I’m finding it difficult to wrap my head around the fact that South Korea has tested more than 140,000 people thus far (and I believe they identified their first covid19 patient around the same time we did), but for some reason, we have “limited resources.”
I agree there are certainly shortages of needs that will affect patient care.
I think this is a reason to focus more on keeping potential high risk people safe.
I think the shutting down of visitation at nursing homes, etc are necessary to this end. I think more avoidance by/for this group will certainly serve them well in long run.
It’s true that trump did not specifically call the virus a hoax. IT APPERARS He called Dems’ criticism of his handling of the virus a hoax in a February 28th rally in South Carolina. But he’s such a poor speaker, who the heck knows what he meant? Here’s what he actually said:
"Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. You know that, right? Coronavirus. They’re politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs. You say, ‘How’s President Trump doing?’ They go, ‘Oh, not good, not good.’ They have no clue. They don’t have any clue. They can’t even count their votes in Iowa, they can’t even count. No they can’t. They can’t count their votes.
One of my people came up to me and said, ‘Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia. That didn’t work out too well. They couldn’t do it. They tried the impeachment hoax. That was on a perfect conversation. They tried anything, they tried it over and over, they’ve been doing it since you got in. It’s all turning, they lost, it’s all turning. Think of it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax. But you know, we did something that’s been pretty amazing. We’re 15 people [cases of coronavirus infection] in this massive country. And because of the fact that we went early, we went early, we could have had a lot more than that."
This transcript is on snopes. snopes also points out the discrepancies between trump’s claims and facts well known at the time. Did he or did he not call coronavirus a hoax? I think his comments can be taken different ways.
I think it’s naive to assume that only visitors to high risk people pose a risk. High risk people are cared for by others, fed by others, the facilities are cleaned by others. There is no real way to keep high risk people safe if something like the new coronovirus is running rampant and unchecked in the general population.
So you keep the infected grandchild from visiting, that just means grandma catches it from the janitor or the nurse or the orderly or the cafeteria worker.
Another patient died in California, raising the state death toll to 5
California’s Santa Clara County has announced another death due to the coronavirus.
The patient was a woman in her 80s, who was hospitalized March 9, the county confirmed in a statement.
She was the second coronavirus death in the county, and fifth in the state.
“The Public Health Department is saddened to share this news and expresses its condolences to her family,” the statement said. (CNN)
King County, Washington reports five new deaths
Public health officials in King County, Washington — the epicenter of the outbreak in Washington state — confirmed 58 new cases and five new deaths, bringing the county’s total cases to 328 and deaths to 32. Three of the new fatalities were residents of the Life Care Center in nearby Kirkland where there was a cluster of cases. That brings the total number of deaths associated with the skilled nursing facility to 25. Health officials cautioned people who aren’t seriously sick from going to the emergency room or getting tested, saying there was a shortage of clinical sites where patients can get tested. (CNBC)
South Korea was testing 10,000 tests a day. We haven’t even tested that many people total. Thats why I don’t believe the words “we are the most prepared country in the world”.
Regarding Google/Verily - according to this article, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator said:
"The site should be ready Sunday, according to Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator. It would guide Americans seeking coronavirus tests to drive-through clinics in the parking lots of retailers Walmart Inc
So we shall see if it was accurate or not.
Patagonia is closing all of its stores and its online operations because of the coronavirus.
In a memo posted on its website as of Friday afternoon, the privately held sporting goods retailer said, in part, “the scale of impact is still unknown, and we want to do our part to protect our community especially while testing availability is unknown.”
All of its stores, offices and other operations will cease at the end of business Friday. It said it will continue to pay workers their regular pay in the interim. (CNBC)
[Wow! But I applaud them for putting their employees over profits.]
Yeah, South Korea has done a good job with testing. Apparently they learned well from mistakes in past outbreaks. It would have been nice if the US had done the same years ago.
From the quoted article:
“He points out that testing capacity is not just about getting enough test kits. It requires years of investment in complex health care infrastructure, including lab hardware and technicians to analyze samples, logistics for moving goods and providing services and information technology to keep supplies and data moving. Any bottleneck or shortage of these elements can cost time and lead to more infections and deaths.”
Its so very sad. So many elderly in these homes only can be coaxed to eat or take meds by their own family. They are now alone and scared. Its very very sad.
This isn’t speculation on my part. This is fact. 48 hours ago, I was on the ER with a high fever, cough, and shortness of breath. I fall into a high risk category. The ER doctor and infectious disease doctor decided I needed a test.
I didn’t get a test.
This literally isn’t a matter of opinion. It’s a reality. We do NOT have tests to all that need them and those who say otherwise are either grossly misinformed or lying.
Wow indeed. It’s one thing to close down stores, another to close down online operations. Impressive.
Commercial lab to provide thousands of COVID-19 per day, executive chairman says
BioReference Laboratories, the company behind the drive-through testing in New Rochelle, NY, will be able conduct up 10,000 coronavirus tests per day across the U.S., executive chairman Dr. Jon Cohen told CNBC. Appearing on “Power Lunch,” Cohen said they will be able to provide up to 5,000 tests per day in New York State due to an automated testing system being launched in the coming days. (CNBC)
There is only one US state left without coronavirus cases - West Virginia
The United States now has 2,204 cases of the coronavirus and 49 deaths, according to state and local health agencies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
70 cases are repatriated citizens, like those evacuated from mainland China and the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.
2,134 cases were detected and tested in the US.
US territories have also reported cases; Puerto Rico just confirmed its first three cases today.
The virus has now been reported in 49 states – making West Virginia the only state yet to report a case. (CNN)
[ I think the title should include the word “confirmed”. I’m sure there are unconfirmed cases. On the state’s website, it says there have been 31 tested with 26 negative and 5 pending]
I guess in the end it’s part of “social distancing” similar to why they are closing schools even though children aren’t the only ones capable of spreading the virus.
Snopes as a credible news source? Snopes and reality are not always in sync.
I just don’t see how it’s relevant or helpful to this discussion. There is campaign stuff from all sides for that consumption. There’s real work going on in earnest. The two need to be separated imho.
One candidate today calmed millions by stating this could kill more people than ww2. Using the most extreme modeling that no one realistically envisions.
It’s just too much selective updating with a twist. But hey it’s not my forum. Just my opinion.
Actually it was true, depending on the definition of the word, “needs.” In fed-speak, it means ‘needs’ as defined by CDC.
Should he have been more concise? No question.
Please see @romanigypsyeyes post above. Thank you.
Rhode Island elementary school student infected by NBA player
A Rhode Island elementary school student was infected with the novel coronavirus by an NBA player while getting an autograph during a Utah Jazz-Boston Celtics game on March 6, Westerly Police confirmed in a news conference on Friday.
Jazz center Rudy Gobert and shooting guard Donovan Mitchell tested positive. While Police Chief Shawn Lacey didn’t specify during the news conference which player signed the student’s autograph, he later told Boston.com that the child’s parents told him it was Gobert.
The NBA suspended its season after Gobert was confirmed to have the coronavirus.
At a news conference on Monday, three days after coming into contact with the Rhode Island student, Gobert joked about coronavirus and touched all the microphones and recording devices that reporters had placed on the table in front of him.
Two days later, he tested positive.
Lacey wouldn’t say how old the child is, but he confirmed there were two young patients, one in second grade and the other in preschool, who had tested positive for the coronavirus. Both are being isolated at home.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/13/coronavirus-latest-news/#link-JSGFST2YT5GRVJCWX7GNWYO6GY
** This is an example where testing is really helping. The children likely have no symptoms but were only tested because they 'came in contact with a known person with Covid". Now that they know they are positive, they will be isolated. If they didn’t - they could expose grandma, grandpa, teachers etc…**
Too many “the check is really in the mail this time” promises. Let’s see a company saying they ARE doing 10,000 tests a day.
And where’s Elon Musk, when some kicking into shape needs to be done?
Does the poster actually have the virus ? I believe them of course but this is an anecdotal situation.
However testing is a problem and it seems to be in the forefront.
The cdc chose a path different than who. Not the administration. We laud them as the experts and rightfully so. But I think the criticism if necessary is being misaligned.
I can’t imagine the horrors if the admin told the cdc to not go the route they chose. Even now knowing they were wrong to create a new test it seems
What was the reason given for not providing the test?