Originally Posted by Kenswing (Post 1734184)

Just in case you didn't think we had a problem.. We just passed Italy and China in confirmed cases.

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

Originally Posted by blueash (Post 1734293)

I am not sure of your definition of aggressively testing. IMO the US is still actively avoiding aggressively testing and has in place a policy of very selectively testing only the most ill patients. And even with that policy there are still shortages of test kits, testing sites. In Italy they are doing mass testing of everyone in some regions. Not just the symptomatic but those who have absolutely no symptoms. That defines aggressive testing. South Korea had walk in testing for everyone, no doctor's order. That is aggressive testing.
Here, you need a doctor's order to have private testing done. The doctor must collect the sample unless you happen to have a mobile lab set up for a few days in your polo field. Most doctors are NOT collecting samples.
But the point is, the US is among the most restrictive in testing both because of the way our health care system is organized, the still great shortage of testing kits and sites. Do you really believe that if today you developed a sore throat and mild runny nose that there is anyplace you could get a Covid test easily done?
If there is anything about testing rates in the US, it is how unaggressive or unprepared we have been so far. I have a distant relative in rural Ohio, in bed with 102 fever and respiratory symptoms. She has been told she does not need testing. No test for her. There have been no reported cases in her rural county. Do you see why?
Are other countries less prepared than the US, certainly. Are other countries struggling with lack of testing, certainly. Are countries fudging their numbers.. I don't know.

Things are improving as to test kits and in terms of people and leaders taking this much more seriously than they did 2 weeks ago. Both of those attitude adjustments will help. But we have certainly not changed the approach from very selective testing to anything aggressive. When you get that phone call from someone you ate with last week who now has cold symptoms and you ask, "Did you get a Covid test?", you know that it is very likely the answer will be "I called my doctor and I don't qualify." So now you're in the dark about that potential exposure. Then it won't seem like we're aggressively testing anymore.

Originally Posted by jacksonbrown (Post 1734410)

In cases per million, we're quite low: 239, to Italy's 1,333, Spain's 1,202, Germany's 521, France's 447, ...

We're low on deaths per million.

We're high in total cases mainly because we're high in total population.

We're low in per-million deaths because the feds shut down a lot of transportation early and closed the borders.

Originally Posted by xNYer (Post 1734349)

The CDC estimates 34200 deaths from the flu in the 2018-2019 season.

Originally Posted by jacksonbrown (Post 1734410)

In cases per million, we're quite low: 239, to Italy's 1,333, Spain's 1,202, Germany's 521, France's 447, ...

We're low on deaths per million.

We're high in total cases mainly because we're high in total population.

We're low in per-million deaths because the feds shut down a lot of transportation early and closed the borders.

Originally Posted by jswirs (Post 1734291)

Hmmm, yes, I think the "grim statistics" state that 1,000 people in the U.S. are now deceased from the covid 19 virus. So 79,000 more people would have to die from the current virus to match the amount of people that died from influenza just 2 years ago.

Originally Posted by bumpygreens (Post 1734539)

Since the first case of COVID 19 in the USA, 2,400 Americans have died from Corona virus.

During that same time:
7,800 to 9,000 have died from influenza.
17,833 have died in Planned Parenthood Centers.
1 in 10,000 Floridians have tested positive for COVID 19...one third of them live in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.
2.45 in 10,000 Americans have tested positive for COVID 19...nearly half of them live in New York.
Nearly 4,000,000 have filed for unemployment. That's 300 in every 10,000 workers. That number is likely to go much, much higher.
Over 10% of restaurants have already gone bankrupt, and will not re-open regardless of any stimulus package. I don't have estimates for other small businesses.

Congress is going to add $2,000,000,000,000 (at a minimum) to our national debt in just one bill..an 8.6% increase overnight, and no one is mentioning the additional $4,000,000,000,000 the Federal Reserve is authorized to put into the financial sector.

It seems to me that we are all passengers on a bus that is speeding toward a cliff, while the politicians and the media argue over who should be driving the bus. Donald Trump wondered aloud if maybe we should pump the brakes and everyone snarled at him.

I'm not trying to downplay the potential seriousness of this pandemic. We in the Villages along with others in our age group are the most at risk from this illness. I just have to wonder if the cost in lives and finances would both be much lower if we focused on ways to insulate retirees while everyone else goes about their business.