Corona Virus #4

[California]

I just looked to see if the Tesla plant in Fremont will close since its within the Bay Area 'shelter in place' order.

The order will take effect this midnight.

EDIT:
Alameda County has declared Tesla an essential business that is allowed to remain in operation, according to a county spokesman.

Tesla employees are told to come to work tomorrow unless they feel ill.

 

[dragoneggs]

Likely too late at this point ... although the steps our Governor has taken are promising.

Can only hope more get onboard.

Promising... eh? Yep your Governor is 'ahead' of most but sadly I think too late to be significantly effective and even so if other states aren't in sync it is likely futile. The fear of being labeled a Xenophobe has most in government slow to react.

 

[stuckmotor]

No, it was more like auto accidents if you think of the more severe crash injuries before seatbelts etc. Just a given that someone you knew, or knew of, would be disabled sometime. Or like today, being around elderly smokers who everyone knows will be dragging around an oxygen bottle eventually.

Same as right now, back then each person thought 'but that won't happen to me' - basic human nature.

Sis and I helped Dad and his brother build a fence. Then we went to the municipal pool to cool off. 100 degree weather and nobody had A/C then. Pools were theoretically the most risky place to catch polio [just like ignoring the risk of driving fast in the rain today!] but there were no instances locally. Two weeks later Dad was in an Iron Lung in county hospital and his brother same but nearly dead. Sis and I went weekly in summer 1952 to wave up from the lawn to the 4th floor ward where Dad was, Mom said they wheeled him over to see this but I doubt it. After months like that he was discharged, very weak but capable of returning to work. He was weak all his life, told me many times lifting/moving anything over 50 lbs was my responsibility. But he led a normal life. Aside from weakness he had trouble swallowing after losing those throat muscles. Finally in his 80's swallowing became impossible and a tube was put through his stomach wall to pour in baby food. He was still driving from the ranch for weekly grocery runs, doing minor apple harvesting for the family, etc. After that feeding tube he said he was a walking dead man, he didn't want to live any longer. Finally a sudden downturn and he was gone.

His brother was in worse shape. From age 40 or so when this happened he was so weak he slept on a bed that tipped like an equipment trailer to keep him breathing overnight,used a wheelchair, and a winch for bathing, and was so weak that for lifting a coffee mug to his face he had to push that arm up with his other hand under that elbow. Continuing as an accountant, he did taxes and bookkeeping for small commercial clients.

Maybe being among risky drivers today would be comparable to the sense of risk back then.

Dad took us for the sugar cube polio vaccine the first time it was available to the public - in 1953. After that there were no more annual polio epidemics

Thanks for the explanation, California. They came around to my first grade class in 1957 or 58 with the Salk Vaccine. We didn't get the sugar cube in my school district until a few years later. Since the vaccine did such a good job I wouldn't have been of an age to know about school closings if they'd had them. One boy in my class had had polio and he said he couldn't catch it again but took the shots anyway to be on the safe side.
It sounds as if your father and uncle were real fighters.

 

[shooterdon]

We made a grocery run to the "local" (20 miles away) discount mart today and bought a bunch of stuff on sale. Spent about $150 and saved $200+. Mostly, cases of canned goods, meats, fish, Gatorade, etc. Lots of stock on most things, even TP but it was a bit pricy. We left the TP as we are good shape for a few weeks and others are in need from the sounds of it. We need a few pharmacy items for dealing with flu/cold and will get those likely today in Gaylord. Then we are set for quite a long time.

My neighbor told me our first case was reported in Gaylord MI today. I had tests scheduled for Wed at the hospital but cancelled them. No need to visit the "germ factory" for something that is bothersome but will not kill me.

The "new normal" is being taken in stride in my little area of rural MI. No panic at the store at all, even when a few times were getting scarce. But the town we were in is small (under 600). Going to the "big" town of Gaylord (4000) might be different. Will see!

Love small town America!

 

[stuckmotor]

Well I do, a few got it and then a few more . . . then they came up with a vaccination.

I'm sorry you got it and hope you recovered completely.

 

[rswyan]

Promising... eh? Yep your Governor is 'ahead' of most but sadly I think too late to be significantly effective and even so if other states aren't in sync it is likely futile.

Basically he's acting to shutdown vectors for the spread within the local "community" (aka Ohio) by dramatically limiting contacts within larger groups.

Given the high transmissibility, it's a good/smart move ... and within his authority (at least so far)

The fear of being labeled a Xenophobe has most in government slow to react.

I have a somewhat different assessment.

 

[dragoneggs]

I have a somewhat different assessment.

I thought that might raise a hair.

I guess we need another phobia when it comes to interstate borders or communities.

 

[rswyan]

I thought that might raise a hair.

I guess we need another phobia when it comes to interstate borders or communities.

Nope ... at this point, the phobia needs to be at far more basic level: ... your fellow individual human being ... regardless of where they hail from.

In this particular instance, it isn't a bad thing.

 

[California]

Here's an article linked from Digg that has individual curves (like above) for several places including state of Washington, California, NYC. And in particular Massachusetts where they say testing is late and inadequate so the curve will be steeper.

Don't be Italy

The introduction:

"... in Lombardy officials thought they moved quickly, putting 50,000 people in 11 towns under lockdown. But two weeks later when they shut down the entire country, the epidemic was 100 times bigger

[In contrast]

successful mitigations in China/Korea involved near-complete shutdown very early in the epidemic around the time of 100 confirmed cases. Even so, cases continued to explode 1-2 weeks after the shutdown [before the curve finally flattened].
--------

There's a lesson there, if we can implement it.



Also, the 'About' link at the bottom of that page in interesting.

 

[rswyan]

Link doesn’t work