The Walls Come Down: No Travel Betwen US and Europe for 30 Days

[loomer]

The Canadian government has rejected an appeal for Cuban doctors for First Nations communities.

What is the rational for refusing help other than "we don't want to admit that we need it"? Because I'm not seeing one.

That appears to be the entire rationale.

[ray245]

This is the exit strategy for post-lockdown. Which means the various Western countries need to implement those measures as soon as possible, and develop the infrastructure to be able to do aggressive contact tracing. While people might see this as an infringement of rights, people's rights are already infringed with shelter-in-place and lockdowns anyway.

Contact-tracing barely exist in any of the Western countries during the contain phrase of the pandemic response, which was why Western containment failed so badly in all regards.

Contact-tracing is the only offensive tool people have in fighting against the spread of the virus. The US do have the manpower to do those task. Singapore used our army personnel to do the job of calling people up and isolating them. If your constitution prevents such measures, now is a good time to have an amendment to allow such use for the specific scenario of a pandemic outbreak.

Your founding fathers probably never envisioned a pandemic of such scale happening in their lifetime, so now is a time to introduce these life-saving measures to combat pandemics.

I realise this is a situation where there aren't any truly good choices, but there's rather an important question that needs to be addressed: What happens when we implement 24/7 real-time tracking of every citizen's location to stop the spread of the virus, and the government decides they're not going to stop doing it when the danger is past?

Korea used cell-phones data. Singapore used a variety of CCTV, calling people up and asking them where they've been and who they have been in contact with.

Government stopping it is just going to be a matter of trust at this point. Unlike terrorism, pandemics have a clear end point. A society have a choice of either defending their civil liberties and letting the virus spread. The virus is not giving people a nice middle ground.

[madd0ct0r]

The Canadian government has rejected an appeal for Cuban doctors for First Nations communities.

What is the rational for refusing help other than "we don't want to admit that we need it"? Because I'm not seeing one.

That appears to be the entire rationale.

There's an old history of USA hating on the Cuban medical brigades (they were refused entry to help with Hurricane Katrina), and it might be that the extra help (for some uppity natives) is not seen the risk of enraging the old guard in Washington.

There's also a shorter history of members of the cuban medical brigades defecting to Canada, and it might the risk of a diplomatic incident on top of the pandemic is seen as too much hassle.

Either way, First Nations are being sacrificed for Canadian geopolotical interests.

[LaCroix]

Since you guys have everything under control, Trump sends surplus medical machinery to Italy...

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11292533/ ... hospitals/

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, with Trump's handling of this, we'll likely be begging Italy for it back soon enough.

[FaxModem1]

TASS

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC31 MAR, 04:08
500 coronavirus cases recorded in Russia over past day
The number of people infected with COVID-19 in Russia has surpassed 2,300

MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. The number of people infected with the novel coronavirus in Russia has increased by 500 in the past 24 hours, reaching 2,337, the federal coronavirus task force informed on Tuesday, adding that 121 people have recovered and 17 have died.

"Currently, there are 2,337 documented cases of the coronavirus infection in the Russian Federation in 73 regions. In the past 24 hours, 55 people have been discharged from hospitals on recovery. In total, 121 people have recovered. In the past 24 hours, 8 deaths have been documented. In total, 17 deaths have been documented," the message informs.

Russian cases seem to be increasing.

[loomer]

The Navajo Nation outbreak continues to escalate. Doubling in a day and a half with a higher percentage needing hospitalization, a higher percentage of those needing vent supports, and a higher percentage of younger people needing aid. But hey, why prioritize Native American communities?

[mr friendly guy]

https://www.euractiv.com/section/justic ... n-looting/

‘We have to eat’: Sicily police crack down on looting
EURACTIV.com with AFP 30 Mar 2020

Police with batons and guns have moved in to protect supermarkets on the Italian island of Sicily after reports of looting by locals who could no longer afford food.

The novel coronavirus has claimed more than 10,000 lives across the Mediterranean country, about a third of the world’s total, creating the worst emergency Italians have known since World War II.

Simultaneously, it has eroded the economy, which had been the third-largest in the European Union before the new illness reached Italian shores from China last month.

A lockdown designed to curb contagion has shut almost everything across the country since 12 March, depriving millions of steady incomes.

The building sense of desperation reportedly boiled over on Thursday in Sicily, long one of Italy’s least developed regions.

According to La Repubblica daily, a group of locals ran out of one of Palermo’s supermarkets without paying.

“We have no money to pay, we have to eat,” someone reportedly shouted at the cashiers.

In other Sicilian towns, small shops owners that are still allowed to stay open have been pressured by the locals to give them free food, Il Corriere della Sera said.

The paper wrote of a ticking “social time bomb” in the region, which is home to around five million people, and which has officially recorded 57 deaths from COVID-19.

“I am afraid that concerns shared by much of the population — about health, income, the future — will turn into anger and hatred if this crisis continues,” Giuseppe Provenzano, Italy’s minister overseeing southern regions, told La Repubblica.

An AFP reporter saw four armed policemen guarding one of Palermo’s supermarket entrances on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

They stood silently, hands behind their backs or tucked into the straps of their bulletproof vests, their faces partially hidden by green masks.

They did not speak or interact with the shoppers, a silent presence seemingly aimed at showing a government still in control.

“People who attacked the supermarket are ignorant,” said Carmelo Badalamenti, a local who like others stuffed his red cart with groceries before everything shut down for the day Sunday.

“Plundering the supermarket will not solve anything.”

In Rome, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte appears aware of the building sense of anxiety, stress and fear gripping the nation.

Making one of his increasingly regular evening television appeals to the nation Saturday evening, Conte promised to send food vouchers to those who cannot afford groceries.

“We know that many suffer but the state is there,” Conte said.

His government is earmarking €400 million for the emergency food relief programme.

I confess I am not aware of what Italy is doing to support workers who aren't making money due to the shutdown.

[Solauren]

The Navajo Nation outbreak continues to escalate. Doubling in a day and a half with a higher percentage needing hospitalization, a higher percentage of those needing vent supports, and a higher percentage of younger people needing aid. But hey, why prioritize Native American communities?

Trump thinking:
If they did, we don't have to honor treaties/commitments to them?

[loomer]

Fortunately, Arizona's Governor seems to be taking it seriously enough to deploy the national guard to establish hospital facilities.

[mr friendly guy]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/heal ... 33171.html

Coronavirus: NHS doctors ‘gagged’ over protective equipment shortages
Exclusive: Staff on frontline of pandemic warned not to speak out about concerns over lack of protective gear

Shaun LinternHealth Correspondent @ShaunLintern
6 hours ago
266 comments
Frontline doctors have told The Independent they have been gagged from speaking out about shortages of protective equipment as they treat coronavirus patients – with some claiming managers have threatened their careers.

Staff have been warned not to make any comments about shortages on social media, as well as avoiding talking to journalists, while NHS England has taken over the media operations for many NHS hospitals and staff.

The Independent has seen a series of emails and messages warning staff not to speak to the media during the coronavirus outbreak.

One GP has been barred from working in a community hospital in Ludlow after making comments about the lack of equipment, while another in London said they were told to remove protective equipment they had purchased themselves.

NHS England confirmed it was controlling media communications, which it said was part of its national emergency incident planning to ensure the public received “clear and consistent information”. A spokesperson said some NHS staff had already spoken out about equipment concerns.


Dr Rinesh Parmar, chairman of the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) said it had received a number of concerns from doctors.

He added: “We are seeing draconian measures used to gag doctors and nurses on the frontline. The NHS will only benefit if we learn from each other’s experience. If we are unable to share our learning then patients will be put at risk.

“We must protect the frontline. NHS staff should not be gagged.”

On Sunday Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, said the government had delivered 170 million masks, 42.8 million gloves, 13.7 million aprons, 182,000 gowns and 2.3 million pairs of googles to the NHS.

Despite this, clinicians over the weekend continued to report shortages with some telling The Independent they had completely run out of respirator masks and had relied on donations from local companies and schools.

One GP in the North West told The Independent they were warned off speaking to their local media about equipment shortages saying “it was strongly suggested” by their local clinical commissioning group that an interview would not be a good idea.


I would like to receive morning headlines
Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email
The experienced GP, who asked to remain anonymous, added: “I felt I was being warned I wasn’t toeing the party line. One of them said they had been told this nationally.

“We should be allowed to speak about these issues. We need more PPE [personal protective equipment] to keep us safe and we shouldn’t be putting our families at risk. The leaders are saying we should have this PPE, but the fact is we can’t get it and when we raise this we are told not to speak out about it. There is a problem there somewhere.

“If we raise something through the proper channels and it has not been dealt with, we have to speak out about it for our own safety. If we don’t and you make a mistake, or something goes wrong, we get blamed.”

The GP said their practice currently had no respirator masks and have tried to source their own from wholesalers, who had also run out. Although the practice had aprons and gloves, it did not have protective gowns.

One intensive care doctor, who asked to remain anonymous, raised concerns with their managers about a shortage of protective masks after being told they would have to use less safe surgical masks. They claimed they were later warned in a meeting with trust bosses that their social media profiles would be watched.

The doctor said they were told: “If we hear of these concerns going outside these four walls, your career and your position here will not be tenable going forward.”

The DAUK said they had received examples from across the country including the East of England, Yorkshire, Essex and Lincolnshire.

One doctor claimed they were told it would be “against hospital policy” to talk about shortages of PPE publicly. They said they were told social media was being monitored.

Another doctor said managers had warned them against what they said was “inappropriate social media comments regarding the state of PPE”.


The Independent has seen a number of messages to staff warning them against making comments on social media and not responding to requests for information from journalists.

At the weekend one GP was barred from working at Ludlow Community Hospital after she claimed it was “dangerously lacking” in equipment.

Dr Beanland, a GP partner at Portcullis surgery in Ludlow, was told to stop working after her comments and that her own protective clothing was “frightening patients”.

The Shropshire Community Trust said it had followed national guidelines of protective equipment.

In London another GP, Dr George Zumbadze, said he was working at an urgent care centre and was told to remove equipment he had purchased himself or stop working when he did a shift at the Chase Farm Hospital.

An NHS England spokesperson said: “Once a major incident occurs it is vital that the public receive fast, authoritative, open, clear and consistent information from their NHS, which is why in line with longstanding [emergency] protocols, official communications are therefore always coordinated nationally.

“But staff continue to speak in a personal, trade union or professional body capacity, and it is self-evident from print and broadcast media coverage throughout this incident that staff are able and do in fact speak freely.”

But...but my freedom of speech.

[aerius]

Just got off the phone with one of the guys I bike with who works as a nurse in a mental health facility. Or should I say worked.

We've had a lockdown in place for a week and almost all the public facing employees at banks, liquor stores, and so forth are wearing masks and gloves. Nurse in a mental health facility? PROHIBITED from wearing masks and protective gear, because reasons. They have patients & families going in & out of the facility, medical personnel going all over the place, and they're not allowed to wear masks. Like what the fuck, are they deliberately trying to spread this shit? Apparently, my acquaintance got into a massive shitfest with management over this and ended up quitting.

Also, lots of concerning news from one of my doctor friends who works in a large hospital where we live. They do not have a separate stream for suspected covid-19 admissions & patients. Everyone gets mixed together in the same waiting rooms and the staff are going back & forth between all areas. Cross-contamination is going to get a ton of regular patients infected with covid-19 and a ton of staff are going to go down with it too. Hospital staff are trying to come up with a makeshift procedure for separating patients & staff to prevent cross-contamination but they haven't even been able to do something like "front door normal patients, covid-19 patients use side door".

[loomer]

Two Métis men were shot dead while hunting for food after COVID-19 layoffs. We all saw the domestic violence increase coming, but I don't think I saw much anticipating a rise in outright homicides while hunting as a result of it. The question now is, accident or intentional - though there being two of them doesn't exactly scream 'oh shit that was a human not a moose' to me.

[Ace Pace]

Also, lots of concerning news from one of my doctor friends who works in a large hospital where we live. They do not have a separate stream for suspected covid-19 admissions & patients. Everyone gets mixed together in the same waiting rooms and the staff are going back & forth between all areas. Cross-contamination is going to get a ton of regular patients infected with covid-19 and a ton of staff are going to go down with it too. Hospital staff are trying to come up with a makeshift procedure for separating patients & staff to prevent cross-contamination but they haven't even been able to do something like "front door normal patients, covid-19 patients use side door".

Are your medical institutions incompetent? A second rate country like Israel managed to tell covid-19 patients to stay home, dial 911 and get a dedicated medical unit to take them to the hospital.

[ray245]

Just got off the phone with one of the guys I bike with who works as a nurse in a mental health facility. Or should I say worked.

We've had a lockdown in place for a week and almost all the public facing employees at banks, liquor stores, and so forth are wearing masks and gloves. Nurse in a mental health facility? PROHIBITED from wearing masks and protective gear, because reasons. They have patients & families going in & out of the facility, medical personnel going all over the place, and they're not allowed to wear masks. Like what the fuck, are they deliberately trying to spread this shit? Apparently, my acquaintance got into a massive shitfest with management over this and ended up quitting.

Also, lots of concerning news from one of my doctor friends who works in a large hospital where we live. They do not have a separate stream for suspected covid-19 admissions & patients. Everyone gets mixed together in the same waiting rooms and the staff are going back & forth between all areas. Cross-contamination is going to get a ton of regular patients infected with covid-19 and a ton of staff are going to go down with it too. Hospital staff are trying to come up with a makeshift procedure for separating patients & staff to prevent cross-contamination but they haven't even been able to do something like "front door normal patients, covid-19 patients use side door".

I think this goes to show how utterly useless some hospital administrators are. They have never been trained, nor were they expected to be able to handle a crisis like a pandemic.

[Zaune]

Just got off the phone with one of the guys I bike with who works as a nurse in a mental health facility. Or should I say worked.

We've had a lockdown in place for a week and almost all the public facing employees at banks, liquor stores, and so forth are wearing masks and gloves. Nurse in a mental health facility? PROHIBITED from wearing masks and protective gear, because reasons.

Probably because they're worried some of the patients might get the wrong idea and think the air-conditioning was being pumped full of poison gas or something, and trouble would break out. Not saying it's the right call but the reasoning behind it isn't entirely indefensible.

[Solauren]

Just got off the phone with one of the guys I bike with who works as a nurse in a mental health facility. Or should I say worked.

We've had a lockdown in place for a week and almost all the public facing employees at banks, liquor stores, and so forth are wearing masks and gloves. Nurse in a mental health facility? PROHIBITED from wearing masks and protective gear, because reasons.

Probably because they're worried some of the patients might get the wrong idea and think the air-conditioning was being pumped full of poison gas or something, and trouble would break out. Not saying it's the right call but the reasoning behind it isn't entirely indefensible.

Yeah, I can imagine that 'managing' mental health facility during a pandemic is next level difficult. Especially if you are still allowing in visitors.

[Zaune]

Banning visitors would potentially have the same consequences, unfortunately. Even if it doesn't aggravate their delusions, God knows the people stuck in there have precious little else to look forward to.

[aerius]

Are your medical institutions incompetent? A second rate country like Israel managed to tell covid-19 patients to stay home, dial 911 and get a dedicated medical unit to take them to the hospital.

Yes, and no. Canada has no institutional knowledge left of dealing with epidemics, the only people in our system who have any experience dealing with disease outbreaks are the ones who immigrated here from other countries where they do have epidemics. The next problem is there's no clear message or plan of action from the administrators, government, or anyone else. So you're basically left with the lower level staff trying to piece something together and hope for the best. Basically, it's a systems failure.

Of course, it was preventable, I mean, we only had over 2 months to see what was going on in Asia, learn from their successes and failures, and draw up plans for this stuff. Did we do that? Of course not.

[MKSheppard]

Canada has no institutional knowledge left of dealing with epidemics, the only people in our system who have any experience dealing with disease outbreaks are the ones who immigrated here from other countries where they do have epidemics.

H1N1 in 2009?
Hong Kong Flu in 1968 (4K deaths in Canada)
Polio Epidemic of 1952?

Basically, Hospital administration are run by yes men who can't think out of the box; or they can't deal with paradigm shifts to worldviews.

I think for a long time, epidemiology was something that was local and small scale; i.e. dealing with an outbreak of say, some weird disease in immigrant populations in a concentrated neighborhood, or with flesh eating bacteria (MSRA) in a certain hospital wing.

So all the bleating "Quarantine is baaaaad" in the news a month ago (hey remember that?) were from people whose only experience was dealing with those small stuff; where quarantining an entire hospital for a localized outbreak of MSRA in one wing was an overreaction.

Unfortunately, those people are in power, and can't be dislodged, or won't change their worldviews, not even when they're faced with a genuine President Madagascar "SHUT IT. ALL. DOWN." situation.

Of course, it was preventable, I mean, we only had over 2 months to see what was going on in Asia, learn from their successes and failures, and draw up plans for this stuff. Did we do that? Of course not.

At this point...

[MKSheppard]

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/art ... 167883.php

Exclusive: Captain of aircraft carrier with growing coronavirus outbreak pleads for help from Navy

Matthias Gafni and Joe Garofoli
March 31, 2020

The captain of a nuclear aircraft carrier with more than 100 sailors infected with the coronavirus pleaded Monday with U.S. Navy officials for resources to allow isolation of his entire crew and avoid possible deaths in a situation he described as quickly deteriorating.

The unusual plea from Capt. Brett Crozier, a Santa Rosa native, came in a letter obtained exclusively by The Chronicle and confirmed by a senior officer on board the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which has been docked in Guam following a COVID-19 outbreak among the crew of more than 4,000 less than a week ago.

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71)
UNFT 100230 BOX 1
FPO AP 96632

30 Mar 20

Subj: REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC

BLUF: If required the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT would embark all assigned Sailors, set sail, and be ready to fight and beat any adversary that dares challenge the US or our allies. The virus would certainly have an impact, but in combat we are willing to take certain risks that are not acceptable in peacetime. However, we are not at war, and therefore cannot allow a single Sailor to perish as a result of this pandemic unnecessarily. Decisive action is required now in order to comply with CDC and NAVADMIN 083/20 guidance and prevent tragic outcomes.

1. Problem Statement. With the crew embarked, TR is unable to comply with CDC protocols or NAVADMIN 083/20 guidance. Based on CDC guidelines and TR observations, the only effective method to preserve an individual’s health is total isolation for 14+ days in accordance with the NAVADMIN (i.e. Individual hotcl/barracks rooms with separate heads). Due to a warship’s inherent limitations of space, we are not doing this. The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating.

2. Inappropriate Focus on Testing. Testing has no direct influence on the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It merely confirms the presence of the virus. Due to the close quarters required on a warship and the current number of positive cases, every single Sailor, regardless of rank, on board the TR must be considered “close contact" in accordance with the NAVADM1N. Testing will only be useful as the ship returns to work after isolation or quarantine to confirm the effectiveness of the quarantine period. Our focus now must be on quarantine and isolation in strict compliance with CDC and NAVADMIN guidance.

The COVID-19 test cannot prove a Sailor does not have the virus; it can only prove that a Sailor does. As an illustration, of the first 33 TR Sailors diagnosed with COVID-19, 21% (7 of those 33) infected Sailors were negative on a COVID-19 test, then subsequently presented with symptoms of COVID-19 infection within 1 -3 days post-test.

Based on data since TR’s first case, approximately 21% of the Sailors that tested negative and are currently moving into group restricted movement ashore are currently infected, will develop symptoms over the next several days, and will proceed to infect the remainder of their shore-based restricted group.

3. Inappropriate Quarantine and Isolation. With the exceptions of a handful of senior officer staterooms, none of the berthing onboard a warship is appropriate for quarantine or isolation. Thousands of “close contact" Sailors require quarantine in accordance with guidance. TR has begun to move personnel off ship into shore-based group restricted movement locations. Of the off ship locations currently available, only one complies with the NAVADMIN guidance. Infected Sailors reside in these off ship locations. Two Sailors have already tested positive in an open bay gymnasium equipped with cots. Although marginally better than a warship, group quarantine sites are not a solution and are not in accordance with current guidance.

In order to stop the spread of the virus, the CDC and the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center both recommend individual quarantine. They both recommend against group quarantine. They recommend limited or no contact with other exposed individuals and no use of the same facilities or items exposed individuals have touched. NAVADMIN 083/20 echoes this guidance.

The environment most conducive to spread of the disease is the environment the crew of the TR is in right now, both aboard ship and ashore:

a. Large amounts of Sailors in a confined space

b. Open, shared berthing

c. Shared restroom facilities

d. Confined, shared workspaces and computers

e. Shared messing for large numbers

f. Meals cooked / food provided by exposed personnel

g. Mandatory watch/operational tasks demanding consistent close contact (food preparation, service & cleaning, TFCC watches, unavoidable meetings to plan & execute COVID response actions, etc.)

h. Movement about the ship requires consistent close contact with other exposed individuals (confined passageways, previously touched ladder railings/hatch levers/door knobs etc.)

4. Ineffectiveness of Current Strategy: Based on current limitations (lack of appropriate quarantine and isolation facilities, inability to effectively achieve social distancing), TR has instituted limited measures to slow the spread of the disease. We have moved a small percentage of the crew off ship, increased the frequency of thorough cleaning and attempted some social distancing. The current strategy will only slow the spread. The current plan in execution on TR will not achieve virus eradication on any timeline.

5. Lessons Learned from the Diamond Princess: From an epidemiological research article on the COVID-19 infection onboard Diamond Princess (the only comparable situation encountered thus far) (Roklov et al.) titled “COVID-19 outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship: estimating the epidemic potential and effectiveness of public health countermeasures:"

“Cruise ships carry a large number of people in confined spaces with relative homogeneous mixing. On 3 February, 2020, an outbreak of COVID-19 on cruise ship Diamond Princess was reported following an index case on board around 21-25 January. By 4 February, public health measures such as removal and isolation of ill passengers and quarantine of non-ill passengers were implemented. By 20 February, 619 of 3,700 passengers and crew (17%) were tested positive. We estimated that without any interventions within the time period of 21 January to 19 February, 2920 out of the 3700 (79%) would have been infected. Isolation and quarantine therefore prevented 2307 cases. We showed that an early evacuation of all passengers on 3 February would have been associated with 76 infected persons." (As opposed to 619)

The final sentence of the abstract:

“Conclusions: The cruise ship conditions clearly amplified an already highly transmissible disease. The public health measures prevented more than 2000 additional cases compared to no interventions. However, evacuating all passengers and crew early on in the outbreak would have prevented many more passengers and crew from infection.”

The Diamond Princess was able to more effectively isolate people onboard than TR, due to a much higher percentage of individualized and compartmentalized accommodations onboard for paying customers. Their measures still allowed hundreds of people to become infected. TR’s best-case results, given the current environment, are likely to be much worse.

6. Proposed New Strategy: There are two end states TR could achieve:

a. Maximize warfighting readiness and capacity as quickly as possible. No timeline necessary. We go to war with the force we have and fight sick. We never achieve a COVID-free TR. There will be losses to the virus.

b. Achieve a COVID-free TR. Requires strict adherence to CDC guidelines and a methodical approach to achieve a clean ship. This requires immediate and decisive action. It will take time and money.

As war is not imminent, we recommend pursuing the peace time end state.

TR has two primary goals in order to achieve that end state:

a. Prevent unnecessary deaths, reduce the number of Sailors that contract COVID-19 and eliminate future virus spread.

b. Regain and maximize warfighting readiness and capacity as quickly as possible.

In order to achieve these goals, a clean ship is required. Every Sailor onboard must be guaranteed virus-free and the ship environment must be disinfected. One infected Sailor introduced to the ship will spread the virus. Off ship lodging in compliance with CDC and NAVADMIN guidance is required for over 4,000 Sailors to achieve a clean ship and crew.

7. Conclusion. Decisive action is required. Removing the majority of personnel from a deployed U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier and isolating them for two weeks may seem like an extraordinary measure. A portion of the crew (approximately 10%) would have to stay aboard to run the reactor plant, sanitize the ship, ensure security, and provide for contingency response to emergencies. This is a necessary risk. It will enable the carrier and air wing to get back underway as quickly as possible while ensuring the health and safety of our Sailors. Keeping over 4,000 young men and women on board the TR is an unnecessary risk and breaks faith with those Sailors entrusted to our care.

There are challenges associated with securing individualized lodging for our crew. This will require a political solution but it is the right thing to do. We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset - our Sailors.

Request all available resources to find NAV ADMIN and CDC compliant quarantine rooms for my entire crew as soon as possible.

/S/
B.E. CROZIER

[The Romulan Republic]

But...but my freedom of speech.

Yeah, this is a real issue, but...

Are you even capable of posting anything but smug Whataboutism about how the West are the REAL bad guys?

[MKSheppard]

NYC has implemented new EMS measures to help with the heavy load.

FDNY EMS is in Fall Back Step 3 mode, the highest contingency level.

Measures includes:

*Cardiac arrests gets an ALS ambulance and CFR fire engine, no BLS unit added.
*Firefighters to be prepared to assist with care in ambulance en route to hospital.
*Firefighters to be prepared to drive ambulances to hospital from scenes.
*Fire units can expect to remain on medical call scenes longer, waiting for an available EMS unit.
*ALS unit minimum staffing reduced from two paramedics to one paramedic and one EMT.
*BLS units minimum staffing reduced from two EMTs to one EMT and one CFR qualified firefighter.

[aerius]

Canada has no institutional knowledge left of dealing with epidemics, the only people in our system who have any experience dealing with disease outbreaks are the ones who immigrated here from other countries where they do have epidemics.

H1N1 in 2009?
Hong Kong Flu in 1968 (4K deaths in Canada)
Polio Epidemic of 1952?

H1N1 was a non-event here in Canada, and pretty much everyone who was working back in the 50s & 60s is retired and out of the system by now. SARS back in 2003 was probably the closest we had to an epidemic but that wasn't even close to what we're getting now. It was serious at the time but resulted in no real changes since the hospital system was never stressed and everything was contained under existing procedures. It was pretty much "well done, good job" and carry on with business as usual.

[The Romulan Republic]

Republicans' latest excuse for the coronavirus response: impeachment distracted us from dealing with Coronavirus:

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/490 ... rus-threat

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday blamed the Democrats’ push to impeach President Trump in January for distracting the Trump administration from the threat posed by the coronavirus.

“It came up while we were tied down in the impeachment trial. And I think it diverted the attention of the government because everything every day was all about impeachment,” McConnell said in an interview on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.”

Trump has come under sharp criticism for the nation’s slow response to the spreading pandemic, especially for the shortage of coronavirus testing kits when the virus first spread to the United States.

More than 160,000 Americans have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 3,000 people have died from the virus in the country.

McConnell told Hewitt that he has not heard any new reports about senators being diagnosed with coronavirus.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) missed a vote on the $2 trillion economic relief package after being diagnosed with COVID-19, and four other Republican senators placed themselves in quarantine last week out of caution for potential exposure.

China reported its first known death due to the coronavirus on Jan. 11, after researchers in the country discovered a new, unknown disease had infected dozens of people.

By Jan. 20, countries outside of China, including Japan and South Korea, reported the virus had spread, and on Jan. 23, Chinese authorities sealed off the city of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged.

The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency on Jan. 30, and on Jan. 31, the Trump administration blocked foreign nationals who had traveled to China in the previous two weeks from entering the United States. However, the immediate family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents were allowed back to the U.S.

Trump has been criticized for not taking the virus seriously enough at first.

The president told CNBC’s Joe Kernen on Jan. 22 at the World Economic Forum in Davos: “It’s one person coming in from China. We have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”

Trump also said he trusted information coming from the Chinese government, telling the CNBC host, “I have a great relationship with President Xi.”

At the time, few lawmakers were focused on the emerging threat.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who also appeared on “The Hugh Hewitt Show” Tuesday, said he started studying the potential impact of the virus in late January.

“The first time I recall talking about the China virus in the media was on your show, probably late in January, and I had started studying the problem in mid-January,” he said.

“I have to tell you that in mid-January and late-January, unfortunately, Washington, especially the Congress, was consumed with another matter — you may recall the partisan impeachment of the president,” Cotton added.

The Senate voted to acquit Trump of two articles of impeachment on Feb. 5 after a three-week trial and months of investigation by the House.

As noted above, impeachment wrapped up more than a month before anyone in the US was giving a shit about COVID-19, so this is pure propaganda designed to scape-goat the Democrats and further discredit the impeachment process (the primary Constitutional check on a despotic or criminal president, which Trump is).

If anything, it was Trump's post-impeachment spree of autocratic acts which "distracted" him from doing his duty.