# 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:** 95
**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 3, 2020, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1883 "2020-04-03T04:23:01Z")
1,015,877 confirmed infections 53,218 dead 212,992 recovered In the US: 245,193 confirmed infections 6,088 dead 10,403 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@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 ---
**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:** [April 3, 2020, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1884 "2020-04-03T04:43:37Z")
What’s the situation in New York? I just saw that, at currently over 93,000 cases, it’s become the fourth most afflicted region (in absolute case numbers) in the world, with almost 10,000 cases more than Germany. How’d that happen? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1885 "2020-04-03T04:58:39Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > I understand some / many of these ships are registered under Australian flags or are Australian owned? I don’t think so. I’ve heard European owned and flags of convenience. ---
**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 3, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1886 "2020-04-03T05:13:11Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > What’s the situation in New York? I just saw that, at currently over 93,000 cases, it’s become the fourth most afflicted region (in absolute case numbers) in the world, with almost 10,000 cases more than Germany. How’d that happen? Why New York is the epicenter of the American coronavirus outbreak > **[Why New York is the epicenter of the American coronavirus outbreak | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/26/us/new-york-coronavirus-explainer/index.html)** > > There were over 74,000 cases of coronavirus in the United States as of Thursday midday. About half were in New York – almost 10 times more than any other state. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1887 "2020-04-03T05:51:12Z")
Stuff you can ponder: There are studies about that indicate blood type may affect susceptibility, with type A being more vulnerable, type O the least. Another was a suggestion that the use of ibuprofen increased harm from the infection. (Googled them both, yep, “people on the internet are saying”. First one seems to have some science behind it, so maybe. Latter seems headed to the Debunko Squad.) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1888 "2020-04-03T06:18:36Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Stuff you can ponder: There are studies about that indicate blood type may affect susceptibility, with type A being more vulnerable, type O the least. Another was a suggestion that the use of ibuprofen increased harm from the infection. > > (Googled them both, yep, “people on the internet are saying”. First one seems to have some science behind it, so maybe. Latter seems headed to the Debunko Squad.) I thought there was **one** study, not yet peer reviewed. One study reported on many times. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1889 "2020-04-03T07:02:36Z")
From a friend: A British doctor says: “In Britain, medicine is so advanced that we cut off a man’s liver, put it in another man, and in 6 weeks, he is looking for a job.” The German doctor says: “That’s nothing, in Germany we took part of a brain, put it in another man, and in 4 weeks he is looking for a job.” The Russian doctor says: “Gentlemen, we took half a heart from a man, put it in another’s chest, and in 2 weeks he is looking for a job.” The American doctor laughs: "You are all behind us. We took a man with no brain, no heart, and no liver and made him President. Now, the whole country is looking for a job!" ---
**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:** [April 3, 2020, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1890 "2020-04-03T09:55:25Z")
It’s interesting to compare Sweden and Norway. Sweden adopted a policy of no lockdown and not much testing, while Norway implemented a full lockdown and as much testing as possible. Currently Sweden is showing 5568 cases (551/million), and Norway 5255 (969/million), but that means nothing because Norway is doing more testing. If you look at deaths: Sweden - 308 (30/m) Norway - 51 (9/m) So Sweden currently has 3 times the death rate of Norway. Also Norway’s curve is flattening, while Sweden’s is still exponential. ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1891 "2020-04-03T10:48:12Z")
Number of people hospitalized has actually been on the decline for a few days here in Norway. Number of people in intensive care as well. People on respirator has been steady. Number of people dead from it climb by a few people each day. Some people expect the total number there to decline slightly in a week. There is a really interesting graph I wish I could post here, the number of people hospitalized versus the Norwegian Institute of Public Healths predictions of 24/3. Its [here, go down to the third graphic and click " **FHI 24/3 Innlagte**](https://www.vg.no/spesial/2020/corona/?utm_source=corona-widget&utm_term=d6#norway)" Note the different R numbers for the various predictions. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1892 "2020-04-03T12:07:30Z")
Thanks, Grim. That’s good news. Interesting map at that link, too. The virus seems quite clustered in certain parts of Norway — any explanation? (Or is it just some artifact of the data set?). ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1893 "2020-04-03T12:30:26Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Thanks, Grim. That’s good news. Interesting map at that link, too. The virus seems quite clustered in certain parts of Norway — any explanation? (Or is it just some artifact of the data set?). I think its mostly a result of which parts had infections when we started shutting down. Places with larger populations and tourist flows. I have no explanations for those places in the middle with high numbers. I think they are fairly low population density, so it may be that a few cases makes for a large “per thousand” score? ---
**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:** [April 3, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1894 "2020-04-03T14:09:02Z")
Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but Google has launched a “Community Mobility Reports” web site intended to roughly track the relative level of adherence to social distancing and stay-at-home policies in various countries. Reports are updated daily, and cover the following categories: retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential. US data can be broken out to the state and county level. > **[COVID-19 Community Mobility Report](https://www.google.com/covid19/mobility/)** > > See how your community moved differently due to COVID-19 ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1895 "2020-04-03T14:30:39Z")
[Trump orders medical supply firm 3M to stop selling N95 respirators to Canada](https://globalnews.ca/news/6772979/coronavirus-3m-n95-respirators-trump-canada/). > [@](#): > > Roman said 3M will boost production by 40 per cent to 50 million masks per month in about 60 days. FTR, I heard last night, Ontario would need something like 9 million masks for a month (or was it a week?). > [@](#): > > 3M CEO Mike Roman said earlier this week that the company is working closely with FEMA and is on track to double global production of N95 masks to two billion a year in 12 months. I don’t really know how long 2 billion masks would last if they were available now - I’m guessing 12 months from now is too late to really make a difference. I think a protocol, to ensure that the masks can be safely cleaned and reused, needs to be a priority because new masks will not be coming in sufficient numbers anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1896 "2020-04-03T14:30:56Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but Google has launched a “Community Mobility Reports” web site intended to roughly track the relative level of adherence to social distancing and stay-at-home policies in various countries. Reports are updated daily, and cover the following categories: retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential. US data can be broken out to the state and county level. > > [COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports](https://www.google.com/covid19/mobility/) Interesting. The data for parks ( in the US, at least- I didn’t look at other countries) is really all over the place. Looking at the graphs, I think that number reflects the local weather on March 29th more than anything else. The other metrics are really informative, though. ---
**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 3, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1897 "2020-04-03T14:37:14Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > [Trump orders medical supply firm 3M to stop selling N95 respirators to Canada](https://globalnews.ca/news/6772979/coronavirus-3m-n95-respirators-trump-canada/). > > FTR, I heard last night, Ontario would need something like 9 million masks for a month (or was it a week?). > > I don’t really know how long 2 billion masks would last if they were available now - I’m guessing 12 months from now is too late to really make a difference. I think a protocol, to ensure that the masks can be safely cleaned and reused, needs to be a priority because new masks will not be coming in sufficient numbers anytime soon. Didn’t trump just send a bunch of medical stuff to China for free? I might be wrong. I’m having a hard time keeping up. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1898 "2020-04-03T14:48:33Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@TokyoBayer](#): > > From a friend: > > A British doctor says: “In Britain, medicine is so advanced that we cut off a man’s liver, put it in another man, and in 6 weeks, he is looking for a job.” > > The German doctor says: “That’s nothing, > in Germany we took part of a brain, put it in another man, and in 4 weeks he is looking for a job.” > > The Russian doctor says: “Gentlemen, we took half a heart from a man, put it in another’s chest, and in 2 weeks he is looking for a job.” > > The American doctor laughs: "You are all behind us. We took a man with no brain, no heart, and no liver and made him President. > > Now, the whole country is looking for a job!" Keep the political pot-shots out of the Quarantine Zone threads, and especially keep politics out of Breaking News threads, in both Quarantine Zone and MPSIMS. ---
**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:** [April 3, 2020, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1899 "2020-04-03T14:52:08Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Didn’t trump just send a bunch of medical stuff to China for free? I might be wrong. I’m having a hard time keeping up. I’m trying to find a coherent explanation of what’s going on there, but so far all I’ve found is some garbled coverage that seems to imply 3M is importing masks to the US from China at the same time they are exporting US-made masks to Canada and Latin America. Aside from that, I got nothin’. There’s a typically blustery Trump Tweet on the subject this morning, but it doesn’t clarify anything either. ---
**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:** [April 3, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1900 "2020-04-03T17:25:32Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Interesting. The data for parks ( in the US, at least- I didn’t look at other countries) is really all over the place. Looking at the graphs, I think that number reflects the local weather on March 29th more than anything else. > > The other metrics are really informative, though. Yeah - my state shows a 46% **increase** in parks etc. over the baseline. A more useful figure there would be to compare it to last year. I assume they are doing this using phone location information. ---
**Author:** ![AdityanathYogi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@AdityanathYogi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdityanathYogi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1901 "2020-04-03T17:38:08Z")
“20 intubations but no patient who took Azithromycin- hydroxychloroquine combo got intubated” [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-s0VcqKCKo) ---
**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:** [April 3, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1902 "2020-04-03T17:38:49Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Stuff you can ponder: There are studies about that indicate blood type may affect susceptibility, with type A being more vulnerable, type O the least. \*\* Another was a suggestion that the use of ibuprofen increased harm from the infection.\*\* > > (Googled them both, yep, “people on the internet are saying”. First one seems to have some science behind it, so maybe. **Latter seems headed to the Debunko Squad.)** (bold/underline mine) Not necessarily. Per [this article](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30116-8/fulltext) in the Lancet reads > [@](#): > > Human pathogenic coronaviruses (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus [SARS-CoV] and SARS-CoV-2) bind to their target cells through angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is expressed by epithelial cells of the lung, intestine, kidney, and blood vessels. > … > ACE2 can also be increased by thiazolidinediones and ibuprofen Whether someone fit and healthy has a statistically significant increase in risk by popping a few Advil, I don’t know. But it seems like someone in a higher risk category could avoid it just to be on the safe side. The article does not talk about other NSAIDs nor does it mention COX2 inhibitors, such as Celebrex and Vioxx - which I tend to think of, perhaps erroneously, as super-NSAIDs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=94) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=96)