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COVID-19 detected in United States

KoD

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Speaking of Madison county, the largest lab here by the hospital has been out of reagent for the 1hr SARS-CoV-2 test for several days and the regular machine has been out of service today as well. There hasn't been any resulted tests for days and there's gotta be at least several hundred queued up, likely more. Also the entire ER has been converted to negative pressure as all areas have previously-confirmed covid-19 positive patients and nearly everyone else assumed positive. Logistically it's a nightmare since we can't know if anyone is positive or not without a past test and there's not close to enough isolation rooms for everyone. That's not to touch on all the ICUs being full (and the rest of the hospital for that matter) and the continued outrageous surge of patients.
 

warneagle

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Trying to run on the treadmill in a mask kind of sucked but it was still better than running outside in July. People seem to be taking the distancing and mask requirements seriously, although I'm still not super confident that Phase 3 will be successful here.
 

Lori

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We didn't get them until mid-morning today. Thank God it was negative! We were very relieved to say the least.
Thank the Lord!!!
 

skelly

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JP Dice has posted on FB that he and his wife had Covid 19 in the fall, that they have tested positive for antibodies, and according to him it was fall 2019 when he and his wife were very sick.
 

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warneagle

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We are about to witness the end of college athletics as we know it thanks to COVID-19.
Yeah, I think it's going to be very very bad for every school that doesn't have a top-25 football and/or basketball program. If college football and basketball don't happen or get delayed (almost certain at this point), even those schools won't be resilient enough to avoid major consequences. The Ivy League was the first domino in the spring when the conference basketball tournaments were cancelled, and I think it's going to be the first domino for fall sports too.
 

skelly

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Like it or not there is a “war on football.” It’s part of the culture war and a big part of it. What’s sad is it’s not a cultural war it is a political power war. Covid -19 is what it is and there are risks for many of us. Some of us have lost loved ones. That’s what makes it so despicable the effort to make sure nothing goes back to the way it was, from ending football to the electoral college. We have to do what we can to protect the vulnerable and better treatments for people that do become seriously ill. This, however should not be a tool for the revolution. Consider this article https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/23/opinion/cancel-fall-college-football-season/
 

Kory

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Yeah, I think it's going to be very very bad for every school that doesn't have a top-25 football and/or basketball program. If college football and basketball don't happen or get delayed (almost certain at this point), even those schools won't be resilient enough to avoid major consequences. The Ivy League was the first domino in the spring when the conference basketball tournaments were cancelled, and I think it's going to be the first domino for fall sports too.
The Big 10 apparently pulled a surprise move yesterday, that was not indicated at all by the virtual meetings of commissioners of the P5 conferences, when they announced conference only play. This is attrition of the fall sports season that will eventually lead to cancellations. The leaders at the top know it. Reduction of fan sizes and adjusting schedules is all to acquiesce the public...too much at once and there will be more backlash then a slower approach.
 

warneagle

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The Big 10 apparently pulled a surprise move yesterday, that was not indicated at all by the virtual meetings of commissioners of the P5 conferences, when they announced conference only play. This is attrition of the fall sports season that will eventually lead to cancellations. The leaders at the top know it. Reduction of fan sizes and adjusting schedules is all to acquiesce the public...too much at once and there will be more backlash then a slower approach.
Yeah, which means two of CMU's non-conference games are cancelled, so we're already down to 10 games even if the MAC didn't go conference only.
I'd be shocked if there's any college football in the fall though. We haven't done a good enough job containing the virus for it to be safe to have students back on campus in the fall at all, much less playing sports. The universities and the state governments have to tune out the backlash and do what's right to protect their students and staff. It'll be a huge economic hit, but it's better than inevitably causing the virus to spread even further when it's already out of control, particularly in a lot of the southern states.
 

warneagle

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Like it or not there is a “war on football.” It’s part of the culture war and a big part of it. What’s sad is it’s not a cultural war it is a political power war. Covid -19 is what it is and there are risks for many of us. Some of us have lost loved ones. That’s what makes it so despicable the effort to make sure nothing goes back to the way it was, from ending football to the electoral college. We have to do what we can to protect the vulnerable and better treatments for people that do become seriously ill. This, however should not be a tool for the revolution. Consider this article https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/23/opinion/cancel-fall-college-football-season/
I don't think most people calling for the cancellation of fall sports are fighting any sort of war on football or culture war whatever. The issues of racial inequality and the NCAA's interpretation of "amateurism" are important and you can't completely separate them from COVID or any other discussion of college sports, but at the end of the day it's just a matter of public health. It's abundantly clear that the virus isn't even close to being under control. You can't have thousands of students back on campus, much less tens of thousands of people in a stadium, in a situation like this. Even the countries that have flattened the curve aren't having people in the stands for sporting events because it's obviously unsafe even with a low prevalence of the virus, much less the far higher prevalence we have here.
 

Kory

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Yeah, which means two of CMU's non-conference games are cancelled, so we're already down to 10 games even if the MAC didn't go conference only.
I'd be shocked if there's any college football in the fall though. We haven't done a good enough job containing the virus for it to be safe to have students back on campus in the fall at all, much less playing sports. The universities and the state governments have to tune out the backlash and do what's right to protect their students and staff. It'll be a huge economic hit, but it's better than inevitably causing the virus to spread even further when it's already out of control, particularly in a lot of the southern states.
The economic impact of no fall sports season will be catastrophic for college towns. Tuscaloosa is expecting a $250 million loss...the city’s annual budget is ~$275 million. Let’s just say college towns across America will look completely different...even with students back (UA is currently planning on that and I’ll discuss that in a bit), the economic influx of sales tax, hotel tax, and alcohol tax are HUGE.

Currently the plan is for UA to have students back (currently 10-15% lower enrollment than last fall). This, unlike football, will most likely happen with many safeguards in place. UA has done a fantastic job putting together what I think is the best plan that one could expect. Free access to testing, testing of all students prior to class beginning, several hundred beds off campus that will be used to isolate, a hybrid class system that will will reduce classroom capacity by 1/3, reusable masks provided to students, etc. More can be found on UA’s website. I think for the collegiate model to survive...they have to have students back on campus. Otherwise, the college bubble is going to burst (it may still regardless)...and COVID will the pushpin. I’m not sure colleges can justify these exorbitant fees and tuition with an online only model.
 

Kory

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One plan I hope emergency planners are working on is one for a large scale evacuation for a hurricane. It is anticipated that we will have an active season...this involves evacuating hospitals and having thousands upon thousands of people displaced.

Just a thought from a former Gulf Coast resident who’s been through a few evacuations...
 

warneagle

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The economic impact of no fall sports season will be catastrophic for college towns. Tuscaloosa is expecting a $250 million loss...the city’s annual budget is ~$275 million. Let’s just say college towns across America will look completely different...even with students back (UA is currently planning on that and I’ll discuss that in a bit), the economic influx of sales tax, hotel tax, and alcohol tax are HUGE.

Currently the plan is for UA to have students back (currently 10-15% lower enrollment than last fall). This, unlike football, will most likely happen with many safeguards in place. UA has done a fantastic job putting together what I think is the best plan that one could expect. Free access to testing, testing of all students prior to class beginning, several hundred beds off campus that will be used to isolate, a hybrid class system that will will reduce classroom capacity by 1/3, reusable masks provided to students, etc. More can be found on UA’s website. I think for the collegiate model to survive...they have to have students back on campus. Otherwise, the college bubble is going to burst (it may still regardless)...and COVID will the pushpin. I’m not sure colleges can justify these exorbitant fees and tuition with an online only model.
It's a good plan on paper, but it also assumes a very high rate of compliance with social distancing rules, mask use, etc. when students aren't on campus. You and I have both taught college kids. They're not going to maintain proper social distancing 24/7. They're going to be college kids. And once the virus does make it into that situation, it's going to spread very rapidly, and in a state with a prevalence that's already high and still growing like Alabama, it won't take very long for it to happen.

Israel is a good example of this. They brought students back to school without sufficiently flattening the curve first, and it amplified the spread of the virus significantly.

The economic impact of cancelling in person classes would obviously be very bad for college towns, particularly smaller ones, but the public health consequences of trying to bring students back before the curve is flattened would be much worse. The time to avert those economic impacts was several months ago, not now.
 

Kory

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It’s quite a conundrum when it comes to balancing the economy with the shutdown/public health aspect...especially when 160 million Americans have their healthcare tied to employment. I guess for those who do have a job that is more insulated from economic shutdowns, it’s easier to say that the public health aspect is a more important focus. But for those whose job is more vulnerable to the economic downturn associated with COVID, a quicker return to economic normalcy is preferred.

Both of my parents had their job impacted due to the economic downturn that has especially hit NOLA harder than many places. Luckily, my father returned to work and held the healthcare benefits. I can’t imagine people in situations where that wasn’t the case...in the middle of a pandemic.

I have some thoughts about our current, broken system but this might be a discussion for another thread...
 
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warneagle

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It’s quite a conundrum when it comes to balancing the economy with the shutdown/public health aspect...especially when 160 million Americans have their healthcare tied to employment. I guess for those who do have a job that is more insulated from economic shutdowns, it’s easier to say that the public health aspect is a more important focus. But for those whose job is more vulnerable to the economic downturn associated with COVID, a quicker return to economic normalcy is preferred.

Both of my parents had their job impacted due to the economic downturn that has especially hit NOLA harder than many places. Luckily, my father returned to work and held the healthcare benefits. I can’t imagine people in situations where that wasn’t the case...in the middle of a pandemic.

I have some thoughts about our current, broken system but this might be a discussion for another thread...
Yeah, you kind of illustrated a fundamental underlying problem with the system, but, like you said, for another thread.

Basically, my argument would be this. It's much easier to mitigate the economic consequences with policy (i.e. via extending the additional unemployment benefit, eviction freezes, small business loans, etc.) than it is to stop the spread of the virus with policy. The time to make policy to address the spread of the virus was four months ago. Now it's a matter of addressing the consequences of that rather than trying to close the barn door after the horse has gone out.
 

StormStalker

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UNA is planning to bring students back implementing reduced class sizes, hybrid classes, and requiring masks to be worn in all academic buildings. Online enrollment for the summer was actually up by about 20% compared to last year. We won’t have a head count for the fall until we get a couple weeks in, but if it’s down the ‘21-‘22 school year could be bleak. I highly doubt we have any fall sports. It just seems it will be to costly.
 

bjdeming

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Got this in today's Oregon Health Authority COVID-19 update:

Let’s take a frank assessment of COVID-19 in our state:

  • Oregon reported more cases in the past week than we did in the entire month of May.
  • The last time we had fewer than 100 cases in a single day was more than a month ago.
  • Half of all cases are from people under the age of 40 and one-third of all cases are from people under the age of 30.
  • People in their 20s and 30s are the group most likely to get sick with COVID-19 in Oregon.
Governor Kate Brown, OHA Director Pat Allen and State Health Officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger attended a news conference today to sound the alarm about these facts and discuss further steps we can take to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Gov. Brown announced two new statewide rules:

The first is a statewide ban on indoor social get-togethers of more than 10 people. This includes gatherings such as dinner parties, birthday parties, potlucks and book clubs taking place indoors. It does not affect restaurants, churches, event venues and other organizations at this time. Businesses and other organizations that have been following the guidance about face coverings, distancing and sanitation have not currently been identified as sources of significant transmission.

The second new rule is that face coverings are mandated in outdoor spaces where distance of 6 feet or more from people outside your household cannot be maintained. This might come up at a crowded trailhead, on sidewalks while awaiting entry to a business or at an outdoor event.

This virus is extremely contagious, and many people don’t show symptoms for days. In that time, you can interact with dozens or, if you’re not careful, hundreds of other people in your social circle and community.

That’s why the three W’s continue to be so important:

  • Wear a face covering.
  • Watch your distance.
  • Wash your hands.

They also report problems getting testing supplies due to national demand.

Deaths are still in the elderly age group . . . so far.

The first rule can't be enforced, of course, except by peer pressure. TheOnion.com had an effective line in one of its past articles. I forget the exact words, but in paraphrase it was saying to someone ignoring the lockdown back then: "You sure have a lot of faith in Grandma Barbie's immune system."
 
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