COVID-19 Coronavirus Information and Discussion

[Buddhabreath]

So here we are. Still no clear national plan and now we have an international air bridge manned by the armed forces bringing in vital materials from overseas due to our inability and lack of planning to produce them. What’s worse is that these government-procured, vital materials are then being turned over to private concerns rather than being distributed directly on a prioritized needs basis. Instead, states and federal agencies are bidding for resources against each other, driving up prices while some of these government procured materials are even sold back overseas. Apparently, profit and the free market are more important than human lives. Meanwhile the leadership responsible for this fiasco enjoys a nice bump up in the polls.

This type of thing happened in WW2 which is why the Truman Commission was created to provide oversight and put war profiteers in jail.

Any further comment on my part regardless of how factually or morally anchored in reality would probably result in my being banned so I will refrain from any further commentary on this point.

[dropforge]

^I agree.

[rdclark]

They've done phone contact tracing of cellphones of beach goers at Ft. Lauderdale during spring break, tracing their phones back to where they went after they left and correlating it to case of Covid that followed. You can see the gfrowth of viral infections rise as the phone carriers passed each area.

I’d love to see that source. I’ve read stories about tracing movements of spring breakers leaving Florida, showing how they disperse nationwide. (https://www.businessinsider.com/coro...tancing-2020-3) And other stories about individual outbreaks among students who came back from there. But none that tell the story as you describe it.

[Trane]

2 top French doctors said on live TV that coronavirus vaccines should be tested on poor Africans, leaving viewers horrified

https://www.businessinsider.com/coro...age-2020-4?amp

Well, it's of course risky because of racist slants that can be understood from such a statement (probably taken out of context and not well translated, most likely). Not the guys' attoney, though.

But in a way, it makes sense, because Africa is the only continent not yet really invaded. If you want to test wide-scale a vaccine, you can't start in a place that is totally infected, but rather in a place with only a dozen or so cases.

Furthermore, we can't read the article (coz there isn't one, just a title) and the others offered below read like sensational junk tabloid shit (including one about 1/4 of men not changing underwear daily).

[spellbound]

tracking cell phones of Florida spring breakers

[chalkpie]

Furthermore, we can't read the article (coz there isn't one, just a title).....

Yes you can....it's right here:

A discussion between two top French doctors on live TV left viewers horrified when they proposed that Africa should become a giant laboratory for coronavirus vaccine testing because the continent lacked the resources to defend against COVID-19.

In the segment broadcast on the French TV channel LCI, Jean-Paul Mira and Camille Locht raised the idea of testing new vaccines on impoverished African populations.

Mira is head of the intensive-care department at the Cochin Hospital in Paris, while Locht is the research director at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, known as Inserm.

"If I can be provocative," Mira said, "shouldn't we do this study in Africa where there are no masks, no treatment, no intensive care? A bit like we did in some studies on AIDS. We tried things on prostitutes because they are highly exposed and do not protect themselves."

Locht agreed, saying: "You are right. We are actually thinking of a parallel study in Africa to use with the same kind of approach with BCG placebos," referring to vaccination against tuberculosis that Inserm says has appeared to protect children against infections, particularly respiratory ones.

"We will in fact think seriously about it," he said.

The footage, broadcast Wednesday, triggered a deluge of outrage accusing the doctors of white colonial attitudes.

Several of Africa's leading soccer players, including the former Chelsea star Didier Drogba and the former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o, also tweeted their anger.

Drogba, who is from Ivory Coast, tweeted: "It is totally inconceivable we keep on cautioning this. Africa isn't a testing lab. I would like to vividly denounce those demeaning, false and most of all deeply racists words."

"Welcome to the West, where white people believe themselves to be so superior that racism and debility become commonplace," tweeted Ba, who is from Senegal. "Time to rise."

Inserm, ranked as the world's second-best research institution in the health sector, issued an official statement on Twitter saying the proposal had been "wrongly interpreted" and included the hashtag "#FakeNews."

On Thursday, there were more than 6,700 confirmed coronavirus cases and 229 deaths in Africa, with many countries imposing a range of preventive and containment measures against the spread of the pandemic, according to African health officials.

France alone has logged 59,105 infections and 5,387 deaths.

[Dana5140]

2 top French doctors said on live TV that coronavirus vaccines should be tested on poor Africans, leaving viewers horrified

I hate to tell you guys, but this is what happens now all the time anyway. Where do you think most AIDS drugs are tested first? There is a huge debate about this in the bioethics world- that the people who volunteer to develop the drugs (by being in clinical trials) should have access to the drugs they helped develop- which is often not what happens. And they argue that since getting nothing in some countries is the actual standard of care, you can test drugs there because at least half the group involved might benefit. Might being the operative word.

[Shadow]

Sirius XM is offering a free two weeks for stay-at-home folks. HBO NOW/HBO GO is free this weekend for a number of HBO series (but no dragons).

I noticed a couple channels are working now on Verizon that didn't before.

[Zeuhlmate]

The covid-19 blame game:
. https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/0...o-is-to-blame/

Sendt fra min BLA-L29 med Tapatalk

[ronmac]

I stopped eating out about 3-4 years ago. I cook all my meals and prepare my lunch for the work week. I miss the sports bars but that's the least of my concerns. I honestly couldn't care less about sports right now. We're in for a long haul. I don't care if NBA, MLB, and NFL are completely shut down until next year. I really feel bad for the regular joe's and jane's who've lost their employment. The hell with these athletes.

Keep in mind that real people are employed by those teams and the facilities where the games are played. My next door neighbors (both the husband and wife) work for the Pittsburgh Pirates and are both out of work. I did see that the league is giving each team like a million bucks or so to help their workers. Like you, I have no sympathy for the millionaires, but that is only a handful of the team's employees.

^I agree.

Me, too

General Motors offered to build respirators ten times as fast as the VenTec is building them now for cost. Because the "Orange Virus" doesn't like GM and the cities where they were going to build them the deal got nixed. That could have saved tens of thousands of lives. When are people going to be held accountable for what they aren't doing.

Hopefully, in November.

[Dana5140]

November is all that matters.

[markwoll]

My wife and I we to Wegmans this morning.
If that trip was any indication of how things are happening elsewhere, we ( US ) are screwed.
About 1/4-1/3 of the shoppers had mask or gloves. They were milling around like it was any Saturday.
Wegmans had things operating in an orderly fashion, except that they did not try to control the number of shoppers in the store.
They had tape marks on the floor every 6 feet and signs asking shoppers to keep a 'cart apart'.
I would divide the shoppers up as:
The mask and glove crew
The I'm just here for this one thing so I don't need protection
Clueless knobs that still don't know what is going on
People that believe it is all a hoax, "I'm just going to screw with the sheople.

I was a glove and mask guy. I'm probably not going back to that store, even if they have TP on sale.

[Trane]

store.jpg

Yes you can....it's right here:

Thx

I went back to the site via the link that was given and still haven't the way to get to it past the title and picture.

Oh well.

[markwoll]

It was reported to me that someone in my mothers assisted living ‘community’ tested positive ( 4/2/20 ).
They did not say if it was resident or staff.
The place has been on lockdown ( visitor wise ) for the last 5 weeks and restricted visiting a couple of weeks prior.
Not a warm fuzzy.

[Progatron]

It was reported to me that someone in my mothers assisted living ‘community’ tested positive ( 4/2/20 ).
They did not say if it was resident or staff.
The place has been on lockdown ( visitor wise ) for the last 5 weeks and restricted visiting a couple of weeks prior.
Not a warm fuzzy.

Assisted living communities around these parts have been major hot spots, and the virus has ripped through a couple of them, resulting in the deaths of numerous elderly residents. It's not a good scene.

I just saw that Anette Olzon (former Nightwish singer) lost her father today to the virus.

[Gruno]

From our TMI department: how many of you stay-at-homes are wearing sweat pants or pajamas all day. I only put on jeans or pants if I know I'm going out. I put on a pair of jeans today because I know I'm going to go dick around in the garage this morning but after that it's back to free ballin' in sweats.

I have a few pairs of cargo shorts that are tattered and comfy that I mainly use around the house for chores. Those now do me fine each day. I have a 6-pack of Costco white cotton t-shirts that I had washed and have sat in a drawer. I now wear one a day. Saves me wearing out good printed shirts.

I'm maintaining a somewhat normal schedule. I am trying not to veer off and develop awkward sleeping/eating patterns.

[Shadow]

" free ballin'"

Wasn't that a Tom Petty song.

[Zeuhlmate]

Marianne Faithfull hospitalised with coronavirus

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/...th-coronavirus

[Vic2012]

Keep in mind that real people are employed by those teams and the facilities where the games are played. .

That's true. I'm not insensitive about all the workers employed by sports franchises that are unemployed. I'm just tired of the hand wringing over whether teams should be playing in empty arenas or whatever.

[Zeuhlmate]

That's true. I'm not insensitive about all the workers employed by sports franchises that are unemployed. I'm just tired of the hand wringing over whether teams should be playing in empty arenas or whatever.

If you don't care who is playing...

Belarus Premier League may not be high-profile football, but it is still going despite coronavirus
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-...-know/12114220

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/52113851

[Top Cat]

I keep seeing posts on the internet about people wearing gloves to the grocery store, masks Yes! but gloves, I don't think so.
I've searched online and on the CDC website and I can't find anywhere where the CDC says to wear gloves when shopping, in fact I've found more articles saying they could be worse, and applying hand sanitizer before and after shopping and then washing hands when you get home is probably the best thing to do at this point.
That's what I do, apply hand sanitizer, wipe cart, shop, load groceries in car, apply sanitizer to hands and then wash my hands vigorously when I get home and then unload groceries and wash hands again.

I wish I could find clear and defining comments from the CDC where they actually suggest wearing gloves when shopping, but I can't, if someone can, I'd really appreciate a direct quote from the CDC because there is still a lot of different misinformation being passed on by people and media outlets who quote or have a guest on who provides different information(it seems everyone is an expert).
The one clear observation from most medical professionals is, don't touch your face, especially when shopping, whether you're wearing gloves or not.

Here is one link that addresses the glove question..https://www.menshealth.com/health/a3...cery-shopping/

Dr Fauci said as late as Mar 3, 2020 "Americans should cover their face if they have to go in public, but they should still stay isolated as much as possible".
I've yet to see any clear comments from the CDC recommending wearing gloves.

I'm not posting this to start a argument, just the opposite, and I'm not singling out any one person here. If you feel better about wearing gloves when grocery shopping, by all means do so.
It's just I've read posts on the internet, like Facebook where people are criticizing other people who they see in the store not wearing gloves, and I think that's because of the lack of information or misinformation that's out there.

I think at this point it's a personal choice, but for me, I feel more safe using the regime I posted earlier.

[markwoll]

I keep seeing posts on the internet about people wearing gloves to the grocery store, masks Yes! but gloves, I don't think so.
I've searched online and on the CDC website and I can't find anywhere where the CDC says to wear gloves when shopping, in fact I've found more articles saying they could be worse, and applying hand sanitizer before and after shopping and then washing hands when you get home is probably the best thing to do at this point.
That's what I do, apply hand sanitizer, wipe cart, shop, load groceries in car, apply sanitizer to hands and then wash my hands vigorously when I get home and then unload groceries and wash hands again.

I wish I could find clear and defining comments from the CDC where they actually suggest wearing gloves when shopping, but I can't, if someone can, I'd really appreciate a direct quote from the CDC because there is still a lot of different misinformation being passed on by people and media outlets who quote or have a guest on who provides different information(it seems everyone is an expert).
The one clear observation from most medical professionals is, don't touch your face, especially when shopping, whether you're wearing gloves or not.

Here is one link that addresses the glove question..https://www.menshealth.com/health/a3...cery-shopping/

Dr Fauci said as late as Mar 3, 2020 "Americans should cover their face if they have to go in public, but they should still stay isolated as much as possible".
I've yet to see any clear comments from the CDC recommending wearing gloves.

I'm not posting this to start a argument, just the opposite, and I'm not singling out any one person here. If you feel better about wearing gloves when grocery shopping, by all means do so.
It's just I've read posts on the internet, like Facebook where people are criticizing other people who they see in the store not wearing gloves, and I think that's because of the lack of information or misinformation that's out there.

I think at this point it's a personal choice, but for me, I feel more safe using the regime I posted earlier.

At this point in time CDC guidelines are lagging behind by a couple of weeks.
They are as tied up as Any governmental agency by the fear of speaking in contradiction to official dogma.

A mask serves a couple of purposes. To prevent the spray of stuff coming from You contaminating the space around You, and to provide some protection from the spray of others.
A mask also keeps your fingers from your mouth and nose, at least as long as you wear it.
Gloves isolate your hands from the local environment, specifically a grocery store where 60% of the people are not following current best practice.
Gloves go on after the mask and come off before the mask so that face contact ( that Will happen ) after I remove the mask will be what it was before the gloves went on.

I want this covid thing over as soon as possible. I will do what I have to do to keep me ( my family ) and those around me safe.

[Poisoned Youth]

I wish I could find clear and defining comments from the CDC where they actually suggest wearing gloves when shopping, but I can't...

Here is one link that addresses the glove question..https://www.menshealth.com/health/a3...cery-shopping/

I am not fond of that article because it does little more than plant a seed of doubt. That's really the takeaway. I do agree you should know how to take your gloves off and that you should be mindful that it's not a cure all.

The main reason I wear gloves when going grocery shopping myself has to do with the shopping cart. The number of times the cart is touched far outweighs the number of times any grocery item is touched during the stocking (and customer browsing) process. And that is far out of anyone's control to be able to quantify. Additionally, I don't really see any disadvantage or danger in doing so (not that I'm not open to a scientific argument about it).

I also find that with the gloves on, it stops me from touching my face (or other parts of my body). Once I take them off, I go right to the hand washing. And any time I have come back from a public place (work, store, etc.), I get a shower first thing.

But as you say, it is a good point to bring up that the CDC does not suggest you wear gloves. However, they do not say to avoid it (that I can tell). And that's the key - at least for now. This is helpful video that reinforces the best practices.

https://krcrtv.com/news/coronavirus/...r-safe-removal

[Poisoned Youth]

It's just I've read posts on the internet, like Facebook where people are criticizing other people who they see in the store not wearing gloves, and I think that's because of the lack of information or misinformation that's out there.

We live in the age of too much information, which is why it's so important to have consistent messaging come from trusted sources. The problem, at least in the USA, is that we have constantly been telling people to distrust institutions - government, media, scientists, educators, etc. for over a generation. This has been exacerbated by the internet and social media, driven primarily by small concerns and individuals who insist *they* know the truth and to trust *them*.

It's my hope that, as a result of this crisis, that people put more trust in the experts, those who have spent their lives devoted to the topic at hand (scientists, doctors, healthcare experts, statisticians, and even historians), and pay less credence to politicians, pundits, and your average loudmouth. Because what we need is clear, consistent messaging and information as well as (imo) compliance.

[Vic2012]

I was reluctant to wearing a mask but I'm all gloves and mask at the grocery stores now. I still see people not wearing masks and gloves at the stores who tend to be young (20 and 30 somethings). I found a package of painters masks in my tool shed so I guess I'm ok for just the grocery stores. I usually get one whole day out the latex gloves. I wash my gloved hands with soap then let the gloves dry out. Pretty soon I'll be out of hand sanitizer and isopropyl alcohol. I have plenty of paper towels and bleach though.