Is it time to talk about coronavirus? (1 Viewer)

[ManW_TheUncool]

South Korea reports more recovered coronavirus patients testing positive again

Coronavirus has ‘reactivated’ in more than 100 South Koreans who recovered

So much for the theory that you are immune once you recover.

I wouldn't sound the alarm just yet:

Officials are still investigating the cause of the apparent relapses. But Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), has said the virus may have been reactivated rather than the patients being re-infected.

Other experts said faulty tests may be playing a role, or remnants of the virus may still be in patients’ systems but not be infectious or of danger to the host or others.

Yep, especially if there's something like 30% false negative rate for such tests...

https://www.livescience.com/amp/covid19-coronavirus-tests-false-negatives.html

Of course, then one wonders exactly what good such testing does under the circumstance... although repeat testing would presumably help reduce the errors, but if testing takes significant time and is also very limited in availability...

I suppose that's one significant (but not politically expedient, so largely unpublicized) reason to only do this kind of testing for those who already "pass" the "eye test" for Covid-19...

All the more reason to work toward new, better testing that could become abundantly available asap...

_Man_

 

[Clinton McClure]

PA's control on liquor stores is baffling. When I lived there from 1975-1986, there were several attempts to turn the State run stores over to independent operators and lots of reports of severe corruption in the department. I remember my parents being shocked when we first moved there from California and not being able to purchase any alcoholic beverages at the supermarket (commonplace in CA), and even more baffled at having to go to a Beer Distributor for beer (which was only sold by the case) and the State Liquor Store for wine and spirits. At least you could purchase bulk-sized snacks like pretzels and chips at the Beer Distributor. Of course, when we moved back to California in 1986, my friends were baffled when they came out to visit that you only had to go to one place (the supermarket) for beer, wine, and spirits.

What was completely laughable was Pennsylvania's attempt to sell liquor out of a vending machine placed inside grocery stores.

In Arkansas, you can buy beer and wine in some gas stations in wet counties. You have to go to an actual liquor store to buy hard liquor. Of course, the only way to buy alcohol on Sunday is to go to a restaurant or sports bar.

 

[DaveF]

The CDC has a document out telling how to make masks. Some of the methods are only as complicated as cutting up an old T-shirt.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html

I tried a no-sew mask. I then threw it away and ordered a mask from Etsy!

 

[Robert Crawford]

I tried a no-sew mask. I then threw it away and ordered a mask from Etsy!
View attachment 71278

Damn, you look scary!

 

[SamT]

I saw a video last week where a guy had a mask (following the recommendation) inside a big grocery store and they called police on him. He was not scary and his mask was standard surgical.

By the way, if everyone has masks wouldn't crime go up? Seems like the perfect time to rob a bank!

 

[Cranston37+]

By the way, if everyone has masks wouldn't crime go up? Seems like the perfect time to rob a bank!

Happened where I live

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/men-wearing-surgical-masks-rob-pharmacy-in-st-louis-park

 

[Todd Erwin]

I went to Safeway today to pick up a few prescriptions and do my grocery run. Nearly all of the cashier's had masks and gloves, but only half of the customers. Worse, many of the customers were not following the one-way aisle markers nor were they following social distancing. When those were asked to please keep a distance by other customers, I saw some of the dirtiest looks I've ever seen in response. And this is AFTER it was announced last night that our county just had their first confirmed case of COVID19.

Unbelievable!

 

[Clinton McClure]

I tried a no-sew mask. I then threw it away and ordered a mask from Etsy!
View attachment 71278

 

[Robert Crawford]

This is scary and I'm concern that another bump can happened if the governors are not careful.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/16/politics/read-guidelines-for-opening-america/index.html

 

[John Dirk]

This is scary and I'm concern that another bump can happened if the governors are not careful.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/16/politics/read-guidelines-for-opening-america/index.html

I scanned it. It seems pretty comprehensive. I think moving towards getting back to normal will be somewhat scary no matter how long we wait but we do have to consider the alternative which is continued economic erosion.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I scanned it. It seems pretty comprehensive. I think moving towards getting back to normal will be somewhat scary no matter how long we wait but we do have to consider the alternative which is continued economic erosion.

The question is whether society can live with several thousand of deaths each month as economic erosion would continue under that scenario.

 

[DaveF]

I scanned it. It seems pretty comprehensive. I think moving towards getting back to normal will be somewhat scary no matter how long we wait but we do have to consider the alternative which is continued economic erosion.

A danger is thinking that’s the total dichotomy: lives or economy. But an ill-considered rush to avoid economic damage could be a false hope, and actually kill more people and cause even greater economic harm.

 

[DaveF]

This is scary and I'm concern that another bump can happened if the governors are not careful.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/16/politics/read-guidelines-for-opening-america/index.html

I think this is the same content, original source, and no lousy embedded document reader.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/openingamerica/

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think the damage to both the economy as well as trust in government would be catastrophic if they opened too quickly and the second wave was equal to or worse than the first one.

So far, the super spreader events that have been tracked and written about have been (avoidable) things like company meetings with attendees from multiple states, funerals, etc. We’re also seeing that with reduced social activity, people in essential services are getting hit hard - grocery workers, delivery workers, warehouse workers, food supply chain workers.

What kind of supply chain hits are we looking at if those essential workers aren’t just at risk from one member of each household making weekly or biweekly trips out, but at risk from everyone, all the time? What happens is every trip to the store is a super spreader event?

It seems pretty obvious to me on the surface of it that it’s not lives vs economy. It’s both, always. Extra lives lost, or extra medical care that might otherwise not have been needed, will have a tremendous economic cost. Every new infection is an avoidable pile of economic pain we take on collectively.

 

[TJPC]

Here in CND a major medical department (at MacMaster University?) has developed a quick test machine for covid19. It is about the size of a shoe box and gives results in 60 minutes from swabs on the tongue. The factory is now ramping up production and will distribute it for front line applications first.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Given all the talk of Americans having trouble w/ wearing masks, I did some homework and concluded this...

F4E5D1F5-5AAA-4819-8B92-8C8262B35C49

• ManW_TheUncool
• Apr 16, 2020
• 1

Why have easterners so easily, widely and successfully adopted mask wearing, but westerners have...

Why have easterners so easily, widely and successfully adopted mask wearing, but westerners have not... even in the face of death?

Because ever since ancient days w/ history told thru heroic legends, easterners always masked their faces' lower half while westerners always masked upper half...

_Man_

PS: Ok, I didn't actually come up w/ that, LOL, except the translation...

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well, they're certainly approaching the vaccine development quite optimistically and aggressively w/ what vaguely sounds like unprecedented resources, tech advances and collaborative effort, if nothing else...

https://finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/n...-production-at-risk-imminently-210204457.html

_Man_

 

[Malcolm R]

Went out to a couple stores this afternoon: Walmart, Dollar Tree, supermarket. Wore my mask, but mask use was pretty hit and miss among both customers and store employees. Some with masks, some with masks and gloves, some with nothing.

Saw some nitrile gloves in stock at Walmart. No masks and no sanitizer, though their web site still claims this store has sanitizer in stock.

Shelves in aisle G.6 were empty.

But, most importantly, I did get some wine.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Latest numbers from New York State:

(earlier dates available here)

12,192 confirmed fatalities -- 606 of which occurred just yesterday. Twenty-first consecutive day of triple-digit increases, but the smallest increase since April 6.

 

[Cranston37+]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/16/health/coronavirus-remdesivir-trial/index.html