Government Response to Coronavirus 2: It's Not A Hoax

[fraurosena]

Ten scientists at the Erasmus Medical Centre and the University of Utrecht say they have found an antibody against the COVID19 virus. According to cell-biologist professor Frank Grosveld this antibody blocks the infection and could be the basis for medication against the virus. However it will take some months to fully develop for the market. "Of course prevention is always better, and a real solution would be a vaccine, but others are working on that." A vaccine can take up to two years to develop.

I can't link to a news article as it is incorporated in a Dutch liveblog on the virus. As soon as a linkable English version is available I will post it here. 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

Boris Johnson strategy against the pandemic 

[fraurosena]

As promised, here is a link to a scientific English language article about the antibody. The article is now under peer review before planned publication in Nature.

A human monoclonal 1 antibody blocking SARS-CoV-2 infection

[clueliss]

Well case number 4 In Missouri in Henry County.  That’s the Clinton area (or in Kansas City speak down at the lakes Truman lake in particular).

lets pull this apart for a bit. This is a more rural county that has a lot of ‘tourist’ traffic from elsewhere in the state due to the lakes (the lakes of the ozarks isn’t that far away and table rock is near the border with Arkansas) this article says they are diverting traffic from their hospital due to this.  There’s a whole issue in rural areas with lack of hospitals and closing hospitals.  In the county to the west of me, they had a recent very unexpected hospital closure.  They will now have to come to Columbia 20 or so minutes away.  (But you know, tasing for everyone who needs a test but you can’t have tests unless a doctor says so but you can’t go to the hospital or you infect the place and someone doesn’t really want you to get a test at all) (oh and by the way you big orange moron do you realize that out here in the flyover you are going to kill people who voted for you?  Shouldn’t you want to actually protect those people?). 
 

and hey, with a hospital closed for a while people with other emergency medical needs could just be screwed.

 

https://www.kmbc.com/article/breaking-one-of-missouris-new-presumptive-coronavirus-cases-is-in-henry-county/31517770

[fraurosena]

Stunning hypocrisy at work.. err, sick leave.

GOP Lawmaker Who Voted Against Paid Sick Leave In Florida Takes Paid Leave From Congress

Quote

REP. MATT GAETZ, R-Fla., decided to self-quarantine this week after coming in contact with an individual who tested positive for a novel coronavirus, which causes the disease Covid-19, at the Conservative Political Action Conference late last month.

But Gaetz’s decision to take time away from his job at Congress without the fear of losing pay or being fired is a right few Americans share. In fact, Gaetz voted to prohibit Florida residents from sharing that right.

Gaetz’s office did not respond to a request for comment. The lawmaker has since tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus but is continuing to self-quarantine “in an abundance of caution.” Members of Congress get paid a salary of $174,000 or more no matter what. They do not have to vote or be present in D.C., and Gaetz has missed votes all week.

Gaetz initially sought medical treatment from the Capitol’s Office of Attending Physician, the in-house government health clinic for high-level federal officials, alongside two other lawmakers, Reps. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and Doug Collins, R-Ga., who also attended CPAC.

Despite the national push for Americans to practice social distancing to curb spread of the coronavirus, many workers do not have the option to take paid sick leave or work remotely, and must continue to travel to work.

Workers in many industrialized countries have paid sick leave, a right that has been opposed by business interests in the U.S. for decades. Over the last 10 years, many Americans have in fact lost the right for paid sick leave as corporate interests groups have pushed to roll back the right of local governments to enact paid sick leave policies.

In 2013, then-Gov. Rick Scott signed Gaetz-backed preemption legislation that barred every city and county in Florida from enacting paid sick leave legislation. Disney World, Darden Restaurants, and the Florida Chamber of Commerce promoted the Florida preemption effort.

The Florida law was part of a national drive by industry that began as a reaction to an ordinance in San Francisco. In 2006, voters in San Francisco passed a referendum that required employers to provide paid medical leave for workers, a decision that sparked a movement across the country as other cities developed similar policies. The counterassault from the business lobby came a few years later, as Republicans began making electoral gains after the 2010 midterms.

In 2011, then-Gov. Scott Walker signed a preemption bill into law in Wisconsin designed to override the 2008 Milwaukee ordinance providing paid sick days to workers. Later that year, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a lobbyist-run group that develops template legislation, championed the Walker legislation as a key policy that other states should emulate.

The ALEC committee tasked with leading the charge on banning local paid sick leave was headed by a lobbyist from Yum! Brands, the company that owns Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell.

In states across the country, the ALEC legislation spread, with Republican-controlled legislative chambers rapidly passing laws to preempt paid sick leave. All told, business lobbying groups have pushed 22 states to enact preemption laws to make local city and county paid sick ordinances illegal.

Although some large American employers have announced plans to voluntarily extend some paid sick leave policies to workers, the crisis around the novel coronavirus has forced the issue back into the national spotlight.

Earlier this week, congressional Democrats unveiled federal legislation to combat the spread of the virus. The bill includes expanded food assistance, free lab testing for the coronavirus, extended unemployment benefits, and paid sick leave.

This morning, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., vigorously pushed back, highlighting paid sick leave as a key provision his caucus would oppose. The bill, McCarthy said at a press conference, “forces permanent paid sick leave for all business without exemptions and no sunsets.”

The GOP stance, notably, reflects the demands of the most powerful business lobby in Washington, D.C.: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents the largest employers in America.

“[W]e believe this crisis should not be used as an opportunity to try to pass legislation that is poorly tailored to the situation and will not be signed into law,” Neil Bradley, the executive vice president of the Chamber wrote in a letter to Congress today. “This emergency bill should not create a federal, one-size-fits-all, permanent leave mandate on employers,” he added.

 

[clueliss]

National Guard activations 

 

Military travel being halted

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[clueliss]

Disney’s frozen 2 to be available to subscribers (or his the mouse is trying to get people signed up amid disaster since they closed all their parks)

 

[AmazonGrace]

This made me smile, despite everything

 

[fraurosena]

I love how Sherrod Brown not only calls out Trump, but McConnell too. 

 

[Ali]

9 hours ago, thoughtful said:

Thanks, asshole.

For a lot of Americans, it would have been a day of prayer anyway. And, as someone who would really like to see this country stand by its supposed separation of church and state, I am not happy about your declaring a "National Day of Prayer" (with caps, no less!).

There are some great answers in the thread, though.

The most important Christian Sunday is coming up and some churches might be closed due to his incompetence. My church will be closed to anyone but those needed to live stream a service. I would have kept myself and my children home even if it wasn't closed. The confirmed cases in Michigan have more than doubled in less than 24 hours.

[fraurosena]

A few updates from Europe and elsewhere in the world:

• Denmark has now closed all its borders to everyone except those with the Danish nationality, or who live and/or work in Denmark.
• Iran now has 12.729 confirmed cases; 611 people in Iran have died of the virus so far. 
• Spain has asked people to not leave their homes unless it is absolutely necessary, like shopping for essentials or medicine, or going to the doctor. 
• Surinam has closed its airways for 30 days. KLM is sending empty planes in order to take stranded passengers back home.
• In Paris, restaurants usually frequented by the elderly are delivering meals to their homes.
• Belgium now has 689 confirmed cases and 4 virus related deaths (all elderly people).
• Norway has advised its people not to travel to foreign countries and has asked its Norwegians travelling outside of Norway to return home as soon as possible.
• A person on the Greek island Lesbos has been contaminated with the virus. Doctors Without Borders are now extremely concerned for contamination in the densely populated refugee camps located on the island.

[Audrey2]

The Multnomah County Library system, Portland, Oregon's library system, has closed indefinitely. Items on hold are still on hold, and no fines are growing on late items.

[fraurosena]

Last night there was a programme with experts (doctors, virologists) answering COVID19 related questions from viewers. I thought I'd share some universal questions and their answers.

When should I call the doctor?
You should call the doctor when you are seriously concerned about your health. 

When am I contagious fo other people?
Generally, the sicker you are, the more contagious you are. If you hardly have any symptoms, the chances that you have the virus are small.

Can grandparents still babysit their grandchildren?
For now, that's not advisable. The elderly are more at risk and they should avoid any risk of contamination. 

Can I go to the sauna or swimming pool?
Yes. Going to the sauna or pool doesn't increase your risk of contamination just because it's more warm and moist there.

Can I go to the gym or sports classes?
Yes. If you don't have any symptoms and the gym is still open, you can still go.

Can children with the virus contaminate others?
Yes, but it's not very probable. In general, the chance that children get the virus is much smaller than the chance that adults do, and when kids do get it, they usually only have slight symptoms. This is why they are less contagious. The chance of contamination for and from children is almost nil. Even in schools. Especially when parents abide by the rules and keep children with sniffles at home.

Are patients with asthma and COPD more at risk?
Absolutely. If your lungs are already damaged by another illness and you get the virus on top of that, it really is an added risk. Symptoms can be much more serious with lung patients. However, it has not been proven that lung patients run more risk of catching the virus. 

Are smokers more sensitive to the virus than non-smokers?
Yes. There is strong evidence that smokers are more sensitive to the virus than non-smokers. In other words, they are contaminated more easily, and they have a greater chance of serious symptoms and even death. Add to that the fact that smokers' lungs function less effectively. This makes them even more sensitive to getting pneumonia and it also makes their bodies less capable of resisting breathing difficulties than non-smokers. 

[Xan]

16 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Can children with the virus contaminate others?
Yes, but it's not very probable. In general, the chance that children get the virus is much smaller than the chance that adults do, and when kids do get it, they usually only have slight symptoms. This is why they are less contagious. The chance of contamination for and from children is almost nil. Even in schools. Especially when parents abide by the rules and keep children with sniffles at home.

From what I've read, they're not sure about this.  The children seem to have fewer reactions to the Covid virus but that doesn't mean that their viral load is less nor that they aren't contagious.  There are two hypotheses:  1) Children get a lot of colds and lesser adenoviruses and coronaviruses.  They might have better immune responses.  2) Their lungs --being newer -- have less inflammation and they think inflamed lungs are more susceptible to coronavirus attachments.  

What killed more older people in the SARS outbreak was that they seemed to be unable to turn off their inflammatory response and their bodies' immune systems went into overdrive and flooded their lungs.  Recently, Chinese doctors have tried giving steroids to tamp down the immune response in very sick patients but that it hasn't been effective. *

They won't know exactly what's going on until they've studied this virus further.  

* I  have a relative who is a cancer researcher.  I've been getting him to interpret some articles I've read from medical-speak.  He's worried.  The vaccine will take quite a while and the antibody research -- while promising -- would require IV infusions so that's not going to be practical for large numbers of people.

[clueliss]

Sen Josh Hawley of MO tweeted that Ft Leonard Wood couldn’t test its own people.  The Federal government left the us army hanging (chemical, biological, radiological school among other things).  Good thing the State of Missouri was able to give them some.  
 

Now I understand what happened in The Walking Dead.  This is how the CDC and government bungled that to create a horror show.  Who the heck knew it was more prophecy that fiction.

[clueliss]

 

[fraurosena]

For Michigan.

[clueliss]

Kansas has another case is suburban KC.  This one associated with Johnson County Community College (which is comparatively large) and seems to be local transmission.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

From the head of Medicare/Medicaid under Obama:

Rest of thread under spoiler.

Spoiler

 

[fraurosena]

Trump says he has taken coronavirus test

Quote

President Trump just announced at a press conference that he has taken a coronavirus test. He took the test Friday night after getting questions at a press conference.

Trump said he did not know the results yet and that it usually takes 1-2 days.

Before coming out to the White House press briefing room today, Trump said he had his temperature taken and later when asked how it was, he said it was normal.

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-03-14-20-intl-hnk/h_552fc6845281e35032d5cb24527bd9c4

He's not keeping to his own advice on social distancing though. Oh, and handshaking is just a natural response..  

Edited March 14, 2020 by fraurosena

[Xan]

13 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Trump says he has taken coronavirus test

He's not keeping to his own advice on social distancing though. Oh, and handshaking is just a natural response..  

The will be interesting because I'm not sure what he'll say.  If he has the virus, he might admit it so he can prove that it's not serious and is still a hoax.  He might say he has it and just hide out and watch television for a couple of weeks.  He might say he doesn't have it and that's because it's not as easy to catch as people say, so - hoax!  Or he might say he doesn't have it because he has the best health of anyone on the planet.  Unbelievable immune system!  The greatest!

We won't know if he really does or does not have it until someone else blabs.

An aside:  Assholes on Ebay are now selling toilet paper, masks, and hand sanitizer for small fortunes.  I only hope the price gouging laws catch up with them.

[Ali]

6 minutes ago, Xan said:

The will be interesting because I'm not sure what he'll say.  If he has the virus, he might admit it so he can prove that it's not serious and is still a hoax.  He might say he has it and just hide out and watch television for a couple of weeks.  He might say he doesn't have it and that's because it's not as easy to catch as people say, so - hoax!  Or he might say he doesn't have it because he has the best health of anyone on the planet.  Unbelievable immune system!  The greatest!

We won't know if he really does or does not have it until someone else blabs.

An aside:  Assholes on Ebay are now selling toilet paper, masks, and hand sanitizer for small fortunes.  I only hope the price gouging laws catch up with them.

My state has a hotline to report price gouging.

[clueliss]

I’d Report them To eBay.  

Edited March 14, 2020 by clueliss

[GreyhoundFan]

Another Junior who sucks:

 

[fraurosena]

31 minutes ago, Xan said:

The will be interesting because I'm not sure what he'll say.  If he has the virus, he might admit it so he can prove that it's not serious and is still a hoax.  He might say he has it and just hide out and watch television for a couple of weeks.  He might say he doesn't have it and that's because it's not as easy to catch as people say, so - hoax!  Or he might say he doesn't have it because he has the best health of anyone on the planet.  Unbelievable immune system!  The greatest!

We won't know if he really does or does not have it until someone else blabs.

An aside:  Assholes on Ebay are now selling toilet paper, masks, and hand sanitizer for small fortunes.  I only hope the price gouging laws catch up with them.

If he really does have it... he's in an increased risk category. No matter what he likes to believe, his health is terrible. He could become really ill and even need hospitalisation. I'm not saying that's going to happen, but if it does, calling it a hoax will be out of the question.

I don't get the hoarding of toilet paper. Masks, unless they are FFP2 won't do a thing to protect you. Hand sanitiser is nice, but water and soap is better to clean your hands properly. However, people trying to make a fortune off of other people's fears are just scum.