Dr. Brix shared that she was absent from the briefing over the weekend because she developed a low grade fever (I believe she said 101). She took a test, waited for negative result and then out of caution distanced for another day.
Let’s hope the same is not true as to why Dr. Facui was absent yesterday and that he is also healthy.
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s comments on Tucker Carlson’s show last night have been terribly mischaracterized on here and elsewhere. His views on the need to balance economic risks against the risks to the elderly and vulnerable from coronavirus are consistent with those of many Americans. He is not advocating “genocide” or being “selfish” (he is turning 70 himself), as so many posts either explicitly or implicitly state.
The interview segment runs about five minutes, beginning here: https://youtu.be/yZfuF1JmD60?t=601
@romanigypsyeyes , please let your grandma know that this lady from Germany would love for her to keep thumbing her nose at the Nazis for a few years longer!
Apologies if this has been posted: some uplifting news in The Guardian on neighbourly cooperation in the EU!
In further developments in Germany, the eastern state of Saxony has agreed to take in at least six Italian patients infected with the virus who cannot receive treatment in Italy. State premier Michael Kretschmer said on Monday hospitals in Dresden and Leipzig had enough capacity and its doctors could learn about treating the novel coronavirus.
Over the weekend, the south-western states of Saarland and Baden-Württemberg also took in patients from the neighbouring Alsace region, one of France’s coronavirus hotspots.
Agree with the concern about Dr. Fauci and hope he remains on the task-force until the bitter end. He is the one person I fully trust to give me the medical/scientific facts. Knowledge is power.
Frankly, I don’t understand why anyone at the podium without a medical degree is addressing anything at all related to the medical/science part of this nightmare. It is infuriating and dangerous.
I actually agree that people shouldn’t be villified for raising the question of whether the cure is worse than the disease. I don’t think any serious people are actually saying “just let all the old people die.” Rather, they are suggesting that if we combined something closer to a return to normalcy for low-risk populations with a continued stay-at-home order for high risk populations, we could keep Coronoa deaths at a relatively low number without devastating the economy.
Yes, that still means a substantial number of people would die of Corona, most of them elderly. But life isn’t risk free, and we always make trade-offs. If we outlawed driving, or even just made it much more difficult to get a license, many lives would be saved. I think few people would advocate such a policy. It is always a question of how many lives we’re talking about vs. the impact of the restriction in question, no matter how cold that kind of utilitarian logic seems.
In this case, however, I haven’t heard anyone advocating a dramatic lessening of restrictions respond to the question of how we do this with avoiding a catastrophe in our hospitals. We’re already approaching crisis point in some areas. I don’t see any way that you lower restrictions meaningfully without winding up with many, many more people needing hospitalization, and creating a situation in which hospitals can no longer continue to effectively serve either Corona patients or anyone else who needs care. Not to mention the risk you’re asking the medical professionals themselves to undertake.
I actually think the opposite. Everyone stays home for three weeks at the expense of economic pain for a much shorter time than at the expense of dragging this for a much much longer time. Why continue to have a domino effect? There are so many people (young and old) with unknown underlying health conditions. The idea of people dying and getting really sick does register with me as a compromise. How about the overwhelmed health care system and all the care workers? As it is, there are so many people getting their doctor’s appointments postponed. The difficult decisions have already been made with schools being adjusted and many of us being disrupted. We all want this to go away and the only to get it done is by making sure we all keep our social distance for a short period of time. On the economic front, let’s get those checks to the people who need it the most and delay any time of loan payment (car loans, mortgages, business loans, etc) for 90 days without incurring any penalties.
I meant to say" The idea of people dying and getting really sick does NOT register with me as a compromise.
I am curious who is a low-risk population considering 26% of NYC hospitalizations are under age 50.
https://thecity.nyc/2020/03/one-in-four-nyc-hospital-virus-patients-is-under-age-50.html
Considering what has been listed as preexisting conditions (childhood asthma, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, etc) I am sincerely questioning how many households in America are entirely low risk? (I say households because the comings and goings of one low-risk person in and out of a family home can easily compromise others).
^^^^On matters of life and death, shouldn’t we let the scientists and the doctors make the call? Politicians have their own agendas.
I was away awhile, and could not possibly keep up with this thread. It too is growing exponentially, and interesting to read the first few pages, then jump to the current ones.
Totally ignorant in economics. What happens if:
We all take a virtual nap? The world is obviously heading that way anyway. Most or nearly all of nature needs down time to re-energize.
Shut nearly everything down including the financial markets for 2-3 weeks, except truly essential needs, food, shelter, etc. Why do the markets even stay open when everything they are built upon does not?
No-one makes money during that time. No one gets filthy rich during that time. Most stay home – but they’re still working with children, or broadcasting from home, or because they are vulnerable . Some work in food delivery, hospitals, factories to support the hospital goods, utilities, etc. Our tax money pays the essentials. The government does not pay for luxury businesses, airlines except for essential travel, entertainment, hotels, education, coffee shops or restaurants, national parks or beaches, auto dealerships, etc.
Sure, I recognize this is a crazy thought. with crazy implications, and no way to enforce, and ok, coffee might be an essential. And it sounds like (and is) socialism. But it is temporary. We can go back to capitalism after our sleep period.
CNN international had a story in their international edition about an Austrian ski resort that didn’t close after being informed a number of cases originated their. Sounds like spring break in FL. People playing beer pong with their mouths and sharing whistles. Hundreds of cases are said to have originated their. Local government was thinking about economic impact instead of Safety.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/24/europe/austria-ski-resort-ischgl-coronavirus-intl/index.html
There is never, I repeat NEVER a reason to advocate genocide. That is a sickening comment.
“In this case, however, I haven’t heard anyone advocating a dramatic lessening of restrictions respond to the question of how we do this with avoiding a catastrophe in our hospitals. We’re already approaching crisis point in some areas. I don’t see any way that you lower restrictions meaningfully without winding up with many, many more people needing hospitalization, and creating a situation in which hospitals can no longer continue to effectively serve either Corona patients or anyone else who needs care. Not to mention the risk you’re asking the medical professionals themselves to undertake.”
Agree with this. Have people thought things through? The 250AD solution (yeah, I said 400AD before but the Plague of Cyprian was actually a century and a half before that) means many timre more people dying who could have been saved.
@padthai15: "We all take a virtual nap? The world is obviously heading that way anyway. Most or nearly all of nature needs down time to re-energize.
Shut nearly everything down including the financial markets for 2-3 weeks, except truly essential needs, food, shelter, etc. Why do the markets even stay open when everything they are built upon does not?"
Debt repayment, rent, payroll, pretty much everything would have to be suspended all at once.
Not only will that never happen, after the 3 week nap, covid-19 will still be out there, circulating. Then, the infections will start rising once again.
That makes sense. Thanks.
However, if we were effective and knew what we were doing, if we were capable of testing almost everyone who could be infected, in those 3 weeks, we could, in theory, find pretty much everyone who is carrying the infection and quarantine them. Then that would virtually stamp out the infection (other than carriers coming in from the outside).
This is something China (and other East Asian countries) could do and did. I have much less faith in the US.
My H went to our local Fresh Market today - first time to a store in over a week, but wanted to get bread and fresh fruit/veggies.
The first hour is designated for seniors. He got there 10 min before opening to find a crowd of 12-15 crammed together in front of the door. Appalled he barked at them (from 6 feet away), “People! Social distancing! Form a line with at least 6 feet of space between you and the next person!!”
A couple of people stared blankly, the rest shuffled into a line (with grumbling.)
The doors opened and there was a mad dash (or shuffle) to the meat case, where packages of ground beef were available. Same crowd, pushing and shoving. H did the same thing. “People!! You are limited to 5 pounds, there’s enough for you all, 6 FEET!!!”
I’m laughing as I picture this, but it is also sad - the very people for whom these rules are especially important won’t follow them.
This virus is here to stay for many more months, no matter what we do. You can’t sterilize the world. So, the problem is balancing public health with economic sustainability. I would not like my garbage company to take a nap for 6 weeks and definitely would not like the cable /phone company to take a nap for 6 weeks.
We need to protect the frail and elderly and it will be a painful process for all.
But I will give you an example : we do not schedule new patient visits for the next 6 weeks, to limit contact. Some of those people are new to the area and running out of medication. I can’t agree with that, there has to be a balance. Also, my medical assistant needs a minimum number of hours per week in order to pay her bills. She can’t wait for 2-3 months until whatever congressman in Washington decides to bless her with his generosity. The landlord needs the rent money to pay the electrician and the cleaning people, etc. We are not talking about “rich people getting richer” ( this is like an excuse mantra pushed by socialists when convenient ) we are talking about ordinary people not getting desperate. The really rich ones are going to be just fine, one way or another ( unless they end up on a ventilator, in which case all bets are off - even then, I was told some of them ordered a private ventilator just in case ).