Coronavirus in the US

Parent Cafe
9521

In theory, high school students are supposed to learn exponential functions in algebra 2. But that may be the highest math course that many high school students take. Many colleges’ quantitative reasoning requirements do not require taking a course that teaches or uses exponential functions. High school and college students who avoid taking math beyond the minimum requirements are probably less likely to remember what was taught in the math courses they did take.

If exponential functions were well understood among the general public, compound interest and its effects regarding debt would be better understood.

9522

“Russia may postpone vote on extension of Putin rule”
If they would just anoint him czar, they would not have to go through the circus every so often.

9523

Excellent analogy!

9524

There was also that cruise ship that had about 7 Chinese people on it who were quarantined in their rooms most of the cruise with possible Covid 19 about a month or more ago and the mayor of some NJ town right near NYC let the boat dock and all get off without any testing except two of the people who I believe where Chinese were taken to the hospital for testing. They were declared to not have the disease. Later I read that NY didn’t have any test kits so he they were tested prior to that, we will never know. The comment section of the news stories about the decision to let the people off the boat with no screening predicted the exact situation NY is in right now at about this time frame in the future.

So florida just let a boat of almost 4000 people dock and get off with no screening even though a person had been on the boat with the virus, got off when there were about 150 or so people onboard before thousands more got on the boat with the 150 who were there with the infected person. Makes no sense. Those people went on planes all over the country. One super spreader is all it takes to infect so very many. I think So florida is in a precarious situation with so many elderly and the recent spring breakers, etc.

9525

I’m curious why people see what happened in Wuhan, in Washington State, NY, etc and think it won’t happen where they are, especially if they live in a place where a lot of people are not taking recommended precautions. It doesn’t make sense to me. Do they think there is something special about where they live that will prevent it from happening? The thing that kept it from overtaking all of China to the level it did in Wuhan was that people were required to wear masks, people all over the country stayed home for the past couple months, they did extensive testing, contact tracing, didn’t allow free movement, had temp checks at borders of provinces and cities, at train stations, airports, etc. They used apps to track if people were near an infected person, etc. We are not doing most of those things. It took 2 months to get things under control there with all these things. How well will it work out here? Those who think it isn’t a big deal, I truly hope you don’t get it and suffer.

9526

Very little of what he says ever makes sense.

9527

White House highlights NYC area as ‘troubling’ coronavirus hot spot

Dr Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for Trump’s coronavirus task force, is addressing tonight’s White House coronavirus press briefing and issues strong warnings about New York, New Jersey and Long Island, saying they are areas of special concern.

She says coronavirus has an attack rate close to 1 in 1,000 in this area and that 28% of submitted specimens are positive in this area, compared to about 8% in the rest of the country.

“This is the group that absolutely needs to social distance, clearly the virus had been circulating for a number of weeks in order to have this level of penetrance of the general community,” she says. (Guardian)

[ EVERYBODY needs to social distance. Even 8% is alarming IMO. ]

Trump acknowledges coronavirus likely to worsen: “Certainly this is going to be bad”
From CNN’s Kevin Liptak

President Trump acknowledged Monday the effects of coronavirus are likely to worsen.

“Certainly this is going to be bad,” Trump said, agreeing with remarks his surgeon general made earlier in the day predicting a deteriorating situation this week.
“We’re trying to make it much much less bad,” Trump went on. "Obviously the numbers are going to increase with time and then they’re going to decrease.”

The President seemed to downplay the situation somewhat, indicating the flu presented a similarly poor outlook: “We have a lot of people dying from the flu,” he said.

9528

Pence says patients can now swab themselves for coronavirus
From CNN’s Sarah Westwood

Vice President Mike Pence said the Food and Drug Administration has approved self-collected samples for Covid-19 testing, which he said would reduce the strain on medical supplies and professionals.

Pence said he and President Trump had asked the FDA to pursue “less invasive methods of testing” after they both endured their own tests, which require deep nasal swabs.

“I’m pleased to report that self-collected swabs can now be collected in clinics and drive-through testing sites,” Pence said.
He said asking doctors to perform the swabs creates a “drain on personal protective equipment.”

Doctors and nurses will still perform the actual tests on the swabs that patients take and hand in at health care facilities.

Pence: More than 41,000 coronavirus tests in the US have come back positive
From CNN’s Jason Hoffman

Vice President Mike Pence said during Monday’s White House press briefing that 313,000 coronavirus tests having been completed with more than 41,000 tests having come back positive.

In the past, Pence noted the testing numbers he provides do not include community hospitals or community labs, but he did not make that disclaimer during the press briefing Monday.

He added all state and hospital labs are now required to report their coronavirus test numbers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We also reminded the governors today that all state laboratories, all hospital laboratories, are now required, by law, to report the results of coronavirus tests to the CDC,” Pence said.

[I’m glad they finally have that required reporting. Hope they have an adequate system in place to track it. ]

9529

New Mexico issues stay-at-home order
From CNN’s Konstantin Toropin

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham tweeted Monday that she instituting a “statewide stay-at-home instruction."

“All New Mexicans are instructed to stay at home except for outings essential to health, safety, and welfare,” Grisham tweeted.

The governor also declared that “all businesses except those deemed essential to public health, safety and well-being will be ordered closed,” she said.

“Our society must continue to operate – but in an extremely limited way,” she said.

Trump issues executive order to prohibit hoarding of medical equipment
From CNN’s Jason Hoffman and Daniella Diaz

President Trump outlined Monday an executive order he signed that will prohibit hoarding of medical equipment and supplies used for treating and preventing coronavirus.

The order will “prohibit the hoarding of vital medical equipment and supplies, such as hand sanitizers, face masks, and personal protective equipment," he said at the coronavirus task force briefing.

The executive order is also meant at preventing price gouging on critical health and medical resources.

Trump said that the Health and Human Services Department will designate certain items as “scarce” and it will be a crime to stockpile those items.

"Very simply, we’ll not allow anyone to exploit the suffering of American citizens for their own profit,” Trump said.
Attorney General William Barr said the Department of Justice has seen some evidence of hoarding and price gouging on health and medical resources that were authorized under the Defense Production Act.

Barr said the new executive order provides, “the authority to address, if it becomes necessary, hoarding that threatens the supply of those necessary health and medical resources.”

He also said this won’t affect Americans who have stocked on toilet paper and other necessities.

“I want to stress that we’re not talking about consumers or businesses stockpiling supplies for their own operations,” he said at the briefing. “We’re talking about people hoarding these goods and materials on an industrial scale for the purpose of manipulating the market and ultimately deriving windfall profits. If you have a big supply of toilet paper in your house, this is not something you have to worry about.”

9530

I’m not sure what is going on in today’s Task Force update…

9531

I think FL will be the next hotspot. Starting like now.

9532

I have been reading up on Taiwan’s fight against this virus. They had less than 50 cases and being so close to China. They have kept their schools open and many operations open. People are still required to wear a mask when outside of their house. I am wondering if we could do the same in the US in order to allow people to go out. We could have fewer people at museums, even at restaurants (6 ft apart of tables and only allow 4 or less people per table).

I know we are trying to flatten the line now, but to keep everyone inside for 2+ months is not feasible.

9533

[QUOTE=""]
It doesn't make sense to me. Do they think there is something special about where they live that will prevent it from happening?<<<<<<<<<<

[/QUOTE]

   No, what you are looking at is the choice to cease protective behaviors and let the chips fall where they may. No one believes that the outcome is anything but large and painful, but is it as painful as shutting down society in this way? This is the bigger question.  As I see it, the USA, the UK, Australia are all flirting with this is their best political option.
9534

Maybe 3-4 weeks ago that would have been feasible before the wider spread we have now. However, that would require widespread testing, extensive contact tracing, and enforced quarantining among other things. We haven’t accomplished any of those things well.

9535

There was someone from Taiwan on twitter who posted about the enforcement of quarantine there:

@milehsieh

“My phone, which is satellite-tracked by the Taiwan gov to enforce quarantine, ran out of battery at 7:30 AM. By 8:15, four different units called me. By 8:20, the police were knocking at my door.”

9536

Dr. Birx mentioned that she was absent from briefings over the weekend because she ran a low fever and felt unwell. She got tested fast enough to reappear today. She used this experience as an example of being responsible, and how to avoid spread. But the rest of us can’t get a test just because we have a low grade fever.

Where is Fauci?

9537

Not to mention, it would require masks. Our healthcare providers don’t even have enough masks.

9538

Yes. Excellent analogy. The chemo is guaranteed to kill the cancer - and one can ratchet up the dosage until that is accomplished. Of course, by that time the host/patient might be dead. But hey, so is the cancer. Hence, it is a balancing act.

9539

I’m wondering exactly what impact the federal government will have on individual decisions (and state decisions), anyway. My guess is that different states will have differing approaches to this, with vastly differing outcomes. Many individuals are going to remain cautious. Whoever thinks the economy is suddenly going to roar to life in one or two weeks from now is likely in for a disappointment.

9540

Trump: ‘We’ll see what happens’

Major theme of this press conference: Trump wants to get the American economy going again as soon as possible, and is not open to the idea of restrictive public health measures going on for months.

Asked what he would do if, a week from now, public health experts asked him to extend public health restrictions, Trump said, “We’ll see what happens.”

Later, Trump said that very soon “we’re going to be opening up our country.”

Asked by a reporter if that meant “weeks or months,” Trump s aid, “I’m not looking at months, I can tell you right now.”

‘Uh-oh’
A bizarre moment of comedy came earlier in this press conference.

“Saturday, I had a little low-grade fever,” Dr. Deborah Birx said. “Uh-oh,” President Trump says, and backs away from the podium. (She said she got a test and tested negative, and the president eventually moved back.)

Asked when antibody tests will be rolled out, Dr Deborah Birx says she thinks “we’re still a couple of weeks out.”

Dr Deborah Birx says “Understand the way you get to [infection rates of 60%, for example] is you do nothing. They’re talking about three cycles.” The three cycles are over three years - infections each season in 2020, 2021 etc. “The reason we’re so much focussed on blunting the curve on this piece is that when the virus comes back we’ll be much better prepared.”

Guardian