Covid-19 pandemic

[Hot Pepsi]

We're looking into that now. It sounds too good to be true. My colleague (well, really I'm sorta her boss) is having a hard time getting anyone to respond with any more concrete information on this. It is starting to smell a bit like Trump's "everyone who wants a test can just get one at CVS" lie.

Because the current sample-collection process requires a "nasal swab" that goes wayyyy back into one's head. It's not just a bit of snot. The FDA just put the kibosh on a bunch of companies - mostly in Silicon Valley, of course - that said they were going to ship home testing kits. A whole bunch of false negatives is worse than not knowing at all. There are serious people working on something like that but it doesn't seem quite ready yet.

But this is an antibody test. That tells you if you've already had it, I suppose. That is very useful, but again it sounds too good to be true and I don't know how useful that will be for individuals. It might, however, give a better idea of the spread.

And I don't see how you can expect average people to do a blood draw at home. That is a recipe for disaster. Even if it's just a finger stick. Diabetics do that everyday - or did until better tech has started to emerge - but they have a lot of practice and guidance.

[hobbes]

Isn't it an antibody test to see if you've had it rather than if you have it?

[Hot Pepsi]

Yeah. I'm still unclear on what that's really good for right now. It will maybe provide some useful epidemiology info, but it isn't going to help people decide if they can work or not.

[hobbes]

Well presumably, if you have antibodies and no more symptoms, you've had it. They're working on the assumption that you can't get it twice or pass it on once you've had it.
The more people (especially health workers) who are "immune" as it were, the more hands on and effective they can be.
Or if you've had it you can get back to work and stop the economy from going any more downhill.

[ursus arctos]

What absolute clowns this administration are

https://twitter.com/julianborger/status/1242849535703101444

[Hot Pepsi]

I suppose. But that's a targeted and, probably, very small population right now. I'm not sure why Amazon is involved, unless the NHS just needs their trucks. It shouldn't just be for sale to consumers but its sorta implied there that it might be?

That article doesn't really make it clear that this is very different from the testing that is primarily being referred to in the "test, test, test" mantra.

[Nefertiti2]

https://twitter.com/julianborger/status/1242849535703101444?s=20

[NickSTFU]

Well presumably, if you have antibodies and no more symptoms, you've had it. They're working on the assumption that you can't get it twice or pass it on once you've had it.
The more people (especially health workers) who are "immune" as it were, the more hands on and effective they can be.
Or if you've had it you can get back to work and stop the economy from going any more downhill.

A very good friend and a family member are utterly convinced they had this virus back in December/January as they now recognise the symptoms.

The family member has volunteered to help the NHS, I urged caution.

My mate continues to work as normal as a cleaner for a bank. I urged caution too.

[Bruno]

I get where you're coming from, but I think you're conflating lots of different things here, and the Charles incident doesn't strike me as a great example of the sort of thing you're describing.

I don't think people are wishing ill on him as much as getting fucked off that he 1) managed to get tested despite him and Camilla not meeting the strict NHS guidelines for testing on the face of it and 2) endangered people through his reckless behaviour, ignoring rules that everyone else in the country has to abide by.

Maybe not, but I would still bet that plenty of people will conclude that people are wishing ill on them. It was an immediate right-wing talking point in the US, predictably. The special privileges for rich people in general have led to a lot of bitter sentiments getting expressed.

[Patrick Thistle]

My guess is luck - the first person to return home from traveling carrying the infection lived in Gwent rather than elsewhere in Wales, and happened to bring it back 7+ days before patient 2 came home to another region. Or the number of returning carriers was just higher there, so it began spreading from more spots. Basically Gwent is just further along it's curve rather than anything else.

Well yes. They are just a couple of days ahead on the curve. Its statistically meaningless but shit scary to see where we (Cardiff) will be by the weekend (probably)

[Hot Pepsi]

On his podcast today, Pete Holmes describes a recent incident where he was out for social-distance-compliant walk with his wife and young daughter near Griffith Observatory. He said that he saw somebody he knew from college (he went to a tiny Christian college* in New England so that is surprising in LA) and she got all excited and went in for a hug. He had an awkward exchange with her to get her to back off, and he explains all of that, but what came out of it was that when he asked why she didn't get the message about social distancing, she said "Oh, I haven't been following that." Like it's the fucking World Series or something that's just optional. So it appears that in addition to the loony rightwing "this is a Chinese bioweapon" crowd, there's a crowd of people who are completely oblivious to it. Even in one the hardest-hit cities.


* Lest you think I've turned into one of those, Pete Holmes is no longer a conservative Christian. Indeed his transition out of that is the basis for his HBO show and much of what he discusses on the podcast and one of the things I love about the show.

[Jah Womble]

I'm just trying to imagine the unintentional lengths she must have had to go in order not to follow it.

[ursus arctos]

The fragmentation of media has made that kind of thing much easier than it was

Perhaps her entire media diet is Netflix, Christian music, or cat videos (or all three, for that matter)

There is now a significant proportion of the US population that doesn't have a radio and only uses their television as a streaming and video game display device.

[San Bernardhinault]

But how many of those people also don't use Facebook (or equivalent)? You'd think that the proportion at that point would be sufficiently small that almost everyone she interacted with and went in to hug would have stepped back, and she might have wondered why.

[Bruno]

Anthony Hopkins's self-isolation video featured his cat.

[DCI Harry Batt]

I don't think I hope Charles W dies. I don't think I care, on that level, one way or another. He is a pretty awful person, as well as being the nearly-king. But I just can't get excited enough about him to want him dead.

It'd be a shitshow, but less of one if it happened now I guess, so maybe better to get it out the way. Although he's pretty unpopular for a royal, so maybe the shitshow would be less anyway. Hard to know.

[ursus arctos]

Maybe she only hugs ex-classmates

I think that we under-estimate how many people just don't consume "news"

[treibeis]

I don't hope they get it. But I do hope that if they do get it that they don't get treatment that could be better used for people who aren't vile parasites intent on destroying society.

I agree with this.

[scratchmonkey]

So when I lay down to go to sleep last night, it felt like somebody had put a slighly warm 5 lb. bag of rice on my upper chest. It was extremely unsettling because it was an intense physical experience that basically came completely out of nowhere. Took a little while to get to sleep as I worked through some anxiety about it and this morning I definitely have a bit more of a cough and am a bit short of breath when moving around the house. Will continue to take things easy. Chances of this being COVID-19 are probably up around 85-90% in my mind.

[elguapo4]

I was going into work on Monday when a woman walking in front of me ran ahead when she saw a friend, and not only hugged him but kissed him on the cheek as well saying "don't worry, I don't have it" .He was trying to smile but I've rarely seen such a look of horror on someone's face.

[Nefertiti2]

Sorry to hear that, scratch

has everyone seen this app, (apparently kosher)

asking people to self report symptoms to help slow the spread of #COVID19 and identify at risk cases sooner even if you feel well

You can download the app
https://covid.joinzoe.com/

[Erskine Bridges]

That Twitter thread is full of people saying medical staff with symptoms can't get a test in Aberdeenshire, so it doesn't sound like their supply is exactly plentiful.

There's also the fact that despite having had extended contact with someone who tested positive, he decided to travel from a highly infected area to his second home in a less affected area with scant medical resources, completely ignoring government advice. What an absolute tit.

I agree with Fussbudget’s take. But I get that he’ll have been in contact with a lot of people and I assume/ hope they are being traced.

I really don’t care about the Royals. Wouldn’t fight to get rid of them, wouldn’t fight to save them. If I had to choose, I think I’d get rid but there are a huge number of people in this country who love/respect/defer to the whole royalty thing and getting rid of them would cause a lot of bother. History tells us this. Better I think to just let them show the country through their actions over time how irrelevant they are. Andrew is clearly pushing this agenda quite strongly.

But in fairness to Chas, you won’t find anyone in Ballater with a bad word for him. He apparently stepped up well to support local businesses when the place was flooded out a few years ago. He didn’t advertise that to the world and while you can say he can well afford it and he can, I think that’s worth a little in the credit bank.

[Balderdasha]

I haven't been checking as regularly and there are now loads of new countries with more than 800 cases. Ecuador, Chile, Poland, Thailand, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Finland, Greece. I don't know if these countries all have effective lockdowns in place yet, but if they don't, they're going to have tens of thousands of cases in the next month.

[Jah Womble]

But how many of those people also don't use Facebook (or equivalent)? You'd think that the proportion at that point would be sufficiently small that almost everyone she interacted with and went in to hug would have stepped back, and she might have wondered why.

Yep, that was kind of my thinking.

This is way beyond ‘news’.

[Tactical Genius]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this. Looks like the US democracy is starting to break down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bgCCXSrwHA