Coronavirus thread

[drogulus]

     Iceland finds that half its citizens with coronavirus have shown no symptoms

     This is a good number because Iceland has tested 10% of its population.

[ritter]

Good for them, but when a country's total population equals that of a any medium-sized European city, the number doesn't really mean that much.

[Ratliff]

Good for them, but when a country's total population equals that of a any medium-sized European city, the number doesn't really mean that much.

It means something because of the fraction of the population that has been tested. The uncertainty is due to sampling bias (testing is strongly biased towards people with symptoms). Someone needs to obtain a data set with completely random sampling to see what fraction of infected are completely asymptomatic.

[drogulus]

It means something because of the fraction of the population that has been tested. The uncertainty is due to sampling bias (testing is strongly biased towards people with symptoms). Someone needs to obtain a data set with completely random sampling to see what fraction of infected are completely asymptomatic.

    The article says they are doing random testing, so they could have a sample size large enough to be confident of the results.

[Kaga2]

    The article says they are doing random testing, so they could have a sample size large enough to be confident of the results.

More is better of course but this is correct. If they have a random sample size 35000 that's big enough to be pretty confident of that number.

[SimonNZ]

The Hill:

Poll: 59 percent of voters more concerned about rolling back social distancing too soon than economic fallout


The Guardian

China outraged after Brazil minister suggests Covid-19 is part of 'plan for world domination'

"China has demanded an explanation from Brazil after the far-right government's education minister linked the coronavirus pandemic to Beijing's "plan for world domination", in a tweet imitating a Chinese accent."[...]

[mc ukrneal]

For those of you who have noticed my whining, I finished my relocation.

To recap, I accepted a new job two months ago, sold the house, planned my move, then the pandemic hit. By some miracle, the house closing went through, the movers came on April 3rd, and we left that evening to drive from Central Coast California to the Houston Texas area. We stopped the first night in Pasadena, lunched the next morning in Palm Springs, CA, slept the next night in Phoenix AZ. The next day we lunched in Tucson AZ, had diner in Les Cruces NM, and slept in El Paso Texas. Got up, had lunch in Van Horn Texas, lunch in Odessa Texas and slept in Abilene Texas. The last day we lunched in Dallas Texas and arrived in Spring Texas.

Things were surprisingly normal, with a few odd touches. We had to talk to hotel clerks through the night check-in window, or from behind a plexiglass barrier. But everything was functioning more or less normally. Probably there was less traffic in the metropolitan areas we passed. We did check into all of those motels, and probably that is the biggest risk of exposure we have faced. We stopped in a Whole Foods Market in each major city we passed to get lunch and/or supplies for subsequent dinner, which we prepared in our hotel room with a hot plate and toaster oven we brought with us in the car. Some nights we stopped in two hotels, one to prepare our dinner and another to actually sleep. It added up to about 1,700 miles, 3,000 kilometers, and about 28 hours of actual driving.

Anyway, we survived, we are here. Now we wait and see if we got the virus...

Thanks for letting us know and glad to hear you made it successfully. You will have some stories to tell one day, but for now, I bet you are happy to be in one place. And will be happier still if everyone is virus free. Stay healthy!

[Karl Henning]

Is that a prescription pad that it's holding?

A roll of bath tissue.

[Karl Henning]

Toilet paper, looks like.

Aye, I think P.D. must have been misled by the cheerful Easter pink color

[Ratliff]

Thanks for everyone's good wishes. To add to my triumph, I've found toilet paper at the local Walmart!

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that certainly applies to the Target, the Walmart, and the Whole Foods Market. Even the apples are huge. Producers must sort by size, sending the big ones to Texas and the dainty ones to California.

[Mandryka]

Thanks for everyone's good wishes. To add to my triumph, I've found toilet paper at the local Walmart!

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that certainly applies to the Target, the Walmart, and the Whole Foods Market. Even the apples are huge. Producers must sort by size, sending the big ones to Texas and the dainty ones to California.

My own memory of Texas were restaurants where if you ate a 1kg steak you didn't have to pay. And the horror of driving through Dallas in rush hour.

[Mandryka]

Recovered coronavirus patients test positive again in blow to immunity hopes

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/10/south-korea-reports-recovered-coronavirus-patients-testing-positive/

[Irons]

I think it was more the police chief saying that on that TV interview that wanted to put a (firm but fair) point across about the coming Easter weekend but got a bit carried away and became overzealous. As you said, he got talked to and they backtracked on his comments.

On the other hand, they should do more than just giving "warnings" to the covidiots who purposely still do house or street parties (beyond household residents that is). In our neck of the woods, Great Manchester Police intervened on over 490+ parties in the whole Manchester area over 2weeks. Some of them with DJ's and bouncy castles.... why that is just warned and not punished is beyond me...

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/police-map-parties-coronavirus-lockdown-18067390

Police stopped a car heading to the Lake District with a Kayak strapped to the roof!

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/crime/yorkshire-kayakers-turned-back-police-en-route-lake-windermere-2534791

[MusicTurner]

Recovered coronavirus patients test positive again in blow to immunity hopes

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/10/south-korea-reports-recovered-coronavirus-patients-testing-positive/

From the article:
"False test results could also be at fault, other experts said, or remnants of the virus could still be in patients' systems without being infectious or posing a risk of danger to the host or others.
"There are different interpretations and many variables,"

One of the aspects of this seems to be that the new tests were made just a few days after the sickness and an intermediary test showing no infection. From what I've heard, the time-span is limited between the tests.

[Que]

From the article:
"False test results could also be at fault, other experts said, or remnants of the virus could still be in patients' systems without being infectious or posing a risk of danger to the host or others.
"There are different interpretations and many variables,"

One of the aspects of this seems to be that the new tests were made just a few days after the sickness and an intermediary test showing no infection. From what I've heard, the time-span is limited between the tests.

Agreed. Though not (yet) scientifically proven (never say never), I understand that it is highly unlikely that overcoming the virus wouldn't create immunity. At this point unreliable test results and a possible relapse seem more likely explanations. On the other hand it seems that the nature and more specifically the expected duration of any immune response is still unclear.

Q

[Que]

An explanation of the financial measures by the EU:

Coronavirus in Europe: How will the EU €500bn rescue deal help people and businesses?

So, as I understand there is now agreement on an emergency fund, but there wil be further negotiations on a recovery fund.

This crisis has brought the design flaws of the eurozone back to the fore: a common currency without a common economic policy or real common budgetary rules. The Southern states are crippled by debts in a strong euro that they cannot devalue like a national currency. The Northern states are now pressured to accept mutualisation of national debts by the issue of eurobonds, effectively making their tax payers liable for the expenses by Southern states without being able to influence those expenses. Like before, the chosen option for the emergency is a transfer option: cheap loans facilitated by the wealthier member states.

But this whole issue will keep coming back until it is resolved.
Something which will be extremely difficult and painful: taxpayers in the wealthy member states do not want to sign blank cheques,  poorer member states do not want their economic and budgetary policies to be dictated from Brussels.

Q

[Que]

I think it is safe to conclude that from all developed counties the US, with its most expensive health care system on the planet, is showing the worst performance in coping with the coronavirus:



https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest

This sad situation sheds an interesting light on the everlasting discussion on the US healthcare system. For me as an outsider it's striking that a country that prides itself on its capitalism is involved in wasting money (and human lives) on such an epic scale and to such detrimental effect to its society.

Q

[Florestan]

An explanation of the financial measures by the EU:

Coronavirus in Europe: How will the EU €500bn rescue deal help people and businesses?

So, as I understand there is now agreement on an emergency fund, but there wil be further negotiations on a recovery fund.

This crisis has brought the design flaws of the eurozone back to the fore: a common currency without a common economic policy or real common budgetary rules. The Southern states are crippled by debts in a strong euro that they cannot devalue like a national currency. The Northern states are now pressured to accept mutualisation of national debts by the issue of eurobonds, effectively making their tax payers liable for the expenses by Southern states without being able to influence those expenses. Like before, the chosen option for the emergency is a transfer option: cheap loans facilitated by the wealthier member states.

But this whole issue will keep coming back until it is resolved.
Something which will be extremely difficult and painful: taxpayers in the wealthy member states do not want to sign blank cheques,  poorer member states do not want their economic and budgetary policies to be dictated from Brussels.

Yes. And of course pointing this out does not make one a eurosceptic. More like a eurorealist, I'd say.

The policies though are dictated not so much from Brussels which is just an umbrella, but rather from Berlin and The Hague. 

[Que]

Yes. And of course pointing this out does not make one a eurosceptic. More like a eurorealist, I'd say.

The policies though are dictated not so much from Brussels which is just an umbrella, but rather from Berlin and The Hague. 

Like I said before, the centre of power of the EU is not in Brussels but in Berlin, with Paris as its necessary partner.... and with The Hague as its little helper.....

Q

[Karl Henning]

Boston's major hospitals so far staying ahead of high demand for ICU beds