The sad, sad truth is we never even had viable testing kits when this whole thing began. We had 15% needed for emergencies in CDC storage vaults back way back when but those were most likely what we've always had. Untested tests with a 50% rate of inaccuracy. It took them until now to figure out and fix things and get true testing kits into production.
Here in Oregon where we have 3 cases almost the same to your 2 in Arizona (numbers changing all the time, I'm sure) our governor asked for federal aid in this time of crisis as I'm sure all states are probably doing or have already done.
Her statement for our state read:
"We are concerned that we do not have a sufficient supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) should the coronavirus spread more widely,” the letter reads.
Brown has requested 400,000 respirators, 75 to 100 ventilators, hazmat suits, gowns, gloves and ambulance protection systems.
As of Tuesday, Oregon has the capacity to process 80 test kits per day, with 1,500 lab kits stocked and ready to process. Brown did not request any additional kits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In her letter, Brown also requested leniency regarding federal testing criteria.
“We would like to request flexibility on the testing criteria for COVID-19, covered under the emergency use authorization, to better assess the burden of the disease in Oregon resulting from community spread within the state.”
Apparently that last part has been requested by a significant number of states and Pence has relaxed all his previous stipulations.
It's a mess as pretty much everything is in our country right now. Heck we have 3 cases but our shelves are being emptied of storable food items and antiseptic cleaning supplies of all kinds. And yes, that amazing toilet paper shortage. When Bernie of Australia told us that even there Costco in Perth was out I just had to laugh. It's just sad all the way around.
Our Senator Jeff Merkely made a public request for our government to provide income assistance for those who felt sick and had to stay home and it's actually being considered!
Let's face it everyone will stay home and ask for assistance in that case. Crazy crazy but also sad times.
Btw...airlines are having deep cleansing now constantly as are airports. Safe travels to you and stay in the light of your faith that all will be ok for you as we all will too for ourselves and our families.
However, on the one on one human level we are having a hard time changing. Mike Pence is in Seattle today meeting with its mayor. I watched the news as both men shook hands all the way around.
Men feeling the need to stay "strong' traditionsl greeting official capacity men and not change their ways. Our advice from health professionals for all of us is to not shake hands etc as a new way of living and interacting with one another. A pat or grasp on the shoulder is the safe way if you feel touch is necessary with others.
One thing we know, the sun will come out tomorrow and even on the cloudiest days!
Lovendures I am glad you put the link up for everyone to see. I read similar article yesterday on a different news website but it seemed to have some slight differences in what it said.
It is often difficult to interpret dreams. I may be mistaken in some aspects of my interpretation. I only post dreams that I think may be of interest to others.
For all of you who read one of my very long posts on how I deep clean especially for fecal materials. I'm sure I must have seemed pretty extreme but I was right on to something all a long ha!
This was a very interesting release out of Australian news:
Coronavirus, China: Doctors warned to protect eyes, study implicates fecal transmission
The first US patient diagnosed with 2019-nCoV also experienced loose bowel movements for two days and the virus was subsequently detected in his stool, and there have been other such cases in China documented in the Lancet, albeit infrequently.
“Importantly, 2019-nCoV has been reported elsewhere in the feces of patients with atypical abdominal symptoms, similar to SARS which was also shed in urine, suggesting a fecal transmission route which is highly transmissible,” William Keevil, a professor of environmental healthcare at the University of Southampton said in a comment to the UK’s Science Media Centre.
 And they also stated that the possibility is not totally surprising to scientists, given that the new virus belongs to the same family as SARS.Fecal transmission of SARS was implicated in sickening hundreds in Hong Kong’s Amoy Gardens housing estate in 2003. A rising plume of warm air originating in bathrooms contaminated several apartments and was transported by wind to adjacent buildings in the complex.Based on the literature, “The 2019-nCoV virus found in stool may be transmitted through fecal spread,” added Jiayu Liao, a bioengineer at the University of California, Riverside.
But, he added, “We still do not know how long this virus can survive outside the body -- HIV can only survive roughly 30 minutes outside the body -- and what temperature range the 2019-nCoV is sensitive to.” Fecal spread could present new challenges to the virus’s containment, but is more likely to be a problem inside hospitals, which can become “amplifiers” of epidemics, said David Fisman, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto.
Benjamin Neuman, a virology expert at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, cautioned that while fecal transmission was “certainly worth considering,”
Another item of interest people are talking about wearing eyeglasses as protection from others coughing and sneezing so we'll probably have a run on eyeglasses next.
It was reported “droplets and touching contaminated surfaces then rubbing eyes, nose or mouth” were likely the main way the virus was transmitted based on current data but many are concerned because medical experts have warned the coronavirus can spread through the eyes and people – especially doctors – and they aren’t doing enough to protect themselves.
According to a report in The Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal, Chinese pneumonia expert Guangfa Wang was infected by the 2019-nCoV virus while visiting Wuhan last month.
He wore a face mask during his visit, but did not wear any protective eyewear and later complained of “redness of the eyes”.
“As ophthalmologists, we believe that transmission of 2019-nCoV through the eyes was ignored,” the report said.
“Unprotected exposure of the eyes to 2019-nCoV in the Wuhan Fever Clinic might have allowed the virus to infect the body.”
Interesting times.
I am going to add a link to a 20 minute video of a UK man who seems very well informed about the mutation situation with the coronavirus in case anyone is interested. What I was calling the original Wuhan strain is mistaken, it is a mutant that was detected at a higher prevalence than the original weaker "s" form in the early part of the Wuhan epidemic...the more pathogenic mutant is the "L" mutant. He explains that the mutation which makes the L strain more pathogenic is to the part of the virus that binds onto a receptor on the lung cells.
He mentions that it is possible to be infected with both strains at the same time and says that a man in the US was found to have both at the same time. I tried to use google to find this information and was not successful. He is a doctor and has many informative coronavirus videos of which I have only watched about 4-5. They all did extremely well at explaining many aspects of the virus and the outbreaks around the world. He is Dr. John Campbell. His video is titled: COVID-19 Mutatin and Evolution. Dated March 5, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYPZHA-UjUY
@starpath. Thank you for posting that link. Lovendures or someone else in our community introduced us to that man Dr. John Campbell, a nurse who has been providing excellent teaching about the virus via his YouTubes from early on. This latest Youtube is concerning because he explains that the two viruses, S-type and L-type have both been found in a U.S. person. He explains that the Chinese had locked down the more transmissible and serious L-type, but now that the L-type has been found in the U.S., it will be up to the U.S. (with Pence in charge) to lock it down here.
The good news is that the more serious L-type virus is easier to lock down because people who get it often end up very ill in the hospital. However it is up to the U.S. authorities to take action and the person placed in charge in this country is an anti-science imbecile.
In the meantime, people need to be careful and use good hygiene.
While it is true that most of the deaths have occurred in the elderly, the more serious mutation of this virus has killed people at all age levels except under 9 years old. And that mutation has been found in the U.S.
I get the quadrivalent flu shot every year, including this past October. I got tested for flu on one of my urgent care visits (I confess I don't remember which one, there were a few lol). It was a quick test and it was negative (not flu). I didn't feel flu-ish, so as @billy-mike and I and others have said, one wonders if COVID-19 has been circulating longer than we think. And who knows WHICH form we all got if that is even true, although I'd venture a guess that it was the "less aggressive" form.
My hubby has a professional acquaintance who is a well-known epidemiologist. His name is Jim Wilson, you can follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn if you want to, I'm on neither, so hubby forwarded me his latest posting. He is the real deal, he IS a source himself, an expert, so I trust his scientific and medical insights for ALL epidemics (about 20 years ago he warned me thru Billy that my flu shot would be a fail and that I'd get very sick-he was right).
WHO is emphasizing coronavirus is more deadly than influenza, which is empowering some to continue with the influenza pandemic analogies. From the perspective of an infected individual or the healthcare facility receiving the patient, this is indeed true, so far as is known about the virus. The current mortality, across 82 territories and countries, is 3.4%. However, this appears to vary depending on the context: if you live in a wealthy country and are younger, it appears to be lower.
But saying this virus is deadlier than influenza does not effectively convey risk, nor does it justify by itself calls that this is equivalent to the burden of morbidity or mortality due to influenza.
Currently in the US, influenza is estimatedto have caused as many as 45M illnesses, 21M visits to the clinic, 560,000 hospitalizations, and 46,000 deaths. In other words, the absolute numbers suggest the US alone has seen 14 times more deaths due to seasonal influenza than the global mortality due to COVID-19. If we assume all of those deaths were in the hospital prior to death, then you are looking at a hospitalized mortality of 8%.
The burden that coronavirus represents to a country and its people is best examined through the lens of its population- the more people you have, the more disease and vice versa. This implies impact on that country’s medical infrastructure as well. Here we look at the number of deaths, divided by the number of cases and multiply by 100,000 to estimate the number of deaths per 100,000 population. When we do this, the current estimate for the maximum influenza deaths in the US is 14 deaths per 100,000 population.
The most intense area in the world for COVID-19 mortality has been Hubei Province, China. There they have reported 4.8 deaths per 100,000 population. Influenza mortality in the US is then 3X more than COVID-19 mortality in the hottest area of transmission in the world.
So here are the current numbers:
• Mainland China 0.21 deaths per 100,000 (67X less than maximum influenza mortality in the US)
• Italy 0.13 deaths per 100,000 (107X less than maximum influenza mortality in the US)
• Iran 0.11 deaths per 100,000 (124X less than maximum influenza mortality in the US)
• South Korea 0.062 deaths per 100,000 (225X less than maximum influenza mortality in the US)
• Hong Kong 0.027 deaths per 100,000 (517X less than maximum influenza mortality in the US)
• Japan 0.005 deaths per 100,000 (2,959X less than maximum influenza mortality in the US)
• US 0.003 deaths per 100,000 (5,125X less than maximum influenza mortality in the US)
To put a finer point on this, here are some stats for estimated mortality during antigenic shift influenza pandemics:
• Philadelphia (fall 1918) 896 deaths per 100,000
• Netherlands (1957) 27 deaths per 100,000
• Los Angeles (1968) 6-7 deaths per 100,000
The balance being struck here by WHO is the need to warn and emphasize preparedness to protect any receiving country’s medical infrastructure. But the industry and culture of hype demands apocalypse. It makes it extremely difficult for the average citizen to not feel a sense of impending doom and hopelessness. This of course leads to infectious anxiety that becomes counterproductive when your frontline healthcare workers are infected with fear… and is compounded if officials and academics have publicly expressed fears of a 1918-like pandemic when access to a diagnostic test is compromised.
Uncertainty (and those that wish to propagate and emphasize it) is the main challenge here. Keeping perspective is important for appropriate, well considered response.
Another good source for straight up info is ProPublica:
Some of you may be aware that the Grand Princess is currently off the shore of California in a lockdown after a passenger from the previous cruise died from the coronavirus he caught during his cruise. The current people on board have just been on a cruise to Hawaii and were on the way to Mexico when the ship was told to head back to San Fransisco. Some guests on this cruise were also on the last and many have symptoms of the virus as well as some crew members. The next sailing was already canceled,
Here is a letter just released from the cruise line. It seems like the Diamond Princess nightmare all over again. I wonder how different this one will play out? Carnival the parent company is in deep *hit!
"In collaboration with the U.S. Centers of Disease Control (CDC) and local authorities, samples were collected today from 45 people on Grand Princess (which includes a mix of guests and team members). The samples were delivered to the California Department of Public Health in Richmond for processing. The results of these tests are expected by tomorrow.
Princess Cruises can confirm there are 3,533 people currently onboard Grand Princess, including 2,422 guests and 1,111 teammates. In total, they represent 54 nationalities.
Following guidelines received today from the CDC, all guests have been asked to stay in their staterooms while test results are pending. Guests are receiving meal deliveries in their staterooms by room service, and additional television and movie options have been added to in-room programming. Guests have also been provided complimentary internet service to stay in contact with their family and loved ones, and the ship’s internet bandwidth has been increased.
Immediate family members of guests onboard Grand Princess may call the appropriate number in their region to speak with Family Assistance representatives: US and Canada: +1 888-358-8055, International: +1 872-201-6779"
Tito's tells customers to not use their vodka for hand sanitizer. But i have made my own using far less expensive ingredients!
So for all of you worried about the availability of hand sanitizer it is quite easy to make your own and no..not with Tito's Vodka which is currently trending in social media.
Tito's only contains 40% vodka and you need to have alcohol (preferably isopropy) that Is at least 60-65% alcohol.
Should I run out of my store bought supply, and as a backup anti-bacterial home cleaning product ( for all my doorknob, refrigerator and toilet handles previousky posted about not fogetting) I made a couple of jars of my own several days ago with products I had on hand.
The recipe is so easy! Simply mix isopropyl alcohol with any aloe gel. Half and half of each.
No kidding that's all it takes. The alcohol kills germs and the aloe vera protects your skin from drying out or cracking with repeated use.
And you can just add your own essential oils for either their antiseptic or healing properties if you wish!
Good old handwashing for 20 seconds is best and if you use hand sanitizer of any kind it had to be thoroughly applied scrubbing hands and in between fingers AND left to dry naturally.
Don't use a towel on your hands after use of any hand sanitizer thinking you dry them like you do with soap and water. You'll run the risking of removing some of it before it does its removal of germs process.
*Doubled up my post over here from Essential Rations forum.
Jeez what a dream Leona!! Thanks for sharing it I really found it interesting. I wish we could record dreams and watch other peoples dreams sometimes...I would watch your dream in fascination! The nodes seem to be the primary way the virus enters the cells so it makes sense that your dream emphasizes it. Your dream has so many elements of what is going on.
I would be horrified too if I dreamed my pets were suffering or dying from a virus! If I were dreaming and a super horrifying aspect of the dream occurred right before I woke up I would feel it was my Spirit guides trying to make sure I woke up and remembered the dream...I am sure your pet is in no way at risk...
I decided to cancel our flights thru Chicago’s ohare on Thursday. United was very nice about it. No change fees and we have one year to use the $$$. My MIL is 82 and my stepdaughter is 30 - she has POTS and is often sick.
I woke up this morning from a climate change dream and knew that I had to cancel the flight. (Although not directly relate) We will drive instead. It’s 10 hrs.
The climate change dream was about a house my extended family has owned for 52 years. It’s on the coast and was ravaged by hurricane sandy. There have been several attempts to fix it but it hasn’t happened. In the dream I am being asked to use my life’s savings to rebuild it. In the dream I keep feeling it’s going to get washed away, it’s going to be swept away by the sea. And yet in the dream, I so want it. another family wants it too but I want it. I keep thinking well i guess I could use the $ but it’s the only $ I have. All my savings. What should I do? Then I wake up with that thought. Still thinking about it .
Maybe the message is be careful what you choose to hang on to.. And climate crisis is a big factor.
"Following guidelines received today from the CDC, all guests have been asked to stay in their staterooms while test results are pending. Guests are receiving meal deliveries in their staterooms by room service, and additional television and movie options have been added to in-room programming. Guests have also been provided complimentary internet service to stay in contact with their family and loved ones, and the ship’s internet bandwidth has been increased." - @Lovendures
There is not a big enough eyeroll emoji for this one. ? ? ? These will have to do. This is EXACTLY what the cruise line did in Japan, and we all know that didn't work out so well. That British man and his wife who were posting on FB ended up in a Japanese hospital.
5 schools in the school district I teach Art club in have been closed due to someone with Covid19.
Hey neighbor!
I just keep telling myself my risk is low...my risk is low...my risk is low
Telling myself the same. A teacher in your district lives on my street, and her daughter is in my son's class. (I'm in the next district over, but we're still thisclose.)
SERENITY NOW!!
And still prepared on board food of course by on board staff.
Oh well they are doing the best they can I guess with what they have.
Loved your eyeroll. I did one too ? But then I thought of how afraid they all must be so I sent them my good thoughts and best wishes.
PS
I'm eyerolling at everything these days and that's one way to be easily hypnotized during self hypnosis or in a hypnotism education class with a group ..looking upwards.
So everyone think being safe from harm and grounded in healing thoughts and white protective light to ourselves and all others during spontaneous eyerolls!
Said tongue in cheek but with all of the above still a good idea! These are truly challenging times sigh.
Hi Michele!
I brought up the Tito's announcement too, but in the other virus preparation thread. My friend noticed people at Costco buying Vodka and rubbing alcohol and then she put two and two together. ( Not any hand sanitizer left). Tito's has a good sense of humor in how they have worded there announcements to the public. . Imagine people buying vodka for health protection.