Coronavirus

[hunnus2000]

Has anyone else seen this?

https://www.wpbf.com/article/rossen-reports-new-phone-related-technology-shows-how-coronavirus-can-spread-due-to-partygoers/32702717

Well duh...

Alcohol makes you lose control of yourself. Your body takes control of itself, it's why they call them Spirits. You tend to act on natural actions, sex, violence, and emotions. You'll share things, a drink, smoke, kissing. So it's inevitable they spread things. It's how STDs can transmit from the whore no one knew was one, that every guy had their way with that night.

OoooooK. Wasn't - quite - expecting THAT!   

I was just thinking about the possible spread of the virus from that one event. In fact, it was reported Friday that this one guy had tested positive and he was going to 4 or 5 bars at the Lake that weekend.

Also, I am quite uncomfortable about how that company is tracing all those cell phones without our consent. Does this bug anyone else?

[Ben_Jamin]

Has anyone else seen this?

https://www.wpbf.com/article/rossen-reports-new-phone-related-technology-shows-how-coronavirus-can-spread-due-to-partygoers/32702717

Well duh...

Alcohol makes you lose control of yourself. Your body takes control of itself, it's why they call them Spirits. You tend to act on natural actions, sex, violence, and emotions. You'll share things, a drink, smoke, kissing. So it's inevitable they spread things. It's how STDs can transmit from the whore no one knew was one, that every guy had their way with that night.

OoooooK. Wasn't - quite - expecting THAT!   

I was just thinking about the possible spread of the virus from that one event. In fact, it was reported Friday that this one guy had tested positive and he was going to 4 or 5 bars at the Lake that weekend.

Also, I am quite uncomfortable about how that company is tracing all those cell phones without our consent. Does this bug anyone else?

My apologies if that was unexpected, I was kind of agitated that day.

To your question, yes, it bugs me. It's why people are upset their governers are imposing these contact tracing orders.

[hunnus2000]

Yes Ben_Jamin - that was certainly unexpected. 

But about your comment about contact tracing, it's really a necessity where the Dept. of Health tracts infectious diseases of ALL types from the yearly flu to aids, venereal diseases and yes corona viruses. That way they can track it, who has it and maybe predict where the next outbreak may be. The key to tracing however is reliable tests and if we had tests in Feb. we could have started tracing back then and maybe we could have shut things down sooner and been back opening the nation sooner at the worst or leave things open but have strict testing guidelines.

Either way, I wouldn't worry too much about contact tracing, it's been going on far longer than anyone realizes and no - it's not Big Brother.

What seems to be Big Brother is that one company tracing our cell phones which means that they have personal information that I doubt was authorized for use.

[XeRocks81]

btw reading the first few pages of this thread is kind of trippy. Little did we know...

[Cool Chris]

Ha I read through the first page a week ago. Definitely an interesting little time capsule.

[MirrorMask]

btw reading the first few pages of this thread is kind of trippy. Little did we know...

Ha I read through the first page a week ago. Definitely an interesting little time capsule.

Yeah, it's one of those things I wanted to suggest, to go back and see how it all unfolded... who would have imaged that this would have become the "thread of the year"?

[Northern Lion]

Hey everyone, I thought I would share some good news. This comes from a right leaning news source, but I figure good news is good news so I hope you all don't mind.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/coronavirus-becoming-much-less-lethal-virus-is-losing-its-potency-top-doctor-reveals

Happy Sunday everyone!

[lordxizor]

Hey everyone, I thought I would share some good news. This comes from a right leaning news source, but I figure good news is good news so I hope you all don't mind.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/coronavirus-becoming-much-less-lethal-virus-is-losing-its-potency-top-doctor-reveals

Happy Sunday everyone!

Good news if it's true. Especially if it's true around the world and not just in Italy.

[hunnus2000]

The virus is losing its potency? That web page was full of click bait making me question the credibility of the website and the story.
I would love to believe that it's true but someone needs (at least for me) to put the science behind statement and more corroboration from other scientists before I will be optimistic.

[Orbert]

That would be good news, if I thought it had any legitimacy.  It seems to me that a true scientific breakthrough would be rippling through the media, not just on one site that claims to have the scoops that other places don't.  As soon as someone tells me "Here's the real truth, that you won't find anywhere else" I immediately assume that they're another conspiracy theory site.

[gmillerdrake]

That would be good news, if I thought it had any legitimacy.  It seems to me that a true scientific breakthrough would be rippling through the media, not just on one site that claims to have the scoops that other places don't.  As soon as someone tells me "Here's the real truth, that you won't find anywhere else" I immediately assume that they're another conspiracy theory site.

Sorry Northern Lion........It's impossible to take anything 'the Blaze' seriously. Maybe back when they first came out there was an effort to be somewhat even keel.....but they're now pretty far right with a strong agenda.

As others have mentioned.....if it is indeed true.....then awesome. But until this news starts making waves across the media platforms it has to be taken with a grain of salt

[MirrorMask]

What has happened in Italy was a doctor claiming that it's 40 days since, in a clinical sense, they don't see any seriously ill patients, which could mean that the viral intensity of the virus has died down. The state of news being what it is these days, it has been translated into "LOL DOCTOR SAYS THE VIRUS DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE". But what a doctor actually claimed is that the infected people seem to not need anymore urgent recovery in the hospital, or that they're asyntomatic.

[gmillerdrake]

What has happened in Italy was a doctor claiming that it's 40 days since, in a clinical sense, they don't see any seriously ill patients, which could mean that the viral intensity of the virus has died down. The state of news being what it is these days, it has been translated into "LOL DOCTOR SAYS THE VIRUS DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE". But what a doctor actually claimed is that the infected people seem to not need anymore urgent recovery in the hospital, or that they're asyntomatic.

I did see another site (the Daily Mail) report the story today as well. But, even in that article there are Dr's claiming BS on the suggestion that it's losing potency. With the way the CDC and WHO flip flop on what is 'true' about covid and what isn't......who knows anymore.

[ErHaO]

That would be good news, if I thought it had any legitimacy.  It seems to me that a true scientific breakthrough would be rippling through the media, not just on one site that claims to have the scoops that other places don't.  As soon as someone tells me "Here's the real truth, that you won't find anywhere else" I immediately assume that they're another conspiracy theory site.

This.

[hunnus2000]

So this is Glenn Beck's network. Sorry - fake news.. 

[lordxizor]

Saw a Reuters article about this today. So it definitely has a "legit" media following. Doesn't necessarily mean it's anything more than this doctor's observations in his little bubble, but it's something promising at least.

[Orbert]

It's potentially good news at a time when everybody could use some.  I don't blame anyone for wanting to embrace that.  I'm sure Reuters is trying to be really careful right now, yet still try to get the news out somehow.

For right now, I consider it just this one doctor's observations, but if others start seeing similar trends, then it could be something.  Part of the scientific method includes being able to reproduce and document the same results.  Even ignoring for a moment that what he's saying flies in the face of most of what we know about viruses, right now he's one guy who might've recorded some numbers wrong.  But even a single independent corroboration somewhere else, and we could have something.

[eric42434224]

Maybe the virus has killed a good chunk of the most vulnerable, and now a greater percentage of those infected are better capable health wise to deal with it, thus lowering the hospital rate?  The virus being less deadly would be nicer, but it seems less logical That the virus changed, and it is more That the victims Characteristics have changed.

[bosk1]

Exactly.  I could be way off base here, as clearly I am not a virologist, and do not have an in-depth knowledge of how these things work.  But my understanding is that it is astronomically unlikely that the virus itself could have changed in any meaningful way.  Part of the scientific method is, well, science.  And I don't know that the science backs what that article suggests.

[lordxizor]

Don't viruses mutate and change all the time? That's why we have different strains of colds and the flu every year.

[Orbert]

If anything, most viruses (that we know about) mutate to make themselves more "potent".  That's just the nature of their relatively simple programming, as far as life forms go, and viruses don't even follow some of the rules which define "life forms".  So who knows?

But I hadn't considered that it's the patient base, not the virus itself, that has changed.  The explanation that most of those people more succeptible have already been hit seems to fit somewhat with earlier reports (from like several weeks ago) saying it could be that more people are asymptomatic or only mildly affected than we realized.  The first wave takes out the most succeptible.  Following waves come, but we don't see as high a level of critical cases because the "weakest" have already been culled.  And there are many that will never show any symptoms at all, due to their personal physiology and DNA.  Herd immunity achieved the hard way, I suppose.

[eric42434224]

Responding to Lordixor.....True, but I don’t think (and I could be wrong here) that the virus can mutate that quickly, and to such a degree it can be observed in such a broad way.

[bosk1]

Don't viruses mutate and change all the time? That's why we have different strains of colds and the flu every year.

Well, yes and no.  They do.  But what we are suggesting is not how mutation generally works.  Even if it mutated this quickly to a strain that was less potent, that mutation would not be true of all existing virus particles.  As new particles are formed, they may mutate.  But ALL new particles would not necessarily have the same mutation, and those that do not (in this case, those that have the potency of the original) would not suddenly disappear. 

[lordxizor]

If anything, most viruses (that we know about) mutate to make themselves more "potent".  That's just the nature of their relatively simple programming, as far as life forms go, and viruses don't even follow some of the rules which define "life forms".  So who knows?

Mutations aren't part of the viruses programming. They're just random errors when reproducing. A more contagious strain would likely become more prevalent over time, but more contagious doesn't necessarily mean more deadly.

Don't viruses mutate and change all the time? That's why we have different strains of colds and the flu every year.

Well, yes and no.  They do.  But what we are suggesting is not how mutation generally works.  Even if it mutated this quickly to a strain that was less potent, that mutation would not be true of all existing virus particles.  As new particles are formed, they may mutate.  But ALL new particles would not necessarily have the same mutation, and those that do not (in this case, those that have the potency of the original) would not suddenly disappear. 

Which is why the doctor in the article is speaking only about Italy, not the whole world. It's encouraging if it's really the case in Italy, but I'm as skeptical as anyone. I think there are plenty of other reasons why it's seemingly killing fewer people now.

[DragonAttack]

On the financial front here in the States:  my wife got through to the IRS before 8am today regarding our tax return mailed March 13th.  They still do not have us in the system, and they have stacks upon stacks upon stacks of unopened return.  They are working with limited staffing and applying the necessary social distancing.  The woman said that considering the date that it was sent, and that we did not use 'direct deposit', that the refund should be sent some time in the middle of July.

Meanwhile....C19 deaths in the US are above 105,000, positive cases are on the uptick in many states, and South America has been getting ravaged with the onset of their 'winter' and often lax safeguards.

[The Walrus]

Well, guess we can all expect cases to spike after all these protests.

[lonestar]

Well, guess we can all expect cases to spike after all these protests.

I think it's gonna get real ugly.

[hunnus2000]

The idea that the most vulnerable has been culled and therefore the virus has weakened is flat out naïve. There are still millions of vulnerable people out there and had we not shut things down then things could have been a lot worse. And as someone mentioned, the pandemic will likely get worse because of the protests and other knucklehead parties on the patio threatening to erase all the progress we have made AND we still have July 4th weekend to get through. 

[Northern Lion]

Sorry guys, I wasn't trying to promote a news site that has little ligitimacy.  I normally do a browse through google news once or twice a day, and since they agrigate, a lot of sites are represented.  I found that article on that feed.

On the subject of viruses in general, I'm no scientist or researcher, but I seem to remember learning in college that viruses have a tendancy to become less lethal over time and not more because the virus wants to spread itself as much as possible and if it kills the host, that makes the spread less effective.

[lordxizor]

The idea that the most vulnerable has been culled and therefore the virus has weakened is flat out naïve. There are still millions of vulnerable people out there and had we not shut things down then things could have been a lot worse. And as someone mentioned, the pandemic will likely get worse because of the protests and other knucklehead parties on the patio threatening to erase all the progress we have made AND we still have July 4th weekend to get through. 

We'll see. We're also entering the summer season where viral infections (colds and flu) tend to wane naturally, so it'll be interesting to see how Covid is affected by that. No one seems to really be able to venture a guess whether we'll see a similar effect.

[TAC]

So I have no f'n clue WTF Dream Street is, but 34 years old?? Damn!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/celebrity/dream-streets-chris-trousdale-dies-from-covid-19-at-34/ar-BB14ZhDn?li=BBnbfcL

[Luoto]

Finland has zero new daily cases for the first time since March.

[hunnus2000]

Our county had been flat for almost two weeks in a row. We now have 3 new cases...…….

[ErHaO]

As per data this week, only 5,5% of the blood donors in The Netherlands tested positive for covid-19 antibodies (this was around 3% back in april). This likely indicates that in The Netherlands the vast majority is still susceptible to the virus. Though discussions are to be had how representative this group is for the nation as a whole and how many are tested before they got positive, it still serves as an indication. For reference, it is believed that 60% of the population needs to be immune for group immunity to be effective enough to prevent major outbreaks.

[ProfessorPeart]

Well, after having been untouched by Covid, the hammer came down today. I work in Healthcare for a large organization and figured that things would mostly be status quo. Nope. While I realize that having a job is the main thing, this still stings quite a bit.

- No raises
- No bonus (I usually get around $3k after taxes in November)
- All 401k matching will cease
- My salary level will not accrue any more PTO for the rest of the year (I will lose roughly 2 weeks of time off)

All of this after the 'great new tax law' sucked up my return which I roll into my emergency fund along with the November bonus. I essentially lost all of my funding for that.

This year really sucks.