# Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2020 Breaking News **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [February 11, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758 "2020-02-11T01:16:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 150
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2988 "2020-05-06T11:18:44Z")
Maybe this was mentioned but JK Rowling was positive and was sick for a few weeks but she has recovered. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2989 "2020-05-06T13:45:05Z")
Nice bit of news : a GoFund Me account for two million dollars was set up to help the Navajo and Hopi nations deal with Covid19. They’re most of the way there, and the Irish have contributed a big chunk, because the Choctaw sent Ireland money during the Great Famine. > **[173 years, $170: Why Irish people are donating to help Native Americans hit...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/173-years-170-why-irish-people-are-donating-help-native-n1200811)** > > "Sending the actual amount of $170 personally after 170 or so years felt like the right tribute across the ages." ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2990 "2020-05-06T14:08:27Z")
A paper in preprint indicates that a far more infectious starin of the virus emerged early in the European outbreak and outbred the much less infectious orignial strain to become dominant: Cite: [Spike mutation pipeline reveals the emergence of a more transmissible form of SARS-CoV-2 | bioRxiv](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.29.069054v1) To me, this explains quite a few things. If China and Southeast Asia was dealing with a less infectious strain, Chinas lower death numbers, that seem so peculiar when compared to our experiences with the virus, and how much more effective the measures in Southeast Asia was, including how Viet Nam hammered the virus on a shoestring budget. Also how some nations seem to have much less severe outbraks, while the ones that are downstream of the European strain struggle far more. Might also explain things like Russia where the more infectious strain might have overtaken the lesser version. Also how the virus could have showed up in places much earlier without exploding. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2991 "2020-05-06T15:13:03Z")
> [@Grim\_Render](#): > > A paper in preprint indicates that a far more infectious starin of the virus emerged early in the European outbreak and outbred the much less infectious orignial strain to become dominant: > > Cite: [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.29.069054v1](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.29.069054v1) [There is some skepticism](https://gizmodo.com/what-to-know-about-that-new-paper-claiming-the-coronavi-1843265388) about that study. It’s based on circumstantial evidence - all conjecture, no actual experiments. Maybe there’s something to it, but a lot more evidence is needed. ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2992 "2020-05-06T16:10:30Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > [There is some skepticism](https://gizmodo.com/what-to-know-about-that-new-paper-claiming-the-coronavi-1843265388) about that study. It’s based on circumstantial evidence - all conjecture, no actual experiments. Maybe there’s something to it, but a lot more evidence is needed. It odes however, answer a lot of questions and issues where the numbers just did not seem to add up, and the objections are…well, not significant ones. “It is possible that the European strain is dominant because there were more cases there” well, yes that is possible, but it is an answer that requires a lot more entities. And “They didn’t do any experiments” No, theres not been a lot of time for that, but the maths look very suggestive. Most papers that come to be accepted have a\*\* lot \*\*more skepticism than that initially. Thats peer review. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2993 "2020-05-06T16:27:47Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 3,727,864 total cases > 258,340 dead > 1,242,393 recovered > > In the US: > > 1,237,633 total cases > 72,271 dead > 200,628 recovered > > Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: Wait. What happened to the [1700 additional nursing home deaths](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-deaths-new-york-nursing-homes-adult-care-facilities-covid-19/) NY reported yesterday? Unless there were only a few hundred deaths all across the country, the total doesn’t seem to reflect them. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2994 "2020-05-06T17:52:05Z")
I see that confirmed cases in Nebraska have been soaring over the past 18 days. Is this just a result of extensive testing? (Death rates remain low.) ---
**Author:** ![Caldazar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Caldazar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caldazar)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2995 "2020-05-06T17:53:59Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Wait. What happened to the [1700 additional nursing home deaths](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-deaths-new-york-nursing-homes-adult-care-facilities-covid-19/) NY reported yesterday? Unless there were only a few hundred deaths all across the country, the total doesn’t seem to reflect them. The 1700 deaths were excess historical deaths. Basically they found a bunch of additional deaths that were not previously reported. But because no one has dug into the causes of those prior deaths, they are not retroactively counted as COVID deaths. This is along the lines of analyzing excess deaths generally. You see your death count this year is much higher than last year. You count your COVID deaths but realize that even after taking your COVID deaths into account, the numbers still don’t add up; you still have a bunch of additional deaths on top of your trend/expectation. You assume that these additional excess deaths were probably related to COVID in some sense, but you don’t know exact cause of death. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2996 "2020-05-06T18:06:53Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I see that confirmed cases in Nebraska have been soaring over the past 18 days. Is this just a result of extensive testing? (Death rates remain low.) I suspect that many of those are coming from meat-packing plants, as they have been in other more rural areas over the past week or two. However, the state’s governor, as of yesterday, [was still refusing to reveal how many cases were directly attributable to meat-packng plants](https://www.wowt.com/content/news/Nebraska-governor-COVID-19-response-update-for-Tuesday-May-05-2020-570211571.html). ---
**Author:** ![Caldazar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Caldazar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caldazar)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2997 "2020-05-06T18:14:33Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I see that confirmed cases in Nebraska have been soaring over the past 18 days. Is this just a result of extensive testing? (Death rates remain low.) Yep: [https://covidtracking.com/data/state/nebraska](https://covidtracking.com/data/state/nebraska) Like most of the US, testing capacity finally started ramping up a bit towards the end of April. “Extensive” is probably a bit strong; testing levels are better in Nebraska but still short of where it needs to be. Assuming testing capacity continues to ramp up, I’d expect the daily confirmed case numbers to continue to grow substantially as more of the infected population starts getting counted. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2998 "2020-05-06T20:27:18Z")
Today in Austria: [ul] [li] The Austrian Red Cross considers it possible, even likely, that Austria will suffer from **a second wave of coronavirus infections**. The key is to delay the wave as long as possible, and to prepare for it in the meantime. The Red Cross considers the country’s preparations so far, in terms of personnel and protective equipment, to be satisfactory.[/li][li] The government has announced that it will be extending **border controls** with neighbouring countries until at least 31 May. (The current controls were due to expire tomorrow.)[/li][li] The EU Commission is forecasting **an EU-wide recession**. Austria is among the countries expected to be hit the weakest, behind only Poland and Luxembourg. According to the forecast, Austria’s GDP will fall by 5.5% this year, but grow again by 5% in 2021.[/li][li] After being shut down for five weeks, **Salzburg’s airport** reopened today. The first arrival, a Eurowings flight from Düsseldorf, was an Airbus A319 with 144 seats, only two of which were occupied.[/li][li] Current statistics: 15,633 confirmed infections, 608 deaths, 13,639 recovered.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/2999 "2020-05-06T23:52:24Z")
[Three USDA meat inspectors dead, about 145 inspectors diagnosed with COVID-19.](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-usda-meat-inspectors-3-dead-covid-19/) ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3000 "2020-05-07T00:04:33Z")
Sometimes I just have to sit back and remember how incredibly lucky we’ve been with this disease. Virgin field epidemics tend to run a lethality of about 25-30 %., The Black Death ran higher, I think. Smallpox in the Native Americans got over 90 % but that was a special case. Still, the lethality we are seeing is fantastically low. We rolled some sixes here. Maybe we will be better prepared when a really bad one -or an average one- pops up. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3001 "2020-05-07T01:57:54Z")
A lot of people were beating their pots and pans out their windows last night here in Panama. I’m not sure whether they were protesting something specific. It’s been totally quiet tonight. Two pieces of good news: -The government has announced that the propagation rate is now down below 1 for the country, and the case doubling-time is 20 days. The government is starting to plan a gradual reopening. -As of Friday, they are lifting the “dry law” prohibiting the sale of alcohol. Just in time, since I’m down to my very last beer.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3002 "2020-05-07T02:04:27Z")
…New Zealand have released the rules for the stand-down to Alert Level 2. > [@NZ Herald](#): > > Shops, barbers, bars and cafes can open under alert level 2, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says. > > Kiwis can expand their bubbles to include friends and family and travel “safely” around the country, Ardern said. It comes as one new Covid-19 case was announced for the day. > > Public parks and recreational sports facilities will be open again, and professional sport can resume again such as Super Rugby and the national netball league. > > Mass gathering rules will still apply so there will not be any crowds. > > … > > Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield said there will be a 2m physical distancing guideline for strangers and 1m for people you know, but a “careful hug” was okay for close friends and family. > > … > > Ardern said indoor gatherings would be limited to up to 100 people under alert level 2, while outdoor gatherings will also be limited to 100. Weddings and concerts could happen, as long as there were fewer than 100 people > > She said people would no longer have to stick to their bubble, and people can see family and friends again. > > … > > Hospitality, including cafes and bars, can open but that meant only businesses that can apply the thee Ss. The first is seated - capacity only for how many can be seated to prevent congestion, Ardern says. > > The second S is separation. There has to be space between people and tables, for example, and each table must have a single server (third S), and service at the table rather than the counter. > > Contact tracing will likely include QR codes, but manual or digital recording should be used in the meantime for customers. > > … > > Schools to re-open > Distance learning will still be available for those unable to return to school, such as for people isolating because they have Covid-19, she said. > > A positive case in a school will mean that school will close for 72 hours to enable contact tracing, and possibly for 14 days if required. > > Schools will open at the start of a week, whenever a decision is made about moving to level 2, she said. > > Kids should still stay at home if sick. > > … > > She said level 2 was about keeping the economy back up and running, but “play it safe”. > > The health principles were the same, including to stay home if you are even “slightly sick”, being tested for even a runny nose or a sore throat, and washing hands often and properly all of the time. > > “Don’t pass other people your phone,” was one example the PM gave. > > The border will still be closed to non-New Zealanders. > > Test, contact trace and isolate would remain in place, she said. More at the link. > **[Popping the bubbles: Malls, cafes, schools open in level 2, domestic travel...](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-malls-barbers-bars-to-open-under-alert-level-2-travel-around-nz-allowed/ALBQMYZ5U37BPSZVZTKWG6FHG4/?c_id=1&objectid=12330222)** > > Jacinda Ardern on alert level 2 life, and Ashley Bloomfield on the latest number of cases. I think this will be the new normal for a long while. Almost everything gets opened up in some way or form: the industries that will be hardest hit are the ones that rely on overseas travel like tourism and the convention industry. But this is good news. Seven weeks in isolation coming to an end. I’m self employed and can do a lot of my work from home so (I suspect, like many NZ’ers) will keep to many of the habits I’ve picked up in the last couple of months. We will probably still “click and collect” from the supermarket instead of shopping instore. I’ll work from home more often than not. I’ve simply gotten used to a different way of doing things. I don’t know if thats a good or a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3003 "2020-05-07T03:13:08Z")
California is threatening to yank the alcohol licenses of restaurants who reopen in violation of the stay at home order. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3004 "2020-05-07T03:15:25Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > California is threatening to yank the alcohol licenses of restaurants who reopen in violation of the stay at home order. Good idea, those are expensive and hard to get. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3005 "2020-05-07T03:39:46Z")
> [@Grim\_Render](#): > > Sometimes I just have to sit back and remember how incredibly lucky we’ve been with this disease. > > Virgin field epidemics tend to run a lethality of about 25-30 %., The Black Death ran higher, I think. Smallpox in the Native Americans got over 90 % but that was a special case. Still, the lethality we are seeing is fantastically low. We rolled some sixes here. Maybe we will be better prepared when a really bad one -or an average one- pops up. This has me wondering, it’s been eons and eons since we saw a disease that was 1) highly contagious \*\*\*and \*\*\*2) had a high mortality rate. Ebola = deadly, but very difficult to transmit. Covid-19 = contagious, but not all that deadly. (“only” 2-5% kill rate) Various bird flus = contagious, but not all that deadly. SARS = rather deadly, but wasn’t all that easily transmitted Why did smallpox, bubonic plague, etc. rip around with such ease \*\*\*and \*\*\*mortality? (although of course healthcare was far worse back then) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3006 "2020-05-07T03:52:48Z")
Covidiots: > **[‘Covid-19 Parties’ Probably Didn’t Involve Intentional Spread (Published 2020)](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/us/coronavirus-covid-parties.html)** > > County health officials in Washington State walked back earlier claims that young people were gathering in a deliberate attempt to be exposed to the coronavirus. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3007 "2020-05-07T04:28:46Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > This has me wondering, it’s been eons and eons since we saw a disease that was 1) highly contagious \*\*\*and \*\*\*2) had a high mortality rate. Eons and eons ago, we had a less detailed understanding of the agents of disease. For example, the etymology of “flu”: _influenza_ is an Italian word that was meant to attribute the cause of the malady to the _influence of the stars_. Addressing a spreading disease on the basis of non-useful information will tend to result in the deployment of less than useful countermeasures. Knowing exactly what kind of thing we are facing does tend to reduce that thing’s effectiveness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=149) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=151)