Fashion designers sewing masks and car manufacturers gearing up to make ventilators isn’t the answer.
I suggest a President to President friendly deal/challenge to China to supply a billion masks and 100,000 ventilators to the US within, whatever, two months.
BREAKING on MSNBC: A member of the VP’s office has tested positive for covid19. Apparently, the VP has not had close contact with this individual.
Neighbouring state (where both H and I work and two of our kids go to school) is under lockdown from midnight onwards.
I am supposed to go back to work on Monday, antibiotics having finally made short work of my sore throat, though not of the headache (H says it’s st leaset half psychosomatic anyway and I’ll have headaches as long as this lasts). I have already been given super extra special emergency permission to put all my files into huge boxes, take them home and work offline and worry about feeding my stuff back into Citrix some other time, data protection concerns being for the birds now, and with half of Europe under lockdown, none of what I do is time sensitive anyway. Apparently I have a pass on my desk as an “essential worker” (I’m so not!) to get me through police cordons that my boss has helpfully emailed me a picture of but the trains may not be running anymore!
It’s an 80k commute, so I told them that rather than getting into the car to drive that, I’d go on indefinite parental leave.
Or they could just mail me my files, and put my templates on a thumb drive. Like I said, who cares about data protection now.
H tells me that the health department is trying to requisition underemployed teachers to help out. If he were to work for them, I could get permission to stay with the kids, though. Frankly, they should requisition me, wouldn’t a government lawyer be more helpful than a teacher? Which would get me out of the commute, too,
Desperate times, desperate measures. Put me where I m most useful, but not on a train.
The whole nation may be put under lockdown on Sunday, unless “people behave more responsibly”. Fat chance, we see them socializing everywhere. Meanwhile, case numbers have gone through the roof, and the death rates are suddenly accelerating. Only the US and Italy have higher daily increases now. We will be Italy in a few days, and the US will be Italy in a few more.
Then, people will listen.
Didn’t you hear? 3M is doubling their production of N95s to 1 billion per year. They have 3.5 million N95s on hand ready to be distributed. In a few days, masks will not be the major issue. 3M is also stepping up to make ventilators as well as others. Give them a month, all this will be resolved. During the month we are all staying at home and not burdening hospitals or testing sites. Good thing NY is finally on board and agreeing to stay home. If they are spreading as fast as they were in the last two weeks, all of us staying wouldn’t do much good.
I heard it’s not enough.
@NJSue, props for using “imbricated” (and correctly too). It’s just stunningly appropriate, given the whole pangolin-based origin: pangolins have imbricated scales.
YIKES. If that’s true and a billion masks a year isn’t enough… we’re *****ed
Didn’t you say 1 billion?
3M is making them, 1 billion of them. I am sure they can quadruple or more if needed.
^Not really, mask wearing in public isn’t being encouraged because supplies are needed for medical professional use. Distributed to the public, a billion is only 3 per person.
Bravo.
For fans of the WSJ, they had a sobering Editorial today on the economic costs.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/rethinking-the-coronavirus-shutdown-11584659154?mod=opinion_lead_pos1
Oh I think this is very, very optimistic.
Even if they double production to 1 billion per year, that’s not going to help the fact that places are out right now
"The American Medical Association has called on the Trump administration to “leverage every tool at its disposal” to address a shortage of protective equipment and coronavirus tests.
In a statement Friday, the doctors’ group said that “critical shortages in test kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) remain unaddressed.”
The AMA is a corrupt organization that stopped serving the interests of the doctors long time ago. They serve their own interests. I would not cite them on anything. They are, however, great at sending periodic garbage mail asking for membership money.
A great thing may come out of all this mess : our office switched a lot of appointments to virtual and as of next week, video visits as well. It is amazing what a crisis situation can do. I have been begging them for years and the answer was always “technical difficulties, we need to talk to IT” etc. Now, suddenly, within a week
we have all we need to go virtual.
I’ve called people I know who are elderly or immunocompromised to offer grocery pickup. One of my dear friends is a cancer survivor who was just re-diagnosed and is awaiting test results to determine the next treatment protocol. She feels okay and isn’t functionally impaired at this point (she works for an insurance company and is doing work from home, as many of us are), but she’s afraid to venture out.
On a happy note, if you’re in the NJ/NY/CT area, open up your windows and enjoy the beautiful warm weather. As I sit near an open window, I get wafts of fresh spring air and I can hear the crickets and frogs singing. It’s delightful.
A billion extra in a friendly deal with China would be helpful. That was my point. I didn’t say only from China, or only a billion. Sheesh.
Cuba will close its borders to combat the spread of coronavirus
From CNN’s Patrick Oppmann in Havana and Tatiana Arias in Atlanta
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced on Friday that the country will be closing its borders to everyone attempting to enter the island, with the exception of residents of the communist-run island.
The measure will go into effect on Tuesday and will last 30 days, the President said during a live televised address to the nation.
Commerce would still continue with other countries. However, tourism will no longer be permitted for at least 30 days, and all foreign visitors who are not residents need to depart the island, Diaz-Canel said.
Cuban health authorities have reported 21 cases of coronavirus and one death.
Yosemite National Park closed until further notice
From CNN’s Cheri Mossburg
Yosemite National Park in California is now closed until further notice.
Visitors are not permitted inside the park, and the closure will be enforced around the clock, according to the National Park Service.
Most national parks have announced facility closures, but this is the first full closure of a park.
The NPS attributes the closure to a request from the local health department.
Known for its towering granite cliffs, Yosemite is one of the country’s most treasured national parks. Established in 1890, it was the country’s third national park.
Epidemiologists deploying to investigate multiple coronavirus cases in SW Georgia county
From CNN’s Jessica Jordan
Epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Georgia Department of Public Health are being deployed to Albany in southwest Georgia to investigate multiple cases in the area, the health department said in a statement.
Dougherty County, where Albany is located, has 38 cases of coronavirus with six confirmed deaths, the statement said.
The team of experts will focus on investigations at Phoebe Putney Hospital and long-term care facilities in the area, according to the statement.
Albany is about 90 miles north of Tallahassee, Florida.
Trump Organization closes parts of Mar-a-Lago due to coronavirus
From CNN’s Betsy Klein and Kate Bennett
Parts of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort have closed, a member tells CNN.
Club members have been getting daily briefings via email this week. The latest email, sent on Friday, said the main house, spa, and gym are closed.
The beach club is open, but serving at half capacity, according to the member.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered all beaches in Palm Beach County to close, although it’s unclear if that applies to private beaches and whether there will be a new update Saturday to reflect that information.
Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, a separate resort where the President often golfs, remains open.
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization would not confirm that Mar-a-Lago was affected, but said in a statement, “various facilities are temporarily closed given local, state and federal mandates.
Alabama’s governor activates its national guard
Gov. Kay Ivey has authorized the activation of up to 100 Alabama National Guardsmen on an as needed basis in response to novel coronavirus, a statement from her office said.
The activation was done as a preparedness measure, the statement read, and that the guard had no “determined need for formal assistance” right now.
“I want to ensure Alabamians that our National Guard stands ready to be part of this team effort to combat this invisible enemy," Ivey said in the statement. “My administration has been given clear instructions to do everything possible to ensure the continuity of government while being flexible and responsible to the needs of our state."
Miami Beach orders all hotels to shut down and establishes curfew
From CNN’s Sara Weisfeldt
All hotels in Miami Beach have been ordered to shut down, and a new city-wide curfew will soon take effect, according to a city statement.
Hotels and commercial lodging establishments have also been ordered to evacuate all guests and renters from their premises by 11:59 p.m. Monday, the statement said.
A city-wide curfew will also go into effect starting Tuesday from 12 a.m. until 5 a.m. until further notice, the statement said.
As mentioned upthread:
Someone in vice president’s office tests positive for coronavirus
From CNN’s Nikki Carvajal
“This evening we were notified that a member of the Office of the Vice President tested positive for the Coronavirus," Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller said. "Neither President Trump nor Vice President Pence had close contact with the individual. Further contact tracing is being conducted in accordance with CDC guidelines.”
Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers close over coronavirus concerns
From CNN’s Evan Perez
The Department of Homeland Security, citing the effort to curb the spread of Covid-19, shut down the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers on Friday.
The academy trains thousands of future officers and agents for 90 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies around the country. This means thousands of agents training to join DHS and other agencies, including Postal Inspection Service, ATF and others, are going home.
It also poses a potential problem as agents and officers for those agencies retire and aren’t replaced by new people who the agencies were counting on.
Officials consider “Covid wards” and “self test” to ease strain on health care system
From CNN’s Michael Nedelman
US officials are looking into a number of options to increase hospital capacity and ease the strain on protective gear like gowns and masks, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force response coordinator, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Friday.
Hospitals may consider “creating Covid wards,” similar to what has happened abroad. They are checking the availability of Veterans Affairs hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers.
“Now that we asked people to give up elective surgeries, that opens up a large number of beds that are already fitted with ventilators that can be utilized,” Birx said.
In addition to utilizing industrial N95 masks, Birx expressed interest in developing an option for people to “self test” for the virus.
If that becomes a reality, “then we could really eliminate the amount of personal protective devices needed in the testing arena,” she said.
“So we’re looking at all of these things to be both sparing of our current supplies as well as finding new innovations to expand our supply.”
General Motors will help produce ventilators for coronavirus
From CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich
General Motors in partnership with Ventec Life Systems are collaborating to produce respiratory care products, including ventilators, to fight Covid-19.
Ventec will use GM’s logistics, purchasing and manufacturing expertise to build more of their “critically important ventilators” to help save lives.
“We are working closely with Ventec to rapidly scale up production of their critically important respiratory products to support our country’s fight again the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO. “We will continue to explore ways to help in this time of crisis."
[ Kudos to these 2 companies. It is my understanding based on reading that they initiated this of their own accord. ]
I’m sorry if this has been posted, but this is an incredibly helpful and informative video which explains the virus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXhZflwjywQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1SdwvIN17v5pPzHFAUHWGbBJfOwo4LddGI_JzbTTTRipYWa7wSSr48L5w
Southwest has extended expiration dates for booking new travel on flights you had to cancel because of this . Hopefully, other airlines are doing the same, if they haven’t already. Very grateful. Such trying times for so many businesses. Very sad.