Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

You didn't answer a single question. I'll ask again, who do you consider to be "at risk"? How do you plan to keep them isolated? What do you think the impact to the society and the economy will be in doing so?

 

Okay, so we go with instacart. Now, we have increased risk for everybody that touched the object along the way, including the delivery driver, the grocery store employees, etc. How do we prevent transmission? Gloves are not a perfect solution for a variety of reasons. They can limit risk, but if you increase the risk that the delivery driver and the people on the chain have had the illness, you have increased the risk on the isolated with that system.

That isn't an answer to my question. So you think that the isolated people should be coming into contact with those still working? Again, increased risk, especially if the workers come into contact with people not taking precautions.

Masks improve the situation but don't eliminate risk. Also, are you going to enforce masks as they walk around town? Let's say you have somebody from a hot spot travel to a non-hotspot. Should they be able to walk into a restaurant freely in the non-hotspot?

It only isn't complicated if you mentally remove the complications and ignore them.

 

If our aim is to go back to work, I don’t see how that can’t include opening up schools and businesses though.

 

You're just assuming people have family members to bring them these things and they can afford the Instacart upcharge.

 

Sure, but kids aren't going back to school before mid-August; businesses and bars aren't just open as it stands. There's a careful strategy being implemented that differentiates itself from the quoted comment.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

Yeah, imagine how tougher it will be when 30+ million are out of work...

 

Then what's a good solution? In my opinion it's follow the guidelines for reopening and change them as needed. Opening everything up wide and telling the at risk to isolate leaves more questions than answers in my opinion. I think if the general public doesn't feel safe in the biggest economy driving regions then opening up won't do a whole lot.

 

Oh I see. You’re talking about the US’ current plan, and I was talking about 95’s stated ideas.

I agree that the US isn’t going full sweden right now. Though to your point about schools, I don’t know that daycares and camps are that different from schools in this respect.

 

Most states are opening back up. Mostly why the public doesn't feel safe is because all the media does is paint doom and gloom. It's like the weather channel during a weather crisis. Why do they paint worst case scenario EVERY time? Because it gets ratings. Sad but true.

 

States are beginning to open up (some sooner than the federal govt recommends). I think most intelligent people aren't swayed by "the media" but rather the cold hard facts of numbers. Maybe I'm wrong but the public feared for their safety and damn near shut things down before states and the feds did much of anything. The first things to shut down were pro & college sports before a single thing was mandatory. Everyone wants things to open up as quickly as possible while avoiding secondary shutdowns due to the infection flaring back up. I'm just glad I don't have to make the decision.

 

The public isn't very bright. Look who we nominated for President the last 2 cycles. Rest my case.

 

It's sometimes interesting to note people's use of the word "period," as if its some exclamatory absolute. It's a known truth and there can be no refuting it . Except there is no absolute truth here. We as Americans were not told we needed to shut everything down. And we didn't.

I agree we need to get back to work smartly. As a professor, I dearly want to agree that colleges should/could open in the fall. Unfortunately, that possibility is so much more complex than you make it. We can't just assume the students will be safe (not all of the students are in their 20s, btw ). We can't just tell the professors to wear a mask and assume they will be safe. Professors' ages typically range from late 20s (rare) to 70s. Obviously, some would be more at risk than others. But colleges do not only consist of students and professors. There are a multitude of staff and admins to consider as well.
Social distancing in certain areas of campus is not possible. Compromised staff means compromised services. And outbreaks / health compromises cause major liability issues for universities. I so badly wish it wasn't this way. I wish we could say with certainty that schools and universities could open in the fall. I want sports back. I've done quite a bit of teaching online over the years, but just began teaching a May term course online for the first time. So far, I hate it. I feel like I'm not doing my best work; can't build community; can't optimize the course experience without togetherness. I'm growing desperate to have normalcy back. I want to be able to teach in person and hope this can happen in the fall. We're just not there yet. Maybe things will rapidly change, but we do not have any such indicators today.

 

I get it, it's not super easy. But the alternative of no kids in school from Kindergarten thru college will crater our economy. How many colleges will have to shut down if they don't have students on campus? How many athletic programs will be forced to shut down. I believe we will find a way. The vast, vast majority of people are safe from this virus. We can't hope and pray and wait on a vaccine to make it ok to go back to school.

 

Yeah, the biggest issue with "this isn't complicated" is the fact that it is and if we ignore the complications, you are more likely to have problems that make the situation worse in the medium-run. If people have to go back to their homes because of an explosion in cases due to a poorly rolled out response, then it will endanger recovery in the medium term and will have more substantial long-term effects. Masks, gloves, and proper strategies should be the start, even when proper strategies are complicated.

 

The last word in this really should have been Period. A missed opportunity. Period.

 

A nurse posted this and my wife shared it with me. Good read.
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Ok, so, here’s some venting and some explaining and if you don’t like it, I honestly don’t care. Move on and good day to you.

This has easily been the longest 2 months of my career, and, for that matter, my life. COVID-19 has changed everything. The way we live, the way our kids learn, the way we work. It has trashed the economy, exploded unemployment, and harmed businesses, many of them, sadly, beyond repair. But here’s the deal: it’s real and it’s here and it’s still spreading.

As a healthcare worker, I’m exhausted. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. As a manager in the the healthcare industry, it’s been one of the longest, most stressful things I’ve tackled.

First off, the truthers and the conspiracy people and the protesters, you’re not helping. The people bitching CONSTANTLY about the governor’s or whatever level of government’s handling of things, it’s not constructive.

Do you want to know why medical people, real medical people, not some crackpot quacks and kooks with a YouTube account or Facebook page, are taking this seriously? Because it’s serious. And we’re serious people when it comes to people’s health and their lives. Yes, it mostly kills at-risk populations (the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions) but it also kills perfectly healthy people with no prior diagnoses and we don’t know why. I’m so tired of people acting like there’s information that’s being cooked up or withheld. You know why there’s lots of gaps in the information? Because we’re still learning about this virus every day. It’s new. It’s never been seen. How it acts, how it spreads, why it does the things it does is all new and we’re learning on the fly. Stop mistaking genuine lack of information for misinformation or withheld information.

The numbers: this one sticks in my craw like no other. “I heard they didn’t die from COVID-19, they died from a heart attack but they were positive so they called it COVID-19 to boost the numbers and scare people.” Stop. It. You know how many people died specifically from AIDS? Zero. AIDS patients die from pneumonia or some other illness normal, healthy people fight off because the AIDS virus destroyed their immune system and they couldn’t fight off the infection. But at the heart of it, they died because of AIDS. The coronavirus attacks the respiratory system. The respiratory system is, in case you didn’t know, pretty important to sustaining life. It also has a huge impact on how other organ systems, like the heart, work. Guess what, when your lungs don’t work because they’ve basically filled with brick mortar because the virus is attacking them, that puts a bit of a strain on your ticker and very well can cause it to fail. So unless you have a basic understanding of or want to understand how interconnected organ systems are and how the body fundamentally functions: stop.

I think I can speak for a lot of medical professionals when I say, we don’t mean to be arrogant, we don’t mean to be jerks, but damn it, this bullshit is frustrating and yes, we’re going to clap back to ignorance. Ignorance is not something to be flaunted and there is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. Ignorance is being uninformed. Stop being willfully ignorant and even reveling in it because it doesn’t fit your preconceived narrative or opinion. Even worse, stop pretending you’re not ignorant because you watched some damn YouTube video or read some op-ed piece. That’s someone’s opinion, normally based on nothing. NOTHING. No research. That’s not information. That’s not factual. That’s not based in science. It’s click-bait with the sole intention of riling you up and getting you to let your guard down. And instead of being pissed at the virus that’s causing all this, it’s to direct your anger at the government or doctors or anywhere else their agenda wants it directed.

Medical people are fired up for a couple reasons. 1 month ago, we were all heroes and putting our lives on the line because this was dangerous stuff. Well, I think I can speak for most of us when I say we aren’t heroic, we’re just doing our job. But guess what, we’re still doing the same damn thing we were doing a month ago and this crap still hasn’t gone away but now we’re “just trying to scare people” because “it’s really no big deal.” We aren’t looking for a pat on the back or even a thank you, we just want you to do what we all need to do to stop this thing and avoid the spread. Listen, if you think that my big fat ass enjoys sweating like a whore in church in an isolation gown, walking around like Mr Magoo because my glasses are fogged up because of my mask, and wearing goggles that dig into the backs of my ears because I’m “just a sheep,” you are mistaken. It’s because I don’t want this virus and I don’t want to take it home to my family and I don’t want to infect my co-workers and other patients. We’re fired up because we’ve seen and even performed intubations. We don’t intubate for funsies. Outside of the surgical setting, an intubation is basically throwing a Hail Mary to save someone’s life. And when the mortality rate once that plastic tube slides between your vocal cords with COVID-19 is 85-89%, yeah, that’s terrifying. This virus is dangerous.

Lastly, stop being spoiled children about public health advisories. Stop bitching about wearing a mask when you’re in public places. Stop pretending that that is somehow infringing on your rights. Get over yourself. I wish all businesses would grow a pair and refuse service to people who refuse to wear a mask “out of principle.” Police aren’t inclined to enforce it and that’s fine but, spoiler alert, private businesses have and reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. Don’t tell me it’s ok for a bakery to refuse service to a gay couple for a wedding cake on religious grounds but not ok for a convenience store to refuse service because they don’t want the outbreak monkey strolling through their place coughing all over other patrons and their staff. Stay outside the 6ft bubble, wear a damn mask, and wash your hands. It’s that easy. Stop pretending they’re asking for a kidney. It’s as much to protect yourself as it is everyone else. People wonder why we have things like stay-at-home orders and closing of non-essential businesses. It’s because of you, jackass, you’re the problem. It’s your lack of ability to exercise common sense and your refusal to follow simple, insanely simple advice that forces the government to exercise it for you. And even then, you still thumb your nose at it in all your ignorant glory. Sorry that you feel like they’re infringing on your right to be an irresponsible child.

Look, all I’m saying is I get that it’s frustrating and I get that it’s irritating, and inconvenient and all the other bad things that it is, but please, continue to take this seriously, continue to do the little things that make a big difference. Stop denying facts, science, and the advice from people who have spent a lifetime doing what they do in the medical and research fields to ultimately make everyone’s lives healthier, safer, and better.

I’m done with my soap box now. ✌

#washyourhands #wearamask

 

For those who don't have family etc, let the gov pay the upcharge. Cheaper than sending $600/week to everyone on UE for the rest of the year...

Many neighbors/Churches will help shut-ins also. Its not 100% but I think better than closing down the country for 20% who are at highest risk.

 

Florida isn't increasing a little bit. Highest number of daily cases was on 4/17

Georgia isn't increasing either and they opened up 3 weeks ago I believe. I think we will know much more in another week or two. If you don't see a significant and steady daily rise in cases, it should show that phasing in opening isn't going to send things in a tailspin. Texas is kind of up and down but no significant rise in cases.

COVID-19 Status Report

 

A potential cure....from Llamas.... Just as we assumed.
How llamas could hold the key to combatting Covid-19