Major KC Fan wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:49 am. Maybe it would have been a good idea to keep the pandemic response team at the federal level staffed and funded instead of cutting it two years ago......
Expect this to become a major political point starting in summer.
It’s one thing to cut regulation and unnecessary parts of government, and there is a lot that should be up for discussion. it’s a another to cut a dept that keeps people alive, especially with how many near misses the world has had.
Anyone who went to a medical facility within the past month potentially exposed that entire medical staff, unnecessarily, to the virus. It doesn't matter how old they are, they will pass it along to someone who is susceptible or it will affect someone on staff who is in the small percentage of <60 and unable to cope.
Testing or acknowledgement of the need for additional measures to protect staff would have helped prevent this.
Two emergency medicine doctors, in New Jersey and Washington State, are in critical condition as a result of coronavirus, reinforcing concerns that the nation’s front-line medical workers are becoming especially vulnerable to the virus, the American College of Emergency Physicians said.
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One of the ill physicians, a man in his 40s, is a doctor at EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, Wash., a hospital near Seattle which has seen one of the largest concentrations of cases in the United States.
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Dr. Jaquis said it appeared that the doctor had access to adequate protective equipment. “This was an area with an outbreak, so they were expecting and prepared. That obviously makes us more nervous.”
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The other physician, a doctor in his 70s in Paterson, N.J., was also in isolation in intensive care. The doctor led his institution’s emergency preparedness and was admitted to the hospital several days ago with upper respiratory problems, the physicians’ group said.
And the city's EMS director just noted that our local hospital resources are currently close to maxed out from the normal seasonal flu cases. Which means, nearly any uptick locally related to COVID will require additional emergency actions to accommodate the influx.
We are fortunate to be an area that is sort of a "secondary spread" geography.
Major KC Fan wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:49 am
If you allow the general public to continue to gather in restaurants, bars, etc. then how do you protect the at-risk people that they will come into contact with?
That's assuming closing all bars/restaurants would further protect those at risk. We're talking about taking away jobs for many living paycheck to paycheck for a bet that may or may not make a difference. A reasonable compromise is cutting bars/restaurants to half capacity and expect those at risk to stay at home (and those living with them if it makes sense). You don't impact people's livelihood as much while specifically focusing on those at risk.
BTW, Europe (under 800M population) is about to pass up China (1.3B pops) in attributed COVID deaths. Italy alone (60M pops) could pass up China in a week or less at current rate. Many level headed officials that know China well (not conspiracy theorists) think China is not being honest with the stats recently. But if China is directionally correct, it supports the case that the West may not be able to contain/slow this as well as China.
Some things I picked up from watching today's council meeting with the Health Director taking Q&A.
Health Director stated he did not think KC area would have widespread community testing available until April 1 and so wouldn't be able to track/know how much community spread there is in the area until 10-12 days after that (once enough people have actually been tested). Currently, you must either have traveled to a problem area or been in direct contact with a positive case in order to get tested. Outside of that you need to be in an ICU on a ventilator to get tested by the state.
He said that only 12 people in the city of KC had been tested that he is aware of. The EMS services currently have 5 people waiting to be tested, but can't be tested because of a lack of local tests. Because of that those 5 (maybe 8?) EMS personnel are out of service. 1 of those is from a spouse returning from overseas travels- the others are from work or home exposure (potentially, may just be common cold). Because the others are from displaying cold symptoms and looking for preventative testing they currently can't get tested through state restrictions and limited testing capacity. Which they know because EMS is taking temps and screening personnel at beginning and end of each shift.
Yep, only 50 tests a day though and it takes 5 days to get results.
But yes, I thought it was weird too that we weren't getting any new capacity yet. I think there will be a slow ratchet up between now and April 1, but he is saying we need literally 1,000s of test weekly to know about this. That capacity will come April 1 he says. Hopefully 1st responders will get their testing prioritized and completed sooner.
The one test they were able to get done they literally had to drive to Jeff City themselves and wait 18 hours for results. And that was prioritized.
and StL will still only test those with above a certain temp and coughing and respiratory issues. As we know, many people who have it will not display those symptoms. In other words that testing is only for those who may be vulnerable to succumb to the symptoms to help get them treatment (rightly so), but what I was referring to was testing to help stop the spread. Many more people will need to be tested than just the most vulnerable if we want to help stop the spread.
The Dow was down 2,700 points after President Donald Trump said American life might not return to normal until August. It had fallen as many as 2,800 points Monday.
On the testing side, we need a government funded contest to speed up testing for infectious diseases that have high death rates and are highly communicable. Throw money at labs.
Have a minimum $100 million price available per goal.
Every hour you can cut off results. Cut 10 hours off a 24 hour test, get $1 billion dollars
Over the counter capable. Not that you get it over the counter, but it could be self-administered/family member administered.
Shelf stable (assuming supplies need to be refrigerated today). A further prize for high/low temp stable, like going into the desert or arctic.
Length of time it lasts. If the test breaks down in a month it's less valuable than if it can sit in storage for 10 years.
FangKC wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:20 pm
New federal guidelines limit gatherings to groups of 10. That cancels a lot of things like weddings and funerals.
Say a prayer for IRS employees down at the Pershing facility because I hear management just "isn't getting it". Very concerning.
Who's putting together the list of local restaurants with carryout and drive thru available? I can only eat so much Schwarmar and Panchos before Coronavirus becomes the least of my health concerns.
