Agreed. Absolute madness.
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Well I can tell you the struggle is real. I am confined with my future ex-wife. We separated a few weeks before the confinement and she asked me to spend that period at my place in order to stay with our daughters. We both are engaged in another relationship, although probably too young to be considered serious ones. There is a huge amount of tension. Luckily we are not the type to fight for the kids or to try to punish each other but we both lost our nerves a few times already. Thanksfully we don't really have time to argue about each other because we are both kept busy working remotely and making sure the kids do their school homework, it is pretty much like having 2 jobs in the same day and we simply collapse at the end of the day.
But then my current gf sent me footages of what is happening in some south american countries lacking decent healthcare funding, mainly equator. Covid-19 patients who collapsed from their chair, lying and coughing in the grass without any respiratory assistance in the hospital courtyards, corpse left unattended in the streets or carried by their family without protection on a trolley cart. I am healthy, I don't risk losing my job, I have a fairyl decent outside space in my appartment. I can't really complain.
We are living really sad times.
Man, really sorry to hear that. Having been divorced once myself, I can imagine how mentally and emotionally draining that would be. While perspective on how bad it could be is important (and, yes, we are living in sad times), don't ignore your own plight. Keeping your head clear and taking care of yourself will help you take care of those kids. Tough situation, Thomas.
And this from the WSJ (copy/pasted so you get the gist of the behind the paywall)....
“Questions About Accuracy of Coronavirus Tests Sow Worry
Health experts say they now believe nearly one in three patients who are infected with the coronavirus are nevertheless getting a negative test result. They caution that only limited data is available, and their estimates are based on their own experience in the absence of hard science.
That picture is troubling, many doctors say, as it casts doubt on the reliability of a wave of new tests developed by manufacturers, lab companies and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of these are operating with minimal regulatory oversight and little time to do robust studies amid a desperate call for wider testing.”
Covid-19 testing: the wild west
The Wild West of Covid Testing
Happy to answer questions.
Why coronavirus cases have surged in wealthy L.A. areas - Los Angeles Times
As a potent new strain of coronavirus continues its lethal spread across California, many of Los Angeles County’s whitest and wealthiest enclaves are reporting far higher rates of infection than are poorer neighborhoods of color.
Predominantly white, affluent areas such as Hancock Park, Bel-Air, Beverly Crest and Brentwood reported some of the highest per-capita rates of confirmed cases, while many working-class and majority nonwhite communities such as Bell Gardens, Watts and El Monte reported much lower rates, a Times analysis of county health data through Wednesday shows.
But those disparities do not mean the virus is spreading more widely through rich neighborhoods than in poorer ones, public health officials and experts say. Rather, they are likely skewed by uneven access to testing, and in some instances by wealthy residents who traveled internationally and had some of the earliest confirmed infections.
The trend, some experts say, bodes poorly for local efforts to control the spread of COVID-19, as it suggests a troubling disparity of testing along the lines of race, income and immigration status. They say a lack of adequate testing in lower-income areas threatens to give residents there the false and potentially deadly impression that they have less to fear from the pathogen, and hence little reason to heed social distancing orders.
The rates per 100,000 in Huntington Park and East Los Angeles (cities with the highest percentage of Hispanic residents in the US with populations over 50,000 and 100000, respectively) are 21.85 and 12.6. While Bel Air (hillside enclave), Century City (high rise luxury condos) and Pacific Palisades (coastal community) are at 146, 140 and 111.
List of California communities with Hispanic majority populations in the 21 census - Wikipedia
Communities in the United States with a Hispanic-majority population as of the 2010 Census are primarily found in the Southwestern United States and in large metropolitan areas elsewhere in the country. The community with the highest percentage of Hispanic residents (among communities with over 100,000 people) is the unincorporated community of East Los Angeles, California, whose population was 97.1% Hispanic.
I thought this was an interesting proposal - https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2007263 - especially the section about differentiating five different populations:
- Infected
- Presumed to be infected
- Exposed
- Not known to be exposed or infected
- Recovered
Response to each group will focus resources and speed recovery of our society and economy.
It's a short read, I'm curious to hear others' thoughts.
The Latino communities listed in the article are working class central suburbs where the majority of residents are low SES individuals. They are over represented in the service industries (75% of "essential" workers in LA Co at the moment) and they suffer from the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in California (in most age groups). Not sure if a time bomb, but the Mayor of LA at times appears panic stricken. To paraphrase Bourdain, Latinos are the drivetrain of the Southern California lifestyle. Some of Italy's worst indicators can be transposed to LA County. Fortunately, we have a younger population (yay, for immigrants!).
Posted the below in the Paranoia/Anecdata Thread. Thought it should be here as well.
And now pink eye is another symptom.
'Pink Eye' Often a Symptom of COVID-19
Friend is convinced she had it in late December. She was gravely ill for a few weeks in Jan and prescribed "lung cancer patient cough suppressant." Interestingly enough she was not tested for influenza. Did have the pink eye doe.
She works for a developer who travels to Germany and resorts in the Alps regularly. More wacky stuff to ponder.
Yikes!!! Odd times man..
My ex-wife and I have been divorced for 2 years, I’m 42 and we had been together since we were 16.. we had always been together. I found out a few years ago that she had a girlfriend, I’m not naive or foolish...but I truly never saw that one. I have no ill will or even anger or resentment-it was just a gut punch.. we have a 12 year old daughter that spends a larger portion of the time with me.. I work for myself and she is an OT that works strict hours.
I live in the country in a spot that’s very self-reliant and so am I-we’ve decide that Lucy will stay here through this clusterfuck—our conversation today was that if the shit really hits the fan and gets wild, that she would come here—as my daughters mother.. of course she can. Then she asked if it was cool to bring her girlfriend-
Odd fucking times out here-having to really check myself on the daily
Some background on vaccine developments, including likely timelines, in this piece from The Conversation: Where are we at with developing a vaccine for coronavirus?.
Written by experts as usual for this outlet.
Just lost a colleague to COVID-19. A wife lost a husband and children lost their dad. Not even sure how to process this yet because the last three weeks have been too surreal. Hunkered down in my house, my only connection to this virus has been isolation and the news media. I've learned new jargon like 'PPE' and 'social distancing' and I use them in conversation now. Lately I've grown intensely interested whenever the newsfeeds provide the numbers of positive tests, deaths, masks, respirators, etc. All the things being counted in these strange times -- it seemed to matter. All of it is meaningless now.
Stay healthy, V-Salon
wow, even without special resentment I am not sure I would like to hear that.
While I certainly don't want to know or imagine what is happening in her life right now and thus don't even approach her phone (wife cheated me for 2 months before we split) I caught her checking my whatsapp for messages a few days ago. That is definitely over the limit and brought the tension level sky high.
Very sad to hear. I had a colleague who just recently recovered and went to very tough times including trips to the hospital with pneumonia. One of my best friend also have it but so far manage it and still jokes on FB, mostly cough, fever and intense moments of fatigue where he can't even go out of bed. Luckily nobody else in the household suffured from it.
I wish everybody all the best.