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Coronavirus patients start to overwhelm US hospitals

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Re: Coronavirus patients start to overwhelm US hospitals

#11

Post by BurningFrog »

brenden2 wrote: post #3

While I'm not questioning the truth of these accounts, what annoys me about all these reports is that they seem to be anecdotes rather than hard data. It's really difficult to understand what's actually going on because the data sucks. It's hard to assess just how full hospitals are, which hospitals are at capacity, how many patients are actually testing positive vs. showing up at the hospital because they feel a bit…

The only hard data we have are death numbers. They're awful enough: https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest

Other hard data takes time to collect and will only be reliable once the disaster has swept through.

Re: Coronavirus patients start to overwhelm US hospitals

#12

Post by dustingetz »

brenden2 wrote: post #3

While I'm not questioning the truth of these accounts, what annoys me about all these reports is that they seem to be anecdotes rather than hard data. It's really difficult to understand what's actually going on because the data sucks. It's hard to assess just how full hospitals are, which hospitals are at capacity, how many patients are actually testing positive vs. showing up at the hospital because they feel a bit…

You can look at pictures on twitter

Re: Coronavirus patients start to overwhelm US hospitals

#13

Post by DoofusOfDeath »

rimliu wrote: post #8
DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your main point. That said, if we're okay with subjecting ourselves to propaganda that reduces the spread of covid19, these anecdotes might serve a useful role.

They are useful to know, but they have one fundamental problem: they erode trust. Though it is up for debate on how much trust in the political system and mass media there is left in the US.

Can you elaborate on how they (the anecdotes, I assume) erode trust?

Re: Coronavirus patients start to overwhelm US hospitals

#14

Post by brenden2 »

BurningFrog wrote: post #11
brenden2 wrote: post #3

While I'm not questioning the truth of these accounts, what annoys me about all these reports is that they seem to be anecdotes rather than hard data. It's really difficult to understand what's actually going on because the data sucks. It's hard to assess just how full hospitals are, which hospitals are at capacity, how many patients are actually testing positive vs. showing up at the hospital because they feel a bit…

The only hard data we have are death numbers. They're awful enough: https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest Other hard data takes time to collect and will only be reliable once the disaster has swept through.

They're bad, but if you put it into the context of normal daily life it's not that crazy. Check out the CDC stats[1] yourself. On average there are about ~1700 deaths per day from heart disease alone in the US, according to the CDC data.

[1]: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm

Re: Coronavirus patients start to overwhelm US hospitals

#16

Post by js2 »

The 2017-2018 flu season also overwhelmed US hospitals:

https://time.com/5107984/hospitals-handling-burden-flu-patie...

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season-2017-2018.ht...

My point isn't that we should take Coronavirus any less seriously this year. Healthcare workers have no vaccine for it. It's on top of the flu. Etc.

My point is that we should take the flu more seriously every year. Everyone gets their flu shot, right?

Re: Coronavirus patients start to overwhelm US hospitals

#17

Post by ceejayoz »

brenden2 wrote: post #3

While I'm not questioning the truth of these accounts, what annoys me about all these reports is that they seem to be anecdotes rather than hard data. It's really difficult to understand what's actually going on because the data sucks. It's hard to assess just how full hospitals are, which hospitals are at capacity, how many patients are actually testing positive vs. showing up at the hospital because they feel a bit…

The hard data we have may be incomplete.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nidhiprakash/coronaviru...

> And two of the hardest-hit areas in the nation — New York City and Los Angeles County — released guidance earlier this week encouraging doctors not to test patients unless they think the test will significantly change their course of treatment. That means that potentially more people in both places could be admitted to hospitals with severe respiratory symptoms and recover — or die — and not be registered as a coronavirus case.

Re: Coronavirus patients start to overwhelm US hospitals

#18

Post by BurningFrog »

beepboopbeep wrote: post #10
brenden2 wrote: post #3

While I'm not questioning the truth of these accounts, what annoys me about all these reports is that they seem to be anecdotes rather than hard data. It's really difficult to understand what's actually going on because the data sucks. It's hard to assess just how full hospitals are, which hospitals are at capacity, how many patients are actually testing positive vs. showing up at the hospital because they feel a bit…

81 people died of the virus in NYC yesterday. I think the large number approach of pandemics can almost sanitize the numbers of their humanity. Imagine 81 people died in a bus accident, or a fire, or a mass shooting. This is very serious and we're still at the beginning of it.

Looking at yesterday misses the point. Look at tomorrow!

Don't look at the lit fuse. Look at the bomb it leads to.

NYC death numbers double in under 2 days now.

Re: Coronavirus patients start to overwhelm US hospitals

#19

Post by daveFNbuck »

brenden2 wrote: post #14
BurningFrog wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only hard data we have are death numbers. They're awful enough: https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest Other hard data takes time to collect and will only be reliable once the disaster has swept through.

They're bad, but if you put it into the context of normal daily life it's not that crazy. Check out the CDC stats[1] yourself. On average there are about ~1700 deaths per day from heart disease alone in the US, according to the CDC data. [1]: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm

None of those other numbers are doubling every three days.

Re: Coronavirus patients start to overwhelm US hospitals

#20

Post by ceejayoz »

brenden2 wrote: post #14
BurningFrog wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only hard data we have are death numbers. They're awful enough: https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest Other hard data takes time to collect and will only be reliable once the disaster has swept through.

They're bad, but if you put it into the context of normal daily life it's not that crazy. Check out the CDC stats[1] yourself. On average there are about ~1700 deaths per day from heart disease alone in the US, according to the CDC data. [1]: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm

If heart disease deaths were contagious and increasing by 33% daily, that'd be a great point.
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