What states are doing the right things?

[Murphy101]

I have been watching Ohio news and though it’s scary I do like how deWine and the Columbus Mayor are addressing their people every single day. It removes confusion about current events and is calming. I like that the state websites are super easy to access and navigate for information. Frankly none of these things are happening in Oklahoma.  Tulsa Mayor is good but he isn’t pushing has hard as he could and I would like to see a set time every day for updates on all our news outlets. 

[gardenmom5]

Washington is doing fairly well.  we had the first tested case, and first death (and nearly 100 deaths at last check.)   The Everett mayor has enacted a shut down, and now there are cities calling on the gov to enact a shut down.

we have services, the news is being good about talking about social distancing.  what's open, what's not, what services are available.

most people are being good about distancing - but too many aren't.  the beaches were crowded due to nice weather.  next week - the rain is supposed to return so that should slow that down.

[Murphy101]

Is anyone keeping graphics of how each state is doing in the fight to flatten the curve?

[gardenmom5]

I've gotten so irritable with people and their "this is all hype, more people die from flu" - I've finally started just a blanket reply of "doctors dont' triage who lives and who dies for flu because their aren't enough ventilators".

[Murphy101]

I’m darn near ready to vote deWine for prez. I don’t even know what party he is or anything else. But from an outsider view he seems to be handling this crisis well and to have his priorities and his advisors in short order. 

[Slache]

We don't know what's actually being done though. My in laws live in Ohio and according to them restaraunts are still open, kids are overcrowding the parks, MIL, who knows she's been exposed, has left town like many others because she feels like it's a vacation.

A+ to deWine, but what the heck is actually happening?

[Guest]

I am very pleased by Governor Hogan’s leadership on this issue in Maryland. He has been proactive and at the front of making mandates. In one sense, I wish it were not necessary for Hogan to go back on the TV and tighten the parameters even more, but I see very evidently that he must do this because people don’t respond appropriately. (Not everybody.) 

I think Hogan has considered going for President and won’t be very surprised if he makes a go at it eventually. 

[hjffkj]

De and MD seem to be doing well. I mention both because while I live in md, the de line touches my yard, most of my daily life revolves around de, and most of my family and friends are in de.

I really like the way the governor's of the surrounding states so de, MD, pa, and nj are in regular contact and trying to stay on the same page. I think it helps people take it more seriously

[Soror]

I live in MO, I'm entirely unimpressed with our Governor, he has been wishy washy, refusing to do much of anything, we have suggestions, that no one follows around here, that's it.

[happypamama]

I think PA has done okay. Schools and non-life-sustaining businesses are closed, and I'm glad they went to that quickly. Our governor seems to be pretty on top of communicating. The two hospital systems around me have gone to very strict "no visitor except for a handful of circumstances" policies, have canceled a lot of elective stuff, and are making alternate arrangements for routine visits. 

 

I don't know that closing school for just two weeks was the right thing, because I'm afraid people will be more angry when their kids don't go back to school in a week, but gradual might be better. I anticipate announcements this week about long term school decisions. Now we just need a consensus and some answers for the homeschoolers in the state. 

 

I'm expecting MD to follow with the non-life-sustaining businesses being closed. 

[Murphy101]

Okla gov — I got nuthin nice to say 

[cintinative]

45 minutes ago, Slache said:

We don't know what's actually being done though. My in laws live in Ohio and according to them restaraunts are still open, kids are overcrowding the parks, MIL, who knows she's been exposed, has left town like many others because she feels like it's a vacation.

A+ to deWine, but what the heck is actually happening?

 

I think this is why they are declaring a state-wide stay home decree today. People are not listening to the various things the governor has been saying over the week. 

Ohio is critically low on PPE. Ohio is also lacking necessary reagent for testing. It's scary.

[TravelingChris]

I am not happy with my governor.  She isn't around much and certainly isn't doing hardly any briefings.  OTOH, she is following the recommendations of the AL Dept of Health guy, So we have no meetings above 25, no school until April 6, restaurants and bars closed to in person traffic, a lessening of alcohol rules so that bars and liquor stores can still be open but do things through drive through and self serving beer and wine.  Locally, we have a nearly everyday briefing by our various leaders in our county- the two city mayors take turns, the county commision head is there sometimes, the hospital heads are there at times, an Al dept of health person is there, and the County EMA director has always been there when I have watched.  

I think in the hotter spot areas surrounding Birmingham, they may have some additional rules. but I am not sure.  We have jumped to being the second highest area of Al with cases which I had known would be the case since people in my county travel a lot whether for business (a whole lot do that) or pleasure.  

Now my governor is old, has lung cancer, and probably shouldn't be out in public much.  But she could be addressing us on camera and she really hasn't been.  She gave a very confusing order on Thursday afternoon that had to be walked back because she wasn't saying all businesses have to close but since she had said no gatherings of 25 or more, lots of businesses were confused as to whether they had to shut down.  Lots of business have shut down as most people are following the social distancing and lots of our biggest employer agencies are working from home.

[Slache]

3 minutes ago, cintinative said:

I think this is why they are declaring a state-wide stay home decree today. People are not listening to the various things the governor has been saying over the week. 

Ohio is critically low on PPE. Ohio is also lacking necessary reagent for testing. It's scary.

But there is no enforcement, correct?

[cintinative]

Just now, Slache said:

But there is no enforcement, correct?

 

Can be enforced by local health dept and local law enforcement. Order goes into effect Monday night 11:59 p.m.

[desertflower]

I am very happy with CA Gov so far. Shelter in place for the whole state before it gets out of hand. Finding places for the homeless, figuring out how to get help for hospitals, etc.

We will see how he handles the ramifications in a few weeks.

[mom2scouts]

36 minutes ago, cintinative said:

 

I think this is why they are declaring a state-wide stay home decree today. People are not listening to the various things the governor has been saying over the week. 

Ohio is critically low on PPE. Ohio is also lacking necessary reagent for testing. It's scary.

Yep, he keeps saying if people won't do it on their own, he'll keep shutting things down and force them to do it. It can be enforced by health departments and police. I thought Dr Acton was going to cry yesterday when she was listing the state statistics. She's practically begging people to stay home.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/21/politics/mike-dewine-coronavirus-response/index.html

Interesting thing about DeWine: My FB feed has been filled with posts from people saying "I never really liked/voted for/agreed with/understood DeWine, but I'm impressed with the leadership he's showing."

Edited March 22, 2020 by mom2scouts

[Kassia]

36 minutes ago, cintinative said:

 

Can be enforced by local health dept and local law enforcement. Order goes into effect Monday night 11:59 p.m.

 

He didn't say how it would be enforced, though.  Even when asked.  

 

[Kassia]

12 minutes ago, mom2scouts said:

 

Interesting thing about DeWine: My FB feed has been filled with posts from people saying "I never really liked/voted for/agreed with/understood DeWine, but I'm impressed with the leadership he's showing."

 

I felt that way at first, but thought he slowed down too much recently with shutting things down.  I suspect Dr. Acton felt that way, too.  

[cintinative]

1 minute ago, Kassia said:

 

He didn't say how it would be enforced, though.  Even when asked.  

 

 

I listened to the speech part at the beginning of today's report and he said local health dept and local law enforcement would enforce it. I didn't listen to the press conference part.  I have no idea how it will work either. 

[cintinative]

14 minutes ago, mom2scouts said:

I thought Dr Acton was going to cry yesterday when she was listing the state statistics. She's practically begging people to stay home.

 

On the topic of a state doing the right things--she is one of them. So impressed with her.

[Terabith]

I live in Virginia, but I've been finding Cumo's (New York's governor) press conferences soothing.  This crisis really brings out the best in him.  

[Terabith]

Illinois has been good, too, actually.

[hellen]

We haven't lived in NY too long, so I had no opinion of Governor Cuomo prior to this month.  Now that I've been watching his daily briefings, I think he's doing an excellent job.  He's keeping the people of the state informed on what is happening.  It seems like he is fighting hard for New Yorkers at each level of government.  I'm not sure if it made national news, but the number of new cases in New Rochelle is going down.  New Rochelle is the area that had the National Guard called in a while back.  

[livetoread]

My biggest gripe with DeWine is I think he lost credibility by saying the state could very well have 100k cases currently. That was several days ago, back when there were less than 100 cases identified. I am as alarmist as they come, but I have no idea how they got that number. It would have meant at least (conservative estimate) 5k needing hospitalization, and even days later, Ohio has no where near that many hospitalized. A more reasonable estimate would have been a few thousand, which is still bad, but not 100k bad. It’s certainly possible Ohio could get to 100k eventually, but I very seriously doubt it was there a few days ago.

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, Slache said:

We don't know what's actually being done though. My in laws live in Ohio and according to them restaraunts are still open, kids are overcrowding the parks, MIL, who knows she's been exposed, has left town like many others because she feels like it's a vacation.

A+ to deWine, but what the heck is actually happening?

Restaurants are delivery or pick-up only. Parks are closed. There are quite a few people on the road, but I have been assuming they are getting supplies, going to the doctor, making sure their neighbors have stuff, etc. for the most part. It's hard to know for sure, but people in my circles are finally staying home. One big church near us is still holding services, unfortunately.

I know people are driving to outdoor activities, but they aren't doing those activities with others--they are distancing.

People are staying out of the local emergency department as much as possible, which is a huge accomplishment locally--prior to the virus, it hasn't been unusual for people to show up for very minor stuff and bring the entire family (even the grandparents). 

59 minutes ago, cintinative said:

Ohio is critically low on PPE. Ohio is also lacking necessary reagent for testing. It's scary.

Agreed. 

[kbutton]

3 minutes ago, livetoread said:

My biggest gripe with DeWine is I think he lost credibility by saying the state could very well have 100k cases currently. That was several days ago, back when there were less than 100 cases identified. I am as alarmist as they come, but I have no idea how they got that number. It would have meant at least (conservative estimate) 5k needing hospitalization, and even days later, Ohio has no where near that many hospitalized. A more reasonable estimate would have been a few thousand, which is still bad, but not 100k bad. It’s certainly possible Ohio could get to 100k eventually, but I very seriously doubt it was there a few days ago.

That may be based solely on percent of population. 

Do you have articles on how many are hospitalized? There are definitely people hospitalized and quarantined with COVID-19 symptoms, but they haven't been tested. If they test negative for flu, and their symptoms fit COVID-19, they are sent home and told to stay there, or they are admitted if they are in respiratory distress. None of those people are listed as COVID-19 cases, but they most likely are all COVID-19 cases (according to local medical professionals).

The testing is a big barrier to pinning down actual numbers.

[MEmama]

Maine is. Our governor has been proactive and so far has made all the right calls IMO. I am extra thankful for and comforted by her leadership. She is a soothing balm after 8 years of .... the opposite. 

I'm going to extend it to all Mainers, in my area at least. It is true this is a community oriented state, still proud of its roots and its make do, stick together morals. Never have I seen it shine like it is right now.

[cintinative]

4 minutes ago, kbutton said:

That may be based solely on percent of population. 

Do you have articles on how many are hospitalized? There are definitely people hospitalized and quarantined with COVID-19 symptoms, but they haven't been tested. If they test negative for flu, and their symptoms fit COVID-19, they are sent home and told to stay there, or they are admitted if they are in respiratory distress. None of those people are listed as COVID-19 cases, but they most likely are all COVID-19 cases (according to local medical professionals).

The testing is a big barrier to pinning down actual numbers.

 

This. A friend of mine's mom was finally admitted after being sick for 28 days. She was tested and it took several days to get results.  If you are not sick enough to go to the hospital, you are not being tested (in general).  One of our local testing centers shut down due to lack of test kits. The reality is we don't know how many people are carriers. You can be a carrier and have no symptoms. I have always assumed that was what he meant by the 100K number. There are probably a fair number of people who were  sick briefly and had no idea they had this virus. Cases are dating back to February for the known, tested and confirmed cases in Ohio. 

 

ETA: His tweet said "I know it is hard to understand #COVID19 since we can't see it, but we know that 1% of our population is carrying this virus today -- that's over 100,000 people."  

So he was talking about total carriers, not those showing symptoms only.

Edited March 22, 2020 by cintinative

[catz]

7 minutes ago, livetoread said:

My biggest gripe with DeWine is I think he lost credibility by saying the state could very well have 100k cases currently. That was several days ago, back when there were less than 100 cases identified. I am as alarmist as they come, but I have no idea how they got that number. It would have meant at least (conservative estimate) 5k needing hospitalization, and even days later, Ohio has no where near that many hospitalized. A more reasonable estimate would have been a few thousand, which is still bad, but not 100k bad. It’s certainly possible Ohio could get to 100k eventually, but I very seriously doubt it was there a few days ago.

I do think some models support those numbers.  I don't think he pulled them out of the sky.  Very few countries are doing a good job with comprehensive testing.  So I don't know that stats are exceptionally accurate or useful coming out of most places.   The US is doing an exceptionally horrible job with testing.  So many cases are not even getting identified.  I do think worst case scenarios are being used in some cases to make a point.  

[livetoread]

3 minutes ago, cintinative said:

 

This. A friend of mine's mom was finally admitted after being sick for 28 days. She was tested and it took several days to get results.  If you are not sick enough to go to the hospital, you are not being tested (in general).  One of our local testing centers shut down due to lack of test kits. The reality is we don't know how many people are carriers. You can be a carrier and have no symptoms. I have always assumed that was what he meant by the 100K number. There are probably a fair number of people who were  sick briefly and had no idea they had this virus. Cases are dating back to February for the known, tested and confirmed cases in Ohio. 

I agree with all of that, and I still think 100k several days ago is likely to be very high. However, this article I just read has given me pause.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/coronavirus-testing-iceland

Iceland has done very heavy testing and found about half of positive cases were asymptomatic. So maybe that estimate isn’t as far off as I thought. If half are asymptomatic, and the other half is mostly mild symptoms, then the initial projections of percentage that would need hospitalization were way off (20%). I was thinking that if initial projections about the percentage of people getting sick enough to need hospitalization were true (up to 20%), Ohio’s hospitals would have been completely overwhelmed by now, but they aren’t. 

[Slache]

40 minutes ago, kbutton said:

Restaurants are delivery or pick-up only. Parks are closed. There are quite a few people on the road, but I have been assuming they are getting supplies, going to the doctor, making sure their neighbors have stuff, etc. for the most part. It's hard to know for sure, but people in my circles are finally staying home. One big church near us is still holding services, unfortunately.

I know people are driving to outdoor activities, but they aren't doing those activities with others--they are distancing.

People are staying out of the local emergency department as much as possible, which is a huge accomplishment locally--prior to the virus, it hasn't been unusual for people to show up for very minor stuff and bring the entire family (even the grandparents). 

Agreed. 

Restaraunts and bars are not adhering to the rules from what I'm being told by the fam. They're still going out to eat in the dinning room regularly. And someone just had a big wedding but MIL skipped it to go to another wedding in Tennessee. It's insane.

7 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

That’s not how it is in our area.  Even the big parks may have five or six families there, a few people dog walking and jogging, but not like full pickup games or anything.  Road traffic is minimal, grocery stores and restaurants are steady but not slammed, most businesses are shuttered and so is almost every church.  It’s about as calmly locked down as it can get short of a complete shutdown, including drive throughs and groceries.  We had to pick up a cake for a birthday today and grab a few grocery items - hubby went in so I didn’t have to, and not even Costco was overly busy.  Driving all over I saw pretty darn good compliance in the neighborhoods and shopping centers.  People are coming into contact with dozens less folks than they would have otherwise.

It might not be all areas of Ohio, but Beavercreek, Kettering, Centerville, and Bellbrook are doing a solid job.

I only know what I'm being told. West side of Cincinnati.

[Pippen]

I'm in Illinois and have been pleased with Gov. Pritzker's response. He's holding daily briefings that are informative and seem to be no bull, plus bringing in experts to help field questions. He's been a strong advocate for the state and issued a stay at home order starting yesterday urging people to stay home and shutting down all non-essential businesses. He's working on arranging childcare in small settings for children of front line workers and has made it easy for retired healthcare workers to reenter the fight. 

He's known he was going to face criticisms for decisions he's making, but he's willing to make them and stand by them. We need that kind of leadership right now, 

[kbutton]

2 minutes ago, Slache said:

Restaraunts and bars are not adhering to the rules from what I'm being told by the fam. They're still going out to eat in the dinning room regularly. And someone just had a big wedding but MIL skipped it to go to another wedding in Tennessee. It's insane.

I only know what I'm being told. West side of Cincinnati.

Rural? Like a small town around around the loop, or in a more built-up area? 

This is exasperating and too close to home. 

[Slache]

Just now, kbutton said:

Rural? Like a small town around around the loop, or in a more built-up area? 

This is exasperating and too close to home. 

PMing you.

[mom2scouts]

10 minutes ago, Slache said:

Restaraunts and bars are not adhering to the rules from what I'm being told by the fam. They're still going out to eat in the dinning room regularly. And someone just had a big wedding but MIL skipped it to go to another wedding in Tennessee. It's insane.

I only know what I'm being told. West side of Cincinnati.

That's not the case where I am. My town has a lot of restaurants and they are either totally shut down or doing pick up/delivery only. There's not much of anything open except gas stations, pharmacies, and grocery stores. The schools, libraries, stores, gyms, dance studios, universitites, playgrounds, theaters, and churches are all closed. If you know of restaurants not adhering to the order, you can report it. I've heard that non-essential businesses in the state that don't close are getting visits from the police.

[hjffkj]

DE governor has issued a stay at home order until May 15th.

 

[kbutton]

5 minutes ago, mom2scouts said:

If you know of restaurants not adhering to the order, you can report it. I've heard that non-essential businesses in the state that don't close are getting visits from the police.

I forgot that they were encouraging people to report this. 

[BeachGal]

I’m in Illinois and think Pritzker is doing an excellent job keeping people informed and advocating for everyone as well.

I think the major cities with numerous high rises could experience a lot of infections simply because residents have to share hallways, elevators, stairwells, laundry rooms, mail rooms, entrance ways, etc. On top of that, in some buildings the units’ air flow occurs around door molding as well as vents. This is how the 700 residential units in Chicago’s John Hancock building are set up. Air flows out of the latch holes in the metal door molding (it’s all metal). A lot of the residents are elderly and so there’s no easy way they can isolate if the virus is blowing from unit to unit.

We moved our son from his building (12 stories, vintage) over to our place in the suburbs and noticed that the city was full of police cars patrolling the areas.

Edited March 22, 2020 by BeachGal

[Kassia]

I'm in Ohio and live in Amish country.  Amish were still attending big church services today and then they grocery shop and go to people's homes to do work.  It's really upsetting.  It's not just them - many in our area have been disregarding all the recommendations.  

 

[Paige]

People in KY are loving Andy Beshear! I don't live there but my parents keep telling me how impressed they are and my FB is full of people from there praising Andy. 

https://www.kentucky.com/news/coronavirus/article241397391.html

 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Paige

[mom2scouts]

7 minutes ago, Kassia said:

I'm in Ohio and live in Amish country.  Amish were still attending big church services today and then they grocery shop and go to people's homes to do work.  It's really upsetting.  It's not just them - many in our area have been disregarding all the recommendations.  

 

The Amish usually just do whatever they want and figure God will sort it out. OTOH, the Amish don't access all the news outlets the rest of us see and may not understand the importance of social distancing.

[Heather in MD]

3 hours ago, Quill said:

I am very pleased by Governor Hogan’s leadership on this issue in Maryland. He has been proactive and at the front of making mandates. In one sense, I wish it were not necessary for Hogan to go back on the TV and tighten the parameters even more, but I see very evidently that he must do this because people don’t respond appropriately. (Not everybody.) 

I think Hogan has considered going for President and won’t be very surprised if he makes a go at it eventually. 

 

I'm pleased with Governor Hogan's leadership as well.  I live very close to both the PA and DE state lines and all three seem to be taking important steps.  

[AmandaVT]

Vermont is doing pretty well, I think. Our governor has been willing to be proactive. Our schools were all shut last week - we were told until 4/6 but to prepare for longer. Restaurants all moved to take out/drive through last week as well. No more than 10 people in a group at a time and 6 feet apart are current recommendations. Grocery stores are offering early morning hours for the elderly and immune compromised and are closing early to deep clean every night. The most recent guidance is that all "close contact" businesses need to stop in person services by tomorrow - all gyms, nail salons, hair salons, tattoo parlors, spas, etc. 

He is also making sure the health commissioner is speaking and answering questions from the public, which I feel is important. 

https://governor.vermont.gov/press_releases

[Pen]

28 minutes ago, BeachGal said:

I’m in Illinois and think Pritzker is doing an excellent job keeping people informed and advocating for everyone as well.

I think the major cities with numerous high rises could experience a lot of infections simply because residents have to share hallways, elevators, stairwells, laundry rooms, mail rooms, entrance ways, etc. On top of that, in some buildings the units’ air flow occurs around door molding as well as vents. This is how the 700 residential units in Chicago’s John Hancock building are set up. Air flows out of the latch holes in the metal door molding (it’s all metal). A lot of the residents are elderly and so there’s no easy way they can isolate if the virus is blowing from unit to unit.

We moved our son from his building (12 stories, vintage) over to our place in the suburbs and noticed that the city was full of police cars patrolling the areas.

 

We live in a drafty little house with cold winter and Smokey wildfire season air that can come in around door edges and latch holes.  There are products meant to help, but even s roll of scotch tape put over old skeleton key hole and along door edges so that it helps cross the gaps between door and door jamb can help a great deal.  I expect viruses would also be decreased similar to cold or smoke. 

[hjffkj]

21 minutes ago, Heather in MD said:

 

I'm pleased with Governor Hogan's leadership as well.  I live very close to both the PA and DE state lines and all three seem to be taking important steps.  

I'm really close to DE and PA as well. DE touches my property line and Pa is  2 miles up the road. And for some reason I haven't paid attention to PA much. Now I must go check and see what they're doing.

[frogger]

It's interesting to me how extremely proactive our state (Alaska)  has been. We are a super young state (median age 33)  Self-Distancing measures were advised and we actually shut down schools with only 1  case that was travel related. We actually shut down our schools the same time as Seattle I believe.  We shut down bars and restaurants the same day  as the state of Washington with only 3 cases and none hospitalized.  A few days ago our Mayor told  us  to shelter in place which almost seems over reactive but I think we all KNEW every spring break traveler was coming back through Seattle or Chicago and the lower 48 just wasn't a safe place and not all of them would self isolate when they got home though it had been asked. Many travelers went through Seattle though so maybe they took it more seriously. 

 

Our Mayor also knows we are the only game in town though Fairbanks has a small hospital.  The entire state will need our city for health care and we can't rely on Washington State like usual.    We know we will get the tail end of the supplies. Medical staff are already requesting donations of masks from the public and such knowing they will soon be out (they are already low with no Covid-19 case in the hospital yet) and we might not get help from outside because everyone will be hit before us.  So I see big need to be proactive but it is frustrating to see other states close shop well after us with older populations and actual community spread because we know the more supplies they use the longer it is before we get any at all and we wish people could be a little more on top of things. 

 

Of course, Washington is our main link to the country and we watch what happens there carefully. 

Edited March 23, 2020 by frogger

[ksr5377]

We're in Ohio as well and in our area (NW, rural) everyone has been adhering to the rules fairly well.  The only issue we have seen is on Friday night at a popular restaurant when picking up carryout there were quite a few people gathered around the bar.  I picked up lunch there today though and they had signs up to wait in the car until they called that your order was ready so they found a solution.  I could see groups in the park as more of an issue in urban areas than here as we have quite a few park options for our low population.

[frogger]

Well, none too soon. 10 more cases today in our tiny tiny population. Multiple non travelers who haven't didn't seem to have ties to a traveler. 😞  

Edited to add: not everyone here will care what the Mayor requests. I can't say what it looks like out there though as I have been isolating due to my son coming home from college. 

 

Edited March 23, 2020 by frogger

[DesertBlossom]

My brother was tested for COVID last Tuesday I believe. He has still not heard results. He did go to the ER tonight because he can't breathe. He doesn't think he will be admitted. 

But according to the news our state has only tested about 500 people. Only 87 tests are still pending. Is it normal for the test to take nearly a week for results? To me it sounds like state numbers are only low because they haven't tested enough people.