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 DaFace:
Not sure if this is what you were seeing, but Public Health England has some preliminary calculations out regarding the variants:
If I'm reading it correctly, Delta has a CFR or 0.3% vs. 2.0% for Alpha (see page 8), so that's somewhat good news at least. If that holds, we'll probably see cases continuing to be a problem, but in theory deaths shouldn't track as they have in the past.
2 percent CFR? That's frightening. Is that an age-controlled number? [Reply]
Not sure if this is the thread to do it but Cole Beasley is melting the fuck down on twitter right now about getting vaccinated and threatening retirement and his meltdowns are just full of hilarious ignorance.
So far it hasn't been political so I don't mind posting it here:
Everybody is so all in on science now more than I have ever seen. What happen to God’s will? https://t.co/rk50jjCKgm
Originally Posted by Kiimosabi:
Not sure if this is the thread to do it but Cole Beasley is melting the **** down on twitter right now about getting vaccinated and threatening retirement and his meltdowns are just full of hilarious ignorance.
So far it hasn't been political so I don't mind posting it here:
Everybody is so all in on science now more than I have ever seen. What happen to God’s will? https://t.co/rk50jjCKgm
He hasn't mentioned politics. Just a bunch of hokey stuff that borders on Christian Science and contradicts itself and is hypocritical in nature.
Politicizing the vaccine is idiotic. It was created by one party / president and distributed by the other. This isn't masks, it's science and shouldn't be involved in the mask/freedom/infringing on my rights discussion.
It would kind of be hilarious if the NFL sticks to their guns and Cole (and likely a few others) are sitting there on the sidelines with masks on the whole season. It would be fascinating to see how deep the resolve goes. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy:
I'm about as anti mask as it gets but on the other hand mother ****ers need to get vaccinated so they don't **** it all up again.
We should have been mostly done with this by April in Missouri. Instead we now having rising cases. rising hospital admissions, etc. It's pretty frustrating. [Reply]
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. —
Frustrated health officials in the Springfield area are imploring residents to get COVID-19 vaccinations as the faster-spreading Delta variant pushes case numbers and hospitalizations higher.
Random testing of virus samples have determined that the Delta variant, which is more infectious and potentially more deadly than other variants, has become dominant around Springfield and in much of southwest Missouri, Kendra Findley, administrator of community health and epidemiology with Greene County, said Thursday.
Administrators at the two largest hospitals serving the state’s southwestern region - Mercy and CoxHealth - are pleading with residents to get vaccinated because COVID-19 patient loads are increasing at a rate they have not previously seen during the pandemic, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
In Greene County, 36% of the population has begun vaccination. In most surrounding counties the figure is below 30%.
Erik Frederick, chief administrative officer at Mercy Hospital Springfield, said hospitalizations averaged in the teens a month ago but have increased until reaching 72 by Thursday. CoxHealth has seen similar numbers.
“Before, it took a few weeks or longer to ramp up like that,” Frederick said.
Many of the new patients are young, healthy adults and pregnant women, he said.
Finley said when the pandemic began, every person with the virus would infect about two people.
“With Delta, that estimation can be anywhere from five to eight. That is staggering,” she said.
Vaccinations are the most important tool against the variant, she said.
“It’s hard for this virus to move through a population if the population has some immunity against it,” she said. “Right now, we just don’t have that immunity, and it’s just burning through the population.”
The variant “has become prevalent” across the state, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said in a news release this week.
As of Thursday, Missouri ranked second among states with most new cases per capita in the past seven days. Data from Johns Hopkins University showed one in every 1,487 people in Missouri was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Statewide, just 37% of Missouri’s population have been fully vaccinated.
Steve Edwards, CEO of CoxHealth, said the uptick in hospitalizations and cases could happen anywhere where vaccination rates are low.
“I think we need to be a harbinger for others,” Edwards said. “There is no reason to think what is happening in Springfield won’t happen across the country.” [Reply]
Originally Posted by TLO:
We should have been mostly done with this by April in Missouri. Instead we now having rising cases. rising hospital admissions, etc. It's pretty frustrating.
Guess 500k+ dieing isn't enough to sway some people. I don't want to go back to a year ago. [Reply]