54 thoughts on “C-19 Chat Post – April 12 2020”

  1. Good morning and thank you TK.

    The USA starts the day off with 533,115 tested and confirmed cases, meaning
    that there could be upwards of 5 million or more cases out there.

    The siege continues……

    Time to attempt a score of another food delivery.

  2. I don’t tend to write much in the C-19 section but today just recognizing the fact that it’s a very unusual Easter Sunday for those celebrating today, and will be next week for those celebrating the Eastern Orthodox Easter.

    Through the years my mom has always been the host a dinner usually that afternoon. This year my brother was going to host it for the second time (he did one a number of years ago and this year was supposed to have a remodeled house finished). Obviously none of that is going to take place as the #1 priority is to keep mom safe. I hate to think of her being mostly isolated today but she is just downstairs so I (safely) check on her and will be bringing her as close to a traditional Easter dinner as possible later today. Down the road we will make up for the inability to all visit her. My mom also likes to attend her Sunday morning mass and she, despite her treatments, is still strong enough to make it had it been normal circumstances. But since all of that stuff is on hold, she is watching one that local TV broadcasts.

    What alterations did you have to make?

    1. It is not easy. But each adjust you and all make is done with love. And that comforts me.

      I am blessed to have my youngest, her husband and their three here with me. Just as your mom is blessed to have you. Many don’t have that and it makes me sad.

      We were lucky to have found hams at our local farm. My son and family and older daughter and family will be on their own where we typically would be together. The cousins are already missing each other but understand, and we will do FaceTime or zoom.

      We have a new minister at our Sutton Congregational Church. He has been holding Sunday services using YouTube. He also had a service for Maundy Thursday and on Friday seven meditations. Oddly, watching each, I feel as if it has given me an introduction to our new minister that I might not have had otherwise. I’m looking forward to this mornings Easter service. TK, I’ll share on FB if your mom would like to watch

      I hope that everyone in our WHW family has a blessed Easter.

      1. TK and Vicki: You are most fortunate to at least have your loved ones with you at your perspective homes. On Friday morning, my plumber came over to my house to replace my hot water heater which was leaking the day before. Fortunately, he was able to do the job under the circumstances since it was in the basement.

        Here is the sad part. As he was leaving, he told me that he has been unable to visit his 92-year old mother who lives alone since this crisis began. I got the impression that he always celebrated Easter with her every year like you both described above. Hopefully he will be able to see her as soon as this crisis passes.

        1. JPD: You are fortunate as well to be with your wife and that she is doing ok under these dire circumstances. 🙂

    2. We were never too big on Easter but we did have an outing planned for dinner which obviously has now changed to a homecooked meal. Not that bad of a change. All the local churches have broadcasts of a service of some type on youtube and/or facebook. Seems every church has gone this way. It would behoove them to do that in the future even long after the virus isn’t a potent threat. Many folks can’t make it out of the house or they have to travel so being close to their local congregation would be nice.

      1. I’ve been wondering if this crisis had occurred pre-2010, would more churches be attempting to hold in-person services anyway?

        Thankfully it is a question that will never have to be answered. Two decades of modern technology have made a huge difference in spirituality for many today, especially for these times of crisis.

        1. Pre 2010 or even Pre 2000 my guess would be most churches would try to do things like: outdoor socially distant services in parks (which I could actually see some start to do as the curve goes down in tandem with requiring masks) – broadcast on community access television where available (which where I grew up was possible in both the 80s and 90s) – and, finally, recording some services with a camcorder (most churches used to have at least one on hand to record special events) in advance and putting these types of services on one tape and duplicating it for parishioners to pick up with a donation (to cover costs associated.) They would have also instructed those who did not have home players with some sort of printout that indicated what chapters and verses to study on particular dates and include written sermons for each event that parishioners could pick up from a box outside the churches.

          I’ve actually thought of how a lot of things would have gone differently in different eras.

      2. A big smile there with the word behoove. I have memories…now fond but perhaps not at the time…..of my mom saying “Victoria, it might behoove you to…… “. Fill in the blank ….you have a plethora of choices.

        But re church….you are so right about continuing using social media for services. I love sitting in the church. But as much as I focus, I learned that I miss some also. And even before this my doctors suggested I not be in crowds with the flu going around so I was one of the ones who missed services.

        1. A sermon broadcast on the internet can draw in new people for the congregation and can also allow people who enjoyed a particular sermon to revisit it. There are quite a few pluses that I hope churches recognize even after this is historically behind us. Imaging people moving to a new neighborhood and ahead of that being able to virtually attend services to get a feel of their future home. Also picture those that must move far away for whatever reason still being able to “attend”. People who are deployed. Etc etc. – I think the one aspect that seems to be a downside in some peoples minds is less people physically in the pews.

          1. Excellent points. I am new to our church and you are so right about feeling closer and more a part of a congregation that is seasoned. For lack of a better word. And also to get to know the new minister. If you don’t mind I’d like to share your thoughts with the minister and a deacon….the deacons are calling members weekly just to check in.

            In the middle of this horror, there are so many positives that I hope we can remember and build on

            1. Of course I wouldn’t mind you sharing these thoughts or any of my thoughts going forward! 🙂

  3. New Deaths in Spain and Italy are really trended downward. Not close enough to 0 yet,
    with Spain at 366 and Italy at 431. When you consider that a week ago, these
    numbers were approaching 1,000, so this is an improvement but with a ways to go yet.

  4. Being Easter Sunday, I expect the Covid-19 new cases to be much lower today.
    We’ll have to see Monday and Tuesday to get a feel for the real trend.

  5. Spain delivers data in 2 batches, so the new death toll today will likely be the same as yesterday; around 525. But, it has slowly trended downward. Italy has trended downward, but still not seeing the declining trend we’d want to see. Furthermore, it’s Sunday and the reporting isn’t as good.

    Speaking of weekend effect, take a look at this NYC number-of-cases graph, which clearly shows transient drops on weekends. [Don’t pay attention to the last two bars as the data is incomplete]

    https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data.page

  6. We are beginning to peak on average. Some states are past peak while others haven’t approached peak but as a nation, we are there. Yet, there isn’t going to be a sharp decline in the number of infected cases, morbidity rates or mortality rates. The apex is likely to last weeks before we experience noticeable improvement. Inevitably, there will be hundreds of thousands of new cases and tens of thousands additional deaths before this particular surge comes to an end. There is light ahead for all of us but not before darkness imprisons is for just a little while longer. Hang in there and Happy Easter to those who celebrate.

    1. Thank you Arod for posting please keep checking in we need your accurate medical opinions here . Yes indeed far from over . I really think the Governor should extend his order so it goes past Memorial Day weekend the unofficial start to summer if he does not I do not think it will not be good . In saying that I believe he will because this is not close to being over .

      1. Not sure John. We may be at peak and even if so, there will
        be tons of new cases and deaths moving forward.

        Yesterday’s and today’s numbers mean nothing. We have to watch the numbers during this upcoming week and then we will know
        if we have peaked or not. Hopefully we have. If not it should be
        soon.

        1. You’ll know when Boston & mass is at peak it’s coming . It won’t last for days it will be weeks . All of the tents and making room in the hospitals is for this tidal wave that’s about to start . The real darkness around here is coming & this is the most critical point in all of this . Stay safe & stay home .

          1. I do not believe MA will be quite as bad as you might think. Yes, the hospitals are prepared just in case, and yes, we are still going to see many new cases and fatalities in the coming weeks to months, but we just may be at the apex here locally.

            1. I don’t think it will be near as bad as NY absolutely agree but as you know it is going to get worse .

    1. Wise words indeed. The tendency will be to try and open things up
      prematurely. Let us hope that does not happen.

  7. 70 new class in framingham alone in past 48 hours.

    Mark, I’m thinking your posts are both funny and will save for tonight before sleep I find it is a really nice way to relax and laugh some. Thank.

  8. These jump in numbers don’t make any sense from what we have been seeing for the weekends let alone for a holiday. Something smells fishy (political).

      1. It is not a good idea to rely on numbers from any given day. How data is gathered; rolled up; reviewed before being released; and a half dozen other variables can affect the daily outcome. I think I read that some states might cut off the counting at 4 PM and sometimes what you see as reported today is actually yesterday’s numbers if not the day before.

  9. I don’t see that much changed.

    Right around 30% positivity rate. Numbers up because tested numbers are up. But very consistent at 3 in every 10 tests being positive.

  10. Today’s numbers are all over the place. We’ll have a better read tomorrow and Tuesday. Trend is good in New York. I believe that. Trend is bad in Massachusetts. I believe that. Other than that, it’s really a data mess. Michigan’s cases dropped by 900 in one day (from 1,500 to 600). Not buying that at all. Similar drop-offs in several other states. I really think our data collection on weekends needs to improve. Modelers rely on consistent data to make predictions. Without consistent data it’s harder to do so.

    Throughout this crisis the most consistent data have been from the west coast. Every day you see consistency. Not crazy jumps or drop-offs. Just a trend-line that makes sense, and thankfully is positive as all 3 states have flattened the curve.

    Right now I worry about a few rural hotspots (eg, South Dakota of all places), Boston area (already mentioned), Texas (Houston, in particular), Michigan (Detroit), and Illinois (Chicago).

  11. Egos, spats. See story below. I’ve never liked Cuomo. Think he’s an egomaniac. Well, this is evidence of that. Damn it, we’re talking about data collection. Yet, our elected officials have to somehow intervene. There should be one repository (CDC, in Atlanta) to whom all counties and states must report at a certain time, every day, on time.

    https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2020/04/10/data-divide-on-coronavirus-reveals-behind-scenes-spat-between-cuomo-de-blasio-1274855

  12. I hope other states will be following what Governor Lamont is doing in CT tomorrow due to the weather tomorrow. Tweet from Governor Lamont.
    In preparation for the strong winds that are anticipated to impact the state on Monday afternoon, @CTNationalGuard is planning to send teams to each of the recently deployed mobile field hospitals to monitor the situation and protect their stability.

Comments are closed.