Interesting overview of the start of this thing. Strong evidence that it was in Italy in fall of 2019 and that the seafood market in Wuhan was not at all the origin, but just a likely early superspreader event. https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-circulated-europe-china-before-wuhan-outbreak-2020-12
It's exacty like the app Plague Inc. I have infected the entire world except Greenland and New Zealand long before humans even have found me out. ...Then mutate into a super strain to kill and exterminate humanity before a vaccine is found.
Fascinating. The big issue though is the bat DNA in the virus. The origin of the virus has always seemed to point to where species are interacting bats. In this instance I believe its a Pangolin where it jumped species. It's hard to not still think the virus started in Asia somewhere just given the genetic code. Italy seems like a strange place to have a virus like this originate. If it showed Bat to Pig or Bat to Cow, then you can probably assume it actually started here with our horrible food sanitation issues as of late (see Chipotle). However that does change the entire political nature of this virus. I think now the Trumpers can start to blame the Italians for trying to take out Trump with a Hoax. Maybe Lasagna, and Gelato become the new virtual signally liberal flashpoints with the right.
It was still indicated that the virus originated in China and how exactly does politics come into this story?
The problem with this is that the Chinese Communists are a bunch of liars and they have every incentive to lie here.
I think y'all are misinterpreting my post, (or sure, it's my fault), and/or not reading the article. Almost everyone thinks it started in China, but much earlier than the conventional story has it, and probably not exactly in Wuhan. That's all. I don't think anyone believe it started in Italy, especially as they are not pangolin rich, fauna wise.
It shouldn’t and that’s kinda my point I was making a joke about. How a virus, masks, etc. became political I really don’t know.
I read the article and it cites some Chinese version of the CDC as well as some Chinese newspaper indicating when it was found in China. I don't trust my own government right now a lot of the time, why would anyone trust Communists?
US Deaths In 2020 Top 3 Million, Far Exceeding Most Ever Counted By MIKE STOBBE | December 23, 2020 8:26 a.m. NEW YORK (AP) — This is the deadliest year in U.S. history, with deaths expected to top 3 million for the first time — due mainly to the coronavirus pandemic. Final mortality data for this year will not be available for months. But preliminary numbers suggest that the United States is on track to see more than 3.2 million deaths this year, or at least 400,000 more than in 2019. U.S. deaths increase most years, so some annual rise in fatalities is expected. But the 2020 numbers amount to a jump of about 15%, and could go higher once all the deaths from this month are counted. That would mark the largest single-year percentage leap since 1918, when tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers died in World War I and hundreds of thousands of Americans died in a flu pandemic. Deaths rose 46% that year, compared with 1917. COVID-19 has killed more than 318,000 Americans and counting. Before it came along, there was reason to be hopeful about U.S. death trends. The nation’s overall mortality rate fell a bit in 2019, due to reductions in heart disease and cancer deaths. And life expectancy inched up — by several weeks — for the second straight year, according to death certificate data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But life expectancy for 2020 could end up dropping as much as three full years, said Robert Anderson of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC counted 2,854,838 U.S. deaths last year, or nearly 16,000 more than 2018. That’s fairly good news: Deaths usually rise by about 20,000 to 50,000 each year, mainly due to the nation’s aging, and growing, population. Indeed, the age-adjusted death rate dropped about 1% in 2019, and life expectancy rose by about six weeks to 78.8 years, the CDC reported. “It was actually a pretty good year for mortality, as things go,” said Anderson, who oversees CDC death statistics. The U.S. coronavirus epidemic has been a big driver of deaths this year, both directly and indirectly. The virus was first identified in China last year, and the first U.S. cases were reported this year. But it has become the third leading cause of death, behind only heart disease and cancer. For certain periods this year, COVID-19 was the No. 1 killer. But some other types of deaths also have increased. A burst of pneumonia cases early this year may have been COVID-19 deaths that simply weren’t recognized as such early in the epidemic. But there also have been an unexpected number of deaths from certain types of heart and circulatory diseases, diabetes and dementia, Anderson said. Many of those, too, may be related to COVID. The virus could have weakened patients already struggling with those conditions, or could have diminished the care they were getting, he said. Early in the epidemic, some were optimistic that car crash deaths would drop as people stopped commuting or driving to social events. Data on that is not yet in, but anecdotal reports suggest there was no such decline. Suicide deaths dropped in 2019 compared with 2018, but early information suggests they have not continued to drop this year, Anderson and others said. Drug overdose deaths, meanwhile, got much worse. Before the coronavirus even arrived, the U.S. was in the midst of the deadliest drug overdose epidemic in its history. Data for all of 2020 is not yet available. But last week the CDC reported more than 81,000 drug overdose deaths in the 12 months ending in May, making it the highest number ever recorded in a one-year period. Experts think the pandemic’s disruption to in-person treatment and recovery services may have been a factor. People also are more likely to be taking drugs alone — without the benefit of a friend or family member who can call 911 or administer overdose-reversing medication. But perhaps a bigger factor are the drugs themselves: COVID-19 caused supply problems for dealers, so they are increasingly mixing cheap and deadly fentanyl into heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, experts said. “I don’t suspect there are a bunch of new people who suddenly started using drugs because of COVID. If anything, I think the supply of people who are already using drugs is more contaminated,” said Shannon Monnat, a Syracuse University researcher who studies drug overdose trends. ___ https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/us-deaths-in-2020-top-3-million-far-exceeding-most-ever-counted
just slap me on the wrist then. Shame on me i guess. Have you also slapped the wrists of the countless times politics has been mentioned in the slightest in the GARM?
Yeah, this Hangout thread has been at its best when avoiding all the (frustrating, yes) politics. Have enjoyed just sharing information and learning a lot from everybody on the virus itself and the nature of the pandemic. Definitely public policy (and lack of policy) has a huge impact. Cheers, everyone, and try to stay safe. Try to talk older relatives in skipping those haircuts and grocery store visits for a while longer, if you can.
For some people, this virus doesn't exist until it spreads inside their lungs. Bill Gates has been busy propping up his 5G.
Question for the Hangout crowd though on that note: If you are feeling sick (which I am today for sure... started getting symptoms last night. Not sure if Covid) what do you do to about your family with older people that thinks its a hoax, and doesn't care? If I tell them tonight "Don't come anymore... im feeling like crap" I will be public enemy #1 in my house, and start a big fight. Yes I know the answer is to get a test. Issue is I live in DFW where it's impossible to get one on short notice. I have a rapid test appointment scheduled tomorrow at noon which is the earliest I could get, BUT family is coming in tonight. This is exactly why family gatherings should have been cancelled this year for everyone but it's just freaking impossible to impose that on your family when most of them just don't care.
I saw in San Fran overdose deaths skyrocketed this year up like 70% or something crazy. I haven't seen a bunch of numbers on suicide or other deaths yet. It will be interesting to see comparisons from state to state when more data is compiled. I did see earlier in the year that traffic deaths did not decline and stayed steady. When traffic was lighter there were more high speed related deaths due to the roads being more empty from what I had seen. Also, I mentioned it before but I saw in the data that non covid deaths from heart, lung, diabetes, and dementia related issues was actually more elevated in states that had been hit hard by covid and that tended to be more relaxed with restrictions. ****EDIT**** (I was typing to fast and made an error and said it wrong before. Generally with less restrictions and higher covid deaths also saw higher non covid deaths). I saw this prior to this most recent wave. I still need to go back and compare to see how things have turned out in states that have had this wave begin to subside like Iowa, SD, ND, etc.
Got Dose 1 of the Pfizer one today. I got the government chip one. They said I can scan my wrist for TSA PreCheck.
It's hard, but one of my friends was dealing with this issue over Thanksgiving and he just straight up left the house. He told the older family they can come over but he wasn't going to be there. Not sure what exactly they are doing for xmas. I told my dad who isn't overly concerned by covid that we need to wait for the vaccine before I see him again. He is very high risk (80, heart issues, overweight, prior cancer) but to his credit he is at least taking vitamin D and was on blood thinners both of which his doctors put him on prior to covid. He should be very high up on the vaccine list and I almost feel like he had covid earlier in the year even though he tested negative, but still there is no reason to risk it since the finish line is so close. He agreed after he thought about it.
