Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Salem: contractors, trees, permit)

[Bridge781]

Well think Of how much worse it would be if we hadn’t done social distancing

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by Robert5

Sure. But if you look at the April 20 Dashboard https://www.mass.gov/doc/covid-19-da...-2020/download ,towards the bottom, you will see available hospital beds. With a little effort one can calculate the percentage of available ICU beds in each zone. Every zone has between 60% and 70% ICU beds empty. And it is likely that a large percentage of the occupied ICU beds are occupied by non covid related emergencies. April 20th is close to the peak. So it would seem to me that if MA is using a small percentage of its ICU beds for Covid patient’s during this peak, then MA could greatly lift restrictions in the near future for those not in high risk groups (70+, etc) without risking a surge that would overwhelm hospitals.

I generally agree with this assessment and, way back in January, was an advocate for providing income stipends for at risk peoples versus shuttering the economy. The problem at this point is we have no current means to test immunity levels (en masse), the virus is rampant, and no one ... politicos or corporate legal teams ... want blood on their hands if there is a secondary resurgence.

Given multi-gen households, shuttering schools for the year was, IMO, the right decision. I now fully expect the self isolation to carry through that period as Baker and others realize not doing so puts parents in a very precarious position.

The situation is ... rather dismal.

[Robert5]

Originally Posted by Amontillado

The 221 new deaths bring the state’s COVID-19 death toll to 2,182, the state Department of Public Health announced Wednesday. The 221 deaths is a one-day high for the Bay State, eclipsing Friday’s count of 159 deaths.

The state now has 42,944 confirmed cases of the highly contagious disease, an increase of 1,745 cases since Tuesday.

https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/04...-one-day-high/

And let's add:
Of the state’s 2,182 total coronavirus deaths, 1,205 deaths are connected to long-term care facilities.

That 221 deaths is what was reported for the day, not those that specifically died in the past 24 hour. The delays in reporting were one of the stated reasons for setting up the Health Department dashboard. I think the dashboard runs a couple days behind the calendar to make sure deaths and cases get dated properly

[bizcuit]

Originally Posted by Arya Stark

This is how liberals are. If you don't agree with them -- if you have learned time and time again how numbers can be manipulated, if you see the crass bias of mainstream media, then you will be called stupid.

I am one of the smartest people alive. Accordingly, I will not listen to anything a mainstream media outlet says.

Well, okay then. Case closed.

[justyouraveragetenant]

No rights being violated here!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cbkFO6OC3g

Nothing nazi or fascist here.

why dont they just give the guy a mask instead of forcefully removing him from bus?

the best part is one of the officers did not have a mask on. all you people who think people are crazy for worrying about rights being taken away i hope you get your fascist goverment when a cop comes to your house because you put the heat too high and then shoots your dog dead.

[redplum33]

2 cats in NY become first US pets to test positive for virus

And of course "Coronavirus testing for pets isn't recommended"....because the testing materials are in short supply.

[Bridge781]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bos...eas-spike/amp/

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

I’ve been wondering about the getting help thing. Technically we’re supposed to be quarantined which means no one else allowed in the home and kids can’t go to anyone else’s home. Now that school is cancelled and plenty of people out there need the money (baby sitting, tutoring) it seems that people are going to break down and allow others in the home.

We may need some help from my dad and mom which we haven’t been doing at all. We also have a babysitter who is 20 and at home from college now. It hasn’t been easy with a 4 and 5 yr old but I also don’t see us having a baby sitter in the house right now either. Too chaotic. I could see them going to my parents the way the once did.

Yeah. I'm not letting an outsider into my home.

As much as we could use the help right now, that's a risk I don't want to take. IMHO it defeats the entire purpose.

My entire side of the family is all high-exposure, so no help there. My siblings and in-laws are all medical/first responders, and my mom manages a nursing home. My sister is an ICU nurse caring for covid patients every day. On my wife's side, two of her sisters are pregnant and on total isolation, her brother is a firefighter, and her mom is still recovering from Covid and they won't test to determine if the infection has finally cleared.

We are completely isolated and on our own. I'm working 8-10 hr days split up with some time in the AM, then some family time, and then maybe 3-4 hours at the office, then home, and then some work in the evening. My wife needs a few hours a day to prep course work for her class the next day, so I usually cover the evenings with the kids so she can get this done. Basically, it's a FULL day for the two of us and when the kids are finally asleep, we crash. My wife's done the brunt of the schooling and home stuff, so i'm planning on taking two days of PTO next week to do that and give her the time to go do anything she wants away from the kids or home stuff. Go read a book, watch a movie, etc. She hasn't had any personal time, while I get a few mins to myself on my commute to work, or sitting alone in my office at work taking a breather. If we are stuck in this pattern until Sept (she's a teacher so the kids are home in the summer anyway) we need to find some balance of family life and personal time.


On a positive note, we did a drive-by bday party for my 7-year old stepson on Sunday. Got the entire family to come by, local PD and fire, and about 10-15 cars from my car-club that I haven't had a chance to meet with all year. It was actually a fun 30 mins or so. 7year old proclaimed it to be his favorite Bday ever. Made us smile

[Bridge781]

Yeah I wouldn’t feel comfortable asking our 19 year babysitter who was sent home from umass. I just have no idea if she’s been social distancing as much as I love her.

I have thought about sending the kids to my parents. Haven’t done it yet and trying to stay strong.

Yeah my daughters bday was on the 21st of March and the driveway thing wasn’t really a thing at that point. Sad we missed out on that.

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Yeah. I'm not letting an outsider into my home.

As much as we could use the help right now, that's a risk I don't want to take. IMHO it defeats the entire purpose...

...We are completely isolated and on our own. I'm working 8-10 hr days split up with some time in the AM, then some family time, and then maybe 3-4 hours at the office, then home, and then some work in the evening. My wife needs a few hours a day to prep course work for her class the next day, so I usually cover the evenings with the kids so she can get this done. Basically, it's a FULL day for the two of us and when the kids are finally asleep, we crash.

We are pretty much in the same situation. It's exhausting but we're getting by and learning a lot about each other. I've become more efficient, that's for sure.

It's disappointing to hear people justifying to themselves letting outside help into their homes for extended close contact with their families before it is safe to do so. It's a slippery slope with cutting corners; like my neighbors who had interior painters in their house for several days (no you're actually not an essential business despite the grey areas in the definitions, and the magnet you had made up for your van). As more corners are cut, I fear it will cost more lives drag this out longer for all of us.