Coronavirus prep

snowflake954 wrote: »

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

snowflake954 wrote: »

RetiredAndLovingIt wrote: »

I had read the same thing about smokers. Does Italy have a lot of smokers?

Yes. Young ones too.

Are smokers (or heavy smokers) disproportionately male in Italy, as they were in China?

No, I'd say there are many women smokers too.

Hmm. I wonder if there's still enough of an effect from gendered roles (men "out in the world" dealing with a large number of customers, clients, business contacts, etc., and women in "homemaker" roles with less variety of contacts for disease transmission) to be a factor.


Edited to fix typo.

Another update from the emerald isle.

Pubs & Bars have now been requested to close, there were some taking pretty reasonable precautions like removing furniture to allow for social distancing and limiting customer numbers, but there were some really flouting the government advice (see stag and hen parties dressed in hazmat suits in packed pubs in Temple Bar, Dublin) that it has now just been easier tonsay close the lot til the end of March. Most cinemas, theatres, etc now doing the same. House parties also discouraged.

The panic-buying phenomenon continues, people really are tremendously selfish and stupid, buying far more than they'd need for a couple of weeks of self-isolation.

I am in work tomorrow but working from home the rest of the week as we're manning the office on a rota basis to restrict face to face interactions.

Undoubtedly this will be the quietest Paddy's Day Ireland has seen in a long time.

A lot of my friends are struggling with anxiety issues thank to the sheer volume of fear-mongering on social media and misinformation that's around.

I do hope that the 2 week closedowns of schools, libraries, museums, pubs, etc can relieve the pressure on the healthcare system and it's fantastic workers. This is going to be a long-haul challenge.

So one of the ex colleagues I had lunch with is a native of Wuhan. She said the Chinese response was so quick because it is a dictatorship with a planned economy. They could literally tell a company that normally manufactures T-shirts to switch to producing face masks. Similarly telling a perfume company to make hand sanitizer.

kimny72 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

MikePfirrman wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

mph323 wrote: »

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma is donating a million face masks and 500,000 coronavirus test kits to the US. I'm grateful for the support and hope that our government can work with people like him to tap into international sources for desperately needed medical supplies.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/14/tech/jack-ma-face-masks-us-donation/index.html

This is really out there and sounds like a bonkers conspiracy theory, but can anyone shoot down my thought that testing is being throttled not just for lack of resources but because the fewer people who get tested, the lower the number of confirmed cases and the better the numbers look politically?

It's dark and rainy here, and I've been sitting by myself all day recovering from trying to find tomato sauce for dinner and finding the apocalypse playing out at Safeway. My thoughts are dark.

I guess it's just me, but I think that would require a pretty large-scale, multi-participant conspiracy, a thing that humans are historically pretty bad at sustaining for very long.

And it would have to happen, now, in a leak-ridden political environment where plenty of journalists (and journalistic bottom-feeders besides) would be all too happy to find an break a well-documented version of that story . . . maybe even a poorly-documented one.

If that political conspiracy is happening, it can't hold, IMO.

There's already been reporting on it. And yes, it was reported that they decided not to test as a political hunch that warmer weather would kill it.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-reportedly-rejected-aggressive-coronavirus-121835790.html

Anonymous sources, but I for one, wouldn't doubt this one bit.

I never said certain people in the administration - maybe quite a few - wouldn't manipulate or lie. I said I thought a conspiracy to throttle testing would not hold, i.e., could not be sustained for long.

And it didn't hold.

Various entities started developing their own tests. Parts of the central bureaucracy, and bureaucrats/politicians in the states, pushed back. People leaked stuff. Etc.

Large-scale conspiracies tend to fall apart, especially in relatively non-authoritarian, relatively open societies. When there are too many people involved, they have competing interests, opposing political views, motivations like jealousy/old grudges/revenge/financial benefit, and sometimes a few intended conspirators even turn out to have ethics. It's not that I think no one tries to conspire in nefarious ways; of course they do. Arrogance and hubris mean some startling things are attempted. Big conspiracies are just really hard to sustain.

ETA: Not trying to pick on you here, Mike, even though I'm replying to your post. There have been a few posts replying to mine that seemed to me to be disagreeing with something I didn't think I said (didn't intend to say, anyway), or something tangent to my PP. I'm sure that's because I was unclear, so trying to clarify . . . which will probably make it worse. :drinker:

It sounded to me like you were saying that there was no way that testing was limited in the US on purpose for political gain, because it would require a wide ranging conspiracy that wouldn't be possible. I do disagree with that, because I don't think it would require much of a conspiracy.

I totally agree that wide ranging conspiracies are damn near impossible to carry out and even more impossible to sustain for long even if you can get them started, because humans gonna human.

This little version of the telephone game brought to you by the coronavirus


I have been watching a few episodes of the Leftovers every time there is a free HBO preview weekend and I should be able to finish it this weekend. Not quite post apocalyptic but kinda sorta. Not sure I could watch Contagion or Pandemic right now, this is as close as I get

TBH, I was dubious of the list of chemical companies/products the EPA put out to kill Coronavirus. Not because they don’t, they definitely do, but the list was lacking some major companies/suppliers that I know have products that do the same. I was dubious because I figured the companies in the EPA list were all Trump donors. That thought never would have crossed my mind with any previous administration. And I’m sad that I think it’s possible.

Watched both in the last couple of weeks. Both air-borne hemorrhagic viruses (like Ebola or Marburg on steroids). If that helps, a very different disease (than Coronavirus) transmitted in a way that it isn’t (airborne) with a super-brief incubation period (within 48 hours) and a 100% mortality rate. In other words, dramatized for maximum effect which is what TV/movies are for.

If it’ll bother you, don’t watch. No judging. I live in SoCal and have not watched that San Andreas movie. And I love The Rock. And ... pass.

RCPV wrote: »

Governor Sisolak of Nevada just closed all schools until at least April 6th. We have a large amount of very poor people here who make minimum wage. They literally live paycheck to paycheck and that's a stretch. I don't know what they're supposed to do with their children while they go to work. A great amount are single parents. I'm at a loss. I can't imagine what must be going through their minds at this time - go to work and leave my children alone, or stay home and have no money coming in. Pray for them please, as well as those throughout this country and other countries going through the same thing.

I'm a teacher who can't go to work until April 6th. I'm thinking of calling a friend who has to work an hourly job to make sure she has childcare. If everybody could maybe take in a couple of kids, it would help. The youngest population is the least likely to get this, although they could carry it.

girlwithcurls2 wrote: »

RCPV wrote: »

Governor Sisolak of Nevada just closed all schools until at least April 6th. We have a large amount of very poor people here who make minimum wage. They literally live paycheck to paycheck and that's a stretch. I don't know what they're supposed to do with their children while they go to work. A great amount are single parents. I'm at a loss. I can't imagine what must be going through their minds at this time - go to work and leave my children alone, or stay home and have no money coming in. Pray for them please, as well as those throughout this country and other countries going through the same thing.

I'm a teacher who can't go to work until April 6th. I'm thinking of calling a friend who has to work an hourly job to make sure she has childcare. If everybody could maybe take in a couple of kids, it would help. The youngest population is the least likely to get this, although they could carry it.

That’s such a great idea to help out the working parents with no other alternative due to not being able to afford daycare costs or simply not being able to afford any time off.

Our church (via online streaming) called us today to “wash your hands, then wash their feet” reminding us that in times like this when we have neighbors literally forced to choose between:
A ). work and risk contracting the virus and possibly have to figure out childcare, or
B ). not work+forgo income
that we who are Christians with extra resources have an obligation to help our neighbors how we can: donate food to them (or donate local food banks either food or I’m sure they take phone donations), or watch their kids so they can work, etc.

Anything we can do to help ease some of the stress and anxiety I’m sure would be a huge help to those that feel they have no option to not work💕

I had a talk yesterday with a friend who is originally from Aleppo, in Syria. He has been in the States for 20 years but his family still lives in Syria. His dad is currently in a refugee camp because his town was being shelled. He has seen some stuff! We were talking about the Coronavirus and how Americans aren’t used to facing disasters, and how difficult it was getting to find supplies, and he said something wise.

He said, “While you’re getting all these things in case you have to quarantine, don’t forget the one most important thing to have on hand in an emergency!”

I said, “What’s that?”

He said, “Remember love. Take a moment and look around at the people with you and just appreciate that you are alive right now and every moment is precious. Don’t forget to bring love!”

rheddmobile wrote: »

I had a talk yesterday with a friend who is originally from Aleppo, in Syria. He has been in the States for 20 years but his family still lives in Syria. His dad is currently in a refugee camp because his town was being shelled. He has seen some stuff! We were talking about the Coronavirus and how Americans aren’t used to facing disasters, and how difficult it was getting to find supplies, and he said something wise.

He said, “While you’re getting all these things in case you have to quarantine, don’t forget the one most important thing to have on hand in an emergency!”

I said, “What’s that?”

He said, “Remember love. Take a moment and look around at the people with you and just appreciate that you are alive right now and every moment is precious. Don’t forget to bring love!”

Please thank your friend for his words of wisdom. They come at a really needed time.

bmeadows380 wrote: »

Which is why I am glad our governor has already taken steps to prepare for when the virus finally shows up here in WV; put measures in place now to try to slow it down as much as possible, especially as people have proven to be terrible at self-quarantining.

My church still had services this morning because we don't have a confirmed case yet, but weren't actively encouraging touching, either, and had plenty of hand sanitizer. The pastor also told us that while the church still intends to have services, its being taken day by day, and we will close our doors if necessary.

Still, I was rolling my eyes at the number of people in the church who aren't really taking this seriously at all. I think in West Virginia, because it's not here yet, a lot of people are just brushing it off.

I agree 100% that the lack of WV cases has made people a bit lackadaisical about this... church still happened this morning, but people are changing habits for the most part. We kept our two youngest home because they were sniffly and coughing - 95% sure it’s allergies from a nearby apple town that is in full bloom (spent two hours at the park), but better to be safe. I was teaching SUnday School (before church so hubby and I switched out, he is Assistant Pastor so for a variety of reasons he needed to be there this morning) and got to overhear several conversations that made me want to shake some sense into people, but had a good one with another lady that had a similar mindset as myself. Our church is a hugging church, and they are proud of it! It was comical to see the awkward body language this morning because people just didn’t know what to do

Had to go out so DH could get a “quarantine” tent for work (pop up tent with full enclosure). There was an Aldi in the same shopping center and I went in with one bag expecting a madhouse and cleared shelves - was pleasantly surprised to find most things in order, a few sparse areas (no TP, surprise surprise, very little bread). I stocked up on bacon, butter, and avocado oil because I can be creative in the kitchen, but with out fats/oils to wrk with I don’t know what I would do!

I’ll admit, I would be way more skeptical and in denial of what is going on in the world if it weren’t for this thread, especially @snowflake954’s updates from Italy. I keep trying to talk logical sense into people (the lady this morning is also spreading the “flatten the curve” message) without fear mongering.

snowflake954 wrote: »

We have been told that the data coming out of Northern Italy says that the virus is targeting males especially more than women. Children are being affected very little. Men, especially over 60, but we've had deaths of 40 yr olds. One was an ambulance driver. Milan is converting a huge building from their Worlds Fair several years ago into a hospital.

I'm quoting myself this morning, because Milan is building a new hospital like China. I'm going to share this because these same decisions may be made in the States (and elsewhere) in the future. The head of the infectious diseases hospital in Milan was interviewed on a new hospital. He pointed out that a new hospital will need equipment and staff--all of which is in short supply (the military is sending 20 doctors up North to help out). He thinks it would be better to analyze each hospital and see where there is space to add 15 to 20 beds and equip those. It would also cost less. When asked how it was going this morning he said: "We have 40 beds available this morning, so it depends on how many arrive (this can be 50-70 a day), as for tomorrow, that's another day.