COVID-19 (Con’t 2)

[guitargabor]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

Wiilie's American Guitars in St. Paul says on their site that they have curbside pickup. A week or two ago, I ordered from Olive Garden online and did the curbside pickup thing.

What fun...call up Willie's and do a curbside pickup on this...

https://www.williesguitars.com/produ...4-martin-1-45/



...and now back to more serious discussion.

Tony

Can you audition the guitar on the curb?

As a former Twin City resident that may be a problem in April....

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by guitargabor

Can you audition the guitar on the curb?

As a former Twin City resident that may be a problem in April....

The weather here is absolutely gorgeous. I would have no problem right auditioning a guitar on the curb, assuming Nate allows for that. My issue is the cost. $24k is a lot of contract work, certainly more than I would want to do this year.

Tony

[ManyMartinMan]

Originally Posted by Peter Wilcox

My point, of course, although it takes time to get tests up and running,

So far, while our friends, family, neighbors and fellow citizens are dying, two months have gone by without much improvement with testing. This is a country of over 327 million people and resources greater than half the world combined. The delay in testing the masses while celebrities, officials and athletes get tested is indefensible. If we began testing 100,000 people a day it would take almost a year to test everyone. If we just started in the areas showing the most infection and most vulnerable, that would be help. However, as long the hospitals can't immediately test those in need of immediate diagnosis - we are not doing adequately at all. What happened to the 1,000,000 tests promised weeks ago? Smoke and mirrors.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by ManyMartinMan

So far, while our friends, family, neighbors and fellow citizens are dying, two months have gone by without much improvement with testing. This is a country of over 327 million people and resources greater than half the world combined. The delay in testing the masses while celebrities, officials and athletes get tested is indefensible. If we began testing 100,000 people a day it would take almost a year to test everyone. If we just started in the areas showing the most infection and most vulnerable, that would be help. However, as long the hospitals can't immediately test those in need of immediate diagnosis - we are not doing adequately at all. What happened to the 1,000,000 tests promised weeks ago? Smoke and mirrors.

What would you suggest?

[seannx]

Originally Posted by ManyMartinMan

So far, while our friends, family, neighbors and fellow citizens are dying, two months have gone by without much improvement with testing. This is a country of over 327 million people and resources greater than half the world combined. The delay in testing the masses while celebrities, officials and athletes get tested is indefensible. If we began testing 100,000 people a day it would take almost a year to test everyone. If we just started in the areas showing the most infection and most vulnerable, that would be help. However, as long the hospitals can't immediately test those in need of immediate diagnosis - we are not doing adequately at all. What happened to the 1,000,000 tests promised weeks ago? Smoke and mirrors.

Certainly makes one wonder.

Here is an interesting article. I am in no way posting this to inject politics into this discussion, just to give some historical perspective on thinking about the US and pandemics.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/geor...ry?id=69979013

[ManyMartinMan]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

What would you suggest?

Have those that tell us "the tests are coming - soon, tomorrow, next week" stop lying and get it done. We have been being fed a diet of exaggeration and bull - it's time to put up or shut up - two months ago. Since you asked.

[ALBD]

This is a good read. I have to agree that we are likely unnecessarily freaking people out with these high death rates. I know my wife is scared to death.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/...-19-heres-why/

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by ALBD

This is a good read. I have to agree that we are likely unnecessarily freaking people out with these high death rates. I know my wife is scared to death.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/...-19-heres-why/

Yep it’s something I’ve been saying for a while ever since I showed some symptoms but not enough to justify a test. The numbers are almost irrelevant because they’re no way to tell how many asymptomatic or mild symptom people rode through the virus without ever knowing. I think the infected numbers is much, much higher, which will put the death rate easily at well under 1%. Something definitely doesn’t add up, and I’m still having a hard time finding toilet paper.

[Mr. Jelly]

Yet the percentage of deaths to the known cases is 5.2 percent as of 4/6/2020 12 pm.

[Neil K Walk]

Have you all considered that maybe there aren’t enough tests to go around so they’re saving them for people who actually have symptoms that could potentially be COVID-19?

[MChild62]

There's broad consensus that the real percentage isn't the current number of reported deaths as numerator and total reported infections as denominator. But your wife is probably reasoning from common sense, and I would agree with her.

Because how will a different numerator/denominator change anything right now? The evidence that this is really bad is overwhelming. With the horrific number of coffins piling up in churches here in the north of Italy and in an ice rink in Spain, the total number of deaths has become most relevant data point.

Also, there's a lot of evidence that we don't have the real numerator because so many deaths are going unreported by overloaded systems. Authorities in Lombardy have been saying for weeks that deaths at home are not being included; there are similar claims from Spain; and there are suspicions that places with low percentage death rates per infection (like Germany) are being overly rigid in certifying whether a death is virus-related.

What the "denominator" (rate of actual infections) might tell us could be useful to assess who is immune and could return to work. There are apparently a series of studies being presented to the Italian government right now suggesting that between 1 in 20 or even 1 in 20 Italians may already have had the virus and may now be immune. If so, then the percentage death rate is indeed much lower than what we have seen so far. But we expected that to be the case. And it isn't changing the approach to the lockdown.

[MChild62]

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

Have you all considered that maybe there aren’t enough tests to go around so they’re saving them for people who actually have symptoms that could potentially be COVID-19?

Yes, that's definitely the case that places have been forced to ration the tests, some providing it only to those who are being hospitalized. But why are they in this situation? Why can't they massively increase the tests? South Korea ramped up quickly. The US, when it finally embarked on serious testing in April, has increased the total number dramatically.

Here in Italy, the Lombardy region is testing 3X the number of people who are infected which, given that anyone who tests positive needs at least 3 tests (first test, confirmation, and to determine they are free of the virus) means they are highly rationed. And yet, in the Veneto region, literally adjacent to Lombardy, they are testing over 10X the number of those infected. I don't get why there are these huge differences, and why places like Lombardy (or New York state or name your location) can't ramp up quickly and be like Veneto.

[OregonJim]

Testing won't change whether you have the virus or not. Testing won't change whether you live or die. Testing won't change a thing.

[Silurian]

Originally Posted by OregonJim

Testing won't change whether you have the virus or not. Testing won't change whether you live or die. Testing won't change a thing.

Testing front line medical staff is vital, especially those isolating due to Covid 19 symptoms. It will determine whether they actually have the virus or not and therefore whether they are safe to return to work.

As there doesn't yet appear to be a highly accurate readily available anti-body test, mass testing will at least give more accurate data on hot spots and infection rates. His will be useful for any exit strategy/shutdown relaxation.

Knowing more information about something is always a good thing.

[dkstott]

If I get hit by a car and die & test positive for the virus by the ME. It's counted as Covid related death. The death numbers are being skewed too much.

New language added to Connecticut's DPH COVID-19 numbers: "For public health surveillance, laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 associated deaths are defined as patients who tested positive for COVID-19 around the time of death, this is not a determination of the cause of death."