Philip, you asked about what more could have been done in February 2020. Well, a tremendous amount. For one thing, making sure we had enough PPE for healthcare workers! [3,500 healthcare workers have died; many during the 1st wave, many due to insufficient PPE – that’s criminal negligence on the part of the government and some hospital systems, in my view] Expansion of testing capacity, by drawing on what was already available overseas (and not attempting to do this ourselves – we failed miserably at it). Preparing for contact tracing with adequate staffing. Imposing travel restrictions on Europe. Finally, not downplaying the risks (if I got a dollar for every time I heard a Trump official say in February 2020 that the risk to Americans is minimal, I’d be rich), but rather prudently warning Americans of the potential for a major pandemic.
Thanks Joshua. We probably should have “masked up” much earlier as well? Or would it have really mattered?
Thank you, Joshua. That all makes good sense
Add Germany to the list of European countries that is bursting at the seams in terms of ICU usage. The hospitals and doctors are urging the government to impose an even stricter lockdown, as ICUs simply cannot handle the incoming stream of patients. Belgium appears to be teetering as well. The Netherlands isn’t quite teetering, but with more than half of all ICU beds taken up by Covid patients there’s no room to manoeuver. France is in serious trouble in a number of regions, including Paris. Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic have been in desperate shape for weeks, with no end in sight.
I hope that won’t be us in the coming weeks! We are vaccinating at the highest rate in the world, correct?
As I mentioned in the weather blog, I am scheduled for a shot on Thursday. I was finally able to get an appointment via BWH.
Glad you got an appointment.
We’re vaccinating at a very nice clip. Not the fastest in the world. That prize goes to Israel, then the UAE, and then the UK. But, we’re up there in the top 5 or so worldwide. That is protecting us from a major surge. Germany’s vaccination rate is about 3 times slower than ours. Nevertheless, some of the nations experiencing a surge have high vaccination rates comparable to ours. So, no matter what, we must be vigilant.
Dose 2 of Moderna this morning. If I feel lousy tomorrow, at least it’s good day for it—rainy with wall to wall college hoops in the afternoon.
Perfect. Hope you do well but great outlook
C-19 for 3-28 is ready.
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Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Philip, you asked about what more could have been done in February 2020. Well, a tremendous amount. For one thing, making sure we had enough PPE for healthcare workers! [3,500 healthcare workers have died; many during the 1st wave, many due to insufficient PPE – that’s criminal negligence on the part of the government and some hospital systems, in my view] Expansion of testing capacity, by drawing on what was already available overseas (and not attempting to do this ourselves – we failed miserably at it). Preparing for contact tracing with adequate staffing. Imposing travel restrictions on Europe. Finally, not downplaying the risks (if I got a dollar for every time I heard a Trump official say in February 2020 that the risk to Americans is minimal, I’d be rich), but rather prudently warning Americans of the potential for a major pandemic.
Thanks Joshua. We probably should have “masked up” much earlier as well? Or would it have really mattered?
Thank you, Joshua. That all makes good sense
Add Germany to the list of European countries that is bursting at the seams in terms of ICU usage. The hospitals and doctors are urging the government to impose an even stricter lockdown, as ICUs simply cannot handle the incoming stream of patients. Belgium appears to be teetering as well. The Netherlands isn’t quite teetering, but with more than half of all ICU beds taken up by Covid patients there’s no room to manoeuver. France is in serious trouble in a number of regions, including Paris. Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic have been in desperate shape for weeks, with no end in sight.
I hope that won’t be us in the coming weeks! We are vaccinating at the highest rate in the world, correct?
As I mentioned in the weather blog, I am scheduled for a shot on Thursday. I was finally able to get an appointment via BWH.
Glad you got an appointment.
We’re vaccinating at a very nice clip. Not the fastest in the world. That prize goes to Israel, then the UAE, and then the UK. But, we’re up there in the top 5 or so worldwide. That is protecting us from a major surge. Germany’s vaccination rate is about 3 times slower than ours. Nevertheless, some of the nations experiencing a surge have high vaccination rates comparable to ours. So, no matter what, we must be vigilant.
Dose 2 of Moderna this morning. If I feel lousy tomorrow, at least it’s good day for it—rainy with wall to wall college hoops in the afternoon.
Perfect. Hope you do well but great outlook
C-19 for 3-28 is ready.