COVID-19/Coronavirus Information and Support Thread (see OP for useful links)

[Famine]

I wonder if the US could offer something similar to war bonds to finance these recovery efforts? I'd take some 3% bonds.

Each one you buy is a bullet in the barrel of your best guy's gun...

 

[DesertPenguin]

Those were some expensive bullets!

 

[Joey D]

Come on Joey, give us all a break. Was it a mess? Yes. Could they have done a better job? Probably. But again, this wasn't something that Congress could sit around debating and fine tuning for months on end. They were under pressure to start dispersing funds immediately. If they had really developed an iron clad piece of legislation that took all contingencies into account we'd still be waiting for approval. And imagine the uproar in that case. And in the end, people would still find loopholes.

It's clear you've set your mind to the notion that Government is incompetent. But to absolve the banks of any wrong doing because the legislation is poorly written is turning a blind eye to what's really happening out there.

For starters, they could've put a tad more thought into how the bill was worded, particularly this part:

During this period, in addition to a small business, any business, nonprofit organization, veterans organization, or tribal business is eligible to receive a paycheck protection loan if it employs fewer than 500 employees or the applicable SBA size standard for the relevant industry. In addition, individuals who operate as a sole proprietor or as an independent contractor, as well as certain self-employed individuals, are eligible to receive a paycheck protection loan.

Anyone in Congress who didn't think this would get badly abused has their head in the clouds. Putting the criteria as 500 employees or less is super vague and not very helpful. As a result, you have a company like Shake Shack, that has over $100 million cash on hand, able to get a loan. Congress could've just put in there "no publically traded companies are eligible" or something to the effect and it would've significantly reduced the number of large companies getting the loan.

And I never said the banks were right or not in the wrong, I said they were acting within the confines of the law. I don't agree with what they're doing, but at the same time, they're legally allowed to be shady.

 

[McLaren]

The fact that the Lakers got this means that other sports teams/organizations did. All of the heads of sport should be looking into what the teams are doing with their books.

According to this article, the Lakers actively pursued the loan, so I wonder if it's publicly available to see if any other team applied as well.

The Lakers applied for the loan under the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, a part of the federal government’s $2.2 trillion stimulus package. The Lakers’ request was granted in the first round of distribution, but after the fund ran out of money in less than two weeks, the team returned its loan, as did several wealthier business including Shake Shack and AutoNation.

The Lakers qualified for the program because they have only about 300 employees. But the team is thought to be the NBA’s second-most valuable franchise, with Forbes estimating a value of roughly $4 billion.

https://time.com/5828235/los-angeles-lakers-stimulus-paycheck-protection-program-coronavirus/

Completely agree heads like Adam Silver should be looking into this, & imo, should have never allowed any major team to apply for the loan. I added this second quote that proves Joey's above point about the criteria vagueness. What's disgusting is that they only gave it back after the funds for the program depleted and they were reportedly approved in the "first round of distribution". As Mark Cuban said about Shake Shack, they didn't give the money back because they felt bad, they gave it all back because of the negative press.

Edit* LA was the only NBA team to apply for the loan. Even James Dolan didn't try this.

 

[Sander 001]

Some good news, Senegal develops C19 test which costs $1

https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/...gal-approach-coronavirus-200427143150262.html

 

[ULTRAVIOLENZZ]

Researchers in Singapore have come up with data-driven timelines predicting the end of the Coronavirus pandemic.

 

[TexRex]

Researchers in Singapore have come up with data-driven timelines predicting the end of the Coronavirus pandemic.

That's a lot of pigeons in the video thumbnail. Too many, even. And I don't see any people.

Is the prediction that we will have overcome the pandemic or that we will have succumbed to it?

 

[Knorpel]

FEMA Camps already waiting for US citizens.

 

[PzR Slim]

Not great news from Germany. Their 'R' Factor is back up to 0.96 having fallen to 0.7 on 20 April when they decided to ease lockdown restrictions. They want to keep it below 1.

 

[strela]

This is a Tweet from March 7th. It explains how quick the Health system can collapse. The most worry thing is she predicted up to 1M cases in USA by the end of April. She also calculated a total of 2M infected by the May 5th. I really hope that will not be the case because judging by her calculation if 1% of population will be infected at some point that would be the point of collapse, because there will be no more room for hospitalization of additional patients.
This is really scary.

 

[Touring Mars]

This is a Tweet from March 7th. It explains how quick the Health system can collapse. The most worry thing is she predicted up to 1M cases in USA by the end of April. She also calculated a total of 2M infected by the May 5th. I really hope that will not be the case because judging by her calculation if 1% of population will be infected at some point that would be the point of collapse, because there will be no more room for hospitalization of additional patients.
This is really scary.

This is precisely why social distancing, shielding and other restrictions collectively known as 'lockdown' are vital, and should not be relaxed until the number of daily new cases has been lowered significantly.

I read a 'Letter To The Editor' in yesterday's Telegraph (yes, I should have known better, but...) and it read something like "Dear Sir, why is the lockdown still in force when there are spare beds in the hospital? Now that the NHS has increased capacity, lockdown is no longer needed"...

This kind of comment makes we wonder what planet some people are living on.

 

[Milouse]

Watch closely: can you spot the irresponsible person on this pic?

"Vice President Mike Pence toured the Mayo Clinic without a mask despite that renowned medical facility requiring all visitors to wear masks to avoid potentially spreading the coronavirus"

 

[Dotini]

MIT is concerned there may be no such thing as immunity to coronavirus.

What the Columbia researchers now describe in a preliminary report is cause for concern. They found that people frequently got reinfected with the same coronavirus, even in the same year, and sometimes more than once. Over a year and a half, a dozen of the volunteers tested positive two or three times for the same virus, in one case with just four weeks between positive results.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/04/27/1000569/how-long-are-people-immune-to-covid-19/

 

[Touring Mars]

A paper published last week by some (former) colleagues suggests that one reason why children may not be affected by SARS-CoV-2 nearly as much as others is because of the prevalence of other betacoronaviruses in children, which may confer a high(er) level of immunity to novel betacoronaviruses which then wanes as people get older.

None of this is particularly surprising... or comforting. I don't know enough about it, but I would imagine (and hope) that there may well be a program of regular coronavirus shots that can protect the majority of people from SARS-CoV-2 (and other novel coronaviruses that may/will appear), but that vaccine development will have to be on-going, and people may require an annual coronavirus shot.

 

[Dotini]

HCQ praised as useful treatment.

South Korea was one of the first countries to be hit by the virus after China, reporting its first case on January 20 and peaking by late February, before suddenly tapering off in early March and “flattening the curve.” It also has a comparatively low mortality rate through a combination of testing, tracing, containment and HCQ.

South Korea recommended the anti-malarial drug HCQ to treat Covid-19 while political interference in the US over the drug has alarmed medical experts

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/hydroxychloroquine-used-by-korea-for-covid-19-while-us-is-divided/

 

[Danoff]

MIT is concerned there may be no such thing as immunity to coronavirus.



https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/04/27/1000569/how-long-are-people-immune-to-covid-19/

There is no evidence yet that people who have had Covid-19 will not get a second infection," WHO said in a scientific brief published Friday.

I need someone to help me square this with this:

The experimental vaccine has reportedly worked in protecting rhesus macaque monkeys that were exposed to heavy quantities of COVID-19.

Is it just that the first one is old news, and now that the vaccine has worked on Rhesus monkeys we do have evidence? The vaccine worked in a lab, so why are we not on board with the idea that disease immunity (something very fundamental in humans) is suddenly not working.

 

[strela]

Watch closely: can you spot the irresponsible person on this pic?

At first I thought about the guy with the pink socks to be honest. Joke aside, doesn't his boss also refuse the mask in any circumstances? Why is it so hard?

Speaking of irresponsible people...
NY blue angels


NY rabbi funeral

 

[Joey D]

The vaccine worked in a lab, so why are we not on board with the idea that disease immunity (something very fundamental in humans) is suddenly not working.

To sell the news.

Truthfully, we don't know for sure if a vaccine will work in humans or not. Based on lab tests in animals we're seeing positive results. Also, the small clinical trials seem to have a positive result as well. I just don't think there's enough data one way or another to concretely say a vaccine will or will not work. It's pretty irresponsible of the media to keep peddling the story that immunity or a vaccine might not work. We honestly have no idea right now and all it's doing is feeding people's fear.

Chances are with the amount of money we're throwing at this one of the many vaccines will work, if not more than one. I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the year we have some sort of vaccine that will be administered with your annual flu shot.

 

[fortbo]

This is a Tweet from March 7th. It explains how quick the Health system can collapse. The most worry thing is she predicted up to 1M cases in USA by the end of April. She also calculated a total of 2M infected by the May 5th. I really hope that will not be the case because judging by her calculation if 1% of population will be infected at some point that would be the point of collapse, because there will be no more room for hospitalization of additional patients.
This is really scary.

I'm sorry but we are not even close to this happening. The vast majority of hospitals in the country are absolute ghost towns at this point because people are afraid to go to them. I also struggle to see how we can jump to 2 million cases in about a week from now. Yes, it's really scary because it is something that is very far fetched and an absolute worst case scenario based off of nothing more than a guess based off of incomplete statistics. This is one of the biggest issues going around right now is things being put out to incite unnecessary fear and panic without showing what is actually happening.

 

[Danoff]

To sell the news.

Truthfully, we don't know for sure if a vaccine will work in humans or not.

Yea, I mean that's the point of human testing right? But comeon, it works in Rhesus monkeys so... this:

It's pretty irresponsible of the media to keep peddling the story that immunity or a vaccine might not work. We honestly have no idea right now and all it's doing is feeding people's fear.

I think you're giving them too much credit. We do have some idea. And that idea is that you probably can become immune (at least for a while). It reminds me a little bit of this:

Reporting on what's not there, like "we don't currently know that you can get immune to this" really strongly implies that there is some reason to think that you can't. "Asbestos free!"... wait... why are you saying that? Are you saying that because the other ones have asbestos? "We have no evidence that you can become immune"... wait... why are you saying that, are you saying that because we have reason to think we cannot become immune?

Anyway, I'm not an immunologist. Maybe @Touring Mars can shed some light on this one.

 

[strela]

This is one of the biggest issues going around right now is things being put out to incite unnecessary fear and panic without showing what is actually happening.

Wasn't my intention to cause panic. I am not the smartest guy. Try to understand. I just found it interesting so I posted it. You don't have to worry. It is just a hypothesis. Everything is going to be just fine. Everything is under control. States are opening. Life will be back to normal soon.

 

[Dotini]

Yea, I mean that's the point of human testing right? But comeon, it works in Rhesus monkeys so... this:



I think you're giving them too much credit. We do have some idea. And that idea is that you probably can become immune (at least for a while). It reminds me a little bit of this:

Reporting on what's not there, like "we don't currently know that you can get immune to this" really strongly implies that there is some reason to think that you can't. "Asbestos free!"... wait... why are you saying that? Are you saying that because the other ones have asbestos? "We have no evidence that you can become immune"... wait... why are you saying that, are you saying that because we have reason to think we cannot become immune?

Anyway, I'm not an immunologist. Maybe @Touring Mars can shed some light on this one.

Reportedly, there has NEVER been an effective vaccine for a coronavirus. This one would be the first.

The novel coronavirus has developed many mutations, and those developing vaccines are obliged to keep track of this.

https://www.iflscience.com/health-a...-mutations-capable-of-changing-its-virulence/

 

[Blitz24]

This is precisely why social distancing, shielding and other restrictions collectively known as 'lockdown' are vital, and should not be relaxed until the number of daily new cases has been lowered significantly.

I read a 'Letter To The Editor' in yesterday's Telegraph (yes, I should have known better, but...) and it read something like "Dear Sir, why is the lockdown still in force when there are spare beds in the hospital? Now that the NHS has increased capacity, lockdown is no longer needed"...

This kind of comment makes we wonder what planet some people are living on.

Probably the same planet that people in my town are living in. Every day I go out for a walk of about 5 km (a little over 3 miles) and throughout the past few weeks, the weather has been dreary so very few people were out. Yesterday, the weather was in the mid 60s and sunny, so I saw a lot of people out. Unfortunately, I saw a lot of people out AND ignoring the social distancing or lockdown rules:
1. I saw 6 to 10 teenagers on a basketball court in a closed park skateboarding. There's nothing really wrong with that other than they did not wear masks nor were they 6 feet apart.
2. I ran into about 50 to 100 people walking/running/biking/skateboarding. On Monday, I only ran into about 5 people with dreary wet conditions occurring. The people I passed were mostly not wearing any masks (even if they didn't cover their face, they had no mask on their person it appeared), and many did not observe 6 feet apart.

While 100% not correlated, the number of deaths from COVID-19 quadrupled from the previous day. Of course, it's not related to what the buffoons did yesterday, but the fact remains that we will keep having spikes if people aren't careful/intelligent/ignorant.

 

[Biggles]

Watch closely: can you spot the irresponsible person on this pic?

"Vice President Mike Pence toured the Mayo Clinic without a mask despite that renowned medical facility requiring all visitors to wear masks to avoid potentially spreading the coronavirus"

What would Jesus do?

 

[DesertPenguin]

 

[zzz_pt]

Watch closely: can you spot the irresponsible person on this pic?

"Vice President Mike Pence toured the Mayo Clinic without a mask despite that renowned medical facility requiring all visitors to wear masks to avoid potentially spreading the coronavirus"

Another perfect example of someone who's more interested in power than responsability.

 

[fortbo]

Wasn't my intention to cause panic. I am not the smartest guy. Try to understand. I just found it interesting so I posted it. You don't have to worry. It is just a hypothesis. Everything is going to be just fine. Everything is under control. States are opening. Life will be back to normal soon.

No worries bud, I think you misunderstood what I was trying to get at. Not trying to say that you're trying to cause panic or anything, just responding to the information that you posted.

 

[sirjim73]

Some good news re: vaccine

While this is possibly good news, we'll have to wait to find out.

My main concern is that the researcher is Mr MUNSTER! Does this mean that the vaccine was concocted in his lab by Grandpa? Although, on the plus side, he does know a lot about dangerous bats...

 

[Touring Mars]

Yea, I mean that's the point of human testing right? But comeon, it works in Rhesus monkeys so... this:



I think you're giving them too much credit. We do have some idea. And that idea is that you probably can become immune (at least for a while). It reminds me a little bit of this:

Reporting on what's not there, like "we don't currently know that you can get immune to this" really strongly implies that there is some reason to think that you can't. "Asbestos free!"... wait... why are you saying that? Are you saying that because the other ones have asbestos? "We have no evidence that you can become immune"... wait... why are you saying that, are you saying that because we have reason to think we cannot become immune?

Anyway, I'm not an immunologist. Maybe @Touring Mars can shed some light on this one.

I don't really know either, but I would also have expected a vaccine candidate that appears to work well in a closely related species to also work in humans, but it is not a given. As @Dotini points out, coronaviruses typically don't have vaccines and there are several seasonal coronaviruses that are knocking about. There is some evidence out there that existing coronaviruses can/may confer some protection against novel coronaviruses, but it is also apparently the case that immunity can be temporary.

@strela @fortbo It bears pointing out that while Liz Specht was correct about the number of infections (1M by the end of April), her tweet was written on March 7th, and thus it is possible that her prediction was correct but for the wrong reasons.

She was assuming 2000 cases on March 7th then doubling every six days from then. That would give you 1M cases by now, and 2M by next week. In reality, the number was only 353 on March 7th, meaning that she was about 2-3 weeks too early - but given the variability of the doubling rate (much faster than 6 days before lockdown, much slower after...) her prediction of 1M by end of April now appears correct. That said, her prediction of 2M cases by next week is now not possible... but only thanks to the lockdown.

One thing is certain though - a doubling rate of 6 days is more than possible... indeed, at points the worst affected countries were looking at a doubling rate of more like 3 days... in which case 1 million cases can become 4 million inside a week. And had that doubling rate of 3 days allowed to persist, those 353 cases on March 7th would now be 92 million in America alone...

 

[PzR Slim]

ONS figures suggest a much higher death toll. FT model suggests a current likely death toll of 47,000.
https://www.ft.com/content/0ed8ea34-ebc5-4425-b86a-7a29447de57b