Good morning!
As the coronavirus intensifies, the media are full of stories about this politician or that politician not doing the right thing, either in the present tense or the past tense.
In my opinion, it's difficult to know what the "right thing" is, since we are in uncharted waters now.
(Even people like Bill Gates, who have been encouraging us to prepare for a pandemic, couldn't have told us precisely what equipment we would need, or how much, or when. For example, California stockpiled 21 million N95 masks, all of which were found to have expired.)
At times like these, I'm grateful for a free press that can hold politicians to account - even if they're often focusing on the wrong things, in my opinion, like whether or not politicians are being mean to reporters.
Finally, for a little light humor as the weekend approaches, meet the orangutang Sandra.
Sandra saw her humans regularly washing her hands, so she decided to get serious about washing her hands too. We're all such herd animals....
Comments
@Scandi Sanskrit There is stigma around getting the virus and I am seeing it right here at home. It’s so dark and twisted but it is there and brewing. All my family and I live in cooperative apartment buildings. We got notices from our Managing Agents that they will keep identities of confirmed cases confidential. The fact that had to be written tells me there is a possibility people may be thrown out of their homes for the “greater good” and be sacrificed as a public service. NYC is so scary right now! Day by day it feels like we are getting closer to a true apocalypse.
To further elaborate on why it’s scary that Managing Agents are saying they will keep information about COVID-19 status confidential, it has to do with the rights residents have to live in their homes.
The majority of homes in NYC are cooperative apartments. A co-op Board or a majority of the shareholders can literally vote to cancel someone’s proprietary lease and take away the apartment a shareholder has purchased. Most of the crazies and nasties in NYC are on Boards for that kind of power. Given these circumstances, it is not hard to imagine testing positive for COVID-19 can make you literally homeless. Winning against co-op boards are excruciating and almost impossible.
A while back i saw a paramedic in the UK got kicked out of his apartement for simply being a healthcare worker.
How is that for the "greater good"? Twisted.
My dad's a landlord who rents out apartments to expats (and foreigners/travellers are high-risk individuals, the first confirmed death in Indonesia was a British woman in Bali, I think she passed away on March 11). We would NEVER kick someone out of a home for being a high-contact individual.
I hope the voting that goes on at that Board is anonymous. I'm still hoping there are decent people voting to let people not be homeless. What a time to be homeless!
It's unthinkable to kick out a healthcare worker during times like this, the paramedic showed a screenshot of the WhatsApp convo with his landlord who suggested he "arrange an Airbnb" which meant the paramedic would miss shifts.
What's sort of absurd is, Jakarta's on lockdown now, but foreign citizens are still allowed in while us locals are told not to leave the house.
On one hand, we have nice people like you making sure I read a message.
On the other, we have mean people.
And then there's our fellow primate Sandra. 😂😂
Be more like Sandra, I guess.
Usually when I feel seething anger, out of habit I instinctively check my menstruation app (because when I get mad I like to know whether it's PMS hormones or if I'm genuinely angry, emotional management & compartmentalisation and all that).
Anyway I've been doing this unconsciously (just pulling out my phone to check my cycle) so often, now the app's algorithm seems to think I'm trying to conceive!! 😂😂
BOOM! 🤰🏻🐈
It keeps sending notifications on the status of my eggs 🥚🍳 (sorry TMI)
How am I supposed to get preggers? I can barely get laid. Wasn't there an article on some 🇬🇧UK newspaper prescribing masturbation to prevent getting infected.
Seriously I am NO mood to create a new life-time, I feel more like committing murder on a daily basis these days. 🔥
I now understand "The Shining" at a whole new level...
We've had yobs attacking workers, groups of louts going for lone women, and a doctor having his car wrecked so he couldn't go to work.
We all have to remember that `There, but for the grace of God, go I'.
I try not to wish ill on anyone but there are times when I feel like making an exception.
Dear Sandra - unfortunately, we're more closely related to chimpanzees, mean critters that they are, than to orangutans.
That's nuts.
And pointless.
`The Shining' - do you mean as in `Here's Scandi!'?
Oh dear - I've now got an image of you putting your head through a smashed door - I'm sure it can't be that bad, can it?
Bless you my dear.
Sorry, I haven't seen the article to which you refer - can't think why it might help avoid covid. Release of oxytocin? Might it at least be a way of avoiding going bonkers with an axe?
Perhaps it's the booze and drugs `talking' - added to a propensity for aggression - that's the chimp brain in control.
Still, we've been spending months discussing a couple who can't see where their best interests might lie, so I suppose we shouldn't be surprised.
Tragic, though.
We have mortgage-free fully paid for co-ops. The thing is I wish I had a condo or a house right about now. Our Board is filled with lunatics and our Board President is a crazy germophobe that harasses big time. She also plays very dirty and gets away with it. So far we are okay but every day is getting scarier.
I was never prone to anger or rages but now, I want to punch, kick, and stab my poor innocent desk. The closest I got was punching the air. I don’t know myself anymore.
I don’t get “The Shining.” “The Shining” is supposed to get me or at least a good friend of mine: TRAB PU KCIP
I hear you, I’m not angry, but totally & utterly bored senseless!
The four of us have been cooped up for over a week, I love my family but...
Monopoly is off limits, too dangerous!! Daren't even open the Cluedo box, how much damage can I do with a tiny dagger?
We’re all working/studying from home, & my husband & son have set up a “gym” & my daughter is focused on her studies.
It’s me!! I’ve escaped a couple of times to shop, cleaned like a fiend & half heartedly gardened, & lots of cooking.
Don’t know what to do with myself, great Dusty Springfield song.
We’re lucky, healthy so far Thank God.
It’s just the bloody monotony & lack of freedom!
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Re your earlier comment:
Posting again a (dark but) funny anecdote: My friend who works in Real Estate was dropped by his Chinese-American clients because they blamed “Americans” for COVID-19 and wanted to stop doing anymore business with “Americans.”
Yeah, this is going to get ugly. I would not want to be an Asian-American - or for that matter, Asian-British or a person of Asian descent living in Europe, right about now.
I don't think physical attacks are out of the question, and those attacks are as likely to come from Black Americans and Hispanic Americans as from White Nationalists.
During the LA riots in 1992, Korean-Americans were targeted. Many of them were first generation immigrants and had served in the Korean Army, so they were ready to fight back.
Swampwoman
Have you seen this?
Like Bart(? I don't watch the Simpsons), his son sees, among other apparitions, reversed messages in the mirror that he reads as Red Rum (= murder).
Jack T goes on rampage with an axe, searching the hotel for his wife, smashing through a locked door, leering through and shouting - `"Heeeere's JOHNNY!"
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl#synopsis
All good family fun...
I do hope no one is attacked for their race, wrong on every count.
But I do want an end, in Australia, of recent Chinese bulk buying TP etc & shipping it to China.
We have had a problem here for a couple of years where Chinese bulk buy our baby formula to ship overseas, leaving us without formula to feed our babies.
A lucrative business for the sellers, & a nightmare for parents here.
Both cases have been widely reported in the press.
I believe people are still buying masks in the US to send overseas. It isn't illegal, but it probably should be.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/florida-emergency-official-3m-selling-masks-overseas
And ambulances have been vandalised...
Bulk buying - I've been wondering who has been clearing the shelves and starting the panic to buy requisites? Profiteers?
The I read that the similar people to those Magatha Mistie mentions have been doing it in UK as well. Not generally reported though - it'd be shot down for `racism'
My friend is an Italian-American and a born-and-bred NYer. He’s a tough cookie and smooth talker. When he heard that from his clients, he went speechless and thought he was in the Twilight Zone. He couldn’t believe he was being blamed for COVID-19 when his circle call it the “Chinese Flu” out of frustration. I haven’t reached that point.
@Magatha Mistie @Nutty I am very worried for those of East-Asian descent everywhere. Tensions are high in NYC with a surge in hate crimes. I hope what we get out of this finally is pushing China to adhere to higher standards in hygiene, food, production, etc...
Unfortunately, as a NYer even I cannot ignore the link between the magnitude of our crisis and the fact NY has the largest Asian population in the country with the majority living in Queens, NY. That plus Queens, NY is home to BOTH of the Airports that services NYC.
As I was pointing out in the previous post, the COVID map resembling our NYC Subway Map isn’t particularly elucidating. The locations of our Airports is more relevant. Our Subway system is a perfect breeding ground for any nasty germ or virus. It’s unsanitary, crowded, a primary means of transportation for huge swathes of our population, and longer commutes means extended exposure to microbes. Perfect storm for COVID-19.
Exactly!!
But the baby formula has been widely reported, & is true.
So are the reports of crates of TP & other essentials being shipped overseas.
So sad that reporting of this disgusting rort would be classed as racist?
It’s not racist, it’s reality.
And very, very wrong.
We always know when a person of colour commits a crime - if it were a white, it'd be stated, if no mention of ethnicity, we know it's not! It's more a fear of setting off a general backlash by extremists and idiots, I suppose.
We have had inexplicable shortages of toilet-roll and sugar in the past - back in the mid 1970s- so I doubt if there's much recollection of that spurring the buying. Or is it the manufacturers selling to a higher bidder, regardless of pre-existing contracts? Does bog roll come from China anyway and so never leaves the country in the first place? Are lorries being hijacked en route from manufacturers?
I've heard that Mormons/members of Church of Latterday Saints are expected to keep a year's worth of supplies (food as well as TP) in the house - sounds like a good move. I've no idea how much we get through in any given time. Who does?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11117705/couple-2000-toilet-roll-panic-buying-continues/
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/21/uk-biggest-toilet-roll-supplier-wepa-stockpiling-no-deal-brexit-avoid-customs-delays
60 percent of bog roll here is made here. Still we can’t get it?
There was an interesting story in the local news today about a retired professor who traveled to Colorado to see her children in mid-March. She had to go through a couple of large airports, although she noted that she wore her N95 mask. (But she probably took it off to eat and drink.) She never ran a fever, and didn't not have a "dry" cough, but a lot of fatigue. She thought it was probably a cold, but her doctor insisted on her being tested even though she didn't fit the signs, because she had heart disease and was over 65. There was a delay in getting the results, but she was positive. She is actually rather happy that she thought it was just a cold because that kept her from worrying.
My hypothesis is that the mask may have saved her from getting a lethal or even serious load of virus.
Florida a.m. stats:
Florida residents positive: 9,248
Total positive in Florida: 9,585
Total hospitalized with China virus in Florida: 1,215
Total deaths from China virus: 163
We haven't had any patients under 25 die, but the hospitalization numbers are creeping up. If a person is 25 to 34 and is hospitalized, they have a 1% death rate. However, the death rates for those 35 to 54 years old (of those hospitalized) has doubled to 2%, and 9% for those 55 to 64 years old. For the 65 to 74 year olds it is 26%, then 75 to 84 years old it is 32%, and 85 years and up it drops again to 28%. Again, the death rates are a percentage of those hospitalized. This will probably go up because the hospitalizations last for awhile. Sadly, the survival rate of those on vents is not good. The longer in the hospital and on vents, the lower the chance of survival.
Over half of the cases in Florida are in three counties in south Florida. Those hospitals were the ones that took the new cruise ship positives.
Many of the Georgia deaths outside the Atlanta area are from a person traveling sick from Atlanta to attend a funeral. This person has caused multiple deaths, illnesses, and more funerals (I believe the deaths resulting from this single point of infection has been 22 and counting).
This poor surgeon had to reuse his mask while 3M has been producing and mailing them overseas. This is unbelievable.
Judge appointed to handle the tracing of people positive with Covid-19
Justice Kate O'Regan has been appointed as Covid-19 Designate Judge to oversee the tracking and tracing of people using their cell phone numbers, Minister of Justice, Ronald Lamola, has said.
O'Reagan is a retired Constitutional Court judge.
The Department of Health will provide O'Regan with a weekly report with the details of people who have tested positive for Covid-19, and the she will then make recommendations regarding how to conduct effective tracing without compromising the identity of the patient.
O'Regan served in the Constitutional Court between 1994 and 2009. She is a visiting professor at the University of Oxford, and an honourary professor at the University of Cape Town.
It was announced on Thursday that the government will use cell phone tracking to trace the geolocation of people with coronavirus to trace who they may have come into contact with.
https://www.w24.co.za/Style/Fashion/Trends/do-homemade-masks-work-sometimes-but-leave-the-design-to-the-experts-20200331
In summary (because it is a rambling, long-winded article), a home-made mask is better than nothing but be vigilant about not touching your face, change the mask often, be careful when putting it into the washing machine, maintain social distancing, and make sure the mask has layers, is of tightly woven material and covers your mouth and nose well.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases around the world has soared past one million and deaths have topped 50 000 as the United States reported the highest daily death toll of any country so far.
Despite more than half the planet living in some form of lockdown, the virus is continuing to spread rapidly, and to claim lives at an alarming pace, with the US, Spain and Britain all seeing their worst days yet.
About 6 000 people have died in the US outbreak, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, more than 1 100 of them in the last 24 hours. Spain and Britain saw record numbers of new deaths in a 24-hour period - 950 and 569 respectively.
Italy, the hardest-hit country in terms of deaths, has 115 242 reported cases, 13 915 of them fatal.
South Africa is currently sitting at 1 462 cases, and 5 deaths. The health department was still waiting for clarification and verification on two other deaths.
https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/coronavirus-all-the-latest-news-about-covid-19-in-south-africa-and-the-world-20200312
* A small South African Biotech company says it has made a disinfectant which can kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses, including coronavirus types.
* Bizarrely the secret behind it is orange juice.
* Decont-x Vitrodx is noncorrosive and earth friendly formulation – backed with international lab testing and CSIR research.
* It’s meant for the general health industry and can be used on surfaces, medical equipment and uniforms.
...
"A family from Kent who shared a video of their living room performance of a lockdown-themed adaptation of a Les Misérables song have become a sensation online. Ben and Danielle Marsh and their four children changed the lyrics of One Day More to reflect common complaints during the Covid-19 lockdown. They say the video, which has gone viral, was intended to give friends and family a laugh during this stressful time"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdcS0Nbo7Ng
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-04-03-feeling-strong-but-anxious-sitting-tight-after-a-positive-covid-19-test/
There is a cat vaccine for another coronavirus that causes FIP (feline infectious peritonitis). Many cats are vaccinated for this. I wonder whether this cat was. I also wonder if the cat coronavirus vaccine for another coronavirus may help protect against it. I also wonder how many veterinarians and vet techs are exposed to feline coronavirus and whether they may have developed some antibodies against that strain, although it is not infectious to humans (or doesn't cause any symptoms).
I wonder a lot, don't I? (grin).
Florida was already essentially shut down for those that do not understand that fact. The only thing that the "shelter at home" order did was close more small businesses that may never be able to reopen and send small businessmen/women, their families, and their workers' families into destitution.
Do you really think that the small furniture stores were crowded examples of viral spreading? Nope, they were more cases of people calling up and saying "Hey, Bob, my appliance quit. What do you have in this price range?" Then they would pick a model, pay over the phone, and have it delivered that afternoon or the next day. Can't do that anymore. Nope, a lot of people will have to leave their county and head to their nearest city which will be a larger locus of infection to get an appliance or another item that wasn't considered essential because small business retail stores do not have lobbyists.
Now, we stopped going out in public except for essentials about three weeks ago and wear PPE when we do. I neither advocate nor agree with locking everybody down everywhere because we're in a high risk group. I believe everybody should take responsibility for themselves. If you turn over the responsibility for your physical and financial well being to a big daddy authority figure and wait for THEM to tell you what PPE you should wear or whether you should limit your contact with others, you're just waving your hand in the air for Darwin to choose you.
* Florida is popular for a place to retire? Perhaps that is why your death rate is so high (more old people).
* Florida had its first confirmed case a couple of days before South Africa (my country). I assume that Florida has a LOT more flights coming and going (international and within USA) and that there wasn't screening at entry points* (ALL entry points) so people went forth and spread the virus, and some sort of lockdown has only now been implemented.
The Minister of Health of South Africa keeps warning us (he gives daily updates) that the worst is still to come and a think tank predicted at the beginning of the pandemic here that 60% of the population would be infected. So, I sit at home and wait for the Apocalypse and just wish I could have one more packet of cigarettes (ironically, if you are a smoker your risk of being infected is less, but if you get sick, lung complications are more likely)!
* The screening at all entry points started early here, BUT it only picked up those who were showing symptoms so a few dozen infected people got through the screening process (three went to a mass religious gathering and infected who knows how many dozen people, including a well-known religious figure and a couple of politicians, who then went home and passed on the virus). Then all borders were closed (still a porous Zimbabwe/South Africa and Mozambique/South Africa border but this is most likely to transport the virus to Zimbabwe and Mozambique than put South Africa at risk ... but it only takes one, like the start of the AIDS epidemic when an air steward infected hundreds of other men), and then the whole country was put into lockdown.
For your amusement: Our Minister of Police is an old politician who was disgraced and then returned to power. He is loving the use of power in this lockdown and is being totally unreasonable. It is only the Western Cape (led by the premiere), the only non-ANC run province, that is questioning his draconian rules. 'You may only buy essential groceries' he booms. What is essential? What about deodorant, batteries, airtime for phone, cooking utensils because we now suddenly have to cook ...? He did not think this through in a rational way, but the man is crazy drunk on power. Luckily we are not playing by his rules in the Western Cape (and he HATES us because we did not put the ANC in power here). The premiere said we could buy cigarettes if they are sold in the same shop as groceries ... the Minister of Police threatened to arrest us all. We did get him to relax the rules and allow street vendors to sell fruit and vegetables (these people can't afford to just not work). He is digging in his heels about tobacco products and alcohol products, so pity the alcoholics going into cold turkey, never mind those learning gourmet cooking because there is no rum for homemade rum and raisin ice cream, and smokers are losing that extra bit of protection from being infected!
Life in the time of coronavirus ... stay safe and sane folks!
https://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/9996/3086efa09dc4462181b78a07a45bf004.jpeg
* 7 deaths from coronavirus (2 deaths waiting to be confirmed) since the first confirmed case 3 March 2020.
* 8 deaths at the hands of the police since the start of the shutdown (started 27 March 2020).
The police in South Africa have killed more people in a shorter amount of time than the killer virus causing havoc all over the world!
Today, we had snow. And ice. I was working as usual. Once again, we were incredibly busy. People coming in, lingering in groups. Only a few discussions about the virus, mostly with my older clients. Teenagers are still out like crazy. I just don’t get it. People are generally being nice, so that’s good and a big change from the last 2 weeks. We are taking curbside orders, so the phone is ringing off the hook.
Lots of parents buying hamsters and bunnies for their kids, probably to give the kids something to focus on. People are buying ferrets left and right, weirdly. I read that they can, just like the flu, catch Coronavirus from humans and spread it to them. Makes me sad as I adore the ferrets, they are such funny sweet little stinky weasels.
So now they are encouraging people to wear masks in public? Um, where are we going to get those masks? I am not paying $90 on Amazon for one mask.
Hola, Swampwoman!
Just wanted to make a comment as I’m not getting the hostility shown by Anon-Unknown towards our lovely state of Florida. I also agree with President Trump allowing each governor to have some say in how their state is quarantined. And I’m not the only one, 60%
Of Americans think our President is doing a good job during this crisis. You have to remember that for a long time, all he had was the numbers coming from China. Now we suspect that the Chinese numbers can be multiplied by a factor of 15-40x the numbers they gave us, but at the time it was all we had.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-residents-say-chinese-government-coronavirus-death-toll-is-low-2020-3%3famp
I have been laid off for two weeks already and my husband has been working from home so we have been more or less self isolating for a long time as we only go out for necessary items.
Anyway, appreciate this blog and thank you Swampwoman for your daily Florida updates.
I think our death rate is so high because so many people are infected. The average age of the people infected, per county, is in the 40s, sometimes 50s. The oldest demographic group, those 84 and above, actually have a lower death rate than those aged 65-74. Full retirement age isn't until 66 this year, so a lot of people in this age group (and older) are still working.
How's the shut down working in south Florida? I have to say that the teens and young 20s are sneaking out to meet up in groups here. The urban residents are throwing huge block parties, 1,000 people or so. The only thing shut down *sigh* is legit business. And Hobby Lobby closed down, too, because apparently craft items aren't essential.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8186507/PMs-virus-adviser-warns-Britain-need-adopt-herd-immunity.html
I think this is a bit of a silo view.
Lockdown, quarantine, and so on saves lives is the message from governments. Well, it is good PR to say so. But my understanding, from a country that quite quickly introduced a strict lockdown, is that the actual reasons for the lockdown are two-fold:
1. It gives the government more control and thus the space and ability to test, test, and test some more and thus get accurate data on who is infected and where.
2. It slows down infections thus enabling the health system to cope with the number of people who will need to be hospitalised, and reduces the number of deaths per day so that the funeral system is also more able to cope.
Letting the virus infect most healthy and least-at-risk-of-dying people to develop herd immunity would be a disaster (IMO) as:
1. The virus has shown that young and healthy also get very sick and die.
2. The virus has shown that the number needing ICU would overwhelm health systems unless we control infections.
Does anyone here support this approach and why?
Clinical Pearls Covid 19 for ER practitioners -- https://texags.com/forums/84/topics/3102444
If you want a "layman's translation" you can find it here -- https://texags.com/forums/84/topics/3102444/replies/56250066
The key quote from it is "Somehow this ***** has told all other disease processes to get out of town."