First, a note of thanks to Illinois’ fine governor, JB Pritzger. Together with departments in our state, county governments, and the mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, and superb scientific and medical advice from the top medical experts in the region, if not the country, they put together a fine emergency plan, shutting down Illinois, except for essential services. Every open restaurant is now a take out place. All bars are closed. Police and Fire are to be called ONLY IN A SEVERE EMERGENCY, and the prisons and jails are combing through records seeing who can be released early. New arrestees are being screened for potential violence, and disease. Otherwise, citations seem to be the word of the day.
MD offices are open, but only for serious cases. Pharmacies are delivering locally. Hospitals are chasing out people who are not emergencies, and cancelling all elective cutting. (Sorry, California, no new boob jobs here. But really, SERIOUSLY? You do elective surgery NOW?) A couple of other diaries here do a fine job on reporting on the meat and substance of the State’s order.
All I can say about how Pritzger/Lightfoot have done is that it is only exceeded by the truly wonderful experts they have brought on board, to provide ideas on policy, explaining and providing treatment and giving serious medical advice to the public. They have all been incredible and very informative.
Let’s talk vectors. Because understanding them drives home how important it is that we act properly.
A. A Vector is a quantity or phenomenon that has two independent properties: magnitude and direction. The term also denotes the mathematical or geometrical representation of such a quantity. Examples of vectors in nature are velocity, momentum, force, electromagnetic fields, and weight.
And then there is something more alive:
B。Vector. Any agent that acts as a carrier or transporter, as a virus or plasmid that conveys a genetically engineered DNA segment into a host cell.
Of course, we cannot ignore flights of fancy:
C. Vector (v) To change direction of (the thrust of a jet or rocket engine) in order to steer the craft.
Call me brash, even ineffably risky and daring, but I am going to choose Door Number (B) above.
Vectors? We done need no stinkin vectors! But we have them anyway. The latest butcher’s block?
Law clerks, judges, court staff, and lawyers; This one’s kind of personal. State and Federal Courts are pretty much ajar, if not entirely closed. Emergencies, bail hearings, criminal releases, and other vital tasks are handled on a limited, but daily basis. One major international lawfirm confirmed an employee was sent home sick, and has been infected.
The FIrst Driver from the Chicago Transit Authority is diagnosed. So what you think? These folks are enclosed in a virtually sealed aluminum tube with thousands of passengers ingressing and egressing each and every day. In 2018, the CTA provided 242,000,000 individual bus rides, and 225,000,000 rail rides. That is one huge vector, especially if you have ever been in a subway or crowded bus.
Teachers and day care center employees. I’ve lost count how many, but there are already suspicious hints that families and friends of the kids who attended are getting sick. All schools and daycare centers are closed. Even worse news, kids are getting just as seriously ill as We Olde Fartes. Infant sized ventilators from GE, Drager, & Heyer Medical are far more scarce than human sized ones.
Nursing home residents and their care givers, and much, much more. Recently, one suburban location, Willowbrook, DuPage County (just west of Chicago) reported 1, then 4, and 22, now 44 victims, including staffers and residents. Starting in Cook and Will counties a week ago, and now, statewide, retirement housing, assisted living centers, and memory care centers are banning all visitors.
Then, we have ER docs, nurses, nurse practitioners and aides. Several have already reported ill and all the people they came in contact with are being contacted. The risk they face is jaw dropping.
Vectoring? you betcha.
As of today, 585 current Illinois residents tested positive out of 4700 or so tests. 5 persons have died so far. The more conservative estimates suggest Illinois will have 3,500 victims by next week. And this is from our top medical and epidemiologists in the state. I hope my bold and brave use of text above gets the point across. If that 10% rate holds, we will start resembling Italy.
In one very special way, Illinois is incredibly lucky. We have talented, educated, dedicated and responsible state officers and administrators, and medical professionals, all the way from neurosurgeons, to all of the medical facility janitorial staff who are even more exposed than we could imagine. Despite the deadly risks they face each day, they keep working. We have some of the best medical centers in the world.
We are making emergency plans to reopen several closed hospitals, notably The Blue Island medical center (near Chicago’s immorally, reprehensibly medically underserved SE side) and to staff them on an emergency basis. We have several great schools and teaching hospitals, with a whole slew of engineering and other sciences as resources, able to research and develop new approaches for treatment.
Not many states are that lucky.
One thing we do not have in local government is idiots who fawn over the president and spew his dangerous, provably deadly lies and spin. Not all states are so lucky, although Florida somehow managed to seemingly monopolize the testing kit receipts. Almost inexplicable. I guess they were assigned to those deep cleaning Mar A Lagoon.
With very few exceptions, the vast majority of Illinois citizens and residents are pitching in, cooperating, keeping their distance and being nice to others. Crime is way down. There is no traffic, and the air seems much cleaner than normal. Jet traffic is down. (No matter where you live in the Chicagoland area, you either have planes coming or going overhead. Not so much lately)
Keep washing your hands, keep your distance, keep safe and healthy.
In the words of John Oliver, act like you were a British Parent, and the rest of the world is your child, and avoid contact at all costs. Just remember, Italy is now providing triage and apparently limiting equipment assignment to those young enough to survive. Those too elderly may simply go untreated, other than palliative care. There isn’t enough equipment to go around for all in need.
From the Church of Ineffable Stupidity, our new naughty list.
- Donald Trump. His attacks on media, his lies, his misinformation will lead to death.
- MegaChurches. You ignorant bastards. You brainwash your sheeple, then invite them to prey over the COVID19 stricken folk, promising to heal them? To the hottest, most miserable, corner of your idea of hell with you.
- Surgeon General of the United States. If trump really wanted a fish for a pet, your office would be called Sturgeon General. Dr. Jerome Adams, you are actually making things worse.
- Mitch. What naughty list would be complete without him?
- All too many GOP congress and senate members.
- Your nominee: (use Trump’s marker on your screen here)