They did not shut down all companies in the bay area. All ‘essential’ businesses are able to operate. It is a pretty extensive list.
How Seattle got the testing ramped up:
?? Go Huskies.
That was my initial take, that it was Chinese propaganda to deflect domestic criticism. However, we did supposedly have a lot of deaths in the fall attributed to pneumonia. I don’t know about where you live this has been a very bad year for flu here and other illnesses. Thee was a strange coughing illness many got in January near here that seems like covid 19. Could it have been? Spread 6 weeks in Seattle undetected.
Yup. Some reports from friends in the greater Seattle area who were hit with a “mystery bug” in January-February that was not picked up by any respiratory panels.
I am not part of any health care world and didn’t know about the flu and pneumonia. Maybe. It just seems so contagious that it would be China like numbers here already.
But I obviously don’t know. And they also said it came from a fruit bat being eaten or consumed via an animal that eats fruit bats.
Plus the initial patients were associated with the wet market where more exotic live game is slaughtered and sold.
Occam’s razor would say the most likely answer is probably the answer. Or something akin to that.
Edit. If there was a mystery flu in January it very well could be covid but probably from a person returning from Wuhan. The first case is now being considered in mid November. It would make some sense. Imho.
I’m running. Arrest me, if you can catch me. :lol:
@milee30 His organization has gotten one drive-through up and running and is working on a second. I will absolutely tell him your idea. The plastic would need to be clear . . . It sounds like a great way to conserve PPE. It also it sounds safer than wearing PPE. Like a giant shield.
Yes, exactly - clear plastic shield. Volunteers could prep hundreds of them - cut the hole, tape on the glove being careful to seal all edges***, tape swab to glove - and have them in piles just ready to deploy as people pulled up to the drive thru.
*** I race sailboats and can testify as crazy as it sounds, duct tape is absolutely waterproof and reasonably durable if carefully applied. I once had a 2" hole in the bottom of one of my small boats (part became damaged and had to be removed) that I sealed with duct tape. I raced - and won - multiple races without a drop of water getting in the boat during the 3 weeks it took to get the replacement part. I know it looks and sounds silly, but duct tape is a secure barrier. NASA is also a fan. 
Interesting. My husband attended a work-related conference in New Orleans in mid January and came back with a fever/severe cough. I immediately started taking lots of zinc and vitamin C to try to ward it off but despite my best efforts, I caught it too. We were both very sick for about 3 weeks. Coughing through the night was not fun. I didn’t really make the connection because the conference was in New Orleans, but there were people from all over the country who attended that conference. I’m starting to wonder now. Neither of my girls caught it, thank goodness.
Unfortunately, it is not that simple. There is some confusion. What I heard is that likely some red tape to get official authorization is involved.
My 87 year old cousin – an MD – caught a mystery bug that really laid her low last summer. Why I even mention it is that she had every test known to medicine and also had a CT scan with “ground glass opacities” which is one of the key diagnostic elements in COVID 19. She tested negative for everything else, and was told it was either a mystery virus or cancer. It took her a good three months to recover. She lives near Boston.
We know that Seattle’s Patient 0 (an identified man) arrived in the Seattle area from Wuhan January 15, and presented at an urgent care center Jan. 19. Public health authorities tried to track down his contacts, but it’s now known they missed at least one, because we know this one guy is the source of the entire outbreak in King and Snohomish Counties.
He could have infected people who returned home, bringing the disease to the home states.
I do agree with you, Private Banker and I found this article that does as well.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fact-check-coronavirus-originated-china-160811785.html
My husband had a very bad cough that went through his work and everyone got it. It was a dry cough and it was right at the start of January. He said lots of people had the ‘flu’ as well and were super sick, had to stay home, were out from work a long time. He was coughing over 6 weeks total with it, I think. Our son got the same thing 2 weeks later. I got sick with the ‘flu’ 2-3 weeks after that. Could we have all had it? I have no idea. Certainly the real number of cases in the US is much higher than the official numbers and some ‘flu’ and pneumonia cases are actually and were actually Covid 19. How far back? I don’t know. One person my husband works with is Chinese American and has a mother from China who lives with her. Did her mother go to China over winter break in December? Have no idea.
I thought that, too, but then the 6 weeks unnoticed Seattle spread made the news so I do think it is possible it was in lots of other areas. it can be mild and it can be severe and maybe some areas had a bunch of more ‘mild’ cases that went unnoticed. And if no one was counting these severe pneumonia cases, maybe it was in various places. I mean, Chinese people come to the USA a lot and people go back and forth between the two countries all the time including to Wuhan. Also, it appears super spreaders really make the disease take off. If there weren’t any super spreaders, just regular spreaders, if many had just mild symptoms for a long time, it could hide and spread pretty well.
My husband doubts the weird coughing illness that swept his workplace in early January was mainly because no one there died and there are a bunch who are older and have various health issues.
It’s hard to say. I would love if they could do a random test of 5k people at large and see if it or remnants can be found. Maybe it’s already been going through society.
Obviously in theory. Not really wanting them to waste tests.
This is going to ramp up conspiracy theorists for years to come. And the prepper industry will see an increase too. Imho
I agree. I wish we were all wearing them and I would feel safer that way. Taiwan used prison labor to ramp up production and they have managed to have a low rate of the disease and keep schools open with things like dividers placed between students and everyone wearing masks. It seems very stupid to me to think, ‘masks can’t protect you.’ Why do doctors use them? Even if they don’t protect the person wearing it due to gaps, it protects them somewhat from a direct splatter in the face. It also protects other people which collectively protect us all. If you read the CDC Twitter comments in response to their posts about masks not working, you see that type of proclamation make many distrustful of the CDC and all they had to say. That’s unfortunate because they are a good source of info. I think they should have told people that masks were in short supply and we need them for medical professionals. I imagine the US could have declared them off limits for sale to the general public save for those who need them for their jobs and ordered Amazon and Lowes and Home Depot and Ebay to stop sale of them. I wish they had done like Taiwan and tried more ways to up production of masks than rely on current mask makers (and wish they had taken the advice of mask makers to ensure enough of a supply for a situation like we are in now, along with respirators, etc.)
There is another explanation that does not involve this patient. We have a very large Chinese population here. Lots of RE owned by Chinese, too. There was some spike in travel back and forth during our holiday break.
lol