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Post by majorminor on Feb 26, 2020 9:16:18 GMT -5
Are we really not gonna talk about this here?
I recently used a restroom in the Seattle airport so I'm probably screwed. Millring clear some space in your closet.
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Post by brucemacneill on Feb 26, 2020 9:25:20 GMT -5
It's hard to talk about things beyond our control. This is a tough one and we don't know if the Chinese are being honest about the size of the problem. Like in any other flu situation, staying away from crowds is a good first step. Not traveling is a good 2nd step. Best to wait 'til Spring.
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Feb 26, 2020 9:41:50 GMT -5
I recently used a restroom in the Seattle airport so I'm probably screwed. Are you selling your guitars yet? Mike
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Post by Cornflake on Feb 26, 2020 9:44:43 GMT -5
I'm not avoiding the subject but what is there to say? Que sera, sera.
My two volunteer activities both involve contact with large numbers of people so I'm keeping my eye on the topic. Twenty years ago I'd have shrugged it off but pandemics seem to be most dangerous to children and old people. I have to remind myself I'm in the latter category now.
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Post by Marshall on Feb 26, 2020 10:02:44 GMT -5
I kinda live with perpetual sinus problems. Probably mold or some allergy issue mostly. That only gets punctuated by an occasional actual viral infection which brings things to a crescendo. I stay pretty active physically. I'm in pretty good shape. But respiratory issues are my Achilles heal. So, I am somewhat leery. I can control my daily contact with people, except for the grandkids. And they are breeders.
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Post by epaul on Feb 26, 2020 10:14:57 GMT -5
It has already affected me. In a small way. But, representative of something.
I ordered a new laptop from HP (I wanted a little more Ram and disc space than Best Buy standard). It was supposed to ship four days ago. Yesterday I got an email from HP informing me that "due to the corona virus' effect on supply lines, my new shipment date was March 3d." If I get another email with news of another delay, I will probably just cancel. It could be awhile and I would be best served by banking my refund and waiting for a new generation...
and maybe I won't need one anymore....
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Feb 26, 2020 11:30:21 GMT -5
This mornings news reports are somewhat sobering. We are supposed to get ready for serious disruption in our lives. I’m not sure what that means. They say it’s not a mater of if it hits here, but when it hits here. Are they going lock down cities? How would that happen? National guard?
Mike
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Post by sidheguitarmichael on Feb 26, 2020 11:38:52 GMT -5
Are we really not gonna talk about this here? I was wondering the same thing. It's hard to talk about things beyond our control. This is a tough one and we don't know if the Chinese are being honest about the size of the problem. I respectfully beg to differ; we absolute do know that China is not being honest about the magnitude of the problem. They do not have a grip on this. Wait until it migrates from S to N Korea: the Norks do not have the infrastructure to deal with the health care issue. Another eyeball popper is going to be the spread into the homeless populations in major urban areas, eg. SF or LA. China doesn’t quarantine entire cities with populations of 10s of millions, draw protective rings around the major political centers, tank their own economy, imprison people caught without masks, fire up the crematoriums, and block out coverage over 2,700 people dead. Merc and Jag can’t get parts, and electronic goods companies—major ones—can’t get return calls from production partners in China. In all, I think it’s safe to say that China gov’t has been reporting one way, and acting another. They unleashed Pandora’s box with that lab research, and now the world gets to deal with the fallout. As an aside, the doc who regularly hosts fingerstyle guitar house concerts here (Juber, deGrassi, Pierre, et al) also directs the pathogen facility in town here (one of 10 tier-1 facilities in the US) and they’ve been treating US citizen cases, from the cruise ship, primarily. I’ve been following this one closely. www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/feb/24/four-coronavirus-patients-at-sacred-heart-remain-i/Watch Iran and Brazil too. Iran, because they are cooking the books on numbers, and will get caught; Brazil, because they are a main trading partner with China; have dense population centers; modern, but insufficient med infrastructure, and the first reported case. Brazil could be a good barometer. www.cnbc.com/2020/02/26/coronavirus-latest-updates.htmlNow, all that said, we're better at treating people than at any point in history, so a repeat of 1918 probably isn’t in the cards. But 1918 lite might be. JMO. PS. A decent tracker, updated regularly: gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Feb 26, 2020 11:49:01 GMT -5
Well the hell with the diet. I’m ordering pizza tonight.
Mike
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Post by Hobson on Feb 26, 2020 11:58:10 GMT -5
The worst may happen, but I'm not planning for it. I'm in the "old" category too and don't know how many years I have left anyway. So I plan to enjoy whatever time I have. Still planning an Alaska cruise for the summer. If it doesn't happen, so be it.
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Post by fauxmaha on Feb 26, 2020 12:12:34 GMT -5
I ordered a batch of 3D printers from Taiwan about 60 days ago. It is a new, semi-experimental model that is just coming on the market. Original ship date was set for early March. That has now been postponed indefinitely because of supply chain disruptions. The binder business is getting squeezed as well. New ring metals coming out of China have pretty much been shut down. A couple more months, and the domestic inventory will be exhausted. So it goes. The stock market freakout earlier this week proved to be a huge opportunity. Made a few options trades, which thanks to dumb luck I couldn't have timed better, and made a killing. Thank you, panic sellers! The University of Nebraska Medical Center's quarantine unit is being used for some number of the infected. Not in love with the fact that they are bringing those guys to town, but what are you gonna do? They brought some of them in on chartered 747s operated by Kalitta Air...founded and still owned by legendary NHRA driver Conrad "Connie" Kalitta...first member of the 200MPH club.
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Post by Rob Hanesworth on Feb 26, 2020 12:16:14 GMT -5
I was worried until Rush Limbaugh calmed my fears. (See, John, I do pay attention to him.)
Per the Washington Post (or a bunch of other sources, including Rush's transcripts):
Just hours after World Health Organization officials said they are preparing for a “potential pandemic” as coronavirus cases increase worldwide, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh told his listeners Monday that he would try to put the concerning news about the novel virus “in perspective” for them.
“It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump,” Limbaugh said during his Monday show. “Now, I want to tell you the truth about the coronavirus. … Yeah, I’m dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks.”
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Post by billhammond on Feb 26, 2020 12:33:24 GMT -5
Well the hell with the diet. I’m ordering pizza tonight. Mike I just bought a Dove dark chocolate bar.
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Post by Russell Letson on Feb 26, 2020 12:39:17 GMT -5
The epidemiology doesn't look good so far: very contagious and spreadable (via contact or air) by asymptomatic infected people and a range of symptoms that on the mild end look like a bad cold. Add in that it is most serious among the old and immune-compromised and you have my undivided attention--we're both over 70, I'm on a (mild) immunosuppressant, and C. had bronchitis and pneumonia last year. Even the middle of Minnesota isn't all that isolated from contagion: an international airport in Minneapolis and any number of universities with foreign students that come and go. (St. Cloud State has a sizable Chinese segment.)
Then there's Trump's staff- and budget-cutting of national public-health agencies, which probably don't help when an actual public-health problem arises.
BTW, Michael, could you enlarge on that "They unleashed Pandora’s box with that lab research" comment? The reactions from scientists to, say, Tom Cotton's remarks are less than luke-warm.
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Post by millring on Feb 26, 2020 12:53:37 GMT -5
<corvid>
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Post by majorminor on Feb 26, 2020 12:56:31 GMT -5
I respectfully beg to differ; we absolute do know that China is not being honest about the magnitude of the problem. They do not have a grip on this. China doesn’t quarantine entire cities with populations of 10s of millions, draw protective rings around the major political centers, tank their own economy, imprison people caught without masks, fire up the crematoriums, and block out coverage over 2,700 people dead. This is kinda where I'm at. I watch and read a little coverage and wonder what all the fuss is about given the small numbers and current known mortality rate. Especially outside of China. So in this modern day of communication and 4K video phones how "locked down" can China get in terms of spin? Cuz it's either a bad case of a new flu going around and the doomsday angle is getting blown out of proportion to sell some soap(OK hand sanitizer) or it's a magnitude of order worse in Wuhan and we're all fixin' to find out. Could China actually keep a lid on that?
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Post by sidheguitarmichael on Feb 26, 2020 13:34:36 GMT -5
Folks, I just got off the phone with my friend. In addition to having great taste in guitars and players, he is also one of the top ID docs on this side of the country. I caught him while he was waiting on a flight out to a gov’t/med conference to plan our response to this virus. To give you an idea how this guy rates, there are two of these pathogen facilities that are currently housing Covid-19 cases: us, and Nebraska. So he knows his stuff.
The bottom lines that I think I can reasonably report up front:
Patient recovery stateside is good so far.
There is a ton of money being dumped into this, and communities are bracing for what could be hundreds of Ks of cases in major areas. That’s just prudent.
Hospitals are already converting whole wings to hold potential patients in preparation.
It would be good to plan for a period of staying home that lasts a few weeks, just in case. Food, water, meds, gas. Not armageddon/dystopian sci-fi/netflix series, but good to plan for a possible break from going to the store, or out and about in general.
As always, I’m a guitar jock, not a doc, but I do have access to solid opinions. FWIW.
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Post by Cornflake on Feb 26, 2020 13:40:26 GMT -5
"It would be good to plan for a period of staying home that lasts a few weeks, just in case. Food, water, meds, gas. Not armageddon/dystopian sci-fi/netflix series, but good to plan for a possible break from going to the store, or out and about in general."
I was thinking about that and realized that as long as I have a wife who works in an elementary school and sings in the church choir, any bug that's making the rounds will be coming home, just as they do now.
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Post by sidheguitarmichael on Feb 26, 2020 13:57:28 GMT -5
The University of Nebraska Medical Center's quarantine unit is being used for some number of the infected. Not in love with the fact that they are bringing those guys to town, but what are you gonna do? There is no better place on earth for those patients to be. The staff in that facility are the best prepared people on the planet, by and large. Total non-issue. If you want to worry about something, you have my permission to lay awake at night thinking about college kids traveling all over for spring break next week and coming back to the U, or aunt edna going to visit family in the bay area and catching the most recent Marvel universe film in a metroplex, then flying through 3 major airports home. BTW, Michael, could you enlarge on that "They unleashed Pandora’s box with that lab research" comment? The reactions from scientists to, say, Tom Cotton's remarks are less than luke-warm. I have to teach imminently; I’ll see if I can carve out some time to dump what I’ve got later. Bottom.ine: this came from a gov’t-funded research lab, and the main guy in charge there is dead now, so we have to run with ontological parsimony, history, and the reporting coming from Asia experts on the ground that made it out. No idea who Tom Colton is.
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Post by Russell Letson on Feb 26, 2020 13:59:29 GMT -5
I've been semi-seriously considering cancelling an upcoming trip: flying to and from Orlando and spending four days at a conference with an international membership. Cancelling flight and conference membership would cost, though probably not as much as a hospital stay for two (since C. catches respiratory viruses easily--and has one now).
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