I saw a county by county rating of social distancing. Hunterdon got a B, Essex got an A. However, Rt 31 is empty enough that when I went to the store I saw a man rollerblading down the middle. While not as busy as Rt 22, Rt 31 is still pretty busy during normal times. But when I drove to M/SO to drop off eggs to family members around the same time I saw multiple people walking on the sidewalk and only once did I see one group give wide berth to a passing group, most just passed each other at a close distance
One possible explanation for the ratings, for any small errands most of Hunterdon County has to travel pretty far. The pharmacy is five miles away from me, so when I picked up my meds the other day I logged 10 miles. The Shop Rite is 8 miles away. So if I run out for milk and veggies, my phone will show I traveled 16 miles, whereas in M/SO almost everyone can go to a supermarket or pharmacy less than two miles from their home, so even if they then go out to Cold Stone and stand person to person in line, their total distance will still be much less than out here so it will look better on paper
Maybe they rarely travel because of their wide spread isolation?
There is probably a higher number of people there who are well-prepared to be stuck at home for extended lengths of time. If you live in the mountains or plains you live with the possibility of blizzards, for one thing.
I keep reading of the number of new cases and number of deaths.
BUT although clearly the number deaths are accounted for, I confess that I would like to hear more news of the number of recovered cases who had been hospitalized. -Maybe because even a few more stories of recovery could be somewhat reassuring while not undermining the seriousness of the situation.
Additionally, -It occurs to me that obviously the number of infected cannot be accurately measured especially since (as some folks here on MOL have mentioned) many people get symptoms, stay home and recover, -thus unreported or even tested. -So we may never really know the true mortality rate.
I keep reading of the number of new cases and number of deaths.
BUT although clearly the number deaths are accounted for, I confess that I would like to hear more news of the number of recovered cases who had been hospitalized. -Maybe because even a few more stories of recovery could be somewhat reassuring while not undermining the seriousness of the situation.
I don't recall the exact number but Gov. Cuomo this morning had some encouraging news about the number of hospitalized cases that had recovered.
Now that the ruling on MASKS seems to be "FOR", there's great info here everyone can use.
Also helpful info on who is ready to take or can use any extra masks you've got the fabric and the time to make (something I've been itching to do, but I gave away the sewing machine ages ago. This doesn't seem to require one.)
Link came to me from a trusted friend, and the source is the NYTimes. Tested it and it seems legit.
Chins up, everyone. Wear your home-made masks with pride!
There is probably a higher number of people there who are well-prepared to be stuck at home for extended lengths of time. If you live in the mountains or plains you live with the possibility of blizzards, for one thing.
You reminded me of a great movie to add to @drummerboy 's pandemic watch list. The Shining!
I noticed that blowhard NYU law professor Epstein, who originally predicted 500 deaths and then corrected himself to 5000, hasn't been tweeting now that the U.S. death toll is above 6000 and clearly heading into five figures, at least.
I had higher hopes for the Stanford/Israeli professor Michael Levitt, who was actually involved with the Chinese in crunching the numbers and has a sunnier view than most about the endgame here. I can't help but note, though, that he said deaths in Israel would be 10 at most. There are now at least 39 deaths in Israel and sure to be more.
Now that the ruling on MASKS seems to be "FOR", there's great info here everyone can use.
Also helpful info on who is ready to take or can use any extra masks you've got the fabric and the time to make (something I've been itching to do, but I gave away the sewing machine ages ago. This doesn't seem to require one.)
Link came to me from a trusted friend, and the source is the NYTimes. Tested it and it seems legit.
Chins up, everyone. Wear your home-made masks with pride!
China is manufacturing over 200 million masks every day. S Korea has centralized mask distribution by its government where they stock up their pharmacies each for customers to purchase.
What do we do? Tell people to build your own masks at home. Which most will do because there is no other choice.
Sad.
Also sad we were lied to on the need for masks. Many believed that lie and now the price will have to be paid.
Also sad we were lied to on the need for masks. Many believed that lie and now the price will have to be paid.
One way to get through this is to recognize a difference between lies and recommendations that change because new information or contingencies emerge. If experts can’t shift what they say because of what they see without being distrusted, we’re in even bigger trouble.
Also sad we were lied to on the need for masks. Many believed that lie and now the price will have to be paid.
One way to get through this is to recognize a difference between lies and recommendations that change because new information or contingencies emerge. If experts can’t shift what they say because of what they see without being distrusted, we’re in even bigger trouble.
Sheer incompetence on the part of the public officials who were telling people not to wear masks. If they didn't know, they should have known. Their advice cost lives, although to be fair, I don't know where people could have obtained masks. Of course, that in itself speaks to how screwed-up things are.
Also sad we were lied to on the need for masks. Many believed that lie and now the price will have to be paid.
One way to get through this is to recognize a difference between lies and recommendations that change because new information or contingencies emerge. If experts can’t shift what they say because of what they see without being distrusted, we’re in even bigger trouble.
Their recommendation was a blatant lie. They thought they could get away with it in the hope the virus can be controlled. Even though they knew there was a public risk.
The knowledge that silent carriers can give it to you was widely known in the medical community in early January. They also knew that surgical masks, not better N95's, would cut the viral load being ingested. Just wondering how many commuted on crowded trains. buses, subways, sitting close to silent carriers.
Now, what you should have happened in January, comes the "enlightenment."
Sheer incompetence on the part of the public officials who were telling people not to wear masks. If they didn't know, they should have known. Their advice cost lives, although to be fair, I don't know where people could have obtained masks. Of course, that in itself speaks to how screwed-up things are.
Incompetence, if that’s what you choose to call it, isn’t lies, either. The distinction remains important, in my opinion, because if you believe the experts got things wrong — whether because information changed or they just screwed up — you might still give them a chance to get things right. If you believe they lied, you undermine anything they do, and there’s not much hope.
Sheer incompetence on the part of the public officials who were telling people not to wear masks. If they didn't know, they should have known. Their advice cost lives, although to be fair, I don't know where people could have obtained masks. Of course, that in itself speaks to how screwed-up things are.
Incompetence, if that’s what you choose to call it, isn’t lies, either. The distinction remains important, in my opinion, because if you believe the experts got things wrong — whether because information changed or they just screwed up — you might still give them a chance to get things right. If you believe they lied, you undermine anything they do, and there’s not much hope.
In fairness, it's also true that competent well-meaning people in medicine and other fields often disagree with each other and form their opinions on often tentative and uncertain information, which is especially true in this crisis.
Surgical masks are pretty much a rare commodity these days, but at 10pm this evening a package arrived from a friend in Italy with 150 3M surgical masks. No need to wait on lines hundreds of people long, some of whom sleep overnight on the street for the luxury of buying a 10-pack. Kind of insane in "Asia's World City."
As for protests and rioting, that has subsided everywhere except in residential areas adjacent to proposed quarantine sites.
Covid-19 can be asymptomatic for up to 14 days, so everyone wears masks as a courtesy. And they appear to have slowed transmission rate in Hong Kong. The trick now is not running out of masks.
In fairness, it's also true that competent well-meaning people in medicine and other fields often disagree with each other and form their opinions on often tentative and uncertain information, which is especially true in this crisis.
Sheer incompetence on the part of the public officials who were telling people not to wear masks. If they didn't know, they should have known. Their advice cost lives, although to be fair, I don't know where people could have obtained masks. Of course, that in itself speaks to how screwed-up things are.
Incompetence, if that’s what you choose to call it, isn’t lies, either. The distinction remains important, in my opinion, because if you believe the experts got things wrong — whether because information changed or they just screwed up — you might still give them a chance to get things right. If you believe they lied, you undermine anything they do, and there’s not much hope.
It was not incompetence. They all knew that people would be at risk when they said the uninfected did not need masks. It was political decision to stave off hoarding and possibly panic.
Just as WHO lied or misled by omission when they were pressured by governments to not announce that there is a pandemic, delaying the announcement by 2 to 3 weeks. The pressure was for economic reasons.
In fairness, it's also true that competent well-meaning people in medicine and other fields often disagree with each other and form their opinions on often tentative and uncertain information, which is especially true in this crisis.
Yup, that’s what I was trying to say.
@dave knew in February that COVID-19 could be asymptomatic and people should wear masks to prevent its spread. Where was the Surgeon General and CDC?
“We’ve learned there’s a fair amount of asymptomatic spread, and so we’ve asked the CDC to take another look at whether or not having more people wear masks will prevent transmission of the disease to other people,” Adams said.
@dave knew in February that COVID-19 could be asymptomatic and people should wear masks to prevent its spread. Where was the Surgeon General and CDC?
They were both diddling around while dave just knew.
(No reflection intended on dave, who wrote “appear to have slowed.”)
Is the Surgeon General any different than the Governor of Georgia who said he just found out that COVID-19 could be asymptomatic?
“We’ve learned there’s a fair amount of asymptomatic spread, and so we’ve asked the CDC to take another look at whether or not having more people wear masks will prevent transmission of the disease to other people,” Adams said.
DaveSchmidt - Are you convinced that the Surgeon General told people that masks were not necessary because he wasn't convinced they were effective?
"US officials including Surgeon General Jerome Adams and Vice President Mike Pence have urged people against buying and wearing masks to protect themselves from the new coronavirus.
In an interview on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" on Monday, Adams said wearing face masks could actually increase a person's risk of contracting the coronavirus.
"You can increase your risk of getting it by wearing a mask if you are not a health care provider," Adams said. "Folks who don't know how to wear them properly tend to touch their faces a lot and actually can increase the spread of coronavirus," he added."
Is the Surgeon General any different than the Governor of Georgia who said he just found out that COVID-19 could be asymptomatic?
Let’s not confuse the knowledge that the coronavirus can spread asymptomatically, which came months ago, with knowledge that masks are a deterrent that the public should be encouraged to wear.
DaveSchmidt - Are you convinced that the Surgeon General told people that masks were not necessary because he wasn't convinced they were effective?
The surgeon general is a political appointee, whose mind I don’t presume to read one way or the other. Again, let’s not confuse Adams and Pence with the experts on the case at the CDC and the WHO.
I'm through with this subject. I was lucky enough to be able to get some masks about a week ago - it took about three weeks to get them. I only have a few. I'm 78 and will wear a mask if I have to go grocery shopping in the event we can't get a food delivery, which is impossible.
A question, for cramer, BG9 or any of us, is: As the CDC, the WHO, and other health agencies continue to make recommendations during the pandemic, how are you going to take them? Are you going to presume these professionals are committed to getting things right, while granting the likelihood they won’t always be? Dismiss them as liars swayed by political interests? Somewhere in between?
The only people that I pay attention to are Dr. Fauci, and Dr. Birx. They're the most credible, although I was disappointed with Dr. Birx last week when she said there was no reason for New York to be concerned about the possible of hospital beds and ventilators. I thought that she lost credibility.
"But this week, Dr. Birx’s comments casting doubt on talk of ventilator and hospital-bed shortages, and praising Mr. Trump’s attention to detail in lavish terms, have raised questions about her independence as the number of coronavirus infections in the United States has soared past 100,000.
Practically overnight, Dr. Birx has become a partisan Rorschach test. Conservative commentators have praised her as a truth-teller, pushing back on coronavirus hysteria. Critics of Mr. Trump accused her of squandering the credibility she had developed as a health official in Democratic and Republican administrations.
Dr. Birx’s comments, especially those dismissing ventilator shortages, startled some health experts. While most hospitals might have sufficient supplies at the moment, many worry about a crush of patients in the very near future."
Where did you find the info?