Covid19

[Too Tall]

That is certainly encouraging. Often the facts get lost in the fear when we read early reports.

It seems we are becoming more knowledgeable by the day. That’s a good thing.

Definitely keep reading and listening. I've "heard" but not yet seen published something that I was asking about a few days ago. Filtering antibodies from recovered patients to use as a "booster" of sorts and see if it offers some protection.

[Sbti]

Minnesota governor is shutting down restaurants, etc. They've got Andrew Zimmer the food/restaurant guy at the news giving the "pep talk" to the industry saying hang in there.

[Tom]

That restaurant I spoke of above is doing a takeaway menu. I now know I'm not cooking two nights a week. The school district is going to summer breakfast and lunch schedule and setting up pickup spots for their own takeaway system. I'm sending a big frigging check to the Food Bank because the school's doing what they normally would and has it covered so I should help out someone else.

[j44ke]

It means either:
1. He doesn't know that there's a stockpile of critical supplies reserved for disaster
2. Someone told him it's insufficient
2a. Someone told him we'll need lots of ventilators (that's the proper term for a machine that breathes for you ) and that same someone knows the federal govt can't respond quicker that the locals.
3. He has no idea what is coming out of his mouth

The word from the hospitals is that the people who get really sick need to be mechanically ventilated. For awhile. So, assuming the number of really sick people increases, we'll eventually run out of gear. What is not being addressed is that not every Tom and Jane in the hospital (this goes for physicians and nurses) is properly trained to maintain a ventilated patient. These patients usually go to an ICU. Some hospitals in NY are already talking about clearing out OR and recovery rooms to take these patients. It's great they're making space but your average nurse or doc is not competent to care for a ventilator patient....though I imagine that's on the "To Do List" to get more people trained.

Knowing this guy, he probably has Jr and the other kid buying up stock in the medical device industry. Oops. that belongs in the other thread!

Thanks.

[Mark Walberg]

They're talking on the radio today about shutting down all the "unessential" gathering places such as restaurants, but allowing the "essential" places to stay open, such as gas stations.

And, I'm told that they have outlawed bike riding in Palo Alto.

Holy Cow, Batman! We need more cyclists in the power structure.

[Will Neide]

From the newsroom of UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center), our local 800 pound healthcare gorilla...

PITTSBURGH – UPMC has developed a test for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — UPMC will use this test to diagnose select, symptomatic cases. The health system plans to rapidly increase capacity at its central laboratory and, if there is a need, could test hundreds of patients per week in the near future, filling a critical gap before other commercial tests come online.

“The specimens will be safely transported for testing to the UPMC Clinical Laboratories, the largest academic clinical lab in the U.S. In most cases, results will be returned within 24 hours. UPMC may continue to send specimens to the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s laboratory in eastern Pennsylvania or health department laboratories in New York and Maryland as needed and for confirmation. UPMC will work with commercial laboratories to send specimens to them as soon as they have capacity, which will maximize the health system’s ability to test all who need it.

As others have noted, here is another case of organizations taking matters into their own hands and bypassing in some sense, the roadblocks that the Feds have established, in not having a central and uniform response, to such a tragic series of events.

So Pa is on lock-down at midnight tonight. All non-essential businesses are closed.

My wife has been working like crazy because of this. She’s a lab manager (virology lab) at Children’s Hosp in Philly. Her speciality is molecular. The amount of working that has gone into getting the test online in such a short amount of time has been nuts. No point in going into the details, but CHOP and Univ of Penn (HUP) (eastern Pa) have been working on this for weeks. The lab world is a small world. Her former boss is now supervisor at UPMC virology lab. They’ve been on the same page as far as primer sequences (etc) since the info was released. They’ve been working with the DOH to help supplement and support state testing. Pennsylvania is in good hands on both ends.

If a child is suspected to have COVID19 and shows up to the CHOP ER, they will most likely have results back in 24 hours.

My facility is close to going live (Central Pa). Lots of these hospitals are really working together behind the scenes. Despite the media, lots of hard work has been happening and will continue to happen. Lots of my staff have been volunteering to help in any way possible and its impressive to see.

Just as long as we can start to “flatten the curve” all will be well.

[Mark Walberg]

Regarding the test for the virus, it is worthwhile to think through what the test helps with.
Recall that there is no treatment for corona virus infection beyond supportive care.
That would be done anyway, regardless of test results.
The only real value of the test for the individual person who is sick is that the docs can stop looking for a different cause if the corona test is positive. That is worth something (maybe avoiding a bronchoscopy), but otherwise it doesn't have a big impact for an individual.

On the other hand, it is a big deal for those trying to understand how the virus is going through the population, and it is a big deal for figuring out who needs isolation and who could go back to work.

[thollandpe]

Will, awesome that you are on the front lines of this fight. I wish you, your wife, and those you're working with -- strength and speed. And may this soon be in your rear-view mirror.

Marky Mark, good point. It's worth thinking about for all of us what would happen if we got a positive test, and how that chain of contacts would look. The office? A bike shop? Package store? Group ride (even with a prohibition on snot rockets)? Grocery store? Airport?

Last night I texted with a friend from a neighboring state as he extracted a frozen bottom bracket from a titanium frame. It's out but the fixed cup threads will need chasing. Tonight his text is that his young daughter has spiked a fever over 102F. Oh fuck.

[Mark Kelly]

Again with the good news: the amount of good science that is being done at an astonishingly rapid rate:

Australian researchers discover how body's immune system fights coronavirus COVID-19 - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[gt6267a]

it seems like we've been 2-3 weeks behind in appreciating the situation and advising a course of action. at this point, should we not take a very strong position? why not quarantine the nation? would it take 2 weeks? a month? 6 weeks to have it all played out. we could be done with this by mid april or may 1. isn't that better than flattening the curve through august? commerce is already incredibly low, wouldn't a known recovery timeline be better for the economy than maintaining ambiguity?

when hospitals are overflowing with patients, its going to happen. for people's health and their wallets, why wait?

i get that were halfway there with shutting down restaurants and bars and limiting groups of people to 10 or less, but that is not happening everywhere yet. why not go all the way?

[robin3mj]

it seems like we've been 2-3 weeks behind in appreciating the situation and advising a course of action. at this point, should we not take a very strong position? why not quarantine the nation? would it take 2 weeks? a month? 6 weeks to have it all played out. we could be done with this by mid april or may 1. isn't that better than flattening the curve through august? commerce is already incredibly low, wouldn't a known recovery timeline be better for the economy than maintaining ambiguity?

when hospitals are overflowing with patients, its going to happen. for people's health and their wallets, why wait?

i get that were halfway there with shutting down restaurants and bars and limiting groups of people to 10 or less, but that is not happening everywhere yet. why not go all the way?

Because asking Americans to self-sacrifice for some non-concrete benefit is effectively impossible.

Half the boomers don’t think this is a big deal at all and a not insignificant portion of millennials either don’t care or (hopefully fewer) think this is jokingly a good opportunity to put a dent in the sheer number of boomers (see above). The rest of us are just caught in the middle.

[Mark Kelly]

The other argument is that it won't do very much even if it worked. The virus isn't going away, the pandemic will subside when we reach herd immunity.

A vaccine would accelerate that and if you could quarantine until a vaccine became widely available that would be a great strategy but it's predicated on a lot of ifs. It would also be interesting to see how the antivaxxers responded: perhaps we shouldn't let anyone out of quarantine unless they are vaccinated. Shame you can't quarantine Facebook.

[Tristan]

The New Zealand government has just rolled out a stimulus package worth over 4% of GDP...that would be worth US$775bn (!!) for a similar package in the USA.

Among the highlights:
-Businesses being paid per-employee if their revenue drops by 30% in any of the months from Jan to June
-Increase in social welfare spend
-Government will pay for wages for people who are required to self-isolate
-Interest free deferment for provisional and income tax

Shit yeah New Zealand

"This is the rainy day that we have been planning for,'' Finance Minister Grant Robertson

Coronavirus: Government unveils $12.1b package to combat Covid-19 impact | RNZ News

[snotrockets]

And, I'm told that they have outlawed bike riding in Palo Alto.

Holy Cow, Batman! We need more cyclists in the power structure.

If at all, they're actually taking cycling seriously – the way I read it, the order is that any non essential transportation is forbidden, regardless of mode – the order decrees that it isn't just motorized transportation, but bicycles and walking is also banned. Going out for exercise is allowed, as long as you keep a 6 feet distance. Basically, non drafting tri rules are in effect for all.

[Blue Jays]

Far, far, far too many people are not taking the basic social distancing guidance seriously.
Endless photos online of people senselessly packed into bars, nightclubs, and other venues.

[Colinmclelland]

...Holy Cow, Batman! We need more cyclists in the power structure.

You are not wrong. Public transport is still running here and no-one has said "if you get the bus on a trip you could cover on your bike you are an idiot" And I don't think that's because they think it's such an obvious fact they don't need to state it.

Under my wife's benign dictatorship, voting rights would be withdrawn for people hoarding toilet paper or using public transport when they could be riding. Of course, under her dictatorship your voting rights won't really be relevant so there is that.

E-bike sales should be absolutely booming

[Mabouya]

it is a big deal for figuring out who needs isolation

This isn't just a big deal, it's a huge deal.

[mjbabcock]

"This is the rainy day that we have been planning for,''
[/url]

Planning? Oh damn...we're screwed. We've been busy deficit spending, cutting taxes on the wealthy while earnings were strong, deregulating everything, and...well, we're screwed.

[Chik]

The UK appear to be going in reverse:

'Everyone is scared to speak up': A&E doctor asks for Covid-19 tests: Nishant Joshi urges frontline workers to highlight lack of protective equipment and risks of no testing

'I'm losing faith in the leadership': an NHS doctor's story: On the frontline of the UK coronavirus outbreak, a doctor is ‘terrified’ about the lack of protection – and a plan

[Lionel]

The other argument is that it won't do very much even if it worked. The virus isn't going away, the pandemic will subside when we reach herd immunity.

This is crazy talk. The delta between doing nothing and full confinement is potentially hundred of thousands if not millions of death in the US. The Vietnam war killed 58000 soldiers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...wpisrc=nl_most