Coronavirus COVID-19 *Global Health Emergency* #9

[Betty P]

Good for them. I live in a large metro area, and hospitals are owned by private companies. How can they all get together to say... OK.. there are 20 in this area, and you guys... your 10 hospitals will ONLY be now for COVID-19 cases and no other (as China did). I cannot fathom how this would be done in the US. THIS is a biggie in my mind, and was actually dreaming/thinking about this just last night.

How will US hospitals come together to designate COVID-19 only for their patients.

I cannot see.....

Agree, we have a very large, private/non-profit hospital chain in our area. There's no way they're going to allow everyone to come to their facility, especially those victims who are low income and/or uninsured/underinsured.

They will push everyone to the county hospital, who won't be able to handle the volume if things get worse. The upper crust hospitals will probably just take the wealthy and those with gold-plated health insurance. They already refuse people who have insurance through the ACA exchanges, Medicaid and often, Medicare. It's a potential problem because the two "gold plated" hospital systems like this in our area make up the bulk of hospital beds in the region.

 

[Trino]

Agree, we have a very large, private/non-profit hospital chain in our area. There's no way they're going to allow everyone to come to their facility, especially those victims who are low income and/or uninsured/underinsured.

They will push everyone to the county hospital, who won't be able to handle the volume if things get worse. The upper crust hospitals will probably just take the wealthy and those with gold-plated health insurance. They already refuse people who have insurance through the ACA exchanges, Medicaid and often, Medicare. It's a potential problem because the two "gold plated" hospital systems like this in our area make up the bulk of hospital beds in the region.

Recently went to a San Antonio clinic and was informed they did not take Medicare - private clinic. Unheard of in my home state as clinics are public.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Skin moisturizing tip from my former dermatologist (now retired): My feet used to get very dry during the winter months. He always recommend Lubriderm to his patients, but even applying the lotion several times daily wasn't helping my dry, itchy feet. Dr. F suggested putting Vaseline on my feet at bedtime and wearing socks since it's greasy. This worked wonders, and I still do it whenever I start to notice excessive dryness. You can do this for very dry hands, as well.

 

[eucalyptuz]

Local Orlando news has been saying since Thurs. 5/27 that there's possibly 4, now 5,
cases pending confirmation. Not sure why the holdup of final confirmation. May need to be confirmed by CDC. Also 173 in Florida being closely monitored.
Coronavirus 'suspected' in 4 people in Florida

I’ve always wondered how containment of this kind of virus could work in a place like Orlando. So much air traffic from all over the world, so many places where large amounts of people mingle, so many communal surfaces, millions of meals being prepared by people living paycheck to paycheck with no access to sick pay or health insurance... hoping for the best but kind of fearing the worst.

 

[mickey2942]

I don't think so, but they share hymnals and missals. In my church those are just in front of the pews and everyone handles them.

Singing. I would stay away from any groups that have group singing. Spraying around virus droplets all over.

 

[SAMS]

nycHealthy on Twitter

There are currently two people under investigation for #COVID19 in NYC. We’re also announcing one other test performed is negative. Tests for novel #coronavirus are now being performed by @HealthNYGov's lab, which means we will be able to get results back much sooner.

 

[SAMS]

Eyewitness News on Twitter

#BREAKING Coronavirus Concerns: Delta temporarily suspends all flights between John F. Kennedy International Airport, Milan amid coronavirus concerns

 

[SAMS]

Eyewitness News on Twitter

#BREAKING Coronavirus Concerns: Delta temporarily suspends all flights between John F. Kennedy International Airport, Milan amid coronavirus concerns

 

[Henry2326]

Coronavirus fears send West Coast shoppers into panic

Panicked shoppers have been clearing shelves though fears that they could soon be forced to self-quarantine at home if the coronavirus spreads.

Photos on social media show empty shelves and shoppers with carts piled high with water, canned foods and household needs like toilet paper, along with cleaning products such as Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer.

The panic is most frenzied in the West Coast, especially California and Seattle, both the areas hardest hit by the 71 cases confirmed in the US by Sunday morning, including the first confirmed death.

A Costco in Oregon ran out of toilet paper for the first time in its history, employees told MyNorthwest, saying the last few days had been the busiest they had ever seen, surpassing even prep for the holidays.

“Toilet paper is golden in an apocalypse,” one Costco employee told the site.

It’s not just the US epicenter of COVID-19 that has gone into panic, however, with USA Today reporting wild scenes and long lines at a Costco in Hawaii.

“Local health officials told us not to panic buy and not to freak out … and that was enough to get us to go out and buy everything,” shopper Ryan Ozawa, 45, told the paper.

https://nypost.com/2020/03/01/coronavirus-fears-send-west-coast-shoppers-into-panic/

 

[Henry2326]

With this update, the number of fatalities worldwide has reached 3,000. More than 88,000 confirmed cases, of which 42,417 people have recovered.

BNO Newsroom on Twitter

 

[otto]

I run about 1-1.5* low as my usual temp, so find myself wondering how it might manifest in me.

Also, a friend sent this article recently -- excellent article on the 1918 flu and some implications for today:

How the Horrific 1918 Flu Spread Across America | History | Smithsonian Magazine

Interesting article! Thanks for the link. This more or less echoes how this virus took hold in China, and may describe how other governments will proceed in order to manage social order.

"What proved even more deadly was the government policy toward the truth ... Committee on Public Information wrote “Truth and falsehood are arbitrary terms....The force of an idea lies in its inspirational value. It matters very little if it is true or false.”

At Wilson’s urging ... Government posters and advertisements urged people to report to the Justice Department anyone “who spreads pessimistic stories ...”

Against this background, while influenza bled into American life, public health officials, determined to keep morale up, began to lie.
...

In most disasters, people come together, ... but in 1918, without leadership, without the truth, trust evaporated. And people looked after only themselves.
...

The fear was so great people were actually afraid to leave their homes...afraid to talk to one another.
...

Fear emptied the streets, too. ... “The life of the city had almost stopped,” he said. ...“I stood in the middle of Wellington City at 2 P.M. on a weekday afternoon, and there was not a soul to be seen; no trams running; no shops open, and the only traffic was a van with a white sheet tied to the side with a big red cross painted on it, serving as an ambulance or hearse. It was really a city of the dead.”
...

After that third wave, the 1918 virus did not go away, but it did lose its extraordinary lethality, partly because many human immune systems now recognized it and partly because it lost the ability to easily invade the lungs ... it evolved into a seasonal influenza."​

How the Horrific 1918 Flu Spread Across America | History | Smithsonian Magazine

 

[SAMS]

The Hill on Twitter

First coronavirus death reported in Thailand hill.cm/hOwfECT

 

[whitelilac]

I noticed 3 cases in Mumbai, recovered. India could be a disaster if this spreads there.
Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS

eta.actually not Mumbai, which is on the coast.....the cases were inland

 

[NoSI]

This is hand cream we use at my hospital. I love it!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AJWQKE...olid=292CYT43P45P4&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Same here... it's the best! Did not know its available on amazon. Placing order today...

 

[LaborDayRN]

Same here... it's the best! Did not know its available on amazon. Placing order today...

I like it so much that I searched it out to use at home. Gotta love Amazon!
ETA: Remedy actually sells several different formulas on Amazon.....

 

[Amonet]

Hope your mom will be ok.

I keep thinking stay away from airports or wherever people are returning from abroad/overseas (from heavily infected areas) but maybe that's not enough precaution ?

Medical expert on coronavirus: Don't panic, 'prepare for the worst right now'
".....One thing Parekh believes people should not be doing as part of their prep is rushing to stock up on surgical masks.
“You should not be walking around with face masks. The individuals who need face masks are those who are infected, health care workers or those potentially that have been exposed. But if you are a healthy American, you do not need to be walking around with a face mask.” ..."
Not sure a face mask would do any harm, though ?
My doctor wears one quite a lot in the winter months for office visits (getting a prescript. of antibiotic for my chronic bronchitis), he says he's avoiding germs.

Part of the problem is that there are currently short stocks on shelves of masks for the public. Let's say there's 1000 cases currently in the USA, walking around unaware they have the Covid-19. That's 1 person in 3 million. There might not be a single person in a particular town who has it. So, is it worth wearing a single use mask today?

The doctor knows for a fact that on an average day he has several people come to see him with flu, bronchitis, pneumonia, colds, etc.

At some point, *Horace* wearing his masks daily, and changing them several times a day, in his small town that currently has zero cases could contract Covid-19. At that point it would help anyone near him if he's wearing a mask. But will he have any left by that point?

That's what some of the 'experts' are talking about when they're saying they think it's too soon for the vast majority of people to be wearing masks. Especially if the masks aren't entirely guarantees of not getting the virus, and that hand washing/sanitizer gels/not touching the face/not shaking hands/ etc is proven to be effective, and normal soap and water are currently plentiful, and not shaking hands is free and readily available at all times.

So they're saying that statistically it's people like the doctor who have good reason to wear the masks right now. He can't ask people to wear a mask if they come in with a sore throat and he needs to look into their mouth/throat, so he wears one mask instead of 50 patients each wearing a mask. In this way, supplies will last longer and still be there when they'll be more useful to people.

But, it is really hard for the human brain to think that makes sense as it has an inbuilt directive to prioritise self-preservation rather than statistics. So while the advice is valid to conserve masks now while the risk is far lower than it might be in coming weeks and months...it's hard for us to not want to wear that mask if it's today that we're going out to a crowded place, and we don't know where the sick people are or if there'll be someone coughing where we go.

So I think the advice is logical and valid, but I don't think you can expect too many people to follow that advice when it comes to something this concerning and they want to protect their families and friends as well as themselves. Maybe today it's the people who are higher risk of having the virus who should be the only ones in the public wearing masks....but if *Horace* doesn't know for sure that every single one of them will be doing that, he wants to protect himself, and you can't really blame him for that.

 

[SAMS]

We are doing all we can to stay healthy’: Inside town where first US coronavirus victim died and more than 50 await test results“
‘We are doing all we can to stay healthy’: Inside town where first US coronavirus victim died

• Andrew BuncombeKirkland @AndrewBuncombe

 

[NoSI]

I like it so much that I searched it out to use at home. Gotta love Amazon!

Yes, it smells so good and so effective for dry skin... especially with all that hand sanitizer we always have to use... Thank you for sharing this. You made my day!

 

[gregjrichards]

America’s top doctor is begging people to stop panic-buying face masks — fearing a shortage could cause an even bigger medical threat.

“Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!” US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams complained Saturday on Twitter.

“They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!”

Adams insisted that “everyday preventive actions” were the “best way to protect yourself,” listing “staying home when you are sick and washing hands with soap and water” and seeking help if you are sick.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/nypo...stop-buying-masks-amid-coronavirus-panic/amp/

 

[LaborDayRN]

Yes, it smells so good and so effective for dry skin... especially with all that hand sanitizer we always have to use... Thank you for sharing this. You made my day!

You're welcome!!