Except that is exactly what New Zealand did.
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/05/05/new-zealand-coronavirus-borders
Thread in a specific color is not an essential need.
One can make masks without thread or elastic or even sewing anything.
The problem is in March if you told everyone they need a mask, there would be a run on all the existing masks and the hospitals and frontline medical workers would not have had the PPE to effectively do their jobs. As it was there was a huge shortage of masks without the general public required / highly encouraged to wear masks. I’m not saying it was the correct decision but I get the concept that you don’t want to panic the public and get them into a buying frenzy, where chaos ensues.
What’s shocking to me if that there was no real plan for how our society should operate during a time of disease outbreak. Doesn’t the WHO, CDC, worldwide experts have conferences and do extensive research papers on “what do to during a disease outbreak”? This is what they do for a living right?
“The problem is in March if you told everyone they need a mask, there would be a run on all the existing masks and the hospitals and frontline medical workers would not have had the PPE to effectively do their jobs.”
Hospitals, IMO, should have had a two month supply of that stuff on hand. And they should not have needed the CDC or WHO to tell them that.
I have a hard time with looking backwards for the blame game at the moment. If only China didn’t do x in December or our government did do y in February. Etc. I can agree with all of it. So how does any of that change best practices now?
I am all good with us doing a deep dive in to what happened, who is to blame and how to do it better next time, but I think everyone’s energy is better spent right now on getting the best data possible and taking care of each other, all to the best of our abilities. It would be great if we could agree on what that meant, and I know we can’t. But maybe we can agree on “first, do no harm?” Sadly, even that seems like a reach.
A two month supply for everyday use or a two month supply for a pandemic? I think one of the issues with the available supply is that this illness requires so much ppe. However, we obviously need to have a larger stockpile and the capability of manufacturing it within the US.
I think the poster made it clear what “private pay” meant- not through an agency. It’s really not anyone’s business on this forum how the poster’s family handles the withholding tax.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/24/lake-ozarks-missouri-coronavirus-social-distancing/
Watch the short video. Not good.
Oh, Emilybee… I guess if it was my husband (and bread and butter) standing next to the governor of New York, Illinois, or Michigan, facing an increasingly restless populace, I’d want everyone else to be stuck in a hard lockdown too. For all your privileges, at least that is not something I have to be concerned about. Though I am not so hard up as to have to make a mask out of an old tee shirt either.
Off now with DH to buy a couple of azaleas for the front flower bed. It is a lovely day out and I would like to plant them before the rains come back.
From the article ^^^^^
Yeah. CLEARLY “extra precautions” were taken. Rolls eyes.
Something can rise exponentially with mostly surface spread. All it has to be is a pathogen where one infected person infects more than one other person, and that can happen with a lot of infections. Spread is greatly enhanced if nobody is immune, as was the case with covid.
Deleted
I like this article in the New York Times, sort of a mega-obituary/editorial for 1000 of the 100,000 covid losses. The numbers are so huge, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that everyone who died was a distinct person, that others are mourning.
Small in stature but strong in spirit. Regina Cullen, 81, Shrewsbury, Mass.
Man who seemed to know everything. Luther Coleman, 108, Evergreen Park, Ill.
Art supply businessman with a romantic streak. Norman Gulamerian, 92, New Providence, NJ
Young, healthy guy who took care of himself. Ronaldo Ferrari, 42, Berlin, Conn.
Brother of Senator Elizabeth Warren. Donald Reed Herring, 86, Norman, Oklahoma.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/24/us/us-coronavirus-deaths-100000.html
Around here with larger events (like the car racing that’s supposed to happen tomorrow), “extra precautions” seems to be having everyone attending sign a waiver regarding Covid. If they catch it, they can’t blame the venue.
I imagine that would be a good thing for pretty much every business. Lawsuits could abound and those would be pricey - even if the business won.
Ideas on what could help that is also possible?
Mine for now:
- States all got stimulus money. They should use some of it to pay for sick leave for anyone who has to stay home because they have or were exposed to Covid-19. We can have the universal sick leave discussion another day, this is something to do now so that those Springfield MO hairdressers, nursing home aides, and others don’t feel they have to choose between spreading Covid and paying the bills. Starting now.
- PSAs with influencers of every political preference and demographic, targeted to audiences they would influence, recommending mask wearing. And demonstrating i in public. Fox news, Instagram, MSNBC, Twitter, whatever people pay attention to.
This is where comments like stupid and selfish are accurate and fitting. I’ve seen photos that are similar but less egregious in my state. I’m sure these aren’t isolated incidents this holiday weekend. 'Merica.
From the Wall Street Journal: “A discussion thread titled School in the Fall & Coronavirus on the College Confidential online forum became so heated in recent days, the moderator deleted 11 posts and urged participants to be civil.”
Guess who the moderator was?? I’m famous. ?
To be fair, it really wasn’t that heated. I was deleting off topic posts so it wouldn’t become heated!
Not isolated incidences.
You were taken out of context. You should sue. 
It’s been almost 3 months and we still don’t have enough tests.
“A review by The Associated Press found that at least half of the states are not going to meet White House’s deadline and some aren’t even bothering to try.
Only a handful of states, including West Virginia and Rhode Island, have said they’ve already tested every nursing home resident.
Many states said the logistics, costs and manpower needs are too great to test all residents and staff in a two-week window. Some say they need another week or so, while others say they need much more time. California, the most populous state, said it is still working to release a plan that would ensure testing capacity for all residents and staff at skilled nursing facilities statewide.”
And still other states are questioning whether testing every nursing home resident and staff, regardless of any other factors, is a good use of time and money.
“At this time it would be fairly useless to do that,” said Nebraska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Gary Anthone, adding that the state would have to repeat the tests almost daily to get more than a snapshot in time, and the state doesn’t have the capacity when there are others who need to be tested.“
“Nursing home operators have said the lack of testing kits and other resources have left them nearly powerless to stop the virus from entering their facilities because they haven’t been able to identity silent spreaders not showing symptoms.”
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/White-House-goal-on-testing-nursing-homes-unmet-15291919.php
That Lake of the Ozarks video was shocking. I am not at all in the “gleeful” wish it on’em camp. Not at all. So when I see that, and know it’s repeated all across the country, it makes me sad. For them. For us.
There have been not quite as egregious, but still sobering, pictures coming from the end of the Jersey Shore I am at now (southern end). I think people there don’t know what it was like up North, and can’t imagine it could get like that down here. But having lived through it, I can. All too clearly.