Covid-19: Coronavirus July 2020

MaeZe · Jul 10, 2020

If you need to stay the fuck home, why wouldn't the folks that need to go out need a mask?

I agree this needs to be a decision made country by country, and in some countries, state/province by state/province. All the people have in many countries are masks. They don't have a health care system anywhere near adequate to deal with this.

Around here everyone that can is sewing cloth masks for other people: my neighbors, my sister-in-law (she even made tiny ones for her lawn gnomes), volunteer groups.

The Ultimate Guide to Homemade Face Masks for Coronavirus

One month ago, we published one of the first rundowns of data on the best materials for making homemade masks. Fast forward and the CDC is now recommending face masks for everybody, spurring a worldwide movement to make homemade masks.

The first summary (viewed over 4 million times!) was a great start on face mask materials, but the data is incomplete. Over the past several weeks, we’ve been hard at work to test crucial materials the earlier study left out, as well as create guidelines for variables like thread count. From coffee filters and bed sheets, to reusable non-woven polypropylene shopping bags, flannels and blue shop towels, let’s jump into the data.

What New Homemade Face Mask Materials Do We Have?
We tested 30 new materials in this round of tests, triple what the Cambridge study covered.

We chose materials based on popular demand, using this poll we set up on our crowd-funding page. But we’re still testing, so if there’s a material you want to know about, let us know! We’ll update this list as we run more tests.

Homemade Face Mask Test Procedure
We mimicked the test setup the Cambridge researchers used, which is called a Henderson apparatus. In our setup, a fan on the left end blows air and particles through the mask material on the right....

Very scientific site.

You don't need the same masks the medical professionals are using.

And the friend I mailed a couple dozen N100s to in Canberra still hasn't used them because the fires ended and his local pharmacy had a sufficient supply. If someone in Oz wants an N100, he promised he'd mail some off. It was to save postage from the US to Oz. I mail them once and he can mail them more cheaply from Canberra. (The same is true if those bugger fires get nasty again.) Just PM me an address and I'll get in touch with him.

N100s are probably better for smoke. They are hard to wear for very long. They have an exhalation valve so don't protect others from you. But for someone like Lyv who is at very high risk, an N100 is worthwhile. I'm still using my expired N95s and so far in this area, there is an adequate supply for health care providers.

As long as we're getting emotional here:

I understand the desire/need to make sure health care providers have enough PPE. I'm devastated by the numbers of health care providers being killed by this virus. I know I'm repeating myself but I've been involved in EMS pandemic planning for a couple decades. I told them if I were working in a hospital when SARS 1 hit, I would have walked off the job. Single mother, I'm choosing my son over my obligation to my patients. If hospitals cannot protect those workers, it's the employers who are not keeping their obligation to the health care workers.

I was appalled that a nurse got ebola. Ebola! What is wrong with that hospital they didn't know how to prevent an infection that health care workers in Africa are managing to protect themselves from! As an infection control practitioner, (infection preventionist

), it drives me crazy how poorly prepared some hospitals and nurses are when it comes to staying safe.

But I digress. The reason I have expired N95s is the fire department here took my advice and stocked up on PPE. When these expired they replaced the supply.

None of that matters though when it comes to the public wearing cloth masks to prevent COVID 19 now. If you need to stay home to stay safe, you need to wear a cloth mask when you have to go out. Otherwise, your area is free from virus and it is safe to go out. New Zealand, much of Australia, and a few other countries are in that category. If I were in a safe area of Australia right now, I'd make sure I had enough supplies on hand in case it began spreading again. If I were in Melbourne or the surrounding areas, maybe including Adelaide, I'd be staying home and wearing a mask if I had to go out.

AW Admin · Jul 10, 2020

Riiight. The usual suspects are weighing in.

Say goodnight Gracie.

I'll probably kill you in the morning.

AW Admin · Jul 12, 2020

I am provisionally re-opening this thread.

Some things to note:

Again, do not conflate medical/surgical masks, like the N95, with masks that are "face coverings," of the sort many people in the U.S. are making out of ordinary fabric, and which many U.S. states are not only recommending people wear in public or where they can't reliably social distance, but are requiring people to wear.

Note that yes, we are aware that a cloth face covering /mask doesn't do a whole lot for the wearer, but it does demonstrably serve to protect others more than they might otherwise be.

Note that NO ONE AT ALL is suggesting wearing a face covering/mask removes the necessity to social distance and isolate in place as much as possible. But there are instances where someone may have to go outside where they might not be able to be socially distant. For instance, obtaining food, or prescriptions or medical treatment may make staying 6 feet away difficult. Being in an enclosed space with poor air circulation is a potential hazard. Wearing a cloth face covering offers at least some protection for other people.

Note also that Australian governmental advice is not that different from that of WHO and CDC. Again, note that Australian health authorities carefully distinguish between surgical medical masks and "face coverings" that are masks. The general population in Australia and in the U.S. is being advised that they should reserve medical quality / surgical/N95 masks for essential / medical personnel.

Note also that after recent increases in COVID-19 cases in Melbourne Victorian

Premier Daniel Andrews has asked Melburnians to wear masks in public when they can't social distance, in a major shift in health policy in the state and across Australia.

Again, you will notice that there is a distinction being made between reusable masks/cloth face coverings and medical quality masks.

Finally, I'm really at the end of my rope in terms of tolerating ass-hattery, idiocy, and passive aggressive attempts to manipulate the conversation.

Stop bickering with each other, in thread, or back channel. I don't have time, or energy or bandwidth to adjudicate snipe-fests between ostensible adults, and I won't even try.

Engage in good faith. Be better.

Unimportant · Jul 12, 2020

This pants-peeing analogy is the best explanation I've seen for why wearing a face-covering works. At least, it was the one explanation that actually got through to my mother and convinced her. (Sorry, I couldn't post the actual image because I'm a clueless luddite.)

Roxxsmom · Jul 12, 2020

This article from the Atlantic on cognitive dissonance and people's responses to Covid-19 is interesting.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/role-cognitive-dissonance-pandemic/614074/

Clearly, something about this pandemic and the scientific suggestions surrounding it really hit some people at their core.

MaeZe · Jul 12, 2020

Unimportant said:
This pants-peeing analogy is the best explanation I've seen for why wearing a face-covering works. At least, it was the one explanation that actually got through to my mother and convinced her. (Sorry, I couldn't post the actual image because I'm a clueless luddite.)

It's a much clearer analogy than I would have imagined from your description.

frimble3 · Jul 13, 2020

MaeZe said:
It's a much clearer analogy than I would have imagined from your description.

Clear enough to explain to a child, or an adult who might be confused by all the back-and-forth on-line and in the news.

Unimportant · Jul 13, 2020

Or, yeah, sadly, my mother. Who I Skype with daily. Mostly for nonpolitical family disaster reasons, but hey, if I can also drive her to some semblance of sanity, given that she voted for Trump originally, woohoo bonus.

Introversion · Jul 13, 2020

Unimportant said:
(Sorry, I couldn't post the actual image because I'm a clueless luddite.)

Here’s a direct link to the image. (I won’t post it inline, because I think it’s larger than AW likes, in deference to those with slow Internet?)

https://www.truthorfiction.com/ezoi...t-why-you-should-wear-facemasks-everyone.jpeg

ChaseJxyz · Jul 13, 2020

California just shut everything down, again. Trying my best to not be upset! Or not think about the surgeries I'll probably have to get next year instead when insurance is going to be way more expensive!

Unimportant · Jul 13, 2020

I do so desperately hope that, if nothing else, COVID will drive the US to implement what the rest of the world has embraced for decades: national health care for all.

JJ Litke · Jul 13, 2020

New York City had a day with no reported zero COVID deaths for the first time since March. This is such good, hopeful news. And evidence that preventative measures really can make a difference.

Lyv · Jul 14, 2020

Administration Orders Hospitals to Bypass the CDC With Key Virus Data

The Trump administration has ordered hospitals to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and, beginning Wednesday, send all coronavirus patient information to a central database in Washington — a move that has alarmed public health experts who fear the data will be distorted for political gain.

The new instructions are contained in a little-noticed document posted this week on the Department of Health and Human Services’ website. From now on, HHS, and not the CDC, will collect daily reports about the patients that each hospital is treating, how many beds and ventilators are available, and other information vital to tracking the pandemic.

Makes it easier to fudge the numbers. Because it's all about "ratings." The GOP is a death cult.

Well, tomorrow I know at least one thing my husband and I will be doing. Getting coronavirus tests, thanks to an asymptomatic intern my husband works with. I don't even know where to go or which test...tonight, I guess we'll be figured out where to get tested. Going to try to find a drive-up site. Blech.

MaeZe · Jul 14, 2020

That's terrible Lyv. :Hug2:

Wishing you and your husband the best outcome here.

Snitchcat · Jul 15, 2020

Oh, wow.

I hope yours and your husband's tests come back negative and you'll both be alright! *hugs*

Roxxsmom · Jul 15, 2020

Lyv said:
Administration Orders Hospitals to Bypass the CDC With Key Virus Data

Makes it easier to fudge the numbers. Because it's all about "ratings." The GOP is a death cult.

Well, tomorrow I know at least one thing my husband and I will be doing. Getting coronavirus tests, thanks to an asymptomatic intern my husband works with. I don't even know where to go or which test...tonight, I guess we'll be figured out where to get tested. Going to try to find a drive-up site. Blech.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you both.

Lyv · Jul 15, 2020

Thank you all for the kind words here and in reps. He's getting tested tomorrow, but my medical team decided the risk of me getting tested is too high and I was already in hospice (and when this broke, I was finally, peacefully in the active dying phase. I pulled out of it--there are things I can do to extend my life, but they're pretty awful--to help my husband through this). He's my primary caregiver and I need a lot of help so we have no idea if we can even do any kind of isolation. We're staying apart today, but not really doing isolation, and at times we have to have contact. He's going to a drive-up testing site and we should know something in 24-48 hours.

His bosses said everyone can come back in if they test negative, but I thought if you had contact with anyone positive you should quarantine for 14 days.

Trump Tulsa rally attendee Kevin Stitt becomes first US governor to test positive for coronavirus.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who has aggressively pushed to reopen his state and flouted experts' health recommendations, announced Wednesday that he is the first governor to test positive for coronavirus.

Stitt, a Republican, said at a press conference that he was tested on Tuesday and that he feels "fine," other than being a "little bit achy." He said he'll be quarantining and working from home, and that he was "pretty shocked" to be the first governor to get the virus. He added that he would isolating away from his family, whom he said tested negative.
"I want to use my story to remind Oklahomans that if you aren't feeling well, we want you to get tested," said Stitt, who added that he is not considering a statewide mask mandate as of now.

Stitt's diagnosis is particularly notable, as he has not only pushed to aggressively reopen his state despite a surge in cases but has at times disregarded advice from medical experts. In March, he faced backlash for posting a photo of himself and his children at a crowded restaurant, which he later deleted.

I'm sure he'll get very good medical care from healthcare professionals he's harmed and disrespected (Not being snarky. I was an RN. He'll get the same care everyone else will. It's what you do.)

FletcherHavarti · Jul 15, 2020

Lyv said:
Thank you all for the kind words here and in reps. He's getting tested tomorrow, but my medical team decided the risk of me getting tested is too high and I was already in hospice (and when this broke, I was finally, peacefully in the active dying phase. I pulled out of it--there are things I can do to extend my life, but they're pretty awful--to help my husband through this). He's my primary caregiver and I need a lot of help so we have no idea if we can even do any kind of isolation. We're staying apart today, but not really doing isolation, and at times we have to have contact. He's going to a drive-up testing site and we should know something in 24-48 hours.

My thoughts are with you. I sincerely hope you and your husband don't have to suffer from Covid on top of everything else you're going through.

MaeZe · Jul 15, 2020

I think that's a wise decision, Lyv. But it will be devastating if the person you love has to social distance from you at this time in your life.

Re the Oklahoma gov., look at the damage this guy might have done including exposing his whole family:

Oklahoma's Governor Says He Has Tested Positive for COVID-19

One of Stitt’s cabinet members, David Ostrowe, tested positive for the coronavirus in March.

And Stitt went to the Trump rally, both probably too long ago to have been the source of his infection, but one has to wonder how the infection must be swirling around the state government and maybe other GOP fundraisers.

But the following is more recent and within the timeframe the governor would have been contagious:

On Tuesday morning, Stitt attended a meeting of the Commissioners of the Land Office in a conference room at the state Capitol that was attended by more than 20 people.

Stitt said he has reached out to Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell and Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur whom he said he spoke with during the meeting. Pinnell said on Twitter that he's not experiencing any virus symptoms but that he plans to be tested and will quarantine at home.

Stitt also attended a meeting earlier this month with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is considering Tulsa as a possible site for the automaker’s new U.S. assembly plant

A Tulsa restaurant that Stitt visited last week, Kai Vietnamese Cuisine, announced on its Facebook page that it was closing temporarily so that it's staff can be tested and the restaurant professionally cleaned.

- - - Updated - - -

I think that's a wise decision, Lyv. But it will be devastating if the person you love has to social distance from you at this time in your life.

Re the Oklahoma gov., look at the damage this guy might have done including exposing his whole family:

Oklahoma's Governor Says He Has Tested Positive for COVID-19

One of Stitt’s cabinet members, David Ostrowe, tested positive for the coronavirus in March.

And Stitt went to the Trump rally, both probably too long ago to have been the source of his infection, but one has to wonder how the infection must be swirling around the state government and maybe other GOP fundraisers.

But the following is more recent and within the timeframe the governor would have been contagious:

On Tuesday morning, Stitt attended a meeting of the Commissioners of the Land Office in a conference room at the state Capitol that was attended by more than 20 people.

Stitt said he has reached out to Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell and Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur whom he said he spoke with during the meeting. Pinnell said on Twitter that he's not experiencing any virus symptoms but that he plans to be tested and will quarantine at home.

Stitt also attended a meeting earlier this month with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is considering Tulsa as a possible site for the automaker’s new U.S. assembly plant

A Tulsa restaurant that Stitt visited last week, Kai Vietnamese Cuisine, announced on its Facebook page that it was closing temporarily so that it's staff can be tested and the restaurant professionally cleaned.

Introversion · Jul 16, 2020

I haven’t yet seen news from other sources reporting this, but Ms. Richardson in the past has been careful and accurate.

https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/posts/2350568425087210?__tn__=K-R

Heather Cox Richardson said:
As the coronavirus continues to ravage the country, the way the government will collect data about Covid-19 cases changed today. On March 29, Vice President Mike Pence asked hospital administrators to report data about coronavirus through three different systems: the network provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC), HHS Protect, and TeleTracking. Last Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that, beginning today, hospitals should report daily information about coronavirus cases not through the CDC system, which has been in place for 15 years, but rather through the other two.

This move has met with widespread condemnation as observers worry that Trump is trying to take control of information about the coronavirus in order to conceal it. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has hidden information this way, and Trump has made it clear he believes that if only he downplays the numbers, he can convince people to go back to work and resurrect the economy.

But there is another angle to this change that seems to me likely to be at least as attractive to the president as control over data information. That primary issue is money.

HHS Protect is developed by Palantir Technologies, a data-mining firm that works with the Pentagon and law enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Peter Thiel, a billionaire Trump supporter, co-founded the company, which last week confidentially filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to go public. An initial public offering (IPO) would have made bucketloads of money in any case, but a federal contract to compile coronavirus information is a sweet addition to its portfolio.

The TeleTracking system also raises suspicions of a financial deal. On June 3, Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) wrote to the director of the CDC, Dr. Robert Redfield and the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Robert P. Kadlec, to ask why HHS had awarded a $10 million no-bid contract to create this data system that duplicated the one the CDC already had. Why indeed?

There is, in the letter shifting data collection, a peculiarly nasty stick. Underlined on the first page of the instructions is that “We will no longer be sending out one-time requests for data to aid in the distribution of Remdesivir or any other treatments or supplies. This daily reporting is the only mechanism used for the distribution calculations, and the daily [sic] is needed daily to ensure accurate calculations.”

Remdesivir is one of the two drugs proven effective at combatting Covid-19. Two weeks ago, the Trump administration bought up almost all of the world’s supply of the drug for the next three months.

The rest of the world was outraged at this purchase, but at the time HHS Secretary Alex Azar defended the move by saying “To the extent possible, we want to ensure that any American patient who needs remdesivir can get it. The Trump administration is doing everything in our power to learn more about life-saving therapeutics for Covid-19 and secure access to these options for the American people.”

Now, it appears, in order to get access to it, hospitals will need to use the private data systems the administration supports.

...

akiwiguy · Jul 16, 2020

Sometimes you wonder.

New Zealand is close to 80 days of zero community-transmitted covid cases. There are about 20 cases active, but they're all people returning from overseas and are in managed facilities.

I'm currently in my last day of a mandatory 14 days in isolation in a hotel after returning from Australia. I mean a hotel currently dedicated to managed isolation of people returning to New Zealand with scores of security, Dept of Health and police personnel present 24/7.

But what beggars belief is that on at least 4 occasions people have absconded from these hotels, usually for some ridiculous reason such as purchasing more alcohol, and at least one of these later tested positive for covid.

I think the maximum penalty they face is a $5,000 fine and/or six months imprisonment. But what I can't help thinking is...compared to the seemingly more heinous crimes such as murder, where do you rate actions that could potentially plunge a whole country which has effectively eliminated the virus back into trying to contain a second wave? It simply beggars belief to me that people could be so idiotic. "Idiotic" doesn't even do it justice, but I'm a bit lost for words.

Anyway. One does wonder.

Unimportant · Jul 16, 2020

Kiwiguy, every one of us are boggled by such selfish stupidity. I could see if it was some selfish moronic foreign tourist, but these are KIWIS returning to THEIR OWN COUNTRY, and they want to be here BECAUSE WE ARE COVID-FREE in the community. Which was only possible because FIVE MILLION OF US SPENT TWO MONTHS IN LOCKDOWN. Why would you jeopardise that for a four pack of Leffe?

Personally I hope every one of them gets the fine AND the six months. And get named and shamed and socially shunned for at least a decade. Yes, I am petty and vindictive and hold a grudge.

Introversion · Jul 16, 2020

With morgues brimming, Texas and Arizona turn to refrigerator trucks

Ars Technica said:
Officials in Texas and Arizona have requested refrigerated trucks to hold the dead as hospitals and morgues become overwhelmed by victims of the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

“In the hospital, there are only so many places to put bodies,” Ken Davis, chief medical officer of Christus Santa Rosa Health System in the San Antonio area, said in a briefing this week. “We're out of space, and our funeral homes are out of space, and we need those beds. So, when someone dies, we need to quickly turn that bed over.

“It’s a hard thing to talk about,” Davis added. “People's loved ones are dying."

Overall, Texas is seeing a surge in hospitalizations and deaths among people infected with the coronavirus—and reports of new infections are still on the rise. On Wednesday alone, the state reported 10,791 new cases, bringing the total to over 282,000 cases. The state has reported over 3,400 deaths so far.

Several other areas in the state have ordered, bought, or are seeking refrigerated trucks or trailers to hold bodies. That includes Nueces, Cameron, Travis, Hidalgo, and Harris counties, as well as the city of Austin, according to The Texas Tribune.

The picture is not looking much better in Arizona, were hospitalizations and deaths are also spiking. The state, which has counted over 134,000 cases and 2,492 deaths, has reached 90 percent capacity of its beds for adult intensive care patients. The mayor of Phoenix said late last week that the city is working to secure refrigerator trucks.

...

Introversion · Jul 17, 2020

Can’t let Florida and Arizona run away unchallenged for the “most dysfunctional state government response to Corona” prize!

Georgia’s governor sues to block Atlanta mayor from mandating masks in public

The Guardian said:
The governor of Georgia is suing Atlanta’s mayor and city council to block the city from enforcing its mandate to wear a mask in public and other rules related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Governor Brian Kemp and Georgia attorney general Chris Carr, in a suit filed in state court late Thursday in Atlanta, argue that Atlanta’s mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, has overstepped her authority and must obey Kemp’s executive orders under state law.

“Governor Kemp must be allowed, as the chief executive of this state, to manage the public health emergency without Mayor Bottoms issuing void and unenforceable orders which only serve to confuse the public,” the lawsuit states.

The move followed an executive order by Kemp on Wednesday that resulted in an ambiguous situation, with Kemp denying local governments could order masks, but local governments arguing it was within their power.

...

cbenoi1 · Jul 17, 2020

Introversion said:
Georgia’s governor sues to block Atlanta mayor from mandating masks in public

Here's the Trump playbook on this: let it run all the way to SCOTUS. Drag your feet along the way. It will take months if not years. By that time there will be a vaccine and Kemp will be out.

-cb

Covid-19: Coronavirus July 2020

No COVID yet. Still masking.

Beastly Fido

Heckuva good sport

No COVID yet. Still masking.

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!

Writes 🏳️‍⚧️🌕🐺 and 🏳️‍⚧️🌕🐺 accessories

No COVID yet. Still masking.

People are not wearing enough hats

I meant to do that.

Dragon-kitty.

Beastly Fido

I meant to do that.

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!

AW Inmate #90976

No COVID yet. Still masking.

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!