Thur. Mar. 19, 2020 – Prepping for the zombie apocalypse was a lot more fun than living in it.

By on March 19th, 2020 in ebola, Random Stuff, WuFlu

Warmer and damp.

Didn’t get much done yesterday. Did get some done. Spent too much time arguing with idiots online. Won’t be doing that today.

I have to get stuff squared away if there isn’t rain. We’ve been on the edge of rain for days, it will come, and that will really limit my outdoor work for a couple of days.

Daughter 1 is very concerned about the generators. I need to get that sorted.

I’ve held off on my ‘last run’ to Lowe’s/home depot but I think I’ve got a list finally. I’m getting a couple of things to increase our security posture here. I’m starting to get worried about that. And I need more soil to get the rest of our garden in.

I’m also wondering where I can get more food. I’m sure most people are wondering that. We’re in good shape for what I expected. Not for a year. Not for longer. All I can hope is that you do get immunity, that the 80% who come through can keep the economy moving. Epidemics are supposed to burn themselves out in 8-10 weeks. 3-6 months should have been enough, but it feels really short.

I’ll be honest, there are moments when I think it CAN’T be this bad. Then I see another graph and know better. Having the school district, that will put FELONS back in class to get that sweet sweet tax money, tacitly admit to being out for the long haul, hit home.

There are a number of things that can help. If you get immunity, and it is mild for most people, then it’s possible we’ve been seeing cases for months, but didn’t recognize them for what they were. Those people are going to come through wondering what the fuss was. “I never got sick.” We could have a large pool of immune people and be fine in general and as a country. We’re not seeing that until we get an antibody test though.

We could slow it down so that the sickest have a chance to recover, for whatever the long term prognosis is. In that case we’re in it for months, but I can’t see years.

One of the treatments or vaccines could be both efficacious and safe, and that will help tremendously.

IF you don’t get lasting immunity, this thing will tear through again and again. Or if it mutates in a bad or good way, things could change.

But I do know that the effects on people, our system of government, our economy, are already being felt and will reverberate for a long time, no matter the final resolution.

It is not, despite my title, the zombie apocalypse. It’s not a world killer, in its current form, if you get immunity. Rest assured though, it will bring out the human zombies eventually. There will be a very bad patch, and things will get out of control. Yes, even here. Now just imagine the favelas, or Africa, or India. Or Manila. That’s gonna suck.

I’ve got work to do today,

and so do you.

nick

78 Comments and discussion on "Thur. Mar. 19, 2020 – Prepping for the zombie apocalypse was a lot more fun than living in it."

  1. brad says:

    Slowly some good news: Only 104 new Swiss cases in the last day, so less than a 5% increase. Early days yet, but maybe the restrictions are working. Here’s hoping the trend continues.

    There are still idiots out therey. The police are breaking up larger parties and such, when they find them. They’ve also forcefully closed a few businesses that weren’t supposed to be open.

    Some businesses are getting creative, in a positive sense. Our local restaurant (we only have the one) has put out a menu at the local grocery store: you can order anything you want for take-out. Meanwhile, the mail-order companies are hiring temps by the hundreds, which will be alternate employment for people who used to temp at restaurants and events. Life goes on…

  2. Alan Larson says:

    Pat Condell has a new post after three months of inactivity. Watch before it is taken down. This is the most truthful few minutes I have seen in months.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRD-9-STnvQ

  3. Ray Thompson says:

    @MrK

    @Ray..Thanks for the reply re church streaming.

    I have to go into the church Saturday to record Sunday’s broadcast, more like a fireside chat. Then I have to go back in Sunday to actually run the recording over the air and on the stream. I can watch the numbers on the stream. It will be interesting to see the number of people watching.

    Then on Wednesday I have to go back to the church to record four more fireside chats. Then for the next four Sunday’s I will have to go in to actually run the recordings onto the broadcast.

    Re: Reverse Osmosis systems. I have one in my house and have for the last four years. I really like it. Three filter cartridges and a storage tank. Two of the cartridges are some type of filter media with charcoal, the third cartridge is reserves osmosis. The two normal cartridges get replaced once a year. The reverse osmosis cartridge has yet to be changed and is supposedly good for several years. Good thing because it is expensive.

    The system does an excellent job of filtering the water especially removing the chlorine from the water. It would have a difficult time in Texas for cities like San Antonio which uses the underground aquifer. My memory of the water was that it was full of minerals. So much that ice cubes melting in a glass of water would show debris floating down. Harmless. My memory is that the water also tasted very good, some of the best I have tasted.

  4. Greg Norton says:

    It is not, despite my title, the zombie apocalypse. It’s not a world killer, in its current form, if you get immunity. Rest assured though, it will bring out the human zombies eventually. There will be a very bad patch, and things will get out of control. Yes, even here. Now just imagine the favelas, or Africa, or India. Or Manila. That’s gonna suck.

    If this goes on long enough, Zombie Joe as President with bureaucracy ghouls in the administration feeding on what’s left of the economic corpse.

    I still see a brokered convention. The Dems don’t want to look at “President Sardonicus” any more than the rest of us, and it might take a while for Biden to assume room temperature once ensconced.

    Don’t expect the antibody tests before the conventions, but I don’t think they will be necessary for people to figure out which way this is headed by then.

  5. Greg Norton says:

    I’m tempted to call the Prog Congresscritter in Austin if the VA continues the lame screening process of asking the vets at the door if they have a temperature without checking before admitting them to the outpatient clinic where my wife works.

    Beyond the possibility of my wife bringing the virus home, a lot of immuno-compromised and/or elderly vets are going to die.

  6. Nick Flandrey says:

    The tinfoil hat side of me says someone wanted to ‘clear out the deadwood.’

    but with real data we are seeing more younger illnesses and deaths.

    It’s still doing a number on the old and infirm.

    n

  7. Nick Flandrey says:

    Lets not forget there was a big quake in Utah.

    From my FEMA brief..

    M5.7 Earthquake – Utah
    Situation:
    • At 9:09 ET on March 18, 2020, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurred 3
    miles NNE of Magna, UT (population 26.5k), 10 miles west of Salt Lake
    City, UT (Population 193k) at a depth of 6 miles
    • Yellow PAGER alert was issued for economic loses and a Green
    PAGER alert was issued for shaking-related fatalities; initial reports
    indicate minimal damage, no reports of fatalities or injuries
    • Level VII on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale; approximately 410k
    exposed to very strong or strong shaking
    • Numerous aftershocks have occurred, the largest which was a M4.6
    which occurred at 3:12 p.m. ET on March 18
    • Minimal power outages statewide (peak 75k) (As of 6:45 pm EDT. Customer
    outage data is provided by the Department of Energy’s EAGLE-I system. Comprehensive
    National coverage of all electrical service providers is not available.)
    • Salt Lake City International Airport has resumed normal operation

  8. ITGuy1998 says:

    First day of teleworking. I’ve been as productive as normal, since it’s all email and skype communications. Meetings are now via skype instead of in person (even onsite.) So, for me, the same level of productivity, and I get to wear a t-shirt and shorts. Oh, and no people. I am in paradise.

    Now to setup a few vm’s so we can get some test setups started…

  9. MrAtoz says:

    Now just imagine the favelas, …

    Look across the river in El Paso or Laredo and you will see just that. Tin huts.

    Pat Condell has a new post after three months of inactivity.

    That was a good one. I downloaded it.

    “President Sardonicus”

    LOL! Your movie trivia amazes me, Mr. Greg!

  10. Greg Norton says:

    Experts predict lots of TP, food not so much.

    Take CNBC with a grain of salt. They want the printing presses to continue running in the basement of the Eccles Building.

    I’m surprised a lot of the hosts aren’t in prison, starting with Cramer.

  11. ~jim says:

    Is the tap water in India supposedly clean enough to drink ?

    You’d be fool to drink it, but it’s supposed to be. A friend has that and a well (cistern actually) and they boil the rainwater/well water for drinking. Sure tastes better than the tap!

    Re supply chains, I stocked up on coffee. I suppose I could add chocolate as well.

  12. Greg Norton says:

    “President Sardonicus”

    LOL! Your movie trivia amazes me, Mr. Greg!

    Svengoolie has run “Mr. Sardonicus” a couple of times in the last year.

  13. dkreck says:

    Went to Wallyworld NM this morning at 6am. They changed hours again and now open a 7. Lots of people arriving to a closed store. This just concentrates more peeps during the open hours.
    Saves payroll I guess. Only truck I saw was a semi pulling a Coors trailer just pulling in, none in the dock. Logistics HA! We’ve heard of it.

  14. ITGuy1998 says:

    Re supply chains, I stocked up on coffee.

    You definitely have your priorities right. I did the same a few weeks ago.

  15. Nick Flandrey says:

    I grabbed extra bags on my last big costco run. I’ve got canned in storage. I’ve got instant in with the mountain house. I’ve got a dozen ways to make it.

    Yes, I like to eat, and I like coffee.

    n

  16. dkreck says:

    Fox News is becoming the Cuomo Channel. Do they really have to cover his long winded news conferences every day? I’ve hardly seen Screwsome, even here in his state.

  17. Nick Flandrey says:

    I’ve been getting up later, 2 hours later, because I don’t have to get the kids out the door. I’m finding that it messes up my whole day. I’m very used to spending a couple of hours in the morning surveying the world and blogs. If I do that now, it takes up my whole morning.

    I’ll either have to get up earlier, or cut back on internet time.

    Dang.

    n

  18. Greg Norton says:

    Fox News is becoming the Cuomo Channel. Do they really have to cover his long winded news conferences every day? I’ve hardly seen Screwsome, even here in his state.

    The longer that widespread, simple testing remains unavailable, the more power Cuomo accumulates playing on fears of the unknown.

  19. Nick Flandrey says:

    Only if you believe he’s helping you.

    The number of people that will feel betrayed and angry will far outweigh any other feelings toward politicians.

    n

  20. Nick Flandrey says:

    IF the sample was random, then we’re F’d.

    Remember: We know that as more people are tested we will find more cases.

    Last night we tested over 7,500 New Yorkers and found 1,769 new positive cases.

    That’s 23%. If that is representative of the overall exposure it’s going to get really bad really soon.

    n

    (presumably it was people who felt sick or at risk, and so had a higher concentration of positives than the general population.)

  21. Greg Norton says:

    (presumably it was people who felt sick or at risk, and so had a higher concentration of positives than the general population.)

    Testing isn’t available in sufficient quantities to allow general use. At least, not in Texas or Florida. I can’t imagine New York having greater access.

  22. William Quick says:

    Slowly some good news: Only 104 new Swiss cases in the last day, so less than a 5% increase. Early days yet, but maybe the restrictions are working. Here’s hoping the trend continues.

    ???

    Worldometer is showing 864 new cases currently. For some reason they don’t have a separate Swiss page there, so I can’t backcheck. Am I missing something?

  23. William Quick says:

    Re: Reverse Osmosis systems. I have one in my house and have for the last four years. I really like it.

    I have used a Berkey water filter for years. One set of filters will handle tens of thousands of gallons of water, and it even filters out viruses.

    This is not osmosis, it’s just a couple of big cans set on top of each other. Fill the top can, and the water runs through the filters into the bottom can. Filters a couple of gallons a hour, more or less.

    They have various types of filters. Some filter chlorine, some don’t. All work the same otherwise. I’ve had the same set of filters on mine for more than five years, still working great. You test them by putting food coloring in the top water. If the color is filtered out, it’s working.

    I have a spare set of filters. At my age, I may not live long enough to use them, but hope springs, and all that.

  24. DadCooks says:

    I am very suspicious of the validity of the COVID-19 tests and even more of the supposed vaccine they have invented. Never before have the “labs” come up with a test and a vaccine so quickly and if these are real it means that they knew this was coming long ago.

  25. JimB says:

    Good news? Fast moving, so posted here for the collective wisdom.

    I saw some of this on TV last evening, and more sent from a friend this morning. Disclaimer: I am trying to limit looking at the nooz, because, to be charitable, there is a lot of “developing” stuff, with little actual news. I find much more good stuff here.

    These links are repetitious, and I haven’t read them very carefully. Also haven’t done much background reading, BUT this could be very good news.

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2020/03/19/fox-interview-malaria-drug-to-treat-n2565260

    https://hotair.com/archives/jazz-shaw/2020/03/19/japanese-come-coronavirus-cure/

    I also heard a claim that Israel may have a working vaccine and an effective treatment for those already infected. Bears looking…

  26. JimB says:

    My wife received something last night about large doses of vitamin D3, up to 20kIU, to stimulate immune system resistance.

    I am skeptical, however, I did some reading a few years ago about D3 supplementation and the ordinary flu. That reading showed some effectiveness bringing the blood level up to XX levels. I don’t have that number handy, but it translated to ~3-5kIU daily dosage. Monitoring by blood test was indicated, because of toxicity risks. I will read more as time permits, but I have self dosed for a few years with no ill effects, and no flu. Sample size = 1, so irrelevant.

  27. Nick Flandrey says:

    ” even more of the supposed vaccine they have invented. Never before have the “labs” come up with a test and a vaccine so quickly and if these are real it means that they knew this was coming long ago. ”

    — tin foil time. US biowar people alleged to have shipped something very similar to Canadia.

    —canadia has many many things stolen by chinese researchers, coronavirus from bats among them

    —dead people with links to above show up

    —Dr in chinese wuhan lab advertising for grad assistants specifically to work on corona virus in bats

    –outbreak of new virus in wuhan

    Rapid spread, MASSIVE reaction.

    –yes, they are probably familiar with the ‘root stock’ of this virus
    –yes, most of the announced vaccines are based on prior research into similar viruses
    –they were likely never completed because there was no need/no profit in it
    –it makes business sense to explore stuff like SARS/MERS/ebola vaccines, but not to spend TOO much money without a market, so you find a promising roadmap and then wait for an outbreak

    –yes absolutely be suspicious

    –bioweapons are no good to fight with if you don’t have a countermeasure. Tin FOIL- AIDS to depopulate africa forex. In the early days you just had to avoid gay sex. now UNprotected sex. Of course, it didn’t work out quite as planned, it never does. But now there is a market for very expensive anti-aids/hiv maintanance drugs (which are the bestest kind because you keep needing them)

    /tinfoil off
    n

    nick

  28. Ed says:

    An animated GIS map of the spread (not the Johns Hopkins). Kind of funky on my iPad, may work better on a desktop.

    https://icao.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer3d/index.html?id=d9d3f8fa9a23425c8f0889baab626186

    Neighbors went a day early to Costco for their weekly run (family of 7) – said the line to get in wrapped the outside of the building. But the Super Walmart a mile away had a total of 25 people waiting at the 7am opening.

  29. MrAtoz says:

    Re supply chains, I stocked up on coffee.

    You definitely have your priorities right. I did the same a few weeks ago.

    My local Bed, Bath and Beyond had a shit-load of ground and whole bean coffee. I loaded up on espresso (whole bean). Two pallets of 1gal cans of olive oil.

    Per MrsAtoz’s recommendation, I scored 2-dz eggs and 5# of hamburger at Whole Foods. None at HEB.

  30. JLP says:

    If restrictions/isolation/quarantine seem to be working (i.e. not turning into Italy) then there will be more of them. That will hugely impact businesses. I volunteered for the skeleton staff at work if there is a statewide restriction. I’m single, nobody at home that needs care, healthy, and have experience with most of the lab equipment I would be tending. Might be some bonus money involved, too.

    According to my boss the legal department have applied for a few “essential personnel”** exemptions from the state to keep things going, if such a situation develops. We are a medical research facility so we are considered important.

    **I asked if I would also get a badge and a gun, not even a chuckle. Jeepers some people just don’t have a sense of humor.

  31. lynn says:

    “Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU)” on March 19, 2020
    https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

    Worldwide Total Confirmed 235,404, an increase of 23,551 from 211,853 yesterday

    Worldwide Total Deaths 9,785, an increase of 1,061 from 8,724 yesterday

    USA Total Confirmed 10,755, an increase of 3,432 from 7,323 yesterday

    USA Total Deaths 154, an increase of 39 from 115 yesterday

    Hat tip to:
    http://drudgereport.com/

  32. lynn says:

    Pat Condell has a new post after three months of inactivity. Watch before it is taken down. This is the most truthful few minutes I have seen in months.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRD-9-STnvQ

    Yup, the Chi-Coms owe the USA people about two trillion dollars at the moment for their hiding the virus at the crucial time. This number, like the number of infected with the Chinese Virus in the USA, will be rapidly increasing.

  33. lynn says:

    Went to Wallyworld NM this morning at 6am. They changed hours again and now open a 7. Lots of people arriving to a closed store. This just concentrates more peeps during the open hours.
    Saves payroll I guess. Only truck I saw was a semi pulling a Coors trailer just pulling in, none in the dock. Logistics HA! We’ve heard of it.

    The truckers are really starting to complain. Some of the states are closing their rest stops where the truckers traditionally stop for the night and sleep. Many of their customers will not let them in to use the restroom. And many of their customers want to know if they are coming out of WA state.
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/truckers-facing-coronavirus-hurdles-in-keeping-supply-chains-moving-11584564327

    Hat tip to:
    drudgereport.com

  34. Greg Norton says:

    Yup, the Chi-Coms owe the USA people about two trillion dollars at the moment. This number, like the number of infected with the Chinese Virus in the USA, will be rapidly increasing.

    I didn’t see any of the Chinese-made cr*p -er- general merchandise moving at Target, WalMart and Sam’s when I went in the other day. Most of what was moving was food/water.

    Target had obviously just spent a ton of money on new marketing for their Chinese-made clothing lines. Guess that will be headed to a landfill after the Labor Day clearance sales fail to make a dent in the inventory.

    The Chi-Coms will pay a price. They know what’s coming. Christmas 2020 is supposed to be ordered now.

  35. MrAtoz says:

    We have about two months of cash in our business accounts. Since we are basically a HR company, all our work has dried up. MrsAtoz’s nephew made a lot of money in *hard* tea (got it in Walmart) and the precious metals market. He then invested heavily in discount, online travel. Now nobody is traveling, so he’s going broke. We had a big confab online with him on how to use his online platform to video conference our programs. School Superintendents are interested in small group training, so we may have some work coming up until the “Chinee Motherfucking Virus” is stamped out. I really can’t believe the MSM and Celibriturds calling tRump rayciss over *Chinese Virus*. Hollyweird is going to be hit hard. Good, get the SJW crap out of programs. Lot’s of independents will make money, let the hardcore Prog entertainers die.

  36. SteveF says:

    When the US sneezes, the PRC catches the flu.

    A number of Chinese citizens living in the US — and probably others elsewhere but I don’t have personal experience — get really bent out of shape when I respond to their claim that the US is utterly dependent on the PRC by pointing out the direction of the money flow. And don’t waste my time telling me that the PRC’s economy is #2 in the world: aside from the demonstrable fact that the economic numbers from the PRC are all lies, with 4x the population their disposable income for buying iPhones and unnecessary clothes is much much lower than ours. And with any luck our recent disruption of essential goods will serve as a wake-up call for decision-makers in the US and a lot of production will be moved back on-shore, meaning the PRC’s 5-year plan is hosed.

  37. MrAtoz says:

    Going through my stuff, I found the two month supply of *life boat rations* for one. Definitely SHTF food, but if you need to hole up, it will taste like a gourmet dinner. 5-year shelf life on the box.

  38. Greg Norton says:

    My wife is attending the New Orleans conference virtually this week.

    New Orleans is ugly according to a report she just heard from a doctor located there, with lots of non-compliance with quarantine. Louisiana is “asking” (for now) family doctors to close their offices and report to hospitals.

  39. brad says:

    “no people. I am in paradise.”

    This. I don’t much like interacting with people, and this way I barely have to. This is the day of the introvert, and I feel a certain amount of Schadenfreude reading the online plaints of extroverts, feeling isolated in their home offices, unable to force everyone else to listen to their medical problems, family dramas, etc..

    That said, this is turning into a pretty serious threat to the modern way of life. Many, many activities have come to an almost complete stop, and they will stay this way for the foreseeable future. Sports. Restaurants. Meatspace shopping. Concerts. And much more. We will adapt, of course, but the adaptation may be painful, especially economically.

    I am reminded of an old Asimov story, with Elijah Bailey and R. Daneel as detectives. I don’t remember the name. There was a planet where each person lived on their own. They only communicated virtually, and were completely uncomfortable with the physical presence of another person.

    Anyhow, the news wasn’t good here after all. They were just behind, because medical software sucks. I’ve been involved in medical projects a couple of times, and this seems to be a constant: medical IT is almost always horrible. Anyhow, it turns out that when a hospital runs a test, they write the results on a form, and fax the form to the health authority. Where, of course, someone has to read the form and type the results into a database. Seriously. So they were running behind, have now caught up, and…well, it’s not pretty…

    Have a look at these graphs. They show various ways of looking at the data. According to graph 2, Switzerland is four days away from being Italy. Graph 10 shows several US states about 2 weeks out from the Italian situation.

  40. lynn says:

    I am reminded of an old Asimov story, with Elijah Bailey and R. Daneel as detectives. I don’t remember the name. There was a planet where each person lived on their own. They only communicated virtually, and were completely uncomfortable with the physical presence of another person.

    “The Naked Sun”, sequel to “The Caves of Steel”. The spacers were so isolated that they only had sex with their robots. There were 1,000 to 10,000 robots per person on the spacer planets.
    https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Sun-Robot-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0553293397/?tag=ttgnet-20

  41. Greg Norton says:

    That said, this is turning into a pretty serious threat to the modern way of life. Many, many activities have come to an almost complete stop, and they will stay this way for the foreseeable future. Sports. Restaurants. Meatspace shopping. Concerts. And much more. We will adapt, of course, but the adaptation may be painful, especially economically.

    Something has been going on for a couple of weeks. I have a dispute with a Swiss vendor open in Paypal, going back to early February, and he’s gone very quiet since the first of the month.

    My guess is that this has morphed from the vendor keeping beer money to keeping food money.

  42. MrAtoz says:

    The spacers were so isolated that they only had sex with their robots.

    I wonder if the female robots looked like Gal Gadot or Whoopi-cushion Goldberg?

    President tRump just announced the FDA has approved the “compassionate” use of a malaria drug to treat the Chinese Virus. There should be plenty of test cases to try it on.

  43. brad says:

    “My guess is that this has morphed from the vendor keeping beer money to keeping food money.”

    @Greg: Well, I don’t know your vendor, but that seems unlikely here. Optimistically, he’s just been busy coming to terms with the restrictions. Pessimistically, he is using the situation as an excuse.

    Anyway, if it’s a big problem and PayPal can’t help, let me know. If someone Swiss contacts the guy up on your behalf, it might get his attention. If he is a business, you can also find information here: moneyhouse.ch

  44. ech says:

    Experts predict lots of TP, food not so much.

    No. Read the article:

    Even if the COVID-19 pandemic stretches over months (President Donald Trump said it could last until August), there will be no big food shortages, especially on staples like milk, eggs, cheese, bread and meat, according to three supply chain experts who spoke to Make It.

  45. Harold Combs says:

    Took the dog to the vet this morning. New procedures. All pets and owners must wait outside in their vehicle and call inside to get in the queue. When it’s your turn, a vet nurse comes outside in protective gear, to take the pet and owner inside to see the doctor. Medications are delivered to your car. Hand washing is required inside. They are taking this very seriously. Confirmed cases in Oklahoma almost doubled in the last 24 hrs and we had our first death.

  46. ech says:

    I am very suspicious of the validity of the COVID-19 tests and even more of the supposed vaccine they have invented. Never before have the “labs” come up with a test and a vaccine so quickly and if these are real it means that they knew this was coming long ago.

    Nope. For the vaccine, there has been an explosion of new techniques for rapidly identifying and determining the structure of proteins. The vaccine in test in Seattle uses a new technique that was developed for another vaccine to have your body produce a protein on the surface of the virus. This causes an immune system response that causes you to develop antibodies.

    As for the test, it is a test for a specific gene sequence in the RNA of the virus. We have the ability to now rapidly sequence DNA and RNA, a process that used to take months can now be done in a couple of days. They can then check the sequence of the virus RNA against a database to find the exact sequence to use to ID the virus in your system.

    All this has happened in the past 10 to 15 years.

  47. ech says:

    This is a really good article. Done by a Stanford MD.

    https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/

    We need to do some random testing in outbreak areas of asymptomatic people. An antibody test would be better – it could ID those that were sick in the past and got better. It may lead us to modify what we are currently doing – get the vulnerable (older people and those with comorbidities) to isolate and relax the precautions for everyone else.

    Also chloroquine, the arthritis and antimalaria drug seems to greatly reduce the severity and length of severe cases. Now FDA approved. The US manufacturer is going into high gear.

  48. Nick Flandrey says:

    Wow, so that fringe youtube video was on to something? An effective treatment would be the thing to break the graphs.

    n

  49. William Quick says:

    Also chloroquine, the arthritis and antimalaria drug seems to greatly reduce the severity and length of severe cases. Now FDA approved. The US manufacturer is going into high gear.

    AFAIK, this is not quite right. Chloroquine has been approved by the FDA for certain uses, but not for Chinavirus.

    They have announced they will begin testing it against KungFlu immediately.

    Now, in theory, any physician could prescribe it as an “off label” treatment. Most won’t except in extremely rare circumstances, partly because of insurance restrictions on off-label use, but more important because of the legal jeopardy a doc places himself in when he does that sort of thing. You can get all the releases you want from the patient, and still lose a million bucks if something goes wrong.

    So while it looks good, it doesn’t look yet.

  50. Greg Norton says:

    Now, in theory, any physician could prescribe it as an “off label” treatment. Most won’t except in extremely rare circumstances, partly because of insurance restrictions on off-label use, but more important because of the legal jeopardy a doc places himself in when he does that sort of thing. You can get all the releases you want from the patient, and still lose a million bucks if something goes wrong.

    FDA approval or not, the drug is going to get a mass underground trial this week. I imagine every Pharmacia in Tijuana has Chloroquine available right now. The same is probably true in the border towns along the Rio Grande.

    As dangerous as Cipro can be, I remember they all had it over the counter after 9/11.

    “AMERICANS – Get your Cipro here!”

    And, before anyone says it, no, I doubt it was fake. The antibiotic resistance in Tampa 20 years ago due to the Pharmacias in the migrant camps was rendering a lot of the best drugs ineffective, including Cipro. I half joke that Amazon plowing under Ruskin’s tomato fields to build their warehouses probably did more to fight that problem than anything the medical community dreamed up.

    Plant City still has strawberries, but that’s strictly seasonal.

    The bigger problem with Chloroquine, according to my wife, is that it wasn’t totally effective by itself against malaria, and that forced development of drugs which actually interfered with the virus replication at the molecular level rather than simply changing the pH of cells.

    Still worth a shot since the chemical is well understood.

  51. ech says:

    AFAIK, this is not quite right. Chloroquine has been approved by the FDA for certain uses, but not for Chinavirus.

    It’s approved for “Compassionate Use”. So if you are in a bad state, they can use it.

  52. paul says:

    Tin foil hat theory here.

    Pretty much everything is shut down. Bars, restaurants, etc. Other than take out. Getting a hair cut? No clue. The little local bars around here? I don’t go, I don’t like the smoke, but they have all closed.

    Ok, so, most are small businesses. Shut down, no income, and how do they pay the utilities or rent? Never mind how they can pay the help “sick time”.

    This is going to crash the you know what out of the economy. Biz goes out of biz, folks aren’t paid and can’t pay their rent and etc. Not good. A really bad ripple up effect is going to happen.

    Ok, so, the banks should have been allowed and crash and burn in 2008? or earlier. Fed bailed them out.

    Somewhere, maybe Market Ticker, said the Fed is doing overnight loans to banks. So the books balance at close of day. The amount of overnight loans is huge and the amount is getting larger and larger. Something nuts like 20+ Trillion. My feeling is the Fed is doing a soft bailout of a few huge banks that are broke.

    Well. How to get out of this problem?

    Oh, let’s have Kung Flu, kill the small businesses, and folk’s pay checks, and as it all ripples up, blame people for not paying their bills. And wah-la! The big banks crash, we get who knows what, but nothing good, and the a-holes who caused most of the problem come out smelling nice… with all the money in their pockets.

    Like I said, tinfoil hat theory.

  53. ~jim says:

    @ech
    How did they recently manage to test me for norovirus and get the result within hours? Inquiring minds want to know.

    Chloroquine has nasty psychiatric side effects I have yet to see mentioned in the (limited) news reports about it use against the Chinese Flu. I figure that’s just what we need: a bunch of psychotic hypochondriac Chicken Littles. (grin)

    You Ain’t Got No Chloroquine. Heh.

  54. Greg Norton says:

    Pretty much everything is shut down. Bars, restaurants, etc. Other than take out. Getting a hair cut? No clue. The little local bars around here? I don’t go, I don’t like the smoke, but they have all closed.

    If you need a haircut, see if Danny’s in Cedar Park is open.

  55. paul says:

    I’ve been chopping at my hair for a year or so. The “professional” barber shop? Yeah, $25 + tip and you have to make an appointment. They seem to have gone bust. I wonder why?

    The local Great Cuts pretty much sucks. I’ve been four times and other than the first visit, not great. The last time I went, it was me, 3 guys in line, 2 women playing with their phones at the front desk, two more women actually cutting hair. A three hour wait because I didn’t have an on-line appointment. Yeah. No.

    I can drive from here to the Supercuts at Burnet Rd and Koenig, next to the HEB, and wait at most 5 minutes. And be home well within the 3 hour wait time.

  56. lynn says:

    We finally got the old house listed today. Hopefully it will sell soon. I do not want to rent it out for the next ten years like I did with the Carrollton, TX house. We priced it at $133/ft2.
    https://www.har.com/homedetail/2007-starlite-field-dr-sugar-land-tx-77479/11317583

    There is a house listed yesterday just down the street. I think that ours is much nicer. They listed at $135/ft2.
    https://www.har.com/homedetail/8102-highland-forest-dr-sugar-land-tx-77479/2430248

  57. lynn says:

    “California projects 56 percent of population will be infected with coronavirus over 8-week period”
    https://thehill.com/policy/defense/488547-california-projects-56-percent-of-the-population-will-be-infected-over-8-week

    Why is California bothering with the self quarantine then ?

    Hat tip to:
    http://drudgereport.com/

  58. lynn says:

    “Cuomo: You know who’s doing a good job on NY’s COVID-19 outbreak? Trump”
    https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2020/03/18/cuomo-know-whos-good-job-nys-covid-19-outbreak-trump/

    “Perhaps this crisis might produce a better environment for cooperation after all. This statement might have been seen as a simple process-smoothing sop from Andrew Cuomo to Donald Trump, but Cuomo sounds pretty sincere — and detailed in his praise. In his press conference updating events on the COVID-19 outbreak, Cuomo emphasized that he and Trump have always had a good working relationship, and that Trump has been “fully engaged” in the coronavirus containment efforts in New York.”

    ““We’re fighting the same war,” Cuomo said of Trump, and “we’re in the same trench.” That’s quite a change of pace from the partisan bickering of the past few weeks:”

    “That wasn’t the only news out of Cuomo’s presser. While he offered solicitous praise for Trump, Cuomo at least indirectly rebuked New York City mayor Bill de Blasio for his suggestion of a total lockdown. “That’s not going to happen,” Cuomo declared:”

    Whoa ! What got into Cuomo ?

    And that is a pretty picture of the USNS Comfort. I wonder how many hospital ships with 1,000 beds and ventilators that we have because Newsom in California wants one too.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Comfort_(T-AH-20)

    Wow, 900 ft long ! That is a big ship ! We own two of these, the other is the USNS Mercy.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Mercy_(T-AH-19)

  59. Ray Thompson says:

    and the a-holes who caused most of the problem come out smelling nice… with all the money in their pockets.

    and the politicians who caused most of the problem come out smelling nice… with all the money in their pockets.

    Fixed it for you, maybe. The terms may be easily interchangeable.

  60. ech says:

    Somewhere, maybe Market Ticker, said the Fed is doing overnight loans to banks.

    The Fed has been doing this off and on for years. It’s to keep the commercial paper market open.

    How did they recently manage to test me for norovirus and get the result within hours?

    The fast norovirus test uses a test for antibodies in the saliva. The previous tests used the same technique (PCR looking for virus genes) that is in use now for COVID-19 virus. Antibody tests are more difficult to develop. One was announced for the COVID-19 virus yesterday.

  61. ech says:

    And that is a pretty picture of the USNS Comfort. I wonder how many hospital ships with 1,000 beds and ventilators that we have because Newsom in California wants one too.

    The Mercy is going to the west coast.

    Unfortunately, the Comfort is in refit at Norfolk. A few weeks before it is ready.

    As an aside, my dad served on the Comfort in WW2 in the Pacific. (Not the same ship as the current one.)

  62. Greg Norton says:

    Why is California bothering with the self quarantine then ?

    Never let a crisis go to waste.

    Newsom is not getting the other hospital ship. At least, not without some kind of political concession like getting his money people the h*ll out of Texas.

  63. Nick Flandrey says:

    Here’s some interesting datasets…. Wuflu dashboard for fire chiefs.

    https://iafc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/3813d2f872224d8a93c52f05cd392b8c

    1070 personnel exposed-339 today, 67 diagnosed- 5 today.

    There is a map and you can drill down. HFD has 179 exposed but only 1 in quarantine.

  64. Nick Flandrey says:

    I got more of what I wanted to do done today but it did cost a bit. Tree pollen is everywhere and it bothers me. Also, cipro says “no strong sunlight” and I forgot… so I was pretty uncomfortable.

    I got one set of shelves up under the patio roof, and room for another. I moved a bunch of stuff out of crates under a tarp and onto the shelves.

    Some observations. Black tubs, with yellow tops, are not rain resistant. The water will wick in thru the padlock holes. Covering them with tape HELPS but doesn’t eliminate moisture ingress. Flip top bins are not rain resistant at all. Even covered with a tarp, water can find its way in.

    Both styles of tub will collect condensation in Houston’s humidity. At least that’s what I think is happening. DON’T store cans or anything with thermal mass in the same tub as paper or cardboard. The air gets pulled into the tub, condenses on the cans and continues to pump water into the tub. I don’t think the moist air or water ever get back out of the tub.

    Fortunately, the cans are not damaged other than mold on the paper labels, and the cardboard boxes have sealed pouches inside, so the food is fine.

    In the garage, I had a couple of can failures. One pineapple juice can was swollen and the pull tab mylar was blown up like a zit. One can of bananas got a pinhole and leaked. One can of pear halves was blown up like a balloon. I haven’t gone thru all the trays of cans, but I do have losses.

    My storage conditions suck and I expect losses. Even so, I continued to stack…

    nick

    (oh, and at my secondary location, which is somewhat climate controlled, all the fruit in cups looks terrible but seals are intact. And of course all the UHT milk is like tapioca pearls. Even the hash brown potatoes are good though, so consistent cool and dark is the key.)

  65. Nick Flandrey says:

    Dinner tonight was pork ribs from the freezer, marinaded in maple syrup and some sort of rib rub, then grilled. Sides were a can of baked beans with finely chopped onion and bacon added, as well as some ketchup for zing, and a can of baked apples in cinnamon. Canned pickled three bean salad finished the plate. Kids liked the ribs, one more than the other, and my wife and I liked everything on the plate. (this was a first time for the rib marinade, I ran out of chinese oyster sauce which is my go to for pork. I’m in a pandemic lockdown and I don’t have my go to pork seasoning, with 20 or more pounds of pork in the freezer. Jeez.) On the other hand, I’ve got LOTS of maple syrup and ketchup. LOTS.

    n

  66. lynn says:

    Dinner tonight was pork ribs from the freezer, marinaded in maple syrup and some sort of rib rub, then grilled. Sides were a can of baked beans with finely chopped onion and bacon added, as well as some ketchup for zing, and a can of baked apples in cinnamon. Canned pickled three bean salad finished the plate. Kids liked the ribs, one more than the other, and my wife and I liked everything on the plate. (this was a first time for the rib marinade, I ran out of chinese oyster sauce which is my go to for pork. I’m in a pandemic lockdown and I don’t have my go to pork seasoning, with 20 or more pounds of pork in the freezer. Jeez.) On the other hand, I’ve got LOTS of maple syrup and ketchup. LOTS.

    You are going to weigh 300 lbs by the end of the 18 month pandemic.

    The rest of us will be thin as a rail and starving.

    Maybe this is a secret program to get the average citizen to lose 100 lbs. I wonder what I will look like at 144 lbs ?

  67. lynn says:

    I got more of what I wanted to do done today but it did cost a bit. Tree pollen is everywhere and it bothers me. Also, cipro says “no strong sunlight” and I forgot… so I was pretty uncomfortable.

    All antibiotics will make you burn. I have been on antibiotics for 15 years now and am very careful but have gotten burned several times. Hats and long sleeves are your friends for now.

  68. lynn says:

    We finally got the old house listed today. Hopefully it will sell soon. I do not want to rent it out for the next ten years like I did with the Carrollton, TX house. We priced it at $133/ft2.
    https://www.har.com/homedetail/2007-starlite-field-dr-sugar-land-tx-77479/11317583

    We had our first house showing tonight. I am getting an email each time somebody registers to show the house. That is kinda cool.

    I am fairly concerned about the timing. Hopefully somebody who really wants a house in the area will come and throw cash at us. I’ve got two rental properties and a piece of land for the future at the moment. I really do not want to add another rental property to it, just too much work, especially residential.

    Although, I do still want to add another office warehouse to the complex. Those are cool.

  69. lynn says:

    (oh, and at my secondary location, which is somewhat climate controlled, all the fruit in cups looks terrible but seals are intact. And of course all the UHT milk is like tapioca pearls. Even the hash brown potatoes are good though, so consistent cool and dark is the key.)

    I would have to be really hungry to eat something that is off color or converted into “tapioca pearls”. Really, really, hungry.

  70. Nick Flandrey says:

    Yep, I dumped it. Well, actually left it visible as a distraction from the food that is still there but a bit more hidden.

    Most of my storage food is not low carb. Meat is the hardest thing to stockpile. I’ve raised two carnivore kids too. “Meat on the bone” is always exciting to my 8yo. When we eat lamb, she makes sure her favorite stuffed toy (Lambie) has his eyes covered. Then she digs in with both hands.

    I let my wife know we’d be shifting to less meat and more sides like rice or pasta for the duration. I’ve got meat in the freezer, and we’ll eat that but I’ll be doing more meals that use carbs and save it for a treat day.

    The ice cream is about gone.

    Oh, the shortwave and ham bands are pretty good tonight. 5.084 is coming in from Nashville strong with musical programming, Alex Jones is booming in from TN on 4.840. Not very DX but I like the musical choices on 5.085…

    Some crashing noise on the ham bands due to lightning north of me, from the comments I heard, but still plenty of loud stations.

    n

  71. Greg Norton says:

    I would have to be really hungry to eat something that is off color or converted into “tapioca pearls”. Really, really, hungry.

    Plenty of kimchee at HMart when my wife stopped there earlier this week.

  72. Ed says:

    I got the news about the California lockdown about dinner time. Sigh. Not a big surprise. Talked a bit with family and friends, everything is reasonably ok for now and a couple of weeks.

    The Mercy will be needed on the west coast, as LA, SF, Portland and Seattle melt down. They’ll just have to do triple shifts to get the Comfort going over on the east coast. Tow her to NYC if need be.

    The cruise lines have offered their ships and their onboard medical bays “at cost”, which should help a bit. Like the MASH units deployment they can help with the non-Covid trauma stuff:

    http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2020/03/cruise-ships-and-usnr-covid-19-public.html?m=1

  73. Nick Flandrey says:

    Disneyworld, Universal Studios, and then AFTER COUGHING UP BLOOD, mother fukcer GOT ON AN AIRPLANE.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8132187/Man-34-survived-cancer-dies-days-catching-coronavirus-following-trip-Disney-World.html

    THAT’S why I didn’t want to go.

    n

  74. Nick Flandrey says:

    “Plenty of kimchee at HMart when my wife stopped there earlier this week. ”

    –I like kimchee, but don’t understand why you’d need more than a quart a year…. then there’s this. Who said “Hunger makes the best sauce?”

    Chickpea pasta, pinto beans and lettuce: Even in a crisis New Yorkers don’t want to stock up on these as still fill supermarket shelves

    Shoppers have been buying up food supplies to last them through coronavirus crisis, but some items have proven less popular than others
    Photos of depleted shelves show pinto beans, lasagna noodles, chickpea pasta, chocolate hummus and lettuce left behind
    Other less-than-popular items include chocolate and buffalo-style hummus, baby lima beans and cheddar cheese-flavored ramen noodles

  75. JimB says:

    Kimchee, it’s OK. I do like regular cabbage, and often eat a quarter head as most of a meal. Throw in some hummus, and yum.

    Ice cream is fun a few times a year. Too sweet for me. Lemon sherbet is good. Once had gelato that had real lemon bits in it. Always wondered how they did that. Love lemons and tangerines.

    Crazy me!

  76. MrK. says:

    Thanks Ray.. I think this will be a similar scenario..

    An extra 58 cases for Oz today.. But it looks like Italy has exploded.

    “The Naked Sun” & “The Caves of Steel” Certainly in the top ten of my SF reading list…

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