Category Archives: healthcare

We Don’t Need No Stinking Ventilators!

via We Don’t Need No Stinking Ventilators!

1.3+ million people infected and the president does not think we need those ventilators because they are too expensive.

Think about that!

Remember those stories of death panels?

Looks like Donald of Orange is the head of those panels.

Opinion | An Open Letter to President Trump – The New York Times

The nation craves a plan, not hunches.

Step 1: First, you need to call for a 50-state sheltering-in-place/social-distancing program. While the experts differ on how long that national lockdown should be — two weeks, four weeks, eight weeks, whatever the C.D.C. recommends, I say — they virtually all agree that it is needed to manifestly slow the spread of the coronavirus, to prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed and to buy us the critical time we need to collect the data required to inform all future decision-making.

Step 2: We use this period of lockdown to gather as much data as possible about who has the coronavirus, where they live, what their ages and degrees of illness are, what the mortality rate is at what ages, and what other ailments or immune deficiencies they may have.

Step 3: This data can then be the foundation of what Katz calls “the pivot.” Once we have slowed the transmission of the coronavirus nationally — and developed a stratified national risk map — we can then, on the basis of that data, said Katz, begin phasing people back into the workplace to get the economy humming again.

Coronavirus response highlights a divided policy approach between state and federal governments – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

“The Government has a responsibility to deal with this health emergency. That is the first priority. Then, it needs to deal with the economic consequences of the health emergency and the appropriate response. It needs to be done in that order.”

Source: Coronavirus response highlights a divided policy approach between state and federal governments – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Where Pandemics Come From — and How to Stop Them • The Revelator

“It’s a mix of biodiversity, but one that was created by people, not nature,” Keesing says. “We create a mix of species that don’t naturally occur together, and then it’s kind of like running an uncontrolled experiment. This virus jumps to that species.” Maybe that’s when a pathogen that we didn’t know about, that hadn’t previously made anyone sick (to our knowledge), suddenly becomes virulent and infects humans. “It was only when we did that to biodiversity that that virus became dangerous.” These types of markets pose one of the clearest threats to animal and human health, but they’re not the only threat. A greater risk is posed by the complex mix of habitat loss, population declines in wild species, and population increases among livestock and domesticated animals, invasive species and other more adaptable forms of wildlife.

Source: Where Pandemics Come From — and How to Stop Them • The Revelator

New ‘point-of-care’ finger-prick tests for coronavirus are being rolled out. Here’s how they work – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Will USA get too?

The criteria for who can get tested for COVID-19 is growing, and new types of tests are arriving in Australia soon. Here’s how testing works and who is eligible.

Source: New ‘point-of-care’ finger-prick tests for coronavirus are being rolled out. Here’s how they work – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

“It’s Spreading Throughout The Hospital”: NYC Healthcare Workers Describe Dire Conditions As Coronavirus Patients Flood Wards – Gothamist

“There’s more fear, a palpable fear among staff members. A lot of nurses have called out.”

Source: “It’s Spreading Throughout The Hospital”: NYC Healthcare Workers Describe Dire Conditions As Coronavirus Patients Flood Wards – Gothamist

Coronavirus in Brazil: Cuban doctors wait for their chance | Americas| North and South American news impacting on Europe | DW | 25.03.2020

Cuban doctors are renowned for their expertise with epidemics. As COVID-19 spreads, Brazil is considering giving medical licenses to thousands of Cuban physicians in the country. This one is waiting for his chance.

Source: Coronavirus in Brazil: Cuban doctors wait for their chance | Americas| North and South American news impacting on Europe | DW | 25.03.2020

Coronavirus Live Updates: As India Imposes 21-Day Lockdown, Trump Calls for U.S. to Be Open ‘by Easter’ – The New York Times

The Tokyo Olympics have been postponed. New York, now the center of the outbreak in America, braces for a flood of patients.

Me: It’s BOHICA time (look it up if you do not know what it means).

President and Vice President don’t think anything through; denying all they hear and even endangering their own families. My God, what are we to do? I’ve written my Governor and Senator this morning – pleading for them to stay the course and do the right thing. I’ll be 76 in July, I want to at least see 77, next year. I’d like to go back to work in the clinic in our homeless shelter but fear for my life now if I do. Now with this announcement by the President… what am I/we to do?