Covid-19 discussion and humor thread [Was: CDC says don't touch your face to avoid Covid19...Vets to the rescue!

[The Dean]

3 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Believe it or not, it's been around since the late 90's as a potential treatment for Erectile Dysfunction.  But it had to be injected, which made it a poor competitor for viagra, and it had some safety concerns which are probably not a concern, so it was never pushed to approval as a drug.

 

Not quite sure what you are saying in the bolded text. Not enough of a concern considering the risks of Covid?

 

And while I understand injection as a deal killer, where exactly was the injection to be given for ED? Right at the, er, spot? Man that's nasty,

 

[BillsFan4]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/11/world/new-zealand-restrictions-intl-scli/index.html
 

4 new cases and New Zealand is reinstating covid restrictions. 

Quote

“In line with our precautionary approach we will be asking Aucklanders to take swift actions with us, as of 12 noon tomorrow, Wednesday August 12, we will be moving Auckland to level 3 restrictions," said Ardern.

 

She added that this will give health officials time to conduct urgent contact tracing and assess the situation.

 

The new restrictions mean that businesses including restaurants, bars and non-essential shops will have to close. People will also now only be allowed to leave their homes to conduct essential activities such as picking up supplies from grocery stores. Gatherings over 10 people will also be restricted in Auckland.

 

Schools in Auckland will also be closed for three days. Outside of Auckland, the rest of New Zealand will go into level two restrictions. 

Will last at least 3 days and then they’ll reassess.

 

By contrast, the US had almost 50,000 new cases yesterday alone and our federal govt. says “eh ?‍♂️ whatever”.

 

Edited August 11, 2020 by BillsFan4

[aristocrat]

4 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/11/world/new-zealand-restrictions-intl-scli/index.html
 

4 new cases and New Zealand is reinstating covid restrictions. 

Will last at least 3 days and then they’ll reassess.

 

By contrast, the US had almost 50,000 new cases yesterday alone and our federal govt. says “eh ?‍♂️ whatever”.

 

New Zealand has about 5 million people with over 100k sq miles of land so pretty spread out population.  Not exactly an apples to apples comparison 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

7 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

With this type of virus when you truly isolate those who are just carriers will continue to carry and when restrictions are relaxed they will interact with others who had not been exposed before.  Now you can test to allow people to come out but if someone goes to visit such a carrier then the virus gets out.  You could have some like a retired person who before was not interacting due to quarantine and would stay home most of time but when visitors are not quarantined this happens. 

 

Hopefully the contract tracing will find out who this virus source is but if there is no cure and person's body just keeps it check but does not eliminate what do you do? Quarantine that person indefinitely without contact?

 

I don't think we have strong evidence that there are true prolonged "carriers" in the "typhoid Mary" sense...there may be a few.

 

I think wait and see before we create hypothetical asymptomatic, continually infectious carriers who can't eliminate the disease.

 

 

15 minutes ago, aristocrat said:

New Zealand has about 5 million people with over 100k sq miles of land so pretty spread out population.  Not exactly an apples to apples comparison 

 

I'm not sure what your point is here.  Auckland, where these cases were found and where the restrictions were opposed, is the largest city in New Zealand with a population of 1,467,800 people.

 

That puts it in the Dallas-San Diego-San Antonio-Philidelphia range for city size - analogous to one of the major cities in the US albeit smaller than NYC.

 

 

 

[BillsFan4]

1 hour ago, aristocrat said:

New Zealand has about 5 million people with over 100k sq miles of land so pretty spread out population.  Not exactly an apples to apples comparison 

Yes, I realize that. My comment wasn’t really about comparing the exact number of cases. It was directed at our response to our outbreaks vs. theirs. 

Edited August 12, 2020 by BillsFan4

[Hapless Bills Fan]

15 hours ago, The Dean said:

 

Not quite sure what you are saying in the bolded text. Not enough of a concern considering the risks of Covid?

 

And while I understand injection as a deal killer, where exactly was the injection to be given for ED? Right at the, er, spot? Man that's nasty,

 

Yes, "on the spot" so to speak...found this article about it: "Aviptadil is combined with another ingredient called phentolamine for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. The two medications, when taken together, help blood flow in and out of the penis, causing it to stay firm. The formula is injected directly into the tissue on the sides of the penis causing an erection around five minutes later. Men can only get it on prescription, and once they are shown how to carry out the injection by a nurse they can do it themselves."

Correct interpretation of what I wrote vaguely, there is talk of "one safety standard".  Reality is, if you're talking about an incurable disease like cancer or a stage of disease with poor recovery prospects like covid-19 patient on a ventilator, the acceptable risk profile looks a bit different than if one is contemplating an ED treatment.

 

Per the same article, for covid-19 it's being administered directly into the lungs: "Aviptadil will be inhaled because it allows the medicine to reach deep into the lung tissue. (....)Aviptadil has already been through clinical trials for ARDS — a life-threatening lung disease and known complication of Covid-19. Relief says seven out of eight patients with severe ARDS on mechanical ventilation dramatically improved with doses of VIP. "

 

 

[The Dean]

15 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Yes, "on the spot" so to speak...found this article about it: "Aviptadil is combined with another ingredient called phentolamine for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. The two medications, when taken together, help blood flow in and out of the penis, causing it to stay firm. The formula is injected directly into the tissue on the sides of the penis causing an erection around five minutes later. Men can only get it on prescription, and once they are shown how to carry out the injection by a nurse they can do it themselves."

Correct interpretation of what I wrote vaguely, there is talk of "one safety standard".  Reality is, if you're talking about an incurable disease like cancer or a stage of disease with poor recovery prospects like covid-19 patient on a ventilator, the acceptable risk profile looks a bit different than if one is contemplating an ED treatment.

 

Per the same article, for covid-19 it's being administered directly into the lungs: "Aviptadil will be inhaled because it allows the medicine to reach deep into the lung tissue. (....)Aviptadil has already been through clinical trials for ARDS — a life-threatening lung disease and known complication of Covid-19. Relief says seven out of eight patients with severe ARDS on mechanical ventilation dramatically improved with doses of VIP. "

 

 

 

So almost as effective as hydroxychloroquine sulfate then?  

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

33 minutes ago, The Dean said:

So almost as effective as hydroxychloroquine sulfate then?  

 

Not the same, though I understand where you're coming from.  It may wind up there, after double-blind clinical trials assess its effectiveness, yes.  But because it isn't being touted by celebrities or as "100% cure", after those trials take place should it prove ineffective, it will be allowed to quietly fade away like Kalatra and Kevzara and a number of other hoped-for treatments instead of lingering on like the stench of a dead woodchuck under the porch with an unpleasant metallic aftertaste of conspiracy theories that have yet to explain how those conspiracies can extend worldwide, to countries like India that really don't care too much about US politics or US pharma company profits, or to UK, which limits drug prices and that did huge clinical trials that identified another cheap drug that did work?  Anyway.

 

A notable difference is this drug being administered to the sickest patients and shows evidence of helping them.  It is not being touted or over-promoted as "100% cure" or anything irresponsible like that.  In contrast, French physician Didier Rauolt's studies of hydroxychloroquine treated patients who were not seriously ill and notably omitted the patients who died or progressed to intensive care before touting its efficacy. "It is reported that 42 patients met the eligibility criteria, and of these 16 were in the control group, and 26 in the treated group. Of these 26, six were excluded (and incorrectly labelled as lost to follow-up): three were transferred to the ICU, one died, and two terminated treatment or were discharged. Firstly, it is noteworthy that 4/26 treated patients deteriorated and 0/16 control patients, which emphasises that the groups were different. More importantly, excluding patients who deteriorated from the analyses introduces severe selection bias, since it selectively excludes people who did not do well"

Despite the name "vasoactive intestinal peptide", it's naturally found in the lungs in high concentratio

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4367483-relief-therapeutics-discovers-promising-covidminus-19-killer

 

Reasonable perspective:

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/87990

 

So yeah, it could turn out the same in the end.  It was looked at for ARDS in an earlier study, and looked promising in a handful of patients but didn't work in double blind clinical trials.

[The Dean]

2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Not the same, though I understand where you're coming from.  It may wind up there, after double-blind clinical trials assess its effectiveness, yes.  But because it isn't being touted by celebrities or as "100% cure", after those trials take place should it prove ineffective, it will be allowed to quietly fade away like Kalatra and Kevzara and a number of other hoped-for treatments instead of lingering on like the stench of a dead woodchuck under the porch with an unpleasant metallic aftertaste of conspiracy theories that have yet to explain how those conspiracies can extend worldwide, to countries like India that really don't care too much about US politics or US pharma company profits, or to UK, which limits drug prices and that did huge clinical trials that identified another cheap drug that did work?  Anyway.

 

A notable difference is this drug being administered to the sickest patients and shows evidence of helping them.  It is not being touted or over-promoted as "100% cure" or anything irresponsible like that.  In contrast, French physician Didier Rauolt's studies of hydroxychloroquine treated patients who were not seriously ill and notably omitted the patients who died or progressed to intensive care before touting its efficacy. "It is reported that 42 patients met the eligibility criteria, and of these 16 were in the control group, and 26 in the treated group. Of these 26, six were excluded (and incorrectly labelled as lost to follow-up): three were transferred to the ICU, one died, and two terminated treatment or were discharged. Firstly, it is noteworthy that 4/26 treated patients deteriorated and 0/16 control patients, which emphasises that the groups were different. More importantly, excluding patients who deteriorated from the analyses introduces severe selection bias, since it selectively excludes people who did not do well"

Despite the name "vasoactive intestinal peptide", it's naturally found in the lungs in high concentratio

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4367483-relief-therapeutics-discovers-promising-covidminus-19-killer

 

Reasonable perspective:

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/87990

 

So yeah, it could turn out the same in the end.  It was looked at for ARDS in an earlier study, and looked promising in a handful of patients but didn't work in double blind clinical trials.

 

 

I understand this looks to be "real". I was just stirring a bit of s#it, as we still have some hydroxychloroquine  true believers 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 hours ago, The Dean said:

I understand this looks to be "real". I was just stirring a bit of s#it, as we still have some hydroxychloroquine  true believers 

 

I "get it". 

 

I think it's a fair point well made that at one point, hydroxychloroquine had a similar quantity of hopeful evidence in its favor (albeit with less critical patients) and that we won't truly know whether or not this is legit until some the placebo controlled double blind studies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BillsFan4]

https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/38-new-covid-10-cases-in-eden-traced-to-a-single-source/71-8a921631-c162-4f28-af90-0e18f532170c
38 new COVID-19 cases in Eden traced to a single source

The Erie County Health Department at this time the risk of community transmission from these cases is considered to be very low.

[Warcodered]

So this is the drop off for Covid tests the University of Wyoming is having students and staff take before classes start.(technically there is also the UPS store)

 

It fills me with confidence to their preparedness.

Edited August 14, 2020 by Warcodered

[Just Jack]

11 hours ago, Warcodered said:

So this is the drop off for Covid tests the University of Wyoming is having students and staff take before classes start.(technically there is also the UPS store)

 

It fills me with confidence to their preparedness.

 

On ABC News last night, they were at Indiana U, showing what they are doing with students there.  One step was the have the students take a rapid Covid test.  Here’s the kicker, the students did it themselves, shove the stick up their own nose.  Not sure how many of those will be accurate based on my experience getting it done. 

 

 

 

 

So I stopped at a rest area on the thruway today.  The cashier where I got lunch was wearing her mask as a chin guard.  And she gave me a top for my drink cup that was too small, when I went to get the correct size, she wanted the other one back so she could return it to the stack. ?

Edited August 14, 2020 by Just Jack

[Warcodered]

6 minutes ago, Just Jack said:

On ABC News last night, they were at Indiana U, showing what they are doing with students there.  One step was the have the students take a rapid Covid test.  Here’s the kicker, the students did it themselves, shove the stick up their own nose.  Not sure how many of those will be accurate based on my experience getting it done. 

The one at UW is similar they do it themselves while being observed on a zoom call but it's spit instead of the stick.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

...a bit confused about recent reports of Covid-19 detected in chicken wings and seafood, presumably frozen.....how could the virus exist in frozen state?......or if it was detected prior to freezing, how could the virus survive once frozen?...or did I screw this up?....

[BillsFan4]

https://covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu
COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool
 

This is a pretty cool tool. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Border between Canada and the U.S. closed another month.  How many cans of Swiss Chalet sauce and Swiss Chalet gravy do I have to ship someone to get a whole Bocce Club cheese, pepperoni, onions, and double black olives?  Oh yeah, N. Bailey Avenue only.  ?

Edited August 15, 2020 by Ridgewaycynic2013

[GottaRun]

3 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

Border between Canada and the U.S. closed another month.  How many cans of Swiss Chalet sauce and Swiss Chalet gravy do I have to ship someone to get a whole Bocce Club cheese, pepperoni, onions, and double black olives?  Oh yeah, N. Bailey Avenue only.  ?

Home opener is officially off the table for any Canadians who opted to let the Bills keep their money and have their names put in the ticket lottery..

[BillsFan4]

https://www.wsj.com/video/series/wsj-films/covid-chasers-the-nurses-fighting-coronavirus-from-hot-spot-to-hot-spot/E05FF3C1-0873-4AF9-ADA1-9F1CECE24065
 

Please take 10 minutes and watch this whole video.

 

They’re heroes in my book.

Edited August 15, 2020 by BillsFan4

[Hapless Bills Fan]

On 8/14/2020 at 11:16 AM, Warcodered said:

The one at UW is similar they do it themselves while being observed on a zoom call but it's spit instead of the stick.

 

I think UW is using a variation of the same spit test developed at Yale and U of Illinois.

 

There's also been a bunch of studies validating nares (nasal) testing instead of nasopharangeal.  Bill Gates alluded to this in a recent interview (the Gates foundation supported the research on it)

 

NPR piece about it:

https://www.npr.org/local/309/2020/05/19/859120355/stick-this-swab-up-your-nose-and-twirl-it-self-c-o-v-i-d-19-tests-are-on-the-rise

 

Here's the publication:

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2016321?query=featured_home

FWIW, Cornell is putting its hosses on this test for twice-weekly testing of its students.