Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #66

[CoverMeCagney]

Right. I read the Great Influenza about it and it is thought to have originated in Kansas.

That’s one of the theories!

 

[gitana1]

Dont ya all wonder when people get the virus and say they did everything right-. to my way
of thinking there was a breach somewhere along the way, a mistake, not recognized, and
that scares me because i think i do everything right,but i have slipped up occasionally,
and then i pray for 7 days

Yes. That totally freaks me out. Because I have slipped up repeatedly. Standing too close to people at Home Depot. Standing close to an unmasked friend (I wore a mask) while we inspected the bathroom that I’m renovating for a family member. The friend has a serious heart condition so he’s off work and isolates, and his wife works from home and is careful, but still..
Being at the office and in the same room as another attorney in my building, without masks. And also having a client come into my office who was yelling as she demonstrated what her husband did during a DV incident. She was closer than six feet. We both wore masks.

This is why they ordered shut downs. Because none of us can be perfect. Ugh.

 

[Chelly]

When someone says he took every precaution and still tests positive, it means he did NOT take EVERY precaution

 

[MrX]

A whopping 25% of Arizonans test positive, and they too are seeing a huge rush to testing (the governor laments that they can't get enough tests - not realizing, apparently, that it's been each state on their own since the beginning, someone blew it in Arizona for not stocking up, I guess).

Due to the difficulty of getting tested here, I'm shocked the percentage is so low. It strikes me as illogical that an asymptomatic person is going to spend 8 hours in line in the AZ summer, for a test that could take three weeks to get back. If everyone waiting in line has symptoms serious enough warrant that wait, then shouldn't the percentage positive be closer to 100?

(I know people on AHCCCS that use the hospital as a kind of "Summer Staycation." If facilities are now hesitating to admit healthy people, it seems logical that a "positive" Covid test could be seen as a lottery ticket, of sorts.)

 

[Reasonable & Just]

When someone says he took every precaution and still tests positive, it means he did NOT take EVERY precaution

Maybe not every known precaution, anyway. But I suspect there's still lots to learn about this tricky virus. JMO.

 

[Tate123]

Dont ya all wonder when people get the virus and say they did everything right-. to my way
of thinking there was a breach somewhere along the way, a mistake, not recognized, and
that scares me because i think i do everything right,but i have slipped up occasionally,
and then i pray for 7 days

I'm the same way. I used an ATM and then touched my eye... I started getting my affairs in order I stressed so much.

 

[gitana1]

https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/op-de-dag-dat-het-rivm-nul-doden-meldde-stierf-verpleegkundige-boy-ettema-aan-corona~bf67bcd7
google translate- translated from Dutch to English;


Thomas Borst and Maud Effting 5 July 2020, 5:02 PM

OSTUUM BOY ETTEMA (1978-2020) On the day RIVM reported zero deaths, nurse Boy Ettema died of corona


Boy Ettema, a surgery nurse who worked in the Covid department, was healthy, cycled a lot, was not overweight and was only 42 years old. However, he died of corona on the first day that RIVM reported zero deaths.


For RIVM it was a question of statistics, of simply adding up all reports. And they never came that day. But for Boys' family, the RIVM statement came as a blow to the face.

It felt as if the death of Boy, a surgery nurse who had worked in the hospital's covid ward for many weeks, was ignored. As if he didn't matter.

It was the reason that Boy's brother called Thomas de Volkskrant. Because the ice-cold statistic with those zero kills - that's the big story.

But there is also another reality. Boy Ettema is the youngest healthcare provider in the Netherlands who died of corona at the age of 42 - a total of thirteen died. He was healthy, cycled a lot, was not overweight and did not smoke, his girlfriend said.

It is mid-May when the surgery nurse returns home from his covid service at St. Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein in the evening. That day he helped a critically ill patient who had unexpectedly coughed in his face. He felt something in between his glasses and mask.

"I have the idea," he said anxiously to his girlfriend, who is also a nurse, "that I was infected today."

At home they have been kept apart for weeks. They don't meet anyone and she does the shopping. Boy warns everyone to watch out. "Even if they arrange things differently at work, please stay at home," he tells his brother.

Two days later, he wakes up on a Tuesday with a high fever and headache. He sees flashes before his eyes. The stuffiness doesn't start until a few days later. "I'm deathly ill," Boy says to his brother Thomas. "But don't worry too much. It will be fine.'

His brother Thomas had previously asked him if he would do those covid services. "It has to be done," Boy replied. He felt it his duty to contribute. He sends cheerful photos of himself in his corona gear to his friends and family.

That nice brother

Boy Ettema is a striking appearance in the surgery department of the St. Antonius Hospital. His laughter is loud, he talks a lot and makes contact with patients quickly. Sometimes they ask specifically for "that nice brother".

If there is a difficult patient, Boy is put on it.

At home he is cheerful, gentle and caring, says his girlfriend Lizahn (31), whom he proposed to last March and with whom he was engaged. Boy doesn't care about money, stuff or status; he prefers to spend time with nature, with friends, reading newspapers and books, doing fun things. He is concerned about inequality in the world. At the age of 35, he studied nursing after studying sociology. It turned out to be a golden move. He wanted to mean something to others, his brother says.

He is at home for days, where he is getting sicker. His girlfriend Lizahn calls the GP post three times. "I said Boy was getting exhausted," she says. "But the doctor brushed us off and said, well, he still speaks full sentences. We could come in with a fever of more than 41 degrees. I felt we weren't taken seriously because Boy was still young. "

On day eight, Boy says, "This is really not good."

Within fifteen minutes they drive urgently to his own hospital, where Lizahn can see him that day. "I'm scared," says Boy, lying in bed panting. It's all he can say. His blood still contains 80 percent oxygen.

Lizahn: "He knew exactly how it could go. He has taken so many people to the morgue himself. His greatest fear was the ICU. "

The following night she is woken up at half past four with his telephone number. In the picture is a nurse. "It really is no longer with Boy," he says. "We have to intubate him now."

Then she sees Boy lying there, gasping for breath. He says he loves her. And that he is afraid. He has to cry, but it only makes him more anxious. Lizahn can say just a little before the nurse takes the phone. Lizahn drives to the hospital as fast as she can, but when she arrives, he is already asleep.

This isn't really happening, Lizahn thinks. She feels that he can walk around the corner laughing any moment.

His brother Thomas arrives without being able to say anything to his brother.

Heart lung machine

The nurse is in his own intensive care unit for sixteen days, while his lung pictures get worse and his family hardly sleeps anymore. Doctors and nurses at the ICU skip breaks, work longer, do everything for their colleagues.

Lizahn and her family receive extra visiting hours. It always seems to go better, but he always gets a backlash. "I thought a thousand times he was going to make it, and a thousand times he would die," says brother Thomas. Because his lungs can't make it, he is put on the heart-lung machine, where the blood gets oxygen outside the body and blood thinners are needed.

It is June 22 when Lizahn receives a call from an ICU doctor at a quarter to five in the morning. "He said it was a good idea that I would come and asked if I wanted to call his parents and brother," she said. "Then I knew: this is wrong. I've worked here long enough to know that. "

That night Boy had a massive cerebral hemorrhage with major brain damage as a result. He doesn't respond to anything anymore. The doctor says that the state of his brain can no longer be reconciled with life. There are tears in his eyes. That morning he struggled to enter the department, he says. Lizahn drops to her knees when she hears that. "This just can't be true," she says.

"Then you know," says his brother Thomas, "that your brother is dying."

It is three o'clock in the afternoon when the doctor switches off the heart lung machine and the other devices in the presence of family and friends. In the room, someone plays Guns N 'Roses on the guitar: Boy was a fan of punk and hard rock.

While his girlfriend Lizahn is holding him, his heart beats for another two minutes. In the room it becomes very quiet. Nurses cry in the hallway. Afterwards, Lizahn barely manages to leave him.

Boy's motto was memento mori - remember to die. "He was always aware," says his brother Thomas, "that life could just be over."

The next morning, Boy's father reads the news. "Zero corona deaths for the first time," it says.
*******

I couldn’t open the link to see a photo of him but this one worked for me:

Op de dag dat het RIVM nul doden meldde, stierf verpleegkundige Boy Ettema aan corona

 

[10ofRods]

When someone says he took every precaution and still tests positive, it means he did NOT take EVERY precaution

If there's actually a greater chance of getting CoVid by, say, newly delivered mail, I'd like to know it. It would be a common enough slip-up. If CoVid survives longer on plastic (especially in its G mutation form), I'd like to know it (surface studies were done early on - they need to be ongoing).

I just read an article yesterday (pre-print, so grain of salt) that said researchers found way more CoVid in the drains, drain traps, shower area than on the other surfaces or floors of the apartments they studied. How long does it remain viable there? That wasn't the point of the study. They just wanted to know where it was. Faucet handles were on the list, too.

They found some on the occasional doorknob, but most people were wiping down that area. It's easy to slip up and not remember to disinfect the faucet handle, I guess. It sure is easy for me to forget. Copper/brass/bronze fixtures (shown in other studies) are supposedly safer.

Most of these damp places (drain, drain trap) are not places that people usually touch. But...what is the effect of evaporation on CoVId? Since it likes to reside inside water aerosols and droplets, would use of the sink cause some kind of aerosol effect? No one knows. The study didn't address where each resident got CoVid, they just wanted to study the homes of CoVid patients.

I'd feel better if this research was more widespread and systematic. It's sad that the US decided to cut funding for testing and research at such a critical juncture.

 

[Tate123]

It’s just a shame that we didn’t have a cohesive response taking this seriously, across the board. Because now it’s hard to get people to comply with things like masks and social distancing when this thing was minimized for so long. And that hurts our economy because we have to keep shutting down, illness and hospitalizations increase and a chuck of the population won’t go out and spend money at local businesses.

I hope that attitudes can be changed. It’s still going to be an uphill battle but I do think that not approaching people with anger or automatically dismissing what they say because we think it supports a “side” with which we don’t agree, is going to help.

The more people feel attacked, the more they feel defensive and become entrenched. And I don’t want to discount something just because someone in government who I don’t like, mentioned it or supports it.

I believe we can come together and act as a national team, as long as we don’t constantly react to one another with anger and suspicion.

It’s hard. Because everyone has their beliefs. And this is life or death and sickness and health and solvency vs. insolvency. So everyone feels strongly about their positions. I know I do. But I try not to be closed minded. It accomplished nothing.

Once mask wearing was politicized we lost the battle. Sadly, some are digging in their heels out of principle not science. There would never have been complete compliance but it would have given us more of a fighting chance.

 

[gitana1]

Due to the difficulty of getting tested here, I'm shocked the percentage is so low. It strikes me as illogical that an asymptomatic person is going to spend 8 hours in line in the AZ summer, for a test that could take three weeks to get back. If everyone waiting in line has symptoms serious enough warrant that wait, then shouldn't the percentage positive be closer to 100?

(I know people on AHCCCS that use the hospital as a kind of "Summer Staycation." If facilities are now hesitating to admit healthy people, it seems logical that a "positive" Covid test could be seen as a lottery ticket, of sorts.)

Respectfully, it doesn’t seem reasonable that people would use government health care to take a “vacation” at a hospital. Anyone who has ever been wants to leave. They’re loud. Scary. Uncomfortable. And doctors won’t just authorize people to stay in the hospital if they don’t need to be there. Mostly, the problem is people being kicked out before they should be.

 

[gitana1]

If there's actually a greater chance of getting CoVid by, say, newly delivered mail, I'd like to know it. It would be a common enough slip-up. If CoVid survives longer on plastic (especially in its G mutation form), I'd like to know it (surface studies were done early on - they need to be ongoing).

I just read an article yesterday (pre-print, so grain of salt) that said researchers found way more CoVid in the drains, drain traps, shower area than on the other surfaces or floors of the apartments they studied. How long does it remain viable there? That wasn't the point of the study. They just wanted to know where it was. Faucet handles were on the list, too.

They found some on the occasional doorknob, but most people were wiping down that area. It's easy to slip up and not remember to disinfect the faucet handle, I guess. It sure is easy for me to forget. Copper/brass/bronze fixtures (shown in other studies) are supposedly safer.

Most of these damp places (drain, drain trap) are not places that people usually touch. But...what is the effect of evaporation on CoVId? Since it likes to reside inside water aerosols and droplets, would use of the sink cause some kind of aerosol effect? No one knows. The study didn't address where each resident got CoVid, they just wanted to study the homes of CoVid patients.

I'd feel better if this research was more widespread and systematic. It's sad that the US decided to cut funding for testing and research at such a critical juncture.

We did? Oh boy. Why?

 

[SoCalDavidS]

Whoops....

Just as shoppers were beginning to inch back to stores, with local economies reopening and malls turning their lights back on, retail traffic declines are accelerating yet again, according to a report.

Retail traffic in the U.S. was down the most so far in 2020, on a year-over-year basis, during the week ended April 18, according to data from the retail consultancy ShopperTrak. It fell 82.6%.

From then, up until the past 14 days, there were slight improvements. Those declines shrank each week, according to ShopperTrak, which is part of part of Sensormatic Solutions. The decline had eased to being down just 34% from the year prior, for the week ended June 20.

But over the past two weeks, retail traffic declines have accelerated once more, as Covid-19 cases surge nationwide with hot spots in states including Florida and Texas. Customers are retreating for a second time. Apple has made one of the boldest moves, so far, closing dozens of stores in malls for a second time.

The week ended June 27, traffic in the U.S. was down 35.7%, according to ShopperTrak. Last week, it was down 39.5% compared with the prior year.
Shoppers across the country are retreating again as coronavirus cases surge

 

[10ofRods]

I couldn’t open the link to see a photo of him but this one worked for me:

Op de dag dat het RIVM nul doden meldde, stierf verpleegkundige Boy Ettema aan corona

This is so sad. Everyone should read it.

 

[musicaljoke]

State Rep. Kyle Mullica told the Colorado Times Recorder of his support for contact tracing–while at work as an ER nurse.

“We need to get back to working with our public health officials and public health experts and those doctors and epidemiologists and really trust the science behind it,” said Mullica. “I mean, this is the safety of our communities that we’re talking about, and, you know, we have people who spend their lives doing this, and who are experts in the field, and we really need to take that into account.”

Most people understand the importance of contact tracing in reducing the spread of CoVid ... but from the article, even that is becoming politicised.

Is COVID Contact Tracing Colorado's Newest Political Issue?

 

[gitana1]

Don't know details yet, but my DIL said all ages and those at highest risk of the disease.

I would do it.

 

[gitana1]

Masks aren't mandatory in our area. As a result my Spring 'to do' list has very few items checked off. Hubby doesn't seem to mind though

Would you feel okay if everyone was wearing a mask?

 

[musicaljoke]

"Two days before Guilfoyle’s diagnosis, she joined other Trump campaign officials in following the president’s attempt to downplay the dangers of coronavirus — even as governors across the country have halted re-openings of their states in an effort to stem a surge in cases."

Kimberly Guilfoyle's COVID-19 diagnosis worries party-goers

 

[gitana1]

In so. California, around me, things were going boom until after midnight. My 85 lb German Shepherd was seriously freaked out. For hours and hours he kept trying to sit on me. Of course, I let him, and gave lots of hugs.

Mine too. She hid in the shower. And wouldn’t go on her regular long walk yesterday. She just pooped and then was trying to high tail it back home! Poor lamb.

 

[10ofRods]

We did? Oh boy. Why?

Feds Set To Cut Coronavirus Testing Funds As COVID-19 Cases Soar | HuffPost

The federal government is ending funding for coronavirus test sites in 5 states as Trump claims the US is testing too much

Because if we test more, we get higher case numbers. Then the rest of the world doesn't like us. Since the disease is immaterial and 99% harmless, why spend more money? Clearly the money needs to go to businesses and private schools, who are being hurt by increasing amounts of CoVid.

Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Colorado, Arizona and Florida are among the states reporting test shortages. They need to build their own capacity, as other states know all too well.

Testing is of course, a key part of research, but specific other projects (such as direct study of the virus) have also been defunded. As have some projects regarding treatment (vaccine research is funded by huge grants to pharma, I believe there are 7 of those).

Coronavirus Attacks the Lungs. A Federal Agency Just Halted Funding for New Lung Treatments.

White House ordered NIH to cancel coronavirus research funding, Fauci says

Here's some information on what we *are* funding (so as not to be too negative):

BARDA’S Rapidly-Expanding COVID-19 Medical Countermeasure Portfolio

Almost all of it is now centered on vaccines, and as far as I can tell, interesting questions like "how long is a person contagious?" or "what exactly does "airborne transmision" mean?" are not on the federal list of BARDA projects.

We like funding private research, I guess (with our tax dollars) rather than university-based research. Fortunately, we have a lot of universities who can fund their own.

 

[tresir2012]

WHO alters timeline to indicate it first learned of coronavirus from Internet, not Chinese officials

The WHO previously said its first knowledge of the coronavirus stemmed from an alert issued by the Wuhan municipal health commission, the AFP noted. However, the timeline modification now clarifies that the first notification came from the WHO's Beijing office rather than from Beijing authorities.

Has WHO ever commented on the evidence that CV19 was in Europe in Dec 2019?