# 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:** 77
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1523 "2020-03-26T16:59:24Z")
Italy’s numbers aren’t updated today, so the U.S. probably hasn’t passed them yet. But either way, it will happen very soon if it hasn’t already. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1524 "2020-03-26T17:54:22Z")
I just checked the numbers on the worldometer site (March 26, 2020, 17:37 GMT). The number of new deaths as of March 26, 2020, 17:37 GMT is 662, total deaths is 8,165. The numbers for the US are new deaths, 73; total deaths, 1,100. ---
**Author:** ![Richard323](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@Richard323](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard323)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1525 "2020-03-26T18:07:49Z")
More than 200 people infected with coronavirus have died in the United States on the last day. The United States became the sixth country in which more than a thousand people died from COVID-19. Before the United States, more than a thousand deaths were recorded in China, Iran, Italy, Spain and France… ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1526 "2020-03-26T18:10:23Z")
MAGA! CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1527 "2020-03-26T18:18:53Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The US will have the record death number by April 4. **Puts on Coach’s hat** We got a long way to go to beat Italy there. They are a tough opponent. **Take’s off Coach’s hat** It would have to be mid April at the earliest. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1528 "2020-03-26T18:32:55Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Do medical personnel have access to enough tests now so that they can carry out widespread testing. I can’t seem to keep up with all the bonfires currently burning/smoldering/ready to burst into flame. No - my stepmom is hospitalized in NVC with a confirmed positive test and pneumonia, and my asthmatic father still doesn’t meet testing criteria because he is (so far) asymptomatic. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1529 "2020-03-26T18:34:04Z")
**Eva Luna** , I’m so sorry: this is terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1530 "2020-03-26T19:04:24Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > MAGA! > > CMC fnord! **Moderator Note** Keep the political jabs out of this forum, especially in breaking news threads. No warning issued, but after a few more day of quarantine I’m going to be cranky enough to start issuing them at the drop of a (red) hat.😉 Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**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:** [March 26, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1531 "2020-03-26T19:09:51Z")
Is NVC a medical term, or a typo for NYC? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1532 "2020-03-26T19:10:01Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > Keep the political jabs out of this forum, especially in breaking news threads. No warning issued, but after a few more day of quarantine I’m going to be cranky enough to start issuing them at the drop of a (red) hat.😉 > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator How is Panama doing? Would that qualify for breaking news? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1533 "2020-03-26T20:20:14Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > What, R[sub]0[/sub] is going to suddenly start working differently? > > Look, the rate of spread of this thing is like the rate of spread of any other disease. It’s all about how many new people each infected person infects. That’s R[sub]0[/sub]. Absent social distancing, that’s going to be a constant until enough people have developed a resistance to the disease already to reduce the number of uninfected people each infected person runs into. To noticeably reduce R[sub]0[/sub] that way, a good portion of the population has to have developed resistance. > > We’re nowhere near that point yet. > > And until we are, the exponential rate of growth will continue as before, modulo the extent that social distancing reduces the number of contacts each infected person has. > > So yeah, I think I can extrapolate along an exponential curve _ **for the next freakin’ two and a half weeks.** _ Based, as before, on the assumption that social distancing is only minimally effective - and using the difference in actual deaths from what the exponential curve predicts as a measure of the effectiveness of social distancing. Let’s do some math that is basic working with one set of assumptions to start: 1% case fatality rate and kids all as susceptible and contagious as adults. Yesterday’s deaths in NYC were 19 which reflects those first infected 21 days ago. Which under the 1% assumption means 1900 were newly infected 21 days ago. Using your 1.3 increase per day that means new infections today of 469,000, 610,000 tomorrow, and so on. Not quite to herd immunity that. But not nowhere near either. No matter how loud you shout it. Now alter the assumptions. Assume that there are, oh 4 undocumented mild infections than those documented, and kids do not spread the disease, so start off with 24% that function as immune. That would imply 30,000 new cases 3 weeks ago. 7.4 million new cases today. Which is more than the population of adults in NYC. Herd immunity would be a factor a bit back. Do you KNOW which is the case? I don’t. I don’t know there aren’t ten times as many undocumented as documented infections. Or none. No one does. If you think you do you don’t know enough to know that you do not know. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1534 "2020-03-26T20:35:36Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Is NVC a medical term, or a typo for NYC? Typo. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1535 "2020-03-26T20:47:58Z")
Just had a look at World-o-Meter, and they are now showing USA top of the list for total number of COVID-19 cases. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1536 "2020-03-26T20:49:30Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Just had a look at World-o-Meter, and they are now showing USA top of the list for total number of COVID-19 cases. Only because Russia is being extremely cagey about numbers. ---
**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 26, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1537 "2020-03-26T20:56:36Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Just had a look at World-o-Meter, and they are now showing USA top of the list for total number of COVID-19 cases. Woohoo!!! We’re Number One!! We’re Number One!!! … uh … :eek::eek: Yeah, I just spotted that. I’d love to see graphs showing our growth starting when our first case was diagnosed, versus China’s. This is really not a good time to have asthma or seasonal allergies. I don’t mean the risks of Covid hitting harder, I mean “every routine cough” having me think “is this it? This is it, I KNOW IT”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1538 "2020-03-26T21:35:40Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [World O Meter](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/); always World O Meter. I’ve been using this too, but any idea how they can update so quickly? I noticed that CNN is still using JH, which is slower to update. Perhaps JH fact-checks better? It’s kind of hard for World O Meter to be wrong when the numbers are growing. Even if they err on the high side, the number is going to eventually get there anyway. ---
**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 26, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1539 "2020-03-26T21:37:44Z")
Today in Austria: [ul] [li] Yesterday I reported that the hospital capacity situation in Austria seemed to be secure. However, between yesterday afternoon and yesterday evening the number of beds occupied by coronavirus patients more than doubled, and the number of those in intensive care more than tripled. Some of this apparent rise may be due to a new method the government is using to count patients. But Stefan Thurner, a professor at the Medical University of Vienna, has issued a stern warning that, despite its self-isolation measures, Austria is closely following the death curve of Italy. The situation is being exacerbated by an outbreak of garden-variety influenza, which now affects over 110,000 Austrian residents.[/li] [li] Henceforth, only half the members of parliament will be sitting at once, a measure presumably taken in furtherance of social distancing in the debating chamber. (Recall that one member of parliament has already tested positive.) Next week parliament will debate if/how it can continue with a full complement of MPs (for example, by remote participation).[/li] [li] Current statistics: 6398 confirmed infections (up 829 from yesterday), 49 dead (up 18 from yesterday), 9 recovered (no change since yesterday). 163,200 people have registered as unemployed since 15 March.[/li] [/ul] ---
**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 26, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1540 "2020-03-26T21:38:49Z")
Damn. Sorry to hear that, Psychonaut. ---
**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 26, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1541 "2020-03-26T21:40:22Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Yeah, I just spotted that. I’d love to see graphs showing our growth starting when our first case was diagnosed, versus China’s. [China](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/) (scroll down a bit to the first graph: Total Coronavirus Cases in China) [United States](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/) (same thing; just scroll down a bit) China went over 1,000 confirmed infections on 24 January and hit 80,000 on 1 March, 35 days later. The US went over 1,000 confirmed infections on 11 March and hit 80,000 on 26 March, 15 days later. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1542 "2020-03-26T21:48:09Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I’d love to see graphs showing our growth starting when our first case was diagnosed, versus China’s. The Worldometer site has graphs on the main COVID-19 page and the country pages. A number of the graphs can be toggled between linear and logarithmic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=76) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=78)