Started By
Message
re: Alabama Board Coronavirus Thread
Posted on 7/17/20 at 9:35 am to East Coast Band
Posted on 7/17/20 at 9:35 am to East Coast Band
I completely agree. It's beyond depressing after all so many of us have already done for months. My store was completely closed for almost 4 months. My brother's trucking business in Alabama has had 3 months of heavy losses and now 2 more of not breaking even.
I was fairly confident things would be about like they currently are in Europe by now and instead have just postponed plane tickets to see my mother in Pensacola in mid August.
I agree that the repeated conjecture about it "just going away in hot weather" couldn't have been more wrong. Air conditioning probably cancels any benefit of warmer outside temperatures like many scientists warned could be the case.
I don't think masks are the only difference between us and Europe, just the best example of how different the response has been on the most simple one that meant no economic sacrifice whatsoever.
The fuller reason is that you can apply this example of masks to about every single thing epidemiologists suggested: limiting larger gatherings especially indoors and unnecessary travel, setting up case tracing to go with slow phased re-openings. We either ignored or half-assed about every single protocol that many hard hit European countries stuck to much more closely.
I was fairly confident things would be about like they currently are in Europe by now and instead have just postponed plane tickets to see my mother in Pensacola in mid August.
I agree that the repeated conjecture about it "just going away in hot weather" couldn't have been more wrong. Air conditioning probably cancels any benefit of warmer outside temperatures like many scientists warned could be the case.
I don't think masks are the only difference between us and Europe, just the best example of how different the response has been on the most simple one that meant no economic sacrifice whatsoever.
The fuller reason is that you can apply this example of masks to about every single thing epidemiologists suggested: limiting larger gatherings especially indoors and unnecessary travel, setting up case tracing to go with slow phased re-openings. We either ignored or half-assed about every single protocol that many hard hit European countries stuck to much more closely.
2
Posted on 7/17/20 at 10:41 am to wm72
This! We half-arse everything and think it will do. It doesn’t work that way. You can’t be a little bit contagious any more than you can be a little bit pregnant. You either are or you aren’t. You either wear a mask and wear it CORRECTLY! or you’re pissing in the wind. No just covering the mouth or having it wadded up like a mustache. No social distancing of 3 feet. We half arse it all, don’t take it seriously, and nobody enforces it. We’re on the honor system and as a country our honor sucks. The European and Asian countries have very few people that if asked to comply with public health measures refuse to. We have a shite ton. And all of us pay the price for our rebellious streak.
Posted on 7/17/20 at 10:52 am to phil4bama
Doctors across the country haven't helped the situation either. Turning people away and not testing because they aren't displaying symptoms made some people assume it wasn't that big of a deal.
Posted on 7/17/20 at 10:53 am to phil4bama
quote:
This! We half-arse everything and think it will do. It doesn’t work that way. You can’t be a little bit contagious any more than you can be a little bit pregnant. You either are or you aren’t. You either wear a mask and wear it CORRECTLY! or you’re pissing in the wind. No just covering the mouth or having it wadded up like a mustache. No social distancing of 3 feet. We half arse it all, don’t take it seriously, and nobody enforces it. We’re on the honor system and as a country our honor sucks. The European and Asian countries have very few people that if asked to comply with public health measures refuse to. We have a shite ton. And all of us pay the price for our rebellious streak.
Yep, in America, we have 50 opportunities in this country to get it wrong every day. The demand for more refrigerated trucks/mobile morgues is as good a way to keep score as any.
Posted on 7/17/20 at 11:12 am to TideSaint
quote:
Doctors across the country haven't helped the situation either. Turning people away and not testing because they aren't displaying symptoms made some people assume it wasn't that big of a deal.
That's not entirely the doctors' fault. A lot of them have had a limited supply of testing kits at different times. Initially, that was also the guidance of the CDC and state public health departments, also because of limited testing kits.
Posted on 7/17/20 at 11:14 am to bamameister
FOX 35 INVESTIGATES: Questions raised after fatal motorcycle crash listed as COVID-19 death
Unbelievable.
quote:
ORLANDO, Fla. - A person who died in a motorcycle accident was added to Florida’s COVID-19 death count, according to a state health official.
FOX 35 News found this out after asking Orange County Health Officer Dr. Raul Pino whether two coronavirus victims who were in their 20s had any underlying conditions. One of his answers surprised us.
“The first one didn’t have any. He died in a motorcycle accident,” Pino said.
Dr. Pino was asked if the man’s data was removed.
“I don’t think so. I have to double-check,” Pino said. “We were arguing, discussing, or trying to argue with the state. Not because of the numbers -- it’s 100…it doesn’t make any difference if it's 99 -- but the fact that the individual didn’t die from COVID-19…died in the crash. But you could actually argue that it could have been the COVID-19 that caused him to crash. I don’t know the conclusion of that one.”
Unbelievable.
Posted on 7/17/20 at 11:16 am to The Spleen
quote:
That's not entirely the doctors' fault.
Then who's fault is it?
Y'all love to point out how other countries are handling this and one of the main differences I see is their healthcare providers weren't turning people away and telling them to come back if their symptoms got worse.
Posted on 7/17/20 at 11:22 am to TideSaint
quote:
Y'all love to point out how other countries are handling this and one of the main differences I see is their healthcare providers weren't turning people away and telling them to come back if their symptoms got worse
Maybe because they mostly had an adequate supply of testing kits?
Posted on 7/17/20 at 11:35 am to TideSaint
quote:
That's not entirely the doctors' fault.
Then who's fault is it?
Y'all love to point out how other countries are handling this and one of the main differences I see is their healthcare providers weren't turning people away and telling them to come back if their symptoms got worse. ?
It's even more the fault of every politician with the power to demand more testing capacity to keep doctors from feeling they needed to conserve them early on and now, again, six months into this.
I completely agree that it was a total disaster that we couldn't test rampantly early on and, even now, my girlfriend and I would not be deciding against even planning a trip to Florida in September or beyond until we know for certain we could both get a quick test once there to safely stay with my mother. That's hurting the economy as well at the price of two cheap tests.
Our health care system lacking any kind of cohesion compared to Europe certainly didn't help either since testing was extremely different all over.
Right now, I could walk 8 blocks from my shop and get a free infection + antibody test in about 15 minutes with no doctor recommendation. I don't think that's the case everywhere.
Posted on 7/17/20 at 11:38 am to wm72
Taking 5 days for results in my hometown ... not sure why
Posted on 7/17/20 at 11:50 am to TideSaint
quote:
Then who's fault is it?
He literally answered your question with the part of his quote you left out:
quote:
That's not entirely the doctors' fault. A lot of them have had a limited supply of testing kits at different times. Initially, that was also the guidance of the CDC and state public health departments, also because of limited testing kits.
Something that should be a strength in this country--our supply-chain--is apparently still letting us down: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-testing/federal-covid-test-supplies-late-unsterile-washington-state-says-idUSKBN24403B
quote:
“The nascent federal supply effort for COVID-19 testing has been beset by logistical problems that impede our pandemic response and undermine our shared goals,” Washington state Secretary of Health John Wiesman said in his June 30 letter to U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir.
The supply chain problem "threatens to limit our overall testing capacity at a critical time in the pandemic response," he said.
Two months ago, seeking to address problems in the national supply chain, the federal government started sending states weekly shipments of swabs and chemicals used to gather and preserve specimens for testing. Wiesman thanked Giroir for the help.
But he said that system is beset with problems, including swabs that have had to be re-sterilized and shipments delayed without temperature control.
quote:
Scott Shone, the director of North Carolina’s public health laboratory, said he had been told by the federal government and clinical labs in his state that Roche would not be able to ramp up production of reagents, chemicals used in tests, until later this year, and that Danaher’s Cepheid would not be able to ramp up supplies until early 2021.
“The supply chain is just not there to support the growing demand for testing,” he said.
The concerns about strains in the testing supply chain have emerged in the last two weeks as COVID-19 cases have surged in Texas, Florida, Arizona and California.
Roche, Cepheid, and every other supplier reached by Reuters acknowledged that demand for tests exceeds supply. All are working to boost production, but none said when they expect to be able to meet demand.
Joe Saad, chairman of pathology with the Methodist Health System in Dallas, said Texas, a hot spot, does not appear to be receiving priority supplies. “How they’re allocated is a complete mystery to us,” he said.
Posted on 7/17/20 at 12:29 pm to wm72
Here's something potentially interesting: Montgomery's case rate has been cut in half in the past month. They have the lowest month-over-month hospitalizations since April. If you'll recall, Montgomery was the first real hot spot in the most recent spike, starting in late May (remember the whole national news story about Montgomery hospital bed availability?). Now, the mayor predictably attributes this to the mask order, but I started poking around the Alabama state site and noticed that case rates in surrounding counties are extremely high, so I'm curious if we are starting to reach herd immunity in some places.
For example, Lowndes County's confirmed case rate per 100k is 4,349.2. The CDC estimates actual cases are approximately 10x confirmed cases. Based on that, estimated actual COVID-19 cases in Lowndes County would be 43,492 per 100k, or 43.492% of the population. Interestingly, recent publications are showing that herd immunity thresholds may be far lower than originally thought; this study says 43%. This is due to a number of behavioral factors. Other studies are showing it may be even lower due to a large segment of the population (children) acting as a brake rather than a vector for the spread.
This, as well as the data from places like New York, seems to suggest we may be getting close to being over the hump in some places, but it could be a rocky month or two.
For example, Lowndes County's confirmed case rate per 100k is 4,349.2. The CDC estimates actual cases are approximately 10x confirmed cases. Based on that, estimated actual COVID-19 cases in Lowndes County would be 43,492 per 100k, or 43.492% of the population. Interestingly, recent publications are showing that herd immunity thresholds may be far lower than originally thought; this study says 43%. This is due to a number of behavioral factors. Other studies are showing it may be even lower due to a large segment of the population (children) acting as a brake rather than a vector for the spread.
This, as well as the data from places like New York, seems to suggest we may be getting close to being over the hump in some places, but it could be a rocky month or two.
Posted on 7/17/20 at 12:56 pm to TideCPA
I've seen a couple of people say herd immunity may be reached at as low as 20% infection rate. I honestly don't know the statistics behind herd immunity, so I can't comment on what number is accurate. I understand the process of herd immunity but not the numbers, so I won't claim any insight and throw out a number.
Posted on 7/17/20 at 1:05 pm to phil4bama
quote:
I've seen a couple of people say herd immunity may be reached at as low as 20% infection rate. I honestly don't know the statistics behind herd immunity, so I can't comment on what number is accurate. I understand the process of herd immunity but not the numbers, so I won't claim any insight and throw out a number.
I don't think anyone knows a number for certain, but either Montgomery suddenly became social distancing champions last month, or the enormous spike in infections and cases simply left the Rt value nowhere to go but down.
Knowing Alabamians, my money isn't on the former.
This post was edited on 7/17/20 at 1:06 pm
Posted on 7/17/20 at 1:07 pm to TideCPA
Another tidbit of good news, if we could just get the damn things produced and in the right hands and in the right quantities.
Aussies bonzer test!
Aussies bonzer test!
Posted on 7/17/20 at 1:10 pm to TideCPA
There's a pretty strong theory out there that the virus weakens after its initial surge in a particular area. Certainly some of that could be herd immunity.
Posted on 7/17/20 at 2:42 pm to The Spleen
quote:
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) says some ultraviolet light systems can help schools, businesses and homes cut COVID-19 transmission, and the utility has cash incentives to add these UV-C lights to HVAC systems in the TVA region that includes north Alabama.
The incentives of $30 per ton of the system’s output first became available in June, a TVA spokesman said, but the agency now says “there’s an opportunity for this technology everywhere.”
I had high hopes about summer and UV and heat and all of that stuff, but I’m more than wary of this now.
Al.com
Posted on 7/17/20 at 3:31 pm to Cobrasize
Posted on 7/17/20 at 4:11 pm to Cobrasize
Posted on 7/17/20 at 5:37 pm to paperwasp
quote:
Health officials from numerous states have ‘mistakenly’ included positive results from antibody tests when reporting new Coronavirus cases to the CDC, ultimately inflating new cases.
The Trump administration announced new guidelines on Wednesday. Starting this week hospitals will be ordered to bypass the CDC and send ALL COVID-19 patient information to a central database in Washington DC.
LINK
Page 54 of 125
Latest Alabama News
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News