OT: Coronavirus
Wow....
Yeah, DIA is never that empty. My goodness, this thing has really gotten ahold of people. But I suspect that it's going to make a far bigger dent in the global economy than the global population.
What changes have you made? Personally, I have tickets to fly to San Francisco with my kids to see my brother in a couple of weeks. And, so far anyway, I plan to go. But I have to say I'm a little nervous about it, especially with my kids. Not as much about the virus as how people are panicking about it. A flight yesterday was rerouted to Denver because someone, um...sneezed. And I am narrowing in on some ridiculously priced tickets to Cancun in May. Am I crazy?
“A gentleman is someone who can play the accordion, but doesn't." - Tom Waits
Italy surpasses China in number of coronavirus deaths
Italy has just surpassed China for the most number of deaths related to COVID-19.
The number of deaths in Italy has reached 3,405. Italy has become the deadliest center of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The current number of deaths in China stands at 3,242, according to the World Health Organization.
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-03-19-20-intl-hnk/h_338a9e3e86c965845d14e33d17c45d68
Italy has the oldest population in Europe. They won't by the time this is all done.
I cant share specifics, but I got a text from an associate in MNPLS whos spouse works in the medical field and has communications with doctors that are in charge in hennepin county and it is sounding like the notion that those under 50 aren't at high risk is being debunked. apparently those from 40 to 50 are the highest age bracket of those being hospitalized and that a previously healthy 30 something in impeccable physical condition is looking terminal at this point. youngest being treated in hennepin is 17. the doctor said that from what he is seeing and hearing the US could be worse than Italy.
Please people, take this very serious and take measures beyond what you think is rational to protect yourselves and your loved ones.
Gupta (I believe) was saying last night that severe symptoms (i.e. need hospitalization) among the young is so far 6%....So less than older population, but far from negligible.
'Quarantine shaming': US navigates radical new social norms
That was, at least, until he posted about it on Instagram. The feedback was swift from people who were appalled that Ryan Winkle would promote a gathering — even a small one — as COVID-19 raged and entire cities were urged to self-isolate.
"I started getting some messages saying, 'Hey, why are you trying to spread the virus?' I was like, 'It's a small event, and everyone had washed their hands, and they had sanitizer on the tables,'" Winkle said of the dinner held Saturday in Mesa, Arizona. "My thinking is always about the economics. Imagine when all these businesses shut down. That's a whole different problem."
"Quarantine shaming" — calling out those not abiding by social distancing rules — is part of a new and startling reality for Americans who must navigate a world of rapidly evolving social norms in the age of COVID-19. As schools close and shelter-in-place orders sweep across the U.S., the divide between those who are stringently practicing self-isolation and those who are still trying to go about some semblance of a normal life has never been more clear. Complicating matters: What was socially acceptable even 48 hours ago may now be taboo, as government officials race to contain the virus with ever-expanding circles of social isolation.
"The time matrix seems to be shifting. I've never known several days to go by so slowly and watching the collective conscience move more and more in one direction day by day," said Paula Flakser, who lost her bartending job when California's Mammoth Mountain ski resort closed this week.
For those who must go to work, the divide is widening too.
Steve Diehl, who is considered an essential employee at his job at a warehouse near Chicago, wears a mask to work because a family member has a compromised immune system. He's terrified of catching the new coronavirus or transmitting it to his loved one at home.
Diehl posted a sign at the warehouse entrance asking people to put on masks that were provided "to protect immuno-compromised family," but several co-workers didn't wear them, he said. One of them coughed into his hand while standing by Diehl's desk — and then began to touch things on his desk with the same hand.
"That angered me greatly," said Diehl, who posted a photo of himself in a mask on Twitter. "And when I made a comment about it, they shrugged it off."
Others who are trying to juggle working from home while caring for kids who are also home are making smaller and more mundane choices that nevertheless bring shocked responses — or even rebukes — from co-workers, friends and even family. Is it OK to run out for a coffee? Can you allow your children to go the playground? What about sending kids to day care centers, which remain the only lifeline in many states that have closed schools?
Flakser, the woman who lost her bartending job, said she was upset by the hundreds of people who flocked to her tiny hometown of Bishop, California, from Los Angeles and other large cities to vacation the minute schools shut down. The 42-year-old climber posted angry messages about the crowds on Facebook and was quoted in an online climbing magazine, Thundercling.
So many people descended on a climbing spot called Happy Boulders over the weekend that lines of people were walking into the narrow canyon. The routes to reach the top mean dozens of people were grabbing the same handholds in the rock again and again, potentially spreading germs, she said.
"When people from urban areas are escaping, they're escaping to vulnerable areas that have incredibly limited medical resources — and it felt pretty entitled and selfish," she said in a phone interview. "It feels like a lot of first-world privilege knocking at our door."
By Wednesday, the crowds had abated — possibly because of the article and social media posts — but "this weekend will be the true barometer," Flakser said.
Her concerns echo those who slammed St. Patrick's Day revelers who flooded bars in Chicago and New Orleans and those who called out college students who've been thronging to beaches for spring break. An Instagram video of hundreds of partiers packed onto a "booze cruise" in the Bahamas drew comments calling for a boycott of the company that organized it.
Some of the strong online reaction to these crowd-size violations likely stem from the fact that authorities would be hard-pressed to enforce the new rules and are relying on a social compact to keep everyone safe. In Oregon, for example, restaurants that continue to offer dine-in service would face only a low-level misdemeanor — and social shaming is much more effective.
Jeff Carreras, owner of Tracey's Original Irish Channel Bar in New Orleans, said he's faced similar scathing criticism over the crowds that gathered outside his bar Saturday. People on Facebook accused him of raking in money while disregarding growing warnings about the dangers of crowds during the outbreak of COVID-19.
One poster, Claire Hassig, said on the bar's page that her 70-year-old mother had to walk by to get to her car and was mobbed by "drunken idiots with zero respect for social distancing or her safety."
Carreras said he kept the crowd inside below its 250 capacity and didn't set up the usual outside bar — but crowds formed anyway. It was the bar's idea to have police break them up when his staff couldn't do it, he said.
"There's no way I would entice, encourage the public to come out and spread a virus that's as bad as it is," he said. "We did everything we were asked to do."
Those appalled by the behavior of some of their fellow Americans have welcomed a crackdown this week from many state and local governments that are adding daily to lists of closures and bans.
Bars in a popular part of Portland, Oregon were busy on Friday and Saturday nights but are now dark after Gov. Kate Brown banned all dine-in service at food establishments and bars statewide.
Alec Bhurke, who wrote an angry post on Facebook about the weekend crowds, said most people likely just need that kind of guidance from authorities to recognize the seriousness of the crisis.
"People don't understand ... the implications of what even a single day does to the body count (from the virus) at this stage," he said Wednesday. "But people should know better — and they should do better."
Winkle, for his part, has re-examined his approach to social distancing since the weekend event. It helps that Mesa instituted a ban on dine-in serve at restaurants and bars on Tuesday.
"I get it, and I get where they're coming from," he said. "I definitely took it to heart and thought maybe it's time to start slowing things down."
Got some bug, I think it's something much more pedestrian...but I have to do an "e-visit" and possible testing tomorrow.
I work in heavy truck parts, including some emergency vehicles...so, we're considered support for critical services.
@"Zanary" said: Got some bug, I think it's something much more pedestrian...but I have to do an "e-visit" and possible testing tomorrow.I work in heavy truck parts, including some emergency vehicles...so, we're considered support for critical services.
Geez, I hope it's something pedestrian Z...
@"Zanary" said: Got some bug, I think it's something much more pedestrian...but I have to do an "e-visit" and possible testing tomorrow.I work in heavy truck parts, including some emergency vehicles...so, we're considered support for critical services.
fingers crossed for ya brother. keep us informed.
There are now over 10,000 coronavirus cases in USThere are at least 10,502 cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States, according to the state and local health agencies, governments and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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It's more than that...There isn't enough kits to accurately measure - unless you're in the NBA or a Hollywood star.
How much more?? 2x?, 3x? 10x???
Who the hell knows, but we're going to find out.
@"Zanary" said: Got some bug, I think it's something much more pedestrian...but I have to do an "e-visit" and possible testing tomorrow.I work in heavy truck parts, including some emergency vehicles...so, we're considered support for critical services.
Be well and take care of you.
@"Vikergirl" said: https://twitter.com/CNBCTheExchange/status/1240705378582695939?s=19
$7.69 is the average hourly pay for a Papa Johns Delivery rep...
https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Delivery_Driver/Hourly_Rate/16dfa245/Papa-Johns-Pizza
Below the poverty line. I dont know how you live on that.
Maybe as a supplemental income.
@"Vikergirl" said:@"Zanary" said: Got some bug, I think it's something much more pedestrian...but I have to do an "e-visit" and possible testing tomorrow.I work in heavy truck parts, including some emergency vehicles...so, we're considered support for critical services.
Be well and take care of you.
Thank you, m'lady. Will do.
@"purplefaithful" said:@"Vikergirl" said: https://twitter.com/CNBCTheExchange/status/1240705378582695939?s=19
$7.69 is the average hourly pay for a Papa Johns Delivery rep...https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Delivery_Driver/Hourly_Rate/16dfa245/Papa-Johns-Pizza
Below the poverty line. I dont know how you live on that.
Maybe as a supplemental income.
It is pretty pitiful but it also depends where you live in the United States. I can't imagine living on that but you do what you gotta do. There are a lot of people in this country struggling though.
The world's fastest supercomputer identified chemicals that could stop coronavirus from spreading, a crucial step toward a vaccine
But this is what the world's fastest supercomputer was built for. Summit, IBM's supercomputer equipped with the "brain of AI," ran thousands of simulations to analyze which drug compounds might effectively stop the virus from infecting host cells.
The supercomputer identified 77 of them. It's a promising step toward creating the most effective vaccine. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory published their findings in the journal ChemRxiv.
Summit was built to solve the world's problems
At its station in Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, Summit has identified patterns in cellular systems that precede Alzheimer's, analyzed genes that contribute to traits like opioid addiction and predicted extreme weather based on climate simulations.
How Summit fights coronavirus
Viruses infect host cells by injecting them with a "spike" of genetic material. Summit's job is to find drug compounds that could bind to that spike and potentially stop the spread.
Oak Ridge researcher Micholas Smith created a model of the coronavirus spike based on research published in January. With Summit, he simulated how the atoms and particles in the viral protein would react to different compounds.
The supercomputer ran simulations of over 8,000 compounds that could bind to the spike protein of the virus, which could limit its ability to spread to host cells. Summit identified 77 of them and ranked them based on how likely they were to bind to the spike.
What's next
For all its power, though, Summit can only do so much. It provided the first step in analysis: identifying promising compounds. Experimental studies are required next to prove which chemicals work best.
"Only then will we know whether any of them exhibit the characteristics needed to mitigate this virus."
@"MaroonBells" said:@"MaroonBells" said:Only thing I'm seeing is a ban for international travel. Not saying that won't eventually include domestic, but can't find anything about a domestic ban.@"StickyBun" said: So its almost here: State Department about to raise travel advisory to DO NOT TRAVEL. Domestic air travel will be banned. Where did you hear this?The idea of grounding many or all domestic flights remains under consideration at the White House, where the administration's coronavirus task force is looking for ways to prevent people from congregating and spreading the virus.
The government's decision to restrict travel to China, South Korea, and much of Europe already brought a precipitous decline in airline service to overseas destinations.Such a drastic move domestically could further cripple the nation's economy, and have negative effects such as preventing the flow of cargo, making it harder to ship medical supplies and other essential goods.
"Fauci is still pushing for it -- and maybe he's right," said one senior administration official, referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the most visible faces on the administration's task force. The NIAID did not immediately comment."We're not there yet. That doesn't mean never," the official continued. "But the President and a lot of us around him feel we should do everything we can to avoid it." A massive reduction in service is already happening before their eyes.https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/politics/domestic-travel-restrictions-virtual-shutdown/index.html
@"BarrNone55" said: https://twitter.com/i/status/1239140710558969857Our governor just told us all is well we have 800 test kit in reserve for the state of Iowa. The state epidemiologist, said that is good because the labs can keep up with pace. They have instituted new protocols for the judicious and prudent use of masks and materials. I could be real cynical and suggest her next line will be that the tests are causing the the problem. Iowa has tested less than 700 people. What a cluster, compare that message with what WHO epidemiologists are saying.
Italians citizens of all ages, speaking to themselves 10 days in the past:
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