stuff
More and more, the epidemiologists and the mainstream media who report on them, are saying that COVID-19 was spreading in the US "earlier than we thought", and that there were already tens of thousands of cases here in February. I've been saying this for a while now -- I don't mean to be bragging, but it is weird watching people catch up, however slowly, to reality.
I'm not sure what good this does us now, but maybe we'll prepare better for the next pandemic? Maybe, but I'm not sure we will. Not when one of our two political parties wants to act like the current pandemic isn't still happening. Republicans don't want to learn anything, they just want to put their faith in Markets, God, and Guns, and call it a day. Trump can't wait to go golfing at his Trump-branded resorts again.
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Epidemiologists and the mainstream media are still having a difficult time accepting that our current official numbers are also well behind reality. Take that official count of 800,000 cases in the US and multiply it by at least 20. Maybe even by 40. Somewhere between 16 and 32 million actual cases.
I guess it will be a couple more months until everybody can admit that even in April we were way behind. It's easier to admit in April, that in February we were way behind, because that was two months ago.
WE ARE STILL WAY BEHIND.
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We'll find out in a few minutes that another 4 million or so people filed for unemployment last week.
I'm not sure how much longer this enormously unprecedented rate of job loss will continue. This has never happened before, so I can't point to a historic example, or create a model for it.
I'm not sure how we recover from this. Sometimes complex systems break and cannot be put back together.
The most jobs we've ever added during one year is 4 million. We've been losing 4 million jobs per week. It is going to take years to put all these people back to work. I suspect thousands of small businesses and other organizations will never reopen their doors.
There's no way this economy is back to normal by November. No fucking way.
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Two weeks ago I delayed moving more of my retirement investments into stocks, because the global stock market had moved back up some, enough to no longer be a "bear market". I said I'd look again in two weeks.
I'm going to delay another two weeks.
My play money account at Fidelity continues to do very well. Way beyond my expectations. I should've started playing the market years ago.
But it's only money. I have more money than I need already.
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Preliminary data from US hospitals is showing that people with mild-to-moderate asthma are not at greater risk of severe complications from COVID-19. Bigger problems for COVID-19 patients include hypertension, obesity, and diabetes.
I guess I can worry about my personal survival a bit less?
Also, my brother's recovery makes me feel a bit better, maybe we don't have a genetic disposition to dying from this disease. Most people will recover, of course.
Two of the biggest problems we're seeing in US hospitals:
(1) "Silent" hypoxia -- people whose lungs are having difficulty absorbing oxygen, but not having difficulty expelling carbon dioxide. People think they are breathing fine -- air goes in and out -- but they aren't absorbing enough oxygen. If you have, or are suspected to have, COVID-19, you should be monitoring your blood oxygen level. Tod bought us a pulse oximeter so we can do this at home, just in case.
(2) Unexplained blood clots -- a large percentage of seriously ill COVID-19 patients have widespread blood clotting throughout their bodies, cutting circulation between limbs and lungs, sometimes causing heart attacks or strokes, or even gangrene. If you have, or are suspected to have, COVID-19, you should probably take a baby aspirin each day. If you're sick enough to be in the hospital, you should ask the doctors to consider prescription blood thinners and to monitor your blood for clots.
Both of these problems can cause catastrophic health failures in a short period of time, for people who didn't feel all that sick yet. Monitor your blood for oxygen level and clots, or ask your doctor to do so. If you're sick with this illness, don't be shy about seeking medical attention -- it's not like you're going to catch it from going to the ER, you've already got it.
I'm not sure what good this does us now, but maybe we'll prepare better for the next pandemic? Maybe, but I'm not sure we will. Not when one of our two political parties wants to act like the current pandemic isn't still happening. Republicans don't want to learn anything, they just want to put their faith in Markets, God, and Guns, and call it a day. Trump can't wait to go golfing at his Trump-branded resorts again.
-----
Epidemiologists and the mainstream media are still having a difficult time accepting that our current official numbers are also well behind reality. Take that official count of 800,000 cases in the US and multiply it by at least 20. Maybe even by 40. Somewhere between 16 and 32 million actual cases.
I guess it will be a couple more months until everybody can admit that even in April we were way behind. It's easier to admit in April, that in February we were way behind, because that was two months ago.
WE ARE STILL WAY BEHIND.
-----
We'll find out in a few minutes that another 4 million or so people filed for unemployment last week.
I'm not sure how much longer this enormously unprecedented rate of job loss will continue. This has never happened before, so I can't point to a historic example, or create a model for it.
I'm not sure how we recover from this. Sometimes complex systems break and cannot be put back together.
The most jobs we've ever added during one year is 4 million. We've been losing 4 million jobs per week. It is going to take years to put all these people back to work. I suspect thousands of small businesses and other organizations will never reopen their doors.
There's no way this economy is back to normal by November. No fucking way.
-----
Two weeks ago I delayed moving more of my retirement investments into stocks, because the global stock market had moved back up some, enough to no longer be a "bear market". I said I'd look again in two weeks.
I'm going to delay another two weeks.
My play money account at Fidelity continues to do very well. Way beyond my expectations. I should've started playing the market years ago.
But it's only money. I have more money than I need already.
-----
Preliminary data from US hospitals is showing that people with mild-to-moderate asthma are not at greater risk of severe complications from COVID-19. Bigger problems for COVID-19 patients include hypertension, obesity, and diabetes.
I guess I can worry about my personal survival a bit less?
Also, my brother's recovery makes me feel a bit better, maybe we don't have a genetic disposition to dying from this disease. Most people will recover, of course.
Two of the biggest problems we're seeing in US hospitals:
(1) "Silent" hypoxia -- people whose lungs are having difficulty absorbing oxygen, but not having difficulty expelling carbon dioxide. People think they are breathing fine -- air goes in and out -- but they aren't absorbing enough oxygen. If you have, or are suspected to have, COVID-19, you should be monitoring your blood oxygen level. Tod bought us a pulse oximeter so we can do this at home, just in case.
(2) Unexplained blood clots -- a large percentage of seriously ill COVID-19 patients have widespread blood clotting throughout their bodies, cutting circulation between limbs and lungs, sometimes causing heart attacks or strokes, or even gangrene. If you have, or are suspected to have, COVID-19, you should probably take a baby aspirin each day. If you're sick enough to be in the hospital, you should ask the doctors to consider prescription blood thinners and to monitor your blood for clots.
Both of these problems can cause catastrophic health failures in a short period of time, for people who didn't feel all that sick yet. Monitor your blood for oxygen level and clots, or ask your doctor to do so. If you're sick with this illness, don't be shy about seeking medical attention -- it's not like you're going to catch it from going to the ER, you've already got it.