# 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:** 244
**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:** [September 25, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4883 "2020-09-25T04:16:29Z")
32,413,887 total cases 987,742 dead 23,928,589 recovered In the US: 7,185,471 total cases 207,538 dead 4,437,575 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 31,878,408 total cases > 977,155 dead > 23,475,695 recovered > > In the US: > > 7,139,553 total cases > 206,593 dead > 4,398,907 recovered ---
**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:** [September 25, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4884 "2020-09-25T14:50:39Z")
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and his wife have both tested positive. > **[Virginia governor, wife test positive for coronavirus](https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-ralph-northam-archive-virginia-2d66657d8c5dee487a2d1a2e6ce9f913)** > > RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday that he and his wife have both tested positive for the coronavirus, though he said he is showing no symptoms... ---
**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:** [September 25, 2020, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4885 "2020-09-25T22:42:25Z")
> **[Florida, hard hit by Covid-19, will reopen bars and restaurants with no...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-hard-hit-coronavirus-summer-will-reopen-bars-restaurants-no-n1241137)** > > Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida was moving into Phase 3 reopening on Friday, lifting all restrictions for restaurants and bars. “The order would also prohibit local governments from restricting business operations unless they can justify the economic cost of such actions.” Hey, what’s the worst that can happen, am I right? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4886 "2020-09-26T00:47:11Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > “The order would also prohibit local governments from restricting business operations unless they can justify the economic cost of such actions.” > > Hey, what’s the worst that can happen, am I right? This is why [the world feels bad for Americans](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/25/world/asia/trump-united-states.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes), isn’t it. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2020, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4887 "2020-09-26T04:03:12Z")
32,765,201 total cases 993,463 dead 24,178,344 recovered In the US: 7,244,184 total cases 208,440 dead 4,480,719 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 32,413,887 total cases > 987,742 dead > 23,928,589 recovered > > In the US: > > 7,185,471 total cases > 207,538 dead > 4,437,575 recovered We’ll start the new week going over 1,000,000 deaths worldwide. ---
**Author:** ![SayTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@SayTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SayTwo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4888 "2020-09-26T12:59:07Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > “The order would also prohibit local governments from restricting business operations unless they can justify the economic cost of such actions.” > > Hey, what’s the worst that can happen, am I right? I watched the session he had with experts the other day. He made the case that two relatively heavily infected counties, I believe Broward and Miami-Dade, had taken different approaches with regard to reopening restaurants, with one opening widely and the other not, with no discernible effect. So, I guess the answer to your question would be that the worst thing that can happen already had a chance to happen yet did not, they believe. I mean, if you’re gonna follow the data and science, you have to go all the way, don’t you? I found his approach to ‘rights’ to be really refreshing in this sad day and age. He said that the citizens of his state have a ‘right to work’ and a ‘right to operate their businesses’, He talked about a ‘bill of rights’ for students. These are normally things that all Americans would applaud, I would have thought. He also pointed out that Disney World has been installing capacity limits of their own accord, not by dictate, and that they are of course more than welcome to do so. I think some people would take away from this story that the government there is telling people they _have to_ go back to work. The way I read it, they are telling people they _can_, and it’s up to them whether they do or not. Those are two very different things. In a different time, anything _but_ such an approach would just not have been possible in America. Just not possible. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4889 "2020-09-26T18:08:34Z")
> [@SayTwo](#): > > In a different time, anything _but_ such an approach would just not have been possible in America. Just not possible. It’s also ironic that such controlling measures like masking are at a time when Trump rules America. Think about that. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4890 "2020-09-26T19:46:44Z")
Two articles offering theories, not mutually exclusive, on why some get so sick while some groups hardly get ill. [https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/hidden-immune-weakness-found-14-gravely-ill-covid-19-patients](https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/hidden-immune-weakness-found-14-gravely-ill-covid-19-patients) > [@](#): > > Co-author Isabelle Meyts, a pediatric immunologist at the University Hospitals Leuven, was struck by one paper’s finding that rogue antibodies underlie COVID-19 in 10% of gravely ill patients: “There has never been any infectious disease explained at this level by a factor in the human body. And it’s not an isolated cohort of Europeans. Patients are from all over the world, all ethnicities.” Another finding, that 94% of the patients with interferon-attacking antibodies were male, also helps explain why men face higher risk of severe disease. … > > … The preponderance of male patients was a surprise, because women have higher rates of autoimmune disease. “Our favorite hypothesis is that it is an X-linked recessive trait,” Casanova says. “Women with two X chromosomes are protected and men, with one, are not.” Supporting that suspicion, one woman with a rare condition that silences one X chromosome was among the severely ill patients with autoantibodies. > > If these striking results hold up, they might also help explain the increased vulnerability of older people to severe COVID-19: Half the gravely ill patients with autoantibodies were older than 65. … > **[T cells take the lead in controlling SARS-CoV-2 and reducing COVID-19 disease...](https://www.lji.org/news-events/news/post/t-cells-take-the-lead-in-controlling-sars-cov-2-and-reducing-covid-19-disease-severity/)** > > LA JOLLA, CA—Ever since SARS-CoV-2 first appeared, researchers have been trying to understand whether sometimes the immune system does more harm than good during the acute phase of COVID-19. The latest study by researchers at La Jolla Institute for... > [@](#): > > Their work, published in the Sept. 16, 2020 online issue of _Cell,_ confirms that a multi-layered, virus-specific immune response is important for controlling the virus during the acute phase of the infection and reducing COVID-19 disease severity, with the bulk of the evidence pointing to a much bigger role for T cells than antibodies. A weak or uncoordinated immune response … > > … “Our observations could also explain why older COVID-19 patients are much more vulnerable to the disease,” says senior author [Shane Crotty, Ph.D.,](https://www.lji.org/faculty-research/labs/crotty/) who co-led the study with [Alessandro Sette, Dr. Biol.Sci.,](https://www.lji.org/faculty-research/labs/sette/) both professors in LJI’s Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research. “With increasing age, the reservoir of T cells that can be activated against a specific virus declines and the body’s immune response becomes less coordinated, which looks to be one factor making older people drastically more susceptible to severe or fatal COVID-19.” > > Adds Sette, “What we didn’t see was any evidence that T cells contribute to a cytokine storm, which is more likely mediated by the innate immune system.” … ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4891 "2020-09-26T19:49:45Z")
> [@SayTwo](#): > > I think some people would take away from this story that the government there is telling people they _have to_ go back to work. The way I read it, they are telling people they _can_ , and it’s up to them whether they do or not. Up to them, or up to the people hiring them? ---
**Author:** ![SayTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@SayTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SayTwo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4892 "2020-09-26T20:13:45Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Up to them, or up to the people hiring them? I get your point, but I’m not sure that matters, or at least not unless there is some outside agency that is willing and able to keep paying wages to people for staying home. It seems to me that there has always been a kind of twisted logical leap by those who insist on lockdown policies for the community at large, in that each individual already more or less always has the right to his or her own individual policies. I get that not everyone of that ilk can afford to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. But what I think they don’t get is that not everyone else can afford the policies they insist on. It seems terribly self-centered, while at the same time not claiming much self responsibility. I’ll put it this way: I’d be a whole lot more impressed by the policy makers (or their fans) if they would give their own salaries straight to charity for the entire duration of any lockdown policies they put in place. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4893 "2020-09-27T01:33:15Z")
> [@SayTwo](#): > > I get your point, but I’m not sure that matters, or at least not unless there is some outside agency that is willing and able to keep paying wages to people for staying home. That ought to be the government, in this sort of emergency; and even the USA has done some of it, despite much of our government being unwilling and all of it already being deep in deficit due to having cut taxes when things were booming. If things are closed down, in many cases even as it is there’s at least some unemployment. If the employer decides to have people come in to work, they’re no longer eligible for unemployment if they decide to stay home instead. And I think it’s a mistake to assume that it’s only or primarily those who have enough money to give large chunks of it away who want nonessential businesses to stay shut, and only or primarily those without who want them opened. Some of the people wanting things to stay shut down are the people without money. They tend to be doing the jobs at highest risk. Some of those wanting everything opened up are able to work from home, or in low-risk situations; or don’t themselves need to work at all, but want others to do so in order to allow them to go out and amuse themselves. Plus which, of course, there’s the fact that nearly everybody needs to go out occasionally, and may not want to be put in increased risk at the doctor’s office or grocery store by people who wanted to exercise their choice to go out to bars. Individual choice is all very well, but in the case of infectious diseases people aren’t choosing only for themselves. Officials who keep things shut down are choosing for others – but so are individuals who choose to behave in risky fashions. It’s just less clear exactly who else they’re choosing for. ---
**Author:** ![SayTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@SayTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SayTwo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4894 "2020-09-27T03:13:41Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Plus which, of course, there’s the fact that nearly everybody needs to go out occasionally, and may not want to be put in increased risk at the doctor’s office or grocery store by people who wanted to exercise their choice to go out to bars. Boy, that really is what this has come down to, isn’t it? The drunken revellers versus the suburban castle dwellers, stamping out that last little bit of risk on their way to Whole Foods. God help us. Nobody is going to win. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2020, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4895 "2020-09-27T03:26:39Z")
@SayTwo, did you really just characterize this: > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Plus which, of course, there’s the fact that **nearly everybody needs to go out occasionally, and may not want to be put in increased risk at the doctor’s office or grocery store** by people who wanted to exercise their choice to go out to bars. as this: > [@SayTwo](#): > > The drunken revellers versus **the suburban castle dwellers, stamping out that last little bit of risk on their way to Whole Foods.** ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4896 "2020-09-27T03:31:34Z")
I see it much more as the old folks needing to be able to go to essential appts such as the doctors, PT or the dentist vs. those with cabin fever or inhibited capacity for delayed gratification. Still is yours vs. mine. I’ve given up doctors, PT and the dentist. What have you given up? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4897 "2020-09-27T03:42:48Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > did you really just characterize this Plus which, @SayTwo appears to have responded to this > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I think it’s a mistake to assume that it’s only or primarily those who have enough money to give large chunks of it away who want nonessential businesses to stay shut, and only or primarily those without who want them opened. Some of the people wanting things to stay shut down are the people without money. They tend to be doing the jobs at highest risk. Some of those wanting everything opened up are able to work from home, or in low-risk situations; or don’t themselves need to work at all, but want others to do so in order to allow them to go out and amuse themselves. by assuming that the only people who want things to stay closed are suburbanites who shop at Whole Foods. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2020, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4898 "2020-09-27T04:04:05Z")
33,058,423 total cases 998,745 dead 24,409,745 recovered In the US: 7,287,561 total cases 209,177 dead 4,524,108 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 32,765,201 total cases > 993,463 dead > 24,178,344 recovered > > In the US: > > 7,244,184 total cases > 208,440 dead > 4,480,719 recovered ---
**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:** [September 27, 2020, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4899 "2020-09-27T06:22:19Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > [@needscoffee](#): > > > > did you really just characterize this > > Plus which, @SayTwo appears to have responded to this > > > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > > I think it’s a mistake to assume that it’s only or primarily those who have enough money to give large chunks of it away who want nonessential businesses to stay shut, and only or primarily those without who want them opened. Some of the people wanting things to stay shut down are the people without money. They tend to be doing the jobs at highest risk. Some of those wanting everything opened up are able to work from home, or in low-risk situations; or don’t themselves need to work at all, but want others to do so in order to allow them to go out and amuse themselves. > > by assuming that the only people who want things to stay closed are suburbanites who shop at Whole Foods Exactly. Your post couldn’t have been more even-handed, yet SayTwo’s response was stunningly obtuse. ---
**Author:** ![SayTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@SayTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SayTwo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4900 "2020-09-27T06:47:12Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > by assuming that the only people who want things to stay closed are suburbanites who shop at Whole Foods. Neither one of us has a great idea of exactly how many in each sort of bracket are for one policy or the other, but I imagine it’s fair to assume that those whose lives or livelihoods are most impacted by restrictions are also the most likely to resent them. To me that doesn’t seem much worth debating, especially because it’s really beside the point anyway. The point I’m trying to make is that it’s self-centered behavior to say, essentially, ‘I need you to keep me out of harm’s way when I do the things I need or want to do, so I’m gonna need you to not go to work, school, or certainly not the bar - and for that matter, anything else that you could just as well live without’. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4901 "2020-09-27T08:45:39Z")
5 times less likely to get COVID if you wear glasses: > In this cohort of 276 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Suizhou, China, the proportion of daily wearers of eyeglasses was lower than that of the local population (5.8% vs 31.5%). > **[Association of Daily Wear of Eyeglasses With Susceptibility to COVID-19...](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/fullarticle/2770872)** > > This cohort study assesses the association between daily wear of eyeglasses and susceptibility to coronavirus disease 2019 among patients admitted to a single hospital with infection. Hospital staff I know are required to wear face shield/glasses at work. You may wish to add sunglasses to your COVID fashion wear. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/4902 "2020-09-27T08:54:20Z")
I was mildly surprised (above) to hear that smokers were no more likely to get COVID than non-smokers: cilia in the trachea normally provide some protection against respiratory illness, and smoking destroys cilia. Then there’s this: > The results were consistent; we found the highest expression of _ACE2_ in nasal secretory cells (equivalent to the two goblet cell clusters in the previous dataset) and ciliated cells [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0868-6](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0868-6) Those of you who have taking an interest in the ‘war on smoking’ may remember that Doctors used to prescribe smoking for respiratory disease. I’ve always assumed that was equivalent to Trump’s ideas on the internal use of antiseptics, but who knows: perhaps there was an observed effect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=243) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=245)