Coronavirus Discussion

[Raikielia]

5 minutes ago, demonicvampiregirl said:

Yes, but he still needed taken out of office entirely. Sadly he was not when he more than needed to be. Dx

 

Absolutely true, but that was never going to happen. It's why Pelosi took so long sending the Articles to the Senate. Trump's lackeys in the Senate admitted they wouldn't be unbaised in the trial. 

[Astreya]

I guess we should go back to Covid-19 now...

 

Maybe I should give an update about my home town (population 211 000) - we still have a rise of Covid-19 cases, but it is a bit wavy and not exponential here.

 

We currently (Tuesday 10:00 GMT+2) have 76 active cases (117 people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic), 41 people have recovered, 9 persons are still treated in the hospital (3 of them in intensive care), and no one has died (so far). 152 persons are currently quarantined at home, while 510 persons could be released from quarantine (accumulated since the beginning of the pandemic).

 

Source: https://www.oberhausen.de/de/index/rathaus/verwaltung/umwelt-gesundheit-und-mobilitat/gesundheit/aktuelle_informationen/informationen_zum_coronavirus/aktuelle_meldungen.php

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Astreya

[olympe]

@Astreya Good point. My hometown - 159 k population - looks not much different.

88 active cases (151 total), 62 recovered. 17 in hospital, one dead. (The person who died came from a neighboring town.) As of yesterday evening, we had 7 people in intensive care, 3 of them are "provided oxygen extracorporally" (newspaper article, I think they mean ECMO).

220 people in quarantine, 912 out of quarantine.

 

That being said, Astreya, you sure have a way with words. First covidiots, now sheeple. Me like.  

 

2 hours ago, demonicvampiregirl said:

Not what I was meaning. -lol- Okay, sure those are correct but a lot of people here think America = greatest nation ever, we are unable to be beaten/topped/ect and the list continues. People, even during this, will still scream that till their lungs give out. Sadly, we have an idiot for a president and it is ran by greed and corporations. Until those days stop, I don't see the US changing much. We are falling behind in every category but a few of the not nice ones.

Well, that only shows that the people who shout the loudest are the most ignorant. Every nation can be beaten, and usually is in more than one field. The Soviets were the first to send a sattelite into orbit, the first to send a living being into space and the first to build a space station... Just to mention a few off the top of my head. If my examples didn't make it obvious, yes, I'm intersted in astronomy. 

[Astreya]

@olympe

Unfortunately I wasn't the one who invented these portmanteaus - but I found them sure very memorable :)

 

If they get ECMO, it is really serious. I hope they'll be able to pull through.

[olympe]

@Astreya If that's what it is, yes. I know that ECMO is like a last-ditch effort when trying to save someone, and that chances are really slim. But what else could they mean with this description?

[Astreya]

It really does sound like ECMO.

 

I just tried to find out how many ECMO devices there are in Germany, but somehow I couldn't find a proper number (yet). But I found an interesting tidbit that many German hospitals bought quite some ECMO devices in the last years as the health insurance companies pay good money when patients are treated via ECMO - 8000 Euros per day or 50 000 for a 3 week treatment (I assume that would be the case-based lump sum). It seems that we can count ourselves lucky here in Germany that the hospitals saw them as good items to make a fast buck...

Source: https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/ndr-wdr-beatmungsgeraete-101.html

[StormBirdRising]

California Governor Gavin Newsom has daily broadcasts reminding Californians that we are the fifth largest economy in the world, with more resources and assets than many countries, which will help us fight this disease. California was well prepared for emergency medical situations when this virus hit. The Governor Newsom sent 500 Ventilators from the California stockpile to states that did not enough for their residents.

 

The Gov Newsom has stated many times that we have not had our "surge yet", here in Cali,  but because he issued "stay at home" and "self isolation" orders early on, we have a better chance of beating the predictions of huge casualties.

 

The most inspirational thing that he has said in his briefings is that he is not waiting for a white knight to come and save California, because he is doing exactly what every Governor should be doing, he is looking out for his state. He praised the Governors of every state and the President for doing a good job in this fight against a formidable enemy.

It is very refreshing and inspirational to have a Governor who is not playing the shoulda, woulda, coulda, boo hoo hoo I know more than you game --  I think he is actually the first person I heard that phrase from -- but instead has stepped up to the plate in not only taking care of California, but in taking care of other states as well.

[olympe]

@Astreya You could get am idea by looking on divi.de. They have a status report pdf linked somewhere on top that shows the capacity of all hospitals reporting to them - which is more than half of all hospitals in Germany. They currently have an open ECMO capacity of 430  with 120 more currently in use.

[RainDear]

This is just my opinion - do not read judgments I neither made or intended into it. 

It is looking to me from looking at various reports on the internet that Taiwan and Germany have a lot to teach the world right now. Taiwan is containing the virus pretty well. Germany is doing a lot of testing. Germany and Taiwan will likely have the best statistics for the virus when this is all over. 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/04/asia/taiwan-coronavirus-response-who-intl-hnk/index.html

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/world/europe/germany-coronavirus-death-rate.html

 

We will likely find the best results and ideas will come from cooperation rather than competition.

[StormBirdRising]

Corona Virus News Around the Globe

Monday, April 6

20:49 GMT - South Carolina governor orders residents to stay home

The governor of South Carolina ordered all residents of the state to stay at home except for essential outings to get groceries or exercise.

South Carolina was one of the few US states remaining that had not issued such "stay at home" orders in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Governor Henry McMaster issued the order on social media.

20:42 GMT - Egypt reports 149 new cases, its highest daily tally

Egypt reported 149 new coronavirus cases, its highest daily toll since confirming the first infection in February.

The North African country, which also reported seven new fatalities, has so far recorded 1,322 cases including 85 deaths.

A total of 259 people had recovered from the fast-spreading disease and been released from hospitals as of Monday, Egypt's Health Ministry said in a statement.

20:22 GMT - Saudi Arabia imposes 24-hour virus curfew in five cities

Saudi Arabia extended the duration of daily curfews in four governorates and five cities, including the capital, to 24 hours to combat coronavirus as confirmed deaths from the disease hit 38.

The kingdom imposed round-the-clock lockdowns on the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran and Hofuf, the interior ministry said on Twitter.

The same measures were also imposed on the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar, the ministry added.

 

18:56 GMT- Israel declares coronavirus lockdown for Passover

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a national lockdown would begin on Tuesday and end on Friday to try to stem the spread of the new coronavirus during the Jewish holiday of Passover.

In a televised address, he said travel restrictions would be tightened on Tuesday and that Israelis will be banned from leaving their homes on Wednesday evening, when families traditionally travel to festive Passover "seder" meals.

17:18 GMT - Kuwait locks down two areas, extends curfew

Kuwait placed a full lockdown on two areas and extended its partial curfew by two hours to run from 5pm (14:00 GMT) till 6am effective on Monday until further notice, a statement from the cabinet said.

It also extended a previously enacted suspension of work for all ministries and government institutions by two weeks until April 26 as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus.

 

17:15 GMT - Turkey's death toll reaches 649 with 30,217 total cases

Turkey's death toll from the new coronavirus rose by 75 on Monday to total 649, and new confirmed cases rose by 3,148 to bring the country's total to 30,217, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

He said 21,400 tests for the COVID-19 disease had been performed in Turkey in the past 24 hours.

 

[StormBirdRising]

16:42 GMT - New York governor extends shutdown until April 29

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday that recent data on the novel coronavirus including hospitalisations and deaths suggest the crisis may be hitting a plateau in the state.

Cuomo also told a news briefing that he was extending an order to keep non-essential businesses and schools closed for another two weeks until April 29.

 

16:14 GMT - Italian post office enlists military police to deliver pensions

The Italian post office will deploy military police to deliver pensions to retired people in a new effort to reduce the contagion from the coronavirus outbreak, Poste Italiane said.

The group signed an agreement with Italy's Carabinieri, which is part of the police but also has military duties, under which pensioners who are at least 75 years old can authorise officers to withdraw their pensions and deliver them the money.

The accord applies to 23,000 people in Italy and will be in place until the health emergency is over, Poste Italiane and the Carabinieri said in a joint statement.

 

15:52 GMT - Iran supreme leader approves tapping sovereign wealth fund

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei has approved the withdrawal of one billion euros from the country's sovereign wealth fund to help fight the coronavirus epidemic, President Hassan Rouhani's official website said.

The money will be used for the health ministry and the unemployment insurance fund, the statement on the presidency website said.

 

14:58 GMT - Epidemic under control in Norway: Health minister

The COVID-19 epidemic is under control in Norway, the Nordic country's health minister said, pointing to the low rate of transmission of the disease.

A person carrying the novel coronavirus in Norway contaminates now on average 0.7 other individuals, Bent Hoie told a news conference. The government's goal was to limit the spread to a maximum of one other person.

The government will decide on Wednesday whether to extend ongoing restrictions, including the closures of schools and nurseries, beyond mid-April.

[Lagie]

One more death here. Statistically, we have the highest percentage of deaths of any Caribbean country. The PM and Minister of Health (both medical doctors) attribute this to the fact that so many Bahamians have pre-existing conditions like asthma, hypertension, kidney diseases and diabetes.

[Classycal]

So, I'm going to talk about some covidiots!  I love that word.  I had to go out today to do some grocery shopping.  The CDC has now said that people should be wearing masks.  I stopped at Wal-Mart and hardly anyone was wearing masks.  I saw one woman shopping who was 80 if she was a day - no mask.  The lady who checked me out was 80 + too.  I asked the lady if she shouldn't be wearing a mask.  She pleasantly replied with almost a laugh that she didn't need one.  I guess that flimsy shield they had put up was supposed to protect her. 

 

Then I went to Krogers.  Again, hardly anyone was wearing a mask.  I ran into my cousin who had gloves on where her mask was.  It was in her purse.  She said it was just too hot to wear.  (Speaking as someone who has worn both the medical type masks and the fabric masks, the fabric masks are way cooler.)  Krogers had up some decent plexiglass up at the checkout. 

 

At least both Wal-Mart and Krogers had up signs reminding folks about social distancing and had the floors marked at 6 feet intervals in the checkout lanes.

 

So I come home and take my neighbors two of the fabric masks that I made.  Now what were they doing?  Playing with their grandkids.  

 

Sigh....  I live in a rural area, but we still have had 2 or 3 deaths, we have had a nurse infected, and I don't know how many cases we have had.  So why aren't people getting it?  I wanted to scream, "You bunch of covidiots, I'm a nurse and you people aren't taking this seriously."

 

So on another note, it seemed like it took me forever to Chlorox all my groceries.  I got enough for a month.  No one had any hand sanitizer or Chlorox wipes.  Boo hiss...  I tried Dollar General for those, too.  No one even had alcohol.  

[PrincessLucy]

As of April 07, 2020, a total of 7,781 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported among Connecticut residents (Figure 1). One thousand three hundred and eight patients are currently hospitalized. There have been 277 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-associated deaths.

 

Day-to-day changes reflect newly reported cases, deaths, and tests that occurred over the last several days to week. All data in this report are preliminary; data for previous dates will be updated as new reports are received and data errors are corrected. Hospitalization data were collected by the Connecticut Hospital Association. Deaths* reported to either the OCME or DPH are included in the daily COVID-19 update.

 

 

*For public health surveillance, laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-associated deaths are defined as patients who tested positive for COVID-19 around the time of death; this is not a determination of the cause of death.

 

Overall Summary Total Reported Since Yesterday

Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 Case 7781 +875

Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19-Associated Deaths 277 +71

Patients Currently Hospitalized with COVID-19 1308 +87

Patients tested for COVID-19 29036 +2350

 

49 in the town I live in.

68 in the town I work in, including 2 deaths.

[Astreya]

@olympe

Unfortunately DIVI isn't really complete yet. Professor Wieler stated in the Tuesday RKI press conference that he hoped the missing hospitals would join in ASAP. But even when looking at one or the other of the listed hospitals, I saw e.g. for the St.Clemens hospital in Sterkrade (where  I know that they have an ECMO device available), that this isn't listed at DIVI (yet), so I guess it will take a while until they have the proper data in the database.

[Lagie]

 

3 more cases, one more death.

 

As of 4 p.m. today, we now HAVE to wear a mask in order to be allowed into the food store. This is a good step. A lot of people here are makimg masks at home.

[trystan]

this is my county website.  the headline from yesterday said 20 deaths, which means tomorrow's article will have today's 4 deaths    but i prefer looking at the recovery numbers.  the number of cases jumps up every few days because they get batches of tests with several days of cases in them.  we have about 638,000 people in the county.

Edited April 8, 2020 by trystan

[Ruby Eyes]

9 hours ago, Lagie said:

One more death here. Statistically, we have the highest percentage of deaths of any Caribbean country. The PM and Minister of Health (both medical doctors) attribute this to the fact that so many Bahamians have pre-existing conditions like asthma, hypertension, kidney diseases and diabetes.

Are they going to the Bahamas because they've got these conditions and need the climate, or do they get these conditions there on the Bahamas?

[Fuzzbucket]

11 hours ago, RainDear said:

This is just my opinion - do not read judgments I neither made or intended into it. 

It is looking to me from looking at various reports on the internet that Taiwan and Germany have a lot to teach the world right now. Taiwan is containing the virus pretty well. Germany is doing a lot of testing. Germany and Taiwan will likely have the best statistics for the virus when this is all over. 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/04/asia/taiwan-coronavirus-response-who-intl-hnk/index.html

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/world/europe/germany-coronavirus-death-rate.html

 

We will likely find the best results and ideas will come from cooperation rather than competition.

 

Germany and ESPECIALLY Taiwan are the examples we should all follow.

 

9 hours ago, Classycal said:

So on another note, it seemed like it took me forever to Chlorox all my groceries.  I got enough for a month.  No one had any hand sanitizer or Chlorox wipes.  

 

Soap and water is better anyway; it breaks down the oily shell of the virus; Clorox doesn't - so wash them down a bit.

[Astreya]

As of today, Wednesday April 8, 10:00 GMT+2,  my home town (population 211 000) have 76 active cases (125 people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic), 49 people have recovered, 10 persons are treated in hospital (3 of them in intensive care), and no one has died (so far). 180 persons are currently quarantined at home. That means today we had 8 new cases, but also 8 persons who are considered recovered.

 

Source: https://www.oberhausen.de/de/index/rathaus/verwaltung/umwelt-gesundheit-und-mobilitat/gesundheit/aktuelle_informationen/informationen_zum_coronavirus/aktuelle_meldungen.php

[Fuzzbucket]

I'm very rural - my county has 211 cases, but details are hard to tease out because of the way the various services are managed. And also - as they say - all the figures we get are out of date; deaths only show up when they are registered, and loads of people are infected and will never show up, or maybe, even know. I think with hindsight that I MAY have actually been infected myself in February - and not badly; lucky me ! - but without testing, I will never know. The UK is being INCREDIBLY bad about testing.

[Astreya]

@Fuzzbucket

Let's hope there will be some working antibody tests soon (the ones the UK ordered recently, were found out to be faulty and unreliable: https://www.ft.com/content/f28e26a0-bf64-4fac-acfb-b3a618ca659d).

 

I'm curious whether the antibody tests the US are currently employing are reliable. AFAIK German researchers estimate the first properly working antibody tests they can produce in about a month or so as there are way too many false positives and/or false negatives so far in their research.

[Fuzzbucket]

They were offered the chance to buy 400,00 full diagnostic tests (not just the antibody ones) a week by South Korea. But as the NHS hasn't tested them, they won't buy them.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesasia/2020/04/05/how-one-firms-covid-19-tests-help-control-the-virus-in-south-korea/#5dad2d05bfff

[Astreya]

I just found that I was wrong that there are no antibody tests here yet - there are just no "do it at home tests" yet as they are not reliable enough. There are certified tests which can be done in laboratories, but they take up a certain amount of lab resources: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/european-politicians-are-making-big-promises-about-antibody-passports-the-science-is-still-catching-up/2020/04/07/3c228b20-7887-11ea-a311-adb1344719a9_story.html

[Fuzzbucket]

And we could have had all those Korean ones - but they just won't accept anything that the NHS hasn't tested - and that will take MONTHS to do.

 

I am not OK with antibody passports. Forgery would be in play INSTANTLY.