Tens of thousands of medical workers across the United States are suddenly out of work as operating rooms and doctor’s offices go dark, casualties of urgent calls to prioritize coronavirus patients at overwhelmed hospitals and of the economic waves the crisis is churning." At my hospital we're running on what looks like weekend levels of staffing. But we have a plan for when Ohio reaches the first spike of infections. For most of the long timers, they have enough PTO banked to cover themselves, but we expect in a week or two to go from reduced staffing (with some people working in different departments, or as door screeners, etc) to mobilizing everyone to work at the hospital, draining our out-sites (urgent cares, practice offices) for employees to staff up (mostly evenings and overnight shifts). There's a lot of consternation.
We're also seeing reduced numbers coming through our ER. Some of that is okay (as many use the emergency room as a primary care site, which is 1) way more expensive and 2) way less care than they need). But we're worrying about where all the heart attacks, broken bones, organ ruptures, etc have gone. And we have many people coming in 24+ hours after their injuries (broken ankles, arms, legs, etc). Don't wait. If you're short of breath and/or experiencing chest pains, go into the ER. Don't wait.
"New York state had it deadliest day yet stemming from the coronavirus, with more than 500 fatalities, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday."
A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. "Fires on at least three towers (in the UK) have been reported over the past few days. In at least two instances, accompanying videos and online posts are raising concerns that the attacks may be linked to conspiracy theories that cast 5G networks as the actual cause of COVID-19."
"New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, is scrambling to obtain ventilators wherever it can find them. The state ordered 17,000 of the life-saving devices from the federal government, but "that order never came through," Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters at a news conference Saturday… So, in its time of desperation, Cuomo said New York is getting help from some rather distant partners: Oregon, which is making an unsolicited donation of 140 ventilators to the state, and the Chinese government, which facilitated a delivery of 1,000 ventilators arriving Saturday in New York City."
"They want to know that with a high degree of confidence because the question of whether or not the coronavirus can be 'airborne' is extremely contentious right now — and it's a question that has real implications for what people should do to avoid getting infected." Most people have a very simplified notion of infection. Not only do you need to be exposed to an infectious agent, you need to be exposed to a certain level of that infectious agent, and it needs to be in an area that allows the infectious agent to successfully attack you.
Bring out your dead. "There are the new dead. And then there are the bodies waiting in overcrowded mortuaries to be buried as cities struggle to meet demand and families wrestle with rules on social distancing that make the usual funeral rituals impossible."
"As hospitals around the country fill with COVID-19 patients, medical personnel are sounding the alarm about shortages of drugs essential to those patients' care." We be screwed, matey.
"President Donald Trump is warning that the U.S. is facing the 'toughest' weeks ahead as the rise in coronavirus cases accelerates. He says, 'There will be a lot of death.'… But after the somber start to his daily briefing on Saturday, he has come back again and again to his desire to get the country open for business." What's a little pandemic when you need to make the quarterly profit numbers?
"Earlier this week, officials in both Germany and France accused the U.S. of diverting medical supplies meant for their respective countries by outbidding the original buyers." Global supply chains. There's also reports that GM is having problems getting supplies to make ventilators because of the president's tariffs on goods form China.
"President Trump said Friday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that people wear cloth or fabric face coverings, which can be made at home, when entering public spaces such as grocery stores and public transit stations. It is mainly to prevent those people who have the virus — and might not know it — from spreading the infection to others." Good luck finding a mask.
"What sounds like an organized-crime thriller is now the new reality for governors desperately trying to find the medical equipment their states need in the throes of a pandemic. With the federal stockpile dwindling fast, and the Trump administration limiting access to what’s left, state leaders are going to extraordinary measures on their own to secure faces masks, ventilators, gloves and other equipment essential to fighting the outbreak."
"Anastasia Vasilyeva, her colleagues from the Alliance of Doctors union, and accompanying journalists were detained at the entrance to Okulovka, a village in Novgorod region (western Russia) on 2 April. The volunteers had brought masks and other protective equipment for medics at the local hospital… They were charged with 'non-compliance with the rules of conduct to prevent and liquidate an emergency situation' and later released. However, Anastasia Vasilyeva was not allowed to leave the police station and was violently dragged back inside. She was reportedly choked and hit in the abdomen and passed out as a result. A lawyer was denied access to her for about six hours." Stay safe, my Russian friends. Just remember that your bosses are lying to you as well. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"President Donald Trump slammed 3M Co in a tweet late on Thursday after earlier announcing he was invoking the Defense Production Act to get the company to produce face masks." Apparently 3M was caught while being capitalists. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"In fact, the pandemic has caused entirely different problems: a spike in the number of people who can't afford groceries and a glut of food where it's not needed." And so, with our wonderful capitalism system, we'll just plow crops back into the ground, dump milk, and basically screw everybody over because we can't really be adaptable. (Grokked from Annalen Flower Horne)
"Privately, Republicans admit that the $77.9 million system that is now failing Florida workers is doing exactly what Scott designed it to do — lower the state’s reported number of jobless claims after the great recession… 'It’s a sh-- sandwich, and it was designed that way by Scott,' said one DeSantis advisor. 'It wasn’t about saving money. It was about making it harder for people to get benefits or keep benefits so that the unemployment numbers were low to give the governor something to brag about.'" The unemployment system in Florida, designed to "undeserving folk" couldn't get benefits (and if they could they sucked), now under the gun as lots of other people now need to access it. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
"After Jared Kushner’s comment about how the Strategic National Stockpile is not supposed to be for states, lots of people pointed to the fact that its own website says it is… The language on the website has now been changed… My screenshot from last night vs. one from today:" If the national stockpile is not for use in the states, just where the fuck do they intend to use it for (and why have they already shipped items for states' use)? We are governed by embezzles and ultramaroons. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Senator Kelly Loeffler sold a total of $46,027 worth of stock in an online travel company in the day leading up to President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ban on most European travel to the U.S.… Loeffler, a Georgia Republican, had just days earlier purchased the shares, in Booking Holdings, jointly with her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, the chief executive officer of Intercontinental Exchange, parent firm of the New York Stock Exchange." Totally not suspicious at all. Still waiting for some lawyer to break the story about how it is not illegal for congresspeople to engage in insider trading. But her husband is a different story. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
"President Trump is firing Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, two congressional sources confirm to NPR… In a letter to the Senate Intelligence committee chairs Friday, Trump said he 'no longer' has the fullest confidence in Atkinson. The letter says the removal will be effective '30 days from today.'"
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