COVID-19: Part 12

March 28, 2020 10:34 pm
  • Ireland nationalizes hospitals and implements two-week nationwide lockdown.
  • Alameda County cases: 240; deaths: 6
  • U.S. cases: 103,000+; deaths: 1,600+

Another chilly, rainy day in Livermore. Jess and the girls watched Frozen. I baked baguettes that we'll have with dinner. Paid the bills, filled out the census, did the dishes. Just another day in quarantine.

While my bread was rising I gave the girls some cups of water and food-coloring to play around with color mixing. Which then turned into Saturday Morning Chromatography Hour!

This postcard arrived in the mail last week. I find it notable because it seems to focus first on branding for Trump and secondarily on providing medical advice. Of course, no one should be taking medical advice from the guy who spent the first two months of this repeatedly saying it was nothing and no one should be concerned about it. I'd prefer to see this information branded as "From the Surgeon General, CDC, NIH, and WHO. You can help save millions of lives with these simple guidelines."

Looking at positive-tests-per-capita by county suggests California's early (by comparison) action may be paying off. Many states have counties with significantly higher per-capita rates than any in California. However, that is almost certainly heavily impacted by limited testing availability. Run 100 tests and get 20 positives in a county with 200 residents looks a lot worse than running 100 tests and getting 20 positives in a county with 200,000 residents. So, once again, our ability to respond intelligently is hampered by the massive failure in getting testing up and running.

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