Coronavirus Updates

[Isabeau]

I’ve also been wondering about why some are more affected than others. Obviously, the older and more vulnerable, but just in general. I recently read about the differences between people who are more susceptible to colds and flus, and those who seem to rarely get sick/show symptoms. I think I’ve had the flu once in my life (that affected me). The research is still relatively new, and may not apply to this type of virus, but I found it interesting. Maybe if we are able to pinpoint the reason, it could help in the future.

 

[Sovereignty]

Oh, I think we all know. It will end with a lot of dead people. The only question is whether they die in a short time frame that is majorly disruptive or in a longer time frame that we can better manage as a society.

From what we're seeing now -- but don't clearly understand -- most people aren't that badly affected, but a smaller segment are knocked off their keister and if they're too old or health-compromised, they die. I'm curious as to whether there's some kind of biological/genetic difference between those two different outcomes. If there is an underlying component, then we're in for a Great Culling as the virus takes out the vulnerable people, over and over again as they age or contract other conditions. After a few decades, when we emerge from the other side, the human population that is left standing would be fine from that time on.

I am more optimistic. My optimism is that some therapeutic treatment will emerge. A number of drugs have shown promise in vitro, drugs that have already been proven to be safe enough like Remdesivir and Ivermectin. (Yes, people debate the safety of hydroxychloroquine even though a poorer tolerated version of it was used to treat Malaria for decades.)

Perhaps we will eventually find a solution through theoretical understanding and anecdotal evidence. Effective treatments have been discovered for diseases without randomized placebo-controlled trials in the past. Perhaps ... perhaps ... RCT's will be used mainly to convince sceptics and control allocation of resources more than for learning what is therapeutic and what is not.

What really gives me hope is that we have far greater theoretical understanding of COVID-19 in a short time than we've had for other diseases in the past. I am amazed at how much our knowledge of immunity has been advanced by study of diseases like AIDS (immense breakthroughs), SARS, MERS, Ebola, etc. Awareness of this knowledge within the general public has not kept up.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Compare that with the baseball bullshit from 45..........

It would be sad if there would be no difference between being daddy's pampered son (Trump) and having earned PhD in theoretical physics (Merkel), would it? Merkel's PhD is not just for show, but she really had to work hard for it over years to achieve it.

While in contrast this is what Trump's teacher has the world to tell:

 

[Sid]

Not a great teacher either, if he talks about (former) students in public.

 

[danielravennest]

THe second is a fast and effective test so we can identify people who are ill and target quarantine measures where we need them.

The US has only run about 5 tests for every positive result. That's not enough to trace the contacts of a positive case, and *their* contacts. To do that you need more like 20 tests per positive result.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

Not a great teacher either, if he talks about (former) students in public.

Thing is, one, he's deceased, and two, it wasn't in public, but to someone he knew rather well [like a family friend or a son - I don't remember where I first heard this though, its been a while].

 

[Free]

Thing is, one, he's deceased, and two, it wasn't in public, but to someone he knew rather well [like a family friend or a son - I don't remember where I first heard this though, its been a while].

Maybe his psychiatrist blabbed.

 

[Kara Spengler]

Not a great teacher either, if he talks about (former) students in public.

Do teachers take an oath or something now? I would file it under politeness but was not aware education had the equivalent of hippa.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Do teachers take an oath or something now? I would file it under politeness but was not aware education had the equivalent of hippa.

FERPA. We get lots of training on protecting student data.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

No. The lockdowns are preventing hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. Look at Italy and imagine 10x the cases.

Certainly the overriding strategic goal in the UK is keep the rate of infection from overwhelming the NHS' ability to cope, which it seems we're achieving

Coronavirus: We can cope with peak, hospital bosses say

Thousands of intensive care and hospital beds remain available as the UK heads for a peak in coronavirus cases.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Not a great teacher either, if he talks about (former) students in public.

Did One of Trump’s College Professors Call Him ‘the Dumbest...

Tl;dr After his death, a friend of his attributed the remark to him in a magazine interview.

So, at most, he talked about his former student in private, and in what he believed was a conversation that would go no further, if in fact he said anything at all about Trump to his friend.

 

[Ashiri]

Ok, time to rant.
The practice of abbreviating the virus name really bugs me.
End rant.

 

[Soen Eber]

Ok, time to rant.
The practice of abbreviating the virus name really bugs me.
End rant.

In COVID-19, 'CO' stands for 'corona,' 'VI' for 'virus,' and 'D' for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV”. There are many types of human coronaviruses including some that commonly cause mild upper-respiratory tract illnesses.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

In COVID-19, 'CO' stands for 'corona,' 'VI' for 'virus,' and 'D' for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV”. There are many types of human coronaviruses including some that commonly cause mild upper-respiratory tract illnesses.

Well, its more the 'Rona thing - for me, I prefer Covid-19 since there are other Corona viruses out there, and I can't help being a bit nitpicky....

 

[Ashiri]

Well, its more the 'Rona thing - for me, I prefer Covid-19 since there are other Corona viruses out there, and I can't help being a bit nitpicky....

Or even calling it corona by itself.
(Next time there's a report of a CME, will we get people claiming the sun is infecting us?)

 

[Sovereignty]

Ok, time to rant.
The practice of abbreviating the virus name really bugs me.
End rant.

Okay.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Coronavirus - Two. I think that's the unabbreviated name.

 

[Kara Spengler]

Certainly the overriding strategic goal in the UK is keep the rate of infection from overwhelming the NHS' ability to cope, which it seems we're achieving

Coronavirus: We can cope with peak, hospital bosses say

Thousands of intensive care and hospital beds remain available as the UK heads for a peak in coronavirus cases.

www.bbc.co.uk

Right, it is like removing the air from a balloon. You can let it slowly deflate or you can pop it. The same amount of air comes out either way but the latter is more disruptive.

 

[Kara Spengler]

Ok, time to rant.
The practice of abbreviating the virus name really bugs me.
End rant.

cv? Ducks.

What I am annoyed with is just calling it coronavirus ... which is a class of diseases. Or even novel before it as that just means new and will not make sense the next time there is one.

 

[Free]

So, at most, he talked about his former student in private, and in what he believed was a conversation that would go no further, if in fact he said anything at all about Trump to his friend.

The issue is, does it sound like something he, or any former teacher of Trump's, would have said.

 

[Fionalein]

No. The lockdowns are preventing hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. Look at Italy and imagine 10x the cases.

Here's the sad truth: the hospitals will be overwhelmed no matter what we do, but any step back to normal steals time we could invest in getting more infrastructure and reducing the number of people we have to sacrifice once the system collapses. If we start loosening the lockdowns now aleady we could as well never have started them...

So as said I still think the hard but short lockdowns were a publicity stunt before caving in to the industry lobby.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Coronavirus: world's biggest trial of drug to treat Covid-19 begins in UK

Scientists involved in Recovery trial, with over 5,000 test subjects, hope for answers within weeks

www.theguardian.com

The article mentions patients in hospital, so I don't know if it's connected, but yesterday I received a text from the local NHS practice where I'm registered telling me that they're participating in a trial, too, and inviting patients who have been showing symptoms of Covid-19 (dry cough, fever, fatigue) for less than a week to participate.