Coronavirus thread

[JBS]

Car maintenance is pretty important actually, and can mostly be done with good social distancing.

I assumed that, although the exemption seems to include the car sales side.

I probably will avail myself of that. My car is approaching a regular maintenance checkup, and I just got a notice from Toyota about an airbag related recall. Apparently the signal mechanism that would release the air bag in case of accident is not working, so the airbag might not deploy. IOW, the opposite of last year's problem.

[drogulus]

     Washington has the lowest rate of change for confirmed cases among all states with 100 or more cases. Missouri has the highest, their total doubled in a single day. There are aspects of curve flattening that are semi-autonomous in that people will behave differently as they see the threat approach them. It's not all what the authorities recommend or enforce. Missouri is the kind of place you would expect to 1) get the virus late and 2) react slowly to information about spread in the hot zones. I expect this gap will close pretty soon.

     "Confirmed" cases is not as useful as "active" cases. A country can have a huge confirmed total while the active total rate of change is dropping.

[Ratliff]

The best analog we have are other Corona viruses. They confer immunity which certainly lasts months. One study showed good immune response a year later BUT undetectable levels of antibodies. So that is ambiguous. Probably booster vaccinations will be needed if that pattern holds for covid 19.

Presumably long term immunity would be related to "memory" T cells.

[Mandryka]

This is the UK system for dealing with critical cases. What pleases me is that the patient's wishes about "ceiling treatment" are taken into account right from the start. Maybe that's obvious if you're a medic but to me it's a relief -- if I develop ARDS I'm not sure I want that treatment, with its risk of some very difficult long term side effects if successful, and great indignity and suffering ending in death if not successful. I may prefer to end my life without the fight. Somewhere deep inside I thought I was strange for thinking like that.  Seeing refusal as a fairly explicit possibility in the NICE process reassures me that I'm not alone.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

It's my daughter's birthday but we didn't meet up and communicated by Skype instead. She was having a 'virtual breakfast' with her friend who was born on the same day as she was. Her flat mates (now recovered from corona virus-type symptoms) are cooking for her tonight. I sent her presents in the post and we put some money into her account.

I'm relieved to hear that things worked out o.k.; I hadn't realized though that her flat mates maybe had it.  Did your daughter self-quarantine when they weren't feeling well?

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Speaking of the Olympics:  Canada has now announced that it won't be sending any of its athletes to the games.

PD

[Rinaldo]

So.. death panels?

[Kaga2]

I don't want to give medical advice but my medical school professor brother in law tells me almost all white people in the northern hemisphere in winter are vitamin D deficient and should supplement. He prescribes a supplement to every patient, and this is in line with the national guidelines.

[geralmar]

Parking garage, Vanderbilt University Hospital, Nashville, Tennessee:

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Wow!  That's being proactive!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Speaking of the Olympics:  Canada has now announced that it won't be sending any of its athletes to the games.

EDIT:  Australia now too.

PD

[mc ukrneal]

Speaking of the Olympics:  Canada has now announced that it won't be sending any of its athletes to the games.

PD

They've now been postponed...

[Pohjolas Daughter]

They've now been postponed...

Not surprised to hear this...still sad though.

I wonder whether or not Federer will still be playing tennis then and wanting to compete for Switzerland when they do next hold it?

PD

[vandermolen]

I'm relieved to hear that things worked out o.k.; I hadn't realized though that her flat mates maybe had it.  Did your daughter self-quarantine when they weren't feeling well?

PD

Thanks PD.
Yes, she did.
She works from home anyway.

[drogulus]

     Massachusetts is tightening restrictions. Governor of the Universe Charlie Baker is on the case. At Trader Joe's today we had to wait in line to get in and use hand wipes.

     We bag our own groceries with our own bags. The main thing is we got our tamales and refried beans, crucial for survival.

[Karl Henning]

Does your mail have to be quarantined?

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I don't want to give medical advice but my medical school professor brother in law tells me almost all white people in the northern hemisphere in winter are vitamin D deficient and should supplement. He prescribes a supplement to every patient, and this is in line with the national guidelines.

What kind of amounts does he suggest?  Any idea?

[Kaga2]

What kind of amounts does he suggest?  Any idea?

Any pill form. Some multivitamins have D but not all have the full RDA. D pills are cheap at the drug store.

[JBS]

Oscal and some other calcium supplements include Vitamin D.

IIRC the basic non-pill recommendation is to sit in the sunshine for 15 minutes.  But that has to balanced against the risk for skin cancer.

https://www.yalemedicine.org/stories/vitamin-d-myths-debunked/

And

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/vitamin-d-and-your-health-breaking-old-rules-raising-new-hopes

[Daverz]

I don't want to give medical advice but my medical school professor brother in law tells me almost all white people in the northern hemisphere in winter are vitamin D deficient and should supplement. He prescribes a supplement to every patient, and this is in line with the national guidelines.

Thanks for the advice.  You know you are already isolated indoors when a lockdown during a pandemic seems like only a minor deviation from your usual routine.  I do have some canned tuna, which apparently does have vitamin D in it.