Coronavirus thread

[drogulus]

     The pandemic is less seasonal than the flu and the waxing and waning of the numbers is due to behavioral factors. Politics is one, another is pandemic exhaustion, yet another is an overoptimistic assessment when the numbers go down. The last factor reminds me of the instability hypothesis of Hyman Minsky.

[Todd]

The New York Times reports that Spain, France, and the UK all reported more cases per capita than the US in the last seven days, and that the French government will impose a curfew in major cities. 

[Mandryka]

The French government has indeed imposed a night time curfew in some cities, with exceptions for night workers and others.

The UK is currently falling apart, regions are rebelling against impositions from central government, Wales is closing its borders with England, and no one, not politicians, not scientists, no one, has a clue about what to do here.

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere   
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst   
Are full of passionate intensity.

[Todd]

Europe Overtakes U.S. in New Cases of Covid-19


The West is being left behind as it squanders Covid-19 lessons from Asia-Pacific

[Karl Henning]

A 13-year-old girl spread the coronavirus to 11 relatives across four states this summer, despite testing negative two days before a three-week family vacation, a recent journal article released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed.

The trip occurred at an undisclosed location in June and July, and it infected family members from ages 9 to 72 who traveled to a home that was shared between five households. No masks or distancing measures were in place. The teen was exposed to an unspecified covid-19 outbreak in June before testing negative, the report says. Nasal congestion was her only symptom.

The CDC declined to say where the family members were located "out of respect for the privacy of the family who generously shared their information with investigators," but public health departments in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Georgia and Illinois were cited in the article's footnotes.

"The findings in this report highlight the need for those potentially exposed to COVID-19 to self-quarantine for 14 days after exposure or after interstate travel when mandated by state, territorial, tribal or local authorities," CDC spokesperson Scott Pauley told The Washington Post via email. "Social distancing, mask use, and hand hygiene reduce transmission in group settings and might have prevented this outbreak had they been used."

[Mandryka]

"The findings in this report highlight the need for those potentially exposed to COVID-19 to self-quarantine for 14 days after exposure or after interstate travel when mandated by state, territorial, tribal or local authorities," CDC spokesperson Scott Pauley told The Washington Post via email. "Social distancing, mask use, and hand hygiene reduce transmission in group settings and might have prevented this outbreak had they been used."

That would be a challenging one to enforce. You're feeling fit and well, there is no evidence that you are contagious. The state asks you to isolate. You may lose money as a result. How are you going to get the groceries? What if you live with others?

[71 dB]

Corona death toll reached 350 in Finland. 

[Herman]

So how many Finn males are left now?

[71 dB]

So how many Finn males are left now?

Males? Corona kills also women as far as I know. Population 5.5 million, 350 dead. Do the math...

[Herman]

Males? Corona kills also women as far as I know. Population 5.5 million, 350 dead. Do the math...

Women often do better, apparently. Among all other ways women are superior to men, they seem to have a better immune system.

[71 dB]

Women often do better, apparently. Among all other ways women are superior to men, they seem to have a better immune system.

I found this:

So, maybe 210 or those 350 are males.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-11/coronavirus-can-persist-for-four-weeks-on-banknotes-study-finds

And many non-porous surfaces, esp. at lower temperatures.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/wisconsin-is-battling-americas-worst-coronavirus-outbreak-and-the-states-broken-politics-is-partially-to-blame-143650745.html

More good news!  I'm not particularly worried about inside my house; I do try and be good though and wash hands well after venturing out to do errands.  All of the stores around here are good at supplying hand sanitizer (some, gloves too).  Any studies done on how cold effects the virus?  Or did I miss that?

PD

[71 dB]

Any studies done on how cold effects the virus?  Or did I miss that?

I don't understand how this virus likes cold and dies in warm. How does it survive our body heat? Is this a stupid question?

[Herman]

It does not die in warmth / summer.

The reason why airborne viruses thrive in winter is not because of the temps, but because humans spend more time together inside with the windows closed when it's cold out.

If God had any feeling for language he / she would never have allowed this thing to be called the Cold.

[71 dB]

It does not die in warmth / summer.

The reason why airborne viruses thrive in winter is not because of the temps, but because humans spend more time together inside with the windows closed when it's cold out.

Oh, that's it? Thanks. 

[Todd]

Belgian Foreign Minister Tests Positive for Coronavirus

"On Oct. 12, she attended face-to-face talks with other EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg."

[Todd]

Europe Crosses 150,000 Daily Coronavirus Cases Mark, a Week After Reporting 100,000 Daily Cases

U.S. reports over 69,000 new COVID-19 cases – the most in a single day since July

[Spotted Horses]

I don't understand how this virus likes cold and dies in warm. How does it survive our body heat? Is this a stupid question?

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200922112304.htm

There's a lot more data on influenza virus than coronavirus, but they are probably qualitatively similar

https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.0030151

Protein molecules (the virus capsid) typically need fairly specific conditions to be active (temperature, salt concentration, etc). It is a good guess that a virus that infects mammals is optimized for 37 C.

[Karl Henning]

Not at all a stupid q., Poju.

[Karl Henning]

Covid-19's first wave largely missed southern Italy. The second wave is hitting it hard.