There are plenty of blames to go around, but the foremost failure is at the federal level. If testing wasn’t available and the message from the federal government was the virus was stopped at the border and would disappear shortly, how would anyone know there was a serious problem?
I knew exactly what you meant. No, I’m going to shut up and stop posting my position on this.
I worked another carry out shift at the restaurant last night and sales were disappointing for a Saturday.
2 customers walked inside the restaurant to get their respective orders instead of waiting in their car. Regulars who wanted to say hi & rant about politics.
Lots of smiling and nodding.
I am still disappointed to see the skeletal crew not masking up for other employees. The front of the house masks up for all customer interaction, but no one is wearing masks around other employees.
I have recently recovered from C19, so for the short term, I’m not too concerned.
That “not being concerned” isn’t going to last forever though, and I can see me requesting to be taken off in-person restaurant shifts & sticking to what remains of any office work.
I got sick 3rd week in March. First test was 3 days after symptoms and took 12 days to get results! Doc said it was negative but test only 65% sensitivity. Since I was febrile and coughing, I couldn’t return to work (RN in Open Heart Surgery).
After 4 weeks of symptoms and the development of a petechial rash, doc ordered another test. This one was supposed to be quicker - 24 to 48 hrs - it took 6 days and was also negative. He didn’t know the sensitivity of that test. I also had a chest X-ray done, which he said was clear.
Anyway, I noticed both NP swabs were not uncomfortable. I don’t think the techs went back far enough nor did they leave the swab in long enough and twirl to get as much material on swab as possible. First one may have been too early and second one may have been too late in my illness to get enough virus on the swab?? Either way, I don’t know what I had but I was out of work for 6 wks and I’m still not 100%. Btw, I’m in my mid 50s, so not a spring chix, lol.
I’m about 45 minutes into the most recent This Week in Virology, and it is a little depressing. As they learn more, they are getting more concerned about this Kawasaki like complication in some children, and realizing that although rare, it is more common than previously thought. They think there will be a second wave. They are increasingly concerned about long term complications, and that they still don’t know if these complications will be permanent or people can recover from them. Of course, there’s much, much more, but these are points that stuck with me.
I was oddly comforted by reading up on stats on polio & measles. Complications ranged from none to horrible permanent damage to death to rare cases of problems developing years later.
Being born in the early 60s, I didn’t experience fear of these diseases firsthand the way my parents & grandparents did. I’m a child of the vaccine age and don’t expect viral diseases to damage me or kill me. It’s a shock.
I’ve got that next TWIV episode ready to play when the rains stops & I can walk the dog.
@rjm2018
Would you get an antibody test if one were available? How accurate would you want the test to be in order to even bother? (or sensitive or whatever the proper term is) DH had something similar in Feb and we’re really curious.
Short of a vaccine, we need to come to the realization that unfortunately some industries and small businesses might not survive unless they can pivot their business to a different model.
It’s a double whammy, not only are people concerned about their health if they frequent these businesses, they might not have the disposable income now to spend on non-essential goods and services.
For example, we are members at a 24 hour fitness club. Lately we have been doing online fitness classes and workouts at home. Not perfect but it gets the job done. We are seriously considering canceling our gym membership and might never go back without a vaccine in place.
Same goes with small, enclosed restaurants. Not going there anytime soon. Our local butcher shop owner tells me business is booming as everyone is buying local meats and cooking/grilling it at home. Saving a lot of money (compared to eating out) and staying safe.
Going out to dinner at a restaurant is a luxury that I fear very few will be doing en mass over the next 6 - 12 months.
Anyone know why this site has no data newer than May 4 (last updated May 12)? It does say that “we expanded our model to account for factors that could contribute to or contain the spread of the disease” on that date. But why nothing newer than that date?
https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america/alabama
Back from our Walmart trip. We went early enough during church hours that it was not crowded. As I’ve mentioned, our city has done well thus far despite only 30-40% wearing masks. Today was no exception. However, I am concerned that we noticed churches were opening back up. I feel like that, along with everyone heading to their usual Myrtle Beach summer trip, will be our downfall. The mask stuff, not as much.
Re: the beach, when I went into the office I chatted (as usual) with our secretary. She mentioned they were still going in a few weeks. Their timeshare condo is open. She also told me that her H does not wear masks and has been continuing to do his multiple store, daily shopping excursions, as usual. (Our Hs both love this habit, but mine has cut back to 1 trip every couple of days and wears a mask & uses hand sanitizer) I was surprised as he’s in his late 60s and diabetic. However, he is the nicest, most gentle person you’d know. He works in a funeral home and isn’t very political about anything.
So that got me thinking why so many here don’t wear masks. I’m sure some of it is political. After all, we’ve got the flaggers who demonstrate rain/shine every Saturday in front of our museum protesting them taking down the Confederate Flag. They’ve been at it for 7 years! They never miss. I live down the street. But I think more are like my friend’s H. He is SO set in his ways. He does the same thing every day. He won’t eat but at the same few restaurants. They don’t vacation anywhere but their time share the same week every year - and go to the same restaurants there. It’s a habit. Changing habits is hard, especially when you’re older. And if you’re reluctant to change and read one news story about masks not helping or even hurting, that will be your excuse to not change. It’s easy to justify.
I think if stores had automatic mask dispensers at the front and requested people to wear them, it would help. But then, I also think some of it is peer pressure. If everyone is wearing them, it’s easier to comply. If nobody is wearing them, it’s harder to be the trend setter. I know I wear my mask out to all the stores. I wore it to get my car’s oil changed and my S’ car inspected/recall fixed. But when I go into the office, I don’t wear one. Why? I guess because in all my trips to the building, I’ve never seen a single other person wear one.
The people who wave CSA flags probably wouldn’t have a positive view of something that they may associate mostly with Asian (i.e. non-white) people.
Human beings have evolved over millions of years to understand human faces. The ability to read facial expressions, as well as the sheer variety of human facial appearances, are evolutionary adaptations that allowed human beings to form groups and ultimately functioning societies.
i would imagine we understand this at some fundamental level, which partly explains the reluctance by many to emulate what we perceive as many Asian societies’ willingness to don masks at the slightest sign of risk.
I was wondering the same thing! I look at that site every day but there’s been nothing new for awhile.
Because you don’t need a mask when you are outside as long as you are social distancing.
I would. For me, I won’t do it unless it’s 98% (or more) accurate.
I asked upthread for reports from people who had relatives, friends or colleagues who had been hospitalized and then discharged. I hadn’t been hearing a lot about people who are hospitalized and bounce right back, so I wondered if most people have a long convalescence, or if we’re just not hearing the good stories. MaineLonghorn reported on a 60-year-old brother of a friend (who is not “gone,” but “home,” bad typo in the circumstances 
Anyone else with stories about people recovering from bad covid? Especially people who are under 65?
I’m sure there was pressure to open. There is everywhere. But aren’t there still capacity limits? I thought it was something like 50% capacity. How does a bar get so crowded, if they’re complying with the capacity limits? I hope that was the exception and that most bars and restaurants are complying.
I can tell you about the cases I personally know, Cardinal Fang. A bunch of teens, light covid, quick recovery. 2 35 year olds, both flu-like symptoms, all better within 48 hours. One 79 year old ER doctor, bad covid, on ventilator, now back home and doing well. Still tired, but as he points out, he often was before, too. One friend of a friend, age 70, died of a heart attack, may have been covid related, not sure. That’s the roundup from my extended family and friends.
I wrote that Santa Clara County is bringing new case numbers down and testing:
@MarylandJOE asks a great question:
Good point. A grocery store clerk testing negative right now doesn’t mean she won’t catch the disease tomorrow. We don’t test grocery store clerks monthly to keep every infected clerk out of every store; that’s not the reason for this surveillance testing.
A negative test doesn’t tell us very much, but a positive test is worth a lot. When the clerk tests positive, the public health apparatus springs into action. The clerk is isolated (hopefully social workers can help get the person isolated alone, if she lives with others; hopefully she still gets paid for staying home). Everyone else in the store is tested. Contact tracers spring into action. We can squash some outbreaks before they happen.
On average, people infect some number of other people. But, as I’ve come to understand, that’s an average, and the variance is large. Lots of infected people end up infecting nobody else, and a few end up infecting dozens. So if we have a low level of infection and eliminate some infected people from infecting others, we might eliminate the superspreader and then the infection dies out.
The judge about whom I posted above appears to be recovering well (if his recent photos of food are any indication; he is well known in Milwaukee for his social media posts about restaurant food he enjoys). He is in his 50s, black, and a recipient of a kidney donation.