Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 (nCoV-2019)

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Sounds like victim blaming to me. If my house catches fire because of my negligence and the resulting conflagration burns down my neighbour's house and they died because they didn't have a home escape plan, sure they could have been more prepared, but their lives are still on me.

Because a fire is the same as a virus? It would be like blaming someone spreading the flu to your grandma and she dies from it - you can try that line of argument and see how far it goes. And to make that line of argument even more interesting - let's hope she didn't play her role in spreading it before she dies.

AoD

 

[Admiral Beez]

The post spring break explosion may ramp up how seriously we take it

I expect cases in the US are already greatly under reported. If you can't get to a doctor without medical insurance, you're not going unless you're really sick. So, the 10,000 cases in the USA are more likely 100,000 or more. Making that 500,000 cases in a few weeks.

 

[DSC]

I expect cases in the US are already greatly under reported. If you can't get to a doctor without medical insurance, you're not going unless you're really sick. So, the 10,000 cases in the USA are more likely 100,000 or more. Making that 500,000 cases in a few weeks.

Cases here are also greatly under-reported because doing tests (and getting definitive results) takes time . I agree that having all testing free here will not discourage people from having tests but in fact the capacity to do tests IS limited and only those who are seriously suspected of having COVID-19 are being tested. In an ideal world, EVERYONE would be tested so that asymptomatic people who are able to spread the virus could be isolated - this is what Korea has tried to do and it seems to work.

 

[jje1000]

That's bullsh*t. China certainly has some answering to regarding the initial secrecy and how the virus originated- but the utter public health policy failure belongs to the countries where it is currently spreading rampantly. Leaders, policy makers and the general public in said country have ample warning by example - they simply chose not to heed them.

IMO it's safe to say that both China and the US failed in their initial responses to the virus. Both acted in similar manners- downplaying and hiding the severity of the issue (and in the US, further departmental failures by the FDA and CDC). We should not be looking at them as points of reference- instead, we should be looking at how other countries like Taiwan, HK and South Korea were able to get in front of the curve and respond in a proactive (instead of a reactive) manner.

But the time for blame for past actions is not now- what matters is the response.

China *seems* to have flattened its curve by implementing total measures not normally popularized/available in democratic countries. The next few weeks will show whether Western countries have the stomach for those measures or not- or if our existing toolsets are capable of managing such a crisis.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Beware of the censor! They tend to make the situation worse.

Why Was It Called the 'Spanish Flu?'
The 1918 influenza pandemic did not, as many people believed, originate in Spain.

From link.

In the spring of 1918, just as the man-made horrors of World War I were finally starting to wind down, Mother Nature unleashed the deadliest strain of influenza in modern history. The virus infected as much as 40 percent of the global population over the next 18 months. Of these, an estimated 20 to 50 million perished—more than the roughly 17 million people killed during the First World War. The pandemic’s grasp stretched from the United States and Europe to the remote reaches of Greenland and the Pacific islands. Its victims included the likes of President Woodrow Wilson, who contracted it while negotiating the Treaty of Versailles in early 1919.

As the pandemic reached epic proportions in the fall of 1918, it became commonly known as the “Spanish Flu” or the “Spanish Lady” in the United States and Europe. Many assumed this was because the sickness had originated on the Iberian Peninsula, but the nickname was actually the result of a widespread misunderstanding.

Spain was one of only a few major European countries to remain neutral during World War I. Unlike in the Allied and Central Powers nations, where wartime censors suppressed news of the flu to avoid affecting morale, the Spanish media was free to report on it in gory detail. News of the sickness first made headlines in Madrid in late-May 1918, and coverage only increased after the Spanish King Alfonso XIII came down with a nasty case a week later. Since nations undergoing a media blackout could only read in depth accounts from Spanish news sources, they naturally assumed that the country was the pandemic’s ground zero. The Spanish, meanwhile, believed the virus had spread to them from France, so they took to calling it the “French Flu.”

While it’s unlikely that the “Spanish Flu” originated in Spain, scientists are still unsure of its source. France, China and Britain have all been suggested as the potential birthplace of the virus, as has the United States, where the first known case was reported at a military base in Kansas on March 11, 1918. Researchers have also conducted extensive studies on the remains of victims of the pandemic, but they have yet to discover why the strain that ravaged the world in 1918 was so lethal.

 

[PinkLucy]

I expect cases in the US are already greatly under reported. If you can't get to a doctor without medical insurance, you're not going unless you're really sick. So, the 10,000 cases in the USA are more likely 100,000 or more. Making that 500,000 cases in a few weeks.

Never mind getting to a doctor. They are only now rolling out test kits, so they weren't really even testing until a couple of days ago.

 

[PinkLucy]

Cases here are also greatly under-reported because doing tests (and getting definitive results) takes time . I agree that having all testing free here will not discourage people from having tests but in fact the capacity to do tests IS limited and only those who are seriously suspected of having COVID-19 are being tested. In an ideal world, EVERYONE would be tested so that asymptomatic people who are able to spread the virus could be isolated - this is what Korea has tried to do and it seems to work.

In Ontario, they are only testing the most vulnerable. A family member travels extensively for work and presented with all symptoms plus a travel history to the US and across Canada. No testing since they weren't in the vulnerable population. And their spouse works in the health care field. We are definitely under reported.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Cases here are also greatly under-reported because doing tests (and getting definitive results) takes time . I agree that having all testing free here will not discourage people from having tests but in fact the capacity to do tests IS limited and only those who are seriously suspected of having COVID-19 are being tested. In an ideal world, EVERYONE would be tested so that asymptomatic people who are able to spread the virus could be isolated - this is what Korea has tried to do and it seems to work.

There are some very hard question to be had afterwards as to why the speed and rate of testing is low here - not the lowest, but there is ample room for improvements.

In Ontario, they are only testing the most vulnerable. A family member travels extensively for work and presented with all symptoms plus a travel history to the US and across Canada. No testing since they weren't in the vulnerable population. And their spouse works in the health care field. We are definitely under reported.

Theoretically one can operate on the assumption that anyone with flu-like symptoms have it, and has to be isolated. The problem with restrictive testing criteria is that you have no idea how prevalent that virus is in the general community. Under these circumstances, one should operate on the assumption that they themselves are carriers, and that other people are as well - and isolate themselves as much as possible.

AoD

 

[PinkLucy]

They self isolated and are feeling better now

 

[Admiral Beez]

In Ontario, they are only testing the most vulnerable. A family member travels extensively for work and presented with all symptoms plus a travel history to the US and across Canada. No testing since they weren't in the vulnerable population. And their spouse works in the health care field. We are definitely under reported.

It's the otherwise healthy, low to non symptomatic that are this virus' trojan horse. The virus needs the non symptomatic carriers to get to the at risk population.

 

[gabe]

Yeah i can't see the kids going back anytime soon. Other states have cancelled the school year.

Experts say school will probably be cancelled for the rest of the year in Toronto

When the Ontario government announced that public schools in the province would be closed for two weeks following March break, it seemed as though ...

www.blogto.com

 

[picard102]

But the time for blame for past actions is not now- what matters is the response.

No one is going to remember to hold China accountable afterwards. Just like with any of the other outbreaks that have originated from it's lack of responsible health codes.

 

[AlbertC]

Sobeys begins installing plexiglass shields at cash registers

Alicja Siekierska
Yahoo Finance Canada March 20, 2020

Sobeys parent company Empire Co. has started installing plexiglass shields at cash registers to protect its employees and customers from the coronavirus.

The grocery chain began installing the shields on Thursday night, chief executive Michael Medine said in a letter to customers released Friday.

“They will not be in every store immediately, but we’ll install them as quickly as we can,” Medine said.

The company is also reducing store hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in an effort to support extra sanitation protocols and allow more time to restock shelves.

Staff are required to wash their hands every 15 minutes and cashiers will receive additional resources to clean common areas more frequently. Stores will also have floor markers installed at checkout to encourage a two-metre distance between customers.

“We understand we are an essential service to all Canadians, and we want you to know that we are doing everything in our power to maintain our stores to the highest standard of cleanliness and safety,” Medine wrote.

Sobeys begins installing plexiglass shields at cash registers

Sobeys has started installing plexiglass shields at cash registers to protect its employees and customers from the coronavirus.

ca.finance.yahoo.com

 

[PinkLucy]

Air Force moves 500K coronavirus test swabs from Italy to US

The Pentagon on Wednesday confirmed that the Air Force has moved 500,000 coronavirus testing swabs to the United States from Italy.An Air National Guard unit transported 500,000 swabs – u…

thehill.com

 

[Jasmine18]

Justin trudeau blocks us border asylum seekers.

Wow trudeau is going ham

Speaking to reporters from self-isolation for the fifth day in a row, Trudeau said the plan to deny entry into Canada for asylum seekers is part of a broader agreement struck with the United States. The two countries announced plans earlier this week to shutter the 5,500 mile shared border to all non-essential travel. Trudeau stressed the “exceptional measure” to deny asylum seekers was temporary. The federal government had previously weighed placing those seeking to enter Canada into mandatory self-isolation. Canada has received roughly nearly 55,000 asylum claims since February, 2017.