Coronavirus in the US

[doschicos]

Kansas is short on testing swabs and transportation for patients
From CNN’s Alec Snyder

Kansas is short on testing swabs and transportation for patients, Kansas Secretary of Health Dr. Lee Norman said during a news conference on Friday.

Norman said he feels “relaxed” about dealing with the pandemic as the worst projections only has the state down 35 ICU beds.

Norman said he believes the peak will occur around April 24-28 and the state will see at least 900 cases.

New Mexico orders schools to remain closed for remainder of academic year
From CNN’s Andy Rose

New Mexico students will be staying home for the rest of the school year.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the new order on Friday.

“Keeping schools closed is one of the most important tools we have to support the social distancing that can help us reduce and mitigate the spread of the virus,” the governor said in a written statement.

The governor said all schools will be required to find new ways to teach their students at home starting on April 6.

Grisham also ordered Friday that anyone traveling by air into New Mexico will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days immediately upon arrival. People will only be allowed to leave quarantine for medical care.

Trump on Defense Production Act: “Maybe we won’t even need the full activation”
From CNN’s Jason Hoffman

President Trump discussed invoking the Defense Production Act against General Motors during an Oval Office signing ceremony for the $2 trillion economic stimulus bill.

Trump said he “did activate it with respect to General Motors and hopefully, maybe we won’t even need the full activation. We will find out, but we need the ventilators.”

Trump said he has “enacted the act, and we’ve used it 3 or 4 times, I pulled it back 3 times because the companies came through in the end.”

The President said a deal was in place with GM but said when that fell apart he decided to invoke the DPA.

An earlier statement from the White House said, “Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course.”

It continued: “GM was wasting time. Today’s action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives.”

North Carolina issues stay-at-home order
From CNN’s Anna Sturla

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has issued a stay-at-home order for the state starting 5 p.m. ET Monday.

The order also limits gatherings to no more than 10 people.

The state has reported 763 cases of Covid-19 and three deaths.

[cmfl11]

@austinmshauri , it is rather misleading to say Florida, not NY (or other states) got its entire wish list fulfilled, even though it is technically true.

https://www.propublica.org/article/heres-why-florida-got-all-the-emergency-medical-supplies-it-requested-while-other-states-did-not
“The system appears to roughly conform to states’ populations, rather than the size of their requests. Florida, a state of 21 million, got all 180,000 N95 masks it wanted. Oregon, a state of 4 million, only received 40,000 of the 400,000 masks it requested, and New Jersey, a state of 9 million, got 85,000 of the 2.9 million masks it feels it needs.”
I guess it is a matter of opinion whether Florida was stupid to not request a huge amount of supplies or whether it was an ethical decision to request a smaller amount, leaving supplies available for other states.

[suteiki77]

@MarylandJOE

It was certainly a big misstep for China to continue Chinese New Year celebrations in the midst of a new viral outbreak. I’m sure that helped to spread the virus to other countries as international travellers left this celebration.

Of course we are going to look back at Mardi gras and probably come to a similar conclusion.

The US did stop flights from China pretty early. Of course President Trump received flack over that at the time in the media but looking back it was the right call. Of course locking down all international travel would have been a better move but President Trump would really have been called out for that at the time.

Hindsight is certainly 20/20.

It was a huge misstep for China to not do more to stop travel for Chinese new year and for those local Wuhan officials to cover up the situation for so long.

The US did have a travel ban but it happened weeks too late (I was watching since late Dec/the start of January very, very closely and couldn’t believe how long it took to shut down the flights and how much warning Trump gave before doing so!) And then he didn’t really actually block people who wanted to come from coming because people continued to come. All they had to do was get a flight to, say, Japan, and then they could come straight here, often with zero screening meeting them at the airport! And, this wasn’t such a big change for many as most who go from the USA to China have flights that stop in Japan. So, it wasn’t a really effective travel ban, but I’m sure it helped. to be effective, it should have included anyone coming from any area with the virus at all being screened at the airport by staff in full protective gear who did temperature checks and who put the people into a 2 week quarantine upon arrival as China is doing now. That would have required getting tests kits from elsewhere and ones that worked and having enough gear and giving it to the right people. A strong response up front would have been painful but much less so than what is happening now and is going to happen. It would have saved many lives and the economy. I have felt this way the entire time I have watched this situation unfold and it has zero to do with what anyone else thinks or what I think of Trump. I have my own brain and I am smart enough to watch an epidemic get out of control in china in spite of drastic measures and to realize it is going to come here, too, and we better do things to minimize the impact. To bad it took Trump about 3 months longer than it took me to realize this fact.

[doschicos]

California stops evictions until at least the end of May
Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered all eviction enforcement and legal proceedings to stop.

The executive order issued today means landlords cannot evict tenants for nonpayment of rent due to Covid-19.

French government delivers 800,000 masks to the police
From CNN’s Barbara Wojazer in Paris

The French government has announced a new supply of masks for officers after seven police unions issued a “solemn warning” to Interior Minister Christophe Castaner that they will stop enforcing lockdown measures unless provided with protective masks.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Camille Chaize said on Thursday that 800 000 masks have already been delivered to police forces, and an additional one million masks should arrive this weekend or at the beginning next week.

Chaize also thanked postal services for donating 300,000 masks to the police.

[ From reports of the numbers of first responders testing positive in hot spots like NYC, it’s definitely an issue. We need to cover their needs as well. Ditto for those serving on the “front lines” of making sure we all have the food we need. ]

[socaldad2002]

@milee30

@3SailAway

There have been many claims on this thread that feel personal to the people who don’t live in NY

To me, the blame on this thread towards New Yorkers is unique. Countless posts claim that we are selfish cowards who caused our city to be a hot spot with our irresponsible behavior, and are purposefully spreading the virus and throwing the rest of the country under the bus. I have not seen any other group of ordinary Americans come under such sustained attack.

But… NYC does have a tendency to believe it is the center of the universe and demand attention, resources, coverage accordingly.

Well NYC is the largest city in the U.S. with almost $9 million people (2x the next largest city, Los Angeles) and is the #9 largest city in the world. So it should “demand attention”, et al.

[suteiki77]

@ECmotherx2

Nearly all 1,800 ICU beds in NYC are full. Hospitalization rate for doubling in NY State is now 4 days instead of two, while promising, the apex is not expected for another 21 days. Those that need ventilators usually crash quickly around the 4-5 day mark. Of course you want the ventilators available. The Governor also stated that once the need is less, the ventilators can be sent to other areas that will be approaching their apex.

What other state is in this situation now? This (or any others in the same state) are the ones that need ventilators now.

[milee30]

@socaldad2002

@milee30

@3SailAway

There have been many claims on this thread that feel personal to the people who don’t live in NY

To me, the blame on this thread towards New Yorkers is unique. Countless posts claim that we are selfish cowards who caused our city to be a hot spot with our irresponsible behavior, and are purposefully spreading the virus and throwing the rest of the country under the bus. I have not seen any other group of ordinary Americans come under such sustained attack.

But… NYC does have a tendency to believe it is the center of the universe and demand attention, resources, coverage accordingly.

Well NYC is the largest city in the U.S. with almost $9 million people (2x the next largest city, Los Angeles) and is the #9 largest city in the world. So it should “demand attention”, et al.

Definitely! It should get all the national resources it deserves - 3% of the total national resources. (9 million NYCers out of 327 million Americans) Unless New Yorkers are somehow more important than the residents of New Orleans, for example?

[suteiki77]

@OneMoreToGo2021

I agree that the ultimate test of President Trump’s handling of the crisis will be seen in the November election.

Nevertheless, the recent Gallup poll showing 60% approval now for his handling of the crisis is relevant in determining the slant of this forum. Seriously, do we see 60% approval on here? Even 20% if judging by posts?

Obviously, this forum is not representative of the country as a whole, and that is fine. But we should be aware of the biases. I am constantly pointing out that social distancing is not being practiced out there to anywhere near the extent that many on here seem to be practicing it.

I think the ultimate test will be how many die and how much or little the economy is impacted/jobs vs expert projections of what would have happened if he acted when he first knew of the situation and had listened to pandemic experts. In that he has already failed. Hopefully he will do his best from here on out.

i think we should be aware of what pandemic experts have been saying for decades. I don’t think pandemic response should be influenced by people who are uneducated in the topic.

[milee30]

@suteiki77

@ECmotherx2

Nearly all 1,800 ICU beds in NYC are full. Hospitalization rate for doubling in NY State is now 4 days instead of two, while promising, the apex is not expected for another 21 days. Those that need ventilators usually crash quickly around the 4-5 day mark. Of course you want the ventilators available. The Governor also stated that once the need is less, the ventilators can be sent to other areas that will be approaching their apex.

What other state is in this situation now? This (or any others in the same state) are the ones that need ventilators now.

New Orleans is in the same dire situation regarding ventilators. https://www.wwno.org/post/absolutely-frightening-louisiana-hospitals-brace-worst-covid-19

Looks like Chicago isn’t far behind, either. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/pritzker-says-illinois-needs-38000-more-beds-for-covid-19/2243800/

[suteiki77]

@CTTC

@ECmotherx2

Nearly all 1,800 ICU beds in NYC are full. Hospitalization rate for doubling in NY State is now 4 days instead of two, while promising, the apex is not expected for another 21 days. Those that need ventilators usually crash quickly around the 4-5 day mark. Of course you want the ventilators available. The Governor also stated that once the need is less, the ventilators can be sent to other areas that will be approaching their apex.

How does he know when other areas will be approaching their apex? He doesn’t. He’s making an empty promise to justify his greed. The rest the country doesn’t matter.

The rest of the country is going to have a lot more cases if NY’s don’t get under control very soon.

[suteiki77]

@milee30

@socaldad2002

@milee30

@3SailAway

There have been many claims on this thread that feel personal to the people who don’t live in NY

To me, the blame on this thread towards New Yorkers is unique. Countless posts claim that we are selfish cowards who caused our city to be a hot spot with our irresponsible behavior, and are purposefully spreading the virus and throwing the rest of the country under the bus. I have not seen any other group of ordinary Americans come under such sustained attack.

But… NYC does have a tendency to believe it is the center of the universe and demand attention, resources, coverage accordingly.

Well NYC is the largest city in the U.S. with almost $9 million people (2x the next largest city, Los Angeles) and is the #9 largest city in the world. So it should “demand attention”, et al.

Definitely! It should get all the national resources it deserves - 3% of the total national resources. (9 million NYCers out of 327 Americans) Unless New Yorkers are somehow more important than the residents of New Orleans, for example?

I think that pandemic experts would agree that areas with the greatest need should get the resources they need, not middle of nowhere no cases getting the same amount as those with hospitals that are getting overrun. It isn’t about areas being more important.

[suteiki77]

Maybe if your house is burning down and your town doesn’t have enough fire fighters they should ask neighboring towns to come help rather than say all people deserve equal fire fighter protection.

[milee30]

I think that pandemic experts would agree that areas with the greatest need should get the resources they need, not middle of nowhere no cases getting the same amount as those with hospitals that are getting overrun. It isn’t about areas being more important.

We agree on this too!

The issue is that nowhere - other than possibly NY - has had enough tests done to know which area has the greatest need. NY only believes it has the greatest need because it has done the most tests. Other areas haven’t had enough tests to know what their infection rate or need is.

Until we get testing up and running in all areas, we’re only guessing where the greatest need is. That’s why we should send all the scarce resources anywhere until we have that data.

[OhiBro]

It’s unfortunate to see all of the movers, shakers, and kingmakers in the science community gravitate to CC to repeatedly tell everyone how stupid Trump and his pretty little sidekick are. LOL

Has anything new been said in recent days?

[privatebanker]

Perhaps half or a reasonably large minority of the cc family may not be inclined to highly dislike the leadership of the federal government. It would then seem as important to protect that minority’s ability to feel a bit more welcome and equally respected here in a forum like ours.

There’s definately been a bit of swarming on every any post that seems to share a slightly different viewpoint.

This is (or was) a site dedicated to civility and no politics. It’s not twitter or reddit. Facebook or insta. You don’t have to look far for that sort of stuff.

If you are fair minded, which I know most of you are, switch your cap for a moment. If you don’t see a preponderance, perhaps unintentional, skewing of the info presented In a manner consistent with a personal view then we must be viewing different information.

Someone mentions Florida and it becomes “DeSantis is a moron despite going to Yale” for pages. Pritsker, who is known for his completely mismanaging the finances of Illinois shares a piece of his wisdom and it’s taken at face value.
.
I would bet a decent amount that many posters would like to comment and be heard as part of this crisis. All political persuasions have fear and concern equally, but the swarming kills open dialogue.

Why don’t we just take to down a notch. Let people comment and move on without challenging every post.

I’ll start.

[suteiki77]

@milee30

I think that pandemic experts would agree that areas with the greatest need should get the resources they need, not middle of nowhere no cases getting the same amount as those with hospitals that are getting overrun. It isn’t about areas being more important.

We agree on this too!

The issue is that nowhere - other than possibly NY - has had enough tests done to know which area has the greatest need. NY only believes it has the greatest need because it has done the most tests. Other areas haven’t had enough tests to know what their infection rate or need is.

Until we get testing up and running in all areas, we’re only guessing where the greatest need is. That’s why we should send all the scarce resources anywhere until we have that data.

The WHO and CDC and other health experts are all saying NY has more cases than anywhere else in the USA. We can look at other data points such as hospital capacity and fatality rates. Where else are hospitals filling up? All those places need respirators asap. We are not going to have testing up and running in time to get respirators to NY. They need them now.

[Qtinfo]

a reminder that anyone can use the “ignore” button if someone’s extreme groupthink is too much for them…

[sevmom]

So, NYC should only get 3% of national resources according to one poster? Despite being a hotspot. I’m guessing it just doesn’t work that way in life. You go where the greatest need is at the time and the government is sharing the resources as they become available. Lots of hotspots popping up. Deploy with greatest need, not based on population numbers or percentages. I don’t even live in New York but I just don’t get the New York bashing. As someone earlier said, we’re all in this together.

[fretfulmother]

I don’t think that just because another “side” is possible given a point of view, that all sides have equal merit.

Count me as part of the “science [sic] community,” I guess.

[milee30]

@suteiki77

The WHO and CDC and other health experts are all saying NY has more cases than anywhere else in the USA. We can look at other data points such as hospital capacity and fatality rates. Where else are hospitals filling up? All those places need respirators asap. We are not going to have testing up and running in time to get respirators to NY. They need them now.

Yeah, NY has “more cases” but since cases are based on tests and nowhere else has been able to test in remotely the same volume - that “data” is faulty. Let NY use the ventilators it’s sitting on in its stockpile and get tests to the other states. Then we’ll know where the most cases really are and where the national stockpile of ventilators are needed.