COVID-19 - Wuhan Coronavirus (a non-political thread, see pg. 36 #1778)

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by panerd

OMG a white male?!?

about time someone gives the white man a shot!

[stevew]

Acton has like 9 (step)children between marriages. I’d quit too with all the whack jobs out there.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Do the numbers support that, or is it just the state giving up?

The rural areas of the state are not really getting hit. 99 counties in the state have a very low number of cases. My county has had one new case in the 2 weeks that our county commish opened us up. The metro areas are where this is all happening in our state. Our Governor is a rural guy.

Only 2 cases were reported after the Memorial day Lake of the ozarks show.

I think the Gov feels like it is time. He said he uses data to make the decisions.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by panerd

OMG a white male?!?

Did a bit of digging, the Ohio House drew up legislation that was voted down by the Ohio Senate. She did try to keep gyms and health clubs closed after the state began to open. A case was brought and the judge sided with those bringing the case which allowed gyms and health clubs to reopen.

One of the reasons the Ohio House cited in their effort to remove her, she stated cases would be as high as 10,000 new cases a day. Today, a month after they drew up legislation and have been open, we are still only at 35,000 cases or so.

Just because they brought in a white male in not a big deal. The fact they brought in a non-medical guy is concerning. That said, if the guy is an actuary or something along those lines, I can certainly understand and do believe you need someone like that in a crisis of this nature.

[NobodyHere]

Apparently for the "new" interim director, this is the 3rd time holding the job in the last 6 years.

I still don't know why it was necessary to point out that he was a white male. Apparently Crimsonfox feels that the skin color of the candidate is important enough to mention.

[stevew]

Our health director used to be a white male and is now a white female and the Facebook comments are always cringe.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I've been having trouble deciphering what the raw data is telling us (me). I'm trying to be informed, but I also think these articles about increasing number of tests don't necessarily mean anything if testing is ramped up and the increase is simply adding a bunch of asymptomatic/light symptom people to the pile. Presumably, people like them have existed for the past 3 months, and now that we're capturing them because we're testing more, what does it tell us? Seems like the opposite position of Trump's "if we don't test we have no positives" ridiculousness.

I watch several Covid chart sites like Covid RT but I see way too much fluctuation in what the outcomes are on a day-to-day basis. The Rt wildly swings from some states showing obvious spreading to back below 1.0 in a matter of a couple of days. I don't know what meaningful information that is supposed to convey in terms of trends or actions. It feels like GIGO at this point.

What matters most? Hospitalizations? Infection rate?

At this point, I would say hospital capacity/use. We have had a much higher infection rate over the past week in Arizona, but our deaths are still only about 18-21 a day. However, our hospital use has increase from 569 (167 ICU) on June 1 to around 1,000 (253 ICU) this week. We are still well within our capacity limits (6,000 and 508), so if it settles around those numbers we should be OK.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by stevew

Our health director used to be a white male and is now a white female and the Facebook comments are always cringe.

Your health director had a sex change?

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by KSyrup

What matters most? Hospitalizations? Infection rate?

I still think hospitalizations and deaths, the former at the start of a new wave and the latter at the end of it. Since we're not doing anything like comprehensive nationwide contact tracing etc., and we won't be, that's still the best way to gauge IMO.

[Ryche]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

I still think hospitalizations and deaths, the former at the start of a new wave and the latter at the end of it. Since we're not doing anything like comprehensive nationwide contact tracing etc., and we won't be, that's still the best way to gauge IMO.

This exactly. Cases don't matter much really except as a possible precursor to increased hospitalizations and deaths.

[JPhillips]

Lol at the White House starting to test the idea that the new cases come from Mexican immigrants.

[Edward64]

Went to Kroger after dinner. Not too busy but was pretty disappointed seeing majority of customers not wearing masks.

Yeah, people are just "over it" right now.

[henry296]

Mask usage still pretty good here in Western PA. For those of you who don’t see mask wearing at stores are there signs? Our grocery store according to my wife had very obvious and strong messaging that masks are required. Based on this they are required in the state but not sure how that is enforced.

COVID-19 Guidance for Pennsylvania Businesses

At the state level trends are positive although many business were just allowed to reopen last week to 50% capacity and Philadelphia is still further limited.

https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/dis...ronavirus.aspx

[Brian Swartz]

There's signs up where I live, they are just mostly being ignored now, like the directional arrows and so on. Most people are still trying to socially distance, but that's as much as they're up for doing at the moment.

[thesloppy]

Multnomah County/Portland was supposed to go into the first phase or reopening today, but that was but on hold last minute, for at least another week.

....seems like a prudent idea to me, I might have even gone for two weeks. Things are ticking up around the country & seems like the potential protest wave is still on the horizon.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by henry296

Mask usage still pretty good here in Western PA. For those of you who don’t see mask wearing at stores are there signs? Our grocery store according to my wife had very obvious and strong messaging that masks are required. Based on this they are required in the state but not sure how that is enforced.

COVID-19 Guidance for Pennsylvania Businesses

At the state level trends are positive although many business were just allowed to reopen last week to 50% capacity and Philadelphia is still further limited.

https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/dis...ronavirus.aspx

Now that you mention it, I'm not sure.

And if I missed it, others would as well as the signs obviously wasn't in-my-face enough.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Lathum

about time someone gives the white man a shot!

lolol man Lathum your posts are on fire lately hahaha

[Thomkal]

I know this is the non-political thread, but didn't seem to be the right place for it in the Trump thread either. My Rep in the House, Tom Rice, a Republican, announced today that he and his family all caught the "Wuhan Flu", his son got it worse than everyone, but they are all recovering now. He is one of the idiots who refused to wear a mask on the House Floor.

[Edward64]

Worldometers reported 425 deaths on Monday. I think this is a low for non-weekend. I know that stats are not 100% but still pretty darn good.

George Floyd death was May 25. Protests started soon after so I guess we are at the 2 week'ish mark.

Hope it doesn't go up drastically.

[JAG]

Some positive news on the COVID treatment front, from the RECOVERY series of studies of existing drugs:

Coronavirus: Dexamethasone proves first life-saving drug - BBC News

Lead researcher Prof Martin Landray says the findings suggest that for every eight patients treated on ventilators, you could save one life.

For those patients treated with oxygen, you save one life for approximately every 20-25 treated with the drug.

"There is a clear, clear benefit. The treatment is up to 10 days of dexamethasone and it costs about £5 per patient. So essentially it costs £35 to save a life. This is a drug that is globally available."

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JAG

Some positive news on the COVID treatment front, from the RECOVERY series of studies of existing drugs:

Coronavirus: Dexamethasone proves first life-saving drug - BBC News

CNN reported below. Great progress (I hope).

The two lead investigators of the Recovery Trial, a large UK-based trial investigating potential Covid-19 treatments, announced to reporters in a virtual press conference on Tuesday that a low-dose regimen of dexamethasone for 10 days was found to reduce the risk of death by a third among hospitalized patients requiring ventilation in the trial.

"That's a highly statistically significant result," Martin Landray, deputy chief investigator of the trial and a professor at the University of Oxford, said on Tuesday.

"This is a completely compelling result. If one looks at the patients who did not require ventilators but were on oxygen, there was also a significant risk reduction of about one-fifth," Landray said. "However, we didn't see any benefit in those patients who were in hospital, had Covid, but whose lungs were working sufficiently well -- they were not taking either oxygen or on ventilators."

[stevew]

Saving 1/8 of all ventilator patients is huge. But I’m sure people will try to spike the football. Hopefully they can find other stuff that works.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by stevew

Saving 1/8 of all ventilator patients is huge. But I’m sure people will try to spike the football. Hopefully they can find other stuff that works.

Plus it is cheap and easy to produce.

As a whole, medicine already has improved treatment a ton. Remdesivir is almost certainly effective at shortening time of illness, a 'middle ground' technique of oxygen treatment (constant rather than sporadic) early prevents people progressing to the stage where they need ventilators, knowing more about secondary effects (like blood clots) puts other medication in play to target those secondary risks.
And there is a large number of candidates that have been proven effevtive in the lab, often specifically on this virus (and not others that were checked, making it more likely to work 'in the field'), that have entered or are about to enter clinical trials soon. My old university actually just put forward one sich candidate which looked great in lab tests and is not even patented anymore so would be super cheap.

Overall i kinda hope this is a dynamic that will also carry over to other diseases where you find more cheap options that may not be as effective as purpose-created drugs but still much better than nothing.

[whomario]

Germany just released a non-compulsory Smartphone App btw. First (i think) to do it decentralized, meaning data is only stored on your phone. Uses Bluetooth as a way to measure distance and 'ping' other phones with the App within a certain radius. Once a person gets testet he can put in a verification code and send an alert to all app users he was in contact with recently. Data experts are pretty convinced in terms of data safety to the tune that if you don't do it for fear of your data getting out you might Just consider quitting to use a smartphone.

Of course there will be plenty of false alarms and plenty missed real ones and many won't use it. But personally i think lots of imperfect solutions can still add up ... 10 ways to prevent 5% of transmissions is still 50%

[ISiddiqui]

Well shit...

https://twitter.com/tgewin/status/12...562715650?s=21

Georgia is all the way back up to where we were in mid-late April in terms of new cases and deaths. And more relaxations are on the way...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[JPhillips]

In a lot of the country the shutdown really was wasted.

[sterlingice]

Texas is predictably there, as well
Texas hits new high for coronavirus cases, hospitalizations | TheHill

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Tuesday urged people to stay home as the state registered the highest number of new hospitalizations due to the coronavirus, marking the fifth consecutive day of rising hospitalizations.

Abbott reported that 2,622 people tested positive on Tuesday for the coronavirus, a new daily record for the Lone Star State. The prior record had been set on June 10, when 2,504 tested positive.

The state’s Health and Human Services Department also reported that 2,518 lab-confirmed COVID-19 patients are currently in Texas hospitals, up from 2,326 on Monday. Hospitalizations have been on a steady upward trend since May 25, when about 1,500 were hospitalized.

“If you do not need to go out, the best advice is still to stay at home,” Abbott said at a press conference in Austin.

SI

[Arles]

It is in Arizona right now. It's weird, people are still wearing masks in most stores, banks and businesses I've been to - but then look at bars/restaurants and it is like nothing is going on.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Arles

It is in Arizona right now. It's weird, people are still wearing masks in most stores, banks and businesses I've been to - but then look at bars/restaurants and it is like nothing is going on.

Yeah. In NC as well.

A rough approximation is that people doing "business" are still wearing masks, distancing, etc.

But if you watch people "recreating," you would have no idea that anything was happening. No masks. No distancing.

[Arles]

This probably should go in the mental health thread, but this is wild to me. Our school district just came out with their plan for August (when school starts) and that involves having my 7-year old sit in a blocked off "cell" from 9 AM to 3 PM and wear a mask the entire time. Then, his teacher is welcome to take a Lyft down to Mill Avenue, hit 3 different bars - maybe end up at the casino - and then come back into school with the 25 "prisoners in their cell" she would be teaching again that next day.

I just don't get it. If we are making 7-year olds sit in blocked off areas with masks all day - but don't require a mask in 90% of the city - what is the point of all this?

[rjolley]

Originally Posted by Arles

This probably should go in the mental health thread, but this is wild to me. Our school district just came out with their plan for August (when school starts) and that involves having my 7-year old sit in a blocked off "cell" from 9 AM to 3 PM and wear a mask the entire time. Then, his teacher is welcome to take a Lyft down to Mill Avenue, hit 3 different bars - maybe end up at the casino - and then come back into school with the 25 "prisoners in their cell" she would be teaching again that next day.

I just don't get it. If we are making 7-year olds sit in blocked off areas with masks all day - but don't require a mask in 90% of the city - what is the point of all this?

Yeah, I agree. I'm glad our school is allowing us the option of doing remote learning. The options that they're recommending for school to be in person are not feasible, especially for younger students. It makes more sense to have them home and work with other like-minded families to have them see friends. Fortunately, I have the ability to work with that option where others do not.

[stevew]

My daughter is a junior. I think we may look into just having her finish online.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Arles

Our school district just came out with their plan for August (when school starts) and that involves having my 7-year old sit in a blocked off "cell" from 9 AM to 3 PM and wear a mask the entire time.

That is not going to go well.

[Lathum]

I have a 7 year old also and our district sent a survey. I said we have a hard enough time keeping her pants on, a mask will never happen

[Lathum]

Stock tip. When this shit really ends and people start going back to work buy stock in whatever company makes dog anxiety meds.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Stock tip. When this shit really ends and people start going back to work buy stock in whatever company makes dog anxiety meds.

Holy shit, that is genius.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Yeah, I agree. I'm glad our school is allowing us the option of doing remote learning. The options that they're recommending for school to be in person are not feasible, especially for younger students. It makes more sense to have them home and work with other like-minded families to have them see friends. Fortunately, I have the ability to work with that option where others do not.

That’s probably what we will do as well.

[JPhillips]

Texas Governor prohibits communities from imposing mask requirements.

It will be a race between we all get sick or we all get vaccinated.

[Ksyrup]

260 out of about 500 Orlando airport employees test positive for CV.

EDIT: Now the airport is walking back DeSantis' comments to say that's the number of positives since mid-March.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

260 out of about 500 Orlando airport employees test positive for CV.

How many are symptomatic?

[albionmoonlight]

If the stakes weren't so high, this whole thing would be fascinating.

You've got a large segment of the country who has been trained to simply ignore reality that they don't like (and I don't just mean the Fox News crowd--as evidenced by all the 25 yr old barhoppers). And, by and large, that has worked for them.

And now we have a reality that is very hard to ignore.

So what is going to give?

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

If the stakes weren't so high, this whole thing would be fascinating.

You've got a large segment of the country who has been trained to simply ignore reality that they don't like (and I don't just mean the Fox News crowd--as evidenced by all the 25 yr old barhoppers). And, by and large, that has worked for them.

And now we have a reality that is very hard to ignore.

So what is going to give?

I have been following the Ohio numbers which seem to have stagnated. It seems to be running on a slight downward trend in new cases per day in the 400-450 new cases a day range.

One article asks why we have not seen a surge in new cases after we opened a month ago. Another article, will Ohio face closures if cases spike?

Saw a map yesterday that was tracking increases in rates of CV spread. A county next to mine, Greene county was highlighted in red. The number of cases per whatever fraction (I believe it was per 100,000) of the population went from 2.2 to 4.4, which was lower than much of the state, but because the numbers spiked its bad. It was still a third the rate of the major cities in the state, but because they had a statistical blip, its got to be highlighted. The map made you believe that there was a new hotspot, whereas most major cities in Ohio with much higher rates, but were slowly decreasing were not. It was an example of how not to present data.

[Ksyrup]

I don't know if we're going to have a full-blown re-cresting of the 1st wave, or if there will be a 2nd wave, or how long any of this will last, but generally speaking, it feels like a good portion of the country has largely decided that we did our time and that's enough, so we're now committed to reopening and riding it out wherever the hell this takes us.

If certain states/regions start to drastically turn, it will be interesting to see if any leader has the guts to walk back the reopening.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

it feels like a good portion of the country has largely decided that we did our time and that's enough

You are 100% right.

And I just can't believe that we are so soft as a country that "I had to get takeout from Fudruckers for two weeks instead of getting to eat there" just broke us. Just totally made us throw up our hands and quit.

[NobodyHere]

Toilets can spray coronavirus particles in the air: study

Fess up, you know you've left the seat up when flushing!

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Arles

This probably should go in the mental health thread, but this is wild to me. Our school district just came out with their plan for August (when school starts) and that involves having my 7-year old sit in a blocked off "cell" from 9 AM to 3 PM and wear a mask the entire time. Then, his teacher is welcome to take a Lyft down to Mill Avenue, hit 3 different bars - maybe end up at the casino - and then come back into school with the 25 "prisoners in their cell" she would be teaching again that next day.

I just don't get it. If we are making 7-year olds sit in blocked off areas with masks all day - but don't require a mask in 90% of the city - what is the point of all this?

Our 4-year old soon-to-be-kindergartener will keep his mask on 100% of the day, I'm sure. Especially since we can't even get adults to do it.

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I don't know if we're going to have a full-blown re-cresting of the 1st wave, or if there will be a 2nd wave, or how long any of this will last, but generally speaking, it feels like a good portion of the country has largely decided that we did our time and that's enough, so we're now committed to reopening and riding it out wherever the hell this takes us.

If certain states/regions start to drastically turn, it will be interesting to see if any leader has the guts to walk back the reopening.

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

You are 100% right.

And I just can't believe that we are so soft as a country that "I had to get takeout from Fudruckers for two weeks instead of getting to eat there" just broke us. Just totally made us throw up our hands and quit.

That's almost verbatim the conversation my wife and I had, too. "Well, we've made our sacrifice so that should fix things, right?"

It also makes me think of the stories about rationing and sacrifice for the greater good from World War II. Yes, I'm sure some of those are embellished but, geez, we wouldn't last 2 months, much less years in a prolonged war.

SI

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I just can't believe that we are so soft as a country that "I had to get takeout from Fudruckers for two weeks instead of getting to eat there" just broke us. Just totally made us throw up our hands and quit.

Call me crazy, but this seems to be underselling the highest unemployment rate in over 80 years and what was multiple months worth of shutdowns for much of the country. It's a little more than a minor inconvenience.

[Brian Swartz]

Also, Michigan's trend is actually the best of any state of the union from the numbers I've seen. Curious if that holds.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Also, Michigan's trend is actually the best of any state of the union from the numbers I've seen. Curious if that holds.

Of course, that governor was a tyrannical monster and there were armed people inside the statehouse protesting the decision.

SI