Coronavirus in the US

Parent Cafe
8521

Most Floridians are about the same level of “done” with tourists by this point in March of any year. The testing thing doesn’t help, but this is pretty normal frustration with the dumb tourist antics. Those pictures you see of the beaches - those are mostly tourists.

The EU suddenly discovered there are times open borders between EU nations don’t make sense. If other states keep sending their idiots, maybe the individual US states need to have similar self-examination. There is a huge shortage of tests, protective equipment, healthcare resources in general and soon to be - respirators. If we’re at the point where it’s every state for itself and some keep the majority of the healthcare resources, then the other states should consider not treating nonresident sick people or sending all the nonresidents home and billing the other states for their care.

I suspect NY wouldn’t be thrilled if infected Italians were partying in Times Square yet Italy refused to send testing swabs. But as hard hit as Italy is, it just managed to send 500,000 swabs to the US.

8522

NYS has now tested more people per capita than China or South Korea. Last night they run 10,000 tests.

Absolutely no tests available to upstate NY except for healthcare workers. If Cuomo is going to leave the rest of the state vulnerable at least shut planes, trains, and automobiles off at the Westchester line. People are fleeing downstate for upstate and bringing the virus with them! Meanwhile, the rest of the state is left high and dry by Governor Cuomo.

8523

I read an article in the main Rome newspaper yesterday lambasting the selling of swabs to the US during a crisis for resources in their own country. Sounds like it was a private transaction between the company and the US and the US used their Italian military base to fly them out. It wasn’t a gift. Probably more like highest bidder. And despite what was said in the WH presser today, individual states could NOT have made this transaction themselves.

8524

US has fewer hospital beds than Italy per capita
From CNN’s Michael Nedelman

The novel coronavirus outbreak in Italy — whose health care system has more hospital beds per 1,000 people than the United States — could signal a lack of preparedness on the US front, according to commentary published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Though Italy’s health system is highly regarded and has 3.2 hospital beds per 1,000 people (as compared with 2.8 in the United States), it has been impossible to meet the needs of so many critically ill patients simultaneously,” Dr. Lisa Rosenbaum, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, wrote in the perspective piece published Wednesday.

Despite hospitals in Italy canceling elective surgeries and turning operating rooms into temporary intensive care units, the country has seen limited capacity in treating an influx of COVID-19 patients, Rosenbaum said. And doctors have had to ration care.

Experts, including US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, have widely cautioned that the US could “become Italy” as the outbreak worsens stateside.

[ some of us have been saying this but here’s expert voices saying the same ]

2 individuals linked to Pentagon test positive for coronavirus
From CNN’s Barbara Starr and Ryan Browne

An Air Force service member and Air Force contractor who had been in the Pentagon within the last three weeks have tested positive for the coronavirus in what is believed to be the first cases involving Pentagon personnel.

“An active duty member who works for Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, Va. tested positive for Covid-19. Although his duty station was in Falls Church, the individual was last in the Pentagon on March 16 for less than an hour and has since received medical treatment and self-quarantined at home,” the US Air Force said in a statement Friday.
"Military public health and local civilian public health officials have notified those in which the individual came in contact. All have been asked to adhere to Center for Disease Control guidance,” the statement added.

Additionally an Air Force contractor has also tested positive for coronavirus and has been in quarantine for nearly two weeks.

“A defense contractor who works for the Air Force in the Pentagon has tested positive for Covid-19. The last time the infected member was in the Pentagon was March 2. The individual has received medical treatment and has been self-quarantined at home since March 7,” the statement said.

The individual also attended a symposium at a Joint Base Andrews in early March but the statement said, “The Virginia Department of Health has provided a ‘low risk rating’ based on the individual being asymptomatic at the symposium.”

Florida governor orders all restaurants to provide takeout and delivery only
From CNN’s Hollie Silverman and Lindsay Benson

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order mandating all restaurants and food establishments in the state to suspend all food and alcohol consumption on site Friday.

Restaurants will only be allowed to provide delivery or takeout, the executive order said.

The order also allows restaurants to provide alcohol to delivery and take out customers who provide identification.

Gyms and other fitness centers were also ordered to be closed.

8525

But not essential enough for a living wage, health insurance or sick leave…

8526

Colorado:
Every person living in San Miguel County — sick or not — now qualifies for a free COVID-19 test. It is the first known place in the country testing on such a mass scale, and researchers and county public health experts say they hope it provides data on both how widespread the disease is and how strict quarantine measures can help stem the contagion.

The county isn’t paying for it. The tests are being paid for by an international biomedical company whose executives have a residence in Telluride.

“This is a mental health issue. People are isolated, people are scared … What they need is information and transparency. This is about empowering people,” said Lou Reese, co-CEO of United Biomedical/c19, which is performing the blood tests.

The tests detect a blood antibody to identify the presence of the virus.

“We’re creating the best-in-class model for the country for how you create safe zones and this first study is to provide invaluable information for other communities in terms of what the level of spread is and the duration of that spread," Reese said.

San Miguel has about 8,200 residents, including the city of Telluride. County public health director Grace Franklin called the county testing “fortunate” and noted the international travel in and out of the area — particularly in the winter — means it could be a good testing ground.

“They approached us to partner and offer residents free mass antibody testing for COVID-19,” Franklin said. “What an opportunity to get a better sense what the optics truly are for this disease and how it is spread in this community and how can we make educated approaches … to mitigate this.”

The tests are voluntary but Reese and his co-CEO Mei Mei Hu hope everyone gets two tests two weeks apart to gauge antibody presence for COVID-19.

Particularly, the two executives are interested in how many people have already had it and might now be immune.

This week, San Miguel County put into place the most restrictive rules in the state — asking people to shelter in place and halting all gatherings and closing all non-essential businesses.

8527

A US disaster relief group opened a field hospital on Friday in Italy’s north, as the country’s coronavirus death toll showed no sign of easing.

Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian disaster response group based in North Carolina, began setting up the respiratory care unit in Cremona, about 90 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Milan, and expected to receive its first patients later Friday.

The unit, located in the parking lot across from the city hospital, provides eight intensive care unit beds equipped with ventilators, 20 beds for general care, a laboratory and pharmacy, and is set to expand over the weekend.

“We came here because our fellow brothers and sisters, our Italian brothers and sisters, are hurting,” said Kelly Suter, health director of the new hospital.

Hospitals in Paris are scrambling to find more intensive care beds, ventilators and medical staff ahead of an expected spike in the number of coronavirus patients in coming days, with the figure expected to peak in April, doctors said.

Coronavirus cases in Paris and its suburbs now account for about a quarter of the 11,000 cases across France, and has about 250 now in intensive care, up from just 50 five days ago. The death toll in all France as of Friday evening stood at 450.

“We are working at full speed to ramp up the number of intensive care beds,” Antoine Vieillard-Baron, head of the surgical and medical Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the University Hospital Ambroise Pare, told a conference call with reporters.

{ France has about 6 hospital beds per 1,000 ]

Belgium became the latest European country to close its borders to contain the coronavirus Friday, shutting them to all but freight and travellers deemed to be on essential business.

Interior minister Pieter De Crem said the decision had been taken after “intensive contacts” with Belgium’s neighbours, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Guardian

8528

Excellent! And it will garner much needed info for now and historically. It’ll be like that Veneto town mentioned earlier.

8529

Is this really necessary? How is this helpful in any way?

8530

I’ll admit it’s an inflammatory way to do it - but the main point is that even here in the US, scarce resources necessary to fight this pandemic are being disproportionately used by certain states. We are so busy being judgmental about someone taking an extra package of toilet paper - calling them a “hoarder” - are we really OK with some states “hoarding” resources?

Just like the public is understandably questioning why athletes without symptoms have access to tests, it’s reasonable for the public to question how scarce resources are being allocated or not between Americans who live in different areas.

If we’re truly at the point where it’s every man/state for him/itself, let’s be open and honest about that. If we’re not OK with this mentality, then we should be advocating for sharing of resources both at a human and at a state level. In other words, if you think it’s despicable that some people are hoarding tp and Lysol wipes, think about whether there’s any difference when states are doing the same thing. After all, first one to grab and pay for the TP has rights to it, right? Or is that not how we want to handle things?

We should all be talking about this sort of thing.

8531

My D, who lives in one of the first ‘shelter in place’ counties in CA. reports the local TJ MAXX is open. They sell food so they are considered an essential service. Sigh.

8532

https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/
169
Confirmed Cases in Ohio
28
Number of Counties in Ohio*
39
Number of Hospitalizations in Ohio
1
Number of Deaths**
Last Updated: 03/20/20 (Updated daily at 2 p.m.)

  • Number of counties with cases: Ashland (1), Ashtabula (1), Belmont (2), Butler (12), Clark (1), Coshocton (2), Cuyahoga (69), Darke (1), Delaware (2), Franklin (14), Geauga (1), Hamilton (7), Huron (1), Lake (3), Lorain (10), Lucas (2), Mahoning (7), Marion (1), Medina (6), Miami (1), Montgomery (1), Richland (1), Stark (6), Summit (10), Trumbull (3), Tuscarawas (1), Union (1), Warren (2)

**Lucas County Resident
https://www.10tv.com/article/dewine-says-1st-ohio-coronavirus-death-76-year-old-man-2020-mar

8533

@milee30

I don’t disagree with anything you wrote. But the reality is that we’re in a crisis, and blaming some while not blaming others (like, your governor) is selective and counterproductive finger pointing.

Yes, this pandemic has shown tremendous vulnerabilities of the American people. It will take major economic, political and cultural shifts to address these vulnerabilities. Complaining about New Yorkers in Florida… sorry, not so much.

By the way, I recommend this article. An enlightening read about how the virus will/may/should permanently change the way we live.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/19/coronavirus-effect-economy-life-society-analysis-covid-135579

8534

I had to laugh. It’s just like the premise for a modern-day Decameron.

8535

So on the one hand the message is “if you’re sick stay at home but you don’t need to be tested.”

But then

So if you aren’t even getting tested to see if you have the virus, what are the chances that you’re going to get tested to see if you’re clear of the virus?

8536

I did not think so. We live in Indianapolis. The first two Coronavirus cases in Indianapolis were were from two people who attended the Biogen Conference in Boston. I walked by the TV and I think they were saying that 60 people from the conference were taken from the host hotel via ambulance to be tested and there were approx 30 people who tested positive. They were setting up tents outside hospital in Boston for testing.
A couple of days later, guess who came to Indianapolis for a basketball game??? Boston Celtics. They proceeded with the game knowing about the outbreak in Boston. I am sure that the team and Bostong spectators had a high chance of having already been exposed to the viurs. I called the Governor’s office ad complained the day before the game. It was really stupid to proceed with that game.

Add to that, the decision to go ahead with the NCAA championship games, with the game held in Indianapolis the following day. And, NCAA had planned to proceed with March Madness which is in Indianapolis and draws large crowds from across the country.
The NBA and the NCAA continued to tell the press they were determined to proceed as usual. Thank goodness they were shut down a couple days later.

8537

The Florida Keys will close to visitors starting Sunday night

The Florida Keys will be temporarily closed to visitors starting at 6 p.m. ET Sunday, a press release from officials said.

Hotels and other lodging properties on the Keys have been ordered to closed, the release said.

The first case on the island chain was announced Thursday and spurred the decision to close to visitors, the release said.

“We understand that this is a tremendous inconvenience to our visitors as well as to our businesses, and more than an inconvenience to our workers — our families who live here,” said Monroe County Mayor Heather Carruthers in the release. “But the health and safety of both our visitors and our residents is paramount.”

US Army closing recruiting stations, shifting to virtual recruiting
From CNN’s Ryan Browne

The US Army is closing its recruiting stations across the country and shifting to virtual recruiting amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are going to basically virtual recruiting much of that is done on social media and that allows us to protect our soldiers and also protect the new recruits,” the Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. James McConville said Friday.
McConville said the Army is in the process of closing sites.

8538

I don’t perceive this to be a problem with some states “hoarding” resources. I do see it as a problem inherent in our decentralized government system where each state prioritizes different things. I also see it as a problem with our federal government not being adequately prepared to step in and help the states each according to their needs. Honestly, when this is all over, I think our healthcare system and our pandemic preparedness will look very different. Hopefully, for the better.

As I said before, I am very anxious for Floridians right now. I don’t think demonizing other states is the answer, personally. I think the governor of Florida should be working with your federal Congresspersons and the federal administration to make sure your residents get everything they need asap. That health map from the thermometer manufacturer really makes me nervous that Florida is going to be overrun with the virus very soon if more action isn’t taken.

8539

Hoarding to me is getting significantly more than one needs.

Westchester has more than 1,000 positive people with population of less than one million. If you look here
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Italy has almost 800 cases per 1 million (of course, the distribution of cases across Italy isn’t even).

NYS needs the tests. They run 10,000 tests in the last 24 hours. That may sound a lot, but almost 30% of those came back positive. NYS is NOT wasting tests and doing frivolous testing or hoarding the tests. NYS really, really needs them and could even use some more.

Again the tests are available thanks to NYS government putting lots of work in making this all work with their local private labs.

The problem is NOT that NY has extra tests to spare. The problem is that FL doesn’t have tests. Trust me, there is nothing to be envious of. Take it from somebody living in Westchester.

8540

According to a last week NYT article, many of them already left a week ago.