Coronavirus COVID-19 Thread

NaffNaffBobFace

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US Population = ~ 331,659,621
UK Population = ~ 68,005,905


View attachment 19100
Thank you for the info, another snapshot in the unfolding horror that is the COVID-19. If you called this pandemic by any other name than "tragedy" it would be no less bitter, would you not agree?
 
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NaffNaffBobFace

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Wait you have this problem too? Damn people don't they know those who write the rules always knows whats best for them?
I see what you mean, but when my toaster manual said "Don't use in the bath" I took that to mean that someone / more than one person in the past had tried and reaped the consequences... Then again the experts who made that toaster can't know my specific bath tub, can they? Maybe mine will be different? 🛁 🍞 😋

I see the drop of people not visiting A&E both as a triumph for controlling the virus in that setting and a failure for not succeeding in implementing other measures which should cover that function for those who are no longer able or willing to attend the service for fear of the contagion. To be clear on what's been set up in the UK, COVID testing centers have been set up in places away from hospitals, A&E is still open for all non-COVID visits. Only those experiencing respiratory distress are admitted to hospitals, and not via A&E. There are also telephone consultation services etc. Lots of things may have been tried but the rise in otherwise preventable deaths tells it's story.
 
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ColdDog

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<--- As you can see my fallout helmet saves me from ALL viruses.

Did you know? The Athenians experienced a major setback when a plague broke out in 430 B.C. Between one-third and two-thirds of the Athenian population died, including the prominent general Pericles.
 
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ColdDog

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I definitely see the correlation between political philosophies, not science

This is why science and politics are at odds. For those of you who think one size fits all to a covid crisis, this shows the problems with your theory.

Covid map

1604124858953.png


2016 - US electoral map by county - blue democrat, red republican (the most populated areas are typically blue)

Outliers - Miami and Houston

1604124998579.png
 

AntiSqueaker

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I definitely see the correlation between political philosophies, not science

This is why science and politics are at odds. For those of you who think one size fits all to a covid crisis, this shows the problems with your theory.

Covid map

View attachment 19107

2016 - US electoral map by county - blue democrat, red republican (the most populated areas are typically blue)

Outliers - Miami and Houston

View attachment 19108
Wow it's almost like the more densely packed and populous areas have more cases than more rural and lower population areas.


More people = more cases of a pandemic that spreads from person to person contact?? Who would have thought!

1604151379364.png



I for one am shocked that you're more likely to catch a person spreading a virus in the middle of NYC or Miami than in a town of 500 people in North Dakota.
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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I definitely see the correlation between political philosophies, not science

This is why science and politics are at odds. For those of you who think one size fits all to a covid crisis, this shows the problems with your theory.

Covid map

View attachment 19107

2016 - US electoral map by county - blue democrat, red republican (the most populated areas are typically blue)

Outliers - Miami and Houston

View attachment 19108
Not entirely sure what you are trying to say? Look at this map from the UK for example:

MwaysNoways.jpg


It is the current infection rate per capita in each area and the motorway network overlaid on it. From this map and the concentration of motorways in almost all of the most infected places, I can see a strong correlation between petrol/diesel personal transport and COVID - it's coming out of everyone's exhaust pipes. They've obviously dug up some ancient virus in the oil and it's being resurrected in the engines we use to drive around in.

But, I hear you say, there are no motorways in the below area but it's medium effected it should be blue not yellow:

1604152181592.png


Well, I retort, that's a rural area where everyone needs a private vehicle, there is low-to-no public transport anywhere there which explains that.

When lockdown happened less people were driving places and thus less oil burnt and thus lower virus load about and so less sick people.

I can see a clear correlation.
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Saturday 31st of October:

- World: 45,821,544 confirmed cases and 1,192,217 confirmed deaths.

- UK: Passes milestone of 1 million confirmed cases, now standing at 1,011,660.

- US: Sets world record for new daily infections at 100,233, higher than the previous record set by India in September at 97k.

- UK: Government announces that despite wanting to contain the virus with local measures unfortunately efforts to manage COVID with local lockdowns has not succeeded (It was across the whole country already so local lockdowns slowed it - but only in those places) and a national lockdown of four weeks is now required. Prime Minister confirms the virus is indeed spreading even faster than what was considered to be a "reasonable" worst-case scenario, and if hospitals are overwhelmed it would lend to a "Moral Disaster" as doctors would have to choose who to treat and who to leave to die.
"Now is the time to take action because there is no alternative," he said in an address to the nation, and that from Thursday people in England "must stay at home".

- Italy: Sees record high new daily cases.

- Scotland: Scots advised by First Minister not to cross boarder into England.

- Austria: Sees record high daily cases.

- Europe: At least 14 countries in the area see COVID hospitalizations reach record highs in the last week.

- Taiwan: In the face of no local COVID cases for the last 200 days and the country having largely contained any outbreaks, the annual LGBT Pride event occurs with minimal restrictions.
 
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PeppaPigKilla

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UK: Government announces that despite wanting to contain the virus with local measures unfortunately efforts to manage COVID with local lockdowns has not succeeded (It was across the whole country already so local lockdowns slowed it - but only in those places) and a national lockdown of four weeks is now required.
I see this lockdown if we can call it that is not going to have the effect desired. The lockdown is shutting down all non-essential businesses unless you can work from home. That is it, other than some changes to meeting up with people. The big spreaders are still open and this is why i don't think much will change, it may slow down the numbers but I cannot see it having the same effect the 3 month lockdown had at all.
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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I see this lockdown if we can call it that is not going to have the effect desired. The lockdown is shutting down all non-essential businesses unless you can work from home. That is it, other than some changes to meeting up with people. The big spreaders are still open and this is why i don't think much will change, it may slow down the numbers but I cannot see it having the same effect the 3 month lockdown had at all.
I suspect you may be right. A circuit breaker may have worked six weeks ago which was when the scientists were advising it but now seems like bows and arrows against the lightening.

I never did understand the local lockdowns intention when the virus was already everywhere - it was only ever going to increase in the places which to that point had low enough numbers to be in lower restriction areas until it had ballooned enough to be in higher tiers. As far as I know where local restrictions have worked was where it literally locked the contagion into an area away from areas which didn't have it...? Especially on an island nation where we may be isolated from the mainland but we're also locked in with whatever we've got cooking away too...

We'll have to wait and see where it goes. Might be the numbers we are seeing are what we would have seen if mass testing was available in the early days of Wave 1... but it doesn't feel like it.
 
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NaffNaffBobFace

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My company has made an announcement that nothing changes for us. My business goes into peoples homes
The place I work for has been working from home since the beginning of the first wave so I doubt anything will change for me either, fingers crossed.
 

August

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No new cases of local transmission recorded today country-wide.

Surprisingly this news was not met with riots or threats of violence at the loss of personal freedom to contract a horrible disease and prove how tough we are.

 
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NaffNaffBobFace

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Interesting article, gosh how times change:


We'll have to see where and how it goes. In this story of the world, the chapters are being written as they are being read.

One can't help but think of the "May haves" - It may have been the geological and sociological setup in Sweden may have resulted in as well a managed pandemic as Taiwan has seen so far, with only 553 cases so far and only 7 deaths, if they had locked down too... It may also be that due to the Sweedes unique social and geological circumstances (as all counties are unique) Sweden is the only country on earth where the "lax" strategy may potentially "pay off". It may have been if a vaccine was already out, stacking that death rate up at the beginning of the pandemic was pearls cast before swine and a tragically avoidable waste of lives. And it may have been having so many die at the beginning of the pandemic, if most people in the country know someone who has died from COVID they are more likely to defend themselves from it now, and if that's the case and it was intended, what a heinous strategy indeed.

However if there are some lessons to learn from Sweden, one of them may be: Taylor your pandemic response to your own unique circumstances.

I have a petrol compact car. You have a diesel truck. If I look at my car and your truck and say "Hey, if I put diesel in my tank I'll be able to get that wardrobe home from Ikea like he can in his truck", siphon some go-juice out of your truck and put it in my tank, the end result will not be as I expect it to be. (This has already happened in the UK where the initial pandemic response was based on what to do in a 'Flu pandemic, not the COVID style pandemic it actually is). Population density, population age, average health of the population, education level and how 'sensible' the population is etc. Every single place is different. Saying one places approach is right so everywhere should do it in another country may work - but it may not, too. Caveat emptor.

I don't mean to rain on parades, but as the article says, "chief epidemiologist Dr. Anders Tegnell, keep repeating a familiar warning: It’s too early to tell, and all countries are in a different phase of the pandemic."

I will admit: I don't know. Perhaps the Swedish way was the right one, perhaps it was not... I doubt anyone, right here right now, knows. I'm optimistic when I see positive reports, but I'm also not willing to make one swallow in the sky a sign of summer when the storm is still raging around us.
 
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Radegast74

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You might want to use a more recent source than a news article that is now 41+ days old:

Screenshot_2020-11-01 sweden covid 19 update - Google Search(1).png


In general, coronaviruses thrive in colder and drier weather, and cases tend to increase in the winter months, especially in countries farther away from the equator. One can see that the graphs which track the highest per capital rates of new cases are showing that northern states in the US are the hardest hit:

Screenshot_2020-11-01 The Washington Post Breaking News, World, US, DC News and Analysis.png



Chem-trails, voodoo and other similar explanations likely aren't going to describe the spread as well and likely aren't viable hypotheses. Political party affiliation likely is a proxy for belief in, and adherence to, preventive measures, such as mask wearing, avoiding public gatherings, maintaining social distance, etc. that reduce transmission. However, at this point, there likely has been a bit of "fatigue" for everyone in exercising these preventive measures. Especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, when families are gathered, people are going to be more likely to not adhere to preventive measures such as mask wearing, social distancing, etc. So, I'm expecting the coming months to show continuing increases, due to the on-going shit show we currently have as a government in the US, and how a public health issue has been politicized:


But don't worry, we are in the comeback phase! SO MUCH WINNING!
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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Jolly_Green_Giant

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That's interesting...from what we know about other coronaviruses (as well as the little we know about COVID-19, specifically) it will likely get worse in the winter. The mechanism of action seems to be a combination of a) the virus getting worse or spreading more effectively in cold, dry conditions (both indoor & outdoor), b) people interacting more closely because they are indoors because of the cold, and potentially c) nasal mucus membranes being drier and more vulnerable to the virus.

Florida, being warmer and humid, doesn't really tick all the boxes above (i.e., sunnier, warmer, more humid), but other areas in the country do meet those criteria and are having a much harder time.

As winter approaches, we have three really critical events for the virus spreading: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then New Years, when people will be gathering in very close proximity and likely relaxing prevention measures. I would be curious about how Florida will be doing sometime around the week of Jan 14-21st.

TL;DR: let us know how the ER folks are doing sometime in mid-late January!

In the UK we have been asked not to go to the A&E (uk version of the ER i think?) if we had symptoms as it would just spread it around to vulnerable people who may be there. As everyone knows no one can follow simple rules, numbers of attendance to hospital A&E's across the country plummeted, as people who might have gone there but were not really in an emergency situation are staying away.

The death rate from avoidable conditions which would have been picked up at any other time with a quick few hour visit to the local A&E has gone up too, the silver lining must always have its cloud.

I'll definitely update if I end up going to the hospital again. I'd rather not go at all you know, but it might be inevitable. It could definitely be that people are staying away for sure, but i have no way to know that, just reporting my experience. Also as for the well below average influenza numbers i mentioned earlier, it could very well be that masks and proper hygiene are keeping the numbers down, but again, we have no way to know. It's pure speculation but I'd think if the influenza cases were down below average, the covid numbers would follow suit.
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Sunday the 1st of November:

- World: 46,360,945 confirmed cases and 1,198,498 confirmed deaths.

- World: Passes 46 million cases, we passed 45 million on Friday meaning 1 million more cases in the last 2 days.

- Slovakia: Tests half of its population in one day, in a two day effort to test every single person. 25k people test positive and are placed under quarantine order.

- Australia: Records zero new daily COVID cases for the first time in five months.

- UK: Central government gives Scotland, The North of England and Wales the middle finger by extending the 80% wage cover Furlough scheme to December to cover the four week England Lockdown, apparently not nationwide after all, having previously forced the areas into an inferior 67% wage cover Job Retention Scheme over the last few months in places which had to go into Teir 3 lockdowns and the Welsh "firebreak" lockdown. The Mayor of Liverpool city and the Mayor of the Liverpool Metropolitan Area said "This morning millions of people woke up knowing the prime minister of this country believes the North is worth less than the South." and "I can assure the government that the people of the North won't easily forget that they were judged to be worth less than their southern counterparts."

- Russia: Sees record high daily new cases.

- Israel: Begins Vaccine Trials with a pool of 80 volunteers.

- US: A Stanford University paper which analyzed 18 Trump rallies held between 20 June and 22 September suggests Trump Rallies may have caused an additional 30,000 COVID cases and potentially 700 deaths. Criticism of the paper included that this was research based on numbers of attendees and the rallies settings, not on actual cases. The old rhyme "If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas" likely applies here until actual numbers can be collated if they can be at all, until then it could be correct, it could be incorrect.

- UK: As well as the Furlough 80% wage coverage scheme extension, the Mortgage Holiday scheme has also seem extended, anyone who has not yet had to partake of the scheme is entitled to a 6 month pause in payments and those who have can continue, to any time up to six months in total.

- Spain: Funeral homes go on strike demanding more workers to avoid the choke and delays that were seen as the demand for their services soared in Wave 1.

- UK: Bristol, and police struggled to break up an illegal rave attended by 700 titheads.

- Wales: A breath test developed in Wales has hopeful results from early trials in Scotland and Germany - it has been seen to be able to identify COVID from other types of chest infections in mere seconds.
 
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