Formerly DT: COVID-19 - Featuring Lots of Politics, now CR because political talk not going away

[Wally Fairway 5,549]

Reading national news - CNN, CBS, NY Times, etc, there is no mention of Detroit, and virtually any other city not named New York City. 
But local coverage is saying how Detroit Metro area hospitals are at capacity, and more cases are coming

https://www.michiganradio.org/post/more-hospitals-nearing-capacity-surgestarts-hitting-metro-detroit
 

Quote

First it was Beaumont Health on Tuesday, announcing that with nearly 450 confirmed COVID-19 cases and another 185 awaiting testing results, its 8 hospitals are “facing limitations and nearing capacity with our staffing, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and mechanical ventilators...” 

Then on Wednesday, Henry Ford Health System said its hospitals in Detroit and West Bloomfield were “quite full,” with just over 400 confirmed or suspected coronavirus patients hospitalized across the system.

“We feel like we're on the front end of the surge,” says Dr. Betty Chu, Henry Ford’s associate chief clinical officer and chief quality officer. “But we're anticipating a significant increase in volume in the coming weeks...We feel like we’re on the rapid acceleration of a growth curve.” 

It’s impossible to say how big, exactly, that surge will be. 

The relevance of this is how many other cities are in the same place - Chicago, LA, Philly, Houston, Dallas, Austin, etc. 
Do I need to read 20 local papers a day?

[Bevo 13,577]

Francis Collins is the director of the NIH. That guy is a superstar in genetics. I wonder why he has not spoken. From what I understand, he is non-political so I doubt that would be the reason.

 

I noticed he recently did an interview in the Atlantic:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/interview-francis-collins-nih/608221/

Edited March 26, 2020 by Bevo

[davidg 4,037]

4 minutes ago, NoName said:

do you mean actually UTHSC or do you mean UT Health (formerly ETMC-Tyler)?

I assume you mean the second one (Level I Trauma center) not the first one, on 271. 

I meant the TB hospital (that's what my mom always called it when she went there) but it doesn't have as big of an ED/ICU as ETMC so who knows with this illness.

[Incredulity 11,671]

5 minutes ago, tantric superman said:

.  But we are going to have a foundation to solve problems better and we are going to havea better hope of getting to a better place, if not in this or the next generation, maybe a bit beyond that.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,817]

Reading national news - CNN, CBS, NY Times, etc, there is no mention of Detroit, and virtually any other city not named New York City. 
But local coverage is saying how Detroit Metro area hospitals are at capacity, and more cases are coming
https://www.michiganradio.org/post/more-hospitals-nearing-capacity-surgestarts-hitting-metro-detroit
 

First it was Beaumont Health on Tuesday, announcing that with nearly 450 confirmed COVID-19 cases and another 185 awaiting testing results, its 8 hospitals are “facing limitations and nearing capacity with our staffing, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and mechanical ventilators...” 

Then on Wednesday, Henry Ford Health System said its hospitals in Detroit and West Bloomfield were “quite full,” with just over 400 confirmed or suspected coronavirus patients hospitalized across the system.

“We feel like we're on the front end of the surge,” says Dr. Betty Chu, Henry Ford’s associate chief clinical officer and chief quality officer. “But we're anticipating a significant increase in volume in the coming weeks...We feel like we’re on the rapid acceleration of a growth curve.” 

It’s impossible to say how big, exactly, that surge will be. 

The relevance of this is how many other cities are in the same place - Chicago, LA, Philly, Houston, Dallas, Austin, etc. 
Do I need to read 20 local papers a day?

Don’t you remember? We’re all beneath New Yorkers.

Especially when storm of the centuries hit there and they get like 9 inches of snow

[Don Johnson 4,753]

On 2/6/2020 at 11:21 AM, MaybeACoordinator said:

Latest from Dr. Neil Ferguson at the Imperial College of London. (Bonus: hot Dutch nerd doctor / interviewer with huge rack.)

Tl;dw

Official numbers are way low, and this will be at least as bad as H1N1 and/or SARS.

 

 

[NoName 16,351]

hopefully we see some successful things like this moving forward to help conserve/preserve PPE?

 

edit: adding this since it's PPE related. wow, 10m!

 

 

Edited March 26, 2020 by NoName

[Bevo 13,577]

14 minutes ago, NoName said:

hopefully we see some successful things like this moving forward to help conserve/preserve PPE?

 

 

 

 

Masks aren't really a problem if money is available to purchase them. I just received an email for N95 masks that said they are making 200K a day. Unfortunately, they want $4.00 per mask when I usually get masks for about $7 per box. I generally don't need N95 masks so I passed.

Edited March 26, 2020 by Bevo

[NoName 16,351]

first time i have seen this in the US...assume this is the first of many to do so - basically accelerating them being first year residents

 

[FondrenRoad 4,378]

7 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Masks aren't really a problem if money is available to purchase them. I just received an email for N95 masks that said they are making 200K a day. Unfortunately, they want $4.00 per mask when I usually get masks for about $7 per box. I generally don't need M95 masks so I passed.

Its hard not to go CR on that, but you do have a manufacturer that has no or few additional input costs, yet is charging many times their normal price for a necessity during a crisis simply because demand is higher.  I'm sure the stock price of the mask manufacturer and its CEO's pay are on the rise.  Capitalism at work.

[Hate 20,108]

1 minute ago, FondrenRoad said:

Its hard not to go CR on that, but you do have a manufacturer that has no or few additional input costs, yet is charging many times their normal price for a necessity during a crisis simply because demand is higher.  I'm sure the stock price of the mask manufacturer and its CEO's pay are on the rise.  Capitalism at work.

Or maybe their costs went up when they had to double or triple production.  Maybe the material costs have gone up and maybe they are needing to pay overtime to their staff to reach the 200K a day production goal.  You have no idea at this point, yet you will have no problems taking a shot a capitalism any chance you get.  

[AngryBevo 20]

9 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Masks aren't really a problem if money is available to purchase them. I just received an email for N95 masks that said they are making 200K a day. Unfortunately, they want $4.00 per mask when I usually get masks for about $7 per box. I generally don't need M95 masks so I passed.

That should be reported to someone.  Companies like that should at least get fined

[triplehorn 2,664]

3 minutes ago, FondrenRoad said:

Its hard not to go CR on that, but you do have a manufacturer that has no or few additional input costs, yet is charging many times their normal price for a necessity during a crisis simply because demand is higher.  I'm sure the stock price of the mask manufacturer and its CEO's pay are on the rise.  Capitalism at work.

True, and activation of the Defense Production Act would reduce those crisis demand profits.

[NoName 16,351]

damn.

from NYT: More than 3 Million Americans Lost Their Jobs Last Week. See Your State.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/26/upshot/coronavirus-millions-unemployment-claims.html

 

Texas:

 

 

 

 

 

[FondrenRoad 4,378]

5 minutes ago, Hate said:

Or maybe their costs went up when they had to double or triple production.  Maybe the material costs have gone up and maybe they are needing to pay overtime to their staff to reach the 200K a day production goal.  You have no idea at this point, yet you will have no problems taking a shot a capitalism any chance you get.  

For the most part, capitalism works okay.  I have a problem with price gouging during a crisis.  You should too.

[atomheartbevo 89,664]

1 hour ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

So just walked my dog a couple of miles and I'm trying to figure out why school buses are running and picking up kids.  The elementary school in my neighborhood is closed.  It looked like middle/high school kids.  Weird. 

What school district?

[bigup2dahorns 3,343]

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

4 minutes ago, Hate said:

Or maybe their costs went up when they had to double or triple production.  Maybe the material costs have gone up and maybe they are needing to pay overtime to their staff to reach the 200K a day production goal.  You have no idea at this point, yet you will have no problems taking a shot a capitalism any chance you get.  

100%. I've been in manufacturing my whole life and it amazes me the amount of ignorance regarding how we produce items in the US.

No, people, we don't  have the ability, equipment, personnel, inventory, supplies, etc. to run 100x of our annual production overnight. Anyone who does is running so fat that they won't be in business for long.

[DigglerontheHoof 21,199]

1 minute ago, atomheartbevo said:

What school district?

Community ISD in southern Collin Co

[atomheartbevo 89,664]

Belgium swinging above their weight class

 

[ChickenSandwich 9,836]

25 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

 

 

[Incredulity 11,671]

5 minutes ago, bigup2dahorns said:

 

I thought they painted cars?

[Incredulity 11,671]

1 minute ago, ChickenSandwich said:

 

[FondrenRoad 4,378]

8 minutes ago, NoName said:

damn.

from NYT: More than 3 Million Americans Lost Their Jobs Last Week. See Your State.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/26/upshot/coronavirus-millions-unemployment-claims.html

 

Texas:

 

 

 

 

 

Why wouldn't initial unemployment claims go down?  Hourly workers haven't been getting paid unless their employers, like Starbucks, offered to pay them while they aren't working.  Their only choice was to accept a layoff and get unemployment.  Its actually more of a furlough though if their employers are able to reopen in 2 months.

I do expect April to be worse however.  There are a lot of employers paying hourly workers for a single month.  

Unlike a natural disaster, infrastructure and buildings are undamaged.  Having a plan where some of the costs for missed rent/mortgage are spread to banks would allow many businesses to go right back to work.  

The big unknown will be customers.  There will be a lingering fear of shared spaces, and customers will have a lot less money to spend.

[Hate 20,108]

12 minutes ago, FondrenRoad said:

For the most part, capitalism works okay.  I have a problem with price gouging during a crisis.  You should too.

Of course, but let's wait to see some evidence of it happening before we storm the plant with pitchforks.  You'd burn it all to the ground first if you could.

[atomheartbevo 89,664]

Dyson doing amazing stuff, designing a ventilator specific to the needs of covid patients, in 10 days.  

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/26/tech/dyson-ventilators-coronavirus/index.html

“Dyson has received an order from the UK government for 10,000 ventilators to support efforts by the country's National Health Service to treat coronavirus patients. 

James Dyson, the company's billionaire founder, confirmed the order in a letter to employees shared with CNN on Wednesday.

'Desperate' shortage of ventilators for coronavirus patients puts manufacturers on wartime footing

"A ventilator supports a patient who is no longer able to maintain their own airways, but sadly there is currently a significant shortage, both in the UK and other countries around the world," Dyson wrote.

Dyson said the company had designed and built an entirely new ventilator, called the "CoVent," since he received a call 10 days ago from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"This new device can be manufactured quickly, efficiently and at volume," Dyson added, saying that the new ventilator has been designed to "address the specific needs" of coronavirus patients.

A spokesperson for the company, which is best known for its vacuum cleaners and hand dryers, said the ventilators would be ready by early April. Dyson, who has wealth worth $10 billion according to Bloomberg, wrote in his letter that he would also donate 5,000 units to the international effort to tackle the pandemic. 

"The core challenge was how to design and deliver a new, sophisticated medical product in volume and in an extremely short space of time," he added. "The race is now on to get it into production."

[Texas_Rocks 346]

I'm not sure if many of you are like me, but I'm pretty much going into minimalist news intake...

Absolutely! My sanity demanded it.

[FondrenRoad 4,378]

15 minutes ago, Hate said:

Of course, but let's wait to see some evidence of it happening before we storm the plant with pitchforks.  You'd burn it all to the ground first if you could.

I'm not storming any plants.  It used to be $7 for a box of masks.  Now its $4 a mask.  The company isn't even attempting to "mask" the fact that it is gouging on the masks.

But 3M is doubling production to 100 million a month and shifting away from manufacturing masks for industrial purposes, so we will be gouged right into the arms of a new monopoly.

We are in a state of emergency.  This is no time to squeeze additional profits out.

Edited March 26, 2020 by FondrenRoad

[closetojumping 62,718]

 

2 hours ago, NoName said:

depends on the setup

critical access hospitals (what most people think of as "rural", 25 bed limit - think Llano, Comanche, Navasota, Hamilton, Uvalde, Burnet, Perryton, Ft. Stockton) generally do not have ICU beds. its the exception, not the rule.

actual "rural" hospitals (just hospitals in rural areas - think Marble Falls, Kerrville, Mt. Pleasant, San Angelo) generally have small-ish ICUs, just not large ones. 

 

I wonder how naive or right I am about Galveston being a better covered rural area. 50,000 people on the island, but UTMB is here and they have a healthy ICU situation plus an infectious disease practice. Being down here, for the most part, over the last 2.5 weeks, it's a fucking ghost town on the west side. We see maybe one couple walk by in the neighborhood daily. Almost no cars. Hummels and 7 Seas are decently stocked, blue crabs are back, and lights in the canal at night keep the trout and reds around. It's a crazy quiet way to watch the world end.

 

1 hour ago, InkaUtexas said:

Just a corvette. or a midget. depends where you are. 

I believe Rocko posts on this site under the handle "Loco".

57 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Oh I don’t care. 

That was one of the funniest troll jobs in history. There is sum ting wong with you if you're upset about it.

[Pato del Muerto 52,498]

13 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Dyson doing amazing stuff, designing a ventilator specific to the needs of covid patients, in 10 days.  

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/26/tech/dyson-ventilators-coronavirus/index.html

“Dyson has received an order from the UK government for 10,000 ventilators to support efforts by the country's National Health Service to treat coronavirus patients. 

James Dyson, the company's billionaire founder, confirmed the order in a letter to employees shared with CNN on Wednesday.

'Desperate' shortage of ventilators for coronavirus patients puts manufacturers on wartime footing

"A ventilator supports a patient who is no longer able to maintain their own airways, but sadly there is currently a significant shortage, both in the UK and other countries around the world," Dyson wrote.

Dyson said the company had designed and built an entirely new ventilator, called the "CoVent," since he received a call 10 days ago from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"This new device can be manufactured quickly, efficiently and at volume," Dyson added, saying that the new ventilator has been designed to "address the specific needs" of coronavirus patients.

A spokesperson for the company, which is best known for its vacuum cleaners and hand dryers, said the ventilators would be ready by early April. Dyson, who has wealth worth $10 billion according to Bloomberg, wrote in his letter that he would also donate 5,000 units to the international effort to tackle the pandemic. 

"The core challenge was how to design and deliver a new, sophisticated medical product in volume and in an extremely short space of time," he added. "The race is now on to get it into production."

You’re up, Elon. Though to be fair, small air moving device is more the arena of dyson. 

[atomheartbevo 89,664]

Quote

 

The Pentagon confirmed Wednesday that a Marine who works inside the building has tested positive for Covid-19.

A defense official said the last time the Marine, an officer, was in the Pentagon was March 13. He began self-isolation on March 15. He works in the plans, policy and operations office of Marine Corps headquarters.

This is the first military personnel based at the Pentagon to test positive.

“A marine stationed at the Pentagon tested positive for Covid-19 on March 24. Per U.S. Centers for Disease Control guidelines, the Marine is in isolation at his home and will undergo further assessment by health professionals," the Marines said in a statement. "The Marine followed official guidance by isolating himself when his spouse began to show symptoms. Once he became ill, he contacted his assigned medical facility. His workspace has been cleaned by a Pentagon response team and a thorough contact investigation is underway to mitigate risk and preserve the health of our Marines, civilians, and families.”

 

And the Army is looking for retired medical personnel, who are not currently involved in covid efforts.   
 

Quote

The US Army has reached out to retired medical personnel to possibly volunteer to support the coronavirus response effort. 

In an email obtained by CNN, the Army called upon retired personnel on Wednesday looking for “voluntary recall of retired soldiers” with specific medical specialties. 

“We need to hear from you STAT!” the Army said.

The Army is asking for help from retired soldiers qualified in these specialties: “60F: Critical Care Officer; 60N: Anesthesiologist; 66F: Nurse Anesthetist; 66S: Critical Care Nurse; 66P: Nurse Practitioner; 66T: ER Nurse; 68V: Respiratory Specialist; 68W: Medic.”

A spokesperson for the Army said they’re “gauging the availability and capabilities of our retired career medical personnel to potentially assist with Covid-19 pandemic response efforts if needed.” 

The spokesperson made clear they do not want to interfere in any civilian medical needs, stating, “This information request will no way interfere with any care they may be providing to their communities, it is for future planning purposes only, and is completely voluntary."

“These extraordinary challenges require equally extraordinary solutions and that's why we're turning to you — trusted professionals capable of operating under constantly changing conditions. When the Nation called — you answered, and now, that call may come again," the email to retirees said

 

[Aqua Buddha 14,596]

27 minutes ago, bigup2dahorns said:

 

 

[Beau Vine 54,226]

28 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Belgium swinging above their weight class

 

MISERABLE FAT BELGIAN BASTARDS!!!

[Mitch Cumsteen 18,549]

Latest numbers from Bexar County:

Quote

SAN ANTONIO - Bexar County and the city of San Antonio are now reporting 84 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Of the 84 confirmed cases, 36 are travel-related, while 27 are community spread.

There have been three confirmed deaths, a spouse to a military veteran in her 80s and Laurie Ramirez, 44, who was a member of St. Luke's Catholic Church. The third death was a woman in her 50s, who died at Mission Trails.

The woman in her 50s is said to have had chronic underlying health conditions.

Ramirez is a part of the 40-49 age group, which represents 24 percent of the total cases in Bexar County.

The county reports 11 percent of cases are still under investigation on whether they are travel-related or not.

I was told there would be no maths: 36+27 = 63. 11% of 84 = 9.24 (let's round up to 10). 63+10 = 73. Where are the other 11 cases?

Edited March 26, 2020 by Mitch Cumsteen
I can't do maths for shit, apparently.

[Pato del Muerto 52,498]

1 minute ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Latest numbers from Bexar County:

I was told there would be no maths: 36+27 = 61. 11% of 84 = 9.24 (let's round up to 10). 61+10 = 71. Where are the other 13 cases?

With the upholstery guy

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

10 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

You’re up, Elon. Though to be fair, small air moving device is more the arena of dyson. 

Elon's gonna blast Corona into the Sun.

[Coelenterate Fuccboi 13,091]

2 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

Elon's gonna blast Corona into the Sun.

How many people can he send?

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

9 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

MISERABLE FAT BELGIAN BASTARDS!!!

I rep all Monty Python references.

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

Just now, Casual Encounter said:

How many people can he send?

[Mitch Cumsteen 18,549]

Just now, Pato del Muerto said:

With the upholstery guy

That toothless motherfucker still has one of our couches. I haven't brought it up with my wife because I don't want that gotdam thing in my house. Nor do I want to try to chase him down. I think she just forgot about it. 

And as much as this worldwide fucking disaster is hurting my business, my wife isn't spending money on shit right now. No eating out. We aren't even picking up food from restaurants. No clothes/purse/art purchases. I'm probably making money on this whole deal.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

55 minutes ago, FondrenRoad said:

Its hard not to go CR on that, but you do have a manufacturer that has no or few additional input costs, yet is charging many times their normal price for a necessity during a crisis simply because demand is higher.  I'm sure the stock price of the mask manufacturer and its CEO's pay are on the rise.  Capitalism at work.

Yes, not it's not, so go away if you're gonna troll that stuff in here.  CR has nothing to do with people either just getting greedy or a host of other issues that could have driven costs. Their own rules about over time pay if they've geared up extra time too crank out product , the cost of getting materials could have increased for the exact same reasons.  

Jesus you're insufferable regardless of the thread you post in.

 

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

8 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

That toothless motherfucker still has one of our couches.

I love when threads collide.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

28 minutes ago, FondrenRoad said:

I'm not storming any plants.  It used to be $7 for a box of masks.  Now its $4 a mask.  The company isn't even attempting to "mask" the fact that it is gouging on the masks.

But 3M is doubling production to 100 million a month and shifting away from manufacturing masks for industrial purposes, so we will be gouged right into the arms of a new monopoly.

We are in a state of emergency.  This is no time to squeeze additional profits out.

There's a thread where you can spew your BS go to it please

[tantric superman 4,667]

My wife's recent run to the market indicates a possible paucity of 100% orange juice in the Lake Highlands area...

 

[Thetexashammer 1,062]

Italian governor threatens to send police armed with flamethrowers to fight against people violating quarantine.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8143383/Italian-politicians-threaten-flamethrowers-enforce-coronavirus-lockdown.html

[tantric superman 4,667]

But that shit is delicious.

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

3 minutes ago, tantric superman said:

But that shit is delicious.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,817]

Italian governor threatens to send police armed with flamethrowers to fight against people violating quarantine.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8143383/Italian-politicians-threaten-flamethrowers-enforce-coronavirus-lockdown.html

It’s a science experiment to see how covid reacts to extreme heat. I’m all for it

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3,868]

6 minutes ago, tantric superman said:

My wife's recent run to the market indicates a possible paucity of 100% orange juice in the Lake Highlands area...

 

 

Too soon?

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,101]

NYC Covid case stats and stats on deaths.