Face masks? No problem! We’ve got millions in the Federal Stockpile. Just cross Jared’s palm with silver and thousands can be yours. Virus tests? No problem. We’ve got your quick and dirty false negative ones; your 15 minute and you’ve got results ones, sorry, reagents not included, but talk to Jared, he can do something for you. Respirators all in use? GM got the contract and will soon start production. The ones in the Federal Stockpile can be checked out for a fee as long as they’re not designated for sale to overseas. customers.
The entire country competes on the open market against each of its parts. That is Trump’s kind of capitalism at work and the way its working when it comes to PPE, respirators, and virus tests purchases, it’s endangering people’s lives. Most of the lives facing the biggest deprivation of supplies needed to mount an effective response to the pandemic are our medical and peramedical personnel who are the first to come in contact with the sick under the most infective conditions. A pretty homemade mask with a tiny pocket for a disposable microfilter just isn’t enough preventative armor in a pandemic when you’re on the front lines.
In Georgia, EMS personnel are in dire straits. “Concerns grow that EMS will be overwhelmed as more medics are exposed.”
In the age of coronavirus, after any 911 call, David Fisher is among many Georgia medics who are on the brink of being sidelined — or worse.
He is wearing a respirator mask that expired three days ago. If it breaks or tears in an encounter with a patient, he will be ordered into isolation for 14 days. While he is quarantined, he isn’t on the priority list for testing. Most likely, even medics who show symptoms may only be checked by a doctor before being ordered back on a truck.
But, while this is today’s big story in Georgia, it really should be a national headline.
thousands of EMS workers across the U.S. have been taken off rescue vehicles and ambulances and ordered into quarantine
(snip)
As of early Wednesday, at least 569 first responders had been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to a real-time database established by the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
. . .in just one day in New York City as many as 150 paramedics were ordered into isolation
NYC’s shortage of EMS responders impacted GA. as crews were ordered to leave the state and go to New York to assist several days ago. This when the Department of Health is not gathering(?) and certainly not making public any information on the impact of Covid-19 on the state’s emergency response staff, and thus on the public health.
In Georgia, among EMS providers that have not provided information are Atlanta Fire Rescue and EMS and Grady* Emergency Medical Services. The few Georgia entities that have say at least two dozen state EMS workers have been quarantined just since Tuesday. In the past few weeks, some ambulance providers say that dozens of medics have been quarantined but only a handful have tested positive for the disease. . .
*Grady Hospital is Atlanta’s #1 and biggest emergency response hospital, admittedly focused on traumatic injuries in “normal times.”
. . .because only a handful are being tested. Political pressure from Republican Gov. Kemp’s and Trump’s corrupt disregard for public health when capitalism is paramount in their worldview has added EMS employees fearing the loss of their jobs on the back of their fear of infection for doing the very job that those policies make increasingly dangerous, beyond its already high risk factors.
The current treatment of EMS personnel magnifies the danger to public health.
Despite medics’ high risk of exposure, they are not a priority when it comes to getting the resources they need.
Emotions are running so high that some are calling for first responders to refuse to go into hazardous situations without proper protective attire. And that doesn’t just mean 911 calls for patients who may be exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19. They say that goes for all patients.
It’s not just the president who will be accused of having blood on his hands for ignoring the warning from his intelligence staff that the pandemic would impact the US for 70 days. Blood will be on the hands of Republicans in Congress who display reluctance to fund financial support for testing, and necessary medical supplies against the virus, in favor of saving Big Business. It will be on the hands of state governors and legislators who have cut and have perpetually underfunded public health in the name of “freedom from government interference with private pocketbooks” so that they can slash taxes needed to support public health.
It remains to be seen if America on every level of government, down to city councils, can learn the lessons this pandemic is teaching us. Planning, preparing, and funding for the services, safety, and supplies public healthcare demands takes government and leaders unafraid to face the responsibility that beyond making private healthcare affordable for all, assuring public healthcare is the major underpinning of having a great country.
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NOTICE: The State of GA is no longer issuing a statement attributing the rise of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths to a backlog of information flooding the statistics, or being unavailable at this time.
Georgia Department of Public Health Statistics
Updates Now Issued at Noon and 7:00 PM
3/3/2020 First day of reporting 3 cases, 0 deaths
3/12/2020 First death reported 1 death
4/6/2020 Noon report 7314 cases, 1332 hospitalized, 229 deaths
4/8/2020 Today’s Noon Report
COVID-19 Confirmed Cases: |
No. Cases (%) |
Total |
9901 (100%)* |
Hospitalized |
1993 (20.13%)** |
Deaths |
362 (3.66%)*** |
* an increase of 2,587 cases and an increase of 26% over the last report 2 days ago
** an increase of 661 cases and an increase of 50% over the last report 2 days ago
***an increase of 133 cases and an increase of 63% over the last report 2 days ago
Today’s Coronavirus Testing Data
COVID-19 Testing By Lab Type: |
No. Pos. Tests |
Total Tests |
Commercial Labs |
9394 |
35980 |
GPH Lab |
507 |
2807 |
Overall # of tests performed in GA: 38,787
Overall percentage positive tests: 25.5%
Following Statistics Are Reported for the First Time
by GPH
Covid-19 Confirmed by Race
Af Am: 19.97%
White: 14.74%
Other: 1.55%
UNK: 63.75%*
*GPH only began recording this statistic, unk probably reflects the lack of any data being kept prior to today’s.
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Discussion
Leading infected age group demographic remains 18-59 years-old, which stands at 60%; 60+, 35%; <18, 1%. No change over previous report.
53% cases are female; 44% male; 3% unk Male cases show 2% drop over last report; unk increase of 3%
Male deaths exceed female deaths by a large margin. (It is getting too difficult to tote up due to the way the web pg displays the data.)
Fulton County (Atlanta Metro) breaks 1000 cases at 1,240; Dougherty County leads all other counties with 61 deaths (this is the small heavily Af Am county SW GA where two funeral services spawned first cases)
Af Am deaths exceed deaths among whites by 5%; statistics are not specified for Hispanic or Asian demographic groups.
An overwhelming number of deaths are among people with underlying medical conditions that are not individually specified.
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News You Can Use
‘I don’t want Georgians to take their foot off the gas’
and imposed new restrictions on senior care facilities Wednesday as he faced criticism from local officials who urged him to take more drastic steps to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an Investigational New Drug application for EIDD-2801, an antiviral compound, which can be taken orally. The drug was developed several years ago to battle a broad spectrum of viruses and has shown strong results in animal testing against influenza.
Rapid virus tests come to Atlanta as testing slowly ramps up
(GA Senator,) Kelly Loeffler-(R) says she will stop trading stocks in individual companies