Coronavirus:

[robert.]

Scenes like this will make it hard on the rest of the US. Small businesses in the mid Atlantic grapple with how they will open and when. Several have gone to a speak easy style. Knock on the door and ask if you can come in. Southeastern Pa. has become a political division/pawn. I cant tell or figure out how one party would benefit from this. It's getting nasty. You can find people sitting in front of their house. Talking to neighbors across the street. Maybe 10-15 adults. Shooting sheet. On lawn chairs in their own yard. With a 2 lane road between them and 20 feet to the side between. someone will drive by and call the cops."I saw a group of people having a party." Then the cops show up and say "carry on sorry to bother you. Somebody complained"
When Bucks county's commissioners petitioned the governor to open up the county. All the state reps had to vote on. They voted right down party lines. they voted a no vote. stay closed. 2/3 of pa's counties are open. Democrats in counties that are open voted to keep bucks closed. A republican run county. You would think if your county was open. You would vote for others to open also. There is a call for indictment and impeachment against governor wolf. time will tell if this was handled correctly.

[chuck]

What does a week or two in ICU cost?

a) A lot.

b) This isn't just about the cost of the ICU.

It's about the very real potential of collapse of the medical system. Every person who gets sick represents an unnecessary drain on the health care system including Increased possibility of infection of health care workers. This could result in cutting down the pool of available health care workers. In addition, while these workers are trying to save the *holes that got themselves sick from poor choices in behavior, they aren't available to treat the people that need medical attention not related to the virus. This also pulls resources as well (hospital beds, PPG, ...).

[HONDO74]

Why can't we behave? This involves literally life and death issues.

You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons.

This is at lake of the Qzarks.This is where the big city liberal morons pack it in on weekends to party. Not the local farmers It is also where the college kids come to party and go wild.
https://www.google.com/search?source=un ... 11&bih=602

Pool party at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri draws a packed crowd
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/24/us/ozark ... index.html

[HONDO74]

The Hong Kong Flu of 1968 killed an estimated 100,000 in the US. About the current number of US Covid-19 deaths. But in 1968, the US population was ~200M. In 2020 the population is ~340M. So the equivalent death rate today would be when the US reaches ~170,000 Covid-19 fatalities. Like Covid-19, the heaviest toll from the Hing Kong Flu was on those 65 and older. In 2020, the percentage of the population over 65 is much higher than it was in 1968. Couple that with indications that obesity contributes to the severity of Covid-19 effects. The US obesity rate has skyrocketed in the last few decades.

Given the above, SWAG would suggest 250,000 US Covid-19 fatalities would be equivalent to the Hing Kong Flu. in terms of severity of the disease.

1968 Pandemic (H3N2 virus)
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resour ... demic.html

[MurphOnMillerAve]

At my age, not comforting info.

[chuck]

Those are year totals. This is 3 months. If the rate holds we are looking at 400,000 for the year.

In 1985 I spent a week in ICU care because of a respiratory infection that required IV antibiotics and constant monitoring as they were concerned that my throat might close up. I was in a level 2 ICU for three days and a "regular" ICU for the rest of my stay. When I asked why there was a cart being moved around with me from the emergency room and the two ICU's the nurse explained it was a trach cart, in case they needed to force open my air way. The statement from the insurance was $85,000 of which I only had to cover about $500. Using an inflation calculator that works out to $200,000 and that's for one week.

[Chris Webster]

Those are year totals. This is 3 months. If the rate holds we are looking at 400,000 for the year.

Math is hard.

Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole wrote a really eye-opening column:

Over more than two centuries, the United States has stirred a very wide range of feelings in the rest of the world: love and hatred, fear and hope, envy and contempt, awe and anger. But there is one emotion that has never been directed towards the US until now: pity.

However bad things are for most other rich democracies, it is hard not to feel sorry for Americans. Most of them did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016. Yet they are locked down with a malignant narcissist who, instead of protecting his people from Covid-19, has amplified its lethality. The country Trump promised to make great again has never in its history seemed so pitiful.

Link: The world has loved, hated and envied the US. Now, for the first time, we pity it

The article is behind a paywall, but if you google the title you should be able to read it posted on other websites.

[robert.]

I had a friend run up a 4.5 million dollar hospital tab. I had a form of the zika virus. Something along the name of Rene gillette. (that is a french motorcycle name) It causes your immune system to eat your nerve endings. Less then a few hundred Americans get it a year. If i could remember the name i'd find the stats. Anyway it was a costly bill.

[chuck]

Thanks Chris. Free link to the O'Toole article. YouTube text screen scroll with a text to speech voice over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyOjyzRC9n4

[rogruth]

We see the turmoil caused by this virus several times a day on TV yet many feel that nothing will happen to them for various reasons.
Also remember that we once believed that a picture didn't lie. Now we have many ways to manipulate photos and many folks can and do.
So with a group of the populace that believes the Moon landing some years ago was faked, why should we not have many persons who
believe that this virus is a hoax especially since "I/we don't know anyone that has it or has died from it'?".

[HONDO74]

However bad things are for most other rich democracies, it is hard not to feel sorry for Americans. Most of them did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016. Yet they are locked down with a malignant narcissist who, instead of protecting his people from Covid-19, has amplified its lethality. The country Trump promised to make great again has never in its history seemed so pitiful.

What a total load of BULL PUCKY.

Who are these other rich democracies

If it is so bad how come there are thousands of people trying to get into this country.

[HONDO74]

The statement from the insurance was $85,000 of which I only had to cover about $500. Using an inflation calculator that works out to $200,000 and that's for one week.

Is there a fix for the cost. Will medicare for all work. If it will, I'm all for it.

[bob turner]

Man, what happened to you? Medicare for all is socialist - kinda like what the Scandinavian countries have. Oh, well, welcome aboard. We need more liberal thinkers.

[HONDO74]

Man, what happened to you? Medicare for all is socialist - kinda like what the Scandinavian countries have. Oh, well, welcome aboard. We need more liberal thinkers.

As for me being a liberal thinker. I have always been a liberal thinker. But I am a classical liberal not a progressive liberal

Is it really a socialist program. It's not free. I was required to pay into it since the beginning. And it only pays 80% We are responsible for the other 20% either out of our own pocket or you have a supplemental private insurance to cover it which can be very expensive. If you are on social security (which we also paid into) They extract money from it that also goes to pay for medicare. We also have deductibles to pay. If by implementing medicare for all then it eliminates all private health insurance. Medicare does not cover for a dentist or eye glasses

Social Security and Medicare have always been a pyramid scheme. Your are supposed to have way more people paying into it than are using it. So the government is using the peoples money that paid into it to pay for it. And even though you paid into it you could not partake of it until you reached a certain age. It's not like private insurance where you buy a policy and you can start using it then.

Part of the fallacy of the Affordable Care Act ( which I thought was a good idea) was they were going to get millions of people to sign up and buy a policy that wouldn't be using it to pay for those that need it. It didn't work out as planned.

How does Medicaid get paid for

We buy auto, homeowners, and life insurance. But we don't expect to use them only when absolutely necessary. Health insurance is a different ballgame.

Back to medicare for all. How will they implement it and how will they pay for it

Biden says he is not for medicare for all, he wants to improve the Affordable Care Act. What do you think Bob. ?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Is it really a socialist program. It's not free. I was required to pay into it since the beginning. And it only pays 80% We are responsible for the other 20% either out of our own pocket or you have a supplemental private insurance to cover it which can be very expensive. If you are on social security (which we also paid into) They extract money from it that also goes to pay for medicare. We also have deductibles to pay. If by implementing medicare for all then it eliminates all private health insurance. Medicare does not cover for a dentist or eye glasses

Socialist programs are not free. Look at the tax rates in the Scandinavian countries - they pay for it and they actually get it delivered; they get their money's worth -- that's the problem in this country - we pay for benefits that are not delivered or denied; it's controlled at the end of the day by insurane companies......

Back to medicare for all. How will they implement it and how will they pay for it

Look at the tax rates in the Scandinavian countries - they pay for it and they actually get it delivered