***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.”

[TLO]

Originally Posted by O.city

You stretch it out to give the medical community time to figure it out

I feel like we've already made huge strides, but it also feels like it's not enough. It probably won't ever feel like enough until a vaccine is ready to roll out in mass to the public.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by O.city

You stretch it out to give the medical community time to figure it out

Yeah, no. You hope too but in all reality you can't stretch it that long. We got Remdesivir coming so that helps.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by tk13

No it's true, there's so much that we don't know, we could look back a year from now and see this thing was handled all wrong. I'm not sure about any of these projections. But it is pretty clear the thing has a pretty good shot of killing 100k people here, which is pretty brutal. And that's with most people not going to work. I don't see any evidence the thing is slowing down, especially in these places like nursing homes and meat plants where people are in close contact all the time. I think you'll be able to re-open some things but I have no idea how you send people back to large workplaces. Someone smarter than me will have to figure that out.

The list goes on and on for this group.
- prisons, jails, production lines, etc, etc.

I don't know what else can be done. We need all of these places up and running. There's no reliable way to prevent the infection from reaching these places either. You can social distance, temperature check, and do all these other things if it makes you feel better, but how much of a difference does it really make?

[O.city]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Yeah, no. You hope too but in all reality you can't stretch it that long. We got Remdesivir coming so that helps.

Stretch it as long and as much as you can

[TLO]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Yeah, no. You hope too but in all reality you can't stretch it that long. We got Remdesivir coming so that helps.

Unfortunately, we don't have a whole lot of it. We can only pray it works for most people and they can ramp up production in a hurry.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by O.city

Stretch it as long and as much as you can

I think that's the plan with the phased reopening of states. We're trying to make things go back to "normal" to a degree while still slowing the virus down as much as possible.

Will it work? Who knows. If it blows up in the country's face we're going to be looking at despair the likes we've never seen. People are going to be living with the reality that they can't go to work until there's a vaccine available, and the death toll is going to skyrocket.

The phased reopening has to work. It just has to.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by O.city

Stretch it as long and as much as you can

We have. We are at the end. People have had it rightly or wrongly. Phased re-openings are now the best option.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by O.city

Stretch it as long and as much as you can

You were asking about Missouri numbers from yesterday. This link sums things up nicely.

https://health.mo.gov/living/healthc...-dashboard.pdf

They update it every day, usually somewhere between 2pm and 3pm.

This website, if you haven't checked it out already, has a plethora of good information. Breaks things down by county, age, race, etc.

https://health.mo.gov/living/healthc...us/results.php

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by TLO

I think that's the plan with the phased reopening of states. We're trying to make things go back to "normal" to a degree while still slowing the virus down as much as possible.

Will it work? Who knows. If it blows up in the country's face we're going to be looking at despair the likes we've never seen. People are going to be living with the reality that they can't go to work until there's a vaccine available, and the death toll is going to skyrocket.

The phased reopening has to work. It just has to.

It will because we have no other choice. The economy devastation is just barely starting to be felt. Not to mention there is a lot of other crap going on like increased spousal abuse, sexual assaults both on spouses and children, alcohol and drug abuse, etc.

I understand to need to stay at home but it is a very myopic and naive view to thing you can do it and things will just go on as they have.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by TLO

I think that's the plan with the phased reopening of states. We're trying to make things go back to "normal" to a degree while still slowing the virus down as much as possible.

Will it work? Who knows. If it blows up in the country's face we're going to be looking at despair the likes we've never seen. People are going to be living with the reality that they can't go to work until there's a vaccine available, and the death toll is going to skyrocket.

The phased reopening has to work. It just has to.

Yeah they’re stretching it as much as they can here in Greene county and we haven’t had a new case in 10 days. Slow slow going.

Just wear a mask everywhere

[O.city]

Originally Posted by TLO

You were asking about Missouri numbers from yesterday. This link sums things up nicely.

https://health.mo.gov/living/healthc...-dashboard.pdf

They update it every day, usually somewhere between 2pm and 3pm.

This website, if you haven't checked it out already, has a plethora of good information. Breaks things down by county, age, race, etc.

https://health.mo.gov/living/healthc...us/results.php

Thanks

[TLO]

Originally Posted by O.city

Yeah they’re stretching it as much as they can here in Greene county and we haven’t had a new case in 10 days. Slow slow going.

Just wear a mask everywhere

That's relatively amazing considering how big Greene County is. We're about a 1/4th your size, and we were pushing 60 cases before the meat packing place had all those positives. You guys must be doing something right down there.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by TLO

But how common is this?

Too soon to know.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by TLO

That's relatively amazing considering how big Greene County is. We're about a 1/4th your size, and we were pushing 60 cases before the meat packing place had all those positives. You guys must be doing something right down there.

Yeah people have been surprisingly good about doing this whole thing. It’s weird to that Springfield has a high population but is really spread out for the most part.

We’ll see how it goes. I’ve been seeing a lot of masks out and about for sure

[O.city]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Too soon to know.

Did you see my post about the new serology tests?