# 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:** 198
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3956 "2020-07-27T04:04:40Z")
16,420,287 total cases 652,256 dead 10,048,052 recovered In the US: 4,371,839 total cases 149,849 dead 2,090,129 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 16,202,385 total cases > 648,445 dead > 9,913,232 recovered > > In the US: > > 4,315,709 total cases > 149,398 dead > 2,061,692 recovered ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3957 "2020-07-27T21:02:03Z")
Trump insider Robert O’Brien has tested positive. Also, in our 4 day old baseball season 13 or 14 Florida Marlins tested positive. They were in Philadelphia. 🤢 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3958 "2020-07-27T21:12:38Z")
All the sports trying to have their cake and eat it too is mostly somewhere between abject stupidity and dangerously misplaced priorities, IMO. > [@Chris Hayes](#): > > Every single problem we’re dealing with now stems from the fact that we never actually suppressed the virus and then put the infrastructure in place to keep it suppressed. It’s like we’re trying to figure out a way to live in a burning building. It doesn’t work. Andy Slavitt gets it: > **[Top Obama Health Official: U.S. Can 'Virtually Eliminate' COVID-19 When 'We...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/andy-slavitt-obama-healthcare-coronavirus_n_5f1eea6cc5b69fd4730fa50f)** > > In a now-viral tweet thread, the former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services broke down how the country could beat the coronavirus. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3959 "2020-07-28T01:18:33Z")
Way to go, New Jersey! > **[Cops break up 700-person Airbnb mansion party, charge 3 for violating N.J.’s...](https://www.nj.com/news/2020/07/3-charged-after-cops-break-up-700-person-airbnb-mansion-party-that-violated-njs-gathering-limits.html)** > > The Jackson Township house was rented out on Airbnb. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tgQHJyAOmV4/maxresdefault.jpg "More than 700 attend Airbnb party in NJ, ignore social distancing") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgQHJyAOmV4) at 1:35 in the video: “Police across the state have had to respond to similar house parties” ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3960 "2020-07-28T04:18:57Z")
16,646,987 total cases 656,608 dead 10,232,055 recovered In the US: 4,433,410 total cases 150,444 dead 2,136,603 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 16,420,287 total cases > 652,256 dead > 10,048,052 recovered > > In the US: > > 4,371,839 total cases > 149,849 dead > 2,090,129 recovered ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3962 "2020-07-28T18:36:25Z")
Meanwhile, in Turkmenistan… > **[Turkmenistan: Winds of strange](https://eurasianet.org/turkmenistan-winds-of-strange)** > > Turkmen wishing to quit jobs in hospitals face treason charges. Doctors and nurses must buy their own protective equipment. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3963 "2020-07-29T03:29:28Z")
I’m not posting this to be political. It is a worrisome blast of false information in a video that has had 13 million views. Both Donald Trump and DT, Jr. have been promoting the views of a bizarre doctor, Stella Immanuel, whose viral video since removed by Facebook) makes some strange and baseless claims: • STD’s, miscarriages, infertility, and endometriosis in women are caused by having sex with witches and demons in their dreams. • “We don’t need masks.” “We don’t need to die. This virus has a cure. It is called hydroxyzine, zinc, and Zithromax.” She’s also claimed doctors use alien DNA in medical treatment and that lizard-like aliens are involved in the US government. Trump claims he’s highly impressed, even though he admits he doesn’t know who she is or what country she comes from. (It’s Cameroon.) Immanuel practices in Houston, TX and got her medical degree in Nigeria. Nigeria cautions people against Immanuel’s theories. Immanuel demands that Dr. Fauci, the “talking heads on CNN” and all senators who disagree with her to give a urine sample, as she’s convinced they’re all taking hydroxychloroquine. She also says Jesus will come down hard on Facebook for removing her page. How do we effectively fight a virus with a president promoting a doctor making such baseless and outlandish claims? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3964 "2020-07-29T04:04:49Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > I’m not posting this to be political . . . > > How do we effectively fight a virus with a president promoting a doctor making such baseless and outlandish claims? Do the right political thing on November 3, if we all live till then. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3965 "2020-07-29T04:20:29Z")
Frick. I was just on Facebook. A former colleague posted Stella Immanuel’s claims alongside those of a Yale researcher who claims hydroxychloroquine really does treat COVID, and now dozens of people have replied that they believe it works and that there’s a big conspiracy against Immanuel and Trump. One guy claims to be a pharmacist and says he’s read “dozens” of studies and that it’s “well-known” the combo works. I give up. Really, unless we can somehow all return to rational belief and scientific reasoning, we’re screwed. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3966 "2020-07-29T04:23:26Z")
16,895,076 total cases 663,476 dead 10,458,632 recovered In the US: 4,498,343 total cases 152,320 dead 2,185,894 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 16,646,987 total cases > 656,608 dead > 10,232,055 recovered > > In the US: > > 4,433,410 total cases > 150,444 dead > 2,136,603 recovered There will be over 17,000,000 total cases worldwide tomorrow. At the current rate, we are adding over 1,000,000 cases every 4-5 days. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3967 "2020-07-29T04:26:09Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Frick. I was just on Facebook. A former colleague posted Stella Immanuel’s claims alongside those of a Yale researcher who claims hydroxychloroquine really does treat COVID, and now dozens of people have replied that they believe it works and that there’s a big conspiracy against Immanuel and Trump. One person posted that on my NextDoor group, and was jumped all over by a dozen people with links and cites. Hopefully it gets removed quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3968 "2020-07-29T05:13:48Z")
The AP has an article about the current state of the United States with regard to the pandemic: > **[States resist mask rules as Midwest virus uptick stirs alarm](https://apnews.com/edfe13b73609f39b8ecbd1dd1fa56cfd)** > > JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The baseball season descended deeper into crisis Tuesday, states like Mississippi and South Carolina cast about for more hospital beds, and governors in some of the hardest-hit places staunchly resisted calls to require masks,... It does not paint a rosy picture of [sunshine and lollipops](https://youtu.be/LkzArYrC0MM). ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3969 "2020-07-29T09:26:26Z")
Health officials are predicting that the Melbourne.Victoria.Australia outbreak is coming to an end, based on data which they don’t seem to be releasing to the public or to the media. We are getting 5 day peaks, so the next peak will probably be around August 1. Based on the estimated date of infection (data not published anywhere) for existing cases, case rate should start to fall. Apparently, the case peaks we are seeing now are the trailing edge, peaking now because of the cumulative effect of the outbreak. I’ve already been dissatisfied about the way COVID has been reported (emphasizing largely irrelevant numbers like “the total number of infected people who’ve returned to Australia in the last couple of months”), and this reporting just makes me irritated all over again. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2020, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3970 "2020-07-29T13:33:23Z")
This is a comprehensive summary of Where We Are Right Now. It is scary, depressing, and there is no pony in this room. If he’s there, he’s gasping for air and will soon be dead. > **[A Viral Epidemic Splintering Into Deadly Pieces (Published 2020)](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/health/coronavirus-future-america.html)** > > There’s not just one coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Now there are many, each requiring its own mix of solutions. TL;DR - We’re thoroughly fucked. > Once again, the coronavirus is ascendant. As infections mount across the country, it is dawning on Americans that the epidemic is now unstoppable, and that no corner of the nation will be left untouched. > > As of Tuesday, the pathogen had infected at least 4.3 million Americans, killing almost 150,000. Many experts fear the virus could kill [200,000](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2020/07/07/imhe-model-projects-208255-us-deaths-by-november-but-estimate-falls-sharply-if-mask-use-increases/#3c8ee9616f2e)or [even 300,000](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/22/dr-scott-gottlieb-us-coronavirus-deaths-may-hit-300000-by-year-end.html) by year’s end. Even President Trump has donned a mask, after resisting for months, and has [canceled the Republican National Convention](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/us/politics/jacksonville-rnc.html) celebrations in Florida. > > Each state, each city has its own crisis driven by its own risk factors: vacation crowds in one, bars reopened too soon in another, a revolt against masks in a third. > > “We are in a worse place than we were in March,” when the virus coursed through New York, said [Dr. Leana S. Wen](https://www.gwumc.edu/smhs/facultydirectory/profile.cfm?empName=Leana%20Wen&FacID=2073685428), a former Baltimore health commissioner. “Back then we had one epicenter. Now we have lots.” > … [Major snippage, as this is a looooong article.] > Millions of Americans have [lost their jobs](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/07/23/business/stock-market-today-coronavirus#roughly-one-in-five-workers-are-collecting-unemployment-benefits) and [their health insurance](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/us/politics/coronavirus-health-insurance-trump.html), and are in danger of [losing their homes,](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/opinion/coronavirus-evictions-rent.html)even as they find themselves in the path of a lethal disease. The Trump presidency “is the symptom of the denigration of science and the gutting of the public contract about what we owe each other as citizens,” said [Dr. Joia S. Mukherjee](https://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/faculty-staff/joia-stapleton-mukherjee), the chief medical officer of Partners in Health in Boston. > > One lesson that will surely be learned is that the country needs to be better prepared for microbial assaults, said Dr. Julie Gerberding, a former director of the C.D.C. > > “This is not a once-in-a-century event. It’s a harbinger of things to come.” The New York Times is making COVID-related articles free for non-subscribers. You might have to create a login and register. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3971 "2020-07-29T20:35:24Z")
“Rep. Louie Gohmert — a Texas Republican who has been walking around the Capitol without a mask — has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to multiple sources. … Gohmert attended Tuesday’s blockbuster House Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General William Barr in person, where lawmakers were seated at some distance from one another. But footage from before the hearing shows [Gohmert and Barr walking together in close contact](https://twitter.com/Olivia_Beavers/status/1288483271907725325?s=20), with neither wearing a mask.” > **[Louie Gohmert, who refused to wear a mask, tests positive for coronavirus](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/29/louis-gohmert-who-refused-to-wear-a-mask-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-386076)** > > The Texas Republican received the diagnosis during a pre-screening procedure at the White House on Wednesday morning. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3972 "2020-07-29T23:13:17Z")
I enjoyed this article on “hygiene theatre”. > **[Hygiene Theater Is a Huge Waste of Time](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/scourge-hygiene-theater/614599/)** > > People are power scrubbing their way to a false sense of security. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3973 "2020-07-29T23:27:07Z")
Things have not been good here in Panama for the last three months. Until May 26 we had been averaging about 150 cases a day since mid April. Then daily cases started climbing, hitting over 1000 day on June 26. We peaked (at least I hope it will be the peak) at 2,165 on July 20. Since then we seem to have plateaued, with the 7-day average running around 1,100/day. They’re reporting the R0 is down to 1.16, however, so maybe they are finally getting it under control. To date, Panama has had 63,000 cases and almost 1,400 deaths, in a population of 4 million. This has been despite one of the hardest lockdowns in the world. In Panama City and its suburbs, most people are only allowed to leave the house for essential shopping for 6 hours (women) or 4 hours (men) a week. (A couple of weeks ago they imposed a curfew on Saturdays, which was one of the men’s shopping days, so I’m restricted from leaving the house from 10 AM Thursday until 5 AM the following Tuesday.) ---
**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:** [July 29, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3974 "2020-07-29T23:27:15Z")
I was reading just the other day that Vietnam didn’t even have ONE COVID case. Then this: > **[Mysterious Coronavirus Outbreak Catches Vietnam by Surprise (Published 2020)](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/world/asia/coronavirus-vietnam.html)** > > After months without a single coronavirus death, or even a confirmed case of local transmission, a new outbreak has struck Vietnam. And it’s spreading. > …But over the weekend, Vietnam, which had gone about 100 days without a single confirmed case of local transmission, announced that the virus was lurking in the country after all — and it was spreading. > > First, a 57-year-old man from Danang tested positive for the virus and is now on life support. Then clusters quickly emerged in five hospitals. By Wednesday, the virus had spread north to Hanoi, the capital, south to Ho Chi Minh City and afflicted two provinces in central Vietnam, as well as the remote Central Highlands. > > The surge of the coronavirus in Vietnam, which has so far recorded fewer than 450 cases, revealed the dangers of the virus even in places that appeared to have done most everything right in their battle against contagion. > … ---
**Author:** ![SayTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@SayTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SayTwo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3975 "2020-07-30T07:43:43Z")
Thanks for the update, **Colibri**. Been thinking about you when I see Panama pop up on the dashboards. Question for you about those stringent lockdowns. Are there regular news stories about people flouting the rules? If so, are there arrests, fines, business closures? Just wondering how strong the compliance is, or what might account for continued, or even increased, spread in the face of such containment measures. ---
**Author:** ![SayTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@SayTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SayTwo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/3976 "2020-07-30T07:59:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I was reading just the other day that Vietnam didn’t even have ONE COVID case. Not one death, I believe. I think 400 or so cases, or maybe a little under that, they say. Although they didn’t have really pervasive or extended lockdowns, I don’t think, they definitely get serious about things when they decide to. I mean, evacuating 80,000 people from a city after they find a handful of cases…that ain’t messin’ around. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=197) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=199)