Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[garbon]

Funny old world when the President of Zimbabwe talks more sense than quite few other national leaders:

"Pandemics of this kind have a scientific explanation and knows no boundary, and like any other natural phenomenon cannot be blamed on anyone," President Mnangagwa said, effectively rebuking his defence minister for trying to politicise the global health crisis.

It might not be time to talk about politics, but I don't think we should be letting the Chinese government clear off the hook.

[garbon]

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/489957-teen-who-may-have-died-of-coronavirus-was-turned-away-from-urgent-care-due

Teen who may have died of coronavirus was turned away from urgent care due to lack of insurance

A California teenager who died last week, possibly from coronavirus, was turned away from an urgent care because he lacked health insurance.

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said in a video that the 17-year-old had no previous health conditions and was healthy Friday, socializing with friends, before he passed away Wednesday.

"Wednesday, he had gone to an urgent care," he said. "He didn't have insurance, so they did not treat him."

Parris said the teen was sent to the hospital but went into cardiac arrest on the way and died. He was briefly revived, but ultimately passed away.

"We've learned that once you go into respiratory issues, you have trouble breathing, you're short of breath and you have a fever, that is the time to get medical treatment without delay," Parris said.



The teen's death was reported Tuesday. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health initially said the cause was COVID-19, but later walked the comment back, saying further analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was needed to confirm the cause of death.

"Though early tests indicated a positive result for COVID-19, the case is complex and there may be an alternate explanation for this fatality," the statement said. "Patient privacy prevents our offering further details at this time."

Health care has been at the center of debate as the 2020 presidential election drags on with some progressive Democratic candidates campaigning for Medicare for All. However, the topic has drawn even more attention as Americans now fear how they will pay for potential coronavirus treatment when scientific estimates predict a massive number of people will be diagnosed during the pandemic.

The Kaiser Family Foundation recently released a study predicting the average cost of coronavirus treatment for someone with insurance and without health complications would total around $9,763, and treatment for someone with complications could top $20,000. The amount someone with insurance would pay out-of-pocket varies depending on their plan, but the study estimates it could exceed $1,300.

A bill signed by President Trump last week offers free diagnostics testing for coronavirus, and on Friday he signed a third coronavirus relief bill that gives stimulus checks to Americans to help those who are out of work or have medical costs associated with the pandemic.

USA! USA! USA!

Are you aware what an urgent care center is? It wouldn't have been the best place for him even if he had insurance.

[garbon]

Drug shortages are beginning to bite; partly due to hopes for a silver bullet but also due to economic nationalism and the breakdown of supply chains :

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/27/vital-drug-people-lupus-coronavirus-covid-19-link-hydroxychloroquine

Not a good time to have lupus, not that it ever is.

I hope our leaders are devoting much thought to the supply chain issues; both of drugs and more generally; if they are not then the results will be catastrophic.

Sounds like this is breaking down almost exclusively because of hopes for a silver bullet. It's just that India is the one holding on to the manufacturing agreements for that reason.

[Zanza]

Merkel's chief of staff said that the restrictions in Germany will stay at least until April 20th.

In somewhat uplifting news, German hospitals are now taking French and Italian ICU patients. The Luftwaffe has a flying ICU which is now used to fly out people from Bergamo.

[Admiral Yi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylMyWZK_K7A

Pretty good break down of how the stimulus check will be distributed in the US.

Also a pretty good debunk of that rumor floating around that the stimulus will be taken back out of future tax rebates.

[garbon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylMyWZK_K7A

Pretty good break down of how the stimulus check will be distributed in the US.

Also a pretty good debunk of that rumor floating around that the stimulus will be taken back out of future tax rebates.

I thought that rumor was based on McConnells original plan having tax rebates at the center of the bill.

[Admiral Yi]

Seems to me that the rumor is based on people not understanding how an overpayment based on a 2018 return will be squared once a 2019 return is filed.

[celedhring]

The Luftwaffe has a flying ICU which is now used to fly out people from Bergamo.

Trying to work out a WWII/Mussolini joke here. Help me out.

[celedhring]

Bad number today in Spain +832 dead (+17%), the only "good" number is a small (+10%) increase in cases requiring ICU.

The effects of the quarantine are supposed to show up in the next week. I mean, the growth is significantly smaller %wise than last week, but the figures are ghastly.

[Sheilbh]

Did the lockdown help stop it spread to other regions too? I understand that Catalonia and Madrid (and maybe the Basque Country?) were really badly hit. Has it spread elsewhere or mainly been contained in those areas?

[Iormlund]

Did the lockdown help stop it spread to other regions too? I understand that Catalonia and Madrid (and maybe the Basque Country?) were really badly hit. Has it spread elsewhere or mainly been contained in those areas?

It has spread pretty much everywhere, but outside Madrid and Barcelona the situation is bad rather than terrifying. Interestingly both Canary islands and Andalucía report significantly lower numbers than cooler regions. Which could lend some credibility to the seasonal bug theory.

[celedhring]

Did the lockdown help stop it spread to other regions too? I understand that Catalonia and Madrid (and maybe the Basque Country?) were really badly hit. Has it spread elsewhere or mainly been contained in those areas?

It has spread to Madrid's adjacent rural areas. Seems "controlled" elsewhere besides the main outbreaks in the north (Basque Country/Navarre/La Rioja) and Catalonia. But that's pretty much over 50% of Spanish population.

Best news is that Andalucía and Canary Islands had early outbreaks that have been contained, and those are the warmest areas in the country. So fingers crossed.

[Josquius]

Spains population being so densely compacted in the major cities is a big reason for it showing worse numbers than Italy right?

Good news andalucia is staying healthy. Especially given the amount of folk from there working in the north. Glad Spain hasn't followed Italys lead in southerners working in the north taking the disease home with them.

[celedhring]

Spains population being so densely compacted in the major cities is a big reason for it showing worse numbers than Italy right?

I suppose. On the other hand, Barcelona is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe and its per 1,000 numbers are actually a bit better than the average for Catalonia. Some rural areas have been badly hit.

[Sheilbh]

Okay - but yeah good/slightly hopeful news about Andalucia and the Canaries.

One thought I've had - and maybe I'm just going crazy and turning into one of the mums on WhatsApp - but, looking at all of those trackers and all East Asian countries seemingly doing well despite very different approaches (for example, Japan has been testing so few people that there was a theory they were basically fudging the numbers, but that opinion has changed because there's nothing showing in their fatality figures which is more difficult to fudge). Is the common factor that's actually effective in slowing the spread just masks? Were the WHO and Western health authorities really wrong when they said they don't make much of an impact unless they're proper surgical masks and are only really necessary in a medical context?

Edit: In which case as this disease spreads to poorer parts of the world that often have inter-generational households would it be a better idea to avoid lockdown (which increases chance of intra-household transmission) and trying to ship millions and millions of masks?