15 Replies to "CORONAVIRUS: Wednesday 12/30 roundup"

• David December 31, 2020 (2:46 am)

  COVID is spreading 5-7x faster nationwide (than the worst of the first surge that triggered shutdown). Washington is rapidly catching up to the same per-capita speed of spread. And how’s California doing?
  L.A. hospitals will no longer accept heart attack victims, unless medics can get their heart beating again where they fell. Triage protocol has reached the point where they have to be pronounced dead without even trying to take them to the hospital, because they have no beds left and have to pick people they think have the best chance of survival. The United States is turning into a M*A*S*H unit.
  https://twitter.com/LizAlps/status/1344498489523281920
  But Inslee’s crystal ball predicts we’ll be fine, so why should I worry? Don’t let the pessimists fool you, it’s perfectly safe to start reopening schools (or at least that’s what Seattle is planning on) at 35X-worse-than the original Phase 2 target for safety.
  Flying Spaghetti Monster help us all.

  • Pessoa December 31, 2020 (7:29 pm)

    That’s not quite correct, though you would have no way of knowing that.  California uses a rather complicated formula to estimate ICU beds that are available.  To keep it simple, it is quite possible to have 1,300 beds available, as they have had in the last few days, and yet, according to the formula, have no beds available.  

    • David January 1, 2021 (2:07 am)

      With all due respect, I’ll take the word of the health care worker living in LA for whether they’re currently under orders to give up and pronounce people dead according to triage protocol.

      • Pessoa January 1, 2021 (7:19 am)

        David,  this is not an unqualified opinion,  this is per the state of California. The state uses determines ICU bed capacity by calculating the number of beds taken up by Covid patients, and then every subtracts a certain percentage for the total number over a 30% threshold.   It’s one of those strange statistical vagaries, (and no attempt at all to show you up, by the way.)  I am a former resident of LA, by the way. 

• flimflam December 31, 2020 (9:31 am)

  personally it seems foolish to think it’ll be safe for indoor dining, gyms, etc on Jan 11th. not sure what Inslee’s plans are, but we’ve still been at around 500 new cases daily in King county.

• TJ December 31, 2020 (10:51 am)

  At some point, and sooner than later, things need to get opened back up fully and people can make choices on their own on what they want to do. Not in June either, but the next 2 months. People are talking themselves into reasons to push getting back to normal off. Even with the vaccine being out, I have heard people say we need to see what happens next fall and if it mutates again and a new vaccine is needed. That is ridiculous, and come spring when the weather gets better even here people will be done with this whole thing 

  • heartless December 31, 2020 (12:53 pm)

    That’s more or less what you said way back in April.

    People are getting weary of government telling us what we can do and where. The “science and personal liberties will meet soon. Don’t like it don’t go out, but this can’t go on kuch linger [much longer]

    https://tinyurl.com/y9q7phks

    Has it occurred to you that maybe you don’t actually have a very good understanding of the situation?  I mean, when you write things like “People are talking themselves into reasons to push getting back to normal off,” it just makes it seem like you have no clue about the severity of the situation.

    Did you read David’s comment?  Do you have a response?  I’m genuinely curious.

    • Pessoa December 31, 2020 (8:01 pm)

      I find it more than a little disturbing that you digging up past comments from people and examining them – in front of everyone  – for alleged inconsistencies or flaws.  I got a little whiff of this when you trolled me, by the way.   I suspect you would be as happy as a clam in East Berlin, circa 1980’s, made famous in “Lives of Others.”  

  • psps December 31, 2020 (1:37 pm)

    “people can make choices on their own on what they want to do”

    Um, no. I don’t want others to “make their own decision” to infect me. Sorry. People will just have to endure the agony of postponing their tattoo, gym, bars and their other “essential” needs.

    • David December 31, 2020 (8:27 pm)

      PSPS: You know what’s really fracked-up? Countries that took it seriously are now sufficiently free of COVID to hold concerts and resume life as normal. In countries where profit is the only rule, and they’re governed by corporate-headed decisionmaking (i.e. “If it doesn’t directly affect my department’s numbers then it’s not worth any amount of effort to fix”)… it’s starting to look like the people in charge have decided to floor the gas pedal and get it over with as fast as possible (as TJ wishes, if I understand correctly).
      But we have a finite number of doctors and nurses (let alone medicine), and that number isn’t anywhere near enough to handle everyone getting sick at once. Once there aren’t enough doctors and nurses to handle all (or even close to all) the critical cases, mortality skyrockets just like it did in Italy near the beginning. We’re about to get a firsthand view of it in L.A.

  • bsw December 31, 2020 (2:20 pm)

    I certainly value a variety of opinions / comments as input to thinking through my own views on any topic.

• TJ December 31, 2020 (2:14 pm)

  Oh I completely understand what’s going on. I also know this is not as deadly, and now also not as serious for most people, as what was conveyed back in the spring. I’m 49 and have grown up in West Seattle my whole life, and that combined with my business know a lot of people. With that I do not know 1 person personally that has been hospitalized with this. Yes, I know some who have been sick to varying degrees, and some who tested positive with no symptoms. I guess I’m just lucky. I also know other places are gutting this out more than here. I have a friend who lives in Scottadale AZ, and his 16 year old daughter works in a restaurant that is super busy and is in school learning too. I’m genuinely curious as to why some people (and it’s not just me. Look at polls nationally on this and there are lots of people like me) keep moving the goal posts on getting back to normal? The vaccine is here. Keep in mind only about 60% of Americans say they will get it, so that will happen by May. It seems like you are comfortable riding this out for a long time even after that? It needs to be a personal choice. 

  • heartless December 31, 2020 (7:01 pm)

    ” I’m genuinely curious as to why some people (and it’s not just me. Look at polls nationally on this and there are lots of people like me) keep moving the goal posts on getting back to normal?”

    So you DIDN’T read David’s comment.  Okay.  Go read his comment, then re-read it until you understand it.

    “The vaccine is here.”

    LOL

• JJ December 31, 2020 (5:45 pm)

  I would sure like to get my kid back in public school next year, but I will not until my family is all vaccinated. The vaccine rollout needs to accelerate, immediately.

• Pessoa December 31, 2020 (7:44 pm)

  This cannot continue indefinitely.  A country cannot continue to quarantine a healthy population, crushing their lives and the societal institutions that make life worth living.   Everyone grieves for those who have lost their lives and their anguished families, but a rational and compassionate society must also consider the depth and breadth of the trauma that is being inflicted on society as a whole.   

Sorry, comment time is over.