The COVID thread


Emmanuel Goldstein
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Just now, NeuroTypical said:

Some of these homemade particle barriers are a pretty cool idea, if the precautions were warranted.   Other designs, well, maybe we should report the death toll from flu, and the death toll from asphyxiating inside their protective equipment.

A mother and child were spotted with plastic bottles on their head

It's a portable cone of silence!!!!!

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On 1/23/2020 at 1:21 PM, NeuroTypical said:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/symptoms.html

Maybe I'm missing something, but why all the fuss?  

Because it's the new scare.   

As of 2015 (outdated; I know):

Annual deaths from heart disease  = ~8.8 million.  Meh.

Annual deaths from stroke = ~6.2 million.   Oh well.

Annual deaths from lower respiratory infections (flu, pneumonia, etc.) = ~3.2 million.    Gotta go sometime.  

Annual deaths from chironic bronchitis = ~3.1 million.  No worries.

To date deaths from Coronavirus = 106. PANIC!

That's not to say that it shouldn't be taken seriously though.  Eventually a super virus could take out a big chunk of the world's population (bacterial infections are mostly treatable in modern days).    It has happened and it could happen again, but new or new to the media diseases are usually overblown.  

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https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/transmission.html

Wash your hands often, don't shake people's hands, and keep your hands away from your face.

This isn't one I'm particularly concerned about. It's unpleasant to get, but it seems like treatments are successful more often than they are not. 

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21 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Some of these homemade particle barriers are a pretty cool idea, if the precautions were warranted.   Other designs, well, maybe we should report the death toll from flu, and the death toll from asphyxiating inside their protective equipment.

A mother and child were spotted with plastic bottles on their head

removes water from bottle. Makes head bottle barrier. Gets trapped on way to airport. Needs water to survive. Ohhhhhh.

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Guest MormonGator

Thanks to hysteria, combined with medical/scientific illiteracy (and a touch of racism, which thankfully, I'm not seeing here) those of us who look forward to hosting Chinese exchange students every year (and the kids who look forward to coming to America) will probably have to wait till next year. 

Media hype and public hysteria has real costs to some of us. 

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On 1/29/2020 at 1:19 PM, NeuroTypical said:

Some of these homemade particle barriers are a pretty cool idea, if the precautions were warranted.   Other designs, well, maybe we should report the death toll from flu, and the death toll from asphyxiating inside their protective equipment.

A mother and child were spotted with plastic bottles on their head

Or death toll of alcohol

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Guest LiterateParakeet
1 hour ago, MormonGator said:

.... those of us who look forward to hosting Chinese exchange students every year (and the kids who look forward to coming to America) will probably have to wait till next year. 

I'm so sorry!

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8 hours ago, MormonGator said:

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No offense intended to @MormonGator, who has a reasonable enough underlying point (i.e. this is not panic-worthy) but just unfortunate enough to pass on a patently horrible list.

FACT-CHECKING THE "FACTS"

"FACT": "The common flu kills 60 times more people annually than Corona."
REAL FACT: This is false and misleading on so many levels.

  • (1) First of all, the latest strain of the so-called "coronavirus" has a death rate of approximately 2%, certainly nothing to sneeze at (no pun intended). If 1/3 the population of the US contracted this strain of coronavirus—a very high rate of infection, but not outside the realm of possibility—we might expect up to two million deaths. In contrast, a recent virulent flu strain such as the swine flu has a death rate of less than 1/100th of that, <0.02%.
  • (2) The term "coronavirus" applies to all sorts of strains, including strains of the common cold, most of which are simply not dangerous to the vast majority of people. So comparing the death rate of all coronaviruses to the death rate of all influenza viruses is stupid. That's not what's being discussed around the world at this point.
  • (3) Saying the flu "kills 60 times more people annually" tells us literally nothing. The flu is common; so far, this strain of coronavirus is not. So it's a statistic without any relevant meaning.

"FACT": "Only 2% of cases have reported deaths and most of these deaths were associated with weaker immune systems (e.g. old age)."
REAL FACT: ONLY 2%? Seriously? "Ma'am, your son has contracted a potentially lethal meningitis. But don't be afraid! The death rate is ONLY 2%! Hey, only one chance in 50 of him dying!" As for the other claim, guess what? Such diseases ALWAYS disproportionally kill off the old and weak! How is that supposed to make us feel better? Good thing none of us love anyone who's old or weak, I guess.

"FACT": "Washing hands and sneezing into elbows is the best practice."
REAL FACT: The "best practice" for what? What kind of idiotic medical advice is this? "Well, nurse, I realize you have the flu, but just make sure to wash your hands and sneeze into your elbows and you'll be just fine treating the patients." I think an N95 dust mask is vastly better protection than sneezing into your elbows. You can go pick one up at Home Depot, if you like. They cost a couple of dollars apiece. (Please note, I'm not saying dusk masks are a necessity. I'm saying that telling people that "sneezing into your elbow is a best practice" is sheer lunacy.)

"FACT": "The panic and hysteria that's happening is fueled by racism and xenophobia, not evidence or practicality. Nothing justifies being rude to others."
REAL FACT: This one is stupid beyond belief. Whatever "panic and hysteria" is happening is fueled by exaggerated media reports, not "racism xenophobia". Such fears have their roots in, you know, PEOPLE DYING, not in "racism and xenophobia". This is shameless sociopolitical Newspeak, straight from our academic Goodthink overlords.

"FACT": "Misinformation and racism is more dangerous than any virus; check for references and look for evidence, not ideology."
REAL FACT: The hypocrisy here is palpable, given that the liars and morons who composed this list are vastly more ideologically driven than the silly folks panicking at the mention of "coronavirus". I agree that misinformation is dangerous; this list adds to that misinformation. When people find out how much of a lie this list is, they're much more likely to start believing the doom and gloom scenarios. After all, the "don't worry" folks are openly lying.

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News:

All 113 missionaries in Hong Kong flew home last week due to the corona virus.  A few countries have closed their borders to travelers in or passing through China so they went ahead and sent all the missionaries home while they still can.  Some of these missionaries have over a year still to go on their mission and are quite bummed to have to go home early.

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Guest LiterateParakeet
21 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

News:

All 113 missionaries in Hong Kong flew home last week due to the corona virus.  A few countries have closed their borders to travelers in or passing through China so they went ahead and sent all the missionaries home while they still can.  Some of these missionaries have over a year still to go on their mission and are quite bummed to have to go home early.

They're not all going home.  Only the ones that have a relatively short time left.  Those who have a substantial time left are being reassigned to other missions.  

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1 hour ago, LiterateParakeet said:

They're not all going home.  Only the ones that have a relatively short time left.  Those who have a substantial time left are being reassigned to other missions.  

So I was reading this conversation of this missionary mother whose son still has 13 months to go on his mission.  He was sent home.  And she mentioned something about her son needing to go into quarantine before he can apply to finish his mission.  In any case, his 11 month mission is marked Return With Honor (not quite sure what that means).

Missionaries from Liberia are also getting sent home due to a fuel crisis.  They were also Return With Honor but the mother that was talking about it said his son can still apply to finish his mission because he has over 3 months to go.

Edited by anatess2
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6 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

 In any case, his 11 month mission is marked Return With Honor (not quite sure what that means).

It means the missionary did what he agreed to do when he signed up for a mission.

Normally an Elder goes out.. serve 24 months and then comes home.  That is a typical Return With Honor case and it is the general assumption.  

Sometimes a missionary comes home early.  Maybe it is a worthiness issue, maybe it is a personal medical issue, or maybe it is some large scale event (like these).   Marking some of these early returns as Return With Honor is that the Church recognizes the missionary having done what he agreed to even if it was cut short.  Generally when the cause of the shortening of the mission is not the missionaries fault

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