Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Washington: insurance, mattress, floor)

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Mother in law should be getting discharged tomorrow. She’s still considered infectious and cannot drive. But she’s on the way to recovering.

I will be donning full tyvek suit, n95, glasses, and booties. Windows will be down. Can’t wait to see people’s reactions as I drive her home.

Glad to hear it!

My father's results came back - negative. We're all still quarantined (separately) regardless.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

This is probably part of it.


I know that when my Mother-in-law was hospitalized, the state (not MA) continued to report no hospitalizations for about 3 days. She had told us that there were 3-5 additional people in the hospital with her that were presumed positive (and recently confirmed) however the media continued to report that everyone "was recovering at home". She was also denied testing when she initially went to the ER because she didn't meet certain criteria.

When my father (finally) went in for testing, his experience was similar. Several people being treated there for presumptive cases, but not turning up on reports (also not MA). He asked why, the nurse explained that only "confirmed" (by the CDC) cases were being counted (at that point), and the hospital was reluctant to disclose even the "presumed" cases since there were only a few, and the were worried about HIPAA violations. I think that's changed now - I know MA is counting many (maybe even all) of the presumed cases in their numbers.

[Amontillado]

I just want to say, it's encouraging to hear about BostonMike's mother in law. It's a reminder that this isn't a totally fatal disease, people can get it and recover. I suppose as the numbers go up, we'll hear a lot more about survivors.

[Amontillado]

Another thing I'm hearing about--organizations that control land are closing their properties where they can (i.e. if there's a gate). I'm talking about the Trustees of Reservations and the Audubon Society. People are even being told to stay off the Appalachian Trail! Obviously we need to keep a distance from other people, but going for a walk in the woods is something that I'd have thought we could all do to stay sane these days. Is this an excessive application of closing non-essential businesses?

Edited to say, I went to Plum Island on Friday, and walked a few miles on the beach. I was surprised at how many others were out there! (Not so many that we were breathing into each other's faces, though.) But I suppose lots of us have time on our hands, and some people know that the beach gets closed for seabird nesting at the beginning of April, so you have to grab a warm day in March if it comes along. I've checked the Parker River Wildlife Refuge's page, and they say that the visitor center is closed but the beach is still open. Of course they're federal, and not controlled by state directives. I put a picture on the MA pictures page here.

[charolastra00]

Originally Posted by Amontillado

I just want to say, it's encouraging to hear about BostonMike's mother in law. It's a reminder that this isn't a totally fatal disease, people can get it and recover. I suppose as the numbers go up, we'll hear a lot more about survivors.

I agree. Most people don't need hospitalization, but it's hard to find information about people who are hospitalized and then come out OK. Hearing about BostonMike's experience has been comforting to me as one of those people much more likely to be hospitalized, but also fairly likely to be able to pull through so long as there is a bed for me.

[Bridge781]

Ive noticed more people who’ve had coronavirus are coming out with their stories. I’m glad. I mean it’s coronavirus not a venereal disease. These people aren’t lepers and it’s helpful to hear that in most cases it’s not that devastating.

[sawyer2]

Draconian measures are essential now. They need to be universally applied and enforced across the country, and then you will start to see a return to a managed baseline in 3-4 weeks. If not, well its pretty easy to do the exponential math.

Look at Italy - lockdown on March 9 - and now, just two weeks later, they have a reduction in new cases and more importantly a reduction in deaths. The Lombardy region is not some podunk backwater - it is a wealthy area with top class medical care.

Yes, it is ultimately likely to have a 1% or less mortality rate BUT that is where you have appropriate medical care and not where you have overburdened hospitals/ICUs.


If we do this right, in hindsight it will look like we overreacted.

[Bridge781]

New York is in rough shape. I hadn’t heard that Italy had seen a reduction. That’s good.

The issue I see is that once there is a reduction after lock downs it seems that cities want to release the lockdown and go back to normal. I hate to be negative but I don’t think it’ll be that simple.

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by sawyer2

If we do this right, in hindsight it will look like we overreacted.

"Everything we do before a pandemic will seem alarmist. Everything we do after will seem inadequate." - Michael Leavitt, former HHS Secretary under President George W. Bush

Originally Posted by sawyer2

The Lombardy region is not some podunk backwater - it is a wealthy area with top class medical care.

Italy has socialized medicine that does not have a robust primary care model. This likely contributed to their issues as people flooded the emergency wards and hospitals where many infections took pace.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

New York is in rough shape. I hadn’t heard that Italy had seen a reduction. That’s good.

The issue I see is that once there is a reduction after lock downs it seems that cities want to release the lockdown and go back to normal. I hate to be negative but I don’t think it’ll be that simple.

NY looks to be in very rough shape. The cases continue to rise steeply and they don't have enough masks, they don't have enough ventilators, and they don't have enough hospital beds. Apparently the assistance being provided by the federal govt is too little and is taking too long. I fear the toll there will be great.