Semi-OT: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Discussion Thread VI (Don't Read Post 1 & FAQ)

[niQ]

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What in the world... ?

SMH. The information was always out there. Some people just refused to believe it.

The only thing that could top this is if WHO/CDC came out and said the same thing.
Maybe then will they finally reconsider their position on wearing masks.

[Dirk]

Spoiler:

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What in the world... ?

The CDC is right next door to that guy. The amount of morons in leadership positions is astounding.

Myanmar

One million Rohingya refugees, half of whom are children, have been sheltering in sprawling camps in Cox’s Bazar since August 2017, when they were forced to flee their homes in the face of horrific violence. For almost three years, Rohingya refugees have been telling us they want to go home and resume normal life. They want their children to go to school and for families separated by the conflict to be reunited. So far, international attempts to hold Myanmar accountable for alleged crimes against the Rohingya and improve conditions in Rakhine state have failed spectacularly. In short, it will be years until the Rohingya see justice.

Bangladesh

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/rohingya-refugees-bangladesh-risk-covid-19-infection-200330124605721.html

Since being hastily erected in 2017, the Cox’s Bazar camps have precariously survived despite nearly constant threats from monsoon floods, cyclones, and rampaging elephants, but the spread of the virus would be the “worst nightmare come true,” Egeland said.

In Cox’s Bazar, a patchwork of 34 refugee camps houses about 855,000 refugees, and more than 400,000 Bangladeshis live in close proximity to the camps. A risk report on the possibility of the spread of the coronavirus in the Cox’s Bazar camps produced in March by ACAPS, a Norwegian humanitarian-analysis group, found that the population density in the camps averages 40,000 people per square kilometer, but increases to 70,000 in the most cramped areas. By comparison, ACAPS said, the overall population density in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, is 6,000 people per square kilometer.

Bangladesh, a poor country of more than 160 million, is, like many other places with large refugee populations, gravely unprepared for a wider outbreak. The authorities have imposed a near-total lockdown, shutting down public transportation and roads, and so far the country has recorded 54 cases of the virus and six deaths. But fewer than 2,000 people have been tested for the virus, health officials said Sunday, and the country’s health-care system is in dire condition. A response plan compiled by the World Health Organization and obtained by Netra News, a Bangladeshi news outlet, estimates that without interventions, 500,000 to 2 million people in the country could die from COVID-19. “These figures are not surprising when considered against modeling in other countries but they are astounding and should serve as a call to action,” the memo says.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/04/refugees-coronavirus-covid19-bangladesh/609259/
https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/03/covid-19-rohingya-refugee-crisis/

[DowJones]

Jobless claims soar to record-breaking 6.648 million

The U.S. Labor Department released fresh data on Thursday morning that showed the effect of the novel coronavirus on employment in the U.S. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits spiked to a record-breaking 6.648 million for the week ending March 28. Consensus expectations were for 3.76 million claims. The prior week’s figure was revised higher to 3.307 million claims from 3.283 million. Prior to the week ending March 21, the previous record was 695,000 claims filed the week ended October 2, 1982.

“The deterioration of the labor market in the past two weeks almost defies belief,” Nick Bunker, Indeed Hiring Lab's director of economic research, wrote in an email Thursday. “Since March 14, approximately 3.8% of the working age population has filed for unemployment. For context, during the Great Recession, the share of the population dropped 4.6 percentage points from December 2007 to December 2009. That took two years. The labor market is in a historic freefall."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-covid-weekly-initial-jobless-claims-march-28-165758189.html

This is just the beginning on unemployment filings. In upsets me that congress passed legislation that comes nowhere near close to help everyday Americans with this, as we all healthcare coverage.

Damn, this must be driving Trump up a wall. One of his staples is jobs.

All staples are out the window now. The economy is on hold until we get this virus under control.

[Dirk]

Nigeria

Trapped by Coronavirus, Nigeria’s Elite Faces Squalid Hospitals

For decades, powerful Nigerians could ignore the government’s failure to invest adequately in the health-care system by seeking medical treatment abroad. The coronavirus pandemic means they can no longer escape.

Among Nigeria’s registered health professionals are 75,000 doctors, 180,709 nurses and 25,000 pharmacists, according to the health ministry. With 0.5% hospital beds per 1,000 people and a population of roughly 200 million, that’s far below thresholds set by the World Health Organization. Only five laboratories are able to test for the virus.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-02/trapped-by-coronavirus-nigeria-s-elite-faces-squalid-hospitals?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-africa&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=africa

[Triples333]

Jobless claims soar to record-breaking 6.648 million

The U.S. Labor Department released fresh data on Thursday morning that showed the effect of the novel coronavirus on employment in the U.S. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits spiked to a record-breaking 6.648 million for the week ending March 28. Consensus expectations were for 3.76 million claims. The prior week’s figure was revised higher to 3.307 million claims from 3.283 million. Prior to the week ending March 21, the previous record was 695,000 claims filed the week ended October 2, 1982.

“The deterioration of the labor market in the past two weeks almost defies belief,” Nick Bunker, Indeed Hiring Lab's director of economic research, wrote in an email Thursday. “Since March 14, approximately 3.8% of the working age population has filed for unemployment. For context, during the Great Recession, the share of the population dropped 4.6 percentage points from December 2007 to December 2009. That took two years. The labor market is in a historic freefall."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-covid-weekly-initial-jobless-claims-march-28-165758189.html

This is just the beginning on unemployment filings. In upsets me that congress passed legislation that comes nowhere near close to help everyday Americans with this, as we all healthcare coverage.

Well, Healthcare is a separate issue, but unemployment wise they did in fact go above and beyond with the proposal of the $600 a week on top of one's unemployment benefits (and vastly extending who qualifies for these benefits) for up to 4 months. I was incredibly surprised this much money was flat allocated. It is a major pay raise for a huge chunk of Americans who were laid off. Now we will see how seamlessly it is distributed, as that is a whole other matter (granted, to their credit, this is the reason why a flat amount was proposed).

[Pointgod]

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What in the world... ?

It’s no shock that Brian Kemp is incompetent. He did steal his Governorship after all.

[Childs]

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What in the world... ?

Watch on YouTube

[Neutral 123]

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What in the world... ?

I can't take these things seriously. Campaigns of excuses and deflection from personal responsibility for what's to come. We haven't really seen anything yet.

[Optimus_Steel]

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What in the world... ?

He chose to be ignorant. He was actively going out of his way to not recognize the problem.

[Stillwater]

How much are people in your state following social distance rule? Everyone including restaurant are still open to deliver or pick up with many people still using fast food drive thru lines etc.
Those 100-240k CDC projected dead in next two weeks figures have to be the low estimate in hope that infected or those who know someone infected stay home but many that have had contact with untested sick people are not stopping their lives. I'm seeing and hearing about the majority of Ohio people who have had contact with sick people are still plugging along with their jobs in hopes it's all a bad dream ... And so it will be. I predicted a long time ago astronomical death rates and it got hate and shushed.
I was right and it ain't over not even close.
Roxane put on the red light...

[Neutral 123]

World leaders were given this information weeks after the communist party were made aware of it. Better reaction times would have significantly lowered the spread. China is guilty of negligence here. They censored their own citizens from spreading awareness about the outbreak.

There were many many reports long before this spread worldwide. They could have informed earlier, but that is NOT why it spread. I knew about this and the danger long before it spread.

The blame belongs squarely on every leader worldwide. They each failed their citizens. Chinese citizens should deal with their own leadership, but we gotta deal with ours.

Exactly.

By early February it was evident that this is a dangerous virus, yet the majority of the leaders started to act in like mid March.

Every EU leader was like we cannot get that. There were diseases here and there but they stayed away from Europe in the last 100 years - this will be the same. They had no valid reasoning for that only some historical experiences. It is surprising how many people tend to think that what happened yesterday will definitely happen tomorrow as well.

In that sense it's the same as how we treat climate change...

The campaigns of disinformation have already started. My hope is that people are aware enough not to fall for it. To blame China is to completely miss what really happened here. I don't expect the CCP to protect me. SMH

[OkcSinceSGA]

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?

[MotownMadness]

How much are people in your state following social distance rule? Everyone including restaurant are still open to deliver or pick up with many people still using fast food drive thru lines etc.
Those 100-240k CDC projected dead in next two weeks figures have to be the low estimate in hope that infected or those who know someone infected stay home but many that have had contact with untested sick people are not stopping their lives. I'm seeing and hearing about the majority of Ohio people who have had contact with sick people are still plugging along with their jobs in hopes it's all a bad dream ... And so it will be. I predicted a long time ago astronomical death rates and it got hate and shushed.
I was right and it ain't over not even close.
Roxane put on the red light...

Its getting pretty dead around here, most all grocery stores or anything left open try to enforce 6 foot diatancing in lines and such.

Detroit has a ugly battle ahead though

[molepharmer]

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What in the world... ?

He chose to be ignorant. He was actively going out of his way to not recognize the problem.

I'm guessing he's getting his information from Dr Toomey. She's an epidemiologist with a MD from Harvard and actually served time with the CDC.

[LKN]

There were many many reports long before this spread worldwide. They could have informed earlier, but that is NOT why it spread. I knew about this and the danger long before it spread.

The blame belongs squarely on every leader worldwide. They each failed their citizens. Chinese citizens should deal with their own leadership, but we gotta deal with ours.

Exactly.

By early February it was evident that this is a dangerous virus, yet the majority of the leaders started to act in like mid March.

Every EU leader was like we cannot get that. There were diseases here and there but they stayed away from Europe in the last 100 years - this will be the same. They had no valid reasoning for that only some historical experiences. It is surprising how many people tend to think that what happened yesterday will definitely happen tomorrow as well.

In that sense it's the same as how we treat climate change...

The campaigns of disinformation have already started. My hope is that people are aware enough not to fall for it. To blame China is to completely miss what really happened here. I don't expect the CCP to protect me. SMH

The funny thing is these people are the same people who are always talking tough about China and are supposedly going to be protect us from them.

It's such a farce

[Dirk]

In Norway, South Korea and Singapore they deployed mass testing from the outset and have been able to avoid completely closing down their economies as a result. The same will be true for pandemic peaks two and three if, like the Spanish flu, Covid-19 hits us in waves.

There is also the issue of an exit strategy. Mass testing provides the key to that door too. You can only wind down a lockdown safely if you know those who are returning to work are free from the virus, or better still have immunity.

You can bet there are hedge fund managers the world over poring over league tables of testing capacity and shorting those economies that fail to make the grade.

From The Telegraph

[LKN]

There's no point in complaining about China. Yes, they tried to hide things and weren't completely honest.

However, US intelligence (which us Americans spend a zillion tax dollars on) has known how bad this would be since at least January. I don't have any influence on the Chinese government - but I do pay taxes to support US intelligence ostensibly to protect us from international threats. I'm a lot more angry that the multiple warnings given to the administration by intelligence were ignored.

[OkcSinceSGA]

For the anti Hydroxychloroquine+Zpak, someone posted good data. The risk of QT interval is EXTREMELY overstated. I'm shocked like he is that at such a low occurance the FDA makes them blast prolonged QT interval warnings on these drugs.

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[Dirk]

Throwing Ken1699 a bone - masks

Looking forward to seeing the gymnastics from the ultra reliable health organizations that have lead us to this point.

Asia may have been right about coronavirus and face masks, and the rest of the world is coming around
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/01/asia/coronavirus-mask-messaging-intl-hnk/index.html

Spoiler:

peaking to CNN, Ivan Hung, an infectious diseases specialist at the Hong Kong University School of Medicine, said that "if you look at the data in Hong Kong, wearing a mask is probably the most important thing in terms of infection control."
"And it not only brings down the cases of coronaviruses, it also brings down the influenza," he said. "In fact, this is now the influenza season, and we hardly see any influenza cases. And that is because the masks actually protected not only against coronaviruses but also against the influenza viruses as well."

Heightened contradictions
In its guidance on the coronavirus, the CDC notes that it spreads primarily "through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneeze," which "can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs."
The agency recommends that people who are sick wear a face mask or otherwise attempt "to cover your coughs and sneezes," while those caring for them should also wear a face mask whenever they are in the same room.
Yet, in the same advice, the CDC said that non-symptomatic "do not need" to wear face masks, adding that they "may be in short supply and they should be saved for caregivers."
And this is what has been so frustrating and confusing for many people, particularly those who advocate for wearing face masks as a precaution. The CDC, along with the WHO and several other public health bodies and experts, has been simultaneously claiming that masks do not offer protection in ordinary circumstances, while stating they are necessary for health workers and caregivers.

BBC
Coronavirus: Expert panel to assess face mask use by public
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52126735

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, US, used high-speed cameras and other sensors to assess precisely what happens after a cough or sneeze.

They found that an exhalation generates a small fast-moving cloud of gas that can contain droplets of liquid of varying sizes - and that the smallest of these can be carried in the cloud over long distances.

The study - conducted in laboratory conditions - found that coughs can project liquid up to 6m away and that sneezes, which involve much higher speeds, can reach up to 8m away.

Israel’s Health Ministry top official: Police to enforce order to wear face masks https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/coronavirus-israeli-health-minister-netanyahu-mossad-chief-quarantine-1.8720108

[Dirk]

For the anti Hydroxychloroquine+Zpak, someone posted good data. The risk of QT interval is EXTREMELY overstated. I'm shocked like he is that at such a low occurance the FDA makes them blast prolonged QT interval warnings on these drugs.

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That guy is compromised