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Pandemics and Epidemiology (COVID-19, monkeypox, etc.)

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A list of things you can do if you are feeling cabin fever. Feel free to add to this.

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First of all, wiki has an article under "2019–20 coronavirus pandemic".

While the outbreak started around New Year's Day (12/31), it's picking up steam around the Asia-Pacific region especially since Mainland Chinese people tend to travel a lot.

For reference, the BNO Newsroom twitter has a special feed for any info on the coronavirus:

https://twitter.com/bnodesk?lang=en


The WHO has page about COVID-19 and any other concerns people may have. I suggest peeps go to the Q&A page to check for official details.

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses

Edited by nombretomado on Jun 3rd 2020 at 3:21:48 AM

Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#10277: May 27th 2020 at 9:07:38 PM

"Didn't Trump and/or his administration say a while back that 100,000+ deaths was really just a worse case scenario and that things would totally be under control by now?"

First Trump said there would be as many as 100,000 deaths and there would have been more if he hadn't done whatever the heck it was he was claiming to have done. Then they lowered it to 60,000 and bragged that it would have been 100,000 if he hadn't done whatever the heck it was he was claiming to have done.

Now they're back to saying 100,000 is the best case scenario and it would have been millions if he hadn't done whatever the heck it was he was claiming to have done.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#10278: May 27th 2020 at 9:10:33 PM

[up] The Trump administration in a nutshell:

Disgusted, but not surprised
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#10279: May 27th 2020 at 11:34:46 PM

No new confirmed cases in Taiwan today.

441 total, 55 domestic, 36 from the fleet, 7 deceased, 420 released.

Also, here's a recent Guardian op-ed arguing that calling health workers "heroes" is a bad idea.

The Guardian: Why we shouldn't be calling our healthcare workers 'heroes'

The anthropologists, if they asked the healthcare workers in question, might also find that many are deeply uncomfortable with their “heroic” status. One GP based in Edinburgh told me he understood the impulse to reach for such language in extreme times, but “the arrogation of it by the party of austerity makes me queasy”. A hospital doctor in the Midlands said: “On an individual level, staff did behave ‘heroically’ in the sense that almost without exception they got on with the job and accepted the risks.” But, he added: “The problem can be with the people who call the staff heroes. My neighbours who ‘clap for carers’ still held their VE Day party even when I begged them to be responsible and stay at home. So they weren’t prepared to make any real effort but it makes them feel better to clap.”

The danger of using the language of heroism is that it mutes critique and debate: heroes aren’t supposed to complain, or speak out about inadequate protective equipment or lack of testing capacity, or to point out what damage years of austerity have done to healthcare provision in the UK.

We shouldn’t expect heroism from healthcare workers, we should expect professionalism in a context of an adequately resourced, well-run service. As the Edinburgh GP says: “People do the job because of a sense of vocation and professionalism – not out of some heroic sense of sacrifice – and they want to be kept as safe as they possibly can.”

A GP based in Yorkshire goes out of her front door at 8pm on a Thursday – but only, she told me, out of politeness. She hates being called a “hero”. Her hard work on the job – what others regard as her heroism – is precisely what renders her unheroic to herself. “If I was a hero,” she says, “I would stand up and call out the government, but I am not, and I go to work and bumble on. A bit like the soldiers led by buffoons who were told to go over the top to be greeted by gunfire – except I am highly trained and should know better.”

Edited by M84 on May 28th 2020 at 2:35:41 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
Alycus Since: Apr, 2018
#10280: May 28th 2020 at 1:31:29 AM

Kinda sobering when one recalls that Raccoon City in the Resident Evil series had a population of 100,000 when it was zombified and nuked…

Edited by Alycus on May 28th 2020 at 1:31:47 AM

eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#10281: May 28th 2020 at 1:47:55 AM

South Korea reports a cluster of 79 cases at a warehouse operated by Coupang, an online retailer, which according to the KCDC failed to abide by proper distancing and protective measures.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
Lazlo74 from A tropical hell-hole Since: May, 2018
#10282: May 28th 2020 at 2:55:06 AM

Yo, yo, yo! Indonesia update represent with 686 new cases bringing us to a ballin 24.538 total, featuring 1.496 deaths (+23) and 6.240 discharges (+183)!

Edited by Lazlo74 on May 28th 2020 at 2:55:28 AM

Scaled seeker
Ajavalo Just a curious guy from Cáceres, Extremadura Since: Jun, 2018 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
Just a curious guy
#10283: May 28th 2020 at 3:30:35 AM

Well, except Madrid, Barcelona and a few other areas, in Spain we are largely free of the virus for now, and with the between-provinces travel ban it should stay that way

El Erizo Sónico
Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#10285: May 28th 2020 at 2:35:42 PM

So that New Brunswick healthcare worker who got exposed in Quebec on vacation? He lied to get across provincial borders and may have exposed 150 people (5 infections other than him so far) and counting. For perspective, NB has only had about 120 cases and no deaths. Needless to say, the Premier and chief medical officer are livid.

All so he could party.

Edited by Rationalinsanity on May 28th 2020 at 6:36:14 AM

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Lazlo74 from A tropical hell-hole Since: May, 2018
#10286: May 28th 2020 at 7:42:48 PM

There's always that one selfish fuckwad who ruins everyone's day with their carelessness - and trust me, I've seen way too many around here in Indonesia

Scaled seeker
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#10287: May 28th 2020 at 7:46:01 PM

This is why people who violate quarantine rules in Taiwan get hefty fines if caught.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Ayasugi Since: Oct, 2010
#10288: May 28th 2020 at 8:05:03 PM

Then you've got 'Murca where the selfish fuckwads are the ones with the most power and influence.

I'm not sure how much to trust that study that says COVID is spreading uncontrolled in 24 states, though. Massachusetts is on the list of states with "uncontrolled spread", but it's been trending down for a while.

Edited by Ayasugi on May 28th 2020 at 11:09:17 AM

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#10289: May 28th 2020 at 11:43:40 PM

1 new imported case in Taiwan today. This one is a Taiwanese student evacuated from Russia. He started showing symptoms before arrival and informed quarantine officers ahead of time. After being sent to a quarantine center, he got tested twice. First test was negative, but second was positive.

442 total, 55 domestic, 36 from the fleet, 7 deceased, 420 released.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Ayasugi Since: Oct, 2010
#10290: May 28th 2020 at 11:58:23 PM

Crap, so even when you're infected, you can test negative? Or could he have caught it while in quarantine?

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#10291: May 28th 2020 at 11:59:54 PM

This has been known for a while. Yes, the tests sometimes give false negatives. That's why you have to test negative multiple times before you're in the clear.

And no, he didn't get it in the quarantine center. He started showing telltale symptoms back in Russia.

Did you really not know that these tests aren't 100% accurate? They're also more likely to give a false negative if you're asymptomatic since that means you might not have as much of a viral load.

It would be incredibly foolhardy to solely rely on one negative test result to think you're in the clear. Especially if you are still feeling symptoms.

Edited by M84 on May 30th 2020 at 3:06:41 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#10292: May 29th 2020 at 12:02:57 AM

Guy was studying in Russia? Interesting.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#10293: May 29th 2020 at 12:03:59 AM

He was part of a group of 96 Taiwanese evacuees from Russia. The other 95 tested negative and are in a quarantine center.

Edited by M84 on May 30th 2020 at 3:08:50 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
Ayasugi Since: Oct, 2010
#10294: May 29th 2020 at 12:07:34 AM

I guess I hadn't really thought about what false negatives would look like.

God. This is why we need more testing. As in like three tests for everyone who might've been exposed. Fuck Trump and anyone else saying we don't need more testing.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#10295: May 29th 2020 at 12:09:30 AM

Note that Trump and the rest of the WH get tested multiple times. So testing is good enough for them, but not for the rest of the USA.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Lazlo74 from A tropical hell-hole Since: May, 2018
#10296: May 29th 2020 at 2:27:24 AM

Obligatory Indonesia update of the day: 25.216 cases (+678), 1.520 fatalities (+24) and 6.492 discharged/recovered (+252).

Scaled seeker
ShadowWingLG Since: Dec, 2013
#10297: May 29th 2020 at 5:35:57 AM

One of our Local D Js pleaded on the air for people to take this seriously and its not "political" He had his own story a friend who had been laid off due to the lockdown was staying with him at his house. Said friend got a job, in Texas. Within a week the friend showed symptoms and thankfully got himself a hotel room and a few days later got the news he was positive.

The DJ was also not working for the past few days as he was waiting for HIS tests to come back, his was negative but yeah he was pretty much telling the listeners "Yes this is REAL this is happening please take it seriously if not for yourself for those around you!"

eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#10299: May 29th 2020 at 7:23:05 AM

Well that is not a sequence of words I ever expected to see.

Disgusted, but not surprised
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#10300: May 29th 2020 at 7:24:21 AM

That seems so random the only thing I can think to ask is "Were there 12 of them?"

More serious questions, why do i sometimes see it called the "novel" coronavirus?


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