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Covfefe-19 The 12th Part: The Only Thing Worse Than This New Board Is TrumpVirus2020

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alfablue said:
And don't forget the economy of people "sheltering in place"- for sure, we are not spending nearly the same amount of money as we did before. Most particularly fuel and vacations. Gas prices are still low for a reason. Flights will stay low, low, low for who knows how long. And people are thinking twice about going out and just buying stuff.
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I'm somewhat embarrassed to say we saved more than $5000 between March and August simply because we hardly left the house. While we already save/invest otherwise that's a lot. We like to travel and eat out but we rarely go top $$ for either, and I told my wife even when things open up fully we can't go back to spending like that again. If we cut that in half that's an extra $5k per year for more investment. And even though we've put away quite a bit for college and the kids are covered, it makes sense to be a bit more frugal.
 
alfablue said:
And don't forget the economy of people "sheltering in place"- for sure, we are not spending nearly the same amount of money as we did before.
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My food budget plummeted when I was grounded from work trips (they only pay per diem, so I claim what I can and eat whatever I want). Plus I had no international leisure travel after March this year, so...
 
leswp1 said:
No, the latest is that it will disappear after the inauguration.

Past all of the sarcasm it is surprising to me that we are seeing no commentary anywhere of the financial impact of letting the virus run wild. There is no way the healthcare system is going to be able to sustain the cost of providing care. People need highly labor intensive care, utilizing massive amounts of resources (in PPE alone) with the need for separate space at any level of severity. Even if they don't end up in the ICU they are getting slammed with bills the insurance co are not covering. They can't pay. Who covers that cost? The patients go bankrupt and the systems can only absorb so much before they collapse.

This will be esp acute in the red states where they have abysmally funded healthcare systems already at risk d/t the States never funding and the Feds cutting the budget. And in those States they have hi levels of people who are uninsured.

Add they are having all the superspreader events yelling, screaming and packing like sardines. I get they want to be the bestest at denial but I don't see how they can keep this under the rig much longer. And sending out a stimulus ck is not going to come close to covering it. Are they going to print money for the red States?
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Not that the Trump supporters are particularly logical or consistent, but this is something that they actively ignore in their mindless bleating.
  • Many people - a majority perhaps - will stay home even if otherwise able to go out and do stuff. The idea that we'd have a total economic bounce-back is fantasy anyway. Most of us aren't so stupid as to repeatedly touch the hot stove.
  • Healthcare systems are strained beyond economics. As Rufus pointed out there's a significant wear-factor in HCW who've been doing this for 8 months now. In just my small hospital we've lost a lot of urgent and emergency care staff. They're burned out and either leaving medicine entirely or moving to other specialties. And good for them! They did their jobs admirably and we shouldn't ask for more from them, especially when we can't even be bothered to wear a mask.
  • The economics of healthcare were a mess before this started, and despite the moron brigade's idiotic and wrong-headed assertions, we do not make money off COVID. If we have to close elective procedures again, a lot of hospitals won't make it. A lot of doctors will give up and find another line of work as they can't pay the lease on their clinic, let alone staff.
  • Telling people "shut up and get back to work" sounds tough and sturdy and all, but a ton of people live with or care for elderly or otherwise "at-risk" folks. Without any support network, what are they to do? Right now they have a choice - go to work and potentially bring home a plague that might kill your sick relative, or quit your job and risk eviction. Since the Republicans all pretend to be Christian, I'd ask them what would Jesus do here?
 
Swansong said:
Not that the Trump supporters are particularly logical or consistent, but this is something that they actively ignore in their mindless bleating.
  • Many people - a majority perhaps - will stay home even if otherwise able to go out and do stuff. The idea that we'd have a total economic bounce-back is fantasy anyway. Most of us aren't so stupid as to repeatedly touch the hot stove.
  • Healthcare systems are strained beyond economics. As Rufus pointed out there's a significant wear-factor in HCW who've been doing this for 8 months now. In just my small hospital we've lost a lot of urgent and emergency care staff. They're burned out and either leaving medicine entirely or moving to other specialties. And good for them! They did their jobs admirably and we shouldn't ask for more from them, especially when we can't even be bothered to wear a mask.
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According to some, the restaurant industry was already slowing at the beginning of March, for weeks already in some cases. Informed, open minded people are definitely taking precautions that had and have nothing to do with lock downs or stay at home orders. Other than a couple of times I was an idiot with coworkers, I have not sat down to a meal in a restaurant since about March 10th.

And as far as health care workers go, once this pandemic ends and we get back to normal, we could see a further exodus of workers in the industry. Some will just decide that the pay is not worth the effort and the risk. Yes, we will still have high paid doctors working, and registered nurses too. But I could easily see more leaving than being replaced. Burnout is a real thing. But where you could see a real price is at every other level of employment in healthcare. Home aids, certified nurses aids in long term care facility, technicians, even housekeeping and maintenance staff. And believe me, if I had to choose between an exodus of cops because the fees-fees got hurt because we want them to stop shooting unarmed black men or an exodus of health care workers because we burnt to many out during this pandemic, it isn't a difficult choice at all.
 
Anecdote alert: the weekend before MA shut down I went to dinner with my dad. It was a Friday evening in what was normally a very busy restaurant. It was deserted. The place probably has 50-75 tables and we were one of 3. So I agree with you totally.


Regarding HCW, there's always been a shortage of RNs and MDs and I think that will just get worse. The clinic medical assistants are never paid anywhere near enough and I'm sure a lot of them are saying "f this". Same with admin staff. They're stressful jobs and pay garbage.
 
Canada was still busy, but the virus had not hit Alberta yet. I do remember that I had already switched to fist bumps with staff, and by the end of my ski trip, shortly before Colorado announced they were closing their resorts entirely, I was also getting all food to go and declining daily maid service.
 
I decided sometime toward the end of February, when the shit was hitting the fan in Italy, that I wasn't gonna be going out to my favorite bar for a while. Just seemed like common sense to me.
 
I remember being very sick at the beginning of March.

I also remember a ton of people out sick in January and February.
 
Not sure if my coworker is ****ing with me. But apparently in Denmark and Netherlands they are purging minks. Again, apparently the virus jumped to minks, mutated, and jumped back to humans. Antibodies of the first COVID aren't working for the mutated virus. They've locked down both countries hard and are killing all of the minks.


Denmark plans to cull its mink population after coronavirus mutation spreads to humans | Reuters

They weren't fucking with me.

Health authorities found virus strains in humans and in mink which showed decreased sensitivity against antibodies, potentially lowering the efficacy of future vaccines, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.

“We have a great responsibility towards our own population, but with the mutation that has now been found, we have an even greater responsibility for the rest of the world as well,” Frederiksen told a news conference.
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According to worldometers 116k cases...1100 deaths.

закругляя угол

6e99f82f7802cc26-.gif


(that is rounding the corner in Russian)
 
FOr some reason I can't quote so paraphrasing-

Burnout is rampant. There are many posts on med comments that are of people who are not willing to risk themselves when others aren't trying to keep themselves safe. On my professional sites they are posting lots of self care resources and articles but reading how to care for yourself isn't going to cure the moral injury of having people needlessly die and those who chose to get sick.

There was a comment about how it isn't just the HC workers but those who are at risk when they go home. There are people who haven't lived in their house, with their family in months for just this reason.

Initially I thought of going into the trenches again- I posted in here some of that. I felt guilty for not but I couldn't see putting myself at risk when there was no way to know I could practice safely. The days of thinking I was Joan of Arc are past me. I have all the respect for those who are still at it but if I was in it I would be actively looking to get out.

I remember thinking very hard about going somewhere in the middle of Feb- I knew it was here and was very cautious. I went and I would bet my eye teeth I got it. Body aches, GI sx, URI sx, mild fever. It felt so weird i put it in my journal.

Meanwhile- if the DUmp loses he is going to do a lot of crazy a55 sh1t and his crazies are going to be right with him... my dream- he goes off the deep end and they pull the 25th on him. If they let him stay it will be carnage
 
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leswp1 said:
FOr some reason I can't quote so paraphrasing-

Burnout is rampant. There are many posts on med comments that are of people who are not willing to risk themselves when others aren't trying to keep themselves safe. On my professional sites they are posting lots of self care resources and articles but reading how to care for yourself isn't going to cure the moral injury of having people needlessly die and those who chose to get sick.

There was a comment about how it isn't just the HC workers but those who are at risk when they go home. There are people who haven't lived in their house, with their family in months for just this reason.

Initially I thought of going into the trenches again- I posted in here some of that. I felt guilty for not but I couldn't see putting myself at risk when there was no way to know I could practice safely. The days of thinking I was Joan of Arc are past me. I have all the respect for those who are still at it but if I was in it I would be actively looking to get out.

I remember thinking very hard about going somewhere in the middle of Feb- I knew it was here and was very cautious. I went and I would bet my eye teeth I got it. Body aches, GI sx, URI sx, mild fever. It felt so weird i put it in my journal.

Meanwhile- if the DUmp loses he is going to do a lot of crazy a55 sh1t and his crazies are going to be right with him... my dream- he goes off the deep end and they pull the 25th on him. If they let him stay it will be carnage
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And this is what bothers me most - we're putting these outrageous demands on our healthcare workers and their families, and "We" can't even be bothered to wear a mask.

I mean, how god damned selfish can we be?
 
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