COVID-19 (Wuhan Novel Coronavirus) Pandemic Master Thread

[yuneeq]

Analogy doesn't hold up.  If he was driving with his FIL in the car, that wouldn't have killed his FIL's mother.

His FILs mother was a pedestrian crossing the street. Or she wasn’t, and the analogy is that spreading COVID is as reckless as drunk driving, but worse, because it’s contagious.

[Ergel]

Analogy doesn't hold up.  If he was driving with his FIL in the car, that wouldn't have killed his FIL's mother.

Amazing that that's your takeaway

[SSLPhD]

His FILs mother was a pedestrian crossing the street. Or she wasn’t, and the analogy is that spreading COVID is as reckless as drunk driving, but worse, because it’s contagious.

Amazing that that's your takeaway

The analogy doesn't work *because* COVID-19 is worse.

But also, I think the FIL was more responsible for his mother's death, and possibly his own, than the man in the article.

If you want to use the drunk driving analogy, it would have to go something like, "Man drives drunk with drunken FIL in car.  FIL grabs the steering wheel and crashes into his mother, killing all but the driver. It's unclear if the mother was drunk, too."

In the actual story, we don't even know if two deaths were the extent of the damage. Just within the man's family.

[Kobe Bryant]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-18/new-zealand-has-first-community-case-of-covid-19-in-three-weeks

[YankyDoodle]

Schools were closed early on, but opened in August. Some even opened for summer school. To my knowledge, procedures were minor impacted, depending on when it was scheduled for and in which hospital system. @YankyDoodle has better info than I do there. I know the Cleveland Clinic system has pretty much been full-go since May. Keep in mind, FL only recorded ~4.5k Covid deaths before July 16. They've recorded 11k since then. (ETA: FL did have a shutdown of sorts for a month in April. It was not as severe as NY/NJ.)

Hospital procedures were significantly shutdown throughout South Florida the first time around (March-May/June). When Florida was actually hit hard (~July-September), there was more divergence. Some hospitals shut down elective procedures but most continued business as usual. Hospitals with heavy COVID loads stopped elective cases that were likely to require in-hospital stays (didn't have spare beds). This was fairly reasonable as we didn't have any way of knowing who had COVID during the first wave (testing procedures were not set and turnaround time/availability was poor. Afterwards the protocols were much improved and have proven fairly effective.

[Lurker]

https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/cvs-to-hire-15000-nationwide

[Kobe Bryant]

[Kobe Bryant]

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy was in contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday and is going into self-quarantine. He made the announcement in the middle of an unrelated news briefing on Wednesday.

It wasn't clear who Murphy had been in contact with or when he learned of the potential exposure risk. Murphy said he was last tested on Monday, his last COVID briefing, and was negative. He said he would be retested Wednesday.

[neveryou]

FINALLY SOMEONE HAS SAID IT!!!!!

I have done my best to respect the diverse opinions regarding COVID-19 over these past few months, however the ER nurse that posted this brilliantly sums up my train of thought :
Please just take politics out of it and read this with an open mind using common sense.

"Anyone out there who can tell me what our end game is with the covid 19?

What is the magic formula that is going to allow us to sound the all clear?

Is it zero cases?

The only way that will happen is if we just stop testing and stop reporting.

Is it a vaccine?

It took 25 years for a chicken pox vaccine to be developed.
The smallpox inoculation was discovered in 1796 the last known natural case was in 1977.

We have a flu vaccine that is only 40 to 60% effective and less than half of the US population choose to get one, and roughly 20,000 Americans will die of the flu or flu complications.

Oh, you'll mandate it, like other vaccines are mandated in order to attend school, travel to some foreign countries, etc.

We already have a growing number of anti vaxxers refusing proven, tested, well known vaccines that have been administered for decades but aren’t necessarily safe!

Do you really think people will flock to get a fast tracked, quickly tested vaccine, whose long term side effects and overall efficacy are anyone's best guess?

How long are we going to cancel and postpone and reconsider?
You aren't doing in person school until second quarter?

What if October's numbers are the same as August's?

You moved football to spring?

What if next March is worse than this one was?

When do we decide quality of life outweighs the risks?

I understand Covid can be deadly or very dangerous for SOME people, but so are strawberries and so is shellfish.

We take risks multiple times a day without a second thought.
We know driving a car can be dangerous, we don't leave it in the garage. Many speed and don't wear seat belts.

We know the dangers of smoking, drinking and eating fried foods, we do it anyway.

Is hugging Grandma really more dangerous than rush hour on the freeway?

Is going out with friends after work more risky than 4 day old gas station sushi?

Or operating a chainsaw?

When and how did we so quickly lose our free will and give up our liberty?

Is there a waiver somewhere I can sign that says, "I understand the risks, but I choose a life with Hugs and Smiles, and the State Fair and go to Church and go hug my Mom in her retirement home?

I understand that there is a minuscule possibility I could die, but I will most likely end up feeling like crap for a few days.

I understand I could possibly pass it to someone else, if I'm not careful, but I can pass any virus onto someone else.

I'm struggling to see where or how this ends.

We either get busy living or we get busy dying.

When God decides it's your time, you don't get any mulligans, so I guess I would rather spend my time enjoying it and living in the moment and not worrying about what ifs and maybes, and I bet I'm not the only one.

(I copied this from someone else. Feel free to do the same.)

[yelped]

How did this nurse make it through school?

Might as well quote it from the head of the department at the biggest hospital in the US.

[Lurker]

FINALLY SOMEONE HAS SAID IT!!!!!

As if this is any different than the same forwards that have been going around since April? Regurgitated BS.

[ExGingi]

As if this is any different than the same forwards that have been going around since April? Regurgitated BS. #SecondWave

FTFY

[Kobe Bryant]

One of Vice President Mike Pence’s closest political advisers, Marty Obst, tested positive for coronavirus infection this week Bloomberg news reported.

[Kobe Bryant]

Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, has been diagnosed with Covid-19, the Vice President's office announced in a statement, marking the second top Pence aide to test positive this week.

"Today, Marc Short, Chief of Staff to the Vice President, tested positive for COVID-19, began quarantine and assisting in the contact tracing process," Pence's press secretary Devin O'Malley said in a statement. "Vice President Pence and Mrs. Pence both tested negative for COVID-19 today, and remain in good health."

[PlatinumGuy]

https://twitter.com/youarelobbylud/status/1323715024477540352?s=21

[ckmk47]

[tweet]1323715024477540352[/tweet]?s=21

Why not ventilate both?

[drosenberg88429]

Why not ventilate both?

The insinuation of the tweet is that there is an insufficient supply of ventilators to handle even the relatively young people that nobody thought would need them.

[PlatinumGuy]

I think it’s more about a lack of doctors in Belgium but I could be wrong

[PlatinumGuy]

https://twitter.com/lucyvandorp/status/1324088676624773123?s=21

[aygart]

I think it’s more about a lack of doctors in Belgium but I could be wrong

They must love socialized medicine