Coronavirus - Health and preparedness aspects - II

[NW-Bound]

We live in the metropolitan Phoenix.

We made a grocery errand in the late morning, as we usually do. It was not to stock up, as my wife has the habit of stocking up on good deals, and we already have too much of everything.

The intended place to visit today is Winco, where nothing out of the ordinary was observed.

On the way we drove by a Costco that appeared busy, judging by the vehicle traffic in the parking lot. So, being curious, I parked in the next lot, and walked in to see what was going on.

Not too bad. Not too much panic buying, although I saw quite a few customers with TP and bottled waters. A few customers had nothing on their carts other than many TP bundles and cases of water.

Told my wife I was curious about the remaining stock, so walked to the back of the store to check. This Costco was about to run out of TP. I did not see the water pallet. It could be out, or could be somewhere else that I missed.

On the way home, stopped to shop at another grocery store. I thought the store traffic was a bit higher than usual. Still plenty of TP and other items. No empty shelves.

There are no new cases here, other than a single one a couple of weeks ago. That was "patient 0", meaning he brought back the virus from China. Did not infect anyone, and has recovered himself. Hence, the mood here is quite unconcerned.

 

[garyt]

I think "easily" may prove a bit optimistic. Less than 2% may die but significantly more may need hospital treatment.

Plus some people end up with severe lung damage. So you may have survived but your life is changed forever.

 

[brewer12345]

I buy a couple cases of military surplus MREs (24 meals) every year for hunting and hiking trips. I remembered that when the hurricane hit Puerto Rico they suddenly became unobtanium, so I decided to hurry up and order my 2 cases for the year last Tuesday. I paid $140 delivered. Apparently some people decided that military issue junk food was something to stockpile because prices have gone wild. I am currently watching an auction for a single case (12 meals) that ends in a couple hours on ebay. The bid is now $155 shipped and I expect it to go higher. Fixed price cases seem to be going for a bit over $200 each, so prices have about tripled in a week.

 

[Hamlet]

I’ve read several articles and although health officials and the public should take proactive precautions, this is not ebola with a death rate of 50-65% and we’ve been through that. OTOH, the death rate for flu is 0.8% which is still a lot of deaths, but the public is “blasé” about flu?

The death rate for the flu is more like 0.1%, not 0.8%

 

[doneat54]

One case reported in my state. I went out today and ran a couple errands in the city north of us but did not notice anything different. Have not been to the grocery store recently.


I think firstoff, I'll just be more conscious of crowd situations. I realize that since retiring 3 years ago, my exposure to others must be WAY down. Not cube farms at the office, business travel, etc. And we live in a rural town of 3100 people.


I'll just avoid unnecessary crowd situations, be more aware of when "touch" door handles, etc, wash hands often.

If we get quarantined I might finally be able to prove to DW that it will take at least 2 months to eat our way to the bottom of the freezer....

<got a good chuckle out of the clicker training comment BTW...>

 

[Another Reader]

We live in the metropolitan Phoenix.

We made a grocery errand in the late morning, as we usually do. It was not to stock up, as my wife has the habit of stocking up on good deals, and we already have too much of everything.

The intended place to visit today is Winco, where nothing out of the ordinary was observed.

On the way we drove by a Costco that appeared busy, judging by the vehicle traffic in the parking lot. So, being curious, I parked in the next lot, and walked in to see what was going on.

Not too bad. Not too much panic buying, although I saw quite a few customers with TP and bottled waters. A few customers had nothing on their carts other than many TP bundles and cases of water.

Told my wife I was curious about the remaining stock, so walked to the back of the store to check. This Costco was about to run out of TP. I did not see the water pallet. It could be out, or could be somewhere else that I missed.

On the way home, stopped to shop at another grocery store. I thought the store traffic was a bit higher than usual. Still plenty of TP and other items. No empty shelves.

There are no new cases here, other than a single one a couple of weeks ago. That was "patient 0", meaning he brought back the virus from China. Did not infect anyone, and has recovered himself. Hence, the mood here is quite unconcerned.

I used to think Bay Area Costco's were crowded. Every Costco I have been to in the Phoenix area is jam packed from opening to near closing. When I was there before Christmas, I tried to go to one out in Gilbert on a weekday before noon. Took me over 10 minutes to find a parking space, and that was out on the periphery. I did not buy anything because the lines were seven or eight carts long.

Costco here carries six packs of gallon jugs of Crystal Geyser water. They do a steady business in them. I think one of the toilet paper brands is on sale in the February coupon book. That stuff was in most carts the last time I was at Costco over a week ago. I was planning a Costco run tomorrow to bring my water supply back up to 60 gallons. Will do a visual inventory while I am there.

 

[Midpack]

The death rate for the flu is more like 0.1%, not 0.8%

I’ve checked a few sources that match your number, evidently the one I first found was wrong. Thanks. This one says 0.095% for flu https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/03/the...cross-us-as-world-frets-over-coronavirus.html

 

[brewer12345]

I’ve checked a few sources that match your number, evidently the one I first found was wrong. Thanks. This one says 0.095% for flu https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/03/the...cross-us-as-world-frets-over-coronavirus.html

Flu death rates may be overstated. Apparently the US is the only developed country that dumps a whole bunch of other things (pneumonia, etc.) into the flu statistics. Amazingly sloppy of us, but apparently that is what we have always done.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Unfortunately the US is not testing many people so they can report low infection numbers. This will backfire.

 

[audreyh1]

Unfortunately the US is not testing many people so they can report low infection numbers. This will backfire.

There does seem to be an anti-testing mindset for some bizarre reason.

Test availability beyond the CDC has also been an issue. Somehow we are way behind in being able to test large numbers, unlike other countries who have been able to. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/202...d-coronavirus-testing-things-may-soon-improve

 

[aja8888]

There does seem to be an anti-testing mindset for some bizarre reason.

Test availability beyond the CDC has also been an issue. Somehow we are way behind in being able to test large numbers, unlike other countries who have been able to. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/202...d-coronavirus-testing-things-may-soon-improve

We have no mechanism in the U.S. to test large groups of people outside of a "paid for" medical facility (hospital, clinc, etc).

 

[brewer12345]

There does seem to be an anti-testing mindset for some bizarre reason.

Its not entirely obvious that this is the case. As far as I can tell, the CDC sent out test kits early on, but they were faulty. So there seems to have been a scramble to get a usable test kit out there to state and local health departments, but it has taken time to get it right. Unfortunately that has come at a critical period when the virus is likely spreading in the US. Reading between the lines, it sounds like there was also a logjam of red tape which has finally broken once the administration set up a task force and put the VP in charge (someone who can cut through the red tape). I think there is a lot of reluctance on the part of the people in charge to admit any of this.

 

[audreyh1]

Its not entirely obvious that this is the case. As far as I can tell, the CDC sent out test kits early on, but they were faulty. So there seems to have been a scramble to get a usable test kit out there to state and local health departments, but it has taken time to get it right. Unfortunately that has come at a critical period when the virus is likely spreading in the US. Reading between the lines, it sounds like there was also a logjam of red tape which has finally broken once the administration set up a task force and put the VP in charge (someone who can cut through the red tape). I think there is a lot of reluctance on the part of the people in charge to admit any of this.

The CDC refused to test several individuals who were showing classic symptoms. Confirming their infections would have alerted them to the community spreading much more quickly, as well as travelers from other affected countries beyond China.

 

[audreyh1]

We have no mechanism in the U.S. to test large groups of people outside of a "paid for" medical facility (hospital, clinc, etc).

I think we do. We do have Public Health departments. There are people out there trying to track down who else might have been exposed.

 

[brewer12345]

The CDC refused to test several individuals who were showing classic symptoms. Confirming their infections would have alerted them to the community spreading much more quickly, as well as travelers from other affected countries beyond China.

Fair enough. I have a funny feeling they refused to test because they did not want to make it clear they were unable to do so, but who knows.

 

[explanade]

I skimmed through some of the WHO report they issued about China.

Not news is that the disease really hit older people.

But what is news, something I hadn't heard, is that the top category of professions of those who died are "Retired" while I think the next category was something like farming.

 

[redshift]

But were they ER'ed? [emoji3166]

I skimmed through some of the WHO report they issued about China.

Not news is that the disease really hit older people.

But what is news, something I hadn't heard, is that the top category of professions of those who died are "Retired" while I think the next category was something like farming.

 

[explanade]

We have no mechanism in the U.S. to test large groups of people outside of a "paid for" medical facility (hospital, clinc, etc).

I wonder about that.

My doctor doesn't test anything. He gives a testing order for me to take to an independent lab. Quest Diagnostics has a lot of lab locations for blood draws around here, several in the back of supermarkets.

I doubt they're equipped or trained to do back of the throat swaps. Actually they use long ones to go way down there.

So what would I do, go to the ER? I don't think my ACA plan would cover that. Besides one of the positive cases is in a nearby hospital.

That hospital isn't in my ACA plan network either. Of course my plan has emergency coverage but I don't know that they would classify what could be flu symptoms as emergency coverage, worth going to the big hospital.

So what other options? They cover some urgent care clinics, which are really small places. But I doubt they're trained or equipped to take swabs for the COVID-19 tests.

Would be surprised the insurance carrier has set up anything. I guess I could call them but I don't know if they'd have an answer for where I could go.

 

[qt333]

I’m washing my hands more & focusing on saying healthy & positive: drinking water, taking vitamin D/C/elderberry/turmeric, getting good sleep, gratitude, etc. I’ve bought some extra tp, bleach and have a bit more cash on hand.

If things spiral, I’ll probably quit my wine habit, tighten up my diet and stay home more.

 

[travelover]

I'm doubling up on my Red Vine intake. I'm pretty sure it boosts my immune system.

 

[audreyh1]

Fair enough. I have a funny feeling they refused to test because they did not want to make it clear they were unable to do so, but who knows.

I had linked this one before about the NYC man recently returned from Japan and pretty ill with classic symptoms but his doctors couldn’t get the CDC to test him because he wasn’t “sick enough” and apparently last Thursday Japan was not yet a country of concern.

At NYU Brooklyn, they put him in isolation, and ran a battery of tests for other things - all negative. Then, per protocol, they called the CDC, because NYU Suspect COVID-19, but the CDC said no.

The CDC says they thought he wasn't sick enough - even though public health experts say most coronavirus cases are more minor, and it flies in the face of what the CDC said on a press call on Friday.

https://abc7ny.com/5974999/

 

[Sunset]

We went to Walmart, in the afternoon.
It was busy, and I saw 2 separate people wearing masks.

They had lots of hydrogen peroxide , but cold medicine was nearly empty.

 

[NW-Bound]

Forgot to say what I did today when making a grocery errand.

Having no Clorox disinfectant wipes, I poured bleach into a small 4-oz bottle to take with me in my shirt pocket. I also brought along a couple of sheets of kitchen towel.

At the store, I poured a bit of that 100% bleach onto the paper towel, then used it to wipe the cart handle. When I got out of the store, I used the bleached towel to wipe each of my 10 fingers.

Ah, I love the smell of bleach in the morning.

 

[MichaelB]

From the NYT, a good, easy to read Q&A type summary of how Covid-19 is transmitted. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/health/coronavirus-how-it-spreads.html?searchResultPosition=1
Some snippets

four factors likely play some role: how close you get; how long you are near the person; whether that person projects viral droplets on you; and how much you touch your face.

“If you can smell what someone had for lunch — garlic, curry, etc. — you are inhaling what they are breathing out, including any virus in their breath,” he said.

Can the virus last on a bus pole, touch screen or other surface? Yes.

Coronaviruses are relatively easy to destroy, Professor Whittaker said. Using a simple disinfectant on a surface is nearly guaranteed to break the delicate envelope that surrounds the tiny microbe, rendering it harmless.

 

[rayinpenn]

Seems like a week ago or less I saw and commented about an Iranian official clearly Sick with no mask on at a news conference. Yesterday morning I believe we learned he died. We also learned 23 in their parliament are infected.

Bottom line - I do not believe their numbers for a moment. Their comments about enemies using the disease only served to confirm their paranoia.

The virus will run its course I figure all we can do is avoid people, as much as possible way hands etc.. I saw people with type
II diabetes are also more susceptible (more fodder to increase my concern)