Government Response to Coronavirus 3: Locked Down

[thoughtful]

https://www.pennlive.com/coronavirus/2020/03/coronavirus-is-punishment-from-god-pa-lawmaker-suggests-calls-for-statewide-day-of-atonement.html

Quote

A Republican state lawmaker has introduced a resolution suggesting that the coronavirus is a “punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins.”

In the resolution introduced on Monday, state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz is calling on lawmakers to designate March 30 as a “A State Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer” in Pennsylvania.

The Clinton County Republican said Pennsylvanians may be comforted by turning to a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer.

In her resolution, Borowicz states: “The united cry of the nation will be heard on high and answered with blessing no less than the pardon of our national sins and the restoration of our new divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace.”

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

4 minutes ago, thoughtful said:

https://www.pennlive.com/coronavirus/2020/03/coronavirus-is-punishment-from-god-pa-lawmaker-suggests-calls-for-statewide-day-of-atonement.html

And in a just world she would now be home unemployed.

[laPapessaGiovanna]

On the British side, BoJo thinks that Dyson (vacuum clearners maker) can start making ventilators and deliver them sooner than you can buy them from factories that actually do them as a business, because if you have to partner with the EU to buy them then they might...I don't know...bite you in the ass? Article 

[Smee]

This article, written for an Australian audience (and framed as what Aus can learn from other countries’ responses) has some interesting analysis of government responses worldwide and explains the data well. Linking rather than quoting because there’s a lot of graphs and things. https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-26/coronavirus-covid19-global-spread-data-explained/12089028?nw=0&pfmredir=sm

[fraurosena]

Why use an strategic playbook on how to handle a pandemic outbreak when you can make it up as you go along? 

Trump team failed to follow NSC’s pandemic playbook

[the article contains a link to the complete playbook]

Quote

The Trump administration, state officials and even individual hospital workers are now racing against each other to get the necessary masks, gloves and other safety equipment to fight coronavirus — a scramble that hospitals and doctors say has come too late and left them at risk. But according to a previously unrevealed White House playbook, the government should’ve begun a federal-wide effort to procure that personal protective equipment at least two months ago.

“Is there sufficient personal protective equipment for healthcare workers who are providing medical care?” the playbook instructs its readers, as one early decision that officials should address when facing a potential pandemic. “If YES: What are the triggers to signal exhaustion of supplies? Are additional supplies available? If NO: Should the Strategic National Stockpile release PPE to states?”

The strategies are among hundreds of tactics and key policy decisions laid out in a 69-page National Security Council playbook on fighting pandemics, which POLITICO is detailing for the first time. Other recommendations include that the government move swiftly to fully detect potential outbreaks, secure supplemental funding and consider invoking the Defense Production Act — all steps in which the Trump administration lagged behind the timeline laid out in the playbook.

“Each section of this playbook includes specific questions that should be asked and decisions that should be made at multiple levels” within the national security apparatus, the playbook urges, repeatedly advising officials to question the numbers on viral spread, ensure appropriate diagnostic capacity and check on the U.S. stockpile of emergency resources.

The playbook also stresses the significant responsibility facing the White House to contain risks of potential pandemics, a stark contrast with the Trump administration’s delays in deploying an all-of-government response and President Donald Trump's recent signals that he might roll back public health recommendations.

“The U.S. government will use all powers at its disposal to prevent, slow or mitigate the spread of an emerging infectious disease threat,” according to the playbook’s built-in “assumptions” about fighting future threats. “The American public will look to the U.S. government for action when multi-state or other significant events occur.”

The guide further calls for a “unified message” on the federal response, in order to best manage the American public's questions and concerns. “Early coordination of risk communications through a single federal spokesperson is critical,” the playbook urges. However, the U.S. response to coronavirus has featured a rotating cast of spokespeople and conflicting messages; Trump already is discussing loosening government recommendations on coronavirus in order to “open” the economy by Easter, despite the objections of public health advisers.

The NSC devised the guide — officially called the Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incidents, but known colloquially as “the pandemic playbook” — across 2016. The project was driven by career civil servants as well as political appointees, aware that global leaders had initially fumbled their response to the 2014-2015 spread of Ebola and wanting to be sure that the next response to an epidemic was better handled. 

The Trump administration was briefed on the playbook’s existence in 2017, said four former officials, but two cautioned that it never went through a full, National Security Council-led interagency process to be approved as Trump administration strategy. Tom Bossert, who was then Trump’s homeland security adviser, expressed enthusiasm about its potential as part of the administration’s broader strategy to fight pandemics, two former officials said. 

Bossert declined to comment on any particular document, but told POLITICO that “I engaged actively with my outgoing counterpart and took seriously their transition materials and recommendations on pandemic preparedness.”

The playbook was designed “so there wasn’t piecemeal thinking when trying to fight the next public health battle,” said one former official who contributed to the playbook, warning that “the fog of war” can lead to gaps in strategies.

“These are recommended discussions to be having on all levels, to ensure that there’s a structure to make decisions in real-time,” said a second former official. 

An NSC official confirmed the existence of the playbook but dismissed its value. “We are aware of the document, although it’s quite dated and has been superseded by strategic and operational biodefense policies published since,” the official said. “The plan we are executing now is a better fit, more detailed, and applies the relevant lessons learned from the playbook and the most recent Ebola epidemic in the [Democratic Republic of the Congo] to COVID-19.”

A health department spokesperson also said that the NSC playbook was not part of the current coronavirus strategy. “The HHS COVID-19 response was informed by more recent plans such as the foundation of the National Biodefense Strategy (2018), Biological Incident Annex (2017),and panCAP (2018) among other key plans provided by the CDC, White House Task Force, FEMA, and other key federal departments and agencies,” the spokesperson said.

Trump has claimed that his administration could not have foreseen the coronavirus pandemic, which has spread to all 50 states and more than 180 nations, sickening more than 460,000 people around the world. “Nobody ever expected a thing like this,” Trump said in a Fox News interview on Tuesday. 

But Trump’s aides were told to expect a potential pandemic, ranging from a tabletop exercise that the outgoing Obama administration prepared for the president’s incoming aides to a “Crimson Contagion” scenario that health officials undertook just last year and modeled out potential risks of a global infectious disease threat. Trump’s deputies also have said that their coronavirus response relies on a federal playbook, specifically referring to a strategy laid out by the Centers for Disease Control. 

It is not clear if the administration’s failure to follow the NSC playbook was the result of an oversight or a deliberate decision to follow a different course.

The document rested with NSC officials who dealt with medical preparedness and biodefense in the global health security directorate, which the Trump administration disbanded in 2018, four former officials said. The document was originally overseen by Beth Cameron, a former civil servant who led the directorate before leaving the White House in March 2017. Cameron confirmed to POLITICO that the directorate created a playbook for NSC staff intended to help officials confront a range of potential biological threats.

But under the Trump administration, “it just sat as a document that people worked on that was thrown onto a shelf,” said one former U.S. official, who served in both the Obama and Trump administrations. “It’s hard to tell how much senior leaders at agencies were even aware that this existed” or thought it was just another layer of unnecessary bureaucracy. 

The NSC playbook would have been especially useful in helping to drive the administration’s response to coronavirus, given that it was intended to guide urgent decisions and coordinate the all-of-government approach that Trump so far has struggled to muster, said people familiar with the document.

The color-coded playbook contains different sections based on the relative risk — green for normal operations, yellow for elevated threat, orange for credible threat and red once a public health emergency is declared — and details the potential roles of dozens of departments and agencies, from key players like the Health and Human Services department to the Department of Transportation and the FBI. It also includes sample documents intended to be used at coordinating meetings.

 

[clueliss]

Remember West Virginia  the last state to have have their first case (which had me mumbling about if they were testing)?? Nursing home  20 residents plus 8 staff are positive.

Quote

More than 20 coronavirus cases reported at nursing home in West Virginia

From CNN’s Gregory Lemos

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced that 20 residents at a nursing home in Morgantown and eight staffers have tested positive for novel coronavirus.  

"This is the horror story we absolutely did not want to have happen," Justice said during a news conference Thursday. 

Justice said he has appointed Dr. Clay Marsh to coordinate the state's response and preparedness as the virus continues to spread.

"It gives us one more layer of expertise and one more layer of affiliation with hospital," Justice said.

By the numbers: CNN has counted at least 52 Covid-19 cases in West Virginia as of Thursday afternoon.

 

[Italiangirl]

@Smee thanks that is a very interesting and useful article full of graphics that hep to form an idea on the long run..later  i will try to share what is happening here, i hope to don't fall asleep like yesterday ?

[JMarie]

2 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

And in a just world she would now be home unemployed.

From that article:

Quote

Borowicz adds that nations are subjected to punishments and chastisement in this world just like humans are.

She calls that on March 30, all Pennsylvanians abstain from “ordinary secular pursuits” and to unite in their homes “in keeping the day holy to the Lord and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion...”

I live in PA.  On Monday (March 30) I will be united in my home (alone) because I started coughing two days ago, developed a fever yesterday, and got swabbed today.  I refuse to give up ordinary secular pursuits.  Showtime is free on Xfinity, hopefully until then.  

[Ticklish]

@JMarie, take care of yourself! I hope you feel better soon!

[47of74]

19 minutes ago, JMarie said:

From that article:

I live in PA.  On Monday (March 30) I will be united in my home (alone) because I started coughing two days ago, developed a fever yesterday, and got swabbed today.  I refuse to give up ordinary secular pursuits.  Showtime is free on Xfinity, hopefully until then.  

I am full of ideas about what acts this Rep can go perform on herself if she thinks I'm giving up my ordinary secular pursuits. 

[Dandruff]

4 hours ago, clueliss said:

Reminder that the 5pm eastern conference is usually late.  It varies on how late.  Recently it pushed back to 6:15 or so Eastern and bled through all of the 6:30pm evening network news.

He needs to get his makeup just right.  The world can wait.

[fraurosena]

@JMarie, I'm so sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. I'm proud of you for sequestering yourself, which must be hard when you're alone. Enjoy those secular pursuits while you can! Know that when you feel bored, lonely, or anxious, we're just a keyboard tap away here on FJ.

[fraurosena]

Amy Klobuchar's husband has the virus.

 

[Italiangirl]

update from italy

so today we had a rising in the number of new cases but it has to be said that today is also the day we have performed more test then ever so part of this rising could be because of number of test made

we are still under the 10%of new cases discover on a national level (this means that fewer people are getting sick and the sick cannot spread it, so usually is just one person who is sick and his contact aren't)

more than 50%of the new discovered cases are in Lombardia the worst hit region

in the last 3 days the number of death has gone down every day (from 743 to 683 to today 6629 the recovered on national base are going up now there are a total f 10361 recovered and 8165 death

 

[fraurosena]

 I hope we hit? Hit what? A bong?

 

Apparently Trump's breathing seems laboured for some reason. I'm not watching (can't over here) so I can't tell, but people are tweeting about it. Can anyone watching confirm?

 

[Audrey2]

4 hours ago, thoughtful said:

https://www.pennlive.com/coronavirus/2020/03/coronavirus-is-punishment-from-god-pa-lawmaker-suggests-calls-for-statewide-day-of-atonement.html

But that's not enough... I'd like to see her in a hair shirt and self flagellating. (Hitting herself with a whip).

[HerNameIsBuffy]

16 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

 I hope we hit? Hit what? A bong?

 

Apparently Trump's breathing seems laboured for some reason. I'm not watching (can't over here) so I can't tell, but people are tweeting about it. Can anyone watching confirm?

 

Just turned it on and don't see anything unusual with his breathing so far.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

Birx said tracking the next hotspots....Wayne Co, Michigan and Cook County, Illinois.  

Cook County contains Chicago.  And my family.

[JMarie]

Thank you everyone! I'm hoping the test is negative.  I can't see two weeks of this.  Not that there's anywhere really fun to go, but still. My next door neighbors invited a bunch of kids over. They've got music and the fire pit is lit, and there's a lacrosse game in progress.  And we're in a county that is under stay at home orders from the governor.

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-pa-stay-at-home-order-wolf-new-jersey-hospitals-20200324.html

Quote

Do not leave your house unless you are buying groceries, picking up pharmacy items, or helping sustain life, Gov. Tom Wolf told residents of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe, and Allegheny Counties on Monday, putting them under a stay-at-home order.

With exceptions for critical errands and work designated essential, keeping the 5.5 million people in those counties at home until at least April 6 offers officials the best chance to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Pennsylvania and keep from taxing the state’s health-care system, Wolf said.

 

[Ticklish]

I found out today that my state has 280 ventilators available right now. I know we're a smaller and less populated state, and that we haven't been hit hard yet, but damn. That's a very scary number, particularly when our governor still hasn't issued a shelter in place order (though she's basically done everything but that).

[apple1]

1 hour ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Just turned it on and don't see anything unusual with his breathing so far.

I watched most of what was broadcast on CNN. Yes, I thought he seemed short of breath through a fair part of it, but maybe not all. He also looked to be perspiring/ sweaty.

[Ozlsn]

13 hours ago, fraurosena said:

A one-year-old baby has been hospitalised with the virus; she has been intubated. Her parents and sister are also infected. It's unclear how she got infected; the family stayed mostly inside and haven't been to any high-risk places. Her grandmother is now calling for all parents and carers to keep their children inside or to keep them away from other children as much as possible and not play together.

I saw data out of Spain showing a spike in hospitalization in the 0-9 age group compared to the 10-19, 20-29, etc. Until the 50-59 group when the number of hospitalization was higher. I suspect (but don't know, and can't find where I saw the data to go back to look at it again) that most of that spike is in the 0-2 age group, as it is with RSV, flu etc. 

Edit to add the graph and the link:

Spoiler

Data is from here (in Spanish, which I don't speak - I saw an English summary somewhere).

Edited March 27, 2020 by Ozlsn

[HerNameIsBuffy]

39 minutes ago, apple1 said:

I watched most of what was broadcast on CNN. Yes, I thought he seemed short of breath through a fair part of it, but maybe not all. He also looked to be perspiring/ sweaty.

Don't go by me, I caught the very tail end when he was finishing up questions from the press.

[Ali]

Most of Michigan's cases are in three counties. There are a lot of hospitals in that area and they are already overwhelmed. I live in one of those counties. We are staying home. 

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/03/michigan-hospitals-asked-to-open-space-for-coronavirus-patients-as-facilities-reach-capacity.html

Quote

The region has been the hardest hit in Michigan, with about 89 percent of cases -- 2,046 of 2,295 -- occurring in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

This is yesterday's numbers. Today the number of confirmed cases rose to 2856 and 84 percent in those three counties. The people not taking this seriously are making me so angry right now. My husband and my son have asthma. 

[Ozlsn]

8 hours ago, thoughtful said:

In her resolution, Borowicz states: “The united cry of the nation will be heard on high and answered with blessing no less than the pardon of our national sins and the restoration of our new divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace.”

You know I really want to know what period of unity and peace she is referring to exactly, because offhand? Can't think of one.

Meanwhile my state has started giving breakdowns of confirmed cases by local government area, and the local Facebook groups are going nuts because "ZOMG positive people here!" I am restraining myself from pointing out that those are the confirmed cases, and there are most likely a hell of a lot more people who are positive but either asymptomatic or who think they have a cold. The wider-testing is supposed to start shortly, and the numbers of confirmed cases will jump sharply.  

On the bright side, and even allowing for the restrictive testing regime, it looks like there may be a slight flattening of the curve here. Touch wood.

Oh and the number of South Australian cases jumped... linked to a winery (of course!) But also, and less well publicised, to a religious gathering at said winery. That'd be the Hillsong conference then that the PM waited until after the day it finished to start the lockdown. Now waiting for the cases linked to the rugby union game, and the other large gatherings that took place that weekend.