Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #84

[GRT]

Darn. So, basically I am paying for everything for the "luxury" of working from home. We really didn't have a choice. It seemed like employers just assumed that people would have everything in place to work from home. Or pay for it, themselves. Well, at least I have a job.

It's really not right for them to do that to you. They should offer some type of compensation for the use of all your equipment.

 

[Tippy Lynn]

Darn. So, basically I am paying for everything for the "luxury" of working from home. We really didn't have a choice. It seemed like employers just assumed that people would have everything in place to work from home. Or pay for it, themselves. Well, at least I have a job.

It will be temporary for most people who were sent home to work. It was done to protect employees and others from contracting the virus. If it ends up being permanent I would hope employers would step up. I look at it as doing my part to help stop the spread. Just like mask wearing, it sucks, but it is what it is.

jmo

 

[MimosaMornings]

Going on 12 years without
I call myself a “self-pay”

CEO’s of insurance company’s, private equity healthcare investments and Pharmaceutical giants and our current leadership make it impossible for millions of Americans to afford

I remember after ACA - several large companies (IBM, GE, TWC, etc) abruptly notified retirees that the company would no longer provide health insurance. The new health marketplace was more affordable! And other such nonsense. Even if you had been promised upon hiring or your retirement package stated that would never happen.

I distinctly remember HR telling employees how employee benefits were part of their total compensation. They were told they were earning a pension and in most large companies, retiree medical benefits. Ha!

So now retirees receive a small “stipend” to use in the new “health plan marketplace”.
Which was NOWHERE close to the health coverage plus more expensive.

Count on nothing except your own actions and planning and plan for every contingency you can.
JMO

 

[CharlestonGal]

I remember after ACA - several large companies (IBM, GE, TWC, etc) abruptly notified retirees that the company would no longer provide health insurance. The new health marketplace was more affordable! And other such nonsense. Even if you had been promised upon hiring or your retirement package stated that would never happen.

I distinctly remember HR telling employees how employee benefits were part of their total compensation. They were told they were earning a pension and in most large companies, retiree medical benefits. Ha!

So now retirees receive a small “stipend” to use in the new “health plan marketplace”.
Which was NOWHERE close to the health coverage plus more expensive.

Count on nothing except your own actions and planning and plan for every contingency you can.
JMO

That's what the military did to me. When I was commissioned, part of my retirement benefits was free healthcare for life. When I actually retired it was an offer to buy Tricare Insurance and pay premiums and deductibles like everyone else.

 

[tresir2012]

I don't see anything there that explains why that would not work in 2020. Would you please explain what I'm missing?

Just three examples - Critical infrastructure undamaged, WHO participation, border participation- all are assumed in place in this publication.

 

[10ofRods]

It depends on how you're paid. If you're self-employed, you can take a deduction for a home office, but it's considered to be an "audit flag," although perhaps less of a risk now due to covid.

If you are an employee of a different company, you cannot take the office deduction.

If you qualify for the deduction, you can figure out the deduction based on the square footage of the office as a percentage of the square footage of the entire home. You can do that for heating and cooling costs.

But, if you're self-employed, you can also deduct the cost of the equipment you use to work, such as your PC, printer, internet, etc.

Unfortunately, being self-employed also comes with "self-employment tax," which is double the FICA an employer withholds.

If you do work from home for your employer, you can still claim the home office deduction. I've been teaching/working from home for 20 years, and have had a dedicated office space for it throughout that time. I use the sf percentage and TurboTax asks a few questions to plug in the numbers.

We can also deduct unreimbursed employee expenses, which as a teacher...there are plenty, everything from dry erase markers and the white boards I use at home to my work computer and cabling).

All you have to do is check the box when it asks whether your employer reimbursed you. This goes for travel outside of commuting, when it's for work, as well.

One does have to qualify to use Schedule A, though.

 

[CharlestonGal]

Just three examples - Critical infrastructure undamaged, WHO participation, border participation- all are assumed in place in this publication.

Well, no. The entire point of the plan is to put those things in place and maintain them. It's literally the point.

 

[tresir2012]

Well, no. The entire point of the plan is to put those things in place and maintain them. It's literally the point.

Well US can't put the WHO procedures in place because US are not part of WHO anymore. Without the US, then Canada and Mexico would have to go it alone. So it is no longer a North American Pandemic Plan at all.
Also with Covid the critical infrastructure is damaged and borders are closed. This was an influenza plan and not for something as serious as Covid. The OP asked me so I answered. Of course you can give the OP your view but I was being asked to explain my post. HTH.

 

[10ofRods]

I think if our current leadership had insisted (or even suggested) masking all the time, mandatory masking, etc, we would have the other half of the country refusing to do so just because it came from “the other side”. Either way, we would have half of the country not wanting to cooperate because of political garbage. It’s unfortunate.

We can agree to disagree on this. There's no way that most people I know would have gone without masks since March. Everyone I know, regardless of party affiliation, wears a mask when out of their own homes. It would never have occurred to most people to politicize masks.

 

[musicaljoke]

I think if our current leadership had insisted (or even suggested) masking all the time, mandatory masking, etc, we would have the other half of the country refusing to do so just because it came from “the other side”. Either way, we would have half of the country not wanting to cooperate because of political garbage. It’s unfortunate.

It's sad to see such division. It didn't need to happen. Maybe in another time, that wouldn't have happened.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/grenier-provincial-federal-cooperation-1.5521531
The pandemic is breaking down political barriers between provincial and federal governments.
Unity of purpose brings former foes together in ways that Canada has not always seen in past crises.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-premiers-call-covid19-supplies-1.5518715

Trudeau and premiers agree: This is what's necessary for provinces to start reopening


COVID-19 is helping to unite Canadians like nothing has in years — and we'll need unity for what's to come...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/opinion-partisanship-covid-19-government-response-1.5525186

 

[CharlestonGal]

EU urged to review remdesivir supply deal after Covid-19 trial results

BRUSSELS (Oct 16): The European Union should renegotiate a 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) contract it sealed last week with Gilead for a six-month supply of the Covid-19 drug remdesivir after it showed poor results in a large trial, experts said on Friday.

In a blow to one of the few drugs being used to treat people with Covid-19, the Solidarity Trial conducted by the World Health Organization showed that remdesivir appeared to have little or no effect on mortality or length of hospital stays among patients with the respiratory disease.

 

[tresir2012]

EU urged to review remdesivir supply deal after Covid-19 trial results

BRUSSELS (Oct 16): The European Union should renegotiate a 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) contract it sealed last week with Gilead for a six-month supply of the Covid-19 drug remdesivir after it showed poor results in a large trial, experts said on Friday.

In a blow to one of the few drugs being used to treat people with Covid-19, the Solidarity Trial conducted by the World Health Organization showed that remdesivir appeared to have little or no effect on mortality or length of hospital stays among patients with the respiratory disease.

I wonder if FDA will withdraw the EUA.

 

[CharlestonGal]

Twitter removes White House adviser's tweet saying masks do not prevent COVID-19

Twitter has removed a tweet from White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Scott Atlas that claimed masks don't work to stop the spread of COVID-19.

"Masks work? NO," Atlas had tweeted Saturday, followed by misrepresentations of the science behind the effectiveness of masks in battling the coronavirus pandemic.

Atlas, a neuroradiologist, shared his tweet again later on Saturday, adding that it showed President Donald Trump's guidelines on masks was the "right policy" and no widespread mask mandates were needed.

But Twitter removed Atlas's original tweet by Sunday morning, leaving behind a message that says: "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules."

A Twitter spokesperson confirmed to Newsweek that Atlas's tweet was in violation of the platform's COVID-19 misleading information policy.

According to Twitter, the policy prohibits sharing false or misleading content related to COVID-19 which could lead to harm. It specifically includes guidance on "statements or assertions that have been confirmed to be false or misleading by subject-matter experts, such as public health authorities."

 

[ilovewings]

EU urged to review remdesivir supply deal after Covid-19 trial results

BRUSSELS (Oct 16): The European Union should renegotiate a 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) contract it sealed last week with Gilead for a six-month supply of the Covid-19 drug remdesivir after it showed poor results in a large trial, experts said on Friday.

In a blow to one of the few drugs being used to treat people with Covid-19, the Solidarity Trial conducted by the World Health Organization showed that remdesivir appeared to have little or no effect on mortality or length of hospital stays among patients with the respiratory disease.

This study has been criticized--- so as far as I am concerned the jury is still out--it seemed to work for Trump- along with two other drugs.

 

[Sundog]

If you do work from home for your employer, you can still claim the home office deduction. I've been teaching/working from home for 20 years, and have had a dedicated office space for it throughout that time. I use the sf percentage and TurboTax asks a few questions to plug in the numbers.

We can also deduct unreimbursed employee expenses, which as a teacher...there are plenty, everything from dry erase markers and the white boards I use at home to my work computer and cabling).

All you have to do is check the box when it asks whether your employer reimbursed you. This goes for travel outside of commuting, when it's for work, as well.

One does have to qualify to use Schedule A, though.

This changed in 2018 as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Employees who work from home can no longer claim the home office deduction, but the TCJA did not change the home office expense rules for self-employed persons and independent contractors.

Working From Home? Your Home Offices Expenses Are Probably Not Tax-Deductible

Chances are that you're reading this from home. With social distancing encouraged due to the COVID-19 pandemic - and in states like mine, actually mandatory - many taxpayers are working from home.

But before you rush out to outfit your home office with network-ready quality video cams and cushy leather chairs, you may want to consider whether they are tax-deductible. In past years, if you were an employee who worked from home, you could deduct your home office expenses as a miscellaneous itemized deduction on line 21 of Schedule A. Easy peasy.

That's no longer the rule. As a result of the Tax Cuts And Jobs Act (TCJA), for the tax years 2018 through 2025, you cannot deduct home office expenses if you are an employee.

Again, neither of those options is on the table for employees for 2020. As a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), for the tax years 2018 through 2025, you cannot deduct home office expenses if you are an employee. It's one of several changes on Schedule A (read about other changes here). Those changes were intended to be absorbed or mitigated by the doubling of the standard deduction.


BBM

 

[musicaljoke]

This study has been criticized--- so as far as I am concerned the jury is still out--it seemed to work for Trump- along with two other drugs.

The study was pretty global, and pretty conclusive.

Repurposed antiviral drugs for COVID-19; interim WHO SOLIDARITY trial results

 

[ilovewings]

EU urged to review remdesivir supply deal after Covid-19 trial results

BRUSSELS (Oct 16): The European Union should renegotiate a 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) contract it sealed last week with Gilead for a six-month supply of the Covid-19 drug remdesivir after it showed poor results in a large trial, experts said on Friday.

In a blow to one of the few drugs being used to treat people with Covid-19, the Solidarity Trial conducted by the World Health Organization showed that remdesivir appeared to have little or no effect on mortality or length of hospital stays among patients with the respiratory disease.

This study has been criticized--- so as far as I am concerned the jury is still out--it seemed to work for Trump- along with two other drugs.

This study has been criticized--- so as far as I am concerned the jury is still out--it seemed to work for Trump- along with two other drugs.

Here is a link: says it doesn't work "but doctors not so sure"
Very confusing but my guess is that docs will continue using it in certain types of patients

Massive WHO remdesivir study suggests no Covid-19 benefit. Doctors aren't so sure.

 

[Knitty]

Just three examples - Critical infrastructure undamaged, WHO participation, border participation- all are assumed in place in this publication.

Oh, yes, it IS too late for that plan to work. Had the U.S. approached COVID as this plan indicates, our continent could have been in the same shape as Australia right now. Instead, our leadership chose to be adversarial instead of cooperative.

 

[CharlestonGal]

Watching that graph explode in real time is fascinating. You can see it, and others here:

COVID Cases since June by state partisanship

 

[dixiegirl1035]

To get an idea of what is coming as to prioritizations of vaccines, Cuomo this am did an overview of what NY plan is. (He is head of the National Governors Association in the US and they are having to submit plans to the US feds, so would assume it may be analagous US wide? MOO

FYI as we have discussed quite a bit and he outlines in this 24 minute video. The plan not only wieghs High risk/low risk/general population, but also takes into consideration prioritizing geographical prevalence to prioritize. 2 screenshots... much more at video.

Feds are in charge of making and distributing. State will administer a plan, the local governments participate through the state.

He also breaks down the high risk groups (e.g. healthcare workers, first responders/police etc.)