My wife read this morning that the poor and uneducated South has fewer cases of Covid19. We have 0 cases reported in our county and only 1 each in three of the counties surrounding us. So, I guess being broke and stupid has it's advantages This is not to make light of those that are suffering with this virus, it is just maddening sometimes how the South is portrayed by the news media.

 

It is a shame how the media today is so bent on presenting everything based on their elitist agenda. On the other hand some folks in the South provide plenty of ammunition for this viewpoint...I just saw a church in LA bussing the congregation to Sunday services as if there were no risk to their health or the health of those who they come in contact with. Hope that you and your family stay safe and healthy and enjoy the built-in social distancing you have in your county.

 

Might be so few cases because there aren't enough test kits to go around. That's the problem in many areas. And then the test results are taking days to get back, so a person might come into the hospital sick but will get worse while waiting for the test results.

Later!
Mr. Ed

 

Unfortunately, this virus will likely be an equal opportunity every place scourge with just differences in timing. Sure hope I'm wrong.

 

I see in the near future another thread being closed. Lol

 

Not if we remain polite and respectful of the "opinions" of others that we may disagree with.

Jim

 

There was a discussion yesterday on a local talk radio show saying that we really don't know who is and is not sick anymore. The health departments are not tracking recovering cases, just adding new cases to the total number making it sound like there's this huge infection and no one is getting better. So if you're in a community where there's only been a handful of cases over the last 2 1/2-3 months, like me, most have recovered by now and the number of active cases are considerably lower than the numbers presented by the media.

 

It's all how the numbers are used and manipulated to fit an agenda.

 

I saw a doctor named David Price who works in a prestigious hospital in NY talk on Jesse Watters show this weekend. What he said really made sense to me. The major risk to contracting the virus comes in touching something that has the virus on it and then touching your face where the virus enters your body through your mouth, eyes, or nose. The risk of breathing in the virus from the air is minimal by comparison...vapor molecules that are expelled from an infected person's breath are heavy and fall out of the air rapidly. Less than 6 feet. On the other hand, an infected person "sheds" the virus from all over their body, it's in their skin cells, bodily fluids, sweat, skin oils, etc. This virus can be present and capable of being transferred to others for many hours if not days from these surfaces. As Dr Price says, I don't fear this virus any longer because I know what I need to do to keep from being infected. Another point he made about virus in an airborne state...he said that you must be in contact with the airbone virus for 15 to 30 minutes in a confined space for it to be a risk to you. Now that I personally understand how it is transmitted I too fear it less. I spend most of my time at home now but when I do go out I know that anything I touch may have virus on it so I keep my hands clean and off my face.
I think that if we each take care of our own health/safety then the numbers will take care of themselves...these are not good times to be living in a congested city for sure.

 

Basically the normal things you should do in daily life and especially during the flu season.

 

I live on Long Island, my wife hasn’t been out of the house in 2 1/2 weeks, I take care of over 400 apartments on the southshore, other than phone calls I really haven’t seen anybody either, very scary people driving around with the masks and gloves on everything is basically shut down other than take out, watching Governor Cuomo every morning he is telling us how it is with no sugar coating,it is terrible, 6 feet away and washing your hands continuously, only people allowed out are essential workers, good luck to all

 

Heaven knows that a bunch of stubborn old farts like us are not going to change our minds, once made up, but here goes... Before responding to this post, please take a moment to count how many people in your families or circle of friends could potentially be hospitalized or die from coronavirus because they are in the high risk group. Of the top of my head I have 6 in my immediate family alone...

I’ve held off commenting on these coronavirus threads, even though I’m a biologist with 20+ years of research experience. The main reason is because they have all (predictably) degenerated into rumor swapping and political bickering among some of the most respected members of our community, and gotten shut down by the mods. This is the exact opposite of how this community operates, in spirit and practice, for the near decade I’ve been fortunate enough to be a member of this forum.

I changed my mind because I am sincerely concerned that we have a large population our members who are at a high risk level (older, preexisting heart, respiratory, or other health issues). On one hand, as an old truck forum, I believe we should stick to forum guidelines and stay mostly on topic, and completely avoid political discussions or medical advice/rumors. On the other hand, this is a community of trusted individuals with common interests that are great to get advice from. It’s in our nature to turn to our friends and communities online as well as in real life when major crises strike. But, at the end of the day, since this is an OLD TRUCK SITE, and we should really be looking elsewhere for fact-based guidelines from healthcare and medical professionals!

With that in mind, I am going to provide some external links to informational websites that are as close to primary information sources, and are as free as possible from misinformation/spin/rumor:

CDC guidelines for the coronavirus pandemic
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

CDC coronavirus tracker
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...ses-in-us.html

Global coronavirus tracker that shows current cases, total cases, recovered cases, and deaths
This is run by the University of Washington and updated very frequently
https://hgis.uw.edu/virus/

Why flattening the curve is important
https://healthblog.uofmhealth.org/we...w-can-you-help

Projecting the FUTURE impact of coronavirus
This is an ESTIMATE of hospital use vs projected deaths per day, and can be viewed by state. This is an active model of what may happen, and changes based on actual data as it comes in. Also from the University of Washington.
COVID-19

Each state should also have a public health department, and you should be able to find them by googling “statename” public heath coronavirus. I did this for the OP’s state (Arkansas) and this is what I got:

Arkansas state guidelines for coronavirus

https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/pro...el-coronavirus

These are going to vary state by state; some may be more strict than Federal/CDC guidelines, others may be less strict. For comparison here are the guidelines for my home state of Michigan:

Michigan state guidelines for the coronavirus outbreak
https://www.michigan.gov/Coronavirus

If you want to get the “official word” on rumors (like the effectiveness of chloroquine), try googling “CDC” chloroquine. This is what I got:

CDC guidelines on theraputics
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...c-options.html

You can also google “statename” chloroquine. For example, googling “Arkansas chloroquine” gave these results:

Arkansas chloroquine guidelines
https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/ima...etterhead).pdf

https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/ima...lic3.28.20.pdf

And finally, if you need a straight answer for any of this, and can’t find it elsewhere, remember that you can ASK YOUR DOCTOR!

That’s it for the straight informational component of my comment. I do have three opinions that I want to share as well:

1. Cable news and their websites (CNN, Foxnews, MSNBC, etc.), opinion and entertainment based radio/late nite shows (daily show, Limbaugh show, Colbert, Hannity, Maddow), and social or alternative media (youtube, facebook, etc.) can provide some useful information, but at the end of the day they are all gunning for ratings and advertising dollars and should be viewed as such, and not as reliable sources of medical advice. Period.

2. While the university of “my buddy heard” is a might be a great way to swap advice on other aspects of life, it is no substitute for actual, qualified medical advice.

3. America is a great country, and has faced crises before, only to come out stronger. We will get through this as well!!!

Stay safe out there,

badger_hound

 

I live in Oklahoma, home of the Tiger King! I have no defense in battling this viewpoint.