Coronavirus (NO POLITICAL OR SOCIAL COMMENTARY PLEASE)

[MrHT]

Dr. Fauci says coronavirus is so contagious, it won’t likely ever disappear

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/31/dr-f...disappear.html

[deckard82]

Well, alas there has been a recent uptick in cases here in Germany. Nothing too dramatic yet and it's to be expected with it being summer and people going on vacation and returning with covid. And that has in fact been the main reason for the higher numbers. Fortunately our government has been quick with reactions so far and as a result testing for people returning from hotspots will be mandatory starting tomorrow. We'll see if that helps.

And as much as it sucks to single anyone out...our problem child is still North Rhine Westphalia which produces close to half the daily new cases in this country. Now this may sound drastic but I'd identify the towns with the biggest clusters there and I'd shut em down. Don't allow folks to leave town either. Sends other states a message too that if you quit taking this seriously or endanger public safety and health by traveling to hotspots then there will be consequences if there's new outbreaks.

[Batman1980]

Stricter rules for areas with higher numbers and laxer rules for areas with lower numbers works for me.

[MrHT]

This is actually pretty cool:

Dogs can sniff out COVID-19 with 94 percent accuracy, study says

https://nypost.com/2020/07/29/dogs-c...cy-study-says/

That just got me thinking, if we can find a way to come up with an instantaneous detection on whether someone has Covid-19, that will be our real good shot at a full reopening of the economy and a complete restoration to normalcy.

Thinking about it, upon entrance to museums, restaurants, theaters, gyms, etc., you can screen people to find out if they are Covid-19 positive. Just like we screen people before boarding airplanes ever since 9/11.

This could be wishful thinking, but I'll still cross my fingers anyway...

[Dollar Colonel]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

Indiana junior high student tests positive on the first day of school

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/...ss/5552735002/

Is first day of school on July 30 typical? My summer vacations were from end of June through the end of August.

[RustinCohle]

It took 19 days to get my results back. Kind of pointless at that rate..

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Dollar Colonel

Is first day of school on July 30 typical? My summer vacations were from end of June through the end of August.

The ones for kids here are late May or early June through middle of August.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Dollar Colonel

Is first day of school on July 30 typical? My summer vacations were from end of June through the end of August.

No, not typical here. My kids start August 19th, which is the earliest I’ve ever seen it here. It’s usually just before or just after Labor Day.

[Batman1980]

Labor Day is what they use here to determine which grade you start in depending on your birth year.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by MrHT

This is actually pretty cool:

Dogs can sniff out COVID-19 with 94 percent accuracy, study says

https://nypost.com/2020/07/29/dogs-c...cy-study-says/

That just got me thinking, if we can find a way to come up with an instantaneous detection on whether someone has Covid-19, that will be our real good shot at a full reopening of the economy and a complete restoration to normalcy.

Thinking about it, upon entrance to museums, restaurants, theaters, gyms, etc., you can screen people to find out if they are Covid-19 positive. Just like we screen people before boarding airplanes ever since 9/11.

This could be wishful thinking, but I'll still cross my fingers anyway...

yes it would be nice if a covid-19 test was the equivalent of a strep throat or similar (swab, dip in baggy, shake, look at colour) but there is also some stuff that mean even if possible it won't work as well as you think

1) tests cost money (paying the nurse doing the tests, the chemicals to do the tests....), who will pay for it?

2) there are a lot of people that are not willing to wear masks,.... to help the cause of human health. Do you think everyone will be OK to get tested several times a day because they went to the gym, the museum with the kids followed by date night with dinner at a restaurant and a movie at the theatre?

3) this would be a lot better then nothing, but the person still has a lot of chances of passing it around outside those places. You would still need a way to pass that info to others.

[MifuneFan]

It was always after labor day when I went to school, but I know it's gotten earlier in recent years. I think school should be longer to be honest. Japan an other countries educate way more than we do, and it clearly makes a difference

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Dollar Colonel

Is first day of school on July 30 typical? My summer vacations were from end of June through the end of August.

when I was a kid it was just after labour day for elementary and secondary school. Now they start at the end of august.
But they added a fall brake and "snow days"

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

yes it would be nice if a covid-19 test was the equivalent of a strep throat or similar (swab, dip in baggy, shake, look at colour) but there is also some stuff that mean even if possible it won't work as well as you think

1) tests cost money (paying the nurse doing the tests, the chemicals to do the tests....), who will pay for it?

2) there are a lot of people that are not willing to wear masks,.... to help the cause of human health. Do you think everyone will be OK to get tested several times a day because they went to the gym, the museum with the kids followed by date night with dinner at a restaurant and a movie at the theatre?

3) this would be a lot better then nothing, but the person still has a lot of chances of passing it around outside those places. You would still need a way to pass that info to others.

I think his whole idea centered around the dogs. In an ideal world you could train a whole army of Covid dogs. Have people checked by dogs at various trouble areas. Large venues could have multiple dog-checking stations. If actually possible, this is not a severely costly solution, and would be beneficial to getting things back to normalcy quicker. If a dog can check of a person has the virus quickly, then this could be a pretty efficient, albeit strange, solution to places like gyms, movie theaters, restaurants, sporting events, etc..

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I think his whole idea centered around the dogs. In an ideal world you could train a whole army of Covid dogs. Have people checked by dogs at various trouble areas. Large venues could have multiple dog-checking stations. If actually possible, this is not a severely costly solution, and would be beneficial to getting things back to normalcy quicker. If a dog can check of a person has the virus quickly, then this could be a pretty efficient, albeit strange, solution to places like gyms, movie theaters, restaurants, sporting events, etc..

true he did link to an article on dogs. But if it is anything like other sniffing dogs, then it costs tens of thousands to train them and it costs thousands an hour to use them. It is not a cheap solution. If it was there would be hundreds of bomb, drug, firearm dogs in every airport or similar places instead of tech. With the occasional dog to supplement it.

[danman227460]

Victoria Australia going back into lock down:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/corona...soar-1.5048662

[Batman1980]

So many people here out and about, let's assume 90% or more of them (especially the ones from out of state) are violating SIP just because they want to.
So many of them don't wear masks unless they're inside a building and I'm sure some of them find a way to violate that as well.
Gee, I wonder why COVID-19 is spiking in this state.
At least our governor is trying to get into Biden's cabinet, that would be 1 less major issue with this pandemic removed from our state.

[Pondosinatra]

Tired of seeing friends and family posting pictures of the great vacations they're having on the coast...

So the wife & I decided we're going to actually go somewhere ourselves. A 3hr drive to a national park near the US border. We're going to spend 1, maybe 2, nights there. That'll be our big vacation for the year.

As it's in our own province I shouldn't have to worry about a-holes vandalizing our vehicle because we have out of province plates.

And this isn't as popular a spot as say Banff is - plus it's after a long weekend - not during, so hopefully it won't be as busy.

We'll mask up when we're out and about, and by law all restaurants have to have tables spaced apart and no more than 50% capacity. Plus the place we're going to have dinner at has an outdoor patio.

It'll be nice to get away for a bit. This will be my first time out of the city this year. Sad to think that before Covid hit we'd be on a cruise somewhere off of Iceland right now.

[Batman1980]

A community in the Atlanta area is rallying around a teenager who lost both of his parents to COVID-19 just days apart, WSB reports.

“We were a regular family just trying to stay safe during this pandemic,” said 17-year-old Justin Hunter.

The high school senior says he and his parents, Angie and Eugene, took all the proper precautions.

“For example, my mom. When she would go to the store she would be wearing a mask. She would be wearing gloves,” Justin said.

But about two weeks ago, they all became infected with COVID-19.

“I don’t really know how our family got the virus,” Justin said.

He says he was asymptomatic, but his parents started showing serious symptoms.

“Their temperature, it skyrocketed. They had headaches. Horrible cough. They just felt very lazy,” Justin said.

His parents were rushed to the hospital.

His father, an accomplished musician, lost his battle with the virus on July 26.

His mother, a human resources executive, died four days later.

“The last thing he said was ‘I love you,’ and I’m going to get better, and I’m going to keep fighting,” Justin said. “They never raised me to just sit around and feel sorry for myself in any situation.”

He says his strength comes from his two biggest role models who shared an incredible marriage for 35 years and had been his number one fans since he started playing football as a young child.

“Their relationship was true love for sure. They had very big hearts, and they would give without even thinking about getting back,” Justin said.

Donations continue to pour in for the family.

“It feels really good to know that I’ve got people that have my back,” Justin said.

He has this message for anyone who isn’t taking the pandemic seriously: “If you don’t wear it for yourself, wear it for the next person cause you could be saving that person’s life.”

A GoFundMe has been set up for Hunter with over $100,000 raised so far.

Source - KRQE.com

[deckard82]

Folks who live in hard-hit areas should probably get things like annual check-ups done now or as soon as possible because if the number of daily infections and the number of hospitalizations are still high by late autumn then things might be a bit rough on hospitals and doctors and it could be a lot more difficult to get a check-up done then. Stay safe everyone!

[Member-222782]

I've heard "second wave" mentioned more than once when journalists talk about the current upwards trends in cases in some States. I wonder if they're using the wrong terminology. The affected States are areas where the virus migrated to after peaking in other parts of the country (New York, particularly) so it's not really a second wave, is it? It's just an increase in cases that may reach a plateau soon just like NY did. Speaking of NY, we're doing OK now but how long will it be before cases spike here as well? Tons of restaurants with Al Fresco sidewalk dining. It's great to see activity again but at what cost?

BTW, has anything been said about the virus attaching itself to facial hair? Lots of dudes out there with goat beards. Ugliest trend to date IMO.