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- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
Covid-19
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Comments
Disclaimer/mea culpa = I work on the business side of a life sciences company in Cambridge, MA, so by no means trying to pass myself off as a subject matter expert but am coming up on 30 years in biotech/pharma so have a reasonable level of understanding of epidemiology.
The concept of proactive, non-pharmaceutical intervention to minimize a potential pandemic is time- and data-tested as @UGA_2019 has correctly argued. The fact that coronaviruses typically impact respiratory systems more severely than a typical flu strain and the increased impact to at-risk patients on a global scale is a legitimate concern.
Because of this - there is nothing wrong with governments and municipalities taking proactive and appropriate caution to minimize the further spread of this strain.
That said - the hysteria that continues to rise in the US in particular is really overdone IMO. I've read a lot of articles here and elsewhere trying to quantify how deadly this strain is based on deaths per reported cases. Given the long dormancy time of this strain - up to a week-plus before symptoms manifest themselves - the reality is that hundreds of thousands (if not yet, soon to be millions) have likely already been exposed globally, had minor/no symptoms, developed immunity and are now going about their daily lives still nervous they'll get sick without knowing they've already been exposed. This means that while the mortality rate of a coronavirus is typically higher than that of a typical flu strain, it's likely WELL below some of the #s being thrown about because they're only considering tested/CONFIRMED cases.
I agree also that even if we don't fall into an at-risk demographic, we do have a responsibility to proactively minimize unintentional exposure to those who might be at higher risk if we are able.
I'm actually rather sympathetic to some of the broader economic impacts that @texdawg raises - all legitimate concerns that can have a lasting impact long after a person's immune system has cleared a virus. Unfortunately, I feel that a large part of the "abundance of caution" we're seeing here in the US is driven more out of fear of legal liability than an effort to proactively minimize the spread of a pandemic.
Understanding it's early days, but if the mortality rate of COVID-19 and "regular" flu are within a half percentage point of each other then why aren't employers, NCAA, state agencies, et al shutting down offices, schools and arenas when there's an outbreak of the seasonal flu that kills a comparable # of at-risk patients? In short- can't get sued for putting employees/customers/citizens at risk if you pass the red-faced test in a courtoom or a voting booth and can demonstrate that you took reasonable measures to minimize risk of contagion. I know that's a cynical statement but can't help but feel that this is a big part of the hype we're all experiencing.
PS - won't belabor the political impact of it being an election year on the way US media chooses to cover this story, but suffice to say, COVID-19 makes life VERY easy for network programmers looking for content now that the impeachment saga has ended.
PPS - whether it proves to ultimately be an overreaction or not, I'm hoping UGA makes a decision quickly either way on whether they're allowing students to return to campus on Sunday after Spring Break is over. Would be good to know before we put our daughter on a plane to ATL...
Great points
@Bankwalker said it was impossible for people to catch it in Australia. Made a big fuss over it. I'm sure the liberal media is lying to you
Hello fellow Dawgs. I am a LONG time lurker and rarely ever post. To give you an idea, I closely followed the recruitment of the two David's (Pollack/Greene).Beyond that. I dont think I've ever posted something that wasnt tongue in cheek or slightly sarcastic for my own amusement. I hopped on earlier today and saw this thread title and made it about three posts before I stopped reading and clicked out.
My M.O. in life is to take care of me and mine and let others do as they please. I dont talk politics, religion or sports irl, ever. With that said, I hope some of you will hear this and stop with the normalcy bias we all fall victim to.
This is not a joke. People are dying and it's going to get much, much worse. Yes, children tend to suffer minimal symptoms. Yes, if you're in good condition as an adult, chances are you'll be dealt a sever flu and then be on your way. Let me ask you this, however. Do you have a single loved one who is over the age of 60 and/or vulnerable to infection due to immuno/respiratory deficiency? What do you think the chances are that you or a family.member could come down with the flu or another illness in the next 3 months? How do you think they may fare in a country that has 350,000 hospital beds but there are 750K plus ConVid patients who require full time medical treatment. Look at the exponentials that are in place. You math junkies will love it and be horrified at the same time. We are 15 days away MAX from becoming another Italy unless something major happens.
If you want to continue to listen to your politicians, friends, family and local doctors be my guest. I know my audience here. I'm not going any farther politically than I already have. Please, educate yourself about the truth of what's happening. Please. Here's a good place to start.
source: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1236095180459003909.html
Stay safe, brothers and sisters.
(I'm no great shakes verbally, so this is probably poorly written. Sorry)
In the end, in a week or two we'll know if it's overblown or not. I hope it's overblown. The fact is every other affected country is testing and has been testing on an order of magnitude higher level than we have. So I'm not exactly sure where people are looking at what's going on in Italy and somehow drawing conclusions that it can't happen here based on numbers that we don't have.
Ain't gonna lie, this has had my whole family worried about this for weeks. We haven't gone out and bought up everything yet but we live off the land mostly anyway. My 9 and 16 y.o. got sick so we freaked. They weren't tested for covid but they got better. My wife and I seem fine but still...Ugh. Even Trump seemed serious tonight.
We're on the way to being the next Italy I'm sorry to say.
Well put. And I'd also ask people to imagine the actual everyday logistics of 100s of thousands of people dying in a short period of time....not spread out over a year like the flu. That's what these low %s y'all aren't worried about are calling for.
If Tom Hanks and an NBA player have it, it’s about to blow up. Not to cause panic, but that’s a fact.
With knowing this, how are you preparing? Legit question. I feel like washing my hands and staying away from people ain't gonna be enough.
Not minimizing the impact on Italy, but the large % of elderly coupled with an already-stressed hospital system in Italy makes the impact on that nation unique, thus not making it a good analog to project impact on other countries - even in the Western world.
As my ex-pat Italian friends who live in the US have told me "in Italy - you do anything you can to stay out of the hospital...back home, you go into the hospital, you DON"T COME OUT!"
Well, I guess it's time we all just make the plunge. Y'all go first....
That's probably enough. Social distancing, hand washing, sanitizing your phone and other high use items. It's not an apocalyptic disease
I meant more of the explosion of cases leading to an overburdened health care system which can lead to deaths or just more suffering. Old population is unique to them I think.