Quershun ....

Has ANYBODY here had an immediate family member who has come down with a confirmed case COVID-19? When I hear the news, it seems everybody and everybody's brother has it. I haven't heard of ANY of our family members coming down with it, on my side or Lynn's, and our families are spread out all over the country ... most in major metropolis' where the count is supposedly extremely high. Although I'm asking about closer family members here, personally, I haven't even heard of a friend, of a friend of a friend who has been diagnosed with the virus. Just curious.

I have a good friend that did. I strongly suspect he gave it to me but my symptoms were never severe enough to be tested. He goes in once a month to give plasma.

Down here, the number of cases has skyrocketed in the past three weeks.....however, none of my family members are involved.....lots of our churches, which had been released from quarantine are, now, having to return to quarantine.....one local church had 7 confirmed cases, yesterday.

All of our schools and universities have implemented plans to re-open for the fall term which begins around the end of August, but I just don't see that happening.....there's no way this pandemic will lessen over the next 45 days.

A vaccine is our only hope of dealing with this virus.

Yep, I’ll be glad when we have an EFFECTIVE vaccine so we can return to some semblance of normalcy. Our numbers have supposedly spiked like crazy, yet I’ve still not heard of anyone close to us being infected. (Knock on wood)

Had a hunting buddy died of it.. and a longtime family friend.. He was a 2 time cancer survivor and she was in a nursing home..

We have had some scares but the tests in our family and small circles of friends have so far came back negative. If you can believe the tests. Which is another problem we have to solve before we can kill this virus.

I believe that is why there is so much denial. Until it happens to you or someone close to you, it isn’t real. Cases are spiking here but thank goodness for now our hospital and icu capacity is holding pretty steady. Things are sounding pretty close to a tipping point in Texas, Florida, and Arizona.
BKb

I was talking to a friend who is a nurse along with his wife and he feels that there are two strains of this corona virus out there, a mild and severe. Now I'm not a medical authority by any stretch (except when compared to Dr Fauci) but I do know that a virus dies with it's host within a short time. Now with my limited knowledge, it seems that the odds of two separate strains of a virus that no one has ever heard of before now appear at the same time would be astronomical at best. I find it much more likely that coronavirus (like most viruses) is mutating into something less lethal. After all, killing the golden goose ain't all that efficient as business practices or viruses go.

I doubt we'll ever know the truth because there is too much political hay to be made, too much fake news (both sides) and waaaaaaaaaay too much money to be made. I myself am convinced that nowhere near the 170,000 reported have died from Covid. With covid yes, from covid no.

This is all conjecture on my part and I'm sure Posty will disagree with all I said because he's a crotchety old contrarian :poke

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I myself am convinced that nowhere near the 170,000 reported have died from Covid. With covid yes, from covid no.

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I couldn't agree more. What I believe is another problem, is the fact hospitals get paid more for covid patients and patients can be listed as having covid without even being tested.

You’re gonna need to show a little more proof if you’re stating that as fact.

BKB

It’s got to be true, I read it on the internet and I’m sure you agree, there’s no such thing as fake news.

Well, I just did a quick Google search and this is the first thing that popped up, from USA Today, if that’s good enough. (Re; Medicare)

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Some states list only laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 diagnoses. Others list all presumed cases, which is allowed under guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of mid-April and which will result in a larger payout.

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Yes there is larger expense thus a larger payout. The CARES act added 20% to what Medicare pays for Covid because of that and lost business when they shut down other treatments and surgeries.
You implied hospitals overreport covid to get more money and I’ve seen internet memes and heard talk show hosts claim it but have yet to see anything close to a valid example of it happening.
BKB

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Originally Posted by quercus alba

I myself am convinced that nowhere near the 170,000 reported have died from Covid. With covid yes, from covid no.

This is all conjecture on my part and I'm sure Posty will disagree with all I said because he's a crotchety old contrarian :poke

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Originally Posted by quercus alba

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Can’t argue with you there. The way the CDC counts both tests and covid fatalities is about as fucked up as the rest of the federal response.
You do you, but I don’t think it’d be wise to mess with Mother Nature on this one.

BKB

Well, let's see here ... I'd like to be a fly on the wall at a hospital board meeting.

Hospital Administrator reviewing a hospital death with his staff ....

Ok, if this 95 year old fart died of pneumonia, we get "X" dollars. If he died of Covid (which has very similar symptoms), we get "XXX" dollars. We are not required to test for Covid .... hmmmm, what should we say killed him? ;)

FYI ... here's some fake news (?):

Strict Federal definition: (highlights are mine, sorry)

Until April 14, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted as COVID-19 deaths only those in which the coronavirus was confirmed in a laboratory test ..... now, CDC counts probable cases and deaths. The day the change was announced, New York City’s COVID-19 death tally soared by more than 3,700 when it included in its total the deaths of people who were suspected of having COVID-19 but were never tested.

They don’t ‘get’ any dollars for covid deaths, or patients, or any paid any differently than any other disease.
But you keep on believing what you do.

BKb

Are you just a stubborn, red-headed Okie step-child? Or simply an argumentative knot-head? :huh

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Medicare will pay hospitals a 20% “add-on” to the regular DRG payment for COVID-19 patients. That’s a result of the CARES Act, the largest of the three federal stimulus laws enacted in response to the coronavirus, which was signed into law March 27.

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Or how 'bout this one? Ya' think the "uninsured" who croak from "flu-like symptoms" will die of the flu? Or Corona virus since the hospitals can blame Covid-19 with no test required?

Trump administration says it will pay hospitals for treating uninsured covid-19 patients

https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...bdb_story.html

To quote a wise old Oak tree who hangs out here ....

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I'm sure Posty will disagree with all I said because he's a crotchety old contrarian.

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So I'll put this one to bed. Stick me with a fork.

Change of subject ... Ya' wanna argue about THIS one ... or should we just roll with it as truth? ;)

Scientists believe cannabis could help prevent and treat coronavirus

A team of Canadian scientists believes it has found strong strains of cannabis that could help prevent or treat coronavirus infections, according to interviews and a study.

https://nypost.com/2020/05/21/scient...t-coronavirus/

stoners er I mean scientist believe that cannabis is the answer to everything. Now I don't have moral issues with a little weed but it is deemed illegal by law and agree or not, I do try to respect the law.

For what it's worth, I've got a son who's a nurse anesthetist and I have several people I know who work at hospitals in nursing or some capacity (at different locations) and all of them tell me the same thing, doctors and hospitals are making a killing on this and they pad the numbers like crazy. Of course this has to be a big conspiracy because we know our government is always above board and truthful about things like this

If nothing else good comes out of Covid 19 maybe our country will wake up and quit outsourcing so much of our pharmaceuticals. Nothing like holding the short end of the stick when a good pandemic comes along to get your attention