Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[viper37]

People are literally running marathons with masks on...

sure.  And George Laracque was training for a marathon less than 1 week after being admitted to the hospital for covid-19.  Hence, covid-19 is no worst than flu? 

Or could it just be that athletes have more than 60% of their predicted lung capacity to begin with?

[Zoupa]

If your doctor says that you can't wear a mask due to a medical condition, then fine. 99.99% of people entering buildings without a mask on though = assholes.

[viper37]

If your doctor says that you can't wear a mask due to a medical condition, then fine. 99.99% of people entering buildings without a mask on though = assholes.

I do wear it when I'm in the city and where I know I will be in very close contact with someone.  Just don't ask me to climb lots of stairs, walk outside in the sun or talk a lot with it.

I hate it, I have a problem with it, but I haven't sought a medical exemption yet.  Maybe I'll buy a visor, if it becomes mandatory and I have to walk with it.

[viper37]

seems like Trump will get his wish, and there will be less testing done.  The demand is outstripping the capacity to perform covid tests in the US
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/06/us-coronavirus-testing-could-fail-again/613675/

[Syt]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-ppp-ayn-rand-idUSKBN248026

In sign of the times, Ayn Rand Institute approved for PPP loan

(Reuters) - The institute promoting the "laissez-faire capitalism" of writer Ayn Rand, who in the novels "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" introduced her philosophy of "objectivism" to millions of readers, was approved for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan of up to $1 million, according to data released Monday by the Trump administration.

The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism in Santa Ana, California, sought to preserve 35 jobs with the PPP funding, according to the data.

The institute advocates the Russian-American writer's philosophy and "applies its principles to many issues and events, including ones Rand herself never discussed," according to its website. It "focuses on areas that have a long-term multiplying impact on the direction of our culture — notably, education and policy debates," the website says.

The institute referred Reuters to a May 15 article, in which board member Harry Binswanger and senior fellow Onkar Ghate wrote that the organization would take any relief money offered from the CARES Act. "We will take it unapologetically, because the principle here is: justice," they wrote, adding that "the government has no wealth of its own.... It can only redistribute the wealth of others."

In Rand's novels and works of nonfiction — which included "The Virtue of Selfishness" and "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal" — she expressed her belief in "rational self-interest" and the goal of pursuing happiness as a person's highest moral aim.

In a 1962 essay, Rand wrote of seventeenth century French businessmen: "They knew that government 'help' to business is just as disastrous as government persecution, and that the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off."

[celedhring]

Since the situation in Catalonia seems to be worsening the regional government is going to decree mandatory mask-wearing at all times. This is quite going to suck with the heat (right now it's mandatory indoors and whenever you can't keep safe distance, so I usually take it off on the street) but oh well...

I just hope they enforce it if they're going to decree it. Right now it's mandatory in public transport at all times and there's always people not wearing it.

[Sheilbh]

Amid all of the hyperventilating about re-opening - including by me. Worth noting people are going back v e r y slowly and we're just seeing a minority in all of those photos that get shared on social media. This includes in the re-opening of pubs etc at the weekend:

[garbon]

Doesn't that suggest opening now is a mistake? If people aren't going to go out, reopening those businesses looks like it'll just push them (and their staff) off a fiscal cliff.

[Sheilbh]

Doesn't that suggest opening now is a mistake? If people aren't going to go out, reopening those businesses looks like it'll just push them (and their staff) off a fiscal cliff.

I don't know I mean I'd be more comfortable with re-opening on the Scots timetable, but I'm very aware that's just the English timetable plus enough time to look different. So...

I think people will go back to "normal" on some things quite quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if some retail rebounded really quickly or, say, barbers. But I don't think pubs, clubs, restaurants, music venues, theatres, cinemas will go back to normal until people feel safe and that might not be until there's a vaccine. Not least because pubs have to collect and keep the information of everyone who visits for three months, plus they have to set up for social distancing. I went to a cafe at the weekend and sat (outside) but there were about half the number of tables as pre-covid and signs everywhere basically saying do not move the tables or chairs etc.

Some places will be okay depending on how well their pivot to takeaway/delivery works - I've read a few good restaurants in London who've said they're actually now planning to keep running a small delivery menu even once they fully re-open. But I wouldn't see it as two options of lockdown plus massive government support or re-opening, we go back to normal and no government support. I think we'll be somewhere in the middle until there's a vaccine or treatment. It's why I get really annoyed about people talking about it as health v economy because I don't think we'll all just switch back on. Whatever happens it's going to need a lot of government support for businesses for the forseeable.

[celedhring]

Spain's national Covid prevalence study has finished and it's been published by The Lancet, in case you want to check it out.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31483-5/fulltext

[Iormlund]

How does saying I can't handle a mask for more than 3 minutes mean I am shirking moral responsibility?  I work from home.  I wear a mask when I go to shops and restaurants.  I wear a mask for the McDonald's drive through window.

Ah, sorry. I understood you were not wearing one. Sadly it is incredibly common over here.

some us have legitimate problems with masks, I mean, non-political frivolous issues, like a real difficulty to breath.   

That's not really an excuse though. You can use masks with valve and/or visors.

I would think anyone with genuine breathing problems would be especially interested in avoiding COVID ...

[Admiral Yi]

Ah, sorry. I understood you were not wearing one. Sadly it is incredibly common over here.

No sweat.

[The Larch]

Bolsonaro has tested positive for Coronavirus.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for coronavirus
Bolsonaro, 65, announces: 'It came back positive'
Far-right president has repeatedly trivialized pandemic

The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has announced live on television he has tested positive for coronavirus.

"It came back positive," a mask-wearing Bolsonaro told a hand-picked group of reporters on Tuesday lunchtime.

Bolsonaro, 65, has repeatedly trivialized the pandemic and flouted social distancing, even as Brazil became the second-worst hit country after the United States, with more than 65,000 deaths and 1.6 million confirmed cases.

In March, as Covid-19 claimed its first victims in Brazil, the far-right populist used an address to the nation to brag that, if infected, he would quickly shake off the illness thanks to his "athlete's background".

Since then, Bolsonaro has continued to attend social events and political rallies, often wearing masks incorrectly, or not wearing them at all.

Bolsonaro's diagnosis comes just three days after he had lunch at the home of the US ambassador to Brazil, Todd Chapman, in the capital, Brasília.

Also present at that Independence Day celebration were several top cabinet members, including foreign minister Ernesto Araújo, defence minister Fernando Azevedo, and the president's son, Eduardo, a politician who is Steve Bannon's representative in South America. The men were photographed without face masks.

Reports of Bolsonaro's possible infection first emerged on Monday evening, with local news outlets reporting that he had been tested after developing coronavirus symptoms, including a 38C temperature and a persistent cough.

An MRI of Bolsonaro's lungs was also taken, with the president telling supporters it had shown them to be "clear".

The newspaper O Globo said it understood Brazil's president had started complaining of tiredness on Saturday night, after his lunch with the US ambassador, and continued feeling unwell on Sunday.

Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed the risks of Covid-19 and urged Brazil to get back to work to avoid a devastating economic crash but he is now the second member of his family suffering its effects.

The 80-year-old grandmother of Brazil's first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro, was reportedly intubated on Sunday, after being admitted to hospital with coronavirus last Wednesday.

According to the G1 news website, Maria Aparecida Firmo Ferreira, who is reportedly estranged from the presidential clan, was found collapsed in the street by passersby and taken to a hospital in Ceilândia, a satellite city outside Brasília.

Bolsonaro's response to the coronavirus has sparked a domestic and international outcry, with many directly blaming him for the high death toll. Brazil currently lacks a permanent health minister after two were forced from their jobs in less than a month after clashing with Bolsonaro over the pandemic.

On Monday night Bolsonaro's son, Carlos, attacked critics of his father who he claimed were willing the president's death.

"The immense number of people rooting for the death of the head of the executive right now should trigger an immediate show of solidarity from other [political] leaders," Carlos Bolsonaro tweeted.

Another prominent politician, the mayor of the biggest city in the Amazon, Manaus, was flown to hospital in São Paulo on Monday after also falling ill with coronavirus last week.

"The doctors are optimistic and so are we," Arthur Virgílio, who had reportedly been receiving non-invasive respiratory support, said in a WhatsApp message to the Guardian.

[Legbiter]

Spain's national Covid prevalence study has finished and it's been published by The Lancet, in case you want to check it out.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31483-5/fulltext

At best 10% antibody serum prevalence in hotspots líka Madrid.  There's a long way to go.

[Iormlund]

Bolsonaro has tested positive for Coronavirus.

Mala hierba nunca muere.