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My son attends that school. We literally got the call while hosting an evening party for him and several friends. Gonna be a rough week.

marklacey 7y ago
Sorry to hear that and hope it’s not too stressful!
jacquesm 7y ago
Oh that sucks. I'm so sorry to hear that. Every day I drop one of my children off at school and I feel like I'm playing a very macabre form of lottery. But it's illegal here to keep your children out of school and of course there will have to be some disaster first before they will close the schools.
- cjbprime 7y ago
  For what it's worth, I was surprised to see not just that there's age skew in mortality (no children have died) but also age skew in diagnosed infection (far fewer children are reporting symptoms than you'd expect). Of course, we can still worry about children infecting high-risk groups, etc.
  - maxden 7y ago
    but how would you know if you have covid-19 if you have symptoms of a common cold and you haven't been exposed to the reported high risk items. Although as it gets more widespread it could come from anywhere. Will we get to a point where if we have cold like symptoms we are expected to consider the virus and act accordingly?
    - allannienhuis 7y ago
      Well, isn't that the case today with the flu? We always think 'it's just a cold, I'll tough it out', but we could be (and often are) fighting the first symptoms of influenza. Shouldn't we treat it as such, to avoid spreading it to the most at-risk? Influenza is basically as deadly as this new virus, and a much more present danger. But we don't treat it with anywhere near the same degree of caution. Why is that?
      - jaynetics 7y ago
        - there is at least the possibility that Covid is an order of magnitude more deadly - there might be more immunity against influenza in the population - there is a vaccine with some success - influenza often starts with a high fever so you're less likely to misinterpret it But who knows, a few more covids and we might become very careful and hygiene conscious every winter and end up limiting influenza, too.
      - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
        Covid-19 appears to be about ten times as deadly as normal influenza.
      - cjbprime 7y ago
        Around ten times more deadly, not basically as deadly. Around 2% mortality for COVID-19 vs. 0.2% mortality for influenza, with a chance that the COVID figure is underreported because many of the people who are not counted as having died are currently seriously ill.
        macawfish 7y ago
        To put things in perspective, the annual mortality rate in the US is 1 in 115 people. 2% mortality for COVID-19 would be 1 in 50 people. So if, hypothetically, everyone in the country got infected over the course of one year, and 2% of them died, the deaths from COVID-19 alone would happen more than twice as fast as we're used to seeing people go. There are some assumptions and simplifications there, but it helps me get a feel for what a "2% mortality rate" might seem like, given everything else being normal. Thinking about it this way has really made me appreciate life and the people I've been blessed to know during my time here.
        mikekchar 7y ago
        > the annual mortality rate in the US is 1 in 115 people. Kind off topic, but my brain was wandering. If 1 in 115 people die per year, then you have a 1 in 115 chance of dying per year. Which means your average expected lifetime is 115 years... which is a bit high. But I guess that it's because there are more people being born than die per year and being young (and in a rich country in a modern era), their life expectancy is quite long. Still, I would have expected a higher mortality rate off hand.
    - interfixus 7y ago
      I live in a country with - so far - only two reported cases. And I consider us to be at that point. So, I take basic precautions and have done so for weeks. Of course, we need never reach the point if everyone would act with just a basic level of thought and consideration. Sadly and infuriatingly, hardly anyone does.
  - UncleOxidant 7y ago
    Kids are basically carriers.
    - dennisgorelik 7y ago
      Covid-19 reproduction strategy is to use kids as carriers by making sure that kids (and other people with a strong immune system) are not getting too sick when they are infected. That suggests that Covid-19 is, actually, not as deadly as initial reports suggest. Most likely the number of infected people is heavily underreported. If number of infected people is underreported 10x, and number of people who died from Covid-19 is reported accurately, then Covid-19 mortality is overeported by 10x. It is possible that Covid-19 mortality is comparable with mortality of a regular influenza.
      - cjbprime 7y ago
        (which of course could kill still many millions of people, assuming you mean that the mortality rate is comparable to flu once you're infected, but that the transmissibility is much higher)
  - jacquesm 7y ago
    They can still get infected and bring it home as well as to the rest of their extended family. And they can still get very ill even if they don't die. I've had pneumonia in the past and I don't wish it on anyone, least of all my kids.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
cm2012 7y ago
You and your immediate family should be okay, but maybe don't visit grandparents if you have them nearby.
- stewbrew 7y ago
  The same is true for a normal flu. It seems the incubation time is rather long with this virus which is why you might want to wait before visiting them again.
- koheripbal 7y ago
  You are focusing on the death rate too much. People who get pneumonia from this end up with permanent lung damage even if they survive.
UncleOxidant 7y ago
Beavertonian here, so not that far from you. Since this teacher started showing symptoms on the 19th that means it's been passing around for maybe 2 or 3 weeks already - bit of a scary thought. Since kids are only developing a very mild illness from this, it seems most likely that this teacher caught it from one of the students.
- dawnerd 7y ago
  I've noticed people in Beaverton/Hillsboro are really bad at washing their hands in public. I'm at the movies a lot and every single time I go to the bathroom there's someone walking right out. I've been seeing a few people with masks on (although way more when I was in Toronto three weeks ago), but like those wont help you at all if you're not washing your hands.
  - andykx 7y ago
    While I appreciate the firsthand information, I think this is true of practically anywhere. Frankly, trying to prevent catastrophe through changing individuals’ behavior is practically impossible. Consider the amount of people who still smoke cigarettes as an example.J
  - sizzle 7y ago
    Also on the MAX, cough and sneeze without covering it or on hands then touching everything that others will be also touching. Maybe all trains are like this?

marklacey 7y ago

Sorry to hear that and hope it’s not too stressful!

jacquesm 7y ago

Oh that sucks. I'm so sorry to hear that. Every day I drop one of my children off at school and I feel like I'm playing a very macabre form of lottery. But it's illegal here to keep your children out of school and of course there will have to be some disaster first before they will close the schools.

cjbprime 7y ago
For what it's worth, I was surprised to see not just that there's age skew in mortality (no children have died) but also age skew in diagnosed infection (far fewer children are reporting symptoms than you'd expect). Of course, we can still worry about children infecting high-risk groups, etc.
- maxden 7y ago
  but how would you know if you have covid-19 if you have symptoms of a common cold and you haven't been exposed to the reported high risk items. Although as it gets more widespread it could come from anywhere. Will we get to a point where if we have cold like symptoms we are expected to consider the virus and act accordingly?
  - allannienhuis 7y ago
    Well, isn't that the case today with the flu? We always think 'it's just a cold, I'll tough it out', but we could be (and often are) fighting the first symptoms of influenza. Shouldn't we treat it as such, to avoid spreading it to the most at-risk? Influenza is basically as deadly as this new virus, and a much more present danger. But we don't treat it with anywhere near the same degree of caution. Why is that?
    - jaynetics 7y ago
      - there is at least the possibility that Covid is an order of magnitude more deadly - there might be more immunity against influenza in the population - there is a vaccine with some success - influenza often starts with a high fever so you're less likely to misinterpret it But who knows, a few more covids and we might become very careful and hygiene conscious every winter and end up limiting influenza, too.
    - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
      Covid-19 appears to be about ten times as deadly as normal influenza.
    - cjbprime 7y ago
      Around ten times more deadly, not basically as deadly. Around 2% mortality for COVID-19 vs. 0.2% mortality for influenza, with a chance that the COVID figure is underreported because many of the people who are not counted as having died are currently seriously ill.
      - macawfish 7y ago
        To put things in perspective, the annual mortality rate in the US is 1 in 115 people. 2% mortality for COVID-19 would be 1 in 50 people. So if, hypothetically, everyone in the country got infected over the course of one year, and 2% of them died, the deaths from COVID-19 alone would happen more than twice as fast as we're used to seeing people go. There are some assumptions and simplifications there, but it helps me get a feel for what a "2% mortality rate" might seem like, given everything else being normal. Thinking about it this way has really made me appreciate life and the people I've been blessed to know during my time here.
        mikekchar 7y ago
        > the annual mortality rate in the US is 1 in 115 people. Kind off topic, but my brain was wandering. If 1 in 115 people die per year, then you have a 1 in 115 chance of dying per year. Which means your average expected lifetime is 115 years... which is a bit high. But I guess that it's because there are more people being born than die per year and being young (and in a rich country in a modern era), their life expectancy is quite long. Still, I would have expected a higher mortality rate off hand.
  - interfixus 7y ago
    I live in a country with - so far - only two reported cases. And I consider us to be at that point. So, I take basic precautions and have done so for weeks. Of course, we need never reach the point if everyone would act with just a basic level of thought and consideration. Sadly and infuriatingly, hardly anyone does.
- UncleOxidant 7y ago
  Kids are basically carriers.
  - dennisgorelik 7y ago
    Covid-19 reproduction strategy is to use kids as carriers by making sure that kids (and other people with a strong immune system) are not getting too sick when they are infected. That suggests that Covid-19 is, actually, not as deadly as initial reports suggest. Most likely the number of infected people is heavily underreported. If number of infected people is underreported 10x, and number of people who died from Covid-19 is reported accurately, then Covid-19 mortality is overeported by 10x. It is possible that Covid-19 mortality is comparable with mortality of a regular influenza.
    - cjbprime 7y ago
      (which of course could kill still many millions of people, assuming you mean that the mortality rate is comparable to flu once you're infected, but that the transmissibility is much higher)
- jacquesm 7y ago
  They can still get infected and bring it home as well as to the rest of their extended family. And they can still get very ill even if they don't die. I've had pneumonia in the past and I don't wish it on anyone, least of all my kids.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

cm2012 7y ago

You and your immediate family should be okay, but maybe don't visit grandparents if you have them nearby.

stewbrew 7y ago
The same is true for a normal flu. It seems the incubation time is rather long with this virus which is why you might want to wait before visiting them again.
koheripbal 7y ago
You are focusing on the death rate too much. People who get pneumonia from this end up with permanent lung damage even if they survive.

UncleOxidant 7y ago

Beavertonian here, so not that far from you. Since this teacher started showing symptoms on the 19th that means it's been passing around for maybe 2 or 3 weeks already - bit of a scary thought. Since kids are only developing a very mild illness from this, it seems most likely that this teacher caught it from one of the students.

dawnerd 7y ago
I've noticed people in Beaverton/Hillsboro are really bad at washing their hands in public. I'm at the movies a lot and every single time I go to the bathroom there's someone walking right out. I've been seeing a few people with masks on (although way more when I was in Toronto three weeks ago), but like those wont help you at all if you're not washing your hands.
- andykx 7y ago
  While I appreciate the firsthand information, I think this is true of practically anywhere. Frankly, trying to prevent catastrophe through changing individuals’ behavior is practically impossible. Consider the amount of people who still smoke cigarettes as an example.J
- sizzle 7y ago
  Also on the MAX, cough and sneeze without covering it or on hands then touching everything that others will be also touching. Maybe all trains are like this?