March Madness and Covid-19

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steverocks35

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I was just looking over the brackets and I was wondering how the novel coronavirus Covid-19 might affect the NCAA basketball tournament.

Washington state is the epicenter for the virus in the United States, but every day cases are popping up all over, and I guarantee you that there are more cases than are publicly known because we are inexplicably not instituting widespread testing yet!

Just looking at the bracket, I see that first round games are set to be played in Spokane Washington. Are the powers that be really going to want teams and fans from all over the country to congregate in Spokane? Also, Florida is a hotspot for the virus and games are scheduled to be played in Tampa. In a couple of weeks, the virus will be more widespread, maybe by a couple of magnitudes, than it is now. There may be rumblings about moving/canceling games and/or playing games in empty arenas.

This is scary stuff and much bigger than basketball.
 
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Mortality rates so far have been in the 2-3% range which is at least 200 times more deadly than seasonal flu. But even at low mortality, if it spread to millions of people, which is likely, you're talking about thousands of deaths.

And the virus has likely mutated, it appears to be more aggressive now than when it first started spreading in Wuhan.

The point of all this being, it's not likely that the government is going to want thousands of people inside a small arena in a virus hot zone.

Even in the "case study" that guy cited, the Princess Cruise ship, his calculated mortality rate of 0.85% is still more than 8 times the mortality of seasonal flu. (Also, that's a completely anecdotal case he cited, so it's not scientific)
 
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Mortality rates so far have been in the 2-3% range which is at least 200 times more deadly than seasonal flu. But even at low mortality, if it spread to millions of people, which is likely, you're talking about thousands of deaths.

And the virus has likely mutated, it appears to be more aggressive now than when it first started spreading in Wuhan.

The point of all this being, it's not likely that the government is going to want thousands of people inside a small arena in a virus hot zone.

did you even read what i linked

i would guess no
 
did you even read what i linked

i would guess no

Yes I did, what's your point? That's it's no big deal? It is a big deal and you minimize it at your own risk. Even if you look at his "case study" (anecdotal) he calculates a mortality of 0.85% WHICH IS ALMOST 9 TIMES THE MORTALITY OF SEASON FLU!
 
Even if you want to put your head in the sand, the public health officials here in the United States are NOT going to put their heads in the sand as people are dying, and they may not want to risk spreading this disease by having people from all over the country packed into tiny arenas in virus hot zones.
 
By the way, I work for the Veteran's Administration and the VA has cancelled ALL travel, not inessential travel, ALL travel! They are definitely taking this seriously.
 
Italy and Korea are playing sporting events in front of empty stadiums to combat the spread of Covid-19. In The EPL they are stopping the pregame handshake between players and officials as a precaution. I am sure the ncaa, nba, nhl, etc. are monitoring this.
 
March Madness may take on a new meaning before it's all said and done.
 
March Madness may take on a new meaning before it's all said and done.

The transmission of the virus has slowed in China. Do you know how they did it? They "locked down" 57 million people in Hubei province and had widespread lockdowns all over the rest of the country! That's 1/4th the population of the United States locked down in one province!
 
who would have thought our fan base would actually prepare the team for NCAA tournament crowds
 
Just got the word, the hospital where I work, starting tomorrow, is going to close all entrances but one and screen every person at the door for Covid-19.
 
this is basicly only dangerous if you are above 65 or have a weakened immune system
 
this is basicly only dangerous if you are above 65 or have a weakened immune system

You basically don't know what you're talking about. Sure, the mortality is lower, but it can still kill anyone.

We are being screened by answering a series of questions and probably getting our temp taken.
 
this is basicly only dangerous if you are above 65 or have a weakened immune system

I would think children would be at risk, too. The thing is for people who are not high risk they will be the conduit for the virus to spread to the high risk group.
 
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