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

  • Thread starter baldgye
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I've been working off and on all day helping get testing sites up and running from an IT side. It's super irritating though because even though we have numerous testing sites, a specially constructed temporary ED, a 24/7 hotline, and even the drive-through clinics, we can't actually test anyone due to the asinine criteria in place by the CDC. Apparently, you can only get tested if you're showing symptoms, have traveled to an affected area, and have been in contact with a known confirmed case of the virus. This just furthers my belief that US government-run healthcare is terrible. Why should we be limiting testing when we have the resources to actually test? While it might not prevent the spread of the disease, it's certainly going to give us better data to know how many people might infected.

Even private labs are having a hard time clearing government roadblocks despite having the ability to run tests. That's even more ludicrous because those would end up 100% self-pay or billed through insurance, but they can't do it because the CDC won't let them. If I want to be tested and agree to pay to be tested, then test me.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
Ebola, Zika, Lyme, West Nile. Do you feel these place names have positive, neutral, or negative connotations?
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No more positive or negative than Greek salad, French fries, Champagne, or Scotch whiskey.

One could make an argument that Scotch, Champagne, French Fries, and Hamburgers have done more harm to humanity than Ebola, Zika, Lyme, and West Nile.
 
ac5f54e5f4ececb8510a9baknj.png


Oh snap.
 
A bit of a random, happier story to report - given than the UK is now priming all people over 70 for up to 4 months of isolation (and I suspect it could be even more than that!), I considered buying my Mum a PS4 so she could access Netflix and have various other TV-based things to keep her occupied if and when she needs it.

But wait, what's that lurking next to her TV but my trusty old launch day PS3 that I brought through years ago as the Blu-ray player was broken and thus I bought a replacement PS3 - I reckoned my Mum could use the original PS3 to store and view digital camera pics :lol:

Anyway, ironically, even blu-ray is now effectively obsolete - and even my Mum has unlimited broadband. And, of course, the PS3 works like a charm and is easy enough to use that my Mum can already use Netflix. And, as a bonus, she now also has Minecraft (which I forgot I even had on PS3), WipEout HD (OK, may be a stretch...) and various other classic games at her fingertips. Not bad for a 14 year old piece of kit.
 
Touring Mars
A bit of a random, happier story to report - given than the UK is now priming all people over 70 for up to 4 months of isolation (and I suspect it could be even more than that!), I considered buying my Mum a PS4 so she could access Netflix and have various other TV-based things to keep her occupied if and when she needs it.

But wait, what's that lurking next to her TV but my trusty old launch day PS3 that I brought through years ago as the Blu-ray player was broken and thus I bought a replacement PS3 - I reckoned my Mum could use the original PS3 to store and view digital camera pics :lol:

Anyway, ironically, even blu-ray is now effectively obsolete - and even my Mum has unlimited broadband. And, of course, the PS3 works like a charm and is easy enough to use that my Mum can already use Netflix. And, as a bonus, she now also has Minecraft (which I forgot I even had on PS3), WipEout HD (OK, may be a stretch...) and various other classic games at her fingertips. Not bad for a 14 year old piece of kit.
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Stuff like that is why we tend to be more loyal to Sony than Microsoft for example. Our 2 and 3 are still puttering along after all these years. :D
 
Based on the collection of symptoms as recorded online, I think I might be unlucky enough to have the virus. It's been progressively getting worse, but right now I feel terrible. My chest is is so tight, it's nearly impossible to breathe - and that's just after getting up to close the living room door, combined with a sore throat that no amount of liquid will salve, and a chronic headache.

If you want a good impression of what it's like, try a really bad asthma attack or climbing up a high mountain. I feel sick because I can't get enough air either.

NHS 111 helpline aren't interested because I've not set foot outside the country, nor can I confirm being in contact with a confirmed case. No point in going to the hospital because I'm young(ish), fit(ish - no underlying issues) when there are others who need their services more, but I will contact my local GP to see if I can do anything/get tested.
 
twitcher
No more positive or negative than Greek salad, French fries, Champagne, or Scotch whiskey.

One could make an argument that Scotch, Champagne, French Fries, and Hamburgers have done more harm to humanity than Ebola, Zika, Lyme, and West Nile.
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Give it up already will you? It's clear that Trump & his lackeys used "Chinese" & "Wuhan" & "foreign" to further their own political agenda, whereas earlier references to Chinese & Wuhan were referring to something that, at the time, was largely confined to that part of the world.
 
...Update from South Africa:

The president down here declared coronavirus "national state of emergency", which grants the government wide-ranging powers, such as closing schools starting from this week Wednesday, banning gatherings of more than 100 people, and also prohibiting travelers from the worst-hit countries.

Currently, the confirmed number of infected sits at 61, with the first locally transmitted victim also being confirmed. A student at a university not too far from where I live was confirmed positive, resulting 350 fellow students and (I presume) the faculty members to isolate themselves in self-quarantine.
 
DG_Silva
Based on the collection of symptoms as recorded online, I think I might be unlucky enough to have the virus. It's been progressively getting worse, but right now I feel terrible. My chest is is so tight, it's nearly impossible to breathe - and that's just after getting up to close the living room door, combined with a sore throat that no amount of liquid will salve, and a chronic headache.

If you want a good impression of what it's like, try a really bad asthma attack or climbing up a high mountain. I feel sick because I can't get enough air either.

NHS 111 helpline aren't interested because I've not set foot outside the country, nor can I confirm being in contact with a confirmed case. No point in going to the hospital because I'm young(ish), fit(ish - no underlying issues) when there are others who need their services more, but I will contact my local GP to see if I can do anything/get tested.
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DG_Silva
Based on the collection of symptoms as recorded online, I think I might be unlucky enough to have the virus. It's been progressively getting worse, but right now I feel terrible. My chest is is so tight, it's nearly impossible to breathe - and that's just after getting up to close the living room door, combined with a sore throat that no amount of liquid will salve, and a chronic headache.

If you want a good impression of what it's like, try a really bad asthma attack or climbing up a high mountain. I feel sick because I can't get enough air either.

NHS 111 helpline aren't interested because I've not set foot outside the country, nor can I confirm being in contact with a confirmed case. No point in going to the hospital because I'm young(ish), fit(ish - no underlying issues) when there are others who need their services more, but I will contact my local GP to see if I can do anything/get tested.
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Good plan to call the GP tomorrow - I hope you can fight this off, and best of luck in getting some help if you need it.
 
twitcher
No more positive or negative than Greek salad, French fries, Champagne, or Scotch whiskey.

One could make an argument that Scotch, Champagne, French Fries, and Hamburgers have done more harm to humanity than Ebola, Zika, Lyme, and West Nile.
Click to expand...
source.gif


Hey, wait a minute...

Hamburgers are so named in part due to the popularization of ground beef flattened before cooking in Hamburg, Germany. Germany was once occupied by Hitler and the Nazis. HAMBURGERS ARE LITERALLY HITLER!!!

/s

There's dispute over the origin of French fries, with the general consensus outside of France being that they're actually a Belgian concoction, and there supposedly exists evidence dating back to 18th century Spanish Netherlands (modern day Belgium) to support this. The name has stuck, though, and the "frites" got dragged into stupid political bickering when France failed to support Bush in the war on Iraq and Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who would later become a Senator representing Ohio, mandated that they be renamed "Freedom fries" in Congressional cafeterias. The name would later be restored as support for the war declined in the US and Ney later resigned after pleading guilty to charges linked to his involvement in an Indian gaming scandal.

I seem to recall that Ebola is named for the Ebola River because the scientists venturing to give it a designation thought that particular river was nearest the point of major outbreak, and other diseases are named for the same reason, except they were drunk and it actually wasn't the nearest river.

Malaria's name is derived from Italian for "bad air" because Romans thought it to be a result of the air present in marshy areas where cases were believed to originate. It just so happens that the stagnant water mosquitos require for reproduction is also present in marshy areas.

This particular disease isn't actually named for China at all. It's not named for Wuhan or Hubei, either. It does have a name, though. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) refers to it as "COVID-19", and similar designation "2019-nCov" has seen wide use. Linking it to China doesn't actually help in the fight against it or to prevent its spread.
 
Austria is now officially under general curfew.
We must not leave our home unless we have to buy groceries or to get medical supplies. Those who disobey face fines of up to 3600 bucks. All businesses that are not essential will stay closed for the coming weeks (unless home office is possible), the Military is now helping with various tasks, hospital staff have to go through extensive screening processes in separate buildings before they can enter hospitals, people can no longer visit their relatives in hospitals.

Also as of today, all borders and all airports are closed.
 
DG_Silva
Based on the collection of symptoms as recorded online, I think I might be unlucky enough to have the virus. It's been progressively getting worse, but right now I feel terrible. My chest is is so tight, it's nearly impossible to breathe - and that's just after getting up to close the living room door, combined with a sore throat that no amount of liquid will salve, and a chronic headache.

If you want a good impression of what it's like, try a really bad asthma attack or climbing up a high mountain. I feel sick because I can't get enough air either.

NHS 111 helpline aren't interested because I've not set foot outside the country, nor can I confirm being in contact with a confirmed case. No point in going to the hospital because I'm young(ish), fit(ish - no underlying issues) when there are others who need their services more, but I will contact my local GP to see if I can do anything/get tested.
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Hoping you hang in there.
 
Here's a little microcosmic anecdote to illustrate the wider problem.

My daughter & her boyfriend are holed up in his apartment in the Hague. Yesterday morning a fellow student, who is French, came to see them. While he was there he got a call from his parents in Lyon informing him that all his family members had tested positive for Covid-19. He had been with them a few days earlier. This young man went back to the house in which he is renting a room & the family there told him to leave. He then decided to take the train (numerous connections) to make his way back to his family's home in Lyon. My daughter's boyfriend is now exhibiting flu symptoms. Who know how many other people have been exposed by this single person. Who knows how many similar stories to this there are out there?
 
Danoff
I have not seen hospitalization rates broken down by age. I have seen mortality broken down by age, and it is far and away the elderly that are dying of this disease. In many cases, there was some other underlying factor. I've posted those statistics here before, and I don't think anyone is debating that.

Hospitalization rates seem to be all over the map. I've seen as high as 20%, and as low as 3%. We have pretty solid numbers on death rates though, and 95% of all COVID-19 deaths (not long ago) were over age 50. I suppose it's possible that most of those people were not hospitalized, and that actually it's people younger than 50 who are being hospitalized and recovering, and that the people who are dying are just dying at home, but I'd rate that as nearly impossible. Certainly not believable.

I'm guessing (and it is just a guess at this point), that hospitalizations are also 95% over the age of 50. So that is the segment of the population we should be focused on.
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Sorry for not getting back to you on this sooner.

I read something about the hospitalisation rate being around 20% as well, but most things are estimates at the moment. We can for arguments' sake say that's the worst case scenario. Having said that, government officials all over seem to have been downplaying the worst case scenarios. Here in Norway they estimated 100 infected by early April (Easter). There are over 1.000 thus far.

If you do only quarantine the ill and the elderly (i.e. the hisk risk groups) you are only solving part of the problem. By quarantining everyone and limiting traveling you will keep the medical crews more focused to deal with the COVID threat; traffic accidents will be historically low now, as will accidents related to drinking, work-related injuries, etc. It WILL be exciting to see how many domestic accidents we will have over the next few weeks.

When you close down the whole society you will spread the virus less. You seem to be very focused on the ill and elderly, that young and healthy people will get the virus and still be fine. That is correct, from what I have read from people my age (late 20s/early 30s) having it so far it seems like a heavy cold. Some have brushed it off as nothing until they were tested. The problem is that we need these young and healthy people healthy, because some of them are in the medical field. Some of them are police officers. Some of them have other functions that will get them in contact with the underlying ill or the elderly. And if they are not, they may be in the household of a person that will be.

So if you have the virus and you commute by public transport, and you infect a healthcare worker that infects a hundred people more at work that day you have contributed to a lot of stress. As far as I have understood, China has been treating this as a virus that can survive in air and not only spreads from coughing/sneezing. If that is indeed correct, a bus trip or a visit to someone's work may be much more dangerous than we thought.

A Greater Oslo region hospital staff of 21.000 just had 1.000 in quarantine. That is much less staff to deal with hospitalised patients with the COVID-19 virus. What seems to be lost on you is that this staff is also responsible for testing, i.e. the less statistics we get here the worse we are. The same staff is also unable to attend regular ER cases like traffic accidents, heart attacks, strokes, ODs, you name it. That's why quarantining only those at imminent risk is a dangerous solution.
 
DG_Silva
Based on the collection of symptoms as recorded online, I think I might be unlucky enough to have the virus. It's been progressively getting worse, but right now I feel terrible. My chest is is so tight, it's nearly impossible to breathe - and that's just after getting up to close the living room door, combined with a sore throat that no amount of liquid will salve, and a chronic headache.

If you want a good impression of what it's like, try a really bad asthma attack or climbing up a high mountain. I feel sick because I can't get enough air either.

NHS 111 helpline aren't interested because I've not set foot outside the country, nor can I confirm being in contact with a confirmed case. No point in going to the hospital because I'm young(ish), fit(ish - no underlying issues) when there are others who need their services more, but I will contact my local GP to see if I can do anything/get tested.
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I'm sure everyone here wishes you well.
I hope GP can help in some way.
 
phillkillv2
I’m so ****ed. I come in contact with a lot of travelers at my job.

I hope they shut down travel temporarily.
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Travel, especially via air, is going to come to a crippling pace. International travel is probably going to be on hold till end of April to any significantly infectious area, and disruptions till the end of the year.
 
Everyone is saying they want to make the peak "flatter" over a period of time.
Closing schools and certain things will help but almost to me, I'd say, You have your TP and you have your hand sanitizer. Everyone is going into a 14 day lockdown. Unless "medically" necessary to get out.

Went from just a handful of cases to now 35 with 3 of them being "community" spread is more than enough for me to say. I will just stay in and watch nothing on TV for 2 weeks while I hoard all this TP and not use it.
 
Liquid
You shut your dirty, whorish mouth.
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The PS3 is the only system that allows you to play all of the MGS games, thus, it is the greatest console to have ever existed.


Tomorrow I get the joy of being in work after a long weekend away. 4 hours round trip on public transportation... I’m really not looking forward to the prospect, I just hope no one else fancies it so I’m not stuck sitting next to someone
 
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baldgye
4 hours round trip on public transportation... I’m really not looking forward to the prospect, I just hope no one else fancies it so I’m not stuck sitting next to someone
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Speed of the restrictions in Slovakia; as of today, Monday 16th, you cannot use public transport without a face mask.

Levity: Finally, my bankrobbing kit comes in handy.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
Godspeed soldier. I used to work at a supermarket (actually 2) and I cannot imagine what it must be like right now.
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Looking at a picture I took of the sales chart in the break room at my store:
  • last Sunday was comparable to a mildly busier than normal weekend, so normal.
  • Mon-Wed are normally the slower days, normal weekend activity.
  • Thursday-Friday: UNLEASH THE GATES OF HELL
  • Yesterday would normally be considered about holiday levels of traffic but felt normal by comparison
So yeah it's been fun with only the best of society coming out to play.
 

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