# 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:** 88
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1743 "2020-03-30T21:14:29Z")
> **[Here's How China Is Rewriting the History of the Coronavirus Pandemic to Make...](https://www.vice.com/en/article/8843dz/heres-how-china-is-rewriting-the-history-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-to-make-itself-the-hero)** > > The Chinese government has waged a months-long disinformation campaign to portray itself as the country that defeated the virus, when it attempted to hide it for months. China using its repressive government to try to whitewash and re-imagine the pandemic. > [@](#): > > The move was the culmination of a months-long PR and disinformation campaign waged by the Chinese government to rewrite the history of a pandemic that has spread to almost every corner of the planet, killed more than 34,000 people, and infected almost three-quarters of a million. > > China initially ignored the outbreak that first surfaced in Wuhan in early December, silencing doctors who tried to raise the alarm before eventually enacting a draconian and restrictive lockdown that impacted 50 million people. > > But the Communist Party of China (CCP) is now seeking to portray itself not as the country that allowed the coronavirus to spread unchecked for weeks but as the country that has defeated the virus and is now on hand to save the rest of the world. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1744 "2020-03-30T23:06:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > That is so sad. > > I belong to two choirs. Let’s face it, when you’re singing in a group like that, you’re basically spitting on each other. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Or as it said, ‘One could imagine that really trying to project your voice would also project more droplets and aerosols.’ You’re also sucking air more deeply into your lungs than you would normally be doing. Which may or may not be relevant. If it is, we should also see increased infection-rates in gyms (or at least that would be true with transmission a few weeks back, when a lot of people were still present together in gyms). ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1745 "2020-03-30T23:40:45Z")
Whole US National Capital region and surroundings [to be under Stay At Home orders](https://wtop.com/coronavirus/2020/03/coronavirus-updates-dc-maryland-virginia-march-30/), as Maryland, Virginia and DC issue them in quick succession, the states starting this evening, the District on Wednesday. ---
**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 30, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1746 "2020-03-30T23:44:39Z")
Whoa! DC is not fucking around: > [@](#): > > The stay-at-home order in D.C. goes in effect on Wednesday, April 1 at 12:01 a.m. > > “Our message remains the same: stay home,” Bowser said in a statement. “Staying at home is the best way to flatten the curve and protect yourself, your family, and our entire community from COVID-19. Many people want to know how they can help right now, and for most people this is how — by staying home.” > > Violation of the order is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $5,000 and 90 days in jail, Bowser’s office said. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1747 "2020-03-30T23:55:04Z")
Does anyone have theories as to why it seems African countries are relatively untouched? ---
**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 31, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1748 "2020-03-31T00:00:39Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > You’re also sucking air more deeply into your lungs than you would normally be doing. Which may or may not be relevant. > > If it is, we should also see increased infection-rates in gyms (or at least that would be true with transmission a few weeks back, when a lot of people were still present together in gyms). Especially those gyms where people sing while working out. 😃 Sorry. I’m feeling sad and mopey this evening. Needed a bit of levity. Just picture it… mirrored rooms full of muscle-y guys and well-built women pumping iron and belting out the Sound of Music or something. “The hills are a-LIVE with the sound of muuu-SIC!” I’ll leave now… ---
**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 31, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1749 "2020-03-31T00:00:45Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Does anyone have theories as to why it seems African countries are relatively untouched? Because neither the testing nor the reporting systems are on a par with Asia, the US and Europe? I mean, I _hope_ it’s because the virus isn’t prevalent there, but I fear that’s not the case. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2020, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1750 "2020-03-31T00:03:58Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Especially those gyms where people sing while working out. 😃 > > Sorry. I’m feeling sad and mopey this evening. Needed a bit of levity. Just picture it… mirrored rooms full of muscle-y guys and well-built women pumping iron and belting out the Sound of Music or something. “The hills are a-LIVE with the sound of muuu-SIC!” > > I’ll leave now… Any video of a gym full of body-builder-types singing Rodgers & Hammerstein, would be an instant hit on YouTube. People are starved for entertainment! (Of course what I was thinking of was the way people suck air deep into their lungs after a treadmill or rowing-machine workout. But the other idea is far more intriguing.) ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1751 "2020-03-31T00:04:04Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > A survey was done of 1200 or so Canadians who recently returned home. About 75% are not self isolating - with 61% going to grocery stores and 30% holding social gatherings. Someone from the government needs to be calling them on the phone twice a day, like in, I believe, South Korea. Doesn’t need to be nasty. Ask how they are doing. We have neighborhood civic association that can bring food. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1752 "2020-03-31T00:04:59Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I find this shocking and more than a little creepy. You should find [this](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/21/doj-coronavirus-emergency-powers-140023) shocking and more than a little creepy, too. (Politico) > [@](#): > > The Justice Department has quietly asked Congress for the ability to ask chief judges to detain people indefinitely without trial during emergencies — part of a push for new powers that comes as the novel coronavirus spreads throughout the United States. > > Documents reviewed by POLITICO detail the department’s requests to lawmakers on a host of topics, including the statute of limitations, asylum and the way court hearings are conducted. POLITICO also reviewed and previously reported on documents seeking the authority to extend deadlines on merger reviews and prosecutions. > > A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on the documents. ---
**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 31, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1753 "2020-03-31T00:10:00Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Does anyone have theories as to why it seems African countries are relatively untouched? Probably they’re very touched, it’s just not being reported and also they probably don’t have the means to do extensive testing. There could be a lot of deaths from “pneumonia” that are actually covid-19, just not officially tested and recognized as such. ---
**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 31, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1754 "2020-03-31T00:10:56Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Does anyone have theories as to why it seems African countries are relatively untouched? Or it _could_ be real and a reflection of [the population pyramid there](https://www.populationpyramid.net/africa/2019/). Under 4% of the population across Africa is over 65 and the largest groups are the youngest children. Compare it to [Italy’s population pyramid](https://www.populationpyramid.net/italy/2019/). Notice that Africa’s is actually a pyramid! Italy not. More than 26% of their population 65 plus and relatively few under 19. ---
**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 31, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1755 "2020-03-31T00:12:45Z")
Some of those nations/people, like Zimbabwe, have a lot of things to worry about and have to prioritize: > [@](#): > > “We are already ruined. What more harm can coronavirus do?” Irene Kampira asked as she sorted secondhand clothes at a bustling market in a poor suburb of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. > > People in one of the world’s most devastated nations are choosing daily survival over measures to protect themselves from a virus that “might not even kill us,” Kampira said. > > Even as the country enters a “total lockdown” over the virus on Monday, social distancing is pushed aside in the struggle to obtain food, cash, cheap public transport, even clean water. The World Health Organization’s recommended virus precautions seem far-fetched for many of Zimbabwe’s 15 million people. > > “It’s better to get coronavirus while looking for money than to sit at home and die from hunger,” Kampira said, to loud approval from other vendors. > [@](#): > > Few health workers are available as doctors and nurses strike. > > “There is a difference between being heroic and being suicidal,” said Tawanda Zvakada, president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association. > > Health workers described a lack of disinfectants, sanitizers and even water at hospitals. > [@](#): > > “What is happening in Zimbabwe is very scary. It’s like we are playing cards. Its either you win coronavirus or you win starvation,” said Tinashe Moyo at the supermarket. “I am very scared.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1756 "2020-03-31T00:23:05Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Any video of a gym full of body-builder-types singing Rodgers & Hammerstein, would be an instant hit on YouTube. People are starved for entertainment! It’s not Rodgers and Hammerstein, but [how about this?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk-BPRXYk9g) [Or maybe this?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWz9VN40nCA) ---
**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:** [March 31, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1757 "2020-03-31T00:42:29Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > It’s not Rodgers and Hammerstein, but [how about this?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk-BPRXYk9g) > > [Or maybe this?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWz9VN40nCA) Ah, the classics! ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1758 "2020-03-31T00:44:53Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > You should find [this](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/21/doj-coronavirus-emergency-powers-140023) shocking and more than a little creepy, too. (Politico) I was just talking to my brother in NSW.Australia. His Chief Medical Officer can detain any person in any place for any period by simple declaration. It’s not a power that is often used, but it’s there. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1759 "2020-03-31T00:50:13Z")
Can someone help me with stats, how many people live in my state of Ohio, how many are ill, and how many have died? Also, what did the mypillow guy say at the presser? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1760 "2020-03-31T01:05:19Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Can someone help me with stats, how many people live in my state of Ohio, Dude. Have you tried just Googling Ohio? Or Wikipedia? > [@](#): > > how many are ill, and how many have died? [Here’s the death info for the U.S. and for each of the states](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/). > [@](#): > > Also, what did the mypillow guy say at the presser? [Here ya go.](https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1244739955731107840) ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1761 "2020-03-31T03:19:08Z")
[For psychonaut](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMBh-eo3tvE) to thank you for your updates (and definitely a case of do as I say and not as I do). ---
**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:** [March 31, 2020, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1762 "2020-03-31T03:42:04Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > [Here ya go.](https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1244739955731107840) Wow, seriously? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=87) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=89)