The US situation.

[Orangeblossom78]

Finding this difficult to understand. They now have more cases than China and Italy, but Trump is on about loosening restrictions and opening up areas?

I don't understand any thoughts? It seems he is thinking they have done more testing which is the reason for the numbers. www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52056586

And yes I agree re BoJo following Trump's lead, he took a u-turn eventually but it's most likely too little, too late. I thought Brexit was a shitshow in the UK, BoJo has topped himself with the CV response though. Meanwhile, Trump is announcing the US will reopen by Easter. Deranged.

Glad to hear individual states are taking tougher measures, but is this true that there's a huge shortage of equipment in the US? It's a problem worldwide, but are you guys more affected because of Trump neglecting the issue for far too long?

maybe some Americans will buy into the economy over lives theory.

I’ve already seen several twitter posts saying everyone should get back to work as this isn’t worth tanking the economy for

tired, I can offer a virtual socially distanced handhold. My DM is 80 and in Manhattan proper. My aunts and cousins in Queens and Long Island. It's tough. All are well at the moment. Not sure my DM is always sound of mind and she lives with husband number 5 her 84 year old DH so no one really to help.

Cheers Piggy, very kind of . I sincerely hope that your rellies in Manhattan will be ok. Thanks again.

Please go back and reread what wasabiprawns was posting on page 2 of this thread.

I'm in New York State, about 300 miles northwest of New York City and the whole state has been taking the pandemic very seriously. Statewide, all schools, bars, pubs, and restaurants closed before they closed over in the UK.

Trump is a buffoon. Remember that about half of voters (including me) participating in the presidential election voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. We hate the fact that he is our president and I cringe every time I see him on TV or hear him on the radio. He will say whatever suits him on any given day. Then, two or three days later, he'll flip-flop and say something completely different.

Right now he's saying "churches and restaurants and bars open by Easter!"

Next week he'll be saying "of course we have to extend the social distancing until the beginning of May!"

New York governor Andrew Cuomo is making a lot more sense than Trump.

I really rate Andrew Cuomo, he tells it like it is, I think.

(and only realised in the last week his brother is Chris, from CNN... how can I not know this given they are like two peas in a pod?!)

Well worth reading. It explains what the US is up against with Trump at the helm.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/presidents-character-unequal-task/608743/

I'm in Massachusetts. We've been following the Irish model of isolation since roughly the same time - way ahead of the UK. I think they closed bars and restaurants a tiny bit ahead of Ireland. I pay no attention to anything Trump says about businesses opening etc. As far as I am concerned my state has a perfectly functioning state government that is making sober, realistic decisions to protect public health.

Trump lacks the character to lead in a crisis and his actions over the past 4 years mean the federal government lacks any depth of expertise or experience - droves of career civil servants have left or been pushed from the state department, department of homeland security etc. Michael Lewis's The Fifth Risk is a scary read.

@DippyAvocado There no internal travel restrictions officially but the airlines have cut capacity dramatically. We live very close to a major airport and it was shocking how quiet it is. Mostly just cargo planes these days.

@pallisers, I’m also in Ma. I think Gov.Baker has been fairly proactive in dealing with CV19.

In Massachusetts you must have health insurance. Our liberal state has an excellent Medicaid system for people in need. If you wind up in the ER hospitals have advocates to help patients connect with Medicaid.

Hi Secret. Yes thanks to the republican Governor Romney we piloted "Obamacare" before everyone else :). I'm listening to Baker right now. He and Marty Walsh have done very well I think giving the kind of measured, empathetic communications you want to hear and the right decisions. I don't listen to the Trump briefings - if I did I'd need to take this approach

www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/dr-fauci-reports-that-alcohol-may-help-people-survive-coronavirus-briefings

In the US lockdowns etc are decided at the state level. About 1/4 of Americans are under some sort of lock down currently.

In general US has the most critical care and general hospital beds per capita In the world. However access and lack of health insurance are huge issues. They also have a lower number of doctors per capita than most of Europe so HCP availability will also be an issue.

So far the US outcomes (death rate vs cases similar to Germany) are several times better than the UK but it is too early to draw much conclusion from that as with the huge ramp in cases I think things will look very much worse in a week or two.

Andrew Cuomo now announcing that all schools will be closed in NY State until at least 15 April. They will assess the situation as they approach that date. He's expecting the number of infections and deaths to get much higher throughout April. Also presenting a very detailed, organized plan for April.

I was meant to be taking ds to walt disney world in may as a last hurrah before he starts school but ive cancelled it. There is too much uncertainty to go ahead with the holiday. I can rebook florida i cant rebook life

The weird thing his, trump's popularity has risen! After first saying the virus was 'a hoax', then saying it was 'serious', then saying he knew it was a pandemic'begore everyone else'. He's a lying, self aggrandising, narcissist and they love him for it. I despair.

I can't believe those figures either fish - baffles me as he is so clearly out of his depth and using the briefings as rallies to his base.

Saw a piece today though that said his "crisis" boost that most presidents get in times of big trouble is way less than normal.

Hospitals weigh blanket DNR orders for coronavirus patients (US)

www.foxnews.com/health/hospitals-weigh-blanket-dnr-orders-amid-coronavirus-protective-equipment-shortages

This is a defining moment for the USA. Unlike any other developed western economy, there's no adequate social policy safety net and no public healthcare. All those aircraft carriers and stealth bombers are a fat lot of use now.

Have you seen the bill the Senate/House just passed? Among other things it adds $600 in federal payments a week onto unemployment insurance, on top of what people receive from their state - the average is about $300 a week.

It's amazing how they can find the money to put a social policy safety net in when they want to.

According to a the Wikipedia page about number of hospital beds per capita across the world, the US do have a very high number of ICU beds per 100,000 people (34.7 compared to 6.6 for the UK).

I'm not particularly advocating for the politics or healthcare system, but some of this is just down to capacity to deal with very ill patients which it appears they may do better than many. There isn't a break down of where those ICU beds appear per state though, so it's not clear if it's evenly distributed across the country. They also don't rank particularly well for general hospital bed capacity, it's just the ICU numbers that are noteworthy.

I have heard a cynical explanation for the number of US ICU beds as being they can charge a lot for them.

Germany has nearly as many, and seems to be surviving Covid-19 fairly well too.

I wouldn't believe one word that comes out of Fox News, including conjunctions and linking adverbials. This is the station that informs Trumps policies - the same station that was widely broadcasting disbelief in the CV/fake news etc as their owner was cancelling his 80th birthday party because of CV. They are simply liars. They may occasionally tell the truth but not from any desire to do so.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-teenager-death-california-health-insurance-care-emergency-room-covid-19-a9429946.html

Can anyone explain why the fuck have a Trump’s ratings increased? Are Americans deranged?!

the US do have a very high number of ICU beds per 100,000 people (34.7 compared to 6.6 for the UK).

Do you think people without insurance would be able to access these beds in the current circumstances?