With the Federal Health Megaphone Silent, States Struggle With a Shifting Pandemic
I want to understand how NY is able to test 50K people have the results by the next da per Cuomo’s pressers. . In most states the results are at least 48 hours to process.
We’ll be back in Pause in less than a month, imo.
Interesting Politico article on the prospects for K-12 schools reopening in the US in August/September:
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/17/reopening-schools-coronavirus-327020
(I hadn’t realized that schools in Montana already reopened in May.)
One big issue, no surprise, is getting funding for all the additional expenses, buses, staff, etc. The CARES act helped, but the HEROES act is currently stalled.
One survey showed that 20% of teachers would not return to the classroom. And many more families are considering home schooling.
That’s certainly true, and I’ve read about it, but many nurses (and patients) are in fact describing air hunger and associated panic. Also organ failure and other serious maladies. “I really started to wonder if I was going to die” is a refrain fellow nurses have described.
The main point I was addressing in my response to Creekland was that being in the hospital is not a situation in which one is happily lounging in bed while nurses hover over you, fluffing your pillows and meeting a need for “attention.” It’s bad stuff.
I was absolutely giddy when I scored a 32 oz. bottle of hand sanitizer a month ago. Then I suddenly realized how bad things had gotten when you feel pure joy over finding a disinfecting product. Similar feelings when I was able to lock in an order for wipes on Amazon. Lol, I’m pitiful.
I don’t know but I know NY and CT and some other states have made testing and contact tracing priorities and that their governors have talked about this. I think NY seems to have done a good job of this. I know some tests can get results in even 15 min, but not sure how accurate that type of test is.
What wipes did you get? That’s the one thing I haven’t found yet. Each time I do, by the time I order it is gone.
Clorox wipes and Cavi wipes.
Each time I’ve been shocked when it actually went through.
This is the kind of loaded language that is just as judgmental as that of the stay at home finger waggers. I can assure you that all of my nursing friends who work ER and in COVID units are extremely grateful for all the people who can and do work from home, limit their exposures, wear masks when out and about, etc. Hospital nursing was getting to be extremely challenging even before COVID due to staffing issues. I cannot even imagine working in this environment and feel very lucky to not feel obligated to work in an understaffed and over-filled hospital unit. The fact that many hospitals have not yet been “overwhelmed” (in quotes because nursing in the pre-covid era actually did feel very overwhelming at times and is exactly why I left to do elective surgery OR) is due to the fact that many people are able and willing to work from home and/or willingly limit their exposures. Essential workers absolutely benefit from this.
I’ve been out and about a lot because I have to. We MUST get our new house to a habitable state and ready our current house for sale. I would really prefer to not have to go out as much as I have, but we can’t hold on to two houses indefinitely. I’m trying to be as careful as possible, and in doing so, I hopefully protect myself and my family, but also lessen the risk for and burden on all the essential workers out there who don’t have the choice.
You keep saying this. I’ve yet to see it from anyone posting. I’ve never seen anyone diss essential workers on this thread, the previous threads, or IRL.
Our school district had a FB live meeting about our plans for fall. Three options: 1) all-in – e.g., everyone is going back and we’ll take the appropriate SD measures and wear masks, etc. 2) all online and 3) a hybrid of online and in-person. My guess it will be Option #3. Lots of comments from people in our community about “I’m not sending my kid if s/he has to wear a mask,” and “kids need to be exposed to other kids in order to boost their immunity.” When I read these comments, I felt doom for my community; and then went ahead and bought more masks.
Magical thinking and delusions fit other aspects of this person’s life too. I doubt we can change anything. They just seem to need/want to be the center of attention - always - and don’t seem to have a grasp about what it would entail for this.
To us, it’s just weird. All of it, but especially with this.
I can understand wanting to have it to perhaps be immune for a few months as with the flu, but folks I know who feel this way want to test positive for antibodies and find out they had it asymptomatically. They don’t want to actually endure the illness and certainly don’t want to be hospitalized.
Are people on here thinking immunity will be lifelong similar to chicken pox? I was under the impression that any immunity will be short lived - like with the flu.
Just putting a quick little PSA in here.
This works for some things, but not others. One of my (adult) lads thought it would work for Poison Ivy. He thought it he dabbed little bits of it on himself and let his body recover that he would eventually become immune. PI doesn’t work that way. One gets more sensitive to it with exposure, not less. He is now quite allergic to it. Both he and I started off life not very allergic.
If anyone is thinking some exposure to X might help, do research first.
@suteiki77 do you have a Costco near by? Ours has it. Not Clorox brand but i used it last night and it’s the same as Clorox wipes.
Hand sanitizers are plentiful in every store now.
@Nrdsb4 You are not pitiful lol. I am just glad to have something to be happy about.
I spent $500 at Costco last night and I was so happy! I feel like a real provider for my family 
Our school district had us fill out a questionnaire. I think it went to all staff too.
I put down that I was unlikely to return, but still on the fence.
Questions included things like if we feel we or someone we live with was high risk and if we had any suggestions for making things safer.
I couldn’t come up with anything for the latter question. Kids are social and spread things. That’s life. We could theoretically put 4 kids in a room, each in their own corner with the teacher in the middle and as soon as they got into the hallway they’d be shoulder to shoulder. If we had hallway monitors everywhere or really compliant kids, as soon as they left the school doors they’d do their own thing.
Teaching is going to have to be a profession for the young for a little bit. Ditto that for most staff.
I’m glad I have my 20 years in. I feel for those who are or live with high risk folks and don’t have at least 20 years.
Variolation is depicted in the 2008 HBO miniseries “John Adams,” which I watched for the first time earlier this year, shortly after my state’s safer-at-home orders went into effect. The series was compelling, not only for the life-in-a-pandemic aspects.
With regards to people volunteering to be deliberately infected -
In my neck of the woods (Ontario) most of the province has moved to Level 2. Unfortunately I live in one of the 3 regions that is still being held at Level 1. Numbers are decreasing but not enough yet to relax more restrictions as our hospitals are still pretty full. I am hopeful that it will only be another couple of weeks until we can join the rest of the province. On the bright side the number of new infections nationally are dropping quickly (around 300/day) and recoveries are trending up, though not as fast as I would like to see. We still have around 30,000 active infections.
From the president of the Imm Deficiency Foundation
'YOU CAN LEAD A HORSE TO WATER
A couple of weeks ago during the Q&A time of an IDF Forum, a member of our community asked a question about going to a wedding in August. He was wrestling with the balance of his safety vs. what was likely going to happen (or not) in terms of precautions that those attending were going to take.
His situation was heartbreaking, as there were no satisfying answers as to what he should do. He knew that his need for heightened caution wasn’t likely to be shared by others.
Many of us have been facing similar questions. As everything “reopens,” are the precautions being put in place going to be effective, or are those precautions so compromised that they’ll ultimately be useless to folks like us?
What we’ve been through over the last few months has been the easy part. Stay-at-home orders were in place: there was some (grudging) acceptance of public health mandates and recommendations. The hard part is what we’re going to be facing for the foreseeable future.
When you get right down to it, nothing has changed in terms of the threat that COVID-19 poses. The ability to get a test has improved, but there’s no contact tracing, there are no proven treatments, and there’s no comprehensive strategy to combat the threat.
For a while there, a lot of non-immunocompromised folks got a taste of what most of us understand all too well. About risk-management. About making hard choices. About the relationship between how the actions of others can impact their health. But now? Way too many are demonstrating that they’re bored, frustrated, and ready to “go back to normal.” That, of course, isn’t good news for us.
Don’t get me wrong: there are plenty of reasons to be hopeful for the future. There’s a veritable gold rush of companies pursuing vaccines, hyperimmunes, and other pieces of the prevention and treatment puzzle. Plus, there are a lot of people out there who have embraced the fact that transmission prevention through things like mask-usage and social-distancing is common sense.
But the issues of social pressure, politics, misinformation, apathy, and good ol’ human nature means that we all have an uphill battle. It’s not going to be easy for us as schools and workplaces reopen.
Despite the fact that there’s a wealth of information out there about why we need to continue to be cautious, as the saying goes “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.” That’s especially frustrating for us as zebras.
Knowing that, I’ve been working with the team here at IDF to make sure that we’re able to address the world as it is today, and the world we’ll be facing for the next 18+ months. The word that we’ve used a lot at IDF is “pivot.” We’ve been pivoting from in-person gatherings to virtual ones. We’ve also been pivoting in terms of our approach to advancing our mission. You’ve seen the first elements with our IDF Forums. You’re going to see more in the next couple of months in terms of new programming, awareness campaigns, and legislative advocacy work.
While this “pivoting” is challenging–it’s also incredibly exciting. We’re not the same organization that we were three months ago. Thanks to a great team, our Board of Trustees, and your feedback and participation–IDF is becoming an even better version of itself.
At my core, I consider myself both a realist and an optimist. The realist part of me sees the challenges in our society: both with policy-makers, and with those around us. By and large, they’re not taking COVID-19 seriously enough. As a result, we’ll eventually get through this crisis, but there are going to be a lot of casualties because of the magical thinking of those who can’t see our situation for what it is, but for what they want it to be. However, the optimist in me sees significant gains being made and the probability of lasting change in our society and approach to public health.
So as a realist/optimist, let me leave you with this: continue doing what you’re doing. Eventually, the medical community will have new and better options for us, and for society at large. Until then, it’s a waiting game. While it’s going to be incredibly frustrating as those around you ignore the fact that we’re in a pandemic, just focus on keeping yourself safe.
The months ahead are going to be tough. We’re going to be operating from one playbook as the rest of society operates from another one. But we will get through this. Together.
Gratefully,
John G. Boyle, President &; CEO
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