Coronavirus

[MajGenl.Meade]

In April 2009, said goodbye to close friend Bob (and his wife and daughter) as we set off to South Africa. It was a longer goodbye than any of us anticipated. In November, Bob didn't feel well. He was one of just 52 Ohioans who died courtesy of H1N1. He was 56 years old.



This COVID-19 . . . don't none of you get it, you hear?

[Sue U]

So my younger daughter had been scheduled to go to Israel with her confirmation class next month, but with Israel now requiring two-week quarantines for all incoming travelers, the trip has been delayed, likely 'til the end of June, we were told last night. 'Sokay by me, the weather will be better and they'll get longer days if they go in the summer.

Meanwhile, I have just been scheduled for an appellate argument in NYC April 8, which necessarily includes the delight of various forms of metro area public transportation. Ordinarily I actually like the train and don't mind the PATH and subway, but I have to say I'm feeling a bit apprehensive. Incidentally, one of the NJ COVID-19 victims is recuperating in the hospital literally across the street from my house (and next to the high school), but I'm not feeling particularly concerned about that.

[TPFKA@W]

Nursing homes across the country are going on lock down today for 2 weeks. Strictly no visitors unless the patient is actively dying, and only immediate family members then. No pets allowed unless they are actual service animals. No outings. Fun times.

[BoSoxGal]

I posted an article earlier in the thread about a Chinese study of an infected man who infected several others on a bus ride. The findings indicate that it IS protective to wear a mask in such a setting to filter the air you're inhaling, and it makes sense to wear disposable latex gloves, too.

Though depending on how things continue to unfold maybe the trains won’t be running a month from now?

[MajGenl.Meade]

A couple of dozen South Africans in Hubei province are being flown by SANDF plane back to SAfrica. Plan was to put them in quarantine in the Free State, in a "resort". Then it was announced that the plane would be landing at the Air Force base just up 't road from our house. We all played "Guess-the-Resort" but failed. It was let slip by the gov't that they were to go to the Black Mountain Hotel in Thaba Nchu (pron. Tah-bun-chew) about 37km to our south east. We were swimming with the restaurant manager and some of his staff here at Maselspoort just a couple of weeks ago (not relevant).

Anyway, the good townsfolk of Thaba Nchu (which means "Black Mountain") rose up in revolt and threatened vengeance on the hotel if they dared to allow these people in. So the hotel cancelled the contract. Now everyone's wondering where the gov't will try next. I recommended Philip Saunders resort which is about 8km from us on the road to the Youth Centre at which we volunteer - it belongs to the ANC, is only used a couple of times a year for a beer-fest (actually Johnny Walker), and the pool is broken and dry, you can't reach the river for nasty foliage and the staff is surly anyway. Only problem is the evacuees would have to bring their own cutlery, bedding, plates, cups, soap, towels and probably food. (The ANC party-goers don't bother with such extras).

So, not everyone is sanguine about having potential CV19 people within 15km of them.

[BoSoxGal]

Of everything going on around this pandemic, the most disgusting is the reactions of many to the infected - who are AT NO FAULT WHATSOEVER for being infected!! It’s a fucking virus and sooner or later everyone is going to get it - hopefully we can develop a vaccine at the earliest possible time which will help protect the most vulnerable to this virus, the elderly. But in the meantime there is no reason to rise up like a mob of . . . absolute bastards when your government is trying to repatriate fellow citizens who are infected and require treatment and monitoring and the comfort of being HOME.

And for what it’s worth, this is happening here as well - the comments sections on news stories are full of hateful scum saying we should turn away the cruise ships and the Americans in China should have been made to stay there, etc. by toxic humans who don’t understand science and have zero empathy for their fellow citizens.

I feel like pulling out some Camus, or Porter, or Saramago, or any of the other great works that remind us how absolute shit human beings can be as has been the case forevermore.

Really fucking depressing.

[BoSoxGal]

Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson have covid-19! In Australia on preproduction for a Baz Luhrmann film (on Elvis!!) and came down with it.

[Joe Guy]

Hanks is a high risk elderly man. There's a 3.6% chance that he will kick the bucket.

But seriously, if he did die from COVID-19, imagine the panic that would occur. On the other hand, if he does well, how many people will wrongly assume it's not as serious of a virus than it actually is.

[TPFKA@W]

Hanks is a diabetic geezer. He’s fecked.

[rubato]

The NBA has suspended the rest of the season after tonight's games.

" the most disgusting is the reactions of many to the infected - who are AT NO FAULT WHATSOEVER for being infected!! " It's god's judgement on the wicked. You know it, Ok, there will be a few infants and children killed along the way. What is the Christian term for 'collateral damage'? They were all going to grow up to be sinners anyway. 'Not a lick amiss' as Tom Sawyer's aunt Polly said.

yrs,
rubato

[Guinevere]

Hanks is a diabetic geezer. He’s fecked.

I didn’t know he was a diabetic.

He will have the best health care lots of $$ can buy, which should put him at the lower end of the risk pool. But anything is possible.

[BoSoxGal]

Hanks is a high risk elderly man. There's a 3.6% chance that he will kick the bucket.

But seriously, if he did die from COVID-19, imagine the panic that would occur. On the other hand, if he does well, how many people will wrongly assume it's not as serious of a virus than it actually is.

He’s actually 2 years away from officially being elderly - but if you refer to the chart I posted which you think is so humorous, people in their 60s have an elevated risk over folks in their 50s. Rita’s a cancer survivor from just a few years back, so her immune system could very likely be less than an average healthy person her age.

I guess those risk percentages don’t seem like a big deal - until you’re one of them. I’m around death on a very regular basis these days so maybe that accounts for me being not so cavalier about it all, especially the geezers I care about.

[Joe Guy]

He’s actually 2 years away from officially being elderly - but if you refer to the chart I posted which you think is so humorous, people in their 60s have an elevated risk over folks in their 50s. Rita’s a cancer survivor from just a few years back, so her immune system could very likely be less than an average healthy person her age.

I guess those risk percentages don’t seem like a big deal - until you’re one of them. I’m around death on a very regular basis these days so maybe that accounts for me being not so cavalier about it all, especially the geezers I care about.

Did you read my post? Where did I say anything about your chart being funny? I based the 3.6% chance of death for Hanks on a chart I found on Google that had that figure for people from age 60 - 69. I'm not going to go back and look for it. And now that I know he has diabetes, he may even be at a higher risk. The point I made that you missed is that a lot of people will be influenced by how he does with the COVID-19 virus and their response has the potential to have a negative effect no matter what happens with him

[Bicycle Bill]

NBA SUSPENDS SEASON DUE TO CORONAVIRUS;
ONE PLAYER ALREADY HAS TESTED POSITIVE FOR THE DISEASE
https://www.cbssports.com/general/news/ ... d-19/live/

On Wednesday night the NBA announced that their season was on indefinite suspension upon completion of all scheduled games being played that day.  One player, identified as Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, has tested positive for the coronavirus.  The Wednesday game between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder was in the middle of pre-game warmups and other activities when the players were instructed to leave the floor to await a decision from the league; an announcement postponing the game was made to a jeering crowd shortly afterwards.

With MLB's Opening Day, the annual March Madness that is the NCAA Championships, and the NHL stretch run and playoffs all coming up in the next month or so, and of course the Olympic Games in Tokyo scheduled to start in late July, fear of the possible spread of the virus among the crowds expected at these events is likely to prompt calls for their cancellation or postponement as well.  Other sports, such as NCAA basketball, XFL football, and European soccer, are still playing their games but to empty stadiums and arenas, which of course is seriously going to affect the revenues and the profitability of these various franchises.
_________________________________

OK, Mr. President, this is now uncharted territory.  No other disease outbreak in recent history — not SARS, not the Ebola outbreak, not the H1N1 flu epidemic of 2009, nothing — has caused so much concern that major sports events and organizations are saying it's too dangerous (or more properly, not enough is yet known about this) for "business as usual" and pulling the plug on their own businesses.  Harvard has evicted all their students from on-campus (dormitory) housing., telling them to go home and take their classes online.  Other schools and businesses across the country are doing the same thing, either shutting down or (in instances where it is feasible) telling their students and employees to work remotely from home.  The airlines, the cruise industry, the tourism industry in general, is cratering.  And your waffling, contradictory statements and actions aren't helping.

It's time for you to either be the leader that you pretend to be or get the hell out of the way and let the people who know what they are doing about diseases, immunology, and science do it.  The clock is ticking.  America and the rest of the world is waiting and watching.  What in the hell are you going to do about this?

-"BB"-

[MajGenl.Meade]

Official names have been announced for the virus responsible for COVID-19 (previously known as “2019 novel coronavirus”) and the disease it causes. The official names are:

Disease: coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

Virus: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
This name was chosen because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003. While related, the two viruses are different.

Intelligent behavior by Rudy Gobert:

The 27-year-old was listed as questionable ahead of the game due to “illness,” just days after the veteran center touched every media member’s microphone and recorder to make a point about the coronavirus

Bet those media folks are cursing their mics now!

[MajGenl.Meade]

Of everything going on around this pandemic, the most disgusting is the reactions of many to the infected - who are AT NO FAULT WHATSOEVER for being infected!!

Agreed. The township dwellers of Thaba Nchu though are very poor, in an unsanitary (in many places) and decayed environment and they don't understand. Probably don't have TV either. They have an excuse unlike so many affluent people who have access to information and disregard it.

The SA folks from Hubei have been in self-isolation and then PRC enforced isolation for two months now and none have tested positive. They are not permitted outside except to receive gov't guarded food deliveries once every few days. All highly organized. Even if they came here to Mazies, I'd not worry. Might not use the pool tho;........

[Gob]

Trump bans travel from Europe, but not the UK and Ireland....

Donald Trump has announced that the US would temporarily suspend most travel from the European Union, as the country reckons with the spread of coronavirus and the White House grapples with the severity of the situation.

The restrictions, which would begin on Friday and last for 30 days, would not apply to US citizens or to travelers from the UK. The restrictions apply to most foreign nationals who have been in the 26 countries of the Schengen area during the 14 days before their planned arrival in the US.

Trump made the announcement in an Oval Office speech on Wednesday evening on the federal response to what the World Health Organization has declared a global pandemic.

During the rare address to the nation, Trump defended his administration’s response while laying blame on the European Union for not acting quickly enough to address the “foreign virus”, saying US clusters had been “seeded” by European travelers.

“We made a lifesaving move with early action on China,” he said. “Now we must take the same action with Europe.”

Trump also downplayed warnings of a potential recession: “This is not a financial crisis, this is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome as a nation and as a world,” he said.

“The vast majority of Americans, the risk is very, very low,” he added, but he said that older Americans should avoid travel and endorsed social distancing and avoiding large gatherings. “Every community faces different risks,” he noted and encouraged Americans to listen to local officials.

[MajGenl.Meade]

This guy has the gall to criticize Joe Biden for talking rubbish? At least Joe wasn't reading a carefully prepared (aha!) script on a teleprompter

Minutes after President Donald Trump delivered a major address on the administration's response to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, his own administration and other US officials publicly contradicted three important claims from his speech... 1) the administration would ban all travel from Europe to the United States, 2) the ban would also apply to trade and cargo between the US and Europe, and 3) major health insurers would waive co-pays on coronavirus treatment.

1) Europe doesn't include UK* and Ireland (as Gob notes) and US Citizens and permanent residents are allowed back home, dammit. They shouldn't have gone to Europe anyway, the non KAG bastards
2) No, not trade, not cargo. Didn't say that. Didn't say that.
3) No, just testing - not treatment. Democrat/insurer plot

Not to mention...

Federal health officials insist that Americans cannot seek out a test for coronavirus on their own — contradicting a claim by President Trump that “anyone who wants a test can get a test.”

“You may not get a test unless a doctor or public health official prescribes a test,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alexander Azar said at an off-camera briefing at the White House on Saturday. “That is our medical system in the United States, in the same way that you may not get a cardiac medicine if your doctor doesn’t prescribe that.”

*apparently Brexit fixed that geographic anomaly.

[ex-khobar Andy]

I watched Trump's speech last night. For the first time that I can recall he stuck to his script despite the fact that the doctors have been begging him to put his large brain at their disposal for a solution to this virus. He did very well to memorize the speech because of course he disdains the use of a teleprompter. I was impressed. ([/s] for those who need it.)

So major insurers will not be looking for copays. Good. What about the uninsured? Usually - not always - they are the ones who can least afford to be billed for a test.

[ex-khobar Andy]

A question I would have for Trump is this. He listens - or says he does - to the experts, the scientists like Fauci. I wonder why he won't listen to the climate experts who seem to think that man-made CO2 and CH4 and other greenhouse gases are hurting us to disaster.