Covid-19 discussion and humor thread [Was: CDC says don't touch your face to avoid Covid19...Vets to the rescue!

[BillsFan4]

https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-gov-cuomo-announces-coronavirus-state-purchasing-coalition-2020-5

 

Quote

Seven states in the northeastern US are banding together to buy medical equipment and testing they need to fight the coronavirus. 

 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the consortium Sunday, saying the seven states combine to spend about $5 billion per year on medical equipment and supplies. By combining their purchases, the participating states hope to better compete in the international market for medical supplies at better prices, Cuomo said. 

 

Smart idea by Cuomo.

 

Maybe we should have a consortium of all 50 states for situations like this. You know, like a federation....

 

Im thinking we could have a centralized federal government and call it something like “the United States of America”...? 

(I’m still working on the name)

 

?

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by BillsFan4

[K-9]

1 hour ago, BillsFan4 said:

https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-gov-cuomo-announces-coronavirus-state-purchasing-coalition-2020-5

 

 

Smart idea by Cuomo.

 

It’s a shame that we don’t have a functioning consortium of all 50 states for situations like this. You know, like a federation....

 

Maybe we could have a centralized federal government and call it something like “the United States of America”...? 

(I’m still working on the name)

 

?

 

The lack of federal action is by design. Can’t have Americans seeing first hand just how effective we can be when marshaling and targeting our vast resources to meet a challenge. I mean, if people saw how good the federal government was at handling a pandemic, what else would they want? 

[Halloween Land]

On 5/2/2020 at 4:14 PM, Jrb1979 said:

That is why of we had to be locked down in the first place. People just don't get the 6 ft rule. This may be harsh but I hope everyone of them get it. Karma. 

That's a stupid comment to say, The beautiful weather is starting to arrive and you except people to stay inside? 6 feet apart is impossible at all times. It's time to start opening up but slowly and with caution. 

[Jrb1979]

1 hour ago, Halloween Land said:

That's a stupid comment to say, The beautiful weather is starting to arrive and you except people to stay inside? 6 feet apart is impossible at all times. It's time to start opening up but slowly and with caution. 

Go outside and enjoy the weather. Opening with caution means with social distancing of 6 ft from people as best as possible. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 hours ago, Figster said:

The antibody test could work as a fail safe for the false negatives on the nose swabs. ( IMO )

 

Kind of?  It depends upon what question you're trying to answer with the test. 

 

For example, if you're trying to determine if the contacts of a known covid-19 patient are infected, antibody tests are a bit of a "fail".  Even the good early antibody response tests (IgM) don't consistently show a response until 6-10 days post infection and reliability continued to improve up to 21 days.  People may be pre-symptomatically infectious 3-4 days post infection. 

On the other hand, if someone had possible covid-19 symptoms, stayed home and recovered, and is now being tested where the covid-19 virus RNA test might be a false negative due to declining titer, then yes, an antibody test could backstop false negatives on the viral RNA test.
 

2 hours ago, Figster said:

For identifying and community tracking/ tracing purposes do you think we may get to a point where both types of test are given at the same time? (PCR and blood)

 

Again, depends on the question trying to be answered.  If the question is "Can I successfully return to work at the nursing home or hospital without risk of  infecting people with my illness, which may have been covid-19, and feel some peace of mind that I may be immune?" both tests are absolutely needed - need both a positive antibody test to say "yes, has antibodies" and a negative RT-PCR test to say "no, do not have virus"

 

If someone had symptoms >3 weeks ago and simply wants to know "was it covid-19?" but is working a job where distancing can be maintained, the RT-PCR test is probably not a great use of resources.

 

 

[BillsFan4]

Nice weather is absolutely not a reason to reopen the country.

 

Reopening has to be driven by science and the data.

 

Cases are still rising in many states. We still don’t have enough PPE for our frontline workers. We still don’t have enough testing. We don’t have screening in place yet. We don’t have tracing in place yet. Death totals are holding steady between 1500-2000 per day, and that’s with all the stay at home orders. How much worse is it going to be now that people are starting to crowd together again?

 

 

And even when we reopen, you should still follow social distancing guidelines whenever possible, and wear a mask (esp. indoors and in places social distancing might be tougher). 

 

I honestly don't get why why some people are so dead set against wearing a mask.

Is it really asking that much? Especially considering what some of our healthcare workers and first responders are going through? 

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

The lack of federal action is by design. Can’t have Americans seeing first hand just how effective we can be when marshaling and targeting our vast resources to meet a challenge. I mean, if people saw how good the federal government was at handling a pandemic, what else would they want? 

Yeah I know. I was just trying to be a wise ass/funny.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, Halloween Land said:

That's a stupid comment to say, The beautiful weather is starting to arrive and you except people to stay inside? 6 feet apart is impossible at all times. It's time to start opening up but slowly and with caution. 

 

What does "with caution" mean?  It's vague.  It's like saying "our seniors will be tenderly protected" - does that mean anything in terms of action to lower infection risk, like testing workers and ensuring they are provided with proper PPE and dorm/hotel room places to isolate should they be infectious?

 

What does it mean to you?

 

To me, I think people should get out - we go for a 1.5-3 mile walk every day - but should follow the current CDC advice to wear a mask AND be trying damned hard to stay 6 feet apart.  If they can't, maybe they're in a situation that's too crowded and they should go somewhere else.  How is saying "oh, 6 feet apart just impossible" consistent with caution?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

13 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

Nice weather is absolutely not a reason to reopen the country.

Reopening has to be driven by science and the data.

 

Cases are still rising in many states. We still don’t have enough PPE for our frontline workers. We still don’t have enough testing. We don’t have screening in place yet. We don’t have tracing in place yet. Death totals are holding steady between 1500-2000 per day, and that’s with all the stay at home orders. How much worse is it going to be now that people are starting to crowd together again?

 

 

And even when we reopen, you should still follow social distancing guidelines whenever possible, and wear a mask (esp. indoors and in places social distancing might be tougher). 

 

I honestly don't get why why some people are so dead set against wearing a mask.

Is it really asking that much? Especially considering what some of our healthcare workers and first responders are going through? 

 

On the other hand (and I can tell I'm a born moderate because I can usually see both sides of a question), I think a reasonable part of good planning/thinking about covid-19 response has to take into account that warm weather WILL be drawing people outside and lowering compliance, so what are responsible ways to handle what people are likely to do anyway? 

 

I'd like the photos of people at the beach or on the National Mall a lot better if they involved mask-covered faces.

 

We've been wearing masks inside buildings since mid-March and outdoors since early April (on a truly isolated situation like a trail, I may remove mask and just replace as well as try to step to the side, when people approach).   

 

It's already up into the 80s here.  Mask wearing outside is a PITA no question.  A mask with decent filtration, like a pocket cloth mask lined with a shop towel, is no question hotter and sweatier than a bare face.  But I consider it a social benefit I need to do myself, in return for being able to receive social benefits from living in a relatively built- up area with doctors and grocery and hardware stores, instead of Northern Montana or Northern Maine with 1x a month trips for groceries

[Halloween Land]

5 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

What does "with caution" mean?  It's vague.  It's like saying "our seniors will be tenderly protected" - does that mean anything in terms of action to lower infection risk, like testing workers and ensuring they are provided with proper PPE and dorm/hotel room places to isolate should they be infectious?

 

What does it mean to you?

 

To me, I think people should get out - we go for a 1.5-3 mile walk every day - but should follow the current CDC advice to wear a mask AND be trying damned hard to stay 6 feet apart.  If they can't, maybe they're in a situation that's too crowded and they should go somewhere else.  How is saying "oh, 6 feet apart just impossible" consistent with caution?

Do you wear a mask in your yard? Most people I see outside walking or in parks/yards don't wear masks. If you are outside and are 6 feet apart from people, why is a mask necessary? Also I bring this up because with good weather around the corner, people will want to get out and go to beaches and big groups will form and it will be tough to stop. 

[K-9]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Kind of?  It depends upon what question you're trying to answer with the test. 

 

For example, if you're trying to determine if the contacts of a known covid-19 patient are infected, antibody tests are a bit of a "fail".  Even the good early antibody response tests (IgM) don't consistently show a response until 6-10 days post infection and reliability continued to improve up to 21 days.  People may be pre-symptomatically infectious 3-4 days post infection. 

On the other hand, if someone had possible covid-19 symptoms, stayed home and recovered, and is now being tested where the covid-19 virus RNA test might be a false negative due to declining titer, then yes, an antibody test could backstop false negatives on the viral RNA test.
 

 

Again, depends on the question trying to be answered.  If the question is "Can I successfully return to work at the nursing home or hospital without risk of  infecting people with my illness, which may have been covid-19, and feel some peace of mind that I may be immune?" both tests are absolutely needed - need both a positive antibody test to say "yes, has antibodies" and a negative RT-PCR test to say "no, do not have virus"

 

If someone had symptoms >3 weeks ago and simply wants to know "was it covid-19?" but is working a job where distancing can be maintained, the RT-PCR test is probably not a great use of resources.

 

 

The current state of antibody testing is the Wild West at best. Given their mandate to fast track everything under the sun, the FDA’s oversight role has been negated. Nearly two hundred without FDA authorization. It’s crazy time. 
 

https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/emergency-situations-medical-devices/faqs-diagnostic-testing-sars-cov-2

 

1 hour ago, BillsFan4 said:

Yeah I know. I was just trying to be a wise ass/funny.

Oh, I laughed. I’ll change my reaction to a laughing face to reflect that. 

[BillsFan4]

 

Friday May 8th at 9pm (EST)

 

description:

https://www.pbs.org/about/blogs/news/pbs-american-portrait-shares-how-americans-are-adapting-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-in-new-broadcast-special-produced-by-radicalmedia-airing-may-8-2020/

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, Halloween Land said:

Do you wear a mask in your yard? Most people I see outside walking or in parks/yards don't wear masks. If you are outside and are 6 feet apart from people, why is a mask necessary? Also I bring this up because with good weather around the corner, people will want to get out and go to beaches and big groups will form and it will be tough to stop. 

 

I don't wear a mask in my yard.  If my neighbors and I all wanted to be outside at the same time we would work something out, or I would wear a mask and suggest they do too.

 

There's nothing magical about 6 feet that prevents infection - it was brought up as a guideline assuming that transmission would be droplet-based and not aerosol.  That may not be true - hospitals are finding positive covid-19 particles in places where only aerosol transmission would place them.  Droplets may also travel more than 6 feet in the right circumstances. About halfway back in the "facts only" thread there are some studies and simulations and other hints that suggest wind-bourne particles or particles from people who are engaged in vigorous exercise may travel further than 6 feet. 

 

The CDC also put up a study from Wuhan of two family groups that became infected, they believe due to droplet transmission from a pre-symptomatic person in a restaurant - the air conditioner and exhaust fan were positioned to move the droplets further than they would otherwise go.  Take it for what its' worth.

 

If people don't wear masks and they go to beaches and big groups form, then IMO we will see a spike in covid-19 cases because the bigger the group, the more likely it is to include a presymptomatic person.  That's not opening up "with caution" IMO.

 

I don't think you answered the question what "with caution" means to you.

[Bad Things]

Very happy to report that for two consecutive days, we have not had a new case of Covid-19 in New Zealand.

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/121406874/coronavirus-second-day-without-covid19-case

 

?

[Punching Bag]

23 minutes ago, Bad Things said:

Very happy to report that for two consecutive days, we have not had a new case of Covid-19 in New Zealand.

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/121406874/coronavirus-second-day-without-covid19-case

 

?

 

Well in US that would happen because out of testing supplies because scalpers bought, companies sold stock out of US or FEMA confiscated it but assume you do not have those problems.

[BillsFan4]

 

 

44 minutes ago, Bad Things said:

Very happy to report that for two consecutive days, we have not had a new case of Covid-19 in New Zealand.

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/121406874/coronavirus-second-day-without-covid19-case

 

?

 

Congrats! Jealous of the way you guys have handled this. 

 

The US isn’t doing nearly as well. Check out this chart of the 10 worst hit countries. It appears that we are #1 in new cases by quite a large margin.

Edited May 5, 2020 by BillsFan4

[BillsFan4]

All these doctors, nurses, microbiologists, immunologists, epidemiologists, and other medical experts keep telling us how dangerous COVID-19 is...

 

but all these people I went to high school with who barely passed science say it’s not dangerous.

 

It’s so hard to know who to believe anymore.... ?‍♂️  ?

[Punching Bag]

38 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

The US isn’t doing nearly as well. Check out this chart of the 10 worst hit countries. It appears that we are #1 in new cases by quite a large margin.

 

Any chart not factoring in population is going to weight heavily on those with higher populations.

 

 

[ALF]

How to stop your glasses from fogging up when you wear a mask

 

But there's a simple fix for that, and it'll only take a minute or two. All you need is soap and water.

 

Soap and water act like a cloak that reduces surface tension on the lenses. This magic mix allows the water molecules from your breath to distribute evenly, rather than cluster on your lens in a way that makes it difficult to see.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/05/health/how-to-de-fog-glasses-wearing-mask-wellness-trnd/index.html

 

Just the advice I needed

[Figster]

23 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I don't wear a mask in my yard.  If my neighbors and I all wanted to be outside at the same time we would work something out, or I would wear a mask and suggest they do too.

 

There's nothing magical about 6 feet that prevents infection - it was brought up as a guideline assuming that transmission would be droplet-based and not aerosol.  That may not be true - hospitals are finding positive covid-19 particles in places where only aerosol transmission would place them.  Droplets may also travel more than 6 feet in the right circumstances. About halfway back in the "facts only" thread there are some studies and simulations and other hints that suggest wind-bourne particles or particles from people who are engaged in vigorous exercise may travel further than 6 feet. 

 

The CDC also put up a study from Wuhan of two family groups that became infected, they believe due to droplet transmission from a pre-symptomatic person in a restaurant - the air conditioner and exhaust fan were positioned to move the droplets further than they would otherwise go.  Take it for what its' worth.

 

If people don't wear masks and they go to beaches and big groups form, then IMO we will see a spike in covid-19 cases because the bigger the group, the more likely it is to include a presymptomatic person.  That's not opening up "with caution" IMO.

 

I don't think you answered the question what "with caution" means to you.

Finding new/ innovative attractive  protective wear to help face the challenges the future may bring helps our economy in many ways IMO.

 

Its possible something more attractive and less restrictive might find a happy middle ground for beach goer's and other outdoor activities.

 

While I can't really picture men wearing them, a veil type face protection by way of example for woman.

From a social distancing standpoint woman wearing veils creats a safety barrier between individuls IMO

 

Or a see through umbrella perhaps that is designed to drop past the waist line. ( or even lower )

The umbrella  could also help enforce social distancing.

 

Or how about big clear beach balls people climb into and roll/walk around in, ( I kid )

 

Umbrella's, man sized beach balls and high winds, hehe

 

Figster, what have you done...

 

Edited May 5, 2020 by Figster

[Bob in Mich]

2 hours ago, ALF said:

How to stop your glasses from fogging up when you wear a mask

 

But there's a simple fix for that, and it'll only take a minute or two. All you need is soap and water.

 

Soap and water act like a cloak that reduces surface tension on the lenses. This magic mix allows the water molecules from your breath to distribute evenly, rather than cluster on your lens in a way that makes it difficult to see.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/05/health/how-to-de-fog-glasses-wearing-mask-wellness-trnd/index.html

 

Just the advice I needed

 

Aren’t you defeating the purpose of the mask if it is pushing your breath up and out past your glasses rather than going through the filtering of the mask?