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 MahomesMagic:
ICUs in Houston were 27% Covid last I heard. Most of the hospitals were sitting half empty for the last few months and are getting filled with the "elective" procedures backlogged from people waiting to get in for other procedures delayed.
Hospitals are also creating new Covid hospitalizations by testing every patient now coming in for Covid. Did you wait on a knee surgery? Test positive for Covid and even with no symptoms you are now a Covid hospitalization. That's a great way to create a surge.
Like so many things about this virus, numbers are just numbers without context. [Reply]
Originally Posted by MahomesMagic:
ICUs in Houston were 27% Covid last I heard. Most of the hospitals were sitting half empty for the last few months and are getting filled with the "elective" procedures backlogged from people waiting to get in for other procedures delayed.
Hospitals are also creating new Covid hospitalizations by testing every patient now coming in for Covid. Did you wait on a knee surgery? Test positive for Covid and even with no symptoms you are now a Covid hospitalization. That's a great way to create a surge.
It's almost like people still need the ICUs for "normal" things other than COVID-19 even during a pandemic, eh? [Reply]
Originally Posted by MahomesMagic:
ICUs in Houston were 27% Covid last I heard. Most of the hospitals were sitting half empty for the last few months and are getting filled with the "elective" procedures backlogged from people waiting to get in for other procedures delayed.
Hospitals are also creating new Covid hospitalizations by testing every patient now coming in for Covid. Did you wait on a knee surgery? Test positive for Covid and even with no symptoms you are now a Covid hospitalization. That's a great way to create a surge.
COVID ICU figures for Houston are as follows:
-456
Regular hospitalizations for COVID
-1400
Mind you this is out of a population of 4 fucking million [Reply]
The intensive care units (ICU) at four hospitals in the Tampa area were at maximum capacity over the weekend as the number of coronavirus cases in Florida continue to spike.
Palms of Pasadena Hospital, St. Petersburg General Hospital, Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater and AdventHealth North Pinellas in Tarpon Springs had no ICU beds available Saturday, the Tampa Bay Times reported, citing data collected by the Agency for Health Care Administration.
Other hospitals were nearing capacity. The Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg had just 3 percent of its ICU beds available, Mease Dunedin Hospital had just 5 percent available and both St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg and Largo Medical Center had 13 percent available, according to the newspaper. [Reply]
Prepare for the worst in March and don't see the worst, and people bitch.
Go back to normal, and people bitch.
Yet, had cities not shutdown in March they would obviously be totally fucked right now, with much higher Covid hospitalizations AND no elective surgeries.
Of course, none of that is verifiable, so people will bitch.
It's sad the only way this makes any sense to some people is to have millions of dead bodies. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Prepare for the worst in March and don't see the worst, and people bitch.
Go back to normal, and people bitch.
Yet, had cities not shutdown in March they would obviously be totally fucked right now, with much higher Covid hospitalizations AND no elective surgeries.
Of course, none of that is verifiable, so people will bitch.
It's sad the only way this makes any sense to some people is to have millions of dead bodies.
Agreed.
The issue is we're seemingly still running on that initial prediction of 2 million dead by summer(?), and the people supposedly that know what they're doing keep changing the narratives. Wear a mask, don't wear a mask. Don't gather for concerts or parties, protests don't spread the virus. ICU beds are full, death count is dropping drastically. We're being spun around and nobody knows exactly what is happening by all appearances and people are fed up watching businesses and their lives slowly die off for fear of some world ending plague that really isn't that. THAT is why people are bitching, and I get it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Prepare for the worst in March and don't see the worst, and people bitch.
Go back to normal, and people bitch.
Yet, had cities not shutdown in March they would obviously be totally ****ed right now, with much higher Covid hospitalizations AND no elective surgeries.
Of course, none of that is verifiable, so people will bitch.
It's sad the only way this makes any sense to some people is to have millions of dead bodies.
That's a good synopsis but the thing is all the "preparing" and "shutting down" have tangible effects on people. Like no job, no school, no money.
And the "millions of dead bodies" is a bit of a stretch, no?
In fact the deaths are down so much the CDC is close to removing the epidemic status of Covid. Let's hope that happens. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Prepare for the worst in March and don't see the worst, and people bitch.
Go back to normal, and people bitch.
Yet, had cities not shutdown in March they would obviously be totally ****ed right now, with much higher Covid hospitalizations AND no elective surgeries.
Of course, none of that is verifiable, so people will bitch.
It's sad the only way this makes any sense to some people is to have millions of dead bodies.
The problem with the "million of dead bodies" concept is we saw countries do no lockdown and nothing of the sort happened.
According to the same models where 2 million would die in the US, 100,000 were supposed to die in Sweden. No lock-down, shutdown of businesses.
They washed their hands, voluntary social distancing. No masks. 5,000 dead, 73 percent from elderly care homes. Hospitals were fine, no overload.
Originally Posted by MahomesMagic:
The problem with the "million of dead bodies" concept is we saw countries do no lockdown and nothing of the sort happened.
According to the same models where 2 million would die in the US, 100,000 were supposed to die in Sweden. No lock-down, shutdown of businesses.
They washed their hands, voluntary social distancing. No masks. 5,000 dead, 73 percent from elderly care homes. Hospitals were fine, no overload.
The Doomer emperor has no clothes.
Sweden has a much worse per capita death rate than we do. Even the doctor who planned their response admits that they made mistakes. [Reply]
