Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #41

[escape2sc]

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WPDE) — Gov. Henry McMaster announced via Twitter the closure of all South Carolina beaches and close boat ramps and landings on state lakes, rivers and waterways on Monday.

Gov. McMaster orders public access to SC beaches closed

 

[SandyQLS]

Gov Doug Ducey (R-Arizona) issues statewide Stay At Home order on Monday, March 30, effective close of business Tuesday.

Arizona Governor issues stay at home order - KYMA

 

[Really?]

Oh no....It was probably a cooking accident...my hubby has almost set our kitchen on fire twice already...

The guys like to cook everything on “high”....am I right?

 

[otto]

This is what we want to avoid. My understanding is that this can be avoided if the number of days between doubling is increased even by 2 days in some places. This is best achieved through physical distancing, and the benefits are not seen until two weeks after distancing is implemented.

Link on image

 

[musicaljoke]

Look for new clusters to proliferate in Oklahoma, when widespread testing reaches there. I have heard many churches are packed each Sunday. My grandparents are bright old sorts, and have stayed home Sundays for the first time in ages. Others....

I don't understand why the churches continue to meet. Are there no doctors, nurses and other medical people in the congregations and on the church boards? These can't be mainstream churches, surely.

 

[PommyMommy]

Coronavirus updates: New York governor to health care workers: "Please come help us"
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday called on health care workers across the country to help with his state's response to the coronavirus pandemic. "I am asking health care professionals across the country: if you don't have a health care crisis in your community, please come help us in New York now."

[...]

Fauci believes coronavirus will return in the fall, but it will be a "totally different ballgame"
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday that he "would anticipate" the coronavirus will return in the fall — but that it will be a "totally different ballgame" if that happens.

[...]

"It's a war without bullets": First-hand accounts from health care workers
On this "National Doctors' Day," there are urgent calls for help on Monday from doctors and nurses who are risking their lives while treating coronavirus patients. President Trump said Monday that he's considering hazard pay for health care workers, but gave no details.

"There will be several things that would be different," Dr. Fauci said. "Our ability to be able to go out and test, identify, isolate, and contact trace will be orders of magnitude better than what it was just a couple of months ago."

[...]

 

[Hatfield]

I am not a legal scholar, but it seems to me that Congress and Senate could mandate minimum levels of state-purchased medical supplies for declared emergencies, and then use federal employees (from more than one branch, say the CDC and the NIH) to monitor, make recommendations and to ensure the supplies are stocked. National Guard armories could be used for this, and make a database of what's in storage so that the public could know.

When supplies expire, serious study should be undertaken before they are destroyed or sent out of the country. We have had an obsession with "expiration" that is simply absent from the rest of the world and it is designed to sell more product. Instead of destroying ventilators to keep the prices up, there should be public interest in firms that manufacture basic supplies for the public good. In other words, we should not allow the so-called market to determine whether we have supplies or not.

JMO
I agree and this was similar to one of my biggest issues I had when I saw Governors and other national administrative officials complaining about Mr and Mrs Joe Public going to a public store to buy masks that were on the shelf for the public. Of course people were going to buy them since they were on the shelf for the purpose of the public.

Instead of officials complaining, they should have taken emergency steps to intercept the supplies and supply chains and force new supplies to go to the most needed places like Hospitals and care facilities. The government has had the power to do that all along and at first all they did was complain about the shortages instead of doing something about it. They can put in place emergency steps to confiscate all the needed supplies that are needed elsewhere and force them to go to the right places. And then also do that for future supplies. They can allocate a small percentage for the public if there is any left over. By implementing special National Security rulings they have had the power all along to do similar things like this.

We are just now seeing the right steps taken to force the supplies of certain products to go to the right places. It has been long overdue.

 

[Seattle1]

Definitely, everyone is doing their best! It is just funny what you notice in today's day and age. I grew up in New York City touching the subway poles everyday never giving it a second thought, never using hand sanitizer. Now I'm horrified, I wipe down Amazon packages with Chlorox wipes. I can't believe I survived all these years lol

Agree! And even more alarming is how often one touches their face without a second thought. I recall having to wear blue latex gloves last year when visiting a sick friend and I was truly taken back when I noticed how many times the gloved hands approached my face during a single hour!

 

[tresir2012]

For anyone wondering how to stay in place and exercise at home at the same time. Watch this alternative to keepy uppy and TP usage with Kenny Dalgleesh.

Twitter

 

[musicaljoke]

Sheriff’s Office obtains arrest warrant for pastor of Tampa church that held two large Sunday services
TAMPA — The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has obtained an arrest warrant for the pastor of a Tampa megachurch who held two services on Sunday for scores of worshipers, violating a county order for residents to stay at home to limit the spread of coronavirus.

“Because of the reckless disregard of public safety and after repeated requests and warnings, I worked with our state attorney, Andrew Warren, to obtain a warrant for unlawful assembly and violation of public health emergency rules, both of which are second degree misdemeanors,” Chronister said. “Our goal here is not to stop anyone from worshiping, but the safety and well-being of our community must always come first."

State law allows the order to be enforced as a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail, a maximum fine of $500 or both.

If the guy is such a wingnut, I suspect he will feel he is a martyr who was thrown into prison like Paul. I hope they keep him there, because the reality of prison won't make a whiff of difference to him. In fact, it's a star in his crown. moo

 

[PommyMommy]

WASHINGTON

Coronavirus: Inslee warns businesses of new enforcement measures as Army medics set up shop
[...]

“Unfortunately, we’ve had thousands of calls coming in” about people and businesses not complying with the stay-at-home order announced last week, Inslee said in the news conference.

The state will begin by asking businesses to comply voluntarily, but penalties could be imposed if the non-compliance continues. Read more about enforcement here.

[...]

Inslee’s Monday announcements came as crews began setting up a 150-bed field hospital for non-COVID 19 patients at CenturyLink Field Event Center.

The state Department of Health says more than 65,000 people have been tested for coronavirus in Washington. The state’s coronavirus death toll now sits at 195, among 4,896 confirmed cases, according to new data collected from the Department of Health as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday.

[...]

 

[10ofRods]

This shows the two strains and mutations - check out the countries where the mutation is.

Link is included in image

View attachment 241055

I think the blue strain is being studied as the "more aggressive" form. We have both in the US. The East Coast has more blue. France has more of the red strain (on some graphics it's gold). Italy has more of the blue. All of it is bad, of course. But I think we'll eventually learn that the specific shape and structure of the blue one is harder on our immune systems.

The virus has the unique property of being a "chimera," a blend of a bat virus with a pangolin virus (it's almost entirely identical to a bat virus, and bats hang out with pangolins and the RNA sequences of the pangolin virus inserted themselves into the bat virus. This happens quite a bit in nature.

Viruses may not have brains but it's hard not to view them as clever. Scientists debate whether viruses are alive, but if they are not alive, they sure do have a strong mechanism of survival.

 

[musicaljoke]

So self quarantine is not quarantine really is it?

It is for good people. Most people are good people.

 

[PommyMommy]

MISSOURI

This week, Missouri saw a 600% jump in coronavirus cases — the largest increase in the country
There is no sign of a dip in coronavirus cases in St. Louis or Missouri. The region’s caseload is rocketing upward, with the state seeing a more than 600% increase in total cases over the past week — the largest percentage increase in the country as of Thursday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

And a lack of widespread testing largely means that experts aren’t sure when the region will reach the peak of its curve — clouding their ability to know when normal life might resume. They hope they will be able to better predict in coming days how much protective measures, like social distancing and widespread restrictions on public activities, are working.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Coronavirus death rate is lower than previously reported, study says, but it's still deadlier than seasonal flu - CNN
[...]

The research, published in the medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, estimated that about 0.66% of those infected with the virus will die.

That coronavirus death rate, which is lower than earlier estimates, takes into account potentially milder cases that often go undiagnosed -- but it's still far higher than the 0.1% of people who are killed by the flu.

Coronavirus pandemic alters life as we know it
When undetected infections aren't taken into account, the Lancet study found that the coronavirus death rate was 1.38%, which is more consistent with earlier reports.

Early in March, for example, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that "if you just do the math, the math is about 2%."

[...]

The average time from onset of symptoms to hospital discharge was about 25 days, researchers found, although patients might not have been hospitalized during the early days of their illness. Among those who succumbed to the virus, death came about 18 days after people started showing symptoms.

[...]

 

[MaryG12]

Traveling to Florida? You may be stopped at a checkpoint

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CNN) - People entering Florida driving on the Interstate will be screened near the state line as government leaders look to stop the spread of COVID-19.

.........................

For fun trivia:

https://worldpopulationreview.com/

Here is a list of the top ten most populated states in the country:

California (Population: 39,747,267)
Texas (Population: 29,087,070)
Florida (Population: 21,646,155)
New York (Population: 19,491,339)
Pennsylvania (Population: 12,813,969)
Illinois (Population: 12,700,381)
Ohio (Population: 11,718,568)


That 21,646,155 does not include snowbirds, tourists, individuals from other countries here on vacation, or other people traipsing through the state.

 

[Anirtak]

Indiana Professional Licensing Bureau/ Indiana State Health Dept has basically sent out a "call to arms" via email to healthcare workers. They're looking for volunteers to be backup to the front line or take over care of regular patients at hospitals. I received mine today as did several of my friends. It's a questionaire of your experience in various departments and skills and preference of what hospital you'd like to go to.

 

[mickey2942]

Things that make you laugh. My husband used to do contracting and purchasing for an agency not to be named. He had a surplus of funds, end of year, "use or lose", so he spent every dime on stuff for the Surgical department. Gloves, masks, whatever they use..

And was royally chewed a "new one", because they didn't have the storage. Which is bogus, because huge hospitals have tons of space in the basement. The problem is that due to Joint Commission rules for hospitals, so much non durable medical items have dates on them, expiration dates. And JACHO loves to write hospitals up for stuff like that. So, it is easier to not have a stock up supply, than get caught with items out of date.

 

[musicaljoke]

This shows the two strains and mutations - check out the countries where the mutation is.

Link is included in image

View attachment 241055

@otto, Do you still have the link? I can't pick it up from the image. This is a fascinating map, and I'd like to read more.

 

[10ofRods]

It's national Doctors' Day. I would like you just say thank you to all of the doctors working so hard, risking their lives for us.
A special thank to my sister. She is a pediatrician in the Detroit area. I am so proud of her.

I am proud of her too! Detroit is not going to have an easy time of it, and parents will panic and your sister will likely be overwhelmed. Every single person who decided to go into medicine is altruistic and I know they only want the health of their patients (as opposed to gifts from us) but I'd send her some See's candy.