Coronavirus

[Riverbrian]

 

I posted this on Facebook a few days ago. As someone who is in the evil media, I've been in multiple meetings or press conferences daily on COVID-19 for roughly a month and am still expected to get all my regular coverage done as well.

 

"The media did not create panic or hysteria. Entertainment outlets attempting to appear as media have had some misleading articles, but that’s not media. True media has to register as such and live to a set of laws in this country. Many places where people get their news are not registered as such to allow them leeway with the truth for entertainment purposes. Fox News is certainly the largest of these nationally, but even your local news, depending on who owns the station, may not be held to the same journalistic standards that a newspaper or a registered news agency is.

 

When subscriptions funding a newspaper turned into advertising funding a newspaper, that still required paper sales. Insisting on getting “free” news online bankrupted many sources of true, honest journalism and left those standing operating on shoestring budgets. That’s when it all became about online clicks and sensationalism ruled the day. That said, reputable papers are presenting full information in an online article that requires a catchy headline to draw a click away from an entertainment-registered reporting site, and all folks do is read the headline and not the whole article.

 

The attack on the integrity of journalistic media started nearly 30 years ago, but the campaign and actions of the current POTUS have severely undermined our nation’s ability to trust its media. Were you aware he has millions of dollars of lawsuits filed against media outlets that dared print something negative about him? Many of the papers and TV stations attacked with litigation are small enough and broke enough due to our own lack of funding for quality journalism that they settle these cases rather than fight lengthy court battles that they cannot afford.

 

Please don’t fall into the trap of media-blaming. Investigate the sources of your information. Heck, investigate the sources of their sources. Don’t assume a meme is correct or a headline is correct because it’s on the internet. We have the freedom of the press...until it’s taken away by undermining the nation’s respect for the press. Once the press is no longer free, who will call out those who abuse their power, mislead the electorate, and/or attempt to remove individual liberties that DO matter to you?

 

Just some thoughts. Stay safe, and make sure your friends and family are loved."

 

Our Media was created by us.

 

We shape it. We demand hype. We put those who don't provide it, out of business. 

[glunn]

Here is some possible GOOD NEWS that I got in an email. I have not verified any of it.  For all I KNOW it may all be false. I will try to do some fact checking later.

 

-China has closed down its last coronavirus hospital. Not enough new cases to support them.

- Doctors in India have been successful in treating Coronavirus. Combination of drugs used: Lopinavir, Retonovir, Oseltamivir along with Chlorphenamine. They are going to suggest same medicine, globally.

- Researchers of the Erasmus Medical Center claim to have found an antibody against coronavirus.

- A 103-year-old Chinese grandmother has made a full recovery from COVID-19 after being treated for 6 days in Wuhan, China.

- Apple reopens all 42 china stores

- Cleveland Clinic developed a COVID-19 test that gives results in hours, not days.

- Good news from South Korea, where the number of new cases is declining.

- Italy is hit hard, experts say, only because they have the oldest population in Europe.

- Scientists in Israel likely to announce the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

- 3 Maryland coronavirus patients fully recovered; able to return to everyday life.

- A network of Canadian scientists are making excellent progress in Covid-19 research.

- A San Diego biotech company is developing a Covid-19 vaccine in collaboration with Duke University and National University of Singapore.

- Tulsa County's first positive COVID-19 case has recovered. This individual has had two negative tests, which is the indicator of recovery.

- All 7 patients who were getting treated for at Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi have recovered.

- Plasma from newly recovered patients from Covid -19 can treat others infected by Covid-19.e.

*Compiled from Bloomberg news. And the first Filipino Covid Patient was released from hospital today*

[glunn]

At least the first item appears true -- https://nypost.com/2020/03/11/china-shuts-all-16-temporary-coronavirus-hospitals-in-wuhan/

[glunn]

I just found a website that covers most of this -- https://techstartups.com/

 

I am praying that at least some of it is true, but it could be just another fake website.

[Squirrel]

I just found a website that covers most of this -- https://techstartups.com/

 

I am praying that at least some of it is true, but it could be just another fake website.

I’d still gird your loins. We haven’t taken nearly the precautions, as a country, that either China and South Korea did. As a nation, every state should be locked down by now and aren’t. Many aren’t taking this at all seriously. I have a niece who works for a small pharma company and she does not pain a good picture, at all. In my industry we are now seeing cancellations into and through May. While I want to be hopeful, I am literally preparing for the worst. Of all industrialized nations, we have the fewest hospital beds per capital. China locked down the area immediately and built two hospitals in 10 days. South Korea has been testing 10,000 people a day. There is no way to stay ahead of a pandemic without testing EVERYONE and we are only testing those who are symptomatic or in contact with someone who has already contracted it. Our country has failed us in their lack of preparedness, and hundreds of thousands, likely millions, will suffer the consequences in lost jobs, wages, savings, businesses, etc. While I am getting paid through April 12, I won’t be after that. And I’m lucky. I have friends who are instantly without income. Don’t know if medical benefits are maintained or if they now have to pay for cobra, with no job. Some will have a jobs to go back to, eventually, but many won’t. It sounds like maybe Congress will be making emergency financial relief available. My hope is that they will also be covering all medical costs, whether people are insured or not. (I am not opening up a political debate on Medicare for all here, so don’t turn it into that. But I hope it’s a realization that this is a necessity as many, many aren’t being tested or won’t even go to a doctor because of no insurance or a means to pay for the most basic medical necessities, making this situation a far more dangerous one for all of us nationwide.)

 

The only thing that gives me some hope is that maybe we’ve bought enough time for some advancement of a vaccine. Human trials are just now beginning. Will we see it in time?

 

And on another note, my Mom has been recollecting my Grandmother, her Mother, talking about the Spanish flu. My Grandmother and her family made it through.

[Seth Stohs]

I flew back to Minnesota from Ft. Myers 12 days ago (on Tuesday)... Almost through the 14 day incubation period. 

 

Truth be told, I've been in my own head on this. Every cough, I wonder if I have it. Each sneeze. Knowing the answer is "probably not" but you never know. 

 

I just got the OK late this morning to work from home for the time being. Got my daughter who doesn't have school and we're going to hunker down. It's the right thing to do. It's the wise thing to do. And, even if I would theoretically be OK with it, I would feel horrible if I ended up giving it to someone else who didn't recover well, if at all. 

 

My sincere hope is that this proves to be a great overreaction... And if it is, I will still feel great about it. If 'we' had underreacted (and so many people still do)... and it would be terrible, no one would want that. 

[glunn]

 

I’d still gird your loins. We haven’t taken nearly the precautions, as a country, that either China and South Korea did. As a nation, every state should be locked down by now and aren’t. Many aren’t taking this at all seriously. I have a niece who works for a small pharma company and she does not pain a good picture, at all. In my industry we are now seeing cancellations into and through May. While I want to be hopeful, I am literally preparing for the worst. Of all industrialized nations, we have the fewest hospital beds per capital. China locked down the area immediately and built two hospitals in 10 days. South Korea has been testing 10,000 people a day. There is no way to stay ahead of a pandemic without testing EVERYONE and we are only testing those who are symptomatic or in contact with someone who has already contracted it. Our country has failed us in their lack of preparedness, and hundreds of thousands, likely millions, will suffer the consequences in lost jobs, wages, savings, businesses, etc. While I am getting paid through April 12, I won’t be after that. And I’m lucky. I have friends who are instantly without income. Don’t know if medical benefits are maintained or if they now have to pay for cobra, with no job. Some will have a jobs to go back to, eventually, but many won’t. It sounds like maybe Congress will be making emergency financial relief available. My hope is that they will also be covering all medical costs, whether people are insured or not. (I am not opening up a political debate on Medicare for all here, so don’t turn it into that. But I hope it’s a realization that this is a necessity as many, many aren’t being tested or won’t even go to a doctor because of no insurance or a means to pay for the most basic medical necessities, making this situation a far more dangerous one for all of us nationwide.)

The only thing that gives me some hope is that maybe we’ve bought enough time for some advancement of a vaccine. Human trials are just now beginning. Will we see it in time?

And on another note, my Mom has been recollecting my Grandmother, her Mother, talking about the Spanish flu. My Grandmother and her family made it through.

I am girding and double girding then girding some more.

 

I would not bet on a vaccine any time soon -- takes too long to test, manufacture and distribute. I am betting on combinations of existing antiviral drugs, hoping that this is not fake news.

 

Best case, I think that we could be out of this in a month or two. Worst case, I don't want to think about.

 

As for working people, this is bad and I hope that maybe more people will realize the benefits from treating health care as a right and not a commodity.

[ashbury]

I would not bet on a vaccine any time soon -- takes too long to test, manufacture and distribute.

Concur. And to those who would press for a short-cut testing cycle: the law of unintended consequences could be harsh, if serious side-effects were not detected in time. While Thalidomide was a sedative and not a vaccine, it's a cautionary instance from the last century; the recent Zika outbreak demonstrated that a virus has potential to do similar things. And birth defects are only one of possible negative outcomes. Lengthy testing cycles are there for a reason, and might keep a pandemic from becoming a catastrophe.

 

[Riverbrian]

There are many things to be frustrated with in consideration of everything happening around us right now. 

 

However, the low level of testing that has been done in the United States is near the top of the list for me and should be for all. 

 

The numerators being posted such as number of cases and and number of deaths is almost useless (false sense of security) information. 

 

For us Baseball fans that dive into statistics it's like trying to determine who is a power hitter without using the number of at-bats. He's not a power hitter with only 8 home runs... Yeah but he only has 20 at bats. 

 

I found this website:  https://covidtracking.com/data/

 

God bless them, they are trying to track tests state by state but as you can see some states are not even reporting the number of tests and the ones that are... are ridiculously low. 

 

As (I assume) we ramp up production of ventilators and protective equipment and try to figure out where to send doctors across state lines. The denominator of number of tests taken is critical to figure out where to find the true hot spots which will determine where to send the ventilators, protective equipment and health care professionals. 

 

TEST TEST TEST... It's really important. I assume (pray) there are computational professionals who have accurate information and we just don't have access to it but with all the talk about being behind testing... I can only assume that we are behind on testing and that isn't giving the professionals enough information to work with. That's a sad problem and based on South Korea... an unnecessary problem.    

 

Speaking of small sample sizes... I know this is a baseball website but I can't figure out why this topic thread isn't 100 pages long by now.  . 

 

 

 

 

[Riverbrian]

https://covidtracking.com/data/

 

At 10:25 ET March 18th

 

5,993 Positive

50597 Negative

 

United States: 1 out of 9.44 Tests are positive

 

States with over 1,000 tests administered HOT SPOTS

 

Washington: 1 out of 13.96 Positive (14129 Tests)

California: 1 out of 17.52 Positive (8464 Tests)

New York: 1 out of 4.23 Positive (7206 Tests)

Minnesota: 1 out of 38.93 Positive (2336 Tests)

Massachusetts: 1 out of 8.06 Positive (1759 Tests)

New Mexico: 1 out of 74.78 Positive (1720 Tests)

Illinois: 1 out of 9.31 Positive (1500 Tests)

Maine: 1 out of 41.71 Positive (1335 Tests)

Texas: 1 out of 19.81 Positive (1268 Tests)

Florida: 1 out of 5.84 Positive (1227 Tests)

Colorado: 1 out of 7.60 Positive (1216 Tests)

Wisconsin: 1 out of 15.41 Positive (1110 Tests)

Oregon: 1 out of 15.89 Positive(1033 Tests)

Virginia: 1 out of 15.34 Positive (1028 Tests)

 

 

 

 

 

[Squirrel]

I am girding and double girding then girding some more.

 

I would not bet on a vaccine any time soon -- takes too long to test, manufacture and distribute. I am betting on combinations of existing antiviral drugs, hoping that this is not fake news.

 

Best case, I think that we could be out of this in a month or two. Worst case, I don't want to think about.

 

As for working people, this is bad and I hope that maybe more people will realize the benefits from treating health care as a right and not a commodity.

Worst case is where we are. We have not ramped up our testing, and don’t seem to be, and it’s likely too late. Heck, we even turned down offers for test kits because our egos are psychotic. We refused to acknowledge this and it’s too late to get done what needed to be done a month ago. S Korea and China are the models of what to do. Anything less than that is a failure. We have failed and been failed. We don’t have facilities to manage it when people do get sick. And we have too many vulnerable ... uninsured and underinsured who won’t and can’t seek medical help or get tested. Our country failed, horrifically. Other antivirals are not effective, or they’d be doing that widespread now. And I think I read somewhere already that isn’t true.

My niece works for a pharma company. She has her ear to the ground on things ... the outlook is very bleak.

[Riverbrian]

The information isn't easy to find. Don't know the accuracy of what I am running across. 

 

I read an article posted today that Spain has administered 30,000 Tests. (Obviously Rounded)

 

Spain has 13,910 Confirmed Cases:

 

Therefore 1 out of 2.15 Tests are positive in Spain. 

 

Hot Spot

 

I assume we can assume that 1 out of 2.15 positive tests is not the numbers they started with. I assume this shows how bad things can get once this thing starts spinning around without solid containment or mitigation. 

 

Trajectory comparison between Europe and the United States are similar according to reports. 

 

Stay away from others

 

 

[Riverbrian]

The asymptomatic small sample size of the NBA players is a little concerning. 

[biggentleben]

South Dakota would have over 1,000 performed, but the ability to read the tests has not been present at many facilities and has been erratic at best in staying in supply in the facilities that do have them.

[Vanimal46]

South Korea was able to expedite mass production of accurate coronavirus testing for everyone. The United States, a WORLD power country and supposedly a thought leader on important topics as this, can’t build a reliable test for a small segment of the population.

 

I’m trying my best to keep politics out of this, but read between the lines, people.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

The asymptomatic small sample size of the NBA players is a little concerning.

 

What data do you have on NBA players?

[Riverbrian]

 

What data do you have on NBA players?

 

The data is extremely small sample:

4 Brooklyn Nets Players

2 Utah Jazz Players

1 Piston Player

 

The data isn't as important to me. What strikes me is that only 2 of the players are reporting symptoms. 

 

Of course, all of these players could have contracted the virus anywhere other than the basketball court. So anything I type doesn't conclude anything. 

 

However

 

Saturday: The Pistons and Jazz played each other on a Saturday.

 

Monday: Gobert was joking about the virus and touching microphones at a press conference. Both Gobert and Mitchell both felt well enough to play over 30 minutes.

 

Wednesday: Gobert has a positive test. Mitchell was dressed and ready to play. 

 

Thursday: The Rest of the Jazz were tested. Mitchell is positive. 

 

Following Days: Mitchell is still Asymptomatic, Christian Wood of the Pistons is positive and was never taken out of a lineup in games after the Jazz and Pistons played. 

 

And of course Yesterday: 4 Nets test positive... only one of the four display symptoms. No recent games between the Nets and Piston or Jazz.

 

So, using this faulty small sample information. And assuming the unconfirmed possibility that Wood got the Virus on Saturday from either Gobert or Mitchell.

 

I assume there are a lot more Asymptomatic transmissions taking place then the 10% being reported by experts.

 

It's not that I doubt the experts working with the information that they have but I doubt the early information they are working with due to: 

 

The lack of testing. 

 

[Riverbrian]

 

South Dakota would have over 1,000 performed, but the ability to read the tests has not been present at many facilities and has been erratic at best in staying in supply in the facilities that do have them.

 

By the time they ramp up the testing numbers. More people will be infected obviously. 

 

I imagine in my head -- a future tug of war between more people being tested driving the percentage of positive tests lower while more time for people to become infected driving the percentage of positives tests higher. 

 

If more testing increases the percentage of confirmed cases. We got ourselves a hot spot. Send the Ventilators and Protective Equipment that direction. If more testing decreases the percentage, the virus isn't as prevalent. 

 

The number of tests denominator is critical to determine the Hot Spots. Increase that sample size.

 

More tests, quicker results should have been a priority yesterday.  

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

The data is extremely small sample:

4 Brooklyn Nets Players

2 Utah Jazz Players

1 Piston Player

 

The data isn't as important to me. What strikes me is that only 2 of the players are reporting symptoms. 

 

Of course, all of these players could have contracted the virus anywhere other than the basketball court. So anything I type doesn't conclude anything. 

 

However

 

Saturday: The Piston's and Jazz played each other on a Saturday.

Monday: Gobert was joking about the virus and touching microphones at a press conference. Both Gobert and Mitchell both felt well enough to play over 30 minutes.

Wednesday: Gobert has a positive test. Mitchell was dressed and ready to play. 

Thursday: The Rest of the Jazz were test. Mitchell is positive. 

 

Following Days: Mitchell is still Asymptomatic, Christian Wood of the Pistons is positive and was never taken out of a lineup in games after the Jazz and Pistons played. 

 

And of course Yesterday: 4 Nets test positive... only one of the four display symptoms. 

 

So, using this faulty small sample information. I assume there are a lot more Asymptomatic transmissions taking place then the 10% being reported by experts.

 

It's not that I doubt the experts working with the information that they have but I doubt the early information they are working with due to the: 

 

Lack of testing.

 

I ask for data because I lthink we have to start with something we can all agree on.

 

Otherwise, it’s just my gut feeling against your gut feeling, my gut feeling being valid, and yours not.

 

I also think we need to try to come together as much as possible. I hope we don’t interpret social distancing to mean social isolating.

[Riverbrian]

 

I ask for data because I lthink we have to start with something we can all agree on.

Otherwise, it’s just my gut feeling against your gut feeling, my gut feeling being valid, and yours not.

I also think we need to try to come together as much as possible. I hope we don’t interpret social distancing to mean social isolating.

 

I'm not comfortable using my NBA example gut feelings as anything definitive. It is truly a gut feeling of mine. This I won't deny.  

 

As far as the big overall picture. I'm leaving the gut feelings of everybody (including mine) out of the equation as best I can and there is a ton of noise to filter out. 

 

I'm listening to the experts exclusively. They are not arguing with each other and refreshingly they say "I don't know" when they don't know and they say there are things that they don't know yet.   

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I'm not comfortable using my NBA example gut feelings as anything definitive. It is truly a gut feeling of mine. This I won't deny.  

 

As far as the big overall picture. I'm leaving the gut feelings of everybody (including mine) out of the equation as best I can and there is a ton of noise to filter out. 

 

I'm listening to the experts exclusively. They are not arguing with each other and refreshingly they say "I don't know" when they don't know and they say there are things that they don't know yet.

 

I think people in general have a tough time saying “I don’t know” so I think that is refreshing when they do. The next step is deciding which experts to listen to.

[biggentleben]

 

I think people in general have a tough time saying “I don’t know” so I think that is refreshing when they do. The next step is deciding which experts to listen to.

I will say that those who read (and write) journalistic media have appreciated and will appreciate the same. It is something commonly being said right now among those in the scientific community, and it's being reported responsibly. Spinning that admission of lack of knowledge in non-journalistic media is where things go very awry.

[Riverbrian]

 

I think people in general have a tough time saying “I don’t know” so I think that is refreshing when they do. The next step is deciding which experts to listen to.

 

It doesn't matter the industry. There are good doctors and bad doctors and everything in between, Good Car Mechanics and Bad Mechanics and everything in between, Good Teachers and Bad Teachers and everything in between. Good Journalists and Bad Journalists and everything in between. 

 

However... Your odds are better getting your car fixed correctly if you don't take it to a teacher or journalist. 

 

Epidemiologists, Virologists, Computational Biologists, anybody who has a job working in the Infectious Disease health field are the people who need to be heard right now. There are journalists, reporters, bloggers, talking heads who are asking the experts and reporting what they are saying and there are journalists, reporters, bloggers, talking heads who are asking campaign advisers and reporting what they are saying. The distinction is important. 

 

I was watching CNN last weekend. They brought on Dr. Larry Brilliant who is an epidemiologist who was part of the group who eradicated small pox in the 70's and currently serves on multiple health related boards. They literally let him speak for 3 sentences before saying "Excuse Me, I hate to cut this short but we got the "Mayor of Atlanta".   

 

When I state my NBA gut feeling... I'm just contributing to the noise. All my posts are noise because I don't have a job in a related field.

 

However, in my attempts to listen to them, I'm hearing one voice, one message from all of them. I've only found one epidemiologist (out of Israel) who suggests that this all might be a bit overblown.

 

Of course, if I read the same amount of volume from car mechanics about how to fix a car, I will probably run across someone who thinks that your car will fix itself if you just give it time.  

 

 

[Craig Arko]

 

However, in my attempts to listen to them, I'm hearing one voice, one message from all of them. I've only found one epidemiologist (out of Israel) who suggests that this all might be a bit overblown.

 

Of course, if I read the same amount of volume from car mechanics about how to fix a car, I will probably run across someone who thinks that your car will fix itself if you just give it time.  

Kind of reminiscent of climate change science.

[Riverbrian]

 

I also think we need to try to come together as much as possible. I hope we don’t interpret social distancing to mean social isolating.

 

Here is a March 13 Article from Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist out of the state of Washington:

 

https://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/center-news/2020/03/tracking-covid-19-trevor-bedford.html

 

He was just reporting research for two counties in the state of Washington however this is what he said in the Q & A about social contact reduction. We estimate that in the baseline scenario, on average across multiple simulations, there will have been roughly 25,000 people infected by April 7, but that this declines to roughly 9,700 total infections for a 25% reduction in contact, to 4,800 for a 50% reduction, and only 1,700 for a 75% reduction.

 

The Bell Curve everyone is showing is something that has been in place since the 1800's. William Farr was an epidemiologist who tracked the rise and fall of epidemics. They have a natural rise and fall however the how many and how long severity of each bell curve isn't a static calculation. They may all curve in a uniform fashion but it isn't uniform when it comes to severity.  

 

So when the new catch phrase "Flatten the Curve" is repeated over and over again, they are trying to get the message out. They are showing the curve over a dotted line that shows current hospital infrastructure. 

 

We've all seen it: 

 

Social Distancing or Social Isolation. The message from the experts is pretty clear, I'm personally not concerning myself with these types of distinction.  

 

Just for fun: Here is an Interview with Francis Collins the director of the NIH (National Institutes of Health) just released yesterday 

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/interview-francis-collins-nih/608221/

 

We need to stay away from each other. 

[Riverbrian]

Here is another thing that people need to consider:

 

When the numbers are being reported: 77 Cases in Minnesota or 11 Cases in South Dakota or 6 Cases in North Dakota and nobody is frightened by these low numbers.

 

They might be the numbers reported today but in reality... those numbers are really at least two weeks old since the actual point of infection was probably at least two weeks prior before diagnosis. And of course older than two weeks because 77 cases in Minnesota is a counting stat over time that didn't just all show up today. The first confirmed case in Minnesota was March 5... So now we are talking about Mid-February for the first KNOWN infection.  

 

Regardless, Two weeks prior from cases diagnosed today means before, the schools, bars, restaurants, and March madness closed up shop and everybody was just doing what they do. The 77 cases in Minnesota have a range of stealth percolation that spans an entire month all before the term "Social Distancing" came out of anybody's mouth. 

 

Will the social distancing measures work? I don't know, the experts don't know but are hoping.  We won't know until quite some time later because the increased numbers we are going to see for awhile is a cause and effect of the time we spent living our lives as normal without a clue before social distancing. 

 

Italy who is 8 to 14 days (depending on who is estimating) ahead of us on the curve has shut down the entire country. March 9th was the first Italian quarantine.

 

They will provide the first indication of it working or not working but right now they are still dealing with the cause and effect of transmission prior to the lock down. Which means exponential rising for the time being. 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/18/europe/italy-coronavirus-lockdown-intl/index.html

 

 

 

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

For how long are you willing to practice social distancing (closed restaurants, no baseball, no school, etc)? For how long do you think the general public is willing to practice social distancing? How much or how little risk are you willing to tolerate of catching this virus?

[biggentleben]

 

For how long are you willing to practice social distancing (closed restaurants, no baseball, no school, etc)? For how long do you think the general public is willing to practice social distancing? How much or how little risk are you willing to tolerate of catching this virus?

 

I'll spin this to baseball and make it personal for a second. I have the opportunity to cover the draft through either of my writing positions with credentials through MLB. We had planned a family vacation around it, in fact. I recently contacted MLB (roughly an hour before Carlos Collazo did for a piece for Baseball America that printed yesterday if you want to read some of what he found out that is similar to what I heard), and I was told that the draft is currently not changed and likely will not change. It will still be in Omaha in mid-June. What is changing is that media may be present, but teams and players may not be represented, making this much like the old drafts of the 1980s where guys sat in a phone conference with media at the league office taking notes.

 

Is that the draft I wanted to cover? Not at all. I wanted to be able to take pictures, do live interviews with players, with legends present to make honorary picks for the teams, etc. It was a big deal for me to have worked hard to get where I am in my writing to have this opportunity.

 

I would take this coverage every day of the week and gladly cover via phone only if it meant eradication of this virus. Absolutely and unequivocally.

[Riverbrian]

 

For how long are you willing to practice social distancing (closed restaurants, no baseball, no school, etc)? For how long do you think the general public is willing to practice social distancing? How much or how little risk are you willing to tolerate of catching this virus?

 

Myself, I have no idea. We are all going to be forced to make calculated risks as time goes by. I'm going to watch the data and listen to the experts. 

 

The General Public? Not Long. 

 

I'm not afraid of my risk of catching it. I'm afraid of many people catching it. 
 

I want to be able to see my Dad again. 

 

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I'll spin this to baseball and make it personal for a second. I have the opportunity to cover the draft through either of my writing positions with credentials through MLB. We had planned a family vacation around it, in fact. I recently contacted MLB (roughly an hour before Carlos Collazo did for a piece for Baseball America that printed yesterday if you want to read some of what he found out that is similar to what I heard), and I was told that the draft is currently not changed and likely will not change. It will still be in Omaha in mid-June. What is changing is that media may be present, but teams and players may not be represented, making this much like the old drafts of the 1980s where guys sat in a phone conference with media at the league office taking notes.

 

Is that the draft I wanted to cover? Not at all. I wanted to be able to take pictures, do live interviews with players, with legends present to make honorary picks for the teams, etc. It was a big deal for me to have worked hard to get where I am in my writing to have this opportunity.

 

I would take this coverage every day of the week and gladly cover via phone only if it meant eradication of this virus. Absolutely and unequivocally.

Would you live like this for 18 months? Do you think the general public will? Do you think this virus will ever be eradicated?