Formerly DT: COVID-19 - Featuring Lots of Politics, now CR because political talk not going away

[SHOOTER12 8788]

22 minutes ago, BurntEyes said:

Yeah, I know several non-gamblers that enjoy going with me for food, people watching and general debauchery. Helicopter flight over the strip at night, Golf, shooting fully automatic military guns, shows, hookers, spa stuff, off roading tours outside the city, boxing matches, MMA, the aquarium, roller coaster type rides etc. There is a ton of shit to do that isn't gambling.

Vegas talk not going away. In my defense, I am mad craving a trip planned prior to all this shit scheduled in late June. Damn... I need some Vegas release.

Until you can go......dial up Casino on the DVR, pour yourself a good drink....AND CHOKE DAT CHICKEN BRO!!!

[EuroHorn 3204]

17 minutes ago, KYHorn said:

If y'all like people watching so much, how about I setup a couple of live feeds of the strip, and y'all can Venmo me whatever you'd normally spend on flights and hotels?

[Coelenterate Fuccboi 13010]

31 minutes ago, KYHorn said:

If y'all like people watching so much, how about I setup a couple of live feeds of the strip, and y'all can Venmo me whatever you'd normally spend on flights and hotels?

Will they be removing their clothes for donations?

[NoName 16290]

 

[workswithseed 2035]

5 hours ago, RPM said:

2 cases reported in my zip code and I live in BFE. We have 1100 people in this zip.

It's Decatur, so obviously got it from asshole stopping to get gas on 380.

[XYZ 2154]

If y’all would STFU about Vegas, that would be great. kthxbai

[Loco 3752]

42 minutes ago, KYHorn said:

If y'all like people watching so much, how about I setup a couple of live feeds of the strip, and y'all can Venmo me whatever you'd normally spend on flights and hotels?

Worst cam girl ever!

[Dahobbs 17437]

31 minutes ago, EuroHorn said:

I laughed. 

[NoName 16290]

 

Article text behind it:

Spoiler

 

To produce this dashboard, STAT partnered with Applied XL and the Center on Rural Innovation to come up with a way to assess every U.S. county’s level of preparedness for the Covid-19 pandemic.

The map takes into account a number of different factors, including residents’ access to care, their risk for severe Covid-19 infections, and a county’s overall vulnerability. It also incorporates data from a Covid-19 model that forecasts the impact of the pandemic at the state level to the county level. The overall county preparedness score is an unweighted average from five pillars.

Support STAT: If you value our coronavirus coverage, please consider making a one-time contribution to support our journalism.
The aim was to help others anticipate which specific areas of the country were most susceptible to the dangers of the pandemic, said Matt Dunne, the executive director of the Center on Rural Innovation. And the data highlight the looming challenges for rural communities, which often have particular vulnerabilities.

“A lot of the early analysis was both reactive and urban in nature, because that’s where the pandemic spread earliest,” Dunne said. But with case counts rising in rural areas, he said, these places could start feeling the full effect of the pandemic soon.

The model is based on five variables:

1. The number of licensed hospital beds within a 40-minute drive. This was used to estimate the physical capacity of a community, as a way to assess how ready hospitals are to handle a surge of cases. The pandemic comes after years of dozens of rural hospital closings.
2. The number of critical care staff within a 40-minute drive — a measure of the human resources. In addition to lacking the health infrastructure of cities, rural areas have fewer specialists, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other health care workers who would be needed to handle local outbreaks.
3. The percentage of the population age 65 and older. Older people who contract the coronavirus are more likely to need medical care and to die from the infection than others.
4. The county’s score on the Social Vulnerability Index, a ranking from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that measures resiliency to natural disasters and disease outbreaks. The score takes into account such factors as poverty, access to transportation, and housing.
5. Data from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Covid-19 model. The developers of the STAT tool used the model’s estimate of the ICU bed shortage to assess the severity of the pandemic in each county at a given time and to forecast how bad it could get.

Because the IHME’s model changes, the map that lives on this page will be updated as well.

“The impact of health conditions is often out of proportion in rural areas,” said Robert Greene, a population health expert and former executive at UnitedHealthcare and New Hampshire’s Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, who consulted on the project. “Rural areas already have issues with access, being older, more chronic diseases. That makes them a vulnerable population.”

The methodology underlying the map does not take into account other important factors, such as rates of insurance coverage or the migration of people from cities to rural areas, a movement that centered on places where there are lots of vacation homes. It also does not directly factor in choices of local and state governments or how well-funded local agencies are.

The IHME model that the map relies on is just one of several forecasts for the pandemic. It is influential, reportedly guiding aspects of White House decision-making, but it also offers rosier views than some other models.

— Andrew Joseph

 

 

[Cheeseweasel 26437]

8 minutes ago, XYZ said:

If y’all would STFU about Vegas, that would be great. kthxbai

Post your go to places in Reno.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

3 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

Post your go to places in Reno.

The airport, to GTFO ASAP !!!

[NoName 16290]

As a reminder, there is a Vegas thread here:

 

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by NoName

[KYHorn 16857]

Saw a few interesting graphs from @lymanstoneky on twitter.

First, estimates of the % of Americans who have gotten COVID-19 based on the number of deaths:

Spoiler

and tracking the daily growth rate for these estimates:

Spoiler

Finally, the weekly mortality rates in NY this year compared to past 7 years:

Spoiler

 

[Snake Diggity 4614]

21 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

"Hits again?"  We have real-world data on what it does when allowed to spread unchecked.  The death toll in NYC tells us that.  NYC is seeing something like 3X the average daily number of deaths -- logic tells us that spike is COVID-related (as there's no other outlier cause we're aware of).  

If we do not reduce transmission, we have a spike in deaths.  The data doesn't tell us exactly what the RATE is, but it tells us unambiguously that we'll have a spike -- more people will die than otherwise would have.  A lot more.

And again, hospitalization rate and hospitalization stay.  This is a bad fucking disease, and without appropriate measures, it can and will kill a lot of people.

We have taken steps to keep that number low.  Those steps are killing us economically.  You can reduce deaths.  Or you can have a functioning economy.  We can't have both.

We have a functioning economy, it’s just functioning at 70% of what it was 3 months ago.

The question is whether locking down to prevent the spread until a vaccine or treatment is available is worth the financial cost, and the answer is a resounding YES, simply because the alternative (opening up) would result in the same economic impact, it would just be much worse (because people will quarantine themselves once the hospitals are overrun.

[LebongJames 1782]

6 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

We have a functioning economy, it’s just functioning at 70% of what it was 3 months ago.

The question is whether locking down to prevent the spread until a vaccine or treatment is available is worth the financial cost, and the answer is a resounding YES, simply because the alternative (opening up) would result in the same economic impact, it would just be much worse (because people will quarantine themselves once the hospitals are overrun.

Not a chance are we locking down until 2021, and that is how long it will take to get a vaccine. 

[XYZ 2154]

13 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

The question is whether locking down to prevent the spread until a vaccine or treatment is available is worth the financial cost, and the answer is a resounding YES, simply because the alternative (opening up) would result in the same economic impact, it would just be much worse (because people will quarantine themselves once the hospitals are overrun.

Yeah...I’m gonna have to go ahead and sort of...disagree with you there.

[Snake Diggity 4614]

9 minutes ago, LebongJames said:

Not a chance are we locking down until 2021, and that is how long it will take to get a vaccine. 

I believe a treatment is going to be available this fall, with a vaccine available next spring.  But even if it isn’t, we haven’t been locked down everywhere and we don’t need to be.  Lockdown can be limited to areas with increasing hospitalization rates.

[Surly Bevo 24695]

So let's try something today in this thread guys...

One set of posters will take the side that this is the most uber serious threat ever, mankind itself is about to be exterminated by the Covid19, we have no hope, we are never going to unfuck ourselves and there are going to be bodies in the trees. 

The other set of posters will take the side that this is all a fucking media propagated snow job.  Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, look that Covid19 straight in the eyes and fuck it in its face.  The economy is collapsing and if we don't unfuck ourselves now there are going to be more bodies in the trees than that other side full of all the scared pussies think there will be.

IT'S GOING TO BE FANTASTIC

Edited April 16, 2020 by Surly Bevo

[po elvis 2070]

3 minutes ago, XYZ said:

Yeah...I’m gonna have to go ahead and sort of...disagree with you there.

huh? if it was business as usual around the world and in this country since the start of this, the deaths would be of immense magnitude and people would be too scared to go anywhere and the economy would be as bad as shutting it down. it would shut itself down, only with a ridiculous number of deaths. there is no good solution in all of this. but there is definitely one that is far worse than the other.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

2 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

So let's try something today in this thread guys...

One set of posters will take the side that this is the most uber serious threat ever, mankind itself is about to be exterminated by the Covid19, we have no hope, we are never going to unfuck ourselves and there are going to be bodies in the trees. 

The other set of posters will take the side that this is all a fucking media propagated snow job.  Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, look that Covid19 straight in the eyes and fuck it in its face.  The economy is collapsing and if we don't unfuck ourselves now there are going to be more bodies in the trees than that other side full of all the scared pussies think there will be.

IT'S GOING TO BE FANTASTIC

OK, but only if Brisket is captain of team "We're all fucking doomed".

[SydneyCarton 47846]

Once they say open it up, who here is going immediately to a restaurant, tossing their masks in the trash, and resuming life as before? Speaking for myself and my wife, both asthmatics, yeah not us. 
 

But what percentage of the population will go full steam ahead versus the percentage that is going to basically behave the same way until they feel safe, if they can do so financially? Is one without the other percentage enough for bars, restaurants, retail shopping to subsist? What about a lack of PPE for workers and companies? Lots of really hard questions and I haven’t seen anything resembling answers from state, local, or national leaders. I guess we’re gonna find out. We can’t stay closed much longer, but I’m not changing my behavior anytime soon. 

[utee94 15745]

3 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

OK, but only if Brisket is captain of team "We're all fucking doomed".

Actually I think each side should switch to the other, just for the day.  So today brisket gets to breathe a sigh of relief, take a load off, and relax about it all.

Edited April 16, 2020 by utee94

[SydneyCarton 47846]

2 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

OK, but only if Brisket is captain of team "We're all fucking doomed".

Greenspoint deserves some consideration here. We was the earliest adopter, and he also has the most shrill, high pitched voice. 
 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 minute ago, utee94 said:

Actually I think each side should switch to the other, just for the day.  So today brisket gets to breathe a sigh of relief, take a load off, and relax about it all.

Good point. It might actually be good for his, and his families mental health.

[Hpara759 1777]

3 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Once they say open it up, who here is going immediately to a restaurant/bar

I think I would......If they had outdoor Patio seating, and spread out the tables and chairs

[jinx 2635]

11 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

So let's try something today in this thread guys...

One set of posters will take the side that this is the most uber serious threat ever, mankind itself is about to be exterminated by the Covid19, we have no hope, we are never going to unfuck ourselves and there are going to be bodies in the trees. 

The other set of posters will take the side that this is all a fucking media propagated snow job.  Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, look that Covid19 straight in the eyes and fuck it in its face.  The economy is collapsing and if we don't unfuck ourselves now there are going to be more bodies in the trees than that other side full of all the scared pussies think there will be.

IT'S GOING TO BE FANTASTIC

Seems like you are almost certain to contract it this way, but if this is the "it's just like the flu" team that may be ok.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

7 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Once they say open it up, who here is going immediately to a restaurant, tossing their masks in the trash, and resuming life as before? Speaking for myself and my wife, both asthmatics, yeah not us. 
 

But what percentage of the population will go full steam ahead versus the percentage that is going to basically behave the same way until they feel safe, if they can do so financially? Is one without the other percentage enough for bars, restaurants, retail shopping to subsist? What about a lack of PPE for workers and companies? Lots of really hard questions and I haven’t seen anything resembling answers from state, local, or national leaders. I guess we’re gonna find out. We can’t stay closed much longer, but I’m not changing my behavior anytime soon. 

I think it's gonna be a peek out from the bunker, sniff the air, and then venture out with distance between us, and them, and a general relaxing as we go.  I'll go back to my favorite restaurants. Then it's book a trip ASAP before rates start to go back up.  I've got 2 airline tickets I'll need to re schedule.

[SydneyCarton 47846]

Just now, Onboard 2.0 said:

I think it's gonna be a peek out from the bunker, sniff the air, and then venture out with distance between us, and them, and a general relaxing as we go.  I'll go back to my favorite restaurants. Then it's book a trip ASAP before rates start to go back up.  I've got 2 airline tickets I'll need to re schedule.

Ideally sure. That sounds wonderful. But with asymptomatic Sheffield f and a 2 week incubation, for us sniffing the air happens 4-6 weeks after opening up to see if cases are going apeshit and hospitals are filling up. 

[Don Johnson 4745]

 

 

I can't keep up with this thread anymore, but is this theory becoming a reality?

Edited April 16, 2020 by Don Johnson

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

Just now, SydneyCarton said:

Ideally sure. That sounds wonderful. But with asymptomatic Sheffield f and a 2 week incubation, for us sniffing the air happens 4-6 weeks after opening up to see if cases are going apeshit and hospitals are filling up. 

I also think it's geographically related.  Were I in NYC it would be a different story. Here in Va. we just haven't been hit that hard, I thought we would have been as it moved up and down the eastern seaboard along I95.

[NoName 16290]

2 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

 

 

I can't keep up with this thread anymore, but is this theory becoming a reality?

not saying one way or another but one of the Fox guys putting their name on it is Bret Baier, who is a news guy not an opinion guy. 

here is the article linked...

Spoiler

 

EXCLUSIVE: There is increasing confidence that the COVID-19 outbreak likely originated in a Wuhan laboratory, though not as a bioweapon but as part of China's attempt to demonstrate that its efforts to identify and combat viruses are equal to or greater than the capabilities of the United States, multiple sources who have been briefed on the details of early actions by China's government and seen relevant materials tell Fox News.

This may be the "costliest government cover-up of all time," one of the sources said.

The sources believe the initial transmission of the virus – a naturally occurring strain that was being studied there – was bat-to-human and that "patient zero" worked at the laboratory, then went into the population in Wuhan.

The “increasing confidence” comes from classified and open-source documents and evidence, the sources said. Fox News has requested to see the evidence directly. Sources emphasized -- as is often the case with intelligence -- that it’s not definitive and should not be characterized as such. Some inside the administration and the intelligence and epidemiological communities are more skeptical, and the investigation is continuing.

What all of the sources agree about is the extensive cover-up of data and information about COVID-19 orchestrated by the Chinese government.

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE 

Asked by Fox News' John Roberts about the reporting, President Trump remarked at Wednesday's coronavirus press briefing, "More and more we're hearing the story...we are doing a very thorough examination of this horrible situation."

Documents detail early efforts by doctors at the lab and early efforts at containment. The Wuhan wet market initially identified as a possible point of origin never sold bats, and the sources tell Fox News that blaming the wet market was an effort by China to deflect blame from the laboratory, along with the country's propaganda efforts targeting the U.S. and Italy.

U.S. Embassy officials warned in January 2018 about inadequate safety at the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab and passed on information about scientists conducting risky research on coronavirus from bats, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

In this Tuesday, March 10, 2020, photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping talks by video with patients and medical workers at the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. (Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP)
In this Tuesday, March 10, 2020, photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping talks by video with patients and medical workers at the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. (Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP)
Responding to the report, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Tuesday afternoon: "It should be no surprise to you that we have taken a keen interest in that and we've had a lot of intelligence take a hard look at that. I would just say at this point, it's inconclusive, although the weight of evidence seems to indicate natural, but we don't know for certain."

“Even today, I see them withholding information and I think we need to do more to continue to press them to share,” Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told “America’s Newsroom" on Wednesday, referring to China. Esper added that he wouldn't speak to "intelligence reporting," but that "most people believe it began naturally — it was organic, if you will. I think in due course, once we get through the pandemic we're in right now, there'll be time to look back and really ascertain what happened and make sure we have a better understanding so we can prevent this in the future."

Speaking to "The Story" Wednesday evening, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo remarked: "What we do know is we know that this virus originated in Wuhan, China. We know there is the Wuhan Institute of Virology just a handful of miles away from where the wet market was. There is still lots to learn. You should know that the United States government is working diligently to figure it out."

Pompeo: China's lack of transparency put people around the world at risk
Pompeo: China's lack of transparency put people around the world at risk
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sits down with Martha MaCallum on 'The Story' to discuss the coronavirus pandemic and U.S.-China relations.

Concerning the State Department cables warning about the Wuhan laboratory, Pompeo said the installation "contained highly contagious materials — we knew that, we knew that they were working on this program, many countries have programs like this. In countries that are open and transparent, they have the ability to control them and keep them safe, and they allow outside observers in to make sure all the processes and procedures are right. I only wish that that had happened in this place."

On Thursday, China's foreign ministry pushed back on the suspicion that the virus escaped from the facility, by citing statements from the World Health Organization that there is no evidence the coronavirus came from a laboratory.

Americans were originally helping train the Chinese in a program called PREVENT well before the Chinese started working on this virus. The French government helped the Chinese set up the Wuhan lab.

China "100 percent" suppressed data and changed data, the sources tell Fox News. Samples were destroyed, contaminated areas scrubbed, some early reports erased, and academic articles stifled. 

STATE DEPT LEAKED CABLES RENEW THEORIES ON ORIGINS OF CORONAVIRUS

There were doctors and journalists who were "disappeared" warning of the spread of the virus and its contagious nature and human to human transmission. China moved quickly to shut down travel domestically from Wuhan to the rest of China, but did not stop international flights from Wuhan.

Additionally, the sources tell Fox News the World Health Organization (WHO) was complicit from the beginning in helping China cover its tracks.     

Commuters wear face masks to protect against the spread of new coronavirus as they walk through a subway station in Beijing, Thursday, April 9, 2020. China's National Health Commission on Thursday reported dozens of new COVID-19 cases, including most of which it says are imported infections in recent arrivals from abroad and two "native" cases in the southern province of Guangdong. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Commuters wear face masks to protect against the spread of new coronavirus as they walk through a subway station in Beijing, Thursday, April 9, 2020. China's National Health Commission on Thursday reported dozens of new COVID-19 cases, including most of which it says are imported infections in recent arrivals from abroad and two "native" cases in the southern province of Guangdong. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Trump announced at the White House coronavirus news briefing in the Rose Garden on Tuesday that the United States will immediately halt all funding for the WHO, saying it had put "political correctness over lifesaving measures." The United States is the WHO's largest single donor, and the State Department had previously planned to provide the agency $893 million in the current two-year funding period.

Senior administrations separately tell Fox News the rollout of the president’s “blueprint for reopening the U.S. economy” will happen Thursday afternoon, first for governors and then briefed to the press.

Meanwhile, Trump's own handling of the crisis has come into focus. On January 24, for example, Trump tweeted in praise of China’s “transparency" on coronavirus.

Though they were not speaking for the president, the sources ventured an explanation, saying it was diplomatic talk to make the Chinese "feel good". while the investigation was ongoing, with trade and other talks happening simultaneously.

In the six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from a new coronavirus, the city of Wuhan at the epicenter of the disease hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people; millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations.

TRUMP CUTS ALL WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION FUNDING

President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, Jan. 20. But by that time, more than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on retrospective infection data.

“This is tremendous,” said Zuo-Feng Zhang, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “If they took action six days earlier, there would have been much fewer patients and medical facilities would have been sufficient. We might have avoided the collapse of Wuhan’s medical system.”

Fox News' Barnini Chakraborty and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bret Baier is the chief political anchor of Fox News Channel, and the anchor and executive editor of "Special Report with Bret Baier.” He is the author of “Three Days in January: Dwight Eisenhower’s Final Mission,” and “Three Days in Moscow: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of the Soviet Empire.” His third presidential book, “Three Days at the Brink: FDR’s Daring Gamble to win World War II,” will be released on Oct. 22, 2019.

 

 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

3 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

 

 

I can't keep up with this thread anymore, but is this theory becoming a reality?

That's been going around  for a while. There's a very good Youtube video (I found the source of the coronavirus) has been out there that makes just that case in a pretty matter of fact way with material right from Chinese website sources.

[KYHorn 16857]

8 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

 

 

I can't keep up with this thread anymore, but is this theory becoming a reality?

Interesting. This guy's video detailing evidence of this theory was fairly convincing at the time, but seemed to be an outlier. 

 

[Js1 85095]

21 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Once they say open it up, who here is going immediately to a restaurant, tossing their masks in the trash, and resuming life as before? Speaking for myself and my wife, both asthmatics, yeah not us. 
 

But what percentage of the population will go full steam ahead versus the percentage that is going to basically behave the same way until they feel safe, if they can do so financially? Is one without the other percentage enough for bars, restaurants, retail shopping to subsist? What about a lack of PPE for workers and companies? Lots of really hard questions and I haven’t seen anything resembling answers from state, local, or national leaders. I guess we’re gonna find out. We can’t stay closed much longer, but I’m not changing my behavior anytime soon. 

Didn't a poll say like 2/3 to 3/4 of people will not be rushing out to restaurants, or movie theaters, or even are comfortable watching sports in person in the fall?  Everything may open back up, but you'll be hard pressed to find much of it being "crowded." 

8 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

 

 

I can't keep up with this thread anymore, but is this theory becoming a reality?

The Defense Chief said otherwise. 

[Chewbacca 7729]

The airport, to GTFO ASAP !!!

Our you can drive to Tahoe.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

Just now, Chewbacca said:

59 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

The airport, to GTFO ASAP !!!

Our you can drive to Tahoe.

Oh yeah..........

[Skipper 6103]

3 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

That's been going around  for a while. There's a very good Youtube video (I found the source of the coronavirus) has been out there that makes just that case in a pretty matter of fact way with material right from Chinese website sources.

Saw that and it made a strong case.  I doubt it is ever known definitively but pretty plausible outside of a "US trying to pin this on China" kind of thing. 

[Cheeseweasel 26437]

31 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, look that Covid19 straight in the eyes and fuck it in its face.

#TeamFaceFuck

[Captainant 27442]

11 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

 

 

I can't keep up with this thread anymore, but is this theory becoming a reality?

If you read past the headline of the article you link, you could answer your own question:

Quote

The theory is one of multiple being pursued by investigators as they attempt to determine the origin of the coronavirus that has resulted in a pandemic and killed hundreds of thousands. The US does not believe the virus was associated with bioweapons research, and officials noted that the intelligence community is also exploring a range of other theories regarding the origination of the virus, as would typically be the case for high-profile incidents, according to an intelligence source.

The theory has been pushed by supporters of the President, including some congressional Republicans, who are eager to deflect criticisms of Trump's handling of the pandemic.

An intelligence official familiar with the government analysis said a theory US intelligence officials are investigating is that the virus originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and was accidentally released to the public. Other sources told CNN that US intelligence hasn't been able to corroborate the theory but is trying to discern whether someone was infected in the lab through an accident or poor handling of materials and may have then infected others.

US intelligence is reviewing sensitive intelligence collection aimed at the Chinese government, according to the intelligence source, as they pursue the theory. But some intelligence officials say it is possible the actual cause may never be known.

Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Mark Milley acknowledged this week that US intelligence is taking "a hard look" at the question of whether the novel coronavirus originated in a lab.

"I would just say, at this point, it's inconclusive although the weight of evidence seems to indicate natural (origin). But we don't know for certain," Milley told reporters on Tuesday.

 

[NoName 16290]

interesting (to me at least)

 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

2 hours ago, Skipper said:

Saw that and it made a strong case.  I doubt it is ever known definitively but pretty plausible outside of a "US trying to pin this on China" kind of thing. 

I think  it originated in China, it's whether it was the wet markets or a lab. I don't think it was a nefarious, bio-warfare thing. I think it was poor protocol in an immunology lab studying the coronovirus thingy.

Edited April 16, 2020 by Onboard 2.0

[LebongJames 1782]

I do think there will be a new normal and there is nothing wrong with that. 
 

We can temporarily change seating and capacities in restaurants. Regular retail could limit number of customers. Everyone should wear a face covering. Movie theaters, concerts and sporting events will be a ways out. Elective surgeries can happen in surgery centers and smaller hospitals not set up for coronavirus patients. It’s not all one way or the other.

If you aren’t comfortable doing that and a lot won’t be then stay at home. I don’t think things will go back to normal but we can make this work.

[NoName 16290]

 

 

[workswithseed 2035]

2 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

#TeamFaceFuck

 

[Don Johnson 4745]

2 minutes ago, Captainant said:

If you read past the headline of the article you link, you could answer your own question:

 

No, that doesn't answer the question at all.  The question is whether it originated in a Chinese lab.  Not that it was a biological weapon.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/coronavirus-wuhan-lab-china-compete-us-sources

EXCLUSIVE: There is increasing confidence that the COVID-19 outbreak likely originated in a Wuhan laboratory, though not as a bioweapon but as part of China's attempt to demonstrate that its efforts to identify and combat viruses are equal to or greater than the capabilities of the United States, multiple sources who have been briefed on the details of early actions by China's government and seen relevant materials tell Fox News.

[jimmyjazz 45546]

11 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Didn't a poll say like 2/3 to 3/4 of people will not be rushing out to restaurants, or movie theaters, or even are comfortable watching sports in person in the fall?  Everything may open back up, but you'll be hard pressed to find much of it being "crowded." 

We weren't doing most of that BEFORE the virus hit.  Too many kids, not enough time.  For the most part, especially when cost is factored in, a movie or a football game just doesn't make a ton of sense in the age of giant high-quality TVs.

[SydneyCarton 47846]

8 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Didn't a poll say like 2/3 to 3/4 of people will not be rushing out to restaurants, or movie theaters, or even are comfortable watching sports in person in the fall?  Everything may open back up, but you'll be hard pressed to find much of it being "crowded." 

The Defense Chief said otherwise. 

I think I saw that. I’m just wondering what happens if they “open up” and enough people stay home to keep the economy in a rut. Then it becomes a real economic depression. Folks won’t have jobs. People will get hungry. Then what do you do to eliminate unrest? What’s the next lever to pull? Because I don’t see one, and I say that as someone who happily acknowledges we have to get back to work. There’s about a dozen different ways this thing  could go sideways on us. Everything is uncertain. 
 

im honestly starting to wonder if it wouldn’t have been better to just let it burn through everyone. 
 

in other news, an ER in Katy has antibody testing. 
https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2020/04/16/katy-urgent-care-among-first-to-offer-covid-19-antibody-test-to-the-public/

[XYZ 2154]

After this is over, are we gonna change the way we greet (handshake)? I just don’t see that happening.

[Captainant 27442]

4 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

No, that doesn't answer the question at all.  The question is whether it originated in a Chinese lab.  Not that it was a biological weapon.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/coronavirus-wuhan-lab-china-compete-us-sources

EXCLUSIVE: There is increasing confidence that the COVID-19 outbreak likely originated in a Wuhan laboratory, though not as a bioweapon but as part of China's attempt to demonstrate that its efforts to identify and combat viruses are equal to or greater than the capabilities of the United States, multiple sources who have been briefed on the details of early actions by China's government and seen relevant materials tell Fox News.

Has any of the reporting clarified if it was a CDC-type lab, or if it was a military bio-lab or something nefarious? I just don't understand the new push from the White House and state TV fox news to attach the origination of the virus to a lab. I thought the leading consensus and evidence indicated was it mutated out of the wet markets, as opposed to slipping out of a lab?

[NoName 16290]

2 minutes ago, XYZ said:

After this is over, are we gonna change the way we greet (handshake)? I just don’t see that happening.

i'm ok with fist bump or elbow bumps moving forward