Why?

[chartle]

Research "Flattening the curve"

https://www.npr.org/sections/health...ics-curve-why-staying-home-now-can-save-lives

 

[BayouQueen]

We have to keep infection rates down. There aren't enough hospital beds. Nobody wants to suffer respiratory distress without the comfort provided by proper medical care.

 

[Hikergirl]

I just read that my state only has 53,000 hospital beds, 3100 ICU with ventilators.
This is for a state with 8.6 million people.

 

[tzolkin]

This was always the case and is very obvious. The numbers are much greater than the confirmed cases, especially because a high proportion of the confirmed cases has been community-acquired infections with no known source.

I still see people in public with varying levels of cold/flu symptoms.

I think this is just the norm for Americans. Most people I know (in healthcare) never miss work for being sick. I think this is partially due to a mentality of being tough and being able to work through any obstacle, but it's also largely due to the policies of employers and even the schools. I know many places where if you call out it's considered an "occurrence". Three occurrences and you are written up and are no longer eligible for a raise that year regardless of you performance. So one day of being sick could potentially cost you thousands of dollars or your job.

Our school district (county) allows 4 days of absence per marking period. If you miss more than 4 days (even if you have a doctor's note) it's up to the teacher's discretion whether or not they allow you to make up work and pass. For HS, they have to make up the time by staying after school. Since you can only stay after for one class, it will take 4 days of staying after to make up for one day absent.

These policies make it so that people have to weigh weather they are "sick enough" to justify the missed time. Maybe you are sick today and would like to stay home, but you have to think about "what if next week I have vomiting/diarrhea and really need to stay home? I should probably save my time for that possibility."

I just posted this in another thread but it’s a very interesting point that I had never thought of until I saw the virologist expert on TV just now. The number of corona cases reported today is basically a snapshot of the past. He estimated a little over a week ago. It makes perfectly sense. right now testing is only being done on those showing symptoms, so in most cases one needs a few days to even show symptoms, then go to the doctor, and then get access to a test. Then you need a few days to get results at the moment. This process can take well over a week right now. In that time this person is most likely spreading the virus exponentially to others. As not many are putting themselves in a full Quarantine with the first cough or low fever without having a positive test. This process can take well over a week right now. In that time this person is most likely spreading the virus exponentially to others. As not many are putting themselves in a full quarantine with the first cough or low fever without having a positive test. Seeing how the virus grows exponential it’s scary to see how the numbers reported today are exponentially bigger today.

To be even more a bummer, keep in mind those that aren’t showing any symptoms and have not been tested spreading the disease, who in most cases are young adults and children

I'm sure there are countless people who have this and simply don't have access to testing or are not "sick enough" to think they need to be tested. We are even discussing this in our own family.

We were already sick before we even realized that there was anything going on. I did take my one daughter to the doctor, but they just said her lungs sounded fine and she didn't have the flu so she continued going to school. By that point I had already gotten sick from her. A few days later was when the first cases were confirmed in our area.

 

[Anchored]

One of my favorite people in the world is quarantined in a ER room right now awaiting his test results. He is a HEALTHY 30 year old male, who plays sports, coaches high school football, works full time and is a parent.
He finally went into the ER after 3 days of fever spiked to 106.8 and he could barely breathe.
They are STILL waiting for a Critical Care Unit bed for him and he has been there for 29 hours.
Tested negative for flu, neg for strep,neg for every virus on a full respiratory virus panel. He is so weak he doesn't even want to text, only make phone calls.
He has not traveled
He has been on a diet so he has cooked his own food for the last 28 days, not eating out, and eating HEALTHY
In the job he has, he is only around a handful of people every day and none of them showed Coronavirus symptoms so he likely caught it airborne.

So if you think it is no big deal, you are wrong. He could still DIE from this. They don't have a bed for him.
Please listen to the people on this thread and take this seriously. You don't have to be scared but you can take it seriously and STAY HOME

 

[erc]

No - you never accounted for the fact that S Korea started their response way sooner in the course of their outbreak than we did. Not saying size doesn't matter ( ) but all things being equal, timing is what matters here.

Actually, not really. They only started to mobilize once the cases skyrocketed from that church outbreak. It is all right here:

https://thegroundtruthproject.org/timeline-how-south-korea-reacted-to-the-covid-19-outbreak/
What they have done much better is massive testing, which has resulted in a lower mortality rate on paper because they tested so many.

 

[mousefan73]

One of my favorite people in the world is quarantined in a ER room right now awaiting his test results. He is a HEALTHY 30 year old male, who plays sports, coaches high school football, works full time and is a parent.
He finally went into the ER after 3 days of fever spiked to 106.8 and he could barely breathe.
They are STILL waiting for a Critical Care Unit bed for him and he has been there for 29 hours.
Tested negative for flu, neg for strep,neg for every virus on a full respiratory virus panel. He is so weak he doesn't even want to text, only make phone calls.
He has not traveled
He has been on a diet so he has cooked his own food for the last 28 days, not eating out, and eating HEALTHY
In the job he has, he is only around a handful of people every day and none of them showed Coronavirus symptoms so he likely caught it airborne.

So if you think it is no big deal, you are wrong. He could still DIE from this. They don't have a bed for him.
Please listen to the people on this thread and take this seriously. You don't have to be scared but you can take it seriously and STAY HOME

Oh wow, best wishes for your friend that he pulls through this!. Hugs!!! and prayers,. What state is he in? There will be many more cases like this..

 

[mousefan73]

I think this is just the norm for Americans. Most people I know (in healthcare) never miss work for being sick. I think this is partially due to a mentality of being tough and being able to work through any obstacle, but it's also largely due to the policies of employers and even the schools. I know many places where if you call out it's considered an "occurrence". Three occurrences and you are written up and are no longer eligible for a raise that year regardless of you performance. So one day of being sick could potentially cost you thousands of dollars or your job.

Our school district (county) allows 4 days of absence per marking period. If you miss more than 4 days (even if you have a doctor's note) it's up to the teacher's discretion whether or not they allow you to make up work and pass. For HS, they have to make up the time by staying after school. Since you can only stay after for one class, it will take 4 days of staying after to make up for one day absent.

These policies make it so that people have to weigh weather they are "sick enough" to justify the missed time. Maybe you are sick today and would like to stay home, but you have to think about "what if next week I have vomiting/diarrhea and really need to stay home? I should probably save my time for that possibility."


I'm sure there are countless people who have this and simply don't have access to testing or are not "sick enough" to think they need to be tested. We are even discussing this in our own family.

We were already sick before we even realized that there was anything going on. I did take my one daughter to the doctor, but they just said her lungs sounded fine and she didn't have the flu so she continued going to school. By that point I had already gotten sick from her. A few days later was when the first cases were confirmed in our area.

I am not an expert, maybe somebody can comment who is,, but isnt there a way to test for antibodies to see if one had something and is somewhat immune?? would be nice to know..

 

[KBoopaloo]

One of my favorite people in the world is quarantined in a ER room right now awaiting his test results. He is a HEALTHY 30 year old male, who plays sports, coaches high school football, works full time and is a parent.
He finally went into the ER after 3 days of fever spiked to 106.8 and he could barely breathe.
They are STILL waiting for a Critical Care Unit bed for him and he has been there for 29 hours.
Tested negative for flu, neg for strep,neg for every virus on a full respiratory virus panel. He is so weak he doesn't even want to text, only make phone calls.
He has not traveled
He has been on a diet so he has cooked his own food for the last 28 days, not eating out, and eating HEALTHY
In the job he has, he is only around a handful of people every day and none of them showed Coronavirus symptoms so he likely caught it airborne.

So if you think it is no big deal, you are wrong. He could still DIE from this. They don't have a bed for him.
Please listen to the people on this thread and take this seriously. You don't have to be scared but you can take it seriously and STAY HOME

The two people I know with it have very similar circumstances. Both are under 50. Both are hospitalized in very bad shape. This is terrifying.

 

[KBoopaloo]

No - you never accounted for the fact that S Korea started their response way sooner in the course of their outbreak than we did. Not saying size doesn't matter ( ) but all things being equal, timing is what matters here.

I keep thinking about the press conference with this man who said that speed is more important than being right in emergency response. We have moved far too slowly.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1239140710558969857

 

[DeniseJH]

Actually, not really. They only started to mobilize once the cases skyrocketed from that church outbreak. It is all right here:

https://thegroundtruthproject.org/timeline-how-south-korea-reacted-to-the-covid-19-outbreak/
What they have done much better is massive testing, which has resulted in a lower mortality rate on paper because they tested so many.

Well then there's your difference! "Massive testing" surely negates your use of the word "similar", yes?

 

[EveDallas]

Schools and businesses are excluded from the CDC recommendation of closing for 8 weeks. My question is - what constitutes a business in this case? Technically, most of what has been shut down are businesses,

 

[DeniseJH]

Seems crazy that schools are excluded. No idea about the business part though. I wish they'd just close everything accept essential services.

 

[erc]

Well then there's your difference! "Massive testing" surely negates your use of the word "similar", yes?

If you go back to the beginning of this that is what I was saying all along. Comprehensive testing was the difference and has proven that the mortality rate is lower than it appears when not enough testing is done. Testing does not stop a disease. It just gives you a clearer picture of it.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

Not ONE person has said, before I asked the question, how to take care of people's financial needs. AFTER I asked the question, some have mentioned what has been done or ideas. I guess since I can't read minds, I don't believe anyone. OK.

As far as MY idea? It sounds like some entities have already implemented it... don't allow foreclosures/evictions until this "normalizes" or loans are put into place. Then either one of two things needs to happen... businesses need to get bail out money in order to pay their employees, even if they're not working. OR the money goes directly to the people. So, that takes care of housing and utilities. And I don't think the money given should be a loan. Or, if it is, it needs to be at 0% and like five years.

How do you handle food/medicine? Give that away for free?

My bottom line is there are no easy answers. Sure, lock everyone in their homes for two weeks. I assume that doesn't include doctors and nurses & first responders. It wouldn't in my book. And presumably it wouldn't include those in supermarkets and pharmacies. Do gas stations stay open so those who need to get to work can? What about media? Some of it can be done from home, not all. Who else am I missing?

I did like the PP (might have been @Christine) answer who said cutting back on who needs to be onsite could be a big help. Not every industry/job can do that though.

Ok, I'm catching up again so I'm sure I'm late with my response but I find this frustrating...I don't know if it's just regional or what, but I feel like lots of people have been sounding the alarm about managing the epidemic, and specifically discussing these financial impacts that you're talking about for some time, certainly the government has been discussing it as they negotiate the Coronavirus Response Act. A lot of the issues/responses are being discussed at Federal, state and local levels? It's all out there if you want to more information...

 

[tzolkin]

I am not an expert, maybe somebody can comment who is,, but isnt there a way to test for antibodies to see if one had something and is somewhat immune?? would be nice to know..

Yes, there is-- a titer test. People who work in the medical field will have these done as proof of immunity for various things. Some people who have lost their vaccination records will also have the tests done rather than getting re-vaccinated for everything.

However, since people who are actively sick don't even seem to have access to testing for the illness in most places in the US right now, I think we are quite a ways off from healthy people having titer tests done to see if they are immune.

 

[pryncess527]

Seems crazy that schools are excluded. No idea about the business part though. I wish they'd just close everything accept essential services.

there is a different document from the CDC that focuses on schools, I think that’s why they were exempt from this one

 

[LSUmiss]

Not ONE person has said, before I asked the question, how to take care of people's financial needs. AFTER I asked the question, some have mentioned what has been done or ideas. I guess since I can't read minds, I don't believe anyone. OK.

As far as MY idea? It sounds like some entities have already implemented it... don't allow foreclosures/evictions until this "normalizes" or loans are put into place. Then either one of two things needs to happen... businesses need to get bail out money in order to pay their employees, even if they're not working. OR the money goes directly to the people. So, that takes care of housing and utilities. And I don't think the money given should be a loan. Or, if it is, it needs to be at 0% and like five years.

How do you handle food/medicine? Give that away for free?

My bottom line is there are no easy answers. Sure, lock everyone in their homes for two weeks. I assume that doesn't include doctors and nurses & first responders. It wouldn't in my book. And presumably it wouldn't include those in supermarkets and pharmacies. Do gas stations stay open so those who need to get to work can? What about media? Some of it can be done from home, not all. Who else am I missing?

I did like the PP (might have been @Christine) answer who said cutting back on who needs to be onsite could be a big help. Not every industry/job can do that though.

For Katrina, sba loans were 2% interest rates for like 10 years.

 

[DeniseJH]

there is a different document from the CDC that focuses on schools, I think that’s why they were exempt from this one

I just figured maybe it was left up to the states to decide on that.

 

[DeniseJH]

If you go back to the beginning of this that is what I was saying all along. Comprehensive testing was the difference and has proven that the mortality rate is lower than it appears when not enough testing is done. Testing does not stop a disease. It just gives you a clearer picture of it.

I've got to go back to the beginning? Ugh! I'll just take your word for it. It's only 10:22 AM and my brain is maxed out already.