Coronavirus Tidbits #30 4-8-20
Announcements:
First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I'm getting.
Tidbits will likely be a bit shorter and a little less frequent for the next little bit. I have been immersed in it and I need to spend a little more time on self-care, which for me means seeing the spring flowers emerge and digging in the dirt. Pesach is always a bit rough anyway, so I will turn to more nature.
Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don't be shy about that.
News
Hospitals say feds are seizing masks and other coronavirus supplies without a word
What are they doing with them? Is Jared selling them? https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-04-07/hospitals-washington-seize-coronavirus-supplies
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A Nurse Bought Protective Supplies for Her Colleagues Using GoFundMe. The Hospital Suspended Her.
Another example, this from ProPublica, of healthcare workers not being provided adequate PPE and being punished for using their own "unauthorized" supplies or speaking out about the dangerous conditions they are being forced to work in.
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Arkansas Gov Asa Hutchinson not only won't issue a stay at home order for his state, he is blocking all cities and counties in the state from issuing their own.
"Having some states shut down while other states do not, is like having a peeing section in the swimming pool."
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Under cover of the pandemic
the Trump Admin has fast-tracked border wall construction. The entire San Bernardino valley in SE Arizona is nearly walled in. This is an ancient land, a biodiversity hotspot, a gem.
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As coronavirus fears grow, doctors and nurses face abuse, attacks around the world.
Diagnostics:
still an incredible, negligent last of testing.
Drugs:
"we have already had to stop treatment" of hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin. Professor Émile Ferrari heads the cardiology department at the Pasteur hospital in Nice
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And another warning about potential harms of chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for treating COVID-19 from Canada.
Devices:
Masks
Answers to your DIY face mask questions, including what material you should use - Worth a read.
Two of the better options to be a double layer of cotton with a thread count of at least 180, and a double layer of normal cotton with a layer of flannel in between.
Vacuum bags can be tough to breathe through unless you are an actual vacuum. (And be careful — some can contain fiberglass and other fibers that you do not want to inhale.)
More patterns are on the site. Remember not to touch the front of the mask as you remove it, and wash your hands before and after putting on the mask
Epidemiology/Infection control:
COVID-19 pandemic unlikely to ebb as weather warms
The virus is unlikely to be seasonal in nature, according to a paper published yesterday by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Tips, general reading for public:
StayAtHome
Wash your hands. Removing gloves. See:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-h_AsYD8mI/?igshid=12xhjf3kl4e28
Rinse and repeat.
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National Geographic free Covid19 coverage.
Politics:
The Washington Post tracks the failures of the U.S. response to the coronavirus outbreak, exploring the 70 days it took to go from the initial warning to serious action.
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Feel good du jour:
Pioneering Texas grocery chain H-E-B is selling ready-made meals from local restaurants -- all proceeds go directly to the restaurants
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These three Angelenos, ages 106, 101 and almost 90, haven’t let coronavirus dim their spirits.
Comic relief:
Travel photographers are taking epic nature photos using indoor optical illusions
https://www.washingtonpost.
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If you like flashbacks, here are the Three Stooges as newly graduated doctors, Dr. Moe Howard, Dr. Larry Fine and Dr. Curly Howard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
This is Pepper. She thinks the world is a little scary. Plans to stay in her bag for a bit. 12/10 would ask if there’s room in there for one more pic.twitter.com/cue9oKoYyl
— WeRateDogs® (@dog_rates) April 8, 2020
Perspective/Poem
Take Back Passover
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/take-back-passover/
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Another Passover perspective, by Avi Weiss. A Seder Supplement in the Time of Coronavirus
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-seder-supplement-in-the-age-of-coronavirus/
In Memoriam: Healthcare Workers Who Have Died of COVID-19
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/927976
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David Naylor posts things on twitter in the format of a conversation with his border collie, Oscar. He is a former president of the University of Toronto, an MD, and former chair of Canada's Advisor Committee on SARS. Follow him here
Enjoyed this thread with #Oscar and @cdavidnaylor. Perhaps time to teach #Oscar this: https://t.co/neo9Pq5Biw pic.twitter.com/QTqiRmJl1S
— Angela M. Cheung (@AngelaMCheung) April 8, 2020
Bits of beauty:
