Coronavirus Diaries

4/17/2020--Interesting Covid19 Day in America

We woke up to three tweets by the president, basically inciting mass civil disobedience against the very measures he put in place -- or supported as recommended by physicians and epidemiologists-- to keep our astronomical infection and death rates from further skyrocket.

Detailed here: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/17/trump-states-stay-at-home-orders-192386

Trump breaks with his own guidelines to back conservative anti-quarantine protesters

Excerpt:

President Donald Trump culminated a swerving, week-long power struggle against the nation’s governors with an apparent endorsement of protesters who have defied leaders of coronavirus-stricken states, public health experts and the most senior members of his own administration.

In a series of tweets Friday afternoon, the president issued an online call to “LIBERATE” Minnesota, Michigan and Virginia — all states where aggrieved residents have gathered in public in recent days to demonstrate in opposition to stay-at-home orders declared by Democratic governors.
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Bouyed by their confused and confusing fearless leader (who once said of his loyal crew of knuckle-draggers, "I like the uneducated," this untidy band met in the street and on the sidewalks in front of the governors' residences.

Quite more interesting is the fact that some of these people are scratching their heads, wondering if Trump is advocating an armed conflict agin the gubmint, since Trump's rhetoric included the stirring adjuration to 'liberate' their states and for added emphasis "LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!" In the language of his intended audience, this directly translates to "Git yer guns and shoot up the revenooers."

If the worst that happened because of this parade of ignorance today is just a little Darwinian whittling, no harm done, but this deadly illness is so easily shared with innocent people.

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In other news, Texas is talking about beginning their process of "re-opening". https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/17/politics/texas-economy-reopen-testing-coronavirus/index.html

Excerpt:

As Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott formulated a plan this week to reopen the world's 10th largest economy, he had to strike a delicate balance between two opposing forces: a push from the state's powerful business community eager to get back to work and health professionals and economists warning that a premature restart could be deadly.

In the end, Abbott took a measured approach. Instead of kicking off a full restart, the Texas governor announced that a group of medical and economic experts will guide him through a series of incremental steps aimed at slowly reopening the state's economy.

The group's aggressive name, the "Strike Force to Open Texas," belies Abbott's surprisingly cautious framework. Plans to restart business won't come until April 27, and Abbott stressed they will be determined by "data and by doctors."

Still, Abbott is ahead of the curve as one of the first big state governors to announce a firm time line for lifting his April 2 stay-at-home order.
"Opening in Texas must occur in stages," Abbott said during his briefing Friday. "Obviously, not all businesses can open all at once on May 1." A premature opening of private businesses, he said, would risk further outbreaks and "be more likely to set us back, rather than to propel us forward."
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Obviously, nobody knows exactly what we should be doing. The slow rolling phases of re-opening seem thoughtful, but the medical advice to have a firm handle on testing, tracing, and treatment seems like the best way to go. Texas has none of that, so to me, setting firm dates for opening seem premature, but I'll be watching closely from 4 or 5 states over, hoping friends can stay safe during the experiment.

Because there is another side that deserves close examination. I hear Cuomo, Baker, DeBlasio, and Murphy all begging for things they desperately need--including money to help shore up crushing monetary losses that have already occurred, telling Trump directly that any economic recovery will be impossible without federal help. Trump seems to be teasing them.
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I was stunned during DeBlasio's press conference today as he was taking calls from the public. One woman had the foresight to ask since the city couldn't open the pools this summer, how would they take care of the people who have no cooling systems in the dog days of summer.

You could tell by his expression, they hadn't thought of this yet.

Tentacles.

I can't understand how the refusal to believe that this virus is life-threatening falls so precisely along political lines.
Huntington Beach, CA

Liechtenstein has problems with the coronavirus that other countries can only dream of. "There are now so few cases, that we lose track of the virus. And that is dangerous," says Mauro Pedrazzini [Liechtenstein's health minister]. 81 cases have been reported in the Principality so far, but the Government Council responsible for health fears a second wave of infection in the autumn, which could overwhelm the country. Liechtenstein's only hospital has respiratory equipment, but no fully-fledged intensive care unit. Severe Covid-19 cases would have to be treated in Switzerland or Austria.

That is why Pedrazzini has turned the country with its 38 000 inhabitants into a laboratory to quickly detect any renewed flare-up of Covid-19. This week, the government and the Princely House presented a project financed by them, under which 2000 bracelets equipped with sensors will be distributed to citizens. The bracelets measure skin temperature, pulse, respiration and blood flow. They are actually intended to detect the fertile days of women.

More than five percent of the population of Liechtenstein will therefore wear the bracelets at night in the future. During the day, they are supposed to load them; movements make the measurements inaccurate anyway. Software should then be able to recognize the "cardinal symptoms" of Covid-19: increased temperature, shortness of breath, and coughing. At the end of the development, an algorithm will be developed that will use the data to learn which patterns in the body's signals indicate a Covid-19 infection even before a patient notices it himself. This is called machine learning. When the software is activated, it sends a message to the wearer of the bracelet: Isolate yourself better and get tested.

In order to avoid suspicion of wheeling and dealing, the project has been examined by the Ethics Committee of Zurich in the neighbouring Switzerland. The state Liechtenstein does not have access to the data.

In addition to the bracelets, the Liechtenstein strategy against Covid-19 also includes the government having all of the country's wastewater tested for traces of the virus. This is also comparatively easy in Liechtenstein, because all the dirt in the country flows through a single sewage treatment plant.

I laughed, but really it makes me cry.

No question.

From the top, down.

Quite a comparison to my country’s virus management... Thanks for that news item. I doubt I’d have heard it otherwise.

In a scene straight out of Jaws, despite warnings of impending disaster, Florida beaches open to thronging crowds. Shark damage report: in approximately two weeks.

Tentacles of the coronavirus.

Their food source gone, in an apt metaphor for US politics, bands of cannibalistic rats fight for dominance.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/starving-and-cannibalistic-americas-rats-getting-desperate-amid-pandemic/2371598/?fbclid=IwAR0KVSJm1P0ohwxer7ubaJdhh32YkXxjix1YYKkSnq7_3rKLOmTfkJ2gebw

So we went and surprised my brother the nurse today. We were not sure if he would be home as he has worked on some Sundays, but figured it was a nice day - he lives right on the harbor in this very small house but a beautiful view of Boston and it was such a nice day. We thought if he wasn't there we would leave the poster for him and surprise him.

So we pull up and park in his driveway - couldn't tell if he was home or not - I text him and asked if he was home - figured if he responded yes we would tell him to come outside.

He didn't respond - so I went to his back door with the sliding glass window and looked in and saw him hanging out on his couch so I knocked.

My daughter proudly displayed her artwork - thanking him and the nurses. We talked for a bit - a half hour or so - from a distance of course and left.

I think he thoroughly enjoyed the diversion.

Thanks for that really heartwarming story.

I was thinking of bringing him food too, but like I said I did not know if he was going to be there or not, and we wanted to surprise him.

A good thing I did not - he told me the best thing about this is they are always getting food. From random people just sending various types of food from Italian to pizzas to sandwiches - to doctors and nurses not working with covid-19 like the children's hospital.

So they are well fed.

They only thing that is bad for him - he is director of nursing for all this so he gets nothing extra for pay - no bonuses, no OT, no hazard pay. Regular staff nurses are getting OT even below 40 hours, bonuses if they work any extra time and hazard pay. So even when he works on the weekends (his shift is normally M-F) he gets nothing. He used to be nurse on this floor and was promoted up to director over the last several years.

He is a funny guy he says well I guess this nice plastic covering for my name tag, and all the sanitizer I want while I am work.

The one other thing he said when I asked how it was at the hospital ... he said although there were alot of people very ill (he has the most ill people on his floor) - many are recovering and that although they are busy it isn't like some make out --- there are not people in the hallways waiting to be cared for.

I think that one note is positive - it is not as bad as predicted it could be.

Oil just crashed.

(holding breath)

I hope this is the peak for us, Linkat.

The price of oil is negative now (they will literally pay you to take it).

Ok I am in line for my hand out and cash. I can store it somewhere --- I have a big yard.

Sounds like what my brother is experiencing is true across hospitals in MA

"Mass General models show flattening curve; COVID-19 patients not expected to overwhelm the system during this week’s surge
Expect hospital admissions for coronavirus may begin to lower in about a week"

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/04/20/nation/mass-general-models-show-flattening-curve-covid-19-patients-not-expected-overwhelm-system-during-this-weeks-surge/

While Germany is trying to make everyday life easier, the authorities are trying to make the new rules of conduct binding in official German, for example in the catering industry. The corresponding legal regulation stipulates that restaurants and cafés are to remain closed and only out-of-home sales are possible. "The consumption of food and beverages will remain prohibited within a radius of 50 metres of the restaurants", the state of Lower Saxony (neighbouring state to where I live) therefore emphasises on a website that answers "frequently asked questions" about Corona.

Everyday life in times of the coronavirus - answers to frequently asked questions

A question that seems to come up so often that the site gives it its own paragraph is: "Does this 50-metre distance also apply to a lick of ice cream purchased in an ice-cream parlour?" Here Lower Saxony has created a kind of lick report specifically for this purpose. It declares that the "application of the regulation" should be "pragmatic in that the first rapid licking of an ice cream scoop during the rapid visual distance from the ice-cream parlour should prevent the ice cream from dripping onto clothing or the floor".

Although the care taken with regard to "clothing and flooring" is laudable, apparently nobody considered that the number of cases of spontaneously occurring cold headaches could drastically increase as a result of increased ice licks. Lower Saxony should make improvements here.

The concluding sentence reads: "However, the distance of 50 metres applies to the consumption of residual ice. ;-)". Yes, there's actually a wink emoji attached to the reminder. Is that supposed to mean "not at all"? Or is it just to visually cushion the severity of the rule? In any case, the use of emojis in official announcements would be an interesting innovation for the post-Corona era.

What if you are parked right outside their door - and eating in your car?

I ask this because my daughter needed to get out - so I let her go driving - she just texted me and told me she got something to eat and is eating in the car.