Baseball, Sports and the Corona Virus

[North]

There might be a sobering reality we will have to face at some point. If quarantining only works to bring down the numbers during the quarantine, and they spike as soon as people return to life as usual at what point do we need to accept that living with this virus is a reality? We can't just not ever leave our houses for 18 months or so until a vaccine is found. For one thing it would collapse our economy, banks would go under, and the doctors working in the hospitals wouldn't get paid.

Let's say we do this until July, the cases fall to almost nothing, we open stuff up and they spike again. What's the plan? At what point do you accept that hundreds of thousands, perhaps over a million or two will die from this? Cause you kn crustow if we just quarantine again for 3 months that the same thing would happen once you allowed people out again.

I don't think anyone knows for sure. But absent the creation of effective anti-viral treatments and vaccines, It should resurge.

I do know that the blame game doesn't help.

[Kinsm]

The U.S. surgeon general said Monday that the United States is about where Italy was 2 weeks ago in the coronavirus struggle, if that holds true to the number of total cases of infection then what we are seeing in Italy right now is likely to happen in the U.S. in approximately 2 weeks time.

Two weeks ago, Italy had 1,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus and had reported 34 total deaths.

Italy is now recording over 3,000 new cases daily, adding to the current reported 31,500 confirmed cases.

Italy recorded 368 coronavirus-related deaths Sunday and 349 more on Monday. Their death toll is now over 2,500.

Italy has a little less than a fifth of the population as the United States, if those figures are proportionate it could get ugly quick.

The U.S. is still limited by the amount of tests and testing sites it has, FEMA is estimating that the U.S. public health service would be capable of testing 2-4K people a day by the end of the week. That estimated figure though, is 10x the figure given by the Surgeon General.

In addition, a potential vaccine is months away.

----Given this information it's hard to believe MLB, or any pro sport for that matter can realistically plan for a return to normal operations anytime soon.

*Stay indoors, take this seriously...stay safe!

[North]

The U.S. surgeon general said Monday that the United States is about where Italy was 2 weeks ago in the coronavirus struggle, if that holds true to the number of total cases of infection then what we are seeing in Italy right now is likely to happen in the U.S. in approximately 2 weeks time.

Two weeks ago, Italy had 1,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus and had reported 34 total deaths.

Italy is now recording over 3,000 new cases daily, adding to the current reported 31,500 confirmed cases.

Italy recorded 368 coronavirus-related deaths Sunday and 349 more on Monday. Their death toll is now over 2,500.

Italy has a little less than a fifth of the population as the United States, if those figures are proportionate it could get ugly quick.

The U.S. is still limited by the amount of tests and testing sites it has, FEMA is estimating that the U.S. public health service would be capable of testing 2-4K people a day by the end of the week. That estimated figure though, is 10x the figure given by the Surgeon General.

In addition, a potential vaccine is months away.

----Given this information it's hard to believe MLB, or any pro sport for that matter can realistically plan for a return to normal operations anytime soon.

*Stay indoors, take this seriously...stay safe!

We have to hope.

[NeilHamburger]

I don't think a vaccine is closer than 12 months away, and probably not for 18.

[North]

[QUO'TE=NeilHamburger;4079531]I don't think a vaccine is closer than 12 months away, and probably not for 18.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. You have to trial for a long time. Something to suppress symptoms should be quicker, one would hope.

[BCubb2003]

It’s like all of baseball is having Tommy John surgery.

[Mutaman]

I do know that the blame game doesn't help.

People who through their incompetence put our lives in danger need to be held responsible or they will continue to do it.

[GAC]

I won’t be stopping running around my neighborhood any time soon, I’ll tell you that. Whenever I rarely come across someone I run about 15 feet around them.

Besides sanitizing everything from the shopping cart to anything I might tough, I started a little "game" we use to play as kids when we'd drive thru a bridge, hold our breathes, and see who would last longer. If I have to walk past someone in the aisle, I hold my breath. I can actually make it down a whole aisle if I have to (lol).

Of course I go very early in the morning when traffic is almost nothing, and all the nuts are snug in their beds with visions of toilet paper dancing in their heads.

[GAC]

The U.S. surgeon general said Monday that the United States is about where Italy was 2 weeks ago in the coronavirus struggle, if that holds true to the number of total cases of infection then what we are seeing in Italy right now is likely to happen in the U.S. in approximately 2 weeks time.

Two weeks ago, Italy had 1,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus and had reported 34 total deaths.

Italy is now recording over 3,000 new cases daily, adding to the current reported 31,500 confirmed cases.

Italy recorded 368 coronavirus-related deaths Sunday and 349 more on Monday. Their death toll is now over 2,500.

Italy has a little less than a fifth of the population as the United States, if those figures are proportionate it could get ugly quick.

IF those figures are proportionate. Personally, I think it's unwise to compare the situation in one country with another. A lot of variables at play, and it can lead to conjecture and assumption IMO. Nations have observed, and learned much, from what has occurred in Italy. And it's the reasoning behind so many of the containment methods now being implemented here.

Our mortality rate will depend on how well our efforts are to protect the elderly with health issues who are at a higher risk. Period. I have to be honest. That is my main ( primary) concern. I'm taking all the precautionary steps, plus some, not because if I'm infected I'll die (highly unlikely), but I don't want to carry it to those elderly family members who are at a far greater risk, and could die.

----Given this information it's hard to believe MLB, or any pro sport for that matter can realistically plan for a return to normal operations anytime soon.

It wouldn't upset me if they cancelled all sports leagues for the remainder of Summer. Priorities.

*Stay indoors, take this seriously...stay safe!

Can I go outdoors around my property? LOL

This is not something that is airborne, floating all over in our atmosphere where if you step outdoors you're at risk. People need to educate themselves on the characteristics of this virus and how it is primarily transmitted.

I'm retired (60+). I'm limiting my exposure, being around people. We stopped eating out before they even closed restaurants. But when I have to go into the public I'm going. I'm not going to live in a cave. I carry around a zip-lock baggy in my pocket soaked with Lysol. I'm not touching nothing, and wipe off any thing I grab to buy.

Health organizations say this thing could go on for several months, and maybe up to year. All I'm saying is we're going to drive ourselves over the hysterical edge excessively worrying about future "unknowns".

[Guacarock]

China and South Korea have begun using chloroquine to quell the coronavirus. The specific drug of choice is usually hydroxychloroquine, marketed under the brand name Plaquenil, for treatment of malaria. The results: 600 MG of hydroxychloroquine daily kills the coronavirus in 90 percent of cases. Stanford University has reported on it. So, while this is not a drug that is tailor-made to treat coronavirus and is not a vaccine, which will take some time to test and release, this is demonstrating an ability to greatly reduce the outbreak, so doctors have a much better chance to treat and handle the remaining 10 percent of cases that hydroxychloroquine does not ameliorate.

For the record, I am not a doctor nor am I a trained scientist, but I have traveled extensively throughout Asia, and also used to be a science reporter. I won an Associated Press Managing Editors award for science writing but that was many moons ago.

[Redsfaithful]

China and South Korea have begun using chloroquine to quell the coronavirus. The specific drug of choice is usually hydroxychloroquine, marketed under the brand name Plaquenil, for treatment of malaria. The results: 600 MG of hydroxychloroquine daily kills the coronavirus in 90 percent of cases. Stanford University has reported on it. So, while this is not a drug that is tailor-made to treat coronavirus and is not a vaccine, which will take some time to test and release, this is demonstrating an ability to greatly reduce the outbreak, so doctors have a much better chance to treat and handle the remaining 10 percent of cases that hydroxychloroquine does not ameliorate.

For the record, I am not a doctor nor am I a trained scientist, but I have traveled extensively throughout Asia, and also used to be a science reporter. I won an Associated Press Managing Editors award for science writing but that was many moons ago.

That's encouraging, thank you. Would be very nice, drug is old (so we know people tolerate it) and cheap.

[OhioRiverBarge]

China and South Korea have begun using chloroquine to quell the coronavirus. The specific drug of choice is usually hydroxychloroquine, marketed under the brand name Plaquenil, for treatment of malaria. The results: 600 MG of hydroxychloroquine daily kills the coronavirus in 90 percent of cases. Stanford University has reported on it. So, while this is not a drug that is tailor-made to treat coronavirus and is not a vaccine, which will take some time to test and release, this is demonstrating an ability to greatly reduce the outbreak, so doctors have a much better chance to treat and handle the remaining 10 percent of cases that hydroxychloroquine does not ameliorate.

For the record, I am not a doctor nor am I a trained scientist, but I have traveled extensively throughout Asia, and also used to be a science reporter. I won an Associated Press Managing Editors award for science writing but that was many moons ago.

Remdesivir is the other treatment that has shown to be effective. I think between the two, a nice one-two punch could be available to the public soon. I know Remdesivir’s phase III clinical trials will be reported in early April, and they have already started mass producing to meet demand.

[klw]

A flu drug made in Japan is also being reported to have been useful in China"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...rus-says-china

Medical authorities in China have said a drug used in Japan to treat new strains of influenza appeared to be effective in coronavirus patients, Japanese media said on Wednesday.

Zhang Xinmin, an official at China’s science and technology ministry, said favipiravir, developed by a subsidiary of Fujifilm, had produced encouraging outcomes in clinical trials in Wuhan and Shenzhen involving 340 patients.

“It has a high degree of safety and is clearly effective in treatment,” Zhang told reporters on Tuesday.

Patients who were given the medicine in Shenzhen turned negative for the virus after a median of four days after becoming positive, compared with a median of 11 days for those who were not treated with the drug, public broadcaster NHK said.

In addition, X-rays confirmed improvements in lung condition in about 91% of the patients who were treated with favipiravir, compared to 62% or those without the drug.

[dubc47834]

People who through their incompetence put our lives in danger need to be held responsible or they will continue to do it.

Calling people out on Redszone is holding people responsible?

[NachoMan]

There might be a sobering reality we will have to face at some point. If quarantining only works to bring down the numbers during the quarantine, and they spike as soon as people return to life as usual at what point do we need to accept that living with this virus is a reality? We can't just not ever leave our houses for 18 months or so until a vaccine is found. For one thing it would collapse our economy, banks would go under, and the doctors working in the hospitals wouldn't get paid.

Let's say we do this until July, the cases fall to almost nothing, we open stuff up and they spike again. What's the plan? At what point do you accept that hundreds of thousands, perhaps over a million or two will die from this? Cause you know if we just quarantine again for 3 months that the same thing would happen once you allowed people out again.

If we're able to blunt this to the point where cases fall to almost nothing, that will be an incredible success. Yes, you're dilemma will exist, but if we've stabilized enough in our "new normal" by that point, that's step one.

Things will get "more" normal in a staggered manner. As several have posted, there is success being seen with treatments that we could roll out in weeks. There is some data to suggest that warm weather and humidity will reduce transmissibility. Testing is finally becoming widespread, and that should continue to ramp up. Moreover, we will simply know a lot more about the virus. Each piece helps, and will let us know what parts of normal life are safe to resume.

My guess is large gatherings will be one of the last "normal" things to resume. But I could the baseball season starting, without crowds, if the therapeutics prove successful and testing gets to the point where we can test all the players weekly.

But right now we're just bracing for impact as the first major wave of this hits. The semi-quarantine is our only current option, and even with it in place it seems we're headed for disaster in NYC and the bay area.