mortality

[disneysteve]

Indeed. He’s also viewing the world as a physician/healer, as he should. But “stay at home and stay well” is rather easy to proclaim in a vacuum from a doctor’s perch. Many do not have the means or circumstances to follow their advice.

There is certainly some balance that will eventually need to be achieved. We simply can't shut down the entire country indefinitely or there won't be a country left to reopen. But we also can't open things prematurely at the expense of overwhelming our healthcare system and leading to hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths.

We're already starting to see the other side of this in China. They have started reopening things, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We just have to keep pushing through to the end, not try to break through the wall in the middle of the tunnel to escape.

[ua_guy]

The truth is, this is all the wild west. No one knows who has it and where, because testing is spotty. The only thing I'm tired of is the blame game, particularly from Corona News Network. The media is behaving irresponsibly, as usual. Instead of reporting news, they want to create a narrative. Most news has lost all credibility with me - they aren't news outlets any more - just mouthpieces for a bunch of people who are perpetually naysayers.

So stop watching it. It's even more tiring to listen to adults complain that the news isn't parroting the narrative they hope to hear.

Of all the talking heads, Fauci's perspective, I think, is worth consideration. His role as an interface between the medical community and a medically-illiterate administration is unique and very important. Policy has to follow medicine right now -- as the saying has been going -- this is a medical crisis, not a financial crisis.

[TexasHusker]

this is a medical crisis, not a financial crisis.

I can tell that you don't have a $40K payroll and $10K in rents due.

[Mjenn]

Right now in Sweden they are trying a middle ground in an attempt to balance health and economy. I predict it will crash and burn at a huge cost on both ends,but who knows? There is a lot we don’t know. And I can tell you this approach is terrifying. Nothing is closed by the state.

I sent my staff to work from home and pulled my kids out of school, but my office is still open and I am an outlier. Also I’m lucky my kids school is understanding because they could legally send social services after me. Instead they send school work. Which is great.

Will also add that I had family in treatment with Fauci in the NIH in the 80s when I was a kid. And everyone absolutely adored him. Many were involved with Act Up and simultaneously were getting treatment while protesting the organisation. Fauci genuinely cared and took care of so much of my family on many levels. If there is anyone who can help in this it is him.

[disneysteve]

this is a medical crisis, not a financial crisis.

Exactly. The approach that may have worked in 2008 isn't the approach needed today. That was a financial crisis. It originated within the financial system. This is a medical crisis that, obviously, is causing a financial crisis but it can't be solved with a financial approach. It needs to be solved by addressing the root cause, which is a medical issue.

[Like2Plan]

Dr. Anthony Fauci Discusses The Latest Coronavirus Facts

March 26, 20207:19 AM ET


https://www.npr.org/2020/03/26/82184...onavirus-facts

[Snydley]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/26/us/dr-fauci-doughnuts-trnd/index.html

[Like2Plan]

Well, we're number one....and not in a good way. Today USA ended up with 85,377 total cases and of those 17,166 were new cases from today. New York is in 1st place with 38,977 (6,011 new) and New Jersey is in 2nd place 6,876 (2,474 new).

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

[kork13]

Wait... Do you mean... The more people we test.... the more people will pop positive for COVID-19?!
Clearly, we need to stop testing.

[Like2Plan]

Wait... Do you mean... The more people we test.... the more people will pop positive for COVID-19?!
Clearly, we need to stop testing.

I think it means we should have started testing 2 months ago.... but at this point, I think it means follow your governor's orders. Right now New York and New Jersey are in for it. But, there are several other major metropolitan areas that are not that far behind them in terms of increased cases.

[Like2Plan]

Gov. Greg Abbott issues executive order to quarantine individuals flying in from NY, NJ, CT and New Orleans

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/go...ns/ar-BB11L4qO

Which is what the folks from the NY/NY/CT area traveling to anywhere have been asked to do anyway. (But, I wonder how many folks ignore this?)


I think this measure is probably pretty effective in Hawaii because they have a big "moat" around their state. (Also, I believe they have been doing contact tracing and testing for a while)

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com...esting-begins/
https://health.hawaii.gov/news/coron...march-10-2020/

[Like2Plan]

‘The Other Option Is Death’: New York Starts Sharing of Ventilators

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/health/coronavirus-ventilator-sharing.html?referringSource=articleShare

[disneysteve]

Wait... Do you mean... The more people we test.... the more people will pop positive for COVID-19?!

Yes the more we test the more positives we get, but the disease is also spreading continuously. The actual number of cases is climbing whether we confirm them or not.

We are still only testing the sickest of patients so if the confirmed cases are rising, that means the number of people qualifying for testing is also rising. All of the mild cases (unless you're rich and/or famous) aren't being tested.

[kork13]

Yes the more we test the more positives we get, but the disease is also spreading continuously. The actual number of cases is climbing whether we confirm them or not.

We are still only testing the sickest of patients so if the confirmed cases are rising, that means the number of people qualifying for testing is also rising. All of the mild cases (unless you're rich and/or famous) aren't being tested.

My point is just that... Because we're only doing testing for people with significant symptoms (or notoriety), the data isn't really valuable. We likely have 3x or more people infected, but without extensive testing or at least some decent modeling, we have no concept of what's actually happening. The testing is almost pointless as an indicator right now, much less a focus on the absolute number of people who test positive for it. It's all only feeding a pointless narrative on every side, and none of it is helpful.

[disneysteve]

My point is just that... Because we're only doing testing for people with significant symptoms (or notoriety), the data isn't really valuable. We likely have 3x or more people infected, but without extensive testing or at least some decent modeling, we have no concept of what's actually happening. The testing is almost pointless as an indicator right now, much less a focus on the absolute number of people who test positive for it. It's all only feeding a pointless narrative on every side, and none of it is helpful.

Why is it pointless? I think it's important for the public to see the number of cases and the number of deaths rising as it hopefully drives home the point of why social distancing and stay at home orders are vitally important and must be observed. Even if the numbers are understated, which they are, the more they rise the stronger the message.