**It is official: COVID-19 is a GLOBAL PANDEMIC**

[hlthe2b]

(WHO just announced)

BREAKING: The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared coronavirus a pandemic. The declaration signals that health experts believe countries should focus efforts less on containing virus and more on preparations such as getting hospitals ready to handle an influx of patients, stockpiling materials and enacting social distancing policies.

As the number of novel coronavirus cases surpassed 120,000 worldwide, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the “virus has arrived,” warning up to 70 percent of the country could end up infected.

In the United States, where more than 30 have died and cases topped 1,000, Wall Street was poised for more losses Wednesday while government officials and businesses announced sweeping steps to contain the rapidly expanding outbreak.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/11/coronavirus-live-updates/

[Cognitive_Resonance]

1. Going to start getting very real now. Many events have not been cancelled since a pandemic has not

been declared. No longer an excuse.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Global Pandemic ... is redundant ... just wanted to point out ...

In WHO nomenclature, 'pandemic' specifically refers to a worldwide extent of infections.

[hlthe2b]

3. Preaching to the choir. Sometimes one needs to repeat what the lay public has come to expect.

and because they don't understand the difference between an outbreak, cluster, epidemic, or pandemic, I don't mind that "global" is added since it helps them understand the term.

[mr_lebowski]

5. I know ... but the pedant in me is going to be bugged for months about this ...

I may act out from time to time, just a forewarning

[hlthe2b]

6. Then don't get me started on those who don't understand the difference between Case-fatality

(which is NOT a rate, but a ratio or converted percent) and Mortality Rates, which are rates, but are entirely DIFFERENT from each other and can NOT be used interchangeably. Even among the so-called tv experts and their printed materials, they are not getting it right.

[mr_lebowski]

11. I take it the .1-.2% for flu is actually the flu's mortality rate

and the 3.4% (or whatnot) for COVID-19 is the case-fatality rate?

I did not realize that difference. Thanks for cluing me in

https://www.britannica.com/science/case-fatality-rate

As an example, consider two populations.

One population consists of 1,000 people; 300 of these people have the specified disease, 100 of whom die from the disease. In this case, the mortality rate for the disease is 100 ÷ 1,000 = 0.1, or 10 percent. The case fatality rate is 100 ÷ 300 = 0.33, or 33 percent.

The second population also has 1,000 people; 50 people have the disease and 40 die from it. Here the mortality rate is 40 ÷ 1,000 = 0.04, or 4 percent; the case fatality rate, however, is 40 ÷ 50 = 0.8, or 80 percent. The incidence of death from the disease is higher in the first population, but the severity of disease is greater in the second.

The question I have is ... how does one decide what constitutes 'the population' in the case of the mortality rate measurement? Seems like the term 'mortality rate' would be entirely nebulous unless one describes the cohort when providing the number.

[mshasta]

4. no shit

it was like a freaking month ago!!!

[SmartVoter22]

7. Pandemic is NOT a suggestion, it's a declarative statement of fact.

The average person will take heed and institute precautions in their daily lives.
Lest you forget...
--The Boomers should have stories of their parents experience with the 1918-19 Spanish Flu, that killed off 50 million in just 18 months. What do you do with 50M dead bodies and who wants to bury them? Think local mass graves, that did happen.
Those born after 1964 are far more educated on health and disease than their parents, and they will take precautions.
The little kids of today need to learn, using terms they understand, see my home tips.

The local transmission is now the critical area to focus out attention on.

My tips for me (what I use, you can use them, but not intended as any advice for others: (Why? I am surviving my 2nd cancer now with chemo, so my immunity is fried to a crisp, for chemo drugs.)

Grocery Shopping: I wash my hands before I leave and I wear exam gloves to shop, this keeps my hands clean(er) and wear a simple paper face mask. The gloves let me inspect produce with is the most handled items in any store and all other items I pick up. The mask helps if ( and I am sure I do this) touch my face while shopping.
I have a bag, in car, to put gloves and mask into for disposal at home.

Home: This is more about little kids than teens or adults...
--Reduce visitors, meaning kid's friends. If they come over, they wash up FIRST THING. They don't mind wearing mask and exam gloves and actually make it a fun thing they get to try them and use them. I give them a set to take home, so they can show & tell. Talk about boogers, snot and spit- they'll understand it at their level and you will likely get them to discuss this when they get home.
--Disinfect surfaces. Add wiping/spraying door knobs, drawer handles, frig doors, TV remotes and computers/devices several times a day. Your smartphone can give you alert reminders every few hours to do this. Your smartphone may be one of the best things to keep you safer. Learning new behaviors is hard, but using the new tools does help create a routine faster and with greater attention to detail.

Good Luck

[hlthe2b]

9. Grandparents of most "Boomers" alive today experienced 1918 Pandemic

Their parents likely knew little or nothing about it either. Unfortunately, those grandparents statistically are long dead as well. Thus the poignancy of my sigline.

[SmartVoter22]

10. Did you ever hear stories of WWI or the Spanish Flu?

I certainly did and when those folks died, I did not forget.

[hlthe2b]

12. No. I was interested & researched it. But, it was never spoken of. Hell my WWII parents/uncles

scarcely ever talked about their service or stateside experiences then either. They did talk of the depression, however. That was an experience that impacted both the grandparents and the generation afterward.

I spent some time exploring cemeteries in the county of my grandparents and it was overwhelmingly revealing. So many of the old tombstones showed death in 1918 or 1919. Especially the countless child markers.

[SmartVoter22]

13. Google your local newspaper archives on Spanish Flu

I was amazed at how many articles there were in a city of 25,000, that is now 10x the size.

Your local library or museum would also have some good local info. Let's hope the younger folks get that 'trend' moving.

While my cancer is not a fun thing, it certainly got me more aware of biological processes, which is helping going into the pandemic.

[hlthe2b]

14. Yes. You might be interested in the story of Gunnison, CO--the only city to escape

the Spanish Flu. Fascinating.

How One Colorado Town Avoided the Spanish Flu Pandemic
https://www.rtmagazine.com/disorders-diseases/infectious-diseases/gunnison-colorado-town-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic/

In late 1918 the world faced a deadly pandemic, the Spanish flu. One mountain town, Gunnison, Colorado, managed to avoid this global health threat by enforcing strict precautions.

Gunnison, a farming and mining town of about 1,300 people, had special reason to fear. Two railroads connected it to Denver and other population centers, many badly hit. “The flu is after us” the Gunnison News-Champion warned on 10 October. “It is circulating in almost every village and community around us.”

What happened next is instructive amid a new global health emergency a century later as the world struggles react to the emergence of a new coronavirus. Gunnison declared a “quarantine against all the world”. It erected barricades, sequestered visitors, arrested violators, closed schools and churches and banned parties and street gatherings, a de facto lockdown that lasted four months.

It worked. Gunnison emerged from the pandemic’s first two waves – by far the deadliest – without a single case. It was one of a handful of so-called “escape communities” that researchers have analyzed for insights into containing the apparently uncontainable.

[Javaman]

15. the orange asshole would call them alarmists.

they did the very right thing.

[SmartVoter22]

17. I had read about Gunnison. Your link an excellent resource.

I've bookmarked that website, and suggest those who are following health rellated issues, to bookmark it too.
https://www.rtmagazine.com/

Thanks you hlthe2b

[PA Democrat]

8. WHO citing 'alarming levels of spread and ... alarming levels of inaction'

as rationale for the declaration.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/11/coronavirus-live-updates/#link-DNTC7HIOZ5DYFG37RDSUESZOD4

The US clearly fits the 'alarming levels of inaction' description. It is beyond inexcusable that we are failing miserably to provide the ability to adequately test for the virus.

[lillypaddle]

16. I have decided to self-isolate as much as possible

I use a mail order pharmacy. I'll go to Kroger at opening at 5:00 a.m., and I've told my son, DIL, and granddaughter, for the time being no more lunch at Gram's on Sundays. This will be the hardest part for me, as I haven't been very social in years. I will miss seeing my kids.

I'm 72, have heart and lung disease, and believe that if I contract this virus, I'm as good as a goner.

"The grim reality is that, for the elderly, COVID-19 is almost a perfect killing machine," not sure where I got that quote, but I believe it.

Stay as safe as possible, friends. This has all happened SO fucking fast ...