Cargo Van Will we be able to work through Coronavirus?

Turtle

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Even the hint of things going back to normal at this time is going to cause further sickness and death because people aren't taking this seriously.
There's a lot to unpack there. For one, no one is hinting, or even taking about, things going back to normal at this time. We won't have nearly enough data for at least another week on attack rates, treatment efficacy, what areas and who in those areas can being to return to work, etc. Things returning to normal won't be a light switch, it'll be a dimmer switch where things are slowly turned up.

There will be further sickness and death regardless, we know that. But turning things up slowly will make it manageable, hospitals won't be overwhelmed, the numbers will be reduced and the infection curve will be flattened.

Lastly, while some patrons inside the truck stops not having any concept of "6 feet" piss me off, and a lot of college kids are just butt stoopid, people are taking this seriously. If you don't think people are taking this seriously, perhaps you should revisit TV.

Incidentally, some of the higher risk factors of not surving COVID-19 include; being over 60, being overweight, heart disease, diabetes, and lung issues like COPD. Well lookie there, I'm 5 for 5 with a double and 3 RBIs. But I do have plenty of hand sanitizer, and I've got a stash of N95 masks, which I wear whenever I'm around more than 4 or 5 people or if I'm likely to be within 6 feet of someone.
 
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Turtle

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I've been following along. I've heard governors thank Trump for basically doing his job. After all, his ego needs to be continuously stroked.
Yeah, that's why Democrat governors have praised Trump... they're concerned about his ego. :rolleyes:
 

piper1

Veteran Expediter
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It saddens me that even in such unprecedented times that the politics can't seem to be turned off. Does anyone seriously think Trump, or thier governor is actually making the decisions? They are surrounded by 'the system' of experts for a reason. Thinking about the economic fallout isn't irresponsible. Are we just supposed to go from mass panic about the virus to mass panic about the economy in a couple months? I hope they are planning for the economic fallout.....I think they have a far better chance of doing that with better results.
 

muttly

Veteran Expediter
I think eventually this will be about managing this germ problem while the country gets back to work and daily functions. The practice of social distancing and washing your hands more, etc. will have to be the new normal while the germ is still in our midst and until we get a vaccine.
 

muttly

Veteran Expediter
I have some questions about this virus. Anyone can obviously chime in. How long do you think this virus has been in the U.S.? Was it amongst us quite earlier than reported?My opinion is much earlier. I'm surprised by the number of reported cases already and the ease of spread. Does anyone have an opinion on how this is being spread? Such as surfaces like package deliveries, money etc.? Just curious of other opinions. Thanks.
 

Turtle

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I think it's been in the US since early December, maybe a week or two earlier than that. That's when it was discovered in China, and we have so many people traveling here from China. It was January when the first two cases were confirmed.

How it's being spread really isn't a matter of opinion. It's a respiratory virus, an RNA coronavirus, and the primary manner of transmission is inhaling it. You can also get it through the eyeballs, but it's not as easily contracted that way. If your hands are loaded up with the virus, and you lick your fingers, pick your nose, or rub your eyes, you've got it. If you touch your face, the virus will shed and (almost certainly) get inhaled, and you've got it.

The virus isn't really alive, 'cause it's just strands of RNA, but it can remain viable (people mistakenly say alive, but that's OK) for several hours on various surfaces. No known cases where someone got it from a surface who didn't also have close contact with someone else who has it, but after touching packages, mail, money, door knobs, fuel pump buttons, subway poles, it's best to wash your hands, or at the very least use some hand sanitizer.

If you get a small dose, like from a surface, it will start replicating almost immediately, but your body (most people) will handle it just fine. But it you get a small dose, then another small dose, and another and so on, or a large dose or two, your body might not be able to keep up with all the replicating going on.

The 6 feet social distancing figure you hear about, they didn't just pull that number out of their butts. When someone exhales the coronavirus, it's aerosolized and carried on tiny water droplets into the air. At 6 feet, by that point gravity will pull the droplets down. 10 feet is better, the farther away the better, but 6 feet is the magic minimum distance. Outdoors it can certainly be spread further, but it will also be greatly diluted at just a couple of feet. So 6 feet is still good for outside. Then again, if you're downwind from someone you know who has it, might want to swap places with them and get upwind. If someone coughs at you or sneezes at you, just slap 'em, cause if they have it, so do you now.

It looks like the transmission rate is where one person will infect, on average, 2.5 people. To make the math easier, let's call it 3. One person infects 3, then they infect 3 each (9), so now we're at 13 total. Those 9 infect 3 each (27) and now we're at 31 infected. Those 27 infect 3 each (81) and now it's 85 infected. You can see how it can explode in days or even hours, especially in crowds.
 
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piper1

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You guys give him too much credit that he actually comes up with all this stuff on his own. Except for a very few, most governments downplayed and under estimated this. I'll see if I can find it again but, a mathematician (MIT maybe) charted every country with over 100 cases and it was quite surprising how close the curves all were. Japan and Singapore were the only ones with flat curves.

If the world knew the real story at the beginning, and leaders weren't so worried about travel bans being 'not PC' maybe we could have slowed it more.

But hey, if ya hate Trump or Trudeau or Pelosi or McConnell or anyone else and pointing a finger and yelling makes ya feel better then yell away! The mental health damage all this does may outweigh the damage the virus actually causes.

Price of gas sure is falling.
 

muttly

Veteran Expediter
I've come to the conclusion as well that this virus has been in the U.S. earlier than thought. My area where I live has reported a lot of cases already along with the death count. I wonder, since I believe it was here in Michigan earlier, how many cases and deaths would have been attributed to the regular flu? Were medical personnel able to tell 3 or 4 months ago that this wasn't a common flu in their patients?
 
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Grizzly

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You guys give him too much credit that he actually comes up with all this stuff on his own. Except for a very few, most governments downplayed and under estimated this. I'll see if I can find it again but, a mathematician (MIT maybe) charted every country with over 100 cases and it was quite surprising how close the curves all were. Japan and Singapore were the only ones with flat curves.

If the world knew the real story at the beginning, and leaders weren't so worried about travel bans being 'not PC' maybe we could have slowed it more.

But hey, if ya hate Trump or Trudeau or Pelosi or McConnell or anyone else and pointing a finger and yelling makes ya feel better then yell away! The mental health damage all this does may outweigh the damage the virus actually causes.

Price of gas sure is falling.

Give him too much credit? Nah, I don't give Trump any credit at all.

Why where the curves for Japan and Singapore flatter than most? Was it by accident?
They learned from previous experience in dealing with SARS.
Coronavirus Lessons From Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong

Now let's look at the response by the US. (btw, the US currently has the highest # of cases of coronavirus in the world.)
Watch that video again. How many times does Trump say "We have the virus under control."? Any normal, rational person in his position would say something like .."We're monitoring the situation." "We're keeping an eye on it." Trump is a bold faced liar. He is the biggest bullsh*t artist the world has ever seen. He says some stuff that appears completely unhinged, uninformed to say the least ... "People are getting better." "The risk to the American people remains very low." "We're totally prepared." At what point did he start to actually consult medical experts rather than FOX news personalities? The first press conference where he looked like he was finally starting to understand the ramifications of what is going on was March 13th ...... MARCH 13th! Japan and Singapore had it from the get-go. The self glorified genius is anything but ....

Shouldn't we expect more from the President of the US?
 
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Grizzly

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Grizzly

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This video is a bit long ....
Bill Gates has a very different view of the coronavirus situation compared to the President.


 
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RoadTime

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I've come to the conclusion as well that this virus has been in the U.S. earlier than thought. My area where I live has reported a lot of cases already along with the death count. I wonder, since I believe it was here in Michigan earlier, how many cases and deaths would have been attributed to the regular flu? Were medical personnel able to tell 3 or 4 months ago that this wasn't a common flu in their patients?

I was thinking the same think. Or just from the common cold.
I highly doubt medical personnel gave it much other thought early on.
It's probably been around a lot longer then thought, until they figured out what's going on.
 
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