The Coronavirus thread

Quote: Mosca

Maher is a dangerous asshole.

I agree
I view him as the flip side of Rush Limbaugh but on the left
Both say outrageous things just to make news and get listeners or viewers
I listen to neither of them. They are more entertainers than serious commenters.
Rush and Maher are meaningless to me

I feel like the authorities everywhere, from Trump all the way down, are downplaying this in a misguided effort to avoid panic. Pretty easy to see how the long incubation period makes it look not bad, until it's really bad. Same pattern has played out everywhere...panic is bad, lack of preparation is also bad!

In Greater Boston there are now 41 confirmed cases. Biogen, a local biotech, had a big conference in late February that is implicated in most of the local cases. A school kid just tested positive, big fucking surprise, his mom was at the conference. The whole family is in quarantine now, but guess what, IT'S TOO FUCKING LATE! He gave it to a bunch of his classmates, who will give it to their families, etc.

And even with this, the official word from the city government is "There is no evidence of community transmission in Boston right now. The risk remains low, but this situation is evolving rapidly and changes day to day."

WTF? It's a total facepalm to me. Median incubation period is 5.1 days, but can be up to 2 weeks. It's highly contagious, and by the time you are showing symptoms, you have already spread it.

I'm not trying to foment panic, but it's totally a global pandemic and no one wants to admit it. No doubt someone on this board will lose a parent, grandparent, or other elderly relative before this is over.

I'm lucky that I can work remotely. I am going to WFH until this shit is mostly over. I give it a week before my employer mandates this for everyone. Not looking forward to feeling like a hermit.

It's really bad in Italy, a western first world country with ~comparable medical facilities to ours. Whole country is on lockdown. It's coming.

https://twitter.com/jasonvanschoor/status/1237142891077697538

The virus now having an impact on March Madness
Ivy League tournament winner traditionally goes to the big dance
Tournament canceled due to the virus, regular season winner gets the big dance ticket

I work in corp travel which is taking a massive hit from the virus
we were busy cancelling
Now business has died off
Informed no merit raises this year. They are asking for volunteer time off, either no pay for a month or move all vacation scheduled to March and take off
We are going from 40 hrs to 37.5 a week
I volunteered for 20% reduction going from 5 days a week work to 4 days, still full benefits
Plan on golfing my extra day off

Quote: AZDuffman

I have started to notice a trend after two weeks of this fad. The same people who are scared to death that coronavirus will kill them are the same people who think that global warming will kill them. Although they now seem to think the virus will get them first. Meanwhile the rest of us go about our lives not buying the hype the media is selling us.

When folks compare the seasonal flu to coronavirus, they tend to focus on the fatality rate. But there's another huge difference: the number of patients who survive, but still need intensive care at a hospital. In Italy, 10% of coronavirus victims end up in intensive care. Which means Italy is running out of hospital beds.

Quote: Fortune

Maurizio Cecconi, a professor at Humanitas University in Milan and incoming president of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, told his fellow doctors to stock up on equipment like face masks and establish criteria for dealing with suspected cases.

“We are seeing a high percentage of positive cases being admitted to our intensive-care units -- in the range of 10% of all positive patients,” he wrote in a letter to a professional organization signed along with two colleagues. “We wish to convey a strong message: Get ready!”

Lombardy, the region around Milan that accounts for more than a fifth of Italy’s economic output, is by far the worst-affected part of the country. It had 5,469 cases, including 440 in intensive care, as of Monday afternoon.

More than 80% of the region’s 1,123 acute care beds are dedicated to coronavirus, after many other patients have been moved elsewhere and 223 extra places have been opened to cope with the emergency. About half of those are occupied.

So right now in Italy, 80% of the intensive care (ICU) beds in Lombardy are being occupied by coronavirus patients. In a typical flu season in the United States, about 3.4% of all ICU beds are occupied by flu victims.

Quote: AcesAndEights

No doubt someone on this board will lose a parent, grandparent, or other elderly relative before this is over.

With some possible scenarios, a statistical good chance someone *on* this board could buy the farm


quoting article,  "Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch estimates that between 20% and 60% of adults worldwide will contract the disease. In the U.S. alone, the death toll could reach into the millions"


only one person at my 'million deaths o/u' at WoV has voted for the over btw


https://www.crescent-news.com/opinion/opinion_columnists/steve-chapman---the-coronavirus-carries-a-big-risk/article_0e0fbd71-1c7b-5675-9155-c25ed38f9e4b.html

I've been following the Twitter posts of Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding. He's been posting near hourly.

"DAYS BEHIND ITALY - Every country’s epidemic trajectory (except South Korea) is on track to become Italy 🇮🇹 epidemic level within a matter of 1-2 weeks at this current pace."

The US is currently 11.5 days behind Italy.

32 year old New Jersey patient describes his condition.

“It happened so quick,” Cai told the outlet. “The virus is everything. Diarrhea, watery eyes, shortness of breath, chest pain, you name it. High fever. … Every day is getting worse.”

Quote: odiousgambit

With some possible scenarios, a statistical good chance someone *on* this board could buy the farm

You're right. I copied some of that text from a post I made on a different forum - where I know the posters more personally and the age range is much closer to my own. I'm sure there are some on this board in the high risk zone.

My main concern right now is my dad. He is 74 and has various health conditions, including asthma his whole life. His respiratory system is already in bad shape. I don't want to lose him this soon :(.

Quote: petroglyph

https://www.reddit.com/r/medicine/comments/ff8hns/testimony_of_a_surgeon_working_in_bergamo_in_the/

I want to thank Petro again for posting this
Its the best post I have seen of this virus
Its long and written by an Italian surgeon on the front lines

Quote: Tanko

I've been following the Twitter posts of Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding. He's been posting near hourly.

"DAYS BEHIND ITALY - Every country’s epidemic trajectory (except South Korea) is on track to become Italy 🇮🇹 epidemic level within a matter of 1-2 weeks at this current pace."

The US is currently 11.5 days behind Italy.

32 year old New Jersey patient describes his condition.

“It happened so quick,” Cai told the outlet. “The virus is everything. Diarrhea, watery eyes, shortness of breath, chest pain, you name it. High fever. … Every day is getting worse.”

Being young won’t guarantee that you won’t be more susceptible to it.

Those symptoms are a pretty good design if it were a bio-weapon. But supposedly there are two strains of this.

Quote: terapined

I want to thank Petro again for posting this
Its the best post I have seen of this virus
Its long and written by an Italian surgeon on the front lines

I'm glad it impressed you as it did me.