🦠COVID-19🦠

If you were at the french fries roasting party that stockpile of TT would really had come in handy on the back end of the excursion.

Darth has his own ventilator, he would be an even more unstoppable user of the force.

The Fountains of Wayne co-founder died yesterday from coronavirus complications. Through his 52 years he frequently flourished, just outside the spotlight.


Adam Schlesinger, who died yesterday (Apr. 1), grew up in one of those suburbs. The singer-songwriter spent his formative years in a college town called Montclair, about a 45-minute train ride from the City. All things considered, it's not so bad. It has nice parks and brunch spots, an annual film festival, and a DIY music venue where bands like the Front Bottoms and Pinegrove cut their teeth. Stephen Colbert lives there when he's not holed up in the Ed Sullivan Theater. Ezra Koenig grew up one town over, before he took off for Columbia University and started Vampire Weekend. The town can have a transient mood, like it's just one stop en route to that emerald city on the horizon. The whole state can feel that way. Yet Schlesinger owned every bit of it; if that meant writing weirdly specific odes to Jersey towns on his band's breakthrough album, so be it.

https://www.npr.org/2020/04/02/82574...-collaborators

I still have their first CD with the great song Radiation Vibe on it. Seen them once with Soul Asylum here in MPLS mn at First Avenue. Band was a little too poppy for my regular tastes but they were slick and smart songwriters.so they had appeal to me. Shocking when it's not older people dying from this horrible virus, but people near my age range makes it even more scary.

I agree about their sound being too teeny pop flavored. I was always in their neck of the woods. Montclair NJ State University, Chilton and Saint Joe's hospitals in Wayne NJ were part of my Bloomfield/ Clifton/Verona route twice a week. The local stations up there would always have them playing on the radio. Beggars can't be choosers when the reception sucks.

HEARTBREAKING: Jason Hargrove went live on Facebook two weeks ago complaining about a passenger who coughed multiple times on his bus without covering her mouth. He urged other passengers to do better. But now, we've learned he has died of COVID-19. ?



FOX32CHICAGO.COM
Bus driver dies of COVID-19 weeks after complaining of passenger's cough

All California schools will officially be closed throughout the rest of the 2019/2020 school year. My son (first grade) is really missing his teacher and his classmates.

562 people died in the last 24 hours -- the biggest single-day increase in deaths.

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronav...om-coronavirus



More than 6,000 are dead as NY governor to sign executive order to redistribute medical supplies

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/u...-medical-supplies/ar-BB126TGU?ocid=spartandhp

New York City's EMTs face tough decisions

New York City Emergency Medical Service (EMS) teams that cannot find or restart a pulse while administering CPR on adult cardiac arrest patients are instructed not to bring those patients to hospitals, according to a memo obtained by CNN and the chair of the regional emergency medical advisory committee familiar with the edict.

The new guidance, issued as a temporary change in response to the pandemic, is in place to help prevent the spread of the virus to EMS workers.

"In the event a resuscitation is terminated, and the body is in public view, the body can be left in the custody of NYPD," the memo states.

The district my youngest daughter teaches is conducting classes online. My oldest called me last night to see if she can find a way to bring her son here. He was going to graduate from high school in several weeks. She is a nurse and is worried about bringing the virus home.

NY gets 1,100 ventilators with help from China, Oregon

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/...cuomo-69977854
He thanked Jack Ma and Joe Tsai, founders of the Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba, as well as Huang Ping, the Chinese Consul General in New York.



Ambulances line the street outside Elmhurst Hospital Center, Saturday, April 4, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/04/chin...rus-fight.html

The Chinese government has facilitated a donation of 1,000 ventilators to New York state, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday. The shipment is slated to arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday.

https://time.com/5803791/jack-ma-alibaba-coronavirus/

It's nice to see China put their political and trade disagreements with the US government aside to help out New York.

A tiger at New York City's Bronx Zoo has tested positive for COVID-19, the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a statement.



ABC7CHICAGO.COM
Tiger at Bronx Zoo in New York City tests positive for COVID-19

like ROAD WARRIOR said early on...quit kissing your pooch on the lips

this tiger's sister and a couple lions at the Bronx Zoo...all tested pos...likely source asymptomatic keeper ...talking zoonosis here...meanwhile blood markets in wuhan have re-opened...plenty puppies, cats, civets, pangolins, raccoons,deer, all kinds mammals bloody & ready for the wok

Jackson Browne Tests Positive for Coronavirus

“It’s important for us all to be pretty forthcoming about what we’re going through,” singer-songwriter says

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...avirus-972713/

Jackson Browne was suspicious that something was not right when he started feeling ill in recent weeks. “As soon as I had a small cough and a temperature, I tested [for COVID-19],” he says. The Rock Hall of Fame inductee tells Rolling Stone that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and is currently recuperating at his Los Angeles home. “My symptoms are really pretty mild, so I don’t require any kind of medication and certainly not hospitalization or anything like that,” he adds.

The 71-year-old musician isn’t sure where he got it, but he suspected his recent trip to New York for the annual Love Rocks NYC benefit, which also featured Cyndi Lauper, Dave Matthews, Warren Haynes, Susan Tedeschi, and Derek Trucks, may have been the source. “So many people that have it aren’t going to be tested,” he says. “They don’t have symptoms, but they might have it and might be able to pass it on. That’s what younger readers need to understand: They need to take part in the global response to stop the spread. That means not going anywhere, not getting into contact with anybody, not seeing anybody.”

Browne spoke with Rolling Stone about the pandemic, how he’s handling his time in quarantine, and what advice he has for others who aren’t taking it seriously.

How are you feeling?
The prognosis for what to do once you test positive is pretty much the same as if you don’t test positive, which is to stay put. And stay self-quarantined. Don’t expose anybody. Don’t go anywhere.

I quarantined immediately upon feeling sick. It was before the mandatory quarantine orders were issued, because you don’t know if you had it or not. I’m in the middle of trying to call everyone I know to discuss with them how they are feeling and whether or not they have symptoms. You have to assume you have it. You need to assume that you in some way could very easily pass it to someone else.

The other thing is if you test positive, you just get over it if your body can handle it. If you contract it and your body fights it off, you’ll have the antibodies and you’ll start contributing to the herd immunity. The idea that everyone is going to eventually wind up having these antibodies in common is mysterious to me. It’s obvious that the one thing you can do to make a difference in everyone’s chances is to quarantine yourself.

There seem to be a lot of younger people that aren’t afraid of getting it.
I think what young people need to know everywhere [is] they may be less likely, but they have to treat it. They can spread this disease by not taking it seriously. They can spread it to somebody by presuming they won’t have any adverse effects themselves, and they can therefore keep partying and going where they want to go. It’s just not true. They have to understand that everybody is part of the response to this.

I hope that nobody has got it bad. You just don’t know who’s got a strong immune system and who doesn’t. I was told today by my doctor there’s a 19-year-old on a ventilator in Santa Monica. There’s no guarantee that because you’re young, you’re not going to be affected by this. The thing we should all be very aware of is by traveling around the city and moving this germ from place to place, inadvertently, you are risking the lives of everybody, including the most vulnerable, people who have asthma or people who are really old.

How long have you been home for?
It’s about 10 days. It’s not that long, but it feels like forever [laughs]. It seems like a long time. I’m presuming I got this flying back and forth to New York to do [the] Love Rocks show at the Beacon. And now it turns out that several people who were at that show have tested positive. I’m going to try and get in touch with everybody and keep talking with them.

I feel lucky that I’m not really badly affected. I guess I’ve got a really strong immune system. There’s so much we don’t know. The one thing you can do is not go anywhere, not show up anywhere. Now, I wish I hadn’t gone to New York and done this benefit. I think to myself, “How much simpler would it have been had I just called in and said, ‘No, I’m not going to travel on a cross-country flight and spend two days in New York with all these people that are singing all over the country.'”

You couldn’t have known that.
I didn’t know it then. There was already a question of being careful and saying, “I’ll bump elbows and not shake hands and won’t hug anybody. I won’t behave like that at this show.” But still, you’re in close quarters and you’re breathing the same air. They are swabbing the mics, but somebody in the crew has it. For all I know, he got it from me. I could have got it from the crew member that has it or he could have got it from me. I don’t know. I traveled on an airplane to get there.

How are you keeping yourself occupied at home?
Well, I’m having a lot of really great conversations with friends of mine who I’ve been too busy to catch up with in a long time. There’s that. I’m trying to keep track of everyone in my family and all my friends. When you calm down and start thinking about other people and their vulnerabilities … I know people all over the place that normally I’m too busy to keep track of. But now I’m able to call and see how they’re doing.

I’m listening to music. I’m watching some shows. I’m spending a lot of time reading all these op-eds. There’s a bunch of medical bulletins and stories in The New York Times. When you called earlier, I was listening to the press conference with Governor Cuomo. It’s all really good, important information.

I think you testing positive will definitely help people take this more seriously.
It’s important for us all to be pretty forthcoming about what we’re going through. Our experiences will be helpful for others to know. I don’t think my case is that important, but it might be helpful to know that some people don’t get this really bad. The idea that we can contribute to the overall herd immunity. You get over this as quickly as you can and be available to help others.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00984-8

Coronavirus can infect cats — dogs, not so much

But scientists say it’s unclear whether felines can spread the virus to people, so pet owners need not panic yet.


A study finds cats are susceptible to the coronavirus, but it's unclear whether they can infect people.Credit: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty

Cats can be infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and can spread it to other cats, but dogs are not really susceptible to the infection, say researchers in China. The team, at Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, also concludes that chickens, pigs and ducks are not likely to catch the virus.

Other scientists say the findings are interesting, but cat owners should not be alarmed just yet. The results are based on lab experiments in which a small number of animals were deliberately given high doses of the virus, SARS-CoV-2, and do not represent real-life interactions between people and their pets, says virologist Linda Saif at the Ohio State University in Wooster. There is no direct evidence that the infected cats secreted enough coronavirus to pass it on to people, she says.

So much for that theory. ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑ The bottom line is they just don't know!

https://www.petfoodindustry.com/arti...19-coronavirus

2nd pet dog tests positive for COVID-19 coronavirus

Health officials told the South China Morning Post that they believed this to be another case of human-to-dog transmission.



A second dog tested positive for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in Hong Kong, reported the South China Morning Post. Doctor’s diagnosed the dog’s owner with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Health officials analyzed oral and nasal swabs from the dog, a 2-year-old German Shepherd, and another dog from the same home in Pok Fu Lam, a residential district of Hong Kong. The German Shepherd’s results confirmed the presence of the coronavirus, but the dog remained asymptomatic. The other dog’s tests came back clean. The dogs remain in quarantine. Hong Kong’ Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department health officials told the South China Morning Post that they believed this to be another case of human-to-dog transmission.
First case of dog testing positive for coronavirus


In late Feb., another dog in Hong Kong, a Pomeranian, tested positive for the presence of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the first worldwide. Health officials used real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to find signs of the virus's genetic material. This dog also showed no symptoms of COVID-19.

The results were described as a “weak positive” by Hong Kong’ Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. The American Veterinary Medical Association stated in a FAQ that no evidence suggests dogs or cats can become sick from this coronavirus. Likewise, the Centers for Disease Control, World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and World Health Organization have no evidence that pets can be a source of SARS-CoV-2 infection or spread COVID-19 to people.

“There is no evidence that dogs play a role in the spread of this human disease or that they become sick…,” according to the OIE Questions and Answers on the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). “While there is no evidence of a COVID-19 infection spreading from one animal to another, keeping animals that test positive for COVID-19 away from unexposed animals should be considered best practice.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...covid-19-virus

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ng-out-of-dogs

Newest Shortage in New York: The City Is Running Out of Dogs to Foster

Of all the shortages created by the coronavirus pandemic -- the toilet paper and the hand sanitizer and the bottled water -- the oddest of them all has to be dogs. Oh, and cats too.

That’s right, in the New York city area, the epicenter of the disease, there is suddenly a run on pets. At least of the adopted or fostered kind. Muddy Paws Rescue and Best Friends Animal Society are reporting shelters they work with are either all out of or almost out of cats and dogs after a surge in applications of as much as 10-fold in the past two weeks.

Ordered to shelter in place at home, and both a little bored and a lot anxious, New Yorkers apparently see the four-legged friends as way to calm frayed nerves. “For the moment we definitely don’t have any dogs left to match” with foster volunteers, said Anna Lai, the marketing director at Muddy Paws. “Which is a great problem to have.”



https://www.kpbs.org/news/2020/mar/2...tages-pet-foo/

Humane Society Responds To COVID-19 Shortages With Pet Food Distribution


Coronavirus Leaves 3M Scrambling To Cover A Face Mask Shortage


The United States industrial giant is the maker of Post-It notes, Scotch Tape, and one of the most desperately needed medical supplies in the world right now: N95 facial masks.

The $32 billion Minnesota conglomerate 3M is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of N95 filtering face masks, which have been in high demand in the U.S. and around the world since the coronavirus outbreak.

N95 respirators are so named because they are capable of filtering out 95% of large and small particles, including certain types of bacteria.

They are considered essential equipment in occupations ranging from construction to medicine.

And in early 2020 health officials worried there were not nearly enough of them. In early March, officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the country had only about 35 million of the 3.5 billion N95 respirators needed in the event of a full-blown pandemic.

3M doubled global production to 1.1 billion per year from about 400 million per year, and the company said in late March it plans to double production again to 2 billion within 12 months.

The explosion of face mask demand could provide a small boost for 3M, which reported sales of about $32 billion in 2019. The company does not break down the actual size of its face mask business, but some Wall Street analysts estimate 3M sold anywhere from $100 million to $325 million in face masks prior to the outbreak of the disease. The outbreak could add another $300 million in sales, said one analyst.

This would be only a tiny portion of 3M’s overall business, but the importance of the product still has focused a tremendous amount of attention on the company.

Shares of 3M, which are valued at about $78 billion, have fallen more than 22% since the start of the year.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddi.../#56faab35902f

​​​​​​N95 Masks Have Been Leaving The U.S. During The Coronavirus Pandemic When We Needed Them Most - What Should Happen Next?

David DiSalvo
Senior Contributor
Healthcare



After writing my last article on the buying and selling frenzy for N95 masks, I couldn’t have anticipated what was coming next, but it’s clear that the story is only getting bigger. A flurry of news came shortly after, documenting from multiple angles that masks and other supplies, required by front-line medical personnel to do their jobs, have been leaving the country while desperately needed in U.S. hospitals.

Let’s review what we now know about these critical medical supplies leaving the country during the pandemic.

As reported here last Monday, brokers in the U.S. have been facilitating sales of N95 masks to foreign buyers throughout the health crisis. I shadowed one broker who refuses to sell to foreign buyers during the pandemic, but the broader sales network—unrestricted by U.S. laws that have allowed the export of medical supplies around the world—includes players engaged in these deals.

After this story broke, reporting appeared in multiple news outlets showing that foreign exports of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical supplies have been continuing during the pandemic.

In an article titled “Key Medical Supplies Were Shipped From U.S. Manufacturers To Foreign Buyers, Records Show,” The Intercept reported:

While much of the world moved swiftly to lock down crucial medical supplies used to treat the coronavirus, the U.S. dithered, maintaining business as normal and allowing large shipments of American-made respirators and ventilators to be sold to foreign buyers ... The foreign shipments, detailed in dozens of government records, show exports to other hot spots where the pandemic has spread, including East Asia and Europe.
The Intercept, April 2, 2020

The article goes on to provide details of shipments destined for cities around the globe, while also bringing to light how countries including China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Germany—all destinations of U.S. exports—"moved to ban exports of vital health care products in a bid to shore up domestic supply.”

Similar coverage of these and other countries’ export bans appeared in Bloomberg News: “This year some two dozen nations – including China and India – have begun to restrict or ban exports of medical gear like masks, gloves, protective suits and disinfectant.”

Politico, in an article that focuses on exports of masks and other PPE through USAID, reported:

The incidents have spurred the Pence-led coronavirus task force to scrutinize all of USAID’s deliveries to countries requesting personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to fight the outbreak, according to people directly involved in the discussions ... The administration has also placed a moratorium on overseas shipments of USAID’s stockpiles of protective gear and is asking that the equipment be sent to the U.S. instead, other officials said.
Politico, March 31, 2020

By the end of last week, an exchange erupted between the Trump administration and the 3M Company MMM (makers of N95 masks) regarding use of the Defense Production Act to influence production and limit export of critical medical supplies. President Trump said in a tweet: “We hit 3M hard today after seeing what they were doing with their Masks. “P Act” all the way. Big surprise to many in government as to what they were doing - will have a big price to pay!”

3M released a statement saying “3M and its employees have gone above and beyond to manufacture as many N95 respirators as possible for the U.S. market,” and warning that “ceasing all exports of respirators produced in the United States would likely cause other countries to retaliate and do the same, as some have already done.” The statement also cites “significant humanitarian considerations” for mask exports to support “healthcare workers in Canada and Latin America, where we are a critical supplier of respirators.” (Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already said he will not retaliate against the U.S.)

During a press conference on Friday, April 3, the President said he was officially using his powers under the Defense Production Act to “prohibit export of scarce health and medical supplies by unscrupulous actors and profiteers” and “the Secretary of Homeland Security will work with FEMA to prevent the export of N95 respirators, surgical masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment.” He later said in answer to a question that he may allow certain exceptions to the export ban for countries in dire need.

Adding yet another dimension to the story, The Daily Mailand Daily Mail Australia reported on an investigation that revealed China stockpiled two billion masks along with 25 million pieces of other essential medical supplies between January and March.

Quoting from coverage of the report:

When the Wuhan-originated virus was at its peak, the Chinese government went on a global campaign to recruit Chinese-owned companies in foreign countries to raid stocks of the items ... China saw a ‘rapid growth in imports of commodities and key consumer goods’ comprising 2.46 billion medical supply items.
news.com.au, April 2, 2020

The story was also discussed on 60 Minutes, with testimony from a witness who says “he saw tons of gloves, masks, gowns, sanitizer and other vital medical supplies being packaged to be shipped out of Australia to China” while Australian healthcare workers have been reporting shortages of PPE at hospitals across the country.

China is seen by much of the world as a source of medical goods, but in this case it seems China—a key destination of U.S. exports—actively sought sources of PPE in other countries to amass an enormous stockpile of billions of masks and other medical supplies. This was occurring while hospitals across the U.S. and other countries have been in desperate need for these very items.

While coverage of the larger story will continue to unearth more details, some of the data points are rapidly connecting, and we’re also revisiting what we know in light of what’s changed. For example, we know that export laws in the U.S. have allowed the sale of medical supplies around the globe – that’s been true right up until this point in the pandemic. What’s changed is that the U.S. was thrust into a health crisis without modern comparison, and that changed our perception of export laws that would otherwise remain unquestioned.

Likewise, the U.S. has always provided significant humanitarian aid to countries in need, including critical medical supplies. What’s changed, again, is that this health crisis came to U.S. shores (and, in yet another twist, has placed the U.S. in a position of needing humanitarian assistance from other countries).

Blame will continue to be pointed in all directions, but for now—at least until we make it through this crisis—it’s more important that we work toward an understanding of what happened and why. We are living through the biggest health crisis of our time and it’s crucial that we figure out how to learn from this experience to improve our systems and standards moving forward.

This will not be the last pandemic humans face, nor the last health crisis that surpasses our previously held assumptions, and we must become better prepared to handle what comes next. As more information comes to light, hopefully the politics and blame can take a backseat to heightened understanding for the benefit of us all.

Funeral director Tom Cheeseman loads a body into his van in Brooklyn, New York, after making a house call on Friday, April 3. The Associated Press spent a day on the road with Cheeseman, who is overwhelmed by demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.John Minchillo/AP


https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/07/us/ga...mes/index.html

The United States marked a grave milestone on Monday, April 6, when the official death toll from the novel coronavirus surpassed 10,000. The virus has spread throughout the country and since January of this year the number of people infected with Covid-19 has continued to rise.

The situation is most dire in New York, where at least 4,758 people have died, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering. Funeral homes have been overwhelmed because of increased demand.

Associated Press photojournalist John Minchillo recently spent time covering the work of funeral directors Tom Cheeseman and Pat Marmo in Brooklyn, New York.


Pat Marmo, owner of the Daniel J. Schaefer Funeral Home, works in his body holding facility on Thursday, April 2.John Minchillo/AP


Bodies are wrapped in protective plastic in a holding facility at the Daniel J. Schaefer Funeral Home on Thursday, April 2. Funeral directors are seeing a surge of clients because of the coronavirus pandemic.John Minchillo/AP


Cheeseman, right, speaks to police officers before making a house call to collect a body on Friday, April 3.John Minchillo/AP


Marmo walks through his body holding facility on Thursday, April 2. "This is a state of emergency," he said to The Associated Press. "We need help."John Minchillo/AP


Cheeseman retrieves a body on a house call on Friday, April 3.John Minchillo/AP

https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-fu...e92e09364.html

[video=youtube;RJDKsab4-Zk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJDKsab4-Zk[/video]

Apr 7, 2020

CBS News

CBS News investigative reporter Graham Kates joins CBSN to discuss how the COVID-19 crisis is overwhelming workers in the funeral industry and disrupting the mourning process for grieving families.

In order to keep the prices high, dairy farmers are told to dump 5 million litres raw milk (US liguid gallons = 1320860.262)


https://whyy.org/articles/the-dairy-...-dumping-milk/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...mers-1.5521248

A very sad day here at Diehl Trucking......after nearly 42 years of hauling milk.....we were told today for the first time to dump two full loads of milk. The uncertainty of the world has hit the dairy industry. The lack of demand for milk and milk products and plants that process have been hit by sickness.
Please keep all in your thoughts and prayers

The residents of Wuhan, China have been allowed by the Chinese government to leave the city for the first time today (Wednesday, 4-7-20) since their city was put on lock down when the coronavirus started there. Get ready...this whole thing just might start all over again because the Chinese government was pretty quick to open the floodgates. The lock down was already lifted on other cities in China a few days ago.