"Daily COVID-19 SITREP In Your Area"

[MPMalloy]

I'm hearing that they're meeting tomorrow to discuss whether a SIP order is needed. I really hope not, that'll put a major crimp on my job...and make it where I'll be working even more OT trying to get everybody ready.

Not sure exactly what your job entails, but you might familiarize yourself with Windows' remote-help system if you aren't already; I've had pretty good luck with it under all but the most tightly-secured networks.

When I have to help mom, I just have her type "invite" and it gets to the right functions.

It has worked for me before.

Unrelated: It's snowing here.

[MPMalloy]

From My 1st employer: Governor closes salons, spas, tattoo parlors; asks for opening of day care centers for children of essential workers -- Here's a map of the coronavirus cases in Iowa -- Opinion piece: We are former Iowa public health administrators. We all should act as though we're contagious, and the governor should prepare the Guard.

As of Sunday morning, there are 90 positive cases of coronavirus in Iowa. No deaths so far. I haven't received any word that any of my appts, VA or other wise, have changed. Also, no word back on being prescribed 90-days worth of meds.

[NT2C]

So, the ravening horde seems to have found my local market:



Nary a slice of bread nor any eggs in sight. Still a little milk left though, so they must be drinking something else with their french toast. Another dozen eggs would have been nice but I have enough for now if I ration them. The only meat in the meat section were a few full hams, three frozen turkeys (17lb for $35) and a couple of little 12 ounce packages of black Angus steaks @ $18 each. Forget chop meat, frozen burgers, hot dogs and all forms of cold cuts not sliced to order. The chips and snacks aisle echoed as I walked it.

[raptor]

There is now a stay home except for essential business order. Note the essential business exemption is broad and travel is not being impeded.

Most people are following the stay home order.

Some odd for me items:

My neighbor had a pot luck gathering outside and they set up chairs 6 feet apart on the lawn. No I was invited.

I watched a virtual mass at my ususal church via Facebook. Very bizarre experience.

I also attended a drive through confession. Yes i am Catholic...the priest stayed on the parking lot 6 feet away. There was no one within earshot and he did his best to observe the privacy of the confessional.At the end I thanked him for his service and dedication. He thanked ne for coming because it was "theraputic" for him to be doing his job.

The price of gas is $1.85 for regular in LA.Slightly higher in MS.

The grocery stores have special early hours for the elderly in most locations. The rules on road signs have been relaxed and every restaurant is advertising take out which BTW is deemed an essential service.

My office remains open as we are also deemed essential.

Deaths and cases are up but testing has greatly increased. This group of testing was limited to people tp people with symtoms. Even so only 23% tested positive.That to me indicates a lot people with influenza or the seasonal pollen issues.

[MPMalloy]

I brought a long gun out of storage & prepped it.

[Stercutus]

The Alabama Department of Public Health is reminding people to only call 911 for emergencies. Do not call 911 for information on coronavirus, if you need ride to the doctor’s office or have mild symptoms or want to get tested for COVID-19.



Area hospitals are now begging supplies so that they can provide patient care. The hoarders have completely screwed over themselves by buying out the stocks that hospitals need of gloves, masks and sanitizer etc. There will be a lot of irony when people die from their own foibles of trying to protect themselves by buying kit that is mostly useless to them that keeps care providers from having it that they might have used to save their lives.

[majorhavoc]

The Alabama Department of Public Health is reminding people to only call 911 for emergencies. Do not call 911 for information on coronavirus, if you need ride to the doctor’s office or have mild symptoms or want to get tested for COVID-19.



Area hospitals are now begging supplies so that they can provide patient care. The hoarders have completely screwed over themselves by buying out the stocks that hospitals need of gloves, masks and sanitizer etc. There will be a lot of irony when people die from their own foibles of trying to protect themselves by buying kit that is mostly useless to them that keeps care providers from having it that they might have used to save their lives.

I got an email from Harbor Freight that while they remain open and would be happy for my business, they are donating all remaining stocks of N95 masks and nitrile gloves to health providers. I applaud that decision.

[FlashDaddy]

Today's updated numbers for today from Central Indiana (this official site only updates once per day):

From IDoH website https://www.in.gov/coronavirus/

Covid cases = 259 (201 Sunday) (126 Saturday)
Covid deaths= 7 (4 Sunday) (3 Saturday)
Total tests = 1960 (1494 Sunday) (833 Saturday)

Last Wednesday we only had 39 cases.

Noting this huge growth in cases and the fact that 7 Hoosiers have sadly passed due to this disease, Indiana's Governor, in a televised address that just concluded, has ordered that everyone stay at home starting at 11:59 pm tomorrow, for two weeks. The only exceptions he stated in his address were to go to the pharmacy, the grocery store, or the gas station.

[MPMalloy]

From The Des Moines Register:

'Prisons and jails are literally petri dishes': Inmates released, arrests relaxed across Iowa amid fears of coronavirus

For more than 500 Iowans facing eviction, coronavirus-related order gives a short reprieve

[Aceman]

Cases and deaths are meaningless information when not placed in context of population.

All reports are inflated because there are people who have it and carry/heal without testing.

Death rate is misleading without knowing the deceased decade and prior health condition.

Not saying this isn't a bad thing...just that we shouldn't go out of our way providing meaningless 'facts' and 'data' as information.

[raptor]

Cases and deaths are meaningless information when not placed in context of population.

All reports are inflated because there are people who have it and carry/heal without testing.

Death rate is misleading without knowing the deceased decade and prior health condition.

Not saying this isn't a bad thing...just that we shouldn't go out of our way providing meaningless 'facts' and 'data' as information.

I agree with the sentiment although I do vehemently state that this virus is a risk to certain people.

I would note that the latest test in LA were of symptomatic people. In other words you expect a high positive rate from this group. The actual positive rate was only 23% much lower then one would assume given the population.

So the headline screamed 800 cases and no mention of the 23% positive rate.

IMO the cure will be much worse than the disease.

[raptor]

Today's updated numbers for today from Central Indiana (this official site only updates once per day):

From IDoH website https://www.in.gov/coronavirus/

Covid cases = 259 (201 Sunday) (126 Saturday)
Covid deaths= 7 (4 Sunday) (3 Saturday)
Total tests = 1960 (1494 Sunday) (833 Saturday)

Note the positive tests were only 13.2% of this population.

[majorhavoc]

Maine added 18 new cases overnight, now up to 107. The director of our state CDC noted that 89 was the total number of cases in the United States as of 3/1/20. Five of those are hospitalized, one is fully recovered.

I strongly suspect that my medically quarantined friend is also Coronavirus positive. She's now complaining of shortness of breath in addition to a persistent fever and sore throat. In spite of all that and being a single mother with a child to care for, she cannot get her doctor to order a test.

Preaching to the choir here I know, but the true numbers of infected are higher than what is being officially reported. Probably far higher.

[JayceSlayn]

The Alabama Department of Public Health is reminding people to only call 911 for emergencies. Do not call 911 for information on coronavirus, if you need ride to the doctor’s office or have mild symptoms or want to get tested for COVID-19.



Area hospitals are now begging supplies so that they can provide patient care. The hoarders have completely screwed over themselves by buying out the stocks that hospitals need of gloves, masks and sanitizer etc. There will be a lot of irony when people die from their own foibles of trying to protect themselves by buying kit that is mostly useless to them that keeps care providers from having it that they might have used to save their lives.

I got an email from Harbor Freight that while they remain open and would be happy for my business, they are donating all remaining stocks of N95 masks and nitrile gloves to health providers. I applaud that decision.

Between myself and some neighbors, we have a small stock of N95s which I plan on sending to the hospital as their inventory gets scarce. The hospital has already started PPE rationing, and in some settings has limited residents to a single N95 per week. The hospital has advised residents that they are allowed to bring their own gloves and homemade masks, but not N95 masks (for whatever unstated reason, I can only guess ). The hospital has not called for donations of homemade masks, but on the assumption that in a few weeks that will start looking more attractive than the alternative (no PPE left), I have begun manufacturing some homemade masks.

While vacuum bags were rated poorly by this study: https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/bes ... ask-virus/ and https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... a_Pandemic, primarily for their difficulty of of breathing through, they did perform well in particulate capture. I tested a prototype mask, using HEPA filter material from vacuum bags, and my wife and I both concluded that breathing was not any more difficult than a commercial N95, despite the study's findings. This result may vary with the brand of material you are using, but in my case it seemed fine. Notably: if you are thinking of using vacuum bag material, it should be HEPA rated, and in-fact the HEPA rating exceeds the N95 specification.

I started with a pattern from https://freesewing.org/blog/facemask-frenzy/, but the prototype mask leaked around the bridge of the nose, because it could not follow the contour there - commercial N95s have a metal strip for this purpose. I've modified the pattern to include a pocket in the bridge of the nose, for a straightened paper clip, which can be bent to achieve a better seal. My (only partly joking) alternative was to suggest simply taping the bridge of the mask to the user's face, instead. Also, I added short sections of elastic band (to conserve my limited elastic material) proximal to the bands going to secure it to the head, to help keep it snug during use (as the main ribbon I have has no stretch at all).

[Ever]

Sunday, March 22, 2020
US - 34,770 active, 175 recovered, 475 deceased
Kansas - 64 active, 2 deceased

personal report:
Bug In day 15

stress level today:
- vacillating between fear, anger, & brain dead

mental preparedness exercises for coming zombie attack:
- again attempted mindfulness meditation. more success today.

inhouse report:
- didn't enjoy my cooking much.
- bored and unable to settle on much that uses the brain.
- peanut butter an crackers are going four times faster than normal consumption. Stress eating. Talked to friend who was doing the same thing. The news interviewed someone else in SIP who said they were going to get fat from all the stress eating.

"What did you do during the pandemic?"
"Put on a lot of weight."

physical preparedness for coming zombie attack:
- raining today so did a brisk 25 min walk up & down the floor hallway

apartment building report:
- was invited to eat dinner with a resident. "I'm not sick, it's okay." Some really nice people are still not getting the concept of social distancing.

local report:
- Sunday evening my county joined the other Kansas counties that have ordered a SIP.

[raptor]

Note headline in NOLA.com reads :

Louisiana coronavirus cases see largest single-day spike to 1,172 with surge of test results

So test results for yesterday are in and % of positives has declined to 19.7% from 23%.

These are again people who are symptomatic. A very low positive rate.

[NT2C]

physical preparedness for coming zombie attack:
- raining today so did a brisk 25 min walk up & down the floor hallway

You're joking, right?

All that concern you have about air leakage around your door from the hallway into your apartment and you go exercise in the hallway?

[NT2C]

I started with a pattern from https://freesewing.org/blog/facemask-frenzy/, but the prototype mask leaked around the bridge of the nose, because it could not follow the contour there - commercial N95s have a metal strip for this purpose. I've modified the pattern to include a pocket in the bridge of the nose, for a straightened paper clip, which can be bent to achieve a better seal. My (only partly joking) alternative was to suggest simply taping the bridge of the mask to the user's face, instead. Also, I added short sections of elastic band (to conserve my limited elastic material) proximal to the bands going to secure it to the head, to help keep it snug during use (as the main ribbon I have has no stretch at all).

Heavy gauge solid copper wire would work. I'd suggest 10 gauge or better. If you can't find any then double up some 14 gauge.

[BullOnParade]

Ontario is closing all non essential business tomorrow at midnight. We find out tomorrow what is essential. I work in a small manufacturing facility. Definitely not essential, but our owners sure think we are. Will update tomorrow with who makes the cut.

[JayceSlayn]

I started with a pattern from https://freesewing.org/blog/facemask-frenzy/, but the prototype mask leaked around the bridge of the nose, because it could not follow the contour there - commercial N95s have a metal strip for this purpose. I've modified the pattern to include a pocket in the bridge of the nose, for a straightened paper clip, which can be bent to achieve a better seal. My (only partly joking) alternative was to suggest simply taping the bridge of the mask to the user's face, instead. Also, I added short sections of elastic band (to conserve my limited elastic material) proximal to the bands going to secure it to the head, to help keep it snug during use (as the main ribbon I have has no stretch at all).

Heavy gauge solid copper wire would work. I'd suggest 10 gauge or better. If you can't find any then double up some 14 gauge.

Copper wire would certainly work too. It has the advantage of being easier to anneal after work hardening, but I think it may work harden quicker than the spring(ish) steel of a paper clip. Copper would also be antimicrobial. I picked paper clips since I'd be happier to part with many of them, and they would be easier to replace in an office environment if they eventually break from bending too much.

I'll try to post any more relevant info after round 2 of prototyping later today, but more suggestions are always welcome!

[raptor]

Ontario is closing all non essential business tomorrow at midnight. We find out tomorrow what is essential.

YMMV but:

This is a list of essential services in LA in force now and it uses the federal definitions.
https://gov.louisiana.gov/assets/docs/c ... -sheet.pdf

Specifically anyone who works in :
Anything medical, dental & veterinarians.
Gas stations
Restaurant take out
food stores
Pharmacy
banks
financial
IT
Delivery services
transport services
mechanics
anything that supports these business.

NOTE: Even closed businesses may have essential operations on site for payroll, bill payment, cleaning and R&M.

[Stercutus]

The wife went to Walmart to get some stuff she needs for work and found the shelves were full of food but still out of all the stuff you would expect like sanitizer.

[sheddi]

My wife and kids had a full day at home. Total achievements were essentially zero unless you count watching half a season of Agents of Shield and growing gazillions of crops in Farming Simulator 19 on the XBox ...

I went to work as normal. Management have decided that some of us are essential workers but haven't yet decided exactly *who*. I hope to find out tomorrow. As posted in the other thread here, the UK has been given shelter-in-place orders. I'm therefore in the awkward position of having to travel to work tomorrow to (hopefully) find out if I'm essential; however if I'm not essential, I'm not meant to travel to work

Per the oficial figures, there are now 171 confirmed cases in Hampshire (my local area), around 1 in 7.5k of the population.

Nationally, we have 6650 cases (+957), around 1 in 10k population and 335 deaths (+54).

[sheddi]

Area hospitals are now begging supplies so that they can provide patient care. The hoarders have completely screwed over themselves by buying out the stocks that hospitals need of gloves, masks and sanitizer etc. There will be a lot of irony when people die from their own foibles of trying to protect themselves by buying kit that is mostly useless to them that keeps care providers from having it that they might have used to save their lives.

I got an email from Harbor Freight that while they remain open and would be happy for my business, they are donating all remaining stocks of N95 masks and nitrile gloves to health providers. I applaud that decision.

Between myself and some neighbors, we have a small stock of N95s which I plan on sending to the hospital as their inventory gets scarce. The hospital has already started PPE rationing, and in some settings has limited residents to a single N95 per week. The hospital has advised residents that they are allowed to bring their own gloves and homemade masks, but not N95 masks (for whatever unstated reason, I can only guess ).

Please excuse my extreme ignorance, my background is industrial and hazmat not healthcare.

Why is everybody using disposable N95-type masks rather than proper respirators? At least here in the UK, you wouldn't see asbestos strippers or chemical/nuclear workers in disposable masks for all the reasons mentioned here;they don't fit reliably and have a short life. I've had the same respirator at work for years, when needed it's used daily and decontam'ed after each use. Particle filters get changed occasionally (gas ones are changed more often, as the absorbents have a relatively short life, but that's not relevant here).

Are healthcare workers just not comfortable with decontaminating kit? Or is it an image thing, medics in facemasks are familiar and reassuring but a respirator is scary?