Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #37

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Other than my own family, this is my personal nightmare. I'm a Long-Term-Care Ombudsman; for those that aren't familiar with the term in this context, I'm a resident advocate for nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and in the State of Florida. We advocate for resident rights. Right now, in Florida, we can't visit the residents unless it's an end-of-life situation, though I'd be afraid to even then. We can work telephonically, if somebody needs help with something now, but we can't just go in and wander around talking to anybody who wants to talk back and keeping our eyes out for anything concerning that people may be unwilling or unable (think dementia) to tell us.

These are real people, some of whom don't have relatives to visit with them anyway. The lives they have led, the stories they can tell are so precious. I want so much to make sure all of "my" residents are okay. This is devastating.
I totally get you! My sister just transitioned from a job as long-term care inspector, and the horror stories!! I help with several patients at facilities. Did you read my question earlier in the thread? If not, please do and let me know your opinion. I value hearing it. Will check for post #. ETA: Post #51 on this thread.
 
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<modsnip: quoted post was removed> There's money on the line. Businesses (including the NBA), universities, and public schools don't just shut down for fun. It's not just panic. Remember that we were told that Idaho would be relatively untouched. They shut down, and I'm sure it wasn't because they suddenly lost their heads with panic. They had a reason.

This thing is insidious, because unlike the flu or car crashes, you have large numbers of people requiring treatment at once, overwhelming health care systems. Because people can be asymptomatic carriers, and because it takes several days to show symptoms, it can spread through contact to many people quickly.

The deaths have already been posted. It's not a high death rate, but sobering nonetheless. It is overwhelming to our health care system. It probably didn't have to be, but it is. So we move forward, equipped with knowledge. JMO.
 
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PENNSYLVANIA, coronavirus, COVID-19 updates
Updated: 2:49 PM EDT Mar 26, 2020

“Cases have skyrocketed, governor says
Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday that COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania have skyrocketed.

"The rapidity of at which our case numbers are growing emphasizes the need for all of us to do our part to fight this disease," he said.

He once again urged residents to stay home to prevent a large number of Pennsylvanians from becoming ill at the same time and overwhelming hospitals.

"We don't know how bad the surge will be or when this pandemic will end, so we must prepare ourselves mentally and physically to be in this for the long haul. We're not fighting a battle here; we're fighting a war," he said.

Wolf emphasized the importance of making sure hospitals and healthcare workers have what they need to handle coronavirus patients.

State lawmakers approved a bill providing $50 million for the healthcare system, and Wolf said he's working to get this funding moving as quickly as possible. The funding will be used to purchase medical equipment and supplies for hospitals, nursing homes and emergency workers.

Wolf also expressed his gratitude for medical professionals and said Pennsylvanians can do the same.

"When we choose to stay home, we're thanking a medical professional," he said.”
-more at link
 
FLORIDA

NEW from @ScottWithersABC: Orange County Florida gov't has deemed all amusement parks - Disney, Universal, SeaWorld - non essential. Under the county’s new stay home order the parks can't open before April 9th. They all had originally announced plans to reopen end of March
Eric.M.Strauss+ on Twitter

Florida is going to be a mess. I have family in Central and in the Southern Gulf Coast. The governor refused to shut down beaches during the height of Spring Break until they were ridiculed in worldwide news showing large groups of young and old on the beaches near Miami. Everyone then went over to the Clearwater area and when he finally made an announcement for that area on a Thursday, he said he wasn’t going to shut down there until Monday. Clearly he was putting the economy before the health of his citizens. Now all the tourists are back home spreading the virus. The governor still has beaches open in the northern Atlantic coast and someone here mentioned that Mexico Beach in the panhandle is still open. They never shut down Bike Week in Daytona with over 500,000 people earlier this month and just a few days ago finally shut down the hotels in WDW.
 
Wow. Dr Birks is explaining how the numbers aren't corresponding with the models. It seems it won't be as bad as originally thought. Obviously it's bad but I'm hopeful the numbers will be lower than expected.

Forgive me for asking, but who is Dr. Birks? Is he going by local numbers? Is he looking at places like Connecticut and New York/New Jersey?

Experts here in California (Stanford, UC San Francisco, UCLA, USC, UC Irvine) say that we're flattening the curve - but that we still have a massive storm ahead, with a predicted 2000 people dead in Santa Clara County alone.
 
BOSTON

"Boston's #COVID19 crisis is just getting started, but the city's MDs & RNs are already paying the price.
>100 have tested positive:
• Brigham & Women's Hospital -- 45 HCWers are +
• Massachusetts General Hospital -- 41 +
• Boston Medical Center -- 15 +"

Boston coronavirus: More than 100 employees at 3 hospitals have tested positive - CNN
Laurie Garrett on Twitter

In Italy, upwards of 30 doctors have died now and many more nurses. We will send our postive-testing ones home (many were likely asymptomatic) but that does not bode well for staffing what is predicted to be 100% more hospital beds than usual (if not more).
 
In Coronavirus, Industry Sees Chance to Undo Plastic Bag Bans
They are “petri dishes for bacteria and carriers of harmful pathogens,” read one warning from a plastics industry group. They are “virus-laden.”

The group’s target? The reusable shopping bags that countless of Americans increasingly use instead of disposable plastic bags.

The plastic bag industry, battered by a wave of bans nationwide, is using the coronavirus crisis to try to block laws prohibiting single-use plastic. “We simply don’t want millions of Americans bringing germ-filled reusable bags into retail establishments putting the public and workers at risk,” an industry campaign that goes by the name Bag the Ban warned on Tuesday, quoting a Boston Herald column outlining some of the group’s talking points.

[...]

BBM: Reusable bags have already been disallowed at my local grocery store.
My store had banned plastic bags too. But right now, that's the ONLY type they let us use. That or paper bags.

But we are not allowed to bring our reusables inside.
 
Been thinking of the long crowded and life threatening lines at some of the testing places and I thought of an easy solution.

It reminded me of a restaurant (of all things) that I once ate at that was totally full and we had to wait either outside or in the bar area until our "number" was called.

At the reservation desk when we first got there, they gave us a small fancy little gadget that was sort of like a beeper and told us when the beeper went off, then our table was ready.

We know all places dont have those but how about a simple solution to just have a sheet of paper and assign each person a number, and then get their cell phone number and just call them when their "number" comes up to be tested for the virus. That way, they can wait in their car (or anywhere else) and not have to stand in any lines.

This solution can be used for not only the lines for testing but anywhere there is a line forming that needs to be managed.

Most everyone has a cell phone with them and if they dont, then they can still get a number assigned like they do at the grocery store meat counter where they sometimes have a lighted display saying "Number 284 being served", and people can stand anywhere to periodically look at the display board to see how close their number is coming up. And, more importantly, to get away from there when their number is not even close yet.

If assigning numbers is too difficult with a pen and paper, then party stores have those long rolls of double ticket numbers that are used for prize drawings and those can be used to assign numbers to each person. The store gets their copy of the number and the person gets the other copy. A simple very large poster board can be used to print out "Number 284 being served" where anyone can see it from a distance. Then the person working there can just erase the number and keep putting the new number in its place.

It seems to me this would be a simple solution to prevent lines that can threaten our health and lives.
 

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