Coronavirus (COVID-19) Discussion Thread

[jason1637]

SvennoJ said:

Not comparable to the Swine Flu:
Take social distancing seriously.

UNITED STATES DECLARES NATIONAL EMERGENCY [source]

Coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said:
"These kind of things generally run out in a few months. Hopefully, we'll make it several weeks. Eight, nine, whatever weeks, but I can't give you a number, because it depends on how successful we are" (with mitigation and containment measures). Earlier today, Dr. Fauci had said that: [video]

• It’s certainly going to get worse before it gets better
• Crisis will last for at least several weeks and possibly 2 months or more
• Complete shut down like in Italy and China is not off the table. "We just have to respond as things evolve over the days and over the weeks"

Worst Case Scenario by CDC (if no actions taken) [source]

Between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S. could be infected (Worst case scenario). Dr. Lawler, an infectious diseases specialist, provided a “best guess” projections of 96 million people

Could last months or even over a year

As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die. Dr. Lawler’s calculations: 480,000 deaths, which he said was conservative

By contrast, 20,000 to 50,000 people have died from flu-related illnesses this season according to CDC.

2.4 million to 21 million people in the U.S. could require hospitalization, potentially crushing the nation’s medical system, which has only about 925,000 staffed hospital beds. Fewer than a tenth of those are for people who are critically ill

CDC also mentioned it could subsdie over the summer and return in the fall.