(03-28-2020, 01:02 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: What assholes? There are more visitors because people aren’t working. They’re basically following your advice.

The park workers are concerned about their health because of the increased contact with the public. I don’t believe that is a unreasonable concern.

(03-28-2020, 07:32 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: So, last night I learned that someone I've known for about 20 years has the coronavirus. He was a volunteer in Scouting when I was a youth and after he retired he took on a paraprofessional role in our local council. Now, over a month ago he came down with pneumonia and was in the ICU. He hadn't traveled and this was long before the first known cases of the disease reached the Shenandoah Valley, or even Virginia (first case was announced on March 7). He has been in the hospital this whole time, and now has contracted COVID-19.

I don't know the events surrounding this; what transpired for him to have contracted the disease. However, it was contracted in a setting which is far more conscious of the transmission of the disease than we are out and about in our every day lives. Tom is likely going to be a victim of this disease because of the already weakened lungs and immune system. Help prevent you and those around you from succumbing to this disease, as well. Stay away from people and wash your damn hands!

(03-28-2020, 09:21 AM)GMDino Wrote: And remember kids: No more partisanship!

This kind of nasty partisanship is unhelpful. Everyone understands you don’t like Trump, but now is the time for all of us—Dem and GOP—to come together to defeat this pandemic and restore economic growth. We should all be working for and rooting for America. https://t.co/ve0cO9HXH6

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 27, 2020

 







And no projection? 

Quote:Promised drive-through testing sites haven't materialized

Two weeks ago, President Donald Trump promised a network of drive-through covid-19 testing sites across the country where people could be tested "very safely, quickly and conveniently." In a Rose Garden news conference, chief executives of Target, Walgreens, Walmart and CVS said they would work with the government to provide space in store parking lots.


While the four retailers have a combined 26,400 U.S. stores, this vision of a proliferation of coronavirus testing sites has yet to materialize. Walgreens and CVS have opened one site each, while Walmart last weekend opened two drive-through testing locations near Chicago. Target hasn't opened any. Rite Aid, which joined the effort later, has opened one drive-through facility in Philadelphia.

Like much of the nation's coronavirus response, the burden of organizing and operating these testing sites has fallen to state and local governments. On occasion, they've enlisted the help of private industry. But an array of logistical challenges, ranging from a shortage of testing supplies to funding, has meant only a small fraction of Americans can get diagnosed for covid-19 in a way that is routine in South Korea and elsewhere.

"We have to change how we are approaching this, or we will just hope that people will stay isolated or pay attention, said Garrett Contreras, the fire chief in the Bay Area city of Hayward, who managed to launch a testing site Monday after he personally appealed to scores of pharmaceutical companies to provide equipment. "I mean, how did some knucklehead fire chief from Hayward find a lab? It's just wrong."

A senior administration official, speaking anonymously to share internal deliberations, said the administration's initial drive-through testing ambitions had to be scaled back because of the lack of tests nationwide. Another initial challenge was trying to minimize long lines at the drive-through testing sites, this official added, so the sites were encouraged to use their own discretion to filter individuals, such as limiting tests only to first responders and medical professionals.


Now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved some self-swabbing kits, the official added, retailers are working those kinds of tests into their planning.


In a statement Friday, Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir said federal officials have been "actively involved in dozens" of mobile sites across the United States, providing supplies or personnel to roughly 30 of them.


"Four private sector partners - Walgreen's, Walmart, CVS and Rite-Aid - have successfully launched prototype sites in a period of days. We are working closely with these retailers now to explore the expansion of testing sites across the county, now further enabled by the nasal self-swabbing technique recently approved by the FDA," he said.


How that will play out isn't clear. In recent days, the FDA has been allowing individuals to use short swabs to collect samples from the front of their nostrils - but only at drive-through testing sites, hospital parking lots, emergency rooms and clinics where they are handed the swab by a health-care worker, then hand it back.


California, one of the hardest-hit states in the outbreak, has at least half a dozen mobile sites, but not at big-box stores.


Verily, the life sciences company that is a division of Google-parent Alphabet, has launched four of them. Potential patients can fill out the company's online screener, and if they meet eligibility requirements - including exposure to cases of coronavirus, at-risk locations or occupations, symptoms, previous health conditions or age - they will be directed to one of four drive-through testing sites in San Mateo, Sacramento, Riverside, and Santa Clara counties.


According to a YouTube video the company posted, people who take the drive-through tests will have to roll down their windows and be asked to tilt their heads back for a nasal swab. Results should be expected in several days and are processed by Quest. If a person is positive, they will receive a phone call from a doctor. Otherwise, they will receive an email. The company has tested 1,200 people so far.


Dozens of states have mobile testing sites up and running, including Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.


Most states have just a handful of locations, though Connecticut has at least 26 and is continuing to add more. The bulk of those testing stations are at local hospitals.


Elsewhere, drive-through sites range from Detroit's state fairgrounds to Honolulu's Kakaako Waterfront Park and Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.


Many state efforts have been hampered by the lack of tests. Three mobile Nashville, Tennessee, sites have been ready to receive patients for a week, but they've been unable to open due to an ongoing lack of test materials. One of them will open Monday.


Kentucky's first drive-through testing station started up Thursday, testing about a dozen people. With limited tests and the state's lab analysis backed up for two weeks, the governor has said he hopes to open up more sites next week.


Tests at the four drive-through retail locations so far are limited to first responders and health-care workers and are not available to the general public.


CVS said its nurses are administering about 200 tests a day in a store parking lot in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and it has appointments scheduled through next week.


"We have not announced any additional sites, and continue to communicate closely with the administration and state officials on the best path forward," spokesman Joe Goode said.


Walmart said it can administer up to 150 tests per day at each of its two drive-through locations. Spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said the company is in talks with multiple states to expand testing, though she declined to say which ones.


At Walgreens, spokesman Phil Caruso said the company is working closely with the Trump administration, as well as the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to identify new testing sites. The government is providing supplies and protective gear, he said, while tests are being administered by Walgreens pharmacists and federal health officials.


Target is also waiting for local and state officials to move forward. "We stand committed to offering our parking lot locations and supporting their efforts when they are ready to activate," spokeswoman Jessica Carlson said in an email.


For states like Oklahoma, which has stood up drive-through testing stations in its two biggest cities and is working to put other mobile sites throughout more rural areas, big-box stores aren't essential.


In a phone interview Friday, Oklahoma Health Secretary Jerome Loughridge said officials had "flashed up" test sites in two rural counties for 48 hours at the start of the week and then put the local health departments in charge. Next week, it would stand up two more mobile sites in counties in the far western part of the state.


"Now we're able, when we get a flash point in a rural community, we can very quickly spin up these satellite locations," Loughridge said, adding that by shifting counties, "It allows us to get a discrete samples from different populations."


Oklahoma officials haven't had to seek out help from major retailers, he said. "While others might have constrained space, we have the benefit of wide open spaces."


Contreras, the fire chief in Hayward, had a harder time devising a way for his low-income community to get tested. After realizing major testing firms were inundated, he sent hundreds of emails and LinkedIn messages to CEOs of pharmaceutical firms, start-ups and genetic testing firms over a single weekend.


"I sent the same message to everyone one of them, a plea to help us get something started," he said.


He got a response from the CEO of Avellino Labs, a small Menlo Park-based company specializing in eye disease testing. Avellino had developed a test for its South Korean employees as far back as January, and it had just been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Contreras asked his city manager for $500,000, and several days later testing began in several tents in a public park next to an old fire station. 


Results from Monday's operation show that of the 207 people who were tested, 50 tested positive for the virus.

"There just isn't a solid plan for how to approach this from the federal level, and that creates a lot of confusion," he said. "So I quickly tried to become a student of the failures and success stories of the world, like in Italy and Spain, and quickly realized that the Singapore and Taiwan model - suppression through isolation and testing - is the way to go."
- - -
Dwoskin reported from Alameda County. Bhattarai, Eilperin and Parker reported from Washington. The Washington Post's Kate Harrison Belz in Chattanooga, Jennifer Oldham in Denver, Steven Mufson in Washington and Steve Brukolder in Hartford contributed to this report.

(03-28-2020, 07:06 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: There are areas in the park that are so overcrowded that following suggested social distancing guidelines is impossible. Take, for instance, one of the most popular trails in SNP which is the hike up Old Rag Mountain. There were so many cars around that trailhead the other day they had to shut down the road because of traffic concerns. All those people hiking on that trail were coming in close contact with others because the trail is not wide enough to support the kind of distance recommended by the CDC. In addition to that, the high numbers overtaxes not just the man made infrastructure but can damage the ecosystem. This is a hot topic in the outdoors community as we see lots of wild and beautiful places nearly destroyed because of high levels of foot traffic which, until recently, we just blamed on the Instagram culture as people went out and took pictures in ways that damaged wildlife.

The main thing I have is that people need to be smart and use common sense. You see a lot of cars at a trail head, move on to a different spot. If people continue to behave in this manner then the parks will be shut down.

(03-28-2020, 09:34 AM)GMDino Wrote: And remember in these trying times when we are putting partisanship aside and helping each other that if you want your state to get any aid or equipment or help your leaders better bow down and quit saying anything negative about Donald John Trump!  Quit telling the truth about your situation and make nice or, you know, maybe your state doesn't get the same help "nicer" states get.

President Trump on what he wants from the governors: "All I want them to do, very simple, I want them to be appreciative. I don't want them to say things that aren't true. I want them to be appreciative. We've done a great job.”

Watch full video here: https://t.co/DvN1Fakah0 pic.twitter.com/vGoitdhpSU

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 27, 2020

 

(03-28-2020, 02:31 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: No one blames Trump for Covid-19. People blame Trump for Trump’s reaction to Covid-19 such as claiming it is the Democrats next hoax. Claiming the WHO’s epidemiological data was wrong based upon a hunch. Denying it was a pandemic. Disbanding the pandemic reaction team. Eliminating the CDC position in China to monitor and report these sorts of outbreaks to our government then complaining China won’t allow CDC officials into their country to monitor and report on this outbreak. Not providing clear guidance to the states during the outbreak. Not providing federal assistance to the states during the outbreak. For providing false or misleading information to the public. For discouraging testing to artificially reduce numbers as not to hurt his chance at re-election. For publicly admitting he would rather Americans on a cruise ship stay at sea rather than return to quarantine because they would increase our case numbers. For caring more about the economy than the people who create the economy.

I think I speak for Trump and most of his supporters when I say that here you are just being a cutie pie and a terrible reporter.

(03-28-2020, 09:21 AM)GMDino Wrote:

(03-28-2020, 09:27 PM)Dill Wrote: Ok. Hm.  But ASIDE FROM THAT what has Trump done wrong? 

I think I speak for Trump and most of his supporters when I say that here you are just being a cutie pie and a terrible reporter.

(03-29-2020, 01:35 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: Seems the latest tack is to deny the denials. Or misrepresent the timeline of events.

They’ve gone from this is all an overreaction to how could Trump know to what could Trump have possibly done differently?

Gee, I don’t know? Maybe put someone in charge of the response besides science denier Pence. Maybe the head of the Health and Human Services? And maybe put someone in charge of HHS with some actual medical experience instead of a pharmaceutical lobbyist? But, that’s how Trump understands the world, dollars and cents. Hell, right now he is working against the governors of Michigan and Washington because his feelings are hurt. Or at the bare minimum, not call it a hoax.

(03-29-2020, 02:07 AM)Nately120 Wrote:  Of course, Trump isn't a 4th grade girl but I digress.

(03-28-2020, 12:44 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: A cluster of cases was first reported on 12/31/19. On 1/12/2020, or 2 days before the tweet you posted from Fox News, there were a total of 41 cases and one death.

On the same day the WHO also tweeted . . .

@haiyang050504 Hello - there has been no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
However, such transmission is always a concern when patients have respiratory symptoms - this requires further investigation.

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 14, 2020

So . . .

1. Always a concern

2. Needs further investigation

So 15 days and approximately 40 cases into the coronavirus timeline the WHO tweeted what China told them. With the caveat human to human transmission is always a concern and further study is needed to confirm. Especially when we know coronavirus caused SARs and MERs.

Now, understand Fox News and Lou Dobbs are just trying to blame the WHO for Trump’s lack of action. After the WHO declared this was a pandemic Trump was still claiming they were wrong based upon a hunch.

In conclusion, that was a f’n tweet.

This . . .

https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/112656/9789241507134_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

is a 156 page WHO guidebook on how to prepare and respond to an epidemic or pandemic respiratory illness.

Now if you were a public health official tasked with preparing for a potential epidemic or a pandemic, would you base your preparation on one tweet?

OF COURSE YOU ***** WOULDN’T BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE ***** STUPID!

If you had even the tiniest bit of common sense you would follow a guidebook on how to prepare for an pandemic and not a tweet based upon 15 days and 41 cases on information.


If someone believes countries didn’t prepare for a pandemic based upon that tweet then they’re probably the same people panic buying toilet paper.

(03-26-2020, 01:14 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I don't think I'll get anything from this entire bill, which is fine, but I don't know why they are sending out checks to everyone in the correct income range regardless of employment status.  There's no place to even spend the money.