*** OFFICIAL *** COVID-19 CoronaVirus Thread. Fresh epidemic fears as child pneumonia cases surge in Europe after China outbreak. NOW in USA (8 Viewers)

[tri-man 47]

if you had said hippos instead of rhinos, it actually would be on topic as there were plenty of comparisons to deaths from hippos in this thread in, say, February.

As an aside, I actually had a stare-down with a hippo in Tanzania two years ago.  Wife and I were staying inside a safari camp (look at me!), and on our last morning, I asked a Maasai guide to quickly accompany me down a trail by the lodges to catch photos of an elephant that was cutting through the camp.  Never saw the elephant, but as we came around a hut, a very big (redundant) hippo was standing there 15 feet in front of us. Even the guide seemed a bit nervous as we backed against the hut until the hippo turned and left.

--

Weekend time at Covid worldometers.  "just" 82,000 new cases and 3,600 deaths ...U.S. with 20,000 new cases. 

 

[Warrior]

Interesting details regarding fitness classes.

Short verson: High intensity workout instructors passed it to a lot of people. Yoga/pilates instructors did not. Speculation is that higher volume speaking and heavier breathing put out more droplets. 

Seems like common sense? 

 

[TheWinz]

Appreciate the work, and the benchmarking relative to population.  But wonder if that isn't either the wrong benchmark (or only part of the right benchmark).  Wjat I mean is that MOST diseases disproportionately affect older age groups.  This is true of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, seasonal flu, pneumonia, etc.  That Covid does the same isn't that surprising to me.  So, my question is: how is Covid relative to the other leading causes of death in the US?  Feel free to include swimming pools and Rhinos in any comparative assessment.  Ok, am being snarky on the last point, but quite sincere about the rest.

Sounds like alot of googling.  It took me about 45 minutes just to crunch the COVID numbers.  Of course we already knew it hit the elderly harder, but now we know how much harder.

 

[FBG26]

Mind if I ask which daycare? I'm twin cities too. Just curious. Have many friends debating what the hell to do

Sent you a PM. 

We've been having this discussion with lots of friends across the metro lately. Some never stopped sending their kids, some aren't planning on sending them back until fall at the earliest. One is so scared she's thinking of quitting her job be a stay at home mom. For us, we've been watching the hospitalization numbers closely to see if those go up. If the whole point of the stay at home order is to slow the spread as much as possible so that the hospitals can keep up, then we're ok (not 100% comfortable, but ok) sending the kids back for now. We're under the assumption that we'll get this at some point, so just trying to do our part in society to slow the spread. Though it's a little nerve racking thinking about getting this disease, we know we can't keep the kids at home forever and think this is one small way of getting to a new normal. We can always pull the kids back out if the hospitals can't handle it or we change our minds. No easy answer, that's for sure.

 

[parasaurolophus]

Seems like common sense? 

Putting a mask over your mouth to stop you from spraying all over is common sense too. But doctors scoffed at it and many still do. 

 

[Politician Spock]

Interesting details regarding fitness classes.

Short verson: High intensity workout instructors passed it to a lot of people. Yoga/pilates instructors did not. Speculation is that higher volume speaking and heavier breathing put out more droplets. 

So you're saying a loud dance club where drink orders are being yelled to bartenders and people are breathing heavy from dancing would be a likely place to catch it?

 

[Ketamine Dreams]

So you're saying a loud dance club where drink orders are being yelled to bartenders and people are breathing heavy from dancing would be a likely place to catch it?

It would be a likely place to catch a lot of diseases. 

 

[Doug B]

Appreciate the work, and the benchmarking relative to population.  But wonder if that isn't either the wrong benchmark (or only part of the right benchmark).  What I mean is that MOST diseases disproportionately affect older age groups.  This is true of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, seasonal flu, pneumonia, etc.  That Covid does the same isn't that surprising to me.  So, my question is: how is Covid relative to the other leading causes of death in the US?  Feel free to include swimming pools and Rhinos in any comparative assessment.  Ok, am being snarky on the last point, but quite sincere about the rest.

Sounds like alot of googling.  It took me about 45 minutes just to crunch the COVID numbers.  Of course we already knew it hit the elderly harder, but now we know how much harder.

The data aggregation site OurWorldInData.org is perfect to ferret out this kind of information. First off, a handy list of broad causes of death worldwide.

Cardiovascular disease and cancer are #1 and #2, so let's check on those by age. The cardiovascular disease chart gives raw numbers, not percentages, but percentages can readily be calculated. The cancer chart shows percentages by age if you mouse over the chart (far right for the most recent numbers, 2017).

The groupings aren't as fine as what The Winz posted for COVID-19, but these percentages get to the gist.

Cardiovascular disease
-----------------------------------------
70+      85.93%
50-69    12.83%
15-49     1.06%
5-14      0.04%
0-5       0.15%


Cancer
--------------------------
70+      46.39%
50-69    41.46%
15-49    10.97%
5-14      0.65%
0-5       0.52%

 

[msommer]

Maybe you haven't been out for a while.  Every single business I've seen sanitizes every single shopping cart between each use.  Every single work station multiple times a day.  Amazon has sanitation atomizers that cleans all the equipment and work stations.  I want them to keep doing that.  I want the 30% of the businesses forced to close to open and keep doing what we know works.  You can stay home if you want.

I agree with your ultimate goal. Really need to get everyone singing from the same sheet of music, though.

The parts in red seem really spotty around here -- some businesses do it, most don't

Sorry for the hippling. Here in Denmark the ratio of stores that does this (sanitize shopping carts) is zero. We seem to be scraping by anyway. Let's not get into a mask discussion either

 

[msommer]

I don't expect to do any international travel for quite a while. I'll stick with the US for now.

For me, I'll stick to Europe  

 

[msommer]

Talked to a friend yesterday that's a bartender at a restaurant nearby. He said when they reopen there will be only one of them behind the bar instead of two, meaning reduced hours and a limit of 12 at the bar that holds around 30, so reduced tips.

Yet another argument against making people depend on tips for making a living (Is that political?)

 

[msommer]

I’m negative.  It seems crazy I didn’t have it at some point.  Been batting respiratory issues like crazy since November (right after spending 3 weeks in China) and another one in February.    

The good news is you don't have any antibodies in your system. The bad news is we don't know for how long the antibodies stay in your system... 

 

[msommer]

I know it's popular to assume spread of COVID has to do with population density.  Let me present Clarendon County, SC.  Clarendon has a population of ~35K (as of 2010), and a population density of 50/sq mi.  The largest town in Clarendon is Manning, with a population of 4k.  Really, Manning is the only town in the county with more than 1k.  The county is ~50% black, 50% white.

Clarendon has 274 cases and 33 deaths.  That's an infection rate of rougly 80k/1M, a good bit more than Spain.  If Clarendon was a country, it would be 5th in the world in terms of infection rate.

obviously, tihs is a hotspot and should be monitored.  I'd assume every state has regions like this as well.  how do we deal with this?  if we keep Clarendon locked down, but open up Columbia 66 miles away, how do you keep clarendon folks from driving to Columbia for shopping/entertainment/school?  or, how do you keep folks from going to Myrtle Beach, 100 miles away?

Any large work places? Mega churches? Other places where people congregate?

 

[gump]

Considering it. Daughter is really missing her friends and was ready to say yes until the NY news popped up. Then I heard two employees of the Walmart in the same parking lot tested positive and I know the staff go there all the time. Still considering it though. Might give it another week and see if some of the early opening states start seeing a spike.

We’re pushing a week. I’m going to pop in to the daycare unannounced too to make sure I see rules being followed.

 

[msommer]

Hospitals in Sao Paulo near collapse

The mayor of Brazil's largest city, São Paulo, has said its health system could collapse as demand grows for emergency beds to deal with coronavirus cases.

Bruno Covas said the city's public hospitals had reached 90% capacity and could run out of space in two weeks.

He accused those who flouted lockdown rules of playing "Russian roulette" with people's lives.

São Paulo is one of the country's worst-hit regions, with almost 3,000 deaths so far.

Brazil's far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has been strongly criticised both at home and abroad for his handling of the country's escalating coronavirus crisis.

President Bolsonaro told a rally on Sunday that anti-virus measures were excessive

He defied global health advice on social distancing on Sunday when he posed for photographs with supporters and children in the capital, Brasília.

Mr Covas said he was now in talks with the state governor over introducing a strict lockdown to try to prevent hospitals being overwhelmed.

The governor of São Paulo state controls the police, and his support will be essential if a lockdown is to succeed.

Mr Covas called on people to stay at home, saying São Paulo needed to "slow down even more" to reduce contagion.

"It is hard to believe that some prefer the population to be subjected to Russian roulette. Indifference in the face of death is unseemly," he said.

São Paulo has a population of about 12 million, and official figures show most residents are ignoring social distancing rules.

That population number cited is on the low side. There are several separate municipalities that have grown so close to Sao Paulo that it is virtually impossible to tell where one begins and the other ends. Even when I left over ten years ago greater Sao Paulo (the cities that have grown together without a blade of grass between them) was considered in the 20-25m range (this was an estimate including the favelas (slums), where an actual count was impossible and the official number was zero)

 

[TheDirtyWord]

Hospitals in Sao Paulo near collapse

That population number cited is on the low side. There are several separate municipalities that have grown so close to Sao Paulo that it is virtually impossible to tell where one begins and the other ends. Even when I left over ten years ago greater Sao Paulo (the cities that have grown together without a blade of grass between them) was considered in the 20-25m range (this was an estimate including the favelas (slums), where an actual count was impossible and the official number was zero)

São Paulo makes NYC look like a suburb...only been once, but the density never stops.

 

[shader]

Looks like a vaccine candidate is having early success.  Markets are skyrocketing on the news

 

[The Commish]

Considering it. Daughter is really missing her friends and was ready to say yes until the NY news popped up. Then I heard two employees of the Walmart in the same parking lot tested positive and I know the staff go there all the time. Still considering it though. Might give it another week and see if some of the early opening states start seeing a spike.

We’re pushing a week. I’m going to pop in to the daycare unannounced too to make sure I see rules being followed.

In a really fortunate place where I don't HAVE to send my kids in.  They will most likely stay with me during the day over the summer.  We are switching schools for my youngest anyway, so he begins there in the fall.  I don't know what it'll look like, but the three year old is my biggest concern for bringing the virus into our environment.  The other two have become really good at doing the needful and washing their hands frequently etc.  They both have activities they want to do (cheer and baseball), but I'm not there yet.

 

[Jobber]

Yet another argument against making people depend on tips for making a living (Is that political?)

Agree on this, completely. Just bit the bullet and pay a fair wage, raise menu prices and call it a day like every other country on the planet. 

 

[sho nuff]

+100 cases in TN today. More good news.  Tomorrow is 3 weeks and SO FAR....extra shopping isn’t having much of an effect.

It is very good news...the telling will be by county in a few weeks.  Davidson only "open" the last week now where most cases where around Nashville.

Will feel better about it in another week or so around here.

On the negative note...my local Mexican joint had a great set up when it was curbside only.  They are in what is basically an old hotel lobby.  So the covered area up front they had set up like a drive through. Drive up, tell them your order, give them your card...then park.  They bring the food out to your car and your card and receipt when its ready.  Went last night after calling in an order and had to go inside.  Not a big deal, but man the other way was so perfect I wished they could keep it for to go orders all the time.  The other downside will be when the government tells them again they can't sell to go margaritas.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

When the history is written on this virus in the United States, it certainly looks to me like the biggest failure will be the fact our health experts completely whiffed on the benefits of simply wearing masks...

Column: Wondering if L.A.’s new mask rules are overkill? Look at the Hong Kong example

Engel emailed me to say he thinks we can learn something about how to confront the coronavirus from the city of Hong Kong, where his niece lives.

“She feels that the death and infection rates are so low there because virtually everyone wears masks when in public,” said Engel.

He added that in Hong Kong, there had only been four deaths from COVID-19 as of last week.

How can that be?

Hong Kong has a dense population of about 7.5 million while New York City, with a population of 8.4 million, has had more than 27,000 COVID-19 deaths. Los Angeles County, with 10 million people, has recorded 1,700 deaths.

But Engel was right. As of last week, only four deathsin Hong Kong had been attributed to COVID-19. He put me in touch with his niece, Katie de Tilly, who owns an art gallery in Hong Kong. She emailed me to say that when news of a SARS-like virus first appeared in January, “no one and no government official needed to tell people to wear a mask. Literally 99% of the population” did so voluntarily.

Schools were closed early in February, De Tilly said, and people returning to Hong Kong after foreign travel were screened, tracked, and told to quarantine for two weeks. But most businesses, including hers, were able to remain open because there was no surge in cases.

I get it. Hong Kong had a huge head start in knowledge on the types of viruses and their culture is so accustomed to wearing masks during outbreaks. We weren't going to achieve a unthinkable result anywhere near as good as 4 deaths. That's why we desperately needed people like Fauci, Birx, Adams, and the CDC to be very clear in the promotion of their use from the start. Instead, these are the people who early on were telling us they either were useless or could do more harm than good. A colossal failure that could have been corrected at any time. Yet here we are today and just about the best they are doing is saying they're a good idea.

I don't want to hear how no one would have been able to get their hands on masks back in March.  Back in March other countries were telling their citizens how to make masks at home. I remember this very clearly because I was sharing the links.

It continues to blow my mind at how many countries have fared so well by emphasizing mask usage yet here we are. The muddled message coming from our experts has brought us to the point where many seem to think wearing a mask is a not much help. It's literally the difference between a functioning, open society and dealing with extended shutdowns and the possibility of massive flare-ups which could lead to future shutdowns. Because of the mixed messaging from our experts, we've reached a point where people are fed up and just want to be open. If masks would have been promoted from the start as way to limit shutdowns and in some places never shutdown at all, and as a very useful impediment against the spread of the virus, I believe we're a success story rather than a disaster story.

 

[moleculo]

I know it's popular to assume spread of COVID has to do with population density.  Let me present Clarendon County, SC.  Clarendon has a population of ~35K (as of 2010), and a population density of 50/sq mi.  The largest town in Clarendon is Manning, with a population of 4k.  Really, Manning is the only town in the county with more than 1k.  The county is ~50% black, 50% white.

Clarendon has 274 cases and 33 deaths.  That's an infection rate of rougly 8k/1M, a good bit more than Spain.  If Clarendon was a country, it would be 5th in the world in terms of infection rate.

obviously, tihs is a hotspot and should be monitored.  I'd assume every state has regions like this as well.  how do we deal with this?  if we keep Clarendon locked down, but open up Columbia 66 miles away, how do you keep clarendon folks from driving to Columbia for shopping/entertainment/school?  or, how do you keep folks from going to Myrtle Beach, 100 miles away?

Clarendon has been passsed by Lee County.  population of 19k per 2010 census.  Largest city is Bishopville with population of 3471.  Lee now has 164 positive cases, or 9,745 per million.

 

[Sammy3469]

Yet another argument against making people depend on tips for making a living (Is that political?)

David Chang's (Momofuku owner) podcast has morphed into a retrospective with different restaurant owners on what has to change in the restaurant industry going forward.  The basic thrust has been they have to flip the rent (which had been extremely high) and employee expenses (which had been relatively lower with tips) with more limited tables.  He also thinks eating out is going to be more expensive.  

 

[H Jass]

When the history is written on this virus in the United States, it certainly looks to me like the biggest failure will be the fact our health experts completely whiffed on the benefits of simply wearing masks...

Column: Wondering if L.A.’s new mask rules are overkill? Look at the Hong Kong example

I get it. Hong Kong had a huge head start in knowledge on the types of viruses and their culture is so accustomed to wearing masks during outbreaks. We weren't going to achieve a unthinkable result anywhere near as good as 4 deaths. That's why we desperately needed people like Fauci, Birx, Adams, and the CDC to be very clear in the promotion of their use from the start. Instead, these are the people who early on were telling us they either were useless or could do more harm than good. A colossal failure that could have been corrected at any time. Yet here we are today and just about the best they are doing is saying they're a good idea.

I don't want to hear how no one would have been able to get their hands on masks back in March.  Back in March other countries were telling their citizens how to make masks at home. I remember this very clearly because I was sharing the links.

It continues to blow my mind at how many countries have fared so well by emphasizing mask usage yet here we are. The muddled message coming from our experts has brought us to the point where many seem to think wearing a mask is a not much help. It's literally the difference between a functioning, open society and dealing with extended shutdowns and the possibility of massive flare-ups which could lead to future shutdowns. Because of the mixed messaging from our experts, we've reached a point where people are fed up and just want to be open. If masks would have been promoted from the start as way to limit shutdowns and in some places never shutdown at all, and as a very useful impediment against the spread of the virus, I believe we're a success story rather than a disaster story.

I 100% agree with this.  There is so much weird, BS posturing going on in my area of the Midwest about mask wearing.  Most of it is absolute flaming garbage (CO2 poisoning, submission signaling, re-activate virus in your breath, etc.), BUT they always point back to the Fauci and CDC statements in Feb/early March about masks.  Thanks guys.  I know why they did it (PPE panic)....but they should've been transparent. They've made it even harder on buy-in.  I'd say stores have 25 to 30% mask usage tops.  It sucks.  @[icon] nailed this in Jan. 

 

[Mr Anonymous]

I 100% agree with this.  There is so much weird, BS posturing going on in my area of the Midwest about mask wearing.  Most of it is absolute flaming garbage (CO2 poisoning, submission signaling, re-activate virus in your breath, etc.), BUT they always point back to the Fauci and CDC statements in Feb/early March about masks.  Thanks guys.  I know why they did it (PPE panic)....but they should've been transparent.  @[icon] nailed this in Jan. 

I think I'm even more angered that we could hold a press conference today and show how effective masks are and what it has allowed other countries to do. In two weeks we could bring this virus under complete control and open up everything if everyone wore masks. We could have done this a month ago when the benefits of masks became obvious elsewhere. I hate conspiracies, but it really makes me wonder what the eff is going on. Surely, our experts have seen what's transpired in countries that emphasized mask usage. Yet there's been no concerted push. It's beyond absurd at this point.

ETA: Maybe these people don't want to come out and stress how vital mask usage is because it will be a total admission of how wrong they were at the outset.

 

[parasaurolophus]

I think I'm even more angered that we could hold a press conference today and show how effective masks are and what it has allowed other countries to do. In two weeks we could bring this virus under complete control and open up everything if everyone wore masks. We could have done this a month ago when the benefits of masks became obvious elsewhere. I hate conspiracies, but it really makes me wonder what the eff is going on. Surely, our experts have seen what's transpired in countries that emphasized mask usage. Yet there's been no concerted push. It's beyond absurd at this point.

Now it means they have to admit they were either wrong or lied. 

Two things people never like to do. 

Doctors especially. 

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Now it means they have to admit they were either wrong or lied. 

Two things people never like to do. 

Doctors especially. 

Yep, just edited my post to add that. It's nice to know our experts are more interested in protecting their own hides than admitting they made a mistake early on and want to get it right going forward. 

 

[bcat01]

When the history is written on this virus in the United States, it certainly looks to me like the biggest failure will be the fact our health experts completely whiffed on the benefits of simply wearing masks...

Column: Wondering if L.A.’s new mask rules are overkill? Look at the Hong Kong example

I get it. Hong Kong had a huge head start in knowledge on the types of viruses and their culture is so accustomed to wearing masks during outbreaks. We weren't going to achieve a unthinkable result anywhere near as good as 4 deaths. That's why we desperately needed people like Fauci, Birx, Adams, and the CDC to be very clear in the promotion of their use from the start. Instead, these are the people who early on were telling us they either were useless or could do more harm than good. A colossal failure that could have been corrected at any time. Yet here we are today and just about the best they are doing is saying they're a good idea.

I don't want to hear how no one would have been able to get their hands on masks back in March.  Back in March other countries were telling their citizens how to make masks at home. I remember this very clearly because I was sharing the links.

It continues to blow my mind at how many countries have fared so well by emphasizing mask usage yet here we are. The muddled message coming from our experts has brought us to the point where many seem to think wearing a mask is a not much help. It's literally the difference between a functioning, open society and dealing with extended shutdowns and the possibility of massive flare-ups which could lead to future shutdowns. Because of the mixed messaging from our experts, we've reached a point where people are fed up and just want to be open. If masks would have been promoted from the start as way to limit shutdowns and in some places never shutdown at all, and as a very useful impediment against the spread of the virus, I believe we're a success story rather than a disaster story.

Every expert could have recommended wearing masks from the beginning and the people that refuse to wear masks now still would not wear them.

 

[H Jass]

I think I'm even more angered that we could hold a press conference today and show how effective masks are and what it has allowed other countries to do. In two weeks we could bring this virus under complete control and open up everything if everyone wore masks. We could have done this a month ago when the benefits of masks became obvious elsewhere. I hate conspiracies, but it really makes me wonder what the eff is going on. Surely, our experts have seen what's transpired in countries that emphasized mask usage. Yet there's been no concerted push. It's beyond absurd at this point.

Now I could definitely make an argument about that, but it belongs in the Politics Forum of Despair.  Something from the top would be nice, but that ain't happening.  We're all just flailing in the wind.

 

[belljr]

Big Fan of Nascar fans giving drivers and Nascar #### for wearing masks

 

[msommer]

David Chang's (Momofuku owner) podcast has morphed into a retrospective with different restaurant owners on what has to change in the restaurant industry going forward.  The basic thrust has been they have to flip the rent (which had been extremely high) and employee expenses (which had been relatively lower with tips) with more limited tables.  He also thinks eating out is going to be more expensive.  

Agree with this. Rents will take a hammering with lots of restaurants hoing under. It will also be a question of how soon customers will want to come back.
The longer we have to go without a vaccine the more pronounced this is going to get.

 

[H Jass]

Every expert could have recommended wearing masks from the beginning and the people that refuse to wear masks now still would not wear them.

Yes, probably some, but I could definitely shame them more effectively. 

I will say this though, if there was a push from the Admin from the big guy himself, at least in my area some resistance would start to evaporate.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Every expert could have recommended wearing masks from the beginning and the people that refuse to wear masks now still would not wear them.

Baloney.

 

[parasaurolophus]

Every expert could have recommended wearing masks from the beginning and the people that refuse to wear masks now still would not wear them.

Obviously people are influenced by guidance or the number of mask wearers would be identical now to what it was two months ago. 

 

[beer 30]

Think it was posted in here already but just finishing up the Rogan podcast with Dr. Rhonda Patrick. Pretty interesting interview, give it a listen, interested in hearing feedback. Spoiler: she's a big fan of Vitamin D.

http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/dr-rhonda-patrick-9

 

[parasaurolophus]

I follow some blue checkmarks in england and they were even later to the mask party than us. They finally changed recommendations. Of course few people are wearing them. A news station informally started stopping to ask people why they werent wearing one. Obviously anecdotal and small sample(and all based off of the report of a blue check on twitter) but most people replied with either they werent supposed to wear masks because NHS needs them or that they dont work, which was what they(gov't) had been saying for months. 

 

[worrierking]

Here's another idea from Thailand. I am skeptical of all of these things, but one of them will be right eventually.

https://bestlifeonline.com/thailand-coronavirus-hygiene/

 

[JaxBill]

Clarendon has been passsed by Lee County.  population of 19k per 2010 census.  Largest city is Bishopville with population of 3471.  Lee now has 164 positive cases, or 9,745 per million.

Bishopville is home to Lizard Man!

 

[parasaurolophus]

Here's another idea from Thailand. I am skeptical of all of these things, but one of them will be right eventually.

https://bestlifeonline.com/thailand-coronavirus-hygiene/

Omg. What a popcorn fest politically that would be if true. 

 

[Doug B]

Big Fan of Nascar fans giving drivers and Nascar #### for wearing masks

Fire suits, flame-retardant balaclavas, and helmets have been part of automobile racing for decades. Very strange thing for NASCAR fans to harp upon.

 

[msommer]

I follow some blue checkmarks in england and they were even later to the mask party than us. They finally changed recommendations. Of course few people are wearing them. A news station informally started stopping to ask people why they werent wearing one. Obviously anecdotal and small sample(and all based off of the report of a blue check on twitter) but most people replied with either they werent supposed to wear masks because NHS needs them or that they dont work, which was what they(gov't) had been saying for months. 

In Denmark hardly anyone is wearing masks. In spite of this we seem to have managed to get the R number way under one, not have our hospitals swamped and have even started opening up society a month ago without new spikes. 

 

[belljr]

Omg. What a popcorn fest politically that would be if true. 

I try to neti pot twice a week

 

[belljr]

Fire suits, flame-retardant balaclavas, and helmets have been part of automobile racing for decades. Very strange thing for NASCAR fans to harp upon.

Their rights maaaaaaaaaaaan

 

[shader]

Think it was posted in here already but just finishing up the Rogan podcast with Dr. Rhonda Patrick. Pretty interesting interview, give it a listen, interested in hearing feedback. Spoiler: she's a big fan of Vitamin D.

http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/dr-rhonda-patrick-9

Cliff notes of this pod if you're strapped for time:

https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/jre-1474

 

[TheWinz]

Was bored and decided to print out a line drawing of the US, and fill in the deaths per million by state.  Yes, I know a ton of factors go into the numbers, but it was still nice to see how bordering states have fared.  States that outnumber all of it's bordering states in terms of deaths per million are:

New York (1456) - Well, this was a sure thing, because they lead the nation
Louisiana (536) - Their number is the biggest shocker, when you see it on a line drawing.  No other state bordering them comes remotely close.
Michigan (490) - Poor Gov Whitmer is getting death threats.  Sucks to be her right now.
Illinois (330) - Most of their cases are in/around Chicago
Colorado (211) - Colorado stands out as the worst hit western state
Georgia (152) - I assumed Florida would be worse, because of all the retirees
Washington (133) - They only border OR & ID, so no wonder they made the list
Minnesota (130) - Making headlines for the wrong reasons
Nevada (114) - They just happen to be the highest of the low in their area

And here are the states doing better than all of their bordering neighbors:

Hawaii (12) & Alaska (14) - Technically, they make both lists, but their numbers are quite good
Wyoming (14) - A rural state with limited tourism
Arkansas (32) - Still under 100 deaths
Oregon (32) - Ranked 47th in testing, but low death count
West Virginia (37) - Every bordering state at least doubles their death rate
Maine (52) - Their license plate says "Vacationland", but they don't want you coming right now
Wisconsin (78) - Say "Cheese"
Vermont (87) - Share a long border with NY, but not a hard hit area of NY
Florida (92) - People must be steering clear of the older at-risk folks
Delaware (298) - High numbers; just higher around them
Rhode Island (471) - See Delaware above
 

 

[DaVinci]

Here's another idea from Thailand. I am skeptical of all of these things, but one of them will be right eventually.

https://bestlifeonline.com/thailand-coronavirus-hygiene/

I for one look forward to the press conferences regarding the national neti pot shortage.

 

[Doug B]

Looks like a vaccine candidate is having early success.  Markets are skyrocketing on the news

Here's a good overview from CNBC -- please let these results be replicable. And as importantly ... please let these results not be fudged.

Moderna reports positive data on early-stage coronavirus vaccine trial, shares surge

Key Points

• Moderna’s closely watched early-stage human trial for a coronavirus vaccine produced Covid-19 antibodies in all 45 participants.
  
• Moderna’s closely watched early-stage human trial for a coronavirus vaccine produced Covid-19 antibodies in all 45 participants.
  
• Each participant received a 25, 100 or 250 microgram dose, with 15 people in each dose group.
  
• At day 43, or two weeks following the second dose, levels of binding antibodies in the 25 microgram group were at the levels generally seen in blood samples from people who recovered from the disease.
  

Each participant received a 25, 100 or 250 microgram dose, with 15 people in each dose group. Participants received two doses of the potential vaccine via intramuscular injection in the upper arm approximately 28 days apart.

At day 43, or two weeks following the second dose, levels of binding antibodies in the 25 microgram group were at the levels generally seen in blood samples from people who recovered from the disease, the company said. Those in the 100 microgram had antibodies that “significantly exceeded levels” in recovered patients. Data on a second dose was not available for the 250 microgram group, the company said.

The vaccine also produced neutralizing antibodies against Covid-19 in at least eight participants, the company said. Experts have said neutralizing antibodies appear to be important in acquiring protection.

Four participants were assigned to receive a 25 microgram dose, while the other four received 100 micrograms. Levels of neutralizing antibodies were at or above levels seen in blood samples, the company said. Data on neutralizing antibodies for the other participants were not yet available, Moderna said.

“These interim Phase 1 data, while early, demonstrate that vaccination with mRNA-1273 elicits an immune response of the magnitude caused by natural infection starting with a dose as low as 25 [micrograms],” Moderna chief medical officer Dr. Tal Zaks said in a statement.

“When combined with the success in preventing viral replication in the lungs of a pre-clinical challenge model at a dose that elicited similar levels of neutralizing antibodies, these data substantiate our belief that mRNA-1273 has the potential to prevent COVID-19 disease and advance our ability to select a dose for pivotal trials,” Zaks added.

Not going to lie -- and I realize this will strike many here as naive -- but I get a little unsettled when I see COVID-research news so closely tied in with economic news. I feel like these companies, universities, institutions, governments, etc. should be working on vaccines and treatments without even the slightest hint of a care about shares or profits, or really any kind of money at all. But ... I know, academically, that the world doesn't work like that. Just seems that financial motives can too often lead to cutting corners, obfuscating or even downright lying about lab results, etc.  

 

[culdeus]

Texas is doing quite well on death per capita imo.  

Media is giving us a ton of ####, but urban areas are taking this pretty seriously and the rural areas are well...rural.  

 

[shader]

In Denmark hardly anyone is wearing masks. In spite of this we seem to have managed to get the R number way under one, not have our hospitals swamped and have even started opening up society a month ago without new spikes. 

Masks are a tool, not the solution.  Be cautious of posters in here that are trying to re-write history to make it appear as if they've been advocating for hte correct solution all along, especially when they've been huge advocates of other things that turned out to be completely false (hydroxychloroquine, herd immunity already being here, death rates similar to those of the flu, etc)

Masks are good.  Everyone should wear masks.  Social distancing is better.  Social distancing and quarantines are what caused the USA and many other countries to completely destroy the exponential growth of this virus.  The re-opening that many states are doing is due to the stay-at-home orders that so many listened to.  The population stopped putting itself out there and the virus simply can't find as many hosts to infect.  If all the hosts start coming together again, the virus will start spreading again.   

 

[Doug B]

I try to neti pot twice a week

Can it be done comfortably from jump street, or does it have a long curve? How does it not feel kind of like waterboarding?