# 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:** 284
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5685 "2020-11-20T01:23:49Z")
Video calls to reduce loneliness and social isolation within care environments for the elderly > ### Results > > Four care homes implemented the intervention. Eight older people with their respective social contacts made use of video-calls. Older people were able to use SoW with assistance from staff, and enjoyed the use of video-calls to stay better connected with family. > **[Phone line reduces senior loneliness](https://www.naco.org/articles/phone-line-reduces-senior-loneliness)** > **[SCES adds Friendly Calls to reduce Coronavirus isolation -...](https://eldercare.org/sces-adds-friendly-calls-to-reduce-coronavirus-isolation/)** > > In an effort to reduce isolation and loneliness during the Coronavirus pandemic, SCES has launched a new Friendly Phone Call system. [Phone calls, social plans, and entertainment as prescriptions for older peoples’ loneliness](https://www.healthpopuli.com/2019/09/12/phone-calls-social-plans-and-entertainment-as-prescriptions-for-older-peoples-loneliness/) > **Phone calls made the biggest impact** in helping people feel less lonely, among 55% of older people. This was followed by 22% of folks who believed that community organizations (offline) made the greatest impact in reducing lonely feelings, followed by online social networks among 13% of seniors. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5686 "2020-11-20T01:28:35Z")
Thank you! I’ll read those (though the quote in the first one looks dubious. 8 people from four different homes? But I will withhold judgment) ---
**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:** [November 20, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5687 "2020-11-20T01:28:45Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > Do you think you could show how well a telephone call acts as a mitigating factor against social isolation in the elderly? I figure that, like myself, you are not a mental health expert. I would not be shocked to learn that weekly phone calls are almost useless but I get the impression you would be. **Moderator Note** I have previously given instructions that the Breaking News thread is not the place for discussion of social isolation in the elderly. Let’s drop this hijack. If you want to discuss this, take it to another thread. This goes for everyone. Colibri Quarantine Zone Moderator > [@Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2020 Breaking News](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-breaking-news/847758/5525): > > Moderating This, and other discussion of visiting old people, doesn’t really belong in the Breaking News thread. Please take this discussion to a different thread. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5688 "2020-11-20T01:29:44Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > At this moment, as of a couple days ago, counties in the purple tier encompasses over 94% of the population. Almost the whole state went purple in a day, a couple days ago. Valid points. I made my remarks partly to observe that it’s not a statewide order which is different from, for example, every single county deciding to curfew on their own. Slightly pedantic to some perhaps but an important political difference. > The parts that aren’t purple aren’t very populated, and there aren’t even many of those areas Not quite the case. I can see how you’d get that from a glance at the map but one county with a big city is also the smallest in area so very hard to see on the map. That’s San Francisco County, the densest county in the state. It’s tiny. Right next to it are San Mateo and Marin counties, the 5th and 13th most dense which are also not under curfew. It’s about 2,000,000 people together so pretty populated. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5689 "2020-11-20T01:30:01Z")
Sorry. I will start a new topic for any further discussion. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5690 "2020-11-20T01:44:11Z")
Governor Ducey’s plan to combat the rising cases in Arizona? [Ducey suggested that a statewide mask mandate would not effectively curb the spread of the virus](https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2020/11/18/arizona-gov-doug-ducey-covid-election-update/6340118002/), and we are doing great the way we are, so no further restrictions or mask mandates are needed. There will be instant testing at airports, and he suggested moving the Thanksgivings gatherings outside so visitors can enjoy the nice weather. Oh, and he gave some money to the hospitals. No need to worry about rising infection or death rates, that’s just due to the greater testing, cause testing causes death rates to go up all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5691 "2020-11-20T01:49:29Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > That’s San Francisco County, the densest county in the state. It’s tiny. Right next to it are San Mateo and Marin counties, the 5th and 13th most dense which are also not under curfew. It’s about 2,000,000 people together so pretty populated. True. SF is doing pretty well. Whenever I talk to someone in SF, they’re horrified to learn that people are not wearing masks in other parts of the state/country. ---
**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 20, 2020, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5692 "2020-11-20T07:52:04Z")
57,260,061 total cases 1,365,998 dead 39,749,228 recovered In the US: 12,070,712 total cases 258,333 dead 7,243,488 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 56,563,840 total cases > 1,354,806 dead > 39,352,261 recovered > > In the US: > > 11,873,727 total cases > 256,254 dead > 7,166,996 recovered ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5693 "2020-11-20T15:03:19Z")
New highs in the daily reported cases (seven-days average) on November 19, 2020 Wisconsin Vermont New Hampshire Maine Idaho Michigan Nevada Wyoming Pennsylvania Connecticut Rhode Island California Nebraska Kentucky Virginia Maryland New Mexico Kansas Arkansas Louisiana (highest since July) Texas Twenty one out of fifty states (and two regions) all hit their highest re[ported daily new cases _ever_ (averaged over a week). And most are going very steeply up. Definitely not good. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5694 "2020-11-20T15:28:40Z")
Dang! Texas has avoided this list until now. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5695 "2020-11-20T15:40:20Z")
Withdrawn as per moderation note ---
**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:** [November 20, 2020, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5696 "2020-11-20T15:44:19Z")
Note withdrawn per above post. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5697 "2020-11-20T15:54:03Z")
Rachel Maddow has been out because her partner has a serious case. [https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/quarantined-maddow-shares-story-of-partner-who-is-fighting-covid-19-don-t-get-this-thing/ar-BB1bcT3O](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/quarantined-maddow-shares-story-of-partner-who-is-fighting-covid-19-don-t-get-this-thing/ar-BB1bcT3O) ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5698 "2020-11-20T17:25:23Z")
> **[Hospitals Know What’s Coming](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/11/americas-best-prepared-hospital-nearly-overwhelmed/617156/)** > > “We are on an absolutely catastrophic path,” said a COVID-19 doctor at America’s best-prepared hospital. > To hear such talk from someone at UNMC, the best-prepared of America’s hospitals, should shake the entire nation. In mid-March, when just 18 Nebraskans had tested positive for COVID-19, Shelly Schwedhelm, the head of the hospital’s emergency-preparedness program, sounded gently confident. Or, at least, she told me: “I’m confident in having a plan.” She hoped the hospital wouldn’t hit capacity, “because people will have done the right thing by staying home,” she said. And people did: For a while, the U.S. flattened the curve. > > But now, about 2,400 Nebraskans are testing positive for COVID-19 every day—a rate five times higher than in the spring. More than [20 percent of tests](https://covidactnow.org/?s=1337332) are coming back positive, and up to 70 percent in some rural counties—signs that many infections aren’t being detected. The number of people who’ve been hospitalized with the disease has [tripled in just six weeks](https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/ece0db09da4d4ca68252c3967aa1e9dd). UNMC is fuller with COVID-19 patients—and patients, full stop—than it has ever been. “We’re watching a system breaking in front of us and we’re helpless to stop it,” says Kelly Cawcutt, an infectious-disease and critical-care physician. > > Cawcutt knows what’s coming. Throughout the pandemic, hospitalizations have lagged behind cases by about 12 days. [Over the past 12 days](https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/ece0db09da4d4ca68252c3967aa1e9dd), the total number of confirmed cases in Nebraska has risen from 82,400 to 109,280. That rise represents a wave of patients that will slam into already beleaguered hospitals between now and Thanksgiving. “I don’t see how we avoid becoming overwhelmed,” says Dan Johnson, a critical-care doctor. People need to know that “the assumption we will always have a hospital bed for them is a false one.”\> > > … > > A full hospital means that everyone waits. COVID-19 patients who are going downhill must wait to enter a packed intensive-care unit. Patients who cannot breathe must wait for the many minutes it takes for a nurse elsewhere in the hospital to remove their cumbersome protective gear, run over, and don the gear again. On Tuesday, one rapidly deteriorating patient needed to be [intubated](https://www.webmd.com/lung/intubation-explained), but the assembled doctors had to wait, because the anesthesiologists were all busy intubating four other patients in an ICU and a few more in an emergency room. > > None of the people I spoke with would predict when UNMC will finally hit its capacity ceiling, partly because they’re doing everything to avoid that scenario, and partly because it’s so grim as to be almost unthinkable. But “we’re rapidly approaching that point,” Hewlett said. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5699 "2020-11-20T18:15:17Z")
Only because we had such a bad July. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5700 "2020-11-20T19:11:48Z")
I think this is denialism, fact is that in July Nebraska had just under 300 fatalities and this on a number of infections to that time of 5500. Currently the number of fatalities is around 800, and the rate is accelarating with infections of 50000 and also accelerating. Yes the mortality rate has reduced due to improvements in treatments, but that has been swamped by the sheer increase in the number of cases, the number of deaths has increased by a factor of 4 since July and infections has increased by a factor of 10 since July. It is indeed miraculous that I.C.U care has not already been swamped and it testament to medical practitioners efforts to increase capacity and to continue to push themselves in a crisis. This could all be for nothing if the trend continues - deaths are going to rise anytway due to the cases now already underway, but the most critical part is what people do in the next weeks. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5701 "2020-11-20T19:42:58Z")
No, I mean Texas had a really, really awful July relative to the rest of the country (it was us, AZ, and FL) so it took us longer to get onto the “whole new category of shitshow” list: our record high was way higher than it had been, so it took a while to build up again. We didn’t just break into shitshow territory: we’ve been here for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5702 "2020-11-20T20:19:47Z")
Some good news: > **[Quarter of people may already be immune to coronavirus – even though many...](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/19/many-could-immune-covid-despite-never-having-infected-study/)** > > PHE researchers believe people with high levels of T-cells likely to have picked up immunity from coronaviruses like common cold > Over the past few months, researchers have followed nearly 2,850 key workers from the police, fire and health services to gauge levels of immunity to the virus. > > They discovered that, by June, one in four had high levels of [T-cells which recognised Covid](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/02/coronavirus-t-cell-immunity-lasts-least-six-months-even-antibodies/), suggesting they had some level of protection against the virus – but nearly half had never been infected. > > Researchers believe they probably picked up immunity from similar coronaviruses such as those that cause the common cold. In the four months of follow-up, nobody with [a high T-cell count](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/02/coronavirus-t-cell-immunity-lasts-least-six-months-even-antibodies/) became infected with Covid, suggesting they were protected against it. > “Here we are talking about people on the front line, so 25 per cent may be a bit high, but this suggests we are not seeing a true picture through antibody surveillance surveys and that many more people have [T-cell immunity](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/optimism-covid-19-immunity-climbs-studies-show-antibodies-protect/),” he said. "It also suggests that models predicting the outcome of the pandemic are unduly thinking more people are going to get it than really are. > > “In this data, there is a significant cohort of people who have T-cells without antibodies. Clearly some of this may be because those antibodies have waned over time, but some is probably immunity from other infections. There has been growing speculation that there is a phenomenon of cross-reactive immunity in which people who have been exposed to a common cold virus will also be protected from Covid.” ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5703 "2020-11-20T21:43:04Z")
This makes me suspect even more that I might have nothing to worry about. I have two 7-year-olds, so we had been getting, up until last March, all the colds. Also, I suspect I may have had a mild case of Covid-19 back in February, when we now know it was circulating in the community in my state. Of course, I will assume I don’t have immunity, and will act accordingly. I will get a vaccine also when one becomes available. But I wish there were a way for people to cheaply and easily get tested for immunity. On another note: I came in here to note that on yesterday’s Post Reports podcast, they discussed some of the reasons why the covid-19 deaths rate is higher for men. Apparently it is partly about differences in immune systems, and partly behavior. (I think it had been primarily attributed to behavior previously.). Men make fewer T-cells, and more auto-antibodies. ---
**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 20, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5704 "2020-11-20T21:55:00Z")
[Gomer Pyle voice] Surprise, surprise, surprise! [/Gomer Pyle voice] > **[Study: Motorcycle rally sparked COVID-19 cases in next state](https://apnews.com/article/us-news-south-dakota-coronavirus-pandemic-minnesota-ec6c5ee458afca990e62ed5f7e1f6398)** > > NEW YORK (AP) — When nearly a half-million motorcycle enthusiasts gathered in South Dakota this summer, health experts worried the gathering would ignite new outbreaks of coronavirus cases... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=283) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=285)