Coronavirus General Discussion

[vnatale]

He’s probably the guy behind the camera, Vinny, and not pictured.

That would be the general assumption but not a for certain.

Vinny

[dualstow]

He’s probably the guy behind the camera, Vinny, and not pictured.

That would be the general assumption but not a for certain.

Also, I don’t think I see anyone of East Asian extraction.

[WiseOne]

Hey guys...

About the time COVID19 lives on surfaces: I've now seen reports ranging from anywhere between 10 minutes to 2 days (not seen the 7 day one). And the info in our medical updates is outdated it seems...

The latest one is about criteria for testing. It's still limited to people with a travel history to a short list of countries or exposure to a known COVID19 case - plus our hospital is requiring that you get approval from an in-house infectious disease committee for any test. That is laughably restrictive at this point and this is why the number of cases seems so small yet. You basically need to test everyone with any kind of upper respiratory symptoms plus groups of asymptomatic people to get any idea of how far it's spread.

I don't quite understand the travel ban either, but you have to admit that there is at least SOME evidence that the initial limits on flights did in fact slow the introduction of the virus in the US. Assuming testing availability and criteria are similar across countries, Europe is WAY harder hit than we are as a percentage of population. Germany and Spain both have twice the cases we do, with ~1/5 and ~1/9 our population, respectively. It's just that I don't think travel bans will prevent anything, only slow the spread (with progressively more limited effects as time goes on), while it will do real economic damage. Which I guess the stock market has already figured out.

[vnatale]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/1 ... rts-126808
Trump’s travel ban sidesteps his own European resorts


Vinny

[Tyler]

Trump’s travel ban sidesteps his own European resorts

Talk about a stretch. With a massive outbreak in Italy, restricting travel from the countries with an open border agreement with Italy makes sense. To imply that the decision was based on Trump property locations exemplifies everything that is wrong with the media today. They're either malicious, stupid, or (increasingly likely) both.

[Maddy]

[The criteria for testing is] still limited to people with a travel history to a short list of countries or exposure to a known COVID19 case - plus our hospital is requiring that you get approval from an in-house infectious disease committee for any test. That is laughably restrictive at this point and this is why the number of cases seems so small yet. You basically need to test everyone with any kind of upper respiratory symptoms plus groups of asymptomatic people to get any idea of how far it's spread.

Why is this, when a number of other countries have robust testing programs, and when it is obvious that testing (together with aggressive contact tracing) is essential to prevent the spread of the virus? Speculation welcome.

[dualstow]

Trump’s travel ban sidesteps his own European resorts

Talk about a stretch. With a massive outbreak in Italy, restricting travel from the countries with an open border agreement with Italy makes sense. To imply that the decision was based on Trump property locations exemplifies everything that is wrong with the media today. They're either malicious, stupid, or (increasingly likely) both.

It does seem obsessive, doesn’t it. Even though I thought Trump was a bit blamey in his speech , it feels like Dems will connect the dots to make Trump look as nefarious as possible. No travel bans = he’s not doing enough, (I don’t think Merkel has imposed any travel bans). Travel bans = he’s an evil wall builder.

The resort connection- obsessive.

[Cortopassi]

[The criteria for testing is] still limited to people with a travel history to a short list of countries or exposure to a known COVID19 case - plus our hospital is requiring that you get approval from an in-house infectious disease committee for any test. That is laughably restrictive at this point and this is why the number of cases seems so small yet. You basically need to test everyone with any kind of upper respiratory symptoms plus groups of asymptomatic people to get any idea of how far it's spread.

Why is this, when a number of other countries have robust testing programs, and when it is obvious that testing (together with aggressive contact tracing) is essential to prevent the spread of the virus? Speculation welcome.

I am listening to Trump right now. We'll have 4 million tests by next week. But local anecdote (friend back from Indonesia) no symptoms, but wanted a test because she was over there. On the phone for hours with multiple places and could NOT get a test anywhere. Denied because of no symptoms. In the end she was advised to self quarantine.

But we are well ahead of the curve, according to him. We've got a good handle on it. Uh huh

[flyingpylon]

Regarding tests, where were they going to come from... out of thin air?

Is it possible that US regulations have slowed the development and manufacture of necessary testing materials?

If anyone here was President, what would you have done or be doing differently (accepting that hindsight is 20/20)?

I'll admit that I have no idea, but I do know it's easy to criticize.

[dualstow]

...
Is it possible that US regulations have slowed the development and manufacture of necessary testing materials?

If anyone here was President, what would you have done or be doing differently (accepting that hindsight is 20/20)?

I'll admit that I have no idea, but I do know it's easy to criticize.

That’s a good question. Tough job, for sure. Differently: I’d make Tony Fauci the virus czar or at least just Alex Azar (“A-czar”), but not Pence. (Speech would be very different, too, but I’ll spare you on that).

Apparently, Trump helped cut some of the red tape on the test kits so maybe we just have a poor system in place and that part is not his fault.

[Tyler]

Differently: I’d make Tony Fauci the virus czar...

In related news, Fauci is all for the Europe travel ban.

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/ ... ovid-19%2F

[Cortopassi]

I am not saying it is his fault. Just trying to say that I have less and less confidence in government in general and he's at the top, not helping MY perception of confidence.

I am usually driven best by facts. I'd like to know what they know. I'd like people to come out and just say, we effed up. We tried to make a more sophisticated test and it didn't work. I'd cut that some slack.

But come out and say its a perfect test, and that case #s are numbers are still low (I believe he said that again today) and I call BS.

[dualstow]

I'd like people to come out and just say, we effed up.

That is not going to happen, ever. Here’s a consolation prize: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2221&p=187477#p187477

Differently: I’d make Tony Fauci the virus czar...

In related news, Fauci is all for the Europe travel ban.

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/ ... ovid-19%2F

[Tortoise]

As luck would have it, my wife is pregnant with a due date in late July -- which will probably be during peak coronavirus chaos in the hospitals.

I'm starting to feel kind of worried that if the hospitals are operating beyond capacity with COVID-19 respiratory patients in late July, my wife may not be able to get the usual/standard level of care when she delivers our baby. Which is especially bad since she's over 40 (i.e., defined as a "high-risk pregnancy" due to her age).

Is my worry justified, or am I overthinking it?

[pmward]

I think July will likely be after the storm. I think odds are it will continue to ramp for the next month, maybe 2, then it will likely ramp off then. Mind you, this is fully subjective opinion, but illness in general tends to taper off in the summer.

[Libertarian666]

As luck would have it, my wife is pregnant with a due date in late July -- which will probably be during peak coronavirus chaos in the hospitals.

I'm starting to feel kind of worried that if the hospitals are operating beyond capacity with COVID-19 respiratory patients in late July, my wife may not be able to get the usual/standard level of care when she delivers our baby. Which is especially bad since she's over 40 (i.e., defined as a "high-risk pregnancy" due to her age).

Is my worry justified, or am I overthinking it?

Is there anything you can do about it?
If so, you're not overthinking it.
If not, you are.

[Smith1776]

He’s probably the guy behind the camera, Vinny, and not pictured.

That would be the general assumption but not a for certain.

Vinny

I'm behind the camera on that one. For a while I've been meaning to talk to the blonde girl on the left of the picture... but turns out the dude standing next to her is her boyfriend.

[Smith1776]

We are officially approaching 1929 level drops now, my friends.

106439242-158403063010820200312_dow_one_day_losses.png (20.3 KiB) Viewed 4488 times

This has also been an excellent opportunity to test the robustness of my GoldSmith PP vs the traditional PP. At least as far as Canadian implementations go, they are so far moving in lockstep with each other during this crisis.

EDIT: The Fed is now saying that they're going to do whatever it takes in terms of monetary policy to prevent a market and economic crash. However, unlike 2008/2009, this is a problem being imposed on us by nature. It's not just a crisis of confidence in our banking sector that can be quelled away by a wall of money. It's not just a problem of bad numbers in computers. It's a problem that physically exists in the world and isn't going away overnight.

[dualstow]

I'm behind the camera on that one. For a while I've been meaning to talk to the blonde girl on the left of the picture... but turns out the dude standing next to her is her boyfriend.

thicc!

[Smith1776]

thicc!

....c-c-c-c-c-c-c!

[dualstow]

Warm weather might not be our saving grace.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/health-w ... eak/699704

[Smith1776]

Warm weather might not be our saving grace.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/health-w ... eak/699704

I could even see warm weather potentially making things... worse?

When it's winter and everyone is just huddling indoors, that's one thing. But if it's summer and everyone wants to go out and have fun? And there's a bump in travel? Hmmmmm.

[dualstow]

Good point. It will be harder to stay indoors for many, and ... cheap flights.

My niece has a fever. Ugh.

[Tortoise]

I'm behind the camera on that one. For a while I've been meaning to talk to the blonde girl on the left of the picture... but turns out the dude standing next to her is her boyfriend.

Keep lifting, bro. Get huge. She’ll eventually figure out who the real man is.

[Smith1776]

I'm behind the camera on that one. For a while I've been meaning to talk to the blonde girl on the left of the picture... but turns out the dude standing next to her is her boyfriend.

Keep lifting, bro. Get huge. She’ll eventually figure out who the real man is.

Time to get me some juuuuiiiiiiice.