News Worldwide impact of the novel coronavirus (covid-19)

[Freida]

Huh. This is a best case senario, and doesn't mean the virus is something to shrug off.... but maybe good news.

New data from CDC estimates COVID 19 mortality rate is 0.4%, significantly lower than previously reported

hopefully!!!

 

[Chris-duck]

Huh. This is a best case senario, and doesn't mean the virus is something to shrug off.... but maybe good news.

Link Removed

Yeah. I think the percentage death rate was kinda skewed at the start cos only people sick enough to end up in hospital were being tested. Now people are being tested in a bunch of different scenarios so more positive asymptomatic tests, means mortality percentage is lower.

Although with having to test inpatients over 70 every four days in the UK, the number of *people* being tested is also kinda skewed I imagine. Who knows.

 

[Changing4Best]

My pdoc's office gave me so little notice that my appt would be in person that the bus could not take my reservation to get there. Thankfully some friends church agreed to take me to church too.

 

[bellbird]

A wee update from the South Pacific: NZ currently has one active case of covid-19, and no one requiring hospital-level care for covid-19. No new cases have been recorded in the last week.

I've been isolating a little, so I'm not sure if this paper has already been shared to this thread (apologies, if so), but this may be of interest. It was published a week ago.
Dead Link Removed

In this large multinational real-world analysis, we did not observe any benefit of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine (when used alone or in combination with a macrolide) on in-hospital outcomes, when initiated early after diagnosis of COVID-19. Each of the drug regimens of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with a macrolide was associated with an increased hazard for clinically significant occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias and increased risk of in-hospital death with COVID-19.

 

[Sideways]

No new cases have been recorded in the last week.

Hopefully life can start normalising for you guys soon - not sure where you're at with your stages of reopening.

Our state has had a case in a small town (pop'n less than 5,000), where there have been no other cases, and contact tracing so far has come up with no ideas. There's the possibility it was a nurse who drove through the town (and they're genome-testing to try and confirm if that's who he contracted it from). Just when you think you're starting to understand how this thing works!

The NT has gone a few weeks now with no cases I think. They've had to close their borders to achieve that, which is obviously pretty devastating for their economy.

Meanwhile in the news their seem to be multiple trials now underway for potential vaccines, but given the insidious problem of all these asymptotic cases in the community, it's hard to see this thing disappearing from the global community any time soon.

Vaccinating 8 billion people would be one helluva task. Who's gonna pay for that? And logistically, how does would that work? And are countries willing to prioritise the most vulnerable, or even be able to agree on who the most vulnerable are? For example, are Brazilians the 'most vulnerable' because that seems to be the current epicentre of the virus? Or are healthcare workers globally the most vulnerable? And are countries willing to share what will be an incredibly valuable vaccine if/when we achieve one?

 

[bellbird]

Hopefully life can start normalising for you guys soon - not sure where you're at with your stages of reopening.

As of today, we're allowed to have social gatherings of up to 100 people.
I'm not sure what the previous limit was, maybe 10? or 50? I guess my brain decided it wasn't an essential piece of information to store since isolation is just a whopping party for 1...

My ballroom dancing classes get to resume from next week, with the provisos that a contact-tracing register is kept, there is 1 metre distance between the different dance couples and no partner switching happens during the class.

 

[blackemerald1]

And are countries willing to share what will be an incredibly valuable vaccine if/when we achieve one?

^I read about this only recently. All of the countries that are currently testing vaccines are participating in multi-agency & funded research. So everyone is co-operating. For instance, Australia is currently testing a vaccine developed by the UK and so forth. So, unless something really strange happened I think there is already agreement that the vaccine will be shared across all agencies/countries. And also I think the intellectual/scientific stuff is generally well known anyway.

And logistically, how does would that work?

^Honestly, Idk but I'd assume since manufacture takes a long time to catch up there'd a some thought put into just that. Wouldn't be a happy thinking session though? Front-line workers would be first at least I'd hope so? :cautious:

 

[Friday]

^Honestly, Idk but I'd assume since manufacture takes a long time to catch up there'd a some thought put into just that. Wouldn't be a happy thinking session though? Front-line workers would be first at least I'd hope so? :cautious:

I can’t remember the movie name (Contagion?) where there was a birthday lottery drawn, for getting your vaccine + a bracelet with your name/bday printed on it. If I’m remembering correctly, the book broke it down a bit further with “essential personnel” on a weekly schedule, those at highest risk, first. But the movie just showed the civilian drawing.

Day 1... people born on May 30th
Day 2... people born on Nov 2nd
Day 3... people born on June 5th
Etc.
Day 366 onward... open clinics for undocumented, homeless without ID, etc.

That’s too much common sense / generalized fairness to ever happen in the US outside of Hollywood stories. But maybe something of the sort will be utilized in less ME FIRST! nations.

 

[gealach]

"increased hazard for clinically significant occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias and increased risk of in-hospital death with COVID-19"

hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are (cardiac, class 3) potassium channel blockers affecting Phase 3 repolarization of the myocytes, and the refractory period of the sinoatrial and atrioventricular pacemaker nodes... it prolongs recovery of the muscle cells after they've been stimulated to contract, and prolongs the recovery period of the primary and secondary pacemaker nodes that control your heart rate (SA node) and conduction from the top of your heart to the bottom of your heart (AV node). This is good for certain too fast or irregular arrhythmias (V tach, A fib, A flutter, PSVTs), but bad if you don't already have an arrhythmia, hence the increased death rate in those sick with covid who didn't have a pre-existing heart rhythm disturbance (and in those taking it prophylacticaly).

I am a cardiac nerd

 

[Justmehere]

And because it’s 2020... Monkeys on the loose in India with stolen coronavirus blood samples

Isn’t this how planet of the apes started or something?

 

[Justmehere]

Went to a sandwich shop today for a to go pick up. Mask, hand sanitizer, ready, set, go.

Sign on the door said one could wait for their order outside after ordering. Also said that if you didn’t have a mask, stay outside and they’ll bring the order to you.

I ordered and asked to wait outside. Nice day out anyhow. As I walked out two middle aged men without masks walked in (super rare for my area due to super strict laws.) The employees asked they mask up. They refused. I didn’t stay around to see what happened. I waited outside and the men came outside sandwiches in hand, yelling at everyone waiting outside for being “liberal mask wearing pussies.“

I live life as if everyone has the virus and no one will be wearing a mask so then I’m not acting as if my safety is depending on anyone else being reasonable. I wasn’t thrown by the lack of masks, but the anger was jarring. They were in people’s faces. Everyone was already far apart from each other and everyone just backed up and said nothing. I held up my phone to video, also saying nothing, and they backed off.

If one doesn’t like the mask law, that’s one thing, it doesn’t do a moment of harm to them that others are social distancing. It oddly keeps them safer and others calmer. Americans are so childish at times. Gah.

Thankfully, this seems rare in my city, but things are just beginning to open up and just beginning to let out of towners in too.

 

[somerandomguy]

"increased hazard for clinically significant occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias and increased risk of in-hospital death with COVID-19"

hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are (cardiac, class 3) potassium channel blockers affecting Phase 3 repolarization of the myocytes, and the refractory period of the sinoatrial and atrioventricular pacemaker nodes... it prolongs recovery of the muscle cells after they've been stimulated to contract, and prolongs the recovery period of the primary and secondary pacemaker nodes that control your heart rate (SA node) and conduction from the top of your heart to the bottom of your heart (AV node). This is good for certain too fast or irregular arrhythmias (V tach, A fib, A flutter, PSVTs), but bad if you don't already have an arrhythmia, hence the increased death rate in those sick with covid who didn't have a pre-existing heart rhythm disturbance (and in those taking it prophylacticaly).

I am a cardiac nerd

Some VA systems are continuing to treat veterans who have Covid with hydroxychloroquine, because the president says it works.