I agree and that’s a huge part of why I’m so anxious. I don’t know where the patients are being sent for their CV 19 tests. I can only hope they are being sent to a lab with a highly sensitive test. I also wonder about the person doing the test - are they doing it and handling it per the CDC guidelines. An NP swab needs to be done very specifically. It would be nice to have a quick, accurate test that is easily-acquired and minimizes the chance of improper collection.
Other points of errors in tests are those that have to undergo transit and how samples are handled in transit. In HI, some of our Walt tests didn’t get results for over a weeks as they were sent to CDC in Atlanta. That’s a lot of travel time. Now, fortunately our labs have been certified to analyze the C19 tests.
False + and - tests are very problematic for policy makers too (tho not as directly as for healthcare workers). They need to know whether their actions are increasing or decreasing cases.
Saw an article that states Roche has an antibody test that is 100% accurate at detecting them, 99.8% for ruling them not present.
The outlet’s wording, not mine, and I consider it “might be true, might not be true.”
I worry about states who have not reached the proposed state or regional gating criteria of what they should ‘satisfy before proceeding to phased opening’ in the national guidelines opening in any way.
The guidelines call for a downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14 day period or in positive tests as a percent of total tests within a 14 day period with flat or increasing volume of tests, ditto for influenza-like illness reported and covid-like syndrome cases, being able to treat all hospital patients without crisis care, and a "robust testing program in place for at-risk healthcare workers, including emerging antibody testing.’
States are supposed to have extensive contact tracing and testing and plans to keep people in key industries, plans for keeping seniors in senior care facilities safe, ways to protect people on mass transit, ‘advise citizens regarding protocols for social distancing and face coverings’ and should ‘monitor conditions and immediately take steps to limit and mitigate any rebounds or outbreaks by restarting a phase or returning to an earlier phase, depending on severity.’
It seems not all states that have opened have done all those things and have all those things ready if any.
Here is a link to the guidelines.
Sweet stuff has long been recognized as a well-known recession-proof category. Google “recession-proof” and either candy or chocolate and you’ll find many references to it. Nostalgic, comforting, a relatively inexpensive treat. Cupcakes and pastries fit the same definition. When you have to do without a lot - either economically or in terms of activities due to an economic downturn or a pandemic - many can still find the means for a treat that costs a few dollars.
That’s just nuts! What is wrong with people!?! So many grocery store workers are stressed as it is and to have that type of behavior happening is sickening!
As cases have gone up in our county, many of our stores are now requiring masks, which I’m glad for both the employees and the shoppers. We’ve been doing curbside pick up for weeks to avoid the store bc not enough people were wearing masks and it was often too busy.
Our state has been having face coverings in public settings now for a number of weeks. Folks here are complying. Violence and threats is so wrong and just makes a tough situation worse.
One can argue about the effectiveness of masks, but armed threats of violence should be met with arrest and prosecution, not a craven withdrawal of mask requirements.
Checked my email… There were two emails from a boutique in Waikiki (I shopped there 5 years ago and never ever got any emails from them!!) - “thinking of you.” Wow, things must be very dire there that the staff dug up old customers’ emails. 
I read an article somewhere that from sewage water analysis, the number of people who have gotten Covid19 is about 10 times the reported number. Factor in undereporting of deaths from Covid19, and the fatality rate is in that 0.5-1% range I mentioned before (less than that but still higher probability than dying from anything else for middle-aged folks).
So 11M+ already have contracted the virus in the US. But that’s still only 3% of the country (more like 20% in NYC and environs). As it seems the novel coronavirus spreads pretty easily, it’s very likely that the US will just keep stumbling along at around the death rate we’ve been seeing (as various places keep opening up and shutting down again) until some sort of herd immunity forms (after 1-2M deaths).
Soon you could walk around looking like a baby Yoda. And no one will say that you are nuts. Who needs Halloween?
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/30/cnn-underscored/disney-face-mask/index.html
Right, I think the 1- 2 million death thing is much more likely now, looking at leadership, we are probably at over 100K now with corrections for missed cases. I just don’t see how it is avoidable with this population and the current climate. Again I want to know how the old codgers in govt are not affected. Not one near miss? Not a single ICU admit?
If the 11 million already infected is correct, and we have 100K already dead now, and we just muddle along until we get herd immunity, 2 million dead will be a fond memory. (“Oh, those happy days when we’d only lost 2 million people to covid, how I miss that paradise.”) We’d need more than that to reach herd immunity, and recall when herd immunity is reached via infection, the infections keep happening for a while.
I don’t understand why it’s ever ok to threaten someone with physical violence, for any reason, especially with a firearm. Was anyone arrested? The article doesn’t say.
Well, I know my parents’ church met in Texas yesterday. Makes me livid. Only 16 people showed up, at least. My parents didn’t go but I know they will feel pressure (yes, pressure) to attend. And as I posted yesterday, young people are flocking to parks and ignoring all safety measures.
Again, see my link from yesterday about kids partying. I’m afraid that a lot of people take “partial reopening” to mean “back to normal!!”
I am curious about the approaches used in the various states that are reopening. Seems like GA is held out as one that’s doing it all wrong, along with FL. But less is said about other states, leaving the impression that all the states that are starting to reopen are being irresponsible. I’m a big believer that the state and local governments are in the best position to know what’s right for their communities, in consultation with their own health departments (Not 2 doctors in Bakersfield CA, for example, and not based on what’s happening in NY or MA.)
Of the states that are starting to reopen, which are doing it well? Two that I’m following are OH and MA, and I have a higher level of confidence in their governors, based on what I’ve seen so far.
Doesn’t the church have enough room for 16 people to distance themselves? Only 1 church opened up here, but they followed distancing practices, seating people far apart. If your parents feel pressure from their church over any issue, maybe they should find a new church.
Young adults in areas less affected by the virus and with lovely weather are going to go out, and I don’t think there is much anyone can do about that. Parks and outdoor gatherings are probably better than indoors.
“As someone born in NYC who has lived here for virtually my entire adult life, I have been waiting to comment on NYC-related posts here until I catch up, but I guess I never will. @roycroftmom NYC subways were not and are not filthy. NYC public hospitals were not a disaster before the pandemic. I find it hard to believe that you think they were. What gave you that idea?”
@oldmom4896 - In general I have fallen far to the pro-NYC side of the discussion here, but I regret to say, yes, the NYC subways (and buses) are indeed filthy. So are metropolitan US airports. So is the MBTA here in MA. I’m kind of appalled at the news coverage, “now we’re going to be cleaning every day” (really?? just NOW you’re cleaning?) In comparison to other countries, we do a rotten job of keeping our crowded public areas clean.
I was a native New Yorker. I have decades of experience with filthy subways there, and no one who works in a public hospital would say things were ok, pre-Covid.