Coronavirus Thread

[Cees Klumper]

This all means that, just extrapolating the known numbers, the US will soon or already has exceeded the # of cases in China with no hopes of containment as China has, which means a very much higher death toll, many that could have been prevented had action been taken earlier and the authorities been better prepared like in, say, Germany or Switzerland (very few deaths so far, very extensive testing, stronger health systems).

[93Regina]

even a small % of 331 million Americans

Statistically, only specific groups are hit the hardest, and if enough prudent measures are taken, there will be lower stats for them. In countries where high population density areas exist, community spread will/can be much greater. In Italy, there were "rural" areas affected greatly, but preventive measures were not in place; in US, in rural areas, this may not be as severe since a heads-up (awareness) has been given.

In local state where I live, its mostly rural, but in metro areas (or where travelers exist the most), this is where this is showing up. But, state has run out of test kits, and only those with "symptoms" and traveling backgrounds are mostly evaluated.

Again, warmer weather might slow virus's spread, but it may return in fall/winter months. Cases are showing up in Arabian countries with warmer climates, like Saudi Arabia, but last I knew, due to those who traveled, not community spread. In Iran, it is cooler weather there mostly now. Viruses can spread in warmer weather, but historically, cooler weather spreads them the fastest. That said, this virus seems to be more effective in being transmitted. With time, better statistics will be available.

>question will be, how much do the other 95% care?

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Trump, businesses and bankers are very *concerned* now.

[jimmy57]

I am surprised at the COVID-19 ignorance I saw while out yesterday. I bought fuel at a large fuel station (Buc-Ees) and had sight of a lot of pumps and I saw no one using protection at pump. I got out with my denatured alcohol in pump spray and sprayeded anything I would touch on the pump. I went into Harbor freight for gloves and stopped and got shopping bags and used those to grab boxes of gloves off shelf. I carried paper towels soaked with denatured alcohol and wiped the card reader and then my card after I removed it. At Home Depot I saw a lot of disinfectant cleaning at paint counter and the check outs between every customer. HD must have pushed some processes to their employees. Bravo to HD. I kept distance from others but that was not hard to do with fewer people in those stores. I sprayed or wiped everything I got as it came out of bag outside at home. If people treat this like they did HIV in late 80s we will have a much lower infection rate. We now know HIV did not require severe steps but most were doing it to people or places they expected were at risk. We have to assume everyone is at risk with this as the non-symptomatic communicability is not like so many other things we have had issues with.

[volvolugnut]

Good point jimmy57 - HIV had everyone worried in the 80's about using public toilets. I don't know if the town or city you visited is an area of COVID-19 infection, but locally we have no known infections. Locally, people are keeping distance but are not wiping down everything in sight. What is good practice and what is too much? Do we need to sanitize everything purchased in a store when we get home?

I am more concerned about people going out in public when they do not need anything. The majority mild cases can infect the minority that will have serious infection.

volvolugnut

[93Regina]

I am surprised at the COVID-19 ignorance

Ignorance???....some of them are just plain stupid, in Texas

Texas Tech student with COVID-19 violated quarantine protocol, officials say

[5:58 p.m.] One of three individuals with the COVID-19 disease in Lubbock is a Texas Tech student who violated quarantine protocols after returning from a trip to Europe, the city's public health director said at a press conference Wednesday evening. The university, according to its procedures, transported the student to an off-campus location to complete a period of isolation, but the student instead returned home. Everyone in the student's household has now been placed under quarantine for at least 14 days, and the student's family members will be monitored by the local health department. — Emma Platoff

https://www.texastribune.org/2020/03/18 ... h-testing/

[93Regina]

....but you know that profits will likely also be the leader here again.

Recent article: Corruption Vulnerabilities in the U.S. Response to the Coronavirus - Times of uncertainty present opportunities for corrupt actors to act corruptly—and the crisis caused by the novel coronavirus will be no exception.

Times of social, political, and economic stress present opportunities for corrupt actors to act corruptly—and the crisis caused by the novel coronavirus will be no exception. As the vast majority of Americans pull together to protect the country’s most vulnerable and ensure that medical and financial resources go where they can do the most good, it is hard to imagine that a few fellow citizens would take advantage of their public roles to facilitate their private gain. But alas, prior pandemics demonstrate that this will be the case.

[93Regina]

If Corona doesn't kill us, Distance Learning will - Fantastic Israeli parent's response to all the Distance Learning thang!

[93Regina]

[wizechatmgr]

The problem is the response was such that many either were terrified or ignored it entirely by the time it was finally publicized. We can blame many, including elected officials, but assigning blame won't change reality.

I've worked in a couple interesting fields. Ultimately everyone will likely catch it. All we can hope to do is not over-tax the medical system as it exists today so those on the front line don't have to perform battlefield triage - determining who lives and whom dies. When the ICUs get full, some unhappy decisions have to be made. People will be pointing the finger at everyone but themselves.

What many in the US do not realize is it had already been here well over a month before anyone even mentioned it. The testing has been "cherry picked" to show the least infections. This is already a full on pandemic and there isn't much you can do about that other than try to lower the infection spread so it is a bit more manageable. Frankly, it could take at least a year for it to drop off to the point you would find it rare to catch it. People need to hunker down and wait it out as best they can.

Many in government are literally up all night working on this. There are many unhappy decisions to be made. Many people, businesses, governments & countries will be bankrupt by the end. This is just the beginning... We as a species will survive this too...

[RickHaleParker]

This is just the beginning... We as a species will survive this too...

Let us hope we come out of this with a refreshed understanding that we as people is what counts, not incorporated persons.