# 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:** 288
**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 23, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5765 "2020-11-23T16:40:43Z")
States with new daily highs of new case reports (seven day average) over the weekend: Maine New Hampshire Vermont Massachusetts New Jersey Pennsylvania Ohio Indiana Nevada Oregon California Utah Colorado Kentucky West Virginia Maryland Delaware North Carolina Arkansas New Mexico Arizona Oklahoma Mississippi Alabama Texas (Puerto Rico) On the plus side, a lot of states have seen the number of new cases drop since hitting highs on the 15th or 16th last week. On the other hand, half the states plus Puerto Rico have hit new highs. ---
**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 23, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5766 "2020-11-23T16:44:20Z")
[The UK is set to end the current lockdown in a week or so](https://apnews.com/article/tianjin-shanghai-coronavirus-pandemic-china-united-states-8d46e90bc0a3b75c1b5a66c196e45025); IMO this isn’t a good idea. I see that the number of new cases has dropped some since the lockdown started 3 weeks ago or so, but I doubt ending the lockdown will have positive effects as far as controlling the virus. If you go from zero cases to 10,000 cases and lockdown until there are only 1,000 cases, you are still starting your second wave from 1,000, with all the same multipliers in effect so now you get 100,000 cases. If you then lockdown until you have 10,000 cases, you are just starting your third wave from there… ---
**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 23, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5767 "2020-11-23T18:01:38Z")
That’s [England rather than the UK](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55048990), Bo. We maximise confusion by getting each of the home nations to operate independently. j ---
**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 23, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5768 "2020-11-23T18:08:57Z")
My bad; I was unclear: the UK will end the lockdown _in England_ in a week or so. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5769 "2020-11-23T18:17:19Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > The Oxford University showed a 70% effectiveness which is still pretty decent but importantly doesn’t need to be stored in arctic conditions and will be far easier to distribute which is great news for the poorer and remoter parts of the world. Also a part of the trial that involved a small dose followed by a large dose seemed to show a 90% effectiveness, but they are still puzzling that one out. > … [Link removed by @LSLGuy > [@puzzlegal](#): > > It’s weird that the small dose followed by a larger dose was more effective than two large doses. I wonder what that means. See here for more learned speculation on that topic: [https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/11/23/oxford-az-vaccine-efficacy-data](https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/11/23/oxford-az-vaccine-efficacy-data) In a nutshell this vaccine uses a different harmless virus as a carrier for the anti-COVID payload. The thought is that the bigger early dose teaches your body how to defeat that carrier virus so effectively that the second dose is rendered ineffective; your body kills it before it delivers the payload. Speculation, but apparently logical speculation based on similar problems with similar carrier-virus-based vaccines. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5770 "2020-11-23T18:36:42Z")
Thanks - useful article. I’m starting to see light at the end of the tunnel! ---
**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 23, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5771 "2020-11-23T18:41:53Z")
Yeah, nice find. Thanks. j ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5772 "2020-11-23T19:01:30Z")
The news about the Oxford/AZ vaccine is especially good because it’s dirt cheap, easy to produce, and doesn’t require frozen storage. Even with a somewhat lower efficacy rate, this might have a greater global impact than the fancy-pants expensive ones. Also, it bodes well for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine which uses a similar mechanism. It’s beginning to look like the major remaining obstacles to wiping this virus out are production capacity and distribution logistics, which is extremely encouraging. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5773 "2020-11-23T19:02:32Z")
Is the Oxford/AZ vaccine another RNA vaccine, or something more traditional? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5774 "2020-11-23T19:06:38Z")
It’s a viral vector vaccine based on an adenovirus genetically engineered to display some covid DNA. Or at least, that’s how I understand it works. It’s not an old-school attenuated virus vaccine, but it’s not as new-fangled as the mRNA vaccines either. I believe the leading Chinese and Russian vaccines also fall into this category. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5775 "2020-11-23T19:31:41Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Thanks - useful article. I’m starting to see light at the end of the tunnel! > [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Yeah, nice find. Thanks. > > j That blog is well worth reading in its entirety. He’s had a COVID channel running since the very beginning and delivers thoughtful analysis of the state of play while also delivering a sound education on the realities of biochem, drug discovery, drug approval, drug distribution, etc. As well as a clear and humble exposition about how much remains guesswork. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5776 "2020-11-23T21:35:46Z")
I’m trying to keep my feelings of resentment in check, but it’s hard. > **[Rural Areas Send Their Sickest Patients To The Cities, Straining Hospital...](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/11/23/933843172/rural-areas-send-their-sickest-patients-to-the-cities-straining-hospital-capacit)** > > In Kansas City, hospitals are treating local COVID-19 patients as well as patients transferred from rural counties in Missouri and Kansas, where there's no mandate or culture for wearing masks. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5777 "2020-11-23T22:13:27Z")
See also Utah, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. Or really, just about any state with only a few urban areas large enough to have more than one hospital. It’s ugly out there. ---
**Author:** ![jacob\_wrestling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/76d3ee/32.png) [@jacob\_wrestling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacob_wrestling)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5778 "2020-11-23T23:49:48Z")
As a Kansas Citian who lives on one side of the state line and works on the other, I feel this article so hard. The pandemic had truly exposed the years-long, selfish, moronic inefficacy of both state governments and their electorates. It is indeed difficult to not feel resentful. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5779 "2020-11-24T01:05:57Z")
> **[Workers go on strike at 11 nursing homes in Illinois, demanding higher wages...](https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-illinois-nursing-home-strike-20201123-yhloq3vzp5guvenvscjq7y4vlm-story.html)** > > Nearly 700 nursing home workers went on strike Monday at 11 facilities in Illinois, seeking higher pay and greater protections from the COVID pandemic. ---
**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 24, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5780 "2020-11-24T05:05:58Z")
59,514,826 total cases 1,402,028 dead 41,156,663 recovered In the US: 12,777,174 total cases 263,687 dead 7,548,940 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 58,985,500 total cases > 1,393,671 dead > 40,766,904 recovered > > In the US: > > 12,588,661 total cases > 262,696 dead > 7,452,540 recovered Tomorrow the world will top 60,000,000 total cases. ---
**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 24, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5781 "2020-11-24T05:15:57Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > It’s a viral vector vaccine based on an adenovirus genetically engineered to display some covid DNA. Or at least, that’s how I understand it works. It’s not an old-school attenuated virus vaccine, but it’s not as new-fangled as the mRNA vaccines either. Interesting. I had some qualms about the safety of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, just because it’s such a new process. I think I’d prefer the potentially slightly less effective but more proven technology one, but I’m guessing they won’t be equally available. I suspect that if you want to be able to choose, you’ll probably have to be willing to wait. That’s a different calculus, because then there’s the risk of more time totally unprotected. I’d like to know more about the plans for distribution within the US. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2020, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5782 "2020-11-24T05:19:23Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > I’d like to know more about the plans for distribution within the US. Having been a vaccination clinic nurse during the H1N1 crisis, I can tell one thing about any plan: “Everybody has a plan til they get punched in the nose”. IOW, it is going to be much harder and take much longer than the powers that be will admit. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5783 "2020-11-24T12:08:38Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I’m trying to keep my feelings of resentment in check, but it’s hard > > [https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/11/23/933843172/rural-areas-send-their-sickest-patients-to-the-cities-straining-hospital-capacit](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/11/23/933843172/rural-areas-send-their-sickest-patients-to-the-cities-straining-hospital-capacit) Heh, back when tuberculosis was a big deal, infected individuals would often be sent from the city to a sanitarium out in the country to convalesce. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5784 "2020-11-24T12:31:18Z")
I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not, but that isn’t the same thing at all. City-dwellers weren’t intentionally flouting public health guidelines and clogging up all the urban hospitals as a result of their devil-may-care attitudes. They were encouraged by their doctors to go live out in the country because it was believed that country air would cure them. TB patients who moved out to the country were following the best practices of the time. They were the opposite of irresponsible. Also, there were sanitariums devoted solely to TB to prevent general hospitals from being overrun with TB patients. Sure would be nice if we had something like that with COVID. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=287) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=289)