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Forums - General Discussion - Coronavirus (COVID-19) Discussion Thread

Some good news (potentially)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/mmr-vaccine-may-protect-against-covid-19-researchers-suggest-1.4988673

A pair of American researchers propose that a clinical trial be conducted to test their hypothesis that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine offers extra protection against COVID-19.

But in the meantime, Dr. Paul Fidel and Dr. Mairi Noverr from Louisiana suggest that nursing home residents, health-care workers and others at higher risk of catching the virus get an MMR vaccine as an added precaution. “If we are right in our hypothesis, terrific, these people would have the added benefit of potentially not getting the worst of the sequelae if they got infected with COVID-19. But if we're wrong — and we could be wrong — OK, you’ve got new antibodies to measles, mumps and rubella.”

The researchers outlined their early findings in an article for the journal mBio and suggest that the MMR vaccine could help reduce septic inflammation associated with COVID-19 infection. A growing body of evidence suggests that live attenuated vaccines like the MMR vaccine, which contain a weakened form of the germ that causes a disease, may go beyond providing immunity to the targeted pathogen and can potentially bolster the body’s response to unrelated future infections.

It won't stop infection but could make the impact of the disease less severe. Another reason to not skip the flu shot this year.



The flip flop stance on face masks continues, from it being pointless or even harmful, now we're going for making it mandatory in many places.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/should-wearing-a-mask-in-public-be-mandatory-1.4990964

As Canada gradually reopens, should wearing a mask be mandatory in public? That’s the recommendation of a group of Canadian doctors and scientists who are urging lawmakers to make wearing a mask a requirement in busy public spaces, including schools, shops, crowded parks and public transit. But other experts say making masks mandatory may not be the right solution.

Dr. Amy Tan, a family doctor in Calgary supporting the Masks4Canada campaign, says the group wants to see 80 per cent of Canadians wearing masks in public, a figure that research suggests can significantly reduce infection rates.

Polling suggests Canada is falling short of that 80 per cent figure, Tan says, pointing to a recent Leger survey that suggested 48 per cent of Canadians are wearing masks in public.

The only place where I see half the people using masks around here is in the line up for the LCBO (liquor stores), anywhere else masks are still a rarity as with my chiropractor visit where I was the only one wearing a mask.

Research suggests these rules could be beneficial. A recent study published in Proceedings of the Natural Academy of the United States of America found that mandatory face masks prevented more than 78,000 infections over a month’s span in Italy and prevented more than 66,000 infections during a three-week span in New York City.



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Proof Sars-Cov-2 was already around in Italy in December

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/virus-already-in-italy-by-december-waste-water-study-finds-1.4991172

The coronavirus was already present in two large cities in northern Italy in December, over two months before the first case was detected. Researchers discovered genetic traces of SARS-CoV-2 -- as the virus is officially known -- in samples of waste water collected in Milan and Turin at the end of last year, and Bologna in January.

ISS water quality expert Giuseppina La Rosa and her team examined 40 waste water samples from October 2019 to February 2020. The results, confirmed in two different laboratories by two different methods, showed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in samples taken in Milan and Turin on December 18, 2019 and in Bologna on January 29, 2020. Samples from October and November 2019 were negative, showing the virus had yet to arrive, La Rosa said.

The data was in line with results obtained from retrospective analysis of samples of patients hospitalised in France, which found positive SARS-CoV-2 cases dating back to the end of December, the institute said. It also pointed to a recent Spanish study that found genetic traces in waste water samples collected in mid-January in Barcelona, some 40 days before the first indigenous case was discovered.

If it's detectable in sewage water, community spread was already present early December in Italy. Those 'strange' pneumonia cases at the end of the year are starting to look more and more like Covid19.



Luxembourg was down to ~30 cases, but is now up to ~45 again. However, most of this is probably due to the massively expanded testing: 45000 tests in the last 10 days (with the weekend off, so in practice last 8 days) might not sound like much, but that's about the equivalent of 8% of the country's population. Of course with this mass testing you'll find many asymptomatic coronavirus patients who didn't expect to be tested positive.

Link to all the charts: https://msan.gouvernement.lu/en/graphiques-evolution.html#sg



What the hell happend?

USA +31k, Brazil +55k, India +15k, Chile +6.3k, Mexico +5.6k,...



JRPGfan said:
What the hell happend?

USA +31k, Brazil +55k, India +15k, Chile +6.3k, Mexico +5.6k,...

I thought these numbers were wrong and had to check for myself. Jesus christ. 



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Welcome to the over million club Brazilians.



JRPGfan said:
What the hell happend?

USA +31k, Brazil +55k, India +15k, Chile +6.3k, Mexico +5.6k,...

The result of easing lockdown restrictions possibly?

Here in Aus cases have increased slightly, with 20 in the last 24 hour period, since we started opening schools and football matches and the like again. With more crowds and less social distancing, transmission goes up.



JRPGfan said:
What the hell happend?

USA +31k, Brazil +55k, India +15k, Chile +6.3k, Mexico +5.6k,...

Welcome to record Friday, always the biggest day of the week in reported cases, however this week is extreme.

Mexico, on track week over week, no outlier
Chile, actually in decline week over week
India, on track with their growth
Brazil was reporting rather low this week for their growth pattern, I guess they caught up today, a huge spike.
USA has been growing again for a week and was up to 125% week over week growth yesterday, predicting 34K for today, it's up to 33,539 atm, 10 minutes to go before the daily roll over.

Apart from Brazil's outlier (20K higher than expected), sadly it's the new normal :(

The USA is now seeing the effect of all the protests and/or the build up from other states not having peaked yet.



"The USA is now seeing the effect of all the protests and/or the build up from other states not having peaked yet."

Yep, heard ya.



A number of states in Brazil didn't report yesterday, that's why the number was higher today.
I also discovered today the vaccines for SARS actually worked in animal tests back in the day where they were still being studied (albeit provoking some, erm, minor lung damage). I'm sure that knowledge is being useful in developing a vaccine nowadays.
I'm somewhat confident a moderately effective one will be available later this year. It will likely still cause you some bothersome side-effects after application and you might still develop a cold, but as long as hospitals aren't overcrowding, that's all good, right?