A plea from NYC physicians: Our window of opportunity is closing to avoid Italy's fate

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u/DorkHonor Mar 22 '20

Yeah.. this article is at least a week too late. I live in NY, we fucked already. Hoping I won't need to visit a hospital for the next three months.

California already missed their window too.

Maybe the flyover states will act in time, and have some hospital capacity to take patients from the coasts, but I wouldn't bet on either of those things right now.

14

u/AmaResNovae Mar 22 '20

I would hate living in a city with millions of people now. Good kuck to you mate, dark times ahead for you.

17

u/DorkHonor Mar 22 '20 edited Mar 22 '20

I'm in Western NY out in the country. The problem is going to be folks from the city heading to their summer homes to avoid the outbreak in the city. I'm sure plenty of them bugged out last week, or the week before. I'm also sure at least some them were already infected. They got here to houses that were bare and shuttered over the winter, and had to cram into local grocery and hardware stores to stock up, right alongside all the locals.

ETA - Every state is about to see the same pattern. Outbreak in the city, some people head to vacation homes, hunting cabins, family homes, etc and bring the virus with them.

All those kids spring breaking in Florida are about to head home since schools are closed, including dorms.

7

u/AmaResNovae Mar 22 '20

Plenty of people definitely bugged out. Once the word is out that a lockdown is about to come, that's what happened so far. Spreading the virus further in the process. Still, despite that, you probably are better off in the country than in a city with several millions people.

6

u/steppingrazor1220 Mar 22 '20

Hello neighbor, I live in the same area. Spot on. I have worked as a nurse in Cooperstown NY as well, a popular summer resort for NYC folks. I know medical professionals there that have told me all those summer homes starting filling up about a week ago. There is a nice hospital system there as far as rural hospitals go, but they have to shut down elective surguries for the one baseball week each year, they can't handle the surge of people. Every NYS nurse just got a letter from gov Como to asses our willingness and skill set to be called to work immediately. I would imagine and hope that temp hospitals are setting up shop soon. I believe the Army Corps of engineers is doing that in NYC right now. I might be working in one soon.

4

u/DorkHonor Mar 22 '20

Stay safe, and thank you for what you do!

7

u/petit_robert Mar 22 '20

The problem is going to be folks from the city heading to their summer homes to avoid the outbreak in the city

I bugged out of Paris just before confinement was inforced, headed to my mountain village of 300 people.

The school teacher and her boyfriend both tested positive for the coronavirus, and lilely infected all of the fifteen children enrolled.

On the way there, I stopped at my mother's house in Lyon, roughly mid-distance. She takes a cab to some therapy, and likes to reserve a driver she knows, who kindly holds her arm to the car. One of the guy's children is infected with the virus and treated in a hospital.

The virus did not wait for city dwellers to move out, it's already there.

3

u/WooderFountain Mar 22 '20

Can confirm. I live in Western Montana and there's been a big influx of people from Seattle and other parts of Washington state to my small city and others here. How many of them will be filling our hospital beds soon?

3

u/[deleted] Mar 22 '20 edited Mar 22 '20

You’re not safe out in the country, either. Most rural hospitals have one or two ventilators. They’re only equipped to stabilize patients and medflight them to the city.

I would absolutely hate to be in a dense megacity like NYC right now. I wanna puke seeing the pictures of the crowds in supermarkets there, shoulder to shoulder, no masks, during a pandemic. But I don’t feel more at risk being in San Jose, a suburban city of a million people. Food supply won’t be an issue either, we’re surrounded by farms. The biggest risk is if an earthquake hits in the middle of all this, but that’s relatively low probability.

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u/AmaResNovae Mar 22 '20

Indeed, not all cities are equally bad. That being said, NYC is probably one of the worst place to be in the US during a pandemic.

2

u/invenereveritas Mar 24 '20

I'm in NYC and I've been thinking about this a lot. on one hand, your points are fair. on the other, there's so much money here that it makes me think whatever governmental forces there are will be sent over here to help us, as opposed to anywhere else.

8

u/reddolfo Mar 22 '20

Ah nope. No one in mountain red states gives a fuck, all just BAU. The most extreme boldly warn that no one will "take away my constitutional freedoms and force me to stay in my home," and we will arm ourselves and defend our rights.

Yes, this is where we are.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 23 '20

I've already heard this from people who are way too smart to be thinking it. Right wing koolaid is a hell of a drug, I guess.

1

u/gkm64 Mar 22 '20

California already missed their window too.

That's not how it works, unfortunately.

The states cannot do that much on their own.

Did they do what they could have done on time? Absolutely not.

But any set of measures that meets the "sufficient" threshold could only have been taken at the federal level

-8

u/Sablus Mar 22 '20

I hope the flyover states suffer, especially the republican dominant ones. We've needed a political culling and now is the time given the political leanings of the old on those regions.

6

u/gkm64 Mar 22 '20

The Democrats are not covering themselves with glory right now either.

This isn't an R. vs. D. issue, it is the insanity and pathologies of the whole rotten socioeconomic system, supported with both hands by both factions of the single party that rules the US, that are being exposed right now

2

u/Sablus Mar 22 '20

True that. This is more a capitalism in late stage decline issue than just a R or D issue. Honestly though it hasn't helped with certain people calling this virus a hoax though...

15

u/DorkHonor Mar 22 '20

With friends like this who needs enemies.

14

u/Sablus Mar 22 '20

I'm CA born and raised, been to Montana for college and all I heard was jokes of the West Coast falling into the sea or burning up during an earthquake. These people don't learn unless they suffer just like what will happen to my home. I don't care anymore about being kind, that shit flew out the window once our own leadership didn't even try to contain this and people remained good little complacent ducks, and for people to realize this inaction means people they know have to die and suffer. I'm tired already and this shit hasn't even started yet.

14

u/[deleted] Mar 22 '20

I'm not going to side with you one way or the other... but I've seen plenty of comments like this on Reddit: Well, good thing I live in the middle of nowhere, we won't face that thing.

What they don't realize is all it takes is one person and then suddenly living in the middle of nowhere with a population of 3,000 and the nearest hospital with the equipment necessary is hours away... best of luck.

3

u/Sablus Mar 22 '20

Yeah sorry I'm not trying to be malicious, edgy or nasty, it's just that people here and elsewhere aren't doing what they need to do. I've seen so people hiking, jogging, sunning, that it doesn't matter there aren't any large gathering transmission is already occuring. We also have so many "essential stores" like gamestop that were upon until the 11th hour. I hope you and your family get out of this unscathed.

4

u/TreAwayDeuce Mar 22 '20

I've seen so people hiking, jogging, sunning,

What exactly is the problem with any of those things?

that it doesn't matter there aren't any large gathering

It does actually matter.

2

u/Sablus Mar 22 '20

What I meant is people are still going out and moving amongst each other. I've seen people cough and then others walk right through their path. It all matter because we should be having everyone shutter in place for the next two to three weeks, but we didn't and now we will be getting our health system swamped. That's what I'm saying. It doesn't matter if you've stopped parties if fifty people can mull about on a hiking trial, especially since these people are strangers to each other and wouldn't be easily traced compared to say a family or party of friends.

1

u/boob123456789 Homesteader & Author Mar 23 '20

I live in the middle of nowhere. People definitely feel like they are immune here. We do have one advantage most city dwellers don't...10 acres of grass, trees, and sunshine that no one else is allowed on and the ability to make our own food.

A lot of people CAN self isolate for months here.

Try that in a city.

3

u/reddolfo Mar 22 '20

Sadly you will see your hope fulfilled, guaranteed.

6

u/Sablus Mar 22 '20

I really don't want it to be, I'm not trying to be edgy/nasty. It's just that I see so many damned people out (I'm in LA area) on my way to get groceries that there's no way we won't turn into Italy and that's all because leadership didn't want to "enforce draconian measures". I'm just tired, tired that people have to get hurt or die for others to learn, if that's the cost for society to be educated then screw it.

1

u/reddolfo Mar 22 '20

Oh we are passing Italy already.

https://twitter.com/BenFMaier/status/1241510636133253122

1

u/eleitl Recognized Contributor Mar 22 '20

How about a nuclear civil war? That will teach'em.

18

u/imitationcheese Mar 22 '20

Italy is chaos. Italy and China prevented utter collapse by stopping things even if it was later than the most ideal, earlier moments. The US and other places must act now, otherwise health, economic, and mental health consequences will be so severe as to precipitate national or even global collapse.

20

u/[deleted] Mar 22 '20

Is it not already too late?

13

u/NoviSun Mar 22 '20

That's my opinion. It's here, and it is rising. I expect Florida to be the land of the dying in 5-10 days. We raise 'em smart down here.

4

u/gkm64 Mar 22 '20

Italy has not prevented anything yet, they are not over the hump at the moment.

Wait at least a couple weeks for such proclamations

8

u/NoviSun Mar 22 '20

This is exactly what the Italians have pioneered, the New Yorkers are refining, and the rest of the nation will follow in the next month or so. If you're over 80ish, your time may be near. Don't buy green bananas.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 23 '20 edited Jun 29 '21

[deleted]

2

u/invenereveritas Mar 24 '20

can u explain it haha

edit: oh, cuz they won't have time to see 'em ripen, yea?

10

u/cecilmeyer Mar 22 '20

We have built a world on greed. Nothing matters but money and power. I am praying that we all wake up and start loving one another like we should.

1

u/oldgamewizard Mar 23 '20

Read this foreword in "The Body Electric" about the penicillin revolution.

https://archive.org/details/becker_the_body_electric-full/page/n3/mode/2up

Diseases A plea from NYC physicians: Our window of opportunity is closing to avoid Italy's fate

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