6033

So about a zillion posts ago in this thread I mentioned that I live in two states (WI and CO) due to my prior marriage kids being in WI and my wife and step kids being in CO. Normally this means hopping on a plane once a week. I’ve decided not to do this anymore until things calm down since I expect airlines to be closed any day and as infections go up air travel (and airports) is less and less safe.

So, I came to an agreement with the kids’ mom and will be driving them to CO tomorrow for a month or however long we are locked down. I’m expecting my 15 hour drive tomorrow to be surreal with less cars on the road than usual. I wonder if cops in IL will pull me over since they are on lockdown? Hmm.

6034

Target, Walmart, Wegmans, and other big stores should let trucks park there for the night. They need them to stay supplied, and the drivers can eat, wash up, and poop there.

6035
6036

New York City just announced they’ll stop testing those not needing hospitalization.

Probably because it will be impossible to test everybody, but it’s the same that happened in Italy and Spain. Here in Spain we are trying now (as in the coming days by health officials) to to shift to a broader testing strategy, but I think it will take a while to ramp up enough to really cover all non-hospitalized symptomatic patients (again, over 30k symptomatic patients that have not been tested due to mild symptoms in Madrid)…

6037

Just made a trek to the supermarket and back. It’s the second time in 3 days, which I don’t like, but I don’t have a car and don’t want to brave a taxi (assuming I can even find one) so there is a limit on how much I can carry. And now, I probably have to go out again, as the nice old lady downstairs is terrified to go anywhere so we are asking her if she needs anything.

While I was out the police drove by and shouted at me because I was not wearing a mask. I put a bandana on to satisfy them. I don’t have a mask — they were made of unobtainium here before, and I hadn’t looked for one recently because I actually think it is a bad thing for the general public to buy them all up when they will surely be needed by medical care providers, emergency service workers, etc. But I suspect the police are going to be enforcing mask-wearing, so I guess I better try to find one next time I go out.

6038

I’ve of the opinion that if you can find a masks, buy them. Whatever masks find themselves on the retail supply chain almost certainly won’t make it to the professionals that need it more. If you feel strongly about it, donate whatever part of the box you dont need for yourself to a hospital or whatever EMT/Medical staff you can get to.

6039

My local MA town is offering free testing today for people who think they may have the disease, just as a random datapoint. Of course the only way to get a real handle on the situation is to test everyone, every week if not every day, but this is a start, anyway.

6040

You are probably right about this. I guess I better start ducking into pharmacies.

6041

Per my nurse friend in NYC, no, not a joke.

6042

Actually one of the main stated reasons is because its wasting critical medical equipment (protective gear, masks, etc) that we need to conserve for hospitals.

“demand for unnecessary testing is contributing to a national shortage of masks, gowns, collection swabs and other supplies, all of which need to be discarded by health care workers after each test.”

6043

I guess we were all naive in thinking hospitals had a few months worth of basic supplies in stock.

6044

Shit got stolen and flipped on ebay or stockpiled in some nurses’s, janitor’s or doctor’s house.

6045

Every surface I or someone else touches I imagine a stain of virus left behind. I hate this.

6046

That is depressing if true. :(

6047

Sanitizer,clorox wipes and gloves I gave to a nurse disappeared. She just took them home. She did not use up a whole box in 2 days.

6048

My workplace literally put cleaning supplies under lock and key. It’s a very sad commentary, but it was an action which was required as the stock began to dwindle quite quickly.

6049

OTOH, it is the Thieves’ Guild, so I’m not they should be surprised.

6050

Which is the reason why it’s impossible to test everybody.

Anyways, this is how Spain and Italy are operating. And it’s against the WHO advice, but it does seem there are significant logistical challenges to implement widespread testing once the infection rates spike up. Let’s see how the “rapid testing” Spain wants to roll out works out in reality.

6051

SHHH! Don’t tell! LOL

6052

Positive

The Food and Drug Administration late Friday approved the first coronavirus test that can be conducted entirely at the point of care for a patient — and deliver results in 45 minutes.

The FDA granted “emergency use authorization” to Cepheid, a California company that makes a rapid molecular test for the coronavirus. Getting results in 45 minutes would be far quicker than the current situation in which tests typically are sent to central reference labs that can take days to deliver results.

The FDA authorization covers “patient care settings,” including doctors’ offices, but initially will be used primarily by hospitals and emergency departments, the company said. It added that it doesn’t require a nasal swab; nasal aspirate can be used.

In a video on the company’s website, David Persing, Cepheid’s chief medical and technology officer, said the test will “help alleviate the pressure” that the covid-19 has placed on health-care facilities. The new test, he said, will help doctors quickly decide which treatment is appropriate for which patients.

The test has been designed to operate on the company’s automated GeneXpert Systems. There are about 23,000 of those systems throughout the world, of which 5,000 are in the United States, according to the company.

The firm plans to begin selling the test at the end of the month.