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50% – 75% of cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic

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Re: 50% – 75% of cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic

#241
post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why didn’t the hospital system collapse because of the flu?

It is because of the consequences of covid-19 on the lungs of some people, which needs intensive care and specialized equipment to cure them, that is rare (ventilators etc.).

People are conditioned by experience to not present to hospital with mild respiratory symptoms. As they get older it gets more common and you still apply the same rules. Often too late by then to do anything other than ventilate.

Re: 50% – 75% of cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic

#242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s already proven not to be a dud — healthcare systems stretched to beyond 200% capacity is solid evidence of something no one has seen in recent memory. When youngish healthcare workers are dying, something is going on.

Where did you get that number from? A report from Lombardy yesterday says so far everyone with any reasonable chance of recovery has been treated: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-... As far as I can tell so far, no hospital systems have collapsed due to this, even in the most extreme hot zones. The fear is that they will, and that sounds totally reasonable. But we also are basing that fear…

This has been so widely reported, not sure where to start. Operating rooms at many Italian hospitals have been closed and turned into ICUs to handle the demand, which means that surgeries in many places are no longer possible.

You can read about this in any of hundreds of media outlets. Here's one:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8095835/Overwhelmed...

Re: 50% – 75% of cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic

#244

"Everyone we found to have Covid-19 had serious symptoms, so we don't want to waste money testing you if you don't!" I feel this is a trillion dollar mistake, testing more aggressively like South Korea means that you don't have to deploy the army and quarantine people. I had mild symptoms and they refused to test me, what am I to do? Self quarantine without a notice and hence without pay? I could work from home, but…

System is overwhelmed, can't really blame anyone since maintaining such, ready to spring, system would cost a lot of money. In an ideal world a drone would come and take your temp and then drop food supplies etc etc. But I'm wondering...if we all are going to get infected (40-80%) wouldn't it better to choose the time? Early on you get all the benefits, 3 weeks later you are lucky to have someone measure your temp. O…

Been thinking this since January. Did not have the guts to do it.

Re: 50% – 75% of cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic

#245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where did you get that number from? A report from Lombardy yesterday says so far everyone with any reasonable chance of recovery has been treated: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-... As far as I can tell so far, no hospital systems have collapsed due to this, even in the most extreme hot zones. The fear is that they will, and that sounds totally reasonable. But we also are basing that fear…

This has been so widely reported, not sure where to start. Operating rooms at many Italian hospitals have been closed and turned into ICUs to handle the demand, which means that surgeries in many places are no longer possible. You can read about this in any of hundreds of media outlets. Here's one: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8095835/Overwhelmed...

You don't seem to be contradicting me. I'm not saying everything is normal or other operations weren't cancelled. I'm saying that at this time, Italy is saying they have not run out of capacity to treat CV patients. And they definitely aren't 200% over capacity (for CV) as claimed.

Re: 50% – 75% of cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic

#246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CFR, whatever it is, isn’t the most significant detail. What is “terrifying” is its high contagiousness combined with its high hospitalisation and ICU rates.

But, like CFR, we don’t know how high the rates are if we have no idea how many people have or had it. Here’s a few first hand accounts of what the illness was like. These folks aren’t even that young and they describe it as being quite mild: https://www.nbcnews.com/video/coronavirus-patient-from-diamo... https://www.adn.com/opinions/national-opinions/2020/03/01/i-... https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/don-t-panic-say…

> These folks aren’t even that young and they describe it as being quite mild...

Take that with a grain of salt. The people for whom it's not mild aren't going to be giving interviews.

Re: 50% – 75% of cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic

#247

I wonder if this will be like H1N1. At first we only identified extreme cases and we had these terrifying reported fatality rates. Then we identify more and more mild or asymptomatic cases and the rates drop and drop. We’ve already seen how CFR was reported as 3 or 4%. Then on the cruise ship full of people over 60 it’s 0.7%. If there are lots of mild or asymptomatic cases it will likely be much lower. H1N1 was ident…

Or it could be like the 1918 Spanish flu - a bad first wave that was most dangerous to the elderly, and a second wave that mutated and killed mostly young adults.

Re: 50% – 75% of cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic

#248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But, like CFR, we don’t know how high the rates are if we have no idea how many people have or had it. Here’s a few first hand accounts of what the illness was like. These folks aren’t even that young and they describe it as being quite mild: https://www.nbcnews.com/video/coronavirus-patient-from-diamo... https://www.adn.com/opinions/national-opinions/2020/03/01/i-... https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/don-t-panic-say…

Anecdotes are not sufficient data

We don’t have sufficient data because we are, in our infinite wisdom, not testing every person with a pulse. Or at least testing from as random of a population subset as we can manage. At least in the US. Other countries mileage may vary.

But even then it is my understanding that there currently is no way to test if you already had it.

Re: 50% – 75% of cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic

#249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yesterday the news was that anybody over 80 is not treated. They simply don't have the capacity for it, and survival chances are better for people under 80.

Are you sure? https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-... Lombardy intensive care coordinator Grasselli said he believed that, so far, all patients with a reasonable chance of recovering and living an acceptable quality of life had been treated. I wonder if we're getting mixed messages here; that is, it's inevitable doctors give up on some cases and unplug them from the ICU but that is always a ri…

Doctors "Give Up" on people all the time. If you have advanced pancreatic cancer, are 85 and a heavy smoker, most doctors are going to suggest you go home and spend your last few days with loved ones.

Re: 50% – 75% of cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic

#250
post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why didn’t the hospital system collapse because of the flu?

It is because of the consequences of covid-19 on the lungs of some people, which needs intensive care and specialized equipment to cure them, that is rare (ventilators etc.).

People forget that ventilator means not only the machine itself, but you also need couple of doctors - anesthesiologist in the least and nurses that have to keep watch. Person on the ventilator needs to be partly paralyzed to not interfere with the machine. I do not know how many staff on average is needed per patient but it is a significant number.

Also the length of time that people stay on it, with covid-19 it seems to be 2-3 week so bed and staff turnover is slow, which meant you need many more people that are available.

ICU "bed" is a virtual term, it not only means the physical availability of ventilator, but also staff.

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