My son writes a column every now and then for the local paper. Today is about this current situation.
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There are probably many more cases than have shown up yet, thanks to the monumental screw-up of testing. Conventional containment has been impossible for a while now.
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You know, I really didnât enjoy that. Humans are evidently not good at grasping rapid changes to their normal way of thinking.
At least a lot of our now unneeded lab equipment is being repurposed for diagnostics, or so I gather.
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Obviously somebody is selling illegal corona virus on the black market.
A talk from my place by an expert on SARS and possible lessons for the current outbreak. I found it interesting.
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Michigan closed all its schools, and my kids are rejoicing 
I am seriously worried about the elderly and weak, though. We have a funeral to attend, and am encouraging folks to stay away as much as possible.
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Thatâs the thing (advantage?) about homeschooling⌠itâs business as usual here, no matter what the State does. 
Hope you all are staying safe and have access to the supplies you need.
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My husband sent me this article about Milennials trying unsuccessfully to convince their FOX news watching parents that they were old and vulnerable and the threat is serious. It highlights the problem with siloing of information sources.
Did you see this?
Homeschoolers stockpiled things like young earth science textbooks, Greek workbooks, classic movies and classical works of literature, and Bibles. They also rushed local stores to buy a bunch of toilet paper, but just so they could use the cardboard rolls for crafts.
Most homeschool kids are now currently quarantined but not much has changed, and the majority remain unaware that Coronavirus is a threat or that there is a cartoon television show called The Simpsons .
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I watch fox and they are not saying this isnât serious. Quite the opposite. Maybe siloing goes both ways.
Maybe not as much in the last couple days and evidently, not Tucker Carlson. But there has definitely been concerning messaging on FOX:
The overwhelming verdict in the rest of the media is that certain hosts are not at all âfair and balanced.â
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Listening to snippets taken out of context by people who are ideologically opposed IS siloing. It wouldnât hurt to spend a day or two actually hearing from the horses mouth. I do it for CNN.
I can assure you they are telling people over 60 to stay home. donât go out. If I get it I have a 15-20% chance of dying. That is what I am hearing. I heard this morning that if we donât get it under control we could have over a million deaths as the hospitals are overloadedâYes, I know that doesnât fit the snippets view
Fine and good. You are getting a different impression than many people. I just talked to my dad who spends much of the day flipping between FOX, MSNBC, and CNN, and he said the coverage was very different, especially a week ago, with MSNBC and CNN being corona apocalypse 24/7 and FOX not talking about it nearly as much, telling people not to worry, just take precautions, and some hosts and guests completely downplaying it and saying the whole thing is totally blown out of proportion. I avoid watching cable news altogether and get my news from newspapers. I donât plan on changing that.
I see each side saying the other side is politicizing the crisis. Maybe both are and we humans canât avoid that. Fox like CNN cover most of the press conferences.
Now, I donât think turning this into the apocalypse is a good idea. It creates panic. I think both sides have engaged in it because terror drives viewership. But not panicking is good. We need to think clearly. Panic drives what I saw at the grocery story where people buy more than they need. Have a few fox commentators gone overboard? Yes, but CNN commentators seem to use the most dire descriptors of Trump, who can do NO good in anything. No one is that bad. Fox on the other hand uses Pelosi as a tackle dummy, not giving her much credit for anything. Fox does criticize Trump but not on some things I think they should go harder. CNN seems to follow the same words and descriptors used each day on other channels like MSNBC and the old broadcast networks. it is like they all get the same words to use each day on a given topic. Each company has its way of doing things, driven by their CEO.
If you avoid watching cable all together, it might be a good idea not to get an impression of things from the internetâthat highly renown source of all truth! (lol).
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Well, Iâm going to get an impression of things from people I trust (i.e. my dad) and the newspapers I read, (I posted a NYT article above, not a FB meme). I donât believe in the post-truth era. I think many reputable newspapers and websites (NPR, BBC) still report facts. Thatâs not really relying on âthe internet.â
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It seems to me that many people are panicking as if deer in the headlights and this is the dark ages or something. We have really amazing medical technology and science to deal with this.
First I come from the clinical diagnostics field and many labs and private companies are now out with the molecular test for the virus. In addition there are rapid tests in development such as those available for the flu that could be made available to allow better testing for the general public for identification of those that have or even had the virus.
Second around 85% infected have only a medium to mild response to the virus as well as under 18 years seem to do well. The high risk is the older 50 plus and co- morbid. As for treatment it is thought that a vaccine is at least 12 months away. There is a SARS vaccine but likely ineffective to the Covid 19. The doctors in China and Korea have been trying to use either the malaria drug hydroxychloroQuine or Kaletra hiv drug to treat the virus which will need more studies. I am sure that with all the great doctors around the world someone will figure out a better treatment regimen for this.
The virus is interesting like SARS it attaches to the ACE 2 receptor related to vasoconstriction and blood pressure. I am sure that studies will come out better understanding why the older population is more susceptible to this while the Younger seems to not. I should point out is that for the especially for the older it is known that daily vitamin d supplements reduce the severity and occurance of respiratory distress syndrome associated with other viruses so may possibly benefit for this one.
I donât mean to downplay this pandemic effects but we just need to be smart in how we all deal with this.
Iâm not allowed to visit my 97-year-old father in the nursing home. He has basal cell carcinoma and a heart condition.
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Except that we have good reason to panic. The administration dropped the ball on this, and our healthcare system may very well become overwhelmed. Vitamin D just isnât going to cut it.
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Hard to see how not seeing you is going to help him, unless you have something he can catch.