Corona thread. No politics please

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vkp78 said:
To the people who support a lockdown and who are still receiving an income(either because you are a "essential worker ", able to work from home, or business is not affected by the lockdown):
Would you support the government taking away 50% of your income and distributing it to people with no income because of the lockdown?
If you don't, why not? I mean about the concept in general- if you support a lockdown and still have an income, in addition to the taxes you already pay, are you willing to give up more of your money?
I am flexible about the 50% or about who should receive the aid (obviously dont mean a millionaire ).
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Ummmm, we do pretty close to that in Canada on a normal basis. I sure don’t support it but they don’t ask before they take it.

I paid 45.8% income tax and thousands in other deductions for various mandatory government programs. 53.5% is the highest bracket. Cumulative.
 
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bluemax_1 said:
One other concern is that the greater the spread of the virus, the greater the chance of a more dangerous mutation occurring, whether from natural mutation within a host, or recombinant variants appearing due to confection or another species jump (as evidenced by the fact that this virus has proven to be able to infect cats, dogs, ferrets and other animal species).
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this is the thing that scares me the most, that by not taking early action to curb the spread, a more dangerous virus would emerge
 
JustinFournier said:
Ummmm, we do pretty close to that in Canada on a normal basis. I sure don’t support it but they don’t ask before they take it.
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Discussing taxes, what is fair and unfair and whether anyone / everyone is paying their fair share can create a sh*tstorm which is why I tired to avoid the message which you responded to. In fact, I wrote 2 responses which I deleted both times because I was apprehensive about coming across as if I was fouling the spirit of this great COVID-19 thread.

I make no secrets about where I stand on politics: I lean center-left socially and I am center-right on fiscal issues. I like to think that I am an independent voter who finds quite a bit of comfort in the libertarian (small l libertarian) philosophies but I am also persuadable with other socio-economic arguments rooted in reason and backed by results. In other words, a three hugging hippy commie to some folks :rolleyes:

With all that said, I absolutely loathe the current burden of taxation on the middle-class, never mind increasing the taxes in order to make up for the governmental eff-ups vis a vis horrible and wasteful management in addition to the lopsided and the top heavy giveaways. I am fortunate to live in a part of this Union where I can see some enormously mind boggling wealth, at times grotesquely excessive wealth at the disposal of a very minute number of our people. I can see with my own eyes as to how this unhealthy level of concentrated wealth seems to be increasing every day all the while the majority of people are truly suffering. To ask/demand/require the middle-class to pick up the tab and to contribute even more is nothing but a scheme/ruse to erode that very same middle-class.

ETA: I am not insinuating that our friend vpk78 was advocating for a sharp raise in taxes on the middle-class. I had clearly understood what he was thinking aloud with some solutions.
 
I don't understand this 'socially liberal, financial conservative' viewpoint. Doesn't being socially liberal require financial liberalism?
 
Lorien said:
sorry if my question seems political. It's more of a philosophical question
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Overall it's better to be a bunch of shades of grey than a black and white hardliner. I know right now any platform is very polarized.

They younger and poorer you are they more you'll tend to be idealistic and want to see the government lean towards helping people and support a political party or system that says they'll do that. Then as you age if you start to accumulate wealth and power people will tend to start leaning the other way and want to keep everything they've got for themselves or their kin or people like them and they will lean the other way.

The way I describe it to myself is "Kindness is not Weakness".
 
Lorien said:
sorry if my question seems political. It's more of a philosophical question
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My reply had noting to do the perceived subtext of your Q. I just took some devilish pleasure in saying no funny brownies for you :p

Regarding the center left/right thing on the socio-economic spectrum, with me it is more age group related: I’ve gone softer in the head as I’ve gotten older and poorer!
 
Casinostocks said:
My reply had noting to do the perceived subtext of your Q. I just took some devilish pleasure in saying no funny brownies for you :p

Regarding the center left/right thing on the socio-economic spectrum, with me it is more age group related: I’ve gone softer in the head as I’ve gotten older and poorer!
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I went and got my peepee slapped for posting a potentially politically sensitive topic/question, and rightly so. I should know better than most to open those doors here:oops: I really liked your brownie comment, you devil! :)
 
From an article in today's NYT's digital front page. I am copying and pasting the whole article because not everyone may be able to open NYT links. Personally speaking, I have no opinion and no expertise on this matter!

Steroids Can Be Lifesaving for Sickest Patients, Studies Show:

International clinical trials published on Wednesday confirmed the hope that cheap, widely available steroid drugs can help seriously ill patients survive Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

Following release of the new data, the World Health Organization on Wednesday strongly recommended steroids for treatment of patients with severe or critical Covid-19 worldwide. But the agency recommended against giving the drugs to patients with mild disease.

The new studies include an analysis that pooled data from seven randomized clinical trials evaluating three steroids in over 1,700 patients. The study concluded that each of the three drugs reduced the risk of death.

That paper and three related studies were published in the journal JAMA, along with an editorial describing the research as an “important step forward in the treatment of patients with Covid-19.”

Corticosteroids should now be the first-line treatment for critically ill patients, the authors added. The only other drug shown to be effective in seriously ill patients, and only modestly at that, is remdesivir.

Steroids like dexamethasone, hydrocortisone and methylprednisolone are often used by doctors to tamp down the body’s immune system, alleviating inflammation, swelling and pain. Many Covid-19 patients die not of the virus, but of the body’s overreaction to the infection.

The analysis of pooled data found that steroids were linked with a one-third reduction in deaths among Covid-19 patients. Dexamethasone produced the strongest results: a 36 percent drop in deaths in 1,282 patients treated in three separate trials.

In June, researchers at Oxford University discovered that dexamethasone seemed to improve survival rates in severely ill patients. Researchers had hoped that other inexpensive steroids might help these patients.

Taken together, the new studies will bolster confidence in the use of steroids and address any lingering hesitancy on the part of some physicians, said Dr. Todd Rice, an associate professor of medicine and critical care physician at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

The analysis of pooled data found that steroids were linked with a one-third reduction in deaths among Covid-19 patients. Dexamethasone produced the strongest results: a 36 percent drop in deaths in 1,282 patients treated in three separate trials.

In June, researchers at Oxford University discovered that dexamethasone seemed to improve survival rates in severely ill patients. Researchers had hoped that other inexpensive steroids might help these patients.

Taken together, the new studies will bolster confidence in the use of steroids and address any lingering hesitancy on the part of some physicians, said Dr. Todd Rice, an associate professor of medicine and critical care physician at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
 
CataD said:
Casinostocks Casinostocks
;)
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I lost my oldest uncle back in early Feb this year due to severe pneumonia for which he was hospitalized for (he was 87 YO) and then he was hooked up to a ventilator. One of the drugs which was being administered was Dexamethasone. This was right at the cusp of COVID-19's spread (he lived elsewhere, not in the US) but COVID-19 was not as widespread back then. When he went into coma and the decision was whether to be intubated, after his children consulted with the physicians, it was decided not to intimate and let the process take its course which lasted a mere few days. Right after his passing, my cousins informed us that the hospital had started to take severe precautions against COVID-19 because just in a handful of days, the cases had alarming accelerated. They never found out if his COD was COVID-19 related because he fell outside of that window and quite frankly it shouldn't matter as he was old with a host of developing respiratory issues in his last year of life.

This anecdotal tale has nothing to do with the efficacy of steroidal drugs but I cited it because when I read the article, I had an aha moment as it sounded familiar to me! However I do believe that this family of drugs may be helpful to some COVID-19 stricken patients who are perhaps not as old and as sick, with an immune system which is perhaps better suited for the fight for their lives.
 
Casinostocks Casinostocks I'm sorry for your loss, Mat :(... My condolences..

Anecdotally, I personally have an acquaintance whose parents (both) were treated with steroids / corticosteroids (don't know the specifics) a few months ago.. They're older and prob have underlying health conditions; they were doing OK last I heard. This was not in NA or EU..
 
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