NY has the highest rate of infection at 14%. It used to be 30%. It came down since they began testing more. Other places it was around 10%. That’s from about a week ago when I was still following the data. Yes, 17% seems high.
The easiest explanation, and the one I believe, is that New York is testing sicker people. In my area, the only suspected cases who get tests are NBA players, people being admitted to the hospital, elderly people being sent home to recover, and people who have comorbidities and are being sent home to recover. If you’re a younger person without comorbidities, and the doctor is pretty sure you have covid but is not admitting you to the hospital, you don’t get a test.
If Westchester tested a lot of asymptomatic contacts, they will end up with a lower death rate than an area like New York City that only tests suspected serious cases.
NYS positive rate was around 45% in the last few days.
The actual positive rate is a lot higher, because many test results are still pending (in some cases, it takes up to a week to get the results back from the labs). Here in NJ, the positive rate is at 40% right now. It means either we aren’t testing enough people, or many people can’t get tested.
Not at all. They’re not testing random people. They’re testing people suspected of having the disease.
The rate is high because of the test eligibility criteria: only folks exhibiting certain symptoms are tested.
It makes no sense that masks are vital to protect medical people, but are ineffective for use by the general public.
I think the advice given now is intended to limit mask demand and use. When they are freely available, the advice will change.
Actually, it makes perfect sense for a general policy. The chances of a medical professional coming into contact with a patient carrying a communicable disease is extremely high; by definition, their job is to see sick people.
The chances of the “general public” coming into such contact is extremely low. (COVID transmissability will diminish once a vaccine is available)
Governor Cuomo’s daily update:
The fight against Coronavirus is a war. On the frontline of this battle is the healthcare system. The fight will take place in hospitals across New York City, across the state and across this nation. So our strategy is clear: don’t let the hospital system get overwhelmed. The doctors, the nurses, the people working in the hospitals are the troops who are fighting this battle for us. So right now, we need to support our troops — our healthcare professionals. We need to deliver every supply, every piece of equipment that they need. That is our responsibility. And that’s what New York State is working so hard to do.
Here’s what else you need to know tonight:
- Today, New York welcomed the arrival of the US Naval Ship Comfort to New York Harbor. We knew from the very beginning of this crisis that hospital capacity was critical. We asked and the federal government answered. This ship will provide 1,000 additional hospital beds, 1,200 personnel and is a major step forward in our fight against Coronavirus.
- We have developed a statewide public-private hospital plan to fight COVID-19. It's unfair for some hospitals to bear the brunt of this pandemic while other hospitals are less impacted. I'm glad that public and private hospitals across the state have agreed to implement a new balanced approach to fighting the virus where hospitals that are beginning to reach or exceed capacity can transfer patients to other hospitals that are not as full. Hospitals across the state have also agreed to share staff and supplies. This is necessary to save lives and keep our healthcare system functional.
- The first temporary hospital at the Javits Center is officially open. The 1,000-bed site is accepting its first patients today. The temporary hospital was constructed in just one week — an incredible achievement.
- New York needs relief for our nurses and doctors. I'm asking healthcare workers across the country to come and help New York if they are able. We will return the favor in your hour of need. Healthcare professionals can sign up here: http://health.ny.gov/assistance. (Or forward this email to a friend!)
Tonight’s “Deep Breath Moment”: Today is National Doctors’ Day. To all the doctors and healthcare professionals putting your lives on the line to fight this virus, we thank you. You make New York proud.
Ever Upward,
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
If such a contact is extremely low, it makes me wonder why we are asked to stay home.
too late to add: in normal times, think about the tremendous waste that would occur if 350 million people started wearing masks everytime they walked outside.
I am most hopeful about all the different drug trials and studies that are being done. In the discussion about them, I have not heard of this effort:
https://www.genomeweb.com/sequencing/covid-19-host-susceptibility-studies-ramp-internationally#.XoKIeaIrK_s
This is a study to figure out if there is a genetic reason why some otherwise young and healthy people are having such severe cases and/or dying. It seems plausible that there is a genetic reason, and I’m so happy so many institutions are combining forces to figure it out.
Times are not normal. Some of the masks can be reused - washed, sterilized in the oven, left alone for a few days, … This is not one mask per day per person.
If you have time, watch the video. The data convinced me, may be it will convince you too if you give it a chance.
Staying home is what makes the chance of that contact extremely low.
Has anyone else seen the video of Dr. Michelle Au? She puts a twist on this and says that really health care workers aren’t the frontline, they are the last line of defense. We all are the frontline and our behavior, our willingness to isolate ourselves is what will help win the battle. You can listen to here words in a short video in this link. I thought it was a good way of wording it.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/596481/coronavirus-doctors-write-wills/
It actually makes a lot of sense, if you consider it.
If you are a regular citizen walking down the streets, keeping 6 feet from everybody else, the chance that you will get sprayed with droplets from a cough or sneeze are pretty small, since they don’t reach that far, and they start sinking immediately, so even if you walk into a space which was “sprayed”, it will be very unlikely to still be at face level. The most common way of infection is from a surface to a hand, and from the hand to the face. So a face mask offers very little additional protection to somebody who is practicing social distancing.
On the other hand, patients and costumers are sneezing, coughing, and otherwise spraying droplets full of virus directly into the faces of doctors, nurses, and store clerks. They cannot keep that 6 foot distance from anybody. So the most common way a doctor or nurse will be infected is directly, and a g=face mask is very good at protecting from this mode of transmission.
The health care worker will also, due to the nature of the job, come in closer contact with the sick people than someone in the general public who is mostly staying six feet away from others.
Grocery store workers are also likely to be at higher risk than most of the general public.
I posted earlier that folks in Australia are now required to use masks when shopping.
More likely to protect others from asymptomatic carriers or people who are sick and refuse to self quarantine. They also likely do not have the shortages that the the USA does.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandrasternlicht/2020/03/29/as-wealthy-depart-for-second-homes-class-tensions-come-to-surface-in-coronavirus-crisis/#2b870ae6344d Article from Forbes, As Wealthy Depart For Second Homes, Class Tensions Come To Surface In Coronavirus Crisis