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 petegz28:
Why would I not like it? I think the more people that get vaccinated the better?
Put your pipe down....
LOL really because it goes against your agenda that has been obvious in this thread. You flip flop more than a fish out of water when you get called out on your stance. You are only lying to yourself if you think every one else in this thread does not know that already. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chief Roundup:
LOL really because it goes against your agenda that has been obvious in this thread. You flip flop more than a fish out of water when you get called out on your stance. You are only lying to yourself if you think every one else in this thread does not know that already.
Quite frankly, I can't recall him being anti-vax at all in this thread
He's been quite anti-"lockdown" and questions the almighty mask gods, but not anti-vax [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chief Roundup:
LOL really because it goes against your agenda that has been obvious in this thread. You flip flop more than a fish out of water when you get called out on your stance. You are only lying to yourself if you think every one else in this thread does not know that already.
My "Agenda"? When have I been against the vaccine? I think you are just talking out of your ass again.... [Reply]
Underused rapid antigen tests and lack of interest in cleaning indoor air are the two missing pieces amid the deadly, novel coronavirus pandemic, according to an expert.
The comments from Dr. Qanta Ahmed, pulmonologist at NYU Langone, come on the heels of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warning on Sunday that the worst of the epidemic is yet to come.
The baseline of some 200,000 new daily cases in the U.S., along with a probable "post-seasonal surge," per Fauci, will pressure the already-burdened health system to a critical point.
"So, Dr. Fauci, things are going to be worse if we’re not changing our approaches," Ahmed said on Fox & Friends Monday. Ahmed said rapid antigen testing can help detect virus outbreaks and clusters to better tailor quarantines, especially in California.
"We’ve got no ability of detecting that right now in the United States because we’re not using rapid antigen testing," Ahmed added, voicing her increasing skepticism of lockdowns: "[There is] no imagination for new approaches. Rapid antigen testing tailors quarantine," she said.
"We’re not tailoring the measures and at the same time we’re destroying our economy," she continued.
"I think there’s two pieces missing. One is the rapid antigen testing, the second is zero interest in cleaning indoor air."
Health officials have warned that crowded indoor areas with poor ventilation can contribute to virus spread. Within the last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said statewide ICU capacity has dropped to 1.1%, with twice as many coronavirus and ICU patients in three weeks and hospitalizations up by over 60%.
The concerns come as nearly 120,000 Americans were hospitalized amid the holidays, with approximately 200,000 new daily cases and 2,000 daily deaths, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project. [Reply]
Originally Posted by petegz28:
... and lack of interest in cleaning indoor air...
Back in April I installed Merv 12 furnace filters at our office. We also set the fans to cycle frequently. We try to keep the humidity a bit higher than normal as well. [Reply]
Originally Posted by petegz28:
JoCo appears to have rolled over significantly. Cases are down a lot since the 17th. 14 day avg of cases is at its lowest since early November.
Deaths and hospitalizations have appeared to roll over as well.
So what is middle America doing better than California? [Reply]
Time to remember where the "science" of lockdowns came from..China.
Professor Neil Ferguson has given an extraordinary interview to Tom Whipple at The Times, in which he confirms the degree to which he believes that imitating China’s lockdown policies at the start of 2020 changed the parameters of what Western societies consider acceptable.
“I think people’s sense of what is possible in terms of control changed quite dramatically between January and March,” Professor Ferguson says. When SAGE observed the “innovative intervention” out of China, of locking entire communities down and not permitting them to leave their homes, they initially presumed it would not be an available option in a liberal Western democracy:
It’s a communist one party state, we said. We couldn’t get away with it in Europe, we thought… and then Italy did it. And we realised we could.
- PROFESSOR NEIL FERGUSON, THE TIMES
He almost seems at pains to emphasise the Chinese derivation of the lockdown concept, returning to it later in the interview:
“These days, lockdown feels inevitable. It was, he reminds me, anything but. “If China had not done it,” he says, “the year would have been very different.””
Originally Posted by petegz28:
On a separate note, Fauci has now changed his opinion again on HI to 75%-80% up from his earlier 65%(?) but down from his latest 90%.
“We need to have some humility here,” he added. “We really don’t know what the real number is. I think the real range is somewhere between 70 to 90 percent. But, I’m not going to say 90 percent.” [Reply]
Originally Posted by petegz28:
On a separate note, Fauci has now changed his opinion again on HI to 75%-80% up from his earlier 65%(?) but down from his latest 90%.
If this new strain is more spreadable, then that would make sense. [Reply]