General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFB post from Italy
I am writing to you from Bergamo, Italy, at the heart of the coronavirus crisis. The news media in the US has not captured the severity of what is happening here. I am writing this post because each of you, today, not the government, not the school district, not the mayor, each individual citizen has the chance, today to take actions that will deter the Italian situation from becoming your own countrys reality. The only way to stop this virus is to limit contagion. And the only way to limit contagion is for millions of people to change their behavior today.
If you are in Europe or the US you are weeks away from where we are today in Italy.
I can hear you now. Its just a flu. It only affects old people with preconditions
There are 2 reasons why Coronavirus has brought Italy to its knees. First it is a flu is devastating when people get really sick they need weeks of ICU and, second, because of how fast and effectively it spreads. There is 2 week incubation period and many who have it never show symptoms.
When Prime Minister Conte announced last night that the entire country, 60 million people, would go on lock down, the line that struck me most was there is no more time. Because to be clear, this national lock down, is a hail mary. What he means is that if the numbers of contagion do not start to go down, the system, Italy, will collapse.
Why? Today the ICUs in Lombardy are at capacity more than capacity. They have begun to put ICU units in the hallways. If the numbers do not go down, the growth rate of contagion tells us that there will be thousands of people who in a matter of a week? two weeks? who will need care. What will happen when there are 100, or a 1000 people who need the hospital and only a few ICU places left?
On Monday a doctor wrote in the paper that they have begun to have to decide who lives and who dies when the patients show up in the emergency room, like what is done in war. This will only get worse.
There are a finite number of drs, nurses, medical staff and they are getting the virus. They have also been working non-stop, non-stop for days and days. What happens when the drs, nurses and medical staff are simply not able to care for the patients, when they are not there?
And finally for those who say that this is just something that happens to old people, starting yesterday the hospitals are reporting that younger and younger patients 40, 45, 18, are coming in for treatment.
You have a chance to make a difference and stop the spread in your country. Push for the entire office to work at home today, cancel birthday parties, and other gatherings, stay home as much as you can. If you have a fever, any fever, stay home. Push for school closures, now. Anything you can do to stop the spread, because it is spreading in your communities there is a two week incubation period and if you do these things now you can buy your medical system time.
And for those who say it is not possible to close the schools, and do all these other things, locking down Italy was beyond anyones imagination a week ago.
Soon you will not have a choice, so do what you can now.
Please share.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)I posted it too: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213074469
G_j
(40,367 posts)This is how we all help slow the spread of coronavirus.
By Eliza Barclay and Dylan Scott Mar 10, 2020,
The main uncertainty in the coronavirus outbreak in the United States now is how big it will get, and how fast. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Nancy Messonnier told reporters on March 9, many people in the US will at some point, either this year or next, get exposed to this virus.
According to infectious disease epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch at Harvard, its plausible that 20 to 60 percent of adults will be infected with Covid-19 disease. So far, 80 percent of cases globally have been mild, but if the case fatality rate is around 1 percent (which several experts say it may be), a scenario is possible of tens or hundreds of thousands of deaths in the US alone.
Yet the speed at which the outbreak plays out matters hugely for its consequences. What epidemiologists fear most is the health care system becoming overwhelmed by a sudden explosion of illness that requires more people to be hospitalized than it can handle. In that scenario, more people will die because there wont be enough hospital beds or ventilators to keep them alive.
A disastrous inundation of hospitals can likely be averted with protective measures were now seeing more of closing schools, canceling mass gatherings, working from home, self-quarantine, self-isolation, avoiding crowds to keep the virus from spreading fast.
..more..
(Chart at link)
yellowdogintexas
(22,252 posts)Two very smart women of science present a different communicable disease on a biweekly schedule. On February 4, they dove into COVID-19 and All Things Coronavirus.
They delve into the biology & history of the disease/disorder, how it is spread, and talk about pandemics etc. After that is finished, they go into the treatments, research, and what is going on with the disease.
It is a good listen and I am now listening to it for the second time.
Also they have a special cocktail recipe. this one is called the Breath Taker. You can see it on their website and social media channels. Non drinkers can mix up a PlaceboRita.
Some of the diseases they have discussed are: Spanish Flu, Plague, Dengue Fever, Leprosy, Measles, Rabies and more.
Available on Stitcher, Spotify and others.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)Duppers
(28,120 posts)TY!
DownriverDem
(6,228 posts)I'm still hearing it's no big deal from repubs.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-12/coronavirus-can-live-in-patients-for-five-weeks-after-contagion?fbclid=IwAR0zHF1e8QpWb7oPYQGUzOHOtaN8jDuAvf9l2w0dxvNEBTH26-lSckbDSxw
Pacifist Patriot
(24,653 posts)I'm in the C-suite so I have some influence. However, our CEO not only thinks social distancing decisions (such as MLS suspending season for 30 days and the NCAA basketball tournament being played in empty arenas) are not only silly, but the wrong decisions to be making. He believes everyone is over-reacting by orders of magnitude.
I cannot get him to understand or accept that social distancing is the only thing that has ever proven to be effective in slowing down and ultimately containing a communicable disease. I cannot get him to understand that any one person's odds of being infected and how little or much it impacts them is utterly irrelevant.
I'm just beside myself today.
G_j
(40,367 posts)with no sense of history.
Pacifist Patriot
(24,653 posts)Response to Pacifist Patriot (Reply #2)
geardaddy This message was self-deleted by its author.
DownriverDem
(6,228 posts)a repub? They are still in denial.
Pacifist Patriot
(24,653 posts)My company just made the decision to have us wfh for the remainder of the month (those of us who can) to mitigate the spread of the virus. I must say I am quite relieved.
Lochloosa
(16,064 posts)Pluvious
(4,310 posts)crickets
(25,976 posts)DarleenMB
(408 posts)cause colds. It is NOT the flu. And yes, there is a big difference. Colds take a while to incubate, flu symptoms hit immediately. That's just for starters. From Popular Science:
https://www.popsci.com/story/health/covid-19-coronavirus-signs-symptoms-cold-flu/
keithbvadu2
(36,793 posts)The same Dr. Trump who recommended going to work and going out in public if you have it.
The same Dr. Trump who refused test kits that already worked (so he could make some profit from one of his one investments?).
The same Dr. Trump who said Coronavirus was just a another weak form of the flu.
gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)tell America to stay home.
MontanaMama
(23,314 posts)I know dozens of people getting on planes for travel around the US and beyond. This is nuts.
I think we're not being told the whole truth. Two of our first cases here in AZ were a male in his twenties and a woman in her forties. The man recovered; the woman was hospitalized and the last we heard she was "stable."
the men in their 30's who came back to CA after a ski trip to Northern Italy. Four of them are in critical condition. Makes me wonder if it's a different strain than the other, milder strain.
OhNo-Really
(3,985 posts)For kids forced to home school has anyone checked Khan Academy free online?