Coronavirus Thread

[93Regina]

Pets

"In Belgium, the discovery was made by researchers at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Liege.

In Hong Kong, “the dogs showed no symptoms,” while in Belgium “the cat was suffering from transitory respiratory and digestive problems,” said the Belgian food safety agency AFSCA in a statement.

The virus can be transmitted from humans to animals but “there is no reason to think that animals can be vectors of the epidemic in our society,” he said."

[93Regina]

viral load

The two tests that will help to predict spread of Covid-19

One detects past infection [antibodies], the other finds current viral load [RNA]
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A new FDA-authorized COVID-19 test doesn’t need a lab and can produce results in just 5 minutes
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Unlike the rapid tests that have been used in other countries, and that received a new type of authorization under an FDA guideline that doesn’t confirm the accuracy of the results, this rapid testing solution uses the molecular testing method, which works with saliva and mucus samples swabbed from a patient. This means that it works by identifying a portion of the virus’s RNA in a patient, which means it’s much better at detecting the actual presence of the virus during infection, whereas other tests that search the blood for antibodies that are used in point-of-care settings can only detect antibodies, which might be present in recovered patients who don’t actively have the virus.
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Background on Abbot's 5 minute test

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Virus test results in minutes? Scientists question accuracy


Lower accuracy has been a concern with rapid flu tests. Spanish scientists said the rapid tests for coronavirus they reviewed were less than 30 percent accurate. The more established lab tests were about 84 percent accurate.
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In February, Wang Chen, a director at the state-run Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, estimated that the nucleic acid tests used in China were accurate at identifying positive cases of the coronavirus only 30%-50% of the time.
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It is possible they were first given a false negative test result, which can happen if the swab used to collect samples of the virus misses bits of the virus. Dr. Li Wenliang, a whistleblowing doctor who later died of the virus himself in February, tested negative for the coronavirus several times before being accurately diagnosed.
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"There are false positives with these types of tests," Dr. Jeffrey Shaman, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, told NPR by email. Shaman recently co-authored a modeling study showing that transmission by individuals who did not exhibit any symptoms was a driver of the Wuhan outbreak

[RickHaleParker]

Feel for you , Rick. My animals are help keeping me sane through all this, since they just need a walk and a pet to be the happiest things in the universe.

What I like about Ferrets is they are Empathic. You can see when you let they know they nipped too hard.

[matthew1]

[volvolugnut]

More statistics on US states and COVID-19 growth rates. My raw information is from Worldometer. Any errors or misrepresentations are my own.

These tables show all available US states and territories and the COVID-19 data for the last 5 days. I have sorted the states alphabetically and added growth rates for last several days for all states with ranking of each day. Of course, this information changes daily. I have presented the table in two parts because of the screen shot, but it is actually one table in Excel.

Again, results change daily. I added 5 day moving average for the growth rate. I hide previous days information.

Do you find this information useful? Confusing?

volvolugnut

[volvolugnut]

I have prepared a graph for the COVID-19 infection growth rate for USA and several European countries. My source is Worldometer. Usual disclaimers apply.

This data goes back to March 6 when this was really starting to grow in the USA. At that time, Italy had 4600 cases and the other countries all had less than 600. Yesterday all of these countries had over 40,000 and many 2 to 3 times that number.

Note the trend is down for all of the countries and smoothing. It appears efforts to reduce the spread of infection are working. However, the USA still has higher growth than the other countries.

Not shown here, but the growth rates for China and South Korea are consistently below .035 the last week.

volvolugnut

[BlackBart]

Dyson the vacuum billionaire has designed a new ventilator....
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/26/tech/dys ... index.html


Ford has a ventilator design using F-150 seat fans......
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cultur ... -covid-19/

[BlackBart]

Formula 1 makes an attempt to be relevant.......

"The collective work of the seven UK-based Formula 1 teams in response to the government’s call for help fighting the coronavirus has already started producing results.

"Operating under the ‘Project Pitlane’ banner, the teams in the UK – Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Renault, Racing Point, Haas and Williams – are all working to help find ways of addressing the huge expected deficit in available ventilators. As part of that initiative, engineers from Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) have been partnering with University College London and clinicians at University College London Hospital to reverse-engineer a breathing aid known as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP).

"The aid is for patients who require more support than a simple oxygen mask, with CPAP used in Italy and preventing as many as 50% of those who were treated with it from requiring invasive mechanical ventilation."


Good for them. All those engineers doing nothing.

[volvolugnut]

Superchargers for the lungs!
volvolugnut

[93Regina]

TRENTON - A stay-at-home order hasn't helped some people stay out of trouble, authorities say.
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But one day later, the statement said, 34-year-old Adrienne Morris was
charged in Gloucester Township after she allegedly went out drinking
with a friend and crashed her car," the Attorney General's Office
said.
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On Tuesday, Carmen J. Fasanella, 25, allegedly went to the Waterford
home of a woman and assaulted her. Fasanella was charged with
aggravated assault and harassment.

And a Pitman woman allegedly tossed a Molotov cocktail at a
boyfriend's residence on Wednesday.

The woman, Karley A. Rossell, 24, was charged with arson and weapons
offenses.

All three suspects also were charged with a disorderly persons offense
for violating the governor's order.