D&D and the rising pandemic

[Hussar]

Apropos of nothing, just the mink thing got me remembering.

My grandmother was quite ill for a long time and then got better. ((Long, involved story, that is not important to this anecdote)) Anyway, my grandfather, for lack of a better word was... frugal with his rather large pension and investments. Anyway, when my grandmother got better she was talking one day with my aunt.

Grandmother: Y'know, I would rather like a mink coat.
Aunt: Mom, that's gorgeous. But, you know, it's really expensive.
Grandmother: Yes, I know. But, your father's has money. I can spend it now.
Grandfather: Choking noises from the kitchen.

That story always made me giggle.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Dad is now facing his 3rd exposure from a previously undiagnosed patient. Feels reasonably confident he’ll test negative, though- nobody in the practice was around the patient without a mask.

 

[Zardnaar]

Dad is now facing his 3rd exposure from a previously undiagnosed patient. Feels reasonably confident he’ll test negative, though- nobody in the practice was around the patient without a mask.

Walk in off the street or appointment only?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Appointment only.

 

[Umbran]

Dad is now facing his 3rd exposure from a previously undiagnosed patient. Feels reasonably confident he’ll test negative, though- nobody in the practice was around the patient without a mask.

So, your dad (and doctors, and... like, everyone) might be happy to hear about this coming down the pike - an AI that can tell if you have covid from the sound of your cough, before you show symptoms.

Artificial intelligence model detects asymptomatic Covid-19 infections through cellphone-recorded coughs

An artificial intelligence model can detect people who are asymptomatic with Covid-19, through cellphone-recorded coughs. The work was led by Brian Subirana and colleagues at the MIT Auto-ID Lab.

news.mit.edu

 

[Zardnaar]

Appointment only.

Ah nice. I got a drive through flu vaccine shot in an old garage they set up for drive through.

Nurse had all the PPE, face shield not mask.

That was during lockdown. If it was feasible I got the impression they would dartboard me.

 

[Hussar]

@Umbran - I saw that article too. That is WAY cool. I wonder if they will be able to app it.

 

[Umbran]

I wonder if they will be able to app it.

That does seem to be the plan:

"The team is working on incorporating the model into a user-friendly app, which if FDA-approved and adopted on a large scale could potentially be a free, convenient, noninvasive prescreening tool to identify people who are likely to be asymptomatic for Covid-19. A user could log in daily, cough into their phone, and instantly get information on whether they might be infected and therefore should confirm with a formal test."

You can imagine signs going up all over the place, "Green Cov-Cough result needed for entry."

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

So, your dad (and doctors, and... like, everyone) might be happy to hear about this coming down the pike - an AI that can tell if you have covid from the sound of your cough, before you show symptoms.

Artificial intelligence model detects asymptomatic Covid-19 infections through cellphone-recorded coughs

An artificial intelligence model can detect people who are asymptomatic with Covid-19, through cellphone-recorded coughs. The work was led by Brian Subirana and colleagues at the MIT Auto-ID Lab.

news.mit.edu

THAT could be a game changer for C19...and potentially for other things that affect the respiratory system!

(Assuming that there are enough distinctions between cough types, consistent across a wide variety of variables, of course.)

 

[Hussar]

Although, thinking about it, coughing on your phone is one way germs get spread. People need to observe good phone hygiene.