Coronavirus:

[healey36]

My friends in the UK tell me they effed up their C-19 response through government action, we effed ours (US) up through government inaction.

Jobs report this week is going to pile more pressure on the orangutan to open the economy.

Have there been any updates on BoJo's condition? Is he still in the ICU?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

My friends in the UK tell me they effed up their C-19 response through government action, we effed ours (US) up through government inaction.

Maybe there's something to be learnt from S. Korea, New Zealand, Sweden, and then Germany.....

Jobs report this week is going to pile more pressure on the orangutan to open the economy.

Fastest way to just spreading it faster.......

Have there been any updates on BoJo's condition? Is he still in the ICU?

Yes. "continues to improve"

[chuck]

According to the BBC website, he spent a third night in ICU, he is doing better.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-52232747

[healey36]

Very good...thanks.

[HONDO74]

This is interesting.

Most New York Coronavirus Cases Came From Europe, Genomes Show
https://news.yahoo.com/most-york-corona ... 29916.html

New research indicates that the coronavirus began to circulate in the New York area by mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that travelers brought in the virus mainly from Europe, not Asia.

Heguy and van Bakel belong to an international guild of viral historians. They ferret out the history of outbreaks by poring over clues embedded in the genetic material of viruses taken from thousands of patients.

Viruses invade a cell and take over its molecular machinery, causing it to make new viruses.

The process is quick and sloppy. As a result, new viruses can gain a new mutation that wasn’t present in their ancestor. If a new virus manages to escape its host and infect other people, its descendants will inherit that mutation.

Tracking viral mutations demands sequencing all the genetic material in a virus — its genome. Once researchers have gathered the genomes from a number of virus samples, they can compare their mutations.

[Chris Webster]

Just received this in my email:

St. Louis 2020 National Convention and National Train Show cancelled

As everyone is aware, the coronavirus has had a devastating impact around the world. It has caused the death of tens of thousands of people and that is not something to be trivialized.

The NMRA National convention, Gateway 2020, is scheduled to start on July 12, 2020, in St. Louis, Missouri. That being said, the local host group has determined that they can no longer continue with the preparations and operation of the convention. Among the reasons for this decision is the fact that one key member is ill with COVID-19. The host group requests your prayers for him.

Additionally, some members of the local model railroad community have withdrawn their model railroads from the tours, based on their understandable and valid concerns about allowing persons in their homes who may have the COVID-19 virus. Even if the virus is well under control, that does not mean that everyone who attends the convention would be virus-free.

Robert Amsler, Manager of the Meetings and Trade Show Department has advised the Officers and the Board of Directors of this decision and the Officers and Directors fully support cancelling the convention. Neither the Gateway 2020 crew nor the NMRA made this decision in haste or without careful consideration of all involved. The cancellation is in the best interest of the NMRA members, their family members, and the NMRA. It is noteworthy that the NMRA has never cancelled a convention before Gateway 2020 and that includes during World War II.

For those who have registered for the convention, the refund policy will be published as soon as possible at Gateway2020.org. We, the Gateway 2020 Committee, will need some time to make the necessary changes to the website to process the refunds.

Again, all involved regret this decision but we trust that you will understand the necessity and reasoning behind the decision.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I expect that the Nat'l O scale convention that was to be held in conjunction with the NMRA convention might also be cancelled.

[chuck]

BoJo's out of ICU

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/09/uk/boris-johnson-improving-coronavirus-uk-gbr-intl/index.html

[robert.]

Pa's governor made it official today. "Schools will remain closed for the year.

[Roy]

The Swedes want the healthy and strong to get infected quickly, so as to develop herd immunity.

That wasn't a conscious choice. They ignored the early warnings and now their health care system is near collapse. Faced with a bunch of bad alternatives as a result of bad first choices they have tried to formulate the best possible solution. If you don't mind sacrificing a relatively large portion of your population that is certainly one solution. Remember, it isn't just the people that will die from COVID19 that you need to be concerned about. It i also all the people that die BECAUSE the heath care system was over stressed trying to deal with COVID19 infections.

Compare what happened in Norway where they did early lock downs and isolation. They have far fewer cases and they are not running out of critical supplies and their health care system is not near collapse.

England my be the worst case example of how not to deal with a highly infectious and potentially deadly disease. Their numbers will probably outstrip ours in short order.

The report mentioned that the Swedish mortality rate is nearly double that of Denmark. I'm surprised the Swedish response was so poor.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Really clever and creative.

[chuck]

Ditto.

[chuck]

The report mentioned that the Swedish mortality rate is nearly double that of Denmark. I'm surprised the Swedish response was so poor.

CNN report on Swedish response. NOTE: The health care provides are sounding alarms about the alarming increase in workload. The government and people of Sweden may have been severely mistaken on the virulence and potential lethality of the disease and are now paying a stiff price for that mistake.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/10/europe/sweden-lockdown-turmp-intl/index.html

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The report mentioned that the Swedish mortality rate is nearly double that of Denmark. I'm surprised the Swedish response was so poor.

CNN report on Swedish response. NOTE: The health care provides are sounding alarms about the alarming increase in workload. The government and people of Sweden may have been severely mistaken on the virulence and potential lethality of the disease and are now paying a stiff price for that mistake.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/10/europe/sweden-lockdown-turmp-intl/index.html

They may have miscalculated following the herd immunity plan that some epidemiologists have proposed as being a faster end point - the cost of following it might be far more than they can handle.