About 10 years ago, I was on a telepresence meeting at Amex in one of our conference rooms, meeting with people from another Amex office. After the call, I was told that a colleague had been diagnosed with H1N1 which we were still calling Swine Flu. He had been sitting right next to me during the meeting, trying to scoot away as he coughed into his fist. He was quite visibly ill, and we all urged him to go home. While I didn’t catch it, none of us did, it was probably my closest known encounter with a pandemic.
A week ago today we were flying back from SLC where we had intended to do a campus tour of UVU with our graduating daughter during her spring break. While guided tours were cancelled, self-guided tours were still possible, so we opted for that instead. The campus office gave us a map, some brochures, and some swag, and socially-distantly sent us out to walk around the empty campus. We had flown up the prior Saturday and aside from our campus tour, restaurants (which were still open at the time), grocery store stops, and seeing family, remained mostly quarantined in our airbnb during our stay. The country was not yet in full lockdown mode, and the information changed every day. When we left home, the airport parking lot was mostly full. When we returned, it was only about a third full. Our car looked lonely in the parking lot surrounded by empty spaces.
Every day feels like a month in terms of the information unfolding and the mood changing due to the Covid 19 pandemic. While we’ve experienced pandemics as a country, this is the first time we’ve had a widescale effort at social distancing. There are two stresses under discussion that partly run counter to one another:
- Health. Saving as many lives as possible through social isolation to “flatten the curve” to reduce incidental deaths due to hospital and equipment capacity gaps and unnecessary exposure.
- Economy. The longer we shut down commerce and force people out of work, the longer it may take to recover, and the more small businesses will permanently close (leaving their employees jobless).
In essence, the shorter the lockdown, the less the overall impact to the economy, but the higher the death toll due to overcrowded hospitals. Different countries have tried different solutions:
- China quarantined known hotbed areas in Hubei province (population 58.5 million). As a result of these measures, China has only had 56 cases per million citizens, and only 2.3 deaths per million. (Italy has had 100 deaths per million and over a thousand cases per million by contrast). China has also weathered through much of the crisis (or at least the first wave) as only 6.3% of their known cases are still active. (In Italy, 79% of cases are still active as of March 23. In the US, 98% of our known cases are still active–we are just at the beginning, meaning that known Covid patients have mostly not resolved yet).
- South Korea got ahead of the curve using very early broad testing of the population and tracking and linking cases to limit further exposure. It is too late to implement this approach in the US as they started this well ahead of us in their pandemic curve. We are already in the middle of it, particularly in densely populated areas.
- Some countries wanted to quarantine only those vulnerable, the elderly or those with a compromised immune system; however, there are many vulnerable populations, and some who don’t know they are.
- Some have suggested just lifting restrictions and letting the disease run its course. The problem is that there will be many incidental deaths as hospitals are overrun.
Our current response is to do a halfway lockdown, encouraging people to be socially distant (usually defined as 6 feet away from others, no groups larger than 10 people–unlike what is modeled in press conferences, BTW), letting people make their own decisions, and letting state governors make their own decisions about enforcement and guidelines. On some level, state oversight makes sense; each state is almost like its own country to some extent in terms of population density, reliance on public transportation, etc. Epidemiologists warn that this halfway approach will prolong the time the pandemic lasts and will stretch out the negative impacts to people and businesses. Trump seems convinced that after 15 days, we can go back to normal life, but the data show that we will still be very much in the grip of the pandemic in 15 days, and social distancing keeps too many from getting sick at once, but people will still get sick, and the curve will rise again if we increase social contact.
Some states, particularly with larger metropolitan centers are taking a much stronger stance on lockdown. Some are calling this a liberal state approach. Some are saying it’s an overreaction. When you watch how senators and representatives use social distancing, it appears that there is a partisan divide in how seriously these individuals are taking the pandemic. Conservatives tend to feel the response is overblown, and liberals tend to feel the response is recklessly insufficient.
What would I do if I were calling the shots at a national level? Here are my initial thoughts.
- Extend Medicaid for all immediately. Having employment tied to healthcare in this type of crisis is untenable and inhumane. People are literally losing their jobs due to the pandemic which means they are also losing their insurance at the exact same time. That’s a moral failure.
- Randomly test populations to determine asymptomatic infected rate. This is one I haven’t heard many people talking about, but it makes a lot of sense to me. We don’t know how many asymptomatic people are out there, infecting others because they do in fact have Covid 19. Some reports state that up to 70% of us will get it with 80% of those infected being either mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic. This information is vital to know how much social distancing and isolation will be required. I would randomly identify people, similar to how jurors are selected, and have 300 people in various locations tested as well as surveying them about any possible symptoms (fever, aches, respiratory, appetite, etc.) That information would inform policy decisions about increased lockdown.
- Use schools, churches & hotels as temporary hospitals. While schools are suspended or moving online, we have buildings available to be used as temporary hospitals. These are already property of the state. Churches can be requested as voluntary spaces for the same, given that it is humanitarian work, and vacant hotels can be “leased” through a stimulus bill that covers the costs.
- Immediately uptrain “medical adjacent” people and other volunteers to assist in care. Here I’m thinking of people like dentists, veterinarians, pre-med students, etc., who are willing to perform the semi-dangerous work of caring for those with Covid 19. I would identify and train them to handle the more routine care aspects to free doctors and nurses up to handle the work that only they can provide. At bare minimum, we can also train students and others to do the lab work to get the tests done on a wider scale. As I’ve said elsewhere, I’m surprised some enterprising South Korean company hasn’t already created a quick-turnaround spit kit to sell to Americans to test for Covid 19 for $20 a pop. People would pay for that!
- Create rapid manufacturing channels for medical protective gear. This could be done by various businesses and be pretty easily replicated across the country if we got a template, created a local quality control process, and obtained correct materials for the manufacture (or distributed requirements to the state level to oversee). States could use federal funding directly to those businesses willing to manufacture these items, which offsets some job losses as well. This type of work could be done in the home, following set guidelines and using approved materials.
- Create rapid manufacturing channels for respirators. If this is a war, we need to be in the business of manufacturing the weapons of war immediately. Pay companies who can build them to build them. Get a clear number we need based on expert projections (which require bullet #2 to get to, IMO).
- House all homeless in now vacant hotels. Several states are attempting to do this quickly as the first person to die of Covid 19 in CA was homeless, and this is a much higher risk population due to exposure, lack of access to handwashing, and lack of insurance coverage. As part of any stimulus package, I would have the government literally buy out hotels which would help that industry, but would also provide housing that states can convert to housing for homeless (requiring staff to support the same).
- Direct significant research money toward a cure. This is one that Trump seems to feel is the most critical. It’s certainly the best narrative he could stumble upon: the US innovated its way out of a crisis. It makes our country’s health care system look like the best. It makes him heroic. It literally saves the world. That’s not the same as spouting off about drinking aquarium cleaner as a cure, which is obvious to most of us (but apparently not Trump).
- Keep schools and churches closed until we can clearly see that the pandemic has passed. Both of these can be replaced with online options in the near term, at least for the remainder of the school year, and possibly longer if necessary. I was intrigued that so many of the cases in Asia originated in Christian churches! That’s largely due to the way a Christian church service happens with a group of people all together sitting side by side with others. Not a great option for social distancing. Who among us has never been coughed on at church (or passed the bread tray down the aisle which might as well be eating off the same plate with 50 people)? [1]
The economic funding problem is incredibly difficult to solve. Some ideas:
- Fund businesses directly for up to one month if they are unable to operate due to Covid 19 impacts, under the condition that all employees remain on payroll for that time. They would have to provide proof of revenues and payroll to make that work. It gets complicated pretty quickly. However, many people have already been let go.
- Send everyone a check for $1000 every month this continues. The problem is that businesses will still fail because people aren’t making the same types of purchasing.
- Reimburse businesses for the cost of moving to telework. This was how we spent all of last week, buying laptops and headsets that work with laptops, and then hours on the phone with Cox troubleshooting the routing issues to get the calls to go to their various homes.
Let’s hear your thoughts:
- What would you do to get the pandemic under control if you were in charge?
- Where do you fall on the economy vs. health scale?
- How long do you think we can maintain social distancing as a society?
- What do you predict going forward? When will schools and churches resume? When will restaurants re-open? [2]
Discuss.
[1] Kudos to the Church for a quick response in canceling church services. I know in my ward people are locked down like it’s the zombie apocalypse, which basically it is. They are willing to leave groceries on someone’s porch, but that’s it.
[2] I predict Trump doesn’t have the stomach or the will to maintain even this level of lockdown as long as necessary. He’s hinting at lifting restrictions on Easter already.
Wheat & Tares 
– California did do some random testing. We can also make inferences about pandemic progression from sequencing genomes of various virus isolates and constructing a phylogeny of their relatedness. I recommend Trevor Bedford as the best US epidemiologist to follow specifically for best estimates of current transmission progression. More important than random testing for active cases (viral RNA in mucous swab), we should be rapidly ramping up testing for immunity (antibody titer in blood) which will also catch resolved cases. Obviously we need hugely increased testing capacity of the former kind in clinics and hospitals where we are currently severely failing. We have thousands of PhD graduate students with wet lab genetics experience who could have been processing tests all this time. We are all signing up on volunteer charts for surge test centers that universities are organizing now…. But this could’ve been done a month ago if the Trump administration hadn’t opted not to use the WHO’s PCR primer sequences, and then provided their own which didn’t work, and then forbidden academic labs in Washington from testing right away with self-made test-kits based on WHO. If you have ANY question whatever whose fault it is that the US lost the first 2 months of prep time, I am here to tell you that it is unilaterally the Trump administration’s fault. Don’t get me started on how he fired the CDC’s pandemic expert in 2018 without replacement and slashed the CDC’s budget and eliminated our field stations whose express purpose was to preemptively find foreign viral outbreaks and ensure such viruses don’t reach the US.
– a couple extremely crucial points: we need to address humanitarian crises in unjustly held high density populations without medical care. I am thinking especially of ICE detention camps and refugee camps of asylum seekers that the US is requiring to stay in cartel territory just across the Mexican border. The immigration judges Union, the ICE Union, the largest bar association of immigration judges, and the federal employees Union have ALL called for immigration court to be suspended, and asylum seekers already detained should be rapidly evaluated for parole. We have concentration camps of asylum seekers on a hunger strike over this. Everything about the situation at the border is horrific. These densely confined populations without any health care aren’t the only vulnerable ones, it’s a problem for everyone in the border… Everyone driving ICE buses, everyone working in the immigration system in every way, the health of the whole border population is interconnected. These workers are all still crossing the border back and forth between refugee camps and US courts every day. Many of these issues also apply to regular prisons, including people imprisoned while being simply evaluated for parole. This is a big one and a stupid one. PLEASE harass your reps about this.
Great suggestions. Your managerial experience is showing.
Ditto Marissa’s comments on needing antibody testing, although I don’t know if any antibody test if available yet.
“Some reports state that up to 70% of us will get it with 80% of those infected being either mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic.”
According to the Daily podcast (I wish I knew the date they talked about this) that statistic is widely misunderstood. It’s based on a study in China where the 80% number was for mild to moderate symptoms, and 20 percent of higher were severe. There were only two categories, and the determining factor was hospitalization: if you didn’t go to the hospital you were in the 80% mild-to-moderate category. So you could have walking pneumonia and be classified on the 80% of moderate symptoms, as long as you weren’t hospitalized.
For any measures we put in place, we won’t see results for one to three weeks. We won’t know if social distancing is working for a while yet. I’m very much concerned that distancing measures are not going far enough and will be lifted too soon.
The comparison to H1N1 is common. Initial reports on the fatality rate of H1N1 were similar to Coronavirus, in the one to three percent range, but they weren’t consistent. The CDC decided fairly early on that mortality rate for H1N1 wasn’t that bad, although I didn’t realize it at the time. At least one after-the-fact study concluded that H1N1 was less dangerous than the seasonal flu in general, and that 20% of the population had it at some point.
I see a lot of people saying coronavirus will be like H1N1 – most people will get it without knowing it, and the mortality will be lower than we think. I can’t prove them wrong because there isn’t enough testing. But they can’t prove themselves right; they are drawing a conclusion based on their feelings.
I like the random testing idea. Testing is an area that we have failed and need to rapidly increase. Anything we can do to study and learn more about this virus will help. I also recently wrote to my representatives about using businesses to increase production of PPE and ventilators. We need the equipment to fight this war.
I work in special education and teachers are still using the school building on a rotating basis (limited to 10% in the building daily) in case parents call with questions, to access materials, etc. I know I have a tech. issue with a district program that still needs to resolved and I can only access the IT staff in the building. So schools as hospitals would not work at this point. I like the hotel idea though.
If I were in charge I would also relax the federal IDEA requirements for the time being. Working in special education there is no way IEP minutes and services can be met virtually. I have been sending home packets, but some of my students need that direct instruction from me and can only review previous material for so long. We are told to do what we can but I worry about future lawsuits with these students missing a quarter of the school year.
On an even more personal note I would love to see Dr. Fauci tackle the President to stop the misinformation.
I am already sewing cotton face masks for my daughters ICU unit which is badly understocked. Altho these things don’t meet N95 standards they’re better than nothing and nothing is what they’re down to.
The President’s callousness about people dying — including the trained medical professionals who can save others — is astounding even by standards he’s evidenced all along.
Further, his target for ending social distancing strategies including encouragement for people to flood into churches for Easter are clearly motivated by his Right Wing Evangelical who fear risking the loss of big donations as the plates get passed at one of their 2 big attendance events of the year. The fact that he would risk that source of contagion is unconscionable. Just look at Mardi Gras did to launch Louisiana into the forefront of outbreaks!
This country is leaderless at one of the most critical times in my 70+ years.
When you do hunker down at home remember this important piece of advice from Kate Allen, science and technology reporter for the Toronto Star:
“Not sure we’ve communicated well enough that social distancing interventions will pay dividends in 1-3 weeks. Anything that happens in the next 10 days was already baked in prior to that. A surge in cases now would NOT mean that social distancing isn’t working.”
PLEASE pass this info on so people don’t get discouraged and give up on social isolation prematurely!
A doctor makes the need and the avoidance strategy very clear:
Here are some relevant statistics on death rates so far in various countries:
Italy – 9.5%
Iran – 7.8%
Spain – 6.8%
Britain – 5%
France – 4.3%
China – 4%
United States – 1.3%
South Korea – 1.3%
Switzerland – 1.3%
Germany – 0.4%
The U.S. figures are low because we have tested so few people and we are still early in the game. Germany is low because of extensive testing, and tracking and linking cases. Their numbers will probably rise as the curve peaks, but their response has been exemplary.
An interesting fact about China that I saw a week or so ago is that the death rate in Wuhan was 5.8%. Elsewhere in China it was 0.7%. The difference was the the health-care system in Wuhan was overwhelmed. Elsewhere, they flattened the curve with social distancing. This is a warning to the U.S. and to our reckless president. Social distancing works. But our testing has been woefully inadequate.
Your idea of doing random testing is nice in theory, but in practice we are unable to conduct many tests because of shortages of such components as swabs and reagents. The labs can process tests, but our ability to administer them is still hampered by shortages of necessary components.
No easy answers for this. Large government spending to keep unproductive economies afloat will probably lead to mass inflation around the world, not to mention massive government debts. We will be dealing with the economic problems of lockdowns, shelter-in-place policies, and other restrictions for years to come. If we just let coronavirus cycle through the population, it would lead to an unprecedented mass panic, which would have its own ramifications. The healthcare system would be so overwhelmed, it couldn’t attend to you quickly for coronavirus or other health problems. Doctors and nurses would become exposed to coronavirus as well. Overall the world death rate would soar. Last year about 57 million died around the world, 2.8 million in the US. With added coronavirus deaths, those numbers would likely be 1.5 times higher next year, if not higher than that, so 85 million around the world and 4.2 million in the US for 2020.
I think the answer is mass testing and quarantining (instead of lockdowns and shelter-in-place policies). This is what they’re doing in South Korea, with great success. The problem is that South Korea had been stockpiling the chemicals and machinery for testing (because of the MERS outbreak, which used the same test, in 2015 which affected South Korea in 2015), which comes in very handy for them now, and we have a shortage of that in the US. Plus, South Korea had decreased regulations for testing making it easier to make more available for the public. So let’s start ramping up production of testing products and putting together a system of quarantining the infected until we can find a vaccine.
Trump listens to the anti-science and denialist Fox News. Hence his talk about reopening the economy by Easter. However, bear in mind that his polling numbers are ticking upwards because of his handling of the crisis. Just over half approve of his handling of the crisis. So he reopens the economy at great risk. If this leads to an outbreak of coronavirus that we cannot contain, it will lead to his demise. Hundreds of images of people dying in their living rooms and skyrocketing numbers of infected won’t play well. I partly doubt that he will actually lift restrictions by April 12.
May we find a vaccine soon! Until then, stay clean, distanced, and healthy.
And what is going to happen when people without insurance need medical assistance? Are they helped without running up a high dept? Will the government help them out?
I am not from the US but I look toward the US and am worried what will happen in a country like yours where medical care is not well organised. It is a disaster waiting to happen, and without a competent president it will be bad.
Already Burned Out: “I would love to see Dr. Fauci tackle the President to stop the misinformation.” Unfortunately, that’s a one time satisfaction as Trump would immediately dismiss him and no longer listen to him. Fauci’s been incredibly wise in his handling of Trump.
When people are calling Trump a “liar” for his misstatements, I think they are partly missing his psychological profile. He was influenced early on by Norman Vincent Peale, whose ideas are behind the positivity movement. You say what you want the truth to be, not what the truth is, and that’s supposed to be powerful enough to bring it into being. I’m not giving him a pass for that, but ever since I read that in The Cult of Trump, I can’t stop seeing it. Trump is simply not that smart. He says he is because he wishes it to be so. He is incredibly insecure, but masks it with confidence and bullying through positive statements of what he wants reality to be.
Due to the lack of testing, the most useful statistic is “recovered” vs. “died.” In most developed nations, this is hovering around 10%. I’m not sure I trust any of the statistics coming from China or Iran. Both of these nations have a terrible track record at honesty, and have banned outside reporters that could verify their statements.
I love it:
Attorney General Bar: We are making it illegal to hoard medical supplies.
Facebook: Hey, We have 700,000 masks that we suddenly want to donate even though we’ve known there’s a problem for a while.
Hawkgrrrl, who would you pick to be your VP? 🙂
I do like your suggestions and I feel they are spot-on. I do agree with Already Burned Out that the wide-scale testing is still a pipe dream for a while. It would be great if the US started lots of random testing back in early January and the biggest complaint would be that people really dislike having long Q-tips shoved up their noses every few days.. Oh if that was the main issue we were dealing with!
There certainly is an economic price that is going to be paid for over a long period. The balance between the two is a hard call. But when you have people like the Lt Gov of Texas saying “take one for the team Boomer” (my words, but close to what he is saying), it is hard to have a thoughtful conversation as I feel like I MUST push back against statements.
Happy Hubby: I think there are two extreme versions of the argument out there: telling the virus “Come at me, bro” and using the elderly and infirm as cannon fodder to “save the economy,” and the other enter of the spectrum people who want total long-term lockdown of every city regardless any differences in geography, lifestyle and community spread, and regardless any impacts to businesses (e.g. don’t order takeout, don’t go for walks or to exercise outdoors).
Those who don’t want to bail out airlines at all should also bear in mind that on some level air travel (although it’s privatized in the US) is public transportation which is why it is so strictly federally regulated. If airlines fail, when the virus is under control we will have lost infrastructure to be able to resume normal life (e.g. plane maintenance, staff for flights, etc.). I don’t want to fly on planes that were fallow for a year. That concern of public infrastructure is slightly less true of hotels and totally not true for cruise lines and casinos which are in the WTF category for me–yes, they are impacted, but no they aren’t industries that have a domino effect for American businesses. Trump seems to be cherry-picking them strictly because he understands those industries, not based on public good or the need to maintain infrastructure.
Veep pick is a tough one, but I’m intrigued by Kyrsten Sinema. She seems to be capable to piss off both parties nearly equally, and she votes her own way without regard to party lines. I don’t always agree with her (I often don’t), but if you go too hard to one party you can’t get stuff done.
More testing would drive the seriously ill and mortality rates down, not up. Those that are seriously ill or dead already show up in the data.
PassTheChips: that’s because the seriously ill and mortality rates are pretty much meaningless today anyway. The only thing that really indicates community spread from today’s numbers is the DPM (deaths per million). The other thing that is helpful, but also deeply flawed, is the active rate (or flip side, recovery rate) because it indicates whether the virus is “hot” or waning in an area.
I’m not happy with the way the mass missionary return at the SLC airport went down, especially as it was in direct opposition to official direction by Church leaders. To mitigate this problem, the Church should have bussed the missionaries directly from planeside to the now-empty MTC, where they could wait in quarantine for 14 days, and be monitored for possible symptoms. Those missionaries showing no symptoms after that time would be released to their families, and can have their tearful reunions then. Those from outside of Utah would be allowed to continue their follow-on travel. Keeping them under Church supervision during quarantine reduces the risk of infecting their families and communities, and reduces the Church’s liability of having its missionary program become a significant vector. And young missionaries still in “missionary mode” are very compliant and do what they are told. Once they see their families, however, obedience goes out the window.
When I came home from a military deployment several years ago, I wasn’t allowed to return to my family right away. I was brought to an intermediate location in the U.S. (but far away from my home station) for 2 weeks of demobilization/outprocessing. This was not done expressly for disease control (though that was a secondary purpose), but for psychological decompression to safely transition from the mindset of a war zone to peaceful home life. Yes, it’s a bit frustrating being back in the States after being gone for nearly a year and having to wait 2 more weeks to see your family, but U.S. servicemen and women do it by the hundreds all the time. The Church has the resources and the facilities to make a similar program happen for missionaries.
How about everyone wears a mask in public? That would cut down on the asymptomatic spread which would make a big difference. In Hong Kong they were able to end their flu season one month early. So they tried the same approach as part of their coronavirus strategy. Their new case numbers are really low.
If we don’t have enough masks get people to make them. Even cloth surgical masks would be better than nothing.
This article makes a couple of points that struck me.
If Trump does reduce precautions for easter the consequence, by october, will be 118 million infected, and 1.2 million dead.
That most of the areas badly hit in US are in democrat areas. Except Louisiana.
That the response to the virus is partisan. 73% of democrats concerned, 42% of republicans.
That people are responding by buying guns, and particularly amunition.
What do the gun owners do if their family can’t get treatment? Uniquely American angle.
This will be a situation where the consequences of Trumps decisions have consequences that get reported, though I’m sure he will believe it is perfect.
I’m glad I live in a country with universal healthcare.
Sorry I disn’t include the article
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-27/trump-tires-of-social-distancing-amid-coronavirus-economic-fears/12093836?section=analysis
Me too, I am grateful I live in a country with universal healthcare AND competent leaders. God save the USA.
If anyone is willing to make masks for local hospitals, this video tutorial demonstrates how to make ones that approach N95 standards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6d3twpHwis&app=desktop Go to “show more” in the descriptive text immediately under the video screen for the link to the printable template.
I’ve abandoned the cotton masks from my quilting stash and am awaiting delivery of Hepa filter bags.
I saw where President Nelson called on members to pray and fast. I guess he has not spent a lot of time reading James. Nothing wrong with his counsel IF he followed it up by saying the Church was donating half their 100 billion to fighting the virus by assisting with medical supplies, etc.
I am just shouting into the void here because I am not on any social media and have nowhere else to express my fears/frustration. My husband, a tradesman, is currently working a huge construction project for luxury condos. He is surrounded by bravado-filled die hard red state construction workers (this is Idaho) who continue to insist it’s just the flu, brag about continuing their backyard barbecues, refuse to maintain social distance, and mock him for setting up a hand washing station with a bar of soap and wearing gloves.
I cried tears of relief when our governor announced only days ago that a stay at home order was in place. It will be tight, financially, for him to go on unemployment, but we already live a very modest lifestyle, and it is absolutely worth it to me to cut back to have him sheltering in place in our home with me and our three small children.
Then I learned that construction projects—even luxury condo construction projects—are still considered essential. So he is expected to continue to show up to work to do this. I have cried and we have prayed and we have decided he is not going back on Monday, even though he can’t collect unemployment because he isn’t actually laid off. We have enough savings to get us through a couple of months, but he only recently got his journeyman’s card, so it is only a few months since his wages increased enough for us to build that modest savings account.
I have so much respect and gratitude for those in medicine, retail, etc for their service in the noble cause of keeping essential services running. I am furious beyond all words that my husband could be expected to risk his life and health for luxury condos.
I also know this is selfish and I have it so much better than other people. I don’t mean to be ungrateful or act like I am entitled to more of a sense of security than so many others who are suffering. This is just so stressful for so many of us.
HHB: that is very frustrating. I am sorry for those surrounded by people flouting the best advice.
As to reopening the country by Easter, all I can say is that I hope Trump has built in enough wiggle room to back down on that. Oh, right, he can just pretend he never said that if it comes down to it. It does seem like he’s starting to take more appropriate actions, albeit in an inarticulate and idiotic way (if only he could stay on script and quit ad libbing!) Dr. Fauci seems to be an excellent handler.
The relief package is so welcome right now. As small business owners, I was poised to determine which people we would have to let go. Now it looks as though we can keep them all in place for up to 2 months without impacting their pay or hours significantly, even with lower billings. Our largest client, around 10-15% of our business, is suspending for 60 days which we hope doesn’t mean they go bust. We shall see. We have many clients who own airbnbs, and the majority have shut down for the rest of the season which is big here in AZ as this is our (and their) highest billing part of the year. March-May pays for the summer lull that inevitably happens when temperatures exceed 100 and Phoenix empties out. Oddly, Governor Ducey (AZ governor) declared salons and golf courses “essential businesses” that will remain open. While golf courses are possibly somewhat low risk, I don’t know how salons fit that bill. A week ago my daughter & I went to get nails done because we are worried about our local salon going under, and they are longtime friends of our family. There were roughly 10 people in the salon that day (workers and patrons), and I was pretty nervous about it. Thanks the relief bill we can rest easier that they will survive.
I was glad to see Pres. Nelson encouraging a fast, although it was met with lukewarm response in our household. Apparently most are feeling that “Food is the only thing we have left!” meaning as entertainment/pleasure I assume. Yeah, we are getting pretty bored around here. At least the nearby park is still fairly empty, and I’ve been able to ride my bike and get fresh air every day.
Covid 19 is a clear wake up call that we need universal health care of some sort in the USA. It’s unconscionable that the deciding factor for quality health care is the company you work for.
While I detest the current US Pres I believe his points resonate with a large portion of the US in regards to the $$$ vs health debate. With so many people losing income there are collateral deaths from people who now can’t pay for insulin, cancer treatment, mental healthcare, or other live saving treatments because of lost wages. See my first point above about the need for universal health care. Epidemiologists will be debating and studying that question for years.
We also need health care that isn’t depended on whether the President likes your governor or who flatters his ego more.
Uh, no! kudos to the church they failed. They taught us that Romans 13 meant to obey govt when it didn’t. The word used from Romans 13 for power was Exosuia and it did not mean power.
They failed because the let the Govt tell them what to do for fear of being persecuted. They failed because they taught falseness that’s why.
I’m sorry but skype and FaceBook is not a good end-around. God did not want them to be closed He would have wanted them to stay open. Only the smallest handful stayed open and then caved. Probably due to
cowardice or Govt threats.
Jesus healed lepers he didn’t stay away from them because they were contagious, he went to them to heal even if Rome law said not to.
Liberty was what Exousia meant and they failed their flock. Therefore fulfilling the false prophet prophecy of Revelation and the one who gives the image of the beast his voice…
Other countries didn’t close and they have done ok so why shouldn’t we learn from them? Antichrist is better translated as a replacement for God as in Govt. Govt takes place of god.
Beasts in Revelations are Govt. When Israel asked Samuel to give them a king God told Samuel to do as they say for it’s not him they rejected but God. Kings since then and or elected officials are Idols. all Govt is the world over. We’re living in the Tribulation now not later on but now! The false prophet has risen already and isn’t to be waited on. There will not be a third Brick and mortar temple for the human remnant is the Temple and the one 2nd Thessalonians was talking about. You won’t disappear so you won’t be raptured you have to go through the tribulation like everyone else does who isn’t dead.
Coming out the other side isn’t being taken out of tribulation it’s like crossing a river you start at the one side go through the water and then out the other side.
So yeah they don’t get any Kudos they get I never knew you you workers of iniquity.