Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #48

[bluedivergirl]

I have never seen one! What a good idea!

Publix in Central FL installed these a few weeks ago. Big thumbs up!

 

[Chelly]

Never thought I would see the day where laundry and cleaning was sooo exciting just to break up the day.

Never thought I would see the day where there would be so much discussion on WS about park benches.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

Never thought I would see the day where laundry and cleaning was sooo exciting just to break up the day.

Ha! On the rare occasion that I actually get to check materials out to a patron (we are actually closed), it’s kind of a thrill. One guy caught me there by phone last week and asked for an entire shelf of audiobooks, starting with the Cs. I checked 15 out to him (he’s a FedEx guy and goes through gobs) and then set them in front of the door for his wife to pick up, while I watched from afar. And then, of course, I sneak a couple of bags of large print cozy mysteries over to my favorite 90 year old’s porch every couple of weeks.

We are starting to sort out how we can open up again and keep social distancing, especially from each other. Hours will change for sure. Boss has said we will wear masks.

I miss my patrons.

 

[katydid23]

Here's some interesting info that I pulled from Worldmeters and Wikipedia:

California is our most populous state. They have a per capita death rate from Covid-19 of 24 per 1 million people.

Texas is our second most populous state. They have a per capita death rate from Covid-19 of 14 per 1 million people.

Florida is our third most populous state. They have a per capita death rate from Covid-19 of 31 per 1 million people.

New York is our fourth most populous state. They have a per capita death rate from Covid-19 of 821 per 1 million people.

New Jersey is our eleventh most populous state. They have a per capita death rate from Covid-19 of 396 per 1 million people.

These numbers make me wonder what the heck is going on in New York and New Jersey?

Wow....fascinating numbers.

Could it be viral load?

Here in Southern Cali, I am in some danger of being exposed to CV. But I think it would be a one time , freak exposure at this point.

I don't take a subway from home and back. I don't jump in taxicabs, sitting in a seat where 2 dozen others sat that same day. I don't walk down sidewalks in heavy crowded groups.

I am afraid that many patients in NYC had heavy viral loads when they got sick. And if you are exposed many times, with a few different types of the virus, you are screwed.

 

[10ofRods]

Pandemics were not really covered in school, where I went. They skipped right over 1918 and WWI, and really concentrated of WW2 and the Depression. It was almost like a cover up, that so many died in 1918 near my area, and they just moved on, rather than learn lessons, they buried the history to an extent.

Mine is a college course in human biology/prehistory. Viruses have played a huge role in human evolution. In fact, some positive traits came from viruses too - but we know less about that, because $ goes toward studying diseases, we know way less about what makes people healthy.

I don't think most students hear about pandemics. Most take 2 courses and only 2 courses in biology - marine biology is very popular. They don't study human viruses in that class. Naturally, we take a look at things like malaria, dengue fever, HIV and ebola in my class.

We know when socially communicable diseases arose in humans and we know that the societies which invented and practiced farming have more of them. If they advanced to the level of a civilization - they had even more.

I took the same course in 1972 and it piqued a lifelong interest. I got more interested in mental health epidemiology than viruses, but the principles and methods of study are similar. I am not the least bit surprised to have lived to see this, I just really really hope we learn from it, and get ready.

The next one will either have to leap our human-built fortress of cultural and societal changes, or it may bring us to our knees.

 

[10ofRods]

Wow....fascinating numbers.

Could it be viral load?

Here in Southern Cali, I am in some danger of being exposed to CV. But I think it would be a one time , freak exposure at this point.

I don't take a subway from home and back. I don't jump in taxicabs, sitting in a seat where 2 dozen others sat that same day. I don't walk down sidewalks in heavy crowded groups.

I am afraid that many patients in NYC had heavy viral loads when they got sick. And if you are exposed many times, with a few different types of the virus, you are screwed.

DBM. I need to look at most recent data. But no, if you look at just Los Angeles (where most people are dying) or San Francisco/San Mateo/Santa Clara counties - you'll get very different figures.

Please also consider that we've got this huge issue of people not testing or reporting deaths as CoVid related in some parts of California.

 

[10ofRods]

Some Aussies are actually more concerned about our upcoming winter (June/July/August), right now, as the virus may be less effective/invasive during warm weather - in a similar manner to other flu viruses.

Makes us wary about what our cooler temps - which are arriving now/soon - will bring.

People here are getting vaccinated for the flu season, to help minimise other illnesses during our upcoming winter.


The jury is still out on how much the weather is or is not influencing COVID-19, but a bad flu season on top of the current health crisis is the last thing we need this winter.
There is reason to think COVID-19 may spread more quickly in winter; it is a respiratory illness and spreads in a similar way to a cold or a flu.
Will COVID-19 get worse as winter sets in?

Oh, you're right. There are clues that it is seasonal. But we don't know for sure, so don't worry too much yet. You are getting way more time to prepare. Scientists do not know (and may never know) how many people have both CoVid and the flu. We know CoVid lowers resistance. So flu shots are a good idea, even if only not to overwhelm health systems further.

 

[they'll get you]

Australia's Home Affairs Minister says China should answer questions over where the deadly coronavirus originated.
US intelligence and national security officials say the United States government is looking into the possibility COVID-19 spread from a Chinese laboratory rather than a market.
Peter Dutton was asked by Today host Karl Stefanovic if he was telling China to "be transparent and tell us what happened", Mr Dutton replied: "It's not too much to ask."
"So I think it is incumbent upon China to answer those questions and provide the information so that people can have clarity about exactly what happened because we don't want it to be repeated and we know this is not the first instance of a virus being spread from the wildlife wet markets and we need to be honest about that."
'It's not too much to ask': Dutton demands answers from China

 

[Teche]

What an interesting "side effect" of CoVid. A lot of government programs are written on "ancient" languages that only people like your husband speak. Much respect to him. I have a "young" relative (he's 50) works for a major software company, not in coding though - he says you practically want to bow to the older programmers who are sifting through the younger ones, to make sure if they can't do the older code - which is being transitioned, they go on to some other workplace.

It's no longer taught by California colleges, that I know of (well, Stanford curriculum and culture still supports it). We have only a handful of people who can fix programs in those older languages. Government is always the last to pay for upgrades/reprogramming.

God bless us every one. The programmers are essential workers too. We just lost our chief guy (not to CoVid - to private industry/semi-retirement). He has been irreplaceable and we have more glitches than usual (although the young people he mentored are stepping up - they are working such long hours and are very under appreciated; the load from the online teaching requires many technical adjustments).

My husband studied at a university that had one of the two computers like NASA. They used key punch cards to “talk” to the computers back in the day. The computer was the size of a classroom. My husband retired 2 years ago and the programmers/analyst he supervised had never had a class in COBOL. Most were only trained on packaged software. It’s scary that many financial institutions and governments use a language that current programmers are unfamiliar.

 

[Cool Cats]

'Dogtor' Loki the Therapy Dog Is Delivering Care Packages to Nurses Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Thank You Bravo...

This is such good news, something to smile about!
If people want to contribute to these hero healing kits here is the Amazon site:

Amazon wishlist

And here is a cool thing to do:

Send a Video Puppygram to Lift Someone’s Spirits with the AKC’s PupPals Program

LOKI THE THERAPY DOG:

 

[Tillicum]

If this virus can live in the freezer, what happens when something forgotten gets taken out and thawed 6 months from now?

 

[katydid23]

Why do these viruses come in waves? If it is here, doesn't it just stay here? I don't get how it goes away, and then comes back. What makes it go away? I would guess social distancing. But what makes it comes back, if you continue social distancing? What drives the next waves? Complacency?

Dormancy? I think it can last for a long time, lurking on a host, who has no symptoms, for weeks, or months

 

[RANCH]

Please also consider that we've got this huge issue of people not testing or reporting deaths as CoVid related in some parts of California.

SBM

Do you have a link for this?

 

[firebird]

My life hasn't changed drastically. My hours have been cut but I still go to work four days a week. I wear a mask when I go to the grocery store now.

Same. I go to work 5-6 days a week and we're not required to wear masks here, and I don't. The biggest difference is my kids being home. I feel sorry for them and their friends and worry about the loss of structure in their lives. They have literally nothing to do most of the time. Especially those kids whose parents are enforcing "social distancing."

 

[otto]

Pandemics were not really covered in school, where I went. They skipped right over 1918 and WWI, and really concentrated of WW2 and the Depression. It was almost like a cover up, that so many died in 1918 near my area, and they just moved on, rather than learn lessons, they buried the history to an extent.

My father was born in 1916, he told stories and showed us WW1 and WW2 Time/Life photo books. We attended Remembrance Day services Nov 11, even when I was a pre-schooler, and May 5, 1945 for the Dutch. Maybe people forgot, or their children had children and they weren't interested. My parents learned about Napoleon and other conquerors, we learned about Jacques Cousteau in school.

This is the origin of hand washing :

"Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis or Hungarian Ignác Fülöp Semmelweis, (born July 1, 1818, Budapest, Hungary, Austrian Empire —died August 13, 1865, Vienna, Austria ), Hungarian physician who discovered the cause of puerperal (childbed) fever and introduced antisepsis into medical practice.

Educated at the universities of Pest and Vienna, Semmelweis received his doctor’s degree from Vienna in 1844 and was appointed assistant at the obstetric clinic in Vienna.
...

The death of a friend from a wound infection incurred during the examination of a woman who died of puerperal infection and the similarity of the findings in the two cases gave support to his reasoning. He concluded that students who came directly from the dissecting room to the maternity ward carried the infection from mothers who had died of the disease to healthy mothers. He ordered the students to wash their hands in a solution of chlorinated lime before each examination."​

Ignaz Semmelweis | Biography & Facts

 

[10ofRods]

Germany's health minister says country will not be "like it was before" due to coronavirus outbreak

[...]

“The number of new infections in Germany is down, and this has given us a chance to reopen, step-by-step. And that is important – step-by-step to a new normal. This won’t be like it was before,” Spahn told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

[...]

Spahn said citizens would need to continue practicing social distancing and wearing masks for "months" to come.

[...]

Pentagon now says 2,889 service members have coronavirus

[...]

As of 5 a.m. ET Thursday, 2,889 service members tested positive for Covid-19, including two US service members who have died from coronavirus. This figure is lower than Tuesday when the figure was higher at 3,022 service members.

[...]

FAA outlines how airlines can carry cargo rather than passengers

Federal regulators laid out on Thursday how airlines may remove the seats from passenger aircraft and use that space to instead carry cargo.

[...]

The agency called it “an extraordinary situation … for an entire passenger cabin to be loaded with cargo.”

[...]

Protective equipment costs increase over 1,000% as demand surges during pandemic

The cost of personal protective equipment is skyrocketing – more than 1,000% in some cases – as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

The federal government's Strategic National Stockpile has nearly emptied and states have been left to find PPE supplies on their own. The surge in demand has left importers, suppliers and purchasers scrambling. And price gouging has exacerbated the problem.

[...]

South Carolina governor proposes legislature returns late June

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has proposed the state legislature come back in late June, since coronavirus is expected to peak in mid-May.

By June, coronavirus will be on the downside of its’ peak and businesses should be opening around that time, McMaster said.

[...]

Several governors tell Trump they are still lacking materials needed for testing

Today on a call with the nation's governors about reopening the economy after the coronavirus, several governors pressed President Trump over lack of testing.

According a source familiar, the administration focused on the two main private sector firms, Quest and Labcorp, saying both of them still had capacity to conduct more tests.

But, as this source notes, this does not address one of the biggest problems many states face, not just a lack of tests, but lack of materials needed for the testing, such as swabs.

[...]

Missouri extends stay-at-home order through May 3

[...]

“Missouri is incredibly diverse, and our reopening efforts will be careful, deliberate, and done in phases,” Gov. Mike Parson said in a statement.

[...]

He said the state's ability to reopen the economy after May 3 depends on how quickly they can expand testing and the supply of personal protective equipment for health care workers.

[...]

Coronavirus live news and updates: Cases top 2 million globally - CNN

Each of your updates tells such a story. We are beyond fortunate to have you doing our news aggregation.

 

[mickey2942]

"Anyone else starting to forget what life was like before"

Forget no, there is more time to analyze it. For me, life moves much too quickly. This new world almost makes me lazy. It makes me wonder how people get through it without their vices and people around them. It makes life like something 100s of years ago in some ways.

Life is in slow motion now. I used to be so busy. Now, I know that I am not going anywhere. Planner? For what? Meeting people? Not going to happen. Appointments, forget it. Plan the weekend? Why?

 

[Ragnarok]

Here's some interesting info that I pulled from Worldmeters and Wikipedia:

California is our most populous state. They have a per capita death rate from Covid-19 of 24 per 1 million people.

Texas is our second most populous state. They have a per capita death rate from Covid-19 of 14 per 1 million people.

Florida is our third most populous state. They have a per capita death rate from Covid-19 of 31 per 1 million people.

New York is our fourth most populous state. They have a per capita death rate from Covid-19 of 821 per 1 million people.

New Jersey is our eleventh most populous state. They have a per capita death rate from Covid-19 of 396 per 1 million people.

These numbers make me wonder what the heck is going on in New York and New Jersey?

It's due to the density of people. Something like 28,000 people per square mile. Heavy use of mass transit on buses and trains including those that take commuters in and out of NYC. You've got travelers from all over the country and overseas coming into and out of NY.

I worked in lower Manhattan during the mid 70s and some streets were closed during lunch because people were building to building. I rarely get sick other than an occasional winter sore throat or runny nose. Only time I've had the flu was during my time in NYC.

There's an MIT paper available that looks at the virus spread and why in NYC.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Anyone else starting to forget what life was like "before"

Before was “life” - seeing family, friends get togethers, a job with health insurance, summer vacations with the grandchildren, no scrambling to get a pickup slot for groceries, and not to mention the dreaded IRS “payment status not available” message wasn’t even a “thing”.

This “living” sucks. JMO

 

[10ofRods]

Wow....fascinating numbers.

Could it be viral load?

Here in Southern Cali, I am in some danger of being exposed to CV. But I think it would be a one time , freak exposure at this point.

I don't take a subway from home and back. I don't jump in taxicabs, sitting in a seat where 2 dozen others sat that same day. I don't walk down sidewalks in heavy crowded groups.

I am afraid that many patients in NYC had heavy viral loads when they got sick. And if you are exposed many times, with a few different types of the virus, you are screwed.

It's higher in Los Angeles County and Riverside County, while many counties with low populations are pulling our numbers down. L.A is more like New York than it is like Cathay's Valley.

Be careful making state-to-state comparisons. Instead, ask yourself why so many more deaths in LA County over Orange County.

Got any ideas? Income?