Official Covid-19 Discussion Thread

[The Duke]

Right now is the glory days prolly until end september. then Oct-Feb could be painful

[dohboy_24]

While we fret about whether reopening schools, bars and so on will cause a second wave of Covid-19, that flu is killing five times as many people in England and Wales. In the week ending 31 July, these are the Office for National Statistics tallies for cause of death (as measured by mentions on death certificates): influenza and pneumonia, 928; Covid-19, 193. This is nothing new: more people have been dying of flu than Covid-19 since the middle of June."

Should we start worrying about a pandemic of summer flu instead? Perhaps not, for the simple reason that while flu deaths are running at about five times Covid-19 levels, they are markedly down on the average of the past five years. A mean of 1,394 people have died of influenza and pneumonia in the last week of July over the past five years – 50 per cent more than died this year.

That is almost certainly a reflection of how effective social distancing has been in preventing flu deaths. But it does also show that social distancing, lockdown and so on cannot be wholly responsible for the sharp fall in deaths from Covid-19 since April. Given that flu is spread in much the same way as Covid-19, why haven’t flu deaths fallen as sharply as Covid-19 deaths in reaction to lockdown measures? It rather suggests that something else has contributed to the fall in deaths from Covid-19. Herd immunity? A decline in the virulence of the virus? It does rather pose the question: why are we still placing serious restrictions on the economy and on personal freedom when Covid deaths are so much lower than deaths from the ordinary flu?

It shows the sheer power of publishing a daily death toll. People are still paranoid about Covid-19 because they keep being fed with figures suggesting that dozens of people have died of Covid in the past 24 hours and they have no means of putting it into context. There is a simple way out of the Covid-19 crisis, which as we found out today has led to a sharp plunge in employment, and, as we will find out tomorrow, has shrunk the economy by a record figure – not a vaccine, but simply to stop feeding public fear with daily Covid 19-death tolls. Either stop publishing them – or publish them in conjunction with a daily toll of deaths from all causes.

SOURCE: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/summer-flu-is-now-more-deadly-than-covid

[dohboy_24]

We now have mortality data for the first few months of 2020 for many countries, and, as you might expect, there were steep increases associated with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in each one.

Surprisingly, however, these increases did not begin before the lockdowns were imposed, but after. Moreover, in almost every case, they began immediately after. Often, mortality numbers were on a downward trend before suddenly reversing course after lockdowns were decreed.

As with all the other cases we’ve examined here — and as with all the countries and cities for which we have good mortality data — only after the lockdown began was there a significant increase in deaths.

All this leads us to the following questions, which we pose to all those who continue to defend the use of lockdowns as an effective means to prevent excess deaths.

Q: Why was there no significant increase in overall mortality, in any country we have good data for, before the start of lockdowns?

Q: Why does a precise and exact correlation exist between the start of lockdowns and significant rises in overall mortality?

Or:

Q: How is it that governments in every country imposed lockdowns at precisely the same time relative to the future precipitous rise in their populations’ overall mortality rate?

And:

Q: How is it, moreover, that this moment in time happened to fall immediately before that precipitous rise?

Most attempts to answer these questions would probably involve the assertion that the authorities in every country had some notion of the true prevalence of the virus at the beginning of the pandemic. But we know now that that was not really the case. In the early weeks and months of 2020, testing was extremely limited. This was based, partly, on the assumption that the virus was not yet widespread. As testing was systematically expanded, the number of positive results increased, and this increase was generally believed to correspond to the actual spread of the virus.

Now, posthumous testing has shown that the virus was circulating — and killing — weeks, or even months before it was initially detected in many countries. Other researchers are coming to the same conclusion; the prevalence of the virus was vastly underestimated at the beginning of the pandemic.

Which leads us to our final question:

Q: If health authorities vastly underestimated the prevalence of the virus at the beginning of the pandemic, why did the virus nevertheless wait until lockdowns were imposed to suddenly start killing at levels which exceeded normal deaths?

SOURCE: https://medium.com/@JohnPospichal/questions-for-lockdown-apologists-32a9bbf2e247

[gei]

are all the "wah wah shut the NBA down" comments finally gone?

[RoLo]

are all the "wah wah shut the NBA down" comments finally gone?

okay gei

[Bankai]

I still prefer if the next NBA Season normally started in 2 months, instead of this Bubble but whatever, not like I have any power.

On a more serious note, my younger Sister tested positive. She is sick and under isolation.

We took it seriously but sometimes it still happens. Its way more concerning when someone you know, has it.

[Fairview4Life]

"Deaths increased after lockdowns were imposed" because deaths lag infections and "lockdowns" (which actually mean a whole lot of differently applied restrictions) were imposed as infections began to rise. Not exactly rocket surgery. He tries to explain this away by arguing the virus was extremely wide spread before testing started to ramp up, but there isn't actually any good evidence for that. Just a whole lot of useless words.

[execoftheyear]

are all the "wah wah shut the NBA down" comments finally gone?

Still kind of messed up that it's being held in a state that's in a dire situation. But it has kept me and I'm sure many others sane during this time so I'm not complaining.

[DelAbbot]

Covid could be career altering for Mo Bamba

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/259162/Mo-Bamba-Out-For-Season-Will-Undergo-Comprehensive-Post-COVID-19-Evaluation

Mo Bamba has left the NBA's campus in Orlando to undergo a "comprehensive post-coronavirus evaluation" upon the advice of the Orlando Magic performance staff and team doctors.

Bamba will miss the remainder of the season.

Bamba was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 11th and missed most of the next month of training.

Similar story in MLB

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/08/eduardo-rodriguez-out-for-season.html

Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez has been shut down for the 2020 season as a result of the myocarditis he has experienced following a bout with COVID-19, according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. While the Red Sox are confident that Rodriguez will make a full recovery in the long term, his heart issues have persisted and will prevent him from pitching this season.

[ItsDanger]

Myocarditis can be caused by other issues as well. "we’re realizing that this is a virus that really affects the endothelium which is the cells that line blood vessels. That is having an effect on the brain, the lungs, the heart, the kidneys, the skin,” said Dr. Haythe.

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/08/06/cardiologist-dr-jennifer-haythe-boston-red-sox-eduardo-rodriguez-covid-19-myocarditis/

I believe the NBA is relaxing its bubble restrictions so this could be a tumultuous week coming up.

[mtcan]

Covid could be career altering for Mo Bamba

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/259162/Mo-Bamba-Out-For-Season-Will-Undergo-Comprehensive-Post-COVID-19-Evaluation

Mo Bamba has left the NBA's campus in Orlando to undergo a "comprehensive post-coronavirus evaluation" upon the advice of the Orlando Magic performance staff and team doctors.

Bamba will miss the remainder of the season.

Bamba was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 11th and missed most of the next month of training.

Similar story in MLB

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/08/eduardo-rodriguez-out-for-season.html

Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez has been shut down for the 2020 season as a result of the myocarditis he has experienced following a bout with COVID-19, according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. While the Red Sox are confident that Rodriguez will make a full recovery in the long term, his heart issues have persisted and will prevent him from pitching this season.

It was hard to notice a change in Bamba's performance because he already sucked before covid.

[omar36]

Myocarditis can be caused by other issues as well. "we’re realizing that this is a virus that really affects the endothelium which is the cells that line blood vessels. That is having an effect on the brain, the lungs, the heart, the kidneys, the skin,” said Dr. Haythe.

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/08/06/cardiologist-dr-jennifer-haythe-boston-red-sox-eduardo-rodriguez-covid-19-myocarditis/

I believe the NBA is relaxing its bubble restrictions so this could be a tumultuous week coming up.

i dont beleive they are, just families coming and all will have to undergo a week of quratine plus tests to get into the bubble. I tihnk they and the nhl are both doing fantastic work making this balance work. it must be tough for players to not be around loved ones for a prolonged period. before ppl say, this is normal for alot of ppl, i get that, its just something that hasnt happpened for these guys so its still a tough situation for em.

[GQStylin]

This whole lockdown and the unwillingless to reopen and allow people to live their lives mostly normally is destroying our economy and the world's economy for no good reason. Meanwhile in Japan:

Watch on YouTube

Seems like they recognize the virus is a problem, but AREN'T living in constant fear of it. Take precautions and live your life mostly normally otherwise and GASP THEY'RE NOT EVEN TAKING SOCIAL DISTANCING SERIOUSLY and somehow they're still OK.

Japan with more than 3 times Canada's population and with a senior population that's 2 million short of Canada's entire population, somehow is still sitting at slightly more than 1,000 deaths after all this time. Either we believe that the Japanese are somehow genetically superior to the people in the rest of the world or perhaps as stated before, having a healthy population is more important that worrying about the spread of the virus. Maybe that's why Japan's 35+ million senior population hasn't been dying by the thousands like seniors from many other nations have, because they're actually healthy enough to fight the virus off if they should get it.

Maybe the rest of the world should stop stressing out about every new rise in infections and just concentrate on living our lives and staying healthy while protecting the most vulnerable from the virus like we should've done from the beginning.

[Kevin Willis]

This whole lockdown and the unwillingless to reopen and allow people to live their lives mostly normally is destroying our economy and the world's economy for no good reason. Meanwhile in Japan:

Watch on YouTube

Seems like they recognize the virus is a problem, but AREN'T living in constant fear of it. Take precautions and live your life mostly normally otherwise and GASP THEY'RE NOT EVEN TAKING SOCIAL DISTANCING SERIOUSLY and somehow they're still OK.

Japan with more than 3 times Canada's population and with a senior population that's 2 million short of Canada's entire population, somehow is still sitting at slightly more than 1,000 deaths after all this time. Either we believe that the Japanese are somehow genetically superior to the people in the rest of the world or perhaps as stated before, having a healthy population is more important that worrying about the spread of the virus. Maybe that's why Japan's 35+ million senior population hasn't been dying by the thousands like seniors from many other nations have, because they're actually healthy enough to fight the virus off if they should get it.

Maybe the rest of the world should stop stressing out about every new rise in infections and just concentrate on living our lives and staying healthy while protecting the most vulnerable from the virus like we should've done from the beginning.

https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-how-japan-keeps-covid-19-under-control/a-52907069

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-japan-tackled-coronavirus-without-a-lockdown-2020-5

[execoftheyear]

This whole lockdown and the unwillingless to reopen and allow people to live their lives mostly normally is destroying our economy and the world's economy for no good reason. Meanwhile in Japan:

Watch on YouTube

Seems like they recognize the virus is a problem, but AREN'T living in constant fear of it. Take precautions and live your life mostly normally otherwise and GASP THEY'RE NOT EVEN TAKING SOCIAL DISTANCING SERIOUSLY and somehow they're still OK.

Japan with more than 3 times Canada's population and with a senior population that's 2 million short of Canada's entire population, somehow is still sitting at slightly more than 1,000 deaths after all this time. Either we believe that the Japanese are somehow genetically superior to the people in the rest of the world or perhaps as stated before, having a healthy population is more important that worrying about the spread of the virus. Maybe that's why Japan's 35+ million senior population hasn't been dying by the thousands like seniors from many other nations have, because they're actually healthy enough to fight the virus off if they should get it.

Maybe the rest of the world should stop stressing out about every new rise in infections and just concentrate on living our lives and staying healthy while protecting the most vulnerable from the virus like we should've done from the beginning.

Watch on YouTube

this is the main issue here. People here still think this is all a hoax/scam and we have anti-mask protests going on while in Asia and most other countries in the East, masks aren't an issue probably because virus outbreaks are nothing new and they've had experience dealing with them. Masks seems to be the main difference imo. It's a simple, cheap and effective measure yet we still struggle to accept it into our culture. Our government lying about masks effectiveness earlier on didn't help which raises another issue....people's trust in the governments recommendations and measures. The east for the most part doesn't have these same issues when dealing with outbreaks.

[dafan590]

masks should be mandatory but there are just too many dumb ppl who dont want to wear it which cause all kinds of problems....

[BBallG]

People want all the perks of living in a society, but don't want to make any of the necessary (mostly small) sacrifices required to live in a society. Seems as though there is a very high % of selfish and ignorant people living on this planet.

[gei]

are all the "wah wah shut the NBA down" comments finally gone?

Still kind of messed up that it's being held in a state that's in a dire situation. But it has kept me and I'm sure many others sane during this time so I'm not complaining.

What exactly is "messed up" about it, if everyone is doing completely fine?

[execoftheyear]

are all the "wah wah shut the NBA down" comments finally gone?

Still kind of messed up that it's being held in a state that's in a dire situation. But it has kept me and I'm sure many others sane during this time so I'm not complaining.

What exactly is "messed up" about it, if everyone is doing completely fine?

yea, everyone inside the bubble. Let's just ignore everything that's going on just outside the bubble

[gei]

Still kind of messed up that it's being held in a state that's in a dire situation. But it has kept me and I'm sure many others sane during this time so I'm not complaining.

What exactly is "messed up" about it, if everyone is doing completely fine?

yea, everyone inside the bubble. Let's just ignore everything that's going on just outside the bubble

Jeez... sensationalize much? What's going on outside the bubble is 99% of people are going on living their lives.