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 KCrockaholic:
So why is Louisiana and Bama getting hit so hard with this thing? Just seems like a strange place for it to grow so rampant.
New Orleans/Mardi Gras Shitty city full of shitty drunks from all over
Alabama proximity to NO, cheap golf, beaches, ignorant spring breakers
Poor ass states Poor people [Reply]
Originally Posted by HonestChieffan:
Actually it seems no one who is involved on the medical side really needs testing. Docs are moving forward assuming if the symptoms are there, treat them as an active case. Testing wont change treatment or how we deal with patients.....testing and all of the hand wringing over tests needs to be set aside and deal with the people.
How many tests would you be pleased with? If you had enough tests to make you happy would we have fewer people infected? And would the rate of expansion decrease if you had more tests?
One of the major reasons this thing spreads like it does is because it appears you are contagious during that period of time before you show symptoms.
Testing is about trying to prevent this from spreading. If we don't ramp up our testing in this country far beyond where we are now we will never get it under any kind of control. Which to be fair is an option. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
One of the major reasons this thing spreads like it does is because you are contagious during that period of time before you show symptoms.
Testing is about trying to prevent this from spreading. If we don't ramp up our testing in this country far beyond where we are now we will never get it under any kind of control. Which to be fair is an option.
I get that...but what you are proposing is massive testing of people who sho zero signs...thats the entire population.....we will never achieve that...we will never have the ability to do it nor will people allow themselves to be tested [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
One of the major reasons this thing spreads like it does is because it appears you are contagious during that period of time before you show symptoms.
Testing is about trying to prevent this from spreading. If we don't ramp up our testing in this country far beyond where we are now we will never get it under any kind of control. Which to be fair is an option.
We can't test everyone. But I am curious to know what percentage of tests being given are coming back negative. Since we are giving the tests primarily to people right now with symptoms it would be interesting to see. [Reply]
Originally Posted by petegz28:
We can't test everyone. But I am curious to know what percentage of tests being given are coming back negative. Since we are giving the tests primarily to people right now with symptoms it would be interesting to see.
Last I saw it was a 10% positive rate
We need that to be lower therefor test more [Reply]
You test so you know where it’s at and who to isolate
Not testing is flying blind. Once you get it under control, you use testing and medical surveillance to know if you have potential hot spots etc [Reply]
Originally Posted by KCrockaholic:
So why is Louisiana and Bama getting hit so hard with this thing? Just seems like a strange place for it to grow so rampant.
There are a lot of people with diabetes and other underlying health conditions in those states. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
Last I saw it was a 10% positive rate
We need that to be lower therefor test more
I have heard that 10% globally but if we are only giving tests to people who have symptoms and that is the case then 10% may not be all that bad. We do need to it be lower but if 9 out of 10 people who show symptoms are not positive then that's a good thing. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
There’s a lot of studies coming out now showing the potential high rate of asymptomatic people, potentially 30% of infections
If that’s the case you really need to ramp up the testing way high and do serological tests to see who’s had it and is now immune
If that's the case, do they fall into the 80% mild category? [Reply]