shirfleur 1's Journal, 13 Mar 20

I don't think I've had a bad flu since 2009 so I guess I'm due. Doing my best to stay healthy. Stay safe everyone. 

And this time we also need to count the number of patients with other life threatening diseases who will die due to lack of access to hospitals that reached their capacity limits. And also because of the lack of health care professionals who get sick. In my homeland about 100 of the 600 people with COVID-19 are health care workers who are quarantined right now. Stay safe, be vigilant and prepared. 

Stay safe everyone. our work building is shut down until further notice. I am one that is supposed to be working from home but so far they have not sent the remote access to my work computer network.  

Trying to stay healthy here...good luck everyone 

I'm not at all worried. I guess it's good we're doing a dry run for a true epidemic, with something a 20% fatality rate, and figuring out how fast we can respond to that, but people are overreacting in a major way.  

More than any other thing, Jesus said, "Fear not."  

Flu deaths are mitigated because there is a vaccine. Coronavirus has no vaccine. This is a time where people should be looking and seeing the outcomes of why vaccines are important. There was flu epidemic years ago that promoted flu vaccinnation. Our memories are short. Hospitals were overcrowded and had to set up tents. The moral of the story is get vaccinated.  

Lornaw I truly hope you are right and all this will pass quickly without the projected possible numbers of fatalities. I worked in health care for many years and worked/volunteered with the Health department on a local and state level as well as the CDC on disaster preparedness and responds including epidemics and outbreaks. If this particular situation will or will not escalate is up to speculation to the general public. The numbers and statistics are a concerning and while it may seem to be a overreaction to close schools, business reducing to essential onsite personnel only, cancel large events etc it is simply a good practice of precaution. Italy has show us that this can escalate quickly and Shirfleur is correct on the number of hospital beds, Ventilators etc. Italy has been forced to implement new policies on how to distribute ventilators, ICU beds, and Medical personal are to few to handle the large amount of patients. Yes the media is creating a level of panic and this idiocy of empty shelves in the toilet paper isles is ridiculous but we DO have an outbreak at hand. Me personally have always had two to four weeks of essential items at home for just this kind of reason or rather a basic preparedness and that is due to being educated by the CDC and Health department. Again I pray you are right and this Outbreak will be contained so we all can get back to our normal routines and the media can find a new topic to embellish however in the meantime stay safe and at the very least take basic precautions.  

I'm like Arya and like to keep about a month's supply of essentials in the house. I've been buying 2-4 gallons of bottled water every time I go to the grocery store. Since I live alone it isn't hard to stay away from people if I feel I need to. Maybe if I get sick I'll be lucky and get a mild case but I really, really want to avoid being someone who needs to be hospitalized. I'm over 60 and overweight, both can mean increased risk. Nothing I can do about being over 60, but the weight I can do something about. 

I live in a sparsely populated area but people are going nuts buying Clorox wipes and toilet paper! I heard from one supposedly intelligent friend that this is all propaganda brought on by the democrats???? This is a Republican state I live in. 

That’s a lot of stats. But yes the real numbers aren’t available because like anything we can’t test everyone and not everyone wants to be tested. I just hope everyone is considerate of each other. Though you may not be part of the population that the virus can kill you if you have symptoms you need to isolate yourself and just be diligent. You never know who you come in contact that the virus would be lethal. Be safe everyone!! 

Debbie - thanks for that reminder.  

Or, we could look at the total number of reported cases as of March 12, 2020, which would be 1,215 with the death rate at 40 as of this morning. The majority of deaths are in Washington State at 31. The State of California has had four deaths. Over 12,000 deaths occurred 2009-2010 from the H1N1 virus. Both President Obama and President Trump declared an emergency before any deaths took place. The CDC has had a 40% increase in budget since 2017. Keep things in perspective, please. We have no idea where this will lead, but had the Chinese informed us in October, when the outbreak began, we may have been better prepared. My girlfriend's son is an executive with a major tech company. He and his family lived in China for three years. His belief is that the Chinese government is not truthful in their reporting. Stay safe, be smart, and self isolate, if you feel it's necessary. I still say it is media frenzy. Sal Alinsky - Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy. Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. 

Well said Erquiaga!  

I trust the experts with the WHO organization. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019. The problem here in the USA is that people are not tested hence the number with sick/contagious people seems low. While other countries accepted the WHO test kit, the USA didn't hence the delay. I agree: don't panic, self isolate, and be smart.  

WHO only announces a pandemic once a certain number of people have contracted a disease worldwide. 

My family lives close to kirkland... As in less than a mile away as the crow flies. My daughter was with a friend who now has flu symptoms. Anyone can say testing is available, but for most it isn't. Cost, availability, coordination... We are seriously behind. Of course, we are all hoping for things to be far far better than feared. There is so much politics and backside covering that sickens me in another way... Clearly, there are troubles ahead for our country economically and health wise. Last week I was in evergreen hospital with the little, old lady I care for. I'm delving medication to her home today from the pharmacy, but I am required to leave it outside her door. My family has already had too much exposure. Since testing is so incredibly limited, we have zero idea how many people have it here.  

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/12/814522489/singapore-wins-praise-for-its-covid-19-strategy-the-u-s-does-not 

Additionally, we have the test kits which have been distributed to every state. Stop listening to the media. 

The only way to learn what is happening is through "media" and personal experience or that of friends. As someone with friends in the situation, I can absolutely tell you that testing here is not readily available even for people with symptoms. Still there are limits depending on if there are symptoms AND direct exposure to somone who has already been confirmed through testing to have the virus. I hope that is not true everywhere.