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?

www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/fo72bi/oc_coronavirus_deaths_worldwide_per_one_million/

It’s truly horrific, they’re going to be decimated

Lose one in ten people?

My DS and Dil and family live in New York. I know there has been some initial difficulties in getting nappies. (fortunately, baby formula no longer required)
However, I think like the UK, this was a result of initial panic buying, as this has not been mentioned again. (we speak everyday)
Currently, shops in the UK have plenty of fruit and veg, but not evrything is available at all times. In otherwords, there may be some shortages in specific products, at specific times (UK).
I am concerned about the number of covid-19 deaths in New York State and in the city itself. (obviously, as family live there).
Watching the news re UK, and then immediately followed by item on US, I was definitely struck by the differences in health care. Whatever we think of the NHS, (and it does have many shortcomings), it is a unified health care service, and consequently, care is and has been shared around between hospitals. And there can be a unified response.
I think this may prompt some changes in US care, but not sure what exactly. I was listening to the New York (Mayor?) yesterday, explaining how all the hospitals should work together. I thought he seemed very good.

@FromEden the unemployment is high, but the government is giving $600 a week ON TOP OF the normal unemployment benefits people will get. And they are made available to anyone who is out of work because of Covid19

Yes, I'm glad they are doing something. DH is here on a visa and wont be entitled to anything, so far he has taken a 50% pay cut but still has a job so it could be worse I guess. I'm just worried about the long term effects of this. I live in Vegas and a good chuck of the work force here has been laid off or furloughed because all the hotels and casinos are closed. It cant go on indefinitely.

We seem to be doing a good job of flattening the curve here though. People see New York and think(and in some cases wish) that all of the US is in a similar situation but it isnt at all.

The death rate in USA is increasing at an astonishing rate.1047 coronavirus deaths yesterday.

Compared to 563 deaths in the UK yesterday. A country a fifth the size of the US.

Thanks for your concern, but you might want to focus on your own problems.

It doesn't look good for either the USA or the UK at present.
But I have friends and family impacted by this the whole way around the globe nowhere is going to be unscathed.

What @Holdmylobster said.

OP why are you so obsessed with the US? Does it somehow make you feel better about the situation you are facing in the UK, because it shouldn’t.

It’s hard to compare the numbers, they have huge population. I mean it is upsetting, but 240k deaths for 380m society is good and it would mean they managed to control the situation.

My fiance lives over there. Some things from his situation are...

Because he was a student in 2018/19 and therefore didn't file taxes, he cannot get the $1,200 dollar check they are handing out

He has no health insurance because he can't afford it

He is currently unemployed because of this

There is no relief for alimony or Child Support, and his child support order was already a joke

While it is illegal for urgent care to turn people away, if he got sick and needed it they would send him a bill in the thousands and destroy his already damaged credit

@SuperlativeScrubs I'm not trying to be nasty, OP, but you might want to rethink your engagement. We've had historically low unemployment in the US recently, so your fiance not having a job is a massive red flag.

Sorry, not directed at the OP, obviously.

his child support order was already a joke

Does this mean he was actually expected to help provide for the child he coproduced ? If so I honestly think the UK could learn something from whichever State he was in.

Thanks for your concern, but you might want to focus on your own problems.

It's the rate of the increase in deaths, love, not the absolute number

Because he was a student in 2018/19 and therefore didn't file taxes, he cannot get the $1,200 dollar check they are handing out

If he files his 2019 taxes he'll get the check. My 18 year old has just done hers.

He is currently unemployed because of this

Hopefully he's applied for state UI plus the federal $600 a week?

He has no health insurance because he can't afford it

If he's just been made unemployed then now is the time to apply for Medicaid, or if he earns too much (although from what you've said he's been on a low income for quite a while now) then Obamacare using that UI payment. He has 60 days from the date he lost his job.

While it is illegal for urgent care to turn people away, if he got sick and needed it they would send him a bill in the thousands and destroy his already damaged credit

If he's as poor as you're making out then he'll qualify for Medicaid, and even if he doesn't, the hospital won't bill him if he earns too little.

Best of luck to him - these are scary times.

It's the rate of the increase in deaths, love, not the absolute number

Like I said, you might want to stop with the 'gleeful at US deaths' displacement activities, and focus on your own problems.

@midwesteaster I love the assumption that you know everything about our situation. You sound incredibly bitter about the child support system here, too.

I haven't used the child support system in either the UK or the USA.
I have observed that men in the UK often manage to find loopholes to avoid supporting the children they have produced.
It is only a positive thing if blokes in the USA are made to properly fund their own kids.
I don't pretend to know anything about your DP's circumstances but I am pleased that he is funding his dc properly.

The very concerning things seems to be the focus in one area (New York) as in Italy where it was Milan and Lombardy) meaning such pressure on the hospitals - I guess we have the same in a way in London but also this new big hospital just about to open.

We are now a global economy so the US losing a shit ton of people is going to cause huge problems elsewhere. China’s chief scientific advisor is already saying that the projected numbers of ill people in the US is going to lead to a shortage of medicines globally. That frightens me.

Another one in US here. Things really do vary massively by state. I live in WA and we locked down a while ago. Do seem to be flattening the curve too, but obviously this would likely rebound as soon as restrictions are eased. We don’t currently have a shortage of beds or vents here (just gave back 400) but I think it was also easier for us to stay spread out here. There are only 800,000 people in Seattle and only 6 million in all of WA, which is the size of half the UK. Even on a normal day, I can stay 6 feet away from most people. Not many shortages in grocery stores either, apart from flour. Everyone is baking sourdough.

We moved from London last year and I am glad we’re not trying to live in 800 square feet with a DC on lockdown, but I’d feel the same way if I was living in a dense city over here.

The main problem with our healthcare is the inequality. I’ve always received quicker and arguably better care over here than I did with 15 years of the NHS, but I’ve also always had excellent health insurance. I think we do have more ICU beds and ventilators per capita, they are just spread out over an area the size of Europe so tough to share resources. We’re sharing with Oregon though, which is similar to sharing with Scotland in terms of distance! The UK isn’t sharing vents or taking patients from Italy. You really do have to think of the US as like Europe, a huge federal country.

I think what is concerning people is the way the figures are rising so quickly; on 26th March you had 82K cases, less than China, today you have 188K. Where we had 3K new cases yesterday (our highest ever), you had 24K - i.e. 8 times as many

This is simply because they ramped up their testing - they are doing double the testing per head than the UK. So of course their number of confirmed cases is rapidly increasing.

To add to @PrivateD00r's post, the figures are also rising rapidly in certain areas, e.g. New York and New Jersey, but not so rapidly in others. There's a massive disparity between numbers of cases in those areas and others, literally tens of thousands.

I also think it's because of increased testing( in those areas) and perhaps the lockdowns are proving effective?