General / Off-Topic The safest place

[Patrick_68000]

In depressing news, the G5 conspiracy hoax has resulted in a series of attempts to destroy or burn G5 masts in the Netherlands now as well. Successful attempts will render emergency services temporarily unavailable locally for mobile phones. Because of this authorities are politely urging the population to stop burning down essential infrastructure during a pandemic, even if a dude with a webcam and a blog told you otherwise.

Sigh

In these times of crisis and containment, it seems that Apple will market a new iPhone, at low cost for the people with limited resources and to compensate for its loss of revenues.

This iPhone (called iPhone 9 or iPhone SE 2 or iPhone SE 2020 ) will have 5G (some say yes, others say no, or a "reduced" 5G, however much more efficient than 4G ) and will cost around 400 dollars.



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[Synkreto]

It seems that Germany will not fully escape the pandemic.

"Germany reported on Wednesday 2486 additional cases of coronavirus contamination, which brings the toll to 127,584, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). The death toll has risen by 285 for a total of 3,254 since the start of the pandemic. The number of new infections started to rise again after four days of decline."

For their part, the United States has received more than 2200 deaths in 24 hours, a sad world record to date.

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Germany never did escape the Pandemic in the first place . The decline in reported numbers of Infections was simply due to delayed/incomplete reporting over the Easter weekend . We will have a better picture of what happened over Easter by tomorrow . Looked at it over the last 2 weeks, the Kurve is on a slow decline, and is likely to keep on doing that . As per number of deaths, we are seeing the results of our Peak in daily infections, approx. 3 weeks ago .

 

[Patrick_68000]

Germany never did escape the Pandemic in the first place . The decline in reported numbers of Infections was simply due to delayed/incomplete reporting over the Easter weekend . We will have a better picture of what happened over Easter by tomorrow . Looked at it over the last 2 weeks, the Kurve is on a slow decline, and is likley to keep on doing that . As per number of deaths, we are seeing the results of our Peak in daily infections, approx. 3 weeks ago .

A few weeks ago Germany was cited as an example for the management of the crisis and the very small number of people affected.

Unfortunately, this virus knows no borders.

Although Germany remains powerful for limiting damage.

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[Ian Skippy]

In these times of crisis and containment, it seems that Apple will market a new iPhone, at low cost for the people with limited resources and to compensate for its loss of revenues.

This iPhone (called iPhone 9 or iPhone SE 2 or iPhone SE 2020 ) will have 5G (some say yes, others say no, or a "reduced" 5G, however much more efficient than 4G ) and will cost around 400 dollars.



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Lol, Apple can get lost and people with 'limited resources' should not buy a $400 phone. Hell, people in general shouldn't spend $400 on a phone.

 

[Synkreto]

A few weeks ago Germany was cited as an example for the management of the crisis and the very small number of people affected.

Unfortunately, this virus knows no borders.

Although Germany remains powerful for limiting damage.

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Germans still IS a really good example for very good management of the crisis . Noone ever expected this to mean no people will get sick, and die . The number of people "affected" was comparably HIGH for quite some time, due to our comparably high volume of testing. Thorough contacttracing right from the first case in January on, and the resulting isolation, quarantine, pinpointed lockdowns early on - even before any FedState, or the FedGovernment, implemented any State - or Nationwide restrictions - led to us having a good picture of where the Virus is, and implent appropriate measures accordingly..
The death toll - is another story . There are things that have not gone well in germany - a frighteningly high number of nursing/Care homes start to be affected badly, here, too, for instance - but overall, Germany followed the WHO Strategy/recommendations right from the Start, was therefore able to limit negative impact by preventing HealthCare to get overrun, therefore kept the # of critical cases manageable and the # of "collateral" deaths coming with a collapsing healthcare system to zero, and as of now has started a shallow decline in the Curve of # of infected reported . Again, with comparably rather low death toll . All in all...pretty succesfull in my Book ( so far ), and still an example of how things could have gone in other Countries...if something as simple as "just follow WHO recommendations" would have been done .

 

[ZeroAi]

There is broad unemployment in some sectors in some areas, but most of the labor force, in most of the US, is still working.

Agreed. But those not working, like the teachers and principles in my family, don't get that.

No biggy, they also think everyone gets off all those little holidays off that school kids get.

FWIW: my university fired nobody and moved to a fully online model. We're currently shipping out free loaner laptops to students in lockdown who don't have proper access to the online environment. They get to keep them as long as we cant open the lecture halls. People who feel they are struggling with their thesis due to this may cancel and get a full refund for those credits so they can try again next year if they prefer.

That's great to hear!

I like work (well paid).

But being sick for work or even dying for work, no thanks.

I have my human dignity, my pride.

Work ? Yes ! but after many other things, much more essential.

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Yeah, I wouldn't die for a job, but I also won't risk financial ruin to avoid a 1% chance I might die from COVID-19.

Unlike all those youngsters who could move "back home" if they lose their jobs, I'm a grandpa who already have some living with him.

I find it increasingly difficult to compare countries.

True.

I think the "New" World Health Organization will need to ask all countries to report numbers in a more standardized way.

As far as New York, there is some evidence that COVID-19 was circulating for weeks before we became aware of it, probably due to the large number of international travelers/business people that call NYC home.

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19: an open-label, randomized, controlled trial

Objectives To assess the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) plus standard-of-care (SOC) compared with SOC alone in adult patients with COVID-19. Design Multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Setting 16 government-designated COVID-19 treatment centers in China...

www.medrxiv.org

Early preprint, not peer reviewed.
Hydroxychloroquine tried in 150 patients. Compared to standard treatment, slightly less got better with it. It did improve the lymphopenia faster, and return C reactive protein to normal faster.

No major side effects identified in the cohort, at the given dose.

Looks like a wash. It didn't work after completion of this study, but did seem to affect the immune system in some positive ways. That is far short of measurable practical benefit needed to prescribe it.

So far it has not been positive for HOCQ, and severe side effects resulting in a higher death rate were reported previously. Disappointing overall, despite the early lab work.

So would I use it? On my own family?
Nope.
If new evidence turns up, I could change that position. But given existing data, we can predict that it has no strong benefit or that would have showed up by now, and we have established increased risk of death.

Changing instructions on the home package to Do Not Use. .

Going by the test results always supercedes the theory. That's iron clad.
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[Good Whiskey]

I had no idea that 2020 would be the year I began donating directly to the WHO, but to quote its Director General, "Babies are still being born. Essential surgery is continuing. People still need emergency care after road traffic crashes. People still need treatment for cancer, diabetes, HIV, malaria and many other diseases". On top of that, the organization's Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan and its solidarity-driven Covid-19 work in Africa are vital to the present effort.

The Covid-19 response fund is open, and I'm in.

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Woman, 2 children with COVID-19 threaten lawsuit over stay at Caura

Lawyers representing a woman and her two children, who have tested positive for COVID-19, are demanding that they are immediately released from mandatory quarantine.

guardian.co.tt

3 individuals are trying to escape isolation by legal manoeuvres. Family of an idiot cruise ship passenger. The intelligence runs in the family.

Maybe they have a case. But, the courts are closed. Difficult to win, when you cannot fight. This is the definition of an empty threat, but at least the lawyer will make something.

These folks should pay for their health care. I don't want my taxes to contribute to their care, and they have money for cruises and lawyers.

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Abolish the WHO and UN.

In the middle of a pandemic?

 

[Ian Skippy]

I like big Boobies. These two are not particularly impressive.

Apologize to the booby this instant!

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Perhaps the availability isn't the problem but the logistics? I gather that 700m bits of PPE was distributed to NHS hosps over the past 4 weeks. There are about 1.5m staff in the UK, of these, some would be frontline patient contact on the ground staff. If my arithmetic is correct and using the 1.5m staff level, thats about 680 bits of PPE per staffer?

Can't say. The math seems right.
If 1/3 are getting infected, either they do not have PPE, or it is misused(unlikely by so many) or it is defective?

The lack of kit on the frontline is well documented by multiple sources.

 

[Good Whiskey]

Abolish the WHO and UN.

Can't hop on board with that one, chief. I'm too much of a filthy humanist to support that sort of action. For a long time, collectivism and globalism seemed like adversaries, but a lifetime of learning has driven home to me that the union of human cultures and societies is an inevitability. We are now living in the last age of isolation and separation. We fight it. We wave flags harder. We lie to ourselves. Harder. We proclaim our individuality and superiority from and over one another more indirectly but also louder. It doesn't make a difference. One way or another, cooperation, packaged any way you like it, will emerge as our ultimate state of baseline interaction.

Don't abolish. Reform. Improve. Overhaul. Work. The days of abolition as a solution to that which we construct and which vexes us, despite our construction of it, are over. Hiding from one another is no longer an option for this species, no matter how corona our viruses get.

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

From the article it seems they're not the fizziest drink in the fridge. Perhaps sub-90 IQ (which I gather is 1 in 10). Hey, let them have at it, there is after all, a market for everything - mediocrity and stupidity included. Over here in Britain we have taxes on the stupid in the form of the National Lottery, for those that have no comprehension of basic probability (I used to be a Bookie), and the bizzare scratchcards, which operate on the same principle but with slightly better odds.

Also, the hat is spiffy.
I approve!
]

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

What source? Tried clicking on the op and it cannot be found. I think it's been deleted. Could you summarise?

Aha a political thing?
Better we avoid it then?

 

[AkenBosch]

Hiding from one another is no longer an option for this species

It has been the best option for the last month though.

Sorry, I had to!

 

[Good Whiskey]

It has been the best option for the last month though.

Sorry, I had to!

I'm glad the irony wasn't lost on you.

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

No big fan of the current WHO here, but we need their functions as an organization.


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[Good Whiskey]

No big fan of the current WHO here, but we need their functions as an organization.

There are plenty of organizations in this world that have problems. Governments. Companies. Commonwealths. Cooperative councils. You name it. Few, if any, are dedicated exclusively to addressing disease and human health directly. This is one of them. The notion of not supporting every effort to save human lives amid an outbreak is beyond selfish and reprehensible. It should be embarrassing. You should literally feel ashamed if the politics of this world and your country are more important to you than treatment, vaccines, and halting the spread of diseases like coronavirus, malaria and HIV.

You make these organizations better. You don't cut them off and tear them down. You don't shift blame. You bear the burden of it for the sake of others, because that objectively makes the world you live in a better place. And there's nothing political about any of that. It's simple mathematics.

 

[Morbad]

Abolish the WHO and UN.

What are you going to replace the WHO with?

the union of human cultures and societies is an inevitability. We are now living in the last age of isolation and separation. We fight it. We wave flags harder. We lie to ourselves. Harder. We proclaim our individuality and superiority from and over one another more indirectly but also louder. It doesn't make a difference. One way or another, cooperation, packaged any way you like it, will emerge as our ultimate state of baseline interaction.

Fundamentally, I consider myself a culture of one and my society consists of a small handful of people. I'm still able to cooperate with others, when it's in my best interest to do so, without subsuming or subordinating my individuality. Never had much use for flags or the imagined communities they represent either.

You bear the burden of it for the sake of others, because that objectively makes the world you live in a better place. And there's nothing political about any of that. It's simple mathematics.

'Better' is about as subjective as a term gets, and what constitutes better is the prime bickering point of politics.