The Coronavirus thread

Quote: terapined

How many taken in by the Trump cult will say they are embarrassed by Trump calling this a National Emergency?

The gang at Fox News has changed their tune.

Quote: Washington Post

Fox News personalities such as Sean Hannity and Laura In­graham accused the news media of whipping up “mass hysteria” and being “panic pushers.” Fox Business host Trish Regan called the alleged media-Democratic alliance “yet another attempt to impeach the president.”

But that was then.

With Trump’s declaration on Friday that the virus constitutes a national emergency, the tone on Fox News has quickly shifted.

On his program on Friday, Hannity — the most watched figure on cable news — lauded the president’s handling of what the host is now, belatedly, referring to as a “crisis.”

“Tonight, we are witnessing what will be a massive paradigm shift in the future of disease control and prevention,” he said. “A bold, new precedent is being set, the world will once again benefit greatly from America’s leadership. . . . The federal government, state governments, private businesses, top hospitals all coming together, under the president’s leadership, to stem the tide of the coronavirus.”

Quote: Evenbob

In 2019 49 people a day died
of the regular flu. Remember
the run on the stores and the
shut down of the economy?
I'm embarrassed by our
stupidity in the reaction to this.

So was President Trump mistaken to declare coronavirus a national emergency?

Quote: fleaswatter

Just to set the record straight (Washington Post Article):

(Washington Post opinion piece).

Here’s another:

I ran the White House pandemic office. Trump closed it.

It seems Donny postponed today’s news conference from 10:30am to 3:30pm in the hopes of artificially inflating the stock market just before it closed for the day. He did the same thing on Friday and it actually worked.

Well, judging by the nearly 3,000 point drop it failed miserably today...

“A straight man will not go for kids.” - AZDuffman

Quote: Evenbob

In 2019 49 people a day died
of the regular flu.

Evenbob, you just proved my point that this is far more serious than the flu.

The very first coronavirus death in Italy was on February 21 which was 25 days ago. Since February 21, there have been 2,158 coronavirus deaths in Italy.

2,158 deaths divided by 25 days = 86 deaths per day.

Your statistic is for the United States, population 330 million. Italy's population is 60 million. So in a country 5 times smaller than the US, they are experiencing significantly more deaths per day than we do in a typical flu season.

Quote: SOOPOO

WE DON"T BLINK AN EYE when 150 people die every day from the flu. NOT A BLIP on the radar.

I get a flu shot every year. I'm blinking an eye.

I take all my antibiotic prescription when prescribed to avoid helping make super bugs. I blink an eye.

I've gotten the recommended colonoscopy.

Glaucoma test.

BP checks annually.

Attempt most diet recommendations to avoid heart disease.

Add plenty of other things. Maybe you think everyone never notices people dying and goes for all out risk. Not all of us.

Quote: SOOPOO

I said this to my wife a few minutes ago!

Once again, a few posts back someone said he'd be surprised if there aren't 10,000 deaths. As mentioned a boatload of times, we probably are having 30,000 flu deaths this season. Just like the coronavirus, most of the deaths are older people or those with other medical problems. WE DON"T BLINK AN EYE when 150 people die every day from the flu. NOT A BLIP on the radar.

That all being said, I am taking it seriously. Not a quarantine, but certainly limiting other people interactions.

I agree about the deaths (In U.S. , other countries will be higher) will be less than flu and measures to keep the numbers low.

But, come on. You are a Physician. You know that influenza vaccines are pushed heavily every year, by the government, employers, ad agencies, pharmaceutical companies, etc.... People talk endlessly every flu season about the death rates, the risks, and the economic harm to employers from lost productivity. I don't know the numbers, but I would bet that year to year average, Flu is talked about more than any other virus.

The fact that our annual flu shot is something we all take for granted, shows how effective all these years of advertising have been. We all get our Flu shots every year without question, and people who do not are socially shamed (and sometimes limited from employment opportunities, especially in the public sector). The annual Flu Shot and hygiene awareness during Flu Season is pretty much a national tradition.

The reason we may not blink an eye is because we are vaccinated and safe. And, those that die are generally people who choose to engage in risky behavior (not get vaccinated and not wash their hands, people who tend to not vaccinate tend to have poor hygiene and safety habits).

There is not yet a vaccine for COVID-19 (there are tests). This is why forced quarantines are necessary, because as we have seen, infected people are either too stupid or too selfish to follow medical advice and remain confined in their home.

People are saying, "Well the numbers are so low", my response always is "we need to do more to keep them that way", if there were no campaigns, and public policies in place, it would be far worse than it is here... We have seen how bad it is in countries with high spread.

Am I missing something? Aren't old people supposed to die? Why are we surprised by this?

Tom Hanks and his wife were diagnosed with the
coronavirus last week. They had mild fevers coughs
and all the symptoms of a cold. They were
hospitalized for five days and have recovered
completely. This is how the vast majority of
people will experience this virus. Tom Hanks
is no kid, he's is in the 60s. For this, the world
economy was shut down.

When asked about the vaccine trials that began yesterday, Dr. Fauci said it will be at least one year before a vaccine is available.

Johns Hopkins experts are trying a plasma therapy method from the 1890’s that injects antibodies from recovered patients into other people, to provide short-term protection.

“....unconfirmed media reports from China suggest this therapy is already working there.”

"Deployment of this option requires no research or development," says immunologist Arturo Casadevall.

"It could be deployed within a couple of weeks since it relies on standard blood-banking practices."