***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 BleedingRed

You're 100% wrong, the same amount of people would be infected regardless of efforts put in place. Experts have said this over and over and over again.

What expert(s) was that?

[Donger]

Originally Posted by ghak99

Getting infected is unavoidable, unless you believe you can wait on a vaccine.

So you are saying that we are going to end up with ~350,000,000 cases?

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by BleedingRed

You're 100% wrong, the same amount of people would be infected regardless of efforts put in place. Experts have said this over and over and over again.

I see your point but also his, if nobody gets infected it dies out, if we continue to have a portion of the population get infected in the end it will most likely infect the same amount of people, unless it does out, get a treatment, vaccine and the odds of those increase over time.

[O.city]

The graphs become a little less dire when viewed with the concurrent rise in testing. But clearly more cases isn't a good thing - we may need more nuanced policymaking.https://t.co/L2LoX5ItHJ pic.twitter.com/Bd5WENuK2y

— Peter Walker (@PeterJ_Walker) May 5, 2020

Kind of goes without stating the obvious, but as testing has ramped up the cases have as well. I'm not sure case load anymore is really the factor we should base anything on. Maybe percent of positives would be better?

[ghak99]

Originally Posted by Donger

So you are saying that we are going to end up with ~350,000,000 cases?

Unless you're going to sprinkle some magic fairy dust, it will continue to spread until a vaccine or it's own demise stops it. The US is not capable of containment and never was.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by BleedingRed

The amazing part is you two don't seem to understand after the expert repeatedly said that the mitigation efforts were not put in place to keep the total number of infected down, but to prolong the rate of infection.

Flattening the curve meant many things but it all starts with keeping infections lows = not over running hospitals = less deaths. It also meant buying us time to learn about the virus so we can develop\produce therapeutics and a vaccine.

[WhawhaWhat]

I know this is a governor but it's not political, just funny.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice not holding back... pic.twitter.com/06dr9SMg87

— Rex Chapman���� (@RexChapman) May 5, 2020

[Donger]

Originally Posted by ghak99

Unless you're going to sprinkle some magic fairy dust, it will continue to spread until a vaccine or it's own demise stops it. The US is not capable of containment and never was.

So you're of the opinion that we would have ended up with the same number of cases without mitigation and we'd have with.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

I know this is a governor but it's not political, just funny.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice not holding back... pic.twitter.com/06dr9SMg87

— Rex Chapman���� (@RexChapman) May 5, 2020

I had to re-watch and keep an eye on the signer... Disappointed.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by DaFace

At least TRY to think through what you're saying here. No one's gonna DIE OF STARVATION because they can't eat a hamburger. There are plenty of other foods that are in no danger at all, even if they aren't your primary preference.

One guy is telling everyone that we're in this situation due to obesity and diabetes and another guy is saying millions will starve to death.

Good grief.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Donger

I looked it up. 9 million die from starvation and starvation-related illness every year.

I guess that's Wendy's fault for not cranking out enough double cheeseburgers

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Monticore

I have actually been eating better since the lockdown, we only have McDonalds and A&W here and haven't eating at either since, Pizza once a week though .

My family hasn't eaten out since February but then, we rarely eat fast food each year.

I had a total of three cheeseburgers in 2019.

[dirk digler]

Here is what Dr Fauci has repeatedly said about flattening the curve

“If you look at the curves of outbreaks, you know, they go up big peaks, and then they come down. What we need to do is flatten that down,” he has said publicly. “That would have less people infected. That would, ultimately, have less deaths.”

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by O.city

Kind of goes without stating the obvious, but as testing has ramped up the cases have as well. I'm not sure case load anymore is really the factor we should base anything on. Maybe percent of positives would be better?

I still primarily focus on deaths. It's tough because it's a lagging indicator, but cases is just too dependent on testing rates to make a lot of sense of.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

I know this is a governor but it's not political, just funny.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice not holding back... pic.twitter.com/06dr9SMg87

— Rex Chapman���� (@RexChapman) May 5, 2020

So...what do we think he was actually trying to say here? While it's pretty funny, I can't imagine that a governor would intentionally drop an f-bomb in a formal announcement. Hard to figure it out though...