# 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:** 67
**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:** [March 23, 2020, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1323 "2020-03-23T11:06:40Z")
Breaking news from Ukraine! [The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has identified the true cause of the pandemic: legalizing same-sex marriage and allowing transgender children to live as the gender the identify as.](https://twitter.com/r_u_vid/status/1241838004718559232) Knowing this, the path forward to a cure is clear! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1324 "2020-03-23T11:29:13Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 338,724 confirmed infections > 14,687 dead > 99,003 recovered > > In the US: > > 34,717 confirmed infections > 452 dead > 178 recovered > > Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > > The US nearly doubled the number of new confirmed infections from the previous day. > > The US recorded more than 3x as many deaths as the previous day. > [@DSeid](#): > > Two to three days is likely noise but [Worldometer numbers for the US of daily deaths past 5 days](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/): > 23 > 42 > 57 > 49 > 46 > > Those are considered the most reliable numbers. They do seem way too good to be true. And would if true be reflective of what we did three weeks ago, not this week. > > I don’t believe them. Right this moment, at 6:53am Eastern, Worldometer is showing 458 U.S. deaths. \<7 hours ago, **Snowboarder Bo** ’s source (could you give a link, **Bo**?) was showing 452. So it seems they’re pretty congruent on the total; the only question is which days did deaths occur on. I see Worldometer is showing 117 deaths yesterday, while Bo’s source shows an increase of 104 total deaths over the previous day. So either way, this thing is taking off, not leveling off. ☹ ---
**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 23, 2020, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1325 "2020-03-23T11:32:34Z")
A few posts? tweets? down that page, [there is a composite picture of 4 Italian doctors/nurses](https://twitter.com/Travelito24/status/1241684250031783938). They all have marks, some of them even bleeding it seems, from the PPE they have been wearing. To get those marks, they must be working themselves to exhaustion, it seems. I am gobsmacked by their dedication and their efforts; I salute them all. Soon, US health care workers will look like that too, I’m afraid. ---
**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:** [March 23, 2020, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1326 "2020-03-23T11:44:00Z")
I won’t post details, but the prison where my son works may have a corona case. My son just finished a 48 hour weekend shift but cannot leave until health department workers meet with him. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1327 "2020-03-23T12:22:02Z")
I order supplies for a lab that is doing the virus tests, so I expect I’ll be able to go on working as long as I want to. My husband would prefer that we both stay home, but I’m not quite ready yet. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1328 "2020-03-23T12:34:04Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Breaking news from Ukraine! [The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has identified the true cause of the pandemic: legalizing same-sex marriage and allowing transgender children to live as the gender the identify as.](https://twitter.com/r_u_vid/status/1241838004718559232) Knowing this, the path forward to a cure is clear! :rolleyes: Sure is! Kill 'em all, let God sort it out! Seriously, here’s some good advice in easy-to-digest cartoon form: [Myths debunked](https://thenib.com/covid-19-myths-debunked/) ---
**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 23, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1329 "2020-03-23T12:51:14Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > …and now it’s at 8,149 cases. Apparently a reporting glitch. I should do as Snowboarder Bo does and not check until the end of the day. For the record, I only _post_ them once a day, so that the progression and accumulation can be seen clearly. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1330 "2020-03-23T12:58:00Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Breaking news from Ukraine! [The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has identified the true cause of the pandemic: legalizing same-sex marriage and allowing transgender children to live as the gender the identify as.](https://twitter.com/r_u_vid/status/1241838004718559232) Knowing this, the path forward to a cure is clear! :rolleyes: The critical thinking is lacking. Why would God kill all the old people? Aren’t old people less likely to be in support of same-sex marriage and transgender kids? Wouldn’t it be far more effective for God to only kill the people who support same-sex marriage and transgender kids, if his intention is to send some kind of message to humanity? This is an entity that is supposedly capable of surgical strikes. Why would he be so undiscriminating now? Why would anyone love an entity that punishes so unfairly? It makes no sense! ---
**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:** [March 23, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1331 "2020-03-23T13:26:57Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Sure is! Kill 'em all, let God sort it out! > > Seriously, here’s some good advice in easy-to-digest cartoon form: [Myths debunked](https://thenib.com/covid-19-myths-debunked/) Wow! Fantastic-- thanks for that! > [@monstro](#): > > … > Why would God kill all the old people? Aren’t old people less likely to be in support of same-sex marriage and transgender kids? Wouldn’t it be far more effective for God to only kill the people who support same-sex marriage and transgender kids, if his intention is to send some kind of message to humanity? This is an entity that is supposedly capable of surgical strikes. Why would he be so undiscriminating now? Why would anyone love an entity that punishes so unfairly? It makes no sense! It is a SIN (a big bad one!) to question the mysterious ways of God. Or to try to outthink God. With that post, you are now _doomed_, unless you fall right down to your knees! Now! (And BTW, at the bottom of the screen you’ll see a number to call _\_ if you want me to put in a good word with the Big Guy for your sorry self. Operators are standing by. We only take credit cards-- no checks. They might be contaminated with sin.) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1332 "2020-03-23T13:50:52Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > It is a SIN (a big bad one!) to question the mysterious ways of God. Or to try to outthink God. I realize you’re being facetious, but this gives me a chance to link to Fred Clark’s marvelous blog post, “[That time when five women sued God and won](https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2015/12/14/that-time-when-five-women-sued-god-and-won/),” summarizing an incident in the book of Numbers that is my favorite Biblical instance where God’s ways were questioned, and God in effect said, “yeah, you’re right.” 🙂 ---
**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 23, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1333 "2020-03-23T13:53:39Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Right this moment, at 6:53am Eastern, Worldometer is showing 458 U.S. deaths. \<7 hours ago, **Snowboarder Bo** ’s source (could you give a link, **Bo**?) was showing 452. So it seems they’re pretty congruent on the total; the only question is which days did deaths occur on. > > I see Worldometer is showing 117 deaths yesterday, while Bo’s source shows an increase of 104 total deaths over the previous day. So either way, this thing is taking off, not leveling off. ☹ As I’ve posted multiple times, I post numbers from World O Meter. I post around 9pm PST/PDT every day, while they reset their “day” at 0 GMT (4pm PST/5pm PDT), so there’s some small discrepancy every day between the numbers I post and the numbers they tally as being for that particular day. ---
**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 23, 2020, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1334 "2020-03-23T14:13:44Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Soon, US health care workers will look like that too, I’m afraid. Yes. My sister in New York State told me yesterday about setting up her house so she could self-isolate from the rest of her family. I don’t want her to go into this situation. I mean, yes, she’s a doctor and I know that’s what they do, but she’s my sister and I care about her. ---
**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:** [March 23, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1335 "2020-03-23T15:49:52Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I won’t post details, but the prison where my son works may have a corona case. My son just finished a 48 hour weekend shift but cannot leave until health department workers meet with him. My son just sent me this: [All Florida Prisons on lockdown, concern for riots.](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article167756842.html) ---
**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 23, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1336 "2020-03-23T16:45:48Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I’ve stopped watching them because I find them more upsetting than the prospect of getting sick myself. I don’t blame you. In a sane world, the doddering gimp would be led away from that podium. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1337 "2020-03-23T16:48:43Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > As I’ve posted multiple times, I post numbers from World O Meter. I post around 9pm PST/PDT every day, while they reset their “day” at 0 GMT (4pm PST/5pm PDT), so there’s some small discrepancy every day between the numbers I post and the numbers they tally as being for that particular day. Note that they may reset their day at 5pm PDT, but they leave the numbers up from the previous day for a few hours after that time. It’s usually somewhere around 8 or 9pm PDT that the webpage gets reset. I’m going to guess that they’re still getting reports about the previous day during those few hours. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1338 "2020-03-23T16:54:37Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 338,724 confirmed infections > 14,687 dead > 99,003 recovered > > In the US: > > 34,717 confirmed infections > 452 dead > 178 recovered > > Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > > The US nearly doubled the number of new confirmed infections from the previous day. > > The US recorded more than 3x as many deaths as the previous day. The US rate is the rate of testing, not the rate of spread. We’re still catching up. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1339 "2020-03-23T17:52:38Z")
IOC member Dick Pound: Olympics postponed until 2021 > **[IOC member says 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be postponed because of coronavirus...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/03/23/olympics-2020-ioc-member-tokyo-games-postponed-dick-pound-coronavirus/2899848001/)** > > Veteran IOC member Dick Pound told USA TODAY Sports that "postponement has been decided" for the 2020 Olympics, and that it won't start July 24. > [@](#): > > Veteran International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound told USA TODAY Sports Monday afternoon that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are going to be postponed, likely to 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks. > > “On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound said in a phone interview. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.” ---
**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:** [March 23, 2020, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1340 "2020-03-23T18:02:07Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Despite the crisis, Austria’s parliament is continuing to operate more or less normally, albeit with extraordinary weekend sessions. By contrast, the parliament of neighbouring Hungary is poised to hand over emergency powers to its prime minister Viktor Orbán, allowing him to rule by decree. (This move is permitted by the Hungarian constitution but will probably reinforce Orbán’s reputation abroad, and among the domestic opposition, as an undemocratic ruler. People will be watching very closely to see whether he abuses his new dictatorial powers.) The bill giving Orbán emergency dictatorial powers has been voted down (as it required a 4/5 supermajority to pass). However, the Hungarian parliament gets a second crack at it next week, this time with the bar lowered to a 2/3 majority. As luck would have it, Orbán’s coalition currently enjoys a 2/3 majority in Parliament, so unless anyone defects, the bill should pass next week. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1341 "2020-03-23T18:05:16Z")
I am thinking the amount of infections is in order of magnitude to reported cases of sick people. I wouldn’t be surprised if t was 50 to 1 or more. Testing sick people only means we have zero data to work with. If the virus peaks before we expect it to I would think that would be an indicator of many times more infections than reported. This happened in China and seems to be happening in Italy. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1342 "2020-03-23T18:05:24Z")
Something interesting about China. Someone who tests positive, but is asymptomatic, is not counted as a confirmed case. So the figure of 80,000 or so for China is far below the actual positive tests. [Life after lockdown: has China really beaten coronavirus?](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/23/life-after-lockdown-has-china-really-beaten-coronavirus) > [@](#): > > Some of the concerns about China’s reporting stem from how Beijing classifies patients. While the World Health Organization and South Korea consider anyone who has tested positive for the virus as a confirmed case, China does not include asymptomatic infections in its final tally. > > Late on Monday night, Wuhan’s health commission published a Q&A explaining how asymptomatic cases are dealt with. On why such cases are not included as confirmed cases, the commission said that patients were quarantined for 14 days and if they began to show symptoms they would be designated as confirmed and that data would be published. > > “A small number of asymptomatic infections may progress to becoming confirmed cases, but the vast majority [of patients] will heal by themselves,” it said. > > Critics also question why recovered patients who retest as positive are not counted. Data from quarantine centres in Wuhan showed that the possibility of recovered patients testing positive again was between 5% and 10%, according to the state-run Global Times. Officials in Hubei have said those patients would not be recorded as new confirmed cases because they had been counted previously. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=66) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=68)