# 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:** 262
**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:** [November 1, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5244 "2020-11-01T15:32:24Z")
> [@SayTwo](#): > > But I’d figure some expert in the industry would have a solution …why would you figure that? > [@SayTwo](#): > > I understand it is routine practice to make adjustments for surges each influenza season. This isn’t a surge for influenza season. It’s a global pandemic. You aren’t new to this forum . Surely by now you would know the difference. ---
**Author:** ![SayTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@SayTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SayTwo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5245 "2020-11-01T15:50:23Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …why would you figure that? Because I imagine there is someone whose job it is to consider such a scenario. Or at least I hope there is. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5246 "2020-11-01T16:02:45Z")
> [@SayTwo](#): > > Because I imagine there is someone whose job it is to consider such a scenario. Or at least I hope there is …the answer of course is to **flatten the curve**. Protect healthcare workers so they don’t get sick. Make sure they get provided with the ppe they need. Lockdown if needed to stop community spread. Social distancing and masks. But you already knew all of this. We’ve been discussing since the start of the pandemic. You can’t just magic up hospital staff out of thin air. No matter how hard you imagine there isn’t someone out there with a secret plan to save the hospitals. It’s a matter of looking after the people you have. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5247 "2020-11-01T16:26:35Z")
> [@SayTwo](#): > > > [@Ziberian](#): > > > > Where do you propose to find the staff for all these extra hospitals? With COVID so widespread, hospitals nationwide are shortstaffed already. > > I don’t know the answer to that question. But I’d figure some expert in the industry would have a solution. I understand it is routine practice to make adjustments for surges each influenza season. > > I’d be curious to learn what the average number of patients with the disease is at any one hospital across the US. Or to see the distribution of capacity used by covid patients across those hospitals. I tend to think of health care as a pretty huge industry, in aggregate. Apparently, the hospitals all report this to the federal government, which isn’t even giving the information to the states for planning, let alone to the public. ☹ > **[Internal Documents Reveal COVID-19 Hospitalization Data The Government Keeps...](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/30/929239481/internal-documents-reveal-covid-19-hospitalization-data-the-government-keeps-hid)** > > Where are hospitals reaching capacity? Which metro areas are running out of beds? NPR has learned federal agencies collect and analyze this information in detail but don't share it with the public. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5248 "2020-11-01T16:28:58Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > the answer of course is to **flatten the curve**. Protect healthcare workers so they don’t get sick. Make sure they get provided with the ppe they need. Lockdown if needed to stop community spread. Social distancing and masks. Yup. We can’t just double hospital capacity. Not if we want to staff those hospitals. We need to reduce “surges”, perhaps with targeted lock-downs as well as routine use of masks and hand washing. And we need to protect the medical staff we have with ample PPE. I believe we can (and to some extent have) ramp up production of PPE. I hope hospitals are stockpiling what they need. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5249 "2020-11-01T16:31:51Z")
Yes, we can stockpile PPE and other supplies. We can’t stockpile doctors and nurses, which seems to be what **SayTwo** seems to be thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5250 "2020-11-01T16:36:14Z")
Yup. But stockpiling PPE helps preserve the supply of medical staff we already have. Doctors, nurses, trained aids, technicians, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5251 "2020-11-01T16:40:50Z")
yup, no doubt about that. I’m just saying that while we can do physical supplies on short notice, we can’t just scale up the medical personnel - which leads to the “flatten the curve” approach, to conserve and protect the personnel who are essential. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5252 "2020-11-01T16:50:54Z")
It is also pretty clear that we can’t scale up PPE at the snap of our fingers. I assume we are in a better position than March I don’t assume it’s an unassailable position. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5253 "2020-11-01T16:51:27Z")
Just to join the chorus responding to @ThelmaLou - it is of note because the conclusion made, the interpretation presented, is inconsistent with a whole wide variety of other data out there, not just other studies following index cases within households. Specific to the risk of household transmission from children: In this report there were a grand total of five child index cases under 12 years old and within a couple of days 9 of 17 other household members also tested positive. They conclude that children under 12 transmit within households at a rate of 53%, much higher than other studies have seen, higher than teens did in the report, and comparable to adults 18 to 49. It is somewhat akin to if we today got a poll from a generally reputable firm that suddenly showed Trump ahead in Pennsylvania with a wide variety of other polling done by a variety of other reputable houses with various techniques saying Biden is up 5 to 6 points. You don’t throw it out but neither do you assume it is the correct one. It could be that they are correct and that all the rest is wrong, or, as they note, it could be that “other household members were infected concurrently but developed symptoms at different times or remained asymptomatic”. Meanwhile whether or not their conclusion is correct there is public health utility in the bottom line they use it to emphasize. Yes, the messaging has been that “persons should self-isolate …” etc. for a long time, but that is often in real world simply not done, and it is especially challenging\* within a household containing children under 12. \*Here’s how that plays out in the real world. A young school age child is positive, asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic. Parent(s) (and other household members, including other young children) are now “close contacts”, therefore all are advised to self-isolate for 14 days after last exposure (masked or not but should be wearing masks whenever in common spaces) to the child within the child’s quarantine period, which is a minimum of 10 days, totalling 24 days of self-isolation, while their kids need care in their separate isolations … ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5254 "2020-11-01T20:56:19Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > Both Austria and England have started lockdown Just to be clear, England has not yet started lockdown - one has been announced, but it will not start until 4th Nov (at one minute after midnight, I believe). [Here’s detail of the lockdown](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november). j ---
**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:** [November 1, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5255 "2020-11-01T21:27:57Z")
Former UK Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith is criticizing the current government for giving in to the scientists. > **[Iain Duncan Smith Claims Government Has 'Given In To Science' Over Lockdown](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/iain-duncan-smith-coronavirus_uk_5f9e973cc5b616c2f315bce8)** > > The former minister said the country was "impersonating the Grand Old Duke of York". ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5256 "2020-11-01T23:19:44Z")
Taiwan just passed 200 days without a domestic transmission. We get many new cases from people returning home from overseas but they have been able to prevent further transmission. Life is pretty normal, we went to a concert two weeks ago and while everyone was masked there were hundreds in attendance. The kindergarten I work at requires masks as does public transportation but most stores do not. We keep hoping it remains contained. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5257 "2020-11-02T05:02:06Z")
46,823,570 total cases 1,205,321 dead 33,756,959 recovered In the US: 9,473,911 total cases 236,471 dead 6,103,605 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 46,393,342 total cases > 1,200,383 dead > 33,487,068 recovered > > In the US: > > 9,402,590 total cases > 236,072 dead > 6,062,438 recovered ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5258 "2020-11-02T06:46:38Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’m just saying that while we can do physical supplies on short notice, we can’t just scale up the medical personnel Certainly not on a large scale, but I do have one example. My friend’s wife is a registered nurse (I don’t remember her specialty), and has kept up her credentials, but has been staying home with the children the last 16 years. She was notified in March that she is considered reserve and will be called to work, if it is necessary. So far she has not been called up. The military (Switzerland has conscription) has put their people on notice, again, that they will called up to provide support. In March it was planned that they would build the temporary facilities, and then keep the facilities supplied and clean. They won’t be handling patients directly, as far has I remember. Two cantons have requested help from the military in the past few days. > **[Coronavirus: Zwei Kantone rufen die Armee um Hilfe](https://www.nau.ch/news/schweiz/coronavirus-zwei-kantone-rufen-die-armee-um-hilfe-65810205)** > > Die Schweizer Armee hat aus zwei Kantonen eine «Anfrage um Unterstützung» im Kampf gegen die Ausbreitung des Coronavirus erhalten. ---
**Author:** ![SayTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@SayTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SayTwo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5259 "2020-11-02T12:27:10Z")
Not sure if serious. > **[North Korea issues shoot-to-kill orders to prevent coronavirus: U.S.](https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/north-korea-issues-shoot-to-kill-orders-to-prevent-coronavirus-u-s-1.5100779?fbclid=IwAR2aLSCEdoUMy_4xnTytlhplAksxJ9kC_BwJzHMBvsVs21tRhS2eqCAX9GE)** > > North Korean authorities have issued shoot-to-kill orders to prevent the coronavirus entering the country from China, according to the commander of U.S. forces in the South. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5260 "2020-11-02T13:10:45Z")
You realize that’s from over a month ago, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5261 "2020-11-02T13:15:49Z")
> [@SayTwo](#): > > Because I imagine there is someone whose job it is to consider such a scenario. Or at least I hope there is. There was. Trump fired them - Did Trump Administration Fire the US Pandemic Response Team? Snopes says True. ---
**Author:** ![SayTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@SayTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SayTwo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5262 "2020-11-02T13:16:03Z")
I did not, but yes, now I do. Guess that’s not breaking news! ---
**Author:** ![SayTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@SayTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SayTwo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5263 "2020-11-02T13:19:15Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > There was. Trump fired them - Did Trump Administration Fire the US Pandemic Response Team? Snopes says True. You know, I would hope that every single hospital of any size has some kind of competent management that accepts the responsibility to plan for whatever eventualities may come its way. And every city, and state. The federal government can screw things up as bad as it possibly can, and I’d still hope that at the state level on down the attitude wouldn’t be ‘welp, there it went, nothing we can do on our own’. In other words, I ain’t buyin’ it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=261) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=263)