COVID-19 could affect more races this year.

[Big Tea]

If people are showing antibodies when they are being tested, they must have had the virus in the past.

This is asking a lot of real world biochemistry. If a test result is positive, it means that a reaction in a test tube, artificially forced to give a binary result, gave a positive result. Something reacted with something. In most cases is will be the antibody reacting with the correct antigen, but false positives are almost a law of nature when working with antibodies, from physichochemical artifacts to degrading reagents to cross reactions with other coronavirues.

Still, yes, most of those positives will be real and yes, for every PCR positive there seems to be a good few people that had an asymptomatic or mild disease and that now are, most likely, inmune. Let's hope they are many, many more than we think, because then and only then we are on our way to herd immunity.
I don't want to even imagine reaching next winter with less than 5% of the population immunized.
I guess this shows that I live in the northern hemisphere, because that is exactly what is coming to the southern hemisphere. /Holds breath/

This. And remember it is called Covid 19 because there have been many of a similar strain to i, including SARS and MERS and probably several we did not even recognise as anything other than another flu. This could even be a mutation of something that has been in animals for many years and not been powerful to notice when it originally made the jump, but is still about. How often do you hear of someone having an unspecific virus? there are many we do not classify even if detected.



BTW a look at what is in the pipeline (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-o_gS28vig)

[3jawchuck]

...
And remember it is called Covid 19 because there have been many of a similar strain to i, including SARS and MERS and probably several we did not even recognise as anything other than another flu. This could even be a mutation of something that has been in animals for many years and not been powerful to notice when it originally made the jump, but is still about. How often do you hear of someone having an unspecific virus? there are many we do not classify even if detected.
...

I thought it was called COVID-19 because it is a disease (d) caused by a corona virus (covi) that was first spotted in 2019?

[Big Tea]

...
And remember it is called Covid 19 because there have been many of a similar strain to i, including SARS and MERS and probably several we did not even recognise as anything other than another flu. This could even be a mutation of something that has been in animals for many years and not been powerful to notice when it originally made the jump, but is still about. How often do you hear of someone having an unspecific virus? there are many we do not classify even if detected.
...

I thought it was called COVID-19 because it is a disease (d) caused by a corona virus (covi) that was first spotted in 2019?

Yes, it needs the year to identify it from others as it is not unique

[Zynerji]

How many anecdotes does it take to make a true story? I hear this excuse a lot, so there must be an echo chamber or just an overwhelming number of anecdotes.

How much positive news does it take to move past this virus?

How many people must continue to suffer from the "cure"? And for how long?

At some point, this is going to just be accepted as a risk of being alive, like any other virus or allergy. At the current rate, the virus will be gone long before a vaccine.

It's not an "excuse".

Who's suffering from the cure? There's no cure yet. There's barely a treatment yet.

It's a line from the US President back when he was speaking to his followers. The "cure" in this case is the social distancing that results in companies closing down for a while. I.e. the economic cost isn't worth paying to save people's lives, basically.

100%

It definitely is not.

Especially when abortions are deemed an "essential business" during that time.

Shutting down the largest economy the world has ever seen to save 60k ppl, while aborting 100k babies as "essential" doesn't make any sense to me.

It's almost like some lives are worth more than others, and unfortunately the talking heads bend the hysteria to their side of the aisle and are harnessing it for political points.

If we actually cared about the individual, we would be doing this a bit differently.

[3jawchuck]

...
I don't blame those that are panicked over this, it has been presented as "the end of the world".
...

It has not. It has been presented as a preventable additional source of death, the number of which most nations have opted for drastic measures to try and reduce. Only time will tell whether the methods chosen to reduce it are worth the potential financial damage. Still, there are a lot of people making money off of this.

[Bill]

Impressive people here seem capable critical thinking you get less of that from mindless drones on Facebook or twitter .F1 should get back behind closed doors you can get anything if they pay the right people.lockdowns could use a bit of entertainment

[Capharol]

It's almost like some lives are worth more than others,

its not almost like, it is that way

welcome to real life my friend

[PlatinumZealot]

How many anecdotes does it take to make a true story? I hear this excuse a lot, so there must be an echo chamber or just an overwhelming number of anecdotes.

How much positive news does it take to move past this virus?

How many people must continue to suffer from the "cure"? And for how long?

At some point, this is going to just be accepted as a risk of being alive, like any other virus or allergy. At the current rate, the virus will be gone long before a vaccine.

It's not an "excuse".

Who's suffering from the cure? There's no cure yet. There's barely a treatment yet.

The virus has no chance of being "gone" before a vaccine. It's a strong enough virus to have infected a 1.5 million people and every country on earth in the space of six months. Officially 110000 people dead from it, so far. There are right now, nearly 480000 active cases in the US. Alone.

I think he was using an Idom which is a figurative expression of speech. Not a lieteral one to one meaning of saying there is a cure... But he is saying that the measures the world is currently taking might do more harm... In terms of economy, social well being etc than good...and maybe even a rushed vaccine itself might do more harm than good... All of this is of course very debatable..

[aral]

This thread has developed into a platform for deniers ! The virus is still spreading and increasing so nobody knows what the eventual death toll will be. To spout figures at any one time to try and prove somnething that suits your viewpoint, is only causing and anxiety to others , especially those who have been affected in some way by it. The topic is about how the virus will affect F1, so please stick to comments on this, rather than try to make it a personal soapbox !

[PlatinumZealot]

It's not an "excuse".

Who's suffering from the cure? There's no cure yet. There's barely a treatment yet.

It's a line from the US President back when he was speaking to his followers. The "cure" in this case is the social distancing that results in companies closing down for a while. I.e. the economic cost isn't worth paying to save people's lives, basically.

100%

It definitely is not.

Especially when abortions are deemed an "essential business" during that time.

Shutting down the largest economy the world has ever seen to save 60k ppl, while aborting 100k babies as "essential" doesn't make any sense to me.

It's almost like some lives are worth more than others, and unfortunately the talking heads bend the hysteria to their side of the aisle and are harnessing it for political points.

If we actually cared about the individual, we would be doing this a bit differently.

Lol spoken like a true cold hearted businessman. The 60k people is actually a figure based on current measures. It might be 2 million if those measures were not put in place.
And we know what will happen if that level of spread affects the nation. Mass hysteria. Boom... Ecobomy crashes anyway.

[humble sabot]

I think he was using an Idom which is a figurative expression of speech. Not a lieteral one to one meaning of saying there is a cure... But he is saying that the measures the world is currently taking might do more harm... In terms of economy, social well being etc than good...and maybe even a rushed vaccine itself might do more harm than good... All of this is of course very debatable..

I'm aware of the idiom, but we're in a stage where mitigating measures are all we have, and the word 'cure' is severe hyperbole in this context, and that was what i was hoping to highlight.

God, I wonder how bad this coulda been had we all just played as though it was just another cold going around. The Australian GP alone could have been a major vector for international spread.

Anyone have really rough numbers on foreign versus local fan attendance at grands prix weekends?

[LM10]

No need for a smart comment ! I enjoy all teams, so i dont understand your biased comment!
But it is irrelevant as to where the teams are based, although some could argue that some teams could have a home advantage. Any racing should be impartial, and currently, the country with the least problem from covid 19, is Germany, so why not consider Germany, which has two suitable circuits?
But, as i said, the main stumbling block is contracts ! That is why, apart from the covid 19 problem lasting longer than anticipated, there is little chance of an actual championship being held this year. Brawn is clutching at straws and trying to protect the FIA from the huge losses that they will incur....understandable, as that is his job.
Interesting that Williams have now effectively sold out to Latifi, as they were in dire straits as a result of closure due to covid 19.

There are a few countries in the race calendar which have not more or even less problem from Covid19 than Germany.
For example Austria in europe and Japan, Singapore and already also China among asian countries.

I don't think that waiting for the virus to disappear until starting with races, football games or any kind of sports activities will be the right solution. Because that would mean to wait until a vaccine is ready which most probably will not be the case before end of this year or beginning of next year.
People need to learn to live with this. Masks are the solution for keeping the life go on. Wear them, know that you need to respect social distancing, don't touch everything and then your face. Simple rules. Masks have been working in asian countries for many years.
Strict measures like shutting down are only there to win some time. Austria has been shut down for 4 weeks now and they'll be the first country in Europe to get rid of the measures step by step. But people must wear masks in markets, drug stores, public transportation and little stores which will be reopened tomorrow. Also in private cars, if there are people who don't live in the same house. If you don't wear masks in said locations police will fine you.

I think that all other countries will need to implement this as well. I don't see another option to combine life with this pandemic.

[toraabe]

Let's use Paul richard in different configurations. From the short circuit to the current one and the old school one in which is still available

[Just_a_fan]

There are a few countries in the race calendar which have not more or even less problem from Covid19 than Germany.
For example Austria in europe and Japan, Singapore and already also China among asian countries.

Well Singapore is a city-centre race so not really suitable if one wants to maintain social distancing etc. No way to control numbers in the way that a dedicated race track can.

[Just_a_fan]

Let's use Paul richard in different configurations. From the short circuit to the current one and the old school one in which is still available

It really only has one suitable one - the one they use anyway.

The Circuit Paul Ricard features 3 major track solutions:


The 5.8 km is the longest track which hosts the majority of competitions and aerodynamic tests.
The 3.8 km is generally used for motorcycle courses.
The 1.8 km school track is used mainly for driving courses.

from https://www.circuitpaulricard.com/en/pa ... acilities/

Not sure running on a motorcycle training track is going to be much use. It will certainly be devoid of any overtaking, that's for sure.

You might be able to run in different downforce levels by omitting the chicane on the long straight as that would put a premium on top speed, but that would probably be the limit of the realistic options.