# 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:** 306
**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 18, 2020, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6127 "2020-12-18T06:11:59Z")
California is having some trouble with the number of covid patients: > **[Hot spot: California hospitals buckle as virus cases surge](https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-california-coronavirus-pandemic-56d285bac1b34bbfad417f0449de4f68)** > > LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hospitals across California have all but run out of intensive care beds for COVID-19 patients, ambulances are backing up outside emergency rooms, and tents for triaging the sick are going up as the nation’s most populous state... > [@](#): > > Hospitals across California have all but run out of intensive care beds for COVID-19 patients, ambulances are backing up outside emergency rooms, and tents for triaging the sick are going up as the nation’s most populous state emerges as the latest epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. > > On Thursday, California reported a staggering 52,000 new cases in a single day — equal to what the entire U.S. was averaging in mid-October — and a one-day record of 379 deaths. More than 16,000 people are in the hospital with the coronavirus across the state, more than triple the number a month ago. > [@](#): > > Intensive care unit capacity is at less than 1% in many California counties, and morgue space is also running out, in what is increasingly resembling the disaster last spring in New York City. It isn’t just California having these problems: > [@](#): > > Around the country, other hospitals are likewise parking patients in ERs because they have run out of ICU beds, and also moving adults into pediatric hospitals and bringing in staff from out of state to treat the sick in makeshift wards. > > Doctors are being forced to make tough decisions. Some hospitals are sending lower-risk COVID-19 patients home with oxygen and monitors to free up beds for the seriously ill. > [@](#): > > Idaho’s top public health leaders [last week cleared the way](https://apnews.com/article/public-health-coronavirus-pandemic-idaho-b245334adeb139801f2519b80348f8af) for the state to resort to rationing — or impose what are called crisis standards of care — if necessary. Hospitals would have to reserve scarce, potentially lifesaving resources for those patients most likely to survive. > > In Texas, many intensive care units are either full or approaching capacity. On Wednesday, authorities reported having just over 700 ICU beds open across the entire state. > > In St. Louis, where intensive care units are about 90 percent full, hospitals have had to double up patients in ICU rooms and pull nurses out of the operating room so they could help those who are seriously ill, said Dr. Alex Garza, head of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6128 "2020-12-18T07:01:03Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Only five states, but it’s shooting up exponentially in three of them. Apparently, Tennessee is taking top honors today. Memphis (Shelby County) had been doing better than the rest of the state but now we are getting overwhelmed. It doesn’t help being the major medical center for dumbass Mississippi and Arkansas idiots, too. There are only 11 ICU beds available. And no staff to open the overflow facility that sits waiting. > **[Doctor: Tennessee is ‘worst in the world’ for coronavirus transmission](https://wreg.com/news/coronavirus/doctor-tennessee-is-worst-in-the-world-for-coronavirus-transmission/)** > > MEMPHIS, Tenn. — No country is more infectious than the U.S. and no state in the country is more infectious than Tennessee when it comes to COVID-19. “Tennessee, as we speak, is the number on… > [@](#): > > “I cannot tell you how many people, it’s just all day long and into the night, I’m seeing people who are sick and some go into ICU and they say, ‘Well I’ve been good but we had this party the other night and ten people came to the house, and I didn’t feel good doing it, I feel it was probably the wrong thing to do,’” Threlkeld said. “And guess what — it was the wrong thing to do." ---
**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 18, 2020, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6129 "2020-12-18T11:32:59Z")
South Korea too: > **[Asia Today: Beds in short supply as SKorea sees another jump](https://apnews.com/article/seoul-south-korea-coronavirus-pandemic-asia-asia-pacific-8a5f2cb401094996fc577cfa1d7238c1)** > > SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has reported 1,062 new cases of the coronavirus, its third straight day of over 1,000, as authorities in Seoul warn that hospital beds are in short supply. > [@](#): > > South Korea has reported 1,062 new cases of the coronavirus, its third straight day of over 1,000, as authorities in Seoul warn that hospital beds are in short supply. > > Seoul City said a COVID-19 patient in his 60s died at his home on Tuesday after officials failed to find him a hospital bed for days. The city said an “explosive growth” in patients this month has resulted in an “overload in administrative and medical systems.” > > The figures released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Friday brought the national caseload to 47,515. > [@](#): > > Son Young-rae, a senior Health Ministry official, said there were only 49 intensive care beds left for COVID-19 patients nationwide, with just four of them in the capital area. He said health authorities are planning to secure around 170 more ICU beds by early January by designating more hospitals for COVID-19 treatment. ---
**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 18, 2020, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6130 "2020-12-18T12:14:24Z")
US prisons: > **[1 in 5 prisoners in the US has had COVID-19, 1,700 have died](https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-race-and-ethnicity-prisons-united-states-coronavirus-pandemic-0bef0673013aa579551db5ad61b885e0)** > > LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — One in every five state and federal prisoners in the United States has tested positive for the coronavirus, a rate more than four times as high as the general population... ---
**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:** [December 18, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6131 "2020-12-18T14:19:46Z")
States with a new highest reported daily cases (seven day averaged) on December 17 2020 Maine Rhode Island Connecticut California Georgia Texas Tennessee is, possibly as a statistical fluke, not on the list today (it was yesterday). Georgia finally broke through that artificial-looking peak from back in November. So six states today, but lots of others that only missed i by a day or so, and it’s going up in all of these. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6132 "2020-12-18T15:55:06Z")
Today in Austria, the government announced that the country will be returning to a strict lockdown on 26 December. All non-essential shops and services are to close once again on that day. Meanwhile, people are being encouraged to avail themselves of the ongoing mass testing. The lockdown will end for those with a negative test on 18 January. Those who tested positive, or who went untested, must remain under lockdown for an additional week. (I’m not sure how anyone is going to enforce this; I doubt stores and restaurants will be demanding to see a negative test result before allowing customers to enter. More likely an honour system will be used.) Starting tomorrow, travel warnings/restrictions will be put in place for every country on earth except for Australia, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Uruguay, and the Vatican. As with the rest of the EU, mass immunizations will begin on 27 December. Those getting the vaccine first will be health care workers, care home workers, and the elderly. The vaccine will then gradually be rolled out to other risk groups, before finally becoming available to the population at large. The country is currently seeing around 2000 new infections per day. Neighbouring Germany has ten times the population of Austria but 16 times as many new infections (around 33,000 per day). ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6133 "2020-12-18T20:56:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > forbid people to go to the beach In COVID-free Australia, there’s been another outbreak. Hotspots associated with a Bowls club and an RSL club. (Slot machines. Food and entertainment like Las Vegas). In response, the state government has closed the beaches. Sometimes you wonder if the advice is coming from the medical advisor, or the media advisor. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6134 "2020-12-18T23:14:16Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I am positive these two items of information taken together explain why these reductions are happening. And who is behind them. I’m not positive at all – about why the delivery numbers went down, or about why you think it. (Although I might piece it together by seeing if your past posts were pro or anti Trump). Looking at DJT’s Twitter feed, he appears to be spending lots of time on a futile attempt to upend the election result, and much less time on COVID. As an anti-Trump type, I think this is to the good from a public health standpoint. It was inevitable that there would be a level of disorganization in the vaccine rollout, and it doesn’t seem that bad to me yet. Bigger disorganization will come if, after hospital staff and nursing home staff and residents are taken care of, the next category isn’t age-based. If it is based on occupation, there will be massive queue-jumping because of difficulty knowing who really does face to face work. What about pre-existing medical conditions? If based on giving to people given a golden ticket by their board-certified family or internal medicine doc, that could work, but would probably be seen as discriminatory against people who do not have a regular doctor. If based on what people say, a lot of us will have suddenly gained 30 pounds and have had a heart attack last year. I suppose the age thing can also be gamed by someone saying that don’t have ID. So bigger messes await. (But not as big as no-vaccine !) ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2020, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6135 "2020-12-19T02:41:29Z")
It’s interesting that Massachusetts has by far its highest case count but according [to this page at Boston.com](https://www.boston.com/news/coronavirus/2020/09/02/who-is-dying-covid-massachusetts) the death rate of 50/day is way below the high of 170/day and appears to be trending now. ---
**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 19, 2020, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6136 "2020-12-19T03:20:32Z")
Which vaccines have been approved in the EU? That hasn’t made headlines here in the US. ---
**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 19, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6137 "2020-12-19T03:27:26Z")
I’m pretty sure the real case count in April was higher than it is now. In April there was a shortage of tests, and the positivity rate was very high. Now most people who think they might have covid are getting tested, along with a lot of “just in case” testing. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2020, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6138 "2020-12-19T04:12:04Z")
> **[Georgia college student sentenced to 4 months in prison for breaking Cayman...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/18/us/college-student-prison-cayman-islands/index.html)** > > An 18-year-old college student from Georgia has been sentenced to four months in prison in the Cayman Islands after breaking the British Caribbean territory's Covid-19 protocol while visiting her boyfriend for a jet skiing competition, according to... Boo hoo. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2020, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6139 "2020-12-19T05:27:22Z")
Lock her up for a bit, that’s fair and the penalty for being an entitled dumbass. No problem. Four months is excessive. ---
**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 19, 2020, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6140 "2020-12-19T05:29:16Z")
76,013,074 total cases 1,681,249 dead 53,281,606 recovered In the US: 17,888,353 total cases 320,845 dead 10,394,286 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 75,282,798 total cases > 1,668,356 dead > 52,852,602 recovered > > In the US: > > 17,626,770 total cases > 317,928 dead > 10,291,057 recovered ---
**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:** [December 19, 2020, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6141 "2020-12-19T05:37:36Z")
I was watching a streaming of a court case in Ontario today. Large church was contesting the COVID strict restrictions on services and seeking an injunction against the provincial government to allow it to have large service on Christmas. (Background: covid rates are shooting up in Toronto.) Counsel for the church cited the SCOTUS case from last month that dealt with a similar situation. Crown counsel: “With all due respect, I would suggest this court should not be following precedents from a country that has millions of cases and over 300,000 deaths.” Trial judge ultimately declined to issue an emergency injunction and set the matter down for full argument and evidence at a later date. > **[Toronto church not exempt from region’s gathering limits under lockdown,...](https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/12/18/toronto-church-not-exempt-from-regions-gathering-limits-under-lockdown-superior-court-rules.html)** > > A final decision on the question of if the provincial guidelines infringed on Celebration Church’s freedom of religion will be decided in 2021. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2020, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6142 "2020-12-19T05:58:52Z")
She called the day before the race to have her location tracker bracelet loosened. She wasn’t just short of the full quarantine and got impatient or overconfident. She was 2 days in. She didn’t just step outside her hotel room, she went to a sporting event. If she wanted to be there, she needed to get there 2 weeks earlier, or settle for virtual attendance like responsible people do. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2020, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6143 "2020-12-19T07:00:56Z")
So far almost all the cases are restricted to Sydney’s Northern Beaches, and a localised 5 day hard lockdown has just gone into effect. Keeping the beaches themselves open would be contrary messaging - people from across Sydney go to these beaches. Fortunately, the weather is crap this weekend, rather than one of our 40C shockers, so that helps. The rest of Sydney has been ‘requested’ into soft lockdown [i.e. minimise non-essential movement and activities, cancel events if you can], and state border restrictions have hurriedly gone back up as many of those states have gone many months without a single case and don’t want any right now, thank you. While everyone is annoyed, especially as the source may be overseas air crew, they know that you have to go in hard and fast to stomp down on any outbreak, otherwise it becomes exponentially harder every day. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2020, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6144 "2020-12-19T09:23:47Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > Apparently, you also have to worry about jiggling the Pfizer vaccine too much as well. Thank god there’s alternatives. I keep wondering if there are adequate safeguards to prevent vaccine from reaching ungood temperatures or other storage/transport SNAFUs (like the ‘shaken not stirred’ mentioned above). I’ve heard there are some temperature-warning ‘alarms’ in the Pfizer vaccine packaging but I kinda wonder if there would be incredible pressure to “look the other way” if 100 or 1000 vials were OOPS! stored 5 or 10 degrees too warm. And now hearing about this jiggling thing I think that’d be even more likely to be overlooked. Accidents and mistakes happen. I just worry that they could be overlooked and unreported. It’s not like milk or meat that’ll smell bad if it’s not stored at the proper temperature. How would anybody know? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2020, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6145 "2020-12-19T10:28:50Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Lock her up for a bit, that’s fair and the penalty for being an entitled dumbass. No problem. > > Four months is excessive. She’s not merely an entitled dumbass. That would apply to, say, someone who went and sat in first class when she had an economy class ticket. No, her actions also showed a reckless disregard for the health of others. The quarantine rules exist to protect people from a deadly virus. Her actions very well could have killed someone. The closest thing I can think of that people seem to get the gravity of is drunk driving. The reason it’s wrong is because you’re likely to cause harm to someone else. Even if the driving goes okay, we still have a rather strong reason to punish, because it could have gone very, very badly. Sure, there are worse people. But that’s why she got only 1/6th the maximum sentence. To me ,the real problem is how lightly we seem to take people who violate this crap. We were told to stay home, only go out when needed, wash our hands, keep our distance, and wear masks, and yet so many people want to make excuses to not do that. I was genuinely happy that it seemed like, for once, one of these stories involved people taking this seriously. My only pause is whether or not the place she is being held is safe from the virus, as I don’t think she deserves to be infected with it. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2020, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/6146 "2020-12-19T11:12:54Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > . Keeping the beaches themselves open would be contrary messaging - people from across Sydney go to these beaches Yes. Like most of the COVID handling in my state, it’s about the ‘message’ rather than the disease. What particularly irritates me is that in my state, the quarantine system is run by a manager from the prison division, reporting to the police minister. Again, because what we have here is a law-and-order issue, not a health issue. > [@Banksiaman](#): > > , they know that you have to go in hard and fast to stomp down on any outbreak, … as long as you don’t hurt the pubs and the clubs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=305) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=307)