
NBA suspends season over the coronavirus after player tests positive - jonbaer
https://www.axios.com/nba-suspends-basketball-season-coronavirus-5106988a-2fed-48d9-9729-ebe58824f1f4.html
======
ceejayoz
Between this and Tom Hanks, it may feel a lot more real to a lot of people
tomorrow.

~~~
gpm
Tom Hanks is what gets you, not the U.S. suspending all travel from Europe for
30 days?

I don't get people.

~~~
grecy
Celebrity worship in America is extremely powerful. Don't ever underestimate
how much it's central to American culture.

~~~
furyofantares
In this case it actually seems kind of rational.

It's really hard to process all the information that's available about what's
going on; it's changing constantly, there's no consensus on a lot of stuff,
the numbers and curves are highly unnatural to think about even if they didn't
have massive uncertainty in their variables, and on and on.

As an example, instead let's talk about the lottery. If I hear that a movie
star won the lottery, that's pretty surprising. I didn't expect to ever even
know the name of someone that wins the lottery. The odds are really, really
long and I don't know the names of enough people. And oh, an NBA player won
the lottery today too? OK, well maybe this lottery doesn't work the way I was
thinking.

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koolba
Hopefully we can still watch the rest of the XFL season.

~~~
Cyberdog
Indeed. It would probably be socially responsible to cancel their season too,
but I'm really enjoying their games (at least the ones that air on free TV).

Here's hoping the NBA, and whatever leagues might be affected, are able to
reschedule their games once this nasty bug finally dies out.

~~~
AmericanChopper
I’m planning on watching the F1 Australian GP this weekend (on tv, not in
Australia). So far China is the only race on the calendar that they’ve
“rescheduled”. There was news yesterday that 3 F1 team members (not drivers)
were in isolation pending test results. But they say everything is going
ahead.

~~~
microtherion
One big difference between F1 and the NBA is that in the NBA, players are
routinely within 2m of each other. If that happens to F1 drivers during the
race, they have problems other than coronavirus to be concerned about.

~~~
AmericanChopper
An F1 driver will spend 4-5 hours on track during a race weekend. The rest of
the time is spent in hotels, with the press, with fans and in the track
facilities/garage. I’ve been around a few F1 tracks on race days, and they are
incredibly packed full of people. The drivers don’t need to worry about
catching a virus on track, it’s everywhere else that’s the problem.

But the thing that makes F1 actually somewhat unique in terms of Coronavirus
risk, is that it’s supposed to take place across 22 countries (down to 21 now
that China’s been cancelled - or “postponed”). Including a number of countries
that have high infection rates, like Italy, Singapore and Japan. An F1 team
member could theoretically be infected in one country, go to a race in another
country, leave and arrive in a 3rd country before they even show symptoms.

So far what the FIA has done is cancel China, prohibit driver > fan
interaction at events, limit press interaction, and said that some races will
be run without live audiences. They’ve also said that if a team can’t race
because of the virus, they won’t hold an official GP, but they kinda implied
they’d still hold a race.

I’m a big fan of F1, so I’m happy to see the races. But it seems like a
disaster waiting to happen. The FIA also have a terrible history of not
cancelling events when they really should be cancelled. Last year when Typhoon
Hagibis was forecast to arrive onshore in Japan on the Saturday of the
Japanese GP weekend, the FIAs plan was “we think Typhoon Hagibis will be gone
by Sunday, so we’ll just run qualifying on Sunday morning”. It did clear up by
then, but really just by luck. In 2005 the circuit for the US GP had a corner
that was dangerous to take at speed for any car that was using Michelin tires,
because they may catastrophically fail. This caused two major crashes during
practice. The FIA refused to change the track, refused to cancel the race, and
refused to allow the teams to withdraw. The result was that the (7/10)
Michelin teams drove one formation lap, and then had all 14 of their drivers
retire. In short, they can’t really be trusted to make defensible decisions
about cancelling events.

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aazaa
The financial hit from this and other event closures, travel restrictions,
supply chain disruptions, and lost wages is going to be massive.

Asset prices and employment reports do not in any way reflect what's in store.

~~~
arcticbull
Asset prices are based on forward looking projections of the business, not on
current revenues, or even next quarter's revenues. This is why S&P 500
companies trade at an average valuation of 15X their current-year earnings. If
anything, they're way oversold already.

Nothing's fundamentally or structurally changed in the US economy. There were
no bad mortgages. We hit the brakes for a bit, but before you know it we'll be
back up on our feet and working our asses off, and if we're lucky, we'll get
some mandatory paid sick days added to employment law out of it.

[edit] well actually, something has fundamentally changed: the cost of
borrowing got _somehow even lower_ meaning an eventual recovery may be
turbocharged. The Fed is very unlikely to raise rates as we move past this.

~~~
jennyyang
This is a global recession, spending is drying up. You may or may not have
seen the dot com bust, but this to me looks like that except across the globe.
Many companies will die because they rely on cash flow and that will dry up.
Restaurants, and entertainment venues will be dead until May 2021, unless we
find a vaccine that treats this. As more and more celebrities get infected and
possibly die it will hit the psyche a lot more than the financial crisis ever
did.

It really is different this time, and it frightens me, not the virus itself
but the economic ramifications.

The best case scenario is that summer stops the virus from spreading, panic
lessens, and then a treatment is found before September that is effective and
quick. Then a vaccine comes out next March 2021 and everyone is happy again.

~~~
Thorentis
> Restaurants, and entertainment venues will be dead until May 2021, unless we
> find a vaccine that treats this.

Just because people over 70 won't be going to them, doesn't mean the rest of
us won't be. Besides, once I've had cornavirus - which could well be
inevitable - I'll no longer be scared for it and will head back out. So will
everybody else.

To be honest, the best way to avoid a severe economic impact is to accept
you'll most likely get it, and rather than killing businesses by staying
inside, just got on with your life, stay fit and healthy, and hope for the
best. You're more likely to be killed driving your car, so carry on living!

~~~
jkhaui
So in other words: "who cares, the virus only kills old people who were
probably useless to the economy anyway, so business as usual."

I sure hope you don't have any elderly family members. Plenty of people in
their 40s have died too

~~~
Thorentis
Not what I said. Those most vulnerable should stay at home. No reason for the
rest of us too of we are very low risk.

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MobileVet
ESPN is a little more reliable
[https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28887560/nba-suspends-
se...](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28887560/nba-suspends-season-
further-notice-player-tests-positive-coronavirus)

~~~
adrianmonk
The NBA's Twitter account is now confirming they have suspended it for now:

[https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1237917831506857989](https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1237917831506857989)

------
40acres
All players need to be tested. Thankfully they are young and healthy so the
risk is low personally. Think about how many players lick their hands before a
free throw and then pass it around, the refs touch the ball for tip off, etc.
Damn a pandemic really makes you aware about how many microbes are out there.

~~~
philliphaydon
I'm a little bit sick of hearing stuff related to age. "oh but they are in
their 30's they will be ok" etc.

It doesn't change the fact they are now carriers and are potentially going to
infect a child, or an elderly, or someone with a compromised immune system.

~~~
quaquaqua1
The death rate for everyone under 50 is 0.1%, or 1 in 1000.

The death rate for those over 80 is 12% or higher.

Now, if everyone shuts down their life and somehow society can survive for 3
weeks with nobody allowed to move anywhere, maybe this virus goes away.

But, I think the economic consequences of that will be a lot worse than just
continuing on with normal life and making sure people over 80 and people with
chronic diseases are cloistered away and cared for.

~~~
Lewton
It seems like you're really underestimating the severity of the situation

I implore you to read up on what the situation in Italy is like at this
moment, and to look into why the Danish government just declared Denmark in
lockdown mode.

Denmark went from 30 diagnosed cases to over 500 in 5 days. This is with an
aggressive testing protocol that includes tracking, testing and quarantining
every person each new case has been in contact with.

To think that the US with their limited and delayed testing is at anywhere
below 20000 actual infections by now seems extremely optimistic

Everyone will get sick -at the same time-. That's a really really big deal

~~~
quaquaqua1
Hundreds of thousands die from flu every year in a relatively compressed
period.

Only people who need to be in hospitals are those who need intubation.

Everyone will get sick no matter what you try to do. So the government needs
to spin up more intubation servers, not block IPs...

~~~
adventured
The death numbers are only one component of the problem.

The other problem is the 10-15% ICU rate. That swamps healthcare systems.
Italy's healthcare system has nearly collapsed in the north, from just 12,000
positive cases so far. They're having to let patients die, which is why their
mortality rate is so extremely high. The Lombardy region has one of the better
rated healthcare systems on the planet and it can't handle what's happening.
Unconstrained, Italy's healthcare system nationwide would collapse rapidly as
their cases ballooned into the many tens of thousands. I'm not picking on
Italy here, merely using them as a clear example of how serious this is. Every
country should be treating this like a severe, immediate threat to their
healthcare system continuing to function.

------
AtlasBarfed
Our "market-base" healthcare system is totally unfit for pandemic containment.

Oh you have the disease, and you're part of the legions of people that 1)
don't have insurance or 2) have skyhigh catastrophic coverage insurance.

You're first question isn't "should I get treatment", it is:

WHO WILL PAY FOR MY QUARANTINE.

And people will avoid the billing-happy US healthcare system, and large
percentages of people stay in circulation.

~~~
ohyeshedid
It's a virus, not a disease.

EDIT: Nope, fubar'd this; it's a disease. Thanks hexane360.

There is no medical treatment for most people; there is no cure to administer.

Stay hydrated, manage symptoms, rest, and monitor for worsening conditions is
about all that can be done for the majority of people.

EDIT: Edited for structure.

~~~
hexane360
COVID-19 is a disease. The virus is SARS-CoV-2. You're not even right at being
pedantic. Illnesses don't need to be treatable or curable to be called
diseases.

~~~
ohyeshedid
I never said they need to be treatable nor curable to be called diseases.

What I am, is wrong about it not being a disease. All these are listed as
diseases: SARS-COV, MERS-COV, and nCOV. Even, also, the common flu. I never
thought of that as a disease before now, since it's a viral infection. Thank
you for making me learn a little more tonight.

~~~
Godel_unicode
Not sure where you're seeing those "listed", but those are the names of
viruses which are associated with diseases.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_respiratory_synd...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_respiratory_syndrome-
related_coronavirus)

~~~
ohyeshedid
From the WHO: [https://www.who.int/health-
topics/coronavirus](https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus)

"Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging
from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel
coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in
humans."

The naming is actually a bit confusing to me, as the CDC has this to say[1]:

"On February 11, 2020 the World Health Organization announced an official name
for the disease that is causing the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, first
identified in Wuhan China. The new name of this disease is coronavirus disease
2019, abbreviated as COVID-19. In COVID-19, ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for
‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as “2019
novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV”."

I'm not sure where the separation between virus and disease is or was, of if
that even matters in the end.

[1]
[https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html)

~~~
Godel_unicode
Viruses are the physical thing which makes you sick. The disease is the
sickness the virus (in this case) gives you. The problem is that nobody in the
media* knows the difference or pays attention to it when reporting it.

Wikipedia calls diseases "medical conditions that are associated with specific
symptoms and signs".

~~~
ohyeshedid
Thank you for the insight. It's been an interesting night; never before had I
thought of chicken pox or a cold as a disease, but that's what they're
classified as.

In my worldview, up until tonight, my understanding of a disease was something
that won't go away on it's own. Heart disease, Huntington's, etc.

I agree about the media. While I've seen COVID-19 everywhere; I didn't know
anything about the nomenclature in this field and have only heard references
to a virus, not a disease.

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antidaily
And Rudy is positive afrer mic-touching stunt! Yeesh.

------
im3w1l
NBA gets people seated in front of their TV's. I worry that this suspension
means would be viewers go outside more.

~~~
xnyan
I wonder how risky just walking outside is if you don’t talk to or touch
anything and you’re not in a crowded area. Certainly more than sealing
yourself in a room but I wonder if walking past someone briskly with your
hands in your pockets has a significant risk of transmission?

~~~
wyattpeak
It's not particularly risky in itself, but what activity are you proposing?
Most people aren't heading out just for a stroll around the block. It's
whatever's at the end of the walk that's the problem.

~~~
derwiki
Walking the dog?

------
chirau
I wonder if the NCAA will follow suit. I know they already said the games
would be empty

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Munky-Necan
The best thing we can do to stop the spread is things like this,
unfortunately.

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natrik
A player, Rudy Gobert, tested positive for Coronavirus today.

He recently did this,
[https://twitter.com/SomeonesAnIdiot/status/12379197037812940...](https://twitter.com/SomeonesAnIdiot/status/1237919703781294081)
claiming something along the lines of 'it's not a big deal'

~~~
partiallypro
Is it possible he could be sued over this if any of the reporters contract it?

~~~
KarlKemp
Fascinating question...

There's this standard case for law students (here in Germany): A man wishes
his wife was dead. He sends her out to the mailbox on rainy day, muttering "I
hope you get hit by lightning" under his breath. She does get hit by lightning
and dies. Murder?

~~~
uh2010
force majeure

------
drcode
Boy, I'm glad I did my big grocery store today and not tomorrow.

~~~
xnyan
Same. Didn’t go crazy but got more of the less-perishables that I’m going to
eat anyway. Maybe 90% of the rice was gone, ditto for cooking oil and other
staples (mid-atlantic us south). Fresh vegetables and meats and everything
else really seemed in normal stock for now.

~~~
wincy
I own a canner so can turn perishable stuff into long term stuff. Might just
have to start doing it too.

------
NoPicklez
Given the incredible impact this has had and will continue to have. What will
the likely consequences be for China given that it is my understanding that
the source of the virus was Wuhan China?

~~~
dntbnmpls
The same consequences that africa got for ebola or the middle east got for
MERS. Nothing. It's not their fault. It's a virus. It happens.

People like you are so obvious. What do you think happened to the region that
gave us HIV? Nothing because it's not their fault.

~~~
slantyyz
Aren't SARS and COVID suspected to be the result of viruses jumping species in
wet markets that sell wildlife?

If that is true, I'm not sure you can just say "it happens", as the wet market
environments are man-made.

[1] Vox : "Why new diseases keep appearing in China" \--
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPpoJGYlW54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPpoJGYlW54)

[2] Vox Explained: "The Next Pandemic" \--
[https://www.netflix.com/watch/81062202?trackId=13752289&tctx...](https://www.netflix.com/watch/81062202?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C3%2Cad81ab60-7b5f-458f-a116-1c1250e60946-115068166%2C%2C)

