5086

Oh, FFS.

You guys know where all the Covid-19 in Scandinavia came from right? 95%+ of the first 1000 or so cases were people who had been on Ski vacation in Tyrol and Italy. February and March is the winter vacation period here in Scandinavia, and lots of people travel south to go skiing - and to go to after-ski parties. In fact, a large number of cases in Norway (and probably many of those in other Scandinavian countries) can be tracked down to a single bar in Austria.

  • February 29, the first Corona-positive cases arrive in Iceland from Ischgl in Tyrol. At least 14 of them test positive for Covid-19 during the following week. Iceland immediately warns against all travel to Austria.
  • A similar ban does not occur in Norway. Only five days later - March 5 - the authorities begin registering cases that originate in Austria. During the next five days, another 34 cases are registered originating in Austria.
  • On March 7, one of the bartenders at the Kitzloch bar in Ischgl tests positive for Covid-19.
  • March 8, the Icelandic authorities contact Austria. Every one of the Covid-19 positive tourists on that plane had been on the afterski bar Kitzloch. The bar is closed the same day.
  • It is not known how the bartender got infected, but it’s a very popular bar among Scandinavians on ski vacation. Literally thousands of people from Scandinavia have passed through the bare during these 8 days.

Today, 531 of the ~1500 registered Covid-19 cases can be traced directly to Austria (at one time, that was 50% of all cases). A large number of the people involved visited Kitzloch. Nobody knows how many (and it’s not important either - there are many popular bars in the same town), but there is little doubt that Kitzloch - and that unfortunate bartender - is one of the epicentres for the spread of Covid-19 to Scandinavia.

Bars, of course, involve people standing close to one another. It’s warm, and humidity is high - perfect conditions for transmission. On top of that, excessive alcohol consumption suppresses white blood cells, weakening the immune system. What happened in Tyrol was - quite literally - the perfect breeding ground for spreading Covid-19.

It’s hard to imagine that people are so stupid as to repeat that experiment or that authorities allow this to happen. They should have clamped down hard and immediately. Some of these people will literally kill their grandparents, when they inevitably drag back Covid-19 to their local communities.

5087

Or they sourced tests for they employees like the NBA.

5088
5089

Do you have some source for this? Because this doesn’t match what I’ve seen at all.

5090

If I were McConnell and/or Pelosi, I’d make members wear full hazmat suits and respirators on the floor. The House and Senate are going to be hotzones, if they aren’t already.

5091

They should have a system in place to do remote work, or ship them off to the location where they are supposed to work in the event of a nuclear war.

5092
5093

I’ve had what I presume is a cold for four days now. I cough about once every 3 hours, and sometimes a few coughs at a time. No fever at all… sneezing which according to the list means it’s likely neither flu nor corona. I’ve only left the house though once in like 4 days to get groceries delivered to my car.

5094

Yeah, probably just a matter of time before the next one announces a positive test. It’s crazy how fast things are happening.

5095

Wait that is humour? I thought it was educational! To the market! Salt, cereal and soap!

5096

Same.

The most serious cases have had a period of up to 20-22 days after symptoms present. For most cases not requiring hospitalization, it’s closer to 10-11 days. Mild cases in those under 60 or so have been as short as a few days to 5 days.

Most persons with the illness shed the virus within a few days of loss of symptoms, though a longer quarantine time is usually recommended. 1 individual in an initial Chinese study did not shed the virus for 37 days after no more symptoms.

5097

Which part? The duration or how long you’re contagious? The duration is kind of all over the map depending on how severe the case is, with a lot of articles saying around 14ish days. I’m not sure where I heard 20 but that may be in error so I apologize.

As far as how long you are contagious, the worst case scenario I’ve seen is someone shedding virus for 37 days but most guidelines are that you are safe after 14.

5098

For reference: China and South Korea kept individuals presenting with symptoms and a positive test in quarantine for 14 days total before releasing them – as a general rule, if no further complications developed and symptoms went away.

5099

Utah’s Ben McAdams announces that he’s tested positive as well.

Congress needs to enact regulations to allow remote voting, pronto.

5100

As if I couldn’t hate the coronavirus more. It hits the one non-Republican we have in the entire state delegation?!

5101

California just closed all campgrounds in state parks, including backcountry ones. (I had reservations for backpacking in a couple of weeks and got a call from the ranger station.) The PCTA has asked thru hikers to consider their impact on small trail communities and reconsider their hikes.

5102

Since this is in the P&R forum, what this crisis really drives home for me is that the chinese communist party are the third worst government in the history of the modern world and of course the worst government that exists today.

As if the totalitarianism, social control, and concentration camps weren’t enough. They have known for years the potential for zoonosis due to the country’s wildlife trade and have done very little about it. Then, as soon as the virus starts spreading their initial instinct is to cover it up, allowing the virus to spread through and then go over to Italy, Iran, and other countries. Once it’s spread overseas, they exploit the fact their country doesn’t have much freedom to begin with to control the population and therefore the virus.

Italy will far exceed them in deaths and it will probably be the case that a number of other western countries will too because western governments have the added complication of governing an actually free society. Then there’s the deep global recession that has already begun which will wreck havoc on poor populations in developing countries, and importantly the kids who are already dying in the tens of thousands from preventable diseases every day.

While ‘China Virus’ is a terrible phrase, I wouldn’t mind hearing ‘CCP virus’.

5103

With regards to the studies on how much this stuff survives on a variety of surfaces, there are two things to be kept in mind though. Firstly, lab conditions don’t necessarily apply to conditions you’ll find outside. Probably would need to be a sizeable amount of fluid, too. Secondly, while there still might be pathogens 48 hours later, their number is signifiantly lower. In theory, you could get infected; in reality, it’s a lot less likely compared to touching fresh droplets according to some virologists’ take I’ve read.

5104

A lab in the US announced a serological test today. This is good news.

5105

I wonder how much recovered patients will get offered for their plasma? I’m sure plenty will volunteer to donate, but there’s going to be desperate people offering money for it.