***NON-POLITICAL COVID-19 Discussion Thread***

[JakeF]

A couple of reminders...

Originally Posted by Bwana

Once again, don't come in this thread with some kind of political agenda, or you will be shown the door. If you want to go that route, there is a thread about this in DC.

Originally Posted by Dartgod

People, there is a lot of good information in this thread, let's try to keep the petty bickering to a minimum.

We all have varying opinions about the impact of this, the numbers, etc. We will all never agree with each other. But we can all keep it civil.

Thanks!

Click here for the original OP:

Spoiler!

Apparently the CoronaVirus can survive on a inanimate objects, such as door knobs, for 9 days.

California coronavirus case could be first spread within U.S. community, CDC says
By SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA, JACLYN COSGROVE
FEB. 26, 2020 8:04 PM

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating what could be the first case of novel coronavirus in the United States involving a patient in California who neither recently traveled out of the country nor was in contact with someone who did.

“At this time, the patient’s exposure is unknown. It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States,” the CDC said in a statement. “Community spread means spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown. It’s also possible, however, that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected.”

The individual is a resident of Solano County and is receiving medical care in Sacramento County, according to the state Department of Public Health.

The CDC said the “case was detected through the U.S. public health system — picked up by astute clinicians.”

Officials at UC Davis Medical Center expanded on what the federal agency might have meant by that in an email sent Wednesday, as reported by the Davis Enterprise newspaper.

The patient arrived at UC Davis Medical Center from another hospital Feb. 19 and “had already been intubated, was on a ventilator, and given droplet protection orders because of an undiagnosed and suspected viral condition,” according to an email sent by UC Davis officials that was obtained by the Davis Enterprise.

The staff at UC Davis requested COVID-19 testing by the CDC, but because the patient didn’t fit the CDC’s existing criteria for the virus, a test wasn’t immediately administered, according to the email. The CDC then ordered the test Sunday, and results were announced Wednesday. Hospital administrators reportedly said in the email that despite these issues, there has been minimal exposure at the hospital because of safety protocols they have in place.

A UC Davis Health spokesperson declined Wednesday evening to share the email with The Times.

Since Feb. 2, more than 8,400 returning travelers from China have entered California, according to the state health department. They have been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days and limit interactions with others as much as possible, officials said.

“This is a new virus, and while we are still learning about it, there is a lot we already know,” Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “We have been anticipating the potential for such a case in the U.S., and given our close familial, social and business relationships with China, it is not unexpected that the first case in the U.S. would be in California.”

It is not clear how the person became infected, but public health workers could not identify any contacts with people who had traveled to China or other areas where the virus is widespread. That raises concern that the virus is spreading in the United States, creating a challenge for public health officials, experts say.

“It’s the first signal that we could be having silent transmission in the community,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. “It probably means there are many more cases out there, and it probably means this individual has infected others, and now it’s a race to try to find out who that person has infected.”

On Tuesday, the CDC offered its most serious warning to date that the United States should expect and prepare for the coronavirus to become a more widespread health issue.

“Ultimately, we expect we will see coronavirus spread in this country,” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “It’s not so much a question of if, but a question of when.”

According to the CDC’s latest count Wednesday morning, 59 U.S. residents have tested positive for the new strain of coronavirus — 42 of whom are repatriated citizens from a Diamond Princess cruise. That number has grown by two since Messonnier’s last count Tuesday, although the CDC was not immediately available to offer details on the additional cases.

More than 82,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported globally, and more than 2,700 people have died, with the majority in mainland China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

But public health leaders have repeatedly reminded residents that the health risk from the novel coronavirus to the general public remains low.

“While COVID-19 has a high transmission rate, it has a low mortality rate,” the state Department of Public Health said in a statement Wednesday. “From the international data we have, of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, approximately 80% do not exhibit symptoms that would require hospitalization. There have been no confirmed deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States to date.”

CDC officials have also warned that although the virus is likely to spread in U.S. communities, the flu still poses a greater risk.

Gostin said the news of potential silent transmission does not eliminate the possibility of containing the virus in the U.S. and preventing an outbreak.

“There are few enough cases that we should at least try,” he said. “Most of us are not optimistic that that will be successful, but we’re still in the position to try.”

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Right. But at this point in time, social distancing doesn't allow for nail tech's and hair stylists.

Verbatim from Colorado's guidelines:

"Personal services — hair and nail salons, dog groomers, personal training, tattoo parlors —can reopen with strict guidelines in place."

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Verbatim from Colorado's guidelines:

"Personal services — hair and nail salons, dog groomers, personal training, tattoo parlors —can reopen with strict guidelines in place."

Cool. I hope it works out so that other states can either follow suit or learn from any mistakes.

A close friend owns a salon in Hollywood and she's been shut down for more than a month. If there's a way she can safely reopen, it would be awesome for her and her family, including her husband and three young children.

[dirk digler]

Good timing on the discussion and so I would think they are hearing from alot of business about the threat of potential lawsuits when they re-open.

I don't think they should be shielded if they don't take reasonable precautions though.

White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow on Wednesday said that businesses should not be held responsible for employees or customers getting sick as governors move to reopen state economies.

Businesses, particularly small businesses that don’t have massive resources, should not be held liable — should not be held to trial lawyers putting on false lawsuits that will probably be thrown out of court,” Kudlow told CNBC. “You have to give the businesses some confidence here that if something happens, and it may not be their fault — I mean, the disease is an infectious disease.”

Kudlow continued: “If something happens, you can’t take them out of business. You can’t throw big lawsuits at them. And I think liability reforms and safeguards are going to be very important part of this. Some of this we can do probably on a regulatory basis. Part of it may require some additional legislation. But that’s a very important point here. Someone has to defend the businesses.”

[Demonpenz]

Insurance paying out on a liability claim would pretty common. Having a suit going to court would not. Insurance companies would probably just pay the medical bills and a bit more for loss of work pain and suffering if the claim wasn't catastrophic.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Demonpenz

Insurance paying out on a liability claim would pretty common. Having a suit going to court would not. Insurance companies would probably just pay the medical bills and a bit more for loss of work pain and suffering if the claim wasn't catastrophic.

no ****ing way is an insurance company going to want to pay.


have you ever dealt with one? i do every day almost. on cars and on medical stuff. just got off the phone with a lawyer less than 10 minutes ago and an insurance company is wanting to not pay for an xray done at the ER after being transported to a hospital via ambulance because their driver drove across 4 lanes on a highway and hit us head on...


they've argued every little detail on everything to TRY to get their settlement lower. not happening.

[Demonpenz]

Originally Posted by SAUTO

no ****ing way is an insurance company going to want to pay.


have you ever dealt with one? i do every day almost. on cars and on medical stuff. just got off the phone with a lawyer less than 10 minutes ago and an insurance company is wanting to not pay for an xray done at the ER after being transported to a hospital via ambulance because their driver drove across 4 lanes on a highway and hit us head on...


they've argued every little detail on everything to TRY to get their settlement lower. not happening.

I worked as a call service rep for insurance for 10 years but that doesn't mean I know anything. Just what I gathered in my time there.

[R Clark]

Originally Posted by SAUTO

no ****ing way is an insurance company going to want to pay.


have you ever dealt with one? i do every day almost. on cars and on medical stuff. just got off the phone with a lawyer less than 10 minutes ago and an insurance company is wanting to not pay for an xray done at the ER after being transported to a hospital via ambulance because their driver drove across 4 lanes on a highway and hit us head on...


they've argued every little detail on everything to TRY to get their settlement lower. not happening.

You have my sympathy trying to deal with asshole insurance people. Knowing they are dead wrong and still fighting tooth an nail.they try to just wear you out , hopefully the lawyer takes a load off your plate.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Demonpenz

Insurance paying out on a liability claim would pretty common. Having a suit going to court would not. Insurance companies would probably just pay the medical bills and a bit more for loss of work pain and suffering if the claim wasn't catastrophic.

Could get pretty crazy. For liability, probably a ton of focus on errors and omissions. Did the business put enough safeguards in place. Same with work comp... A claimant will have to prove the virus was due to the course of employment and I bet directors and officers will quite a few lawsuits. The biggest issue continues to be business interruption and contingent interruption. It's not anybodys fault that most businesses exclude pandemics. But it leaves a big hole.

[dirk digler]

FDA Commissioner says the current timeline estimate for a coronavirus vaccine is March 2021. "We're really trying to accelerate the efforts, and we will try for sooner."

— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) April 22, 2020

[ghak99]

Originally Posted by IowaHawkeyeChief

The 600 to 1 ratio isn't hypothetical. It is this the actual ratio of those who have lost their job in the last 8 weeks compared to those that have died and it is growing daily....

Ok.

Daface gave us the hypothetical specs, which was random people. I hear he likes numbers though, so maybe try arguing with him?

[petegz28]

What in the ever-loving **** is going on in NY? I mean we all know they are a dense population but their numbers are just so ****ing insanely out of whack with the rest of the entire country. And they still keep cranking out 5,000ish new cases a day. They have 262,000+ total cases. The next closest is NJ at 93k total cases.

What is or maybe more importantly isn't happening in NY?

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by petegz28

What in the ever-loving **** is going on in NY? I mean we all know they are a dense population but their numbers are just so ****ing insanely out of whack with the rest of the entire country. And they still keep cranking out 5,000ish new cases a day. They have 262,000+ total cases. The next closest is NJ at 93k total cases.

What is or maybe more importantly isn't happening in NY?

Maybe people of Italian descent are more susceptible? (JK)

It really doesn't make sense.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by petegz28

What in the ever-loving **** is going on in NY? I mean we all know they are a dense population but their numbers are just so ****ing insanely out of whack with the rest of the entire country. And they still keep cranking out 5,000ish new cases a day. They have 262,000+ total cases. The next closest is NJ at 93k total cases.

What is or maybe more importantly isn't happening in NY?

It's easier to avoid being within 20 feet of multiple people for sustained period of time everywhere else in the country?

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

It's easier to avoid being within 20 foot of multiple people for sustained period of time everywhere else in the country?

Something, man. It just seems like it is a steady stream of people getting this up there unlike anywhere else.

[O.city]

It’s leveled it’s just not a quick descent