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General News COVID- 19 a.k.a. Coronavirus

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by Kyrielles, Mar 13, 2020.

  1. Kyrielles

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    https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html

    The link above has all the info known so far, by the U.S. at least, which isn't much. Lol

    Am I afraid of this virus? No, I'm not afraid it will kill me. Am I afraid of contracting the virus? Yes. Because it is contagious on some levels, and it's super dangerous to the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems. I am constantly seeing posts on social media sites of how this virus is a joke, "I'm not worried", and my favorite "not that many people have it". #1 it's not a joke, it's contagious, it's way more deadly than the flu, there's no vaccine, and at this point there's actually not a whole lot of factual information about it. #2 You should be worried regardless of your health. It shouldn't only be a worry if it's only out of fear of death yourself. It should be a worry because we all probably know/come into contact with an elderly person or someone with a weakened immune system on a daily basis. That's where the worry should be. When I see the comments about "I'm not worried" I always wanna be like so you dont know any old people or sick people? Lol. We need to worry enough at least about the people it'll strongly impact and take the precautions more seriously to prevent spread. #3 The number of cases. A lot of people have the mentality of, "well there's not that many cases." When actually no one can factually say that. How can we know how many cases there are if only a small amount of people have been tested. For example. In my area although the state advised schools, churches, etc. should close, people are still going. The local county and city government tell the public it's safe here there's zero cases. Lol. When in reality there's only zero cases because no one has been tested, and the ones who have been tested have no results yet. I just don't underatand how the government can tell people it's safe amd confidently say there's no cases although that's neither proven nor disprove because of lack of tests. Lol. Ooh. And the best one, so a lot of churches in my area are claiming that the governor is just trying to keep them from god, because he recommended churches not gathering. Rofl

    But anyways, point is, you should take it seriously no matter who or where you are.
     
  2. alwaysforever

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    I agree. People aren't taking this seriously enough. The virus is very contagious early one before people realize they are sick, so there is a high risk of community spread. Additionally the hospitals are unprepared. There aren't enough ICU beds in rural hospitals, and people are going to be turned away from the ER. To make matters worse, there isn't a decent sick leave policy and the health care system is profit driven and tied to employment. People need to work to live, and staying home could mean being evicted after losing work. I think that our country is going to be a mess for a long, long time as a result of all this.
     
  3. Kyrielles

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    Yes! I can't wait until there's actually more tests and more results, I'm really interested in the numbers. And so many people are gonna act shocked when more real factual numbers emerge. Lol. Are you in the U.S. too?
     
  4. alwaysforever

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    Yes, I am in Maine. I have family in who work in the medical profession and they are telling me the hospitals are completely unprepared. Also, trump vetoed more expansive testing protocols in order to help get re-elected, with the hopes that not knowing how many cases when things clear up would hide the gaping inadequacies of our government as a result of valuing the stock market over human lives.
     
  5. Kyrielles

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    I live in a sort of southern state and I agree hospitals and clinics are totally overwhelmed and underprepared. In my area they've opened up testing sites away from the clinic and hospital buildings and are urging people to go there if they have symptoms and to not come into the clinics and hospitals. But the horrible part is that although they have these testing sites they don't have enough tests, and can't even get the tests they did have developed for results. I am happy though with how our new state governor has been handling things. As for Trump and his administration I'm not a fan to begin with, but they have been handling this issue awfully. And the few good things he has done or said were actually things other people done or said that he just speaks out, claims, and takes credit for.
     
  6. LaurenSkye

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    Here's my take on the hype:
    This [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored]. Plus, [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored]. And if that wasn't bad enough, [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored] [censored]. There!
     
  7. Poofter

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    I will stick with what the doctors and scientists are saying. This virus, while contagious, is not that big of a threat. 98.6 percent of people who contract it survive. Only 2% of people who come into contact with the virus get infected. When science gives me numbers like that. I’m not really worried.

    I wash my hands frequently and have good personal hygiene. Not because it’s recently been recommended but, because I always have.

    It’s my opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of others or anyone here at EC that the media over hyped it and Big Pharma is making a play for cash.
     
  8. Madge Beurde

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    Pharma doesn’t need Covid 19 to make a big play for cash.
     
  9. alwaysforever

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    That's just the thing, though. It's not so much about you as everyone else around you who might be at more risk. Here in Maine, we have the one of the oldest demographics in the United States. Of that population, over half are at risk of serious illness. Healthier, younger people have milder symptoms, and that means they are more likely to spread they illness before realizing that they are sick, if they even realize it at all. In addition, the r0 increases in inclosed/crowded conditions.
     
  10. Kyrielles

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    I'm not saying to panic and spend money hoarding or for supplies not needed. I'm just saying it's a bigger deal than the u.s. government is making it seem. Therefore we should take the precautions to protect the safety of the elderly and sick. Personally I'm not worried about myself at all, but I am worried for certain people.
     
  11. Poofter

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    i understand limiting visitors to nursing homes or elderly and immune deficient people quarantining themselves. But to stop life the way it’s being done right now is plain and simple media and propaganda control to create fear and coerce a population to do what those that control media and propaganda want.

    I will spin conspiracy theories off of this all day long. Why are people buying bulk toilet paper for an illness that doesn’t even have diarrhea as a symptom?

    Ever read the book 1984? Or Animal Farm?

    I am not saying folks shouldn’t take saftey measures. But closing down schools is dumb, canceling college classes is ridiculous. Cancelling any and all public events is Insane. And even more insanity. These people who are afraid to go to public events are standing in line with 600 other people at the store to fist fight over a 12pk of toilet paper.

    The propaganda machine has won.
     
    #11 Poofter, Mar 15, 2020
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2020
  12. alwaysforever

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    I have read both 1984 and Animal Farm. George Orwell's essays are much better than his fiction writing. I encourage you to read them. However, that has nothing to do with science, and closing things down is exactly how you stop people from spreading something like this. This is a serious situation, and the facts won't change based on political spin. If I'm wrong, of course I would be thrilled because that means less people will die. However, the current data is grim.
     
  13. Poofter

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    98.6% survival is not a grim out look. Sorry it’s just not. I will respectfully agree to disagree with you on this virus is not political in nature at this point.
     
  14. alwaysforever

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    98.6 survival if you are healthy and have no underlying health conditions. Look at Italy right now. It depends on the demographic and access to care. The united states doesn't have a very healthy population to begin with, and many people don't have insurance. I have a friend in the ICU right now. Even young people who survive can lose 30 to 40% of lung capacity permanently.
     
  15. Oliverrrrr

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    Where did you get that 2% figure from?
    All the reports I'm hearing in Europe are that it's very highly contagious.

    As far as survivors go, we're hearing very little, too little, about them. Of the 14 to 20% who get it badly it's very possible that they'll have serious and lasting problems which could be permanant lung damage and reports are suggesting some get liver damage.

    Sure, 80% might only get mild symptoms, but if they don't take the chance that they may be contagious seriously then they may infecting countless people, including their more frail parents.

    This is not the flu, make no mistake. This is way worse than that.

    Yes, it's maddening that it's being played for nationalist/political/financial gain by some, but don't let that distract you from the big picture.
     
  16. Mirko

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    Actually it isn't dumb. Some of the newest scientific research on the virus as well as what public health officials are seeing happening on the ground indicates that children and others who are healthy or have no underlying medical conditions will likely exhibit only mild symptoms. This is enough to be contagious. If you have somebody standing in a group of people with the symptoms thinking it is nothing to worry about that person will have potentially affected the people around them. In some regions, people came home to their families, only to pass on the virus to them.

    Take a look at what happened in Italy or Spain for that matter at the moment.

    Researchers at John Hopkins University have calculated that the death rate is around 3.4% worldwide. If you look at what's happening in individual countries and regions for some this is higher, while for others it is lower.

    Plus, given the fact that in the United States testing has not been widely available and the nature of its health system, several reports have pegged the actual infection rate to be higher than what is officially being reported. So far, the United States has done a poor job in testing people or making tests accessible.

    It is about containing the spread, infection rate, and flattening the curve as much as possible, not providing possible avenues for it to grow or spread further.

    If it means that large gatherings or public events need to be cancelled so be it. It's better to use more caution then having to realise that the infection rate just grew exponentially.

    People panic buying non perishable items and toilet paper is unreasonable. Taking precautions, such as social distancing, avoiding large crowds and following common sense practices is quite reasonable.
     
  17. Tightrope

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    Some great comments. I am afraid of it spreading by carelessness and what it can do to those who are older or weaker, for whatever reason. I am less afraid of it itself since I have bounced back from these things or not gotten them and, ideally, I will remain like that.

    I also thought that some of the precautions are too much. I'd rather our governance errs on the side of caution than letting it go unchecked and then acting late. If there's a happy medium, I don't know what that would be.

    I will say that the psychological toll is likely to be drastic. In one week, we've gone into lifestyles that come right from doom and gloom movies. It's noticeable in how people are behaving in markets and how much less crowded the roads and bars and restaurants usually teeming with activity are. I am not really going anywhere and have canceled plans to go anywhere. I am not happy about that because getting out makes me happier. For people dealing with depression, this makes it run even deeper.
     
  18. musicteach

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    All I know is were shut down for two weeks starting tomorrow until at least the 30th.
     
  19. Mirko

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    You raised very valid and good points. When it comes to the psychological tolls, I do think that the media isn't helping there, and possibly contributing to it. I mean, most of the news is about the doom and gloom. There is very little about the fact that over 55% of known cases have recovered and that China seems to have been able to flatten the curve and has started to report only handful of cases originating in China itself. It is mentioned but it seems to be more an afterthought.

    Of course, sensationalism and the negatives are the attention grabbers - after all, we are hardwired for the negatives. That said, I so wish there would be more emphasis on how to maintain one's mental health during an epidemic and that social distancing does not equal isolation. I feel it would be worthwhile for the media to spend more time on how different regions, countries have started to cope and how they have started to come together. For example, despite being under lock down, Italians increasingly spend time together singing and socialising with their neighbours while being on their balconies. In another country (if I am not mistaken the Czech Republic), the government encouraged people to be active, go out into nature. Others have encouraged people to spend time with each other while maintaining 6 feet or 2 metres between them. There is a good article on the BBC News site on protecting one's mental health or doing things that could potentially help.

    There is certainly an adjustment, and I don't want to minimise it; it is hard to switch from one way of doing things to another and seeing the effects on our daily routines and lives. I am still hopeful; even though the virus has brought out the worst in some of us humans, which hasn't helped our fears and anxieties, that at the end of the day we don't forget to check in with our family, friends, as well as neighbours (including of course the most vulnerable members in our societies), and make sure to check in with ourselves not to be greedy or selfish and find ways to help each other getting through this even in the absence of real leadership from some of the political leaders out there. :slight_smile:
     
  20. Chip

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    Uh, no one credible is saying that.

    To give you an idea, the typical flu that hits the US has a mortality rate of about 1/10th of 1%. The covid-19 virus has a mortality rate, from the best data we have at present, of between 1 and 3%. That means 10 to 30 times as many deaths. There were, I think, 100K deaths from flu last year in the US, which means between 1 and 3 million deaths from covid-19... IF the high end numbers are correct. And worse, it is orders of magnitude more contagious.

    Because our wonderful, competent leader is so completely out to lunch, we lost the chance to contain the virus, so now we are stuck trying to mitigate it. And because of the rapid spread, cases will double about every 4-7 days. There were 500 cases a couple weeks ago. Now there are 3500. By next week at thsi time, there will be somewhere between 6-10,000. The next week, 30K, then 60K, then 120k. Well over a million by late April. Get the picture? THAT is why public health officials are freaking out and doing mandated business and school closures.

    I don't know where you got that statistic, but it is dead wrong.

    That's special. But it won't keep you from getting infected if you are around a lot of people. The only way to prevent tens or hundreds of millions from getting infected, and millions from dying, is following the best guidelines out there. That isn't hyperbole or hysteria, it's fact.

    Given that we are at least 18 months away from a vaccine, and there is no effective pharmaceutical treatment for the virus, that's basically bullshit.

    Here are some articles with pretty unimpeachable sources:
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/
    https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca
    https://www.reddit.com/r/CoronavirusCA/comments/fdieal/psa_a_note_of_caution_regarding_covid19/

    Want accurate up-to-the-minute data on the increasing infection rate and death rate?
    https://ncov2019.live/data

    A scary statistical look on how unprepared our medical system is:
    https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/10/simple-math-alarming-answers-covid-19/

    If you can really read all that and still tell me it's minor and a manufactured, bogus crisis... well, all I can say is I'm sorry you're lacking in critical thinking skills.
     
    #20 Chip, Mar 16, 2020
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2020