COVID-19 Links, facts and discussion. Politics and hyperbole welcome.

[JohnCushman]

I have another question......

When the US gets more testing kits available, how are they going to prioritize who gets tested first? I just saw an article that a TSA worker has tested positive. I saw a local supermarket employee has tested positive. What worries me about TSA is they are touching people all day long and there are thousands of these employees. Also, it seems that people who cook or stock or deal with food in any way should be tested. What about police, ems, doctors, nurses.....? There are so many demographics that put the general public in jeopardy, but how do they plan on dealing with testing as new kits become available?

I deeply apologize for posting two serious posts in a row, especially on one thread.

 

[VikingsGuy]

Take this for what you will.

No, You Won't Catch The New Coronavirus Via Packages Or Mail From China

Experts in infectious disease say viruses such as the novel coronavirus don't survive long on surfaces, and there's no evidence from similar outbreaks that anyone got infected by handling a package.

www.npr.org

I agree virus won't be shipped from china - I guess to open question still is if you UPS guy sneezes into his hands and delivers your package at noon, it is contagious at 12:15 when you take it off the door step? Who, knows. At this point I am guessing low risk, but just a guess. If I was healthy I wouldn't worry about it, if I had autoimmune disease I would probably leave the package out over night.

 

[VikingsGuy]

I have another question......

When the US gets more testing kits available, how are they going to prioritize who gets tested first? I just saw an article that a TSA worker has tested positive. I saw a local supermarket employee has tested positive. What worries me about TSA is they are touching people all day long and there are thousands of these employees. Also, it seems that people who cook or stock or deal with food in any way should be tested. What about police, ems, doctors, nurses.....? There are so many demographics that put the general public in jeopardy, but how do they plan on dealing with testing as new kits become available?

I deeply apologize for posting two serious posts in a row, especially on one thread.

To be seen, but seems logical.

 

[Hunting Wife]

I have another question......

When the US gets more testing kits available, how are they going to prioritize who gets tested first? I just saw an article that a TSA worker has tested positive. I saw a local supermarket employee has tested positive. What worries me about TSA is they are touching people all day long and there are thousands of these employees. Also, it seems that people who cook or stock or deal with food in any way should be tested. What about police, ems, doctors, nurses.....? There are so many demographics that put the general public in jeopardy, but how do they plan on dealing with testing as new kits become available?

I deeply apologize for posting two serious posts in a row, especially on one thread.

CDC has been updating this page on guidance for testing priorities. I think this is going to evolve continually as more tests become available and the situation changes. But keep in mind that these guidelines are going to be reactionary.

https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2020/han00429.asp

 

[JohnCushman]

CDC has been updating this page on guidance for testing priorities. I think this is going to evolve continually as more tests become available and the situation changes. But keep in mind that these guidelines are going to be reactionary.

https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2020/han00429.asp

Thank you

 

[Paul in Idaho]

This is from preliminary research released on March 13. It hasn't yet been peer-reviewed.

We found that viable virus could be detected in aerosols up to 3 hours post aerosolization, up to 4 hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to 2-3 days on plastic and stainless steel.

Source: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v1.full.pdf

An article with a description of the study results and an interview with one of the authors is at https://www.npr.org/sections/health...surfaces-for-2-3-days-heres-how-to-clean-them

---
update - it appears revised versions of the study with more technical details have been added. Newest version can be downloaded from the right column of https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217

 

[VikingsGuy]

This is from preliminary research released on March 13. It hasn't yet been peer-reviewed.

Source: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v1.full.pdf

An article with a description of the study results and an interview with one of the authors is at https://www.npr.org/sections/health...surfaces-for-2-3-days-heres-how-to-clean-them

---
update - it appears revised versions of the study with more technical details have been added. Newest version can be downloaded from the right column of https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217

Good data. Also, there is a difference between detectable, viable and infectivity. Infectivity is the answer we really need, but it will take a while to get good data correlating viability and infectivity. Detectable isn't that helpful for this question.

 

[Sytes]

I have another question......

When the US gets more testing kits available, how are they going to prioritize who gets tested first? I just saw an article that a TSA worker has tested positive. I saw a local supermarket employee has tested positive. What worries me about TSA is they are touching people all day long and there are thousands of these employees. Also, it seems that people who cook or stock or deal with food in any way should be tested. What about police, ems, doctors, nurses.....? There are so many demographics that put the general public in jeopardy, but how do they plan on dealing with testing as new kits become available?

I deeply apologize for posting two serious posts in a row, especially on one thread.

Can not speak for TSA though in other theaters of activity involved with the public, nitrile gloves, 73% alcohol, germicidal disposable cloth, face masks, etc are a theme involved. I'd imagine all stops are taken with Union pushing Fed Gov't to provide all tools to minimize risk to public servants ergo minimizing risk to the general public.

 

[SAJ-99]

Is there a chart out of when the us started testing, how many has been tested?

Forgive me if I missed it but suspect that the huge uptick of positive test results is because we have just started really testing for it.

I agree with the guys that this has been on our shores for several months now.

Data is updated multiple times everyday.

United States COVID - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer

United States Coronavirus update with statistics and graphs: total and new cases, deaths per day, mortality and recovery rates, current active cases, recoveries, trends and timeline.

www.worldometers.info

 

[Scrappy]

Data is updated multiple times everyday.

United States COVID - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer

United States Coronavirus update with statistics and graphs: total and new cases, deaths per day, mortality and recovery rates, current active cases, recoveries, trends and timeline.

www.worldometers.info

I'm looking for the number of people that has been tested as well as when they were tested? I don't see that in the link.

Seems like if we could see how many are being tested compared to the number of positive test results would give us a real clear clue of how bad this is or not.

 

[SAJ-99]

I'm looking for the number of people that has been tested as well as when they were tested? I don't see that in the link.

Seems like if we could see how many are being tested compared to the number of positive test results would give us a real clear clue of how bad this is or not.

CDC website.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China.

www.cdc.gov

 

[VikingsGuy]

Is there a chart out of when the us started testing, how many has been tested?

Forgive me if I missed it but suspect that the huge uptick of positive test results is because we have just started really testing for it.

I agree with the guys that this has been on our shores for several months now.

It is possible a few cases were here in late Jan and could have been misdiagnosed as Influenza, but since Jan most international travelers with critical illness have been being tested so not a "hidden norm" that is just now being tested for. If there were in fact cases as early as Dec, that is worse news as it means we are even closer in time for having this blow up if you look at how infections promulgate in these situations. There is no chance this is just "normal" illness levels being now labelled as Corona virus via testing if that is the implication - as it has been some who are pushing this narrative (I am not suggesting that you are).

 

[hossblur]

It is possible a few cases were here in late Jan and could have been misdiagnosed as Influenza, but since Jan most international travelers with critical illness have been being tested so not a "hidden norm" that is just now being tested for. If there were in fact cases as early as Dec, that is worse news as it means we are even closer in time for having this blow up if you look at how infections promulgate in these situations. There is no chance this is just "normal" illness levels being now labelled as Corona virus via testing if that is the implication - as it has been some who are pushing this narrative (I am not suggesting that you are).

They've traced it yo Nov 18, just about patient 0.

With its RO, i think it's pretty safe to say it's been here a month or so longer tgan anyone knew.

There are a lot of business fliers out of WUHAN daily(or were).

In time I imagine they will start looking at Dec flu deaths in US and see it. There was a ton of international stuff in Silicon Valley with holidays and fiscal year ends.

But a lot of outlets are now reporting Nov 18 was first documented case.

 

[VikingsGuy]

I am not disagreeing in theory to earlier transmission. Was reacting to some on the internet suggesting that this somehow proves it to be no big deal.

 

[Scrappy]

CDC website.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China.

www.cdc.gov

Seem like what I was thinking isn't really possible if you have to meet the criteria before they test you. The only way to get a percentage of positive test results is to test everyone and I just can't get behind doing that at this point. I still believe if your sick self quarantine. Unless you need medical help. I would make a terrible doc. I would be cussing out all the idiots coming to the er for a sniffle.

 

[Trial153]

"..........


https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/

 

[SAJ-99]

Seem like what I was thinking isn't really possible if you have to meet the criteria before they test you. The only way to get a percentage of positive test results is to test everyone and I just can't get behind doing that at this point. I still believe if your sick self quarantine. Unless you need medical help. I would make a terrible doc. I would be cussing out all the idiots coming to the er for a sniffle.

Yes. The testing criteria has “evolved”. There are more testing kits now so we should get more positives, but the percentage of positives should go down. I like to look at the Daily New Cases graph on the first website. We need that to level off. Look at China’s numbers and compare the trend lines to determine where we are.
Wife is ER dr so I can confirm that flu season is in full force. Add to that just normal Emergencies and the hospitals are running at capacity, and that is an area with minimal C-19 cases. We have to Flatten the Curve and the only way to do that is to sit at home and watch TV and count our rolls of TP.

 

[Nameless Range]

Redirecting

www-independent-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[SAJ-99]

I will add some real life example. Any patient that comes into the ER with flu-like symptoms has to approached like it is C-19. All professionals should put on protective gear and such. If this isn’t done and the patient test positive for C-19, the healthcare professionals that came in contact with patient may have to be quarantined, adding more stress to the system. The problem with the gear is it slows everything down- taking on and off. If another patient comes in with a heart attack while the ER team are in their protective gear, valuable time may be lost. This is why the WHO and CDC said “don’t go to the Dr, call first” if you think you have it. Rules may vary depending on if the hospital is in a high-infection area vs an area with no or few cases.
I hear that one of the Dr in Seattle area that saw one of the first cases is now hospitalized. Healthcare professionals are the first line of defense in this and they are certainly at a higher risk.

 

[Dave N]

Gov. Mike DeWine orders the closing of all Ohio restaurants and bars, carry-out to still be available

The order will take effect at 9 p.m. Sunday evening.

www.wkyc.com