DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... COVID-19

I think the last thread about this topic in the forum turned political which is against board rules. I also have noted that there is a new thread about it in the Political forum.

So, I was wondering if we could just have a thread about the COVID-19 w/out the political crap? There are a lot of people on here w/many contacts. It could be an informative thread w/news, updates, new findings, precautions, etc.

Anyone interested in that?

I have a friend who is a researcher at City of Hope:

https://www.cityofhope.org/david-mulama

I was talking to him today and he is very concerned with the virus spreading in places that don't have safeguards in place to control it. He is from Kenya and there is a heavy Chinese influence in the country. Recently a plane load of Chinese workers made their way to Kenya and they were not screened at all. Now they are in Kenya, among other Chinese workers, and there is a lot of panic:

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/uproar-as-chinese-plane-lands-in-kenya-with-239-onboard/1747746

He was not as concerned about people in the United States because there are many safeguards in place to help people who are in need. His most pressing concern was that researchers don't really know what the virus is or what it will become yet.

Don’t post anything critical crfs. You must be a positive cheerleader.

You can also post xenophobic comments, too!

Just don’t criticize dear leader.

Or, post everything critical, and make it political. Your choice. And you've chosen.

I liked your post not because I liked hearing the concerning news, but because it was informative.

I typically do not pay much attention to these types of scares, but this one is beginning to catch my attention. Information is a good thing, in my opinion.

Washington state investigating possible coronavirus outbreak at a nursing facility

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/01/health/washington-state-possible-coronavirus-outbreak/index.html

This will be horrible.

When I was younger,I was an anarchist just like you.
Now that I see how boorish,annoying and useless that stance is,I wish I had been more mature.

https://www.kcra.com/article/california-...utions/31163575



SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
The California Nurses Association is criticizing medical facilities for the lack of steps being taken to protect medical staff that treat patients with coronavirus.

At UC Davis Medical Center, the union reports 36 nurses and 88 medical staff are under self-quarantine as a precaution after a Solano County patient was admitted into the hospital and later tested positive for coronavirus.



The unidentified woman is the first known person in the country to contract the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, without traveling abroad or having close contact with a person who was diagnosed with the virus.

UC Davis Medical Center declined an interview with KCRA, saying, “We won’t be able to offer a spokesperson for an interview. Our team is too busy caring for patients at this point in time.”

The patient was initially treated at NorthBay VacaValley Hospital for three days before being transferred to UC Davis Medical Center. But, it took roughly a week since first admittance before the patient was tested for COVID-19.

NorthBay VacaValley is also self-quarantining staff as a precaution. Rep. John Garamendi’s office estimates 84 hospital staff. The county gave a rough estimate of dozens but less than 100.

“We’ve been through H1N1, we’ve been through Ebola,” said Stephanie Roberson with the California Nurses Association. “I have never seen this level of self-quarantine in any of our other epidemics.”

The union represents 100,000 registered nurses across the state. The national chapter also said nurses at UC medical centers across the state began notifying the union about the urgency of the novel coronavirus on Jan. 28.

At UC Davis Medical Center, nurses asked to implement infection control measures used during the 2014 Ebola outbreak eight days before the Solano County COVID-19 patient was admitted, the union said

“It’s not contained. This is not a pretty picture. If nurses aren’t being protected, and nurses are being sent home, that is a tremendous threat,” Roberson said. “We drilled in on California and the results are telling us this -- almost half of respondents, both nationally and in California are saying they’ve had no information from their employer on a plan moving forward on coronavirus.”

The University of California Office of the President did not reply to KCRA3’s request for comment by the time this story was published.

My wife is an Anesthetist. I am getting concerned due to the correlation of working in a hospital and the virus.

I made a post that got moved to the other thread..It had no political view at all. It was About my good friend Natalie.Some on here know her. She is my friend that we go to a Colts game once a year in Indy. She Loves her Colts and likes the Browns.

She was in Portland last week for her job. I was worried about her but she isn't as worried.

One thing I have been thinking about. I wonder if people are staying away from Chinese Restaurants. With workers coming and going from The States to China and back.

I'm interested in how long it will be until a Vaccination is available.

I saw last week that after animal testing, human trials, evaluate side effects we are at least 18 months from the vaccine

That's longer than I had expected.. Most likely not bad. Better than years away. Thank you for that Information.

Amazon pulls the plug on coronavirus price-gougers

Amazon said it has yanked 1 million products from its site for falsely claiming to cure or defend against the coronavirus.

The Seattle-based retail giant likewise said it has pulled “tens of thousands” listings for face masks whose sellers have been price-gouging amid the coronavirus panic.

Some merchants have been looking to take advantage of the crisis amid growing anxiety about the global epidemic, which has infected more than 80,000 people around the world and killed nearly 3,000, the Seattle-based retail giant confirmed Friday.

A 10-pack of N95 masks was recently retailing on Amazon for $128, according to Reuters, compared to its average price of close to $41. A two-pack of respirators, meanwhile, was selling at $25 compared to its normal price of just under $7.

“There is no place for price gouging on Amazon,” Amazon said in a statement, citing the company’s policy that product information must be accurate and that Amazon can take down offers that hurt customer trust, including when pricing “is significantly higher than recent prices offered on or off Amazon.”

Searches for items commonly associated with the virus — such as the masks — trigger a banner notification on Amazon linking to a CDC fact sheet about the virus so that users can “learn more about coronavirus protective measures.”

Amazon did not specify what the threshold is for an item to be considered unfairly priced. The company said it monitors for price spikes and false claims through a mix of automated and manual reviews of listings.

Amazon didn’t elaborate on what kinds of products it had pulled over false claims of being able to cure or defend against coronavirus. On Friday, a search for “coronavirus cure” on Amazon brought up a number of ebooks related to the topic, as well as dozens of supplements that claim to boost the immune system.

Shares of Amazon were down 3.3 percent Friday morning, at $1,824.65.

https://nypost.com/2020/02/28/amazon-pulls-the-plug-on-coronavirus-price-gougers/

Coronavirus: China’s factory activity plunges to all-time low, worse than global financial crisis, February data show

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-econo...es-all-time-low

and then here

https://www.wsj.com/articles/grocers-prepare-for-surge-in-demand-as-coronavirus-spreads-11583004925


https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/02/28/chinese-products-shortage-coronavirus/

Also, another fun fact I didn't know about and it should end up in the other thread-but for this discussion, if you are on medicines that you need-start looking to see if you can order 90 day supplies.

The fun fact is that of all of the medicines that we are prescribed in the United States...........
The Food and Drug Administration estimates that at least 80 percent of the active ingredients found in all of America's medicines come from abroad – primarily China.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/america-dependent-china-medicines

Big Drugmakers Warn About Coronavirus Impact on Business

Provided by Dow Jones
Mar 1, 2020 11:14 AM EST

By Jared S. Hopkins
Some of the world's biggest drugmakers have begun warning that their businesses could be affected by the spread of the coronavirus.

AstraZeneca PLC, Merck & Co. and Pfizer Inc. are among the companies that said recently the epidemic could affect supplies for certain drugs or sales, depending on how long the epidemic lasts.

To get ahead of any disruptions to supplies from China, some pharmaceutical companies have begun looking for alternative sources of drug ingredients and supplies, according to industry officials and experts.

Drugmakers have begun discussing the potential impact after saying for weeks they were monitoring their distribution lines and had sufficient supply. Companies typically avoid discussing their supply chains, but they have been under pressure from Wall Street to provide more information as the epidemic spreads, especially since it started in China, a major source of drug ingredients and a fast-growing market for medicines.

"Our whole industry is in one way or other way connected with China, but you would expect us to be much better placed," Mylan NV President Rajiv Malik said Thursday on a conference call with analysts and investors.

Some Mylan products could be in short supply if "the situation persists" for another few months, Mr. Malik said. He said Mylan's top 25 products don't depend on China, however, and expressed confidence in the company's ability to employ alternative sources for drug ingredients.

Pfizer said in a filing on Thursday that the virus could hurt its operations, including manufacturing and supply chain, and could negatively impact its financial results but that it depends on future developments of the outbreak.

Pfizer said the majority of its products and raw materials are sourced from countries besides China, but some does come from China, though the company said it hasn't seen a disruption to supplies so far.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. bases its manufacturing network for its drug ingredients, known as active pharmaceutical ingredients or API, out of Europe and India, not China, according to Chief Executive Kare Schultz.

"We do use some raw materials and APIs that come out of China [but] in some cases we have dual supply so if we can't get materials from China we can get them from somewhere else," he said in a recent interview.

The threat that the novel coronavirus poses for prescriptions has renewed a cause for concern because of China's role as a big supplier of drug ingredients.

"There is no such thing as a simple supply chain anymore," said Steven Lynn, a former FDA official who consults with drugmakers on quality and compliance. "Things are coming from all over the world. If one part of that breaks down, then you're scrambling."

The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday a drug has gone into shortage because of difficulties obtaining an ingredient from a site affected by the coronavirus. It didn't disclose which drug or its manufacturer.

How much multinational drugmakers depend on China-sourced ingredients is unclear. Policy makers often cite a figure that 80% of drug materials are imported overseas, but the FDA said it can't track how much is from China.

China has also emerged in recent years as one of the biggest markets for some major drugmakers. Drug sales in China totaled $137 billion in 2018, and are expected to rise 3% to 6% annually for the next several years, according to health-care data firm Iqvia.

AstraZeneca generated 21% of its sales in China last year. Releasing its forecast for 2020 performance, the company said last month it expects an unfavorable impact from a slower China business lasting up to a few months due to the novel coronavirus.

Merck said in a securities filing Wednesday its first-quarter sales will suffer due to the epidemic in China, although not enough to be material. It said it was unclear if the outbreak will affect sales for the rest of the year.

Merck also said the epidemic has had a limited effect on its supplies of raw materials coming from China and ability to ship medicines into the country.

Joseph Walker and Denise Roland contributed to this article

Write to Jared S. Hopkins at jared.hopkins@wsj.com

Over 1000 cases in Iran. 54 dead.

Iran is most likely completely out of hand at this point. It's best case scenario is likely that of Wuhan.

Italy is rapidly gaining on South Korea, and to me is the most troublesome picture dye to the amount of tourism through that area (Milan/Turin).

Of note to pay close attention to: the nursing home in Washington and the high school kid in Oregon. Almost the entire nursing home has unknown respiratory issues now, and nobody really knows how many other kids were exposed to that student before he was diagnosed. Eventually, one or more of these sorts of things will be the wick that touches off the bigger epidemic.

I bought a lot of books recently, and some have yet to be delivered. I probably should spray them down with Lysol or something before I pick them up.

At church today, people were elbow bumping instead of handshakes and hugs.

I just pray that this virus gets under control and that no one else dies from it.

You could also just leave them in the box for two weeks.

Being in Ohio, you currently have little to worry about. As I understand it, we have people under self-quarantine, but we have zero confirmed cases.

Just wash your hands regularly, don't touch your face, etc.... the standard things.

by the way, the BBC ran an article two days ago saying that a cumulative tally from sources they have inside Iran at various hospitals around Tehran and Qom put their death tally over 200.

Two Days Ago. When their official reported case count was just 388.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51673053

That's a very valid concern. I think my biggest concern in all of this is the lack of testing. Very limited numbers of people are being tested. And only if they reach a certain criteria. I find that quite troubling.

There's no real way of knowing the actual impact of how much the virus is spreading when you have a low number of testing to arrive at your conclusions. With so few having been tested it's hard to tell how much or how fast the Coronavirus has spread in the U.S.

Arguing that we aren't testing enough people is a political statement, right?

I doubt it and I'm not sure why you insist on poking the bear in a topic that concerns us all. I mean if you wish to quibble about politics there's a thread on the exact same topic in the political forum.

There have been reports that the test kits we are getting here in the U.S. are not that accurate. There are reports their are shortages in test kits. Does the blame belong on the local, state or federal level for a shortage of test kits?

My intent is not to place blame on why the testing is not being done. Only that we do not have a clear picture of the actual spread of the disease here in the U.S. because of it.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program.....

That would be a very high death rate. Of course, unless the confirmed number of cases is not correct

Early on, not only were there a limited number of available test kits, but apparently there was a bad batch that gave inconclusive results. Add to it that prior to the first community cases, the criteria for testing was more limited to people that traveled, etc....

That is all changing, now.



Additional updates:

Italy's case count jumped 50% in 24 hours. They are now over 1,600.

Nigeria is tracking about 100 people, with that number growing, that had contact with their firat case.

A dozen new cases in the UK.

30 new cases in France overnight.

Qatar closing borders.

"Surveillance Testing" is underway in San Francisco and "other key cities"

The Louvre has closed its doors.

MotoGP has canceled their season opening event in Italy.

Pollution levels over China have actually declined significantly due to their factory shutdowns, according to satellite imagery.

Stop being an idiot or leave the board.
Leave your petty crap elsewhere.

If you want to stir political garbage, keep it in the political gutter that it the other board. Leave this thread alone so that people can actually get news and information.... you know, all that stuff you complain that is being withheld.



This post is the end of political crap in this thread.

From Rhode Island

40 people monitored after 40-year-old man is first in R.I. to test positive for coronavirus
www.providencejournal.com
...Saint Raphael Academy is canceling classes Monday and Tuesday after a "member of our community" has tested positive for the strain of coronavirus that is causing worldwide concern, the school said Sunday on its website....
"Although not directed by [federal or state health officials], out of an abundance of caution, the SRA Administration has decided that all students, faculty and staff will have Virtual Days at home on Monday and Tuesday (March 2 and 3) while ongoing campus sanitation continues." ...

One thing we are doing today is that mine and my wifes couple prescriptions were below 1/2 so we ordered another month to have at home. We tried to order 3 months but insurance won't cover, so we will have about 6 weeks and probably order another month in another couple weeks if they will fill.

We both have different places to go today, so we are going to check out a couple stores and get a few staples that we can store for a couple weeks

Also, just found out that when they talk about a test kit, each kit will test between 700-800 different specimens.
So if they said that they will have about 15,000 test kits, that would test about 12 million different specimens

bro i get governments around the world not wanting to cause panic, but they are being real shady with the numbers they are reporting.

things like this we have to be all in together, but everybody seems hellbent on protecting whatever image they think they have and its infuriating.

Good plan.
The advice I've been seeing says to stock whatever you need to in order to prepare for the possibility of not leaving your house for a couple of weeks.

Basically, I have to go hit Aldi's today, anyway, so I'm just going to buy extra and stock the freezer and replenish the dry goods like flour.

There was apparently a run on a Costco in Washington the other day, they were cleaned out of toilet paper!! Thankfully, as a single guy, I probably have enough in the house to last six months, lol!

but you know if numbers, death rate were much worse than reported (which they may be), there would be mass chaos, and not just the stock market

Countries like Iran are patently stupid for how they are approaching this.

Of interest, though, is how many government officials are infected there. Very disproportionate. One MP died.


On the other hand, you have Italy and France that aren't hiding anything, but are still struggling mightily.

Saw on drudge Friday night that the run on toilet paper was so bad in Hawaii, that they had to ration.

Also, seeing that there is in some areas a run on hand sanitizer, clorox and go try to find a 3M N95 mask.

Skip the mask unless you get infected.
It isn't going to do much to prevent infection, its real value would be in helping prevent you from spreading your own infection.

Also, unless you get an N95 or N99 mask, do not waste your time or money on any masks.


For the other items, order from Amazon if you have Prime. You don't have to sweat the logistics of whether or not the location you visit is out of things.

maybe bro. but man....i dunno it just seems like governments are doing us any favors right now.

i mean damn man, Purp is out here giving better advice right now than half the planet.

I’m not an alarmist but I am a realist. As a community nurse I know my chances for exposure are higher than the average Joe. With that, today I went and boosted my earthquake, and now ‘pandemic’, kit food supply. Stocked up my can goods supply (soup, tuna, fruits, veggies), added a few pounds of dried rice and beans, ramen, pasta and sauce, Gatorade powder, shelf stable Almond milk, powdered creamer, added a couple pounds of meat for the freezer too.
If I get sick, my girlfriend likely will too. Now we won’t have to leave the house if we do.

Stay safe out there. Wash your hands. Stay home if you don’t feel well.

Amazon is finally starting to come down on some of their sellers especially concerning the masks..a 30 pack of N95 that normally sells for about $15 was going on Amazon for $200 plus.

And I am getting ready to go to the gym and the store, but I just checked pricing for (2) 8 oz Purell hand sanitizers on Amazon and they are 41 dollars plus 3 to ship. I will stop at the dollar store on the way home.

The mask info is courtesy of the Surgeon General...and I quote (paraphrase)

"Seriously, people, STOP buying masks!"