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You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Update – Sunday/Monday, March 22/23

COVID-19 Coronavirus Update – Sunday/Monday, March 22/23

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  2. 2.

    Quantumman

    Question: if you are required to stay home, how do you get groceries or take your pet to a needed vet visit such as in an emergency? Anyone know how this works?

  3. 3.

    Jack Canuck

    It’s looking grim down here in Australia. Government schools here in Victoria closed early for the Term 1/2 break today, while some private schools (like the one I teach at) are teaching online for the rest of the week. Nobody’s expecting to be coming back in mid-April for Term 2 in person, but how long? Who knows. The restrictions on businesses – gyms, cinemas, theatres, pubs, clubs all closed, cafes and restaurants only allowed to do takeaway business – is devastating the small business owners and leaving so many with no job. Depressing and scary, though my wife and I have the comfort of being pretty secure with work, both being teachers and unlikely to end up unemployed. Most states and territories are imposing mandatory quarantines on people coming from outside the jurisdiction, as is the country itself for overseas travelers returning (and only citizens and permanent residents allowed in now).

    On the plus side, all that pain is because the state and federal governments are getting serious. Only 7 deaths so far, but the curve of infections is going up fast, and the politicians and officials are justifiably scared (and pissed at the people who have been ignoring the social distancing rules put in effect previously). At the federal level, the Coalition government (right-wing, for you non-Aussies) is actually doing a decent job: massive financial payouts to help small businesses and the newly unemployed, abandoning the goal of a budget surplus, doubling the NewStart/Job Seekers Allowance (basic unemployment, essentially), adding on a coronavirus ‘bonus’ to anyone receiving assistance, at least trying to be proactive in a very uncertain and rapidly changing environment. The Labor opposition and the government appear to be working quite well together, with Labor promising support for necessary measures whilst still pushing for what it sees as improvements in those measures. The Greens are serving a useful purpose in persistently drawing attention to those hardest hit by this. The federal and state governments are working closely as well, though the states are often making calls that differ from what the PM would like to see, based on their assessment of the circumstances in each state. And at least this cooperation means the actions taken can’t really be turned into political point-scoring after the fact, since all the major parties have signed on to the actions jointly.

    Even if it works in terms of preventing large numbers of deaths in Australia, the economic pain is going to be huge, both from the internal disruptions and from the worldwide impact of the virus. Some people are grasping that things aren’t going back to normal anytime soon, but a lot of others still don’t really get it, and won’t until the police are knocking on their door telling them to get their act together – like the moronic North Melbourne footballers who had to apologise for an all-night party they just held. Meantime my wife’s family here are all at high risk in various ways (age in the 90s for her grandma & 70s for her parents, diabetes for her dad, one sister undergoing chemo for breast cancer), and mine are locked down in Illinois (my dad and his wife, both with MS and immuno-compromised) or in Indiana still (as of a week or so ago) going out to church functions in spite of my mom being in her 70s and her husband having a very difficult time going through chemo for a brain tumor with a bad prognosis to start with. And if anything happens to them, I’m not going to be able to get there.

    I didn’t have high hopes for 2020, but I didn’t think it would turn this shit this fast.

  4. 4.

    satby

    That Korean antigen test with results in 10 minutes could be a game changer if they can ramp up production enough to disperse workdwide. And if governments get serious about proactive testing, tracking, and isolating. Which seems highly unlikely here in the US.

  6. 6.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Very glad to see European countries building makeshift medical quarantine facilities out of convention centers. Spain, Italy and Germany have all been doing so over the weekend. Have to isolate the mild and asymptomatic (caught from contact tracing) cases from their families and communities, and place them under medical supervision. Not sure Spain and Italy’s testing infrastructures are up to snuff to support this strategy, though. Italy is still prioritizing testing of hospitalized cases, due to limit in lab capacity. One certainly does not want to mix the confirmed and suspect cases together. Suspect cases and close contacts have to be quarantined individually. Once their testing infrastructure catches up, they will need to convert more such facilities.

    A number of European countries and several of the US cities have already missed the boat to implement the South Korean strategy (let alone the Singaporean, Taiwanese, Hong Kong and Macau strategies), even if testing is not a constraint. There is far too much community transmission. Furthermore, most of them do not have the contact tracing organization to take advantage of improved testing capacity. The latter, without the former, is of limited utility. Mass testing still only gives a picture of the infections from a week ago. Mass contact tracing is required to get ahead of the epidemic and break the transmission chains. Strict lock down is now needed to contain and suppress mass community transmission, dial back the clock, so to speak. That allows time for testing and contact tracing infrastructures to be strengthened, so that one can then shift to a South Korean strategy. After the epidemic is largely snuffed out, then one can shift to a Singaporean strategy, or what China is now doing to detect and isolate the foreign introductions.

    Lastly, has to be careful with employing the rapid immunoassay test kits. The false negative rate is significantly higher than PCR swabs. In my understanding,, PCR test can produce positive result earlier during the course of infection and illness than antibody tests.

  7. 7.

    OzarkHillbilly

    STL and STL county are in shutdown until April 22. Jefferson, Franklin, and St Charles counties probably will do the same in a few days. Fortunately, ST Louisans have their priorities straight: St. Louis Liquor Stores Deemed ‘Essential’ During Lockdown, Thank Christ

    Good news for fellow drunks: St. Louis-area liquor stores have been deemed “essential” by St. Louis-area officials and will be exempted from today’s “stay at home” order that will force businesses across the region to close in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus.

    The stay at home order, which goes into effect Monday in both St. Louis city and county, essentially strongly encourages people to leave their house only if absolutely necessary and mandates that businesses whose services are not deemed essential — tattoo parlors, movie theaters, playgrounds, bowling alleys, etc. — close their doors to the public for the time being.

    But there are exceptions for businesses that provide things that the public needs at this time. That includes health care facilities, of course, as well as grocery stores, farmers’ markets, produce stands, gas stations and the like.

    And, because the ability to get blind drunk in our homes in the absence of anything better to do is truly essential in these trying times, it also includes liquor stores.

    It’s just common sense.

  8. 8.

    satby

    @Jack Canuck: I didn’t have high hopes for 2020, but I didn’t think it would turn this shit this fast.

    Truth! And the picture of the deserted railway station in Old Delhi is stunning. It normally teems with people 24/7. That entire area of Old Delhi does. I wonder where the homeless were sent.

  9. 9.

    Chyron HR

    @satby:

    Which seems highly unlikely here in the US.

    THESE COLORS DON’T ENGAGE IN SELF-REFLECTION!

    BACK-TO-BACK WAR CRIMES CHAMPION!

    THE ONLY ONE WHO TALKS BACK TO ME IS MY WIFE AND I SHOT HER, TOO!

  10. 10.

    WereBear

    The one consistent message through all of this is: unless we get rid of Republicans, we will never get un-screwed.

    They believe in:

    • no rules, no regulations
    • scorn of science
    • IGMFY
    • libertarian assholery
    • religious solutions to real-world problems
    • whining and passing the buck

    We’ve seen what they have done so far, which is let it get as bad as possible and then continue to get in the way of actual experts and the officials who try to implement their good advice.

    We need to purge these all Republican toxins from our body politic, and the sooner, the better.

  11. 11.

    Jack Canuck

    @OzarkHillbilly: Bottleshops have been deemed an essential service here in Victoria too. The pictures of the mobs in them yesterday when the impending restrictions were announced – but before it was known whether or not they’d apply to the liquor stores – were depressing. Really people? Can’t survive without your booze for a while? Sad.

  12. 12.

    satby

    @Betty Cracker: Jeezus! No words.

    Yeah, words. I wish he’d get sick enough to get taken out of commission so competent people could take over. Because with Trump out of commission even for a little while we’d maybe have a chance.

  13. 13.

    WereBear

    @satby: I have to hope our elderly leaders, like Nancy Pelosi, had the good sense to take precautions early and often, while ones like McConnell blithely assumed their interests would always be served and lived the “it’s just the flu” message they pushed.

    CPAC an extinction event? I’m okay with that. Seeing all the preventable suffering around me turned up to eleven, I’m actually harshly wishing for it.

    Reality knocks, and this time they have to open the door.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Betty Cracker: Yep, but our governors need to get off their asses and get ventilators, masks, gowns, etc on their own. trumps too busy saving Wall Street and golfing.

  15. 15.

    satby

    I talked to a friend of mine yesterday, she’s an O.R. nurse at the U of Chicago Hospital and her son is a paramedic in the ER, and she says it’s already getting bad, with PPE and masks running low. All elective surgeries were stopped about a week ago, so she’s been home. She’s 66 and has high blood pressure, so higher risk; but expecting to be called back as other medical personnel get sick and are rotated out. She just had a new baby granddaughter over the weekend, her first grandchild, and they can’t go see her. She’s a bit terrified she never will see her.

    Edit, and this is with the bed capacity of the hospital still not at its limit.

  19. 19.

    Betty Cracker

    @OzarkHillbilly: Trump’s offer to provide tests to North Korea is a completely empty promise, of course. But it amazes me that he made it in the middle of a crisis in his own country that his administration has bungled so terribly, notably by a failure to make tests available. I get mad at myself every time I’m surprised by some fresh outrage — nothing should be surprising at this point!

  21. 21.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Adding insult to injury? Zagreb hit by earthquake while in coronavirus lockdown

    A strong earthquake has shaken the Croatian capital, Zagreb, bringing much of the population on to the streets after social distancing regulations to prevent the spread of coronavirus had been put in place.

    The quake, which struck shortly after 6am local time on Sunday, caused widespread damage, including to the city’s cathedral, and the evacuation of hospitals. A 15-year-old was in a critical condition and 16 others were injured as a result of the quake, Croatian authorities said on Sunday afternoon.

    The epicentre was four miles north of Zagreb at a depth of six miles, and the 5.3-magnitude earthquake was followed by a number of smaller tremors. The prime minister, Andrej Plenković, said the earthquake was the biggest in Zagreb in the last 140 years.

    Many buildings in the capital cracked and walls and rooftops were damaged. Streets were littered with debris. Concrete slabs fell on cars and chimneys landed in front of building entrances.

    Great timing God.

  24. 24.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Just saw on the Twitters that Facebook is releasing 750,000 face masks from its “emergency reserves”  WTF?  Why does Facebook have “emergency reserves” of 750,000 face masks?

  27. 27.

    JPL

    @OzarkHillbilly: I face timed with my one year old grandson.    It was interesting to say the least.   The DIL is doing a great job sending the grans pictures.    It’s going to be awhile before we visit again.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JPL: We will be doing the same, although I’m not sure how much I will be participating. That kind of tech stuff really drives me up the wall. I’m just too 16th century.

  36. 36.

    Mr. Mack

    @OzarkHillbilly: I hear you.  I use text to exchange information, or a quick hello.  Most people have no problem having entire conversations via text.  I just can’t stay engaged that way, maybe cause I type to slow on the phone.  Thoughts come and go too fast.  I mention the laptop because love it or hate it, the Facebook messenger app works better than Zoom, if you ask me.  I stay in touch with my loved ones that way.

  38. 38.

    Shalimar

    Numbers the last 3 days now that we are finally testing have been really bad. We should pass China and Italy for most cases in the world in a week or less.

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Mr. Mack: I don’t even know how to open a text on my phone. Probably a couple hundred piled up in there, which is fine because nobody who knows me would ever text me. On the phone I like to say what I have to say, settle whatever needs to be settled, and get off.

    I make exceptions for my sons, especially the NOLA one who I talk to once a week if I’m lucky. But it’s hard, really hard for me.

  44. 44.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Well the virus isn’t an automatic death sentience for the elders, talked to an on line friend in India, the guy is 92 and had the virus. He was never ill enough to be sent to the hospital but he was sick with all the symptoms for four weeks. And of course since he didn’t require hospitalization they didn’t give him the test so it’s not just our government that is hiding from the problem.

  45. 45.

    Splitting Image

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Just saw on the Twitters that Facebook is releasing 750,000 face masks from its “emergency reserves” WTF? Why does Facebook have “emergency reserves” of 750,000 face masks?

    Because they bought up a few million of them intending to sell them at a high mark-up (as a public service) when everyone else started to run out?

  46. 46.

    Fair Economist

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    Lastly, has to be careful with employing the rapid immunoassay test kits. The false negative rate is significantly higher than PCR swabs. In my understanding,, PCR test can produce positive result earlier during the course of infection and illness than antibody tests.

    That’s normally the case, but is complicated by the fact that the virus often isn’t in the nose much and so the swabs miss it. Not sure how it works out in practice.

  47. 47.

    Fair Economist

    @Shalimar: I saw someone on Twitter claim that in 10 days we’d be up to a million cases. I marshaled my arguments to say that was alarmist, but as I ran my own calcs I realized it’s a pretty good estimate of the number infected then, maybe even a bit low. Cases won’t be that high because of incubation/underdiagnosis, but any argument would have been quibbling so I didn’t make it.

  48. 48.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Litlebritdifrnt: They bought them in for their office staff years ago after H1N1, SARS and MERS hit the headlines and they’ve been languishing unused in their storerooms ever since. Whether they’re any good now, years later I’ve got no idea — medical items like that have an expiry date as the materials age after manufacture and they stop being as effective as they used to be.

     

    Front-line medical staff dealing with proven COVID-19 cases really need Ebola-style full-face masks and protections. The standard “N95” masks are meant to prevent exposure to low levels of coronavirus, bacteria and other viruses and they won’t stop the wearers being contaminated in seriously compromised environments.

  49. 49.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Fair Economist: Proper sampling involves taking sputum and mucus samples from the back of the throat since coronavirus isn’t a rhino-virus (i.e. it doesn’t specifically infect the nose). That’s more difficult to do since folks will gag and cough in many cases when the swab stick is pushed far enough down their throat to get a good sample.

  50. 50.

    gvg

    @Quantumman: Different rules by local government make that an “it depends” question but I can say my Vet sent and email that they are essentially doing curbside pick up for prescription food and that we need to wai in the car for vet appointments, Call ahead, call again when in their parking lot and they will cakk you back when they have a free exam room. No waiting room.

     

    I presume if you call about a trivial issue, you won’t be allowed to make an appointment.

  51. 51.

    Jay

    @Splitting Image:

    because some Companies / Corporations stockpiled PPE for their employees when the Anthrax attacks happened and in the aftermath various domestic terrorist groups continued to plot/plan/prep bioterrorist attacks against “their enemies and targets of media import”.

    As an example, where I am working, we are cleaned out of all masks, gloves, tyveck suits and have been for months, for sale to customers. As fast as we get stock, we get cleaned out, and there are hoarders.

    because of my job, I need that PPE daily, and all out stores have a large stock of that PPE, plus sanitizer and disinfectant chemicals for employee use. Because of Covid19 and because we are still open, that PPE has been extended to all employees. I’ve just had to advise people in proper wear and fit, and remind them not to “waste” the gear.

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