especially considering that closing schools now apparently has had minimal impact on stoping the spread of the virus.

Link: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/07/healt...ntl/index.html

No way in hell that closing schools when CV is in the community doesn't help a lot.
I'll go with the common sense approach. Not one small study based on data from China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

[FloridaMan88]

Originally Posted by Monticore

FYP

No additional response to the fact that the study is confirming the obvious?

Closing schools has had minimal to no impact on stopping the spread of the virus.

[dirk digler]

Welp looks like there is going to be a push to open things back up soon. And the CDC is going to put out guidelines today. I will wait to read it but this doesn't sound right to me.

When asked about that proposal, Birx cited a paper expected to be published Wednesday regarding those new CDC guidelines.

“It’s a very important piece because it looks at degree of exposure and really making it clear that exposure occurs within six feet for more than 15 minutes,” Birx said. “So, really understanding where you shouldn’t be within six feet of people right now. But if you’re in a work situation where you have to be, there will be a series of recommendations — if you had a significant exposure — of what specifically to do, and if you’ve had a less exposure, what to do.”

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

No additional response to the fact that the study is confirming the obvious?

Closing schools has had minimal to no impact on stopping the spread of the virus.

You seem like somebody that always questions what the government does and then scream Eureka! when you get one right, but hey even fat chicks get laid sometimes .

[FloridaMan88]

Originally Posted by stumppy

No way in hell that closing schools when CV is in the community doesn't help a lot.
I'll go with the common sense approach. Not one small study based on data from China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Your "common sense approach" vs. findings from a research study conducted by scientists from the University College London.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

It shouldn't even be a question at this point as to whether schools will start in the fall. It just sounds like more fear mongering.

Yep, really odd that it's a topic he felt needed addressed right now.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Yep, really odd that it's a topic he felt needed addressed right now.

He was directly asked the question by a reporter. He didn't bring it up:

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

Your "common sense approach" vs. findings from a research study conducted by scientists from the University College London.

New research done by 1 team based off of completely different viruses that hasn't been verified and is still a guesstimate and you expected them to have this info 3months ago .

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by petegz28

All of the numbers are just starting to become mindnumbingling meaningless.

If we say x people have it you have a crowd scream it's because we aren't testing enough.

If we estimate the number of cases to be a lot more than what they have tested thus the death rate is really lower you have a crowd scream bullshit, you can't say that because ____

If we say the death number is X we have a crowd that scream we aren't counting all the people who "really" died from it.

We have dead people getting counted even though they may not have died from Covid-19

We have people being counted as having Covid-19 even though that haven't been tested because they show symptoms

We have test results being argued because someone said somewhere there are X number of false positives or false negatives

So basically it doesn't even matter what numbers you present anymore, some people are going to argue they aren't right for some reason or other

The numbers never mattered in the way you tried to make them matter, petegz28. If anything, they've become more, not less, meaningful.

[Fat Elvis]

Originally Posted by SuperBowl4

Why is anyone going on a cruise during this Pandemic? Because it was cheap?

Can we all agree to pitch in and send Pete and KCChiefsfan88 on a vacation of a lifetime?

[stumppy]

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

Your "common sense approach" vs. findings from a research study conducted by scientists from the University College London.

Keep grasping at straws. That 'study' is a joke.

[FloridaMan88]

Originally Posted by Monticore

New research done by 1 team based off of completely different viruses that hasn't been verified and is still a guesstimate and you expected them to have this info 3months ago .

Additional studies have also highlighted the unintended consequences for shutting down schools down, with regards to trying to stop the pandemic:

Link: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/07/healt...ntl/index.html

Previous studies in the United Kingdom and the United States have shown that as many as 30% of healthcare workers have children they would need to take care of if schools were closed. A separate study published in The Lancet last week estimated that one in seven frontline medical workers in the US may miss work to care for their children when US schools are closed.