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Doctors Say Shortage of Protective Gear Is Dire

nytimes.com

41–50 of 145 posts

Re: Doctors Say Shortage of Protective Gear Is Dire

#41
post #35

Again severe failure on the govt’s part. Their inaction in when it was needed the most led to all these circumstances that makes it ripe for situations like these. As the number of infections spread and economic situation get worse these kind of things will get really really bad. Once the second and third order effects kick in it’s going to be a catastrophe. And our leaders answer to all of this is to give $1200 chec…

"why they are not fired and instead have to wait till next election." Because we still have laws, and elections. What do you want a military coup?

I would say I want more tests kits, more protective gear for health professionals, more unified and clear communication. What use are said laws and elections if they are not able to provide security for the citizens. They sound great in theory and that about it. Because of these clowns so many people are going to pay with their lives or their daily livelihoods or both. If the only option to removing incompetent people from gov is a military coup then we have a bigger fundamental problem. It can’t be binary. World can and does operate in shades or gray. So no military coup is not what I want.

Re: Doctors Say Shortage of Protective Gear Is Dire

#42

I keep seeing articles like this pop up. During one of the first coronavirus press conferences, the White House invited CEOs from Walmart, Target, CVS, etc. – presumably to show strength of the private sector. On the flip side, why can't we enlist money and resources from the private sector to quickly fix some of these supply issues? For example: - Convert car factories to produce masks and ventilators. - Convert con…

> we're about to enter an unprecedented public health crisis.

this is where you lose me... it’s not unprecedented, quite the opposite. Throughout all human history this has been common. Recently (since WWII), we’ve been able to limit the lethality of most diseases and/or reduce transmissions.

But this should have been prepared for. They (the government) even had a playbook for it, they had evidence it could even be from this family of viruses.

This is a massive mistake by hundreds of our leaders.

Re: Doctors Say Shortage of Protective Gear Is Dire

#43

I keep seeing articles like this pop up. During one of the first coronavirus press conferences, the White House invited CEOs from Walmart, Target, CVS, etc. – presumably to show strength of the private sector. On the flip side, why can't we enlist money and resources from the private sector to quickly fix some of these supply issues? For example: - Convert car factories to produce masks and ventilators. - Convert con…

Turns out N95 masks are quite high-tech, and even China is having trouble scaling up its production. They're made of a material, meltblown fabric, which only a limited number of factories are capable of producing. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/16/8149292...

They aren't having trouble scaling up... They already have. 200 million masks a day, 20x in February.

If we (America) can't scale up we are in deep doodoo. Trump has been pissing off China by calling the Corona virus the "China Virus".

Re: Doctors Say Shortage of Protective Gear Is Dire

#44
post #9

There is reason to believe that the hospital mask shortage is due in no small part to employee (and patient/family) theft of masks and not necessarily due to dramatically increased need at hospitals (at least not yet). I say this as a resident physician at an urban hospital in the US. We're now severely low on N95 masks and moderately low on surgical masks but we have only had less than a dozen confirmed covid-19 cas…

Nobody is at the wheel, and this is quite apparent. Federal leadership squandered a month of response time insisting that there was no problem while focusing on corporate welfare to keep pumping the stonk market. Thus demonstrating that the national motto really is "fuck you, got mine". And so it's not terribly surprising that everyone is selfishly looking out for themselves. Protecting ourselves is literally the onl…

I mean say what you will, but that kind of is the American way since the founding of the republic. Don't trust the sovereign to take care of you, because just sometimes that ends with the cops welding people into apartment buildings

Does that mean people should hoard and price gouge their fellow man during a pandemic, of course not.

Re: Doctors Say Shortage of Protective Gear Is Dire

#45

Again severe failure on the govt’s part. Their inaction in when it was needed the most led to all these circumstances that makes it ripe for situations like these. As the number of infections spread and economic situation get worse these kind of things will get really really bad. Once the second and third order effects kick in it’s going to be a catastrophe. And our leaders answer to all of this is to give $1200 chec…

> Again severe failure on the govt’s part. If you live in a democracy, then you are part of the government. You can't just blame other people for this.

the united states is not a democracy, plain and simple. the u.s. is an authoritative state that can barely run itself.

and further, what are your practical recommendations outside of theoretical possibility and platitudes?

how does a citizen stop the president from blatantly and petulantly renaming "coronavirus" with "chinese virus"? how does one make the government back in january actually prepare for the viral outbreak instead of just banning travel (and secretly denying visas and withholding passports with valid visas from immigrants and non-immigrant workers), stop generating racism towards the chinese and east-asian population in general, stop creating an agoraphobic aura, then stop them of washing their hands of the situation, as if that's all that was needed? how does one control the government communication and media that continually sends the wrong message to the people, who are already all too willing to panic? how does one keep the government from withholding information or making poor decisions that ignore international knowledge and recommendations? how does one keep our government from secretly and illegally profiting off of the virus? how does one keep the government from flat out lying?

statements like yours are infuriating. you're acting as if a vote four years ago mattered or any future vote matters. it didn't, and it won't. what matters are the actions of the people actually in power. and as of late, these actions amount to treason, felonies, and unethical behavior.

Re: Doctors Say Shortage of Protective Gear Is Dire

#46

My sister's an ER doc in Baltimore and they're getting one mask per 12-hour shift. That quantity doesn't protect them from anything or their patients

My understanding is they are good for 4 hours. When the masks are saturated they are not effective. Maybe it's better to have 2 and rotate them out.

I saw someone else post this on HN... Worth a look. http://www.imcclinics.com/english/index.php/news/view?id=83

Re: Doctors Say Shortage of Protective Gear Is Dire

#47
post #37

I do China sourcing and have decent access to 3-ply surgical masks and limited access to N95 masks. It's really hard to sell either of those to government bodies, even near cost. Already talked to the Red Cross, wholesale pharmacies and different ministries. They generally insist on payment on delivery, which we can't do for larger orders, as factories sell to whoever has the cash at the factory gate. Some also want…

Can you email me (email in profile) and I can connect you to some people in the US trying to solve this.

Re: Doctors Say Shortage of Protective Gear Is Dire

#48
post #37

I do China sourcing and have decent access to 3-ply surgical masks and limited access to N95 masks. It's really hard to sell either of those to government bodies, even near cost. Already talked to the Red Cross, wholesale pharmacies and different ministries. They generally insist on payment on delivery, which we can't do for larger orders, as factories sell to whoever has the cash at the factory gate. Some also want…

Curious, I'd think there are a bunch of people willing to provide financing, no?

Re: Doctors Say Shortage of Protective Gear Is Dire

#49
post #48
post #37

I do China sourcing and have decent access to 3-ply surgical masks and limited access to N95 masks. It's really hard to sell either of those to government bodies, even near cost. Already talked to the Red Cross, wholesale pharmacies and different ministries. They generally insist on payment on delivery, which we can't do for larger orders, as factories sell to whoever has the cash at the factory gate. Some also want…

Curious, I'd think there are a bunch of people willing to provide financing, no?

There are some and I'm working on it. But every extra step adds delay.

Re: Doctors Say Shortage of Protective Gear Is Dire

#50
post #37

I do China sourcing and have decent access to 3-ply surgical masks and limited access to N95 masks. It's really hard to sell either of those to government bodies, even near cost. Already talked to the Red Cross, wholesale pharmacies and different ministries. They generally insist on payment on delivery, which we can't do for larger orders, as factories sell to whoever has the cash at the factory gate. Some also want…

Euro here. Would you send me an email (in profile)?
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