All things political. Coronavirus Edition. (1 Viewer)

[Maxp]

I fear we are really going to be in a bad place due to the obvious cuts to the federal agencies that deal with infectious disease, but also the negative effect the Affordable Care act has had on non urban hospitals. Our front line defenses are ineffectual and our ability to treat the populous is probably at an all time low. Factor in the cost of healthcare and I can see our system crashing. What do you think about the politics of this virus?

 

[Complex Kid]

I honestly believe that trump wishes he were not president right now. This situation is proving to be the one issue that he is not able to simply lie his way out of. Reality is fighting back hard on this one.

Saying he has the corona and then faking his own death is probably looking more and more palatable for him. "Have fun with that Pency Boy!!"

 

[superchuck500]

 

[EmBeeFiveOhFour]

How does this guy get air time?

Well, the current top story on their website is "China's Nasty Threat: State-run media hints it could cut off US meds, plunge America into 'mighty sea of coronavirus.'"

 

[dtc]

Please spare me the condescension. There has been plenty of conflicting information out there and many of those credentialed professionals were also acting like this was an end of days virus.

I haven't heard a single person acting in a way that lends credence to your argument that they're treating this as an end times event. That's your hyperbole and social conditioning shining through.

I also think you're right. There has been a ton of conflicting info out there. From our POTUS we've been fed bullshirt. STraight up crap. From the media, we've got a little bit of hysteria which sells soap, but unless you're part of Team Trump nobody has been downplaying this in appropriately.

Unfortunately, we've had every manner of left, right and moderate comparing this to the flu and citing crap meme statistics.

It needs to end and I am glad you and I have both found some sources that we can put enough faith in to come to the conclusion that it's not a hoax while remaining less than psychotically afraid.

 

[The moose]

What I really hope in all this is we don't miss the fact that most humans are good and some are great.

That is a great move by that couple people like this should be getting show love!

 

[dtc]

I thought I would apply some numbers to the assertions above. Ten times worse than the worst flu season.

On average it is estimated that there are 35,000,000 (Thirty-Five Million) annual influenza cases in the United States.

If we multiply by 10 we get 350,000,000 (Three Hundred-Fifty Million)

The current population of the United States is 331,002,651 (Three-Hundred Thirty-One Million Two Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty-One) .

So 100% infection rate.

Last year was the "worst flu season on record" with 80,000 (Eighty Thousand) deaths

Multiply that by 10 and we get 800,000 (Eight Hundred Thousand)

Just for illustrative purposes, let's assume Covid-19 is not seasonal. It kills 365 days per year.

That would be 2192 (Two Thousand Ninety-Two) deaths per day/every day.

Mortality Rates

Since the infection rate is 100%, the math is simple.

800,000 dead in a population of 331,002,651 results in a mortality rate of 0.24%

If the mortality rate is 3% with 100% infection rate, we will experience 9,930,079 (Nine Million, Nine Hundred-Thirty Thousand and Seventy-Nine) deaths.

That would be 27,205 (Twenty-Seven Thousand Two Hundred and Five) deaths daily for 365 days.

I think you're using the hyperbolic "ten times worse" statement and extrapolating via statistics a point that's not valid.

And, I think "10 times worse" might be a little exaggeration based on deaths and ICU admissions rather than infectino rate, but I could be wrong.

 

[SaintForLife]

So now that you've accepted that this is not a hoax, you should use that to reach out to others from your spectrum to convince them. There is plenty of politics to be had. Politics when people lives, including yours and mines, are potentially in danger does not help anyone.

Oh geeze. I never said the Coronavirus was a hoax and neither did Trump. He said the Democrats criticism of his handling of the Coronavirus was a hoax. I don't agree with how Trump is handling the situation, but let's not throw out lies about what he actually said.

 

[SaintForLife]

I thought I would apply some numbers to the assertions above. Ten times worse than the worst flu season.

On average it is estimated that there are 35,000,000 (Thirty-Five Million) annual influenza cases in the United States.

If we multiply by 10 we get 350,000,000 (Three Hundred-Fifty Million)

The current population of the United States is 331,002,651 (Three-Hundred Thirty-One Million Two Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty-One) .

So 100% infection rate.

Last year was the "worst flu season on record" with 80,000 (Eighty Thousand) deaths

Multiply that by 10 and we get 800,000 (Eight Hundred Thousand)

Just for illustrative purposes, let's assume Covid-19 is not seasonal. It kills 365 days per year.

That would be 2192 (Two Thousand Ninety-Two) deaths per day/every day.

Mortality Rates

Since the infection rate is 100%, the math is simple.

800,000 dead in a population of 331,002,651 results in a mortality rate of 0.24%

If the mortality rate is 3% with 100% infection rate, we will experience 9,930,079 (Nine Million, Nine Hundred-Thirty Thousand and Seventy-Nine) deaths.

That would be 27,205 (Twenty-Seven Thousand Two Hundred and Five) deaths daily for 365 days.

He may have been talking about the death toll being 10 to 15 times worse than the worst flu season that we have seen. I was listening to it on my way home and to work so I could have easily missed a detail or context. Did you listed to any of the podcast? Here is the Youtube for the same podcast:

 

[insidejob]

In a Friday appearance on "Fox & Friends," Jerry Falwell Jr. claimed that the media is overhyping the threat of COVID-19 specifically to hurt Trump and suggested that the virus is a bioweapon concocted by North Korea.

“You know, it's just strange to me how so many are overreacting,”
“The H1N1 virus, in 2009, killed 17,000 people. It was the flu, also, I think. And there was not the same hype. It was—you just didn't see it on the news 24/7. And it makes you wonder if there's a political reason for that.”

"I had the owner of a restaurant ask me, 'remember when the North Korean leader promised a Christmas present for America back in December, could it be that they got together with China and this is that present? I don't know, but this is something strange going on."

Someone at the upper levels of the CDC yesterday said in an interview, "If I hear one more person compare this to the flu, I'm going to lose my forking mind."

And of course the scientist Jerry Falwell is out there saying it's just like the flu.

 

[SystemShock]

I guess but that line was written by a dude that is now like 75.

You can take that sarcasm personally like dumb Kurt and put it in the sucide note or realize that it is just a song.

That Lange is 75, it doesn't mean he didn't try, but if the age thing bothers you, I can go with my dad's mantra: "everything without moderation"

 

[Lapaz]

I thought I would apply some numbers to the assertions above. Ten times worse than the worst flu season.

On average it is estimated that there are 35,000,000 (Thirty-Five Million) annual influenza cases in the United States.

If we multiply by 10 we get 350,000,000 (Three Hundred-Fifty Million)

The current population of the United States is 331,002,651 (Three-Hundred Thirty-One Million Two Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty-One) .

So 100% infection rate.

Last year was the "worst flu season on record" with 80,000 (Eighty Thousand) deaths

Multiply that by 10 and we get 800,000 (Eight Hundred Thousand)

Just for illustrative purposes, let's assume Covid-19 is not seasonal. It kills 365 days per year.

That would be 2192 (Two Thousand Ninety-Two) deaths per day/every day.

Mortality Rates

Since the infection rate is 100%, the math is simple.

800,000 dead in a population of 331,002,651 results in a mortality rate of 0.24%

If the mortality rate is 3% with 100% infection rate, we will experience 9,930,079 (Nine Million, Nine Hundred-Thirty Thousand and Seventy-Nine) deaths.

That would be 27,205 (Twenty-Seven Thousand Two Hundred and Five) deaths daily for 365 days.

You would be correct, but we will not get close to 100% infection rate because of precautions. We will lose about 3% of infected adults. If we don’t act decisively, we will probably have 100M infections and 3M deaths. 10,000 deaths a day would occur. Since most are taking this seriously and acting decisively, we may limit infections to about 100,000, so only about 3,000 deaths.

 

[Beach Friends]

Who knows, I heard an infectious disease expert from Johns Hopkins opine that the mortality rate would end up being about .6%. But, he also said that he believed the infection rate would be 30-50%. (Really not sure, but I believe that was over the next year).

So, that's still a lot deaths.

Hopefully this event wakens us up to a host of issues - including the fact we need to stop being dependent on China for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies.

 

[Saintamaniac]

Oh geeze. I never said the Coronavirus was a hoax and neither did Trump. He said the Democrats criticism of his handling of the Coronavirus was a hoax. I don't agree with how Trump is handling the situation, but let's not throw out lies about what he actually said.

Show me where I said that you or trump said the virus was a hoax. I mean if you are going to hang your hat on him calling the criticism of his handling a hoax, what does that even mean? Does that mean the democrats criticism wasn't real because I definitely remember them criticizing him and they continue to do so. Much like a lot of what he says, that makes zero sense. So no, I didn't throw out lies because I never said he said what you said I said he said. Ironic that in an attempt to say I lied, you lied about what I actually said.

 

[Archies Ghost]

I think you're using the hyperbolic "ten times worse" statement and extrapolating via statistics a point that's not valid.

And, I think "10 times worse" might be a little exaggeration based on deaths and ICU admissions rather than infectino rate, but I could be wrong.

It wasn't me saying this would be 10 times worse than the worst flu ever. It was an "expert" epidemiologist.

And then he uses numbers that don't fit with his hyperbole.

My point is that this "expert" quite obviously was blowing up the numbers purposely for his own gain, hoping people would not apply any reason to his comments. There is a definite market out there for "experts" willing to say frightening things.

A friend in Ohio asked my opinion of all this after the Ohio governor banned all gatherings over 100 people.

There are essentially two choices here. The first is that this is Captain Trips, millions are already dead and the end times are here.

The second is that the media has spun this up for profit and forced politicians to choose one of two options.

The first option is to urge calm and common sense. Life goes on and we all should take precautions but continue about our business.

The second option is to play along, knowing that however bad this is, it will be seasonal and kill mostly those most vulnerable to respiratory distress.

The first option invites the media to constantly beat you over the head for not doing anything. The second option makes sure you come up looking like a champion when this burns out in late April.

Personally, I don't believe the real numbers when this is over with will come close to an average flu season. I could be wildly wrong but the odds are in my favor.

 

[SaintForLife]

It wasn't me saying this would be 10 times worse than the worst flu ever. It was an "expert" epidemiologist.

And then he uses numbers that don't fit with his hyperbole.

My point is that this "expert" quite obviously was blowing up the numbers purposely for his own gain, hoping people would not apply any reason to his comments. There is a definite market out there for "experts" willing to say frightening things.

A friend in Ohio asked my opinion of all this after the Ohio governor banned all gatherings over 100 people.

There are essentially two choices here. The first is that this is Captain Trips, millions are already dead and the end times are here.

The second is that the media has spun this up for profit and forced politicians to choose one of two options.

The first option is to urge calm and common sense. Life goes on and we all should take precautions but continue about our business.

The second option is to play along, knowing that however bad this is, it will be seasonal and kill mostly those most vulnerable to respiratory distress.

The first option invites the media to constantly beat you over the head for not doing anything. The second option makes sure you come up looking like a champion when this burns out in late April.

Personally, I don't believe the real numbers when this is over with will come close to an average flu season. I could be wildly wrong but the odds are in my favor.

I seriously doubt the multi-billion dollar industry of the NBA would pause their season and lose a ton of money over something that will be close to the average flu season.

 

[JimEverett]

Someone at the upper levels of the CDC yesterday said in an interview, "If I hear one more person compare this to the flu, I'm going to lose my forking mind."

And of course the scientist Jerry Falwell is out there saying it's just like the flu.

A quick look at the CDC website shows that the CDC itself compares this to the flu: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/summary.html

 

[JimEverett]

I seriously doubt the multi-billion dollar industry of the NBA would pause their season and lose a ton of money over something that will be close to the average flu season.

I think the situation dictates and takes precedent over anything else - including making a little more money then whatever insurance would cover (I am assuming the pro leagues are covered for these things, but it even applies if they are not) And the situation has produced an incredible amount of interest and fear in this thing. So the NBA, and others, have to react accordingly.

i mean I think what we are seeing is overblown. At the same time, I am not going to go out and try to gather thousands of people together and risk being blamed for making things worse if I am wrong. At this point there is only 1 sensible action - and that is to stop large scale gatherings, and do those things like social distancing, isolation, etc. Even if you think it is ridiculous and will hurt you financially or otherwise.

 

[Taurus]

A quick look at the CDC website shows that the CDC itself compares this to the flu: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/summary.html

I'm not seeing it. Other than a couple mentions of influenza and how this is the first pandemic due to a coronavirus instead.