Coronavirus Discussion

[Astreya]

Looks like Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel opts to snub Mr.Trump's G7 meeting in person due to the Covid-19 situation in the US:

Quote

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, will not attend a face-to-face meeting in the US with the leaders of the world’s major economies if Donald Trump goes ahead with it, unless the course of the coronavirus spread changes by then, her office said.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/30/merkel-wont-attend-trumps-in-person-g7-unless-course-of-pandemic-changes

 

@trystan

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your daughter that it's just a "normal" throat infection.

Edited May 31, 2020 by Astreya

[trystan]

3 minutes ago, Astreya said:

@trystan

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your daughter that it's just a "normal" throat infection.

thanks.  i told her when she calls the two places (hopefully only one!) tomorrow, to lead with that she might have strep throat, because a sore throat and a fever are symptoms of that, too!

[purpledragonclaw]

2 hours ago, Astreya said:

@AngelsSin

Here is an interesting article about SSPE: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/10/28/new-data-show-a-deadly-measles-complication-is-more-common-than-thought/

IMO this should give Anti-vaxxers food for thought, but they prefer to believe vapid conspiracy theories more than science, of course.

 

Anti-vaxxers, as a whole, don't think. What really stunned me was hearing from some members of the autism community, who said it was very painful to them that some of these people would rather their children die than be born with autism. I hadn't looked at the anti-vaxxer "logic" from that angle before. 

 

7 hours ago, AngelsSin said:

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Researchers-warn-covid-19-could-cause-15305291.php

 

An interesting article on the possible long-term after effects of having Covid. As someone with CFS I can say it can be extremely debilitating and the idea that this could end up affecting those who survive is a scary thought. Especially as so many are going to be impacted by Covid. Not only do you have to survive the disease but you might end up disabled for life.

 

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/coronavirus-lake-ozarks-pool-party-case-covid-19

 

Also already one person who went to a pool party in Missouri for Memorial day weekend has tested positive for Covid. They attended the party on two different days as well as a restaurant. They started showing symptoms later that day. So we should expect to see a surge in cases from those parties.

 

I read about a nurse who ended up catching covid-19 and her lungs rubbed together after she recovered. You could hear it when she breathed, it was very disturbing (the disease is called pleurisy). I don't know if she recovered. I linked earlier about the children being affected by Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome after catching covid-19 as well. This disease is attacking the human body in ways I've never seen in a disease before, not to mention the fact it's mutating at an alarming rate. I don't know if we'll truly understand the long-term effects on the human body from covid-19 until years after the disease is gone (and that's a big assumption that the disease will disappear like SARS did). 

 

I linked to that ridiculous party in Missouri after it happened. At least only one person's infected so far, because the rate of infection here could have been so much worse. Of course, it hasn't been the full two weeks yet...

 

44 minutes ago, Astreya said:

Looks like Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel opts to snub Mr.Trump's G7 meeting in person due to the Covid-19 situation in the US:

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/30/merkel-wont-attend-trumps-in-person-g7-unless-course-of-pandemic-changes

 

Smart of Merkel. I'll bet Trump goes maskless. 

 

Greece has re-opened tourism, but banned a number of countries from being eligible to travel there, including the U.K., Brazil, and the U.S. Can't say I blame them.

 

@trystan I'll keep your daughter in my thoughts!

[trystan]

3 minutes ago, purpledragonclaw said:

@trystan I'll keep your daughter in my thoughts!

thanks PDC.  hopefully we'll know something more by tomorrow

[Astreya]

8 hours ago, purpledragonclaw said:

Anti-vaxxers, as a whole, don't think. What really stunned me was hearing from some members of the autism community, who said it was very painful to them that some of these people would rather their children die than be born with autism. I hadn't looked at the anti-vaxxer "logic" from that angle before. 

Shows the usual hypocrisy of many in the US - it is similar with that they consider abortion as murder, but allowing the born kids to die is absolutely okay.

  

8 hours ago, purpledragonclaw said:

Smart of Merkel. I'll bet Trump goes maskless.

If Mr.Putin attends, I expect him to wear a full hazmat suit as he is not as stupid as Mr.Trump.

 

---------------------

I just stumbled over another interesting article:

Quote

Could nearly half of those with Covid-19 have no idea they are infected?

When Noopur Raje’s husband fell critically ill with Covid-19 in mid-March, she did not suspect that she too was infected with the virus.

(...)

"But while I was also infected, I had no symptoms at all. I have no idea why we responded so differently.”

It took two months for Raje’s husband to recover. Repeated tests, done every five days, showed that Raje remained infected for the same length of time, all while remaining completely asymptomatic.

(...)

Raje’s husband showed a high level of antibodies to the virus, while Raje appeared to have no response at all, something she found hard to comprehend.

(...)

For Raje, understanding why asymptomatic patients like her respond the way they do to the virus, will have some critical implications for all of us over the coming months, for example in determining whether vaccines turn out to be effective.

 

“The big question I have after my experience, is whether a vaccine will really work in all people,” she says. “The vaccination approach is to create an immune response, which then protects you. But if asymptomatic people are not producing a normal antibody response to the virus, what does that mean? Because it’s these people who are the vectors and the carriers of this virus, I think we can’t get away from social distancing until we have some of these answers out there.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/30/could-nearly-half-of-those-with-covid-19-have-no-idea-they-are-infected

 

----------------------

Daily update for Oberhausen, NRW, Germany:

 

As of today, Sunday, May 31, 10:00 GMT+2,  my home town (population 211 000) has 11 active cases, while 238 people have recovered. All in all there have been 260 people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 1.9.

 

Currently no person is treated in hospital anymore. 11 persons sadly died. 45 persons are currently quarantined.

 

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

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by Astreya

[trystan]

thanks everyone for their thoughts about my younger daughter.... she got an appointment at one of the Urgent Care centers near us, yaay!  good news is it's not covid.  it's strep throat.  but she hates taking antibiotics.  she can't take pills, so we got the liquid stuff.  she's had to psych herself up to gulp the first 5 ml dose.

[Astreya]

It's good to hear that it's "only" strep throat. But she definitely has to take the antibiotics until each of the bugs is really dead, particularly if they are beta-hemolytic streptococci. I hope she'll be fully well again ASAP!

[trystan]

heh, yep.  and oh yeah, she knows all about taking antibiotics. i don't think anyone really likes to take meds, but she knows she has to.  and it's three times a day for only 7 days, so that's good too.  i'm sure she'll be well in a few days, but we know how antibiotics work (take 'em for the whole time prescribed).  i have no idea which bacteria it actually is.

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by trystan
clarification

[Astreya]

@trystan

Well, if they are dead in the end, the exact type of the streps doesn't matter too much anyway, but the ones I mentioned  are not too rare in throat infections and they can cause long term problems if they aren't completely eradicated, so it is prudent to be diligent with the antibiotics, even if they can have side-effects.

[trystan]

yeah, that makes sense.  we are quite diligent with antibiotics, and i think the prospect of being able to visit with her boyfriend will ensure that she won't miss a dose!  

[purpledragonclaw]

Thank you for the update on your daughter @trystan! Remember strep throat is highly contagious, so she needs to be careful with how she interacts with others!

[trystan]

you're welcome, PDC.  and yep, we know.  she hasn't actually seen her boyfriend since Thursday night, and he doesn't have it (so we're wondering how she got it in the first place - outside of me and her father; and her boyfriend's family, she's seen two other friends via a social distanced get-together on a front yard).  but she shouldn't be contagious after taking the antibiotics for 24 hours, i've heard.

[Astreya]

Daily update for Oberhausen, NRW, Germany:

 

As of today, Monday, June 1, 10:00 GMT+2,  my home town (population 211 000) has 10 active cases, while 239 people have recovered. All in all there have been 260 people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 1.4.

 

Currently no person is treated in hospital anymore. 11 persons sadly died. 43 persons are currently quarantined.

 

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

[purplehaze]

Interesting graphic I found:

Marcus is an epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School and calls for a “harm reduction” approach to corona virus transmission. She says people won’t remain shuttered in their houses for months, so the key instead, is helping people understand how to reduce their risk.

 

Edited June 1, 2020 by purplehaze

[Lagie]

39 minutes ago, purplehaze said:

Interesting graphic I found:

Marcus is an epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School and calls for a “harm reduction” approach to corona virus transmission. She says people won’t remain shuttered in their houses for months, so the key instead, is helping people understand how to reduce their risk.

 

That's a nice simple one!

[Astreya]

Daily update for Oberhausen, NRW, Germany:

 

As of today, Tuesday, June 2, 10:00 GMT+2,  my home town (population 211 000) has 10 active cases, while 239 people have recovered. All in all there have been 260 people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 0.9.

 

Currently 2 persons are treated in hospitals, none of them in intensive care. 11 persons sadly died. 29 persons are currently quarantined. All in all there have been 9926 Covid-19 tests in Oberhausen so far.

 

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

 

Edited June 2, 2020 by Astreya

[Astreya]

Daily update for Oberhausen, NRW, Germany:

 

As of today, Wednesday, June 3, 10:00 GMT+2,  my home town (population 211 000) has 5 active cases, while 245 people have recovered. All in all there have been 261 people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 1.9.

 

Currently 2 persons are treated in hospitals, none of them in intensive care. 11 persons sadly died. 28 persons are currently quarantined. All in all there have been 10 150 Covid-19 tests in Oberhausen so far.

 

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

[Astreya]

Daily update for Oberhausen, NRW, Germany:

 

As of today, Thursday, June 4, 10:00 GMT+2,  my home town (population 211 000) has 6 active cases, while 246 people have recovered. All in all there have been 262 people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 0.9.

 

Currently 3 persons are treated in hospitals, none of them in intensive care. 11 persons sadly died. 31 persons are currently quarantined. All in all there have been 10 247 Covid-19 tests in Oberhausen so far.

 

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

[Astreya]

Daily update for Oberhausen, NRW, Germany:

 

As of today, Friday, June 5, 09:00 GMT+2,  my home town (population 211 000) has 7 active cases, while 247 people have recovered. All in all there have been 265 people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 2.4.

 

Currently 4 persons are treated in hospitals, none of them in intensive care. 11 persons sadly died. 36 persons are currently quarantined. All in all there have been 10 359 Covid-19 tests in Oberhausen so far.

 

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

[Lagie]

We are making progress in the Bahamas! We have a five phase plan to recovery. We're at the end of Phase Three and move to Phase Four on the 15th. This is our last weekend lockdown. And from the 15th, we can get our hair cut again. Shops can all reopen, not just 'essentials', so long as they have their sanitizing and social distancing measures in place. Masks are still mandatory and the nighttime 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew will remain in place (Bahamians are prone to late night house parties, and the crime has been down). On all islands, except the three that had Covid cases, the beaches will reopen. Marinas open on the 15th and the airports are scheduled to reopen July 1st. (I am worried about those last two items; we usually get a lot of American tourists, and the last thing we need is for any of them to bring it with them.)

[olympe]

Can't you close your borders for certain nations? I'd say the US would be pretty much on top of everyone's blacklist...

[Lagie]

20 minutes ago, olympe said:

Can't you close your borders for certain nations? I'd say the US would be pretty much on top of everyone's blacklist...

In normal times, we have one flight a day for four days of the week from London, two flights a day from Toronto, and I believe two a week to Cuba. Everything else comes from the U.S. If we banned them, we'd be really short on customers. This is one serious drawback of being a nation that relies on tourism. Our PM is hoping we can change that going forward but it will take time to change people's mindsets.

[purpledragonclaw]

3 hours ago, olympe said:

Can't you close your borders for certain nations? I'd say the US would be pretty much on top of everyone's blacklist...

 

Honestly we should be at the top of every country's blacklist. Dr. Fauci doesn't even meet with Trump regularly anymore, states are starting to re-open even as coronavirus cases have been on a steady increase since Memorial Day, and now that people are protesting all over the country it'll increase the spread. This could make our second wave even worse. We've also topped 110,000 deaths. If more countries closed their borders to us I would completely understand.

[olympe]

34 minutes ago, AngelsSin said:

And now the White House is stopping social distancing for the press briefings. I'm sure it's Trump's way of trying to further control the press as some might opt out out of concern for their safety or have to put themselves at risk just to report on Trump's lunacy!

I think there's a different logic behind it.

1. Pictures and videos of these press conferences will show the lack of social distancing. Which will cement in the people's minds that it isn't necessary, or their great Mr. President would make sure it's enforced. After all, he's most concerned with the safety of his people... So, if Trump insists to stop social distancing, sure it's not necessary any more. 
2. See, the reporters still went to the conference without any social distancing. Obviously they, too, think it's not needed any more. There must be something to it...
3. If social distancing isn't necessary any more (see 1. and 2.), it's of absolute importance to demonstrate for our freedom. To hell with all the Democrat governors who say differently and want to keep things in lockdown or on social distancing! (More influence for Trump over "enemy" governors.
4. Let's vote for Trump again, because he, at least, takes our freedom seriously.

Much, much more insidious, isn't it? So, the media have two choices - stay away and give Trumps preferred outlets a monopoly on reporting on presidential stuff, or what I outlined above.

Edited June 5, 2020 by olympe

[Ruby Eyes]

What if a the press showed up with Storm Trooper helmets ... *ponders*