Just read where a scientist is claiming that those who regularly drink hard liquor may be/are immune to COVID-19. That pretty much means that most troops and veterans I know are safe. It may also mean that Vodkapundit is immortal. I would just remind him that “There can be only one!”
Quick Note On Comments
The first time you comment here, the comment is held for moderation. Most weekdays, I only get to check for such early in the morning, so the fact that your comment doesn’t show immediately should not be a cause for concern. Once you are approved, you are automatically whitelisted and future comments will appear immediately.
COVID-19 7Mar20 How To Do It Right If You Think You Have/Have Been Exposed To COVID-19
We now have our first confirmed case of COVID-19 here in Indiana. It is a case study in how to do things right if you think you have, or have been exposed to, COVID-19.
The basic story is here. Whatever I may think of the person for having gone to an event at this time, they did things right in a way that should become the text book example of what to do if you have/have been exposed to COVID-19.
Note that they contacted the state health department as soon as they suspected. Working with them, they went to a hospital and parked away from everyone else. They contacted the hospital by phone, who had already been contacted by the state. This allowed them to have those responding take all appropriate precautions. They then took the person in via an entrance not normally used by the public, after putting them in clothing/gear to prevent spread. They was taken to an area of negative pressure for testing. Given that the case is mild at this time, they was taken out the same way and put in quarantine at home.
All of this allowed for: protection of the medical team/first responders involved; it allowed easy decontamination of the areas where this person went; it ensured that the chance of spread to anyone — especially other patients — was minimized.
Note that they did not go to a doc-in-the-box; they did not go to the ER directly; and, they minimized exposure to the public. This is how you do it.
Doing my normal bi-weekly shopping yesterday, I saw panic. People were wearing masks, which is in many respects idiotic. The one person I saw doing it right was from our SE Asian population and they were wearing a mask because they clearly were ill. I steered well clear of them. The others, well, not so much and not so well. Good luck finding disinfectants, hand sanitizer, etc. If you waited until now to begin preparing, well, sucks to be you. Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.
Again, wearing a mask if you are sick is a good idea. If not, you are mostly asking to be sick as few know how to put them on, how to wear them, and — most importantly — how to take them off without increasing your risk of infection. Masks, gloves, and other precautions require you to treat them as hazmat, not just throw them in the trash.
Again (and again) the best way to protect yourself here in the U.S. is to stay away from anyone obviously ill, and to wash your hands well and frequently, particularly after using the bathroom. In between washings, use hand sanitizer on a regular basis. Keep your booger hooks away from your face as much as possible. Don’t shake hands. For me, I like the idea of using the Vulcan salute instead.
Given that most people, especially those falling for politico-media fear mongering, have less sense than God gave a cherrystone clam, I would avoid crowds and as much as possible and avoid medical triage areas such as doc-in-the-boxes and ERs. Most people are not, unless educated by posts such as this one and actual medical statements, are going to flock to such places en masse which will increase the rate of exposure and the rate of infection.
If you think you have been exposed, or that you have COVID-19, do like this person. Call your state or local health agency and work with them so as to minimize the chance of exposing anyone, especially medical or other first responders.
Per my previous posts, if you are a first responder of any type, go to the highest level of precaution your department will allow — especially if responding to a report of someone ill. We can’t afford to have a dozen or more first responders quarantined for each incident as happened in Washington state (see previous posts).
With luck, planning, and people taking sensible precautions, the spread of COVID-19 can continue to be slowed until the weather gets better. There is a reason winter is worse for the flu, and the longer we can put off major spread the better. Also, keep in mind that the majority of cases are going to be mild, in keeping with a flu epidemic (which we have every year). There are a number of reasons it will not be as nasty and deadly here as in China (again, see previous posts). Panic will not help, and in fact will hurt. If you are older (60+) and have underlying health conditions, go to full, stringent, flu precautions as you are the most likely to have real problems with COVID-19. Right now, based on data from here in the U.S., 70+ with underlying health conditions is where we have the highest mortality.
It will be at least another 4- to 6-weeks before we have good data on COVID-19 here in the U.S. Data from China, Iran, etc., is both highly suspect (hint, the Chinese government and other governments have and are lying) and not directly applicable. Don’t panic.
Best thing you can do, other than washing your hands frequently, is to prepare for a possible quarantine. Make sure you have food, medicines, and other supplies to stay at home without leaving for at lest two weeks. This includes financial preparations where possible. Stock up prudently, in that what you buy should be what you normally would eat, drink, need. That way, if not needed, you simply fold it into your normal operations and move on while saving some money on food and such on the far end.
This is NOT Capt. Tripps, and while it will be a pain in the end, it is not something over which to panic. Unless you are in that specific demographic for it to be bad or fatal, you will get by. The major impact will be economic, though I suspect/hope it will change how we do business on several levels. We’ve slowly been trending towards remote work, and I expect that to become more the norm. I won’t object if handshaking becomes a thing of the past. For those smart and fast, there are some potentially fantastic business opportunities as we rightly move away from single-point failures in the supply chain.
Again, and again, and again: it is not a cause for panic. Be smart, be informed, and take media/politico reports with a tun of salt. Instead of a tun, maybe even a ton or two of salt.
As always:
Use the interactive graphic to keep track of things. Is COVID19 an epidemic? Yes. Is it a Pandemic? Not according to WHO, but most everyone else is saying yes, it is. Is there need for panic? No. Should you be paying attention? Yes. Hell yes. Should you be preparing? Yes, better late than never.
Want to avoid catching COVID19 here in the U.S.? Wash your flippin hands frequently, wash them thoroughly every time you use the bathroom, then follow with hand sanitizer after every washing, use hand sanitizer liberally when you can’t wash on a regular basis. Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze, and stay away from those who don’t. Also, keep your bugger hooks out of/away from your eyes, nose, and mouth. Do NOT shake hands with anyone, and avoid touching or being touched by strangers. Or your strange friends.
Avoid travel if at all possible. Right now, there is no way I’m going to a trade show, major convention, etc. If you can telecommute, get that set up now. If you have to travel, use lots of hand sanitizer and go to full flu protocols. If you have to use a public restroom, take full precautions including using paper towels and such to handle faucets, doors,etc. Believe it or not, this was highly recommended before now, and major grocery chains have long told employees to use those practices to avoid getting or spreading colds, flu, etc. Not many actually do it, but…
If you own a business, make sure your employees know the above protocols. Have someone who refuses to wash their hands or otherwise follow the protocols? Talk to them, write them up, and if necessary fire them as they now pose a risk of infection to you and your customers. Extreme? Yes, but while the CDC and others are working to slow it down, odds are it is already here and could hit hard and fast. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
I want to reiterate that there is no need for panic, but there is a strong need to be alert, be informed, and be prepared.
Other COVID19/COVID-19/2019-nCoV articles:
Quick Additional Thoughts On The Bureaucracy
COVID-19 28Feb20 Reasons To Hope, Reasons To Fear
COVID-19 A Plea To The Politicians (And Media)
COVID19 The Situation In China Gets Even Weirder
COVID19 24Feb20 Raising DEFCON
COVID19 21Feb20: Just Look At The Blooms Dear
Update & Quick Thoughts On Preparedness
COVID-19 6Mar20
Short and sweet this morning, as am having to go in to work waaaay early. Way to early IMO, but…
Stop with the panic. There is no need to panic here in the U.S. Yes, there are cases and it is here. Are we ‘wereallgoingtodiebecauseorangemanbad’ as the media and far too many politicians are saying? NO. Is our economy going to tank because of this? No. In fact, if anything, we have quite the opportunity to come out stronger and better. It will get interesting, and some sectors are going to be hit harder than others (travel/tourism for example). But, again, thanks to the economy and incentives, and with some judicious additional incentives, we could see a boom that could put all past booms to shame.
As always:
Use the interactive graphic to keep track of things. Is COVID19 an epidemic? Yes. Is it a Pandemic? Not according to WHO, but most everyone else is saying yes, it is. Is there need for panic? No. Should you be paying attention? Yes. Hell yes. Should you be preparing? Yes, better late than never.
Want to avoid catching COVID19 here in the U.S.? Wash your flippin hands frequently, wash them thoroughly every time you use the bathroom, then follow with hand sanitizer after every washing, use hand sanitizer liberally when you can’t wash on a regular basis. Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze, and stay away from those who don’t. Also, keep your bugger hooks out of/away from your eyes, nose, and mouth. Do NOT shake hands with anyone, and avoid touching or being touched by strangers. Or your strange friends.
Avoid travel if at all possible. Right now, there is no way I’m going to a trade show, major convention, etc. If you can telecommute, get that set up now. If you have to travel, use lots of hand sanitizer and go to full flu protocols. If you have to use a public restroom, take full precautions including using paper towels and such to handle faucets, doors,etc. Believe it or not, this was highly recommended before now, and major grocery chains have long told employees to use those practices to avoid getting or spreading colds, flu, etc. Not many actually do it, but…
If you own a business, make sure your employees know the above protocols. Have someone who refuses to wash their hands or otherwise follow the protocols? Talk to them, write them up, and if necessary fire them as they now pose a risk of infection to you and your customers. Extreme? Yes, but while the CDC and others are working to slow it down, odds are it is already here and could hit hard and fast. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
I want to reiterate that there is no need for panic, but there is a strong need to be alert, be informed, and be prepared.
Other COVID19/COVID-19/2019-nCoV articles:
Quick Additional Thoughts On The Bureaucracy
COVID-19 28Feb20 Reasons To Hope, Reasons To Fear
COVID-19 A Plea To The Politicians (And Media)
COVID19 The Situation In China Gets Even Weirder
COVID19 24Feb20 Raising DEFCON
COVID19 21Feb20: Just Look At The Blooms Dear
Update & Quick Thoughts On Preparedness
COVID-19 5Mar20
While truly solid data won’t be available for 4-6 weeks yet, there is enough anecdotal out of the U.S. alone to note some interesting things. The people where it turns deadly all appear to be older, and have multiple underlying health conditions. A number of patients are reporting only very mild symptoms. Yet more reasons not to give in to panic, especially that driven by the media and other politicians. It is serious, but not a cause for panic.
As for practicing what I preach, I did have to go to a doctor yesterday. A couple of weeks ago, I did something that set my allergies off (though the work will help them in the long run). This led to a minor sinus infection, and it looks as though we have caught the nasty part of the infection fairly early. I had wanted to do it all by phone/telemed, but my doc insisted I had to have a person see me.
Want to avoid COVID-19? Take care of yourself. Have a medical issue? Take care of it in the most efficient way possible to get well as fast as possible, without tying up resources truly needed elsewhere. Meantime, wash your hands frequently and well. Here’s a video that shows the basics as well as some of the associated I’ve talked about.
This ties into one of the reasons I don’t recommend masks at this time: few wear them properly or know how to take them off without making things worse. Here’s a link to some good info, and here’s a video.
Remember, you have to treat all masks, gloves, etc. as hazmat. Are you prepared to do that?
As always:
Use the interactive graphic to keep track of things. Is COVID19 an epidemic? Yes. Is it a Pandemic? Not according to WHO, but most everyone else is saying yes, it is. Is there need for panic? No. Should you be paying attention? Yes. Hell yes. Should you be preparing? Yes, better late than never.
Want to avoid catching COVID19 here in the U.S.? Wash your flippin hands frequently, wash them thoroughly every time you use the bathroom, then follow with hand sanitizer after every washing, use hand sanitizer liberally when you can’t wash on a regular basis. Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze, and stay away from those who don’t. Also, keep your bugger hooks out of/away from your eyes, nose, and mouth. Do NOT shake hands with anyone, and avoid touching or being touched by strangers. Or your strange friends.
Avoid travel if at all possible. Right now, there is no way I’m going to a trade show, major convention, etc. If you can telecommute, get that set up now. If you have to travel, use lots of hand sanitizer and go to full flu protocols. If you have to use a public restroom, take full precautions including using paper towels and such to handle faucets, doors,etc. Believe it or not, this was highly recommended before now, and major grocery chains have long told employees to use those practices to avoid getting or spreading colds, flu, etc. Not many actually do it, but…
If you own a business, make sure your employees know the above protocols. Have someone who refuses to wash their hands or otherwise follow the protocols? Talk to them, write them up, and if necessary fire them as they now pose a risk of infection to you and your customers. Extreme? Yes, but while the CDC and others are working to slow it down, odds are it is already here and could hit hard and fast. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
I want to reiterate that there is no need for panic, but there is a strong need to be alert, be informed, and be prepared.
Other COVID19/COVID-19/2019-nCoV articles:
Quick Additional Thoughts On The Bureaucracy
COVID-19 28Feb20 Reasons To Hope, Reasons To Fear
COVID-19 A Plea To The Politicians (And Media)
COVID19 The Situation In China Gets Even Weirder
COVID19 24Feb20 Raising DEFCON
COVID19 21Feb20: Just Look At The Blooms Dear
Update & Quick Thoughts On Preparedness
Shameless Capitalism
Best way to try Amazon Prime is for free. Get a free 30-day trial here. While you are at it, get a free trial of Kindle Unlimited as well.
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Isn’t Technology Wonderful!
As I noted before, I travel a lot for work. We use our phones for navigation as well as communication. While we never quite know what vehicle we will be in, most have it where you can plug your phone into the vehicle to have hands free operations, display maps and navigation, and do all other sorts of fun and nifty things.
That said, I’m not a huge fan of the voice command system. It has it’s issues, and some vehicles just seem to make it worse. Then again, I’m halfway to the opinion that our robot/AI overlords are trying to kill off those of us who suspect it may be more than simple problems.
A week or so ago, I had been sent about an hour and a half north to take care of an issue. Those who sent us out (different department) did not have their, er, act together (not an infrequent occurrence) which resulted in my supervisor having to text critical updates to me. Most of these were met with “copy” as a reply.
The third time, however, things got fun — and funny in retrospect. I went through all the voice command prompts, and recorded my “copy” to send. Apparently, I said “send” too soon, and confusion ensued between me and the voice commands. I will also note that I have mine set to a British female voice.
Having lost my patience with the confusion, I finally said “No, you stupid (bleep), I said send!”
To which she replied: “New message recorded. ‘No, you stupid (bleep), I said send!’ Shall I send the message?”
I swear, she sounded smug about it when she said it and I yelled “NO!”
Copy finally got sent. The supervisor in question laughed long and hard when I told him the message he almost got. He said a couple of times similar messages had gotten away from him.
For the record, I welcome our robot/AI overlords. Please don’t kill me.
Shameless Capitalism
Get deep discounts on Open-Box and used sporting goods at Amazon. Also on Open-Box and used kitchen items. Finally, on Open-Box and used camera equipment.
Yes, I’m an Affiliate. Per government requirement, I have to tell you that I might make money off this someday if you buy using these links. See disclaimer
Want to help out and see less of this? Hit the tip jar up at the top right. All donations appreciated.
COVID-19 4Mar20
Short and sweet today. Given all the hysteria and panic: just stop it. Yes, worse than the flu. No, not Capt. Tripps. No, it’s not the ‘ohmygodwereallgoingtodie(becauseoftrump)’ you hear in the media. Go to flu protocols, and wash your hands. Frequently.
One of the more interesting things to come out of this is the exposure of a number of clandestine networks. If there are indeed any competent intel/counterintel types out there, you should be having a field day. Beyond the exposure of Chinese networks, there is significant exposure of various Iranian networks. That it has hit so many in their government is telling, and it will be very interesting who the Iranians infect at home and abroad.
Check this out from Instapundit to start putting some of the pieces together.
As always:
Use the interactive graphic to keep track of things. Is COVID19 an epidemic? Yes. Is it a Pandemic? Not according to WHO, but most everyone else is saying yes, it is. Is there need for panic? No. Should you be paying attention? Yes. Hell yes. Should you be preparing? Yes, better late than never.
Want to avoid catching COVID19 here in the U.S.? Wash your flippin hands frequently, wash them thoroughly every time you use the bathroom, then follow with hand sanitizer after every washing, use hand sanitizer liberally when you can’t wash on a regular basis. Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze, and stay away from those who don’t. Also, keep your bugger hooks out of/away from your eyes, nose, and mouth. Do NOT shake hands with anyone, and avoid touching or being touched by strangers. Or your strange friends.
Avoid travel if at all possible. Right now, there is no way I’m going to a trade show, major convention, etc. If you can telecommute, get that set up now. If you have to travel, use lots of hand sanitizer and go to full flu protocols. If you have to use a public restroom, take full precautions including using paper towels and such to handle faucets, doors,etc. Believe it or not, this was highly recommended before now, and major grocery chains have long told employees to use those practices to avoid getting or spreading colds, flu, etc. Not many actually do it, but…
If you own a business, make sure your employees know the above protocols. Have someone who refuses to wash their hands or otherwise follow the protocols? Talk to them, write them up, and if necessary fire them as they now pose a risk of infection to you and your customers. Extreme? Yes, but while the CDC and others are working to slow it down, odds are it is already here and could hit hard and fast. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
I want to reiterate that there is no need for panic, but there is a strong need to be alert, be informed, and be prepared.
Other COVID19/COVID-19/2019-nCoV articles:
Quick Additional Thoughts On The Bureaucracy
COVID-19 28Feb20 Reasons To Hope, Reasons To Fear
COVID-19 A Plea To The Politicians (And Media)
COVID19 The Situation In China Gets Even Weirder
COVID19 24Feb20 Raising DEFCON
COVID19 21Feb20: Just Look At The Blooms Dear
Update & Quick Thoughts On Preparedness
An Ode To A Troll
Yesterday, I came home to find a comment on a COVID-19 post that I thought I would share:
“Yesterday Trump officially surrendered to the Taliban
You post yo blackfive
When will you try and discuss with the other contributors the cludterfuck that was our war in Afghanistan ?
I posted there as johnr and continually raised doubts when others were cheering our ongoing success
My email is below”
I really should ignore it, but it also lets me point out a bit more about how I run my site. Now, this hit me wrong for several reasons. Yes, there were a number of trolls, paid and un-paid, at Blackfive. Yes, I do believe some of them who pretty much told me they were paid to spam us. No, hate to say it, don’t really remember you off the bat.
Next up, I don’t demand English as no one here speaks or writes it; but, I do expect clear American and not broken, er, something. Want to get my attention? Consider doing something like making a proposition and then supporting/attacking same in a rational manner. A good cogent piece can get some good discussion going. This abortion of language deserves little more than mopping up and being put in an incinerator to prevent spreading infection.
Next, you couldn’t figure out how to send an e-mail (hint, it’s there)? Instead, you spam an unrelated post? That’s an automatic “fuck off” from my point of view.
Then, you demand I address, well, something. Again, that wrecked bit of random words doesn’t tell me what point or points I made, others made, or much of your position on those points. It is a mass indictment of the team at Blackfive without any real charge or means of defense. Want to play cancel culture? That’s “Fuck Off” number two.
Now, consider you are also demanding I write about what you want. Want me to write about what you want, versus what I want to write about or think is important at this moment? Then pay me jackass, as I don’t work for free. Cheap, yes, on occasion, but not free. That’s “Fuck Off” number three.
Three strikes, and you are out of here!
For those of you not trolls, I don’t mind disagreement, particularly if you cite facts. Change my mind! That’s how we grow intellectually. Keep it polite, fairly family friendly, address points and avoid ad hom. Fairly easy and painless.
Oh, as a final finger to the troll, it might want to check this out by Uncle Jimbo:
Jim Hanson: Trump’s Taliban peace deal is right move – After almost 20 years it’s time to exit Afghanistan https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-taliban-peace-deal-afghanistan-jim-hanson
Thanks to GB of Blackfive for the link.