So can the coronovirus mutate into something more deadly?
If not, I don't understand what the big deal is.
shareI have friend who is an anesthesiologist and he told me no.
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MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > So can the coronovirus mutate into somet...
Always.
shareIt can, but it can also mutate to something less deadly.
shareHave you not heard that the growth is exponential? And that that means that an unprepared health care system (like the extremely neglected one in the U.S.) can be easily overwhelmed if the rate of infection is not slowed?
What's not to understand?
We do have the best healthcare system in the world. People come from all over the world to the US. But, we can’t fight something we don’t have a vaccine to conquer it. China lied for so long about the outbreak. We either will die or survive. Usually the elderly and the very young are at risk, but the young aren’t being affected. Strange?
shareI am not sure America has the best public health care system in the world especially at the state level.
shareNo, we do not. One problem is access. That immediately puts us below most other first world countries. And that's a big part of the reason why we currently have no real idea how many people in the country are infected. Of course, it's not just poor access, we also don't have the infrastructure in place to deal with this emergency. When the health care industry is only designed to treat the rich, it doesn't need the resources to treat the poor. And that's the shameful way our healthcare industry WAS DESIGNED. And it makes EVERYBODY sicker.
I hope the people who don't understand why this is a big deal are willing to adopt the social distancing measures anyway, because the hospitals being swamped by people who need ventillators all at once is the nightmare scenario that awaits if we don't take the necessary safety measures. Then, the death rate will be higher, and it will be unnecessary deaths that we could have prevented.
I know for a fact folks on Medicaid receive better care than most who have insurance. Their meds are next to nothing. A script I pay $35.00 for my daughter pays $2.00. If they need high priced drugs they get them. Everyone I know who is on SSI and Medicaid get better care and drugs than I do.
I just thought of something. Don’t pull out the aluminum foil hat just yet. There’s a question whether this virus was developed in a lab. It’s hitting mostly the elderly and not the very young which is not the norm. Could this virus have been developed to target the elderly? Just a thought...
There are people without insurance who don't get Medicaid. Lots of them. I consider medicaid a form of insurance anyway, don't you?
shareAnyone who works a certain amount of hours is eligible for O’Care. A person has to have some type of income for O’Care. Those who cannot work can receive Medicaid. One of the best policies to have for a healthy young adult which O’care did away with and Trump brought back is the major hospital plan. They are not expensive.
I had one years ago when we moved back to FL. My husband had paid benefits, but we couldn’t afford the dependent coverage. His salary had been cut in half. I took one of those plans which covered the hospital and actually covered in office surgery. I had to pay for office visits, but I was healthy. It was a relief to know I had coverage for the hospital. Later, when we could afford dependent coverage I had to pay 20%. That 20% adds up, but folks on Medicaid paid nothing!
I did not have any medical insurance in the U.S. for several years. And I needed it. Severely.
Obamacare did something to resolve the issue, but it put the ball right back in the court of the insurance companies. The same insurance companies that gaslit the U.S. into the situation in the first place. I tried two separate Obamacare plans by different companies, and both of them lied about doctors being in their network when they weren't. Extensively.
There are homeless people without any insurance. Medicaid will require them to do paperwork many of them will not be able to do.
I don't have the figures for this year, but in 2016, even with ACA, there were 27 million uninsured. 27 million. That's almost 10% of the population.
Bernie Sanders' plan is the only one addressing this issue correctly.
Even people with insurance go broke over medical costs. I wouldn't call that the best health care system in the world.
shareEngland expects over 300,000 to succumb...that means die. Italy is going to see a death rate found only in nightmares! Merkel of Germany expects 100’s of thousands. It’s possible it could mutate. Did you not see my post “How COVID-19 Spreads”? “Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).” They don’t have to sneeze or cough on you. Look at what is going on in the world!
The “big deal” is Disney & other attractions don’t shut down, schools don’t close, resorts don’t close, flights from overseas aren’t banned, countries don’t shut down, etc., etc. unless it is a “big deal”.
Look at this way. Let's say you can drive a car safely at 50 mph. That doesn't mean you can drive a car safely at 200mph. 200mph is much faster than 50mph. That's an increase of rate that makes the trip less safe.
Same thing.
75% of survivors live with 25% less lung strength. Case closed.
shareFYI any severe pneumonia or respiratory illness can cause diminished "lung strength".
So if that statistic is for real, which is highly doubtful considering the low quality of information we're getting about this disease, then it's probably based on studies of people who were hospitalized within the least few months. You'd probably get similar results if you measured people who were recently hospitalized with severe pneumonias, influenzas, or other respiratory illnesses.
You could be right.
shareI usually am. But on this, I'm even more right than usual.
FYI people who smoke or who live in areas of extreme air pollution can also have diminished lung capacity. Which is possibly one reason that it hit the Chinese so hard, China has horrific air pollution, the kind that leaves everyone with chronic lung damage.
Yes. Viruses are mutating all the time, and are always getting more or less deadly, they are always exchanging DNA. The H1N1 virus that came through a few years ago was a less-deadly mutated form of the influenza virus that killed something like 50 million people in 1918. At one point in 1918-1919 the H1N1 influenza was so virulent that people were dropping dead on the street all over the world, but when it made its comeback a few years ago it killed a few hundred thousand. Which was bad, but much less bad than it was a century ago.
Little is known about the new COVID virus. There seem to be two strains already, one that's extremely deadly and one that's less so, but apparently this isn't certain. Nothing is certain, except that it's the nature of viruses to constantly mutate.