COVID-19 (f/k/a "the Coronavirus")

[forgetful]

But it is a statistic. The thing I have trouble tracking in my brain is that on average 2.73 Million people die in the US every year. So let's extrapolate and say this year, 300,000 people die of Covid this year......how many of those are net new deaths that wouldn't have happened anyway.

I'm not trying to be a ghoul here or discount the seriousness of Covid, but bring a balance between the continued panic over the deaths and the cavalier attitude that you point out.

We should be wearing masks, we should be distancing, we should be tracking where possible.....but isn't this death outcome kind of sort of baked in, especially if we're going support the protests? I'm not saying I'm numb to but this seems to be where we're at and I'm not sure what we want done about it.

Mu03eng, this is a pretty simple statistic that is widely tracked in excess deaths. Excess deaths compared to the normal average. That metric says we are undercounting COVID-19 deaths.

That means these aren't people that were going to die anyways, unless you mean we will all eventually die. It shows in a year over year average, deaths are up substantially due to COVID.

Another study has shown that the average COVID death would have lived 7-10 more years.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Either you view it as a statistic or you view it in the lens of “each of these is a person no longer with us” like Gov Murphy was doing in every press conference

Or both...

The process of containment needs data and statistics - we also count to give meaning to the people that contracted this and to try to minimize loss/allocate resources. 

I think the sentiment i believe Goooo is saying (that i tend to agree with) is that it feels that we have given up in some degree on the process of containment....and that is disheartening.

[Hards Alumni]

Or both...

The process of containment needs data and statistics - we also count to give meaning to the people that contracted this and to try to minimize loss/allocate resources. 

I think the sentiment i believe Goooo is saying (that i tend to agree with) is that it feels that we have given up in some degree on the process of containment....and that is disheartening.

That is basically what I was getting at.  I don't expect our loss of life to be zero, but just commenting that society has largely forgotten those people, and their deaths are just a number now.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Yeah I agree with Wags here.  Like with everything in life, you take some chances, you mitigate risk and you strike the appropriate balance.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

That is basically what I was getting at.  I don't expect our loss of life to be zero, but just commenting that society has largely forgotten those people, and their deaths are just a number now.

The vast majority of people who die are forgotten pretty quickly, except for the people who truly knew them.  Why should this be different?  Why should I carry the memory of someone who I don't know who died of Covid anymore than the person who died in a car crash last week or the person who finally succumbed to cancer?

I will likely die a pretty anonymous death.  Outside of my family and close friends, I will probably be forgotten relatively quickly.  Within a generation or two, the only thing left to remember me will be some legal documents and the like.  Just like it's always been.

[MU82]

The vast majority of people who die are forgotten pretty quickly, except for the people who truly knew them.  Why should this be different?  Why should I carry the memory of someone who I don't know who died of Covid anymore than the person who died in a car crash last week or the person who finally succumbed to cancer?

I will likely die a pretty anonymous death.  Outside of my family and close friends, I will probably be forgotten relatively quickly.  Within a generation or two, the only thing left to remember me will be some legal documents and the like.  Just like it's always been.

Aw Sultan ... nobody on Scoop could ever forget you.

[Uncle Rico]

The vast majority of people who die are forgotten pretty quickly, except for the people who truly knew them.  Why should this be different?  Why should I carry the memory of someone who I don't know who died of Covid anymore than the person who died in a car crash last week or the person who finally succumbed to cancer?

I will likely die a pretty anonymous death.  Outside of my family and close friends, I will probably be forgotten relatively quickly.  Within a generation or two, the only thing left to remember me will be some legal documents and the like.  Just like it's always been.

I will die like I lived, stupidly

[tower912]

Aw Sultan ... nobody on Scoop could ever forget you.

Who?

[MU82]

I will die like I lived, stupidly

Don't sell yourself short, Rico, you're a tremendous slouch.

[Hards Alumni]

The vast majority of people who die are forgotten pretty quickly, except for the people who truly knew them.  Why should this be different?  Why should I carry the memory of someone who I don't know who died of Covid anymore than the person who died in a car crash last week or the person who finally succumbed to cancer?

I will likely die a pretty anonymous death.  Outside of my family and close friends, I will probably be forgotten relatively quickly.  Within a generation or two, the only thing left to remember me will be some legal documents and the like.  Just like it's always been.

Do we still read the names of the people who died on 9/11?

I'm not suggesting we memorialize each Covid death, but as a whole we seem to have normalized a thousand a day as no big deal anymore.  Again, just commentary.

[mu03eng]

Do we still read the names of the people who died on 9/11?

I'm not suggesting we memorialize each Covid death, but as a whole we seem to have normalized a thousand a day as no big deal anymore.  Again, just commentary.

On average, 7500 people died every day in this country pre-Covid. More are dying now, but at this point is their death truly preventable.

If someone wants to tell me what we can do more than we already doing (yes I think universal mask coverage makes sense) I'm all ears, but until than we mourn and we soldier on. Once you find yourself in hell, keep going to you come out the other side.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Sure we read the names of 9/11 victims...I personally don't because I didn't know anyone personally who perished. 

But we also have largely forgotten people who have died is similar types of incidents.  I mean, we have largely forgotten the Maine.

[mu03eng]

Sure we read the names of 9/11 victims...I personally don't because I didn't know anyone personally who perished. 

But we also have largely forgotten people who have died is similar types of incidents.  I mean, we have largely forgotten the Maine.

Besides, comparing a one time sudden event to a long sustained event is nonsensical. The human brain is literally designed to bias the long sustained event, to normalize it. As long as we normalize the reasonable protection measures along with the acceptance of this new way of dying I think it's all we can do.

[Jockey]

Sure we read the names of 9/11 victims...I personally don't because I didn't know anyone personally who perished. 

But we also have largely forgotten people who have died is similar types of incidents.  I mean, we have largely forgotten the Maine.

People die in Maine? 

[JWags85]

Mu03eng, this is a pretty simple statistic that is widely tracked in excess deaths. Excess deaths compared to the normal average. That metric says we are undercounting COVID-19 deaths.

That means these aren't people that were going to die anyways, unless you mean we will all eventually die. It shows in a year over year average, deaths are up substantially due to COVID.

Another study has shown that the average COVID death would have lived 7-10 more years.

I haven’t looked at this study in awhile, but I have major issues just based off of simple demographics.

According to the CDC, 60% of COVID deaths are patients 75 and older.  33% are 85 and older. The average lifespan in the US is currently just over 78. When you have well over half the deaths occurring in people at or over the average lifespan in the US, how can they be “expected” to all be living another 7-10 years. It just seems flawed on a fundamental level.

[mu03eng]

I haven’t looked at this study in awhile, but I have major issues just based off of simple demographics.

According to the CDC, 60% of COVID deaths are patients 75 and older.  33% are 85 and older. The average lifespan in the US is currently just over 78. When you have well over half the deaths occurring in people at or over the average lifespan in the US, how can they be “expected” to all be living another 7-10 years. It just seems flawed on a fundamental level.

It's a mis-use of the statistical modeling of average. If you made up a control group and said age of death is 80, we have 4 people who are 78, 3 that are 80+, 1 each are 30, 40, and 50. So the "lost years" add up to 8 for the 78s, 0 for the 80+, then 50, 40, and 30 for the individuals the average lost comes out to 12.8 years.....I mean that's terrible, everyone is living 12.8.years less???

It's a scare stat....no doubt that there is premature death for some and it sucks but what is the alternative at this point?

[GooooMarquette]

As opposed to? Statistics in this case are used to track and mitigate risk. If we treat it differently because of the human element then you get into a “who are we to say even one loss of life isn’t acceptable” and you get people clamoring to stay home until we have a cure. It’s a slippery slope to be sure but I’m not sure what sort of special weight you want put to it?

Either you view it as a statistic or you view it in the lens of “each of these is a person no longer with us” like Gov Murphy was doing in every press conference

Of course we have to treat it differently from other statistics because of the human element. And instead of just shrugging your shoulders and saying “oh well, a bunch of people died,” we do more to change it moving forward.

[GooooMarquette]

Or both...

The process of containment needs data and statistics - we also count to give meaning to the people that contracted this and to try to minimize loss/allocate resources. 

I think the sentiment i believe Goooo is saying (that i tend to agree with) is that it feels that we have given up in some degree on the process of containment....and that is disheartening.

Yes! Very well stated.

[Jockey]

Trump demanding that all attendees to his rallies sign Covid waivers that they will not sue Trump campaign if they get sick.

I guess a few dead bodies are a legitimate price to pay to stoke Bunker Boy’s ego. 

[Uncle Rico]

Trump demanding that all attendees to his rallies sign Covid waivers that they will not sue Trump campaign if they get sick.

I guess a few dead bodies are a legitimate price to pay to stoke Bunker Boy’s ego.

Why do they have to sign waivers?  It’s all a hoax.  I listen to Rush Limbaugh

[GooooMarquette]

Mayo Clinic launches neutralizing antibody test to advance COVID-19 therapies

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-launches-neutralizing-antibody-test-to-advance-covid-19-therapies/


The new test measures the level of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Neutralizing antibodies are a subset of antibodies able to independently inactivate viruses, and are associated with protective immunity against re-infection for many infectious pathogens.

“The neutralizing antibody test is a critical addition to our COVID-19 testing, expanding on the capabilities of the molecular tests used to diagnose active infection and the serology test, which indicates previous infection by identifying antibodies for the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” says William Morice, II, M.D., Ph.D., president of Mayo Clinic Laboratories. “This new test provides us with incredibly important information about how effective a person’s antibodies are at neutralizing the virus. This will help us identify optimal convalescent plasma donors and ultimately help assess the efficacy of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.”

——————

Posted this here because it relates both to testing and to the ability to evaluate potential vaccines.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

If someone wants to tell me what we can do more than we already doing (yes I think universal mask coverage makes sense) I'm all ears, but until than we mourn and we soldier on.

All my ideas involve the federal government Driving efficiency and standard process with the states.  Which isn’t happening so not worth discussing. 

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

The Federal Govt could be ramping up testing even faster than is being done.

[mu03eng]

The Federal Govt could be ramping up testing even faster than is being done.

Not disagreeing, but is there a shortfall of people needing/requesting testing?

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Not disagreeing, but is there a shortfall of people needing/requesting testing?

Cost/quantity of Supplies, method/system to trace, training/hiring are a few to start with

I will say ability to process tests and partnership on therapy and vaccine seems good.  So NIH good job.  CDC has been terrible.  FDA could have been much better.