Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[mongers]

In other news, the crazy contagion spreads:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/engineer-allegedly-crash-train-usns-mercy-los-angeles/story?id=69926172&fbclid=IwAR1PcHEzUQZXihaA8kM2fDcV_veDn34ssKJwpxWs471mgOQGZRhwEqEuqwY

I wonder if Sav will be as upset as I am about this:

It's not a train unless the locomotive/s have rolling stock or carriages connected to it.   

NB it's not clear from the photos video if the nearby container was linked to the locomotive or not, so I'm ignoring it to benefit the 'joke'. 

[Zanza]

Close to ten million new filings for unemployment in the last two weeks in the USA, about 900.000 in Spain. Not looking good for the economy. Let's see how long this can be sustained. 

[mongers]

Close to ten million new filings for unemployment in the last two weeks in the USA, about 900.000 in Spain. Not looking good for the economy. Let's see how long this can be sustained.

What, the 'old' normal?

[alfred russel]

Close to ten million new filings for unemployment in the last two weeks in the USA, about 900.000 in Spain. Not looking good for the economy. Let's see how long this can be sustained.

What, the 'old' normal?

In the US, I don't think there was ever a week with more than 500k. 9 million the last two weeks, with 6.6 million this week. The numbers are likely understated because there are reports that people haven't been able to file because some state systems are overwhelmed (websites down, lines too long, etc).

[Admiral Yi]

I thought the report was coming out tomorrow?  You're talking the high end of projections, right?  Not that it really matters, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

[alfred russel]

I thought the report was coming out tomorrow?  You're talking the high end of projections, right?  Not that it really matters, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

Nope--it came out today.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-covid-weekly-initial-jobless-claims-march-28-165758189.html

Actually they revised up the prior week's numbers to 3.3 million, so that means 10 million in two weeks.

I was wrong about the record before the last two weeks--that article says it was 685k back in 1982.

[Syt]

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/490758-georgia-governor-says-he-didnt-know-asymptomatic-people-could-spread

Georgia governor says he didn't know asymptomatic people could spread coronavirus

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), while announcing a statewide stay-at-home order, said Wednesday that he only recently became aware the coronavirus could be spread by asymptomatic people.

"The reason I'm taking this action, like I've continued to tell people, I'm following the data, I'm following the advice of Dr. [Kathleen] Toomey," Kemp said in response to a reporter's question at a press conference announcing the order.

"Finding out that this virus is now transmitting before people see signs, so what we've been telling people from directives from the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] for weeks now that if you start feeling bad, stay home ... those individuals could've been infecting people before they ever felt bad," he added. "But we didn't know that until the last 24 hours. And as Dr. Toomey told me, this is a game changer for us."

Public health officials have long warned the virus can be carried and passed on by people not displaying symptoms, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who became the first senator to test positive for the virus in March, reported that he had not experienced any symptoms before testing positive.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said earlier this week that up to a quarter of all cases do not show symptoms, telling NPR "this helps explain how rapidly this virus continues to spread across the country because we have asymptomatic transmitters and we have individuals who are transmitting 48 hours before they become symptomatic."

Kemp announced the stay-at-home order Wednesday, saying he will sign it Thursday to be effective through April 13, and he announced all of the state's K-12 public schools would remain closed for the rest of the school year. He said the state has reported 4,638 cases and 139 deaths statewide as of Wednesday afternoon.

"I know you want to return to business as usual, but we must first overcome the obstacles we have in our path," Kemp said at his briefing.

I'm under the impression that this has been general knowledge for weeks now?

[alfred russel]

The governor is a moron.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQBENgYJxgs

He was not really a serious candidate until he ran this ad, and then people were like, "he pointed a gun at a kid in a campaign ad, he must be governor material".

He then made other ads, like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqs3M85E0iI

Really I could just post all his campaign ads.

Don't expect anything from Georgia.

[Josquius]

How is testing in Italy I wonder?
Their numbers are really promising.
But then they could be like the UK and just not testing...

Quote from: Admiral Yi on Today at 08:58:43 am
  Governor just issued a stay in place order but exempted religious institutions.
A fortnight before Easter that seems like an unhelpful exemption.

I think a lot Catholic dioceses are shutting down public worship, but given the stuff we've seen with evangelicals and Pentecostals I wouldn't be surprised if they went ahead with services because God'll protect his own

Also Tate is releasing free online tours of its two current exhibitions on Andy Warhol and Aubrey Beardsley for people who want diverting

Isn't the US plan to completely end lockdown before easter anyway?
(dumb)

[Admiral Yi]

Isn't the US plan to completely end lockdown before easter anyway?
(dumb)

Lock downs are handled at the state level.  Trump is issuing national guidelines but there is no national lock down plan.

[Savonarola]

In other news, the crazy contagion spreads:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/engineer-allegedly-crash-train-usns-mercy-los-angeles/story?id=69926172&fbclid=IwAR1PcHEzUQZXihaA8kM2fDcV_veDn34ssKJwpxWs471mgOQGZRhwEqEuqwY

I wonder if Sav will be as upset as I am about this:

It's not a train unless the locomotive/s have rolling stock or carriages connected to it.   

NB it's not clear from the photos video if the nearby container was linked to the locomotive or not, so I'm ignoring it to benefit the 'joke'. 

Yes, that is correct; but I've even heard Union Pacific engineers refer to a single locomotive as a "Train."

If you want to impress your friends with rail slang; multiple locomotives are called a "Consist."

[merithyn]

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/490758-georgia-governor-says-he-didnt-know-asymptomatic-people-could-spread

Georgia governor says he didn't know asymptomatic people could spread coronavirus

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), while announcing a statewide stay-at-home order, said Wednesday that he only recently became aware the coronavirus could be spread by asymptomatic people.

"The reason I'm taking this action, like I've continued to tell people, I'm following the data, I'm following the advice of Dr. [Kathleen] Toomey," Kemp said in response to a reporter's question at a press conference announcing the order.

"Finding out that this virus is now transmitting before people see signs, so what we've been telling people from directives from the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] for weeks now that if you start feeling bad, stay home ... those individuals could've been infecting people before they ever felt bad," he added. "But we didn't know that until the last 24 hours. And as Dr. Toomey told me, this is a game changer for us."

Public health officials have long warned the virus can be carried and passed on by people not displaying symptoms, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who became the first senator to test positive for the virus in March, reported that he had not experienced any symptoms before testing positive.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said earlier this week that up to a quarter of all cases do not show symptoms, telling NPR "this helps explain how rapidly this virus continues to spread across the country because we have asymptomatic transmitters and we have individuals who are transmitting 48 hours before they become symptomatic."

Kemp announced the stay-at-home order Wednesday, saying he will sign it Thursday to be effective through April 13, and he announced all of the state's K-12 public schools would remain closed for the rest of the school year. He said the state has reported 4,638 cases and 139 deaths statewide as of Wednesday afternoon.

"I know you want to return to business as usual, but we must first overcome the obstacles we have in our path," Kemp said at his briefing.

I'm under the impression that this has been general knowledge for weeks now?

It has. At least two weeks, likely longer.

[Razgovory]

Governor just issued a stay in place order but exempted religious institutions.

A fortnight before Easter that seems like an unhelpful exemption.

I think a lot Catholic dioceses are shutting down public worship, but given the stuff we've seen with evangelicals and Pentecostals I wouldn't be surprised if they went ahead with services because God'll protect his own

Also Tate is releasing free online tours of its two current exhibitions on Andy Warhol and Aubrey Beardsley for people who want diverting

Catholic diocese of Jefferson City has stopped public public worship.  For confession you need to call ahead and the confession will be done out side at a safe distance.  Bullhorn will be provided.


Okay,  I made that last one up.

[PDH]

I'm under the impression that this has been general knowledge for weeks now?

It has. At least two weeks, likely longer.

Yes, but that knowledge was being put out by "Scientists" who work in "Laboratories" and so therefore not a trustworthy source of information.

[Sheilbh]

More on the increase in covid19 patients in UK hospitals. Today at total of 10,767 people with the virus we in English hospitals up from around 9,000 yesterday. 

That rate of increase broadly fits with a doubling from 4,500 to 9,000 over the weekend to Monday.

Apparently about 12,900 today which is accelerating a bit?

Edit: On the tolerating waste thing I was wondering about, I saw a story about the French Health Minister in 2009 who spent a lot on masks and stocking vaccines for swine flu - and it became a huge scandal and seen as someone being incredibly wasteful. I think something similar happened here - I remember there being a scandal over spending loads on a vaccine (tamiflu) for a pandemic that didn't materialise. I hope in the future - at least for a while - it'll be more of a political scandal if a government doesn't prepare for an oncoming potential epidemic rather than that they waste money on preparations for a epidemic that doesn't become a pandemic.