2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

Forums › Health and fitness › 2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

1 | ... | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | ... | 2429

13684 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

#2437836 14-Mar-2020 09:28

Oblivian: Theres a very cringe worthy us press conf on right now.

I was watching it on Bloomberg.

One of the critical issues they're going to face is that although they've claimed they will ramp up the ability to test, rolling out roadside drive-through testing, and waive the "copayment" for testing, they haven't waived the copayment for treatment.
So plenty of people will choose to not get tested, because even if they have basic health insurance then the copayment can be many thousands of dollars - and if you're not insured, then you'll likely be bankrupted.

It was cringe-worthy. But there are plenty of people within the US who believe that privatised healthcare is superior - and not surprisingly that includes many medical professionals who are paid "rather generously" - compared to countries with public healthcare systems.

tdgeek

30048 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9455

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2437837 14-Mar-2020 09:28

Are we expecting NZ to travel ban from Europe, UK and USA, so that every incoming traveller must self isolate for 14 days? I favour that. I can't imagine there will be any tourists, and the remaining can isolate themselves.

GV27

5978 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4212

#2437838 14-Mar-2020 09:34

Fred99:

Trump's press conference was scripted and timed solely to boost the markets.

I mean it worked, in that regard. Be very interesting in the coming few years to find out who took what position on today's close and when they took it.

Had a chat to a few friends - lots of scuttlebutt going around different places. Main takeaway was the actual steps the country takes is so laid out in advance in various plans and schedules that there are very few decisions that actually need to be 'made' - as certain things happen or confirmed to happen, other stuff and precautions automatically get put in place.

There is also relatively little opportunity for political diddling - that is, with-holding a large number of positive test results for instance (which is one rumour I've heard) for the sake of better timing the announcement. Plenty of people in the health system would call that out for what it is and it is hard to think a lab worker's union would not be wanting to bring that to the public's attention during an industrial dispute.

I am however concerned we don't have a full picture because the Australians are clearly behind the eight ball and the number of people going back and forward every day. If they already have sustained community transmission then there is a high chance we may end up importing it.

I think this is our biggest problem and not exactly one we can do much about. Having said that, will go through the motions this week - restocking medicine/script repeats and making sure we can avoid going to the supermarket for a period of time if we need to.

Mahon

473 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 214

#2437839 14-Mar-2020 09:34

The pandemics spread to NZ cannot be stopped. It is coming. NZers are not immune to the virus and there are no vaccines and it has no borders. It is probably in our interests if we had more cases than we actually have in order to "flatten the curve" to allow for treatment of most, rather than a massive burst of cases that the health system cannot cope with.

Whilst our health authorities seem to be dealing with the health of our nation OK(average marks), our government is woeful in treating the economy of our nation. There should have been massive stimulus injections before now to protect our businesses and our work force and to keep the confidence higher than it is.

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

#2437840 14-Mar-2020 09:35

tdgeek:

Are we expecting NZ to travel ban from Europe, UK and USA, so that every incoming traveller must self isolate for 14 days? I favour that. I can't imagine there will be any tourists, and the remaining can isolate themselves.

I suspect that they think that as there's almost an inevitability of local outbreak being identified retrospectively and too late - that it's probably already here, and imposing of a complete ban won't make very much difference at all - as we won't be able to contain it. Hope I'm wrong.

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

#2437844 14-Mar-2020 09:46

GV27:

Fred99:

Trump's press conference was scripted and timed solely to boost the markets.

I mean it worked, in that regard. Be very interesting in the coming few years to find out who took what position on today's close and when they took it.

Of course it did - don't forget that they were pumping (IIRC) $1.3 trillion in to the market, Trump's mentioning of buying up massive quantities of oil was solely to bump global prices - nothing at all to do with pandemic control, the US doesn't even really need strategic oil reserves these days, they're self-sufficient.

As to who took positions - why friends of Trump of course. It'll never be investigated while Republicans control the senate.

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

tdgeek

30048 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9455

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2437846 14-Mar-2020 09:55

Fred99:

tdgeek:

Are we expecting NZ to travel ban from Europe, UK and USA, so that every incoming traveller must self isolate for 14 days? I favour that. I can't imagine there will be any tourists, and the remaining can isolate themselves.

I suspect that they think that as there's almost an inevitability of local outbreak being identified retrospectively and too late - that it's probably already here, and imposing of a complete ban won't make very much difference at all - as we won't be able to contain it. Hope I'm wrong.

It does seem odd that we only had 3 unrelated imported cases. 9000 self isolating and apparently they are mainly all clear.I think maybe 2000 odd still isolation, or thats the running number. If any of the isolating cases are infected, we are still in the clear, i.e. no one in public. Maybe Australia travel needs to be banned? Thats a higher number and it seems out of control there. Perhaps I'm over hoping that right now we are still clear. I would have expected a new case to pop up each day or so, but nothing.

If it does hit, hard know what we will do, as in Italy they have a full lockdown, but everyone seems to go to work still. It seems ineffective if its a Claytons lockdown. It would be better to have everyone stay home for weeks and really hit it hard. Find some solution for supermarket supplies.

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

#2437847 14-Mar-2020 10:04

I guess we'll find out in coming weeks. 3 day incubation period before onset of symptoms is minimum - IIRC the median is about 5.5 days. Then initial symptoms are often mild - if it's going to get bad, then that might be 2 weeks after onset of symptoms.

I got a mild cold this week. My SO got it from holding a 1 month old baby with snotty nose and grizzly mood last weekend, took about 3 days from exposure for her to get it, I got it a day later. Not covid, and not hard to trace because it was fast (and yes - assumed and anecdotal only - but very likely) Covid is hard to trace.

tdgeek

30048 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9455

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2437849 14-Mar-2020 10:10

Watching CNN. Global sports has effectively stopped. Pretty much everything.

Batman

Mad Scientist
30014 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6217

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2437853 14-Mar-2020 10:23

Fred99:

Oblivian: Theres a very cringe worthy us press conf on right now.

I was watching it on Bloomberg.

One of the critical issues they're going to face is that although they've claimed they will ramp up the ability to test, rolling out roadside drive-through testing, and waive the "copayment" for testing, they haven't waived the copayment for treatment.
So plenty of people will choose to not get tested, because even if they have basic health insurance then the copayment can be many thousands of dollars - and if you're not insured, then you'll likely be bankrupted.

It was cringe-worthy. But there are plenty of people within the US who believe that privatised healthcare is superior - and not surprisingly that includes many medical professionals who are paid "rather generously" - compared to countries with public healthcare systems.

is the US the only developed country where basic and emergency healthcare is not free?

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

#2437856 14-Mar-2020 10:44

Batman:

is the US the only developed country where basic and emergency healthcare is not free?

No. It's not even "free" here - it's subsidised (most of us pay some fee to go to the Dr - and most of us pay taxes).

If you want to read more about global comparisons on healthcare systems, The Commonwealth Fund is an excellent site. The US never stacks up very well on universal healthcare (critical in an epidemic), on "value for money", or on outcomes measured by most metrics.

In Italy they faced the awful situation of having to triage patients and ration / deny treatment for those least likely to survive.

In the USA, soon they will probably be facing the situation of having to deny treatment to patients - not by triaging cases on clinical grounds - but on their ability to extract money from them whether they are destined to live or not.

HP

Shop now for HP laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

Batman

Mad Scientist
30014 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6217

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2437872 14-Mar-2020 11:08

Poland and Denmark closed their borders on Thursday

NPCtom

433 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 56

#2437877 14-Mar-2020 11:23

tdgeek:

Are we expecting NZ to travel ban from Europe, UK and USA, so that every incoming traveller must self isolate for 14 days? I favour that. I can't imagine there will be any tourists, and the remaining can isolate themselves.

I sure hope not. Flying to the US for a week on Thursday.

tdgeek

30048 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9455

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2437880 14-Mar-2020 11:31

NPCtom:

tdgeek:

Are we expecting NZ to travel ban from Europe, UK and USA, so that every incoming traveller must self isolate for 14 days? I favour that. I can't imagine there will be any tourists, and the remaining can isolate themselves.

I sure hope not. Flying to the US for a week on Thursday.

That would be a US ban not a NZ ban. Plus you can come back as the bans are not really bans they're restrictions, you would just need to self isolate for 14 days

tdgeek

30048 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9455

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2437883 14-Mar-2020 11:35

Batman: Poland and Denmark closed their borders on Thursday

Excellent. A proper travel ban

1 | ... | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | ... | 2429