Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston: townhouse, lifestyle, Monday)

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Just got word that a work colleague of mine got admitted to the hospital and tested positive. Mid-50s, generally good health, was WFH and (as far as I know) was socially isolating. Something about this is scary...we should not be seeing new infections at this rate still.

If the spread is community seeded, this will happen no matter what.

[wolfgang239]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

I agree completely, people in nursing homes are definitely, far and away the most effected. Very little evidence suggests children 14 and under have much anything to worry about. However, the lockdown itself might very well be creating adverse effects for the population that is not effected by the virus. This becomes worse the fewer resources you have.

In Italy:

"As of May 7th, 312 out of the 27,955 (1.1%) positive SARS-CoV-2 patients under the age of 50 died. In
particular, 66 of these were less than 40 years (42 men and 24 women), age range between 0 and 39
years. For 14 patients under the age of 40 years no clinical information is available; the remaining 40 had
serious pre-existing pathologies (cardiovascular, renal, psychiatric pathologies, diabetes, obesity) and 12
had no major pathologies."

Out of 28,000 deaths, 12 were what I'd call young and healthy. In the place news networks said was on the verge of a healthcare collapse in some areas.

The elderly are absolutely the most impacted, and certain regions seem to get hit wayyyy harder than others. I really can't believe how limited the impact was to those under 50 in Italy.

Call me midwestern if you must. But in Illinois: under 2% of deaths are <40. Older people will need to be the focus going forward.

According to the dashboard, only 1.3% of deaths are under 50 in MA

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by wolfgang239

Call me midwestern if you must. But in Illinois: under 2% of deaths are <40. Older people will need to be the focus going forward.

According to the dashboard, only 1.3% of deaths are under 50 in MA

With all due respect, wolfgang, you're drawing conclusions from incomplete information.

[wolfgang239]

Originally Posted by redplum33

With all due respect, wolfgang, you're drawing conclusions from incomplete information.

Sure, we all are. Data is great though because you can't really argue with it. It will be years before we have "complete information".

Depending on what channel I put on the the TV, masks should be mandatory or masks are mind control devices. Or hospitals will be overrun and millions will die. Or Trump says X and the righteous MA forum folks say Y (and vice-versa of course)

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

I'm curious, do people here think this way of life is sustainable until a vaccine is ready for the general population?

At this point in time, one would need to be delusional to believe there's another viable option.

[Bridge781]

I’m starting to wonder what difference do the ages of the people dying matter at this point. Everyone in MA had been quarantined for 8 weeks. If we open the state and people stop social distancing don’t you think the numbers will go up again for all sorts of ages? I find it difficult to really trust these numbers given that life has not been normal for 2 months.

[wolfgang239]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

I’m starting to wonder what difference do the ages of the people dying matter at this point. Everyone in MA had been quarantined for 8 weeks. If we open the state and people stop social distancing don’t you think the numbers will go up again for all sorts of ages? I find it difficult to really trust these numbers given that life has not been normal for 2 months.

The ages matter. That way resources can be focused appropriately and decisions on reopening are made rationally. If the elderly (or 60+, whatever) are getting rocked then we need to keep them safe. Increasing testing and tracing can help manage outbreaks among the people who are less likely to die. If we start to slip or things start to trend up again we implement informed restrictions again.

Of course the other options are remain in lockdown indefinitely or open up the whole damn thing, but neither of those are realistic. Masks indoors while in public or at work? Pretty reasonable. Strict measures at long term care facilities? Mandatory.

[Bridge781]

Many of the elderly getting it are getting it in nursing homes, hospitals or likely have family members they live with who have to work and are bringing it home to them. I’m all for looking out for the elderly but the question is how. I think they’re easier to save in the nursing homes but what do you do with the multigenerational families living in one home who I guess can’t afford to move someone out? Not much. That’s been their way of life.

I’m not saying we need to be on lockdown until there’s a vaccine but if we aren’t then people are going to continue to get sick from this. People are still getting sick even with the state having barely any activity for 8 weeks.

[NewfieMama]

Originally Posted by redplum33

At this point in time, one would need to be delusional to believe there's another viable option.

If I'm not already delusional, then the Twilight Zone we are living in will drive me to become delusional very soon.

[wolfgang239]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

Many of the elderly getting it are getting it in nursing homes, hospitals or likely have family members they live with who have to work and are bringing it home to them. I’m all for looking out for the elderly but the question is how. I think they’re easier to save in the nursing homes but what do you do with the multigenerational families living in one home who I guess can’t afford to move someone out? Not much. That’s been their way of life.

From what I've seen I'd much rather have my family member at home (if possible), even if I was in the working population. Sadly elder care facilities were already notorious for having issues of anything from abuse to neglect. Staff rotate from facility to facility, you don't get to control the environment like you do at home.

And that isn't even going into the fact that fifty-three percent of people admitted die within 6 months of placement.. Most of these folks aren't in the best of shape so it isn't really a stretch to imagine why it has been so bad at these facilities. 60% of MA deaths have been in Long Term Care facilities according to the MA dashboard. 21% of cases were either residents or workers.