Some good news on the war against CO-VID19
Summary: while the vaccine may take time, medical researchers are finding gains in using repurposed drugs and serums, both of which have been showing positive results, and the serum option may be available in just weeks for the most severe of cases.
No, it's not a complete turning of the tide, but these are MAJOR steps in the right direction.
March 16th, 2020 at 12:39 PM ^
It's going to be bad everywhere. We haven't tested and isolated nearly enough people and we've shut things down way too late.
March 16th, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
Minnesota Timberwolves player Karl Anthony Towns has pledged to donate $100k to the Mayo Clinic to help them get testing ramped up. I hope we see more leaders step up in the coming days. We are all in this together and moves like this give me hope that we will get through this.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2881151-karl-anthony-towns-donates-…
March 16th, 2020 at 12:16 PM ^
Really wish we could have discussions over great posts like this one that JDeanAuthor made without the political commentary. Irrespective of whoever is in charge there would always be second guessing.
I like how the article underscored the information & lessons learned sharing going on globally. Unleashing our world class private sector & research capabilities on this virus is huge.
March 16th, 2020 at 12:57 PM ^
"We can never assess the performance of our elected leaders, because that would be partisan" is itself a deeply political statement. I'm not telling you how you should feel, but a lot of people's performance records over the last month+ are not ambiguous.
This post had nothing to do with any elected officials, you prick.
I think the sentiment in the comment is a reasonable one, and it's been echoed many times by people like Dr. Anthony Fauci: there will be plenty of time for second-guessing and finger-pointing later. For now, let's focus on getting our collective act together and row in the same direction.
March 16th, 2020 at 12:22 PM ^
While there are holes in our health system, there is no denying that we are lucky for the innovation we have at our disposal.
There is truth to this but there is a lot of innovation happening all over the world and its often best when the innovators work together.
Not directed at you, but too often Americans (esp. certain people in power) come across as if the rest of the world is made up of 3rd rate chump scientist and doctors. It can be a hindrance to advancement (and saving lives) when we approach it as if we are only interested in medical advances and technology if it is created in the USA.
A lot of the major clinical trials for potential treatments for Covid19 are in Asia.
March 16th, 2020 at 12:27 PM ^
In addition to hospital capacity, it's opportunities like this that make flattening the curve so important. If we can postpone many thousand new infections until hospital beds, ventilators, and potential treatment options are available, it will greatly alleviate suffering and save lives. We moved later than ideal, but at least we are now taking many of the steps necessary to flatten the curve. I think we will wind up much worse than South Korea but not as bad as Italy.
Italy just released their new daily numbers (1 PM ET daily) - 349 more deaths, 3233 more cases.
The number of new cases is down vs. yesterday, but I think that's noise as opposed to anything meaningful. I think their "inflection point" is still 10 days out.
It is possible that they go over 10,000 dead. Yikes. China has only 3,200, if they are being honest.
China's numbers make sense based on the number of infections they cited. However, I don't believe their posted numbers are accurate at all. And there is belief by virologists that the flu may ramp back up now that people are being released to work again. I definitely hope they're wrong which would be a very good sign.
Yeah, the key metric in terms of predicting Hubei's future state is "current actual cases vs. current confirmed cases." Even at 65K confirmed cases in Hubei, that's still only ~0.1% of the population that has been exposed.
If actual vs. confirmed is 10:1, 1% of the population has been exposed, which really isn't much.
If actual vs. confirmed is 100:1, that's 10% of the population. Which definitely isn't "herd immunity" but it's a pretty decent chunk of the population.
If actual vs. confirmed is 500:1 (VERY doubtful, but it's what the USA's ratio was for H1N1 in 2009), that's 50% of the population.
If I had to guess, I'd say the ratio is 100:1. There are reports (from unnamed Chinese sources, of course) that the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Hubei was recorded on 17-November, and there were 60 confirmed cases by 20-December.
That's not what the official data says (only 45 confirmed cases as of 16-January).
Didn't China scramble weeks ago to build a Covid-centric hospital to handle all the cases?... now they are denying they had to build one. Fuck China and their numbers. At this point, no data is believable coming out of China.
"I like the numbers where they are." - Xi Jingping (I think)
I couldn't help but LOLing at this.
Well played.
+1
So subtle politics is ok? So many rules to understand.
How about you go fuck yourself?
Sorry you got so fucking butthurt when I asked for a post without Trump being mentioned.
Actually, no, I'm not sorry. Fuck you asshole... it's clear your main motivation is to start shit.
Fuck you and your assumptions and having to get in the last word and your faux-intellectual superiority as well. You're a fucking idiot that doesn't know your fucking ass from a hole in the ground.
Seriously... go fuck yourself!
March 16th, 2020 at 10:29 PM ^
I too was amused by the subtle Trump reference in Reader71’s post. I was equally amused that someone who was so upset by other reference’s to Trump actually complimented this one.
I did not expect that pointing out the irony would be so upsetting to you. I apologize for misjudging you. I would also apologize again for offending you, but my last attempt did not go so well.
Stop panic buying!
Just rub some tussin on it!
A Canadian company is gearing up for human trials of a vaccine Still July-Aug time frame for phase 1
from same article:
Eli Lilly and Canada-based AbCellera announced a collaboration to develop antibody products for the treatment of COVID-19
Good news of any kind is good.
I have a feeling that scientists, doctors, and data scientists are going to be outright heroes of this pandemic, and more than just because they're on the front lines. There is so much innovation going on right now, that it may change the face of infectious disease research, pharma development, treatment options, and epidemic/pandemic response for the better.
As I was out for a walk yesterday, trying to clear my head and reduce my anxiety, it occurred to me that the likelihood of becoming infected is correlated to population density. Looking at places like northern Italy, Wuhan, and others with a high number of people per square mile, the numbers and projections are frightening. It's difficult not to be sharing the air, stores, pharmacies, and medical facilities with a lot of infected people.
Which is a nice way of saying, "Hey, XtraMelanin, got an extra bedroom or two???"
Somebody tell Bernie that those evil, money-grubbing pharma companies are actually good for something.
Good for maxing profits?
March 17th, 2020 at 10:21 AM ^
I find 7 and 7 to be very effective!