Week of April 7: COVID-19 info, facts & updates

[Ponyfan]

Another day, another person finds a creative excuse for behaving like a moron.

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2020/04/08/driver-caught-doing-130mph-claimed-he-was-trying-to-avoid-virus/

Wow. I can’t believe someone would actually say they thought they could outrun the virus by driving that fast.

My cousin was told to go to another site for coronavirus testing and they told her she needs to go to the hospital. First my uncle, now my cousin. They’re from different sides of the family but this hitting really close to home.

Ponyfan

[banditpony]

Any one in the states --
If you all see a jump in numbers in the next few days, that's because the CDC is requiring states to report them differently. This is after a suggestion from CSTE (the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists). It will go beyond just those confirmed positive with the typical test like it has been in the past.

I sort of missed it, but I believe it will include those newer rapid tests that have been approved. Those displaying symptoms after being near a known case / have had other things ruled out. etc. Tests that show the antibodies when recovered. There probably detailed nuances, but just wanted people to know.

(ETA: Ugh, I *think* it's required, if not correct me. I know my state has addressed it. So I wanted others to be aware)

I think NYC's death numbers might also jump because they weren't counting any people who died at home... and there's been a recent large increase of deaths at home.  :/ So we'll see how that works out.

[lonewolf]

Kansas is up to 1,166 and 50 deaths. My county is still at 3 despite the report of 2 more in the county.

[Taffeta]

How they record figures seems a bit arbitrary wherever you are. Today's figures where what they were here, but most of those numbers are actually lagged from other days, and now they're giving that as a breakdown it's literally impossible to know where we are as regards to the curve.

UK update...Boris is doing better.

Testing is up to almost 20,000 a day.

Hancock still believes 100,000 by end April possible.

Numbers of patients admitted to hospital and to ICU both down (the latter only minutely) but different regions show different spreads (here is pretty much steady, London is down, North East is up).

Lockdown likely to continue.

Police told they are not allowed to screen what people choose to buy from supermarkets or hardware stores etc that are still open (someone was threatening to do it, someone else got told they could not buy compost, but the govt have said that the police have no right to interfere in that regard.)

On a personal note, I now have 24 bars of soap. Before you accuse me of stockpiling, the only option available was to buy 24 bars of soap, given that all the 4 and 6 packs already sold out on literally every store.

Edit to add: Govt have also begun releasing testing figures for key workers and families in the tally. So far around 10,000 tested and about a third of them tested positive ><. So far they hae been testing NHS forntline staff, they hope to expand it to other healthcare staff, care staff and then ultimately other key workers.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

We're mandating temperature checks of all employees starting Monday, and we are supplied masks should we need to distribute them. They are available to all employees wanting one.

[Ponyfan]

The governor stated today that golf courses can remain open as long as people stay 6ft away from each other while playing but people are not.

Today's numbers 249 cases, 13 deaths, 68 recovered.

My cousin wasn't admitted to the hospital because she wasn't running a fever. She was told to go to a 3rd testing site to see if they would test her.


Ponyfan

[brightberry]

Since some people couldn't resist letting their kids out, playground equipment was removed.  That really surprised me to see!

Hiking trails are now all closed.  Stores won't let people in without a mask.  I'm avoiding stores anyway.  My sister told me about it.  Employees at essential locations are getting sick and one passed away.   

[Ponyfan]

I didn't expect them to remove playground equipment either.  Where I live there have been 21 citations issues for violating the no gatherings rules.

There have also been reports of people trying to take advantage of others by selling travel permits telling the people that buy them that they need to have prove that they're allowed to drive and leave their houses for essential businesses. The local police department keeps stating that travel permits are not necessary but there are still scammers trying to sell them.

Ponyfan

[Barnacle_lady]

Up here the border police has a busy time discouraging Germans to come into The Netherlands. Our borders are not closed so they can't force them. But if there are more than 2 persons packed up in a car they will get a fine of about 400 euros per person.
Also this weekend its not allowed for pleasure boats to sail in the city center in my home town Amsterdam.

[Taffeta]

I didn't watch the press briefing today because frankly I can't stand Priti Patel since she decided to state that people living poverty wasn't the fault of government austerity.

But the general overview is much the same as yesterday. Numbers more or less the same.

Yesterday there was a big buzz that the UK had reached the highest daily death toll in Europe, but actually that's only partly true. The recorded figure/death tally is for four countries, not just one. JHU aren't recording the separate data for England, Scotland, NI and Wales, only as a collective.

England's death toll is highest of these but the highest daily figure remainsl lower than those posted by Spain or Italy.

But our testing is still behind both of those countries.

[lonewolf]

Kansas is up to 1268 and 55 deaths.
Speaking of "travel permits", so far there's been 10 reports in my state of people being pulled over by self righteous  individuals impersonating cops in Kansas to see if their travel is essential: https://www.wibw.com/content/news/10-reports-fake-traffic-stops-by-cop-impersonators-in-Kansas-569552471.html?fbclid=IwAR3lZNCdtfVYwReG2FV8CnrjjFvpFMqMGqIHB5fo69eGCnyaPHz2L7pk6oU 

[tikibirds]

Found this in my email from the US Embassy in Beijing;

Event: Discrimination against African-Americans in Guangzhou: In response to an increase in COVID-19 infections, officials in the Guangzhou metropolitan area escalated scrutiny of foreign nationals. As part of this campaign, police ordered bars and restaurants not to serve clients who appear to be of African origin. Moreover, local officials launched a round of mandatory tests for COVID-19, followed by mandatory self-quarantine, for anyone with “African contacts,” regardless of recent travel history or previous quarantine completion. African-Americans have also reported that some businesses and hotels refuse to do business with them.  The U.S. Consulate General advises African-Americans or those who believe Chinese officials may suspect them of having contact with nationals of African countries to avoid the Guangzhou metropolitan area until further notice.  Without advance warning, officials might require such individuals to submit to a COVID-19 test and undergo 14 days of supervised quarantine at their own expense.
 
All U.S. citizens in China are subject to local law. If you violate Chinese laws, even unknowingly, you may be arrested, expelled, or imprisoned.  The Chinese legal system can be opaque, and the interpretation and enforcement of local laws may be arbitrary. The judiciary does not enjoy independence from political influence. U.S. citizens traveling or residing in China may be subject to heightened scrutiny by Chinese local law enforcement and state security. They should carry identity documents at all times.

The authorities in Guangzhou are specifically targeting ALL foreigners who are black, regardless if you are American, Canadian, or Nigerian. As long as you meet their requirement (black skin) you are "african" in their eyes. Many have been kicked out of their residences and are now wandering the streets as hotels will not accept foreigners.
However if you are a white South African - you can not possibly be from Africa because you are white.

I am hoping this is specific to the city of Guangzhou. My roommate is South African. We are not in a megacity where there is a large expat community. We ARE the expat community. Everybody in our community knows there is a fat, white girl and a black girl living here.

How in the **** did this go from originating in China to China blaming ALL foreigners for bringing the virus to China?  Did they forget where this originated? The border is closed, foreigners can NOT enter. The media keeps saying "foreign workers" but what they really mean are the Chinese nationals who were working outside China that are returning infected. This misinformation has given rise to xenophobia of ALL foreigners weather we have been here the whole time or not.

[Trinity]

Found this in my email from the US Embassy in Beijing;

Event: Discrimination against African-Americans in Guangzhou: In response to an increase in COVID-19 infections, officials in the Guangzhou metropolitan area escalated scrutiny of foreign nationals. As part of this campaign, police ordered bars and restaurants not to serve clients who appear to be of African origin. Moreover, local officials launched a round of mandatory tests for COVID-19, followed by mandatory self-quarantine, for anyone with “African contacts,” regardless of recent travel history or previous quarantine completion. African-Americans have also reported that some businesses and hotels refuse to do business with them.  The U.S. Consulate General advises African-Americans or those who believe Chinese officials may suspect them of having contact with nationals of African countries to avoid the Guangzhou metropolitan area until further notice.  Without advance warning, officials might require such individuals to submit to a COVID-19 test and undergo 14 days of supervised quarantine at their own expense.
 
All U.S. citizens in China are subject to local law. If you violate Chinese laws, even unknowingly, you may be arrested, expelled, or imprisoned.  The Chinese legal system can be opaque, and the interpretation and enforcement of local laws may be arbitrary. The judiciary does not enjoy independence from political influence. U.S. citizens traveling or residing in China may be subject to heightened scrutiny by Chinese local law enforcement and state security. They should carry identity documents at all times.

The authorities in Guangzhou are specifically targeting ALL foreigners who are black, regardless if you are American, Canadian, or Nigerian. As long as you meet their requirement (black skin) you are "african" in their eyes. Many have been kicked out of their residences and are now wandering the streets as hotels will not accept foreigners.
However if you are a white South African - you can not possibly be from Africa because you are white.

I am hoping this is specific to the city of Guangzhou. My roommate is South African. We are not in a megacity where there is a large expat community. We ARE the expat community. Everybody in our community knows there is a fat, white girl and a black girl living here.

How in the **** did this go from originating in China to China blaming ALL foreigners for bringing the virus to China?  Did they forget where this originated? The border is closed, foreigners can NOT enter. The media keeps saying "foreign workers" but what they really mean are the Chinese nationals who were working outside China that are returning infected. This misinformation has given rise to xenophobia of ALL foreigners weather we have been here the whole time or not.

Wow! 

Um, well here in Australia. Not much has changed. Rate of infection is going down, but people are still getting infected. No changes to lockdowns.

My mum doesn't like it that we can't have a family Easter gathering. Some families are embracing webcam though.

[Beth3346]

Found this in my email from the US Embassy in Beijing;

Event: Discrimination against African-Americans in Guangzhou: In response to an increase in COVID-19 infections, officials in the Guangzhou metropolitan area escalated scrutiny of foreign nationals. As part of this campaign, police ordered bars and restaurants not to serve clients who appear to be of African origin. Moreover, local officials launched a round of mandatory tests for COVID-19, followed by mandatory self-quarantine, for anyone with “African contacts,” regardless of recent travel history or previous quarantine completion. African-Americans have also reported that some businesses and hotels refuse to do business with them.  The U.S. Consulate General advises African-Americans or those who believe Chinese officials may suspect them of having contact with nationals of African countries to avoid the Guangzhou metropolitan area until further notice.  Without advance warning, officials might require such individuals to submit to a COVID-19 test and undergo 14 days of supervised quarantine at their own expense.
 
All U.S. citizens in China are subject to local law. If you violate Chinese laws, even unknowingly, you may be arrested, expelled, or imprisoned.  The Chinese legal system can be opaque, and the interpretation and enforcement of local laws may be arbitrary. The judiciary does not enjoy independence from political influence. U.S. citizens traveling or residing in China may be subject to heightened scrutiny by Chinese local law enforcement and state security. They should carry identity documents at all times.

The authorities in Guangzhou are specifically targeting ALL foreigners who are black, regardless if you are American, Canadian, or Nigerian. As long as you meet their requirement (black skin) you are "african" in their eyes. Many have been kicked out of their residences and are now wandering the streets as hotels will not accept foreigners.
However if you are a white South African - you can not possibly be from Africa because you are white.

I am hoping this is specific to the city of Guangzhou. My roommate is South African. We are not in a megacity where there is a large expat community. We ARE the expat community. Everybody in our community knows there is a fat, white girl and a black girl living here.

How in the **** did this go from originating in China to China blaming ALL foreigners for bringing the virus to China?  Did they forget where this originated? The border is closed, foreigners can NOT enter. The media keeps saying "foreign workers" but what they really mean are the Chinese nationals who were working outside China that are returning infected. This misinformation has given rise to xenophobia of ALL foreigners weather we have been here the whole time or not.

 

[Taffeta]

We've had reports about those incidents in China here as well. It's either a misinterpretation of language (given that the same character is used in Chinese I think in the words for outside and for foreign, it's not impossible - or it's convenient buck passing now that CHina appear to have it under control. A good explanation if the numbers rise again...but I think a lot of Chinese people are probably just scared and fear makes people do stupid things.

Hopefully since you and your flatmate have been there a long while, people won't treat you with that same suspicious brush.

No numbers for the UK yet, but I wanted to share this.

https://covid.joinzoe.com/data

There's not yet an official govt app to try and track spread of covid but this app from KCL has been encouraging people to sign up, report symptoms, report if they were tested, or report no symptoms across the UK. It gives a snapshot of the country and the mild cases possibly going under the radar because no testing is at present possible in the wider community.

Their suggestion is that 1.2 million britons have Covid, and that it averages across the country between 3 and 5% of the population but this fluctuates by region. I remember there are some people interested in regional data and so here's some, albeit it's somewhat theoretical based on probability of symptoms compared with those participants who had a positive test result.

It also records the most common symptom among those tested for the virus was not a fever or a cough but loss of taste and smell, which has been widely discussed but not formally accepted by the govt as a symptom yet here. It's thought that could also be a sign shared by people who have no other symptoms and that it might be an indicator to prevent spreading but because it's a symptom of a lot of things, it's unclear.

I wanted to post this because the media are all doom and gloom and scaremongering based on the tiny amount of data that exists. We have no process by which to report recovered cases although we get stories of x patient or y patient being discharged after beating the odds. We have an unhealthy fixation on death numbers when we're also told that in actual fact none of the death numbers reported for a day are actually all for that day and are often lagged sometimes by up to a month making the real figures look completely different (if they bothered to redraw the graphs).

This is a horrible disease, people are dying from it in places all over the world. But lately there's been so much emphasis only on the worst case scenarios as opposed to the wider reality that a lot of people who have this disease DO survive (and just as important, people who die don't necessarily die of covid and people are still dying of other things while covid is taking up all the attention).

The app map also gives another positive indication in that lockdown is working. Certainly in my own region between the 1st and 5th April the % of people in the area reporting likely covid symptoms has reduced - and that was a week ago.

It just offers a different perspective on how this may be affecting the UK overall, rather than just listening to scaremongering stories that grab headlines but don't offer a balanced story. Just saying "most people have a mild disease" before spending two hours detailing deaths is not objective journalism.