@privatebanker It must be scary to have a sick child you can’t take care of yourself. My best to her - and you and your wife.
I don’t pay attention to the weather much. Spouse just told me about storm warnings in the Midwest with severe tornado warnings. That’s the last thing needed right now. 
@katliamom that’s very kind of you. Thank you. she’s like her mom. Resilient. I’m a wimp when it comes to being sick.
We are monitoring and if she slides at all I’m jumping in the car and we will quarantine away from home.
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/03/my-whole-household-has-covid-19/608902/.
This sounds like this family. I don’t think any of them got tested.
There now have been a total of 17 deaths from COVID-19 in Wisconsin.
Here’s the breakdown by county:
Milwaukee Co. - 9
Ozaukee Co. - 3
Dane Co. - 1
Sauk Co. - 1
Iron Co. - 1
Waupaca Co. - 1
Fond du Lac Co. - 1
These counties range in population from about 948,000 (Milwaukee County, most populous in the state) to about 5,700 (Iron County, third-least populous in the state; it borders Michigan’s upper peninsula and Lake Superior).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsgAn7iNJ6o
‘How the US feel dangerously behind in testing video’
Everything they say is what I was reacting to as it happened real time with increasing surprise, concern, and panic as we didn’t do what I felt should happen to minimize the impact of the virus spreading here. Not a CNBC watcher but this video explains what happened pretty well.
@amsunshine wrote:
I think you are right that nebulizers should not be used due to infection control. Nebulizers create a fine mist which aerosolizes the medication, but could also aerosolize the virus, which may be present in the mist when the patient exhales. Maybe the woman in the article was prescribed a nebulizer because the doctor figured her household was already exposed?
It looks like there is an inhaler on her bedside table in the photo also. Inhalers (hand held pump devices that people with asthma use) are thought to be safe as far as spreading the virus. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, there is a shortage of inhalers.
This reminds me of @romanigypsyeyes and hydroxychloroquine. How is your supply, romani? Thinking of you.
There is a difference between “don’t touch/use the playground structures” and “you must stay inside”. Consider going out for a walk in an uncrowded park without touching any structures in the park.
“The Critical Care Decontamination System is the first of its kind, capable of cleaning up to 80,000 pieces of PPE (personal protective equipment) at a time. Battelle’s system was designed to be modular so it can be easily shipped, and scaled up – the more units in one area, the more rapidly they will be able to clean mass amounts of PPE and return them to the hospitals.”
I don’t see an inhaler in the pictures for that article – an ear thermometer, but not an inhaler. Maybe there is one but it doesn’t look like any my D21 has?
My D has severe asthma and thus has different types of inhalers as well as a nebulizer. Her main inhaler is symbicort, so I’m hoping that despite the shortage of albuterol inhalers, we will be ok getting that. Her next refill is in a week. She also has an albuterol inhaler and a nebulizer for emergencies (with plenty of albuterol for the nebulizer), so hopefully, we are ok on those. I guess I will need to talk to her doctor about the nebulizer use if she ever contracts the virus. Based on my experience with her asthma attacks, I can’t imagine watching her struggle to breathe and not be able to use it.
In the photo, the thing that looks like an inhaler is actually a thermometer that takes readings in the eat, I believe (we have one). Have never seen an inhaler that looks like the photo, only ear thermometer.
I’ve read the same issues relating to the use if nebulizers. Most nebulized medications can also be given via other means—not as administered when patients aren’t moving much air tho.
Care to share? Earlier than 2024? well not for President unless you think that at least 1991 delegates would write him in… LOL I don’t think so.
So you think he would run against Senator Shumer in 2022? Why?
New York governor says he will sue Rhode Island if it doesn’t retract policy of stopping cars with NY plates
From CNN’s Laura Ly
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told CNN he would sue Rhode Island if they did not roll back a policy of stopping all cars with New York license plates, but that he expects the two states will be able to work it out amicably.
“That clearly is unconstitutional,” Cuomo said, adding he understands Rhode Island’s goal of trying to slow the spread of coronavirus.
“But there’s a point of absurdity, and I think what Rhode Island did is at the point of absurdity. Again, it is not even legal,” he said.
No state should be using police to prohibit interstate travel in any way, Cuomo said.
A letter from UK Prime Minister will be sent to 30 million households urging people to stay home
From CNN’s Lauren Kent
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will write letters to households across the UK urging people to stay home, according to a Downing Street statement on Saturday.
The Prime Minister’s letters will be sent to 30 million households next week and will say the following:
"We know things will get worse before they get better. But we are making the right preparations, and the more we all follow the rules, the fewer lives will be lost and the sooner life can return to normal. …That is why, at this moment of national emergency, I urge you, please, to stay at home, protect the (National Health Service) and save lives.”
UK residents will receive a leaflet outlining the government’s coronavirus advice, with clear explanations of symptoms, rules on leaving the house and rules on self-isolating with symptoms. The letters and leaflets are expected to cost $7.2 million (£5.8 million) to print and distribute.
The statement added that Johnson “is continuing to lead the Government’s response to coronavirus as he self isolates after testing positive for the virus.”
At least 215 million Americans are under stay-at-home orders
From CNN’s Molly Silverman, Andie Garcia, Chuck Johnston and Hollie Silverman
At least 215 million Americans are under stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders as of 6 p.m. ET Saturday, according to a CNN count.
States have announced additional orders that will take effect late Saturday and Monday.
By Sunday morning, at least 216.9 million Americans will be under the same orders and by Monday that number will jump to at least 225 million.
This count includes local city and county orders as well. The numbers were tallied using census data.
Cuomo on a possible mandatory short-term quarantine for NY, NJ and Connecticut: ‘I don’t even believe it’s legal’
CNN
President Donald Trump said Saturday he’s considering mandatory short-term (two-week) quarantine on New York, certain parts of New Jersey and Connecticut. Trump says it’d be an enforceable quarantine.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told CNN locking down states isn’t legal and would lead to “total mayhem.” He called Trump’s suggestion a “federal declaration of war” on sates.
“I don’t even believe it’s legal,” Cuomo said. “That’s not a quarantine, that’d be a lockdown. If you said that we’re geographically confining people, that’d be a lockdown. Then we would be Wuhan, China, and that wouldn’t make sense.”
Cuomo says New York is the financial sector of the country and it’d be paralyzed if the state was put on lockdown.
“How would you ever operationally stop goods from coming to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut? … I can’t believe he’s considering that,” Cuomo said.
“As a governor, I’m not going to close down my borders.”
Florida governor says he doesn’t regret leaving beaches open during spring break
From CNN’s Melissa Alonso
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says questions about his decision to not to issue a statewide mandate closing Florida’s beaches during spring break is “more of a political issue.”
The New York City subway is being “packed like sardines,” but a family sitting outside in “sunshine, heat and humidity, that’s not as big as a problem,” DeSantis said.
“Do you hear the same people complaining about the New York City subway system being open? I mean, give me a break. Which one is more conducive to having Covid-19 spread or any respiratory virus? It’s not even close,” DeSantis said in response to keep beaches open.
DeSantis says he did impose “10-person limit” for groups and local officials maintained limited access to beaches for residents. Several Florida beaches were closed by local officials in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties.
On Friday, DeSantis said he’s suspending vacation rentals in Florida for the next two weeks and is planning to extend an executive order to require travelers coming from Louisiana to Florida to do a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine or isolation period. The order currently applies to travelers coming to Florida from airports in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
[ Not sure how you can conflate the two - beach vs. public transportation. This contention between states is very unfortunate, IMO. ]
Bill Gates Makes a Prediction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A71lfXrQlxU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNLiUN0l7ws
‘Unless you are going to partition the country, the whole country has to be in this together…I totally agree with what Dr. Fauci said…numbers are uncertain because of the disorganization of the testing situation…until we get the numbers of cases in the country down to where we can do testing and isolation against those small numbers, we need to make this our top priority and it is super painful to drive this very high degree of social isolation. The middle course really isn’t there. it is hard to say go back to the theater, maybe or maybe not you will infect other people…The sooner we take this medicine, which is tough medicine, the sooner we will be out of it and not have to go back into it…The absolute numbers will have to be pretty low because you are going to have the testing capacity to take the remaining positives, see them early, and so you are not getting that exponential spread. And so looking at the countries that acted sooner and did not have to shut down to a full degree, that’s where the lessons are.’
When asked about going back to church for Eastern and to work in the middle of April, ‘no, that’s not realistic. The numbers are still going up. That only happens when the numbers have peaked and are going down…You know, there are some good things happening, the work on a vaccine, although that will probably take 18 months. That’s going full speed ahead, our foundation is funding that and we are looking at getting vaccines every person in the world…That self-test is as accurate as when the medical workers give it …by self-swabbing we will be able to get a lot more tests done and only be limited by the PCRN back end capacity. (They are) focusing on the innovations that have the most promise…There is no state where the numbers are flat or are going down. And the testing capacity means we are quite blind to a lot of these cases right now. So, it can be done, but the light is not at the end of the tunnel in terms of a mid-April opening. It is better to take this tough medicine (to the economy) than to do nothing and have millions of deaths.’
‘This virus is very, very bad but not the worst case (meaning future pandemics could kill a much higher % of the population).’ He hopes after this we will prepare much more extensively to handle any pandemics.
When asked about testing only some people and the recent deemphasis on testing, ‘for survelenace you probably do want to go out and pick people, even asyptomaticand even test them to see what is going on. The flu study was the first to see community spread coronavirus in the US and it should have been a red flag when it was seen (in early January)…the testing is very key. The only reason we talk about what to do if you can’t get a test is that demand will exceed supply. Not everyone will be able to get tested. People are so concerned now but not everyone can get tested. We don’t have 300 million tests. Testing is how you know is going on. That’s where you see those red dots. That is the indicator that will tell you that we are not doing enough of the shut down or that we can back off. Testing has to keep going up, testing is very, very central, but we won’t have tests for everyone.’
@privatebanker Perhaps we agree on more things than we both realized and I hope you didn’t take my comment the wrong way.
I don’t watch any opinionated shows, whether they’re from the left, the right, or even the center. I do read from a variety of news sources that I believe to be relatively reliable, factoring in and balancing out their potential biases. I’m not shy sharing my own opinions though, after some processing and analysis on my own.
Finally, I’m sorry to hear your wife isn’t feeling well and wish her a speedy recovery.
Bill Gates said all the things I have been thinking since very early and why I was so surprised by the USA’s response/lack of response for 2 1/2 months time.
Bill Gates for President.
ER worker describes ‘every man for themselves’ atmosphere regarding protective equipment at New York hospital
From CNN’s Sarah Jorgensen
A physician’s assistant working in the emergency room of a hospital in the New York borough of Queens described an “every man for themselves” atmosphere surrounding personal protective equipment (PPE). CNN is not naming this health care worker because they feared repercussions at the hospital for speaking to the media.
This physician’s assistant told CNN staff were informed two days ago that they would have to make their N95 mask last for five days and that they have been given tips by management about how to keep them clean.
PPE is being prioritized for those staff working with intubated patients, who are the most at risk of infection, the physician’s assistant said. Intubation is when a tube is inserted through the mouth and into the patient’s airway, so the patient can be placed on a ventilator to assist with breathing.
The physician’s assistant hasn’t heard when the hospital will receive more supplies.
You have people out on the streets that have masks and meanwhile the hospitals are all running out of masks," the physician’s assistant told CNN.
The physician’s assistant described a crowded ER that is essentially doubling as an intensive care unit due to the large numbers of people who need to be intubated due to Covid-19.
“There’s patients everywhere," the physician’s assistant said.
Chairs and stretchers are being brought in to compensate for the influx of patients. Oxygen supplies are being replaced constantly.
“I think that no one ever expected to need this many supplies in a short period of time,” the worker said.
The ER worker emphasized that they felt the hospital administration and management’s support of staff has been “pretty impressive” and that they have been checking in on the ER staff’s needs, even helping staff members find hotel rooms so that they do not need to go home and possibly sicken their families.
The physician’s assistant wanted to emphasize to the public the importance of social distancing to help stop the spread of the virus.
"You need to stay home, you need to stay away from people” they told CNN.
Panama to allow stranded cruise to pass
Guardian
Panama’s government has said it will allow the Zaandam cruise ship to pass through the It comes after a stalemate Canal. No one from the ship will be allowed to disembark in Panama, however.
It comes after a stalemate, in which Panama’s authorities had not given approval to let the ship pass through the canal, leaving passengers stuck on board. They are reportedly allowing the ship to pass for “humanitarian reasons”.
The Zaandam cruise ship, currently in Panama, has 130 people with flu-like symptoms, and four have died. At least two of those with symptoms are confirmed to have coronavirus.
This will allow the ship to try and dock in Florida.
Destination of covid-19 stricken cruise liner remains unclear
Guardian
The Zaandam cruise liner might have been given permission to pass through the Panama canal but the question of where the covid-19 stricken ship will be allowed to dock remains unclear.
Holland America Line, the boat’s owners, have previously said they planned to try to dock in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. But the Broward County Commissioner told the Guardian that he did not know if the cruise liner will be allowed to dock. Four people have died on board so far.
“I haven’t gotten anything,” said Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine, who had voiced his strong concerns about the ship coming into South Florida. “That’s something that would have to go through Unified Command at the port first,” referencing a group which includes the US Centers for Disease Control, the US Coast Guard and the Florida Department of Health.
“I’m still very concerned,” he said. “If this ship arrives here, it’s going to put a lot of pressure on our local health system.”
Panamanian officials did not confirm whether the Rotterdam, another Holland America Line that has been sent to help with the rescue operation of asymptomatic passengers, would be allowed to pass through the canal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxAaO2rsdIs
Worth a watch if you have not seen it yet.