p.s. The idea that China created this virus in a biowarfare lab and then released it in China intentionally is also loony.
A loony SciFi-horror scenario I expect to hit social media if it’s not out already: Here’s a COVID survivor. They’re recovering, so their veins are filled with immunized blood. Desperate yahooz capture and drain the poor devil to self-vaccinate, probably badly. Sure, it won’t work. But will it happen?
RioRico: Do you remember the SciFi flick Andromeda Strain?
Yeah, I did - where did you say that?
You went right to the assumption that masses of people were all going to run out to the nearest hospital. For what? Fun? Entertainment? I don’t know anyone who goes to the doctor for fun.
See, that’s the problem - rich and powerful people get tests. A nurse who was treating someone with the infection was told she couldn’t get the test even though she had symptoms and was sick because she’d been wearing PPE while treating said patient so couldn’t possibly have covid-19.
If you’re rich or important or connected you get a test. If you’re a peon you don’t. Even if you should.
The people rushing out and demanding tests are the people who can (and presumably do) pay for them, but that should NOT be the criteria for medical care of any sort. It should be apportioned by NEED, not by WEALTH.
Those guidelines have been up for weeks.
Try actually looking at the CDC website before spewing such untruths - I’m presuming ignorance on your part. Go read the website, I promise it won’t give you “liberal cooties” or whatever you’re afraid of.
The problem was not a lack of guidelines, it was a lack of access. Poorer people couldn’t get the test NOT due to lack of guidelines but due to LACK OF MONEY.
What we don’t need are more conservatives dithering about how this is going to cost money. IT HAS ALREADY COST MONEY. It has already cost some people their lives.
If we don’t start testing people without regard to whether or not they have thousands to pay up front we will NOT know the true extent and picture of what’s going on in this country. Your requested guidelines ALREADY EXIST and have existed for weeks. But they aren’t being used because in this country you don’t get access if you don’t have either money or good insurance or both. This is STUPID. It is CRUEL. One more time, it is STUPID.
What is the end goal here for conservatives? To have the ICU’s overwhelmed and people dying at home and declare “well - they haven’t been tested so they can’t possibly have covid-19 - WINNING!”
This is like saying they people should only have fire department services if they can afford to pay for them. The problem with that: fire spreads. If they slum burns down it might set the rest of the city on fire, including the fancy mansions. In fact, this used to happen in history. That’s why everybody gets a fire truck when they need one regardless of income. Because putting out fires in slums does, in fact, protect the rich. Also, it’s the right thing to do but I realize not everyone is moral.
Viruses spread. Let the slum become a death zone and the virus will then spread to all the tasty, tasty rich hosts next door. That is why it is in YOUR self interest to see that poor folks also get tested and treated appropriately. Yes, even if it costs *>gasp!< * money.
Presumably, after 30 days we’ll have a pool of people with immunity who can then keep the world running without getting sick again (yes, I’m aware there have been some issues with that, but right now nothing is certain).
If you relax social distancing and other such measure and the infections start to spike again then you have to reimpose them to prevent an overload.
Yes, we could, potentially, go through multiple cycles.
Yes, this is going to take awhile.
Yes, there is going to be a financial cost to all this, as well as social, on top of the human suffering and death.
This is why pandemics suck.
As this is the sharing news reports thread I’ll throw this here.
This also isan important article for people to be aware of.
Also this -
The cautionary tale of doctors’ actions [after President Garfield was shot](Though there may be an inclination to present school closings as a well-established tool to protect public health, their full impact is simply unknown.
Downplaying the disruption these measures may cause or overstating their benefits can erode public confidence in government at a time when it is needed the most.
Jennifer Nuzzo is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an associate professor at the university’s school of public health.) really must be a cautionary tale to be remembered: a well intended desire to DO SOMETHING for something that might be very very bad, does not mean that the things being done are not more harmful than helpful.
A Facebook group gets an assignment: Help Jared Kushner combat coronavirus
The Trump Administration… writhing in its incompetence… is going on Facebook for solutions to the pandemic.
More GOP malfeasance:
“The House is expected to pass a coronavirus aid bill, but it won’t get to Trump’s desk until Monday night at the earliest because the Senate recessed yesterday for the weekend.”
To be fair, the recess scheduled for next week is cancelled, but… seriously:
A. When does the weekend include Thursday night and Friday
B. Don’t these idiots know there’s a pandemic?
“Not official, but Brazilian outlets are reporting Pres. Jair Bolsonaro’s #corona test came back positive.”
(Report is in Portuguese.)
Sorry, guys, but this thing is moving so fast…
More GOP malfeasance and cruelty:
Trump administration blocks states from using Medicaid to respond to coronavirus crisis
Emphasis mine, JT
Imagine being the Surgeon General and reading in Politico that Karlie Kloss’s dad’s Facebook group is above you on the organizational chart, even after you cravenly claimed trump was healthier than you are.
LOL.
Latest Austrian news:
[ul]
[li]Several entire districts in Tyrol have been placed under a two-week quarantine.[/li][li]Shops nation-wide have been ordered to close on Monday and to remain closed until further notice. Exempt from the order are grocery stores, drug stores, pharmacies, post offices, and banks. [/li][li]As of next week all bars and restaurants may not stay open later than 15:00.[/li][li]All flights to Switzerland and France have been suspended. Apparently the land border to Switzerland is being mostly sealed as well. (Details are yet unclear; a government press conference on this matter is in progress.)[/li][li]The Czech Republic has now completely sealed its border with Austria. No one goes in or out.[/li][li]Austria’s chancellor has announced that all employed parents with children are entitled to a special leave of three weeks at 2/3 pay.[/li][/ul]
Personal observations: Panic shopping (known here as Hamsterkaufen, or “hamster buying”) has begun in earnest. I visited a nearby supermarket this morning at 10:00 to pick up some yogurt and the line to the cashiers stretched all the way around the inside of the store. Many food items are completely sold out (mostly canned, dried, and frozen goods), but overall there is still plenty remaining.
Day-cares are now requesting that children stay home if possible, and turning away children who show any cold-like symptoms (runny noses, coughs, etc.), even if the cause is known to be a pre-existing non-coronavirus condition.
Those exhibiting symptoms of the virus are not permitted to visit doctors’ offices, clinics, and hospitals, but are instead required to call 1450, the nationwide medical advice line, who will make a preliminary assessment over the phone and, if warranted, dispatch someone to the person’s home to take swabs for a coronavirus test. However, callers face hold times of upwards of four hours before anyone is available to answer and take their details. So it seems this is a rather dangerous bottleneck.
In local news, the first case of community contagion has been identified in San Antonio, TX:
Good grief. Does your employer usually not allow people to cancel vacations? That just seems petty.
Today’s NYT news summary said that the white house has announced that trump and pence won’t be tested. Seems bizarre, but maybe they will just be secretly tested.
Naw, I bet it will be kept secret until/unless he actually dies. They we’ll find out.
I’ve heard about one here, as well. Hopefully we can ramp-up access to this. Drive-thru seems like the ideal way to do testing of people well enough to drive. Keep them away from other people.
Maybe they can’t find a test?
How would we know? Hell, they could just stuff him, slather on a fresh coat of orange and play a recording of his gibberish in front of a camera. Or Smapti could do a ventriloquist act. Could we really tell the difference?
In other breaking news, MSNBC just reported that Miami’s mayor tested positive after attending an event with Brazil’s President, Bolsonaro.
So the editorial is saying if the virus is brought into a school by a parent or an adult staffer, it’d just fizzle out as a dead end? And if there’s even a small risk to kids, parents are going to want to know, and they likely won’t tolerate any (as is their right). So how would she reassure those parents enough to make them willing to take existing risk with their kids?