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 O.city:
I'm sure it'll get figured out the more time we have to study it. I can't imagine it was here in December or earlier atleast with community spread happening. We'd have noticed.
That being said if it was here in Jan, it was spreading in China no later than early November. [Reply]
Originally Posted by lewdog:
Yes more testing but a severe increase in people needing hospitalizations is the concern. Increase in cases means pretty little outside of AZ finally testing like it should. And yes, all SNFs having every resident tested currently is large increase in numbers.
Hospitals opening up additional COVID wings that haven’t yet been used. Banner Hospital network trending to 125% COVID capacity.
I read an article somewhere recently that alot of the southern cali cases are actually coming across from Mexico. Is that happening there? [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
I read an article somewhere recently that alot of the southern cali cases are actually coming across from Mexico. Is that happening there?
I haven't heard that about Texas. I'd have to go look [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
I read an article somewhere recently that alot of the southern cali cases are actually coming across from Mexico. Is that happening there?
Originally Posted by O.city:
I read an article somewhere recently that alot of the southern cali cases are actually coming across from Mexico. Is that happening there?
Had lunch yesterday with a latino friend of mine. He says Tijuana is absolutely pummeled with covid cases. Cabo San Lucas and other resort places not so much. But if Tijuana is crushed with it.....makes sense if socal is directly affected by that [Reply]
Originally Posted by Marcellus:
Does anyone still question why people have a hard time believing a damn thing they are told about Covid and question the so called experts?
I had actually read this theory early on and then we got bombarded with all these asymptomatic super spreaders stories etc...
While true, the issue they've had is that in these types of things, sometimes just saying "we don't know yet" is ok.
The media hasn't helped at all for sure by printing and running pre prints and such. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BleedingRed:
I mean I believe it, look at the numbers of confirmed cases.
While it has gone up, we are 6 months into the spread of this virus, and confirmed cases are at 6 Million?
If it mutated to become less contagious maybe, or maybe it wasn't as contagious as first thought.
The world should be well over 10 million confirmed cases by now.
I'm seeing Brazil and India climbing the charts, and I wonder how comprehensive their reporting is. Is Brazil getting full numbers from the slums? And how is India counting cases in all those little stone age villages and street populations? Maybe they're doing great, but I bet those two countries, and India in particular, have a very incomplete view. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Marcellus:
Does anyone still question why people have a hard time believing a damn thing they are told about Covid and question the so called experts?
I had actually read this theory early on and then we got bombarded with all these asymptomatic super spreaders stories etc...
It's really not rocket science. In the long game, this is still the very early days and there's a lot we don't know about this virus.
That's why people dealing with absolutes is stupid. You don't know all the answers to this thing, and neither do I or anyone else. We are going to learn more about how it behaves the longer we get to see it behave and study it. We still have no idea about any long term effects or damage, how long you're immune to it once you've recovered, etc. It's going to be a lot easier to figure out patterns when you've got million of cases to look at and not just in one single country. [Reply]