I felt that I had to record what is currently going on in the world as I'm sure in the future when I look back at this, it's going to be surreal.
Our Federal government has failed us. Most states and major cities have been left to fend for themselves. The complete authortarian president is showing even his greatest supporters that he only cares about his own profit. It has already been proven that the government has known for months that a pandemic was coming. The CDC ran an exact model on this scenario last year. Intelligence communities warned the executive office that we were in real danger.
The response? Cover it up. Downplay the danger. Fire the heads of the intelligence. Demonize the press and blame other people. Multiple government officials have been proven to be doing insider trading to profit off it. It's sickening. These people have been playing politics with people lives and it has cost us.
The delayed response has been costly. We're already seeing hospitals being overrun....worse, protective gear (PPE) for hospital personnel has been running out. They can not get enough masks, shields etc... to protect themselves. Doctors and nurses are getting sick and spreading it to other patients. What made it worse? This administrations tariffs on China (where most of the gear is made) has made it that much harder to get it.
The president still hasn't implemented the Defense Production act which was MADE for this scenario.The act would be "the primary source of presidential authorities to expedite and expand the supply of resources from the US industrial base to support military, energy, space and homeland security programs.". He said he would implement it Wednesday, we're still waiting...
California is on lock down. NYC is on lock down. Other cities and states are thinking of following suit. This should have been done weeks ago, It could have prevented the spread of the virus. Instead it's everywhere. The promised tests still haven't appeared. The WHO was never taken up on their offer to provide tests. The president owns shares on companies in the U,S. that produce them. You draw your own conclusions.
Most hospitals have stopped elective procedures entirely. Most have also stopped allowing any visitors. The Federal government guideline: no gathering of groups of 25 or more, the states are saying 10. We're watching as the expected numbers skyrocket as they slowly increase the number of tests. Then numbers we do have show the current number of infected in the US to be around 20,000 people and around 280 deaths. Real numbers are expected to be about 30% higher than that since we can't test many people.
Job layoffs are in the 100's of thousands. The executive office was caught trying to suppress the numbers by the states. My daughter was laid off from a job she loves. My brother in laws restaurant has closed down. We're seeing so many people out of work. The government is fighting itself on how to best address this.
Most public schools have been cancelled for the rest of the school year. Most colleges have gone online only. I am doing remote learning for all my college courses, even with my tutor. I don't love it but it will get me by.
Italy has been devastated. They are having to exclude older patients from treatment and give preferential treatment to people with a better chance to survive. They waited too long to react. We are on a parallel tract.
20-30 year olds have been identified as a primary vector for spreading the disease. They don't want to listen, they don't want to isolate....so many don't. My own daughter and her boyfriend still go out daily. We've started enforcing stricter cleaning at the house. We wash and sterilize often.
There are some jobs still out there if you are willing to risk your health. Hospitals, supermarkets, pharmacies, small stores like CVS, farms, FedEx, UPS, the post office....many are currently overwhelmed and are seeking help.
I am afraid for my many friends in the hospital industry who are facing infection daily. They are not being protected. I've heard of them talk about the different hospital policies addressing the shortages - reusing masks (they degrade in effectiveness after 4 hours), not always wearing protection in all areas of the hospital etc...all are putting these brave people at risk. I am torn on wanting to be on the front lines to help and scared of doing so. I don't really have a choice though, I'm in school and that's most of my world right now.
Some good things, people are getting creative on how to spend the time. Have a FaceTime dinner with your friends. Last night, my family had a get together on Zoom and we plan on doing it again for my mothers birthday on Sunday. People are having to home school their kids and learning how hard our teachers have it. Reading is happening, museums are offering virtual tours, many concerts are streaming for free.
People are pulling together, getting real experts to publish the information we need. I get constant updates from the medical community and Medscape articles to help. People are buying 3D printers and making medical supplies. Some companies are voluntarily manufacturing medical supplies and getting them where they are needed (so far masks mostly).
But in the meantime, there is this background of anxiety. Fear of the unknown, how long will we be like this? The longer we don't practice "social distancing", the longer we are going to have to do it.
Our Federal government has failed us. Most states and major cities have been left to fend for themselves. The complete authortarian president is showing even his greatest supporters that he only cares about his own profit. It has already been proven that the government has known for months that a pandemic was coming. The CDC ran an exact model on this scenario last year. Intelligence communities warned the executive office that we were in real danger.
The response? Cover it up. Downplay the danger. Fire the heads of the intelligence. Demonize the press and blame other people. Multiple government officials have been proven to be doing insider trading to profit off it. It's sickening. These people have been playing politics with people lives and it has cost us.
The delayed response has been costly. We're already seeing hospitals being overrun....worse, protective gear (PPE) for hospital personnel has been running out. They can not get enough masks, shields etc... to protect themselves. Doctors and nurses are getting sick and spreading it to other patients. What made it worse? This administrations tariffs on China (where most of the gear is made) has made it that much harder to get it.
The president still hasn't implemented the Defense Production act which was MADE for this scenario.The act would be "the primary source of presidential authorities to expedite and expand the supply of resources from the US industrial base to support military, energy, space and homeland security programs.". He said he would implement it Wednesday, we're still waiting...
California is on lock down. NYC is on lock down. Other cities and states are thinking of following suit. This should have been done weeks ago, It could have prevented the spread of the virus. Instead it's everywhere. The promised tests still haven't appeared. The WHO was never taken up on their offer to provide tests. The president owns shares on companies in the U,S. that produce them. You draw your own conclusions.
Most hospitals have stopped elective procedures entirely. Most have also stopped allowing any visitors. The Federal government guideline: no gathering of groups of 25 or more, the states are saying 10. We're watching as the expected numbers skyrocket as they slowly increase the number of tests. Then numbers we do have show the current number of infected in the US to be around 20,000 people and around 280 deaths. Real numbers are expected to be about 30% higher than that since we can't test many people.
Job layoffs are in the 100's of thousands. The executive office was caught trying to suppress the numbers by the states. My daughter was laid off from a job she loves. My brother in laws restaurant has closed down. We're seeing so many people out of work. The government is fighting itself on how to best address this.
Most public schools have been cancelled for the rest of the school year. Most colleges have gone online only. I am doing remote learning for all my college courses, even with my tutor. I don't love it but it will get me by.
Italy has been devastated. They are having to exclude older patients from treatment and give preferential treatment to people with a better chance to survive. They waited too long to react. We are on a parallel tract.
20-30 year olds have been identified as a primary vector for spreading the disease. They don't want to listen, they don't want to isolate....so many don't. My own daughter and her boyfriend still go out daily. We've started enforcing stricter cleaning at the house. We wash and sterilize often.
There are some jobs still out there if you are willing to risk your health. Hospitals, supermarkets, pharmacies, small stores like CVS, farms, FedEx, UPS, the post office....many are currently overwhelmed and are seeking help.
I am afraid for my many friends in the hospital industry who are facing infection daily. They are not being protected. I've heard of them talk about the different hospital policies addressing the shortages - reusing masks (they degrade in effectiveness after 4 hours), not always wearing protection in all areas of the hospital etc...all are putting these brave people at risk. I am torn on wanting to be on the front lines to help and scared of doing so. I don't really have a choice though, I'm in school and that's most of my world right now.
Some good things, people are getting creative on how to spend the time. Have a FaceTime dinner with your friends. Last night, my family had a get together on Zoom and we plan on doing it again for my mothers birthday on Sunday. People are having to home school their kids and learning how hard our teachers have it. Reading is happening, museums are offering virtual tours, many concerts are streaming for free.
People are pulling together, getting real experts to publish the information we need. I get constant updates from the medical community and Medscape articles to help. People are buying 3D printers and making medical supplies. Some companies are voluntarily manufacturing medical supplies and getting them where they are needed (so far masks mostly).
But in the meantime, there is this background of anxiety. Fear of the unknown, how long will we be like this? The longer we don't practice "social distancing", the longer we are going to have to do it.