Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #87

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I am going to hazard a guess on a very affluent area, with high SES and low minority population. Covid is affecting our working class population very hard. They can't telework, and are usually in jobs with little to no social distancing.

The issue with the school system here, is that if they cut middle and elementary school, the kids have to go somewhere..sure, many middle school kids can stay home alone. But it gets more complicated when they are younger.

Our school district encompasses a large area that is extremely diverse. My particular immediate surroundings would be considered middle to upper-middle class with just over 25% identifying as a minority that is known to be disproportionately affected by Covid.

I work in healthcare, long term care to be specific, which has in general been all over MSM across the country due to massive outbreaks in the setting with an unbelievable number of elderly deaths. (Knock LOUDLY on wood...) But we have been incredibly fortunate thus far with only very sporadic, isolated cases in my facility among staff and residents. We have had no deaths, nor have we had anyone (staff or residents) sick enough to warrant hospitalization. However, our numbers are very, very low, so this isn’t altogether surprising.

I know of another facility that had zero cases among staff or residents for the first 7.5 months since our first positive in this city. Mind you, we universally test 1-2 times per week depending on the current positivity rate. They went from 0 cases in 7.5+ months to 20+ positive staff and 30+ positive residents in less than 7 days. I’ve seen this phenomenon multiple times. It’s fine until it’s not... I’ve often wondered/worried that our schools might face a similar situation. So far, that hasn’t been the case, but I do watch for this carefully when deciding how to proceed with my own children.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice when it comes to myself. I’m on the frontlines for any positive cases due to the nature of my job. We do have adequate PPE, and we have access to a great deal more PPE with any confirmed positive case. All staff have worn N95’s at all times while at work since early June, regardless of if there’s a positive or not (actually, we’ve only had a single positive at a time, three separate times, during the last 6 months). I’m a firm believer that our choice of continuing to use N95’s vs going back to a less protective mask has been the biggest reason we haven’t seen widespread outbreaks even when a staff member does test positive (we’ve had less than 10 total staff test positive over the entire pandemic).

Anyhow, I’m rambling. Personally, from what I’ve seen, schools being open aren’t a huge issue. It’s what people are doing outside of school that’s the problem. Most in my area appear to behave as if nothing is wrong. It’s only when you go inside healthcare facilities that things are clearly not normal.
 
I am going to hazard a guess on a very affluent area, with high SES and low minority population. Covid is affecting our working class population very hard. They can't telework, and are usually in jobs with little to no social distancing.

The issue with the school system here, is that if they cut middle and elementary school, the kids have to go somewhere..sure, many middle school kids can stay home alone. But it gets more complicated when they are younger.

It's really a tragedy. We are looking at a lost generation if we don't put in the effort to make in-person school as safe as possible.
 
Texas National Guard deployed to help El Paso with morgue overflow

The Texas Division of Emergency Management said in a statement that "after completing an assessment of the situation on the ground in El Paso County this week, the state has mobilized a team of 36 Texas National Guard personnel to provide mortuary affairs support beginning at 0900 tomorrow," CBS' El Paso affiliate reported Friday.

The city's mayor, Dee Margo, said on Twitter Friday that a "rapid increase in cases and hospitalizations" has brought on a "spike in deaths." The Texas Military will now provide "the critical personnel" to carry out the city's "fatality management plan."
.......
There are now more than 300 people in an intensive care unit across El Paso County due to COVID-19. Earlier this month, officials said they were bringing in 10 temporary morgue trailers.

So many have died that the county has posted job openings for morgue attendants.
.......
Intensive care units across the city and county are so overwhelmed with COVID patients that they're flying the infected to other Texas cities in order to save lives, CBS News correspondent Omar Villafranca reported earlier this week.

Brock Miller, a spokesperson for ambulance airline AirMed International, said 50% of the company's flights are now related to COVID-19.
 
Copying over from Colorado thread:
dspdenver said:
'It's rather shocking:' 1 in 49 Coloradans are contagious with COVID-19

[DENVER, Colo. — The number of Coloradans contagious with COVID-19 grew to about one in 49 people, according to Gov. Jared Polis in a press conference Friday.

"It's rather shocking," Polis said.

Just days ago, about one in 110 Coloradans were contagious.]


COVID-19 Antibody Tests Come To Colorado King Soopers Pharmacies


“DENVER (CBS4) – King Soopers and City Market are launching COVID-19 rapid antibody tests at pharmacy locations in Colorado. The Food and Drug Administration approved the tests which are conducted through a blood sample taken from a prick to your finger.“


US Coronavirus: The country recorded 195,000 new Covid-19 cases in a day. An expert says spread is now 'faster' and 'broader' than ever - CNN

“On Friday, more than 195,500 new infections were reported -- the country's highest for a single day, and far beyond what the nation was seeing just weeks ago. The highest number of single-day cases during the country's summer surge was a little more than 77,100 in July, Johns Hopkins University data shows.
The US on Friday also recorded its highest number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals on a given day: just over 82,100 -- according to the COVID Tracking Project.
Rising death rates typically follow rising hospitalizations. In just the past week, more than 10,000 US deaths have been reported -- nearly double the weekly death toll of just a month ago.“

:(

Texas National Guard deployed to help El Paso with morgue overflow

The Texas Division of Emergency Management said in a statement that "after completing an assessment of the situation on the ground in El Paso County this week, the state has mobilized a team of 36 Texas National Guard personnel to provide mortuary affairs support beginning at 0900 tomorrow," CBS' El Paso affiliate reported Friday.

The city's mayor, Dee Margo, said on Twitter Friday that a "rapid increase in cases and hospitalizations" has brought on a "spike in deaths." The Texas Military will now provide "the critical personnel" to carry out the city's "fatality management plan."
.......
There are now more than 300 people in an intensive care unit across El Paso County due to COVID-19. Earlier this month, officials said they were bringing in 10 temporary morgue trailers.

So many have died that the county has posted job openings for morgue attendants.
.......
Intensive care units across the city and county are so overwhelmed with COVID patients that they're flying the infected to other Texas cities in order to save lives, CBS News correspondent Omar Villafranca reported earlier this week.

Brock Miller, a spokesperson for ambulance airline AirMed International, said 50% of the company's flights are now related to COVID-19.

:(
 
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Millions of Americans will still travel on Thanksgiving despite CDC warnings | Daily Mail Online

Please look at the pics of thousands of people lined up at the airports all over the country- OMG- what is wrong with people- After Thanksgiving this plague will be
so totally out of control we won't be able to leave our homes. My hair stylist was going to fly to see his mother- Thankfully one of his clients is a doctor who kindly suggested to him that he needed to re-think flying --- The physician told him he was going to be exposed to many people with the virus on that plane because the virus is surging right now-- My hair stylist decided not to fly- he is going to drive--- that is not so great, but much better than flying.
 
Our school district encompasses a large area that is extremely diverse. My particular immediate surroundings would be considered middle to upper-middle class with just over 25% identifying as a minority that is known to be disproportionately affected by Covid.

I work in healthcare, long term care to be specific, which has in general been all over MSM across the country due to massive outbreaks in the setting with an unbelievable number of elderly deaths. (Knock LOUDLY on wood...) But we have been incredibly fortunate thus far with only very sporadic, isolated cases in my facility among staff and residents. We have had no deaths, nor have we had anyone (staff or residents) sick enough to warrant hospitalization. However, our numbers are very, very low, so this isn’t altogether surprising.

I know of another facility that had zero cases among staff or residents for the first 7.5 months since our first positive in this city. Mind you, we universally test 1-2 times per week depending on the current positivity rate. They went from 0 cases in 7.5+ months to 20+ positive staff and 30+ positive residents in less than 7 days. I’ve seen this phenomenon multiple times. It’s fine until it’s not... I’ve often wondered/worried that our schools might face a similar situation. So far, that hasn’t been the case, but I do watch for this carefully when deciding how to proceed with my own children.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice when it comes to myself. I’m on the frontlines for any positive cases due to the nature of my job. We do have adequate PPE, and we have access to a great deal more PPE with any confirmed positive case. All staff have worn N95’s at all times while at work since early June, regardless of if there’s a positive or not (actually, we’ve only had a single positive at a time, three separate times, during the last 6 months). I’m a firm believer that our choice of continuing to use N95’s vs going back to a less protective mask has been the biggest reason we haven’t seen widespread outbreaks even when a staff member does test positive (we’ve had less than 10 total staff test positive over the entire pandemic).

Anyhow, I’m rambling. Personally, from what I’ve seen, schools being open aren’t a huge issue. It’s what people are doing outside of school that’s the problem. Most in my area appear to behave as if nothing is wrong. It’s only when you go inside healthcare facilities that things are clearly not normal.

Funnily enough, I live way over here and I know a few people in TX who have had covid. I only know because their family member (who lives elsewhere) has told me.
"It is no big deal" is what they say. They didn't tell anyone else they had it, just kept living their daily lives - except for the couple of days that they felt unwell. Didn't wear a mask. Sent the kids to school. The kids didn't get tested. Nobody got tested, except the symptomatic people.
They live in a nice suburb of Houston. I imagine they all contributed to the spread.
 
When I lived there, it seemed to have equal importance.
Both days of large family/friend gatherings, big turkey dinner, lots of sitting around together - watching football on Thanksgiving, opening gifts at Christmas.

Thanks. I love the sound of Thanksgiving (except the football bit) but let's be honest there's not much to be giving thanks for this year!
 
Funnily enough, I live way over here and I know a few people in TX who have had covid. I only know because their family member (who lives elsewhere) has told me.
"It is no big deal" is what they say. They didn't tell anyone else they had it, just kept living their daily lives - except for the couple of days that they felt unwell. Didn't wear a mask. Sent the kids to school. The kids didn't get tested. Nobody got tested, except the symptomatic people.
They live in a nice suburb of Houston. I imagine they all contributed to the spread.
Whaaat? :mad: :eek: That’s just wonderful.
I get the daily obits in the county and I compared them to last year....its obvious if people only paid attention or cared about others.
 
Just curious - is Thanksgiving more or less important/celebrated than Christmas?
It all depended on if people could get off and travel to get there. Thanksgiving - you get one day off- Thursday. If you had seniority you could take Friday off too. All of the companies I worked for followed bank holidays.
Christmas was two days off - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And the same principle for seniority/vacation day. It was always a big row over who got those particular days/week off around the holidays.
Christmas was always the one that parents expected you to be home. No matter if it meant a long train ride, puddle jumper during an ice storm or an all night drive to be there by Christmas morning.
 
Sat, November 21, 2020, 11:41 AM EST

1 America, 1 Pandemic, 2 Realities

In one pandemic reality, restaurants are packed. There are no coronavirus limits at college town bars. No social distancing dots speckling the floor. Some people are wearing masks, but even a weak proposal to make it a requirement in one city prompted an outcry. Welcome to South Dakota.

In another, hundreds of miles to the south, much of life is shut down. No dining inside restaurants. Capacity limits at Walmart. Shuttered bookstores, museums, hair salons, parks. A mask-wearing culture so widespread that someone put one on an old statue. Welcome to New Mexico.

This is the view from America’s two discordant, dissonant pandemic realities... :confused:

The pandemic and the nation’s disjointed response have taken the notion of two Americas to a new extreme. As known coronavirus cases in the United States have surpassed 12 million over the course of the pandemic, the daily routines of millions of Americans are now shaped by their ZIP codes, governors and beliefs about the virus:

Do they wear masks? Go to school in person or online? Eat out? Get exposed to the virus? Have a small group over for Thanksgiving? What about Christmas dinner? What about Christmas special events like seeing different Christmas trees at "Winter Wonderland," skating, Christmas Eve Church, lighting the downtown Christmas tree, light displays at the local zoo?

SOS...!
HELP...!
 
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Whaaat? :mad: :eek: That’s just wonderful.
I get the daily obits in the county and I compared them to last year....its obvious if people only paid attention or cared about others.

Yes, I am pretty disgusted by it as well.
I am also disgusted at all the people (there are quite a few in my FB feed) who are going to flout Cuomo's ruling of 10 people only at Thanksgiving celebrations. "He can't tell me what to do in my own home" as they bring together people from 6 months old to 80 years old inside their home for turkey.
 
Iowa numbers today and recent news: As of 10:00-11:00 a.m., we had 3,627 new "confirmed" cases for a total of 206,660 confirmed cases of which 115,732 are recovering (+1,442). 32 more were reported to have passed for a total of 2,159. There are 88,769 acticve positive cases with a 24 hr. positivity rate of 39.7 % according to KWWL. Here are the daily age group increases (I'm still short 1 to make the totals match): 0-17: 20,088 (+472); 18-40: 87,800 (+1,323); 41-60: 58,899 (+1,047); 61-80: 31,157 (+618); and 81+: 8,662 (+166). Nov. 21: 3,627 new cases, 1,442 more recoveries, 32 deaths
Iowa Coronavirus Information case totals updated at 11:00 a.m.
Black Hawk County state legislators submit open records request on Tyson outbreak
Reynolds receives hundreds of report cards grading her response to COVID-19
UIHC gets freezers to house COVID vaccines, thinks they’ll have them by mid-December
“It’s getting scary as a nurse,” UIHC nurse talks about how it looks on the frontlines of the pandemic
 
Just curious - is Thanksgiving more or less important/celebrated than Christmas?

Good question. They're both important, but Christmas is often spread out over more days and maybe people will travel to see parents/grandparents just before or after Christmas (maybe New Years), Thanksgiving has always been a traditional "fly to see distant relatives so you don't have to travel in December" kind of holiday. LAX always has its highest number of passengers the day before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day itself somehow encourages people to travel hours by car to spend a few hours at someone else's house. We had to turn back one year after spending four hours to get about 90 miles on the 180 mile journey to my sister's house.

Many car travelers prefer November as their latest date of travel, as coming home after Christmas can be snowy or muddy and wet.

But a lot of people will travel a couple of hours to unite several households that live that distance apart. It's not uncommon for 30-40 people to gather at one house here in SoCal. There's usually no parking on our street on Thanksgiving.

On Christmas morning, a lot of families stay home (having celebrated the day before).

The worst part about Thanksgiving this year is that many people will acquire COVID during travel or at a relative's house, become contagious by the following Monday (but probably still asymptomatic - if they are even going to have symptoms) and as everyone is expected at work on Sunday or Monday, spread it to their coworkers.

Lots of people take off an entire week at Christmas, so hopefully they'll notice their symptoms before infecting coworkers?

We also fear, very much, that the numbers will shoot up even higher (after all, national positivity rate average is only 10% - a lot more people can get this) and then, Christmas/New Years will build on that even more. People won't be allowed to stadium football, so they'll gather in crowded homes to drink and yell and watch football.

At any rate, my friends and family are all quietly staying home. 2 of us at our house, as usual. 3 at my daughter's house, with a quick drive by visit to a grandma (and I'll stop by with a turkey, we'll all be masked, the turkey will be transferred without contact).

My older granddaughter writes well enough to write us letters (she lives 3 miles away - we haven't hugged since last February). My other daughter will have 6-7 people at her house (which is a reason why we are all doing separate things) and at this point, it seems unlikely we'll see much of her or that beloved granddaughter until well after New Year's. But that'll be okay.

I worry that older daughter will get COVID. She has no pre-existing conditions, but still. All of my work colleagues are just staying with their own households, same with all my FB friends (I guess I've muted all the others).

There really are two Americas. It'll be interesting to see what the neighbors do. We are having quite the uptick in our zipcode.
 
Funnily enough, I live way over here and I know a few people in TX who have had covid. I only know because their family member (who lives elsewhere) has told me.
"It is no big deal" is what they say. They didn't tell anyone else they had it, just kept living their daily lives - except for the couple of days that they felt unwell. Didn't wear a mask. Sent the kids to school. The kids didn't get tested. Nobody got tested, except the symptomatic people.
They live in a nice suburb of Houston. I imagine they all contributed to the spread.

Which is why I take anecdotal evidence about "no COVID cases at our school" with a giant grain of salt. I know so many people who work in schools who got COVID somewhere (including several who live alone and only go to work - primary grade teachers). Hmm. I wonder where?
 
There really are two Americas. It'll be interesting to see what the neighbors do. We are having quite the uptick in our zipcode.

Our zip code has also been having a weekly uptick. Oregon public health officials and our county public health officials are begging people to adhere to the governor’s order to gather only with your own household or one other, but no more than 6 people. I have absolutely no faith in people to comply, so I will sit here at home and watch the case and hospitalization explosion in the weeks to come...and pray that I don’t need to be hospitalized for something other than Covid.
 
Just curious - is Thanksgiving more or less important/celebrated than Christmas?

Christmas is very important to all Christians and widely celebrated in the US but Thanksgiving is a "family holiday"-everyone away from home usually goes home and people without a home near get invited to some one else's home. It is all about a big table and a big meal .... except bad for this year. Also, in northern parts of the country, Christmas may mean snow and ice and tougher traveling, so some people would rather travel now. Aside from all that, in many families, people go to "Mom's side"one one holiday and "Dad's side" on the other holiday to even things out. In any event, it is a big travel day and it ushers in other holiday shopping, decorating, parties.... all bad with COVID. Many students, if away, return home for Thanksgiving and there traditionally would be big football games with lots of fans, alumni, etc. I should add that if you are a first year college student, Thanksgiving might be he first time you go home and see your high school friends, so big reunions among college students returning home and "re-connecting."
 
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