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.”
Originally Posted by SAUTO:
no matter how long it's been here almost 70k have died since 3-1, right?
So almost 70k in 2 months just like I said. It being here longer doesn't change their death date.
This is true but the statement implies 70k deaths over the course of all the infections since they started, which would not be true if it’s been here since January. [Reply]
Originally Posted by petegz28:
Why would anyone ever think we were going to "stop" this? Especially inside a few months? This thing is most likely here to stay. To put it harshly we either adapt and overcome or live in fear the rest of our lives and hide from it, where it will probably get you anyway at some point.
Again, yes you could have stopped this cold.
Give people stimulus money, put a hold on debt. Everyone get food and lock the fuck down for 2 months. No hosts to spread to the virus dies
Then let people work but not travel for a couple months more. You can stop any flare ups that may occur easier at that point. [Reply]
Originally Posted by petegz28:
Why would anyone ever think we were going to "stop" this? Especially inside a few months? This thing is most likely here to stay. To put it harshly we either adapt and overcome or live in fear the rest of our lives and hide from it, where it will probably get you anyway at some point.
Originally Posted by mr. tegu:
This is true but the statement implies 70k deaths over the course of all the infections since they started, which would not be true if it’s been here since January.
No my statement implies 70k died in the past 2 months. Just like I said [Reply]
Originally Posted by BleedingRed:
Right but do you think it would have been double had we not locked down, how much did we mitigate it? Or would those people have died all the same over a longer period of time?
I don't know the answers, and its worth discussing.
There are clear examples of countries that locked down early and prevented spread. There are other examples of countries that waited too long and were overwhelmed. There are paired examples of neighboring countries with similar demographics implementing different testing and lockdown strategies with a six-fold difference in death rate.
You've been posting in this thread throughout. If you wanted the info, it's been in here. [Reply]
Originally Posted by SAUTO:
Again, yes you could have stopped this cold.
Give people stimulus money, put a hold on debt. Everyone get food and lock the **** down for 2 months. No hosts to spread to the virus dies
Then let people work but not travel for a couple months more. You can stop any flare ups that may occur easier at that point.
Yup. I never understood why domestic and international airlines travel wasn't grounded. All your doing is allowing it to spread around and there is no way to check passengers to see if they have it or not. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mr. tegu:
It’s a great thing. If we can just right now add in 30 million people had it, we can remove them from the potential infection pool, and also add them to any discussion about severity of it as we presume the vast majority of those did not present with serious issues.
You would not have had exponential growth in death rates occur so quickly in late March through April if this had been around in great number since December, especially given that the antibody tests, which were riddled with false positives, returned results so low. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BleedingRed:
Right but do you think it would have been double had we not locked down, how much did we mitigate it? Or would those people have died all the same over a longer period of time?
I don't know the answers, and its worth discussing.
I think it would have at least doubled without locking down. Look at the numbers in NY and NJ (and I realize that's a totally different way of life there ) but they are still going up 8 weeks after locking down.
The numbers would be crazy if we hadn't done what we did so far. Imo [Reply]
Originally Posted by petegz28:
they've stopped it? No more disease? At all? None? I don't believe that for 1 second.
Zero? No. But there are a dozen countries that are seeing very little in terms of new cases at this point, and when they pop up, they aggressively contact trace to minimize spread. [Reply]