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.”
60 minutes tonight did a story on the shitty antibody tests and how we can’t believe any of them currently. The CDC should be leading this effort but appears to MIA. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Lecture, no. But, they should have some lessons learned from all of this... doesn't necessarily mean it's one size fits all, but Arizona should take all the advice they can get right now.
Originally Posted by dirk digler:
60 minutes tonight did a story on the shitty antibody tests and how we can’t believe any of them currently. The CDC should be leading this effort but appears to MIA.
No shit, testing has been absolutely bullshit through this whole process. My wife and I believe we've already had it, and possibly continue to get it, as we have recurring symptoms every now and then, but nothing like the times we got sick in late February and throughout March. However, we'll never know because the antibody tests are scarce and half of the time, possibly bullshit. Just have to wait on the vaccine but I don't know if I'd trust it given how little effort we've put into medical process of this whole thing. I wouldn't put it past this country to waste money into an 80% fix, don't get me wrong I'll get it, but I won't be apart of the first wave. My job allows me that comfort where I can stay remote and wait it out a little bit. [Reply]
What's definitely true is that the global community really need to rethink what "normal" means, and stop acting like we can just go back to things as they were before all this started.
There's a great moment in the book World War Z where a character who comes across as an expy for John Kerry (think Alan Alda voices him in the audiobook) points to a sign he has on his office wall:
ngredients:
molasses from the United States
anise from Spain
licorice from France
vanilla (bourbon) from Madagascar
cinnamon from Sri Lanka
cloves from Indonesia
wintergreen from China
pimento berry oil from Jamaica
balsam oil from Peru
and then drops this.
And that’s just for a bottle of peacetime root beer.
If a pandemic is sweeping the planet then reliance on such global networks of trade, needless to say, become severely compromised.
It's high time that people in positions of power start being upfront about the fact that, as of now, there is no "going back to normal". So many things taken for granted, from international ingredients for stuff we expect to be able to buy for $1 at the deli, to the crammed offices we work in, to schools being open five days a week and through later hours, to churches that can fit hundreds or thousands of people, to major sporting events, to transit involving large numbers of people, to sitting down at your favorite bar or restaurant, etc., all of them are major vectors for transmission if there are no major precautions taken.
And if we're upfront about that, then we need to be upfront about what follows: that if these places and practices build on getting as many people into one space as possible cannot go "back to normal", then the business and sectors of the economy they're involved in are going to tank, as well. This basically demands some kind of restructuring of that economy, to ensure that people aren't forced to choose between exposure to the virus if they go to work, or facing eviction or starvation if they don't, as well as trying to create an environment where businesses don't have to fail under the current circumstances. I can't say I'm confident that'll happen quickly, if at all, given the vested interests who are currently benefitting from the crisis (see: Jeff Bezos literally becoming a trillionaire, which the board doesn't even recognize as a word as I type it in).
Because the scary thing is that just about everything we know about COVID 19 is barely half a year old, and that means there's tons we're still learning. Latest thing I read about was how the virus apparently attacks insulin-producing cells; this could lead asymptomatic people to catch the virus, not know they ever had it, recover, yet still find themselves now more susceptible to diabetes. Hopefully some more research is done that allays fears on that front, but it's currently a very real possibility, because there's so much we still don't know yet. And if there's eventually a vaccine, it'll still take likely in the area of two years to administer it globally. [Reply]
Of note: hospitals are seeing younger patients now in June compared to March around when coronavirus started appearing in North Texas. Seeing a sharp jump in hospital patients ages 21-40. 50% of hospitalizations are under 50, 30% critical care under 50. @FOX4pic.twitter.com/kUqFl8a7Zt
Of note: hospitals are seeing younger patients now in June compared to March around when coronavirus started appearing in North Texas. Seeing a sharp jump in hospital patients ages 21-40. 50% of hospitalizations are under 50, 30% critical care under 50. @FOX4pic.twitter.com/kUqFl8a7Zt
