Coronavirus news

[J. Eriksson]

Dear alpb:

Writing from far northern Hokkaido, Japan

We have between 60 and 70 cases in a population of  5,000,000.   a State of Emergency has been declared.  the nearest cluster of cases 1.5 hours away  by car has been traced to a trade show that maybe a thousand people attended.  this weekend will see how many people took the virus home with them.  Schools have been closed.  School graduations have had their guest lists pruned.  high school entrance exams are in limbo.

Our rector /kindergarten Principal is dealing with this in his last month before retirement at age 70.

Worship Anglican/Episcopal is cancelled for tomorrow,  Catholic Masses have been cancelled until March 14th.   I won't be in church tomorrow.  if any of you are streaming your worship you can send me the links.

I would if I was on the other side of the Pacific begin planning for something similar.

Best wishes to all and a blessed Lent

James

[J. Thomas Shelley]

if any of you are streaming your worship you can send me the links.

I would if I was on the other side of the Pacific begin planning for something similar.

Best wishes to all and a blessed Lent

James

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church York PA

Home page:

http://agocy.org/

Click red "Watch Live" button or use the link below.

Livestream direct link:

https://video.ibm.com/channel/v8GYFuyKMqZ

We should be streaming the Second Saturday of Souls on Saturday February 29 0830 EST as well as the Sunday Orthros & Divine Liturgy.   I know there is a 12 hour time difference.

[Jeremy Loesch]

Oh boy...a college friend of mine is an art teacher near Hokkaido.

If you search HolyTrinityLCMS on facebook you should be able to find our page. We stream our services using Facebook Live. We're in Grandview/KC MO.

From famine and pestilence, Good Lord, deliver us. Prayers for you and all in that region.

Jeremy

[J. Thomas Shelley]

From famine and pestilence, Good Lord, deliver us.
Jeremy

The Artoklesia intercession sometimes included with Great Vespers:

Have mercy on us, O God, according to Your great mercy, we pray You, hear us and have mercy.

(Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.)

Let us pray for pious and Orthodox Christians.

(Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.)

Again we pray for (episcopal rank) (name).

(Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.)

Again we pray for mercy, life, peace, health, salvation, visitation, forgiveness and remission of the sins of all pious and Orthodox Christians living and visiting in this city, the parishioners, the members of the Parish Council and every Ministry of this Parish, and the donors and benefactors of this holy church, and the servants of God [names] who celebrate this holy feast.

(Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.)

Again we pray for the protection of this holy church, this city and every city and land, from wrath, famine, pestilence, earthquake, flood, fire, sword, foreign invasions, civil strife, and accidental death. That our good and loving God may be merciful, gracious and favorable to us by turning and keeping from us all wrath and sickness, and deliver us from His just rebuke, and have mercy on us.

(Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.)

Again we pray that the Lord our God may hear the prayer of us sinners, and have mercy on us.

(Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.)

PRIEST

Hear us, O God our Savior, the hope of all those who live everywhere on earth and those far out at sea or in the air. Be gracious toward our sins, Master, and have mercy on us.

For you are a merciful and loving God, and to you we give glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

(Amen.)

[Richard Johnson]

We don't stream at the moment, but sometime tomorrow afternoon you should at least be able to hear a fine sermon at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYA_DI9AuRA1A7sCUebzHIg

[James J Eivan]

I won't be in church tomorrow.  if any of you are streaming your worship you can send me the links.

I would if I was on the other side of the Pacific begin planning for something similar.

Best wishes to all and a blessed Lent

James

Trinity Lutheran, Sheboygan, WI archives their Divine Services on YouTube ... and streams them live at 8a & 10:45a central standard time (March 1 ) ... central daylight time (beginning March 8 ).  A Live Link appears on their YouTube site when the live broadcast is available.   The March 1 services will include the Concordia Theological Seminary Kantorei. Their 8a service is normally archived before noon on Sunday.
 
They also have a Monday 6:30p repeat of the Sunday service ... I’m unsure if they live stream the Monday service.


Their Lenten services are at 6:30p ...  streamed ... sometimes midweek services are not archived.


Calvary Lutheran, Dallas live-streams their 8a ct service .... the archive is normally available my noon or so.  Their Lenten services are at 7p ct and archived as well.


I pray the Lord preserves your health according to His good and gracious will.

[Charles Austin]

Nothing to worry about, folks. No crisis. Fox News and the President tell me it’s all a hoax, a “liberal conspiracy”,  that it’s no big deal. Fox News quotes the President saying we are “totally prepared.”

NBC News, yesterday:
   Vice President Mike Pence went on Rush Limbaugh's radio show on Friday to assure Americans that threat posed by the coronavirus in the United States is "low" but "we're ready for whatever may come."
   Limbaugh ...  has previously compared the coronavirus to "the common cold" and complained that concerns about an outbreak in the U.S. were being "weaponized" by Democrats and the media.

Politico, yesterday
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — President Donald Trump on Friday night tried to cast the global outbreak of the coronavirus as a liberal conspiracy intended to undermine his first term, lumping it alongside impeachment and the Mueller investigation.
   He blamed the press for acting hysterically about the virus, which has now spread to China, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Italy and the U.S, and he downplayed its dangers, saying against expert opinion it was on par with the flu.

NBC News, today
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — President Donald Trump accused Democrats of “politicizing” the deadly coronavirus during a campaign rally here on Friday, claiming that the outbreak is “their new hoax” as he continued to downplay the risk in the U.S. ... “Democrats will always say horrible things," Trump said. "Democrats want us to fail so badly.”

Various news sources:
   The president said that the U.S. is “rapidly developing a vaccine” and “will essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly quick manner.”
   No. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said a vaccine at best won’t be ready for “a year to a year-and-a-half” and won’t be available for the current epidemic.

   Trump’s acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, falsely claimed this week that the influenza fatality rate was “right around 2% as well.” It’s not.
   In making a comparison to a past outbreak, the president noted that Ebola is far more deadly than the novel coronavirus. But he neglected to mention that Ebola can only be transmitted via bodily fluids and is harder to catch.

President Trump, tweeting in the third person:
   "So, the Coronavirus, which started in China and spread to various countries throughout the world, but very slowly in the U.S. because President Trump closed our border, and ended flights, VERY EARLY, is now being blamed, by the Do Nothing Democrats, to be the fault of 'Trump.’”

(My question: borders closed? Ended flights? Did I miss that these past three days?)
As Steven says, Lord, have mercy.

[Charles Austin]

P.S.
The Trump administration has slashed the budget of the Center for Disease Control, undercutting its ability to quickly respond to an epidemic.
But... nothing to worry about. Right?

[David M. Frye, OblSB]

There is a Web site (https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html), which may require registration, but which offers real-time summaries of the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers presented their dashboard here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30120-1/fulltext.

I find it helpful to look at the data without "the spin."

[D. Engebretson]

The Center for Disease Control has a very informative website on COVID-19 that should probably be on everyone's list of first check sites:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

The potential public health threat posed by COVID-19 is high, both globally and to the United States.

But individual risk is dependent on exposure.

For the general American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to this virus at this time, the immediate health risk from COVID-19 is considered low.

Under current circumstances, certain people will have an increased risk of infection, for example healthcare workers caring for patients with COVID-19 and other close contacts of persons with COVID-19. CDC has developed guidance to help in the risk assessment and management of people with potential exposures to COVID-19.

However, it’s important to note that current global circumstances suggest it is likely that this virus will cause a pandemic. In that case, the risk assessment would be different.

So at this time the "potential threat" in this country is "high," but the "immediate threat" for the "general public" is "low."

[Terry W Culler]

I can't help but remember the "swine flu epidemic" of 1976. 

That said, because China is, well, China, we don't really have a good handle on what the death rate from this virus is.  I suspect that many people have been infected who didn't even know what it was, thinking maybe that it was just a bad case of influenza.  No, we shouldn't panic but we should be alert.  I'm still waiting for those who are accusing the government of failing to do what they should have done to tell exactly how they would have handled the situation differently, in detail not in a "well I would have appointed a 'czar' earlier" thing.

[James_Gale]

P.S.
The Trump administration has slashed the budget of the Center for Disease Control, undercutting its ability to quickly respond to an epidemic.
But... nothing to worry about. Right?

The CDC budget has not been cut, let alone slashed. Congress has raised CDC spending every year. The one “cut” that some have complained about was not really a cut, but the expiration by its terms of an emergency five-year Ebola program. Congress did not extend that program.


 

[loschwitz]

Central Lutheran in Minneapolis streams its 8:30 and 10:30 (CST) services.

St. Olaf  also streams at 10:30.

[Coach-Rev]

We stream here each Sunday:  https://www.facebook.com/Trinity-Lutheran-Church-104808916279262/

P.S.
The Trump administration has slashed the budget of the Center for Disease Control, undercutting its ability to quickly respond to an epidemic.
But... nothing to worry about. Right?

The CDC budget has not been cut, let alone slashed. Congress has raised CDC spending every year. The one “cut” that some have complained about was not really a cut, but the expiration by its terms of an emergency five-year Ebola program. Congress did not extend that program.

Our greater concern at present still ought to be with the standard old flu bugs:

1:  for the past several years, the annual flu vaccine has "missed" the dominant strains
2:  has a fatality rate of 6.5% (18,000 so far in the US alone this winter) compared to Corona's 1.5%-2%

but as you also infer, why let facts ruin a perfectly good hysteria resulting from severe TDS?

[Charles Austin]

The CDC budget is now up to Congress and it is likely to be significantly increased to deal with this problem.
But the previous cuts and ends to certain programs, did affect the agencies ability to respond quickly to the current situation.