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Is It Just Me?
There seem to be two basic kinds of people out there today:
Those that are positive and hopeful in the face of this COVID-19 stuff. I am one of these. I am pretty well convinced we are overreacting a bit to all of this, but I still think that good will come of it in the long run. I’m hopeful about the drug that might cure the disease. I am hopeful that the spread will slow. I am hopeful that the long-term effects will be minimal.
Those that are negative, filled with doom and gloom. These people believe the worst is going to happen. That the cure will be worse than the disease. That we must put everyone on complete lockdown. That we must stockpile food, ammo, and potable water.
It feels to me, and I may be wrong, that the people in the first camp are generally conservative, while the people in the second camp are mostly progressives.
Am I wrong?
Published in General
According to that report, 12% of cases required hospitalization, and a quarter of those hospitalized needed the ICU. However, as more testing becomes available, those figures should fall.
Those are the figures I want to see. We now have more than 20,000 cases in this country. What percentage are just recovering at home?
The growth of numbers of infected people in the US is about the same as in Europe. We are not seeing any reduction in growth despite the measures to stop it that many people are decrying as excessive. We in the medical system are in for a lot of pain, but most people will be fine.
Growth of numbers of cases in the US could be due to an increase in testing here. Testing in the US has been inadequate, and as more people are tested more infected people are found that would not have been tested earlier because they were not frankly symptomatic. It’s going to look like growth is increasing for a while when it’s really not.
My niece said they are seeing that too. What is definition of healthy at this point? General overall well being, I suppose, but the dr. described my husband as a healthy 50 year old when he got pnuemonia, and he was a smoker. That was 8 years ago. My husband quit after the second bout of pnuemonia, got the vaccine, and is being careful. Still not staying home in fear.
The ESPN reporter who died of pnuemonia around Christmas was first reported to be healthy, and it ended up he had late stage cancer he didn’t know about. But he still died of pnuemonia, I think.
It is good to be aware that younger can become ill, the young die of flu also. And other things, and we have assumed they are as indestructable as they do.
I agree with you, but I think governors have the power under federalism to shut down business in their states. As one goes, they all seem to. Whoever sets the most conservative action, seems to be the leader.
My sister, a nurse on call standby, was in Northern Italy last September. She said it was packed, and the cases don’t surprise her. Interesting to her was the northern part of Italy is wealthier than the southern. At this point, she is more worried about not getting hours, they have canceled 3/4 of surgeries, and created a virus ward in pre op. She also said hospitals conduct disaster drills. Everyone is sking the docs what they think, and they don’t really know either. I’m guessing the higher density places will see the most medical stress. I wonder if Chicago has seen a drop in shootings, etc. There are still emergencies that are not because of the virus and just as important.
It is time to get the economy going again. Oldsters like me can self isolate. The damage from this shutdown will be worse than the disease unless we end it soon, like a week.
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/62173.html
As cold as it may sound, we’re going to get to a point sometime in mid-April, where if there has not been a major spike in coronavirus deaths, and you’re getting more and more reports of people being in situations like Tom Hanks — with an illness that is more mild crud than life-threatening — there’s going to be more and more push-back to open things up again while identifying the highest-risk people and having them remain in isolation.
And if the communicability of the virus is lesser in warmer temperatures, you could also see a south-to-north rolling demand that restrictions be eased, as the number of cases in southern states shows slower increases than in northern states, where cooler early spring temperatures do a better job of keeping the virus viable outside of human bodies.
Well you better go see the doctor. I hope I’m the first one to make that joke…
Looking into the future, the laid off, when they get back to work will have to be the ones that have to pay for this. Government shutdowns are much less disruptive.
Yes. Government shuts us all down, and then we’re going to have to pick up the tab to recover from the damage they caused.
As it’s always been. Only this time it’s “exponentially” bigger.
If it was only a matter of money to procure massive numbers of respirators, that problem would not exist. It’s not the money, the respirators do not exist. And wouldn’t you know, the main operating chip or board for respirators is made in…China.
This isn’t rocket science. We can reproduce the control electronics and software in a matter of days. We can ramp up manufacturing capacity quickly. We don’t need state of the art products, just functioning respirators.
I like that. Let’s you and me go halfsies and get this done. Seriously, we would hope that is happening right now.
I wonder if lottery ticket sales are up.
Some students at MIT have applied for a patent for a ventilator that costs about $100 to manufacture.
I just got an email from Safelite auto glass about COVID
All those companies you gave your e-mail address to and forgot about? They’re now letting you know.
I’ve gotten e-mails from my bank, Consumer reports, the Ohio Republican Party, my insurance company, several Internet companies, and more….. all telling me what they are doing in these “trying times.”. I’m getting tired of it.
Here’s a shot of my inbox today.
It’s very reassuring that the Nigerian Sweepstakes winnings won’t be affected.
Update: You are a brilliant man @henryracette. Apparently, GM, Ford, and Elon Musk read your comment right here on Ricochet.
http://ricochet.com/733295/i-really-dont-care/
Let me guess. “We here at Whatsit Co. consider your health and safety to be a top priority. Therefore, we are taking strong steps to protect our customers and our employees from the Corona virus. We are listening to the experts at the CDC and the WHO. We are washing our hands more frequently. We are sanitizing our premises more frequently. We have placed additional hand sanitizer stations at strategic locations. We will continue to keep you informed, and we ask for your patience through this difficult time.”
Whoever comes up with the first spam filter that can screen out this nonsense will make a fortune.
I actually got a personal call from my bank asking if they could help with anything and letting me know what services are available. I thought it was nice.
No they won’t. Nobody wants to pay for that…
Just another guy with a great idea and an empty checking account….