Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #50

[oviedo]

Sorry, but that sounds like a management and communication issue. Perhaps talking to the employees ahead of time would've helped smooth that out.

jmo

We have a client who’s employees want to stay on furlough because unemployment pays them more for 4 months due to the extra $600 a week from the federal government- he has to tell them if they come back on payroll they have to notify unemployment that they are now reemployed - it’s tough we have a lot of low income jobs here and some are continuing health insurance so for the employee it may be more $ in their pockets short term - I don’t know what the solution is
JMO

 

[oviedo]

You need to apply for the SBA money. The first batch went fast but they are working on another traunch. ABA Urges House Leaders to Approve Additional Paycheck Protection Program Funding | ABA Banking Journal

"The American Bankers Association today urged House leaders to swiftly approve a legislative package that would provide an additional $320 billion in funding for the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. The Senate unanimously approved the bill yesterday, and the House is expected to consider the legislation tomorrow morning."

The roll out of the first batch was pretty rough and the money went quickly. I have heard anecdotally that you may have a better experience with a small local bank. I work as in house legal in a fairly large bank and our systems take a long time to update. My husband runs a non profit and he applied through a small community bank and got approved right away. You do want a local bank with SBA experience though as, like most gov programs, it has some peculiarities.

I would contact banks right now or tomorrow morning to see when they will start accepting applications for the new money. Don't wait. It will likely go really fast again and there have been lots of complaints about money going to large companies and since they ask for larger amounts it goes even faster.

Remember this isn't a traditional loan. You don't have to pay it back as long as you keep your employees on so it's obviously a very popular program.

This is a link to the SBA site Coronavirus Relief Options which explains the various options available. This is a link to Fortune where they promise to keep an updated list of participating lenders. These are the banks and lenders currently accepting SBA Paycheck Protection Program loan applications

As for the stimulus payments. You can check online. Not everyone is eligible. My family of four isn't even though I'm paying college tuition for two kids and certainly don't feel "rich".

Thank you - our local bank has told us that they aren’t going to be able to process any new applications because the backlog of originals are first priority - we shall see
IMO

 

[Curious Me]

That study is useless. Worse than that, any media pushing the study is dishonest (IMO). Any honest look at the actual study would cause anyone to discard it (IMO). The study is so bad the only explanation of it's existence is as part of a propaganda campaign against hydroxychloroquine rather than honest research(Fact).

• It was not a clinical trial.
• No placebos given at all (!!)
• Purely "anecdotal" as doctor Fauchi would say.
• It just looked up pre-existing medical reports.
• Some patients not getting hydroxychloroquine were given other medicine.
• Patients getting hydroxychloroquine may have gotten it because they were close to death but patients not getting it could have not gotten it because they were not as sick.

It also just looked at past VA patients who were given the drug after they were already hospitalized and compared with other patients who were hospitalized and not given the drug.

Hydroxychloroquine works according to medical theory best early on, it helps block the virus from multiplying. That is the medical theory of how it works. Any valid study would be double-blind clinical trial with 1000s of patients given pills early on at first symptoms and/or at fist testing positive and way before hospitalization. They would be given pills that they and their doctors think are hydroxychloroquine but many would be secretly getting a placebo.

IMO it is scary the forces of dishonesty in government bureaucracies and media that are lining up against hydroxychloroquine. There is a lot of money to be made by the alternative $1000 pills and future expensive vaccine instead of this pill that has no patent and costs about $0.80 per pill. Drug company advertising makes up a large share of media revenue.

I so agree that publishing the results of that VA trial should have been an embarrassment to those who called it a clinical trial that resulted in claiming hydroxychloroquine was the reason for those deaths.

I'm not in the medical field, but even I want better parameters for a research study or clinical trial. MOO, those people might have been so close to death from the virus, not the drug. They might have been at death's door when given a last ditch effort of the drug, and they died from the virus.

Do you think it might help stop "cytokine storm" the virus creates within the body? I have read and agree with your statement too-- "Hydroxychloroquine works according to medical theory best early on, it helps block the virus from multiplying."

Oh yes, I read the cost of some of the other alternative drugs and the money to be made.

Hydroxychloroquine would be very inexpensive compared to some of the other drugs that might be more profitable for them to push.

BTW, I take the drug for my RA and none of my doctors have ever worried or warned about irregular heartbeats. I took it in the 90's and again now, and no doctor said a thing about my heart. Eye sight is more of a concern over long term use. I've not experienced any bad side-effects. But this is just my own experience with the drug. MOO, a doctor should always consider each patient's record, history, and existing conditions before prescribing anything. MOO

ETA-- Adding the link about the trail we're discussing. It's the VA trial of the drug to treat Covid-19 that IMO and MOO was a poorly conducted drug trial.
More deaths, no benefit from malaria drug in VA virus study

 

[cass523]

Wow. So some of the states that are pushing to reopen are the very ones that need to wait.

Looks like I have another month to do all that cleaning the rest of you have been doing.

This may have already been posted since I am a few pages behind, President Trump said at the Task Force Briefing earlier tonight that he strongly disagrees with Governor Kemp opening tattoo shops, salons, etc

"President Donald Trump is taking issue with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to begin reopening businesses like hair salons and tattoo parlors when the coronavirus continues to spread.

Trump says at a White House briefing that he disagrees “strongly” with the Republican governor’s decision to allow the reopening of businesses like barber shops where social distancing is impossible, saying they stand “in violation of the phase one guidelines” his administration released last week.

While Trump says he wants Kemp to do what he thinks is right, Trump
says he thinks opening beauty salons and barber shops during phase one “is just too soon.”

“They can wait a little bit longer,” he says, “Just a little bit not much, because safety had to predominate.”

Also Stacey Abrams went on TV saying the same thing

Stacey Abrams, Georgia's 2018 Democratic gubernatorial candidate, criticized her former opponent, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, on Wednesday for his decision to start reopening parts of the state starting this week, saying it "makes no sense" because Georgia isn't yet "flattening the curve" with regards to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The mayors of our largest cities have all expressed deep concern as have our scientists. Georgia is not flattening the curve. We have one of the highest rates of infection and one of the lowest rates of testing," Abrams said on ABC's "The View" Wednesday. "This makes no sense and it doesn't improve our economy. It simply puts more Georgians at risk."

Of the more than 826,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, over 20,000 are in Georgia, putting the state behind just 11 others on this metric, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Abrams said she feels that Kemp's decision will specifically put the most vulnerable populations in the state at risk.

"What I know as a former small business owner is that the people who are going to be sent to the front lines are the people who are the least resilient," she said. "They likely don't have health insurance. They probably won't have protective equipment. But most importantly, they can't afford to say no if they're told to go back to work."

Abrams accused Kemp of "prioritizing the potential of the economy" rather than these workers' lives.

Video of Abrams-link

Stacey Abrams on 'The View': Reopening parts of Georgia right now 'makes no sense'

Trump disagrees 'strongly' with Georgia governor's move to reopen salons, tattoo parlors

 

[Trident]

Here's a thought on testing positive after recovering from the corona virus - I test positive on TB tests. I do not have TB, nor did I ever. I was told the reason I test positive is because I was exposed to someone with the disease and this is true, my stepfather had it. My SIL also had the same odd test results for the same reason, although a different relative in his case. I'm wondering if testing positive after recovery could POSSIBLY be for the same reason.

I'm not a medical person at all, just found the positive TB tests and the positive corona tests interesting.

 

[oviedo]

ADMIN NOTE:

This post lands at random.

These threads are intended for discussion of the Covid19 crisis as a National Emergency and facts more directly related to the Covid19 virus and its effects. People want to know what the various governments are doing and solutions as to how it is affecting individuals. Members want to know what is going on in relation to the virus, projections and trajectories, what their leaders are doing to keep them safe, and what experts and scientists have to say or are doing about the virus itself ... in other words, topics more directly related to Covid and the effect it can have on the individuals.

We are receiving numerous alerts from members who are finding it tedious to wade through an ongoing debate about big business, bailouts, executive compensation, and general political trolling type of posts. Please stop the back and forth over those issues and take it into private conversations where you can add up to 20 people and debate there to your hearts content.

Thank you.

Sorry I’m sure I am guilty - apologies all around

 

[Tony1902]

@Seattle1
Thanks so much for your comforting words. My Japanese knives are ordered from the Seattle knife shop on the dock whose name I cannot remember. I only think of DrTony saying ‘oh she’s in heaven.. just tell me how much do have to pay for her Spanish knife-mania?’ Well ya a lot. Loved NW coast. Son was stationed in Whidbey Island then. Penn Cove mussels Gods gift & many people don’t realize Dungeness crabs are from there.

 

[cass523]

Sweden's voluntary lockdown still supported

1:57

 

[Inthedetails]

Here's a thought on testing positive after recovering from the corona virus - I test positive on TB tests. I do not have TB, nor did I ever. I was told the reason I test positive is because I was exposed to someone with the disease and this is true, my stepfather had it. My SIL also had the same odd test results for the same reason, although a different relative in his case. I'm wondering if testing positive after recovery could POSSIBLY be for the same reason.

I'm not a medical person at all, just found the positive TB tests and the positive corona tests interesting.

That is very interesting! I know someone who also tests positive for TB, never having had it.

But, what does that mean in terms of catching it and/or spreading it, I wonder?

jmo

 

[Trident]

That is very interesting! I know someone who also tests positive for TB, never having had it.

But, what does that mean in terms of catching it and/or spreading it, I wonder?

jmo

I BELIEVE it means the test is reacting to the antibodies you may have built up from coming in contact with the infected person. I don't know for sure, it's been a long time since I talked to a doctor about this.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

You mention cleaning. What do you think about yardwork? Is it ok to go out in your yard and plant a garden or paint your shed? How bout indoor repairs? Is it ok to lay some tile in the bathroom or replace a door knob that broke?

Why do I ask?
BECAUSE THE GOVERNOR OF MY STATE WON'T LET STORES SELL ANY HOUSE, TOOL,
PAINT GARDENING SUPPLIES ETC..

Well, I can buy alcohol and lottery tickets!

Governor Whitmer’s stay-at-home order is considered one of the most restrictive in the nation. Along with prohibiting garden centers and plant nurseries, the order prohibits the sale of carpeting, flooring, furniture, and paint. It also blocks Michiganders from using motorboats and vacation properties.

Michigan's stay-at-home order "decimating" for garden centers - Brownfield Ag News

Amy Upton tells Brownfield no plant sales are allowed in Michigan, and thousands of vegetable and flower plants are being thrown out or composted. She says, “I talked to one greenhouse grower that sells Easter lilies. They threw out $125,000 worth of Easter lilies. They dumped them. He said they’re in a big pile behind the greenhouse.

Somebody just posted the other day that garden centers there are not all closed. So I don’t know how much of this is accurate.

 

[cass523]

New York, 2 states hire COVID-19 'contact tracers'

Battle over reopening

Called "disease detectives," they will track down and isolate people who test positive for novel coronavirus.

Video 6 minutes

 

[Seattle1]

Grain of salt on this, IMO. These are all her words, and I don't tend to trust people who present themselves in such an emotional and inflammatory way in public - absent a real, immediate crisis. Adulthood and all. These employees can be replaced if they don't want to work for her any longer. They know that money isn't going to go on for more than a few months, so maybe they just don't want to work for her. Even if true, then that means she made bad hires, and that's on her. Pieces like these seem intended to whip up anger against the common man and woman receiving the kind of help the big corporations get routinely.

From a generational point of view, this doesn't surprise me.
This owner runs a service business and I think the majority of her employees are young with no aspiration for career spa workers, they find themselves in a situation where if not for COVID-19, they qualify for immediate unemployment benefits (without the normal waiting period) in the amount $188 - $790 per week (depending on their prior earnings) PLUS an additional $600/week for loss of work beginning March 29 through the week ending July 25-- specific to
COVID-19.

I'm pretty confident that drawing unemployment benefits under COVID-19 with the $600 weekly add on represents a bonus for these employees who clearly feel no loyalty towards their employer. I don't think this is personal but purely economics!

Since the only part of the stimulus loan secured by the owner that can be forgiven is the actual dollars used for her employees wages, I don't think the owner was prepared for the response. She probably should have penciled it out before going to the media.

MOO

 

[musicaljoke]

From what I have managed to understand/ find on the internet, this is considered to be a relapse, not a re- infection.

"While the trend in new cases in the country remained downward, the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has begun investigating a growing number of people testing positive after recovering.


More than 180 such cases have been reported so far in South Korea but none were found to have infected anyone else.


The medical authorities in South Korea initially conduct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on suspected cases.


But in investigating people who appear to suffer a relapse after recovering from Covid-19, the KCDC takes cultures of the virus, a process that takes more than two weeks before reliable results become evident.


So far, culture tests are under way for 39 cases, but all six completed so far have been negative.


"That means the virus in the relapse cases have little to no infectiousness," KCDC director Jeong Eun-kyeong told a briefing."

More at link:

Recovered coronavirus patients who test positive again are barely infectious: South Korea

Also, a very informative site, with lots of research papers:

COVID-19 Scientific Resources

This is certainly hopeful news. S. Korea is a leader in CoV19 research so we can be assured that there is good science behind their findings. I'm anxious to learn why the virus is barely infectious in relapsed cases.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

That study is useless. Worse than that, any media pushing the study is dishonest (IMO). Any honest look at the actual study would cause anyone to discard it (IMO). The study is so bad the only explanation of it's existence is as part of a propaganda campaign against hydroxychloroquine rather than honest research(Fact).

• It was not a clinical trial.
• No placebos given at all (!!)
• Purely "anecdotal" as doctor Fauchi would say.
• It just looked up pre-existing medical reports.
• Some patients not getting hydroxychloroquine were given other medicine.
• Patients getting hydroxychloroquine may have gotten it because they were close to death but patients not getting it could have not gotten it because they were not as sick.

It also just looked at past VA patients who were given the drug after they were already hospitalized and compared with other patients who were hospitalized and not given the drug.

Hydroxychloroquine works according to medical theory best early on, it helps block the virus from multiplying. That is the medical theory of how it works. Any valid study would be double-blind clinical trial with 1000s of patients given pills early on at first symptoms and/or at first testing positive and way before hospitalization. They would be given pills that they and their doctors think are hydroxychloroquine but many would be secretly getting a placebo.

IMO it is scary the forces of dishonesty in government bureaucracies and media that are lining up against hydroxychloroquine. There is a lot of money to be made by the alternative $1000 pills and future expensive vaccine instead of this pill that has no patent and costs about $0.80 per pill. Drug company advertising makes up a large share of media revenue.

As I have said before, t hydroxychloroquine is nothing more than one needle in the haystack. The less we focus, the more that will be done with all those other needles. geeez.

 

[Reasonable & Just]

From a generational point of view, somehow this doesn't surprise me.
This owner runs a service business and I think the majority of her employees are young with no aspiration for career spa workers, they find themselves in a situation where if not for COVID-19, they qualify for immediate unemployment benefits (without the normal waiting period) in the amount $188 - $790 per week (depending on their prior earnings) PLUS an additional $600/week for loss of work beginning March 29 through the week ending July 25-- specific to
COVID-19.

I'm pretty confident that drawing unemployment benefits under COVID-19 with the $600 weekly add on represents a bonus for these employees who clearly feel no loyalty towards their employer. I don't think this is personal but purely economics!

Since the only part of the stimulus loan secured by the owner that can be forgiven is the actual dollars used for her employees wages, I don't think the owner was prepared for the response. She probably should have penciled it out before going to the media.

MOO

And that is hard on her and other business owners. I wish there were a way to document that employees were given first dibs, but declined, so that she can hire others. But I'm sure there would be issues with that model, as well.

 

[Sundog]

That is very interesting! I know someone who also tests positive for TB, never having had it.

But, what does that mean in terms of catching it and/or spreading it, I wonder?

jmo

Latent TB infection means the bacteria isn't active and it can't be spread. It can become active later in life if the person's immune system is weaker, and if it becomes active, then it can be spread. Immigrants to the U.S. have to take a TB test, a blood test now which is more accurate than the skin test. The CDC web page has information on latent TB infection, etc.

Edited to add MOO.

 

[Seattle1]

And that is hard on her and other business owners. I wish there were a way to document that employees were given first dibs, but declined, so that she can hire others. But I'm sure there would be issues with that model, as well.

I agree. And if our Governor has his way, I'm not sure her business will be open and functioning by July 25 (when the $600 add-on is supposed to end).

 

[Sundog]

YouTube CEO: We’ll ban any coronavirus content against WHO guidelines

YouTube will ban any content containing medical advice that contradicts World Health Organisation (WHO) coronavirus recommendations, according to CEO Susan Wojcicki.

Speaking on CNN’s Reliable Sources, Wojcicki said that the Google-owned video streaming platform would be “removing information that is problematic”.


She told host Brian Stelter that this would include “anything that is medically unsubstantiated”.

Wow, incredible censorship, regardless of what you think about WHO guidelines.

 

[zecats]

That is very interesting! I know someone who also tests positive for TB, never having had it.

But, what does that mean in terms of catching it and/or spreading it, I wonder?

jmo

Same for me. We used to be tested regularly in school and I always needed a chest X-ray at first. Then I was able to do the Prong test. Reason for both was positive testing with a normal test.