Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #32

[katydid23]

The article is entirely accurate. It's from the Friday paper, the 20th. He said he was prepared to invoke the act; there is no evidence he has done so in any meaningful way.

How do you invoke the act in a 'non-meaningful' way?

 

[Lilibet]

In the US there are about 60,000 practicing veterinarians. Each one would have a minimum of 200 6" sterile cotton swabs. Many would have a ton more. If a call was put out that Uncle Sam needs your swabs, there could be at least 1,200,000 sterile swabs in a heartbeat.

Dentists probably have stashes of them too.

Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown has requested donations of PPEs and medical supplies from around the state.

Clinics closed, donations requested to boost dwindling supply of medical equipment

 

[katydid23]

U.S. intelligence reports from January and February warned about a likely pandemic

Inside the White House, Trump’s advisers struggled to get him to take the virus seriously, according to multiple officials with knowledge of meetings among those advisers and with the president.

Health and Human Services Secretary AlexAzar couldn’t get through to Trump to speak with him about the virus until Jan. 18, according to two senior administration officials. When he reached Trump by phone, the president interjected to ask about vaping and when flavored vaping products would be back on the market, the senior administration officials said.

On Jan. 27, White House aides huddled with then-acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney in his office, trying to get senior officials to pay more attention to the virus, according to people briefed on the meeting. Joe Grogan, the head of the White House Domestic Policy Council, argued that the administration needed to take the virus seriously or it could cost the president his reelection, and that dealing with the virus was likely to dominate life in the United States for many months.

Mulvaney then began convening more regular meetings. In early briefings, however, officials said Trump was dismissive because he did not believe that the virus had spread widely throughout the United States.

[More of the Washington Post article at MSN link above]​

Is there any way we could try to come together as a country, instead of pointing fingers of blame at opposing parties? It sure would be lovely and would help us in these trying times, in my opinion.

 

[katydid23]

Fashion fights coronavirus: Celebrity designer Christian Siriano and his team SEW face masks for New York healthcare workers after he offered his services to Gov. Cuomo on Twitter - as LVMH pledges to make hand sanitizer

• Siriano, 34, reached out to Gov. Andrew Cuomo via Twitter on Friday as the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New York soared to more than 7,000
• The designer explained that he still has a full sewing team on staff that can make face masks while working from their homes
• In a subsequent tweet, the governor shared that he is in contact with Siriano
• Siriano wasted no time with production after speaking with Cuomo, and he took to his Instagram Stories to share videos of his staffers hard at work
• Federal officials have told health workers the nation's stockpile doesn't have enough masks and gowns to meet the expected crush of coronavirus cases
• As of Friday, there are more than 18,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S. and 230 deaths
• Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?

Coronavirus US: Christian Siriano offers to SEW face masks for healthcare workers | Daily Mail Online

 

[Strangeworld]

Five cruise ships that were allowed to dock in Sydney were infected with coronavirus

NSW Health has identified four cruise ships- the Ovation of the Seas, Celebrity Solstice, Ruby Princess, and Voyager of the Seas- as having confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Five cruise ships that were allowed to dock in Sydney were infected with coronavirus | Daily Mail Online

All cruises need to be stopped indefinitely.

This is just so frustrating!! And some passengers from a cruise ship flew from Sydney to Brisbane and back to Sydney again to try and get an international flight to the US. I'm in Brisbane and I cringe to think of the scale of passenger/crew infections and community spread

 

[dmac55]

I can't read the article due to paywall, but I'm not sure why the article's headline is misleading? Or is this article an older one? Pres. Trump did invoke the Defense Production Act, so....

He has invoked it, not utilized it
My view/opinion

"President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he's invoking the Defense Production Act to ramp up production, but he hasn't wielded his federal powers yet..."

Pressure mounts for Trump to actually use Defense Production Act - CNNPolitics

 

[musicaljoke]

U.S. intelligence reports from January and February warned about a likely pandemic

Inside the White House, Trump’s advisers struggled to get him to take the virus seriously, according to multiple officials with knowledge of meetings among those advisers and with the president.

Health and Human Services Secretary AlexAzar couldn’t get through to Trump to speak with him about the virus until Jan. 18, according to two senior administration officials. When he reached Trump by phone, the president interjected to ask about vaping and when flavored vaping products would be back on the market, the senior administration officials said.

On Jan. 27, White House aides huddled with then-acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney in his office, trying to get senior officials to pay more attention to the virus, according to people briefed on the meeting. Joe Grogan, the head of the White House Domestic Policy Council, argued that the administration needed to take the virus seriously or it could cost the president his reelection, and that dealing with the virus was likely to dominate life in the United States for many months.

Mulvaney then began convening more regular meetings. In early briefings, however, officials said Trump was dismissive because he did not believe that the virus had spread widely throughout the United States.

[More of the Washington Post article at MSN link above]​

About 20 ago, during George W. Bush’s presidency, the US federal government developed guidelines for communicating during a public-health crisis. Among the core principles are “be first,” “be right,” “be credible,” “show respect” and “promote action.”

https://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/ppt/cerc_2014edition_Copy.pdf

Even though these core principles were in place, Trump publicly suggested on multiple occasions that the virus was less serious than the flu. “We’re talking about a much smaller range” of deaths than from the flu, he said on March 2. “It’s very mild,” he told Hannity on March 4. On March 7, he said, “I’m not concerned at all.” On March 10, he promised: “It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.”

I'm glad to see that this non-chalant stance is changing, but it wasn't helpful to the nation and I fear that the result of failing to follow the government guidelines will fall hard on the American people.

Remarks by President Trump and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Meeting with Pharmaceutical Companies | The White House

Remarks by President Trump and President Bolsonaro of Brazil Before Working Dinner | West Palm Beach, FL | The White House

Remarks by President Trump After Meeting with Republican Senators | The White House

 

[cobalt sky]

He has invoked it, not utilized it

"President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he's invoking the Defense Production Act to ramp up production, but he hasn't wielded his federal powers yet..."

Pressure mounts for Trump to actually use Defense Production Act - CNNPolitics

From your article:

..."But as a contentious and contradictory news conference wore on, it became clear Trump had not ordered American companies under his executive prerogative to scale up production.
Instead, Trump said those companies were offering up their services without the government demanding it.
"We are literally being besieged in a beautiful way by companies that want to do the work and help our country," he said. "We have not had a problem with that at all."

BBM. So maybe that's why he hasn't "utilized" it? Maybe he doesn't need to right now?

 

[cobalt sky]

I'm glad to see that this non-chalant stance is changing, but it wasn't helpful to the nation and I fear that the result of failing to follow the government guidelines will fall hard on the American people.

What "government guidelines" did he fail to follow?

 

[musicaljoke]

What "government guidelines" did he fail to follow?

The guidelines put in place twenty years ago during George W. Bush’s presidency, the US federal government developed guidelines for communicating during a public-health crisis. Among the core principles are “be first,” “be right,” “be credible,” “show respect” and “promote action.”

https://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/ppt/cerc_2014edition_Copy.pdf

Click on the pdf and take a look. The work that was done was quite solid. It's called "Crisis Emergency Risk Communication".

 

[cobalt sky]

The guidelines put in place twenty years ago during George W. Bush’s presidency, the US federal government developed guidelines for communicating during a public-health crisis. Among the core principles are “be first,” “be right,” “be credible,” “show respect” and “promote action.”

https://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/ppt/cerc_2014edition_Copy.pdf

Click on the pdf and take a look. The work that was done was quite solid. It's called "Crisis Emergency Risk Communication".

I know what it is. What I want to know is how is he not following it? Or maybe this would be a better discussion in a political thread somewhere?

 

[gregjrichards]

I fear the suicide rate will be increasing in the next few weeks. Some people live paycheck to paycheck and can barely make ends meet. Take away their income? Can't leave their homes? Bankruptcy filings will go up also. JMO

I’m very worried about this too. Many lives could be lost and not just the poor people who contract the virus. I think of the people who could lose or have lost their jobs, people who have severe depression, elderly people who have no one, hospital workers etc. This is a horrendous and extremely tragic crisis with a magnitude that we have never seen before.

 

[gregjrichards]

<modsnip: quoted post was removed>

Everyone please remember we can’t get too political the thread could get shut down and it is too important.

 

[musicaljoke]

I know what it is. What I want to know is how is he not following it? Or maybe this would be a better discussion in a political thread somewhere?

I would hope that the process could be evaluated without it becoming a political issue, but maybe it's too difficult right now. I know that in Canada, after a crisis, the Emergency Crisis Communication undergoes an audit to see if it measures up to the standard or if there are ways to improve either the protocol, or the actual communications. Likely something like that exists in the US as well. If so, this will all be scrutinized in an audit.

 

[cobalt sky]

Everyone please remember we can’t get too political the thread could get shut down and it is too important.

Yes, agreed, that's why I suggested maybe they take it over to a more appropriate thread.

 

[Luckyzmom]

Amen

Everyone please remember we can’t get too political the thread could get shut down and it is too important.

Please don't let this become political, so grateful for this thread and all of your time and effort.
Very much appreciate all the great exchanges and sharing experiences here. Observations very helpful !!
Nite nite Be Well.

 

[gregjrichards]

United Kingdom News

Coronavirus outbreak that has killed 28 in West Midlands is linked to church attended by worshipper who did not realise they were a carrier

An outbreak of the coronavirus that has killed 28 people in the West Midlands has been linked to a church attended by a worshipper who did not realise they were a carrier.

Coronavirus outbreak that has killed 28 in West Midlands is linked to church | Daily Mail Online

 

[PayrollNerd]

A few local nurses have begged for homemade face masks on our little community forum, so I’m going to spend tomorrow working on the masks I started earlier today. I’ll go until I run out of elastic (because I can’t really run out of fabric). I did 4 today, I think. But that pattern from IN that calls for 7 inches of elastic is just very wrong. Gaping mask. Between 5 and 6 inches is better with that pattern. You want a snug fit.

This is the pattern we are using. Me and my friends are making them for ourselves first.

I noticed in this instruction sheet I’ve attached that they use elastic headbands you can get for your hair. You can substitute 1/8” or 1/4” flat elastic. Also the long ties would work too.

Everything I’ve read and researched regarding fabrics states using cotton against the skin side always. A cotton polyester fabric (tshirt) on the outside, if desired, or flannel. Both are more tightly woven but can also restrict breathing more. Anything besides 2 layers of regular cotton here in FL and we’d all roast.

One option is to insert a disposable mask between the layers to increase The protection level. Another option is to insert a clean, dried out baby wipe. Keep in mind they need to be replaced daily and the face mask washed daily. There are a lot of comments at the bottom of the link as to making them more protective. Some comments are clearly not thought through well but there are some good ideas amongst them.

I did get a response from the nurse I know. She said her hospital doesn’t have a shortage of masks. She hadn’t heard anything about sewing home made masks.

I plan to make these and take along to my next cancer treatment on Thursday. I’m going to give them away. They have home made chemo caps people drop off for patients. I figure they may like some masks for family members.

Face Mask Pattern - Free Sewing Patter • Craft Passion

I wonder if my new fur baby, Athena would like sewing lessons?! LOL probably not. She laid at my feet or followed me around like a shadow all day. She laid her head on my leg when we first got home. I think it was her way of saying thank you.

 

[FrostOwl]

I think we eat better than most Chinese folks. We are certainly wealthier.

I think the problem is that the gov is doing nothing here, and the young think they're invincible, whereas the Chinese didn't have that superior feeling - they didn't know one way or the other when it started.

Also, as @10ofRods mentioned, we may have more young and female smokers here perhaps, but since the Chinese have far worse air, I'm not sure that's such a factor with this virus.

The Chinese also have thousands of years of Chinese medicine which may have helped many - to an unknown degree.

If I had to vote on it I'd say it's lack of government response combined with non-attentiveness of the young in the US that's the issue, sadly.

To say that Americans (and Westerners) are eating better than the Chinese doesn't mean that we eat more healthy, rather the opposite. The traditional Chinese diet is rich with fresh vegetables, and drinking green tea in stead of sugary soft drinks. The Western diet is (too) rich in calories, sugar, white flour and saturated fats, all leading to obesity, which is a risk factor when it comes to Covid-19.
Use your noodle: The real Chinese diet is so healthy it could solve

 

[Trino]

I’m very worried about this too. Many lives could be lost and not just the poor people who contract the virus. I think of the people who could lose or have lost their jobs, people who have severe depression, elderly people who have no one, hospital workers etc. This is a horrendous and extremely tragic crisis with a magnitude that we have never seen before.

Great Depression repeat. Maybe worse because so many people have tech jobs rather than manual labor today.