International Coronavirus Breaking News, v7: Iran released more than 54,000 prisoners to stop spread in jails

[Strychnine]

What already played out in Asia and then Europe is finally happening here. I'm confident that most supplies can and will be restocked relatively quickly though, since we do have a lot of our stuff made in Mexico these days, and a significant portion of our medical supplies are made right here in the USA.

I think South America is still playing it cool for now since there's no widespread infections and deaths down there yet. That's a good thing for the global supply chain.​

Coronavirus fears empty store shelves of toilet paper, bottled water, masks as shoppers stock up
By Kelly Tyko Jessica Guynn Mike Snider

​

On Thursday afternoon when Ryan Ozawa hit the Iwilei Costco next door to his office in Hawaii, he ran straight into a long line of carts stretching the length of the store as shoppers waited for toilet paper and paper towels.

Costco employees were limiting shoppers to five packages of each and hand loading them into carts. As pallet after pallet was cleaned out, one shopper at the end of the line shouted out "The end of the line for the toilet paper and paper towels is right here."

Ozawa had to give up and return Friday morning when the store opened to snag a stash of toilet paper and paper towels for himself and his co-workers. With so many of the state’s food and goods imported, panic buying is common whenever a hurricane or other emergency threatens Hawaii.

“Local health officials told us not to panic buy and not to freak out," Ozawa, 45, communications director for tech firm Hawaii Information Service, said, "and that was enough to get us to go out and buy everything.”

Similar scenes have played out across the country and around the globe in recent days as consumers, heeding warnings from health officials, equipped themselves with basic necessities in case the coronavirus spreads to their community.

Shoppers reported stocking up on medications, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizers, face masks, surgical gloves and pantry staples. Social media was filled with photos of shelves emptied of flats of bottled water.

Coronavirus threat could empty shelves

More widespread shortages could hit retailers in the coming weeks, experts warn, which could drive up prices.

"Further delays in the restart of production could begin to result in out-of-stocks at U.S. shelves as early as mid-April," Wells Fargo analysts wrote in a recent report.

Advice to consumers: If something is "mission critical" to your life, get it now, says Sam Polakoff, president and CEO at Nexterus Inc., which sources supplies for companies.

“If the price hasn’t increased yet, it probably will soon," he said. "Likely, prices will go up 25 to 30% temporarily.”

Retailers are wrestling with shortages as shoppers strip shelves, pushing suppliers to help them restock quickly. CVS said in a statement to USA TODAY that it is seeing increased demand for hand sanitizer and face masks but no "significant shortage" of disinfectant wipes and sprays.

Shortages won't be limited to basic necessities. Electronics, apparel and housewares, all of which are reliant on China, may also be affected, said Neil Saunders, managing director of Global Data, a retail consultancy.

If the outbreak is extensive and lasts into the second half of 2020, there could be shortages of apparel and back to school products. "We believe this could put the back to school season at risk for many U.S. based retailers," Cowen analysts said in a report.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...on-more-supply-shortages-expected/4903322002/

I'm glad that we in the thread planned ahead of time.

Dat price gouge doe!

 

[Arkain2K]

https://wgntv.com/news/illinois-health-officials-announce-new-case-of-coronavirus/

The Illinois Department of Health have announced that one Illinois resident has tested positive for coronavirus.

The positive test results will have to be confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab. The patient is hospitalized in isolation and CDC protocols have been implemented.
Edit: Looks like it was in Chicago.

Loyola University Chicago is bringing home all their students currently studying in Italy as well. Hopefully the outbreak in Italy hasn't got to them yet.

3rd case of coronavirus confirmed in Illinois, officials announce;
Loyola students in Italy told to return home
By Paige Fry , Chicago Tribune | Feb 29, 2020

​

A third confirmed case of coronavirus has been announced in Illinois, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

A test conducted in Illinois "resulted in presumptive positives for COVID-19" and was announced Saturday night by the state's public health department and the Cook County Department of Public Health. The positive test result will have to be confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab.

The patient is hospitalized in isolation, and CDC protocols have been implemented, according to officials.

Officials are trying to identify and monitor those who were within contact of the patient to reduce risk of transmission, officials said. The state of Illinois will request a CDC deploy team for assistance.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has requested that hospitals across the state implement additional testing to improve surveillance for the virus, officials said. Illinois was the first state to provide for testing, and the governor had announced Friday that two more labs in Springfield and Carbondale, in addition to the current state lab in Cook County, will be able to provide testing next week.

The two others who were infected with the virus in Illinois have since made a full recovery, officials said.

The news of the infected person in Illinois comes after the governor for the state of Washington announced a state of emergency Saturday following the first reported death of COVID-19 in the United States.

Also Saturday, saying it was a “very fluid’’ situation, all students studying at Loyola University Chicago’s John Felice Rome Center in Italy have been told they must return home by March 4.

The message, posted on Loyola’s website by a school director, was addressed to students, parents, faculty and staff at the Rome Center.

“With our students' wellbeing at the forefront of our decision-making and the newest directive from the U.S. government, Loyola University Chicago has decided to repatriate students studying in Italy at the JFRC and is asking all JFRC and partner school students to return home by Wednesday, March 4,’’ the director posted.

“Based on evolving U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, students re-entering the U.S. are required to stay in place at home for a 14-day observation period. In the event that any symptoms are noticed, students should seek immediate medical attention.’’

The school said it made the decision in part because of recent travel advisory changes put into effect by the U.S. State Department and the CDC.

According to the school, it would “help defray’’ the cost for those in need and realized this is a “disruption’’ in students’ academic semester.

“We are saddened and share your disappointment around this decision,’’ the post said. "This is a very fluid situation. We will do our best to keep everyone updated in the event that there are additional changes.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news...0200301-mwmx6kfnwbe3jkbxocah3pni2y-story.html

 

[BEER]

I read an article about how Lyft and Uber drivers are staying off the roads because of this new boogeyman.

Guess who has been nonstop busy for a few weeks, making buckets of money? Me.

Which leads to a fairly funny story, if I say so myself:

Today I picked up a girl who seemed to have some form of ADHD. She was very chatty (which I don't mind; honestly it sort of gets my brain and mouth going a mile a minute whenever a passenger seems to want to chat), but kind of scattered. Her first topic of conversation was girls who sell nudes and I had to double-check her age. She looked young but turned out to be a 19 year old Navy wife. Common here in Norfolk. It was a relatively long Uber ride. Around 20 minutes and 8 miles on surface streets. She was coughing quite a bit early in the ride and I jokingly asked if she had the coronavirus. She laughed at the weak attempt at humor and didn't cough for the rest of the ride.

Eventually, and naturally, conversation ended up on a friend of mine who passed on Thursday, Jeff Hewitt. And by friend, I mean "dickhead I used to argue with endlessly over the nuances of leftist politics. And by "passed", I mean "ran over by a box truck that blew a stop sign at 40 miles an hour in a residential area, obliterating him on his beloved moped".

I didn't get overly emotional. The night he died, a reporter came to the bar where people were gathering to hoist a few beers in his honor, and somehow ended up talking to me. @HulkOnViagra would have been proud of my sheer alcohol consumption that night, even if I'm trying NOT to drink. I must have been 10-15 beers and a few shots in at that point when the Virginian Pilot Online reporter asked me about my relationship with Jeff.

I won't quote it, but even in the report, it was very clear that the dude was struggling to find a nice quote from me. I genuinely loved the dude, but alive or dead, I knew he wouldn't be happy if I tried to be flowery about our "friendship". I named his name and the publication if anyone is interested in googling it. He was a very prominent poet in the Hampton Roads area, since the 90's. He won't be hard to find. If you find the article, you'll see that I (who has been doxxed on this site for other reasons in the past, and don't give a shit if you know my full name) was hard to mine for a quote. I vaguely remember talking to this dude and probably called Jeff a dickhead and a cunt 10 times.

I went to a vigil at a poetry venue that he built the stage for. Metaphorically, as in he was almost singularly responsible for growing and promoting the local poetry scene through the 90's and early 2000's. But also physically: He literally built the stage by hand, 12 years ago. I was nervous to speak. It was organized last-minute. It was overcrowded. Maybe 200 people in a room meant to hold 50. Surely a violation of some sort. A sheet of notebook paper for people to sign up to speak if they wished to say some words. I was the seventh person on the list.

Hearing everyone speak, sing, recite Jeff's poetry or even their own in eulogy, I grew anxious. Badly. I had no more Xanax to calm nerves. The rest of my stash had been used to help me function after drinking heavily until 4am the previous morning. Everyone had such flowery and lovely things to say about Jeff. He was uncompromising in his politics, and championed local progressive candidates all along the way. He was a sweet guy who would help you through a writer's block by using his conversational skills to get you to express yourself until the moment you said the words that became a eureka moment: Everything you wanted to put on paper, you had just said to Jeff. He loved his two kids. He left behind one daughter and an adopted son. 17 and 12 if my math holds up.

I got up on stage. Everyone had been looking fondly on the man, and I started my personal story with the truth everyone had been afraid to say at that point:

"Jeff was a dickhead". The room was silent, briefly. Then it filled with laughter, because everyone who knew Jeff knew it was true. My entire relationship with him was arguments. Not debates or friendly conversations. Arguments. We'd start friendly and end with a handshake or a hug, but the middle bits would be full of piss and vinegar. I told a few stories about Jeff on that stage, and for the first time, the room lightened up a little. A bit more laughter and a bit less crying. People hearing about Jeff as a human and not just a warm corpse really opened up the room. And I was terrified of speaking that truth before anyone, but I'm glad I did. Jeff would be FURIOUS if I stepped on that stage, in particular, and only said flowery bullshit about him. A few 'doggers have met me in real life. I used to hang out with @fingercuffs IRL when she briefly lived a few miles away. I think I may have met @oldshadow at one of her shindigs, but I may be thinking of the wrong crotchety old bastard. @Fawlty and I used to have phone chats, and also users who have long since abandoned the site.

Any of them could tell you: I'm not your friend at your funeral. Especially if you want people to deify you. Jeff? He wouldn't have wanted that. I shoot straight and I shot straight with a crowd of 200+ people, most of whom I'd never seen. He had a lot of clout and lot of friends from a lot of backgrounds. I was only privy to a small portion. I once drove him and his cat to an emergency vet, because all he owned for transportation was that fucking moped. Of course that piece of shit would die on a Thursday and ruin all of our weekends.








And all of that spilled out of me to this girl I had never met, who was in my car for a short period of time but I've been carrying it and it was a set of ears eagerly ready to listen.

When I got her home, I thanked her and told her it was nice to meet her.

But I couldn't help myself. Before she could close the door, I called back to her coughing from earlier in the ride. It felt like a lifetime ago after letting out some of my pent-up emotion about a friend who survived a meth addiction and died on a fucking scooter. I couldn't help myself.

"And thanks for the coronavirus!"

Without missing a beat, and with a look on her face that was weirdly contorted; between absolute pride and absolute terror: "You're welcome, you'll be seeing Jeff very soon!"

For a moment, her face was frozen in that expression. Not sure whether or not I would take that joke well. And by "a moment", I mean for the fraction of a second it took me to just start laughing. It was gloriously morbid. I had poured a part of my soul onto this random poor girl and she spit it in my face in a way that could only be taken with a heavy dose of humor.

God bless the Coronavirus for making that quip possible today.

And bless any Sherdogger who got through this story. I only just now realize that it was my drunken way of eulogizing a man I barely liked, but dearly loved.

RIP Jeff Hewitt, a man it's unlikely anyone on Sherdog would know existed if it weren't for a savage coronavirus joke. I will miss you, but mostly because your absence means a lack of your cereal to piss in at the cafe in the morning. You fucking dickhead.

 

[PHATV]

So we went to Costco today to hoard up on more supplies. Get this... a dude pulled up with a freaking horse trailer and was loading pallet after pallet of food into it. Wish I had a horse trailer.

I was going to go to Costco later today, but I may take a pass and go after work one day this week. Sounds like madness this weekend there. Someone else mentioned that earlier.

 

[Deleted member 555403]

Imagine bragging about making a cheap buck on masks

Rest in Power Jeff Hewitt

 

[PHATV]

SICK POPE CANCELS EVENTS THIRD DAY IN ROW...

Germany to Intensify Border Checks...

Carnivals, cars, concerts: Swiss crack down...

London's Worst-Case Plan Includes Hyde Park Morgue...

Local spread of virus marks turning point in USA...
WEST COAST ON ALERT...
DEATH IN WASHINGTON STATE...
Fear at nursing facility; 50+ sick...
Suspected patient isolated in NJ...
Wall Street preps for possible shutdown of trading floor...
TRUMP: DON'T PANIC...
Inside White House's frantic attempts to minimize crisis...
Grocers Prepare for Surge in Demand...
'Empty Shelves In TARGET, WALMART Early As April'...
French Urged to Stop Cheek-to-Cheek Kisses...
China officials knew of coronavirus, ordered cover-up...
Spreads in prisons...
'Psychosis' in Milan...
Empty streets, economic turmoil as virus alters daily life...
Americans canceling domestic travel...
What End Game Will Look Like...

 

[JDragon]

Terminology:

Sars-CoV-2 = HIV
and
Covid-19 = Aids?

 

[Stoic1]

Thisisfinedog.gif

 

[Arkain2K]

Coronavirus: baby in South Korea infected as US, Australia and Thailand report first deaths
Total cases in South Korea reach 3,526, but estimates of 4,200 infections among Shincheonji church members alone

South Korea said its total number of infections stood at 3,526 as of Sunday morning, and reported its youngest patient so far, a 45-day-old boy whose father is a follower of the Shincheonji religious sect.

Health authorities said on Sunday that the boy had tested positive, three days after his father did so. The baby and his mother had entered self-quarantine at their house in Gyeongsan.

The country’s officials warned that a large number of additional new cases were expected to be reported in Daegu, the epicentre of its outbreak, where the sect is located.

The health authorities said they had surveyed 88 per cent of the 210,000 followers of the church, and about 2 per cent of them (about 4,200 people) had shown symptoms, Yonhap News Agency reported.

South Korea on Saturday reported its first case of reinfection by the coronavirus. A 73-year-old woman, who had been discharged from hospital a week earlier after apparently making a full recovery, began showing symptoms again on Thursday and was found to be infected again on Friday.

Thailand’s first death

Thailand has recorded its first coronavirus death, a 35-year-old man who also had dengue fever, Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen, director general of the country’s Department of Disease Control, said on Sunday.

The country has recorded 42 infected people since January, of whom 30 have recovered and 11 are still being treated in hospital, according to the department.

Australia reports cruise ship passenger has died

Australia has reported its first coronavirus death, a 79-year-old man from Perth. He was reportedly among the 164 Australians who recently returned from Japan after being quarantined aboard the
Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Australia has reported at least 24 infections.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week said the country considered the coronavirus to be a pandemic, going a step beyond the World Health Organisation, as he extended a travel ban on visitors from China.

First fatality in the US

The United States on Saturday reported its first death from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The death, in the northwestern Washington state, followed confirmation by US health authorities of the country’s first community outbreak – cases involving people who have not recently travelled to countries hit by the illness or had known contact with a person known to be infected. Two such cases were confirmed in California and one in Oregon.

Washington state’s governor Jay Inslee declared an emergency that directed all state agencies “to use all resources necessary to prepare for and respond to the outbreak”.

In response to the growing number of cases domestically, US Vice-President Mike Pence announced new measures including “expanding existing travel restrictions on Iran” to deny entry to any non-US citizen who has been in the Middle Eastern country in the preceding 14 days, and issuing “do not travel” warnings for areas of Italy and South Korea that have Covid-19 cases.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/soc...-south-korea-expects-surge-shincheonji-church

 

[Arkain2K]

I'm glad that we in the thread planned ahead of time.

Dat price gouge doe!

Yeah, these opportunistic bastards clearly planned it well-head for their profitable eBay enterprise while the rest of us just got enough for our family. I remember @Jfrizzle mentioned back in v5 that there were people who called his wife's shop and tried to order them by the thousands!

Terminology:

Sars-CoV-2 = HIV
and
Covid-19 = Aids?

Correct.

From the OP:

The 2019 novel coronavirus is now named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), while the disease associated with it is referred to as COVID-19 ("CO" for "Corona", "VI" for "Virus", and "D" for Disease).

Formerly, this disease was referred to as “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV.”​

 

[French Canadian]

More and more it feels like people overreacting is more dangerous than the actual virus. At first I was very worried and had the "better safe than sorry" attitude. But now it really seems like this virus ain't much. You have way more chance of dying from a car crash or while crossing the streets than by this virus, yet people don't go crazy over that.

 

[Arkain2K]

More and more it feels like people overreacting is more dangerous than the actual virus. At first I was very worried and had the "better safe than sorry" attitude. But now it really seems like this virus ain't much. You have way more chance of dying from a car crash or while crossing the streets than by this virus, yet people don't go crazy over that.

What a peculiar zig-zag way of thinking.

People don't "go crazy" about the possibility of getting in a car crash or getting killed while crossing the street. They just buy health/car/life insurance and get on with it. Why do they have insurance even if they don't really need it yet? Because it is better to safe than sorry.

Whether spending a couple bucks for some ramen that they'll end up eating later for snack, or getting some cheap masks that they'll end up using later while doing maintenance around the house, or spending a couple thousand dollars to buy insurance that they might need later if they ever get severely injured or die in an accident, are considered to be "overreactions" or "go crazy" is open for interpretation. Logic says it's not.

Personally, I don't think you're crazy to buy full-coverage auto insurance even if you have a perfect driving record, nor do I think it is an overreaction for you to have health insurance even if you have perfect health. That's just smart thinking, just like the very-sane people who already made preparation for their family weeks before disaster actually hits their town.

 

[French Canadian]

People don't "go crazy" about the possibility of getting in a car crash or getting killed while crossing the street. They just buy health/car/life insurance and get on with it. Because it is better to safe than sorry.

Whether spending a couple bucks for some ramen that they'll end up eating later for snack, or getting some cheap masks that they'll end up using later while doing maintenance around the house, or spending a couple thousand dollars to buy insurance that they might need later if they ever get severely injured or die in an accident, are considered to be "overreactions" or "go crazy" is open for interpretation. Logic says it's not.

Personally, I don't think it's crazy to buy car insurance even with a perfect driving record, nor it is an overreaction to have heath/life insurance even with perfect health, much less dropping a few dollars on some essential supplies that they WILL end up using later anyway. Why do you?

Putting whole regions on quarantine & crashing the markets =/= buying insurance in case people die from car crashes.

 

[Khabib Fan]

https://www.dw.com/en/africa-has-been-spared-so-far-from-coronavirus-why/a-52382666

Africa has been spared so far from coronavirus. Why?

Some 24 countries apart from China have registered cases of the coronavirus, now officially named COVID-19. None of them are in Africa, despite the increasingly tight links between the two regions. DW explores why.


About 2 million Chinese live and work on the African continent. Africans are also increasingly visiting China for business and study.

Before the novel coronavirus outbreak — which is centered on China's Hubei region and its provincial capital of Wuhan — about eight flights a day operated between China and African nations.

Chinese travelers made up the biggest group of customers on Ethiopian Airlines, Africa's largest carrier, according to Quartz Africa.

This booming travel between China and Africa is a possible route for transmission of the new coronavirus, which has killed 1,369 people and infected 46,997 globally, according to the latest WHO figures.

So why has Africa been spared so far?

Limited testing

A simple explanation, say public health experts, could be that the continent simply hasn't had the ability to detect cases up until now.

As of late last week, only two African countries — Senegal and South Africa — had laboratories capable of testing and confirming samples for the virus.

"We can't tell if we have had cases of the novel coronavirus and are missing them; perhaps these cases have come and we didn't detect them," said Isaac Ngere, a Kenyan-based researcher specializing in the outbreak of diseases.

Yeah, but they have a new virus of their own that bloats people and makes their eyes bleed before they die.

 

[Arkain2K]

Putting whole regions on quarantine & crashing the markets =/= buying insurance in case people die from car crashes.

Exactly which regional quarantine do you think is amount to an "overreaction"?

The dozen Chinese provinces from whence the epidemic is spreading all over Asia, or the dozen Italian towns from whence the infections are spreading through Europe and beyond?

Or perhaps both are overreactions and they should have just let it spread all over the world like the seasonal flu does (something that kill between 290,000 and 650,000 people each year), only that Covid-19 is 10 times deadlier and twice as contagious as the flu, minus all the behavioral predictability and readily-available prescribed treatments and cheap vaccinations for the flu.

For example, just days ago, we found that that this new coronavirus can also infect dogs. It's the completely unknowns like that that made it crucial to keep this new epidemic contained, when we knows next to nothing about it's behaviors, excepts that it's incredibly contagious and lethal if there's no hospitalization for pneumonia.

According to the CDC, the seasonal flu has already caused an estimated 26 million illnesses, 250,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths in the U.S alone this past season. What will happen when a Covid epidemic and a Flu season collide? Where are you planning to house all the millions of patients infected with Covid, the flu, or both?

Sure, the stock market is taking a beating, but how would that compare to the economic catastrophe that would happen if hundreds of millions of people are simultaneously immobilized all around the world, as no healthcare system are big enough to take care of entire countries falling sick?

And that's why quarantine is neither "crazy" nor it is an "overreaction".

----

Yes, it is worse than the flu: busting the coronavirus myths
Hannah Devlin | Sat 29 Feb 2020

Claim: ‘It is no more dangerous than winter flu’
Many individuals who get coronavirus will experience nothing worse than seasonal flu symptoms, but the overall profile of the disease, including its mortality rate, looks more serious. At the start of an outbreak the apparent mortality rate can be an overestimate if a lot of mild cases are being missed. But this week, a WHO expert suggested that this has not been the case with Covid-19. Bruce Aylward, who led an international mission to China to learn about the virus and the country’s response, said the evidence did not suggest that we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg. If borne out by further testing, this could mean that current estimates of a roughly 1% fatality rate are accurate. This would make Covid-19 about 10 times more deadly than seasonal flu, which is estimated to kill between 290,000 and 650,000 people a year globally.

Claim: ‘It only kills the elderly, so younger people can relax’
Most people who are not elderly and do not have underlying health conditions will not become critically ill from Covid-19. But the illness still has a higher chance of leading to serious respiratory symptoms than seasonal flu and there are other at-risk groups – health workers, for instance, are more vulnerable because they are likely to have higher exposure to the virus. The actions that young, healthy people take, including reporting symptoms and following quarantine instructions, will have an important role in protecting the most vulnerable in society and in shaping the overall trajectory of the outbreak.

Claim: ‘Face masks don’t work’
Wearing a face mask is not an iron clad guarantee that you won’t get sick – viruses can also transmit through the eyes and tiny viral particles, known as aerosols, can still penetrate masks. However, masks are effective at capturing droplets, which is the main transmission route of coronavirus, and some studies have estimated a roughly five-fold protection versus no barrier. If you are likely to be in close contact with someone infected, a mask cuts the chance of the disease being passed on. If you’re just walking around town and not in close contact with others, wearing a mask is unlikely to make any difference.

Claim: ‘You need to be with an infected person for 10 minutes’
For flu, some hospital guidelines define exposure as being within six feet of an infected person who sneezes or coughs for 10 minutes or longer. However, it is possible to be infected with shorter interactions or even by picking the virus up from contaminated surfaces, although this is thought to be a less common route of transmission.

Claim: ‘A vaccine could be ready within a few months’
Scientists were quick out of the gates in beginning development of a vaccine for the new coronavirus, helped by the early release of the genetic sequence by Chinese researchers. The development of a viable vaccine continues apace, with several teams now testing candidates in animal experiments. However, the incremental trials required before a commercial vaccine could be rolled out are still a lengthy undertaking – and an essential one to ensure that even rare side-effects are spotted. A commercially available vaccine within a year would be quick.

Claim: ‘If a pandemic is declared, there is nothing more we can do to stop the spread’
A pandemic is defined as worldwide spread of a new disease – but the exact threshold for declaring one is quite vague. In practice, the actions being taken would not change whether or not a pandemic is declared. Containment measures are not simply about eliminating the disease altogether. Delaying the onset of an outbreak or decreasing the peak is crucial in allowing health systems to cope with a sudden influx of patients.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/29/worse-than-flu-busting-coronavirus-myths

 

[Rockapotomuss]

More and more it feels like people overreacting is more dangerous than the actual virus. At first I was very worried and had the "better safe than sorry" attitude. But now it really seems like this virus ain't much. You have way more chance of dying from a car crash or while crossing the streets than by this virus, yet people don't go crazy over that.

That seems true. But what no one can explain is why China locked down Wuhan when there were less than 800 cases and very few deaths. President Xi said he was personally involved since January 21, when there were less than 300 cases. So either China was full of shit and trying to scare people, or China knows this thing is deadlier than it seems.

 

[MusterX]

BBC Persian contacted each hospital directly in the Coronavirus Incubator of the Middle East and tallied up the numbers themselves to see if Iran is lying.

Surprise, surprise.

The number of confirmed deaths by the Coronavirus in Iran is more than SIX TIMES higher than the official numbers published by the Health Ministry in Tehran. Iran immediately and angrily accuses the BBC of "spreading lies".

The WHO is sending a team to Iran tomorrow to help, but I don't expect Tehran to suddenly be any more honest (at least anymore than Beijing) just because the WHO is there to see them cook the stats.

Coronavirus: Iran's deaths at least 210, hospital sources say
By Kasra Naji, BBC Persian | 28 February 2020

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51673053

If true its scary because to me, it means the virus has mutated or something and is more deadly. People might claim its because they have shitty hospitals but if its a "mild virus" then you don't need all this heavy hospital work because only a small percentage of people will need care and even then, its a virus, meaning not curable, all the hospital can do is give you oxygen, stuff like that. I'm very concerned about the death rate in Iran.

 

[MusterX]

If it’s in Illinois, then there are at LEAST dozens of cases in the US. We just aren’t testing.

I'm betting by now dozens is not even remotely accurate. Hundreds, maybe thousands already and they are going to become known at some point.

 

[MusterX]

agreed. San Francisco is by far the worst major city by a mile.

Oh, don't worry, the Unite States has several cities made entirely from shit. Ever heard of Baltimore or Detroit? And don't get me going about the entire state of Louisiana, its the armpit of America.

 

[Rob Battisti]

I'm betting by now dozens is not even remotely accurate. Hundreds, maybe thousands already and they are going to become known at some point.

sorry yeah I think that’s what I was trying to say last night. Agreed. We just aren’t testing right now to know.