# Any good news re: COVID-19? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 16, 2020, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610 "2020-03-16T22:47:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/81 "2020-03-22T00:10:31Z")
I like Tom Hanks. I have no idea what symptoms he told the doctor he had or why the test was done. It is not necessarily surprising he was admitted given a positive test. There is value to role models taking coronavirus seriously. In any case, I am pleased he is feeling well enough to be discharged and wish him and his family well. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/82 "2020-03-22T00:26:17Z")
1. > [@](#): > > Viruses can’t cross running water (no wait, that is Vampires) Duh, it’s 6th graders. 1. More brocolli pizza crusts for me! ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/83 "2020-03-22T01:07:21Z")
U of M makes a functional ventilator out of an ambu-bag and a few electronic parts that you can order from Digi-Key. > **[University of Minnesota is going 'full-on MacGyver' against COVID-19](https://www.startribune.com/university-of-minnesota-is-going-full-on-macgyver-against-covid-19/569000032/)** > > A makeshift ventilator made from $150 in parts is one of several ways in which the school refocused its know-how in translational research vs. the pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![Harrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac8455/32.png) [@Harrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harrington)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/84 "2020-03-22T01:22:31Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > U of M makes a functional ventilator out of an ambu-bag and a few electronic parts that you can order from Digi-Key. > [http://www.startribune.com/university-of-minnesota-is-going-full-on-macgyver-against-covid-19/569000032/](http://www.startribune.com/university-of-minnesota-is-going-full-on-macgyver-against-covid-19/569000032/) Nice. I’ve seen this before (speaking of Tom Hanks): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ry55--J4_VQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Apollo 13 (1995) - Square Peg in a Round Hole Scene (7/11) | Movieclips") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry55--J4_VQ) ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/85 "2020-03-22T03:02:48Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Well, the first and third points are cheering. That second one, though, is a bit of an issue. My niece’s school district is encouraging teachers to teach online, and one issue is that some kids don’t have access to wi-fi at home. Yes, there are kids too poor s to have wi-fi. It’s not that many, but it’s some. And libraries are closing, so that avenue is gone. Wifi may become a utility under federal aid programs like electricity and telephone. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/86 "2020-03-22T03:15:07Z")
South Korea has provided a road map to contagion control. That should be the best news of all, but we’re too wrapped up in our own ego to think South Korea has anything to teach “the best public health system in the world.”:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/87 "2020-03-22T03:25:27Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I just read that museums are reopening in China and Japan. Mentioned it to my medical wife, who said “Well, of course. People are getting better there as the virus runs its course.” > > I had no idea. I was afraid that’d be months away! So even if it’s months away for Europe and the USofA, there IS light at the end of the tunnel. > > So it’s not quite the Black Plague! Even the black plague isn’t the black plague. If the black plague were to happen today, we would just give everyone anti-biotics and it would be over. The same thing with this. Once we have a vaccine, it’s over. There is a shelf life to this thing. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/88 "2020-03-22T03:29:12Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > South Korea has provided a road map to contagion control. That should be the best news of all, but we’re too wrapped up in our own ego to think South Korea has anything to teach “the best public health system in the world.”:rolleyes: > **[New coronavirus cluster linked to South Korean church, 46 test positive | New...](https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2020/03/574973/new-coronavirus-cluster-linked-south-korean-church-46-test-positive)** > > SEOUL: A new coronavirus cluster linked to a South Korean religious group emerged on Monday, with 46 cases at a church near Seoul that defied calls to suspend services. Just saying. Outbreaks will continue until we have a vaccine or we achieve herd immunity within a population. That church in Daegu is probably immune and the safest place to be right now. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/89 "2020-03-22T05:00:48Z")
Good news? Our ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) board has loosened rules. [California Can Now Sell Cocktails To Go, but Only With Food](https://la.eater.com/2020/3/20/21188738/abc-cocktail-delivery-coronavirus-california-shelter-in-place) > [@](#): > > The ABC eased its rules around alcohol delivery, making it far easier for restaurants to sell beer, wine, and pre-mixed drinks/cocktails for pick-up or delivery throughout the state. I recently saw a report of a shop selling a roll of toilet paper for $10k - with a free bar of gold included. Will liquor stores go into the food-takeout business? I can imagine a shop selling a $20 order of popcorn with a jug of rotgut attached. Better than contagion, sure. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/90 "2020-03-22T06:18:45Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Once we have a vaccine, it’s over. No. We have a vaccine for the flu–but it is only 50% or so effective. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/91 "2020-03-22T07:45:43Z")
Good news? [Netflix launches $100 million coronavirus relief fund to help jobless cast and crew](https://boingboing.net/2020/03/20/netflix-coronavirus-relief-fun.html) > [@](#): > > “The COVID-19 crisis is devastating for many industries, including the creative community. Almost all television and film production has now ceased globally — leaving hundreds of thousands of crew and cast without jobs. These include electricians, carpenters and drivers, many of whom are paid hourly wages and work on a project-to-project basis. This community has supported Netflix through the good times, and we want to help them through these hard times, especially while governments are still figuring out what economic support they will provide.” ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/92 "2020-03-22T11:51:55Z")
A nurse friend of mine forwarded me an email conversation among some other medical professional friends of hers in which they report starting to use a combo of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat COVID-19 patients, and that it seems to be working decently well within a few days. Hallelujah for old generic drugs! She sent me a .pdf of a paper in press for a very small, non-randomized trial. Not ideal, but it’s a start. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/93 "2020-03-22T17:15:52Z")
Some of the best good news I have seen are the infection charts for South Korea and (!)China. Both seem to be on the downside of the pandemic. Conversely, every other country’s charts show an upward trend…that is accelerating. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/94 "2020-03-23T04:25:39Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > No. We have a vaccine for the flu–but it is only 50% or so effective. I don’t think coronavirus mutates like the flu. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/95 "2020-03-23T05:21:55Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > The good news in my 50,000-population Upper Midwestern city is that a lot of people are now getting tested (we bask in the penumbra of a world-famous diagnostic clinic), and most of them are negative. Only 5 positives so far. So, here at least, there are almost certainly NOT a lot of undetected carriers. (I don’t know to what degree this information might apply to other, similar cities). > > That means the major sacrifices we’re all making — for many here, much deeper losses than I’ve faced — will probably have the desired effect, in weeks rather than in months… > > …if other factors don’t mess things up, starting with foolishly selfish returning spring breakers. Do you have a ballpark figure for what percentage or number of people is ‘a lot’? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/96 "2020-03-23T05:32:44Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I like Tom Hanks. I have no idea what symptoms he told the doctor he had or why the test was done. It is not necessarily surprising he was admitted given a positive test. There is value to role models taking coronavirus seriously. In any case, I am pleased he is feeling well enough to be discharged and wish him and his family well. Tom Hanks got the test because he’d gotten off a plane in Australia - that’s one of the official risk factors - and was sick. So he isn’t a case of celebrity entitlement - he qualified for his test under the rules available to everyone I hear he’s getting better ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/97 "2020-03-23T05:47:07Z")
Well, one piece of good news. Given the current statistic growth rate in New York, we won’t need to wait too long to see what effect the disease has on the US as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/98 "2020-03-23T23:48:25Z")
Not sure if I qualify thousands dead as “we will all be fine” but I throw this out there from a Nobel Laureate: > **[Why this Nobel laureate predicts a quicker coronavirus recovery: 'We're going...](https://news.yahoo.com/why-nobel-laureate-predicts-quicker-210318391.html)** > > A Nobel laureate predicted China's recovery weeks before it happened. Analyzing the numbers, he sees a much brighter global outcome than many experts. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/99 "2020-03-24T00:26:20Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Not sure if I qualify thousands dead as “we will all be fine” but I throw this out there from a Nobel Laureate: > > [Why this Nobel laureate predicts a quicker coronavirus recovery: 'We're going to be fine'](https://news.yahoo.com/why-nobel-laureate-predicts-quicker-210318391.html) > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Less dire than other outlooks. I’ll take it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610/100 "2020-03-24T01:26:15Z")
If you have the satellite Dish Network you can now watch lots of free movies like TCM on channels 318 to 333 and Sony on channel 386 amd Starz (on demand) till April 3rd I like free movies morning, noon and night [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-news-re-covid-19/849610.md?page=6)