Coronavirus

[Bicycle Bill]

-"BB"-

[Gob]

Having that!

[Gob]

Ride free and/or die?

Thousands of bikers have defied social distancing guidelines as they gathered for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on Friday.



Up to a quarter of a million people are expected to converge on the city in South Dakota for the 10-day festival, which will feature live music, bikes stunts and races.

Photos from the festival show attendees gathered close together as they watched a parade of souped-up motorcycles rev through the downtown area.

Officials say they were powerless to stop the event from going ahead, with Public Information Officer Christina Steele telling CBS: 'The decision to hold the Rally came after hearing from thousands of attendees that they were coming to the event, even if it was canceled by the city of Sturgis.'

'The city felt it had to be prepared with adequate emergency ambulance, fire and police services to assist with these people,' she told the news network.

[Gob]

US response to the virus is met with incredulity abroad

ROME — The United States’ failure to contain the spread of the coronavirus has been met with astonishment and alarm in Europe, as the world’s most powerful country edges closer to a global record of 5 million confirmed infections.

Perhaps nowhere outside the U.S. is America’s bungled virus response viewed with more consternation than in Italy, which was ground zero of Europe’s epidemic. Italians were unprepared when the outbreak exploded in February and the country still has one of the world’s highest official death tolls at 35,000.

But after a strict nationwide 10-week lockdown, vigilant tracing of new clusters and general acceptance of mask mandates and social distancing, Italy has become a model of virus containment.

“Don’t they care about their health?” a mask-clad Patrizia Antonini asked about people in the United States as she walked with friends along the banks of Lake Bracciano, north of Rome. “They need to take our precautions ... They need a real lockdown.”

Much of the incredulity in Europe stems from the fact that America had the benefit of time, European experience and medical know-how to treat the virus that the continent itself didn’t have when the first COVID-19 patients started filling intensive care units. Yet, more than four months into a sustained outbreak, the U.S. is about to hit an astonishing milestone of 5 million confirmed infections, easily the highest in the world. Health officials believe the actual number is closer to 50 million, given testing limitations and the fact that as many as 40% of all cases are asymptomatic.

“We Italians always saw America as a model,” said Massimo Franco, columnist with daily Corriere della Sera. “But with this virus we’ve discovered a country that is very fragile, with bad infrastructure and a public health system that is nonexistent.”

More here...

Most people abroad haven't met Darren yet, then they'd know why...

[Long Run]

As usual, there is some truth to the story, but a lot of hype and misuse of statistics to sell a story. Italy, UK and others still exceed COVID deaths in the U.S. on a per capita basis. True, new cases are higher in the U.S., but that is a trend we see nationally and internationally -- there is a surge in cases/hospitalizations/deaths and then it crests and begins to reduce. Then, there is the problem of inaccurate comparisons as countries (and within the U.S., between states) vary greatly in how they count cases/hospitalizations/deaths, so it is nearly impossible to really compare. At the end of the day, the U.S. has plenty of stories of people being negligent. With 330 million population with a vibrant free press that hypes negative stories to make more money, and social media spreading every story no matter how reliable, how could the situation not be grossly exaggerated.

As many of us have related, in our area, the vast majority of people are diligent to very diligent. Sure there are a minority of the mostly young people who don't get it, and they suffer little for their incivility. Don't buy the hype though

[Crackpot]

Mask use depends on the place I notice. Restaurants and national/large regional chains things look god independent stores not so much

[dales]

....god independent stores not so much

One would think that independence from God might result in those observations.

[Bicycle Bill]

-"BB"-

[Bicycle Bill]

-"BB"-

[Big RR]

The last couple of days I have been driving to South Carolina (through Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina) and, surprisingly (at least to me) the vast majority of people in the places I stopped (stores, gas stations, restaurants) wear masks and practice pretty good social distancing. I've only seen one person without a mask, and find even children are wearing them; it gives me a little hope that the majority of people are a lot smarter than the jerks who make the news or the internet.

[Econoline]

[BoSoxGal]

[ex-khobar Andy]

He's very much a Trumpite. But it's still funny.

[ex-khobar Andy]

Apparently the 'My Pillow' guy has joined the board of Phoenix Biotechnology which makes oleandrin which is being touted as a therapeutic for COVID-19. And Trump is enthusiastic.

Oleander is pretty toxic to most things, so it does not surprise me that some initial (non-peer reviewed) tests done by Phoenix have shown that it kills the virus. (Hint: so does bleach. So does soap and water.). (Oleander is quite pretty. Used to have a front yard full of it.)

Apparently (HUD) Secretary Carson was 'just amazed.'

Where do I sign up for the trials? Do I get a free pillow? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Big RR]

The sad thing is that once Ben Carson was a pretty respected surgeon; to go from that to a toady for an ass and someone who pretends to be amazed that an alkaloid toxin might have some toxic effect against the virus, is just sad.

[Joe Guy]

Oleandrin might knock the China virus out in a minute. And maybe there is a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning.

[BoSoxGal]

Apparently the 'My Pillow' guy has joined the board of Phoenix Biotechnology which makes oleandrin which is being touted as a therapeutic for COVID-19. And Trump is enthusiastic.

Oleander is pretty toxic to most things, so it does not surprise me that some initial (non-peer reviewed) tests done by Phoenix have shown that it kills the virus. (Hint: so does bleach. So does soap and water.). (Oleander is quite pretty. Used to have a front yard full of it.)

Apparently (HUD) Secretary Carson was 'just amazed.'

Where do I sign up for the trials? Do I get a free pillow? Inquiring minds want to know.

Is this a spoof? Oleander is highly toxic; ingestion of a single leaf can kill an adult human being, certainly a child.

Oleandrin is a toxic cardiac glycoside found in the poisonous plant oleander (Nerium oleander L.).[1] Along with neriine, it is primarily responsible for the toxicity of the sap of oleander.[1] Oleander has been used in traditional medicine for its properties as a cardiac glycoside, for both suicidal and presumed therapeutic purposes, as in treatment of cardiac insufficiency. There is no high-quality clinical evidence that oleander or its constituents, including oleandrin, are effective or approved by regulatory agencies as a prescription drug or dietary supplement.[1]

[ex-khobar Andy]

If we all shut up and don't say anything, maybe Trump will start taking it as a prophylactic.

[rubato]

Oleander is very toxic and there is little treatment.

yrs,
rubato

[Joe Guy]

How long will it be before we here about someone dying from oleandrin?