Our family is completely social distancing. The kids haven’t been near anyone but us for eight days now. They’ve only been outside to run or walk the dog. My H hasn’t been anywhere for 14 days except home and dog walks. I’ve been to the store but haven’t been in a few days and trying to now just go once a week. I’m super careful and wear gloves and wash up like crazy when I get home. If one of us gets sick, we likely all will. Most families I know are living like we are. Everyone needs to get with the program. Sorry. I know I’m a broken record.
We are right there with you, @homerdog
@amsunshine and @homerdog
Yup. That describes us. H, our 25 year old son and myself. We get some outdoor exercise - S on a bike, myself on an isolated trail with the dog and H by keeping the house running (we are on an acre).
Other than two runs for groceries in the last 10 days, we’ve been home.
@1NJParent honestly. Not trying to be disagreeable. But did you read my whole post or maybe it wasn’t clear?
I was speaking about ventilators. They are machined and require engineering. It can be done and it is being done. Spaced gm and more
I also mentioned 3m and others for masks.
And lastly I called for nationalizing textile manufacturers because they can move a little quicker. But it’s capacity. We shuttered textiles in America for 50 years and moved to China. They as you mention could turn around masks quickly. They are the worlds provider of textiles.
I agree. But I think people who’ve never been on a factory floor or major assembly line or facility believe it’s like turning a car around in terms of speed. First step is max production. Next is the scale of monster companies to lean in and move fast. They are.
Same here. I have been isolating for 2 weeks now.
Cuba will not allow tourists to visit starting Tuesday
From CNN’s Patrick Oppmann
The Cuban government announced a series of new measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus on the island, where 20 percent of the population is 60 or older.
Starting Tuesday, tourists will no longer be allowed to travel to Cuba. Cuban citizens or residents arriving at an airport will be quarantined for 14 days at a Cuban hospital or similar institution.
Cuba is not just focusing on coronavirus locally. The nation has sent doctors as far away as Italy to combat the pandemic.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee self-quarantining after Sen. Rand Paul tested positive for coronavirus
From CNN’s Clare Foran
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee is self-quarantining after fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky tested positive for coronavirus, Lee said in a statement.
Lee’s full statement is below:
“Upon learning that my colleague Sen. Paul tested positive for COVID-19, I consulted the Attending Physician of the U.S. Congress Dr. Harding. He advised me that because I have no symptoms or other risk factors, a COVID-19 test was not warranted. However, given the timing, proximity, and duration of my exposure to Sen. Paul, he directed me to self-quarantine for 14 days. That means no traveling or voting. But I will continue to make sure Utah’s voice is heard as we shape the federal response to the Coronavirus through phone, text, email and whatever other means are available.”
Sen. Mitt Romney is self-quarantining and will be tested for coronavirus
From CNN’s Clare Foran and Nicky Robertson
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah is self-quarantining after Sen. Rand Paul contracted the coronavirus, according to a statement from Romney’s office. He follows fellow Utah Sen. Mike Lee in self-quarantining.
The full statement is below:
“Since Senator Romney sat next to Senator Paul for extended periods in recent days and consistent with CDC guidance, the attending physician has ordered him to immediately self-quarantine and not to vote on the Senate floor. He has no symptoms but will be tested. He urges members to pass a relief package as quickly as possible that provides assistance for families, workers, and small businesses,” the statement read.
French Parliament adopts state of emergency law
From CNN’s Barbara Wojazer
The French Parliament adopted the state of emergency law Sunday night.
The law gives a legal framework for the measures that have been put into place by the French government to mitigate the coronavirus crisis.
The law was passed in an almost empty Parliament, adapted in order to respect health and security measures. The law passed with 510 votes in favor and 37 votes against, according to the Parliamentary report.
On Thursday, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe made a plea in favor of the state of emergency to the Senate, saying: “The government needs it. I need it.”
US Defense Department says 111 members of the military tested positive for coronavirus
From CNN’s Barbara Starr
The US Department of Defense announced on Sunday that 111 members of the military have tested positive for coronavirus.
Here’s the breakdown of positive cases from the department:
Military: 111
Civilian employees: 32
Dependent: 37
Contractor: 31
On Friday, the DOD reported there were:
Military: 67
Civilian employees: 15
Dependents: 26
Contractors: 16
More staffers and inmates with NYC corrections department test positive for coronavirus
From CNN’s Alec Snyder
The New York City Department of Correction confirmed Sunday that five more staffers and 10 more inmates have tested positive for coronavirus, according to an email from spokesman Patrick Rocchio.
At least 17 department personnel have tested positive, according to the department, and 29 people in custody have tested positive, according to Correctional Health Services.
NYPD commissioner says 98 employees have coronavirus
From CNN’s Kristina Sgueglia
There are 98 members of the New York Police Department who have tested positive for coronavirus, according to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea.
Of the 98, 70 are uniformed and 28 are civilian employees. Shea said 95 of 98 are recovering at home.
He believes three remain hospitalized. One was discharged Sunday.
The belief at this time with limited information is that these people did not necessarily contract coronavirus at work, Shea said.
As society contracts this disease, so do we,” Shea said.
He said the “normal sick rate” for the NYPD is approaching about “double that rate,” adding that he saw the numbers go up when the virus took hold roughly around March 17.
He said the department is in “very good shape” in terms of resources, but "we plan for it every day.”
“We are not at the point where we’re close to going to 12-hour tours,” he said. “What we are doing, though, is planning for all eventualities.”
People who were previously put on quarantine have come back to work, Shea said.
U.S. axed CDC expert job in China months before virus outbreak
"Several months before the coronavirus pandemic began, the Trump administration eliminated a key American public health position in Beijing intended to help detect disease outbreaks in China, Reuters has learned.
The American disease expert, a medical epidemiologist embedded in China’s disease control agency, left her post in July, according to four sources with knowledge of the issue. The first cases of the new coronavirus may have emerged as early as November, and as cases exploded, the Trump administration in February chastised China for censoring information about the outbreak and keeping U.S. experts from entering the country to help.
“It was heartbreaking to watch,” said Bao-Ping Zhu, a Chinese American who served in that role, which was funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2007 and 2011. “If someone had been there, public health officials and governments across the world could have moved much faster.”
Zhu and the other sources said the American expert, Dr. Linda Quick, was a trainer of Chinese field epidemiologists who were deployed to the epicenter of outbreaks to help track, investigate and contain diseases. As an American CDC employee, they said, Quick was in an ideal position to be the eyes and ears on the ground for the United States and other countries on the coronavirus outbreak, and might have alerted them to the growing threat weeks earlier.
No other foreign disease experts were embedded to lead the program after Quick left in July, according to the sources. Zhu said an embedded expert can often get word of outbreaks early, after forming close relationships with Chinese counterparts.
Zhu and the other sources said Quick could have provided real-time information to U.S. and other officials around the world during the first weeks of the outbreak, when they said the Chinese government tamped down on the release of information and provided erroneous assessments.
Quick left amid a bitter U.S. trade dispute with China when she learned her federally funded post, officially known as resident adviser to the U.S. Field Epidemiology Training Program in China, would be discontinued as of September, the sources said. The U.S. CDC said it first learned of a “cluster of 27 cases of pneumonia” of unexplained origin in Wuhan, China, on Dec. 31."
I was feeling depressed about this whole thing so I just took a break from the internet and made three masks. I’m a slow seamstress so this gave you all time for 100 new posts. 
I am hoping to find HCP who can use these masks, for which I followed a pattern allegedly “approved” by hospitals because it includes (1) a wire above the nose; (2) a reversible pattern for keeping track of sides; (3) a pocket for batting.
Unfortunately, elastic is my limiting reagent, and though I ordered more, it won’t come until May.
NYPD officers will patrol ‘social hot spots’ and inform people of state’s social-distancing policies, law enforcement official says
From CNN’s Mark Morales
New York police officers will by patrolling on foot and by vehicle Sunday night, watching for crowds of people and informing them about the statewide stay-at-home order. Their role will be more about education, than enforcement, a law enforcement official tells CNN.
Officers at each precinct will have a list of hot spots, stores and other locations in their sectors where people are known to congregate. They’ll keep an eye out for groups of people and if spotted, they will tell them to disperse, the official said.
The law enforcement official told CNN that if groups refuse to disperse, there won’t be arrests. Rather, officers will try to convince them that they need to leave and not be so close together, the official said.
There aren’t enough patrol cars, so some officers will be on foot, canvassing the neighborhoods. So far, officers have had a big presence at supermarkets and food shops, making sure crowds are under control, but not having any overcrowding issues so far, the official said.
The NYPD currently has 98 employees, 70 uniformed and 28 civilian workers, who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Urban areas with international airports seem to be affected the most for now. But the virus will probably travel slowly inland. Social distancing will be less of a problem in Idaho than in NYC but the ICU beds are also scarcer. I can see military helicopters airlifting intubated patients towards the larger urban hospitals.
Urbanization may come with more job opportunities and commodities but in a pandemic it is hard to stay isolated.
They need to keep others from coming into NYC as well. There is no reason…at all for anyone but health care workers to be traveling there. None.
I don’t care what construction jobs they might be doing…they can wait. That’s not essential.
https://news.3m.com/blog/3m-stories/ceo-update-3ms-response-covid-19
From 3M:
Since the initial COVID-19 outbreak, we’ve ramped up to maximum production levels of N95 respirators and doubled our global output to a rate of more than 1.1 billion per year, or nearly 100 million per month. In the United States we are producing 35 million respirators per month; of these, more than 90% are now designated for healthcare workers, with the remaining deployed to other industries also critical in this pandemic, including energy, food and pharmaceutical companies. As a global company, we also manufacture respirators in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and our products are being similarly deployed to support the COVID-19 response in those respective regions.
Like everyone, I see the pleas from our heroic doctors, nurses and first responders for the respirators and other equipment they desperately need. I want people to know we are doing all we can to meet the demands of this extraordinary time and get supplies from our plants to where they’re most needed as quickly as possible. As I write this, more than 500,000 respirators are on the way from our South Dakota plant to two of the more critically impacted areas, New York and Seattle, with arrivals expected starting tomorrow. We are also ready to expedite additional shipments across the country. <3
It is impossible to be an effective police officer in NYC and maintain social distance. Unless you are willing to shoot. Many police will also be fearful that they could contract the virus. This will be just one piece of why social distancing cannot be enforced for long.
I will go on record saying now that when the hot muggy weather gets going, there is zero chance that all the kids in the housing projects and the boroughs of NYC are going to be sitting in their apartments all day and night. It will not happen.
Any attempt to enforce a lockdown will also impact the illicit drug trade, which is still fairly prevalent. Cops will not want to be on the hook for profiling charges either.
Brazil has just announced its latest coronavirus statistics. Twenty five dead and 1,546 confirmed cases as of today. That is up from 18 and 1,128 yesterday.
South-east Brazil has so far borne the brunt of the crisis and of the fatalities 22 were in Brazil’s most populous state, São Paulo and three in the neighbouring state of Rio de Janeiro.
Both states are now in a state of partial shutdown with São Paulo set to enter a two-week period of quarantine on Tuesday. Streets were eerily empty on Sunday in parts of Rio although supermarkets and some shops remain open.
Brazil’s far-right president - whose response to the crisis has been widely criticised - has attacked the governors of Rio and São Paulo - who he sees as potential presidential rivals in the 2022 election - for the drastic steps they are taking.
“They are creating a climate of terror,” by trying to shut airports and keep people at home, Bolsonaro said on Saturday.
But there have now been five nights of protests against Bolsonaro’s administration and his handling of coronavirus here and many observers believe his reaction has already wrecked any hope of re-election. (Guardian)
@privatebanker If an electronics maker or automaker can make face masks, a totally different type of products, then they should be able to retool their assembly lines to make ventilators too, a more similar type of products. No?
Widespread testing would be a whole lot less expensive than having everybody stay home and shutting down all the businesses.
WA DOH numbers for today:
Total individuals tested: 30,875
Positive: 1996 (6.5%)
Deaths: 95 (one since yesterday)
@fretfulmother, you can make your masks with ties instead of elastic. People who wear masks for a long time (like a 10 hour shift, say) prefer ties, because elastic can irritate their ears.
To make a tie, cut a piece fabric as long as you need, and maybe 1 1/4 inches wide. Cutting on the bias is better, but for our purposes, cutting on the straight of grain will work just fine. If you have to piece this, no problem. Now take your piece of fabric, and iron it in half longwise, right side out. Now open it out, and iron each of the sides to the center fold you just made, longwise, right side out. Fold it. Press it again, to set the three folds. Now you’ve got a long piece of binding.
There are two ways to make ties. You can sew up your binding, close to the edge, then cut it in lengths maybe 14 or 15 inches long, and sew them to the corners of your mask instead of elastic. The ties have to be long enough to tie in a bow behind your head.
Or, you can bind the top and bottom edges, or the side edges, with the binding, leaving about 14 or 15 inches at each corner to, again, tie behind your head. Let’s say you’re binding the sides, as I am. Each of my sides is 3" long. So I cut a piece of binding 15+15 + 3 inches long; it will be both ties on one side of my mask. I wrap it around the side edge, centering it. I pin it. Then I sew along, close to the edge of the binding. When I get to where the binding is wrapped around my mask side edge, I keep sewing, wrapping the binding around the edge so I both attach the binding to the edge and cover the raw edge of my mask. I use a slight zigzag to make sure I’m catching all the edges. When I get to the end of the mask side, I keep sewing, to finish the rest of the tie.
This sounds a lot harder than it is, and it makes a strong, attractive finished edge. Those ties are not going to come off.
McDonald’s has said it is closing all its UK and Ireland restaurants from Monday night. In a statement, its UK CEO, Paul Pomroy, said: “I am incredibly grateful to our brilliant employees who have been working hard to continue to serve you safely in difficult circumstances.
“Over the last 24 hours, it has become clear that maintaining safe social distancing whilst operating busy takeaway and Drive Thru restaurants is increasingly difficult and therefore we have taken the decision to close every restaurant in the UK and Ireland by 7pm on Monday 23 March.
“We will be working closely with community groups across the UK and Ireland to distribute food from our restaurants to those most in need, and ahead of closing tomorrow evening, will ensure frontline health workers and emergency services personnel do not have to pay for any food or drink in our restaurants on sight of their work pass.
“Take care of one another in these unprecedented times, we look forward to seeing you again as soon as it is safe for us to reopen.” (Guardian)
GM and other car companies will be making ventilators. GM has already partnered with Ventec to do so. (Previous posts about this on the thread)