COVID-19 Discussion 😷

[sneaky]

11 hours ago, psterina said:

 

So … you went on the website. Big deal.  I don't go on that website, I saw the video off to the side, and clicked on it.  Since the channel is all you care about … what about the video itself? It is actual footage, from an actual government session, in Italy.  By the way … I found yet another of this same video, with MUCH more views, so I edited my post, and posted it.  And I'm sure that the original one, from Italy, is up somewhere, as well. So … WHAT ABOUT THE ACTUAL CONTENT IN THE VIDEO? I notice, you didn't even comment on THAT. Way to deflect, though. But, it didn't go unnoticed    

Yes I watched it. The lady starts out by scapegoating some Dr insinuating he's a threat cause he' s Chinese. 

 

The video talks about how there are a group of doctors worldwide that studied pandemic preparedness alongside the WHO. Pretty reasonable as Pandemics have been a problem throughout history and globalization magnifies that

 

Money makes the world go around. Tell me, if this was all planned what would be the point? Right now its mainly lower income people being threatened by the virus but if the economy crashes too hard even the rich will lose money.

 

 

 

 

[psterina]

11 hours ago, sneaky said:

Yes I watched it. The lady starts out by scapegoating some Dr insinuating he's a threat cause he' s Chinese. 

 

The video talks about how there are a group of doctors worldwide that studied pandemic preparedness alongside the WHO. Pretty reasonable as Pandemics have been a problem throughout history and globalization magnifies that

 

Money makes the world go around. Tell me, if this was all planned what would be the point? Right now its mainly lower income people being threatened by the virus but if the economy crashes too hard even the rich will lose money.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh brother!    I'm talking about the Bill Gates video. The one, where the Parliament member, calls for his arrest, and lays out why. And, let me say this …  I did a youtube search for this video, and there were so many people, that had downloaded it, and put it out there, on their channels. So … keep on believing that only the "fringe" are waking up to this.  Check for yourself

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Italian+Government+Arrest+Bill+Gates 

[sneaky]

1 hour ago, psterina said:

 

Oh brother!    I'm talking about the Bill Gates video. The one, where the Parliament member, calls for his arrest, and lays out why. And, let me say this …  I did a youtube search for this video, and there were so many people, that had downloaded it, and put it out there, on their channels. So … keep on believing that only the "fringe" are waking up to this.  Check for yourself

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Italian+Government+Arrest+Bill+Gates 

Um I already said from the get go Bill Gates was a sbady character due to his love triangle with Epstien and Clinton. The video you originally posted had little to do with Gates.

[TeamAudra]

This is really something else. NYC is the literal bullseye. Of course, we already knew that, but that image is stunning. 
 

 

[istersay]

 

CORONAVIRUS

Trump says he's taking malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in case he gets coronavirus

 

By Zeke Miller & Darlene Superville

Updated 2 minutes ago

 

President Donald Trump said Monday that he is taking a malaria drug to lessen symptoms should he get the new coronavirus, even though the drug is unproven for fighting COVID-19.

Trump told reporters he has been taking the drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement daily "for about a week and a half now." Trump spent weeks pushing the drug as a potential cure for COVID-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administration's top medical professionals. The drug has the potential to cause significant side effects in some patients and has not been shown to combat the new coronavirus.

 

Trump said his doctor did not recommend the drug to him, but he requested it from the White House physician.

"I started taking it, because I think it's good," Trump said. "I've heard a lot of good stories."

He dismissed reports of side effects, saying, "All I can tell you is, so far I seem to be OK."

Trump repeatedly has pushed the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine with or without the antibiotic azithromycin, but no large, rigorous studies have found them safe or effective for preventing or treating COVID-19. They can cause heart rhythm problems and other side effects. The Food and Drug Administration has warned against the drug combo and said hydroxychloroquine should only be used for coronavirus in formal studies.

 

Two large observational studies, each involving around 1,400 patients in New York, recently found no benefit from hydroxychloroquine. Two new ones published Thursday in the medical journal BMJ reached the same conclusion.

One, by French researchers, gave 84 hospitalized patients the drug and 97 others the usual care. There were no differences in the odds of death, need for intensive care or developing severe illness.

The other study from China was a stricter test: 150 adults hospitalized with mild or moderate illness were randomly assigned to get hydroxychloroquine or usual care. The drug made no difference in rates of clearing the virus or time to relief of symptoms, and they brought more side effects.

[mercfan3]

On 5/17/2020 at 8:31 PM, TeamAudra said:

This is really something else. NYC is the literal bullseye. Of course, we already knew that, but that image is stunning. 
 

 

 

Man, it's like a perfect bullseye

 

I wonder though, is it never going to develop into a huge issue like NYC did...or..is it just going to take longer to spread because of the lack of population density and traveling. (If I had to guess..both) 

[Guest]

I'm ready for the end of this. I need a job! lol 

[TeamAudra]

17 hours ago, mercfan3 said:

 

Man, it's like a perfect bullseye

 

I wonder though, is it never going to develop into a huge issue like NYC did...or..is it just going to take longer to spread because of the lack of population density and traveling. (If I had to guess..both) 

I don’t think so. New York is a unique place   . Despite the “lockdown,” subways have been packed all along, and the dense living arrangements allowed it to spread much more easily. 
 

In other areas, we’ll continue to see hot spots until we have a vaccine, but it will be much easier to contain, now that people are on heightened alert, and testing is much more readily available. I think population density is the biggest factor. Otherwise, we would have seen bigger outbreaks in other areas. 
 

This one is interesting too...

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by TeamAudra

[sneaky]

I need to look into this to verify but uh oh

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/20/florida-scientist-dr-rebekah-jones-fired-refusing-change-covid-19-data-reopen-plan

[mercfan3]

CA shut down really really early. The governor started taking precautions in early February. 
 

Good on him. He probably saved a significant amount of lives. CA could have been a disaster too. (It also opens up the possibility that maybe this virus can’t survive the heat - although viruses from bats typically can..)

I was reading an interesting article the other day (will post if I find it), that stayed our death toll numbers are inaccurate because they are only counting individuals who went to the hospital. The article argued we should consider total deaths since the covid outbreak, comparing them to average amount of deaths per year. 
 

Which seems problematic too. 
 

Also, seems as if many of the southern states are seeing their highest totals today.
 

[bswanson]

12 hours ago, sneaky said:

I need to look into this to verify but uh oh

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/20/florida-scientist-dr-rebekah-jones-fired-refusing-change-covid-19-data-reopen-plan

wouldnt be surprised if true, Trump himslef has been downplaying it and didnt take it seriously from the start

[TeamAudra]

14 hours ago, mercfan3 said:

Also, seems as if many of the southern states are seeing their highest totals today.

 

Totals for what, exactly? I checked North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, California, Louisiana. None of them saw their highest totals in deaths or confirmed cases. Maybe they will in the next week or so, but not today. It’s also possible that all of them will continue to see a decline. One thing I’ve learned, it’s almost impossible to predict this stuff. 
 

Is that what they said on MSNBC this morning? 

Edited May 21, 2020 by TeamAudra

[sneaky]

8 hours ago, bswanson said:

wouldnt be surprised if true, Trump himslef has been downplaying it and didnt take it seriously from the start

I believe it too. Hundreds of thousands here that are unemployed still have never received it or are getting denied. I dont trust the state government

[mercfan3]

9 hours ago, TeamAudra said:

Totals for what, exactly? I checked North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, California, Louisiana. None of them saw their highest totals in deaths or confirmed cases. Maybe they will in the next week or so, but not today. It’s also possible that all of them will continue to see a decline. One thing I’ve learned, it’s almost impossible to predict this stuff. 
 

Is that what they said on MSNBC this morning? 

 

I don't watch those idiots. (Except for Rachel) To this day, I still say Jon Stewart was the best take on news that you could get. A comedian. The state of the press is pathetic.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html

 

Georgia, Texas, and Florida all hit their highs this week in hospitalizations. And their numbers are barely accurate. 

 

I really hope you aren't taking the narrative that we took too much precaution..not with over a million cases and 90,000+ deaths..Imagine what that number would have been had states not taken any precautions..

 

 

[Guest]

I don't think many people would say don't take precautions, but you look at the most affected portions of the population by this virus and it's primarily older folks, immune systems that are already weak and/or compromised. I'm a 31 year old male, I was laid off on March 13th through no fault of my own and I want to work! I go out almost every day to take walks (I wear a mask when I can't properly socially distance and in every store I go into. I also don't go into a store unless it's necessary, so I consider myself a decent citizen at this time). The most positive thing I can say is, I have time with my parents and significant other that I wouldn't normally have. That said, you have small businesses that won't open back, you have restaurants that won't open again. I can think of at least two in my hometown and these are decently profitable chains. I feel horrible for these people. Those folks that don't feel comfortable should hang back and those of us that are younger should return to society while taking reasonable precautions. I could still walk across the street and get mowed down by a city bus while doing it. You can't be terrified to live and this has already taken a toll on mental health far more than physical health and I'd venture to guess I'm far from the only one. 

[ButterflyEffect]

Ultimately we're dealing with a virus with a high base reproduction number (higher than the common cold, influenza, or H1N1), high mortality rate (~ 20% of all "closed cases" have resulted in death), and a virus which can cause severe complications in young, healthy individuals who would otherwise be able to fight through something like influenza or H1N1. Unfortunately when you give people a inch they'll take a mile. Had the world stayed open for only the young and healthy, how many people would have actually taken it seriously? We do have a sense of immortality at our age, as unfounded as it is. Should everything open back up again tomorrow except for those at risk we're only going to prolong the lifecycle of the virus. Plus, those people still need to do things like buy groceries, possibly go to the bank, etc. We're essentially making it a lot more dangerous for them to go out and take care of essential business by us running around with no cares in the world. A lot have sacrifices have been made the past few months, and people are hurting and I understand that. However you need to think about this as a short term pain for a hopefully long term gain. Do our part for a few months so we can move forward hopefully very soon, otherwise we do nothing and prolong our own suffering.

Eventually things will have to open, and it'll have to be long before there are 0 cases (that won't happen without a vaccine). When the floodgates do open again, it would be nice for the number of cases and hospitalizations to be at a decently low-moderate number. That, along with our new safety measures in place, can buy us time and slow the spread. I'm not 100% certain that the US was in the position, as of yet, to begin opening things, and only time will tell if it was a major mistake or not. I do understand the urgency of the situation considering there is an election staring Trump right in the face, and any president which faces an election with the unemployment numbers currently will be kicked to the curb, but if it backfires and cases uptick again there might be hell to pay.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, ButterflyEffect said:

Ultimately we're dealing with a virus with a high base reproduction number (higher than the common cold, influenza, or H1N1), high mortality rate (~ 20% of all "closed cases" have resulted in death), and a virus which can cause severe complications in young, healthy individuals who would otherwise be able to fight through something like influenza or H1N1. Unfortunately when you give people a inch they'll take a mile. Had the world stayed open for only the young and healthy, how many people would have actually taken it seriously? We do have a sense of immortality at our age, as unfounded as it is. Should everything open back up again tomorrow except for those at risk we're only going to prolong the lifecycle of the virus. Plus, those people still need to do things like buy groceries, possibly go to the bank, etc. We're essentially making it a lot more dangerous for them to go out and take care of essential business by us running around with no cares in the world. A lot have sacrifices have been made the past few months, and people are hurting and I understand that. However you need to think about this as a short term pain for a hopefully long term gain. Do our part for a few months so we can move forward hopefully very soon, otherwise we do nothing and prolong our own suffering.

Eventually things will have to open, and it'll have to be long before there are 0 cases (that won't happen without a vaccine). When the floodgates do open again, it would be nice for the number of cases and hospitalizations to be at a decently low-moderate number. That, along with our new safety measures in place, can buy us time and slow the spread. I'm not 100% certain that the US was in the position, as of yet, to begin opening things, and only time will tell if it was a major mistake or not. I do understand the urgency of the situation considering there is an election staring Trump right in the face, and any president which faces an election with the unemployment numbers currently will be kicked to the curb, but if it backfires and cases uptick again there might be hell to pay.

It sounds like you're saying there is a middle ground to be had, which I agree with. Again, I'm not saying younger people haven't been affected at all, but usually policy isn't made on based on what could happen to a small group of people. We tend to generalize in one way or another, don't we? 

 

I don't blame President Trump because almost no incumbent has survived something like this. It remains to be seen what's going to happen and whether or not some of these states opening early was a mistake or not as you say. Time will tell. I'm just slowly going insane. If I had a job and was working consistently, I'd probably feel differently and think, hell - keep it closed until Halloween, lol (Kidding, kidding). 

[TeamAudra]

Finally going to be able to get a hair cut on June 1st, but I’m guessing it will be busy, and hard to get in, especially with the 25% occupancy requirement. Maybe I’ll just drive to a Wisconsin Great Clips this weekend. 
 

Minnesota restaurants  can open for outdoor seating on June 1st. The problem is, most outdoor seating areas are quite small, and they require 6 feet of distancing. It’s not a

game changer. Personally, I would be hesitant to sit in a restaurant or bar. I’m not interested in doing a 14 day quarantine. Some local restaurants are doing OK with curbside pickup and deliveries, but they don’t need a full staff for that. 

Edited May 21, 2020 by TeamAudra

[TeamAudra]

5 hours ago, mercfan3 said:

 

I don't watch those idiots. (Except for Rachel) To this day, I still say Jon Stewart was the best take on news that you could get. A comedian. The state of the press is pathetic.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html

 

Georgia, Texas, and Florida all hit their highs this week in hospitalizations. And their numbers are barely accurate. 

 

I really hope you aren't taking the narrative that we took too much precaution..not with over a million cases and 90,000+ deaths..Imagine what that number would have been had states not taken any precautions..

 

 

A few weeks ago, you expressed concerns for the young and unemployed, and wondered how many of those will show up in the death statistics, over the next few years. I believe you even suggested opening back up on May 1st, and isolating the vulnerable. Did you change your mind?

 

 

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, TeamAudra said:

Finally going to be able to get a hair cut on June 1st, but I’m guessing it will be busy, and hard to get in, especially with the 25% occupancy requirement. Maybe I’ll just drive to a Wisconsin Great Clips this weekend. 
 

Minnesota restaurants  can open for outdoor seating on June 1st. The problem is, most outdoor seating areas are quite small, and they require 6 feet of distancing. It’s not a

game changer. Personally, I would be hesitant to sit in a restaurant or bar. I’m not interested in doing a 14 day quarantine. Some local restaurants are doing OK with curbside pickup and deliveries, but they don’t need a full staff for that. 

I drove over the border and got a haircut last week and I feel so much better. Glad you're able to get one soon too. 

[ButterflyEffect]

I ordered clippers online about 3 weeks ago and they're still about 2-3 weeks away from delivery. One of two things will happen: they'll get here and I'll get to buzz my sides and back (but I'm not touching the top) and I end up looking like a member of Nazi Youth, or barber shops will open up before they arrive and I'll wait for 3 hours just to get a cut. I was also able to get a haircut literally just 3 days before everything was shut down by the government, however for some reason hair seems to grow faster when you can't actually go get it cut.

Edited May 22, 2020 by ButterflyEffect

[sneaky]

38 minutes ago, ButterflyEffect said:

I ordered clippers online about 3 weeks ago and they're still about 2-3 weeks away from delivery. One of two things will happen: they'll get here and I'll get to buzz my sides and back (but I'm not touching the top) and I end up looking like a member of Nazi Youth, or barber shops will open up before they arrive and I'll wait for 3 hours just to get a cut. I was also able to get a haircut literally just 3 days before everything was shut down by the government, however for some reason hair seems to grow faster when you can't actually go get it cut.

That's crazy that Canada is doing so much better than Florida yet hair salons here opened by appointment a week ago

[psterina]

Sweden isn't on lock down. Businesses are open. People aren't wearing masks. Children are going to school (up to age 16). Groups up to 50 can meet. The deaths there, are the same as everywhere else. What does that tell you? 

 

 

 

[TeamAudra]

29 minutes ago, sneaky said:

That's crazy that Canada is doing so much better than Florida yet hair salons here opened by appointment a week ago

Canada:

 

Deaths per million: 163

Cases per million: 2157

Tests per million: 36,524

 

Florida: 

 

Deaths per million: 100

Cases per million: 2226

Tests per million: 37,973 

 

Cases and tests are about equal, but Florida is doing a better job of keeping them alive, which is remarkable given the large senior population. 
 

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

By the way, DeSantis is currently my favorite Governor. Do you want to trade? Honestly, Walz isn’t bad for a Democrat, but DeSantis makes me want to move to Florida. 

[ButterflyEffect]

1 hour ago, sneaky said:

That's crazy that Canada is doing so much better than Florida yet hair salons here opened by appointment a week ago

Each province is working on their own opening timelines. My province as an example, is taking a very tough, strict approach. I would imagine the earliest that things like hair salons and restaurants will open is June 8th. We have a good reason to be doing so as well: as an island province, we have the ability to completely eliminate COVID from within our borders and keep it that way. 

Things didn't start well for us, we had the highest per capita infection rate at the end of March/early April in all of Canada. Strict and prompt measures from the government, along with co-operation from people saw us flatten our curve in only about a month or so. We're finishing the first wave with an infection rate of about 520 per million, and a mortality rate of 6 per million (despite having the oldest average age in Canada, highest obesity, highest rate of heart disease, etc). Testing rate of about 22,000 per million. Likely final numbers for us: 260 infections, 3 deaths, and as of today only 4 active cases. 

We can realistically have 0 cases in a few weeks. The travel ban will continue for us likely throughout the fall, and anyone returning to the province will be required to 14-day quarantine. Being an island, we have the advantage of being able to screen every single person that lands here. There are two ways in: by plane , or by boat, and both are controlled by authorities. It's unrealistic to think that this is over, of course. People will travel to other hot spots, get infected, and ignore quarantine when they return as guards get let down.