Mega-Thread: Coronavirus Pandemic

[Puupi]

Trump & co are talking about "full mitigation" yet the airplanes are still flying all over.

[Endus]

No you are confused.

A hospital cannot refuse stabilization of the patient.

They can refuse a lot of "service". They can stabilize you and refuse cancer treatment. They can stabilize you and refuse a transplant.
They can also refuse you under "layperson" language if you show up at the ER with what a normal citizen would consider non emergent care (i.e hangnail).

To put it another way, you can come in with a failing heart, needing a bypass surgery or the like, and they will provide you a bed, pain medication, and keep you as comfortable as they can while you die, if you lack insurance or can't pay for the surgery. And then they'll bill your family for all that, after you pass. They might know exactly what surgery you need, and have a 100% success rate with that surgery (unrealistic, but for the sake of argument), and they're still gonna require you to demonstrate ability to pay before you can get it. That it will fix your issue and save your life does not enter that evaluation.

Anything outside of ED care is at user expense; if you can't pay (or don't have insurance who will), you're shit outta luck. And ED care is gonna get billed at a high premium, regardless, to boot, so that isn't even a way around this. There's a reason medical expenses bankrupt Americans on the regular.

[Remilia]

But still...

The odds are that there was only one infected person in the church who then spread the virus to 75% of the people in the church. You can't have 60 people right next to each other anyway, so it definitely spreads much further than just a few meters.

It was also said in the article that as a precaution they were standing further from each other than normal.

The big takeaway from this aside from really shouldn't have even proceeded with it, is that asymptomatic spread and aerosol spread is not to be underestimated.
Why people that can should honestly mask up (setting shortages aside), cause people don't know if they're a carrier or not.

[Zan15]

To put it another way, you can come in with a failing heart, needing a bypass surgery or the like, and they will provide you a bed, pain medication, and keep you as comfortable as they can while you die, if you lack insurance or can't pay for the surgery. And then they'll bill your family for all that, after you pass. They might know exactly what surgery you need, and have a 100% success rate with that surgery (unrealistic, but for the sake of argument), and they're still gonna require you to demonstrate ability to pay before you can get it. That it will fix your issue and save your life does not enter that evaluation.

Anything outside of ED care is at user expense; if you can't pay (or don't have insurance who will), you're shit outta luck. And ED care is gonna get billed at a high premium, regardless, to boot, so that isn't even a way around this. There's a reason medical expenses bankrupt Americans on the regular.

well depends on the severity of the heart failure, if they can't stabilize you and you are heading to a heart attack or already have had one they have to treat that, even if it requires bypass.

Its very tricky and is subject to CMS review on every case, so hospitals will not take the chance of losing favor with CMS because of medicare and Medicaid dollars are impacted by "pissing off" CMS.

Don't get confused with the law, they will still bill you for the full cost when they are forced to give you the bypass surgery. The law does not give the patient a single thing for free.

[Shadowferal]

Was the Bay Area successful in flattening the coronavirus curve?

Early numbers from the Bay Area, one of the first parts of the country to enforce preventative stay-at-home orders, suggest it might be working already. San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda counties ordered residents to stay home on March 16, followed by a statewide order three days later.

After 14 days - the window for symptoms to appear post-infection - Politico reports doctors at Bay Area hospitals are reporting fewer cases than they expected to see at this point, easing the burden on emergency rooms and healthcare services. (Bend it like the Bay Area: Doctors see flatter curve after 2 weeks of social isolation)

"We believe very strongly the stay-at-home order has helped advance our efforts in reducing the stress on the system that we believe would have already materialized in more acute ways had we not advanced those protocols when we did," California Governor Gavin Newsom said at a press conference.

[PhaelixWW]

US numbers just keep getting worse. We're up to +23.5k cases and +719 deaths today, and we're still not done collecting data.

[Svifnymr]

No you are confused.

A hospital cannot refuse stabilization of the patient.

They can refuse a lot of "service". They can stabilize you and refuse cancer treatment. They can stabilize you and refuse a transplant.
They can also refuse you under "layperson" language if you show up at the ER with what a normal citizen would consider non emergent care (i.e hangnail).

Depends on the situation, but the stabilization you're referring to when you're not dischargeable would only be to transfer them to another hospital.

And remember, this is in reference to letting an uninsured person die to Covid based pneumonia rather than hooking them to a respirator or such, not long term care like chemo.

[shadowmouse]

For today, I can relax. Politicians are going to set aside bickering and game playing to get everything in order. Testing is going to give us full, accurate, and complete numbers. We are going to see a remarkable turn around on climate change, preservation of endangered species, and vanishing habitats. President Trump is going to take the bird's nest off of his head as a symbol of his commitment to taking an effective leadership role. I found true love messaging on WeChat with the shake and message in a bottle features and it looks like I'm going to get laid tonight.

Just letting go of March and starting a new month changes everything!

[Shadowferal]

Italy’s New Coronavirus Cases Level Off at Two-Week Low

The number of new coronavirus cases in Italy leveled off on Tuesday at a two-week low, a sign that the outbreak in Europe’s virus epicenter may be coming under control as the country prepares to extend its lockdown.

New infections in the past 24 hours totaled 4,053, compared with 4,050 the previous day, civil protection authorities said at their daily news conference in Rome. Monday had seen the fewest new cases since March 17. The number of cases in Lombardy, the worst hit region, rose by 1,047 on Tuesday. That’s the fewest new infections in more than two weeks.

The country “has reached a plateau in the contagion phase,” the head of the public health institute, Silvio Brusaferro, told reporters at a separate press conference.

[Belize]

Disaster has struck Southeast Texas. Liquor stores aren't considered essential and are thus closed

[Poopymonster]

Disaster has struck Southeast Texas. Liquor stores aren't considered essential and are thus closed

I got family living in Houston. Apparently "The Rodeo is cancelled" was akin to the Apocalypse and Jade Helm all in one in terms of reactions.

[Benggaul]

There is still a chance of aerosol transmission hence the 1,5 meter distance. Also there a good video on how easy it is to get infected by others even when not touching. Can't seem to find it but they put powder on people's hand and just let them be and it showed how often you touch surfaces and your face. I mean all they really had to do was hand out the songbooks to each other and that would have been enough.

Meanwhile in the Netherlands it is also getting worse so their internal affairs minister speech last week here from everything is going to be under control rings no longer true. But believe it or not, apparently they are still going to host markets for produce and other products. I really doubt i am going to start working again by the end of next month..

They also extended the current policies until the end of April--the same policies that don't appear to really be working because the Dutch see sunshine and are physically unable to keep from going outside in it. It seemed like people were starting to get the picture at the end of last week; the streets were clearer and there was in general much less traffic (foot, bike and car) but yesterday and today it's all come back with a vengeance. Walkways and bike paths were filled with people out and about today on my way to work. I expect a spike in cases this week and two/three weeks from now.

[I Push Buttons]

US numbers just keep getting worse. We're up to +23.5k cases and +719 deaths today, and we're still not done collecting data.

Seems better than it could be... I remember a week ago people were screeching about how things would be increasing exponentially and we'd be at 200k cases by the weekend and 400k cases a few days after that, and so on... (Mostly on Reddit, not so much here.)

Seems to just be steadily rising, no huge spikes, same with hospitalizations.

3/24 - 52k confirmed cases, 4.5k hospitalizations.
3/25 - 64k +12k, 6.1k +1.6k
3/26 - 81k +17k, 10.1k +4k
3/27 - 99k +18k, 13.7k +3.6k
3/28 - 118k +19k, 16.7k +3.1k
3/29 - 139k +21k, 19.7k +2k
3/30 - 161k +22k, 22.3k +2.6k
3/31 - 185k +24k, 26.7k +4.4k

Most of the doom and gloom comes out of NYC metro area because their hospitals in particular are getting slammed, like upwards of 60% of the country's total hospitalizations due to the virus are in that one area (NYC, Westchester County, Nassau County, and Suffolk County), ~16k out of our ~26k total.

[Crissi]

Disaster has struck Southeast Texas. Liquor stores aren't considered essential and are thus closed

Wait, liqor stores being closed is part of the state wide ban now? boooooo

Revolution time!

[Easo]

In Latvia we are still under 400 infected (realistically, more, as of Monday last week doctor's couldnt track all infection paths anymore meaning it has spread around far more), no deaths, 3 serious cases. Other Baltic neighbours already had their first few deaths. Borders were closed more than two weeks ago and the cancellation of all public events/quarantines/social distancing started, seems that it is helping in slowing it down.

In any case, for now USA looks like the biggest "loser" in this one (India is still probably the greatest risk there is), total cases should hit the "magic" million around... Friday?

Has this been posted yet; Stockpile of US-manufactured ventilators sold overseas: report

Voters will forget about it anyway. The pandemic is a great chance for many (not just in USA) to start thinking and actually learn something... I guess it is just a wishful thinking.

Donetsk got our first confirmed case today... blockade didn't help after all, damn tourists

So, judging by responses to my last post, it is possible that USA will get increased death rate due to absence of universal healthcare, people without "coverage" won't get treated? I mean, Germany is doing miracles so far, I thought USA may or may not join the club of countries with low deaths?

As I said, the virus was already there and it was just a question of time. Sorry :/

Good news from Turkmenistan! They don't have coronavirus.

To be more specific, word "coronavirus" was banned, so it cannot be used by medical staff and media.

I can't even... *mindblown*

Any problem is taken as a threat to the autocratic/dictatorial regimes. It does not matter what that problem is, it is automatically assumed to be a threat.
Ironically, it makes said regimes the biggest ostrichs sticking their heads in sand and in the end - the problems become worse due to that...

P.S.
It is really interesting to read about Bolsonaro during last few days. He is so thickheaded that it is starting to stink like an impeachment.

[Belize]

Wait, liqor stores being closed is part of the state wide ban now? boooooo

Revolution time!

IDK if it's statewide, but down in my corner of the world the Longhorn Liquor nearby has a sign that they're closed until further notice

And I'm shit out of scotch. This quarantine just got a whole lot longer. I can only pray HEB will keep stocking Sake...

[Benggaul]

Yo, Americans, hit me up! Is the scene in the 1st episode of Breaking Bad realistic or not? Would a school teacher refuse to go to the hospital because of not being able to afford it with his bad insurance? Or it's just the movies?

Guarantee you it happens all the time. People will refuse ambulances because of the bill they'd get later (yes, you get billed for an ambulance no matter how life-threatening the injury/illness). A lot of people will try to hide their illness and keep working.

The actual percentage of people this describes is relatively small. However, even a small percentage in the US is a LOT of people.

[PixelFox]

Evidence is starting to accumulate that pets, especially Cats and Ferrets, may be able to catch and transmit the coronavirus from/to humans.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...03.30.015347v1
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...03.30.015644v1
https://www.livescience.com/cat-infe...rom-owner.html

[Crissi]

IDK if it's statewide, but down in my corner of the world the Longhorn Liquor nearby has a sign that they're closed until further notice

And I'm shit out of scotch. This quarantine just got a whole lot longer. I can only pray HEB will keep stocking Sake...

Specs needs to lobby harder then.

[Shadowferal]

Wait, liqor stores being closed is part of the state wide ban now? boooooo

Governor Wolf in PA did that. Not sure if this was a good idea

Wolf on Monday said he’s heard the criticism of the move to close the state stores and he’s aware that other states have kept their stores open or at least, partially open.

“We are looking at that very seriously,” Wolf said. “I’m trying to understand the thinking in other states.”

Wolf said that there have been concerns raised about having the liquor stores closed because it may create issues for people dealing with alcohol dependence.

No decision to reopen stores has been made yet, said Elizabeth Brassell, a Liquor Control Board spokeswoman.

“Although we continue to monitor the situation in consultation with the Wolf Administration and public health officials,” she said.

While the 600 state stores are closed, the LCB’s three distribution centers – in Philadelphia, Allegheny and Lackawanna counties – remain open to continue to supply “high-volume licensee orders for wine,” from grocery and convenience stores, Brassell said.

“This crisis has certainly exposed flaws in the system,” said David Wojnar, vice president of state government relations at the Distilled Spirits Council. “The state-run stores are the only option for consumers to purchase distilled spirits and this situation underscores the need for flexibility, more channels of distribution and greater access."

On Tuesday, the governor also relaxed the order closing gun shops to allow them to make sales during limited hours by appointment. Also Tuesday, the Department of Transportation announced that 23 interstate rest stops will reopen. Last week, PennDOT reopened 13 rest stops after truckers complained that they didn’t have access to the facilities.

Wolf’s order closing non-essential businesses required day cares to close. But day care operators were allowed to seek waivers if they could prove they serve health care workers. By Tuesday, the state had granted waivers to allow 670 day cares to reopen, said Erin James, a Department of Human Services spokeswoman.