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News Coronavirus Pandemic Information and Support Group

Nakita Akita said:
In the USA 40 people have died.
22 lived in one nursing home in the state of Washington.
More people have died this year from the flu. ( the regular flu) but that isn't in the news.
There are 350 million people in the USA.
My calculator won't do the required math, but the death rate is way, way, way, below 1%.
In the USA it's the media wagging the dog.
It's sad, very, very sad.
They have shut down so much stuff.
It's like they are trying to crash the economy.
It's like the people hate The President so much, that the media is turning this into a three ring circus.
H1N1 was worse than this one, but they didn't shut down all of the sports leagues.

I'm pretty sure it's all horse pucky.
Click to expand...
Please don't spread misinformation. I'm not telling you this to say you're not allowed to comment, but it's really irresponsible to continue to spread falsehoods based on ignorance and conspiracy theories when there's a major crisis going on with thousands of people dying around the world. Seriously, educate yourself from a neutral source or two or ten. This shouldn't be a party line political issue. We can all agree that pandemics are bad, right? The flu is a known quantity that people deal with every year. We have vaccines to counter the major expected strains each year. It's not the same.
 
Locutus of Bored said:
Please don't spread misinformation. I'm not telling you this to say you're not allowed to comment, but it's really irresponsible to continue to spread falsehoods based on ignorance and conspiracy theories when there's a major crisis going on with thousands of people dying around the world. Seriously, educate yourself from a neutral source or two or ten. This shouldn't be a party line political issue. We can all agree that pandemics are bad, right? The flu is a known quantity that people deal with every year. We have vaccines to counter the major expected strains each year. It's not the same.
Click to expand...
It's almost impossible to find reliable sources.
I heard these numbers from a local media source just about a couple of hours ago.
Sorry if the numbers are different. But I don't seem to be able to get legitimate numbers then.
Edit:
Just checked again and it says the number that have died is 41.
What is your source? 40 or 41, isn't a huge difference to me.
 
That wasn't the part I was objecting to. It was the insinuation that it's an overhyped media plot to crash the economy and personally damage Donald Trump because they hate him, and the claim that it's all a bunch of "horse pucky" which is no big deal because the flu kills more people each year.
 
Last edited:
Nakita Akita said:
It's almost impossible to find reliable sources.
Click to expand...

It is not.

Nakita Akita said:
I heard these numbers from a local media source just about a couple of hours ago.
Sorry if the numbers are different. But I don't seem to be able to get legitimate numbers then.
Edit:
Just checked again and it says the number that have died is 41.
What is your source? 40 or 41, isn't a huge difference to me.
Click to expand...

A couple people have already responded to you in thread about why this is actually much worse than the flu. Here's another article that touches on it. It is an interview with a doctor who has led WHO's efforts against many outbreaks, including COVID-19 in China. (I hope we can agree he would be a reliable source.)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newf...ce-aylward-coronavirus-who-covid-19-1.5492085

I will quote the relevant passage for you here:

I think the single biggest challenge we faced is a misunderstanding and often a softpedalling of this at the level of the population.

People are clever. People are concerned about their health. People will do the right things if they have the right information.

What we've seen is people are cherry-picking data. So they look at the lowest possible case fatality rates and say, "Oh look, it's like seasonal flu." Or they pick, "Oh it doesn't spread so fast because of this," or "Oh it only affects the older ones, I'm safe." And none of those propositions are true.

There's no reason to panic about this disease, but you have to be deeply concerned. This is not seasonal flu. It's an order of magnitude [with] tenfold — at least — higher mortality rate. Yes, it does strike vulnerable populations, but it can strike any age, let's be very, very clear — especially between your 30s and 60s and the older population.
Click to expand...

Remember that mortality rate is calculated against the infected population, not the entire population as a whole.

Ignoring the facts or spreading misinformation is not helping the situation.
 
These are facts. Now the Masters has been postponed, as well as the Boston Marathon and NASCAR races.

These in addition to NCAA tourneys "cancelled", NBA & NHL "suspended" and MLB "postponed".

Better safe than sorry.

Personally, I'm taking a VAC day Monday because my company is too stupid to cancel a large-ish meeting.
 
I think Canada's doing fairly well with this. The counts are relatively low, and any suspected people are being tested and put into isolation. In my area, we only have one confirmed case, and he had traveled down to Toronto for a mining convention, but it was said he wasn't contagious at the time.
 
OK, so this is a precautionary measure that I haven't heard of until now. Apparently coffee chain Second Cup has stopped accepting cash for any transaction. They will only allow payment by debit card, credit card, gift card, and mobile payment.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/second-cup-only-cash-covid-19-1.5498012

Does anyone know if this will actually help? I get that cash is probably "dirty", but if an infected person is standing in front of you while you serve them, are you actually at any *less* risk by making them pay with a card?

And for a bit of levity (I'm assuming we could all use some)... this joke image (NB: as in, completely not true) has been making the rounds online, and it was too funny not to share with those of you who haven't seen it yet. :)

covid-toilet-paper.jpg
 
I was thinking about the whole idea of cash and how the virus can stay on surfaces for a long period of time and I wonder if this will kick start everyone having an option of mobile payment. It's good to have cash on you, but I think Apple Pay and the like were revolutionary in how we make payments.
 
Nakita Akita said:
In the USA 40 people have died.
22 lived in one nursing home in the state of Washington.
More people have died this year from the flu. ( the regular flu) but that isn't in the news.
There are 350 million people in the USA.
My calculator won't do the required math, but the death rate is way, way, way, below 1%.
In the USA it's the media wagging the dog.
It's sad, very, very sad.
They have shut down so much stuff.
It's like they are trying to crash the economy.
It's like the people hate The President so much, that the media is turning this into a three ring circus.
H1N1 was worse than this one, but they didn't shut down all of the sports leagues.

I'm pretty sure it's all horse pucky.
Click to expand...

You don't calculate a death rate by comparing the number of deaths to the total population.

There is, I still maintain, plenty of reason to remain optimistic about limiting the damage here but the death rate and R-0 are much higher than the seasonal flu and the documented incidences of repeat infections is distinctly worrying when you consider the vulnerability of the groups most affected.

For some reason the immune response to COVID 19 seems to be very transient and that means there's a genuine concern that a second or even third dose could be increasingly potent.
 
Avro Arrow said:
OK, so this is a precautionary measure that I haven't heard of until now. Apparently coffee chain Second Cup has stopped accepting cash for any transaction. They will only allow payment by debit card, credit card, gift card, and mobile payment.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/second-cup-only-cash-covid-19-1.5498012

Does anyone know if this will actually help? I get that cash is probably "dirty", but if an infected person is standing in front of you while you serve them, are you actually at any *less* risk by making them pay with a card?

And for a bit of levity (I'm assuming we could all use some)... this joke image (NB: as in, completely not true) has been making the rounds online, and it was too funny not to share with those of you who haven't seen it yet. :)

covid-toilet-paper.jpg
Click to expand...

I wouldn't think there's any difference between touching cash and touching a debit terminal.

My concern is the economic impact, globally and individually. A lot of people are are, or will be, out of work either temporarily or long term.

I've heard some activists and politicians calling for a suspension of rent and mortgage payments and saw a quote on CBC News about Trudeau saying he doesn't want Canadians to worry about money, rent, etc, but... what is actually going to be done?
 
Winterwind said:
wouldn't think there's any difference between touching cash and touching a debit terminal.
Click to expand...

The cash is literally passed from person to person, providing a more direct vector of transference than with the machine, especially as many transactions are now contactless. Surprisingly coins are likely higher risk than notes given that (most) viruses live longer on metallic surfaces than on soft materials.
 
Spot261 said:
The cash is literally passed from person to person, providing a more direct vector of transference than with the machine, especially as many transactions are now contactless. Surprisingly coins are likely higher risk than notes given that (most) viruses live longer on metallic surfaces than on soft materials.
Click to expand...
Sounds like the starting plot of the video game, The Division.
 
Spot261 said:
The cash is literally passed from person to person, providing a more direct vector of transference than with the machine, especially as many transactions are now contactless. Surprisingly coins are likely higher risk than notes given that (most) viruses live longer on metallic surfaces than on soft materials.
Click to expand...

Then I hope they're constantly sanitizing the doors and every other metal surface...

Stopping cash transactions will do little to nothing to prevent the spread.
 
Winterwind said:
Then I hope they're constantly sanitizing the doors and every other metal surface...

Stopping cash transactions will do little to nothing to prevent the spread.
Click to expand...

People should be wearing gloves rathr than face masks:shrug:

But yeah, all surfaces should be regularly sanitied.
 
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