One reason for the extreme reaction to this virus was because they knew so little about it and it was spreading so quickly. Obviously they were very worried about the unknown implications.
I think they understand it much better now and can see it resolving to some extent. They have ways to treat the majority of the people, but of course there are always those unfortunate people who will succumb regardless. The flu would also get them too if they were exposed.
The book mentioned in the article, The Great Influenza, is well worth the time. Very interesting history, not just of the pandemic, but also of the development of the practice of medicine in the US.
Good to know!
I found it interesting that in 1918 they knew that people should cover their noses and mouths and many wore masks and yet our government officials (and WHO) tried to get people to believe that no one needed to wear a mask. That made me really angry because it was obvious to me that the reason for saying this was the shortage of masks.
That leads to the question of how our country was so unprepared. For years, hospitals and governmental bodies have done epidemic and pandemic planning. How can we have been so badly prepared? They should have known they would need massive quantities of PPE. I can’t believe they couldn’t invent reusable equipment. My heart breaks for healthcare workers who had to work with infectious patients wearing improper gear.
@lovestostitch I am a health care provider (Occupational Therapist) and I work in an outpatient clinic as well as in a hospital. I’m not working with COVID-19 positive patients currently, but may in the future.
The thing about PPE is complicated. It seems weird, but masks have an expiration date, like food from the grocery store. Hospitals try to minimize waste so they don’t want to have excess PPE on hand, because if it expires they have to throw it away. If they buy too much and have to throw it away, they throw money away.
So hospitals keep track of how much PPE they need and order it on a schedule.
Many American companies (like 3M) manufacture much of the PPE for American markets in China. Just prior to the onset of the pandemic products that were manufactured in China by American companies and destined for American and European markets were sequestered.
Starting in early January, American (and other) companies were not allowed to export their product out of China. They were allowed to sell the product inside of China, but they were not allowed to fulfill their orders from outside of China. This occurred prior to China admitting that there was a problem with a coronavirus. China hoarded the PPE before it announced that there was a problem.
I had heard that the elastic had deteriorated on stored masks, etc.
18 months ago we had that huge fire locally where the entire town of Paradise was destroyed. It was nearly impossible to buy a mask but my husband found two N95’s for us. We had to have them as the smoke was so thick we couldn’t see down the street for a week or more. Pretty much stayed in the house as much as possible.
My husband went to play golf today. I released him after 6 weeks of sheltering.
@EllenDeKnitter - Thanks Ellen. I didn’t know masks expired but it does make sense. As Hellokitten said, I can see the elastic getting old. Knowing that, I would have thought that would make it more important to have a back-up plan. Counting on a hostile foreign country to solve your problem doesn’t seem like a good plan. I am hoping that this situation will work to bring production of essential goods and medication back to the USA.
So true! It is scary to be so dependent on one country for our supplies. Just because they can make it cheaper. But behold the unseen costs. Hopefully we will learn to diversify now.
But I bet everything learned will be forgotten in a few more generations. Repeat.
@Hellokitten That was my thinking exactly. I believe they acted in good faith upon the information coming from China about the virulence of this virus. However, along they way they began to see that what they originally thought was not panning out. As more information filtered into their models, the evidence of their miscalculations became clearer.
Why then were they still maintaining their protocol based on the false information? Why weren’t they adjusting it to where it was really needed. I believe that I heard the statistic that nursing homes were a primary source of the deaths nationwide. Why aren’t we ‘social distancing’ those patients? Giving them additional attention and care?
Rather than focus on arresting a father playing ball with his child in an empty park because he wasn’t living up to the rules they had put in place, shouldn’t we be focusing on those loved ones who we now realize are the most vulnerable?
I have a friend who couldn’t be with her mother for the final days of her life (not covid induced), having to leave her to pass alone in a nursing home among strangers. She will forever feel the guilt of not having been there for her mother after a lifetime of her mother having been there for her. That’s just a little piece of the unintended consequences of our actions.
I agree that it is a huge problem with the nursing homes and it needs to be addressed. I have no experience to relate an opinion. It is heartbreaking and they should be able to do something.
After 6 weeks of keeping my husband locked up at home, I let him go play golf today. Enough. We have had 16 cases in our county, none left in the hospital, and zero new cases in 12 days.
The elastic, if one can call it that, does degrade. I just ripped back seams, removed the stretchy plastic and sewed actual elastic into a lot of masks for a local health care organization. The stuff that I took out broke if you pulled on it at all.
China quarantined people in Wuhan from traveling elsewhere in China but allowed them to travel internationally. They hoarded PPE, blamed the virus on US military personnel, lied to the world and threatened to cut off all medicine to any country that wanted an investigation. The leader of the WHO is their paid puppet. Will world leaders learn from this? I doubt it.
I clicked Like because I agree with you, not because of what happened to your friend. I can’t imagine how she feels.
@Hellokitten and @lovestostitch - In addition to the elastic degrading, the masks themselves become less effective over time. A mask has 3 layers. The middle layer is made from non-woven fabric and is electrostatically charged. It is that charge that makes them as effective as they need to be.
You can go to the CDC website to see a list of masks and which ones can be used beyond their expiration date (and how much beyond that date).
I know some nursing homes in our area have been hit hard. They have instituted social distancing. In addition to no visitors, they are having all residents eat in their rooms and there are no social activities. What a lonely existence.
In regard to PPE, you might find this interesting…
Wow. I knew they had prevented exports of PPE but I didn’t know about them buying up all the supplies - while they were telling the world it wasn’t transmissible between humans. I hope we can make a lot of changes and make “Made in the USA” the standard.
MADE IN THE USA should be our new Mantra!
Agreed, and if not I’d be happy with made in any country we can trust.
Absolutely!