*** Official Corona Virus Thread ***

youcantbeserious

Billy Hamilton status
Oct 29, 2020
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No. It's proof that our health care system in general, and public health agencies in particular, were woefully unprepared for the pandemic, and are apparently using an unreliable test.

Are you saying that scientists at Harvard and other universities are part of a global conspiracy because they did studies that showed that PCR tests, at the cycle threshold we are running in the US, have a high rate of false positives? Are they part of a global conspiracy because they want a more reliable test? Are they part of a global conspiracy because they want the test results earlier so that people that are positive can quarantine sooner and stop the spread of the virus?

I'm confused.
 
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PRCD

Tom Curren status
Feb 25, 2020
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casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
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Petak Island
One of my wife's coworkers has her 80 year old mother living with her. Her niece wanted to come visit her in California. So she told her niece to test and if negative, come stay with her. Coworker, because of her mom, has been testing regularly. Always negative. Sometime after nieces arrival, mom, who never leaves the house, gets sick. She tests positive. Coworker tests positive as well. She asks niece to test again. Turns out the niece didn't test the first time because she thought the whole COVID thing was a hoax. Mom dies alone in the hospital from COVID. Coworker is in the hospital fighting for her life. She has asthma and things aren't looking good.
Well that sucks.

A negative COVID 19 test - in terms of family visits - means nothing.

Docs and RNs know this. I found it strange how many healthcare workers I know found it was OK to ignore this fact over the holidays so they could all hang out with their families.

Then they start bitching about the surge of patients.

These tend to be the same people that shake their finger when they find out people like myself are frequenting restaurants that have refused to shut down outdoor dining.
 

casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
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Okay, I get that but isn't the problem that our health care system can't handle the load the even a small % of the population getting this sickness that requires a high resource cost to manage?

Isn't that the issue?
It is.

But the truth is it's mostly something from the the sniffles to the flu. For the vast majority of people.

For a small percentage of people they're going to end up in the hospital and might die. And because it's highly contagious, that can mean a lot of people at once.

Like I've told you from the beginning: you have to tell people the truth about this stuff, otherwise they're going to find out for themselves and they're not going to trust you.

The mixed messaging on this has been horrendous and there's no fvcking way anyone should be trusting the words of Dr. Fauci considering he's a confessed manipulator.

Fauci is largely responsible for the USA public's flawed perception of this pandemic.


Do you think the stories of the hospitals being overwhelmed are fake?
Intubated 5 patients in 4 hours yesterday.

That's an idiotic question to be asking me.
 
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casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
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Couple of funny things in regards to CA right now

a) CA numbers are high because of the latino population. San Diego latino population is 30% but they represent 55% of all hospitalizations. Infection rate is 6x higher then every population group in the county. CA officials need to address this cultural aspect openly - would save lives - they won't because they're about feelz.

b) Red states already vaccinating high risk and over 75s. Doing it everywhere from grocery stores to retirement communities. WTF California?

And now the good news:


"Bay Area households will finally get fresh Dungeness crab this month..."

No vaccines for geezers but we will have fresh Dungeness.
 
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Bohter

Michael Peterson status
Mar 7, 2006
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"But the truth is it's mostly something from the the sniffles to the flu. For the vast majority of people."

Casa.....if a person comes in with severe flu like symptoms and gets a positive Covid-19 test.....is the treatment protocol any different compared to the person that comes in with severe flu like symptoms and tests negative?

For example...for the flu and some breathing issues....do you administer oxygen and possibly put them on a CPAP?
But if they're Covid-19 positive....do you skip the oxygen / CPAP route and go straight to intubation?
 

PRCD

Tom Curren status
Feb 25, 2020
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Trigger warning: realtalk. Put me on 'ignore.'
Couple of funny things in regards to CA right now

a) CA numbers are high because of the latino population. San Diego latino population is 30% but they represent 55% of all hospitalizations. Infection rate is 6x higher then every population group in the county. CA officials need to address this cultural aspect openly - would save lives - they won't because they're about feelz.
I doubt there's anything they can do about this. Latinos seem to realize it spreads worse in their community. I see them all wearing masks, even when they're just out walking as a family. The problem is they live in higher density, multi-generational housing and much higher rates than whites. This feeds into the secondary attack rate and there's nothing they can do about this. They also work real jobs where they're out in the community. They may have obesity at higher rates than whites and asians which is the main risk factor for serious complications after old age. The one lady in our church who got COVID and then pneumonia was obese and not particularly old. The very old in our church are mostly thin and seem like they're doing well.

Speaking of that, I heard people coughing into their masks in outdoor worship last Sunday. I know you and I disagree about masks, but do you think the emphasis on masks and social-distancing has come at the expense of common sense measures like STAYING HOME IF SICK rather than trusting the mask to STAWP THE SPREAD if sick?
b) Red states already vaccinating high risk and over 75s. Doing it everywhere from grocery stores to retirement communities. WTF California?
My grandparents are in their late 90s in a CA nursing home and are getting it. I wonder, will any record be kept of who was vaccinated and whether they still died of COVID or had an adverse event? As I stated above, Pfizer is prone to lying. Their plan seems to be to throw the vaccine over the wall, deny any culpability from the vaccine itself (blame the customer), and get paid. Every medical intervention has some risks, so it may well be that this vaccine is no more dangerous than any other medical intervention, but we won't know if we don't collect more data and Pfizer won't TELL THE TRUTH.

As you said, bureaucrats in our epidemiology bureaucracy have a problem TELLING THE TRUTH (this may be impossible in a post-truth society), which has led people to do what they think is best. This was inevitable since the mitigation measures are unprecedented, onerous, are lasting an indefinite period of time, and we've had no public discussion of trade-offs. In the past, we tried to quarantine the sick, told people to cover their cough, and wash their hands. Now everyone is under suspicion of being a virus spreader and is being treated as such. I've been hearing more and more mental health PSAs from the government on the radio. Do we have data on the suicide rate?

If you're not too exhausted, you might find this book interesting.
Medical nihilism is the view that we should have little confidence in the effectiveness of medical interventions. This volume argues that medical nihilism is a compelling view of modern medicine. If we consider the frequency of failed medical interventions, the extent of misleading evidence in medical research, the thin theoretical basis of many interventions, and the malleability of empirical methods in medicine, and if we employ our best inductive framework, then our confidence in the effectiveness of medical interventions ought to be low. Part I articulates theoretical and conceptual groundwork, in which Jacob Stegenga offers a defence of a hybrid theory of disease, which forms the basis of a novel account of effectiveness, and applies this to pharmacological science and to issues such as medicalization. Part II critically examines details of medical research. Even the very best methods in medical research, such as randomized trials and meta-analyses, are malleable and suffer from various biases. Methods of measuring the effectiveness of medical interventions systematically overestimate benefits and underestimate harms. Part III summarizes the arguments for medical nihilism and what this position entails for medical research and practice. To evaluate medical nihilism with care, Stegenga states the argument in formal terms. Medical nihilism suggests that medical research must be modified, that clinical practice should be less aggressive in its therapeutic approaches, and that regulatory standards should be enhanced.
Keep posting. You're pretty much the only reliable source of news on this besides the data on Worldometers and the JHU website.
 
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Autoprax

Duke status
Jan 24, 2011
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Like I've told you from the beginning: you have to tell people the truth about this stuff, otherwise they're going to find out for themselves and they're not going to trust you.
I don't think that is the issue.

I think a virus that is highly contagious but deadly to only a small % of the population is going to thrive in an individualistic society.

People who don't think the virus is a threat to them are not going to want to suffer for the team.
 
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PRCD

Tom Curren status
Feb 25, 2020
12,514
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@casa_mugrienta

Compare California to New York. New York, especially NYC, got hammered last round and this round their death rate is much lower. Everyone died last time.

It could be that it was simply our turn this time. There is a time to be born and a time to die.
 

Bohter

Michael Peterson status
Mar 7, 2006
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Recent news from Canada.....regarding entry restrictions......negative PCR required plus a 14 day mandatory quarantine.....
If your quarantine plans don't fit the regulations....you get to say in their Government Quarantine Camps......even if you're perfectly healthy....because, you know.....the virus is so contagious if you're asymptomatic?

As of Jan 7 2021....


 

tacos

Michael Peterson status
Feb 12, 2006
3,514
550
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LB —> SF
"But the truth is it's mostly something from the the sniffles to the flu. For the vast majority of people."

Casa.....if a person comes in with severe flu like symptoms and gets a positive Covid-19 test.....is the treatment protocol any different compared to the person that comes in with severe flu like symptoms and tests negative?

For example...for the flu and some breathing issues....do you administer oxygen and possibly put them on a CPAP?
But if they're Covid-19 positive....do you skip the oxygen / CPAP route and go straight to intubation?
Not casa, but same line of work.

At my place of work, they’ve been holding off on intubation as long as possible for covid patients, using high flow nasal cannula or BiPAP, and elective proning (having the patients lie prone themselves). Many of those who are intubated are made DNR, since doing CPR is futile on someone whose oxygen level is so low requiring intubation. ICU/ventilator management is more or less that of a patient with ARDS.
 

kelpcutter

Gerry Lopez status
Aug 24, 2008
1,266
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... TELLING THE TRUTH (this may be impossible in a post-truth society) ...
This right here! Who sets the standards for what is the truth? No matter what truth you are telling, there are others claiming proof of the contrary, conspiracy theorists selling distrust and half the population too dumb to know the difference.

I think your description of the reasons for risk in the Hispanic population are pretty accurate. Those and others in similar socio-economic high risk groups are the ones most likely to be caring for your high-risk grandparents in the nursing homes.
 

Mr Doof

Duke status
Jan 23, 2002
24,860
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San Francisco, CA
Can't tell you how many heavy weed users have talked to me about one conspiracy or another.
The pot smokers I call friends discuss stuff like:

1 - Is it better to love someone who doesn't love you or is it better to be loved by someone you don't love?

2 - What is it with time?

3 - Remember that time when you did that thing and we all were laughing so hard we forgot what started it? Do you remember what we were laughing about? Me neither! :roflmao:

4 - Who does reverb the best now? You know what would be good, classical orchestral music with reverb. I'd totally buy that.

5 - Lets get some delivery and watch old surf movies.

6 - We should be camping. Lets go camping this summer. Why don't we do that anymore? Remember that time we went camping and we stopped to help at that car wreck? Did you ever stay in touch with them? The ambulance people, not the people in the wreck.

7 - Can we not talk about politics? Or physics. Or law. How about ex-partners or highschool flings?
 

SurfFuerteventura

Rabbitt Bartholomew status
Sep 20, 2014
8,405
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Ribbit
The pot smokers I call friends discuss stuff like:

1 - Is it better to love someone who doesn't love you or is it better to be loved by someone you don't love?

2 - What is it with time?

3 - Remember that time when you did that thing and we all were laughing so hard we forgot what started it? Do you remember what we were laughing about? Me neither! :roflmao:

4 - Who does reverb the best now? You know what would be good, classical orchestral music with reverb. I'd totally buy that.

5 - Lets get some delivery and watch old surf movies.

6 - We should be camping. Lets go camping this summer. Why don't we do that anymore? Remember that time we went camping and we stopped to help at that car wreck? Did you ever stay in touch with them? The ambulance people, not the people in the wreck.

7 - Can we not talk about politics? Or physics. Or law. How about ex-partners or highschool flings?
Good to see my old friends are still up to much ado about nothing.

:roflmao:

They sound just like your friends!

Wait... What were we talking about?
 
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r32

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 1, 2005
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Mom r32 called and said she is getting the vaccine next week. One less thing for me to be concerned with. Really psyched as she is really getting up there in age and with her past medical history, a virus would probably hit her pretty hard. Also a good sign that we may be nearing the end of this craziness. Hang in there guys.