Coronavirus thread

[Joe in PNG]

You guys are downright reasonable and rational versus the same thread over on M4C where the apocalyptic eschatology purveying is out of control like a virus.

Some people do like their Doom pR0n.

[RevolverRob]

Well, I gotta get dog food tomorrow. Might as well fill the truck full of Costco premium before it gets crazy and grab a another five pounds of frozen chicken and enough pasta to ride out the Coronalypse. In fact, I should get a case of Corona too.

I will fill the gas sipper up soon, though it has 3/4 of a tank in it right now, good for ~300’ish miles without a stop.

I knew I shouldn’t have put off getting the steel bumpers for the FJ. How am I gonna mow down hoards of the infirmed with a plastic bumper?

[Totem Polar]

I knew I shouldn’t have put off getting the steel bumpers for the FJ. How am I gonna mow down hoards of the infirmed with a plastic bumper?

If you order Larry Corriea’s latest MHI novel and pop another of those brewskis, like me, you won’t have to leave the house and plow down any walkers. #fact

[Kanye Wyoming]

Hat tip to you all. I tend to tune out panics but thanks to this thread I now feel I have a reasonable sense of what’s going on and what to keep an eye on.

I’m an obsessive hand sanitizer type so I have that covered already. I’m encouraged to hear that watchful caution, many jugs of water, many tins of tuna, a fifth or two of bourbon, a full tank of gas, and no Chinese or Italian hookers are the order of the day.

[pangloss]

We got a generic system-wide "guidelines" emailed a couple of weeks ago, usual nonspecific stuff. I can tell you that nobody is setting up quarantine wards etc now. Somehow my worry for this thing causing a heavier toll than annual flu is not there. I think that anxiety about it will impose a bigger financial burden than disease itself.

That said, one of my patients had a coronavirus last year. Dunno the genotype, obviously, but it's clear that this thing doesn't just happen only in China and I think that many here had already been exposed. The dude was very sick for a long time, ICU admission etc, and when he came to the office after being released home, I sent him back to the ER. He's doing OK now.

Not directly related, but stream of consciousness, a couple of things have crossed my mind. First is that children typically have more respiratory infections than adults, so antibodies against some other coronaviruses that are in circulation might help explain the reduced level of COVID-19 disease in children. Secondly, I wonder if the air pollution levels in China could cause an increase susceptibility to respiratory infection. Yesterday I checked some website that reports air quality around the world, and China looked pretty awful. Wuhan was on the southwest edge of the really bad area.

I don't want to come off as being callous, but a virus that knocks out 15-20% of the over 70 crowd would probably have a long term economic benefit. It'd certainly lower our national expenditures on social security and medicare over the next 15 years. My dad is 74, so to be clear I'm not a fan of this approach to reducing our entitlement spending, but if you're looking for a silver lining, that might be one.

Maybe I should buy a few extra boxes of oatmeal and some powdered milk...

[HCM]

Paywall on that link. So how did this person contract the disease? Did he come into contact with someone who did travel abroad? Maybe he just didn't know who could have transmitted it like someone in a store or public area. Just guessing here.

From the linked story:

A person in California who was not exposed to anyone known to be infected with the coronavirus, and had not traveled to countries in which the virus is circulating, has tested positive for the infection.

It may be the first case of community spread in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

“At this point, the patient’s exposure is unknown,” the C.D.C. statement said. “The case was detected through the U.S. public health system and picked up by astute clinicians.”

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unknown

[Joe in PNG]

The really fun part of this is for those of us currently outside the USA with plans to travel in the next couple of months.
One does hope that the current panic has worn off a bit by then.

[Totem Polar]

Secondly, I wonder if the air pollution levels in China could cause an increase susceptibility to respiratory infection...

Dang. I think you might be the first person to bring up this point. As Lester P sometimes says "it’s a non-trivial question."

China’s air Q rep has been pretty shitty for decades. Could be a factor in the severity.

[HCM]

Dang. I think you might be the first person to bring up this point. As Lester P sometimes says "it’s a non-trivial question."

China’s air Q rep has been pretty shitty for decades. Could be a factor in the severity.

Not to mention the mainland Chinese habit of constantly spitting everywhere to expel bad humors from the body.....

[pangloss]

Dang. I think you might be the first person to bring up this point. As Lester P sometimes says "it’s a non-trivial question."

China’s air Q rep has been pretty shitty for decades. Could be a factor in the severity.

Lots to think about in this complex situation!

Also, getting back to the investing discussion, I bought $200 worth of Vanguard's Total International Market index fund on Monday. Friday is payday, so I'll probably buy a little more then. If the market drops much more, I might have to stop buying bonds for a bit to free up money for stocks.

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