Dispatches from a “Hot Zone”

Ricochet ^ | 9 March 2020 | RushBabe49

[Steely Tom]

Ray and I live in Western Washington, and our area is considered the first Hot Zone for the Coronavirus epidemic. The first US case was detected in our county, and the man (who had traveled to China recently) went to the hospital to which we would go if we got sick. He also recovered and went home about two weeks after he was hospitalized.

We both work in a factory setting (myself in the one building my company occupies; Ray in an office building on a factory campus). Both our employers have published safety guidelines for what employees are supposed to do, at work, to reduce the risk of infection. We are supposed to wash our hands frequently, for a specified length of time; cover our mouths with a tissue or the inside of an elbow when coughing or sneezing; stay home when sick; all the CDC recommendations. At my factory, there are bottles of hand-sanitizer strategically placed around the perimeter of the building for our use, and little signs in the bathrooms that say “Keep Calm and Wash Your Hands” and other such phrases. One of the recommendations is to stay away from crowded places; this is impossible in the production areas of our factory, since, by design, everyone has to be seated close together to minimize “travel time” for products on the lines. The Production Planners used to sit on the perimeter of the building, at one place in the three-person “pinwheels” that pass for desks in our open-plan setup. Now, they sit at tiny desks right next to their lines, with about half the personal space they used to have.

So far, we have heard of no employees who have gotten sick with the virus, but our management has never been very forthcoming with information about most things going on at the factory. I do know that the management has now stopped most foreign travel by those at the company who normally travel for business, including salespeople and field service engineers. The purchasing group has a supplier from California visiting this week and they called on Friday asking if it is safe for them to visit. So far, it is.

The real Hot Spot is in Kirkland, about 15 miles southeast of us, where a large number of residents at a nursing home have gotten sick, and where there have been multiple deaths of elderly residents. Fourteen of Washington’s seventeen deaths from the virus have been connected to that nursing home, and the Feds are sending a team to help with control of the situation.

The other Hot Spot is the Government of Washington. Our governor, “sleepy” Jay Inslee, has been in the news lately, and has been the target of tweets by President Donald Trump, who has called Inslee a “snake”. We conservatives around here think he’s stupid and ineffective, but I’m not sure the “snake” moniker is quite correct. Vice President Pence visited this week, and Inslee praised him for his attitude and helpfulness.

In Seattle, many events have been canceled or postponed, including the ComicCon that has been planned for a long time. The Seattle Golf Show has also been cut short due to the epidemic. Starbucks closed one of its stores when one of its employees tested positive for the virus. I went to my normal nail salon yesterday, and it wasn’t as crowded as it usually is on a Saturday afternoon. And when I went to our local Costco on Friday, I just had to go all the way to the back of the store to confirm that they had totally run out of toilet paper. They had; every shelf was empty!

The King County government has recommended that people over 60 years of age stay home to prevent infection. Yeah, sure, let’s tank the Pacific Northwest economy by having so many people not working! Both Ray and I are over 60, and I am over 70, putting me in a very high-risk group. However, I have a pretty good immune system, always get my flu shot, and rarely get sick with even a cold. My company would have a very hard time doing without me, and I am going to work every day. I do follow the infection-control guidelines to minimize risk, except for one thing. In our newer building, all of the bathrooms are equipped with “automatic” faucets, with water flow-time limited. It is a county construction rule that all new commercial buildings must have these automatic faucets as a water-conservation measure. So, in the land of Rain, our faucets are optimized for water-conservation and not cleanliness. Another big disadvantage of those faucets is that you are not in control of the temperature of the water, so you have no idea whether the water that comes out will be ice cold, lukewarm, or hot. Great way of getting your hands clean! I try to do most of my hand-washing at the sink in the mini-kitchen closest to my desk, where I can control the temperature of the water and take the recommended twenty seconds.

Ray worked from home on Friday, and he may continue to do so, but I can’t. We are not panicking, but we are keeping an eye out, and following our company’s recommendations. We don’t have any activities scheduled for the time being, but we do have a jazz concert in mid-April, and a Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar around the same time. So far, nothing has been canceled.

[Balding_Eagle]

Thanks.

I have tickets to fly there Friday to visit son and family, but we decided to postpone it for awhile, so I appreciate hearing a first hand report.

[datura]

I live north of King County up in Skagit, but drive thru Seattle daily for work. If King County was so dangerous, would the Sounders soccer match have taken place over the weekend with nearly 40,000 in attendance? No.

WORLDWIDE outside of China, just over 800 people have died from this. 800??? On a normal day in China, 30,000 die normally. Italy is on lockdown from 463 deaths?

How many have died from the flu this year on Earth?

I prepped in January because I watched what my in-laws went thru in China. We social distance here now.

This is all a political hit job brought to us by the globalist movement- who just happens to lie at the end of the Silk Road where all of this bull$hit began.

Would China sacrifice much of its economy for ONE QUARTER to bring worldwide communism into fruition and get rid of the first President who was hurting them permanently? Hell yes they would.

[LouieFisk]

“Italy is on lockdown from 463 deaths?”
—
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1237142891077697538.html

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1236933818654896129.html

[datura]

Yeah, 463 deaths.

From BNO News totals right now:

CASES DEATHS RECOVERED UNRESOLVED
114,063 4,018 63,974 46,071
OTHER PLACES Cases Deaths Serious Critical Recovered 59,897

Mainland China 80,754 3,136 4,794
South Korea 7,513 54 36 247
Italy 9,172 463 733

[Mercat]

I hate those stupid faucets that are motion activated and you’re right. It’s very difficult to correctly wash your hands. I’m getting a mani pedi tomorrow and I want short nails. We’re going to Seattle the first week of July to catch a cruise. Great timing.

[LouieFisk]

I think you replied to the wrong person there. I was addressing the question, not asking it.

[datura]

Sorry

[LouieFisk]

No prob.

[WildHighlander57]

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3823136/reply?c=4

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1236933818654896129.html

Italy.

Ping!!!

[rockrr]

I live north of King County up in Skagit, but drive thru Seattle daily for work.

Man, that's a drive! Before I retired I was a field engineer that traveled to various locations including Skagit (so I know the route intimately).

I get the sense that things are going to go quiet as the relentless thunder of panic reporting continues. Going to be an interesting spring/summer...

[datura]

Yeah, I own a semi, so Seattle is close ;). Sometimes I get the pleasure of driving thru Seattle 4 times per day. Not fun...

Congratulations on retirement- I look forward to that every day.

Yes, this will be an interesting year!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Those damn faucets probably do a lot to spread disease. Water flow is grossly insufficient and, as a consequence, it NEVER gets hot and in many places doesn’t even get lukewarm.

[21twelve]

My wife has been visiting an elderly neighbor at a rehab place in Kirkland, takes his dirty laundry back to his house, brings him stuff, etc. Wears a N95 mask and gloves. Have had a decon procedure in place for the last two weeks, but of course there were holes in it - but we are getting better at it.

The man’s wife just told her that the place had two people there previously that had CV. No idea what that means. Two weeks ago and they got better? Three days ago and they died!? Today they shut down visitors. (My wife was there yesterday). I haven’t heard about this place in the news yet.

The place didn’t contact my wife, and no other details. I’m guessing we should self-isolate, but will check with the rehab place and our doctors.

[kaehurowing]

Spread to Hawaii from Seattle area:

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/03/09/department-health-announces-second-case-covid-/

[MoochPooch]

This is all a political hit job brought to us by the globalist movement- who just happens to lie at the end of the Silk Road where all of this bull$hit began.

Ironically, this would be the case against globalism.

[datura]

I am so sorry to hear this - I knew you were down there but I had no idea it was family for you.

You and your family are certainly in my prayers.

The actions of the care centers down there are despicable at best.

[Trump Girl Kit Cat]

You bet they would BUT I believe this BS the Chinese have hoisted upon us is going to backfire big time, Trump has always been screaming about the dependency on China and NOW we have first hand experience on how dependent we are for our pharmaceuticals ect. This has majorly opened the door to start pulling pharmaceutical manufacturing back home, also supply chains will be disrupted and start looking to come home!! SO these Chinese bastards will have destroy much more than just a quarter of their economy it will be longer term!! I have always thought that this was done deliberately BECAUSE it happened immediately after signing the phase 1 of the new deal which China HATED!!! I would like to see our country become completely independent of China!!!

[blueplum]

if this is psyops warfare, then the chicoms has much more to lose than just one quarter of earnings. They stand to lose one quarter of their industry as nations move to second and third source what was formerly a sole source. And investors move money out of China. Bad move for China. They can always go back to making flip-flops and flyswatters.

[soupbone1]

Eventually people here will wake up and realize that the local, state, and federal government is failing them. The lack of wide spread testing is gonna wreck havoc on the healthcare system in the US. The failure to identify cluster breakouts will ensure that no containment method from here on out has much of a chance to work. The country had about a month to aggressively contain and limit exposure but has failed horribly.
The model to follow was from South Korea and Singapore. Test every conceivable person until you produce negative samples. Next you isolate and monitor those who are positive until they heal or need urgent medical intervention. This will not stop the virus but slow it down to a manageable level. Italy failed to manage and is in desperation mode trying to save what healthcare they have left.
This country should be on a war footing right now but seems to be reacting instead of being proactive. All flights should be stopped and massive testing needs to be conducted to find the extent of the infection. Mandatory quarantine with severe penalties for those who violate.
We cannot stop this but through proactive steps we might still be able slow the spread. The next couple of weeks will be decisive and show if we have a grasp on the true severity. Also pray that it mutates to a less infectious and lethal strain.