COVID-19 Megathread (Please limit all COVID discussion to this thread)

[FossilFndr]

PredsV82, as our resident doctor please post here your information

I certainly can't speak for everyone but your opinion is invaluable, as is hockey diva who is also on the front lines dealing with this virus.

Click to read more...

 

[Kebs]

Covid-19

 

[LCPreds]

The first symptom of having covid is misspelling covid. Nice knowing you FF!

 

[FossilFndr]

I'll add you to the list of those who wish I'd die for a typo.

 

[PredsV82]

So they are closing the colleges... my stepson gets a extra week of spring break and then will be online only through early april, then the situation will be "reassessed".

I have seen one source citing the mortality rate as 1% which if true is a positive.

I'd be ready for all NHL games to be played in empty stadia. The NBA and NCAA are going that route.

Best thing I can tell all of you is simply avoid unnecessary contact with other humans. Dont shake hands, and wash your hands thoroughly several times a day. A big problem is lack of availability of testing. There are almost certainly a lot more cases out there that havent been diagnosed due to not having testing available. That should improve soon and as such you'll see a jump in reported cases.

 

[hockey diva]

The TN department of health website:
Novel Coronavirus

I am a NP in primary care. We have been getting a lot of phone calls. We also had a box of masks stolen.

Universal precautions should be part of everyone’s routine no matter what the situation.
Standard Precautions for All Patient Care | Basics | Infection Control | CDC

 

[predfan24]

Perhaps I'm just an eternal optimist, but I am actually really encouraged by the response I've seen so far from local governments, state governments, sports leagues, festival organizers etc. It seems somebody finally got through to Trump as well. Makes me hopeful that the U.S. will do a good job containing it.

 

[BigFatCat999]

Treat well medical staffers. If it’s bad we need you rested.

 

[101st_fan]

Coronavirus is not new ... look at the side of your Lysol wiped purchased last year and read the things it kills and you'll notice corona in that list ... what we're seeing is a newly identified strain.

Perspective is needed when it comes to COVID19. Illness from this particular strain was first documented in China around New Years and is up to approximately 120,000 diagnosed cases globally ... with 4300 deaths (3.6% fatality rate among confirmed cases) across the past eighty or so days. That death rate is high but also based on an unknown denominator as testing for this strain has been limited globally ... there is no way of accurately measuring the number of undiagnosed positives across the globe which would bring that rate down if included.

Approximately 80% of cases so far fall into the mild category, with around 6% experiencing critical illness. Fatalities are heavily weighted towards the older population, especially those with existing conditions. In the US, 14 of the 29 deaths (per CDC numbers as of 11 Mar) were linked to elderly patients at one facility in Washington state ... average age of those dying reportedly around 80 years old. Be cognizant of your age and health status and take additional precautions as needed but at the same time be realistic about what this virus does to the vast majority of diagnosed patients ... fever, cough, tiredness with no special treatment needed for the vast majority of cases (per the WHO).

The guidance is to wash one's hands, keep distance from people (stay out of their bubble), don't go into public or work if sick. The same guidance applies to the flu every single year ... and gets ignored every single year as we pass the influenza virus among the population and kill off tens of thousands of people from that bug annually. IF common sense were truly common then we wouldn't have to keep telling people to apply it.


A brief timeline of this strain:
Event background COVID-19

 

[NightowlPred]

IF common sense were truly common then we wouldn't have to keep telling people to apply it.

I vote you for quote of the year Sir!

 

[Jonesey]

The bigwigs wanted a separate thread on the team boards, so here we go.

I saw something interesting this morning. It's not about you catching the virus and surviving. It's about you catching the virus and passing it along to someone who doesn't survive.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

I don't understand the widespread panic but I'm also not a scientist or doctor. I need someone smarter than me to explain why everyone is cancelling everything.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

The bigwigs wanted a separate thread on the team boards, so here we go.

I saw something interesting this morning. It's not about you catching the virus and surviving. It's about you catching the virus and passing it along to someone who doesn't survive.

Exactly. I thought people knew better but most people against this simple and effective way of combatting the virus just kept spamming how the death rate is low and it's not worse than the flu.

 

[hockey diva]

Very true Jonesey. The worry,in part, is about folks with compromised immune systems like cancer patients and patients on immunosuppressive therapy like rheumatoid arthritis and MS etc. The virus attacks the lungs in particular causing respiratory failure. ICUs were not designed to handle high amounts of ventilator dependent patients who also need isolation.

 

[hockey diva]

Yoshi, the virus is highly contagious and easily spread. It's the medically vulnerable that officials are trying to protect.

 

[FossilFndr]

@hockey diva, sorry I forgot you when I made the original title for this thread. PredsV82 had reminded us on another thread of his profession so I just went with that. I see Jonesey already tweaked it.

Take care, it's folks like you that we will be depending on.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

I don't understand the widespread panic but I'm also not a scientist or doctor. I need someone smarter than me to explain why everyone is cancelling everything.

It's simple. No country has a health care system that is available to every single patient, to be frank, no country probably has 10% of the population to tend for in ICU or hospital beds.
The corona virus spreads so easily that it makes a lot of people sick, blocking the access for ALL people who need healthcare attention.
This in turn indirectly will kill people who could have gotten help otherwise than if the virus is let to spread. About 10% of people also need intensive care once they catch the virus so it makes the situation harder.

Now, the most effective way of flattening the curve of new contractions is to cancel every high attendance event, and implement social distancing policies. This way the healthcare section can do their work without a huge spike in people needing help, and it flattens out the occurance of the disease.

It's not wise to go along with the season at this point. A lot of Europe is essentially stopped, and literally 20 minutes ago the government of Finland declared that all over 500 person events are canceled.

 

[hockey diva]

No offense taken, FF.

 

[PredsV82]

The bigwigs wanted a separate thread on the team boards, so here we go.

I saw something interesting this morning. It's not about you catching the virus and surviving. It's about you catching the virus and passing it along to someone who doesn't survive.

This is what escapes most people. And while I appreciate posts like 101sts that are intended to keep people from freaking out and acting like this is the apocalypse, just because you are young and healthy and thus likely to have a mild case doesnt mean you shouldnt try very hard to NOT get the virus, simply because we all interact at some point with people who ARE at a high risk of critical/fatal illness.

I know this because I am high risk. I'm not 60 but am in my 50s and have asthma. And of course I'm currently still seeing 30 to 40 patients a day. So please, take every effort you can not to contract the virus because one of you might give it to me. And that would be no bueno.

 

[FossilFndr]

We've even met, I am embarrassed that my memory didn't prompt me to initially include you.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

I'm going to post this to better illustrate the logic behind flattening the curve of the contractions with governmental mandatory deeds. Sorry for it being in Finnish.

Red guy= Infections with effective procedures
Gray guy= The same amount of infections whenever spread is not controlled
Dotted line=The capacity of overall healthcare
The x-axis represents time passing.

 

[jwhouk]

So the real question now is, when does the NHL suspend its season?

 

[FossilFndr]

All morning skates and meetings are cancelled per order of the NHL, it's inevitable that the season is at least temporarily if not indefinitely suspended


NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) | Twitter

 

[wadesworld]

So the real question now is, when does the NHL suspend its season?

Rumors are flying the season will be canceled today.

 

[Legionnaire11]

Announcement will probably come around 1pm Central?