PantherCityPins

1) Do you have enough masks, gloves and hand sanitizer? Are home-made masksbetter than nothing? Here's an interesting article on various types of materialsand how well they block virus/bacteria particles.

2) How does a BiPAP machine differ from a the "ventilator" that we're hearing about shortages of in the news? My father had ALS and used a Trilogy BiPapwith a face mask (non-invasive), so I have some experience with that device (and 1 other brand I can't remember the name of). My understanding is that if he would have chosen invasive ventilation with a tracheostomy, he would have been kept on the same Trilogy ventilator. We returned his device to the VA Hospital because it was loaned to us, but I know that at the time you could purchase them online (I looked into buying a backup). Obviously they're not going to take them away from ALS patients, but I know some sleep apnea patients get prescribed BiPAPs (in addition to CPAPs). Could a CPAP machine be converted to a BiPAP machine? Or is the solution to just have the manufacturers ramp up production? On another note, I saw an article that showed where someone turned an Ambu Bag into a mechanized ventilator.

Thanks for taking your time to answer questions, and thank you and all your support staff for saving lives! My sister is a nurse in Minneapolis and while I wish she could stay quarantined and safe at home, she recognizes that she's got a job to do.

PantherCityPins

Thanks for the reply.

Another question I had was how many people does it take to care for an average COVID-19 patient or is there no such thing as an "average" COVID-19 patient (because of all the other issues: diabetes, heart conditions, etc)? The pictures I've seen from Italy just show room upon room of patients lying in beds, hooked up to ventilators and other medical equipment. Early on, I heard about it taking multiple respiratory technicians (3 was the number I heard) to "run/manage a patient on a ventilator". Are medical professionals (nurses, doctors, technicians) the choke point or ventilators? If we come up with enough ventilators, will we be able to re-assign other medical professionals to the job or maybe use trained/trainable personnel from the armed forces?

Without sounding too morbid, what's killing those who are admitted to the hospital with COVID-19? Is it pneumonia, ARDS, or some other pre-existing condition (diabetes, heart disease, etc)?

I think a lot of people are hoarding now because they don't know when they'll safely get back to a grocery store to get more food. Are you "social distancing" if you're roaming around a packed grocery store, looking for what's left on the shelves?

If you have the option in your area, look into grocery delivery or pick-up. My local store Woodmans has a pretty decent website for creating orders for pick-up, but right now (as expected) they are swamped with orders. Amazon Fresh, offers delivery, but I have not seen any open delivery dates this week. I'm guessing most services (delivery/pick-up) are swamped right now.

Hopefully the stores are able to ramp up employees and logistics, because that would really help to eliminate the chance for spread.

If someone called in to the Howard Stern show and said on-air the exact same things being said now in front of a podium, he or she would have been written off by everyone as a crazy person.

So everyone should practice "social distancing" except when it's inconvenient or it gets a bit boring?

I wonder how that's going to work out for us?

https://staythefuckhome.com/

1584631765-Trump-Tweets-apos-SOCIAL-DISTANCING-apos-After-Shaking_hires (resized).jpg

Don't question or confront misleading and potentially harmful information.

Understood.

Are you the "Italy vs USA", apples to oranges person from the other thread?

Why we’re not overreacting to the coronavirus, in one chart
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/3/20/21179040/coronavirus-us-italy-not-overreacting

apples_vs_oranges (resized).png

It's not convenient for any of us to voluntarily miss out on all of the things we enjoy like going out to eat or play pinball on location. I don't blame you for wanting to do those things. I want do do those things too!!!

When you go out to eat at a restaurant, the waitstaff is within 2 feet of you (or closer) and is breathing all over you. And you and everyone else who's gone in to eat that day, are breathing over him/her.

People with flu can spread it to others up to about 6 feet away. Most experts think that flu viruses spread mainly by droplets made when people with flu cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/spread.htm

The flu virus might be spread not only by coughing and sneezing, but also simply by breathing, researchers say in a new report.

That may not sound surprising, but the common wisdom among flu experts has been that flu was not an airborne virus but only spread by fairly large droplets, from coughing or sneezing.

The new study found clear evidence that influenza patients breathe the virus out through their mouths and noses in tiny particles that can stay suspended in the air for minutes or hours.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/influenza-might-spread-air-study-finds-n839166

Terrible. Probably all for social media LIKES. So glad I grew up in the days of Compuserve and AOL and not today's gluttony of social mediawhoredom.

I hope they get NO desserts and are forced to live on a diet of only rotten & dirty vegetables.

Thankfully there are other youngsters that are setting a better example.

Two 20-somethings extend ‘invisible hands’ in virus outbreak

Liam Elkind’s big heart and his break from college was a highlight of 83-year-old Carol Sterling’s week.

The retired arts administrator has been sheltering at home during the coronavirus outbreak, unable to shop for herself. Yearning for some fresh food, she found the 20-year-old through their synagogue, and soon he showed up at her door with a bag full of salad fixings and oranges.

Elkind, a junior at Yale, and a friend, Simone Policano, amassed 1,300 volunteers in 72 hours to deliver groceries and medicine to older New Yorkers and other vulnerable people. They call themselves Invisible Hands, and they do something else in the process — provide human contact and comfort, at a safe distance, of course.

Can I pay your bills when you're gone?

Dominate the Dojo!

Kramer: The first time I sparred with an opponent, I was terrified. My legs, they were like noodles. But then I looked inside, and I found my katra.

Elaine: Katra?

Kramer: Yeah, your spirit, your being. The part of you that says, "Yes, I can!"…So I listened to my katra and now, I'm dominating the dojo. I'm class champion.

Apology accepted, but not necessary.

I'm just as scared and disappointed as you and everyone else is with this mess.

Where my fault lies, is that I'm a bit more angry and bitter at why we're here and what possibly led to that. But I guess that can be dealt with at a later time.

Thanks for the kind words.

This is great. What an incredible speech! Thanks for sharing.

THIS is what should be hearing from our l__d_rs.

I'm not trying to be a dick and single you personally out. I'm sick of eating food from my "pandemic pantry". You can only eat Rice & Beans for so many meals until you want to barf. (Although I am thankful for what food I do have!)

I don't know what the correct information is for whether or not YOU personally can safely go out and eat right now. We are getting a mixed message on that. While I personally think you're less at risk if you live in a rural area versus living in New York, California or Washington cities, I can't confidently say that risk is ZERO.

We're told to social distance and stay inside, but we have to eat, so they say we can go to the grocery store and to the pharmacy. Have you been in a grocery store lately? It's wall-to-wall packed with people! You might as well be in a packed restaurant.

I apologize if you took that personally, as I'm just as frightened and frustrated as you are.

Maybe we're foolish to try to fight this? Just rip off the band-aid and let the pain hurt for a second instead of slowly peeling it off and enduring the pain for a drawn out period of time? A lot of us and our loved ones are going to die, but not everyone will die. The planet will still be here for us to pick up where we left off.

I don't know... CRAZY-F'IN-TIMES!

Watched a bunch of videos on making home-made masks for doctors/nurses.

A lot of them are just using cloth (napkins, sanitary pads, etc) as the barrier, and I doubt those are very good at stopping small bacteria/virus particles.

The ingenious ones are the people who are using furnace filters.

Here's another one that is a bit more "ghetto" (as the kids say these days), but still uses a re-purposed furnace filter.

Here's a link to further reading on the furnace filter ratings:

MERV vs MPR vs FPR ratings explained

Well, I know what I'm going to be spending my afternoon searching the "Dark Web" for....

Thanks for sending me down this rabbit, or should I say... monkey hole.

On my local news, they were talking about how most daycare centers were closed BUT they also mentioned that a few more were open explicitly for taking care of children that belonged to VIPs like your wife. They did not give specifics, but it might be something to look into. What are her co-workers doing? Has her employer talked about providing on-site child care?

Evers also asked child care providers to prioritize families of health care workers and essential service providers, and he asked parents to stay home and care for their children if they're able to.

The state is also exploring ways to serve health care workers with on-site child care, according to the release.

Amundson said the agency is creating an online Find Care page that will connect families with providers, including idled workers willing to provide in-home childcare. National Guard volunteers could help set up and staff temporary child care centers if it comes to that.

https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/education/2020/03/18/gov-tony-evers-puts-new-restrictions-child-care-providers-another-measure-fight-covid-19/2867713001/

While I definitely think China is not free of blame from their unregulated wild game markets, and their initial cover-up, I'm praying that the rest of the world doesn't fan the flames to a level where we get into an unnecessary conflict that will potentially lead to more lives lost.

Although War is usually good for the economy... so, maybe?

That's not what I'm reading or hearing at all.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis of U.S. cases from Feb. 12 to March 16 released Wednesday shows 38 percent of those sick enough to be hospitalized were younger than 55.

Earlier this week, French health ministry official Jérome Salomon said half of the 300 to 400 coronavirus patients treated in intensive care units in Paris were younger than 65, and, according to numbers presented at a seminar of intensive care specialists, half the ICU patients in the Netherlands were younger than 50.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/19/younger-adults-are-large-percentage-coronavirus-hospitalizations-united-states-according-new-cdc-data/

Thanks! I just made some moves on the market. When I'm asked, I'll say that I was just going off public information already available.

Does he change his gloves between patients?

They look taped on? He must disinfect them or have another pair on over the taped gloves?

Seems like a way to pick up the virus if you don't already have it?

Is memory loss a symptom of the Coronavirus?

Because I might have it then...

Who exactly is Anthony Fauci?

A bit of history on the man we're all counting on.

If this guy doesn't get a Presidential Medal of Freedom (or equivalent)... WE RIOT!

He's also an avid runner/jogger.

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Thanks for info.

I noticed a lot of video coming out of China and Italy with healthcare workers in full suits. At what point do you guys switch from a mask and goggles to a full protective suit? Are there different levels of suits? The look expensive, so I would imagine there aren't a ton of them just lying around. Are they single use or can you sanitize and re-use them?

Here's another example of someone re-purposing air-conditioner filters into face masks. It comes with a warning that it's not lab-tested, but he also says that regular paper products have at least some ability to stop particles. It's got to be at least as good as a scarf or a bandanna?!

I'm seeing a lot of at-home tests for COVID-19 being announced?

Will you buy one?

How accurate do you think they are?

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/21/fda-warns-new-home-coronavirus-tests-unauthorized/

Taking bets on whether or not Japan will host the Olympics this year.

Will basketball finish the season? Will Baseball even start their season? Football!?

Man, sportscards are going to be weird, if sportscards are even still around.

Recession? More like Depression???

I'm not hearing or reading much from the "it's just the flu" crowd these days. I hope they're doing OK?

What kind of donut did you get?

In other words...

I'm under 80, I'm going to be just fine.

Who want's to join me down at the beach for a campfire?!

Since they're probably all closed for the immediate future, I hope local area businesses are stepping up and donating their supplies of masks and gloves.

Vets, Dentists, Tattoo parlors... Who else am I missing?

arcademojo How practical would it be for your grocery store to close it's doors to the public, and ONLY take online orders and have grocery pick-up or delivery?

My local Woodmans grocery store has grocery pickup and it's a pretty nifty service, but as expected the wait times are a week or longer for pick-up.

I think once you get people hooked on online grocery ordering and delivery/pickup... you might really change how the grocery business operates.

I worked in a grocery store throughout school, and I personally love wandering the aisles looking at all the different choices. I sometimes still "face" the items while no one is looking or I wander around the store returning items that people randomly ditched from their carts. My Pet Peeve is when someone leaves a frozen or refrigerated item on a regular shelf to just spoil. I know from experience that potentially spoiled food probably has to just be thrown in the garbage at that point, and it's such a waste. That should be considered on par with shoplifting IMHO.

Stay safe, and thank you for your service!

Yeah, that's a huge concern.

Wish I had this gal to shop for me.

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US just moved into 3rd place here:

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

1) China
2) Italy
3) USA

We don't really have to be #1 at everything do we?

download (resized).jpg

Which NBA team does Rand Paul play for?

I've heard it said that "anyone who wants a test can get a test".

You're not suggesting he or she who said that is a liar?

I'll be praying for him.

I hope his socialist, tax-payer funded health insurance takes care of him in his time of need.

What about baby wipes? Has the general public discovered that baby wipes can be used in place of toilet paper (just don't flush it)?

Yeah agreed. Amazon has plenty of models that anyone can hook up. I got the one where it's just cold water. I'd recommend the one with hot water, but that's an extra hookup to your sink's hot water line I assume.

Agreed also check all your big accounts (savings, investment, retirement, etc) to see if you can setup a beneficiary. Often you can do this online. The "benefit" is that you don't have to wait to settle the estate before a check gets cut.

I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice.

Read more here or research online:

https://info.legalzoom.com/article/what-law-beneficiary-designation-bank-accounts

https://wtop.com/business-finance/2018/02/7-common-mistakes-avoid-naming-beneficiaries/

I've got a WW2 era grenade in the basement ready for anyone who tries to set foot on my property and take my carton of TP.

Turns out... Sun, waves and alcohol don't prevent COVID19?

https://www.wkbn.com/news/coronavirus/college-students-in-florida-test-positive-for-coronavirus-after-spring-break-trip/

I still call Thursday, "Thor's Day" as long is it doesn't bother you.

Hands dry and scaly yet?

My hands take a beating every cold/flu season due to the constant hand washing and the dry humidity.

I'd recommend "Udderly Smooth" or "Bag Balm", but in my experience "Bag Balm" smells pretty bad while "Udderly Smooth" has a nice pleasant smell.

Regular moisturizers and lotions just don't do anything for me.
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If the Coronavirus doesn't kill me, my undiagnosed TDS certainly will!

Watching the latest Press Conference...

Everything he does is "great" or "the best". Every thing that is wrong is the fault of someone else. Nearly everything else is a bald faced lie. And he can't read a F#CKING LINE ON A PRE-PRINTED SPEECH without rambling on nonsensically like a madman.

Just give the job to Pence and go quarantine yourself at Mar-a-lago.

#WhereIsFauci

How do you mess up a buzz cut with clippers?

STOP!

Before you go fixing anything... Have you considered a Coronavirus Mohawk? These are uncharted times, and if everyone went to a mohawk (men+women), it could be used as a show of solidarity.

Can we stop patting ourselves on the backs for "closing the boarders to China". That obviously did not work.

And it's just another LIE

February 24, meanwhile, was China’s deadliest day from COVID-19; if Beijing’s possibly suspect statistics are to be believed, 149 people died from the coronavirus on that day. That afternoon, an Air China 777 arrived at JFK after a 13-hour flight from Beijing. The following day, Los Angeles International Airport welcomed flights from both Beijing and Shanghai.

That the Trump administration “banned flights,” “closed the borders,” or “stopped flights” from first China and later the European Union to halt the spread of COVID-19 has become a staple of its defense of its response to the pandemic. But it simply isn’t true. At no time through the course of this awful period have flights even once been halted between either China and the U.S. or Europe — including even Italy — and the United States.

The Trump administration did impose travel restrictions between China and the U.S., and later Europe and the U.S., but both actions have loopholes large enough to fly a 777 through. In the case of China, on Jan. 31 — weeks after it was known that the coronavirus was a serious problem — the administration restricted travel for “foreign nationals who had been in China in the last 14 days.”

That means that Americans — just as capable as carrying and transmitting a contagious viral infection as foreigners — had free passage between China and the U.S. And so daily flights between China and the U.S. continued.(And yes, even these limited restrictions were slammed as being too punitive at the time.)

The Trump administration’s alleged Europe travel ban, announced to much fanfare earlier this month, is similarly weak. It too exempts Americans from any restrictions whatsoever, and the screening that returning Americans have been subjected to at airports has been laughably weak. Passengers have been given a form to fill out (which many travelers have reported aren’t even being collected), waved through immigration, and then simply urged to self-quarantine. It’s like the honor system, but for containing a deadly pandemic.

Woah!?

Is the President of Slovakia single?

Either my heart has stopped or the tightness in my chest is COVID-19.

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Oh, for sure! Mileena or Skarlet.

PantherCityPins We've been told we're on day 7 of 15. What realistically happens on day #15? Will the curve be flat enough, so that we can resume our normal lives? We get reports from China that they're "going back to work", but without a vaccine or herd immunity, aren't they just as vulnerable as they were back in January before they quarantined 50+ million people?

Good news: 3M is delivering more masks!

Stock price currently at $124.89... will it rise?

In the U.S., we are producing 35 million respirators per month. More than 500,000 respirators are on the way to two of the more critically impacted areas, New York and Seattle, with arrivals expected starting tomorrow. Read full statement here:
https://s.3m.com/2QC4XjK 3/3
3:23 PM · Mar 22, 2020

https://twitter.com/3M/status/1241822783153340417

That scares the f#ck out of me. What's the co-pay on a visit like that?

We're only two/three weeks past being told that the "corona-flu" was just going to affect a minority of the population that was old and already sick.

Turns out that was another lie. Or maybe a "hunch" gone wrong? Alternative facts?

Maybe they'd forgive our $1.1 trillion in debt in a good-faith gesture?

I think he just likes saying "GYYYYYYYNA".

I can dig it.

I agree 100%!

American companies should make their products in America. They should also pay corporate taxes in America and not pretend like their operating bases are in a foreign country tax-shelter.

But who's going to make them? As consumers, would we stop buying iPhones and buying Apple stock until Apple starts making phones in America and paying Corporate Taxes in America?

What about neck ties? Should those be made in the US?

You've got to use the Snowflake button in the bottom right-corner to return to a Safe Space.

Remdesivir seems like it's more promising.

But if someone is on death's door and there is no hope left, and they can agree to it, then I think "compassionate use" laws allow for it?

Try whatever hail Mary drugs on hand.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/who-launches-global-megatrial-four-most-promising-coronavirus-treatments

The docs and nurses I'm hearing from out of Italy via podcasts, say THIS is really crushing their souls. Having to watch people die alone without their families.

Thankfully I'm not reading a lot about young kids in the hospital.

I am reading about people in their 20s though!!!

God I hope not. Flu is bad enough as is. Although we have gotten better at hand washing...

Will Coronavirus Happen Every Year Like The Flu?

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/flu-comes-back-every-year-will-coronavirus/

If I was in my 20s I probably wouldn't be taking this seriously. I remember hearing about the bird flu, Ebola, SARS and the swine flu... and not even giving them a second thought. These were diseases that the "weak" succumbed to.

It's scary what a few decades does to you...

What would be the point of fighting?

I don't think anyone is going to fight too hard to stop the South from seceding this time around.

It was, and would be again... pointless bloodshed.

Just build your 25 foot wall around your borders (on both sides) and let us come visit Texas and maybe New Orleans on Mardi Gras.

I'd understand if you didn't want Florida either.

“It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”

Without the media we'd still be at:

"The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!"

For some, the truth is very bitter pill to swallow.

https://www.ft.com/content/a26fbf7e-48f8-11ea-aeb3-955839e06441

Financial Times made it's charts and graphs free.

Right now the US seems like it's faring better than Italy in number of deaths. I'd like to see a chart showing whether or not that's just a timing thing (they are 10 days ahead) or not.

http___com.ft.imagepublish.upp-prod-us.s3.amazonaws (resized).png

Yeah, I kind of wondered about why they went from specific map points (cities) to just showing the numbers for an entire state. That happened a few weeks ago. Maybe it was to handle the load of requests they were receiving. Maybe it was an attempt to not cause people in specific cities to panic. Why did they suddenly revert it to the way it was? Did they increase server capacity to handle the increased load? Or was it to now maybe scare people into staying inside?

The World has Chicken Pox.

I'm just pissed that for a country that toots it's own horn about being "the best", we were so ill-prepared for something like this, that we're telling our doctors and nurses to re-use face masks and we have to rely on volunteer quilters to make home-made masks out of quilt squares.

WTF, America?

WHAT THE FUCK.

I strongly disagree.

We need to have someone in a leadership position who can handle the job.

Put in Mike Pence.I have 100x more faith in his leadership during this time.

Trump is incapable of handling something serious where potentially millions of lives are at stake.

Sure it was great when you had a Jackass braying up there and the Stock Market was soaring, but now ALL OF THOSE GAINS are gone.

If you watch 5 minutes of any Press Conference in the last 1.5 months, that is obviously clear to anyone who isn't still a part of The Cult.

I didn't vote for Trump, but I kept hoping that he'd rise up to meet the challenges of the job. HE HASN'T CHANGED A BIT. He's still the same unapologetic liar, who cares for nobody but himself and his gigantic ego, that he was when he was a GAME SHOW HOST and a real-estate investor.

Now where did I put my TDS prescription pills...

Here's another take on a home-brew lower-cost ventilator:

There is a lot of great content on Youtube if you look for it:

MedCram
https://www.youtube.com/user/MEDCRAMvideos/videos

Doctor Mike:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0QHWhjbe5fGJEPz3sVb6nw

Dr. Mike Hansen:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMSsLqxqvZsNXi0Z-VjN89A

Medlife Crisis:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgRBRE1DUP2w7HTH9j_L4OQ

One thing that has really come out of the woodwork with this virus, are all the people sharing that they're in poor health or immuno-compromised. (Or that they have a loved one in that situation).

I did not realize we were so sick as a nation.

You'd think Healthcare would be the #1 issue at every ballot state/federal.

What if everyone just wore masks (outside the home) for a month (or longer)?

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There's some good sh#it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CoronavirusMemes/

I like this one!

mkk5v0febrv41 (resized).jpg

Aren't there 2 different numbers here?

But the two numbers describe different things: The first is a case fatality rate, reflecting deaths among people with confirmed diagnoses of covid-19. The second is the infection fatality rate, extrapolated from the antibody surveys.

source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/antibody-tests-support-whats-been-obvious-covid-19-is-much-more-lethal-than-flu/2020/04/28/2fc215d8-87f7-11ea-ac8a-fe9b8088e101_story.html

It's important to note that there is no one death rate for COVID-19; the rate can vary by location, age of person infected and the presence of underlying health conditions, Live Science previously reported.

Among reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S., nearly 6% have died. This is what's known as the case fatality rate, which is determined by dividing the number of deaths by the total number of confirmed cases. But the case fatality rate is limited for a few reasons. First, not everyone with COVID-19 is being diagnosed with the disease — this is in part due to testing limitations in the U.S. and the fact that people who experience mild or moderate symptoms may not be eligible for or seek out testing. As the number of confirmed cases goes up, the fatality rate may decrease.

Researchers from Columbia University recently estimated that only 1 in 12 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. are documented, which they said would translate to an infection fatality rate of about 0.6%, according to The Washington Post. But even this lower estimate is still at least six times higher than that of the flu. (The case fatality rate in people who become sick with flu may be 0.1%, but when you account for people who become infected with flu but never show symptoms, the death rate will be half or even a quarter of that, the Post reported.)

What's more, unlike the flu, for which there is a vaccine, everyone in the population is theoretically susceptible to COVID-19. So while the flu affects 8% of the U.S. population every year, according to the CDC, between 50% and 80% of the population could be infected with COVID-19, according to a study published March 30 in the journal The Lancet. In the U.S., that would translate to 1 million deaths from COVID-19 if half the population becomes infected and there are no social distancing measures or therapeutics, the Post reported.

Another limitation with the case fatality rate is that some people who are counted as confirmed cases may eventually die from the disease, which would lead to an increase in the death rate. For example, South Korea initially reported a case fatality rate of 0.6% in early March, but it later rose to 1.7% by the beginning of April, according to New Scientist.

source: https://www.livescience.com/new-coronavirus-compare-with-flu.html

Dammit. Sold out already.

I think the TRUE sign of when it's OK to open up, is when you can purchase toilet paper like you could back in 2019.

tzxn8dj5wzv41 (resized).jpg

I still don't understand the push for blanket COVID-19 testing of the general population.

You could go in to get a test today, test negative and then go out and contract the infection the next day (if you were exposed to someone who had the infection).

1. Unless you are severely ill, testing for COVID-19 does not change your treatment. Healthy people with mild symptoms will get the same advice as those who get the flu: stay home, stay hydrated, and take Tylenol. If you feel sick, prevent spreading your infection to others through self-quarantine for 14 days. Regardless of whether or not you may have a positive diagnosis of COVID-19, we can all do our part by practicing responsible social distancing.

2. Going to get tested could put you at risk for catching or spreading COVID-19. Patients are crowding waiting rooms to request testing, leading to a breakdown in social distancing that exposes more people to the spread of COVID-19. Even the test itself can spread infectious particles, as patients undergo the unpleasant process of having a nasopharyngeal swab stuck up their nose and often end up coughing or gagging.

3. Current tests can still miss infections. A recent study found that nasal swab testing in China missed 37% of COVID-19 cases, while throat swabs missed up to 68%. In the U.S., there are multiple different tests with varying degrees of accuracy, and the number of patients who test negative but actually have COVID-19 remains unknown. In the early stages of infection, it’s possible for your test to be falsely negative, which could lead to a false sense of confidence. A negative test does not change your risk of becoming infected, and everyone must continue to practice responsible health precautions.

4. In most regions of the U.S., COVID-19 is so widespread that testing is no longer helpful for containment. During the initial “containment” phase of an outbreak, testing is critical for finding isolated cases and tracking down contacts who may have been exposed. Done properly, like in South Korea and Singapore, early testing prevents an outbreak like COVID-19 from spiraling out of control. Unfortunately, our own efforts to ramp up testing have come far too late – we missed the opportunity to trace and contain COVID-19. Now that the coronavirus has become so widespread, social distancing, rather than testing, is the most effective strategy for fighting this pandemic.

5. Unnecessary testing could overwhelm our health care system and deprive resources from critically ill patients. As we face one of the most severe flu seasons of this decade, hospitals are already operating at close to maximum capacity. With impending shortages of beds, masks, and ventilators, it may only be a matter of time before American doctors are forced to make the same extraordinary rationing decisions being made by their Italian colleagues.

source: https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/2020/04/01/why-covid-19-testing-probably-won-t-improve-your-health

When you see the pictures of the ERs/ICUs/morgues from around the world, it's hard to argue that this is the worst virus we've seen in many years.

That said, if you don't live in a city like New York or Lombardy (Italy), that was hard hit, I can see how the reaction seems way overblown.

What really prevents Bumblef#ck, Idaho from becoming the next New York City? Much lower population density and the lack of public transit? I can't imagine the smaller hospitals could even support a handful of severe COVID patients.

After about 2 months in the US, we're not really any different than we were 2 months ago, are we? Outside of 60,000+ dead and the economy teetering on the edge of a cliff?

It's a highly contagious virus that will probably spread to the majority of the population. Hopefully, you're not in the small percentage of people who will need ER/ICU, because we don't really have clear-cut effective drugs or treatment at this point. We might get a vaccine, but that might be years from now and it's going to be very difficult to manufacture and distribute to the billions of people who would need it.

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Yeah, that's a very interesting side effect of all this.

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Love those guys!

If I get COVID-19+ I want them to carry my coffin from the refrigerated semi-trailer to the mass grave down by the river.

There are a number of maps that show a "timelapse" of recorded cases by county.

Here's one example:

https://uscovid-19map.org/

Hopefully we don't see country-wide spikes in hospital admissions in 2 weeks. Our doctors and nurses really need some time off to recuperate.

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