COVID-19

[UMichfly]

Michigan (likely Detroit and not much else) and Beaumont? Compelling.

Still part of America brother, and definitely a part that has a big impact on that economy you profess to care so much about. Like it or not, concentrated urban areas getting shellacked by this thing will have a huge impact on those isolated rural areas that don't have a high viral caseload.

 

[Treetop Flyer]

Still part of America brother, and definitely a part that has a big impact on that economy you profess to care so much about. Like it or not, concentrated urban areas getting shellacked by this thing will have a huge impact on those isolated rural areas that don't have a high viral caseload.

So other than NYC, Detroit, parts of Chicago, and maybe New Orleans, where else has it bad? None of those places even are exceeding hospital capacity.

Meanwhile the rest of the country is laying off healthcare workers. I guess the curve is pretty flat.

 

[UMichfly]

So other than NYC, Detroit, parts of Chicago, and maybe New Orleans, where else has it bad?

Well, given that a hair over 37,300 people have died nationally excepting those 4 metropolitan areas, I'd say some other places have it bad.

I am genuinely curious what your solution is. Free the herd entirely? Wall off the cities? How do we keep the economy from being cornholed by the inflated death rate? More to the point, what makes you or I as professional pilots, alcoholics, and womanizers so much better equipped to manage a pandemic than professionals in infectious disease?

 

[Treetop Flyer]

Well, given that a hair over 37,300 people have died nationally excepting those 4 metropolitan areas, I'd say some other places have it bad.

I am genuinely curious what your solution is. Free the herd entirely? Wall off the cities? How do we keep the economy from being cornholed by the inflated death rate? More to the point, what makes you or I as professional pilots, alcoholics, and womanizers so much better equipped to manage a pandemic than professionals in infectious disease?

You don’t seem to understand the concept that was sold as “flatten the curve”. You’re on board with moving the goalposts. If hospitals start looking like they’ll be overrun in a specific region, take action. Otherwise, why are the rest of us locked down, destroying lives and businesses when hospitals are laying people off?

 

[wink]

More to the point, what makes you or I as professional pilots, alcoholics, and womanizers so much better equipped to manage a pandemic than professionals in infectious disease?

Seriously? There isn't a problem in the whole wide world that hasn't been solved within the confines of an airline cockpit. Not our fault no one cares to listen.

 

[UMichfly]

You don’t seem to understand the concept that was sold as “flatten the curve”. You’re on board with moving the goalposts. If hospitals start looking like they’ll be overrun in a specific region, take action. Otherwise, why are the rest of us locked down, destroying lives and businesses when hospitals are laying people off?

I fully understand the concept of flattening the curve. I have no personal opinion on where the goalposts are though. I have no education nor expertise in epidemiology so I prefer to let those who do do their jobs. We are locked down because people who actually do have said expertise have judged that as the best course to avoid destroying lives and businesses long term.

 

[Treetop Flyer]

I fully understand the concept of flattening the curve. I have no personal opinion on where the goalposts are though. I have no education nor expertise in epidemiology so I prefer to let those who do do their jobs. We are locked down because people who actually do have said expertise have judged that as the best course to avoid destroying lives and businesses long term.

Appeal to authority. Goodnight.

 

[Birdbrain]

I just want to have a burger and a beer at a bar again.

 

[Austin-Powers]

I just want to have a burger and a beer at a bar again.

And look at Hooters girls and or go to Tilted Kilt in downtown SD...

 

[insanebikerboy]

I was a fan of flattening the curve, however, when publicly traded companies start filing for bankruptcy protections, perhaps we start reopening the economy? I can’t find much in the news about small businesses closing or bankrupt, but 30 million unemployment claims is insane.

As for spreading the infection, social distancing and face masks don’t do much if we all use the same keypad for credit purchases without sanitizing after each customer, or having someone wipe down a door handler after each person touches it. I’m particularly a fan of the people who wear the same pair of rubber gloves all day long. All that does is use the gloves to spread germs instead of your hand.

Have we reached ludicrous speed yet?

 

[HAL Pilot]

I’m particularly a fan of the people who wear the same pair of rubber gloves all day long. All that does is use the gloves to spread germs instead of your hand.

The gloves are to protect the person wearing them, not others.

But I’m with you.

 

[Spekkio]

Well, given that a hair over 37,300 people have died nationally excepting those 4 metropolitan areas, I'd say some other places have it bad.

Those are big numbers, but those people would have died regardless of how the pandemic was managed. The thing is that hospitals aren't overrun - there are approximately 1.5 people who need inpatient care for every person who dies. This is significantly fewer than the initial estimate.

I am genuinely curious what your solution is.

Everything except mass public entertainment gatherings opens up now, if hospitals can still handle the load then back to full normal memorial day. Continue to mandate the use of masks in public places except restaurants, who will have to reduce capacity until June.

More to the point, what makes you or I as professional pilots, alcoholics, and womanizers so much better equipped to manage a pandemic than professionals in infectious disease?

Trump isn't an MD. I haven't checked but I don't think any of the 50 state governors are, either.

 

[taxi1]

Everything except mass public entertainment gatherings opens up now, if hospitals can still handle the load then back to full normal memorial day.

A problem with this approach, without a really good testing program (and ours remains half-assed), is that there is a big time delay between when people get infected and when they show up at the hospital, telling you it’s spreading. By the time you figure it out and shut things down again, there’s a big crest of infections coming.

Our testing program overall remains a shitshow. We’re flying half-blind at best.

 

[BigRed389]

I was a fan of flattening the curve, however, when publicly traded companies start filing for bankruptcy protections, perhaps we start reopening the economy? I can’t find much in the news about small businesses closing or bankrupt, but 30 million unemployment claims is insane.

As for spreading the infection, social distancing and face masks don’t do much if we all use the same keypad for credit purchases without sanitizing after each customer, or having someone wipe down a door handler after each person touches it. I’m particularly a fan of the people who wear the same pair of rubber gloves all day long. All that does is use the gloves to spread germs instead of your hand.

Have we reached ludicrous speed yet?

Over in Australia, check out at the grocery stores has added plastic shield screens between check stations, contactless payment was already the norm but banks raised the $ limit for contactless/no-signature payments, and there is someone periodically wiping down the check out stations after X number of people have gone through.

Most businesses have hand sanitizer stations at entrance ways for folks to clean prior to/just after using door handles.

Their community transmission rate is crazy low right now (they've smashed the curve), but social distancing is still in effect. We'll see how it goes when they start opening up.

 

[Jim123]

Latest JH stats for the U.S. are:
1.2m cases
69k deaths
187k recovered

Speaking of stats, in NY State, 25k deaths and 59k recovered, and about a third of it in NY City. These are pretty close to the totals for Italy, but don't forget that Italy has 1/3 the total population- so I get why Cuomo and DeBlasio are freaked out. That doesn't justify mistakes and overreach, but it helps understand where they're coming from.

Anyway,
- Flattening the curve is meant to keep the peak of the curve under a ceiling that represented a saturated health care system.
- As long as the curve doesn't bust the ceiling then the total deaths don't change; if the curve does bust the ceiling then total deaths will spike.
- However, that ceiling is now higher than it was two months ago: improved understanding of the disease and better treatment.

WRT #3, let's get on with letting commerce open back up.

Over in Australia, check out at the grocery stores...

Publix stores in Florida is doing most of the same stuff (minus touchless checkout), big bang for the buck stuff like wiping down the handles on carts between customers, the big plastic shields/sneeze guards at the checkouts, sanitizing the store after hours by wiping down all kinds of things that people touch, etc. Funny thing is if you give business a list of things to do and run a decent information campaign, citizens and businesses might actually be grownups about it.