Is it bad there??

[disneysteve]

I came across this article from the Washington Post, talking about the asymptomatic carriers, as well as the variety of avenues of research ongoing. Partly encouraging, partly intriguing (as someone unfamiliar with the nuances, breadth, and potential of medical research). I'll warn you, it's a largely optimistic perspective, so I'm sure it'll be roundly discredited.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...navirus-covid/

Article is behind a pay wall.

[kork13]

Article is behind a pay wall.

Odd... Their COVID stuff is all supposed to be free access.... I'll see if I can post it here somehow....

ETA: Attached as a PDF, this should hopefully work.

[disneysteve]

Fascinating info. If there actually is pre-existing immunity in some folks, that will speed up the population overall getting to a state of herd immunity.

Two big take aways from the article:

1. Vaccines are beneficial
2. Masks work
Imagine that.

It's really interesting, especially as a health care professional, to be watching science in action in real time the way we've been able to with COVID. Unfortunately, some people are taking that to be support of their decisions to ignore science, because information keeps changing, but that's exactly what is supposed to happen in science. We're supposed to adapt as new information becomes available. And yet we still have lots of people refusing to wear a mask because the experts said it wasn't necessary 6 months ago. They've since changed their minds so they must be wrong and not know what they're talking about. Drives me crazy.

[kork13]

Fascinating info. If there actually is pre-existing immunity in some folks, that will speed up the population overall getting to a state of herd immunity.

Two big take aways from the article:

1. Vaccines are beneficial
2. Masks work
Imagine that.

It's really interesting, especially as a health care professional, to be watching science in action in real time the way we've been able to with COVID. Unfortunately, some people are taking that to be support of their decisions to ignore science, because information keeps changing, but that's exactly what is supposed to happen in science. We're supposed to adapt as new information becomes available. And yet we still have lots of people refusing to wear a mask because the experts said it wasn't necessary 6 months ago. They've since changed their minds so they must be wrong and not know what they're talking about. Drives me crazy.

Something I hadn't really considered about the masks was that they could reduce an infected person's viral load. My (VERY limited) understanding of viruses is that they are everywhere, and often swirling around inside us, but they only manifest symptoms when the virus is able to successfully replicate itself enough to where the virus can overpower our immune system -- it's basically an ongoing tug-of-war. The masks might be enough to reduce the initial infection load enough to where it takes longer for the infection to build up that viral load, and in the meantime our immune system is learning/fighting against it. So by simply slowing it down, the body can potentially handle the infection completely, or reduce the severity of symptoms.

So as I said... the article was very interesting for me -- I'm definitely a science nerd, albeit not well informed on the medical/biology/chemistry side of things.

[QuarterMillionMan]

https://nypost.com/2020/08/11/duke-university-face-mask-researchers-share-more-on-study/

The best N95 (#14)
The 2nd best is surgical mask (#1)

[~bs]

https://nypost.com/2020/08/11/duke-u...more-on-study/

The best N95 (#14)
The 2nd best is surgical mask (#1)

Guessing no surprises there?

[QuarterMillionMan]

#1, #6, and #10 all look the same. What distinguishes a "surgical mask" from a blue mask?

[disneysteve]

#1, #6, and #10 all look the same. What distinguishes a "surgical mask" from a blue mask?

The article describes them. 6 and 10 are cotton.

[Like2Plan]

\

#1, #6, and #10 all look the same. What distinguishes a "surgical mask" from a blue mask?

I wonder if there is a typo somewhere?


But in the description it lists the N95 mask as #1
1. Medical N95 mask
No wonder the fitted “3M 1860 Surgical Mask and Particulate Respirator” is worn by health care workers: It was the most effective of the bunch on the study’s logarithmic scale.

[frugal saver]

I'm not honestly sure what's going on here. Everything was re-shut down because of all the cases a while back, and everything is still closed.

I'm not a social butterfly, but I don't exactly live in a cave. Yet, of everyone I know (actual people, not some online name) no one at my job was declared positive for it. No one in my neighborhood, church, people I know locally, groups I belong to. Not one single person. I don't mean hospitalized or died, but just even diagnosed with it. Where are they?

They spent millions to convert the old basketball stadium to a hospital. They ended up closing it and said it had held a total of 9 patients. They spent a ton of money arranging for hotel rooms for homeless people that they said would be dying in the streets--the homeless coalition had been going around to all the homeless checking for illness--nobody got it.

The only deaths that have been reported have been people in nursing homes that already had a variety of other things going on--and could easily have died from the regular yearly flu.

And yet we're still shut down. No haircuts, outside dining only (it's 109 outside) no sports, no school, no shopping other than groceries, no church, no parties, no weddings, no funerals. Protesting is ok, of course.

I'm not disputing that this virus is somewhere. But it doesn't appear to be here, or affecting people here--other than the thousands that are in the process of being evicted from their apartments due to not being able to work. (Many are still waiting for their first unemployment check from March.)

Neil Kashkari (Fed President from I forget where) said today he's pushing for a 6 week or more "total lockdown." He said too many people were considered essential and wants pretty much everyone in their house. The interviewer pointed out that people have run out of money already and there's huge lines at food banks, but he said it was worth it (for people to starve?) because "the alternative would be much worse."

I get this weird feeling that we're being played.

[disneysteve]

of everyone I know (actual people, not some online name) no one at my job was declared positive for it. No one in my neighborhood, church, people I know locally, groups I belong to. Not one single person. I don't mean hospitalized or died, but just even diagnosed with it. Where are they?

You're in California, right?

As of today, CA has had over 601,000 cases. Only 65,000 of them have been in people 65 and older, so certainly not just the nursing home crowd, though they are likely responsible for more of the 11,000 deaths, as one would expect. Over 58,000 cases have been in children (under 18) so the fantasy out of D.C. that kids are immune is nonsense.

Consider yourself fortunate that the disease hasn't struck any of your friends or loved ones yet. It has certainly struck quite a few of mine.

[kork13]

I'm not honestly sure what's going on here. Everything was re-shut down because of all the cases a while back, and everything is still closed.

I'm not a social butterfly, but I don't exactly live in a cave. Yet, of everyone I know (actual people, not some online name) no one at my job was declared positive for it. No one in my neighborhood, church, people I know locally, groups I belong to. Not one single person. I don't mean hospitalized or died, but just even diagnosed with it. Where are they?

They spent millions to convert the old basketball stadium to a hospital. They ended up closing it and said it had held a total of 9 patients. They spent a ton of money arranging for hotel rooms for homeless people that they said would be dying in the streets--the homeless coalition had been going around to all the homeless checking for illness--nobody got it.

The only deaths that have been reported have been people in nursing homes that already had a variety of other things going on--and could easily have died from the regular yearly flu.

And yet we're still shut down. No haircuts, outside dining only (it's 109 outside) no sports, no school, no shopping other than groceries, no church, no parties, no weddings, no funerals. Protesting is ok, of course.

I'm not disputing that this virus is somewhere. But it doesn't appear to be here, or affecting people here--other than the thousands that are in the process of being evicted from their apartments due to not being able to work. (Many are still waiting for their first unemployment check from March.)

Neil Kashkari (Fed President from I forget where) said today he's pushing for a 6 week or more "total lockdown." He said too many people were considered essential and wants pretty much everyone in their house. The interviewer pointed out that people have run out of money already and there's huge lines at food banks, but he said it was worth it (for people to starve?) because "the alternative would be much worse."

I get this weird feeling that we're being played.

Do you live in a low population density area? I do, and my experience has been largely the same. I've known very few people to get infected (<10), and zero deaths I've even heard about in the area. People are still taking some precautions, which are almost certainly helping, but I think the fact that people here are simply not stacked on top of eachother helps alot in controlling the spread.

[QuarterMillionMan]

COVID numbers in the Los Angeles area.

[QuarterMillionMan]

The University of Southern California (USC) listed the progression and order of symptom, first fever, then cough, then body aches, and nausea.

[QuarterMillionMan]

This was Neal Kashkari today on CNBC, Minneapolis Fed President. Neal wants a total lockdown for a longer duration basically saying the initial lockdown was inadequate.