COVID-19

[Cogito]

Walt ,

Whether you eat out or cook is your personal choice. That not up to debate.

I am just trying to bring some objectivity, some science to understand the numbers, instead of blindly panicking.

[SoundMods]

Walt ,

Whether you eat out or cook is your personal choice. That not up to debate.

I am just trying to bring some objectivity, some science to understand the numbers, instead of blindly panicking.

There is no panic here. My wife is on the "front lines" of this pandemic at UMMC where she is a provider. The patients that have been admitted are placed in a dedicated ICU.
The typical stay is 4 to 5 weeks and most of that time they're on a ventilator with a tube down their throats in a near comatose state.
They are the lucky ones. Others that have been admitted barely lasted 24-hours before dying.
COVID-19 can "travel" without infecting and is easily transferred person to person as a wet aerosol.
It can infect with any number of symptoms or just one such as diarrhea, severe headaches, cold-like or flu-like symptoms, bronchitis, pneumonia, difficulty breathing, etc.
It is especially nasty with those with other issues, heart, diabetes, and lung diseases such as asthma, COPD, and the like.
COVID even has a taste for certain blood types especially blood type group O.
Plus -- I am old enough to have a very clear and bad memory about the Asian Flu pandemic in 1956. I was sick as dog for 10 fucking days!
So -- there is no panic here -- I am just not foolish enough to think that it can't happen to me. Because it can if I am stupid and assemble with a group somewhere or dine in a restaurant while this thing is still doing its damage.
Finally, to add insult to injury, as already pointed out in this thread, testing is not necessarily conclusive and there has been cases of false negatives with infected patients.
That's my two cents and I expect change!

[Cogito]

Walt,

Read what you just wrote, it screams PANIC!!

[DaveR]

Sounded pretty calm to me.

[Pelliott321]

there is panic here either.
I think one on one visits are fine with proper precautions. What is wrong with being cautious?
Six, ten, twenty or so people in a basement for a few hours is not being cautious.
Death would definitely be a better alternative to this noise

[Jim G]

There is a moral imperative to stop the hospitalization of people with Covid by stopping the spread. The moral obligation is obvious. It's reprehensible to put the lives of EMTs, Nurses, Doctors, and hospital staff at risk so an individual can live life "normally" dancing at the Disco bumper to bumper. There are only estimates of course, but the current estimate is likely 1000 front line workers died in just 90 days. Naturally, the official number is lower. Regardless, is it acceptable to sacrifice these people so we don't have to cook dinner at home, or so we can drink with our friends? I have a family member who works in an ICU department in a former hot spot. The stress on these people is unimaginable, and at this stage should be unnecessary.

The death toll is dropping largely because the most vulnerable older people have been isolated. Right now, the typical resident at an assisted living, nursing, or memory center facility is locked in their room 24 hours a day with virtually no human contact other than the minimum necessary to keep them alive. This is currently how my mother is living as an end stage Parkinsons patient and is unbelievably sad to watch happen. The young people who staff these places and who live in the general population with all of us are more and more likely to pick up the virus as cases soar. It is not "good" that they become asymptomaticly infected as it increases the likelihood of someone slipping through the cracks and transmitting it to their patients (what happened in the original surge) even with these awful isolation restrictions in place. It is also not "good" for young people who are in close contact with others professionally to be asymptomatic. That's just crazy talk.

Based on what other countries are doing it appears to be possible to reduce infection, hospitalization (the important thing), and (ultimately) deaths, and also restart some economic activity. Sadly, Americans often don't do the right thing until exhausting all other possibilities.

[Pelliott321]

I heard today that it looks like there is a possibility of two stains that are prevalent.
The original Hunan, is one that is hard to get but has very severe symptoms and was the cause of most of the early deaths.
Then there is the Italian mutation that is very easily spread but symptoms are not severe and this is the one that is playing havoc in our south and west and is spreading this way.
This is still speculation just one of the many theories floating around.

[Cogito]

The death toll is dropping largely because the most vulnerable older people have been isolated. Right now, the typical resident at an assisted living, nursing, or memory center facility is locked in their room 24 hours a day with virtually no human contact other than the minimum necessary to keep them alive. .

That is certainly one of the contributing factors for lower death rates. There were reports from several hospitals that since about a month ago, the severity of illness due to COVID-19 infection has significantly reduced and recovery times have also reduced. That is how all virus behave, they are not "constant".

An anecdotal evidence:
In the middle of April, three of my sister's friends, retired doctors in their early 70 died of corona virus in Baltimore County. They were in decent health for their age. That is how potent Corona was then. Now, its a totally different story.

[SoundMods]

Walt,

Read what you just wrote, it screams PANIC!!

Only because it is NOT what you want to hear so you can justify a DIY meet despite the pandemic and people's concerns for their well being and health.
Just throw a tantrum and get it out of your system!

[Grover Gardner]

Paul,

I am posting two images which might explain why we are seeing so many new cases.

A4107D93-7600-4D14-82C3-30FA337B0C2D.jpeg

DB2FD3C2-A4C2-4574-A767-E752004176BA.jpeg

Not only is that Atlantic article six weeks old, but it implies that things may be *worse* than they are, not better. And quoting a urologist who cost his hospital $12.5 million in a fraud settlement probably isn't the best way to bolster your case.