Anyone following what’s happening in the United States?

[Redolent]

A lesson in how not to reopen.

20 states are seeing significant increases. Some like Arizona, Florida, California and Texas are breaking records of positive cases and covid hospitalizations. ICUs almost full in Texas. Indoor-dining restaurants and bars have been open for a month or so in some of these states. This is still the first wave for them ...

Will be interesting to see if they lock down some states again. It seems inevitable for Arizona (26% of those who had a Coronavirus test today were positive, which is insane).

Info from NYT:

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html

Kim Guilfoyle, a top Trump campaign official and girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., is the latest person close to the president to test positive for coronavirus

Surely to that depends on who they are testing - whether it is people who think they have it, or a random sample of the population. Of course a high number of people having a test who think they have it may have the virus.

Other states (including mine) with the same testing criteria are seeing positive rates of less than 2%.

Our state's positivity rate has been under 5% (the WHO's recommended threshold for reopening) for several weeks. It's even lower in our immediate area - but that's because we've all been really careful.

Florida Coronavirus Patient Dies After Two Hospitals Turn Her Away

www.newsweek.com/florida-coronavirus-patient-dies-after-two-hospitals-turn-her-away-1516509

And the Governor still won’t release hospitalization data.

For the 3rd day in a row now deaths have been higher than they were this time last week 😢

A brief summary of this news piece.

Refrigerated trucks now being used as morgues in California.

In Arizona families are waiting hours in 100F+ heat to get tested then waiting weeks for results.

Texas hospitals overwhelmed, over 10,000 people hospitalised with Covid. In Harris County they've shut down all testing sites because of extreme heat.

Florida reported over 11,000 new cases yesterday.

Death toll up in 17 states.

Freedom tastes so good, right?

😢

I get a news feed from Nicolas Kristoff and was just thinking about this. All of America bar maybe 3 states is now "red". The areas which started red and then got better are now back to red.

Clusters breaking out in all countries opening up.

Why isn't mask wearing compulsory for everyone outside home?

One thing that really worries me is that from mid-August onwards, students will be going back to universities. There will be massive amounts of travel, followed by people from all the states mingling in dorms and elsewhere.

I know the universities are doing their best to reduce the risk, but it just seems like the worst thing to be doing when we have so many hotspots.

DD's university just announced that people arriving from hotspot states will have to quarantine for 14 days after arriving, and have regular Covid tests.

@redolent re clubs SKorea hasn't been on lockdown its strategy was strict track trace compulsory quarantine, i think. clubs closed now because of cluster.

Are young people in the US really holding 'Covid parties'? A friend shared a story that claimed there are examples of people gambling on who will catch it first at a party. It also gave an example of a man in his 30s dying after going to such a party.

Such a horrific idea - hopefully, if it is true, it has made it to the news for being shocking rather than being a widespread trend.

Three months late but Trump has finally worn a mask - complete with the presidential seal on it. Can’t believe how stupid they are being in reopening Disney parks in Florida.

Are young people in the US really holding 'Covid parties'? A friend shared a story that claimed there are examples of people gambling on who will catch it first at a party. It also gave an example of a man in his 30s dying after going to such a party.

www.wired.com/story/the-latest-covid-party-story-gets-a-twist/

This reporter was unable to find any actual proof of any parties, but instead found quite a few people who had just heard a rumour from other people, then been quoted as sources by national news outlets.

I have been told by friends who have student aged children in the UK that the partying has not stopped at for COVID - secret gigs, raves, etc, also secret drinking sessions for older people, Ireland - so it isn't just the US.

HoldMyLobster interesting article thank you! The problem with using improperly checked stories to scare people into taking appropriate precautions is that it will just backfire when people realise and stop trusting you... Also a sad tale of how little some publications fact check

Yes, totally agree JasperRising. It's so frustrating.

Who are they testing though? Eg In Barcelona cases have tripled last week but 70% asumptomatic and that makes big difference as these people wouldn’t get a test previously

daisymay133 someone else also asked that question about who they're testing, and it's been answered if you read through the thread.

www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-data-cdc-hospitals-trump-administration/

Surprise Trump doesn’t want the figures recording

This reporter was unable to find any actual proof of any parties, but instead found quite a few people who had just heard a rumour from other people, then been quoted as sources by national news outlets.

No idea whether it’s happening or not, but I was watching a documentary the other day where someone did actually say on camera, “maybe we should have a party, you know like we did with chicken pox”

news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-85-babies-test-positive-for-covid-19-in-texas-12031874

Figures getting worse in the States. Why aren’t more areas going into lockdown?

Yes, my dad's cousin lives out there and I've got American friends so I find out about it through them. One of them has to shield due to having weak lungs. It's a real shitshow.

DSil and family are in Colorado - no idea when we’ll be able to get over to see them next.

*Are young people in the US really holding 'Covid parties'? A friend shared a story that claimed there are examples of people gambling on who will catch it first at a party. It also gave an example of a man in his 30s dying after going to such a party.
*
Honestly this sounds like something made up by an old person. I don't think young people care enough about covid to have covid roulette parties.

The USA is doomed because a lot of people who need to get tested and treated for Covid symptoms simply can't afford to get treatment.

From Modern Healthcare this week, “The median in-network commercial charge for COVID-19 hospitalizations ranged from $34,662 for the 23 to 30 age group to $45,683 for the 51 to 60 age group, new data show.” The 51-60 year old age group was also the most common age group in the hospital. Associated kidney failure/disease was the most common co-morbidity. Besides the death tolls, this highlights the huge costs associated with COVID. Medical bills are the #1 cause of bankruptcy in the US.

Many people have no health insurance so face paying those bills in full. Many people have insurance with high deductibles so need to pay the first $5,000-10,000 of that bill. Just going to the emergency room costs me $75 before any treatment happens. If you don't have insurance that fee is higher - that's just to talk to a doctor. People who have no insurance or even those who have some insurance put off getting things checked because of the fear of costs.