Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

… I'm expecting to be disappointed.

Grab a stack of their printed weekly flyers. Those will work in a pinch and leave you with a free tattoo.

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by monster

Prince Charles tested positive

I have both of his parents on my death pool list. :/

HRH is actually suffering from Crownavirus.

I thought that I should make that clear.

[monster]

Because he's never going to wear it?

[BigV]

Originally Posted by monster

Prince Charles tested positive

I have both of his parents on my death pool list. :/

My Mom is 84. Twil's Mom is 93. Both live in physically separate structures, in different cities, to be clear. My Mom is ok, as of today. I have gotten calls from the staff there throughout the changing events. First it was lockdown, then a resident was showing symptoms, then yesterday a call saying the test results have been returned and show negative. No change in lockdown, stay in your room status, meals delivered, etc. Twil's Mom is thriving, apparently all she needed all along was just regular room service.

[Flint]

Layoffs at my hospital. I asked my manager, "I thought we were sitting on a mountain of cash?" (we've been stockpiling capital to build a new facility) ... Apparently we had our money INVESTED IN THE STOCK MARKET.

Layoffs at a HOSPITAL because of the ƒucking stock market.

This feels more and more like a "perfect storm" every day.

[Undertoad]

Yes. Without drifting too far away from topic, the best description I've heard is:

Our systems are built to maximize efficiency... at the price of becoming fragile.

People laugh at squirrels after learning how many acorns they bury. But they aren't burying enough to survive this winter. Evolution has made them store enough to survive the very WORST winter.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Damn, it was hard enough finding a place to bury my nuts before the Kung Flu screwed the pooch.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by Flint

… Layoffs at a HOSPITAL because of the ƒucking stock market.

This feels more and more like a "perfect storm" every day.

Coronavirus Disease AND Chicken Little Syndrome. A double whammy!

[Griff]

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...rus-in-the-u-s

NPR = no paywall

[sexobon]

If you die with coronavirus, stay dead.

Hospitals consider universal do-not-resuscitate orders for coronavirus patients

Hospitals on the front lines of the pandemic are engaged in a heated private debate over a calculation few have encountered in their lifetimes — how to weigh the “save at all costs” approach to resuscitating a dying patient against the real danger of exposing doctors and nurses to the contagion of coronavirus.

The conversations are driven by the realization that the risk to staff amid dwindling stores of protective equipment — such as masks, gowns and gloves — may be too great to justify the conventional response when a patient “codes,” and their heart or breathing stops.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago has been discussing a do-not-resuscitate policy for infected patients, regardless of the wishes of the patient or their family members — a wrenching decision to prioritize the lives of the many over the one. …

… Officials at George Washington University Hospital in the District say they have had similar conversations, …

… University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, one of the country’s major hot spots for infections, is dealing with the problem by severely limiting the number of responders to a contagious patient in cardiac or respiratory arrest.

Several large hospital systems — Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Geisinger in Pennsylvania and regional Kaiser Permanente networks — are looking at guidelines that would allow doctors to override the wishes of the coronavirus patient or family members on a case-by-case basis ...

[sexobon]

They're supposed to already have "what if" contingency plans for a biological attack; but, they're just now getting around to doing a feasibility study:

Army seeks retired medical personnel to rejoin service to combat the coronavirus

The Army has launched an effort to see whether retired doctors, nurses and medics may be willing to be recalled to military service, citing the “extraordinary challenges” that the coronavirus pandemic has created.

An Army general said in a message to eligible veterans that the Army is turning to “trusted professionals capable of operating under constantly changing conditions” and “reaching out to gauge the interest” of those who qualify. The solicitation, obtained by The Washington Post, applies to both retired officers and enlisted soldiers. ...

[Griff]

40,000 retired NY health professionals have volunteered to help. Amazing and a little scary when you thin about Whois likely to end up on a ventilator.

[sexobon]

Rolin' rollin' rollin'
Keep them retirees rollin'
Volunteers

Don't try to understand them
Just rope, throw and brand 'em
Soon they'll be kneeling high and wide

Move 'em out head 'em up get 'em up
Move 'em out head 'em up get 'em up
Free labor!
.
.
.
ETA: Of course, the Army promises they won't interfere with civilian volunteer resourcing.

[sexobon]

Another study on origin.

Sorry, conspiracy theorists. Study concludes COVID-19 'is not a laboratory construct'

… An analysis of the evidence, according to the findings first published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine, shows that the novel coronavirus "is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus," with the researchers concluding "we do not believe that any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible."

"There’s a lot of speculation and conspiracy theories that went to a pretty high level," Dr. Robert Garry, a professor at the Tulane University School of Medicine and one of the authors of the study, told ABC News, "so we felt it was important to get a team together to examine evidence of this new coronavirus to determine what we could about the origin."

Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, supported the study’s findings, writing on his blog, "This study leaves little room to refute a natural origin for COVID-19."

Researchers concluded that the novel coronavirus is not a human creation because it does not share any "previously used virus backbone." It likely arose, the study said, from a recombination of a virus found in bats and another virus, possibly originating from pangolins, otherwise known as scaly anteaters.

COVID-19 is 96% identical to a coronavirus found in bats, researchers said, but with a certain variation that could explain what has made it so infectious.

"We know from the study of other coronaviruses that they’re able to acquire this [variation] and they can then become more pathogenic," …

… The mutation in surface proteins, according to Garry, could have triggered the outbreak of the pandemic, but it’s also possible that a less severe version of the illness was circulating through the population for years, perhaps even decades, before escalating to this point.

"We don’t know if those mutations were picked up more recently or a long time ago," Garry told ABC News. "It’s impossible to say if it actually was a mutation that triggered the pandemic, but either way, it would have been a naturally occurring process."

And while many believe the virus originated at a fish market in Wuhan, China, Garry said that it is also a misconception.

"Our analyses, and others too, point to an earlier origin than that," Garry said. "There were definitely cases there, but that wasn’t the origin of the virus."

[sexobon]

Iran gave us another slap in the face by outdoing our dead guy, who consumed chloroquine phosphate from fish tank cleaner, and having over 300 of their people kill themselves by consuming methanol:

Hundreds dead in Iran after consuming methanol thinking it was coronavirus protection

More than 300 people have died and a further 1,000 have fallen ill in Iran after consuming methanol in the belief that it will protect them against the coronavirus, according to local media. ...