Coronavirus in the US

Parent Cafe
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Trudeau tells Canadians: “Enough is enough. Go home and stay home.”
From CNN’s Dave Alsup and Raja Razek

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking from his home in Ottawa on Monday, had a message for Canadians who choose to ignore social distancing advice: “Enough is enough. Go home and stay home.”

Trudeau reiterated the need for self-distancing, saying, “If you choose to ignore that advice, if you choose to get together with people or go to crowded places, you are not just putting yourself at risk, you are putting others at risk too.”

He went on to warn Canadians, saying, “We are going to make sure this happens. Whether by educating people more on the risks or by enforcing the rules if that is needed. Nothing that could help is off the table.”

There are at least 1,432 cases of coronavirus and 20 deaths in Canada.

9502

Gov Cuomo was, quite appropriately, very adamant in his presser the other day about the difference between “shelter in place” and “stay at home.” I wish other leaders and reporters would do the same.

The orders being given now are “stay at home”

“Shelter in place” is used primarily for active shooter situations, and it means drop everything and stay put, don’t look out the window, don’t take a walk, don’t drive home, get to the nearest safe place and STOP.

He wanted to make sure that people didn’t use “shelter in place” so often for this situation that when they get a real no-kidding “shelter in place” order they didn’t misunderstand the urgency of it.

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Pennsylvania issues stay-at-home order for 7 counties
From CNN’s Laura Ly

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced a stay-at-home order for seven counties in an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19, according to a statement from his office.

The counties include Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe, Montgomery, and Philadelphia.

The order takes effect at 8 p.m. ET on Monday and will continue until at least April 6, the statement said.

Individuals will only be permitted to leave their homes for essential activities, such as seeking medical care and getting necessary services or supplies for themselves, according to the statement.

A number of operations are exempt from the order, including health care services, news media, law enforcement, and religious institutions, Wolf said.

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Playgrounds closing in San Francisco, other public spaces could follow ‘if needed’

San Francisco Mayor London Breed said Monday that the city will be closing all playgrounds to make sure residents are following the “shelter in place” order.

“We are closing playgrounds to ensure people follow the stay at home guidelines. We will close other public spaces if needed,” Breed said. “I’m asking you to do your part. The only way SF can avoid the devastation we’re seeing in other parts of the world is if everyone acts responsibly.suspends dividend, halts buybacks and taps credit in midst of coronavirus pandemic.” San Francisco on Monday reported a total of 131 cases.

Nordstrom suspends dividend, halts buybacks and taps credit in midst of coronavirus pandemic

Nordstrom said Monday it is suspending its dividend, halting share buybacks and has drawn down $800 million on its revolving credit facility, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are proactively taking steps to strengthen our financial flexibility to help us navigate through this unprecedented situation,” CEO Erik Nordstrom said in a statement.

CNBC

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Everyone was wearing masks there so this is in spite of that fact. My husband told me one contact tracing found that the person who came down with the virus had only been exposed for less than 30 seconds in passing. I questioned how they ruled out other possible exposure but apparently it was big news there at the time (some months ago). I think the disease is pretty contagious.

9506

We will have to see I guess about mask usage, and how contagious coronavirus turns out to be in other than enclosed spaces. Down here in Florida, at least Palm Beach County, you almost never see anyone wearing a mask. I wish we could post pictures on this forum. I am out and about a lot (generally keeping a reasonable distance of course from people - no reason to be silly and wholly cavalier). I literally see hundreds of people a day not observing 6ft distances, totally unprotected.

It is getting warm now. Last night there were groups of kids walking close to where we live, possibly drunk (shouting and laughing), around midnight.

It will be interesting to compare the experience of Florida with that of New York and other states, as this all unfolds.

9507

People do crazy things when they’re afraid.

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Oregon issues stay-at-home order
From CNN’s Andy Rose

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is clamping down on nonessential activities in the state, issuing a new executive order that requires residents to stay home whenever possible.

Nonessential businesses must also close immediately, including gyms, malls, spas, clubs and salons.

“If businesses are not complying with this order, we will shut them down,” Brown said.

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Some of those people may live in the same household, in which case it doesn’t make sense to observe the 6 foot distance rule as long as they’re not interacting with outsiders.

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My daughter went back to work today. I still wish she could have been tested but I get that with a shortage, they are conserving the tests.

She found in situations of exertions her lungs would hurt. She is using her inhaler. The bosses have taken her off of SCUBA and swimming tasks. I would like to have her seen by a specialist but I am not sure if there is one on the islands or if I could make her go.

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WSVN 7 News
@wsvn
.
@GovRonDeSantis
explains why he is not ordering Florida to shelter-in-place as other states have.

“This is not a virus that’s impacting every corner of the state.”

Florida’s problem is it’s governor, who doesn’t appear to be the brightest bulb in the box.

9512

Ron De Santis must have missed the day in math class when they explained about exponential growth. For those in the back, it goes

almost nothing
almost nothing
almost nothing
almost nothing
a little bit
noticeable
disaster
catastrophe

And the time to act is at the almost nothing phase, because if you don’t, you’re hurtling inevitably to catastrophe.

9513

You would be surprised… just look at the posts about researchers shutting down labs and freezing cell lines… ‘cause “not essential.” It will set them back many, many weeks.

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National Guard called up to replenish grocery stores in Arizona
From CNN’s Andy Rose

Arizona’s National Guard is fighting coronavirus by filling grocery shelves.

Gov. Doug Ducey said the state is employing them to help with the most immediate need — dealing with empty shelves for basic provisions.

“They’re not going to be grocery store workers. They’re going to close the gap in terms of what was missing," Ducey said.

The governor said with the Guard helping to direct distribution, each store can be fully stocked, and stores can stay supplied as long as people spread out their shopping trips.

“If you’re going to go shopping, buy a week’s worth of groceries once a week. If you’ll do that, you’ll come back the next week, and the shelves will be full," Ducey said.

He said once the store supplies stabilize, the Guard can be used for other purposes, such as helping hospitals with supplies and facilities.

Trump says a decision on “opening our country” could come at the end of 15-day period
From CNN’s Daniella Diaz

President Trump said Monday he hopes to reassess his instructions for people to stay home amid the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.

“We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. We’re not going to let the cure be worse than the problem. At the end of the 15-day period, we’ll make a decision as to which way we want to go,” he said during the daily coronavirus briefing.

Trump said he hopes the United States will soon be “open for business.”

He added: “And essentially, we’re referring to the timing of the opening, essentially, the opening of our country. Because we have it pretty well shut-down in order to get rid of this invisible enemy.”

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Donald Trump tells country not to blame Asian-Americans and says US was ‘not built to be shut down’

Donald Trump is addressing the country at a televised press conference from the White House at the moment.

After an awkward delay of several minutes, the US president has just taken the stage to begin the coronavirus press briefing today.

Trump then reiterates almost word for word the message he tweeted out a few minutes ago: “It’s very important that we protect our Asian American community in the US and all around the world. They’re amazing people and the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape or form.”

That new message, after the Trump administration spent a week embracing the racist tactic of calling coronavirus the “Chinese virus” and then responding with outrage and denial when it was labeled as racist, comes in the wake of growing evidence of the toll of racist attacks, harassment and blame targeting Asian Americans across the country.

Trump opened his press conference with the promise that “the hardship will end. It will end soon.”

“Our country was not built to be shut down,” Trump said. “This is not a country that was built for this. It was not built to be shut down.”

Trump: “It’s very important that we totally protect our Asian American community”
From CNN’s Betsy Klein

President Trump on Monday opened the coronavirus task force briefing by echoing his tweet on Asian Americans, a message that comes after days of casting coronavirus as “China virus” and “Chinese virus.”

After consulting with medical experts, and receiving guidance from the World Health Organization, CNN has determined that that name is both inaccurate and is considered stigmatizing.

“It’s very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States and all around the world. They’re amazing people. And the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape, or form. They’re working closely with us to get rid of it. We will prevail together, it’s very important,” he said, emphasizing the word “Asian.”

Note that Trump used the words “they” and “us” when referring to Asian Americans.

He also extended well wishes to a member of the White House press corps who is awaiting coronavirus test results.

“I see we have fewer people because of the virus problem. We appreciate you being here. This is getting to be more and more social distancing and that’s fine, that’s the way it should be…We extend our best wishes to the person affected,” he said.

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We don’t have to recreate the wheel. There is data on many things already from other countries. I don’t trust all the Chinese numbers but that doesn’t mean that there is no useful data from there. There is data coming from Italy, Iran, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, etc. Mask certainly help block transmission. Even the CDC and the doctors who told Americans to not wear masks because they don’t work said then and say now that they (surgical masks and improperly worn N95 masks) will not prevent a person from getting the virus (at least not completely but do offer spatter protection), but will help the person wearing them not spread the virus to others. Comparing a population where everyone wears masks with one that doesn’t is apples to oranges regarding transmission rates.

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And it’s not as if Florida is not being impacted right now. He’s just putting his head in the sand. They are about 7th in the nation in terms of numbers of cases, and those numbers are likely low as they are still not testing enough.

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Trump says FEMA is distributing millions of masks
From CNN’s Sarah Westwood

President Trump said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is distributing millions of masks and that personal protective equipment for medical professionals is being shipped to what he described as “hotspots” around the country.

Trump said FEMA will distribute 8 million N95 masks, the type recommended for protection against coronavirus.

He said 73 pallets of personal protective equipment will be shipped to New York, and 36 pallets will be sent to Washington state – two areas where Covid-19 has hit particularly hard.

“We’re having millions and millions of masks made as we speak,” Trump said at the coronavirus task force briefing.
Trump said the badly-needed supplies will go to “medical hotspots” around the country. Healthcare workers around the US have warned of looming supply shortages if the outbreak escalates.

“Across the nation we are seeing an outpouring of creativity and innovative ideas,” Trump said. “The scientific community and members of the private sector are really working together.”

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I’m trying, without success, to make sense of this statement. To me it’s like someone facing chemotherapy, and saying, “My body wasn’t made to have poison pumped into it.” Well, no, it wasn’t, but you have to consider the alternative.

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Interesting story about one party in Connecticut and the impact on the community.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/us/coronavirus-westport-connecticut-party-zero.html