Wisconsin, March 17:
Total cases today: 72.
Increase from yesterday, March 16: 26.
Did not hear anything % other than they confirmed that the tests were not really optimized for diagnostics (also confirmed by someone familiar with the field).
Amazon extends a helping hand to those who fed its employees:
It was Dr. Birx who mentioned during the news conference. If you can find the recording, you can verify it. She first said 40 then 50. These aren’t probably exact numbers. She said that right before she mentioned AIDs for comparison, the effect of false positive.
I was just contacted by someone wanting to buy vodka because he said that the nation is running short of industrial chemicals and that he just got the go-ahead from the federal government to make hand sanitizer but he needed to source some alcohol. I couldn’t help him, but did send him to the two largest vodka producers in the US (which are Archer Daniels Midland and Midwest Grain Products) and wished him luck.
WHO offered the template for the tests, which other countries used to make many many tests very quickly. The US decided to make their own and people still cannot tested who need to be tested…
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-17/wife-cpr-died-coronavirus-test
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-went-wrong-with-coronavirus-testing-in-the-us
Vodka is NOT suitable for making sanitizer. It is already only 40% alcohol so well below 60% effective threshold - if you dilute it with a glycerin gel or something like that, the alcohol % will go down even further!!!
I took the comment of 40-50% reliability just as an example of why the feds (FDA in this case) does their own confirmations and just not accept other tests just bcos someone publishes a research protocol. I did not not take her example as to mean that the WHO test only has a 50% reliability, but I could see how that would be inferred.
(about 1:31 in)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc_Ol3ThV7Y
I wish a WH correspondent would specifically ask the accuracy about the CDC test vs. those being used by other countries on the WHO list.
Depends. Here are some with high alcohol content. I am sure there are more.
6 Bacardi 151 — 151 Proof.
5 Balkan Vodka — 176 Proof.
4 Hapsburg Gold Label Premium Reserve Absinthe — 179 Proof.
3 Bruichladdich X4 Quadrupled Whisky — 184 Proof.
2 Everclear — 190 Proof.
1 Spirytus — 192 Proof.
@igloo @BunsenBurner my apologies for not being clear. He wasn’t wanting to buy bottles of vodka; distilleries take very high proof vodka and dilute it to make the vodka you drink. He was wanting the undiluted stuff.
The New Yorker article goes into some detail about the FDA’s role and why it’s important to verify that tests work…but also how the lack of centralized coordination meant that legit private researchers and labs got hung up in this regulation for too long, compounding the issue the defective CDC tests ignited.
Announced by Wisconsin Gov. Evers this afternoon:
Effective at 5 pm today: A statewide moratorium on mass gatherings of 10 people or more.
Effective at 5 pm today: All bars and restaurants shall close, except for take-out or delivery service.
Effective at 5 pm tomorrow (Wed, 3/18): All public and private schools and institutions of higher education shall close for instructional and extracurricular activities and shall remain closed for the duration of the public health emergency.
Those are not “vodka.”
Are CDC tests more accurate than German, or South Korean, or Chinese kits? I highly doubt it. Besides, what’s the point of a test if it isn’t available? For a fast spreading virus, speed is of essence.
OK, that makes sense. “Booze” with alcohol content of at least 95% (aka 190 proof) can be used to make 60% ethanol gel sanitizer. 155 proof can be used straight but can’t be diluted much more.
Here is a basic chemistry problem for your Chem 101 taking HS kiddos: “Hand sanitizer must have at least 60% alcohol. What is the minimal concentration of alcohol in booze that can be used to make gel sanitizer consisting of 1/3 aloe gel and 2/3 booze.”
5 Balkan VODKA — 176 Proof.
Don’t try to drink that stuff straight, ?. That is not your typical “vodka” - saying that vodka can be used can create confusion and problems.
Here’s some more.
https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/the-5-strongest-vodkas-in-the-world.
I trust people are smart enough to check proof. By now, we all know we need 60% alcohol minimum.
Trust? 
(never hurts to verify and repeat).
At least 100 people in the US have died from coronavirus
From CNN’s Amanda Watts
At least 100 people have died from novel coronavirus across the United States, according to a tally by CNN.
There are at least 5,359 cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States, according to the state and local health agencies, governments and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the CDC there are 70 cases from repatriated citizens. According to CNN Health’s tally of US cases that are detected and tested through US public health systems, there are 5,289 cases in 49 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases to 5,359.
European Union agrees to close external borders for 30 days
From CNN’s Sarah Dean
European leaders have decided to ban non-essential travel to the European Union for 30 days, President of the European Council Charles Michel announced today, saying it is a measure “to limit the spread of the virus globally”.
The decision was first announced by German Chancellor Angela Merkel following a video conference with EU heads of state.
“All the member states have taken very strong measures to reduce movement, to reduce travel… and also to take the pressure of health services,” Michel said. “Health is going to be key – everything is going to turn around that in the coming days.”
In a joint press conference alongside Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said a “big topic” of discussion was the internal blockages with the movement of goods inside the EU.
“We have a lot of traffic jams… we need these goods,” she urged, adding there was approval from member states for so-called fast track lanes to get goods flowing.
US Defense Department is giving 5 million face masks to health officials
From CNN’s Ryan Browne
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper says the Defense Department will make five 5 million N95 masks available to the United States Department of Health and Human Services for distribution.
The Defense Department is is also prepared to distribute up to 2,000 “deployable ventilators” as needed.
Esper added officials are considering activating National Guard and reserve units “to assist states with planning, logistics, and medical support as needed.”