Kevin Durant tests positive.
Good to see people with money can get tested.
Of course. The people who have it hardest to isolate themselves and still be fine, regardless of circimstances...obviously the rich!
They need to test NBA players because they present a MUCH higher risk than the average citizen. The average citizen interacts with a handful of the same people daily, repeatedly; NBA players interact and have physical contact with more than a handful of different people each changing day, along with having to travel a lot.
As a result, to consider the rest of the community is to test these player as fast as they can. While they face essentially no risk at all of dying or anything close to that, their individual risk to society is multiple times higher than the average human being, and that's what it should be all about.
Thats a bunch of crap, nba players are not any more likely to speead the virus than a guy making sandwiches in a deli or delivering amazon packages to hundreds of people. Everyone shlikd be tested, whether they have symptoms or not, because apparently up to 50% of people who are postive for Coronavirus do not show symptoms yet can spread it around.
NBA players travel across the country. That’s the dangerous aspect. The delivery guy you mentioned might spread the virus within a community but a frequent traveler could bring it into new communities.
But yes, people should be tested en masse.
Usually they would, yes. But now that the season is over/suspended... you feel they're still getting more exposure than the average person?
Absolutely not. However, if someone tests positive now, it means they could’ve presented a risk a week ago during the season. Now the people that have been in close proximity with these people can take extra precautions to not spread it to others.
Again, celebrities testing for Coronavirus definitely heightens people’s awareness of the issue. You can argue how it’s unethical (which I disagree with in the NBA’s case as mentioned), however it certainly has a positive effect on society and how we treat the pandemic.
March 18th, 2020 at 12:51 PM ^
Seems you would want to test flight attendants who not only travel, but come into close contact with hundreds of people before NBA players.
Whether you believe that or not, I guarantee you that social awareness of the virus has gone up ever since KD + 3 other Nets tested for it, the same way the dominos fell (thankfully) once Gobert tested for it.
Anyone to spin it in a negative light, as if 20 tests for athletes negatively impacts society, is a fool.
You really think at this point, with the mayor of New York talking about the potential to shutdown the city, that this news is going to raise social awareness? And then you suggest other people are fools?
Absolutely it will. You’re a fool to think it won’t. This is news that literally reaches millions.
The (alleged) negative effect of 20 wealthier people getting tested for Coronavirus is by FAR outweighed by the positive effect of millions of basketball fans who are learning that KD + 3 other Nets have tested positive. It’s foolish to think none of these millions of people will take extra precautions because of it.
You can shake your head at them for needing 4 celebrities to heighten their awareness, sure. But not everybody is rational and acts upon logic.
The millions of basketball fans who have seen the NCAA tornament cancelled and the NBA season suspended? This is gonna be the straw that breaks the camels back for them?
There's no "straw that breaks the camels back" for society. In terms of society, it's all a continuous thing. Gobert gets the coronavirus: more people are cautious. NBA suspends its season: more people are cautious. Power 5 tournaments cancelled: more people are cautious. NCAA cancels tourney: more people are cautious. Mitchell/Wood test positive: more people are cautious. Now KD + 3 other Nets test positive: more people are cautious. If we're talking about a group of 20 people, then sure, you're right. But we're talking about millions. A single event like this will effect the actions of certain people within the millions.
Kind of like marketing/advertising. You keep heightening your reach or impressions of a product and at each level there will be new customers.
note to self - in the extremely unlikely event that I find myself in charge of hiring someone to run an advertising campaign, do not hire vanarbor.
March 17th, 2020 at 10:42 PM ^
I don't know if it's because KD's been out all season, but this is generating a "meh" response compared to Brady signing with the Bucs. If anyone isn't aware of COVID-19 by now, I doubt think they have much social awareness anyway.
Why not have them just quarantine without testing like they do with everyone else?
For one, the NBA season is canceled so they're no longer any different than anyone else in terms of interacting with people (i.e. any interaction or travel for them is voluntary and outside of their profession now).
And two, they apparently paid for the tests themselves from a private company. What's disturbing about that to me is that means we have more testing capacity than we're using right now. The government either needs to pay those private companies to test more people or mandate they lower prices to be able to test more people. We should be using as many tests as are available, not letting them sit waiting for someone to pay for them.
As I've mentioned, the players who tested positive likely had the virus during the season. It's a whole different story if a month into the hiatus, NBA players are still getting tested whenever they want.
Four Nets testing positive sucks, but the NEWS of four Nets testing positive is a massive positive for multiple hundreds of people. There is no doubt that the Nets have been in contact with hundreds and even thousands of people in the week leading up the hiatus, and all of these people can exercise caution now and potentially prevent further spread. You cannot say this about four average Americans, as they simply don't possess the same risk.
I don't disagree at all that the more celebrities that test positive the better the awareness will be and the more people will realize this is spreading widely to young, healthy people that don't exhibit symptoms and thus are very dangerous spreaders and with that knowledge will hopefully stay home.
My point was only that they're no longer and haven't been any more exposed to anyone for almost a week now than a regular person.
March 18th, 2020 at 12:54 AM ^
Right, I understand that.
I'm saying that if this was five weeks after the NBA shut down, you could make this argument. In my opinion, since it hasn't been even a week, the player testing positive now would have had a high risk on a lot of others a week or two ago.
How about all the medical professionals and first responders who have been exposed and can’t get tests?
https://khn.org/news/surging-health-care-worker-quarantines-raise-concerns-as-coronavirus-spreads/
I understand you think I’m a fool for not agreeing with your argument. You know I think you are a fool for making the argument. There is no way we are ever going to find a factual way to settle the question. I find having you think I’m a fool a compliment, so good luck with your ridiculous argument.
Medical Professional here (and entirely my opinion) - the fact that we are unable to test even some people with symptoms at this point is far less than ideal and a true indictment on our collective preparedness. But at this point the assumption - at least in my hospital - is that we have all been exposed. In response we have taken further measures to help prevent spread eg. cancelling all elective surgeries, limiting patient visitors, creating full floors with isolation protocol. IMO it’s not even necessary to test us.
That said, unfortunately I think Vanarbor is right. We’re playing to the least common denominator right now and anything that can further convince that portion of the public that this shit is real is helpful. Kevin Durant testing positive provides shock value and that’s a necessary factor in today’s age of rapid boredom with news.
hope everyone stays safe and healthy
I'm sure most if not all medical professionals have been exposed, but you don't think there's a benefit to testing to see who might be a carrier, and if only some of you are, keep you in quarantine until you're either no longer a carrier or the proverbial shit hits the fan and you're needed even though you're currently carrying?
Or is the assumption also that anyone that comes into the hospital is going to get it anyway so no point in even keeping carriers out? I guess that would be reasonable.
Currently we don’t have enough testing supplies to test anyone except those that meet hospitalization criteria. In an ideal world, yes we would just test everyone and put those who are positive in quarantine. Just not a reality right now.
Now that apparently Drake and the Lakers all appear to be self quarantining, I may have to eat a lot of crow on this one.
https://www.tmz.com/2020/03/17/brooklyn-nets-four-players-test-positive-coronavirus/
Thanks for all you are doing, stay safe and help keep us safe.
March 18th, 2020 at 12:31 AM ^
Hey man, I really wasn't trying to call YOU a fool for "not agreeing with my argument." Nothing personal here. If I did seem to attack you then I apologize for that.
I don't think there's any ridiculous argument necessarily. I don't disagree with what you're saying by any means as it's pretty darn logical when you think about it. I just stated my points because I personally thought it was a better way to assess the situation from an NBA team's point of view. Either way, hope we get through this alright.
March 17th, 2020 at 10:07 PM ^
Somebody needs to take your shovel away. And, your critical thinking skills leave a lot to be desired.
Even though I’ve ceded your point on raising awareness, I definitely prefer the Warriors approach.
We’ve been told that testing’s in short supply," Warriors general manager Bob Myers said on the conference call. "We’re treating ourselves like people, which is what we are. We’re not better than anybody. We’re not worse. We’re just a basketball team, like any company. Right now, we’re not interacting with anybody. I’ve been told by our doctors that we shouldn’t be testing asymptomatic people in California."
March 18th, 2020 at 12:46 AM ^
I have no problem with what they're doing at all. It's all incredibly ethical and I think any organization that preaches these types of values should be commended.
My only issue was with people condemning the organizations who did perform tests. I think it's too indefinite to say if they're actually hurting society, or if they're performing a service to society by the two points I've went through (raising awareness + players travel and are in contact with a lot of people who are in contact with a lot of people who are in contact with a lot of people etc...). I am however rethinking the second of those two points from some of the arguments made here, which has definitely made me open to the Warriors doing something like this.
Eat the rich
You need a little Acid first, to balance out the richness.
What!? What do you have against people that have money?
March 17th, 2020 at 10:39 PM ^
They have been hoarding memorabilia.
March 17th, 2020 at 11:45 PM ^
You can’t hate people with money and be a Michigan fan.... actually, that makes sense. A lot of self hating fans out there
March 17th, 2020 at 11:20 PM ^
without customers, you have no business.
Wouldn't demand for the good or service come first?
Maybe I'm out of the loop, but the fact that a number of notable / famous people have gotten tested and have found they have it, indicates to me the actual number of people who 'have it' (even if mildly) will probably be far higher than we'll ever know
March 17th, 2020 at 11:33 PM ^
Maybe someone coughed in the punch bowl at an A list party.
March 17th, 2020 at 11:33 PM ^
Lots of young people might never get much in the way of symptoms- maybe a cold. It’s when the pneumonia kicks in that it’s an emergency.
Not surprising. Given the number of celebrities that have been confirmed positive for it and the known transmissibility of the virus, I'd take a wild guess and say that the true number of infected people in the US right now is around 10 million.
When this is all said and done the death rate from this virus will be less than 1%, and the government response to it will look like an enormous overreaction. Just like the Flu or the common cold, there's no containing this thing anymore. It has spread nationwide. Continuing to enforce lockdowns is just shooting ourselves in the foot.
STOP. Stop spewing wrong, terrible information/opinions.
STOP. Stop putting millions of people out of work to contain a virus that is beyond the possibility of containment.
I hate to break it to you, but a raging pandemic isn’t awesome for the economy either.
“Hey honey, let’s go to the movies! This movie theater only had 3 new cases of coronavirus last night. I like those odds!”
We're slowing it. Have you comprehended anything over the past week on why we're doing this shit? Yea, it's likely spread much more than we know. But hospital systems are a huge concern right now, that's the issue.
Yeah, you're right -- the obvious thing to do in the face of a deadly pandemic that has ravaged nations is to just assume it's no big deal. Maybe it's even a hoax, right, Dear Leader?
Walk away in shame.
The only thing ravaging nations is their government's insane overreaction to the virus. This virus has been active since november and has only killed 100 people in the US. To put that number into context, over 200,000 people die each month normally in the US. This virus has resulted in a 0.05% uptick in deaths. It's not even close to being statistically significant.
Keeping saying that, asshole.
This thing isn’t anywhere near over.