Amazon Employee At Seattle Headquarters Tests Positive For Coronavirus (cnet.com) 101
An Amazon employee at the company's Seattle headquarters has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and has subsequently been sent to quarantine. CNET reports: The online retail giant has about 55,000 employees in the Seattle area, and reportedly said people working in close contact with the affected person have been notified. The employee went home sick on Feb. 25 and hasn't returned to work since, according to a message sent to Amazon employees seen by The Seattle Times. Amazon learned Tuesday that the employee had tested positive for the virus. So far, a total of nine deaths have been reported in Washington, with 27 confirmed cases in the state. There are more than 100 cases in 15 states as of Tuesday night.
Not Really News (Score:2)
PNW is going to experience a surge, many offices are on now on a WFH basis in an attempt to slow the infection rate, but the cat is out of the bag.
Next year there will be at least a vaccine available.
Time to cancel Prime membership... (Score:4, Insightful)
Viruses don't live forever when they are outside of their host. Amazon Prime was nice while it lasted, but today I'd much rather have my packages delivered slowly than have them arriving overnight. Canceling Prime right now...
Re: Time to cancel Prime membership... (Score:2)
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I wonder if Amazon will keep charging Prime rates when they aren't able to make the delivery times?
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They might have given up on trying to sell prime by slowing everybody else's shipments down, for me last year they were waiting 5 days to start the order, but now they're doing it right away and it is only taking 3-5 days. Speculation, but they probably can't actually charge your card until it ships since it is mail order, so their bean counters might have complained about delayed cash flow.
That's not really long enough to kill the virus on plastic with 50% humidity at room temperatures. On metal, or outdoo
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Next year there will be at least a vaccine available.
Maybe, maybe not. One doesn't just wave one's hands and come up with an effective vaccine. If it were that easy for Coronaviruses in general, there'd be one already.
Re:Not Really News (Score:4, Insightful)
Then we'd have a "cure" for the common cold and flu and be able to not worry about these seasonal afflictions.
(The common cold is generally either rhinovirus or coronavirus. Flu is influenza. They have a lot of variations each which is why we don't have a universal rhinovirus vaccine, or influenza vaccine or coronavirus vaccine).
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Both the common cold and the flu are diseases, meaning patterns of symptoms.
Here, both influenza and coronavirus cause the common cold, and both can cause the flu.
Re:Not Really News (Score:5, Informative)
Coronaviruses [wikipedia.org] are the family of viruses which include the common cold. If it were a simple matter of creating a vaccine for it, we would've cured the common cold already.
The things mutate enough in a span of months to a year to bypass our immune system, and thus any vaccine we develop. Meaning we can catch it again. We can hope that when Covid-19 mutates, its fatality rate drops turning it into just a regular cold. But there's no guarantee. This could be with us for a very long time, if not forever. So if the mutated variants still have a high fatality rate, we're in for some tough times.
What ends up happening eventually is that the virus kills off everyone genetically predisposed to be vulnerable to it. Meaning the people left alive are more resistant to it. i.e. We evolve to withstand it. Which isn't exactly comforting to the people and family lines who don't hold a winning genetic lottery ticket.
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Coronaviruses don't seem to mutate nearly as rapidly as influenza, but the antibodies people develop are short-lived for some reason. People can become re-infected with the exact same coronavirus multiple times, but the immune reaction and illness aren't as severe. There was a study in the 90's where they injected 229E into volunteers, and repeated one year later. Most were re-infected but none got sick from the second infection (80% developed a cold the first time). It's not known how long this partial imm
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Viremia is the condition of having viruses in the blood ("-emia" like "anemia"). I think you mean viruses. Also, "viremia" is singular; the plural is "viremias".
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Since most that are being killed are over 50 (would have already reproduced) there is no genetic pressure to become better suited to fighting a virus like this.
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However, when it is on the radar there is a tendency to attempt to get ahead of the infection with vaccinations. Like with the flu vaccine, some years they are not able to correctly identify the strain that becomes rampant.
Ideally, next years strain will be identified early, a vaccine developed and the impact decreased. No one said anything about a cure for the common cold.
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Coronaviruses [wikipedia.org] are the family of viruses which include the common cold. If it were a simple matter of creating a vaccine for it, we would've cured the common cold already.
Cold [wikipedia.org] is not just coronavirus though.
The common cold is a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract. The most commonly implicated virus is a rhinovirus (30–80%), a type of picornavirus with 99 known serotypes.[29][30] Other commonly implicated viruses include human coronavirus ( 15%),[31][32] influenza viruses (10–15%),[33] adenoviruses (5%),[33] human respiratory syncytial virus (orthopneumovirus), enteroviruses other than rhinoviruses, human parainfluenza viruses, and human metapneumovirus.[34] Frequently more than one virus is present.[35] In total over 200 viral types are associated with colds.[3]
You'd only cure ~15% of colds.
Re:Not Really News (Score:5, Funny)
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Needs more funny mods.
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I live and work in Lake Oswego, OR at a Fortune 1000 company. We are all on a work from home schedule for the rest of the week, at least.
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For actual science from experienced epidemiologists and other related disciplines, these are the folks to read:
https://twitter.com/KrutikaKup... [twitter.com]
https://twitter.com/aetiology/ [twitter.com]
https://twitter.com/ScottGottl... [twitter.com]
https://twitter.com/angie_rasm... [twitter.com]
You do not need to use twitter to read their stuff.
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Actually, the following are true:
There is an "emergency" vaccine based on a military program, it is only 50 percent effective and has fairly bad side effects, and it will be available in six months to nine months. I would NOT recommend getting this.
The actual vaccine will be available in 12-18 months. No, you can't rush it. The first versions will be given to medical personnel, and are slightly less effective than the ones that will roll out about a month later.
When it does come out, if you don't work with
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And stop buying surgical masks (waste of time)
Actually, a surgical mask is pretty effective at keeping you from touching your mouth and nose.
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Science says other wise
Masks may increase risks for non infected folks.
People wearing masks get a false sense of security and folks end up touching their face more.
They do nothing to protect you at all, and make this outbreak worse because the folks who need them, healthcare providers, can not access them.
Here is the science on it:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/t... [forbes.com]
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Fake science, also known as "neckbeards bleeting" say that.
Actual science leads surgeons to be required to wear the fucking masks. The reason that the CDC and everybody else is saying not to use them is that the resulting shortage is a problem for health care workers, and the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
Not because they don't work.
And you're exceptionally moronic for not having the reading comprehension to under the claim "keeping you from touching your mouth and nose" in this context. Y
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Most goods coming in from China sit around for about a month in container ships. Coronavirus only lives for about 9 days when outside its host.
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Not really, otherwise the ships would sink.
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Usually they don't just go down and start popping open cargo containers (with customs seals on them, now broken) and rummaging through shit. They have actual tasks to perform on those ships.
Oh, and the largest cargo carriers maybe have a crew of 15. They're big, but don't require a lot of people to run them. And what people are on them, don't need to go into the cargo hold much at all.
News? (Score:2)
The verge published a similar piece about 18h ago: https://www.theverge.com/2020/... [theverge.com]
Original source: https://twitter.com/KYWeise/st... [twitter.com]
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The verge published a similar piece about 18h ago: https://www.theverge.com/2020/... [theverge.com]
Original source: https://twitter.com/KYWeise/st... [twitter.com]
Slashdot is always old news. People have to pass along stories they've already seen someplace else.
It isn't like they have actual reporters on the scene...
That's funny (Score:2)
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Waiting for Canada to close the US Border (Score:5, Interesting)
Given the apparent number of cases on Washington State, I'm expecting that the border crossing to BC will be closed shortly.
The US medical system seems perversely arranged to promote the spread of covid type viruses.
The Canadian medical system, by contrast, may be better at limiting the spread but undoubtedly has less spare hospital beds available if it does spread.
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Quick google search showed, that at least in 2016, Canada had more hospital beds per person than the US.
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Canadian hospitals are chronically overcrowded. It's routine to have patients housed in the hallways in many hospitals. We are woefully unready for a pandemic.
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All I know is you guys have more beds per person than we do. Perhaps we just use it less, because we've conditioned ourselves to put up with being sick because it's expensive as hell?
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No idea. I just know our hospitals are frequently full to the point that emergency departments have to keep people in the hallways for long stretches of time.
Re: Waiting for Canada to close the US Border (Score:2)
My guess is it has to do with the low population density. There are probably hospitals covering unpopulated areas that have empty beds.
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Perhaps that's because Canadians actually have access to health care. Americans just have to stay home and pray.
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It's not as if U.S. ERs don't have long wait times and people parked in the halls.
Just for funsies, after waiting for 8 hours to be taken back (in pain that tylenol can't even dent the whole time), then 3 more hours for an actual doctor to look at you, then tucked into a corner for a while, you get an eye watering bill. Then 8 months later, a few more bills.
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It's not as if U.S. ERs don't have long wait times and people parked in the halls.
Long wait times, yes. They generally don't have people "parked in the halls." When the waiting area fills up, they do triage and tell a lot of the people to go home, or to an "urgent care" facility.
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Source, I have actually been to an ER. I have seen people parked in the halls, able bodied people sitting in wheelchairs because those were the only chairs left, etc. One the other side, patients being treated parked in the halls because there was nowhere else to put them. I know they were being treated because they had IVs hooked up.
I am not blaming the medical staff, nor do I claim anyone was endangered by being in the hall.
But there's no point in pretending the U.S. system is doing any better than Canada
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It depends on the area. There's two fast growing areas around here that need new hospitals that can be overcrowded. Other areas where the population is more stable don't have the problem.
We also have quite a problem with Americans coming up and pretending to be Canadian for medical purposes. Some fake a medical card and some just want the cheaper prices. Birth tourism as well.
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Perhaps that's because Canadians actually have access to health care. Americans just have to stay home and pray.
Praying is optional, we have Freedom of Religion.
I'm praying directly to the virus; please kill all the cigarette smokers, and the Iranian government. Please burden the rich with seven years of embarrassment for having a garage full of crates of hoarded hand sanitizer and toilet paper. Please teach people to shame those who don't cover their coughs. Please use as much tough love as is required for this task. Thank you, virus. Blessed be the Virus.
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Um, actually US hospitals will do the same if need be. In the event of a major disaster (quake, flood, etc) we will fill up the halls with beds too. It's part of disaster planning.
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It's got nothing to do with the medical system. Americans simply travel more [policyadvice.net] than people in other countries, allowing these things to spread more quickly.
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Americans simply travel more than people in other countries,
You must be joking!! Most American's don't even have a passport.
That link just says Americans drive cars more.
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You are not a better person simply because you can travel half the distance and end up in another country.
I'm Australian, you insensitive clod. I can drive for two days and still be in the same *state*.
Almost all at one nursing home. (Score:2)
> Given the apparent number of cases on Washington State, I'm expecting that the border crossing to BC will be closed shortly.
Nearly all the cases in Washington state, and all the deaths, are from one disease cluster in a nursing home in Kirkland. As of a couple days ago about 1/4 of the just over 100 residents and 1/7th of the 180 staff were down with confirmed or suspected cases of the bug.
The patients are typically in their 70s or older. Fatality rate for COVID-19 seems to be over 21% for those in t
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and all the deaths
About half, actually.
That nursing home is definitely a hot spot, but we've got incidents spanning counties, now.
There will be more hot spots.
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Canada is left wide open to the world due to domestic politics, virtue signalling, political correctness.
Re "less spare hospital beds available if it does spread"
The free gov health care system is run like the US medical system... just enough wards, staff, experts, ICU spending for average per day use.
Decades of average use have set the expected numbers of ICU beds in use over any 24 hours.
Add wuflu to a "free" Canada wide health care system and the numbers look like the USA.. but with mo
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America is wide open to the world due to touristry, trade, and long borders. If Canada is open then so is the USA, given how many miles of border we share with Canada. You think the Mexican border is insecure? Try the Canadian one sometime. There's long, long stretches of it that aren't patrolled literally at all, but which you can hike across in a reasonably short period.
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Hike across? There are spots you can just wander across (or drive). Sometimes there's a phone with a sign asking you to please call and mention that you've crossed the border.
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They have X-band radar and cameras. You can hike across, but if you're carrying a giant duffel bag you won't get far. They saw you, even if you didn't see them.
They use the same radar in the national forest to guard "day use only" areas. All you see is something that looks like a utility box. They don't show up every time; only if they're not busy with something else. But they know whenever a human-sized animal walks through that part of the forest.
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The US medical system seems perversely arranged to promote the spread of covid type viruses.
We're more rugged than Canadians. Those who survive the infection will be protected for life. Canada will be treating new patients every year, at hospitals, at full cost. Americans will just tough it out at home, and live or die according to God's Will, or luck, depending on your personal preference. Because Freedom.
Canadians don't even have the freedom to die from a virus in peace, that's the sort of pampered nanny-state they have.
Transmission via cash? (Score:4, Informative)
Seems like bills [cnn.com] could be a transmission vector, considering how widely the virus is spreading in disparate areas. Be careful out there, people.
OMG! It's Coronagedon! (Score:2)
I surprised we have not yet hit the level of "OMG! It's Coronagedon!".
I am starting to wonder if I should register a few Coronagedon [google.com] and Coronagate [google.com] related domain names and go stir up trouble on 4chan.
"Coronagate" will be the name the "Fake News" uses to refer to the "Scandal" of the "Trump Administration" "Keeping the 'Truth'" about "Coronagedon" from the "American People"!
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Someone already registered Coronagate.com
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I'm too frightened to check their web site.
It could be virus related, or it could be a really scary stargate fan pr0n site that I wouldn't be able to un-see.
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Parked domain.
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Cash? You still use cash?
How quaint.
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Cash? You still use cash?
How quaint.
Far faster to use cash for small purchases than a phone as well as far more difficult to be tracked by advertisers (or the government) on what you buy.
Also, more secure. If you're robbed, you only lose what's on you. If you're robbed of your phone, not only can't you call anyone for help, all your bank information is now available to the thief (in some cases).
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Cash? You still use cash?
How quaint.
Far faster to use cash for small purchases than a phone as well as far more difficult to be tracked by advertisers (or the government) on what you buy.
Also, more secure. If you're robbed, you only lose what's on you. If you're robbed of your phone, not only can't you call anyone for help, all your bank information is now available to the thief (in some cases).
Bitcoin. Only bitcoin. And we're not getting within a droplets throw of each other for the handover of any physical goods.
At least until Coronagedon crashes the blockchain. But in those last few glorious moments, I'm double-spending the farm.
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The blockchain has natural herd immunity, it is immutable unless over half the nodes get infected at the same time. So everybody needs to add as many blocks as they can, because each transaction purifies a node. And if you add a new node, the virgin blood will cleanse the whole network.
So yes, you have to double-spend the farm, if you hodl then Coronagedon will corrupt your coins, and they'll turn on you.
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Dude, like, weed stores don't accept plastic, Bro.
Need a new site (Score:2)
Can we please just bundle all Coronavirus stories into a new site "Slashvirus" so we can avoid infection of the front page of Slashdot with fear-mongering?
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Why don't we bundle all the people who cry about stories they don't like because they lack the self-control to scroll past off to a site called Slashwhine, or maybe Bitchdot? I bet it would do more to improve the signal to noise ratio than your suggestion.
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Why don't we bundle all the people who cry about stories they don't like because they lack the self-control to scroll past off to a site called Slashwhine
That is also acceptable, since we are making new sites and all. Your own post can be first there.
MOD PARENT UP! (Score:2)
For Christ's sake, give it a rest! We get it, you are scared of a different version of the same fucking thing that happens every damn winter. I am sure you think this is the armageddon event you have all been dreaming of, so fine, go off and have your global catastrophe on your own damn time, the rest of us who have lived through dozens of similar scares are going to go on about our business.
Make sure you use diffuse lighting in your house, because those shadows can be pretty terrifyin
Enjoy (Score:1)
This mess is showing up in all the diverse places; big cities with endless international transients, sharing buses, trains, hotels, elevators etc.
Meanwhile I'm in the sticks, hundreds of feet of spacing between my uninfected single family home and the next, with my private, uninfected cars and no international airports within 50 minutes.
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And you still have to go to the grocery store at some point, where you too can get infected regardless of anything you just said.
Note that his building is NOT the one ... (Score:3)
Heard a speculation that this might have been related to Amazon's good works for the homeless - which includes having built a shelter in one of their headquarters building. So checked.
He worked in the "Brazil" building. This is NOT the one with the homeless shelter (several blocks away). Nor is it the main headquarters building (two blocks away).
Also: The Amazon homeless program - in cooperation with "Mary's Place", involves providing private apartments to families, (typically those with children requiring medical care, such as I.V.s and/or while on waiting lists for transplants.) Beneficiaries typically live in the apartment for several months while accumulating first-and-last-months-rent deposits for a lease on an apartment of their own. The shared building includes some of these, and a kitchen providing meals for them and other Mary's Place sites nearby.
Re:Note that his building is NOT the one ... (Score:4, Informative)
It's not a "homeless shelter" as most people think of them, it's a "family shelter" mostly for families fleeing domestic violence. It's in the new Nitro South building, which I'm in. I don't think Mary's Place has moved into their new quarters yet, we've just barely got settled in ourselves and some of the floors are still under construction.
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The most likely people to be early cases are the ones who travel to places where the virus is circulating.
Eventually people who are poor, crowded and in poor health may become a particular risk, but for now you're more likely to get it from your investment banker than the waiter who serves you in a Chinese restaurant or the panhandler sitting outside.
1/5 of the workforce will now have it (Score:1)
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Now you're starting to think.
In actual fact, the 2019-nCvD has been spreading in Washington State undetected since mid-January.
You probably already had it, thought it was a bad cold with a headache that went away.
It's only if you're over 60 that it's a real risk (yes, I know, exception exception, nobody cares, takeaway is if you're not over 60 stop panicking, check the CDC or your local county public health website/organization.
time to panic (Score:1)
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Yep. That's why we *as individuals* need to do. It won't stop this thing, but it will slow it down and that's a big deal.
The difference between this thing and the flu is that we're already doing everything we can with the flu. There's more preventable deaths on the table here. There's a lot of things business and government leaders should be doing.
But for us, if you can live with seasonal exposure to the flu without panicking, you should be able to get by with sensible precautions. You should probably t
It's not like we test anyone (Score:3)
Yes, I know S Korea used 10,000 tests, and BC rolls out more than 1,000 a day, but here in Ground Zero Seattle, there are no test kits and we don't test people.
All that "testing" you heard of was thermal imaging at airports - which only catches you if you're actively sick, a very short window.
Luckily for you two statewide flu researches were ongoing, so we know it's been spreading undetected since mid-January.
Oh, come on, only 9 people dead in this state ... with a lethality above 2% if you're 60 or over (7.6% if 70-79, 15.9% if 80+).
So, isn't it great living in a country without Single Payer Healthcare like BC up in Canada has?
Wash your hands with soap and water.
About those 9 deaths (Score:2)
We should take this virus seriously, but it is more likely to affect the elderly.
Comment removed (Score:3)
Gotta crank those numbers up (Score:1)
Gotta crank those numbers up. What kind of low quality Chinese shit virus is this? Common flu kills 2-3K people a month on average in the US year after year, more in winter months. Coronavirus has been in circulation for 2 months and only 11 people are dead? We should send it back and demand a refund.
UnFulfilled (Score:2)
How are those open space offices working out now? (Score:2)