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Breaking News
Corona Virus Pandemic

 
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Covid-19 breaking news
The facts and only the facts, without editorialization or opinion. You decide what to believe.

Corona Virus / Covid-19
History, and basic facts
Frank X. Didik, April 16, 2020, updated May 11, 2020

  The Corona Virus, which is also known as the the Novel Corona Virus, Covid-19 and the China flu, first emerged in Wuhan China in October, 2019. It quickly spread to other countries. Some countries, such as Italy and the United States are said to have had the greatest number of infected cases, though the actual number of cases and the actual number of those infected who become critically ill or who have died is not understood. A quick, reliable test for this virus is still in the development stage, and the existing tests being used are significantly inaccurate with many false positives and false negatives, as of April 15, 2020. With this in mind, people who are said to have the virus and diagnosed primarily by their symptoms which include loss of smell, sustained fever and often respiratory problems. In worst cases, people diagnosed with the virus are placed on ventilators. Still, most of the symptoms of Corona Virus are almost identical with the yearly flu.

  It is estimated that up to 95 percent of those who contract Corona Virus experience do not experience any symptoms whatsoever, however during their undetected illness, they are said to be carriers of the virus and can spread the virus, but this has not been proven. According to Italian health authority, those who die of the virus are almost exclusively those who are suffering from one, two or three critical illnesses such as cancer or heart disease or are people who suffer from chronic obesity, diabetes or other ailments. Surprisingly, smokers and drinkers do not seem to have a greater mortality rate than others. There is a question of whether those who die, die with Corona virus or because of Corona virus.

  The average age of those who died in Italy was 81 years old. In China, the average age of death attributed to Corona Virus was 78 years. The average age of death attributed to Corona Virus in Norway is 88 years old, though Norway has only a handful of detected cases. According to the New York City Department of Health, as of April 14, just under 7,000 people are believed to have died with or because of the Corona virus. Of these almost 7,000 people, only 137 died without any known background disease or ailment. It would seem that children below 12 years old are almost immune to this disease.

Starting in early March, masks were hard to find and optional, particularly since a virus is vastly smaller than the filtering capability of masks. By late March, it was acknowledged that the virus would often accumulate in micro water particles and thus the masks would be useful. In the case of New York State, Governor Cuomo ordered on April 15, that all people must wear masks if they might be closer than six feet from one another in public.

All Churches were encouraged and have "voluntarily" closed till the fear of the virus is over. This has never happened before and if the Churches and synagogues had had been forced to close by government decree, it would have violated the U.S. Constitution.

Signs are everywhere encouraging the people to avoid contact with others, maintain social distancing of six feet (two meters), wear a mask and frequently wash hands.

Some essential services, such as this Post Office, have painted squares on the sidewalk to assist in "Social distancing", that is, for people to separate by six feet (2 meters).

Because of the massive demand for masks and protective shields, some stores donated their stock of such items to local hospitals, as did this Harbor Freight Tolls in Brooklyn did.

Certain items have mostly disappeared from supermarket shelves. Items include toilet paper, bottled water, sanitizing napkins and cleaners.

Gasoline prices have plummeted by almost a dollar in just one month from March 10 to April 10. The price for high octane gasoline in New York City is approximately $2.55 per US gallon. As of May 11, 2020, the price for a gallon of regular gasoline is down to about $2, with discount gas stations charging $1.89 per gallon. Super gasoline, with 91 octane is down to about $2.45 per gallon, with discount stations charging as little as $2.35 per gallon.

The major bridges have very little vehicular traffic as this photograph of the entrance of the Manhattan Bridge, on the Manhattan side shows.

In the early evening, the streets are deserted but almost every light in every apartment is on.

Some people have questioned the number of Corona infections and deaths, in both directions. The primary question is wether people are dying from some other cause and just happen to have the Corona virus or if Corona virus is the actual cause of their death.

At first, people were going stir crazy and were extremely bored staying alone in their apartments. At that time, I was getting constant telephone calls and texts from friends, acquaintances and business associates, Now however, people have become used to this. I believe that many shopping and routine habits have been broken and that if and when this historic fear of the virus ends, that people will not necessarily resume their old lifes but rather continue to enjoy the new, solitary norm. People may also wish to save money after this long quarantine. The result I feel is that many restaurants, stores and perhaps churches, may not see their old customers returning as quickly as they had hoped.

As of May 10, 2020, was mother's day and the highways had more vehicle traffic then it had in several months. As of May 11, 2020, overall vehicle traffic is increasing. Further, it seems that more stores that were considered essential, but were closed and now opening up. Still, the number of customers in many essential businesses, such as bicycle stores and automobile repair shops is much lower than usual. All people are required to "social distance" both outside and in stores. This means that people are required to stay 6 feet / 2 meters away from one another. Further, face masks are required to enter any store, though the question remains if such masks have any effect in preventing the spread of the virus, considering that the virus is vastly smaller than what the mask can filter out. Though not required for outside use, the vast majority of people wear face masks outside. The majority of people remain at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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Frank X. Didik with NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio and first lady Chirlane McCray, at the mayor's Christmas party in Gracy Mansion.

Corona Related

Congress proposesTRACE Act read more
History of Corona Virus read more
Gasoline & fuel prices plumet read more
Covid-19 April 2020 news. read more
Corona Shut-down read more
Congress aproves of2 trillion read more
Protestors object to shutdown read more
Photographs of empty New York Citymore
Federal reserve on Covid-19 read more
Corona Paycheck program read more


Subway Safety-Subway Gate Every year hundreds of people are killed or severely injured when they fall onto the tracks of trains and subways. The prevention is cost efficient and greatly reduces liability ... read more ...

Greatly reduce train noise A significant amount of train noise is caused by the train wheels rolling over the expansion joint of the tracks. This vibration creates noise, vibrations, an less pleasant ride and also reduces the life cycle of the train. The solution is relatively simple and cost effective ... read more ...

 

Frank X. Didik aboard "The Futurist", anchored in a New York Harbor.

Thoughts on science, business and society today
By Frank X. Didik - News1.net editor.

What if and what can or might be.


The 1956 Firebird was to be self driving.
Self Driving Cars? If you have an accident with a self driving car, who is at fault? The car manufacturer, the owner of the car or the occupant "driver" of the car? I have enjoyed owning and driving some of the most interesting cars made and have always enjoyed the freedom of driving without impediments or restrictions. Nevertheless, if self driving cars can help reduce accidents and enhance society, I am for them. Besides the technical aspects, there are many other issues that must be worked out. My concerns regarding self driving cars including liability, safety, morality and effectiveness. ...read more ...

 


Bicycles? What ever happened to jet packs, flying cars and advanced technology that in the past, was predicted that we would be using by today? Why are bicycles being pushed by cities world wide?...read more ...

Question: If people who are protesting are paid to protest, is it really a protest?

Question: If a humanitarian organization is paid for their services, are they really a humanitarian organization?

Question: If a charity receives most or all of its money from the government, is it really a charity considering that the tax payer is paying for their services?

Cell Phone Etiquette
Advice for the modern person - December 9, 2016 read more

Time to Rethink Bike Lanes
Advice for bicyle based cities
 - August 3, 2016 read more

On Education
Rethinking school and our education system

Should everyone attend college or university? ... read more ...

Can a college or a university really teach a person to be a businessman or an artist or good in any particular field? ... read more ...

How come all college undergraduate degree's require four years? Should some degrees require only one year while others perhaps six years? ... read more ...

What courses should and should not be taught at college or university? Can college or a university teach a person how to be a good business person, or how to be creative? ... read more ...

Reason, Logic and intellect is not reliable. The late Christopher Hitchens often stated that we should rely on our logic, reason and intellect to determine the truth. Many people who pride themselves as educated, intelligent and progressive believe the same. As reasonable as this seems, Galileo proved over 400 years ago that our logic, reason and intellect is unreliable and that only direct experimental data, should be relied upon. Galileo had dropped two balls of the same material, but different masses, from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to demonstrate that they would hit the ground at the same time, rather than the heavier ball hitting the ground first, as almost everyone, including Aristotle, 2000 years ago, had assumed. Our logic, reason and intellect is not reliable and should only be viewed as speculation. Only direct experimentation and obtaining the same results, over and over again should be relied upon.

 

What about? ..

Old Computer Formats and the longevity of our digitally stored knowledge. Are we entering into a "pre-history" era? How can we preserve our computer written records, books, photographs, video and knowledge? We must have an international agreement and an organization, perhaps under auspices of the United Nations, dedicated to preserving our global digital records so that future generations can access the information and knowledge that we store on computer readable formats.

If you wanted to, would you be able to read a:

    3 1/2" or 5 1/4" or 8" floppy?
    cd-rom or a dvd?
    12" optical disk?
    9 track tape?
    IBM punch card?
    Paper punch tape?

If you can not read these one or two generation old formats today, how will society be able to read these documents in 200 years from now? In a few years, our latest computer formats and storage devices, such as USB drives, will also be obsolete. I have deep concerns about the longevity of our knowledge and of computer records, ...read more ...

What if the decay rate of elements varies rather than being a constant? Imagine, if this is the case, it would mean that all archeological dating is in question. How old are artifacts? When in fact did the dinosaurs really die out? Further, consider that ... read more ...

What is the speed of gravity? If it is instantaneous, then what if gravity can be modulated? Today most scientists, assume that the speed of gravity is the same as the speed of light, but what if the speed of gravity is instantaneous? Further, if gravity can be modulated, it might allow for instantaneous universal communication. Thus it might be possible to communicate with space craft instantly, rather than waiting for minutes for transmissions to reach the craft or earth. Perhaps computer chips can be made to operate vastly faster. And this is just the beginning since ...read more ...

On Business

Investing in Startups. Good idea or bad? Is investing in a Startup, that has never proven itself in the market place, a good idea or a waste of money (and talent)? Historically, investors invested in companies that were swamped with orders and making money, but needed additional money to ... read more ...

Most efficient brain-storming method and how to make morning office meetings more productive and interesting ... read more ...

Superior advertising results

Producing the very best and most effective TV commercials The single purpose of a television commercial is to sell the product or service. The fact that an advertisement might be interesting, funny, informative or well produced is secondary to the main purpose, which is to sell the product or service. One should never leave the creation of the television commercial to the television producer or the video editor. ... read more ...

Building the most effective business websites Never let a "web designer" develop the website for you. A web designer should be produce the website under the supervision of an on line marketing master, usually working with ... read more ...

 


There is an alternative to population control. Restricting and discouraging the formation of families in order to stabilize or reduce population infringes on the freedom and rights of every human. There is another much better approach...read more ...

Questioning the results of modern science. For the last 100 years, we have been experiencing the collapse of real science. Theories, speculation and fantasy is the norm today. By definition, the scientific method is the ability to test and re-test and always get the same results, over and over. If an idea or a theory can not be tested, the idea must be viewed as speculation and not considered true, till that idea is proven without a doubt. Scientific theory has moved to areas that are beyond our present capability of testing and gradually a number of unproven theories have become accepted as fact without any real proof. Further, new theories have been developed based on old theories. Thus we have a situation where science today is largely based on theory upon theory. If something can not be proven, it falls into the realm of philosophy rather than science. This has led to...read more ...


What if time varies along with all things, rather than being a constant? Consider that...read more ...

Can the speed of light vary, even if traveling under the same conditions, or in other words, is the speed of light really a constant? According to Einstein's theory of relativity, the speed of light is a constant but ...read more ...

Science and media hype: Any sudden "revolutionary" scientific discovery, even if such discovery is written about in every newspaper and scientific journal, should be greeted with skepticism. Such a discovery should only be accepted after the bulk of scientists have have had a chance to review the discovery and confirm that it is in fact correct. Such things that come to mind include cold fusion, the so called "God Particle" and even the recent stated discovery of a "gravitational wave". All too often such media hype has come and gone without any real discovery or fundamental change. ..read more ...

What percentage of information, contained in science books is accurate and true? Are we in a post science period? Many science books today present ...read more ...

It is time to retest scientific properties. Verify results. I suggest that the properties of all materials be re-tested using modern technology and certify the results. Melting and boiling points, conductivity, hardness, and all physical properties of materials should be re-tested ...read more ...

Honesty and integrity in scientific research is essential in order to advance our knowledge base. When a scientist has worked for years to prove a particular theory and finds out that their work hasbeen in vain, it is difficult to admit that their original assumptions were wrong. Still it is vitally important ..read more ...

 

 

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