COVID-19 updates

[Alan Klein]

Nah...not really man. I ain't the one that seems to have been f'd up by everyone around him...especially the "so called" experts.

Life's a bitch. Then you get a virus. I with you man. 

[Alan Klein]

Well, staying home we have all the time to watch the stock market tomorrow and see our retirement accounts dissipate.   DOW futures are down another 1000 points.


Plunging stock market futures hit ‘limit down’ — Here’s what that means

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/15/the-sp-500-futures-hit-limit-down-at-5-percent.html

[SharonVL]

Sorry...I'm out. You win. Let's all go hug our neighbours...screw all the people who have been studying pandemics and how they spread their whole lives...what do they know that we don't. Let's all follow Italy's lead...seems things worked out fine for them. Open up those American institutions like McDonalds, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts...let's all have a party.

All the experts now are related to Trump - God help us.

[Alan Klein]

All the experts now are related to Trump - God help us.

The Federal government's actions are limited by the constitution.  Most of the action is local. States, counties, and towns shut down restaurants, schools, etc and are affecting stringent rules, not Washington. The Fed can shut down interstate stuff as well as international including immigration and travel.  There are 50 states and thousands of various municipalities governments in the USA.  Each of then are deciding what to do within their territory.

[SharonVL]

The federal government ordered the screenings at airports that has left people crowded together for hours.

[JoeKitchen]

I was wondering how long it would take for a healthy amount of TDS to break out in this new topic.  About a day; it spreads fast.   

[Alan Klein]

The federal government ordered the screenings at airports that has left people crowded together for hours.

What's your point?

[Chris Kern]

Some promising in-vitro data for chloroquine also: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41422-020-0282-0
Considering chloroquine's availability and side profile I will use it for the serious cases.

Is there a mechanism for national (or international, for that matter) gathering of information about the clinical use and apparent effectiveness of existing antiviral drugs?  In other words, if many doctors experience good outcomes with a particular medication for patients who otherwise appeared to have poor prospects of recovery, is there a reporting mechanism to capture and aggregate that experience―and, presumably, make it available to other clinicians who are treating similarly-situated patients while more definitive controlled studies are conducted?

[LesPalenik]

I was wondering how long it would take for a healthy amount of TDS to break out in this new topic.  Less then a day; it spreads fast.   

Total Dissolved Solids or Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy?

[JoeKitchen]

Is there a mechanism for national (or international, for that matter) gathering of information about the clinical use and apparent effectiveness of existing antiviral drugs?  In other words, if many doctors experience good outcomes with a particular medication for patients who otherwise appeared to have poor prospects of recovery, is there a reporting mechanism to capture and aggregate that experience―and, presumably, make it available to other clinicians who are treating similarly-situated patients while more definitive controlled studies are conducted?

Are doctors allowed to prescribe drugs for non-approved diseases?  Do insurance companies and Medicare/Medicaid cover prescriptions for drugs for non-approved diseases? 

Back in January, the federal bureaucracy shut presumably preemptive testing down because labs being used were not approved for medical testing, only scientific testing, even though they have the ability.  Additionally, a flu study was in the process of being turned into a COVID19 study, but also shut down due to the test participants only waived their swabs to be tested for the flu, not COVID19. 

So I would not be surprised if bureaucracy screws us over a couple more times before this ends. 

[LesPalenik]

Has anyone heard/read any explanation for why Italy should be so hard hit?

I just watched CBC National, and they mentioned the following factors:
1. Italy was the one of the first European countries to get the virus and they were totally unprepared for it. Something like 2 weeks before the other EU countries.
2. Their Patient #1 was misdiagnosed and repeatedly turned away from the hospital, and subsequently he infected a number of people who then gave it to others.
3. Italy's population is the oldest in Europe and thus more susceptible to such virus infections
 
This explanation was given by an Italian doctor. He may have mentioned more reasons, but that's all I remember.

Sadly, Italy had on Sunday their deadliest Covid-19 day - 368 fatalities.

[JoeKitchen]

Total Dissolved Solids or Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy?

Neither. 

Just an over reliance on too many Tubular Date Systems with Time Driven Switching, which will lead us to The Downward Spiral and ultimately force us to utilize US Army Trial Defense Services. 

[Alan Klein]

Are doctors allowed to prescribe drugs for non-approved diseases?  Do insurance companies and Medicare/Medicaid cover prescriptions for drugs for non-approved diseases? 

Back in January, the federal bureaucracy shut presumably preemptive testing because labs being used were approved for medical testing, only scientific testing, even though they have the ability.  Additionally, a flu study way in the process of being turned into a COVID19 study, but also shut down due to the test  participants only approved their swabs be tested for the flu, no COVID19. 

So I would not be surprised if bureaucracy screws us over a couple more times before this ends. 

This should be the worse that happens. 

[Alan Klein]

I think this is all Millennium X's plan to get rid of us old fogies so they don;t have to pay our Social Security.   

[JoeKitchen]

I just watched CBC National, and they mentioned the following factors:
1. Italy was the one of the first European countries to get the virus and they were totally unprepared for it. Something like 2 weeks before the other EU countries.
2. Their Patient #1 was misdiagnosed and repeatedly turned away from the hospital, and subsequently he infected a number of people who then gave it to others.
3. Italy's population is the oldest in Europe and thus more susceptible to such virus infections
 
This explanation was given by an Italian doctor. He may have mentioned more reasons, but that's all I remember.

Similar thing happened in Washington.  After the CDC initially sent out some way too specific guidelines on who should be tested, and who should not, back in January, a sick man visited his doctor who just returned from Wuhan.  He did not fill the very specific criteria for testing, was not tested, turned away and later it was found out he had the virus. 

Rack another one up for bureaucracy and the experts.

Look on the bright side for Italy though, at least it's not a Hawaiian Pizza pandemic!    

(Just saw this and could not resist.)

[texshooter]

The question you need to ask yourself if you are over 65 is

When will everyone under 65 become so fed up with quarantines and economic shutdowns that they say, To hell with old people.




[Content may contain satire]

[LesPalenik]

Good composition. The girl is placed exactly at two thirds and the large shovel is balancing out nicely the big guy on the left side. The yellow dress complements beautifully girl's brown skin and the guys in forest green uniforms.

[kers]

...and the signs of Covid-19 are obvious !

[Jeremy Roussak]

Jeremy, I though Tylenol is acetaminophen.  Why is it more dangerous?

I believe it is, and I don't understand your question. More dangerous than what?

It's not problematic in Europe as it is sold behind the counter.  In the US this is not the case.  In addition it is formulated into a variety of cold and flu medications.  In the US, more patients die of drug induced liver injury from acetaminophen than any other drug, Rx or OTC.  It is also commonly used in suicides with referrals to emergency rooms with acetaminophen poisoning.  Sure this should be preventable by moving it behind the counter but that's not the way it is here.

In the UK, paracetamol is widely sold in corner shops and supermarkets as well as in pharmacies, both in "pure" form and as a component of proprietary cold and 'flu remedies. It's stacked on shelves, not "behind the counter". I've bought it in supermarkets in France, Italy and Spain, and I'd be very surprised if it weren't readily available in other countries too.

Like all effective drugs, it has side effects and like all effective drugs it's toxic, potentially lethal, in acute overdose. That doesn't make it "problematic"; and I've no idea what you imagine would be accomplished by "moving it behind the counter": anyone who wanted to acquire a lethal dose could simply go to more than one shop.

If you want a "remedy" that's absolutely safe, try homeopathy.

Jeremy

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Have you read none of the medical research and mathematical modeling on the benefits of flattening the curve, or are you just choosing to ignore it,...

I am perfectly aware of the concept of flattening the curve, I am just making a different choice between the options. Prolonged flattening will cause much more economic damage and ruined lives.