# 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:** 43
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/842 "2020-03-14T02:28:19Z")
Dr. John Campbell, who seems to know what he’s talking about, recommends vitamin D. But even if you don’t believe in that, his videos are worth watching. > **[Dr. John Campbell](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF9IOB2TExg3QIBupFtBDxg)** > > Hello Everyone, > My name is John Campbell and I am a retired Nurse Teacher and A and E nurse based in England. I also do some teaching in Asia and Africa when time permits. These videos are to help students to learn the background to all forms of... ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/843 "2020-03-14T02:36:11Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > The UK government - and the devolved governments within the UK - seem to be taking a remarkably pragmatic approach. The assumption is that most of the population is going to end up catching the thing at some point anyway, so there’s no point in being all performative about “SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING!”. > > How long are you planning on keeping your country/state/municipality/town/village on lockdown? How long do you think you can sensibly sustain it? This thing is now uncontained - until a mass-produced and reliable vaccine is available in a year or so there’s a certain inevitability about what happens next. The UK isn’t going to go full draconian until the real peak arrives in June/July. That sounds like a very bad idea. UK cases are currently 800 (per wikipedia) which is roughly where Italy was on Feb 28th - just two weeks ago. By that stage they’d already been trying to lock down Lombardy for four days, and a week later they quarantined the whole country. And this has yet to affect case growth rate - it’s still about 20% per day. So in order to not be in the state Italy’s in right now by the end of this month, the UK needs to take stronger measures than Italy did, and earlier. Otherwise you’re going to have a huge systematic meltdown. Please don’t have a huge systematic meltdown! I have a vested interest in the health of the UK 'cos my elderly parents live there, so be safe ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/844 "2020-03-14T02:41:34Z")
There are reasons to take vitamin D for bone health (with calcium foods) and in Northern climes with less sun. But multivitamins usually have a good dose (800 units). The Economist ([Economist.com](http://Economist.com)) has some great, detailed articles on coronavirus treatments and has just been updated. I think you get a few free reads if you don’t subscribe. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/845 "2020-03-14T03:45:30Z")
We need to be thinking for the long term. Remember that the 1918 flu actually went around three times before dying down and the third cycle was the deadliest. #1) Increase testing-identify infected people ASAP and isolate. Worst case scenario is that you are isolating people that are not highly infective along with those who are. #2) Flatten the curve. Give our healthcare systems and workers the best chance to treat people by spreading out cases over as long a time as possible. Let people know that social distancing is going to be necessary for a long time. Don’t expect everything to go back to normal in 2 weeks. We can’t afford a delayed peak; we need to spread out the cases. #3) Work on a vaccine. We don’t know if people develop immunity or not and if so how long it lasts. There are cases in China of people clearing the virus then testing positive again. It is not known if this is early reinfection or if they were never fully cleared and the virus can bounce back from low levels. Either way, this virus is not going anywhere unless a critical mass of people are immune either by having had the virus or a vaccine. This is different than SARS, MERS or Ebola where people got sicker faster and it was easier to isolate people. It’s harder to isolate people who don’t feel seriously ill. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/846 "2020-03-14T03:55:59Z")
Just to clarify a point from above: when I say the third wave of the 1918 flu was the deadliest, I mean death rates as compared to cases. The second wave killed the most people overall, since that was when the most were infected and those who were hit in the first two waves were immune from the third wave so there were a much smaller number of people who got sick during that third wave. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2020, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/847 "2020-03-14T04:02:26Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > A great post from **DSeid** who eloquently and succinctly summarized the situation; “Nobody knows anything”. That is not what he wrote and it is not true in any case. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/848 "2020-03-14T04:08:54Z")
145,810 confirmed infections 5,436 dead 72,531 recovered In the US: 2,466 confirmed infections 50 dead 41 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:** [March 14, 2020, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/849 "2020-03-14T04:34:12Z")
From the Trump Clusterfuck thread: > [@The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41459): > > Try this site. Good info from what I see. > [Don’t Panic: The comprehensive Ars Technica guide to the coronavirus [Updated 4/5] | Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/dont-panic-the-comprehensive-ars-technica-guide-to-the-coronavirus/) Good find, **jasg** ; thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/850 "2020-03-14T05:31:46Z")
We have a grocery delivery for tomorrow. It’ll be interesting to see which things we won’t get because they’re out of stock. I went to the nearby Wegman’s to pick up one or two more things (including a bottle of wine for a recipe) and it was shocking. The produce bins were largely empty. No onions or bell peppers. Little fruit of any kind. They seemed to have bananas though. It got worse. The frozen vegetable section had a few packs of sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and pearl onions. It was otherwise completely, utterly wiped out. They actually had a decent bit of ground beef. I hadn’t been looking for that but i figured I’d grab it and make some spaghetti sauce… which meant i needed canned tomatoes. That aisle was nearly empty too. The only canned tomatoes i could find were the gallon size. I found sauce, and a few cans of stewed. The beer and wine section didn’t look too picked over which surprised me given how many people are joking that they stocked up on alcohol. People are not going nuts over ice cream, to my surprise; that section was a little picked over but they still had a good selection. I didn’t even look in the TP aisle! As i checked out, i said to the cashier that i bet he was glad the day was nearly over (this was about 10:30 PM). He said it had been crazy but was even n worse Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/851 "2020-03-14T05:57:34Z")
It isn’t true - we know a bit. The Economist article goes into detail on treatments effective for the SARS coronavirus. But there are enormous gaps in our knowledge. DSeid spends most of the last three paragraphs outlining what we don’t really know. I saw a newspaper article comparing two towns during an epidemic decades ago - one of which held a parade, one which cancelled it. The death rate was higher in the town which allowed the parade. The author drew the conclusion was parades and public gatherings are bad. It could be. But there are a thousand other things that could have made a difference too. In science and medicine, as in life, it is surprisingly easy to draw false conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/852 "2020-03-14T06:59:31Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > They’re trying to reduce the big spike that is inevitable a couple-three months into the outbreak. That spike is likely to overwhelm the medical system. If we get the same number of cases, but they’re spread out over several months rather than all at once, it’s a win. A couple of articls discussing smoothing the spike / flattening the curve: > **[Flattening the Coronavirus Curve](https://www.nytimes.com/article/flatten-curve-coronavirus.html)** > > One chart explains why slowing the spread of the infection is nearly as important as stopping it. > **[Flattening the Curve for COVID-19: What Does It Mean and How Can You Help?](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/flattening-curve-covid-19-what-does-it-mean-and-how-can-you-help)** > > History shows that taking strong steps now to slow the spread of coronavirus will help communities and individuals. (apologies if these have already been mentioned). The idea is that ultimately everyone who’s gonna get it, will get it, but if the transmission can be gotten to a lower pace, we’ll have fewer patients needing critical care and swamping hospitals at a time. We’d rather have hospitals be very busy for 4 months, than utterly inundated for 4 weeks. What I’m worried about is: all the drastic shutdowns happening right now will slow things, all right, but the shutdowns can’t last forever - and the minute things start trying to go back to normal, it’ll flare up again. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/853 "2020-03-14T07:14:43Z")
Spain is likely to be the next Italy. Today’s figures show a [66% increase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_Spain#Timeline) over the day before, and cases have been reliably doubling every two days for a couple of weeks now. If the data from Wuhan are a guide, it’s probably about ten days between strict measures being announced (as of today) and when they actually take effect. If the pattern holds, then Spain will be at 160,000 cases by the Tuesday after next ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/854 "2020-03-14T08:15:37Z")
[Someone may have already posted this.] German researchers have found that SARS-CoV-2 uses a protease (a type of enzyme) found on human cells to enter lung cells. [Link to paper](https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/news/german-researchers-covid-19-drug/). There’s a drug, camostat mesilate, that’s known to inhibit this enzyme. So it’s a potential treatment for COVID-19. The drug is currently used for another medical purpose, but I imagine someone is doing some rapid testing to see if it’s effective against COVID-19. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/855 "2020-03-14T08:30:58Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Thanks, that’s reassuring. The number of active cases has been steadily declining since mid-February, so it seems that the measures taken to contain the outbreak are effective, and barring some large-scale outbreak in a poorly controlled region, we should be through the worst soon. Ah, to be able to reclaim that long-lost naive innocence of like… ten days ago. :rolleyes: Active cases have been at a new all-time high for the past couple of days, and are fast approaching the number of cases with an outcome, after which there will be more cases active than have so far gone through the illness. Also, belated thanks to whoever posted the article by [Tomas Pueyo](https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca) first, it’s been a real eye-opener; I’m not in a position of making influential decisions, but I’ve canceled all social engagements and will work exclusively from home for the next few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/856 "2020-03-14T10:51:12Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > What I’m worried about is: all the drastic shutdowns happening right now will slow things, all right, but the shutdowns can’t last forever - and the minute things start trying to go back to normal, it’ll flare up again. As far as I can tell, the powers that be know this, but are _hoping_ it’ll do enough good to justify the pain in the end, even if it does happen that way. My concern is public reaction if we have to shut everything down again. Will they go along the second time, the third? To an extent, they probably won’t have a choice, but having some kind of financial assurances in place and getting businesses, especially the big and high-profile ones (like sports leagues) on board will likely help, as well more clearly communicating that this might be necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/857 "2020-03-14T12:51:42Z")
Israel very close to a vaccine because they can modify one they were working on. [https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-scientists-In-three-weeks-we-will-have-coronavirus-vaccine-619101](https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-scientists-In-three-weeks-we-will-have-coronavirus-vaccine-619101) ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/858 "2020-03-14T13:27:51Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Israel very close to a vaccine because they can modify one they were working on. > > [Israeli scientists: 'In a few weeks, we will have coronavirus vaccine' - The Jerusalem Post](https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-scientists-In-three-weeks-we-will-have-coronavirus-vaccine-619101) Dude. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/859 "2020-03-14T13:53:05Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > All right, so since much of the advice is “Avoid hospitals if you are sick, if you can,” what’s the DIY remedy for Covid-19, other than the usual (sleep more, vitamin C, drink fluids, etc.?) Um… that’s pretty much it. Stay home, rest, plenty of fluids, OTC meds for fever and other symptom relief. That’s it. If you have trouble breathing call for help. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/860 "2020-03-14T14:18:41Z")
A [thread by former U.S Surgeon General Vivek Murthy](https://twitter.com/vivek_murthy/status/1238500475068125192), posted yesterday: > [@](#): > > THREAD: Yesterday [Thursday 3/12], I spoke with doctors from one of the nation’s leading academic hospitals located in a state where #COVID19 cases are increasing quickly. This is what they told me: They’ve been seeing _many_ patients with symptoms concerning for COVID19 who need testing (1/x) > > But they are unable to get the _vast majority_ of them COVID19 testing. Their only resource for testing is the state lab. But the state lab is severely limited in capacity and it will take another few weeks for the hospital lab to implement its own test. (2/x) > > So the hospital is saving their test requests for only those who are severely ill - such as those with ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) who have tested negative for other conditions (like influenza). In other words, they are having to ration tests. (3/x) > > For patients who do get tested, it is taking several days for the test to come back during which time their contacts (including doctors and nurses) have to be quarantined, taking them out of the workforce right when we need them the most. (4/x) > > They also don’t have enough personal protective equipment. The doctors and nurses are having to reuse masks which they know is risky but they have no other choice. They are worried about running out of gowns and gloves as well. (5/x) > > The doctors I spoke with are worried and scared. They know this isn’t the best way to take care of patients. And they are putting their own health at risk in the process. (6/x) > > This is happening at one of the _top hospitals in the United States of America._ And they are not alone. This is the daily struggle for hospitals and clinics across America. (7/x) > > The measure of whether we have enough testing is whether people who need COVID19 tests can get them. By that measure, we continue to fall short. (8/x) > > Because our visibility into the spread of COVID19 in the U.S. is so compromised due to lack of testing, it makes it even more urgent that we be aggressive about mitigation efforts like physical distancing so we can reduce the likelihood of further spread. (9/x) > > So if you are reading the news about games being cancelled, schools being suspended, and people avoiding group events due to #COVID19 - and if you’re wondering if it’s an overreaction, the answer is no. The earlier we act, the more lives we save. Period. (10/x END) Yeesh. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/861 "2020-03-14T15:20:45Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Um… that’s pretty much it. > > Stay home, rest, plenty of fluids, OTC meds for fever and other symptom relief. That’s it. > > If you have trouble breathing call for help. With a huge side-helping of AVOID OTHER PEOPLE. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=42) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=44)