Emergence of a Deadly Coronavirus

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Crowds boozing on Upper East Side elicit tough words from Mayor de Blasio

Thanks for the thorough response jimmym.

https://freopp.org/the-covid-19-nursing ... 47433c3f70

Back on the subject of meat processing plants. Many plants in Germany are also experiencing coronavirus hot spots in their meat plants.

Coronavirus: Fourth large outbreak at German slaughterhouse

Dozens of people have been infected with the coronavirus at a slaughterhouse in the state of Lower Saxony. Another large coronavirus outbreak was reported at a German slaughterhouse on Monday. In the last two weeks, meat-processing plants have been the site of three other major outbreaks. In the past two weeks, meat-processing plants in the states of Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia have also had to close after hundreds of workers tested positive for the coronavirus.

Despite the fact that poor working practices and squalid living quarters of these workers, mostly from Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, have been known for years, until these outbreaks no lawmakers have moved to changed these conditions.

So again the common thread is that meat processing plants employ a large number of immigrants. But many industries employ large numbers of immigrants and do not become coronavirus hot spots. Why is meat processing plants different? Is there a common thread on how patient zero in each hot spot became infected?

According to Wikipedia "By May 5, over 10,000 meatpacking plant workers in 29 states in the U.S. and working at 170 plants had tested positive for the coronavirus. At least 45 of those meat industry workers had died."

This same problem appears in Canada, Australia and Germany. It is also happening in Ireland.

COVID-19 cases confirmed in three Irish meat processing plants

According to reporting in The Irish Times and RTE (Ireland’s national broadcaster), staff in the three meat plants are self-isolating. The infection clusters are stoking fears for the country’s agrifood sector.

A spokesperson for Meat Industry Ireland, an industry group who represent producers, said production levels and processing throughput for the Irish beef industry is down about 20 percent on equivalent weeks in 2018, and down 30 percent compared to early March 2020, before lockdown measures were announced.

Is this just coincidence or is the world's meat production plants being specifically targeted?

I'm trying to find information about covid hotspots in my country and I see various human-operated plants: a sewing hall, a furniture factory, a coal mine... full diversity.
Here, we never closed "non-essential" businesses, factories have been operating all the time.

So, my guess is: meat processing plants are the main kind of huge human-operated factories that are considered "essential" and not closed even with the strictest measures.

YouTube censors epidemiologist Knut Wittkowski for opposing lockdown

Big Tech companies are aggressively tamping down on COVID-19 “misinformation” — opinions and ideas contrary to official pronouncements.

Dr. Knut M. Wittkowski, former head of biostatistics, epidemiology and research design at Rockefeller University, says YouTube removed a video of him talking about the virus that had racked up more than 1.3 million views.

Wittkowski, 65, is a ferocious critic of the nation’s current steps to fight the coronavirus. He has derided social distancing, saying it only prolongs the virus’ existence, and has attacked the current lockdown as mostly unnecessary.

Wittkowski, who holds two doctorates in computer science and medical biometry, believes the coronavirus should be allowed to create “herd immunity,” and that short of a vaccine, the pandemic will only end after it has sufficiently spread through the population.

https://nypost.com/2020/05/16/youtube-c ... -lockdown/

^ This "herd immunity" concept is based on an assumption that covid creates long-term immunity after contracting it.
Currently, there is no evidence supporting or contradicting the assumption - simply because there was too little time to explore the topic.

If covid turns out similar to, say, measles, and would generate long-term immunity, a "coronavirus party" would indeed result in herd immunity at a cost of increased illnesses and deaths.
If covid turns out similar to common cold, herd immunity would be impossible ever without a vaccine and a "coronavirus party" would result only in unnecessary illnesses and deaths.
It's most likely somewhere in-between but we don't know where exactly, especially with its broad spectrum from asymptomatic to deadly presentations.

Also, the concept assumes that risk of serious long-term complications after contracting covid is negligible.

As of May 19, 2020, the answers are unknown.
Once they become known, the concept can be re-evaluated.

Sorry, half of my English comes from scientific papers.

There is this idea - sometimes called "covid party" - that if everyone contracts COVID19, we will get herd immunity and get over it.
The problem is: we don't know for how long one is immune after contracting it and recovering.
There are some illnesses like measles that grant lifelong immunity.
There are some common cold viruses that one can contract several times in one season.
We have no idea where on this axis is covid. Existing data is scarce and conflicting.
Also, we have no idea about possible long-term complications and how to prevent them.

This is why, currently, the "covid party" is a bad idea. Too little knowledge means too much risk and a high chance it could never work anyway.

COVID19 is not chickenpox!

Just remember that if you want to go to a Covid Party.

One never knows how the virus will behave in your body. Fortunately, it didn’t behave too badly in mine.

Children are getting a “multisymptom inflammatory syndrome” related to COVID which is quite serious, requires hospitalization, and can prove fatal.

Chicken pox is well-known and has relatively rare characteristics that makes chickenpox parties make sense.
Covid is, among all other things, still largely unknown - though a lot has been learned since March.

When it comes to proposition that everyone should contract it:

Title text: If enough people uphill decide to try the rolling strategy, they can make the decision for you.
https://xkcd.com/2300/