“We are freezing the economy.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/denmark-freezing-its-economy-should-us/608533/

While the White House and lawmakers haggle over the terms of an emergency economic-stabilization package, Denmark has gone big—very, very big—to defeat the unprecedented challenge of the coronavirus.

This week, the Danish government told private companies hit by the effects of the pandemic that it would pay 75 percent of their employees’ salaries to avoid mass layoffs. The plan could require the government to spend as much as 13 percent of the national economy in three months. That is roughly the equivalent of a $2.5 trillion stimulus in the United States spread out over just 13 weeks. Like I said: very, very big.

This response might strike some as a catastrophically ruinous overreaction. Perhaps for Denmark, it will be. But we are at a fragile moment in American history. The U.S. faces the sharpest economic downturn in a century, and statistics that seem impossibly pessimistic one moment look positively optimistic hours later. In weeks—even days—Denmark’s aggressive response could be a blueprint for how the world can avoid another Great Depression.

To find out more, I corresponded with Flemming Larsen, a professor at the Center for Labor Market Research at Denmark’s Aalborg University, over two days of emails and an hour-long Skype call. The following interview blends those conversations, which have been edited for length and clarity.

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-covid-19-do-green-cleaning-products-work-20200318.html

It’s not easy being green right now.

Faced with the new coronavirus, an enemy we can’t see but that we’re told might, like similar viruses, be able to live on some surfaces for up to several days, what seems natural is to reach for the biggest weapons in our arsenal.

Which could explain why, when I went to buy disinfecting wipes a couple of weeks ago at Wegmans, the shelves were bare of all but those made by Seventh Generation, a pricier brand that markets itself as eco-friendly. The label boasts of its ability to kill “99.99% of bacteria & viruses,” but when I got it home, I noticed its active ingredient, thymol, was one I’d never heard of.

...

Tom’s of Maine hand soap includes two soaps: caprylyl/capryl glucoside and decyl glucoside.

Mrs. Meyer’s surface cleaner also has decyl glucoside, a surfactant Beckman described as gentle and degradable, as well as lauryl glucoside, another degradable, nonionic soap. Skipping ahead on a list of Mrs. Meyer’s ingredients, he singled out sodium methyl 2-sulfolaurate. "Now that is an ionic soap. So that thing will do a job on anything with a cell membrane,” Beckman said. “It just blows up cells, and it will do the same to viruses.” (Mrs. Meyer’s doesn’t, however, claim to be a disinfectant.)

And what of my Seventh Generation wipes, which are labeled as killing, among other things, the H1N1 flu virus? And what’s thymol, anyway?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/20/america-needs-be-war-footing/



As many facets of American life grind to a near halt in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, people are now asking questions like this:

Is there a way to measure the harm done to younger people, who will suffer curtailed education and lost opportunities, stress and even hunger because of attempts to slow down the disease’s progress, vs. the harm we hope to spare the country’s vulnerable citizens, including the elderly, and the nation’s health system?

And this: The world probably lost about 13 million people to various ailments in the past three months, and just over 11,000 to the coronavirus. Is it a reasonable trade-off to shut down most of the economy to prevent more covid-19 infections? Are we using a bazooka to kill a flea?

But the truth is, the time hasn’t yet come to finely measure trade-offs.

The appropriate analogy for our moment is Pearl Harbor. As bombs fell on Hawaii, life went on almost normally in the rest of the United States. But the reality was clear. The country needed to transition to a war footing.

Today, we, too need to be on a war footing. As was the case in 1941, our war is defensive and therefore just. Our job for the next six weeks is to save our health-care system in order to save a functioning society. To do this, we undertake a process of societal triage that puts us in an effective position to fight the coronavirus. How? We transition our economy from travel, culture and restaurant dining to investments in medical and sanitation supplies and services — a rapid, wrenching disruption requiring government funding if we are going to achieve the transition without economic collapse. We sacrifice in-person education and business transactions to try to control the rate of transmission. We do these things as a matter of generalized social triage to save the health system.

You can still enjoy music and the live concerts of your favorite musicians while social distancing at home. #couchtour

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US government have encouraged social distancing to slow the spread of the sickness. This has led to the cancellation of large gatherings like NCAA's March Madness and concerts.

More artists are still trying to provide experiences for fans without sacrificing safety. Here are all the shows you can stream now:

https://www.cnet.com/news/all-live-streaming-concerts/

https://www.post-gazette.com/business/healthcare-business/2020/03/19/Philips-ventilators-assembly-jobs-COVD-19-Murrysville-employees/stories/202003190107

With health officials warning of a possible shortage of ventilators for the sickest COVID-19 patients, Philips Respironics in Murrysville is ramping up its production and looking for production line workers to help.

The company’s website says it needs second-shift production line workers to assemble and package “various Respironics medical devices,” including ventilators from 2:45 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. Workers also must be able to work overtime if needed.

A Reddit posting linking to the job description says the company is making ventilators and other oxygen-related medical devices “that are essential for the most severe cases of COVID-19” and it is gearing up for round-the-clock mass production.

“They need help and fast,” the post said.

The job requires a high school diploma, GED or equivalent work history and “experience in manufacturing, service or assembly, in a regulated environment.” English proficiency is also required.

The ad says the position offers “a competitive salary,” vacation and sick time, medical, dental and vision coverage, a 401K and “an opportunity to earn a yearly bonus.”

Applications can be filled out online at https://bit.ly/2QtEsNn.