USA

[Namechangervaver]

The numbers they are talking about are frightening. I'm just watching the press conference and they're hoping for 100,000-240,000 deaths as a best case scenario if people follow social distancing and they manage to flatten the curve, and 1.5-2.2 million deaths without intervention.

What will happen to the people who don't have healthcare? Or the people on skid row?

We have far more ventilators and more ICU beds per capita than the UK. Our supermarkets are stocked - you won’t see our nurses crying on viral videos that they can’t even get fruit or vegetables.
Donald, is that you?

@TKAAHUARTG Bahahaha

I don't know why some people claiming to be American have turned this thread into a pissing contest of sorts. EVERY country is screwed. People are just watching the confirmed cases grow in specific countries (this time, the USA) with horror.
In case anyone is wondering, here's some real medical people from America saying they don't have enough ventilators. Just like every other country in the world: www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/14/815675678/as-the-pandemic-spreads-will-there-be-enough-ventilators?t=1585701005995

I have less than no time for Trump.
But I understand that we are actually much better stocked with ventilators than the UK.
Our car manufacturers are now all making C19 stuff flat out.
Yes Trump has been really unhelpful and yes Fedral Organisation could have really helped.
But and it is a big but it is a much more state led response.
Our state has had us on lockdown longer than the UK has been.
Our supermarkets are disrupted but still running.
I'm sure it will be bad here but it has also been bad in most of Europe too.

Basically both sides of the Atlantic have made bad mistakes and it is going to bad for all.

In answer to the question of what's happened to undocumented and homeless people in the UK ........well they've been housed. Put into hotels so they can isolate...........not given mats in a parking lot and advised to keep 6feet apart.

Brits are also bright enough to know we can't shoot the virus, so we've been panic buying loo rolls to make sure that when all else fails we'll have a wiped arse at the very least. Much more useful than a gun. 💁🏻‍♀️

@WhatTiggersDoBest The point ppl are trying to make is that this huge country is largely managed at the state level, so what's happening in one state may be completely different to another.

New York City having a terrible time with over 75,000 cases, but the numbers are completely different in the state of Nebraska, for example, which has 177 cases.

Where I live, the food shortages eased last week. The only thing we're having problems finding are toilet paper and kitchen roll. Fruit and veg have been restocked, plenty of eggs and dairy, etc.

Your grocery stores are fully stocked? Ours aren't. And i hate to break it to you, but the homeless are being treated as badly as usual. Ivanka, is that you?! Daddy, fucked up, dear.

Where are you based BritWife because supermarkets are not well stocked here in NY. Also where are you that uninsured people won’t face a massive bill if they need treatment, if they can even access treatment in the first place.

There have been a few threads on this topic and tbh I find them a bit distasteful - there almost seems to be a kind of smugness at how 'badly' the US is handling it compared to us. Not from everyone and I'm sure that wasn't OP's intention in starting the thread, but I get the sense that some people are coping with their own anxiety by going "at least we're not as bad as those people".

They do have some advantages compared to us. As PP have said, their healthcare capacity on the whole is much greater than ours per capita. In addition, being a large country with a much lower population density they're likely to get hit at different time points regionally rather than across the whole country at once, meaning resources can be moved as necessary - I think I heard that 80,000 medical professionals have volunteered to come to New York, currently the worst affected state, from other parts of the country. Something like that wouldn't be feasible here because we're going to get swamped everywhere at the same time.

On the other hand, there's still some inconsistency in which insurance companies are waiving costs for CV treatment (testing is already free). I think in time they will all make treatment free, but in the meantime the delay presumably is putting some people off seeking medical attention. The federal agencies have also been dragging their feet - at the beginning the CDC weren't allowing hospitals to test patients who were presenting with symptoms, even when the hospitals were already in possession of the test kits, without their explicit approval, which took days and was often denied.

Both our systems are a bit shit for dealing with a crisis like this, really, and in many ways that's not surprising.- the system is designed for managing the normal state of affairs, not a once-in-a-century global emergency. It seems a bit pointless to compare whose is worse.

There's no way on earth I'll be treated. None. I'm hobbling around on an old injury, and I'm rural, no insurance and homeless. I'm going to die if I get it badly. And right now I can't get to a shop. I've severe food allergies and am pretty fucking hungry.

I'm so sorry for you guys in new York. Thinking of you and praying for you. Cuomo is great though. I'm really impressed with him. How are you doing?

Out of interest, what will happen in the UK and other countries to the undocumented people who want to avoid the authorities?

The US has 11 million. That's quite a lot of people. Plus half a million homeless people. I think that is a lot of people without access to government resources who are more likely to spread the virus and less likely to seek aid. Or am I wrong?

My gosh, if any asshole tries to arrest undocumented people seeking care, or deny undocumented people treatment that would be disgusting. I've about had enough of this world.

It depends where you are @MrsTerryPratchett, I agree that undocumented issues don't help with encouraging healthcare access. But in a sanctuary city it isn't a significant issue to access emergency care.

There have been rumors that ICE have been hovering around hospitals but a sanctuary city will manage that.

ICE hovering like vultures, huh.

There have been rumors that ICE have been hovering around hospitals

There's no excuse. Trump will go down in infamy. Fucking embarrassing.

www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/the-right-and-wrong-lessons-to-take-from-that-viral-photo-of-an-ice-arrest-at-a-hospital/

I don't even know what to say! The shame of it!

There have been a few threads on this topic and tbh I find them a bit distasteful - there almost seems to be a kind of smugness at how 'badly' the US is handling it compared to us. Not from everyone and I'm sure that wasn't OP's intention in starting the thread, but I get the sense that some people are coping with their own anxiety by going "at least we're not as bad as those people".

Yes - good to see some intelligent comments.

Oh good lord...the gnashing of teeth on this thread is unbelievable. You really want to know what it’s like here? People are either panicking, getting on with things, or stuck at home bored out of their minds wondering what all the fuss is... Sound familiar?

Things are no better or worse than any of the countries hardest hit by this.

What you all can’t seem to get your heads around is the size of the US...there are 11 US states bigger than the UK- the population is 63m compared to 309m ...yes we will have larger numbers of infected, cured, and dead. As other people have mentioned things are largely run at a state level...because it makes sense to do so.

Yes people even without insurance will get treated if they need to be. But just like everywhere else, the vast majority of people won’t need treatment at a hospital.

Yes we have food...last store I went to over the weekend had everything.. toilet paper, cleaning supplies, eggs, flour, you name it. Yes some stores will still have some holes in their stock.

As someone mentioned there is a lot of smugness...guess what...we don’t really care if you are smug. Worry about your own situation and we’ll worry about ours.

Oh...and if you are looking for accurate reporting...MoterJones isn’t it...I don’t even think they pretend to be real reporting anymore, do they?

Ergggg...MotherJones that is...

I don't know much about the publication but it seemed fairly balanced reporting.
I had a good few articles to choose from, the arrest happened but doesn't seem to be a deliberate pattern from ICE.
I think that the very federalized nature of the response and the significant differences between States means that individual responses on Mumsnet are going to be even more varied than in the UK.

I need to go in on Friday. I'll take a few photos. Last time no eggs, no tp, veg section cleared out. Very sparse.

Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised things are back to normal. Not slim pickings and price gouging.