Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

See post #791

 

40 pages....that's more than the number of US deaths so far. I wonder if this thread will outlive the virus (actually I hope so).

I never left it out. I gave out the exact dates, better than even Politifact gave since I sent them my critic of their answer on their website. Since then, they have corrected it. The fact is, Obama officially declared a national emergency on Oct 23, 2009 but there were in fact, 4 public declarations by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The 1st was on April 26, 2009 about a month after the 1st American was diagnosed. The 2nd was on July 24, then another in August, with the last on October 1st.

My point in all of this wasn't the lack of attention to the Pandemic, but the affect (or really lack of) on the markets and economy. There was hardly any negative affect on the markets and actually lead to an 18.8% increase in the stock market in 2009. There was only one period in the entire year where the markets "tanked" 10% at the end of June 2009, but quickly rose from that point until the end of Jan 2010.

My point being, are we today weak compared to 2009? After the Great Recession, not even a Pandemic could make us feel worse but today with hardly any head winds, it took a normal virus less than a month to send us into a bear market from all-time highs. 10 years of optimism has eroded our defenses to the point it all came crashing down in less than 30 days.

 

Hmm...might be an awesome time to go to DisneyWorld then.

 

We need something juicy and shiny to take the focus away from this. A good celebrity scandal would be perfect. Kanye? Kardashians? Donald?

 

Maybe it should be concerning that the "smart money" thinks this is more of an issue then? I don't recall the extreme measures that have had to be taken in Italy or China. That didn't happen with swine flu, and as it turned out swine flu even though it spread far and wide was NOT all that deadly.


Basically all the epidemiologists seem to be in agreement this could be worse than the flu, it has a high R0 and is 5x-20x more deadly for any older person that gets it. That is why seemingly extreme measures are being taken. Maybe instead of 100,000 U.S. deaths the extra precautions and recommended quarantines hold it to <10,000 deaths. Worst case projections for this thing are into the millions of deaths globally, obviously nobody wants that.

 

I had that thought. If only I didnt hate everything about a trip to disney.

 

Did you have influenza or Corona?

 

My take is that disruption in distribution channels is the biggest worry. That has a big effect on what would normally be efficient markets.

Edit: I don't mean to take away from those that are directly affected from a health perspective. Losing a loved one sucks out loud. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on that.

 

This is a serious situation and we should do all we can to end this pandemic. The 24 hour MSM and their hyperbolic reporting every 5 minutes on everything that is happening and making it sound like the Black Plague is driving the hysteria in this country.

 

Late night shows will be taped without audiences. Biden's future rallies will be virtual rallies.
Joe Biden to hold virtual events in Illinois, Florida due to coronavirus

 

Exclusive: White House told federal health agency to classify coronavirus deliberations - sources

The White House insistence on secrecy at the nation’s premier public health organization, which has not been previously disclosed, has put a lid on certain information - and potentially delayed the response to the crisis. COVID19, the disease caused by the virus, has killed about 30 people in the United States and infected more than 1,000 people.

 

We just got the notice today that spring break (which started this week) is being extended until next Wednesday and that all classes should be hosted online until April 1. I wonder how my colleagues who teach performing ensembles will deal with this. Thank goodness that's not a part of my instructional duties. It's getting pretty intense, including gov't meetings to determine the flexibility for teacher licensure rules, which stipulate weeks/hours in school classrooms.

 

I cannot confirm the authenticity of this facebook post. Just passing it along as FYI.

Sharing from another page.

I am writing to you from Bergamo, Italy, at the heart of the coronavirus crisis. The news media in the US has not captured the severity of what is happening here. I am writing this post because each of you, today, not the government, not the school district, not the mayor, each individual citizen has the chance, today to take actions that will deter the Italian situation from becoming your own country’s reality. The only way to stop this virus is to limit contagion. And the only way to limit contagion is for millions of people to change their behavior today.

If you are in Europe or the US you are weeks away from where we are today in Italy.

I can hear you now. “It’s just a flu. It only affects old people with preconditions”

There are 2 reasons why Coronavirus has brought Italy to it’s knees. First it is a flu is devastating when people get really sick they need weeks of ICU – and, second, because of how fast and effectively it spreads. There is 2 week incubation period and many who have it never show symptoms.

When Prime Minister Conte announced last night that the entire country, 60 million people, would go on lock down, the line that struck me most was “there is no more time.” Because to be clear, this national lock down, is a hail mary. What he means is that if the numbers of contagion do not start to go down, the system, Italy, will collapse.

Why? Today the ICUs in Lombardy are at capacity – more than capacity. They have begun to put ICU units in the hallways. If the numbers do not go down, the growth rate of contagion tells us that there will be thousands of people who in a matter of a week? two weeks? who will need care. What will happen when there are 100, or a 1000 people who need the hospital and only a few ICU places left?

On Monday a doctor wrote in the paper that they have begun to have to decide who lives and who dies when the patients show up in the emergency room, like what is done in war. This will only get worse.

There are a finite number of drs, nurses, medical staff and they are getting the virus. They have also been working non-stop, non-stop for days and days. What happens when the drs, nurses and medical staff are simply not able to care for the patients, when they are not there?

And finally for those who say that this is just something that happens to old people, starting yesterday the hospitals are reporting that younger and younger patients – 40, 45, 18, are coming in for treatment.

You have a chance to make a difference and stop the spread in your country. Push for the entire office to work at home today, cancel birthday parties, and other gatherings, stay home as much as you can. If you have a fever, any fever, stay home. Push for school closures, now. Anything you can do to stop the spread, because it is spreading in your communities – there is a two week incubation period – and if you do these things now you can buy your medical system time.

And for those who say it is not possible to close the schools, and do all these other things, locking down Italy was beyond anyone’s imagination a week ago.

Soon you will not have a choice, so do what you can now.

Please share.

 

Sam's Club and Walmart were out of toilet paper today. Not trying to make a joke. Apparently, this is a global phenomenon because tp comes from China and folks are hoarding it in anticipation that it won't be available in the near future.

 

Trying to fact check my previous post

This is a sobering read.

The Extraordinary Decisions Facing Italian Doctors

Today, Italy has 10,149 cases of the coronavirus. There are now simply too many patients for each one of them to receive adequate care. Doctors and nurses are unable to tend to everybody. They lack machines to ventilate all those gasping for air.

Now the Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) has published guidelines for the criteria that doctors and nurses should follow in these extraordinary circumstances. The document begins by likening the moral choices facing Italian doctors to the forms of wartime triage that are required in the field of “catastrophe medicine.” Instead of providing intensive care to all patients who need it, its authors suggest, it is becoming necessary to follow “the most widely shared criteria regarding distributive justice and the appropriate allocation of limited health resources.”

Those who are too old to have a high likelihood of recovery, or who have too low a number of “life-years” left even if they should survive, will be left to die. This sounds cruel, but the alternative, the document argues, is no better. “In case of a total saturation of resources, maintaining the criterion of ‘first come, first served’ would amount to a decision to exclude late-arriving patients from access to intensive care.”

 

I've been preaching this all day on here.

 

“Hello, folks. Rita and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive.

Well, now. What to do next? The Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks’ will be tested observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no?

We’ll keep the world posted and updated.

Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson Test Positive for Coronavirus

 

A built in excuse for piss poor attendance...

How convenient!

 

joke all you want but Italian drs are being told to let people die because there is no room in their hospitals.

 

NBA suspends season indefinitely