Coronavirus: what your country is doing, how you feel & general discussion

[Wally]

U.S.

3/30/2020 - https://www.washingtonpost.com/heal...a-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html?outputType=amp

CDC considering recommending general public wear face coverings in public

Should we all be wearing masks? That simple question is under review by officials in the U.S. government and has sparked a grass-roots pro-mask movement. But there’s still no consensus on whether widespread use of facial coverings would make a significant difference, and some infectious disease experts worry that masks could lull people into a false sense of security and make them less disciplined about social distancing.

In recent days, more people have taken to covering their faces, although it remains a scattershot strategy driven by personal choice. The government does not recommend it.

That may change. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are considering altering the official guidance to encourage people to take measures to cover their faces amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a federal official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is an ongoing matter of internal discussion and nothing has been finalized. . . .

 

[nyanko_the_sane]

I think it is terrible they ever told people not to wear a mask.

They had better sense even in 1919 Japan.

 

[Mouse girl]

Yeah, unless they have data that shows that wearing a mask that isn't the correct kind makes transmission worse, people should wear masks if they have them. Perhaps they didn't want to push this since the medical personal who are dying from not having masks and having even more public grabbing up masks will end up causing more docs and nurses to get sick and die and more docs and nurses quitting after working in third world conditions in the richest country in the world that the government spends more per capita than any other nation and has close to the worst medical care in first world nations and the worst medical debt for sure in any first world nation. I have masks I used for a mold issue in the house but don't think they are good enough for viruses but if I have to go to the store, I will wear one. When I went out before, I put a scarf around my face and kept away from people as much as I could.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

Yeah, unless they have data that shows that wearing a mask that isn't the correct kind makes transmission worse, people should wear masks if they have them

The received wisdom, what there is of it around this, is confusing and contradictory. Generally, if you wear even the best mask wrong, it's worse than useless. And even if you wear it right, its protections are limited.

By and large, it apparently tends to protect others from you more than it protects you from others, by trapping the droplets or aerosols you exhale inside the mask, rather than broadcasting them outward.

Personally, I believe that anything that helps even a little, even if it's just in your mind, is beneficial, so sling on that stylish bandanna and rock on ....

During the London plague of the 16th century, people carried pomanders around with them: an orange studded liberally with cloves, which was supposed to neutralize the 'evil vapors' that might otherwise make you sick. People tend to make whatever they have at hand out to be the next, best thing.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

I think it is terrible they ever told people not to wear a mask.

I don;t disagree. Lord knows, nothing else is being offered by way of help or protection, and if wearing a mask helps even a little, even one person, it's worth it .... not to mention the psychological benefit....

 

[bertiedog]

I haven't read all the thread so not sure if its been mentioned previously but here in the UK we did have 2 very good pieces of news yesterday. Firstly a consortium of large firms including the F1 team McClaren and also Dyson has produced a ventilator from start to finish and they are awaiting approval from the Government to start production which can start immediately producing about 100,000 a week here in the UK. (I think that was the figure given ITV and Sky news.

Also the F1 team Mercedes in 10 days have up and running a special sort of breathing machine (CPap?) which acts like a ventilator but doesn't involve the patient having to be intubated. Ten machines are being tested at one of the London hospitals at the moment and again production can start immediately with huge numbers being produced, possibly with sufficient to be exported where needed. The engineers are on stand by to make any adjustments to help improve their model. These both are a game changer and I do feel proud that experts in their field here in the UK have been able to respond in such a great way. All these companies have worked together and don't have any problems with materials as many of them are switching from their normal production lines into producing life saving equipment for the NHS.

Some hope at last after the appalling figures that are coming out of Europe and USA and soon the rest of the world too.

Pam

 

[Wayne]

These both are a game changer and I do feel proud that experts in their field

@bertiedog -- Wow, that is some pretty incredible news. Chalk one up for the human spirit!

 

[AnnieT]

Yes, I think the breathing machine is very much same as the one my brother has for sleep apnea.

Yes, very good news indeed.

 

[ellie84]

About masks, in Italy they always recommended wearing masks. Depending on the type of mask they should protect you and the others, or only the others from getting infected (e.g. surgical masks). That is, if you can find them. Police can seize them for health workers.
However, in the last month 99% of the people is wearing masks, which, given that it's very difficult to find them, makes me think they reuse them... not good, they're supposed to be disposable. I managed to buy 5 surgical masks the other day for 1,50€ each (I think before you could buy 50 for 10€). It's weird wearing them, but it's easier when everyone around does it... It makes breathing more difficult too, but it's a little gesture that can do a lot I think.

 

[Wally]

U.S.

3/31/2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/31/us/states-travel-restrictions-list/index.html

Here are the states restricting travel from within the US


As cases of and deaths from Covid-19 continue to climb in the United States, officials are implementing travel restrictions to try to stop the coronavirus from spreading.

On the national level, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel advisory urging residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to refrain immediately from non-essential travel for 14 days. It is up to those states to implement the advisory.

Meantime, states across the country -- some of which have already issued stay at home orders to residents -- are now creating measures to restrict the movement of visitors, too.

Here are the states that currently have travel restrictions in place:

Alaska . . .

Delaware . . .

Florida . . .

Hawaii . . .

Kansas . . .

Kentucky . . .

Maryland . . .

Massachusetts . . .

North Dakota . . .

Oklahoma . . .

Rhode Island . . .

South Carolina . . .

Texas . . .

Vermont . . .

West Virginia . . .


A North Carolina County is taking extreme measures to prevent coronavirus from spreading in its community.

Since March 17, only permanent residents with proper identification -- including a permanent resident entry permit -- have been allowed to enter Dare County. The county has established checkpoints around the county to stop visitors and non-resident property owners from entering the summer vacation area.

 

[nyanko_the_sane]

Trump says people can ‘wear a scarf’ to prevent coronavirus
https://nypost.com/2020/03/31/trump-says-people-can-wear-a-scarf-to-prevent-coronavirus/

Technically it is still better than nothing.
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/category/masks/

 

[pattismith]

About masks, in Italy they always recommended wearing masks. Depending on the type of mask they should protect you and the others, or only the others from getting infected (e.g. surgical masks). That is, if you can find them. Police can seize them for health workers.
However, in the last month 99% of the people is wearing masks, which, given that it's very difficult to find them, makes me think they reuse them... not good, they're supposed to be disposable. I managed to buy 5 surgical masks the other day for 1,50€ each (I think before you could buy 50 for 10€). It's weird wearing them, but it's easier when everyone around does it... It makes breathing more difficult too, but it's a little gesture that can do a lot I think.

@ellie84
Thank you so much for taking some time to give us news from Italy, while your country is suffering so much.
I think your government were more honest than the french one and more transparent. No lie on the mask question! Congratulations to your brave nation. I wish France could help you better!

 

[Inara]

After the worst went away I walked to my local shop just a few minutes away and my chest became very tight so that it was painful. That made me think I had had pneumonia.

To my knowledge, pneumonia causes no pain. I was told saturation decreases.

I have one of Princess Cruise Ship papers in mind, where they found lung abnormalities on CT scans of even asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic people...

Bronchitis, on the other hand, can be very painful and can cause breathing problems, too.

During Winter, several viruses "fly" around (influenza, common coronaviruses...).

It is highly improbable, from the time (December) that your respiratory infection was caused by SARS-Cov-2. I don't say that in December only in Asia there was SARS-Cov-2 (most probably not - people were traveling), but from the numbers it would have been highly improbable to get it outside of it. Maybe at very crowded airports.

I was wondering if my viral infection end of Feb. already could have been COVID-19 - I was at a big, crowded airport and city - but at that time, although I think the virus was already in Europe (and Germany), it still was very improbable to get infected. So most probably that was influenza. But I can't know, sadly.

I'll maybe have the opportunity to get an antibody test next week to check whether my recent symptoms were due to SARS-Cov-2 or sth else, but I heard these can be unreliable and need to be repeated.

 

[brenda]

To my knowledge, pneumonia causes no pain. I was told saturation decreases.

I have one of Princess Cruise Ship papers in mind, where they found lung abnormalities on CT scans of even asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic people...

Bronchitis, on the other hand, can be very painful and can cause breathing problems, too.

During Winter, several viruses "fly" around (influenza, common coronaviruses...).

It is highly improbable, from the time (December) that your respiratory infection was caused by SARS-Cov-2. I don't say that in December only in Asia there was SARS-Cov-2 (most probably not - people were traveling), but from the numbers it would have been highly improbable to get it outside of it. Maybe at very crowded airports.

I was wondering if my viral infection end of Feb. already could have been COVID-19 - I was at a big, crowded airport and city - but at that time, although I think the virus was already in Europe (and Germany), it still was very improbable to get infected. So most probably that was influenza. But I can't know, sadly.

I'll maybe have the opportunity to get an antibody test next week to check whether my recent symptoms were due to SARS-Cov-2 or sth else, but I heard these can be unreliable and need to be repeated.

Yeah I need to be tested. There are a lo tof Chinese university students in my town. That's why I thought it could be it. But thanks for the info.

 

[pattismith]

I'll maybe have the opportunity to get an antibody test next week to check whether my recent symptoms were due to SARS-Cov-2 or sth else, but I heard these can be unreliable and need to be repeated.

I hope an antibody testing will be available soon in France too. They failed on PCR testing, so let's hope they will be better for the Ab test!

 

[ellie84]

@ellie84
Thank you so much for taking some time to give us news from Italy, while your country is suffering so much.
I think your government were more honest than the french one and more transparent. No lie on the mask question! Congratulations to your brave nation. I wish France could help you better!

I'm at home and luckily I haven't been involved directly or indirectly, so here I am. You're welcome. Are you from France?
In these days I'm reading some foreign newspaper too (the few free articles) and I'm finding that news seem to be quite fragmented and biased, more than usual at least. I'm talking about news in my country too, but it's like I'm reading a different story in every country...
Speaking of which, can you recommend me some good newspapers in English? I have a page that links the main newspapers for each country, but I don't know their political orientation etc.

 

[andyguitar]

The Times is good. Daily Telegraph also good and are often critical of our Gov.

 

[Wally]

Germany

Not in Germany, but I have relatives living there. I was alerted to some questions, raised by one of their scientists, about the spread of the virus in this Country . I found this article that addresses the questions that have been raised and it notes that a group of 40 scientists will be conducting further studies to try to figure out if there is a difference in how the virus is spreading in different locations or what other reason there could be to explain why they did not find virus contamination in places where it has normally been found. It will be interesting to see if they learn something new or if the initial findings were not correct.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8182767/Scientist-casts-doubt-coronavirus-spread.html

'There have been NO proven infections while shopping or at the hairdressers': German scientist casts doubt on how coronavirus is spread - as experts comb 'Germany's Wuhan' for secrets about bug

A leading scientist has cast doubts on how the coronavirus is spreading across the globe as a team of experts prepare to head out to a village that has been dubbed 'Germany's Wuhan', where they hope to unlock vital information about the bug.

Prof Hendrik Streeck, director of the Institute of Virology at the University Hospital in Bonnhas, said Covid-19 might not be spread as easily as people first believed.

Research conducted by Prof Streeck in one of Germany's worst-hit regions showed that the home of one infected family did not have 'any live virus on the service', adding even more questions as to how the virus is spread from person to person.

The small village of Heinsberg, next to the Dutch border, is Germany's worst-hit area and is home to the country's most serious Covid-19 outbreak.

According to The Times a team of 40 research will now spend time in the Heinsberg in order to work out how the virus spreads and how people can become infected without knowing. . . ,

 

[andyguitar]

I saw an interview with Prof Streeck yesterday. Very good research being done in Germany.

 

[Wally]

U.S.

Amazon’s headquarters are in the U.S. (Seattle) with locations all over the world.

https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/02/amazon-chris-smalls-smart-articulate-leaked-memo

. . . Chris Smalls, who had worked for Amazon for five years, was fired shortly after he helped organize a work stoppage at the company’s warehouse on Staten Island, New York, in protest over a lack of protective gear and hazard pay for employees. Amazon claims it fired Smalls for “violating social distancing guidelines and putting the safety of others at risk”.

Amazon’s general counsel, David Zapolsky, in notes from a meeting of top executives obtained by Vice, wrote: “He’s not smart, or articulate, and to the extent the press wants to focus on us versus him, we will be in a much stronger PR position than simply explaining for the umpteenth time how we’re trying to protect workers.

Zapolsky added: “We should spend the first part of our response strongly laying out the case for why the organizer’s conduct was immoral, unacceptable, and arguably illegal, in detail, and only then follow with our usual talking points about worker safety.

“Make him the most interesting part of the story, and if possible make him the face of the entire union/organizing movement.” . . .

Amazon says it asked Smalls to remain home for 14 days after he had “close contact” with another worker who was diagnosed with Covid-19, and that by attending the protest he was putting other employees at
risk. . . .

Smalls released a statement responding to the leaked memo Thursday evening.

“Amazon wants to make this about me, but whether Jeff Bezos likes it or not, this is about Amazon workers – and their families – everywhere,” he said. “Instead of protecting workers and the communities in which they work, however, Amazon seems to be more interested in managing its image … This is not about me. This is about all of us.”