[OFF TOPIC] Coronavirus Pandemic

[heywoodu 15,135]

Talking to a neighbour yesterday while doing some work outside, and (for what it's worth, he's a nice guy but tends to exaggerate a tiny bit) according to him the official death toll of 15-20 for my 27k people town is rather low....there were 15 in this nursing home who died in the past few weeks, 18 in that one, 15 in that home for handicapped people, 15 in that nursing home and at least 10 in that one.

 

It's going fast, yet people don't like when you say maybe this being a strict Christian town has something to do with it..

[OlympicsFan 858]

4 hours ago, heywoodu said:

Just for clarification about the recovery rates: the Netherlands don't keep track of that, so no wonder we don't appear in those lists  

Sure ... only 22 % of Germany's cases, but 81 % of Germany's deaths, while having only 21 % of Germany's population.. The Netherlands are doing a tremendous job and their recovery rates for sure are through the roof.

[OlympicsFan 858]

3 hours ago, OlympicIRL said:

Recovery rates are not accurate as a lot of countries are not even reporting or updating on recovery rates.

Both recovery rates and death rates are pretty meaningless/impossible to compare between countries. Countries like Spain, Italy, England, France or the US have horrible recovery/death rates because they have been horrible at testing and missed most cases. I would say the number of deaths and the reproduction rate are far more important numbers. In addition to that you just have to look at the hospitals to see what is truly going on.

[OlympicsFan 858]

6 hours ago, up and down said:

So what is the secret of success for these 8 countries who have achieved more than 50% recovery rate?

 

1. Mass testing is done on daily basis for their citizens. Anybody who wants to get the test can be tested.

 

2. Early detection of cases. These 8 countries managed to detect their patients early and gave them early treatment which lead to high recovery cases.

 

3. Good contact tracing and good strategy to identify the source of the spread in the cluster and prevent the virus from spreading.

 

4. These countries have even drawn maps about the clusters and could even identify how the virus spread in the cluster. Once a person is infected with the virus, the close contact, family members and relatives of the infected person will be immediately called for testing which managed to help prevent the virus from spreading.

 

5. These countries also have good healthcare facilities and their healthcare facilities is ranked as the top 10 best in the world.

 

6. These countries are also well prepared right from the beginning to face the pandemic. Lots of quarantine centres and hospitals are prepared in advanced to host the patients. These countries have also prepared more than enough beds and ventilators for their patients.

 

So what can we learn from these countries?

 

Early detection and early preparation save lives. Prevention is always better than cure. Some countries with poor recovery rate and high number of cases should perhaps pay a visit to these 8 countries and learn from them how to manage the pandemic better.

Not sure how you can say all those things about Malaysia and especially Iran? I think all those things would be far more accurate when talking about countries like Norway, Iceland, Taiwan, Singapore or New Zealand (maybe also Israel). Of course it is much easier to deal with this virus if you are living on an island. For countries like Sweden, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand or Australia it was much easier to contain it then for some countries in the middle of Europe. When we take this into consideration, the english failure becomes even more impressive. I would also like to point out that Greece apparently has done a great job. I don't know how they did it, but somehow they handled this very well. I was sure that Greece would suffer at least as much as Italy, but their response (apparently) was absolutely brilliant. I never thought that Greece would become a role model for countries like Spain, Italy, France, England or even Belgium, considering that they were in a much worse situation to begin with.

[Olympian1010 7,971]

I feel like neither side is right here. We shouldn’t be like Europe where we don’t let kids go outside, and force everyone to stay in their homes, but we also shouldn’t just write everything experts say off. There needs to be a balance where people can work, and where people can be safe. These idiots will not help us reach that middle ground. California, Oregon, and Washington will be smart about this. I think the national infection rate will rise again, but only time will tell (and I hope time makes me look like a fool who was over cautious). If anything, we’ve proven that we’re not the proud, intelligent, informed, science believing nation we once were. The only positive is to this, is that Californian nationalism is on the rise.

 

[up and down 82]

6 hours ago, heywoodu said:

 

Yes, probably not much different than in other countries. I'll just repeat: in the Netherlands recoveries aren't really reported (of course people recover, it's just not reported as 'official' statistic).

 Thank you for your information.

[up and down 82]

2 hours ago, OlympicsFan said:

Not sure how you can say all those things about Malaysia and especially Iran? I think all those things would be far more accurate when talking about countries like Norway, Iceland, Taiwan, Singapore or New Zealand (maybe also Israel). Of course it is much easier to deal with this virus if you are living on an island. For countries like Sweden, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand or Australia it was much easier to contain it then for some countries in the middle of Europe. When we take this into consideration, the english failure becomes even more impressive. I would also like to point out that Greece apparently has done a great job. I don't know how they did it, but somehow they handled this very well. I was sure that Greece would suffer at least as much as Italy, but their response (apparently) was absolutely brilliant. I never thought that Greece would become a role model for countries like Spain, Italy, France, England or even Belgium, considering that they were in a much worse situation to begin with.

Thank you for your information. Perhaps the reason given may not be so accurate. The reasons given may apply to some countries but not all the same for the 8 countries mentioned in the lists. Of course you are right. Greece has done a great job.

[up and down 82]

Countries who have achieved more than 50% recovery rate based on the data from 18th April, 2020. Things to take note here is that Greenland have achieved 100% recovery rate with no more new cases reported.

 

Top best recovery rate (These countries have recorded more than 50% recovery rate)

 

Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths	New Deaths	Total Recovered	Active Cases	Percentage recovered from total cases
1. Greenland	11	+0	0	+0	11	0	100.00 %
2. South Korea	10,653	+18	232	+2	7,937	2,484	74.50 %
3. Iceland	1,760	+6	9	+0	1,291	460	73.35 %
4. Austria	14,671	+76	443	+12	10,214	4,014	69.62 %
5. Iran	80,868	+1,374	5,031	+73	55,987	19,850	69.23 %
6. Thailand	2,733	+33	47	+0	1,787	899	65.39 %
7. Australia	6,565	+32	69	+4	4,163	2,333	63.41 %
8. New Zealand	1,422	+13	11	+0	867	544	60.97%
9. Germany	142,210	+813	4,381	+29	85,400	52,429	60.05 %
10. Switzerland	27,404	+326	1,344	+17	16,400	9,660	59.85 %
11. Malaysia	5,305	+54	88	+2	3,102	2,115	58.47 %
12. Hong Kong	1,024	+2	4	+0	568	452	55.47 %
13. Denmark	7,242	+169	346	+10	3,847	3,049	53.12 %

[up and down 82]

Here is some recent updates about Singapore. Seems strange to see how a small country like Singapore reported huge spike of cases this week. Then the reason is listed as below.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52320289

 

Singapore has seen its biggest number of new cases in a single day, driven by increased testing of foreign workers.

 

Once praised for its success in containing the virus, Singapore is now facing a surge of infections linked to industrial worksites and tightly packed worker dormitories.

 

On Thursday, 728 new cases were reported, bringing the total number of cases to 4,427.

 

Almost 90% of these infections have been linked to these workers.

 

The number is expected to rise as more workers get tested in the coming days to help identify the scale of the problem.

 

Around 300,000 low-wage workers, mostly from South Asia, work in Singapore in construction and maintenance.

 

Most of them live together in huge dormitory complexes on the outskirts of the city they've helped build.

 

Singapore is currently in its own version of a semi-lockdown, which it refers to as a "circuit breaker".

 

Under this, all non-essential businesses are closed, non-essential worker must stay at home and social gatherings of all sizes in both public and private spaces have been banned.

 

Singapore's new quarantine zones

 

Of the 728 new cases reported on Thursday, 654 were residents of dormitories.

 

The biggest dormitory cluster, S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, now accounts for a total of 979 confirmed cases, 22% of all cases in the country.

 

Thousands of healthy workers have now been moved out to floating dormitories, sports halls and vacant public housing buildings in an attempt to isolate them and minimise the risk of infection.

 

Some workers have been moved to these floating facilities

 

But 12 dormitories have been marked as isolation areas - no-one can enter or leave and workers are confined to their rooms, with meals delivered to them.

 

It's not clear how many of them currently share a room now during the quarantine period, but in 2015 the BBC visited a dormitory complex which housed 12 people per room.

 

Alex Au, of non-profit organisation Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), told the BBC that there were sometimes as many as 17 people in a room.

 

The living conditions of some of these workers has now been brought to the fore

 

"The government's rule is 4.5sq m of floor space per person, averaged out across all living spaces including kitchens etc. Even if licensed purpose-built dorms adhere to this, it is very cramped," Catherine James of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) told the BBC.

 

"Keeping them in such living conditions creates systemic vulnerabilities waiting to erupt. Not only during pandemics but even with smaller-scale disease outbreaks like tuberculosis."

 

An earlier report by local news outlet the Straits Times spoke to workers who said they were living in unsanitary conditions.

 

The government has since said that the cleanliness and sanitation of several dormitories that were set as isolation areas had been "vastly improved".

 

Authorities also said they were paying "close attention" to the welfare of foreign workers, adding that those in quarantine will have their salaries paid.

 

'They feel abandoned'

 

Singapore said earlier this week that around 5,000 workers would be tested this week, including those who do not show symptoms but are close contacts of confirmed cases.

 

The Ministry of Health has said the increase in figures is "in line with our continued efforts to actively test and isolate the infected workers".

However, Mr Au of TWC said the current testing measures were insufficient, referring to one incident where 16 roommates of one infected worker were not immediately tested for the virus, but instead isolated in their rooms.

 

 

"They're waiting for symptoms to show before they test. That seems to be reactive instead of proactive," said Mr Au.

 

He added that some workers said that they felt abandoned.

 

"They're beginning to have a sense that they are just kept there and are waiting to get the virus," he said.

 

He questioned why it had taken this outbreak for Singapore to pay attention to the living conditions of its migrant workers.

 

"I hope this will tell us that cheap labour has a cost. Right now we are paying the cost," said Mr Au.

[up and down 82]

Singapore have been doing a good job to maintain their Coronavirus cases and also have been doing a good job with high recovery rate as well. Then all of a sudden everything fell to pieces in the month of April. Starting from this week since Monday, Singapore have been huge spike of cases and poor recovery rate. The cases increase at a very alarming rate at about 700 - 1,000 cases reported on daily basis since Monday. Late detection of the virus among the migrant foreign workers have caused a huge spike in their Coronavirus cases. What a mess it is now.