COVID-19/corona virus mega thread/prepping thread

[dogmush]

While rioters in Portland get to run wild, a couple in Kentucky get ankle monitors to keep them from leaving their home because the wife has the virus.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/kentucky-couple-house-arrest-ankle-monitors-coronavirus-quarantine-documents

So I read the article finally.

Folks test positive.  Public health officials meet with them and explain self-quarantine.  They are offered papers to sign agreeing to self quarantine guidelines that include either notification to or getting approval from (article is unclear, The same person says two different things), they refuse to sign papers, they are warned that refusal will escalate from just public health to Law enforcement, it does escalate, and Public Health officials get court order for ankle monitoring.  It is unclear if the original self quarantine restrictions (call/get approval to leave house) are still in play and the anklets are a notification device to Health folks.

The article does not say they are under house arrest, and doesn't have any quotes or input from the public health officials.

I'm conflicted.  Without seeing the self quarantine guidelines Mrs. Linscott was asked to sign I can't really judge their reasonableness.  It's not like they scooped her up and forced her to live out the rest of her life isolated on an island in the Hudson River.

The article and headline seemed designed to bring forth [self]righteous anger in the readers, but lack a ton of clarity and context.  Yes this disease, right now, isn't super scary or deadly, but I think modern humans forget that it really wasn't all that long ago that communicable diseases killed just a ton of folks regularly, and if anything COVID-19 has shown that modern humans aren't very good at stopping transmission of a disease.  SO there's a place in the world for governments to have some health powers to ensure cleanliness and enforce quarantines of sick individuals or groups.  Arguably this is EXACTLY what folks on this board have been arguing for during the lockdowns. i.e. quarantine sick folks and let the rest of us carry on.

So while the ankle monitors seem, at first blush, kinda extreme, they weren't the first option .gov tried, and what really are we supposed to be upset about?  Sick people being quarantined?

[dogmush]

And 15 min later I managed to do my own journalism.  I am no longer conflicted.  Mrs. Linscott is a narcissistic attention whore that deserves what she gets.  She refused to participate in the less forcible, legal controls for her disease, then when they escalated farther than she wanted to play, she called a news agency she perceived to be sympathetic, and lied about what happened to play the victim.

So, a googleing led me to the Snopes page (yeah, I know, Snopes).  However, in this case, Snopes helpfully included a link to the actual court orders, which include the health department's affidavit and the self isolation agreement.  Yea for primary sources!

Snopes page: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/kentucky-house-arrest-covid/

Court Order: https://www.snopes.com/uploads/2020/07/image07-20-2020-205848.pdf

OK, Mrs. Linscott, you said:

My part was if I have to go to the ER, if I have to go to the hospital, I’m not going to wait to get the approval to go,” Linscott told the station.

 Seems reasonable on it's face.

The Self Isolation agreement says (end of Paragraph 2):

In the event that my condition requires immediate medical assistance, I will notify the nearest emergency department and inform them of my novel coronavirus status before transport to that facility

So yes you are supposed to get health dept approval before heading out to the ER for the sniffles, but if you have a heart attack, just let the paramedics know before the ambulance gets there.  

The agreement does require her to stay at home and not work or travel without health department approval.  Pretty standard self isolation stuff for communicable diseases.  They also helpfully included the state and federal Executive Orders giving them the ability to do this.

But what really takes me to "*expletive deleted*ck this lady, her family, and her house" was the lying.  Mrs. Linscott told Fox news:

Elizabeth Linscott said that although she never refused to self-quarantine, “that's exactly what the director of the public health department told the judge."

"I'm like, 'that's not the case at all. I never said that,” she said.

 

Yeah, you did.  And were quoted in the affidavit for the anklets.  You responded to the request to sign a self isolation agreement thusly:

I will do my best to stay home, as I do every other time I get sick.  But I cannot comply to having to call the public health department everytime that I need to go out and do something.  It's my right and freedoms to go where I please and not have to answer to anyone for it.  There is no pandemic and with a survival rate of 99.9998%, I'm fine.  I will continue to avoid the elderly, just like PRIOR guidelines state, try to stay home, get rest, get medicine and get better.  I decline

Did you think they didn't keep your comments in doccusign when you sent it back?

[K Frame]

So, essentially, a modern-day version of Typhoid Mary.

If you've never read up on Typhoid Mary, it's really interesting.

[dogmush]

So, essentially, a modern-day version of Typhoid Mary.

If you've never read up on Typhoid Mary, it's really interesting.

Except this will be over in two weeks.

That was what I was referencing in my first post, although it appears my NYC geography is lacking because North Brother Island is in the East River, not the Hudson.

[Ben]

I guess my problem is the government demanding I sign an agreement instead of not taking my word that I'll stay home or make the proper contacts or use safe protocols if there is a legitimate reason to leave.

Honestly, I'm thinking this would be one of those hills I might die on. I'm really not sure that I would sign it. Maybe if the government agreed to fulfill my every need and I had a gov flunky I could call to do errands for me and bring me pizza and stuff.

Plus they're demanding this because she tested positive for the virus. For all I know, the sore throat and crappy feeling I had a few weeks ago was the virus. Who knows, since the doctor's office and state website said that I don't meet the criteria for a test. I was out and about and all over the place, because I'm not quarantining myself for two weeks everytime I get a sore throat or cough.

[MechAg94]

[MillCreek]

So from my frequent interactions with County Health over the years, written agreements regarding self-quarantine or self-reporting are the standard of care, and have been used for decades before COVID.  This is generally done for a couple of reasons:

1. The average person is more likely to follow an agreement that they have signed.
2. If you fail to comply with the requirements, the Courts like to see a written agreement before they impose sanctions.

There was a lot of hullabaloo a few decades back when County Health all over the country was asking/requiring HIV+ persons to notify potential sexual partners of their + status and to sign an agreement accordingly.  This was before such behavior was criminalized.  I don't recall the MAGA crowd getting worked up back then over the 'my rights' of HIV+ being trampled and having to sign government agreements.

[makattak]

So from my frequent interactions with County Health over the years, written agreements regarding self-quarantine or self-reporting are the standard of care, and have been used for decades before COVID.  This is generally done for a couple of reasons:

1. The average person is more likely to follow an agreement that they have signed.
2. If you fail to comply with the requirements, the Courts like to see a written agreement before they impose sanctions.

There was a lot of hullabaloo a few decades back when County Health all over the country was asking/requiring HIV+ persons to notify potential sexual partners of their + status and to sign an agreement accordingly.  This was before such behavior was criminalized.  I don't recall the MAGA crowd getting worked up back then over the 'my rights' of the gays being trampled and having to sign government agreements.

I've got to say, I've got no problem with enforcing quarantine on someone actually tested positive for coronavirus.

That's kind of the issue. We've been quarantining EVERYONE, rather than the actually sick and at risk population.

[TommyGunn]

So from my frequent interactions with County Health over the years, written agreements regarding self-quarantine or self-reporting are the standard of care, and have been used for decades before COVID.  This is generally done for a couple of reasons:

1. The average person is more likely to follow an agreement that they have signed.
2. If you fail to comply with the requirements, the Courts like to see a written agreement before they impose sanctions.

There was a lot of hullabaloo a few decades back when County Health all over the country was asking/requiring HIV+ persons to notify potential sexual partners of their + status and to sign an agreement accordingly.  This was before such behavior was criminalized.  I don't recall the MAGA crowd getting worked up back then over the 'my rights' of HIV+ being trampled and having to sign government agreements.

Seems to me covid19 is slightly less lethal than HIV.....

[MillCreek]

Seems to me covid19 is slightly less lethal than HIV.....

Actually no.  We have very good treatment for HIV now and the death rate from HIV is very low and the majority of HIV+ persons die of something else.  You cannot necessarily make the same statements (at this time) for COVID.

[RocketMan]

Actually no.  We have very good treatment for HIV now and the death rate from HIV is very low and the majority of HIV+ persons die of something else.  You cannot necessarily make the same statements (at this time) for COVID.

Millcreek, you were speaking about HIV "a few decades back", which makes it an apples to oranges comparison to COVID currently.  A few decades ago, HIV was pretty much a death sentence for those that contracted it.  COVID has a survival rate in excess of 99.4% at this point.

[Perd Hapley]

Actually no.  We have very good treatment for HIV now and the death rate from HIV is very low and the majority of HIV+ persons die of something else.  You cannot necessarily make the same statements (at this time) for COVID.

I thought HIV led to the patient dying from whatever disease came along when they had no immune system.

[K Frame]

Except this will be over in two weeks.

That was what I was referencing in my first post, although it appears my NYC geography is lacking because North Brother Island is in the East River, not the Hudson.

OK, I missed your reference to TM...

And yes, it SHOULD be over in a couple of weeks, but the length of time is immaterial -- it's the liklihood of transmission of a potentially fatal illness and the individual's unwillingness to comply that are the issues.

[K Frame]

"COVID has a survival rate in excess of 99.4% at this point."

Among the generally healthy non-elderly population.

A LOT worse in the elderly population or those with significant underlying conditions.

Of course, if you're all for Affordable Healthcare Act Death Panels, all's good...

[K Frame]

"I guess my problem is the government demanding I sign an agreement instead of not taking my word that I'll stay home or make the proper contacts or use safe protocols if there is a legitimate reason to leave."

World would be a great place if we could take people at their word and they would actually follow through with it.

But you know, the world is populated with aholes and morons.

[TommyGunn]

Actually no.  We have very good treatment for HIV now and the death rate from HIV is very low and the majority of HIV+ persons die of something else.  You cannot necessarily make the same statements (at this time) for COVID.

Back in the 1980s  HIV   was a death sentence.    It would be now save for those "very good treatment(s)." 
Covid19  is generally very survivable if you don't have  co-morbidities.

[charby]

More shenanigans from the Iowa Governor.

https://www.kcci.com/article/dubuque-county-says-governors-office-has-limited-coronavirus-testing-there/33380466

[Hawkmoon]

"I guess my problem is the government demanding I sign an agreement instead of not taking my word that I'll stay home or make the proper contacts or use safe protocols if there is a legitimate reason to leave."

World would be a great place if we could take people at their word and they would actually follow through with it.

But you know, the world is populated with aholes and morons.

Reading between the lines of what the woman wrote (as opposed to what she told the media), it seems her attitude was essentially, "I'll stay at home unless I want to go out somewhere." IMHO, that's a rather odd definition of "self-quarantine."

[K Frame]

Reading between the lines of what the woman wrote (as opposed to what she told the media), it seems her attitude was essentially, "I'll stay at home unless I want to go out somewhere." IMHO, that's a rather odd definition of "self-quarantine."

As I said, aholes and morons.

[MillCreek]

So we just had our weekly briefing with the state Department of Health, and they want all the healthcare facilities in Washington to start beating the drum now for encouraging flu shots.  They, as well as the Feds, think this is going to be a big flu season this year, and if that is superimposed on top of COVID, it won't be pretty.  The vaccine is already out for this year's projected flu strains.  One of the biggest problems is going to be testing supplies. There are already shortages of swabs, saline media, universal transport media and various reagents to run the tests.  We don't have enough domestic manufacturing capacity, and .gov thinks we cannot rely on the just-in-time delivery and inventory models from offshore countries.  It is time to start the APS Lab and PPE Manufacturing, Inc.

[K Frame]

BS, man! The "flu vaccine" is nothing more than mind control!

Combine that with masks, and we'll be government drones, pure and simple!

 

[RocketMan]

Good luck with that, Millcreek.  I'd bet money the APS Lab and PPE Manufacturing, Inc. would quickly devolve into APS Distilling, Ammunition and Tobacco, Inc.

[RoadKingLarry]

So we just had our weekly briefing with the state Department of Health, and they want all the healthcare facilities in Washington to start beating the drum now for encouraging flu shots.  They, as well as the Feds, think this is going to be a big flu season this year, and if that is superimposed on top of COVID, it won't be pretty.  The vaccine is already out for this year's projected flu strains.  One of the biggest problems is going to be testing supplies. There are already shortages of swabs, saline media, universal transport media and various reagents to run the tests.  We don't have enough domestic manufacturing capacity, and .gov thinks we cannot rely on the just-in-time delivery and inventory models from offshore countries.  It is time to start the APS Lab and PPE Manufacturing, Inc.

By watching the news it would appear the COVID virus has completely eliminated flu deaths. as well as pneumonia, heart disease and other "normal" causes of deaths.

[Jim147]

It has raised the died unexpectedly in the home by quite a bit.

[MechAg94]

"I guess my problem is the government demanding I sign an agreement instead of not taking my word that I'll stay home or make the proper contacts or use safe protocols if there is a legitimate reason to leave."

World would be a great place if we could take people at their word and they would actually follow through with it.

But you know, the world is populated with aholes and morons.

Yeah, and some of them work in the medical field and put ankle monitors on people who committed no crime.

Do they do that for the flu also?