Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #73

[10ofRods]

I know someone whose husband is a nurse in a hospital system in GA that was recently diverting patients and out of ICU beds. They are steadfastly insistent on downplaying it entirely. "The majority of patients aren't COVID patients." "It turns out that was fake news. My husband asked someone at the hospital and they said they weren't out of ICU beds." I'm going to guess they are waiting for refrigerated morgue trucks outside the hospital? A hospital system so crashed that COVID patients ARE the majority?

They are heavily invested in downplaying it and I think this has everything to do with protective mechanisms. I know they are actually anxious people. They are handling the fear with avoidance and not facing reality.

I'm struggling with my own personal anger at so many people doing this. Maybe I'm not being entirely fair in doing that? The problem is when those in charge of handling the situation are doing the exact same thing it prevents everyone else from facing facts and adjusting. Basically everyone else outside of the U.S. can't see what we are dealing with except those in the thick of it?

Very well said. I do think that people who are quite anxious about CoVid invent all stories to tell themselves. These stories come to be "truth" in their world and their local culture. They unfriend everyone who has a different story, more or less.

The Department of Health and Human Services and especially the broken CDC are supposed to stand for facts and science.

Can you imagine people being asked to do all the various things they did during WW2? (Including obey draft notices, but also rationing, wartime work assignments, and of course, certain health measures).

You are right: if the people "in charge" are anxiously making things up, too, then the whole system collapses.

Civilization is a delicate bubble and when it collapses (when normal expectations can no longer be met) a lot of people go psycho. I do believe everyone is capable of a brief psychosis (for example, if a dinosaur or even a crocodile appeared at my window, I'd probably start screaming my head off and have no coherent thoughts whatsoever).

Paranoia and anxiety go hand and hand. I think most of us are paranoid right (ranging from minor to major), but many of us handle it by trying to learn more, protect ourselves, hunker down and fight the thing in the only way that seems to work (quarantine and social distancing).

 

[Simply Southern]

I'm not sure what quitting would accomplish. She is a very strong, very intelligent woman. I can't really think of any intelligent women in higher positions in the US involved in this pandemic other than her off the top of my head. We need her. Jmo

Agreed, she is a true testament to women and a role model for those who follow her career. She is world known for her fight with AIDS. When most countries didn't want to or refused to deal with outbreaks in the LGBT community and then it hit the heterosexual community as well. Dr Birx stood strong, asking communities to buy and give away free condoms, to control the spread.

Most didn't listen to her then. No that didn't stop her she traveled the world with her message, faught for testing and begged for government dollars to support research. All in the late 70s and early 80s when HIV patients were treated as lepers.

Her feelings maybe hurt but she ain't quitting in my opinion. She is a Colonel in the United States military, she didn't get to this position without being good at navigating/negotiating a system with a message NO ONE wants to hear. She is strong and will fight the good fight to save lives.

Moo.... And being in the trenches with the 80s HIV outbreak.

 

[Sundog]

'Stop! Sanitize!': Alabama principal parodies MC Hammer ahead of students' return to school amid coronavirus

With schools in certain states starting to open for in-person learning during the the ongoing pandemic, Alabama principal Quentin Lee wanted to make sure the more than 300 students at Childersburg High got the message about the school's new restrictions.

In a musical parody of MC Hammer's “U Can’t Touch This,” Lee shows how the school is looking to keep kids safe.

Water fountains? Doorknobs? Vending machines? Can’t touch this. Students are also told to social distance and Lee is seen with a no-contact thermometer. The song ends with a, “Stop! Sanitize!” to drive the point home.

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What a great video!

 

[10ofRods]

But it never had to be this way. I believe the Fed Reserve head in Minneapolis is right............we need a total restart.

I agree. I'm surprised to hear the Fed Reserve guy be the one to propose it - but if he thinks it would work, then I truly believe we can do it.

I do not see why we didn't do that to begin with. Shut down all international travel. Shut down all interstate travel/trucking. Allow certain traevl functions (trains, cargo planes) for medical supplies only.

Of course, to flesh out the consequences and tell everyone what to do would be massive. And it would need to have every single public official that speaks...on board. Penalties for not being on board.

Can Americans get ready for such a thing and get through it? Won't most places have to open outdoor food distribution sites? Closing grocery stores, as they're doing in Australia, is essential.

I'm ready. Everyone I know in my personal life is ready, too. But the deniers are not ready - not at all. I guess they might get pushed into it anyway.

I seriously doubt it's going to happen, though. Not in this political climate.

 

[Sundog]

I think she's been honest all along.

I agree, but the MSM narrative has been to go after her because of her role on the WH Task Force.

 

[mickey2942]

Australia imposes strict new virus measures as early successes unravel

I don't know why states that are even worse off than Melbourne/Victoria, or cities in the United States don't go to this level to get the virus under control. Because whatever they are doing now (Florida) is obviously not working.

 

[CSIDreamer]

I agree. I'm surprised to hear the Fed Reserve guy be the one to propose it - but if he thinks it would work, then I truly believe we can do it.

I do not see why we didn't do that to begin with. Shut down all international travel. Shut down all interstate travel/trucking. Allow certain traevl functions (trains, cargo planes) for medical supplies only.

Of course, to flesh out the consequences and tell everyone what to do would be massive. And it would need to have every single public official that speaks...on board. Penalties for not being on board.

Can Americans get ready for such a thing and get through it? Won't most places have to open outdoor food distribution sites? Closing grocery stores, as they're doing in Australia, is essential.

I'm ready. Everyone I know in my personal life is ready, too. But the deniers are not ready - not at all. I guess they might get pushed into it anyway.

I seriously doubt it's going to happen, though. Not in this political climate.

Gosh, I didn't realize they closed grocery stores. Jmo

 

[Simply Southern]

Trump is considering possible options for unilateral action if his negotiators cannot reach a deal with Congress. It’s not clear what steps the administration could take without Congress on issues such as unemployment

Thanks for posting this...I've heard rumbling the president may use unilateral action. This seems, to my simple mind an override button when Congress is unable to take action in the best interest of Americans.

Being trapped inside for the next two days with tropical storm rain and wind, is giving me an opportunity to read in more detail the structure of our check and balance system government.

Our fore fathers were really hung up on, separation of state and federal power over Americans.

 

[MrX]

I agree. I'm surprised to hear the Fed Reserve guy be the one to propose it - but if he thinks it would work, then I truly believe we can do it.

I do not see why we didn't do that to begin with. Shut down all international travel. Shut down all interstate travel/trucking. Allow certain traevl functions (trains, cargo planes) for medical supplies only.

Of course, to flesh out the consequences and tell everyone what to do would be massive. And it would need to have every single public official that speaks...on board. Penalties for not being on board.

Can Americans get ready for such a thing and get through it? Won't most places have to open outdoor food distribution sites? Closing grocery stores, as they're doing in Australia, is essential.

I'm ready. Everyone I know in my personal life is ready, too. But the deniers are not ready - not at all. I guess they might get pushed into it anyway.

I seriously doubt it's going to happen, though. Not in this political climate.

I agree. I'm surprised to hear the Fed Reserve guy be the one to propose it - but if he thinks it would work, then I truly believe we can do it.

I do not see why we didn't do that to begin with. Shut down all international travel. Shut down all interstate travel/trucking. Allow certain traevl functions (trains, cargo planes) for medical supplies only.

Of course, to flesh out the consequences and tell everyone what to do would be massive. And it would need to have every single public official that speaks...on board. Penalties for not being on board.

Can Americans get ready for such a thing and get through it? Won't most places have to open outdoor food distribution sites? Closing grocery stores, as they're doing in Australia, is essential.

I'm ready. Everyone I know in my personal life is ready, too. But the deniers are not ready - not at all. I guess they might get pushed into it anyway.

I seriously doubt it's going to happen, though. Not in this political climate.

It may be optimistic to assume that consistent messaging and education will change the minds of those that disagree.

I have met a couple "deniers," but the vast majority of the people who do not support another shut down are serious, well educated upstanding members of the community. They understand the math and the risks and feel that the benefits of returning to normal life outweigh those risks.

Most calls to go in a different direction (in the U.S.) assume that people not currently in isolation are somehow ignorant of the situation and can be talked into participating, which, in my opinion, will doom such an effort, from the start. But I totally agree that any such plan needs to be presented honestly. Too many times we have seen closures presented as "temporary" in order to garner support. I suspect many won't be fooled again.

 

[beatrixpotter]

Her family reunion feels unsafe. But her 98-year-old grandma wants her there. — The Washington Post

“Rowe, an attorney and yoga teacher in Potomac, Md., tried to explain she was worried she might get her grandma sick. But Davis said her faith had kept her healthy for almost a century.

“My soon-to-be 99-year-old grandmother is ready to write me out of the will,” Rowe said half-jokingly, “because I told her covid is real.”

Across the country, families are facing fraught decisions — and fierce disagreements — over whether to see one another this summer. From California to Chicago to Charlotte, family gatherings of all kinds have been linked to coronavirus outbreaks that have sickened scores of people. But as the pandemic drags on, it is testing relatives’ resolve to remain apart.”

“Last week, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) warned people not to assume spending time with relatives was risk-free.

“The number one activity of those who have tested positive recently, reported by a staggering 44 percent . . . was attending family gatherings,” he said at a news conference in which he tightened mask and travel restrictions. “We have people saying, ‘We’re not going out. We’re going to rent a beach house together with 20 or 30 of our family and we are staying home.’ But they are spreading the virus.”
———
Wow....44 percent.

I can’t imagine having a family reunion during this time. At the current rate, my family has realized that Thanksgiving and Christmas will be vastly different with each of us in our own place seeing each other via zoom. I can’t see plane trips/quarantine after arriving for 14 day’s/timely test results as a realistic option. I would like to hibernate from mid November to mid January and forego the holidays.

We canceled the multigenerational family get together this fall in the large beach house. We'd rented it last winter. We've technically postponed it till next fall but I feel really sad that I'm not sure if that will happen next fall either.

 

[beatrixpotter]

I have now had two people tell me that they personally know of someone who went to get a test, never actually did the test (left early) and got notification of positive “results”.

I don’t believe them. I think it’s bs people say to push the theory that this is overblown. Both people seem to have an agenda.

Yeah, I don't believe them either. We know the daily percentage of tests. They aren't lying and claiming they are all positive. My family has also been tested multiple times with no positives. I don't believe they are claiming tests that were NEVER done were positive. There wouldn't be any test in the system just an appointment someone never showed up to. It makes no sense.

 

[gitana1]

Yeah, I don't believe them either. We know the daily percentage of tests. They aren't lying and claiming they are all positive. My family has also been tested multiple times with no positives. I don't believe they are claiming tests that were NEVER done were positive. There wouldn't be any test in the system just an appointment someone never showed up to. It makes no sense.

One person claims the nurse actually told them “We count everyone as positive”.

B.S.

 

[MrX]

Australia imposes strict new virus measures as early successes unravel

I don't know why states that are even worse off than Melbourne/Victoria, or cities in the United States don't go to this level to get the virus under control. Because whatever they are doing now (Florida) is obviously not working.

Several reasons. Without ubiquitous testing, fast/accurate results and robust contact tracing, there is no way to monitor the effects of such a policy. There is also a large segment of the population that isn't going to cooperate. It's very easy to find groups all over the U.S. that are actively fighting against the restrictions that are already in place. I tried to find similar groups in Australia and only encountered lone voices who say they are vastly outnumbered. Finally, once numbers are down to a level that everyone is happy with, how is that maintained? Australia cordoned off Melbourne and States closed their borders to each other - seems impossible to picture that here.

 

[katydid23]

Yeah, I don't believe them either. We know the daily percentage of tests. They aren't lying and claiming they are all positive. My family has also been tested multiple times with no positives. I don't believe they are claiming tests that were NEVER done were positive. There wouldn't be any test in the system just an appointment someone never showed up to. It makes no sense.

PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - PA State Rep. Chris Dush is alleging that some individuals in the state are receiving calls stating they tested positive for COVID-19 even though they never took a test.

Listen Live Now on Newsradio 1020 KDKA



These individuals allegedly went to a testing site - signed in and provided contact information - but never received a test because the wait was too long.

“If that kind of thing is going on, that’s fraud, and we want to try and nip it in the bud as quickly as possible,” Rep. Dush tells the KDKA Radio Morning Show. “We’re doing the follow up on the leads that we’ve gotten so far.”
Some People Are Allegedly Testing Positive For Coronavirus Without Taking Test



That^^^ makes sense to me that a mix up could happen. If a patient shows up to the clinic, signs in, gives all contact info, then leaves because it is taking too long?

I think they could mistakenly receive a call about their results. JMO

 

[mickey2942]

Several reasons. Without ubiquitous testing, fast/accurate results and robust contact tracing, there is no way to monitor the effects of such a policy. There is also a large segment of the population that isn't going to cooperate. It's very easy to find groups all over the U.S. that are actively fighting against the restrictions that are already in place. I tried to find similar groups in Australia and only encountered lone voices who say they are vastly outnumbered. Finally, once numbers are down to a level that everyone is happy with, how is that maintained? Australia cordoned off Melbourne and States closed their borders to each other - seems impossible to picture that here.

I agree. It is insanity. Why can't people in the United States "get it"? Has our "freedom" become a barrier to public health? In today's environment, Typhoid Mary would be working at McDonald's, after suing for discrimination.

 

[Clair Louise]

AFAIK the phases were clear but maybe some states thought it would not affect them with the hot weather claims and info that only elderly or those with underlying conditions were most at risk. TBH we had very little info coming out of China and could only watch Italy and know that would be us next. It was like watching a slow mud slide or tsunami and knowing it was coming but just having a tent up to try and stop it. MOO.

Why did you have to have info from China? It was far newer to China than anywhere else. How much info did you get from Italy, who had it far worse and for much longer?

 

[tmar]

Gosh, I didn't realize they closed grocery stores. Jmo

Grocery stores are certainly not closed in Melbourne, Victoria.

 

[Clair Louise]

One person claims the nurse actually told them “We count everyone as positive”.

B.S.

A lot of people are claiming that they are all positive because it does not give the total of the negative tests. I have yet to see any country post negative results. What is the use? That is like reporting how many car accidents didn't happen.

 

[SouthAussie]

This is exactly the point - we have seen, time and again, that the only thing that really works is existing in an isolation bubble. Anything that enters brings the risk of starting the whole cycle over again.

Would you rather that everyone did what the US is doing?

Whether or not we - and other countries - go through this over multiple cycles, the bottom line is that we are keeping our overall deaths very low. Human life is the most important thing. Balancing it with economic considerations in the best way possible.

At some point there will be some decent remedy for this ... whether that be vaccines or organised ways of safely conducting work/travel/overall life with effective treatments in place.

Multiple cycles = 221 deaths for our entire country.

 

[tmar]

I agree. I'm surprised to hear the Fed Reserve guy be the one to propose it - but if he thinks it would work, then I truly believe we can do it.

I do not see why we didn't do that to begin with. Shut down all international travel. Shut down all interstate travel/trucking. Allow certain traevl functions (trains, cargo planes) for medical supplies only.

Of course, to flesh out the consequences and tell everyone what to do would be massive. And it would need to have every single public official that speaks...on board. Penalties for not being on board.

Can Americans get ready for such a thing and get through it? Won't most places have to open outdoor food distribution sites? Closing grocery stores, as they're doing in Australia, is essential.

I'm ready. Everyone I know in my personal life is ready, too. But the deniers are not ready - not at all. I guess they might get pushed into it anyway.

I seriously doubt it's going to happen, though. Not in this political climate.

Grocery stores certainly NOT closed in Australia.