Coronavirus Thread

[XBe02Drvr]

Exploding Bears?! I thought their claws and brute strength was bad enough, and now they explode??!!

Last week one exploded through my neighbor's barn door and killed four goats and nine chickens, then couldn't get back out through the inward-bent broken boards. He died of lead poisoning, administered by the game warden.
450+ pounds of bear, and the landowner wasn't allowed to keep the carcass. He's a traditional style black powder shooter, and bear grease is the absolute best bore lubricant and anti-rust coating there is. "Needed for biological research", he was told.

 

[buffnut453]

Well it's official. The EU is lifting restrictions on international travel...

Except the United States.

Will be evaluated every two weeks, but looks like I will not see my family this year, and they will not see their grandkids.

So terribly sad and pathetic what is going on here...

I have the same problem in reverse. Our 2 oldest kids are Stateside attending university. We haven't seen them since Christmas and, as things stand, it's unlikely that we'll see them before next Christmas. Nor can we get them over to Europe to see their Grandmother.

 

[Crimea_River]

Well it's official. The EU is lifting restrictions on international travel...

Except the United States.

Will be evaluated every two weeks, but looks like I will not see my family this year, and they will not see their grandkids.

So terribly sad and pathetic what is going on here...

And you got lumped in with Russia and Brazil. Fine company. And yet....Hundreds of thousands of U.S. visitors are still crossing border into Canada each week | National Post

 

[swampyankee]

There are several US states with voluntary quarantine [likely unenforceable] orders placed on travelers, even those from within the US. The trouble with this concept is that unless you have existing border controls in place, this makes the idea of not having a national protocol in place rather inane.

A foreign government isn't going to place different restrictions on a traveler is coming from Dallas, Seattle, or Boston as they're in the same country. They'll look at country-wide statistics and country-wide responses.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I have the same problem in reverse. Our 2 oldest kids are Stateside attending university. We haven't seen them since Christmas and, as things stand, it's unlikely that we'll see them before next Christmas. Nor can we get them over to Europe to see their Grandmother.

That's right, you are in Stuttgart. That is where our families are. When this finally over, we need to meet up for a beer when I get back over there.

 

[wuzak]

And you got lumped in with Russia and Brazil. Fine company. And yet....Hundreds of thousands of U.S. visitors are still crossing border into Canada each week | National Post

I saw something that said US citizens can't fly to Canada, but they can drive!

 

[XBe02Drvr]

I saw something that said US citizens can't fly to Canada, but they can drive!

I was in Derby Line the other day, and saw several cars go through the US border station northbound, then get turned around at the Canadian station and sent back. Make of it what you will, I didn't stick around to ask questions. The ICE folks didn't appear to be in a friendly mood.

 

[Marcel]

So here in the Netherlands, a huge organisation for doctors had spoke against all Corona rules, including keeping distance and personal protection, claiming that the rules and precautions cost more lives then saving them. Also they say there is no scientific prove of the effectiveness of those measures.

Unfortunately in Dutch:

De huidige wereldwijde maatregelen, genomen ter bestrijding van SARS-CoV-2 schenden in hoge mate
deze visie op gezondheid en de rechten van de mens. VWS gaat regelrecht in tegen de, in haar eigen nota vastgelegde, visie op gezondheidsbeleid en het potentieel ervan.
De maatregelen betreffen onder meer verplichte sociale distantie, (semi-)verplichte isolatie,
hygiënemaatregelen en verplichte persoonlijke beschermingsmaatregelen.6,7
Ten tijde van de piek en onzekerheid van de pandemie was dit wellicht nog verdedigbaar, maar voor het
voortzetten van noodmaatregelen is onvoldoende wetenschappelijke basis, sterker nog er is wellicht meer bewijs tégen het gezondheid bevorderende effect van de huidige maatregelen dan er voor.6, 7

Schade op het gebied van het psychosociale domein8,9,10, economische schade11 en schade aan de non-covid gezondheidszorg en totale zorgkosten, is ongeëvenaard en vele malen groter dan de winst van de gewonnen levensjaren van coronapatienten.12 De kans dat kwetsbare groepen dubbel geraakt gaan worden is groot.13,14 De maatregelen zouden ergens tussen de 13.000 en 21.000 gezonde levensjaren bij coronapatiënten hebben opgeleverd, naast 10.000 tot 15.000 levensjaren die zij hebben gekost. Hoeveel gezonde levensjaren verloren zijn gegaan is nog moeilijk te schatten maar zouden het aantal gewonnen levensjaren ruim overstijgen.15,16

Google translate:

Current global measures taken to combat SARS-CoV-2 are highly violating
this view of health and human rights. VWS directly contradicts the vision on health policy and its potential, as set out in its own memorandum.
The measures include compulsory social distance, (semi-) compulsory isolation,
hygiene measures and mandatory personal protection measures 6.7
At the time of the peak and uncertainty of the pandemic, this may have been defensible, but before it
continuation of emergency measures is insufficient scientific basis, in fact there is perhaps more evidence against the health promoting effect of the current measures than before.6, 7

Damage in the field of the psychosocial domain8,9,10, economic damage11 and damage to non-covid healthcare and total healthcare costs, is unparalleled and many times greater than the profit of the life years of corona patients gained.12 The chance that vulnerable groups double The measures would have resulted in anywhere between 13,000 and 21,000 healthy life years in corona patients, in addition to 10,000 to 15,000 life years that they cost. It is still difficult to estimate how many healthy years of life have been lost, but would far exceed the number of years of life gained.15,16[

Brandbrief - Brandbrief Nederlandse artsen over coronamaatregelen

 

[Zipper730]

There seems to be more trouble on the horizon, a new strain of influenza (Designation: G4 EA H1N1) has been identified as having pandemic potential coming out of China. This is clearly a very serious problem, and the last thing we need with one pandemic, is a pandemic on top of another.

There was a pandemic response unit that was created under the previous administration aimed at operating teams worldwide to identify and contain stuff like this at their source. It was disbanded in 2018 for a variety of reasons, and while it might have seemed a good idea at the time, the results were ultimately catastrophic.

Since pandemics are considered inevitable, the idea of being able to contain them right away is extremely important: I created a petition asking for this unit to be re-cosntituted and the petition goes to a number officials including the President, Senators & Congressmen (particularly those who are involved in appropriations, defense, and if I recall, possibly homeland security).

 

[fubar57]

Interesting....and utterly stupid if true...People in Alabama are throwing COVID-19 parties with a payout when one gets infected: official

 

[rochie]

Interesting....and utterly stupid if true...People in Alabama are throwing COVID-19 parties with a payout when one gets infected: official

No accounting for stupid !

 

[at6]

Interesting....and utterly stupid if true...People in Alabama are throwing COVID-19 parties with a payout when one gets infected: official

Their parents must have been Brother and Sister.

 

[Lucky13]

 

[ThomasP]

Minnesota report, June 30
cases 36,303, recovered 31,601, hospitalized 4,054 (270)*, deaths 1,441, tested 605,013*
fatality rate 4%
mortality rate 252.8 per million
test rate 106.1 per thousand
<
<
Minnesota report, July 1
cases 36,710, recovered ??,???, hospitalized 4,081 (260)*, deaths 1,446, tested 616,922*
fatality rate 3.9%
mortality rate 253.7 per million
test rate 108.2 per thousand
<
<
Minnesota report, July 2
cases 37,210, recovered 32,163, hospitalized 4,112 (271)*, deaths 1,458, tested 630,427*
fatality rate 3.9%
mortality rate 255.8 per million
test rate 110.6 per thousand

*re hospitalized x,xxx (xxx)
Currently, since the need for hospitalization is not in any way influenced by changing rates of testing, the number of hospitalized cases seems to be the best indicator of what is happening as far as the rate of spread is concerned. Because of this I will be including Minnesota's number of current hospitalizations in my future Minnesota report posts.

For anyone who is uncertain about what is going on in their own area, I would suggest you rely on the local hospitalization numbers to get a good feel for the true rate of spread. If the reporting authority is doing its job anywhere near competently, this will be your best measure unless/until the hospital system gets totally overwhelmed - and will probably still be the best option even then.

 

[fubar57]

 

[Gnomey]

Their parents must have Brother and Sister.

Well it is Alabama...

 

[Vincenzo]

Italy report, 5th July 5 pm CEST, weekly changes
cases 241,611, +1,301, deaths 34,861, +123, recovered 192,108, +3,217, active cases 14,642, -2,039, tests 5,638,288, +323,669, people tested 3,398,239, +178,219
fatality rate 14.4% (-0.1)
mortality rate 578 per million (+2)
test rate 93.5 per thousand (+5.4)
positive rate 7.1% (-0.4)
test rate this week 5,366 per million (-109)
positive rate this week 0.7% (-0.3)
new case rate this week 22 per million (-8)

 

[ThomasP]

Minnesota report, July 3
cases 37,624, recovered 32,347, hospitalized 4,139(270), deaths 1,466, tested 645,172*
fatality rate 3.9%
mortality rate 257.2 per million
test rate 113.2 per thousand
<
<
Minnesota report, July 4 (No update due to holiday)
<
<
Minnesota report, July 5
cases 38,236, recovered 33,408, hospitalized 4,710(253), deaths 1,471, tested 674,015*
fatality rate 3.8%
mortality rate 258.1 per million
test rate 118.2 per thousand

 

[Airframes]

And now, a suspected case of bubonic plague has been announced, in China !

 

[pgeno71]

And now, a suspected case of bubonic plague has been announced, in China !

I have not seen an article that mentions the number of current cases in China, but I think this is just alarmist journalism. Occasional cases do occur in countries with infected rodent populations. The southwest US can have as many as a dozen or more cases a year, but it's usually less. Stay away from prairie dogs.

 

[Airframes]

Fortunately, there are no prairie dogs where I live, although there are plenty of Hippocroccofrogs !!