The Coronavirus Thread

[rainbow]

Latest inconclusive study of Trump's miracle drug.

'Anti-malarial treatment hailed by Trump has no benefit for coronavirus patients, French researchers find'

An antimalarial drug touted as a potential treatment for coronavirus might have no benefit to patients at all, according to a new study by French scientists.

Researchers compared more than 180 patients – some receiving hydroxychloroquine treatment and others who were not treated with the drug – and found their outcomes were almost identical.

The research by doctors and scientists from 12 hospitals and public research institutes across France, is the most comprehensive study so far of the performance of the controversial drug in hospitals and involves the most Covid-19 patients.

“These results do not support the use of hydroxychloroquine in patients hospitalised for documented Sars-CoV-2-positive hypoxic pneumonia,” the authors said in a non-peer reviewed paper released by medRxiv.org on Tuesday.

The problem is that it is unknown what is the correct dosage, timing of treatment and viral load.
How can you design an experiment, when you have no time to check these variables seperately?

[Brian Peacock]

The UK government are about to extend the lockdown for at least another three weeks, pushing the review date back to the third week of May.

[JimC]

Here in Victoria it's much the same, with a review of lockdown measures on May 11. We're only seeing a handful of new cases per day, so we might be able to loosen things a bit then...

[Seabass]

Florida Gov. DeSantis declared WWE an “essential service.”
https://www.vox.com/2020/4/15/21221948/ ... oronavirus

With over 21,600 confirmed Covid-19 cases and more than 570 deaths as of April 15, Florida is currently one of the nation’s coronavirus hot spots. DeSantis, a former Congress member whose zealous support of President Donald Trump was a key part of his successful 2018 gubernatorial campaign, didn’t help matters by refusing to implement a stay-at-home order until the late date of April 2 — after the virus had already had an opportunity to spread among spring breakers who flocked to the state in March.

DeSantis’s comments about wanting to make his state a welcoming place for a variety of sporting events even amid a pandemic reflects his priorities. But his move in particular to classify WWE as “essential” has the whiff of the swamp Trump talked about draining during his 2016 campaign.

WWE is run by Vince McMahon, husband of Linda McMahon, who served in Trump’s cabinet as his small-business administrator from 2017 until 2019, when she became chair of the pro-Trump super PAC America First Action. After weeks of broadcasting taped shows, Vince quickly took advantage of the DeSantis administration’s April 9 memo classifying his business as “essential” by resuming live broadcasts on Monday night. The plan is to continue with them going forward.

While WWE performers are reportedly unhappy with the change of plans, having the ability to do live shows could be important to the company’s bottom line. As wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer has detailed, WWE has lucrative television deals that require almost all of its shows be broadcast live. DeSantis’s classification of the company as an essential service allows McMahon to avoid jeopardizing those agreements.

[Svartalf]

Fraggit, macron has decided to prolong the lockdown at least till may 11, possibly MUCH more for 'risk subjects'.
I don't care, I'll go out as soon as the cafés are open again.

[NineBerry]

Fraggit, macron has decided to prolong the lockdown at least till may 11, possibly MUCH more for 'risk subjects'.
I don't care, I'll go out as soon as the cafés are open again.

Cafes and restaurants will be among the last things to open. I guess this will not happen before June in France or much later.

[Svartalf]

then I guess I won't be out that much, yet.

[Tero]

I can guess how this will go in the US. Half the tables will have to be vacant and you have 45 min once you get your meal. The remaining food goes in a stryrofoam box and out you go.

[Scot Dutchy]

Here if a cafe/restaurant owner can come up with a plan which maintains the 1,5m society it would be considered was what our Minister President said yesterday. One large café in the city is already rebuilding to meet the restrictions. Businesses are desperate to open.

[Cunt]

Still very few cases per square kilometer up this way. Still very few per capita as well. Still 5, 2 are resolved (cured) and we have few people coming in to the area.

BIG area (NWT) so either this isn't going to hit us, or we'll be very late.

One community in NU got hit...dozen people so far, and that is going to be a whole community soon enough. That's the danger here...remote communities with poor health care options, and close-living people.

[Tero]

Antiviral not backed by Trump doing well
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/04/16/heal ... index.html

Gilead has good supply of the drug and has not pushed for blind trial, and the article does not say one was done.

[JimC]

"Antiviral not backed by Trump"

Bound to be effective, then...

[Tero]

It looks like they ended the Chinese trial on that. It's actually hard to recruit patients for studies on life-saving drugs. They are unwilling to take a 50% chance of getting a placebo. I guess you could make the control group a third of it.

[JimC]

One third take the drug.
One third take a placebo pill.
One third pray.

[Hermit]

One third take the drug.
One third take a placebo pill.
One third pray.

The Pope tried that a month ago. God hung up on him. If the Pope can't get through what chance have the common people?