For whatever reason, some folks are taking the Coronavirus situation ... differently.

There are those among us who think that the world and national response is over the top. One of my friends has taken my vigilance personally. This person thinks that I am treating them like they have cooties or something.

I have in my charge, an 82 year-old woman who suffers from Lupus, Diabetes and who has a compromised immunity system every day of her life. I can not risk carrying these germs to her.

I am 100% sure that if I contracted Coronavirus that I would survive. I am also 100% sure that I don't want to find out.

Immediate self-quarantining and avoiding human contact probably seems like a shotgun for a flyswatter to some. But until this thing subsides, how about cutting us scaredy-cats a break?

Peace.

R

Good for you,Rusty.
You’re not scared-you’re being cautious and that makes sense particularly given your responsibility for an elderly at risk woman.

In the Netherlands as of almost 2 hours ago (18:00) all schools, universities ,clubs, gyms, restaurants, bars, cinemas, and "coffeeshops" (were you can legally buy marijuana / weed) are closed for 3 weeks. Bizarre thing was that it was announced 30 minutes in advance. All restaurants and bars abruptly started closing. I guess in restaurants people could finish their course and then had to pay & leave. Surreal times.

Shops can still open tomorrow but i reckon it soon will be announced (like in France, Italy and Spain) that only grocery stores, supermarkets and pharmacies can stay open and all other shops have to close. In those countries people are not even allowed to go on the street (unless they go to a shop or work) or visit friends or neighbours or go for a walk / jogging.

The greatest generation stepped up and went to war....we're asked to stay home and watch TV and we bitch like little bitches and we hoard toilet paper.

We are showing how selfish of a nation we are...that is why we will never have universal healthcare or educate our children through college

We are simply too selfish of a nation to do whats right...we lack the skills to do whats right we fail miserably at doing whats right...We're simply too selfish

Rusty thanks for doing whats right...maybe we can all learn from you

Just went to a Kroger store. Several shelves empty and several wearing masks and latex gloves. Employees wiping down doors and handles. But the sports bar across the street packed with younger people drinking and waving, yelling and dancing. And the band played on while the big ship sank.

Rusty you are 100% correct in your actions and thinking
If someone doesn’t like it, that’s their problem
Take care of you and yours. Your not hurting anyone else.

You are good on your decisions Rusty, no complaints from me.

I work in the medical. This past week has been very busy treating patients who could possibly have this along with the flu and other normal day to day ailments that enter our ER. Myself I have been involved in this. It is a serious situation, but yet the world of media and social media has really taken it up a notch.

This could 'push over the edge': Indianapolis hospitals gear up for a coronavirus surge
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/health/2020/03/15/indianapolis-hospitals-prepare-surge-coronavirus-covid-19-patients/5041512002/

Indianapolis-area hospital officials girding for what could be an onslaught of coronavirus patients say they hope they are prepared to handle what may come even if it means some dramatic changes, such as severe visitor restrictions, placing the healthiest patients in hallways and opening field hospitals.

How bad things could get in Indianapolis is difficult to predict, an uncertainty that Marion County Public Health Director Virginia A. Caine cited Thursday as one of the reasons that government officials have closed schools and limited public gatherings to fewer than 250 people to help deter the spread of the virus.

Franciscan Health already has been “continually stressed” during the current flu season, said Dr. Christopher Doehring, vice president of medical affairs. COVID-19 could force the health system to consider additional measures, such as postponing elective surgeries, reconfiguring hospital space, and relying more on telehealth.

“We have largely operated 'business as usual,' even under very challenging circumstances,” he said. “A COVID-19-related surge could push our capacity over the edge.”

A recent USA Today report estimated that there could be as many six seriously ill patients for every available hospital bed in the worst case scenario of a coronavirus outbreak that sweeps the nation. Indiana would have an estimated 14 to 20 seriously ill patients for every hospital bed, the analysis found.

Hospitals in larger cities may be called upon to absorb patients from rural hospitals that do not have the same capabilities to handle the most severely ill patients.

COVID-19: Things to keep in mind
Most Americans have a low risk of being exposed, health experts say.
Most who get sick will have a mild or moderate case.
High risk groups include the elderly or people with underlying conditions such as hypertension or diabetes.
The Indiana State Department of Health hotline is 317-233-7125 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and 317-233-1325 afterward.
Symptoms are fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the CDC. Call your health provider before going to a clinic so health workers can prepare.
Preparing for a coronavirus outbreak
Indianapolis hospital officials acknowledge that the coronavirus may lead to some changes but say they at least hope they are prepared for what an outbreak would mean here.

Over the past three months as China and then Italy has seen a surge of illnesses and deaths, hospitals here have been reviewing pandemic preparation plans developed during other crises such as the H1N1 flu, which lasted from 2009 through 2010.

“I think in general we’re in good shape,” said Dr. Douglas Webb, medical director for infection control for Indiana University Health. “We have all been trying to do the same thing to prepare, to shore up our processes on how we would evaluate patients, isolate patients, how we would manage a surge of patients, how we would try to look at supplies and work together.”

Starting Friday area hospitals instituted tighter visitor restrictions than those already in place for the flu season, many limiting visitors and screening any potential visitors for signs of COVID-19.

Community Health Network, for instance, said that no visitors would be allowed at its three Indianapolis hospitals, Community Heart and Vascular Hospital, and Community Behavioral Health. Patients being admitted would be allowed one visitor during the admission period.

Other exceptions of one visitor per patient included NICU, labor and delivery, pediatrics, an outpatient provider appointment, emergency department, inpatient surgery for the day of surgery, behavioral health treatment, outpatient surgery, discharge planning and end of life situations. No visitors under age 18 will be allowed.

Franciscan Health’s Doehring said that in the past the MESH (Managed Emergency Surge for Healthcare Coalition), a nonprofit entity that coordinates local hospitals’ emergency response, has discussed opening a temporary field hospital in the area to handle a surge in patients too large for the current hospitals to handle because of an epidemic or other disaster.

For now, IU Health hospitals are considering setting aside a special isolation wing for patients with COVID-19, Webb said.

“We are going through some different scenarios where if in fact we had a surge of 10 ICU patients with COVD-19, I think we would try to cohort them as best we can to limit the number of health care workers who would take care of them,” he said.

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed their guidance as studies have suggested that the coronavirus is not an airborne disease but is transmitted by respiratory droplets. This means that patients no longer need to be isolated in special negative pressures rooms, though procedures such as an intubation in which a tube is inserted in a patient's airway will still be done in such spaces, Webb said.

Franciscan Health is considering other ways to handle an influx of patients, Doehring said, such as having patients close to discharge wait in a bed in the hallway, freeing up a room. The Indiana State Department of Health does not usually allow that but waives the ban during states of emergency.

Other solutions could consist of turning private rooms into semi-private rooms or converting administrative or surgical spaces into patient rooms, Doehring said.

“There are a lot of different things you could do if you got into a real crunch,” he said. “They’re not easy things, not things we would do as first trigger things, but if things spun out of control, these are things that can be considered.”

Another measure might involve emergency credentialing of physicians and providers who have not gone through the typical credentialing procedure to work at the hospital, Doehring said. Such doctors could fill in for regular staff, who might be ill themselves or need backup.

Extensive pandemic preparation plans exist on paper, but Indianapolis has not had to put them to the test — yet.

“The key thing is that there is ongoing modeling of this sort of thing and simulation so these are scenarios that have been contemplated,” Doehring said. “They just haven’t been reality."

I'll be 64 in 6 weeks. I've had 4 heart attacks. I daily take care of a 90 year old woman. I get COVID, she dies. I probably won't be in great shape either. I'm on lockdown. I'll go do stuff but alone, no contact, I touch nothing, I have sanitary wipes for anything I have to touch. We have a responsibility to more than ourselves. Be considerate, thoughtful, kind. And don't be stupid.

Rusty, you're doing the hardest thing you'll ever do. I took care of my Mother for several years. My brother stayed with her one week and told me that he was shot at survived a mortar attack in Viet Nam and had never been so overwhelmed looking after her.

Until this event I never really considered myself a senior citizen. Having people stay home is the best way to keep us from having a catastrophe. I'm amazed at the way people are acting hoarding everything and blaming Democrats, Republicans and anyone in between on Facebook. It's worse than the Whipping Post was 10 years ago. That's why I came back here, hoping it's a little more chill here.

Rusty, hope your family gets through this with flying colors.

I think what many people realize, and many more need to start realizing, is that by choosing to stay home and keep distance you are actually choosing others over yourself.

The more this shift of consciousness fully takes place the better we can slow the virus while the therapeutics and vaccines are prepared.