COVID-19, summary of part of TV news in Tampa Bay this evening-

[rzemanfl]

A Florida COVID-19 patient checked in to the hospital in Sarasota with pneumonia last week. The CDC testing guidelines did not apply to him, so he was in the general hospital population until yesterday, when the testing guidelines were changed. All hospital staff who had contact with the man are quarantined in their homes for 14 days. People are being brought in from other hospitals to fill in. No surgeries are being performed at the hospital in Sarasota. They have no clue how the man, who lives in Manatee County, caught the virus.

Heck of a job Mikey.

[mshasta]

1. and that's why we don't have any real numbers

of people who are infected....tick tock

[rzemanfl]

3. But we can wash our hands....n/t

[LisaL]

10. Yep, that's about it.

[retread]

16. The old "Duck and Cover" routine for modern times. n/t

[Leghorn21]

2. Just dreadful, but it's going to happen EVERYWHERE, because no hospitals or clinics or

doctors/nurses/healthcare workers have been briefed on this catastrophe, and who knows what protective gear any of them have on hand, if any?

Just a really bad deal comin down

[dalton99a]

4. Details:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis disclosed late Sunday that two people in the Tampa Bay area were the first to test presumptive positive for the novel coronavirus or COVID-19. DeSantis directed his top health official to declare a public health emergency

During a press conference on Monday, the Florida Department of Health said that one patient is an adult male in his 60s in Manatee County. According to State Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees, the patient does not have a travel history to countries identified for restricted travel by the CDC. He added that the patient is being treated at Doctors Hospital in Sarasota.

The second patient is a 20-year-old woman in Hillsborough County who recently traveled to Italy. She is isolated at home and will remain isolated until cleared by public health officials.

The positive tests needed to be confirmed by the CDC. At 1:14 p.m. on Monday, the DOH tweeted that the CDC confirms the two cases of COVID-19.

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/coronavirus/cdc-confirms-2-tampa-bay-area-residents-have-coronavirus

[rzemanfl]

5. Thanks. n/t

[Baitball Blogger]

6. Trump Administration had sufficient time to get their testing kits in order.

This is a major fuck-up from a major fuck-up.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

15. trumPutin and GOPers were hoping nobody would notice before November.

[Snarkoleptic]

7. Cue Pence doubling-down on the pray away the Coronavirus strategy.

#Doomed

[Sancho]

8. You will never get the truth out of Florida....

until we get rid of the rupub overlords...

[LisaL]

9. Great. Of course you have low numbers if you just don't test.

They have no clue how he got it? Likely from somebody with mild symptoms who did travel from somewhere.

[central scrutinizer]

11. And a lot of hospital personnel are now staying home

great timing.

[mcar]

12. Can you imagine how many vulnerable people who were exposed?

This is insane. The numbers are going to skyrocket in the next month.

[rzemanfl]

13. We will not be told the numbers. We will be told stories and to wash our hands. n/t

[misanthrope]

14. Yep, they sure will

Another thing to note: I am in my pulmonologist's office three to five times a year, owing to my genetic emphysema. Every time I'm there, I'm struck by the numbers of patients. The waiting room is often full with an overflow room used as well.

And from what I overhear while waiting, a good number of those folks are former smokers, on the lower end of the economic spectrum and often from rural counties to our north. And they are politically and culturally conservative.

Once this virus arrives -- and I expect it to be in our area within weeks and likely widespread before April's end -- it's going to wreak havoc on many of those folks. Considering the corollaries between socio-economics, smoking, healthcare and political leanings in Alabama, a lot of Trump followers are going to be affected by COVID-19.