***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.”

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

Plenty of people seemed to think that what happened in China couldn't happen anywhere else.

Oh, well sure it could happen in Italy but they are old and have a national health system.

Oh, well sure it could happen in NYC because of the the density but nowhere else.

Oh, well it could happen in New Orleans but that is because of idiots on Bourbon street.

But it could never go through a small town...

Well it hasnt.

[Mecca]

Social distancing is only going to go so far because society is full of ****tards.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DaFace

If we could lower it, that's not a best-case scenario...

I was just trying to be positive. It’s still hard for me to think of 100K dead Americans. Is this real life. This is really happening?

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Well it hasnt.

I'm sure it will at some point.

[jaa1025]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Heat sure kills it man....

It's not the heat it's the UV rays. The earth hasn't tilted close enough to the sun yet to kill the virus. Plus who knows where they got it?

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Well it hasnt.

Na, that's just false. Colorado's hardest-hit areas have been small towns. Granted, they're small towns people from outside visit, but that's just one example that took no thinking at all.

It's definitely easier for it to travel in cities, but there are cases of community spread just about everywhere.

https://covid19.colorado.gov/case-data

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Social distancing is only going to go so far because society is full of ****tards.

Kids are the biggest problem. You can only keep them cooped up for so long.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Well it hasnt.

Are you under the impression that people in small towns can't be infected? Are they immune some how?

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Kids are the biggest problem. You can only keep them cooped up for so long.

There are also people that can't deal with being at home for long, I know some of them the idea of staying home is like death and they get depressed and can't seem to handle it.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Donger

Are you under the impression that people in small towns can't be infected? Are they immune some how?

All the drugs they do have strengthened their immune systems.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by jaa1025

It's not the heat it's the UV rays. The earth hasn't tilted close enough to the sun yet to kill the virus. Plus who knows where they got it?

Well, perihelion happens in January and aphelion in July, which rules out distance, and Brazil is equatorial, so even though your claim is utterly without merit the opposite is happening anyway.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Mecca

I'm sure it will at some point.

Its possible certainly.

[O.city]

The issue once small towns get hit is they don't have hospitals, so they go to bigger cities for medical care.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Donger

Are you under the impression that people in small towns can't be infected? Are they immune some how?

Maybe read what I actually said to begin with rather than what you want me to have said. This is you doing your typical projection bullshit.

[O.city]

Our best hope is that there's a ton more asymptomatic and mild cases than has been reported and that we're farther along in this than we think.