SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19

[Amazing Larry]

I want to know if similar nonsense spending is out there and how it can be stopped. Obviously there is.

[Amazing Larry]

LOL at Valley County, Montana. Why not just slap a star of David on their sleeves?

https://montanadailygazette.com/2020/04/14/montana-county-demands-people-wear-government-issued-arm-bands-to-do-business/

[Chuck]

 

[Adam]

I like my congressmen to have two eyes

[Amazing Larry]

5 minutes ago, Adam said:

I like my congressmen to have two eyes

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, Adam said:

Ocho some of us will be expecting personal escorts to the front of the breadlines in a few months. Just a heads up

Hopefully if the bread runs out, we can all cut back on carbs.

But then we'll have to hit tanks house for his cuisine.

Then the shit really hits the fan.

[Amazing Larry]

2 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Hopefully if the bread runs out, we can all cut back on carbs.

But then we'll have to hit tanks house for his cuisine.

Then the shit really hits the fan.

I just ordered 25 lbs. of flour. No bread shortage at my house for the foreseeable future. It's gonna be sourdough central up in here.

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 minute ago, Lhalo said:

I just ordered 25 lbs. of flour. No bread shortage at my house for the foreseeable future. It's gonna be sourdough central up in here.

South central sourdough

[red321]

 

[red321]

31 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

I just ordered 25 lbs. of flour. No bread shortage at my house for the foreseeable future. It's gonna be sourdough central up in here.

wife has been trying to get a sourdough starter going, haven't had much luck. Took 2 weeks to find unbleached flour.

[Chuck]

43 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

This guy is such a creep. I mean, in every sense of the word. 

[Redondo]

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

 

Thanks for posting that. 

[St1ck]

5 minutes ago, Redondo said:

Thanks for posting that. 

I hear it's BRILLIANT, and A MUST WATCH!

[Chuck]

Just now, st1ckboy said:

I hear it's BRILLIANT, and A MUST WATCH!

You wouldn't know stick, because it's doubtful you watch it.

[St1ck]

Just now, Chuckster70 said:

You wouldn't know stick, because it's doubtful you watch it.

I've been watching Bill Maher since back when his was on Comedy Central. 

[Crampknees]

How many libs did he own, all?

[red321]

2 minutes ago, st1ckboy said:

I've been watching Bill Maher since back when his was on Comedy Central. 

damn dude....did you lose a bet? Or is he a relative and you feel obligated?

[red321]

Some serious inquiries will be needed when this all over and done with. Unreal what hospitals and organizations are having to go through to get supplies to keep those on the front line safe.

 

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2010025

As a chief physician executive, I rarely get involved in my health system’s supply-chain activities. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed that. Protecting our caregivers is essential so that these talented professionals can safely provide compassionate care to our patients. Yet we continue to be stymied by a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), and the cavalry does not appear to be coming.

Our supply-chain group has worked around the clock to secure gowns, gloves, face masks, goggles, face shields, and N95 respirators. These employees have adapted to a new normal, exploring every lead, no matter how unusual. Deals, some bizarre and convoluted, and many involving large sums of money, have dissolved at the last minute when we were outbid or outmuscled, sometimes by the federal government. Then we got lucky, but getting the supplies was not easy.

A lead came from an acquaintance of a friend of a team member. After several hours of vetting, we grew confident of the broker’s professional pedigree and the potential to secure a large shipment of three-ply face masks and N95 respirators. The latter were KN95 respirators, N95s that were made in China. We received samples to confirm that they could be successfully fit-tested. Despite having cleared this hurdle, we remained concerned that the samples might not be representative of the bulk of the products that we would be buying. Having acquired the requisite funds — more than five times the amount we would normally pay for a similar shipment, but still less than what was being requested by other brokers — we set the plan in motion. Three members of the supply-chain team and a fit tester were flown to a small airport near an industrial warehouse in the mid-Atlantic region. I arrived by car to make the final call on whether to execute the deal. Two semi-trailer trucks, cleverly marked as food-service vehicles, met us at the warehouse. When fully loaded, the trucks would take two distinct routes back to Massachusetts to minimize the chances that their contents would be detained or redirected.

Hours before our planned departure, we were told to expect only a quarter of our original order. We went anyway, since we desperately needed any supplies we could get. Upon arrival, we were jubilant to see pallets of KN95 respirators and face masks being unloaded. We opened several boxes, examined their contents, and hoped that this random sample would be representative of the entire shipment. Before we could send the funds by wire transfer, two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrived, showed their badges, and started questioning me. No, this shipment was not headed for resale or the black market. The agents checked my credentials, and I tried to convince them that the shipment of PPE was bound for hospitals. After receiving my assurances and hearing about our health system’s urgent needs, the agents let the boxes of equipment be released and loaded into the trucks. But I was soon shocked to learn that the Department of Homeland Security was still considering redirecting our PPE. Only some quick calls leading to intervention by our congressional representative prevented its seizure. I remained nervous and worried on the long drive back, feelings that did not abate until midnight, when I received the call that the PPE shipment was secured at our warehouse.

This experience might have made for an entertaining tale at a cocktail party, had the success of our mission not been so critical. Did I foresee, as a health-system leader working in a rich, highly developed country with state-of-the-art science and technology and incredible talent, that my organization would ever be faced with such a set of circumstances? Of course not. Yet when encountering the severe constraints that attend this pandemic, we must leave no stone unturned to give our health care teams and our patients a fighting chance. This is the unfortunate reality we face in the time of Covid-19.

Andrew W. Artenstein, M.D.
Baystate Health, Springfield, MA

[Taylor]

14 minutes ago, Fireball said:

How many libs did he own, all?

Once all the libs are owned, do the cons finally win?

[RallyMo]

13 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

You wouldn't know stick, because it's doubtful you watch it.

I watched it. He has good points. He also subtlety infers that protesters are being absolute idiots.

There is blame to be placed on the slow rollout of testing. That's the biggest failure of all here. 

[red321]

1 minute ago, Taylor said:

Once all the libs are owned, do the cons finally win?

[Jason]

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

 

Chuck, it doesn't matter what Trump did or didn't do because he would have gotten shit for it regardless. Could you imagine if started doing all this stuff and making a big deal about the virus while the impeachment was going on? For sure he would have been blamed for trying to distract from it. His point at the end is well taken. There is no way in hell his critics or supporters would have been OK with shutting us down before we actually saw the virus in action. Right now hindsight is 20/20 so it's easy to play Monday morning QB over this pandemic. My biggest gripe with Trump is his refusal to accept any responsibility for anything. As the leader you are expected to eat a bigger bite of that shit sandwich whether it is directly your fault or not. 

[Jason]

1 hour ago, Lhalo said:

LOL at Valley County, Montana. Why not just slap a star of David on their sleeves?

https://montanadailygazette.com/2020/04/14/montana-county-demands-people-wear-government-issued-arm-bands-to-do-business/

It's sad that there are people that will actually defend doing this 

[RallyMo]

Just now, Jason said:

My biggest gripe with Trump is his refusal to accept any responsibility for anything. As the leader you are expected to eat a bigger bite of that shit sandwich whether it is directly your fault or not. 

When is the last time Trump accepted responsibility for anything?

[RallyMo]

Just now, Jason said:

It's sad that there are people that will actually defend doing this 

If you'd like to put in another request for somebody to defend, I'm ready.