One more interesting thing to me is that I found out that our state’s officials have been preparing ‘since the end of December’ and have been talking with neighboring states since then. That’s before the story broke in the media, isn’t it? Gives me some hope that a lot has been going on behind the scenes to get ready that the public doesn’t know.
I haven’t seen anything like this, though. Not in the general information going out to the public. It’s all basically been wash your hands, don’t touch your face, and don’t buy masks for the love of god. I’d feel better if I heard “Take particular care around this___ population. Frequently wipe down phones, doorknobs, etc. Avoid unnecessary visits if you have this or that symptom or wear a mask if you do.” I don’t know. Something.
It DOES certainly seem implied that it’s not big deal and we should all just chill because healthy people are likely to survive. Here and elsewhere.
Regarding masks, can someone explain the idea that the public buying masks is taking them from medical professionals. Is that really true? masks bought on ebay or amazon? Masks bought at Lowes or Home Depot? Do medical professionals get their masks from those places? Could the federal government order Lowes or Home Depot to only sell to medical establishments? Does the public not buying masks from those places help ensure doctors, etc have enough masks?
One more thing, in a number of countries in Asia, people wear masks to protect each other. I kept reading, ‘masks don’t work and won’t prevent you from getting sick.’ but in the same article, ‘surgical masks only stop you from passing your germs on to others.’ Um, if everyone stopped passing their germs on to others, wouldn’t that keep us all safer from getting sick? Instead of being ‘me’ focused, we could work together and not get each other sick. I don’t understand why those articles focus only on the effect of a mask on the individual rather than how we would all benefit from not passing around germs to one another.
I also don’t understand the advice now to wear a mask only if you are sick/have symptoms. Where are the masks going to magically come from?
couldn’t the USA start mass-producing masks? Have we done that? Are we relying on private business to catch up with the huge demand? China built a few hospitals in less than a week. Seems we could somehow prioritize masks and respirator, and etc production.
but I’m sure there are many things I don’t know about this topic. Maybe I’m looking at it the wrong way. I think people would be more likely to follow advice if it made sense to them. I see most comments in response to ‘don’t buy masks’ point out that they work for medical professionals so should work for average people. How hard is it to properly fit an N95?
Also, isn’t blocking some of your sneeze and cough droplets with a mask better than nothing?
Is it really true that people touch their faces more when wearing masks? In my own personal experience, when i wore a mask to help with allergies, I think it did the opposite and I touched my face less. ???
This is a very interesting question : how much is a human life worth for the society ? In monetary value, I mean. To say that every human life is priceless is very noble, however as a society you have to make a decision how much is too much to pay to save a life. Very difficult question.
But the question can be changed a little bit and I would ask this : how much would you pay ( or sacrifice ) personally to save the life of your friend, parent, sick grandmother ? I believe that is the true value a person puts on another person’s life.
Some of your questions have been addressed somewhere in this thread already.
I did post this morning that France is now controlling the sale of all masks.
The US government has put in a big contract with 3M for masks. Maybe others as well but Pence specifically mentioned 3M by name. By all reports, 3M is working overtime on mask production and hiring new workforce.
There have been quite a few articles in our local papers regarding particular vulnerability of nursing homes and what kinds of precautions can be taken to safeguard them.
I think that it isn’t just one life. Anyone who would just ignore protection isn’t just potentially putting a few people at risk but maybe hundreds, thousands, or more by extension as this thing spreads exponentially. Our society is not one that decides to let people who require costly treatment to die. We don’t tell people with cancer, ‘sorry, you are SOL’. No one can know when we will get a condition that is expensive to treat. I don’t think most people want to live in a society where we put people out to pasture who are ‘too expensive’ or put values on people’s lives. I don’t agree that the amount you would sacrifice is an accurate measure of the value of another person’s life. Are wealthy lives worth more than poor lives?
Has anyone seen or heard any reference to the potential effect of Covid-19 on the homeless population? Unlike China, many states (especially CA) have a sizeable population of people with multiple risk factors living in close association with each other and without the benefit of regular medical care. Are agencies working on a surveillance system for this high risk group?
It’s been talked about here as being an issue. I haven’t personally seen much coverage on it in media.
Re the homeless, Seattle is definitely looking into it. I believe trailers have been mentioned as a potential quarantine venue.
A seventh person with coronavirus has died in the Seattle area of the US, but the infection wasn’t identified until after their death.
"The New York Times has reported that the individual was were brought to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center on 24 Feb and died two days later, on Wednesday, before a crisis in the state began unfolding over the weekend.
Susan Gregg, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said on Tuesday that test samples have tested positive for the virus. “In coordination with Public Health, we have determined that some staff may have been exposed while working in an intensive care unit where the patient had been treated,” Gregg said." (Guardian)
Apple co- founder Steve Wozniak and wife think they may have been patient zero
Washington State count up to 7 deaths now, because someone who passed away earlier has now been included.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/seventh-washington-state-residents-death-linked-to-coronavirus-disease/
^ I saw that yesterday - Wozniak post. I found it a bit skeptical. Maybe but many people traveled then got sick during that time period, just not people as well known. :neutral:
Here’s an article on how Seattle will address the issue:
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/officials-and-shelters-prepare-for-coronavirus-in-seattle-area-homeless-population-as-illness-brings-more-deaths/
ITALY - 466 new cases for a total of 2,502 and 27 new deaths fro a total of 79. 160 people have fully recovered, 11 since yesterday. Of those infected, 1034 are in hospital – 229 in intensive care – and 1,229 are recovering at home.
"A newborn baby boy from the northern region of Lombardy has tested positive for the coronavirus and is currently hospitalized in Bergamo. According to the Higher Health Institute (ISS), he is not in serious condition. " [my note: there were reports of the same in China some weeks back]…
The majority of cases – 1,520 – are in the northern Lombardy region, where 10 towns have been under lockdown for more than a week. The virus has spread to more than half of Italy’s 20 regions, including Tuscany, Puglia, Sicily and recently Sardinia.
Authorities say the majority of people who tested positive in other regions were traveling from Lombardy or had been in the north for a few weeks before the outbreak." (Guardian)
SWITZERLAND - 27 new cases today for a total of 57, basically doubling so a pretty large increase.
“The Swiss army said that all soldiers would be confined to base after a case of the new coronavirus was discovered in their ranks. A man tested positive for COVID-19 Monday as he was preparing to carry out a required military refresher course” (Guardian)
ARGENTINA - 1st confirmed case.
LIECHTENSTEIN - 1st confirmed case, a young man who had contacts with a confirmed person in Switzerland.
I was thinking more of the following situation : we have frail people in nursing homes and assisted living communities. These places have the highest risk for severe disease. A lot of these people have families. At some point, it may be safer for them to stay with their families for a while rather than in a Petri dish environment. I think the amount of personal sacrifice you make for someone you love is a better indicator of his/her human value than a vague concept of “priceless”. Monetary resources are not unlimited in the world but the love we may have for each other is.
CDC Reporting
"CDC will now generally update coronavirus case totals by noon on weekdays, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a press briefing today. The most up-to-date case counts will come from states, she said.
Messonnier said CDC is no longer reporting the number of people under investigation on its website because CDC’s figures are no longer representative of the testing being done nationally." (CNN)
Glad they moved off the MWF gig.
ITALY - "considering setting up a new quarantine red zone near the northern city of Bergamo given the high number of coronavirus cases in the area, the head of the national health institute said on Tuesday.
The Italian government set up two red zones on 22 February – one centred on 10 towns in the region of Lombardy, south-east of Milan, and another, smaller one in the neighbouring region of Veneto.
Since then, a growing number of cases have emerged near Bergamo, north-east of Milan. " (Guardian)
FDA hopes to have the capacity to perform 1 million coronavirus tests soon
"US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said the United States should have the capacity to perform about a million novel coronavirus tests by the end of the week.
"Our expectation in talking to the company that’s scaling this up, is that we should have the capacity by the end of the week to have kits available to the laboratories to perform about a million tests,” Hahn explained.
During the Senate Health hearing on response to coronavirus, Hahn was pushed to explain how he thinks the US could do a million tests when to date, it has only been able to perform about 3,600 tests.
Hahn expanded saying, "I want to distinguish between the ability to get the test kits out to the laboratories with the ability with the labs to actually do the test.”
Hahn said the FDA has been working very closely with all manufactures to build on this platform that CDC has developed. The company it is using has “estimated they are going to be able to scale up to deliver 2,500 kits by the end of the week to providers of the test.” " (CNN)
I’m scratching my head here - these comments seem conflicting to me. Is it 1 million or 2,500?
Woz needs to shut up.