# 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:** 302
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6047 "2020-12-12T01:16:43Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Nah; yeah. “Bounce” implies a brief rise that will fall back down. That article predicts a sustained rise that will last 2 to 3 months. Therefore, not a bounce. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6048 "2020-12-12T01:36:14Z")
This is not a bounce in the numbers and not to make light of the increase, but so far it doesn’t seem to have been made steeper by Thanksgiving. Maybe there’s a new bounce that started just as a previous would have come down. Maybe, as I said somewhere, maybe it’s at max spread and it can’t get much worse. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6049 "2020-12-12T01:37:45Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > > hat it’ll discourage people from getting vaccinated. > > EXACTLY RIGHT! You just know full well Tan the Conman wants more people to die on a daily basis come January 20 so he can point out how much better he controlled the pandemic than President Biden. Yes, you read that correctly. Trump wants Americans to die to stoke his ego. I think that’s probably true. Trump will be hoping for numbers that make “his numbers” look better. I also suspect someone who wants to see the USA descend further into chaos and failure, of having advised Trump that giving the FDA an ultimatum would make him look “strong.” Candidates could be anyone from Steve Bannon to Vlad Putin, really. Lots of other possibilities, too. Of course the “today or lose your job” ultimatum cannot give ANY direct benefit to Trump. It’s not as though the verdict of history will be “he’s a hero!” if approval comes on December 11 and “he’s a loser!” if approval comes on December 12. All that the ultimatum accomplishes is to ensure that fewer Americans will get vaccinated (out of fear that the vaccine was rushed, and therefore is not safe). (I do think it was Putin: _"Donald, tell them ‘today or you’re fired’–it will show everyone what a brilliant and unstoppable leader you are!!!1!!!_") ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6050 "2020-12-12T02:58:06Z")
Huh, the US was going down a tad, and then rocketed up. It now looks like numbers may be leveling off. Sure looks like a post-Thanksgiving bounce to me. Also, my home state, MA, appeared to be leveling out, and surged in the past two weeks. It looks like that surge may have peaked, and I’m hopeful numbers will decline again. Sure looks like a post-Thanksgiving bounce to me. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6051 "2020-12-12T03:05:28Z")
I don’t recall where we decided you got to define terms; as such, I disagree with your definition and your assessment. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6052 "2020-12-12T04:02:49Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Huh, the US was going down a tad, and then rocketed up. It now looks like numbers may be leveling off. Sure looks like a post-Thanksgiving bounce to me. > > Also, my home state, MA, appeared to be leveling out, and surged in the past two weeks. It looks like that surge may have peaked, and I’m hopeful numbers will decline again. Sure looks like a post-Thanksgiving bounce to me. No, that’s holiday-lag catch-up, not a bounce _caused_ by the holiday. [This post](https://covidtracking.com/blog/daily-covid-19-data-is-about-to-get-weird) from the Atlantic’s Covid Tracking Project explains the difference in detail. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6053 "2020-12-12T04:16:11Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > My local paper isn’t worth subscribing to (sadly we used to have two excellent independent papers, which I read both of front to back daily), it’s digital rate is outrageous so I spend all of my budget on the Times now. My local paper isn’t all that good, especially since it got bought and people were let go. That being said, if no one subscribes to it, it won’t have the money needed to improve and local news is needed. Local news uncovered Bridgegate. So while I mostly don’t read it (the news is neutral, the comments are very read), I still support on principle. The digital edition is only $3/week, though. I also support the WaPo, because I mostly grew up with it. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6054 "2020-12-12T04:31:31Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Huh, the US was going down a tad, and then rocketed up. It now looks like numbers may be leveling off. Sure looks like a post-Thanksgiving bounce to me. Doesn’t look like it was going down a tad to me. The 7 day new cases average is up from 16 days ago 53/100k to 63/100 currently. So I’m correcting myself there but hard to call it a bump compared to anything called a bump so far. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6055 "2020-12-12T04:35:07Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > The digital edition is only $3/week, though. I also support the WaPo, because I mostly grew up with it. I believe the Gannett (?) group bought out my city’s paper and it dropped like a rock, in size and quality. Reporters, editors and writers that had written and reported about the town where they lived were let go and we got bland, wire service reporting and not much in depth at that. I had friends who were writers and columnists who had to move on and all their contacts and institutional memory went with them. If my Social Security was a little more I would continue supporting it but I don’t think that kind of paper will return in my lifetime. Gannett is virtually a monopoly as it is with mid-level middle America papers. The Post would be what I will go with when my NYT trial year runs out because it is national news, arts, literature and culture that I’m interested in and they cover that well. I sure enjoyed my 13 years of The Boston Globe when I lived there-it may have spoiled me for local newspapers. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6056 "2020-12-12T05:13:05Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > I’m mildly surprised that “only” 17% have closed so far. I think some of the restaurants were held up by the PPP (paycheck protection program) in the Cares Act, or so I’ve read. The reason for the article is that the PPP program ends in December, and the restaurant industry is urging Congress to extend the program or put out a better program for the protection of people’s wages in the industry. Congress has not approved the extension or a new program, so they’re trying to predict what will happen to restaurants if they don’t. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6057 "2020-12-12T05:38:28Z")
71,438,206 total cases 1,601,190 dead 49,638,035 recovered In the US: 16,295,458 total cases 302,750 dead 9,507,419 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 70,720,814 total cases > 1,588,444 dead > 49,148,966 recovered > > In the US: > > 16,039,393 total cases > 299,692 dead > 9,330,865 recovered Today is the first time that single day new cases worldwide exceeded 700,000. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6058 "2020-12-12T13:48:26Z")
I wish we could embed graphics here. The graph screams “bounce” to me. If i get really bored later today i may transcribe numbers to post here, but the graph is easier to interpret. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6059 "2020-12-12T13:58:53Z")
> **[An interactive visualization of COVID-19 | 91-DIVOC](http://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/?chart=countries-normalized&highlight=United%20States&show=highlight-only&y=both&scale=linear&data=cases-daily-7&data-source=jhu&xaxis=right#countries-normalized)** > > An interactive, data-forward visualization of COVID-19 data by Prof. Wade at The University of Illinois. Updated daily. I think you are confusing the data gap for a sudden dip, as @Fretful_Porpentine described. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6060 "2020-12-12T13:59:36Z")
Let’s see if this works: > **[An interactive visualization of COVID-19 | 91-DIVOC](https://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/?chart=countries&highlight=United%20States&show=25&y=both&scale=linear&data=cases-daily-7&data-source=jhu&xaxis=right#countries)** > > An interactive, data-forward visualization of COVID-19 data by Prof. Wade at The University of Illinois. Updated daily. Not great, but the links are clickable. If you click the link, you can see a graph of US covid cases (7 day rolling average, to avoid the weekly distoritions) and you can see that growth had slowed, and then shot up after Thanksgiving. > **[An interactive visualization of COVID-19 | 91-DIVOC](https://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/?chart=countries&highlight=United%20States&show=25&y=both&scale=log&data=cases-daily-7&data-source=jhu&xaxis=right#countries)** > > An interactive, data-forward visualization of COVID-19 data by Prof. Wade at The University of Illinois. Updated daily. That may be clearer on a log scale, above. And here’s MA > **[An interactive visualization of COVID-19 | 91-DIVOC](https://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/?chart=states&highlight=Massachusetts&show=us-states&y=highlightCurMax&scale=linear&data=cases-daily-7&data-source=jhu&xaxis=right#states)** > > An interactive, data-forward visualization of COVID-19 data by Prof. Wade at The University of Illinois. Updated daily. The MA numbers had been essentially stable for nearly 2 weeks, then Thanksgiving happened. Our new cases nearly doubled, but now seem to have peaked, and I am hopeful they will come down again. Of course, Christmas is coming. 😢 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6061 "2020-12-12T14:09:02Z")
To me, that graph looks like we were beginning to bend the curve before Thanksgiving, then we had a reporting drop, then both a reporting spike _and_ an actual spike. It looks like without the holidays we would have had a lot fewer new cases. but of course a couple weeks of flattening off wouldn’t have necessarily continued. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6062 "2020-12-12T14:19:05Z")
I don’t think so. the increases had been slowing despite the increase in the number of tests being done in preparation for the holidays. I can’t find number of test for the US as a whole, but here’s MA > **[An interactive visualization of COVID-19 | 91-DIVOC](https://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/)** > > An interactive, data-forward visualization of COVID-19 data by Prof. Wade at The University of Illinois. Updated daily. MA number of cases was flat, while the number of tests grew. There is a sharp dip right after the holiday due to a drop-off in testing. But as testing caught up, the numbers picked up to be above the level it had been trending to. If you project the flattish part on the top of the log graph of the US (log scales are good for visualising exponential growth) you can see that the US as a whole is now above where a simple projection would have put us. MA is FAR above that point. Even more telling, look at the %positvity for MA > **[An interactive visualization of COVID-19 | 91-DIVOC](https://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/)** > > An interactive, data-forward visualization of COVID-19 data by Prof. Wade at The University of Illinois. Updated daily. This isn’t distorted nearly as much by the change in the number of people getting tested. (It is a little distorted by more healthy people seeking the test before getting together with family, and no right after.) The week of Nov 16-22 our positivity rates were flat, at about 3.2%. Then they dipped 23-27, probably due to the surge in Thanksgiving testing. And then they shot up. They are now above 5%, a positivity rate we haven’t seen for months, and not anything like what the trends (if you didn’t know Thanksgiving was on the way) were indicating. 20-25 days ago, ---
**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:** [December 13, 2020, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6063 "2020-12-13T05:17:57Z")
72,109,510 total cases 1,611,637 dead 50,492,257 recovered In the US: 16,549,366 total cases 305,082 dead 9,644,325 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 71,438,206 total cases > 1,601,190 dead > 49,638,035 recovered > > In the US: > > 16,295,458 total cases > 302,750 dead > 9,507,419 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:** [December 13, 2020, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6064 "2020-12-13T22:30:55Z")
This is not breaking news, but I thought this 4:15 video was interesting and notable: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4maT0HqlVUs/maxresdefault.jpg "Teen Realizes She Has COVID-19 While Filming a TikTok Video | NowThis") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4maT0HqlVUs) ---
**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:** [December 13, 2020, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6065 "2020-12-13T22:56:36Z")
That’s a pretty effective testimony, Snowboarder\_Bo. It seems the lack of taste or smell is a pretty identifiable characteristic for Covid. Bryan Cranston talks about that too. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6066 "2020-12-13T22:59:48Z")
> **[San Antonio Conjunto Star Fighting COVID-19](https://www.tpr.org/arts-culture/2020-11-20/san-antonio-conjunto-star-fighting-covid-19)** > > Max Baca, front man to Los Texmaniacs has been in the ICU fighting COVID-19, but now he thinks he's turned the corner. Max Baca was hospitalized with COVID. One of the first things that tipped him off was that he couldn’t taste food. He’s recovering now, but it was rough. His wife had it, too, but a milder case. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=301) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=303)