General Chit Chat - #2

Another great article that puts this crisis in perspective with a lot of facts and experts weighing in.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-will-coronavirus-end/608719/

In reading the different web sites offered by each Canadian provinces, I found it very interesting to see each variations. For example on the Ontario site, they have a numbered system which list each new person who tested positive,  without personal details, but with date and possible source of contamination;
from the Saskatchewan and Manitoba sites , you can trace the various flights that had people testing positive , with all the flights information and even the row the seats were in sometimes. In Labrador and Newfoundland, they issued a special warning for possible contagion in a gathering for a deceased ceremony..
it shows valid information that everyone can access and make the right choices based on that information.
As we know, that is KEY, ‘ information IS power’ and it’s sad to see the chaos and lack of information in the US and certainly in the State I am in, California.
Even at the local level, I read things that make me like this pearl:
“ The vast majority of people DO NOT NEED COVID-19 testing as there is no treatment. “ Wait, so because there is not yet a treatment, we’re NOT gonna test to see if someone IS Positive or not, and possibly infect a whole bunch of others... until it’s too late? What kind of backward idiocy is this? And that is the information provided on a local Health department web site!!! I’m floored.
JMHOAA

Dr Amy shared a graph today of a model done if the state of Ohio had not put the various orders including stay at home in place versus what it will possibly look like having done what they did. For some reason I can't upload it. Basically it was showing the "flatten the curve" using the numbers for Ohio.

The preliminary modeling was showing that on this date, Ohio would be having daily new infections of approximately 40,000 (yes, per day). The peak of 40,000 per day would have started around 3/15 and lasted 7 to 10 days. With the restrictions put in place, that number today is around 2,500 and still going up with the peak of 8,000 to 10,000 new infections per day hitting around 4/1 and staying there for about 2.5 weeks.

This was included as they were talking about the hospital readiness in the state. The hospitals are at 60% capacity due to a heavier than normal regular flu season. No way the hospitals could have handled the approximately 25 to 30% of the 40,000 new infections per day that would need to be hospitalized. The hospitals have been planning for changes that might need to be made when the surge does hit Ohio. Dr. Amy says every day that we have not yet seen the worst in Ohio.

Then we have fools running around on "look for" scavenger hunts.

In Ontario we are so big on privacy that now in a time of pandemic there is too little information. Yes the numbers are informative to know, but three new cases in Niagara doesn't tell me much. One female 20's returned from the U.S. male in his 40's returned from the US and another in his 60;s returning from the Philippines. I want to know where in Niagara, is it my city? where in the US? the border is 20 minutes from me, cross the border and you're in an area of 206 confirmed cases,  (essential workers are able to cross the border, medical staff truckers etc) or it could be 1000's of miles from me. Sometimes their is a nugget of info, sadly and elderly man passed away, he was infected by a relative that came from Portugal. But those details are few and far inbetween.

I follow a Buffalo news outlet, and they are excellent, providing all the info tracing their whereabouts. I suppose as the lists are growing it's more difficult to get specific details out or due to privacy we won't get all the details in Ontario.

Canada is just over 4000 confirmed. Crazy to think last week we were at 1500.

https://globalnews.ca/news/6724256/three-niagara-region-covid-19/

Ohio does not give out identifying information as well. But we do get the general location information and they are now giving the age range and number of men/women in the cases. Although the ages are not broken down by sex.

Some of the information has been gleaned from local news stations. Such as the fact that a nursing home in one county has been affected. More than 10 cases there in the nursing home and several deaths.

The ODH is tracing all of the cases but not releasing that information. They did say that the first case in the state was someone that had been in Europe. Case #2 was someone that was at the AIPAC conference in Washington DC the first week of March.

The nursing home outbreaks are so sad. I have several friends that can't visit their parents in nursing homes. Breaks my heart. I keep in contact with my family daily but not seeing them is hard.

Lots of commercials from the Government of Canada, one on just now. Crazy unimaginable times we are living it, but the positive is seeing the generosity of so many.

As much as I want to stay informed and spread the word on how serious this is, because I've been obsessed on being informed, sometimes I just need to stop. Maybe listen to some Rod Stewart oldies would be a good distraction!

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. rose to 82,404 on Thursday — more than any other country, overtaking both Italy and China — while the death toll passed the 1,000 mark, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-coronavirus-thursday-1.5510581

I think that death toll appears to be low considering when you look at the stats comparing other countries with the highest number infected vs deaths.

This is dated today but it's already outdated.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/countries-where-coronavirus-has-spread/

For those who like visuals.

As noted by a response, notice they all end up on the East Coast and Eastern Midwest.

This shows the location data of phones that were on a Florida beach during Spring Break. It then shows where those phones traveled.

First thing you should note is the importance of social distancing. The second is how much data your phone gives off. pic.twitter.com/iokUX3qjeB

— Mikael Thalen (@MikaelThalen) March 26, 2020

https://twitter.com/MikaelThalen

@GuardianAngel I now stop watching news after a certain hour at night, otherwise, I’d be so anxious and worried.

Stay well!

GuardianAngel wrote:The nursing home outbreaks are so sad. I have several friends that can't visit their parents in nursing homes. Breaks my heart. I keep in contact with my family daily but not seeing them is hard.

Nursing home visitations were cut off on March 10th in Ohio, the day after the state was put in an emergency state. I have a good friend that is an anesthesiologist at a Children's Hospital. Her mother has dementia and is in a nursing home. She would visit her every other day. She last saw her on March 8th. Phone calls don't do any good because of her mother's mental state. I guess she was able to FT with her with the help of an aide on Tuesday but she said it was sad because her mother didn't really understand what was happening.

And, with the outbreak in a nursing home that no one except personnel could go into since March 10th, it is not hard to believe that the virus was in that county before that. And, that county is on the other side of the state from where the first 5 cases were confirmed (Cleveland area) and total population for the county is around 100,000 so not a huge metropolis.

Just received an amber alert, if you were out of the country you are required by law to self isolate for 14 days. DO NOT visit stores family or friends. Everyone should stay home to stop the spread, with a link for more info.

I was reading this when the alert came through on my phone.

BREAKING: First Niagara community-transmitted COVID-19 case confirmedFriday morning has brought the news for which local health leaders have been bracing for two weeks — Niagara's first confirmed non-travel related case of COVID-19 infection.

The patient, a man in this 30s who works at Saint Francis Catholic Secondary School, is in self-isolation at home. The Niagara Catholic District School Board says the risk of potential exposure to students is low, and the staff member showed no signs of illness on March 12.

However, the school board is asking all students and staff to self-isolate as a precaution and that if anyone shows signs of illness to call the public health department.

The man is Niagara's 12 case since the first COVID-19 infection was confirmed locally on March 13. The first patient has died, and the region currently has 11 active cases.

Also on Friday, Niagara Health hospital system confirmed that six of those 11 cases are being treated in hospital.

This is a developing story. More to come.

Showed  no illness on March 12th tells us nothing. Friday March 13th was the last day of school (unless they were on strike that day? as we've been having intermentant strike days since Jan) Saturday March 14th was the start of March break and the schools have been closed since then anyway.

When did his symptoms start and is he a teacher or maintenance? big difference as far as who would have been in contact. A cleaner cleans after school hours, a teacher is there all day.

My city put out a press release today that an employee at a local company has been confirmed as having COVID-19. His job is to drive truck between 2 locations... one in my county and one in the county to the north of us. He was tested on 3/25 and they received the results on 3/27. The employer has sent him home for self-quarantine as well as the "one" employee that he interacts with on a daily basis. From reading the comments on the post, he does not live in my county so his case will not be counted as a positive for us.

But also in those comments, especially from the person that does the posting on the city's FB page, I see that people do not understand that this virus can be contagious before the symptoms appear! They still think no one else is at risk and telling those that say otherwise to stop watching the main stream media. One guy keeps saying "CDC WEBSITE... read it!"

These fools think you can't get it from someone unless they have a fever.

On a bright note, the governor signed into law at the beginning of the press conference a bill with things to make this time period easier for the citizens of Ohio. My favorite part of the state bill is that Ohio has also extended the tax filing deadline until 7/15 like the federal deadline. The other items are good as well, they just don't pertain to me. And, one of our senators is explaining the federal law that was passed by the senate earlier this week and within the last hour passed by the House. The other senator for the state will be calling in to the press conference tomorrow.

Stats from the ODH website:
Confirmed cases: 1,137
Deaths: 19
# of Counties (out of 88): 61
Hospitalizations: 276

More stats will come out with Dr Amy speaks.

@GuardianAngel
Snipped: “ the risk of potential exposure to students is low, and the staff member showed no signs of illness on March 12.”
That tells me that he was most likely NOT a teacher, as he would have been of HIGH risk of potential exposure to students. And maybe his last work day was the 12th, hence the reference to it. IF this is worded correctly, that’s how I read it. He could have been in contact with any number of person who were a carrier in a public place.
It’s a good system to have these Amber Alert, it is something we’re FAR from in this country. I heard again this morning that the number of known and recorded cases are totally wrong in our county, and possibly statewide...
A Covid-19 CLINIC diagnosed a young adult with Covid-19 based on symptoms BUT didn’t and wouldn’t test her. And she was sent home to self isolate while living with her family. And she’s not the only one. So the numbers are giving false hope or lack of seriousness to the contamination risk and it creates in turn more risks and more unreported cases. I know I’m scared with my own health now. It’s depressing and scary. The uncertainty is super stressful.
Information is power and prayers are effective but these are dark trying times.