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COVID-19

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  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    edited May 2020
    It seems the virus could have arrived in Europe much, much earlier than it was thought.

    The first case of the virus is now confirmed to be 4 days earlier than we were first told about Wuhan.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52526554
    Grond0ProontGenderNihilismGirdle
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Could have sworn I already posted this here, but I guess not.
    About a week ago, Kansas entered its second wave. Our cases have been increasing fairly steadily for most of the outbreak, since we had been watching other states for weeks before it hit us. I have a family member that works in a local ER, and their cases of people with corona symptoms, and test send offs doubled in just a couple days.
    JuliusBorisovBalrog99AedanGenderNihilismGirdle
  • AedanAedan Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 8,550
    Oh, no! So sorry to read that :(
    JuliusBorisovGenderNihilismGirdle
  • TarotRedhandTarotRedhand Member Posts: 1,481
    edited May 2020
    It doesn't help that you've got Psycho Tweeter (qu'est-ce que c'est?) in the Whitehouse tacitly encouraging the protesters for his own reasons.

    TR
    ProontThacoBellGenderNihilismGirdlesmeagolheart
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Aedan wrote: »
    Oh, no! So sorry to read that :(

    We're still doing better than most of the other states. There's less than ten that have fewer cases than us. But When it hits the worse off states, its gonna be nasty.
    AedanGenderNihilismGirdle
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,367
    edited May 2020
    Not much happening in this thread lately, so thought I'd post this article I just finished reading. Interesting perspective...

    https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/sweden/2020-05-12/swedens-coronavirus-strategy-will-soon-be-worlds
    Post edited by Balrog99 on
    Grond0JuliusBorisovProontMaleficentOne
  • MaleficentOneMaleficentOne Member Posts: 211
    It takes between 5-10 yrs to find a vaccine/shot that will be save for everyone. I see many no-reload runs in your future if you're gonna wait that long.
  • shabadooshabadoo Member Posts: 324
    Colorado has begun a phased reopening. Some counties are maintaining restrictions, even extending them in a few places, and watching the numbers. Looking okay so far, but the experts are reminding us that it's not over yet.
    I'm encouraged by a local study showing ~85% of the public are wearing masks and maintaining proper social distance when out and about.
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Considering that a lot of states haven't even hit their second wave yet, re-opening any state seems a bad move. We NEVER got control of anything.
    smeagolheart
  • BallpointManBallpointMan Member Posts: 1,659
    I went to the store tonight for some grocery shopping. Maybe... 15% of the people there had masks on. This is in rural Virginia, and today was the first day of the first phase of reopening.

    Last week, probably 50% of people had their mask on in the same store at the same time.

    Just saying it's a reopening has apparently emboldened people to stop using their masks around here (Despite the fact that we appear to still be in an upward trajectory for cases. Over 500 in my city and counting).
    JuliusBorisovProontsmeagolheart
  • TarotRedhandTarotRedhand Member Posts: 1,481
    Here is the BBC's News perspective on the USA response to the pandemic. Just saw this on TV in the last hour and makes for sobering viewing.

    TR
    Grond0ProontJuliusBorisov
  • shabadooshabadoo Member Posts: 324
    It's definitely not near over, and when it is there will be yet another newer deadlier virus just around the corner. The world will have to adjust to a new social standard. Just as many metropolises have adopted restrictions on certain activities during periods of high air pollution, certain social activities will need to be curtailed from time to time. This is just how it's going to be for the foreseeable future. Is not so bad, though. Look at all the really cool quarantine videos that have come out. Keep cool, keep clean, keep creating. Do this and we'll be just fine.
    ThacoBell
  • MaleficentOneMaleficentOne Member Posts: 211
    edited May 2020
    This short video explains the timeframe creation of a vaccine.
    TLDW: There Has never been a successful vaccine created for Coronavirus, SARS or MERS

    Balrog99Proont
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    There are reasons why vaccines haven't been developed for either SARS or MERS. This web article offers an explanation as to why that is - Here's why a vaccine is needed for COVID-19 but wasn't for SARS.

    TR

    The preparatory work done on vaccines for SARS is a major reason why some of the groups looking at a Covid-19 vaccine believe they can produce that in significantly less than the 12 months normally quoted as the bottom end of the expected timescale. One such group is based in Oxford, though their latest results from animal trials suggest their vaccine will not provide full protection against the disease.
    ThacoBellMaleficentOne
  • MaleficentOneMaleficentOne Member Posts: 211
    edited May 2020
    https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/how-the-first-canadian-covid-19-vaccine-trial-will-work-1.4943235

    "Under normal conditions, those types of studies … can take five to seven years. It's a very long process," Dr. Scott Halperin told CTV News Channel on Sunday.

    Please guys, don't get your hopes up too soon. There is no magic medicine for this virus.
    Vaccine production guidelines are there for a reason, so we don't get sick from vaccines and for labs selling us snake oil. Five years at the very minimum and that's just testing. If the culture or batch they grow is tainted or fails they have to go back to square one.

    'He said that due to the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, his team will carry out tests "in a more accelerated fashion, without sacrificing any safety," by not waiting for full results from one stage of their research before moving on to the next.'

    This is a very dangerous course they are taking. Cutting corners with people's lives to say they are first is what is going on right now. Trump even said by the end of this year. Very, very dangerous.
    smeagolheart
  • lroumenlroumen Member Posts: 2,508
    edited May 2020
    Having worked on medicine design and antivirals for the flu I can tell you that it takes 15-20 years to get true medication on the market. For example, it took 3 years to get the first compounds selective enough in cellular expression before planning towards animal testing and that goes on stages (for most diseases these are mice and rats, but for the flu it is often actual guinea-pigs, later you get towards monkeys or similar morphology). Human testing (small scale toxicity, double blind and efficacy) was still years away from that and upscaling and production for distribution is an even 3 year extra if not more.

    What is possible is that we get a vaccine that uses deactivated or clipped parts of the actual virus which can then be recognised by the immune system and fight against. This still takes a few years because you need to know if your snippet is selective enough and dies not resemble endogenous molecules in the body in order to prevent malicious auto-immune responses, and it needs to be generic to battle all virus strains that came about from mutation during the development of the vaccine. There is no definite timing attached to this but often years.

    The reason why some governments resort within a year is because they test known fda approved medications for a new application such that you get immediately towards clinical trials with minor prework. However, these medications will not be selective shih initially so let's see what might come out of that... I am not that positive yet.

    So yes, it will stay a while like this. Measures will stay but at some point even before vaccine or medication, relatively normal life can start again.
    Post edited by lroumen on
    MaleficentOneMantis37JuliusBorisovProont
  • shabadooshabadoo Member Posts: 324
    There are iirc, 3 different strains of covid 19 currently. Each will likely need it's own vaccine. Now over the months and years new strains will pop up, influenza is still out there mutating, needing vaccines researched and developed. It seems really scary, but it's not. Like I've said elsewhere.... Keep cool, keep clean, and keep creating. Do this and we'll be just fine.
    MaleficentOne
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    "So yes, it will stay a while like this. Measures will stay but at some point even before vaccine or medication, relatively normal life can start again."

    Well, not for us. My whole family is high risk, and my son likely wouldn't survive an infection.
    DinoDinMaleficentOneJuliusBorisov
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    This article refers to one way Covid-19 suppresses the immune response. Potentially this could offer a valuable treatment for those people severely affected by the disease.

    There seem to have been a few good bits of news around recently. On testing, the UK has been ramping up capacity very rapidly, but there are still problems associated with the time taken to get results. A new test is being evaluated that could cut that to 20 minutes. On another aspect of testing, the UK will next week start rolling out an initial 10m tests to check for the presence of antibodies to the disease. Although the extent of immunity from those who've had it is not yet clear, even just knowing how many people in the population have been exposed to it will be very valuable in designing future mitigation measures.
    MaleficentOneJuliusBorisovBalrog99Proont
  • AedanAedan Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 8,550
    As of today, the situation keeps improving in Italy, with a significant decrease in deaths and new infections, except for my region, Lombardy, where we are still fighting against the virus.

    After almost three months closed in my house, I tried to go out. And I did. But it seems so strange! Many colleagues and friends of mine still prefer to stay home or have trouble going out - they feel unsafe and insecure. And I can feel them, really.
    Plus, I get fatigued very easily - it's like my body is no more used to walk or move for a while!
    MaleficentOneJuliusBorisovThacoBell
  • MaleficentOneMaleficentOne Member Posts: 211
    Aedan wrote: »
    As of today, the situation keeps improving in Italy, with a significant decrease in deaths and new infections, except for my region, Lombardy, where we are still fighting against the virus.

    After almost three months closed in my house, I tried to go out. And I did. But it seems so strange! Many colleagues and friends of mine still prefer to stay home or have trouble going out - they feel unsafe and insecure. And I can feel them, really.
    Plus, I get fatigued very easily - it's like my body is no more used to walk or move for a while!

    Coraggio amico mio. Le cose andranno meglio con il tempo.
    Aedan
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