Official Austin COVID-19 thread and discussion. (Howe, Italy: camp, food, vacation)

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

So then how was Italy able to test so many people so quickly? They were testing more every day than we had tested in a whole month.

It hit them earlier and apparently Bureaucratic rules were bypassed earlier. We should be following the south Korea model though.
It is too early to point fingers. Testing is superfluous now and emphasis should be placed on rapidly expanding treatment capabilities, plus getting vaccines produced rapidly. The feds aren’t up to the task at this point, much like FEMA.

But looking at all the idiots packed in the Disney Parks, New Orleans, Branson, and Spring Break venues just make me shake my head.

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

This. I don't think anyone is saying people should run for tests is they have mild symptoms, although you should definitely quarantine yourself. But if it's bad enough that a doctor is or would test for the flu, they should test for COVID-19 as well.

Agreed.

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by Westerner92

This administration stripped down the CDC like most other federal agencies. Then they decided to make their own test kit instead of getting the ones already invented by German scientists, and it wasn’t reliable. Now we aren’t testing for cases of community transmission. We’re on the course for becoming the next Italy instead of the next South Korea because of multiple unforced and/or malicious errors. Most countries, even developing nations, have better testing than us currently.

As for how pandemic response from the federal government should look, look to the 2009 swine flu outbreak.

While DJT certainly proposed cutting the CDC budget and many other federal agencies, Congress appropriated increases for the CDC and he signed it.
Supposedly this reflects that increase.

[ScoPro]

What can be called into question is the competence of the leadership he appointed to run the programs, which in turn reflects on him.

[Leaving Arizona]

RRISD, LISD and GISD are all shut down until early April. Sun City has shut down facilities. Several churches across Gtown shut their doors late last week. Georgetown Parks and Rec have closed facilities to the public until May 11 - I wonder why that particular date?

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

While DJT certainly proposed cutting the CDC budget and many other federal agencies, Congress appropriated increases for the CDC and he signed it.
Supposedly this reflects that increase.

The complaint that people have, rightly or wrongly, is that the person and position on the NSC that would have been the pandemic coordinator was eliminated under Bolton.

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

While DJT certainly proposed cutting the CDC budget and many other federal agencies, Congress appropriated increases for the CDC and he signed it.
Supposedly this reflects that increase.

All of his budget proposals have proposed CDC cuts, but Congress did their job. His budget for 2021 still proposes CDC cuts. Similar to what’s been happening in most executive agencies, the pandemic response team of the CDC was disbanded in 2018, and the positions have remained unfilled since. The only compelling reason I’ve seen for the CDC refusing to accept the Germans’ test kit formulation is so that private interests can hold an American patent on the test kits and on the vaccine developed using the tests.

If Italy, of all the countries in the developed world, has a more streamlined bureaucracy than us post-2017, then the federal government as a concept is faltering (dare I say being sabotaged?). National emergency should have been declared while the administration was trying to downplay this unfolding disaster. Without the states and every media outlet (aside from the single outlet that controls 40% of the market share) picking up much of the fed’s slack, the situation would be even more out of control. Competent states that listen to epidemiologists are going into lockdown now, and they’ll still see an exponential rise in cases for ~2 weeks after, but it’ll continue to get worse in states that don’t.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The complaint that people have, rightly or wrongly, is that the person and position on the NSC that would have been the pandemic coordinator was eliminated under Bolton.

This. Plus the whole federal government response just seems like a joke, unfortunately.

[CarnivalGal]

From the mayor's official Facebook page. This was posted yesterday:

"We have been closely watching cities across the country move to close restaurants & bars. I've been on the record in favor of this as part of #Austin 's #COVID19 response.
@JudgeEckhardt & I will make a public announcement tomorrow at 11:00AM CST."

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

This. I don't think anyone is saying people should run for tests is they have mild symptoms, although you should definitely quarantine yourself. But if it's bad enough that a doctor is or would test for the flu, they should test for COVID-19 as well.

Serious question here:

This is pollen season so therefore it's allergy season. Many symptoms of both coronavirus and allergies are the same. So say someone doesn't get tested but they have what they think is seasonal allergies - but they don't KNOW because they're not tested. Should they call in sick to work if they're not actually very sick? Should they go to the doctor if they're not that sick? How long should they quarantine themselves? Should other people in the house quarantine themselves too?