Coronavirus outbreak declared global emergency

[Neal]

I'm not convinced this virus is a person to person thing entirely for how it's transmitted. How is it getting into jails? How about navy ships out at sea? Unless people are carrying this for months otherwise is it in our food supply? We are not getting any information of those that contracted it if they were traveling, around others, etc. All we know are number of cases i.e. how many have it but no details other than that.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

I'm not convinced this virus is a person to person thing entirely for how it's transmitted. How is it getting into jails? How about navy ships out at sea? Unless people are carrying this for months otherwise is it in our food supply? We are not getting any information of those that contracted it if they were traveling, around others, etc. All we know are number of cases i.e. how many have it but no details other than that.

What we have seen in our area of Washington state is that the initial cases developed in health care facilities serving the elderly. Either family members, visitors and/or staff brought in the initial infection and it went undetected for a considerable amount of time. As a result, the virus was incubated in elderly residents (the 8 who have died thus far were all care facility residents) and then unknowingly spread to family, friends and others in the community.

The insidious thing about the coronavirus is that it can be passed by an infected person prior to he/she showing any symptoms. And, it is beginning to look like younger, healthy people can have the disease without ever showing symptoms but they are fully capable of passing it to others who will have much more severe cases. That's why it is important for ALL of us to practice good hygiene and physical distancing.

Sadly, our nation...and, the world...was unprepared to deal with this event. No one wants to spend money preparing for something that MIGHT happen, but the lack of doing so has put us well behind the curve in this battle. Now, we are trying to play catch-up with something that is outrunning us daily. Eventually, the disease will slow due to the "herd immunity" noted in the article I posted the link to earlier. Once we do get up to speed, we'll be able to deal with it more effectively. In the meantime, we, as individuals, need to interrupt the spread mechanism by keeping our distance from one another and maintaining a high standard of personal hygiene.

TJ

 

[Neemer]

We just had our first death from this virus in my county. Army vet, 63 yr old. Same age as me. Sad and sobering.

 

[sheridany]

We found out on the news tonight that a skilled care facility with 45 beds has 27 patients that tested positive. The facility is about 3 miles from us. We are staying in and only going to the store but when it’s that close then it is concerning.

 

[Akdare]

We aren’t even going to the store...having groceries delivered. We do have masks...my wife has a lung condition that makes it way to easy to catch viruses...I just bought a large box of N95’s before we went abroad in January. I wore one today to pick up one of her prescriptions at a small pharmacy without a drive-thru.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Blessings to both @sheridany and @Akdare, along with all the rest of our RVF friends. We know the feeling; staying home is inconvenient, boring...and, absolutely necessary.

Here in Washington state, we are beginning to see the infection curve start to flatten and it is being attributed to early action by the state government to close things down and encourage people to stay home. We're still seeing new cases and deaths, but the projection for us is that the infection peak should occur next week and then begin to decline. Sure hope they are right. I'm saddened that other areas have seemed to take a less aggressive approach and it appears they are beginning to suffer the consequences.

Like others, we are being careful about shopping trips. LadyDi also has lung issues so I am doing the grocery shopping. I go about once every couple of weeks. Hopefully, that will keep her away from direct exposure. I'm practicing good hand-washing hygiene and even shower and change my clothes after a trip to town to minimize the chance of bringing the coronavirus home. All mail and packages get wiped down before being opened, etc.

That said, we need to keep things in perspective and not spend a lot of time watching the news and worrying. Fortunately, we live on a couple of acres well out in the country, so we can get outside for walks with the Schnauzers, working in the yard, etc. Unfortunately, however, any RV trips are on hold indefinitely, but we can deal with that.

Stay safe, keep a positive attitude and do the right things. This, too, shall pass.

TJ

 

[Jim]

Today, our first confirmed Coronavirus casualty, died.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Today, our first confirmed Coronavirus casualty, died.

Sorry to hear that, @Jim. It really brings it home when it happens in your own home town. Prayers for all in your community.

TJ

 

[Jim]

Sorry to hear that, @Jim. It really brings it home when it happens in your own home town. Prayers for all in your immunity.

TJ

Yes, it was a little unnerving. Aside from people wearing masks and gloves, we've been mostly unaffected and detached from the reality of it all. And as usual, our local government is making it harder than it should be. We aren't being told who it was, what places he/she had been for the last couple of weeks, if he/she died in the hospital or at home, or for that matter, even if it was here that they died. Just that it was a local resident that had passed away from the affects of Coronavirus.

I'd like to know if this person spent their last couple of weeks working at Lowes, or cashiering at Ingles, etc., etc. Not sure what the big secret is but watching the failure of government is starting to wear on everyone's nerves.

 

[Akdare]

HIPPA laws prevent releasing health information to anyone but the deceased next of kin...

 

[Jim]

HIPPA laws prevent releasing health information to anyone but the deceased next of kin...

Yes, I suppose. But these are exceptional times and the health (and possibly life) of others may be affected by us knowing the details of the individual's demise. Amazing how may laws/regulations America has piled on itself, and how fast so many of them are proven to be useless (and expendable) when the unexpected comes along.

 

[Jim]

I'm retired so I'm not affected in nearly the same degree as I would had I still been running a business. And living out in the mountains of NC, outside a small town, I'm even more insulated to the real life damage going on.

But seeing this article really brings the magnitude of this pandemic to light for me.

 

[MapNerd]

I don’t know about anyone else but I’m starting to get really concerned about the spending levels coming out of DC. It was already really bad before all of this but it’s getting to the point where I just don’t see any sort of future for the next generations where Uncle Sam isn’t taxing them at at rate of 70% just to pay interest on the debt they’re racking up.

We are fortunate enough to have not needed the first round of stimulus checks and instead passed off the proceeds to my folks who could use it. We won’t need the next round either and plan to do the same again if more checks are cut.

I understand a lot of folks out there are really struggling and those are the folks I’m fine cutting checks for but it seems to me that for the sake of the greater good and our future generations, we really need some better means testing around who is getting these checks and who isn’t.

If people like myself weren’t getting these checks because the means testing were there, it seems to me not only could we reduce the spending but we could also give more assistance to those who really need it.
there’s certainly a case to be made for the urgency of it all and how we need to get those funds to those who need it, which is why I didn’t say much about the first round. This second round though, seems like it’s going to be bigger and the cutoff income levels seems really high and don’t seem to be weighted by geography and local cost of living at all.

it seems crazy to me that we have all of that data to do this correctly and our representatives just aren’t putting in the time and effort to do it right.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

The huge deficits our government is racking up is certainly a concern to me. That said, there are at least two problems that I see with getting assistance just to those who need it; the perception of fairness (or unfairness) among the general populace and the desire of politicians to have something to use to attract votes. Neither are actual problems but both are probably insurmountable perceived problems.

TJ

 

[MapNerd]

The huge deficits our government is racking up is certainly a concern to me. That said, there are at least two problems that I see with getting assistance just to those who need it; the perception of fairness (or unfairness) among the general populace and the desire of politicians to have something to use to attract votes. Neither are actual problems but both are probably insurmountable perceived problems.

TJ

You ever get tired of making such good points, @TJ&LadyDi