171–180 of 215 posts
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I keep seeing similar arguments. Does that mean China's response is based on FUD? If it is really just a flu, then why the drastic measures?
Because the flu is really bad. But it’s not unusual.
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Either way you should call first — speak to a doctor on the phone and get their recommendations.
stupid, mostly-unrelated question: how does 'call a doctor' usually work? do most people have a doctor that they can just call? If I had a need to call a doctor (fortunately I don't at the moment), but don't know any doctors, what should I do?
Also, many areas have urgent care centers for things that are serious but maybe not emergency room serious.
Unfortunately, cost is a variable in the US and I can’t give any good guidance on that. (Not a doctor, standard disclaimer.)
China: underreports diagnosed cases. U.S.: underdiagnozes cases. Not sure which is worse.
At least in China, somebody knew the ground truth. As much as I criticised China's initial response, their eventual containment has proved highly effective. The US (and numerous other countries) are point-by-point repeating China's initial failures. This will delay control by days. Growth is presently doubling every 3 or so days, increasing by an order of magnitude every week. Delays will increase consequences direct…
I wouldn't go that far, judging from reports of death certificates with "Unknown viral pneumonia". But I agree that China seemed a little more on top of it... once the world got wind of it.
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The guidelines for testing were so absurdly stringent because there was almost no testing capacity in the US, despite their being hundreds of labs with RTPCR equipment, because the CDC screwed up their test kits and the FDA used emergency powers to prohibit labs from developing their own tests, and forbids the creation of commercial test kits and the importation of foreign ones. Three weeks after CDC (after an alread…
Details from sciencemag.org (A magazine from the American academy for the advancement of science): https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/united-states-badly-...
Wow this is frankly insane. Pretty much every biology laboratory in the USA should have the tools available to perform these tests. More than that, RT-PCR is a routine assay that any self-respecting wetlab biologist can do. If they are struggling to produce these kits they should be letting people order their own primers. Even if less reliable, at least then they would be able to test patients properly.
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At least in China, somebody knew the ground truth. As much as I criticised China's initial response, their eventual containment has proved highly effective. The US (and numerous other countries) are point-by-point repeating China's initial failures. This will delay control by days. Growth is presently doubling every 3 or so days, increasing by an order of magnitude every week. Delays will increase consequences direct…
What was your critique of China's measures? To me the extreme measures were just an indication that they understood better than they let the rest of the world know what they are dealing with. I mean, they locked down entire cities at who knows what costs, and they were _disinfecting the streets_. Or maybe they did let everyone know via official channels. Frankly, I was surprised that WHO didn't treat this as an emerg…
In terms of the actual epidemiological response, most especially since ~22 January, limiting travel, events, large congregations of people, and shutting down workplaces and schools, has been absolutely appropriate. Those measures have received some criticism, including by Chinese citizens. I don't feel those criticisms are at all warranted.
The information environment is difficult to navigate. I'd argue that China's erred on the side of too much control, as it tends to do, but in general, after 22 January, the process as a whole has worked, judging by results. The challenges are certainly staggering, particularly at China's scale. The avoiding of mass panic and protest is commendable.
The fact that other governments -- Japan, Korea, Iran, and the United States, notably, and all but certainly North Korea, are repeating many of the same mistakes (or multiplying them several-fold, in the case of Iran and PRK) -- shows that this is highly typical.
I'm also quite disappointed by the international response, and that of the United States quite specifically.
One of the first references I posted to HN following news of the Wuhan outbreak was Albert Camus' 1948 novel, The Plague. The story it tells, of society, government, and individuals, in the face of pestilence, is timeless. And contains valuable lessons:
https://antilogicalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/the-pl... (PDF)
HN submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22150237
I have a brutal cold right now with a ton of congestion and a fever. I am trying decide on if I should go to the hospital here in California - has anyone read anything that helps you make that decision? I am a Caltrain rider daily and I feel like it is not fair to subject other folks to this if it is a COVID-19 - but I don't also want to overload the health system unnecessary if there are folks with Acute symptoms.
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Details from sciencemag.org (A magazine from the American academy for the advancement of science): https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/united-states-badly-...
>Well-equipped state or local labs can use these—or come up with their own—to produce what are known as a “laboratory-developed tests” for in-house use. But at the moment, they’re not allowed to do that without FDA approval. Wow this is frankly insane. Pretty much every biology laboratory in the USA should have the tools available to perform these tests. More than that, RT-PCR is a routine assay that any self-respect…
Edit: I suppose you do need a "self respecting wetlab biologist" to synthesize the primers, but running the test itself is pretty simple.
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At least in China, somebody knew the ground truth. As much as I criticised China's initial response, their eventual containment has proved highly effective. The US (and numerous other countries) are point-by-point repeating China's initial failures. This will delay control by days. Growth is presently doubling every 3 or so days, increasing by an order of magnitude every week. Delays will increase consequences direct…
> At least in China, somebody knew the ground truth. I wouldn't go that far, judging from reports of death certificates with "Unknown viral pneumonia". But I agree that China seemed a little more on top of it... once the world got wind of it.
Test-kit availability has been constrained throughout the epidemic, and yes, that means that full confirmation has been only partial and lags outbreaks. But information I've seen is that once China was aware of what it was dealing with, it was testing as broadly as it could.
South Korea seem to be taking this even further, with many thousands of tests within a few days in outbreak areas. The US CDC have refused doctors' requests to test suspected patients and control the availability and use of test kits. That's simply fucking insane and stupid. (Again: the UC Davis Medical Center instance: https://health.ucdavis.edu/health-news/contenthub/novel-coro...)
Amateur hour is over.
One of the key findings coming out of China is that CT scans can outperform reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) lab tests in diagnosing the Coronavirus[1]. [1] https://www.itnonline.com/content/ct-provides-best-diagnosis... If the CDC's current tests are flawed or too few, then the CDC should provide guidelines to health providers to quickly diagnose potential patients using CT scans.
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I haven't made up my mind because most media outlets have conflicting information. That was why I posted the comment. I mean, it doesn't help when you hear stories like the one posted on Reddit too. Of course it makes you think things like "why wouldn't they test him? Is it because they want to keep the registered cases down or is it because there's not enough tests to go around or maybe it's because the tests aren't…
> I thought the media's responsibility was to take information from experts and present that information without bias to people who are not experts in the matter. The media's job is to take attention from people who are not experts in the matter and present it to advertisers.