Manic of a panic is geopolitical

[Dr Sardonicus]

'Express burials' cast doubt on Nicaragua's virus figures

By GABRIELA SELSER

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Roger Ordoñez was hospitalized with breathing problems last week.

When his son Enrique came to visit the next morning, the 69-year-old retiree was already being buried by government workers in protective white full-body suits in a cemetery on the outskirts of Chinandega, a city of 133,000 people in northwest Nicaragua.

The hospital warned the Ordoñez family to self-quarantine for two weeks but said their patriarch did not have the novel coronavirus, even though they were shown no test results.

President Daniel Ortega's government has stood out for its refusal to impose measures to halt the coronavirus for more than two months since the disease was first diagnosed in Nicaragua. Now, doctors and family members of apparent victims say, the government has gone from denying the disease's presence in the country to actively trying to conceal its spread.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Tesla's Musk defies lockdown order, restarts Calif. factory

FREMONT, Calif. (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk is restarting the company's California factory in defiance of local government efforts to contain the coronavirus.

In a tweet Monday, Musk practically dared authorities to arrest him, writing that he would be on the assembly line and if anyone is taken into custody, it should be him.

State law allows a fine of up to $1,000 a day or up to 90 days in jail for operating in violation of health orders.
<snip>
The restart came two days after Tesla sued the county health department seeking to overturn its order, and Musk threatened to move Tesla's manufacturing operations and headquarters from the state.

Tesla contends in the lawsuit that Alameda County can't be more restrictive than orders from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The lawsuit says the governor's coronavirus restrictions refer to federal guidelines classifying vehicle manufacturing as essential businesses that are allowed to continue operating.

[kladner]

https://readersupportednews.org/news...ing-on-workers

An anonymous hacker has released code that allowed anyone to automatically submit junk data to Ohio’s controversial COVID-19 Fraud website, which prompts employers to report workers who refuse to work during the deadly pandemic so they won’t receive unemployment benefits.

The script, which began circulating on social media earlier this week, automatically fills out a “fraud reporting” form on the state of Ohio’s unemployment insurance website. State officials created the form to encourage companies to snitch on workers who are refusing to work under unsafe conditions, drawing outrage from workers and labor rights advocates. The script’s creator says the goal is to overwhelm the site with a flood of fake submissions, making it harder to process claims and thus deny people their benefits.

“It’s easy enough to go to the page and fill it out, but that wouldn’t amount to enough data to make these particular gears of the state grind to a halt,” the anonymous hacker told Motherboard. “It needs to be so much data that their ability to investigate these ‘fraud’ cases is hampered.”

[kriesel]

The latest fashion in beach wear, will leave more tan lines
In English: https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/it...ng-bikini-mask
Italian: https://www.centropagina.it/ancona/c...inate-costume/
and going topless will not mean what it previously did

[retina]

Given that international travel has been severely reduced, and everyone is scared to get close to strangers, and various other social and hygiene changes that have happened; what is the likelihood that the common cold will be eradicated?

It's still unclear to me where the reservoir for the common cold is, but it appears to be only in humans. If that is true then I don't see why it couldn't be made a thing of the past. COVID-19 might have given us the opportunity to say goodbye to the age-old "cold".

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by retina

Given that international travel has been severely reduced, and everyone is scared to get close to strangers, and various other social and hygiene changes that have happened; what is the likelihood that the common cold will be eradicated?

ZERO

"The common cold" is a trite phrase that covers many different virii. And there are too many strains of them to overcome.

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

I pulled the current data. Plotted the Std Dev for previous years. Took the difference for this year from the average of previous years and plotted it. I left off week 17 as it has incomplete data. Week 16 data is also incomplete (thus low).

I pulled the updated numbers and there have been noticeable updates from week 2 onward. I will try to remember to post an updated graph Friday.
https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/fluview/mortality.html

[retina]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

"The common cold" is a trite phrase that covers many different virii. And there are too many strains of them to overcome.

How do you know? Their R0 is always around 1.0 with the pre-covid-19 levels or human interaction. So now I would expect those R0 numbers to drop below 1. And thus the potential for eradication.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by retina

Given that international travel has been severely reduced, and everyone is scared to get close to strangers, and various other social and hygiene changes that have happened; what is the likelihood that the common cold will be eradicated?

I would say the likelihood of eradication is nil.

I note, however, that the measures taken to limit the spread of COVID-19, also seem to have reduced the spread of the seasonal flu.

[tServo]

Originally Posted by retina

It's still unclear to me where the reservoir for the common cold is, but it appears to be only in humans. If that is true then I don't see why it couldn't be made a thing of the past. COVID-19 might have given us the opportunity to say goodbye to the age-old "cold".

Not true. I wouldn't exactly claim that chinchillas are a "reservoir" but this clearly shows the virus can be present in other animals. The exact extent is probably unknown due to lack of research on this rarely lethal virus.

https://www.whimsysmenagerie.com/blo...he-common-cold

[PhilF]

Originally Posted by retina

COVID-19 might have given us the opportunity to say goodbye to the age-old "cold".

I don't think we would want that.

What if we were invaded by Martians?