COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Impacts

[Urbish]

My local hospitals are putting out urgent calls for masks and other PPE. People in the community are furiously sewing to make new ones and others are scavenging from their personal supplies to donate to the hospital.

[Bill Hudson]

Sent my supply (meager as it was) of N95 masks to our local hospital system yesterday.

Bill

[Urbish]

I had half a box that have not been stored in clean enough conditions to be medical eligible, but were good enough for the local Fire Dept to use, so that's where they went.

[Eugene]

24 Mar 02, the town mayor declared a state of emergency.

Not much of a declaration. No restrictions, but does give the mayor authority to conduct some emergency town business by himself.

I read the declaration and the write up explanation. My opinion is that the town council is hoping that some federal or state funds will be made available, mostly hoping that funds will handed out based upon an emergency declaration.

Edit, later in afternoon.

Medical appointment at large medical center in Jefferson City, Mo.. Informed to arrive early to in process through medical screening.

Arrived way early. Parking lot almost empty. No one in front of us. Screening nurses jumped up and installed masks. Temperature check and travel questions. Appointment waiting areas empty. Nurses said a lot of cancelations due to virus scare.

Walmart. Fewer customers than normal. No toilet paper. Some bare shelves.

[Rusty red]

We are "shelter in place" in our county as of midnight tonight.

[Eugene]

24 Mar 02, Medical appointment at large medical center in Jefferson City, Mo.. Informed to arrive early to in process through medical screening.

Arrived way early. Parking lot almost empty. No one in front of us. Screening nurses jumped up and installed masks. Temperature check and travel questions. Appointment waiting areas empty. Nurses said a lot of cancelations due to virus scare.

26 March TV news reported that the medical center laid off 38% of their staff because appointments/doctor visits had dropped off 70%.

Jefferson City, Mo. has two large hospitals, quite a few different medical offices, in addition to the large medical center.

Wondering/thinking how the lack of patients/doctor visits is impacting the medical community.

Edit. 27 March radio news broadcast. Hospital visits off as much as 50%. - - - One of the two large hospital is in dire financial condition.

[Don McCombs]

Two thoughts here...

Something doesn't compute here. During the worst medical crisis this country has seen in decades, they're laying off staff???

Just proves how much medical time and resources are wasted on needless visits.

[Gary Dotson]

The VA clinic, in Columbus, has cancelled all non-essential appointments for the near future. I had four various appointment this week and next Monday. One by one, they called me to cancel three of them. On the other one, the doctor called me, to make sure I wasn't sick before coming in to see him. After discussing my case with him, I cancelled until a later date. He said he was hoping I'd come in because he was bored.

[Eugene]

We are "shelter in place" in our county as of midnight tonight.

Read the "shelter in place" orders issued by the large cities and some counties in Missouri. All list permissible and necessary activities such as; outdoor exercise, lawn care, groceries, gasoline, medical visits. None of the orders include agricultural practices.

My opinion. Mowing, spraying weeds, and removing downed trees on the acreage fall under lawn care and exercise. Need to gasoline to power the machines. Normally just the wife and I and no one closer that 1/3'd of a mile.

[Jim Becker]

Fedaral:

While what is “essential” is left to the discretion of individual states, the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (“CISA”) has issued guidance to assist states
. . .
According to CISA, “Essential Critical Infrastructure Sectors” include:
Healthcare/Public Health
Law Enforcement, Public Safety, First Responders
Food and Agriculture
. . .

This is what is being instructed near me.
Wisconsin:

The order keeps "essential services" open, which include: health care and day care facilities, grocery stores and shops that sell medicine, food and beverage production, transportation, agriculture,
. . .

Minnesota:

Workers who work in critical sectors during this time are exempt from the stay at home order. These exemptions are based on federal guidance from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with some Minnesota-specific additions. This includes, but is not limited to, jobs in:
Healthcare and public health;
Law enforcement, public safety, and first responders;
Emergency shelters, congregate living facilities, drop-in centers;
Child care;
Food and agriculture;
. . .

Evidently Missouri hasn't done anything at the state level. The only local one I easily found was St. Joseph, which is similar to the ones I quoted.

[Eugene]

Evidently Missouri hasn't done anything at the state level. The only local one I easily found was St. Joseph, which is similar to the ones I quoted.

Cole county, Missouri, which contains the state capital, issued a stay at home order identical to the Federal Order on 27 March 2020, effective today 28 March.

Cole county is the adjacent county west of Osage county. Cole county issued two previous orders, dated 3-19-20, which basically limited the number of people in a gathering.

Slightly different topic. Since medical appointments are being canceled, I will call the pain specialist doctor Monday and see if he can move the Corticosteroid injections in my knee appointment up a month. And schedule me for the out patient shot in the hip.

[Lt.Mike]

On the other one, the doctor called me, to make sure I wasn't sick before coming in to see him.

Nice
Last night I called the Dr to request testing for the virus for my daughter who is experiencing shortness of breath, headaches, sore throat, ...
She works in the county human services building but they won’t test her if she doesn’t have a fever of 100.5 or higher. Even if she does can’t be till Monday and only with a reservation.
Then went on to say there’s no treatment if she does test positive.
What in the hell is the point of testing if no one can do anything for you?

[outdoors4evr]

The testing is for statistics.
(warning: Speculation Alert) This is a practice run for chemical warfare.

[T-Mo]

We all know that heart disease is probably the number one killer here in the US, as obesity, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, etc., being the main cause of heart disease. From information that I read, which is unconfirmed, that if a patient has corona virus type symptoms, and dies from heart disease, they will be added to the statistics for corona virus deaths. As I said, I haven't confirmed this, but it well may be true. Most of the deaths from corona virus are to those who are vulnerable, i.e. the elderly and those with pre-existing health issues, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, etc.

[Jim Becker]

. . .
From information that I read, which is unconfirmed, that if a patient has corona virus type symptoms, and dies from heart disease, they will be added to the statistics for corona virus deaths. As I said, I haven't confirmed this, but it well may be true.
. . .

You probably want to consider the source on that one. "Cause of death" is always a little shaky when somebody dies with multiple ailments. If a cancer patient kills himself, they are probably going to look at the symptoms of the bullet hole in determining cause of death. In aggregate, the statistics probably aren't too far off.

. . .
Most of the deaths from corona virus are to those who are vulnerable, i.e. the elderly and those with pre-existing health issues, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, etc.

Well, that leaves everyone on this site in the clear.