Coronavirus (NO POLITICAL OR SOCIAL COMMENTARY PLEASE)

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by bruceames

New York's case curve looks similar to Italy and Germany's. They've done a good job but we'll see how they do when they reopen at a level like Georgia, Florida, Indiana or Texas.

I doubt there will be a spike in NY like those states, especially the way we've been gradually reopening in phases and proactively testing. But we shall see...

[deckard82]

Over here each state has some flexibility when it comes to reopening. But generally speaking. Large gatherings (like the recently cancelled Oktoberfest) are still not allowed. But potests are, wearing masks and social distancing is at the very least recommended. There are still contact limitations in place, meaning you can't just go and meet a friend at home. But you can meet someone outdoors, while still keeping your distance. One household can visit another household, as long as it's family. Elderly folks in senior homes can be visited again but only by one person, not sure whether that is per day or per visit.

All stores are open again but they can only allow a certain amount of people inside. Masks are mandatory in stores, banks, post offices, etc. . Movie theaters either have opened or will open soon, with restrictions and, I assume, mandatory masks. Resaurants are open, with restrictions and you need to leave your contact info for contact tracing purposes.. And there is an optional app now as a warning system that lets you know if you had contact with an infected person, as part of the contact tracing system. But bars aren't open yet. I think that's all I can think of.

Edit: Sports events like the Bundesliga are back but without spectators.

[LordoftheRings]

331 and 425 ... yesterday and today respectively (numbers of deaths in the US alone). They are way down from their peak. And half from just few days ago.

Italy and Spain are also way down.

Life will find a way, babies are born everyday.

[Ben_C]

Originally Posted by bruceames

New York's case curve looks similar to Italy and Germany's. They've done a good job but we'll see how they do when they reopen at a level like Georgia, Florida, Indiana or Texas.

I wonder to what extent have Italy, Germany and Spain reopened?

Many shops classed as “non-essential” re-opened here in the UK yesterday, and judging by the many photos doing the rounds, it looked like Black Friday on some high streets. Many people wearing masks, but also many who aren’t, and no social distancing whatsoever (we're supposed to be 2M apart).

Add that to the large scale protesting/rioting we saw last week, and it makes us sensible people absolutely despair.

[chip75]

We managed to export a couple of cases to Free New Zealand.

[Batman1980]

The Albuquerque Police Department has identified the man arrested in connection to the shooting of a protester near Old Town on Monday, June 15. Video posted to Facebook shows protesters trying to tear down the statue of conquistador Juan de Oñate on the corner of Mountain and 19th Street.

Shortly after, APD says an armed militia calling themselves the New Mexico Civil Guards fired shots at protesters. One person was hit and is now fighting for their life in the hospital.

Once police arrived at the scene in armored vehicles, cell phone video sent in after the shooting shows members of the civil guard on the ground getting handcuffed. Witnesses at the scene tell KRQE News 13 dozens of individuals called APD for help before the shooting as tensions rose but police arrived after the protester was shot. Police say the individuals were taken into custody for questioning. Tear gas was thrown by authorities into the crowd to keep people away from the scene.

APD reports they have arrested 31-year-old Stephen Ray Baca in connection to the shooting. Baca is being booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on a charge of aggravated battery. APD reports the shooting is an active investigation. It remains unclear if Baca was a part of the armed militia group.

“About 30 people call police asking for help even 30 minutes before this had even arised and no cops came onto scene. By the time we ran here, shots fired and a gentlemen fell down. She was in that part and helped him rescue and at that point, a whole swarm of — who are supporters — helped to resuscitate make sure that he was good. He was safe and well,” said one witness.

The gathering did start as a peaceful protest over the Don Juan de Oñate statue. At least one group created a petition saying it needed to be removed since it represents and continues a legacy of colonial violence.

Police say the one man that was shot and has been taken to the hospital. The man is listed in critical but stable condition. Officers secured the scene late Monday night.

The City of Albuquerque says it will remove the statue of conquistador Juan de Onate calling it an ‘urgent matter of public safety.’ APD says if vigilante groups were responsible they could be facing hate crime charges. It is unclear if anyone is charged as of Tuesday morning.

Source - KRQE.com

In happier news, the Dow Jones is absolutely flying right now.

[Dining Dead]

We won't see a significant reduction in new cases/deaths because a staggering number of people still refuse to wear masks, citing either being stripped of their freedoms or knowing better than medical professionals. So, yeah, we're doing this to ourselves.

When I visited Japan a few years ago, I noticed a curious thing. Every so often, I would see a person wearing a mask. I began to wonder why this was the case. I did a bit of research and found that people who are not feeling well or know they are ill wear masks in order to reduce the risk of spreading their illness to others. Whoa. Basic empathy and intelligence. No pandemic required. Who knew humans could actually do something like that?

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by Dining Dead

We won't see a significant reduction in new cases/deaths because a staggering number of people still refuse to wear masks, citing either being stripped of their freedoms or knowing better than medical professionals. So, yeah, we're doing this to ourselves.

When I visited Japan a few years ago, I noticed a curious thing. Every so often, I would see a person wearing a mask. I began to wonder why this was the case. I did a bit of research and found that people who are not feeling well or know they are ill wear masks in order to reduce the risk of spreading their illness to others. Whoa. Basic empathy and intelligence. No pandemic required. Who knew humans could actually do something like that?

The problem is if you do a simple google search, 99.9% of the results tell you that cloth and surgical masks don't work in protecting you from contracting the disease and only works in containing the spread if you have it. And God forbid that people today actually would do something for the benefit other people.

Having said that, those websites are wrong. The facts are all there. It shows in the numbers that health care workers have a LOWER infection rate than the general population. And those people are exposed to this virus everyday in their job. So why do they have a lower infection rate? Because they wear a mask!! It works and people need to believe that.

When I had the flu in February, my mom was insistent in visiting me and bringing me food since I was too ill to go out and shop. She came over to my house while I was very sick and hung around in my enclosed apartment for several hours. She NEVER caught my illness because when she came over, she wore a mask. My mom has always been a strong believer in wearing a mask long before this pandemic occurred. And believe me, it works!

[Batman1980]

Masks are not some magical guarantee

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by Batman1980

Masks are not some magical guarantee

Of course not, but they significantly reduce the risk. I never said it was a 100% guarantee. If I did, then my apologies.

[Batman1980]

The widely available steroid drug dexamethasone may be key in helping to treat the sickest Covid-19 patients in the hospital who require ventilation or oxygen, according to researchers in the United Kingdom. Their findings are preliminary, still being compiled, and have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal — but one outside expert called this a "breakthrough."

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."

Landray added that "there are outstanding questions" and people treating Covid-19 at home should not be taking dexamethasone on the back of these results.

"We have not studied patients in the community," Landray said. "We show no effect in the patients who are not on oxygen and we did not study the patients who are not in hospital."

About the trial: The dexamethasone arm of the Recovery Trial — which closed last week and researchers are now compiling its data — included about 2,100 hospitalized Covid-19 patients who were randomized to receive dexamethasone and about 4,300 hospitalized Covid-19 patients who were randomized to receive the usual standard of care at their hospitals.

In the trial, dexamethasone was provided at a dose of 6mg once a day for up to 10 days, administered either as an injection or taken orally. The researchers reported no serious adverse events among the patients taking dexamethasone, but the results are preliminary.

"At this stage, we found no clear adverse effects of doing this. Let’s recognize that there are sort of two messages here. In the people who required oxygen or ventilation, it clearly works, and the benefits are biggest for those on ventilators. In the people in hospital with Covid who do not require oxygen -- so, their lungs are working moderately well -- then actually there’s no benefit," Landray said on Tuesday.
He continued: "In the trial, our focus was on mortality, which obviously a drug can affect in either direction, but the overall results in the patients on oxygen and ventilation was a clear, clear benefit. We’ve looked, for example, were there deaths due to other forms of infection, which are sometimes considered a risk? And the answer is no, there was no excess of any other particular cause of death."


1 hr 49 min ago

Source - CNN.com

[MifuneFan]

I actually might have some Dex in the house right now lol

The reason it probably works is that it, like other corticosteroids, can modulate the cytokine response. It's usually that cytokine storm that overwhelms the body, and leads to death.

[LordoftheRings]

India is hit hard today...2,000+ Coronavirus related deaths.
Brasil: 1,100+ deaths.

[LordoftheRings]

How to flush a toilet properly during Coronavirus pandemic.

¤ https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/16/healt...rnd/index.html

Be well, flush gently.
_____

And from WHO ...

○ https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/deta...--15-june-2020

China: New cluster (100 cases confirmed) ... most probably from the wet markets.
...And about influenza in the world.

Globally, more than 7.8 million cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to WHO, and more than 430,000 deaths.

It took more than 2 months for the first 100,000 cases to be reported. For the past two weeks, more than 100,000 new cases have been reported almost every single day.

Almost 75% of recent cases come from 10 countries, mostly in the Americas and South Asia.

However, we also see increasing numbers of cases in Africa, eastern Europe, central Asia and the Middle East.

Even in countries that have demonstrated the ability to suppress transmission, countries must stay alert to the possibility of resurgence.

Last week, China reported a new cluster of cases in Beijing, after more than 50 days without a case in that city. More than 100 cases have now been confirmed.

The origin and extent of the outbreak are being investigated.

This sounds ... serious ^ ///

* Today:
• 8.25 million cases
• 446,400+ deaths
• 100,000 new cases reported daily
• 75% of recent cases come mostly from the Americas and South Asia
• New cases expanding in: Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Middle East /// India

□ https://covid19info.live/

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by MrHT

I doubt there will be a spike in NY like those states, especially the way we've been gradually reopening in phases and proactively testing. But we shall see...

I hope so, though a 15 min walk away from me looked like this on Sunday



It's the most insane thing I've seen in some time.

(Just for the record, this isn't meant to be a political post, nor discuss protests or any social commentary)

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

And from WHO ...

○ https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/deta...--15-june-2020

China: New cluster (100 cases confirmed) ... most probably from the wet markets.
...And about influenza in the world.



This sounds ... serious ^ ///

* Today:
• 8.25 million cases
• 446,400+ deaths
• 100,000 new cases reported daily
• 75% of recent cases come mostly from the Americas and South Asia
• New cases expanding in: Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Middle East /// India

□ https://covid19info.live/

This isn't going to be a virus that can be suppressed. The experts say it's going to keep infecting until 60-70% of the world gets it or a vaccine (or series of vaccines) comes along first.

They say that, even if a vaccine isn't 100 percent effective, then if a person does get sick regardless, then most likely it won't be as severe and the person won't be as infectious.

It's going to be like this until such time (vaccine or natural herd immunity). Certain parts of the world will have spikes, while others bring it under control (temporarily, most likely). The silver lining with spikes is that it brings that area closer to herd immunity, so that the next time it won't be as bad.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

....I haven’t noticed any prediction in that regard out of CDC, but Dr. Ashish Jha (a recognized expert from Harvard Global Health Institute) predicts 200,000 deaths by September if we just stay flat, as well as him making other key points with regards to a paramount missing piece -

‘We Will Cross The 200,000 Mark’ In Coronavirus Deaths By September, Doctor Says | TODAY - YouTube

Now the widely respected model of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington predicts > 200,000 deaths by October -
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronav...eaths-october/

[MrHT]

I think we're ok, everyone. In this video, this "research expert" said four months ago that there's no need to panic as there is only 12 documented cases here in the U.S., the risk is low and more people die of the flu.

Surgical vs. N95 Face Masks: What Do They Actually Protect Against? - YouTube

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Now the widely respected model of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington predicts > 200,000 deaths by October -
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronav...eaths-october/

Media continues to blame it on the economy and yet several states that have reopened widely are not seeing an increase in cases. The states that are, have large minority populations living in dense, poor areas. These places, as well as prisons, and other indoor crowded areas where prolonged close contact is unavoidable, are where the spikes are occurring. Not from a barber opening up. Not from a clothing store or other retailers opening up. Sure, there will be some added cases due to that, but that is too be expected.

The article incorrectly states that deaths have plateaued. It is nice to see that the death toll has been revised downward, although the article says the reverse is true.

[Pondosinatra]

I'm scheduled to see the dentist next week as I had a filling fall out.

Tooth doesn't hurt but I know eventually it'll cause all kinds of problems.

Questioning whether to go though. Numbers are fairly stable lately with around 30-50 new cases daily. But let's face it, I'm high risk and if the dentist is asymptomatic with them only a few inches from my wide open mouth for an hour - I'm f**ked.

But if I wait, numbers are likely to increase again in a couple months.