What was your COVID news for the day?

[Fermion]

Shame on that bank security guard. He should have given her a bottle or two. In a bank?

And you know that the bank has infinite supply? Having sanitizer available in a bank is much more important than some lady filling up her water bottle with the probably limited amount available.

 

[garyt]

76 YO parents Called and said they can’t find toilet paper in the store so they bought paper napkins. Ouch!

Make sure they don't flush those napkins or they'll be calling a plumber.

 

[garyt]

Maybe all the shut-down facilities are encouraging people to spend some time and money at the mall:

which totally defeats the purpose of shutdowns and closings. We're going to need a nationwide mandatory shutdown to protect us from ourselves.

 

[ERD50]

Originally Posted by Rianne View Post
Shame on that bank security guard. He should have given her a bottle or two. In a bank?

And you know that the bank has infinite supply? Having sanitizer available in a bank is much more important than some lady filling up her water bottle with the probably limited amount available.

I agree with Fermion on this one. Remember, soap and water are better if they are available. I bet this lady wanted to use it for all her sanitizing needs.

-ERD50

 

[ls99]

A perspective from Buens Aires times:
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/op-ed/complexities-of-the-coronavirus-crisis.phtml

"Even now, after three months, there are almost 60,000 people in the world for every person infected and the death toll is 0.0007 percent of world population, many of them with one foot already in the grave – the death rate is 100 times higher among those over 80 than those under 40. And yet this asymptomatic influenza variant has exploded far beyond the dimensions of a public health problem, closing down entire countries, crippling international transport and tourism, pulverising stock markets and in general triggering the worst global crisis in several decades, already eclipsing the worldwide 2008-2009 subprime meltdown when the phrase “toxic assets” had no medical connotations."

 

[Fermion]

The Seattle emergency care worker in his 40s who is in critical condition with the virus didn't exactly sound like he had one foot in the grave before this...

 

[garyt]

But seriously, I am confused about all the hub bub over this virus. Particularly why this virus and not any of the ones prior. Swine flu/H1N1 in 2009 had sickened 61 million Americans and 12,500 died. To date, 1,250 sickened and 36 deaths for Coronavirus. What's different this time around?

Seriously? I see this type post often. People who compare a past outbreak where we know all the numbers and have all the info to this outbreak which is just in it's initial stages in the US. This outbreak has the potential to dwarf the swine flu. Hopefully it won't and you'll be able to post "I told you so" in a few months. But you can't see the difference? Oh my.

Feel free to delete my post if it doesn't belong here, I just had to respond.

 

[sengsational]

Good news for a change! Chloroquine, which is used to treat malaria, looks to be effective in treating COVID-19. Faster recovery and shorter hospital stays. May also be prophylactic.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/...JAGbdfF67WuRJB3ZsidgpidB2eocFHAVjIL-7deJ7/pub

I understand it was used in China and South Korea and is being used now in a number of places, including Europe.

I was planning to go to the Amazon basin. It's now cancelled, of course, but not before I filled my anti-malaria Rx. I checked...not this stuff. It's called "Atovaquone-Proguanil".

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4709532/

I knew someone years ago who was blinded by prescribed dosages of chloroquine for malaria acquired while working for the Peace Corps overseas. Apparently this is still going on. Either way I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

In the interest of safety, I've included the above quote, not because I think Chloroquine is or is not risky, just that, whenever you consider taking a drug, it should be thoroughly investigated. I listened closely to the nurse that prescribed me the anti-malarial, but usually follow-up with my own research. Usually it's like picking up $10 in front of a tricycle, but I sure don't want to pick up a penny in front of a freight train!

 

[Live And Learn]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4709532/

I knew someone years ago who was blinded by prescribed dosages of chloroquine for malaria acquired while working for the Peace Corps overseas. Apparently this is still going on. Either way I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

I have wet macular degeneration (w-AMD) and should avoid anything that has an increased risk of bleeding. I asked my retinal specialist about his w-AMD patients that need to take a blood thinner for heart disease. He said "you need to decide if you'd rather be blind or dead".

 

[garyt]

Got a call from Dad's Hospice nurse; all retirement homes like the one he lives in, have a moratorium on any outside visitors. Staff and medical personnel only. She doesn't know for how long. I may have literally seen my dad for the last time yesterday when I visited. They told me if I wanted to bring anything by for him, to call first and they would meet me in the parking lot.

Same here for MIL's home , but they make exceptions for end of life cases. I have to believe yours would too. That would be beyond cruel otherwise.

 

[Gremlin]

The Seattle emergency care worker in his 40s who is in critical condition with the virus didn't exactly sound like he had one foot in the grave before this...

Exactly! Health care workers in China had a 15% chance of developing serious illness regardless of age/risk factors. That shouldn’t scare just health care workers into taking this seriously (which they are) but the average Joe as well.

 

[garyt]

Isolation isn't about self-preservation, it's about flattening the curve across the community. Fear isn't my motivator, caring and reducing risk for others, is.

Because you're a normal responsible person. But all you have to do is read various tweets and comments from articles on the virus to realize there's a bunch of people out there who just don't care. Their attitude is "I'm too young to worry about it and I'm going to do what I want". I've seen multiple variations of this recently. Makes me wonder if they have parents or grandparents they care about or are they really that self absorbed. I'd post some but I know this isn't the thread for that.

 

[garyt]

Exactly! Health care workers in China had a 15% chance of developing serious illness regardless of age/risk factors. That shouldn’t scare just health care workers into taking this seriously (which they are) but the average Joe as well.

Makes you wonder if there are degrees of infection. In other words someone passing an infected person in the store or touches something they touch getting a mild case where even a healthy health care worker who is in close contact with infected patients gets the whole shebang. Do infections work like that? I assumed if you get the flu, you get the flu. The only difference is how your body handles it.

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

Wife, daughter, 2 sons and son in law are all working remotely. Restaurants were closed here in Chicago except for take out yesterday by mayor. I hedged about another 56k of stock stuff today to limit hemorrhage to stock portion of accounts. Thinking of cancelling my private dance lesson tomorrow and just pay the instructor. Got notice that all group lessons and dances are cancelled for at least a couple of weeks. I gave some money to the cook and waitresses where I usually go saying I wouldn't be in for a bit. I got some tp after hearing about shortages in NC and California. About double what we usually keep on hand, and got some for kids who were traveling in case they needed it. I'd share with others and in fact gave someone a cash tip to buy some last week to the cook where I used to have breakfast.

To me the question is how long we'll need to bunker down. I'm guessing 2weeks to 3 months. I still have stuff from the yr 2000 scare. Sterno stove, collapsible water jugs, sleeping bags.

 

[Gremlin]

Makes you wonder if there are degrees of infection. In other words someone passing an infected person in the store or touches something they touch getting a mild case where even a healthy health care worker who is in close contact with infected patients gets the whole shebang. Do infections work like that? I assumed if you get the flu, you get the flu. The only difference is how your body handles it.

They don’t know why exactly in this case. At least not yet. But the viral load probably plays a roll ie getting infected with a million viral particles versus a thousand. Gastroenteritis (aka the stomach flu ) can work this way. The degree of illness is proportional to the viral load at the time of infection

 

[Rianne]

Just listened to Peter Attia most recent podcast about CV19. He has a few, the information is changing quickly. He told his parents to completely self isolate. Get groceries delivered and stay away from people. He doesn't know if they'll follow his advice.

 

[ivinsfan]

Governor Inslee just closed bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues in Washington state. My daughter works at the theater, so I'm assuming she is going to be out of work now (business has been extremely slow the last week or two anyway). She still works part time at an assisted living home, but that won't pay the bills. She just moved to her own apartment a couple months ago and was already pushing what she could afford. This certainly won't help her situation. Thankfully she has money in savings to hold her over for a while. Hopefully this won't last long term.

My wife works for the county and they're scrambling to figure out how to handle the situation. Closing is not an option.

I remember your post about your DD and if it's possible I'd help out a little so she doesn't deplete her savings. Not pay all bills but enough so that she has a little wiggle room. JMHO

 

[Helen]

We took our car to be washed a few days ago. When the woman who cleaned the inside of the car got out she asked me where I found the hand sanitizer. I told her I bought it a few weeks ago, then remembered I have 3 more 12oz bottles so I gave it to her.

I wish now I had bought a lot of hand sanitizer to give out to all the people on the front line interacting with customers.

I keep thinking of all the people who are going to be out of work or have their business go under because of this. There must be a lot of stress in addition to the worry about the virus.

 

[Helen]

I remember your post about your DD and if it's possible I'd help out a little so she doesn't deplete her savings. Not pay all bills but enough so that she has a little wiggle room. JMHO

That is incredibly kind of you.

 

[harllee]

The schools where I live are all now closed. Many children rely on the free school lunches and breakfasts. Our Church is concerned that children are now going to go hungry without the free lunches. So we are sending money donations to local charities that are providing free lunches for these children. The pantry in our house is full of food but there are many others who are going to go hungry during this emergency.

 

[ivinsfan]

That is incredibly kind of you.

To be clear I meant her parents could help out not me...

 

[Gumby]

The young wife and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant today, a place we have been going to for almost 30 years. We thought that it might be our last opportunity to eat out for a while if Connecticut follows the lead of other states in closing restaurants. Turns out it was our last chance, for that restaurant at least. They are closing at 8 pm tonight for an unknown period of time, because business fell off a cliff last week and it simply makes no financial sense for them to stay open. I am hopeful that they can stay viable until things clear up and they can reopen.

One interesting thing is that they had closed the salsa bar. Instead, our waitress asked us which of the salsas we usually get and brought them out to us. I thought that was a very wise precaution.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Kroger's bread aisle was nearly empty, except for whole wheat hot dog and hamburger buns. Those were exactly what was on my list! It pays to have taste outside the mainstream.

 

[Gumby]

The young wife and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant today, a place we have been going to for almost 30 years. We thought that it might be our last opportunity to eat out for a while if Connecticut follows the lead of other states in closing restaurants. Turns out it was our last chance, for that restaurant at least. They are closing at 8 pm tonight for an unknown period of time, because business fell off a cliff last week and it simply makes no financial sense for them to stay open. I am hopeful that they can stay viable until things clear up and they can reopen.

One interesting thing is that they had closed the salsa bar. Instead, our waitress asked us which of the salsas we usually get and brought them out to us. I thought that was a very wise precaution.

ETA - well, now the Governor has closed all the restaurants in the state.

 

[lemming]

I got a reassuring email from the local water service saying that it is safe to drink the water and they got a certification from somewhere that their process would kill the virus. They have an emergency plan for short staff if we are on a further lock down.
My insurance company has sent out several emails to soothe worries. But they want you to call ahead before going to their center. And they cancelled their Farmers Market so they could use the outdoor area as a triage center if needed. That was not soothing but good to know.