Coronavirus, Covid 19 Discussion and How It Has Affected Your Daily Life Chat Thread

[rosemarythyme]

Our biggest hospital is on information lockdown - almost no info is going in or out because they don't want to panic people despite things looking grim. They're actively firing nurses for speaking up about it. :T:T Which doesn't sound very good at all.

So the approach is "if we put our heads in the sand, it doesn't exist"?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

So the approach is "if we put our heads in the sand, it doesn't exist"?

Being frank here, they're super scummy. Always have been. They treat you like garbage if your insurance isn't very good. When my mom had cancer they threw her in a room with three other people while she was scared and ashamed and naked and couldn't control her bowels and her only privacy was a curtain and those awful gowns. They tried to keep us from having more than one visitor at a time. Then the doctor came in announced that she was dying of cancer and had three months to live without treatment, dropped the clipboard and just left. If you have good insurance or a lot of money you get a private room.
I've had friends who worked there and they would regularly send out "You're fat" letters to people who weren't even that overweight. If you were outside your "ideal" BMI they sent you a letter being like "You failed the weight part of your health exam! Lose weight and we'll give you a $50 gift card!". Management "encouraged" people to follow through... Or else. They also demand TONS of overtime from their staff.
The ONE good thing they have going on is they pay their (paid) staff REALLY well. (They take advantage of any unpaid internship stuff they can whenever possible.) And for that reason they get some really top notch doctors. But everyone is angry all the time there and those top notch doctors are absolute wankers, especially to the lower staff. I've heard a lot of horror stories. But they also actively court these doctors to win awards for research/surgery/innovation so they can claim they're the #1 hospital in the area based on that rather than based on patient experiences. There's a lot of bribery going on too.
But they're just HUGE. People call them Fort Clinic. And they DO have really high tier facilities and doctors. They just treat everyone like trash.

The other hospital is the best hospital I've ever been to and they are super sweet even in the ER at 3AM. But they don't pay as well and their billing system is a mess. They don't have the tech or facility size of the other. They're also a teaching hospital so they get a lot of young blood instead of experienced top tier world renowned doctors. But I'd take them over the other any day of the week. Our hospital system is kind of crazy.
/endrant

 

[ChocolateMouse]

So, basically it doesn't surprise me at all that they're being trashy and terrible. They've always had money and power on their mind and not much else. And if they're firing nurses I doubt they're hiring nurses. :T

UH I have no idea about. I can't find anything about them hiring in nurses with six months left in their programs. So it might just not be a thing here.

 

[IamRainey]

The CDC has issued a new recommendation that we wear masks in public even if we exhibit no symptoms. The point is that by mask-wearing we protect one another from asymptomatic transmission. Some online have been calling this the "I protect you, you protect me" program.

"CDC continues to study the spread and effects of the novel coronavirus across the United States. We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms (“asymptomatic”) and that even those who eventually develop symptoms (“pre-symptomatic”) can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms. This means that the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity—for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing—even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms. In light of this new evidence, CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission." (my emphasis)

The President immediately undermined that strategy to flatten the curve despite the fact that in China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia and Singapore where mask wearing is part of the culture they have had remarkably shallow progression of Covid-19.

“I just don't want to be doing that. I don't know. Somehow sitting in the Oval Office behind that beautiful Resolute Desk, great Resolute Desk, I think and wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens. I don't see it for myself.”

Who, exactly, is he meeting with these days behind the beautiful and great Resolute Desk now that air travel is basically shut down? And isn't that great beautiful desk inside the privacy of his office anyway? Still, he felt it was important to announce that he has no intention of following the guideline.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Not that anyone can find facemasks to buy. >_>;

 

[JaeG]

I know this is long but I listened to it last night on VOX . I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. This morning I had to hunt for the article on Yahoo even tho this should be a top story. President Trump was also notified. I saw the words come out of Jared's mouth so this is first hand.
************************************

Florida emergency management official says 3M selling masks to foreign countries: 'We're chasing ghosts'
The head of Florida's Division of Emergency Management has accused U.S. mask manufacturer 3M of shipping the critical protective equipment to foreign countries who outbid U.S. buyers -- even as hospitals and state officials desperately scramble to secure N95 protective masks for healthcare workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.

Jared Moskowitz told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Thursday that he discovered that 3M distributors were prioritizing foreign buyers after they refused to sell him the essential equipment

The idea that an American company is selling masks away from our hospitals...doctors...the real heroes on the front lines is... really criminal."

— Jared Moskowitz

"For the last several weeks, we have had a boiler room chasing down 3M authorized distributors [and] brokers representing that they sell the N95 masks, only get to warehouses that are completely empty," Moskowitz said. "[We are] being told that our shipments are on cargo planes and the flights don't even appear. We are chasing ghosts. I just decided to turn up the heat and tell people what is actually happening in the N95 mask space."

Moskowitz claimed to have reached out to many 3M authorized distributors in the United States to confirm his suspicions, and said he was shocked to find American companies quietly partnering with foreign buyers at a time of national crisis.

"They're specifically saying, 'Listen, we are sorry your order got pushed down, but ... there are foreign countries who do business differently and they're showing up with cash.'"

Moskowitz said he has a hard time grappling with "the idea that an American company is selling masks away from our hospitals, away from our doctors ... away from the real heroes on the front lines" and called for investigations into what he described as "criminal" activity.




"I can't, other emergency management directors, CEOs of hospitals can't get this life-saving PPE [Personal Protective Equipment] because a company decided to make a globalist decision and not put America first."


Moskowitz voiced his frustrations on Twitter and said he was later contacted by the communications team at Minnesota-based 3M, who admitted to a "broken system" but stopped short of taking action.

"I thought perhaps maybe what 3M would finally say to me is that they have masks to sell me, but what I actually found out is even more frightening," he explained. "... Which is that the system is completely broken. 3M has lost total control. What I asked 3M is, are they aware they're authorized distributors -- U.S. companies -- are telling me the reason why our orders are being pushed down is because foreign countries are showing up with cash to purchase the orders ... not only did they not dispute it, [but] I asked them if they put out any guidance to prevent the behavior and the answer was no," Moskowitz added.

3M told Moskowitz that they had no stock to sell him, despite producing close to 10 million masks a day,

" I said ... 'I have money and I'd like to purchase some of those.' They said I couldn't, they have no masks to sell me. It's criminal what is happening."

Moskowitz emphasized that his criticism is not directed towards the "workers in the factories at 3M who are working 24 hours a day to try to create this life-saving PPE. This is about the executives who decided not to put America first and it's going to have devastating consequences."

The official said he offered to pay "ten, sometimes twenty" times of the standard price of the masks, but was denied.


"Since when do we have a U.S. company that sells masks and I try to offer them money and they don't sell them to me? I have to go through their authorized distributors and their only excuse is that they don't have a perfect system.

"I'm relegated to making deals with brokers at costs that are ten and sometimes 20 times the actual costs of these masks, [but] at the end of the day, regardless of the cost of this point, getting the mask is the most important and we can't even get them."

Earlier in the week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said his state was on the hunt for N95 masks and called the procurement process "shady as hell," adding that despite ordering "so many," they only get a little bit here and a little bit there.”

Here's the other side of the coin:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/ameri...s-back-after-trump-criticises-mask-production

 

[IamRainey]

Not that anyone can find facemasks to buy. >_>;

I'm thinking you've seen this before but they are very easy to make.

If you don't have a machine you really could do this by hand. If you don't have elastic cord or braid you could make some fabric ties. If you don't have fabric on hand you probably have some old shirts or something that you could use for the small rectangles.

Things I have learned while making them:

• It's helpful if the front and back of the mask are different so you know you're consistently putting the same side toward your mouth and nose.
• A doubled length of pipe cleaner can be attached to one long side to make a moldable shape around your nose.
• Giving your mask a good HOT ironing will sanitize it when you get back in so it's ready to go back out when you need to.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

City councils are considering thumbing their noses at the governor and imposing stricter rules.

Well that's encouraging.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I'm thinking you've seen this before but they are very easy to make.

If you don't have a machine you really could do this by hand. If you don't have elastic cord or braid you could make some fabric ties. If you don't have fabric on hand you probably have some old shirts or something that you could use for the small rectangles.

Things I have learned while making them:

• It's helpful if the front and back of the mask are different so you know you're consistently putting the same side toward your mouth and nose.
• A doubled length of pipe cleaner can be attached to one long side to make a moldable shape around your nose.
• Giving your mask a good HOT ironing will sanitize it when you get back in so it's ready to go back out when you need to.

Yeah, I have a sewing machine and can make em. Know plenty of people who borrow mine (the sewing machine that is) that can't though. XD Might make several.

 

[IamRainey]

Yeah, I have a sewing machine and can make em. Know plenty of people who borrow mine (the sewing machine that is) that can't though. XD Might make several.

By all means! If you set up a little production line it can go very fast. For example, I cut stacks of fabric rectangles and elastic straps. My daughter and I pinned them together. I sewed while she ironed what I had pieced. She pleated them, I did the top stitching.

We were doing 40 in a morning.

Turning them is so fast and simple. All you have to do is reach for the straps inside the pocket and it turns out instantly.