# 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:** 92
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1823 "2020-04-02T02:57:12Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > **DSeid** , I’m curious about your views on the “pristine lung hypothesis”. I just read about it in response to you mentioning it! I’m not convinced. What do you think? I am convinced by the case tracking data that kids get it just as often (in household close contact situations at least), but the “pristine lung” bit seems to me a stretch. It seems like if anything there are FEWER reports of the non-pristine lung kids (asthmatics and such) getting all that sick with COVID-19 as compared to say with influenza or RSV. There should be enough infections in asthmatics and kids with BPD to see that by now I would think. And it isn’t just that kids don’t hit ARDS and/or cytokine storm from COVID-19 all that often, they really don’t seem to get too much of bad symptoms at all. I’m personally still most attracted to the idea that kids have the most frequent and recent exposures to the other established human coronaviruses, which gives partial at least protection from reinfection from them for maybe three years, and which perhaps in combination gives enough crossover protection, or headstart anyway against a novel one. I did however have a thought listening to an NPR bit in which they were talking about a German scientist’s podcasts on COVID-19. Not featured but in discussing his podcast he was mentioning how he had been discussing some research (which I cannot find) regarding that those who first get infected in the throat seem to have milder disease, perhaps the throat infection giving the body a chance to mobilize some defenses before the lungs get attacked, while those who start in the lungs tend to do worse. IF SO then maybe it there is just something about where receptors are expressed developmentally, or even _the biomechanics_ of droplet flow and kids getting infected more commonly by hands in mouth, that leads them to lead with the throat and never get as heavy of a viral reproduction level in the lungs? I am pretty shocked that there hasn’t been anyone even doing something as simple as following how much kids who have been infected (identified in case contact tracing) shed for how long? Even a small study. Shedding does not prove contagiousness but lack of shedding early in the course would still be significant, and unusual for kids and viral infections. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1824 "2020-04-02T03:44:53Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The Coast Guard is telling cruise ships with sick passengers to stay out of US ports, and to go to the countries whose flags they sail under. > [https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/01/825205607/coast-guard-tells-cruise-ships-with-covid-19-cases-to-stay-away-from-u-s-ports](https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/01/825205607/coast-guard-tells-cruise-ships-with-covid-19-cases-to-stay-away-from-u-s-ports) That’ll be tough for ships flying Bolivian and Mongolian [flags of convenience](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_convenience). :smack: Many FOC nations are tiny islands without room for shiploads of refugees. Antigua & Barbuda; Barbados; Bermuda; Comoros; Malta; Mauritius; São Tomé & Príncipe; St. Vincent & Grenadines; Tonga; Vanuatu. How many such flyspecks will block plague ships from their ports? I foresee a generation of Flying Dutchmen forever cresting the waves, never again allowed ashore. > [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I think all states have them. Just Google some variation of say “Kansas virus rates” or something. I’ll guess many low-count counties are in low-test states. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1825 "2020-04-02T04:07:36Z")
I’m not a big fan of the pristine lung hypothesis. I’ve read that even adult asthmatics have to be pretty badly controlled to truly represent a higher risk category - say a history of intubation, hospitalization or ICU. It’s probably true that upper respiratory involvement is more frequent in children. But if so, this is supposedly a big factor in contagion as there might be more mucus and sneezing. I don’t know what studies are pending but agree it would make sense to rigorously test for viral shedding. I don’t think it would be a bad idea to randomly test a big group of nursing home or community patients either but probably no one wants to deal with the consequences if they are feeling well. The lack of data is one of the more annoying things about this. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1826 "2020-04-02T04:13:56Z")
A train engineer crashed his train at the Port of San Pedro attempting to crash it into the USNS Mercy because he thinks the ship’s purpose is suspicious. [https://abc7news.com/officials-engineer-tried-to-smash-train-into-usns-mercy/](https://abc7news.com/officials-engineer-tried-to-smash-train-into-usns-mercy/) ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1827 "2020-04-02T04:26:47Z")
936,045 confirmed infections 47,245 dead 194,576 recovered In the US: 215,300 confirmed infections 5,110 dead 8,878 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 858,892 confirmed infections > 42,158 dead > 178,100 recovered > > In the US: > > 188,578 confirmed infections > 3,890 dead > 7,251 recovered By tomorrow the world will have more than 1,000,000 confirmed infections; the US will account for nearly 25% of them. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1828 "2020-04-02T05:09:33Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > A train engineer crashed his train at the Port of San Pedro attempting to crash it into the USNS Mercy because he thinks the ship’s purpose is suspicious. > [https://abc7news.com/officials-engineer-tried-to-smash-train-into-usns-mercy/](https://abc7news.com/officials-engineer-tried-to-smash-train-into-usns-mercy/) Already being discussed and mocked in [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=893164). ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1829 "2020-04-02T05:15:34Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > By tomorrow the world will have more than 1,000,000 confirmed infections; the US will account for nearly 25% of them. Lest we forget, [here is a great graphic showing the president’s statements about the coronavirus overlayed on a graph showing the numbers of infections as time passed](https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/graphic-timeline-trump-coronavirus-05432/), published 20 March 2020. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1830 "2020-04-02T05:18:33Z")
**US Deaths Day by Day** I keep the updated list [here.](https://saidit.net/s/Lists/comments/3iv7/us_corona_death_by_day/) 1 April 1,049 deaths reported … 31 March 912 deaths reported 30 March 558 deaths reported 29 March 363 reported deaths 28 March 515 reported deaths 27 March 401 reported deaths 26 March 268 deaths reported 25 March 247 deaths reported 24 March 225 deaths reported 23 March 141 deaths reported 22 March 113 deaths reported 21 March 46 deaths reported 20 March 49 deaths reported 19 March 57 deaths reported 18 March 41 deaths reported 17 March 23 deaths reported > **[United States COVID - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/)** > > United States Coronavirus update with statistics and graphs: total and new cases, deaths per day, mortality and recovery rates, current active cases, recoveries, trends and timeline. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1831 "2020-04-02T05:19:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Many FOC nations are tiny islands without room for shiploads of refugees. Antigua & Barbuda; Barbados; Bermuda; Comoros; Malta; Mauritius; São Tomé & Príncipe; St. Vincent & Grenadines; Tonga; Vanuatu. How many such flyspecks will block plague ships from their ports? I foresee a generation of Flying Dutchmen forever cresting the waves, never again allowed ashore. Anyone know if the ship [this family](https://www.newsweek.com/hawaii-family-lose-thousands-cancel-cruise-china-coronavirus-1485228) was supposed to use ended up being one of the affected ones? ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1832 "2020-04-02T08:47:33Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 936,045 confirmed infections > 47,245 dead > 194,576 recovered > > In the US: > > 215,300 confirmed infections > 5,110 dead > 8,878 recovered > > Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > By tomorrow the world will have more than 1,000,000 confirmed infections; the US will account for nearly 25% of them. …if the number of ‘confirmed cases’ is accurate. Italy has many unconfirmed deaths because people died before they could be tested. And China and Russia and Iran… ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1833 "2020-04-02T12:12:48Z")
My daughter is a nurse and her fiancé a doctor. They both work in a hospital in western PA near the Ohio border. They were pretty optimistic, having zero cases for awhile. Then all hell broke loose. A nearby (across the street) nursing home was way too slow responding to the crises. The nursing home has 300 residents and is now reporting at least 20 cases. My daughter and her fiancé are now and until further notice 7 days on/7 days off with 12 hour shifts. They’ve chosen to work opposite shifts to each other because of their dog. A wing of their hospital has been converted to handle COVID19 cases. Shit keeps getting more real. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1834 "2020-04-02T13:31:30Z")
_It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen._ An opening line that seems apropos now in multiple ways. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1835 "2020-04-02T13:47:04Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I found this disturbing: conflicting information about COVID-19’s transmissibility and infectious capability via the digestive system. > > On the AP: [Why health experts aren’t warning about coronavirus in food](https://apnews.com/2a70719849f6643e4f721dca11148b96) > > On Today’s website: [Diarrhea, nausea or vomiting may be first coronavirus symptoms in some patients (Some people may have the “gastrointestinal version” of COVID-19).](https://www.today.com/health/diarrhea-nausea-or-vomiting-may-be-first-coronavirus-symptoms-some-t177179) Thanks for posting this. It helps to know of things to watch for. > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The Coast Guard is telling cruise ships with sick passengers to stay out of US ports, and to go to the countries whose flags they sail under. > [https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/01/825205607/coast-guard-tells-cruise-ships-with-covid-19-cases-to-stay-away-from-u-s-ports](https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/01/825205607/coast-guard-tells-cruise-ships-with-covid-19-cases-to-stay-away-from-u-s-ports) I find this morbidly hilarious. “Go on back to your home country. I’m sure the docking fees at Port of Bolivia aren’t too high.” I have many issues with corporations avoiding US/European taxes and safety and labor regulations by using flags of convenience and similar methods. It’s especially galling when the flag countries are ones that the ship has never even been to. I feel for the passengers, but I hope this serves as a wake-up call. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1836 "2020-04-02T13:47:59Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My daughter is a nurse and her fiancé a doctor. I asked my daughter why they’ve been so busy even though the county she is in has had so few COVID19 cases. Plus, she works in maternity/delivery. TIL pregnant women are hospital shopping, looking for areas relatively free of cases and having their babies there. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1837 "2020-04-02T13:49:59Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Thanks for posting this. It helps to know of things to watch for. > > I find this morbidly hilarious. “Go on back to your home country. I’m sure the docking fees at Port of Bolivia aren’t too high.” > > I have many issues with corporations avoiding US/European taxes and safety and labor regulations by using flags of convenience and similar methods. It’s especially galling when the flag countries are ones that the ship has never even been to. I feel for the passengers, but I hope this serves as a wake-up call. Maybe it does, but the problem is that they aren’t punishing the owners of the ship, they’re punishing the people aboard. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1838 "2020-04-02T14:19:31Z")
[FEMA](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/fema-seeks-100-000-body-bags-for-coronavirus-victims-report.html) is looking to have 100,000 body bags available. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1839 "2020-04-02T14:24:30Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Maybe it does, but the problem is that they aren’t punishing the owners of the ship, they’re punishing the people aboard. Yeah, but those aren’t _real_ people, they’re _cruise_ people. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1840 "2020-04-02T14:29:15Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Thanks for posting this. It helps to know of things to watch for. > > I find this morbidly hilarious. “Go on back to your home country. I’m sure the docking fees at Port of Bolivia aren’t too high.” > > I have many issues with corporations avoiding US/European taxes and safety and labor regulations by using flags of convenience and similar methods. It’s especially galling when the flag countries are ones that the ship has never even been to. I feel for the passengers, but I hope this serves as a wake-up call. This crap should not be allowed going forward. The cruise lines get to privatize increased profits by avoiding US taxes, but get to expose the public to the risks of their business. If I were king for a day I would make it so: if you want to base your cruise ship operations in the US, you must register your damn ships here and pay taxes here (funds which could be used in part to prepare for such “sick ship” instances). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1841 "2020-04-02T15:01:34Z")
Regarding the cruise ships: I think some “genius” in the government thought the following. 1. You can change your flag quickly and easily (not really true). 2. The ship owners will change registration to the US, paying all the extra fees, etc. Kaching! 3. Then the ships can dock in the US and all is well, no harm done. (Except for extra infections, deaths, etc.) But there’s more to changing to US registered than just filling out some paperwork and paying some dough. There’s a ton of rules US flagged ships have to obey that might not be implementable at all, let alone quickly. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1842 "2020-04-02T15:24:25Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > [FEMA](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/fema-seeks-100-000-body-bags-for-coronavirus-victims-report.html) is looking to have 100,000 body bags available. [ **Behind the scenes, Kushner takes charge of coronavirus response** _Trump’s son-in-law sets up shop at FEMA as his portfolio balloons to include manufacturing, supplies and long-term planning._](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/01/jared-kushner-coronavirus-response-160553) > [@](#): > > What started two-and-a-half weeks ago as an effort to utilize the private sector to fix early testing failures has become an all-encompassing portfolio for [Jared] Kushner, who, alongside a kitchen cabinet of outside experts including his former roommate and a suite of McKinsey consultants, has taken charge of the most important challenges facing the federal government: Expanding test access, ramping up industry production of needed medical supplies, and figuring out how to get those supplies to key locations. > > Kushner has even obtained a new center of power at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the crisis-response organization that’s taken over coronavirus strategy and planning – and where Kushner and his deputies ride herd on the health agencies that had been criticized for their slow responses to the pandemic earlier this year. > … > > Federal decision-making is complicated by the fact that Kushner has the full confidence of President Donald Trump, with whom he confers multiple times a day, while Trump has expressed frustration with some of the leaders of health agencies. > … > > The crisis response team built by the president’s son-in-law is distinct from the White House task force led by Pence, and has adopted an all-out, ad-hoc attitude toward beating back the coronavirus pandemic, heedless of normal government boundaries and, to some extent, conflicts of interest. > … > > But the effort’s makeshift nature has unnerved even some recruited to aid Kushner’s team, who described it as a process unlike any other traditional disaster response. Kushner’s team has stepped in to coordinate decision-making at agencies including the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the scope of his authority now exceeds that of Health Secretary Alex Azar, the one-time leader of Trump’s coronavirus response. > > “I don’t know how our government operates anymore,” said one Republican close to the administration, lamenting that the sudden authority granted to non-governmental actors had left them with their “eyebrow raised unbelievably high.” > … > > The team has since helped roll out dozens of local testing sites, an achievement that falls well short of the president’s initial promise to set up a nationwide network of drive-through test centers and that Google would help manage the process through a website. Trump has faced criticism for overselling the initiative, one of several high-profile pledges on testing that’s fallen short. > > “We stood up a full business in days,” countered a senior official. “The goal on the retail side was get them in and get them prototyped.” > > Yet Kushner’s role in that episode has come under increasing scrutiny, most recently following an Atlantic report that Oscar Health – a health insurer co-founded by Kushner’s brother, Josh – was asked to develop the website that would direct people to the testing sites. Kushner himself also once partially owned or controlled the company. The project, which could have violated federal ethics laws, was ultimately scrapped, and an Oscar spokesperson said the company donated the work for free. > … We need a vaccine for the clusterfuck. It’s spreading. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=91) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=93)