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Yeah, for now preparing for a possible week to two week home confinement probably isn't a bad idea, just to avoid empty shelves if you wait until panic sets in.
Paper products, non-perishables, some extra frozen items, soaps and first aid supplies if low, etc. Nothing crazy, just some extra quantities of things you'd normally use.
About Italy:
Foreign Minister
"As Foreign Ministry, we are committed to disseminating the correct data on the real size of the coronavirus in Italy abroad. And this image created by the Crisis Unit returns the reality of the facts, against any alarmism and imprecise information spread in these days.
As you can see, and I explained it to the foreign press today, only 0.1% of Italian municipalities are affected, as well as 0.05% of the national territory. Quarantined people instead represent 0.089% of the Italian population. And also in Lombardy and Veneto we speak of very restricted areas (0.5% of the Lombardy region, 0.2% of the Veneto region).
Let me also say that at this stage it is essential that the institutions communicate every news with a great sense of responsibility, because the risk is that there is a transition from a pandemic to an infodemic due to misinformation. And all this risks causing damage to our businesses, the tourism sector and the commercial fabric of the country, which represent national pride and which must be defended by any means.
Having taken strongly precautionary measures, such as having made about 10,000 swabs (while other countries have stopped a few hundred), it cannot be a fault. We continue to work intensively for our compatriots, abroad and at home, and to protect our economy."
https://it-it.facebook.com/LuigiDiMa...type=3&theater
By the way, what are the specific criticisms about Trump's handling of the Corona Virus? I'm seeing some criticisms floating through my news feed, often by Dem party members but I'm not getting anything specific. It's all just general "he's not handling it right" messages. I'm struggling to imagine what the specifics would be and what you could blame him for.
Is there anything he's done or said (or tweeted) that he shouldn't have done? Is there a message people feel he should have sent out that he hasn't? A contingency he's blocked? Or is it just generalised mud slinging?
Yes the virus won't be as destructive because there is no FLUE in summer so that would be kaput
They must be lying then about all the countries in the tropical parts of the globe having it. More fake news I guess.
The universities around here have already started to pull their study abroad students (regardless of location), and the company I work for has begun curbing international travel (which, as a govt contractor is not easy).
-tg
Earlier this year he canned the person at the CDC that would be in charge of pandemic outbreaks for unspecified reasons. And then this week he put Pence in charge of dealing with the Corona out break here in the US. Because apparently that's his specialty.Quote:
Originally Posted by FunkyDexter
-tg
The fun thing about Trump is that he's largely taken credit for the booming stock market, and really tied himself to it. Now that the market is melting down, so is Trump. He's trying to say that he shouldn't be blamed for the Corona virus, which is obviously true, but it wouldn't have been an issue if Trump hadn't made it an issue. He used the market as a metric for his success, while few others would. Now that the market is collapsing, that metric doesn't work so well for him and he's getting loud about it. You might say that it's a defective infective invective corrective.
Having gotten that out of the way, the issue I have with Trump on this has yet to materialize. He doesn't care about anything other than his success metrics, which are really just in his own mind, but they clearly weigh on him heavily. So, I feel that his past record suggests that he is very likely to respond poorly if there actually is a significant outbreak in the US. All he will care about is keeping it from being tied to him, not solving that, or anything else. Pence is an example of that. He's a weak sack, and Trump surely knows that. Putting him in charge is almost certainly a means of trying to control any message, as well as creating a scapegoat if one becomes necessary.
I never believed what a Chinese medical expert (official) said. Chinese doctors (modern doctors) are professional, but the vast majority of those medical expert/officials(those who show up and speak outside) are inexperienced, although most of them have the title of "Academician of Medicine". I don't think they have more medical knowledge than a VB6 programmer (DreamManor), they will become the laughingstock of the medical community.Quote:
Originally Posted by techgnome
Evangelical Christian leaders collectively send energy to Blessing Trump to protect him from the new coronavirus.
@Shaggy and TG, so if I'm reading you correctly the criticism so far boils down to failing to prepare, and probably being the sort of person who will fail to act effectively when required to do so. Have I got that about right?
I wasn't aware he'd canned his CDC director. I had a bit of a google and it seems he didn't actually fire him but rather the incumbent left (possibly because he felt the position had become untenable) and hasn't been replaced because "funding", which I guess amounts to the same thing (of course, the media has become so polarised in the US that it was hard to find objective information). Either way, that's a dropped ball at the wrong time.
Ha! You might. I'd have lacked the imagination.Quote:
You might say that it's a defective infective invective corrective.
Yeah, there hasn't been much of anything to do, so the fact that he hasn't done anything doesn't matter much. However, things are changing. The first fatality in the US has just been announced, and yet another strange outbreak is popping up in Seattle. We may well see a bit of a panic. Trump is speaking at the moment, but thus far it's just a matter of boasting, lying, and non-statements. He has now said that we have taken the most aggressive actions in history, and the most aggressive actions of any country. We certainly have not, since China quarantined entire cities, and we have done essentially nothing.
He's been pretty vague on what they HAVE done, except that he just said that we had 43 million masks, which is interesting, since the CDC has said "don't bother" for the vast majority of people.
I really don't understand why the CDC would say that. If nothing else it seems they would help prevent transmitting the virus from your hands to your nose or mouth.
By keeping people from eating? Picking their noses? What?
Very well put....Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker
I realize that Trump is in the middle of this - for better or worse - but I hope this doesn't turn into a mostly Trump bashing thread.
That out of the way, a press conference was just held in Washington state. Apparently, at a nursing home, a resident and a worker have been confirmed to be infected, and dozens of other residents and workers are symptomatic and are being tested. Results of those tests are possibly coming as soon as later today.
I expect similar localized outbreaks in the coming days, unfortunately. After that, complete chaos and pandemonium.
It would definitely make it harder to pick your nose. Well worth the price of the mask!Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker
I think it would reduce the amount of time we unconsciously touch our mouth or nose with our hands. My son has been staying with me and got some type of bug so I tried to make an effort not to touch my hand to my mouth or nose. I was amazed at the amount of times per day I caught myself doing it without even realizing. I think a mask would make it more obvious, if it reduces the chances by 5% then it's worth it, especially for people who are susceptible to pneumonia or already have some type of problem with their lungs. That said, I've never worn one, it just seem a reasonable precaution.
Those of us who are more hirsute tend to be touching our faces often...just to make sure we aren't carrying anything extra in the beard.
Still, I believe that what the CDC was getting at was that there is a certain amount of futility to wearing a mask if you aren't in a high risk area. On the other hand, in my experience, wearing those masks gets pretty doggone nasty after not all that long. If they aren't trapping the humidity from your breath, then they wouldn't be doing much against airborne particles, so they DO end up trapping plenty of humidity, and end up being rather foul.
As for Trump bashing, I don't think he's done anything right or wrong with the virus. Until this weekend, I don't feel there was much to do aside from studying things. Still, he's pretty much scored an own goal on this one when it comes to the stock market, and I do find that pretty amusing. If the president, ANY president, had a lever they could pull that would make the economy better, they'd pull that lever as soon as they got into the office and keep on pulling it throughout their term. There is no such lever. Presidents get too much blame for bad economies and too much credit for good economies. Most just smile, since they know they can't totally drive that bus. What's different about Trump is that he's been claiming credit for the booming stock market. So now....own goal.
Having said that, I felt that the market was overpriced ahead of this drop, and also felt that this was an overreaction. I'm not so sure about that latter statement, though. The measures governments are taking to curtail the virus is certainly going to harm the global economy. If the virus runs its course quickly enough, the harm won't be too great, but it likely will not be all that quick because the global economy was starting to look a bit sickly before the virus.
From what I've heard the masks have no effectiveness over facial hair.
Yeah, swim masks don't work much better. Of course, it depends on the amount of facial hair. Perhaps if you have enough, they become effective again? Air would no longer pass through the mask, but through the labyrinthine depth of beard.
This twitter thread is pure gold...
https://twitter.com/actioncookbook/s...20136431124482
Quote:
NEIL DIAMOND: touching hands
CDC: no don’t touch hands
NEIL DIAMOND: reaching out
CDC: please avoid that
NEIL DIAMOND: TOUCHING YOU-
CDC: everyone is Boston is doomed
Quote:
Pink Floyd: HEY YOU
CDC: oh hell
Pink Floyd: out there on your own
CDC: ok, self quarantined, not so bad
Pink Floyd: sitting naked by the phone WOULD YOU TOUCH ME
CDC: god damnit
...Quote:
GEORGIA SATELLITES:
She said, "Don't give me no lies, and keep your hands to yourself."
CDC: She's 100% correct. Listen to what she says.
-tg
We'd best have a zombie apocalypse. The way people are reacting to this virus, it would be a shame if we had all this hysteria preparation without anything worthy of it. Every fine cat deserves a fine rat.
After Attending a Trump Rally, I Realized Democrats Are Not Ready For 2020
Quote:
I’ve been a Democrat for 20 years. But this experience made me realize how out-of-touch my party is with the country at large.
That question seems to imply that Trump is fit to be president and so why the criticism...Quote:
Originally Posted by FunkyDexter
Just generally he is a pathological liar. He can't help himself. That is not the kind of person you want to have in charge of a crisis. Here is an example, during one of his first press conferences he said a vaccine was "coming soon". His sycophants had to correct that ASAP saying what Trump really was talking about was the Ebola virus. Is that the kind of liar your want informing the nation? Can you really ever trust what he says? He can't even tell the truth about where his father was born...
Trump is a narcissist. Everything is about him. He wrongly, the economy has been on a steady ten year rise, claims he is the savior of the stock market. So what is his first reaction when it goes down, send out Larry Kudlow, the economic advisory, to calm people about the stock market. It is not about the nation and the virus, it is is about Trump.
Next up, put Pence in charge. He is blamed for a number of deaths because of how he handled HIV in Illinois. Not only does he not have any medical background at all he disputes the findings of people that do.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/26/2...s-response-hiv
And what is Pence's priority? All news releases must go through him. Anyone that thinks that is for anything less than keeping damage control down for Trump is fooling themselves. He was touting Trump's "decisive actions saving us" on the Sunday shows. There isn't a bigger sycophant on the planet and Trump put him in change of our safety. With Trump in charge the virus is second to him as far as government action.
So my point is Trump's actions for the last three years is indicative of what he is doing now. Is everything we read in the news about the virus fake? Is the enemy of the people, the press, going to tell us lies about the virus to hurt Trumps election? That is what he says. So asking "but I'm not getting anything specific. It's all just general "he's not handling it right" messages. I'm struggling to imagine what the specifics would be and what you could blame him for." implies he is being wrongly thought of as unfit for a crisis.
The question I think should be asked is he fit for any crisis whatsoever?
CoronaGate is just another political attack, and filthier than even RussiaGate and UkraineGate.
People are waking up to the antics of the crazies driving the Democratic Party bus these days. Throwing the people under that bus as well, merely to achieve mean-spirited cynical political aims, should set off alarm bells and ultimately cost them dearly come November.
I don't think anyone is suggesting you should embrace Trump and Pence. There is plenty to be worried about there. What should be scary is how much worse their opposition keeps proving it is.
That is because every day that moron is in office things get worse. He is gutting intelligence agencies left and right, replacing career diplomats and professionals with his cronies, sacrificing decades of ally building, etc. Every single day spreading his hateful lies. You say that about people talking badly about Trump is somewhat misguided . Just listen to the fear mongering, hate filled rhetoric he spews out at his rallies. He is earning every bit of the loathing the country has for him every single day.Quote:
Originally Posted by dilettante
Blaming the opposition for his unfitness for office is the pot calling the kettle black.
Who'd a thunk this was really all about palace intrigue?
Every new regime throws old rascals out and replaces them with new rascals, typically no better. Career bureaucrats don't like having their cushy applecarts overturned. Cry me a river. I lived through such events myself in my career, it's just an unfortunate fact of the game.
In the meantime there are real factors in play like this new health threat.
What - he said just the other day a vaccine was coming soon. Oh that's right, he was talking out of his @ss and his sycophants corrected that by saying he really meant an Ebola vaccine.Quote:
Originally Posted by dilettante
Is that how to handle a health threat? Get up and lie about it to the country. How about him implying it is the Democrats fault? That is thinking about the nation first. How about worrying the stock market is the real the priority. Shouldn't the health risk come first?
I fully understand the nation might not want this to be political..if that is true take Trump's twitter account away from him.
lol how did this turn into a political discussion?
We all know that republicans are racists and democrats are commies. Back to COVID-19!
I don't see how we can discuss the impact to the country without discussing how our government is reacting to it. And when the leader of the government implies the Democrats are the problem it becomes political. When instead of putting the medical and scientific communities in charge and instead put a political sycophant in charge it becomes political. When the president is more concerned about the stock market then the nation's health because it affects his election it becomes political.Quote:
Originally Posted by kfcSmitty
Has he done that? I mean, he's implied they're at fault for just about everything else (though that's pretty standard fare in politics), but I haven't see him blame Covid on them. I could be wrong about that though. I genuinely don't know, which is why I'm asking.Quote:
when the leader of the government implies the Democrats are the problem
Quote:
instead of putting the medical and scientific communities in charge and instead put a political sycophant in charge
Those seem like valid criticisms to me.Quote:
the president is more concerned about the stock market then the nation's health because it affects his election
He is calling it "This is their new hoax". So he isn't accusing them of actually spreading the disease. He is politicizing it that way though which is my point. His son has even more to say:Quote:
Originally Posted by FunkyDexter
"But for them - Democrats - to try to take a pandemic and seemingly hope that it comes here and kills millions of people so that they could end Donald Trump’s streak of winning is a new level of sickness.”
The president's praise for his own handling of the corona virus has been his administration's most consistent response since the global outbreak began.
OK, I think I understand where you're coming from. That sort of thing could really bite him in the ass if and when it does spread though.Quote:
"This is their new hoax"
Yeah, I think the way Trump et al happily throw out accusations with no basis can get pretty sickening. The Dems want Trump to lose, no doubt about that. It doesn't equate to wanting people to die though.Quote:
His son has even more to say:
Deleted ...
Predicted back in 1993 lol
Attachment 175075
When a show has run as long as the Simpsons, it's covered darn near everything.
You can also find predictions of Disney owning Fox in there too....
-tg
There are about 25 + predictions that have come true.
2 new corona virus cases in LA County now.
Idaho is testing, but has no confirmed cases, yet. Considering that it's in WA, CA, and OR, I can't imagine we'll be left out for long.
We had a big spike in the UK yesterday. Jumped from the mid 30s to the 80s in just one day. With a jump like that my hunch is that it was more to do with detection than infection but I'm not sure what would have changed to cause it. Also., I guess a 100+% jump from a very small sample can just be a statistical anomaly. Pretty startling though.
A friend of mine has just gone into self isolation. He's fairly sure he's just got a head cold but had just come back from Spain so he's not taking any chances. (He's young and fit so not really in any danger even if he is a genuine case).
I think I'll go into self isolation. I haven't been anywhere, and I feel fine, but it just sounds like a good thing to do.
https://i.redd.it/4fgy0kwv0sk41.png
aaaaand it'll proly roll over to the next sprint too....
-tg
I must already be in self isolation because I have absolutely no idea what that post means.
Just throwing this out there - IF the spread breaks out of the current handful of locations (Washington, California, and New York) and becomes hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of new cases daily in the USA - the medical system will be at risk (to put it mildly) of being unable to effectively handle all cases.
That being said, there will still be people in car accidents that need treating, still be women giving birth, still be people having heart attacks and strokes, cancer patients, people needing dialysis, etc.
My point - if you have ANY sort of upcoming medical needs like an annual physical, dermatology exam, hell even dental work - see if you can get it scheduled in the very near future.
Good luck everyone.
It already has broken out, it just hasn't been reported, yet. A colleague of mine said his wife was exposed, so he's quarantined himself, and I'm not in a state that has reported any cases.
Overall, though, if the virus dies down as the weather warms, we're in a good space. The weather is warming a bit too fast, this year. I'm more interested in what happens next fall. It is generally expected that the virus will pop up again. Could be interesting.
I recommend those in the USA keep an eye on this Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_c..._United_States
One thing of note. From late January to almost the end of February the number of infected individuals was quite static. Those were all of the "explainable" cases where people had traveled to China and returned sick.
Since February 28th, the number of known infected has almost exactly been on a "double every 2 days" exponential curve. Granted, that's a small sample size of dates. But that is a very concerning growth rate. If testing can keep up with demand, it will be interesting how long that growth rate holds. If the testing system eventually gets overwhelmed, there might be an artificial decrease in rate of new infections.
Based on the stories out there of people breaking quarantine, infected people being accidentally released back into the public, a lack of preparedness in how to protect those working with potentially infected patients - I don't see this slowing down here any time soon. Officials keep saying that the USA is the best prepared country to handle something like this - no way. No way. I've worked in and around healthcare organizations for many years. I've seen how things function. They have a really strong facade of being able to handle anything. And sure, any one health institution can usually handle a brief, localized emergency. But this has the potential of being bigger than anything since the Spanish Flu, and unfortunately, humanity as a whole has essentially forgotten how to "rough it" in the 100 years since then. Here where I live, even if there is something like a multi-car car accident, often times some of the patients are transported to hospitals a half hour away just to limit the load on the local hospital. And that isn't even considering that there will be many doctors, nurses, and general staff that get infected as well, and who will be there to fill in for them? All hands on deck, but many of the "hands" are the ones now needing care!
By the end of next a week I'm certain that there will be verified infections in all 50 states with the number of infected nationwide in the thousands.
March 2020 - in like a lamb, out like a Griffin.
I really hope I'm wrong.
USA - best prepared! We got this! Yay!!!
https://twitter.com/elisewho/status/1235711859140919296
https://twitter.com/julialindau/stat...14275752267776
:mad::mad::mad:
Ok, that's enough from me for a while. Stay safe, healthy, and clean everyone.
Spring. Our best hope is that warming weather dampens the virus (it generally does with most viruses).Quote:
I don't see this slowing down here any time soon
By the way, is testing free in the US or do you have to pay for it (possibly via insurance)? I ask because someone (Matt Hancock, I think) was being interviewed on Radio 4 this morning saying "thank goodness we have an NHS where testing is free". He seemed to imply, though didn't explicitly say, that in the US it wasn't free. If it isn't then testing for this, if not treatment, really does feel like something it would be sensible to fund at a government level.
I can't imagine anything in the US regarding health care is free. I believe right now you need a doctor's order to be tested. That costs right there. Since so many people in the US don't have health care and live paycheck to paycheck I'm willing to bet a lot of people will be walking around and going to work sick.Quote:
Originally Posted by FunkyDexter
Coronavirus myths, debunked: A cattle vaccine, bioweapons and a $3,000 test
Are there associated costs? Perhaps, but it seems very likely that we'll see a push to move free testing out as widely as possible quickly. Perhaps into clinics set up to keep people away from general health care facilities to limit the exposure to vulnerable populations having conditions that can make them more vulnerable to the infection.Quote:
A coronavirus test costs $3,000
Nope. Actually, it's free. A claim that it costs patients in the U.S. more than $3,000 to test for COVID-19 originated on Twitter, where it amassed more than 250,000 likes and retweets. It became a meme that spread on Facebook.
In actuality, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the use of two tests – one from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and one from the New York State Department of Public Health – and neither agency charges patients for the test.
– Saranac Hale Spencer, FactCheck.org
So where can I pick one up :DQuote:
Originally Posted by dilettante
Nothing like that is free, it's just a question of who pays the cost. Free to the consumer makes a whole lot of sense. Anything else is sure to be underutilized, but somebody is paying....and perhaps more importantly, somebody is profiting. The bigger question is anybody profiteering on this? There's nothing like a bit of panic to provide a business opportunity. We likely won't find out about it up front, though.
Looks like MS has fired the first shot...
https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-i...hourly-workers
Wonder who else will follow along, and when...
-tg
Good. I get (though don't agree with) the US model of charging for healthcare but testing for infection by a pandemic is really about the benefit of everyone rather than the benefit of the individual. It makes sense that the everyone (for which read: the state) should cover it.Quote:
and neither agency charges patients for the test
I was kinda surprised when I heard the dude on radio 4 this morning imply that it wasn't free in the US.
My state now has its first confirmed case. Health and government officials putting on a confident face about it. The person was apparently out and about for days while sick until their symptoms got worse.
"Where there's one, there's another...and another...and another." - Planet of the Apes (1968)
take a look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kas0tIxDvrg
I self isolated over the weekend. I figure, if I'm going to have to do it for 14 days, I might as well break it up into more manageable chunks.
I already put in my fourteen days at home...I wasn't sick; but I wanted to get it over with ahead of time :pQuote:
Originally Posted by FunkyDexter
I thought the advice was not to stockpile. If you do all your self isolating now, there won't be enough self isolating for everyone else.
Yeah, don't be greedy.
I self isolated for most of the weekend, as well. Meant to be productive, but I isolated myself from that, as well.
What really amuses me is the utter run on toilet paper. Of all the things to stockpile. We'll be starving to death from lack of food, but at least we'll be able to wipe for the next decade.
Well...that isn't a bad idea if the whole world is going to sh@t around you!Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker