Alder Bay Deaths Tied to Meth Dealer Who Refused to Isolate, Says a Humboldt County Public Health Nurse; She Also Says Locals Are Increasingly Uncooperative

Signs at an Open Humboldt protest

Signs at a protest in front of the Humboldt County Courthouse in early May argued against complying with government orders and expressed hostility to the head of the Public Health Department. [Crop of a photo by Mark McKenna]

This article was posted first in the North Coast Journal and written by Thadeus Greenson. Reprinted here with their kind permission.

The strain of COVID-19 infection that ultimately killed four residents at Alder Bay Assisted Living reportedly started with a methamphetamine dealer who dismissed public health’s advice and refused to isolate himself, Humboldt County Public Health Nurse Erica Dykehouse reportedly told famed author Michael Lewis, who was penning a column for Bloomberg.

Lewis’ column, “Confessions of a California COVID Nurse,” focuses on Dykehouse’s contact tracing investigations, in which she works backward from a positive COVID-19 test, trying to find everyone the new positive case may have exposed to the deadly virus. It offers some illuminating insight into the job, as a well as a level of detail about cases that local officials to date have refused to offer.

An excerpt:

“Two cases stuck in Erica’s mind. One was a couple in their 70s, both possibly contagious. She’d found them, told them to quarantine, and they had turned right around and hosted a big Fourth of July BBQ. When she tried to contact guests who might have been infected, she found them either dismissive or outright rude. “You have these whole little social networks that are hostile,” she said. “Most of of the time they are polite enough just to hang up. But I’m trying to develop a thick skin.”

The other case that stuck in her head was the meth dealer. The Public Health nurses had gotten to him soon after he’d been infected and, though he was dismissive of their advice, said he would isolate himself. Erica suspected he was still sneaking out at night, and her suspicion was confirmed when he infected a buddy of his, who in turn infected his daughter-in-law. The buddy’s daughter-in-law, who had no symptoms, went to her job at Alder Bay Assisted Living, a nursing home in Eureka. More than a dozen staff members and residents became infected. Four died.”

Humboldt County Joint Information Center lead public information officer Heather Muller declined to confirm the case-specific details of Lewis’ reporting.

“Some pieces of information were shared with the reporter that could compromise the privacy of those involved,” Muller wrote in an email to the Journal. “Because of that, the Joint Information Center cannot confirm this information.”

Elsewhere in the column, Dykehouse is quoted as saying that while criteria has changed repeatedly over the course of the pandemic, since June her contact investigations have generally focused on a single question: Who have you been within 6 feet of for more than 15 minutes? But aside from the case-specific details, the largest takeaway from the column is Dykhouse saying more and more people are no longer cooperating with contact investigations and are instead hanging up on her, not returning her calls or lashing out.

Early on, they’d been cooperative. Though no one was pleased to hear they had COVID-19, people respected her authority. They behaved much as people had before the pandemic, when she told them they needed to isolate themselves. … And they did their best to comply — at least until the middle of May, just after the state’s shelter-in-place order was lifted. From that point on, her diary tells the story of a discomfiting change. People had less and less interest in what she had to say: they seemed to think they knew everything they needed to know. ‘A lot of these people are getting their medical information off Facebook,’ said Erica. People stopped returning her calls. People hung up on her. People even lashed out at her. ‘It’s the first time in this job I’m experiencing people hanging up on me — except with STDs,’ said Erica. ‘Most of the time you call and say, ‘I’m a nurse from Public Health’ and they talk to you or call you back. We’re used to people trusting us. Now they don’t. That’s been very weird.’ … But by late June, Erica and her colleagues sensed that everything was moving in the wrong direction. ‘We feel like we’re losing control of the situation,’ one of the county health officers said. ‘People are getting it and we don’t know where.’”

In her email to the Journal, Muller said Dykehouse’s views don’t necessarily reflect those of the county.

“The interview reflects the impressions and experiences of the employee who participated in it and does not necessarily reflect the broader experience of Public Health employees or the status of the ongoing operation,” she wrote before pivoting to stressing the importance of timely testing. “When a county as small as ours gets a particularly large cluster of cases we risk overwhelming our resources. This is why testing and contact tracing are so important.”

Since July 1, Humboldt County has confirmed 95 new COVID-19 cases, 42 percent of the county’s total caseload to date.

Lewis is the author of more than a dozen books, including Liar’s PokerMoneyballThe Blind SideThe Big Short and Flash Boys. His full Bloomberg column is worth a read and can be found here.

 

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DQ
Guest
DQ
3 years ago

Criminal charges, please.

tax payer
Guest
tax payer
3 years ago
Reply to  DQ

yes, lock up self proclaimed dictators

tax payer
Guest
tax payer
3 years ago
Reply to  tax payer

oh thats not a good look for you

cu2morrow
Guest
cu2morrow
3 years ago
Reply to  tax payer

tax payer, sorry for disturbing you, now back to your sand sculpturing

Just Sayin
Guest
Just Sayin
3 years ago
Reply to  cu2morrow

Finger painting!

Syrus Doogood
Guest
Syrus Doogood
3 years ago
Reply to  DQ

Kim,

Where are the pictures of local BLM rioters not following Health Orders? Doesn’t fit the confirmation bias narrative?

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
3 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

BLM, Inc. .. funded, in part, with all the irony, by the Ford Foundation.

Syrus Doogood
Guest
Syrus Doogood
3 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Kim,

A captioned picture stating truthfully, “BLM rioters disregard health orders” (as if the law means anything to rioters), would suffice but I understand leftists and rightist (authoritarians both) have difficulty in exposing those who wear theIr same colors.

Mike
Guest
Mike
3 years ago

So quarantining meth dealers doesn’t work? Well ain’t that just humboldt. “Can you please deal meth from home for 14 days for public safety?”

NoShitSherlock
Guest
NoShitSherlock
3 years ago
Reply to  Mike

What a stupid thing to say.

A citizen
Guest
A citizen
2 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Meth dealers can go to Davy Jones locker

Bushytails
Guest
Bushytails
3 years ago

In other areas, people who don’t isolate have been arrested or given ankle bracelets. But, as the poster above said, if they won’t even keep someone in jail for dealing meth, they probably won’t keep them in jail for killing people with a deadly virus either. No profit in that…

THC
Guest
THC
3 years ago
Reply to  Bushytails

I’m curious what the reactions would be if the Trump Administration started forcing people into quarantine camps, shut the border down to International Travelers and started screening Interstate Travelers?

Michelle
Guest
Michelle
3 years ago
Reply to  THC

The Borders in Canada are already Shut down, the last time I spoke to family Members up there.

I like stars
Guest
I like stars
3 years ago

Wow! That’s a lengthy, confusing headline.

Reader
Guest
Reader
3 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

thanks for sharing this story, it’s helpful and instructive.

memy selfandi
Guest
memy selfandi
3 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I can’t believe you used that title Kym. Two 70 year olds were also mentioned in article as not complying but you put Meth dealer in title. You are feeding into the vigilante violence in this County. I am saddened and shocked. Bloomberg, where the ad first appeared did not stoop to that level. Way to embolden our local Neanderthals Kym.

Don't stoke the flames
Guest
Don't stoke the flames
3 years ago
Reply to  memy selfandi

I would have to agree; such a clickbait headline that would undoubtedly get attention from all of the horrible vigilante community members that hate homeless people and people who use drugs. It’s one thing if that was the only case mentioned in the article, but it wasn’t. I think you can do better Kym.

cindy whelihan
Guest
cindy whelihan
3 years ago
Reply to  memy selfandi

Oh please. What vigilante violence is she feeding into?

In my 1911 I trust
Guest
In my 1911 I trust
3 years ago
Reply to  memy selfandi

Just please go hide in your safe space

Ruby
Guest
Ruby
3 years ago
Reply to  memy selfandi

Really? How’s that working out? Any improvements?

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  memy selfandi

Now why would anyone hate drug dealers? Maybe because they cause drug users to be homeless? In what world has it become possible for drug abusers to get away with thinking drug abuse is not the source of a whole lot more violence than any fictitious herds of vigilantes? It is simple- drug abuse is destructive and those who greedily sell illegal drugs to them are bad people. No one owes anyone rhetoric that go make them feel better while doing it.

Amber McMahan
Guest
Amber McMahan
3 years ago
Reply to  I like stars

Yes it is. It seems to put the blame on Alder Bay which actually according to the post has nothing to do with it. Got lost in the post.

Willie Bray
Guest
3 years ago

🕯😥I stated this before and you people laughed at me. 🚑👁👁

Willow Creeker
Guest
Willow Creeker
3 years ago
Reply to  Willie Bray

You didn’t get the invite to Mike and Guests barbecue? I was looking for you Willy!

Sigh Ants
Guest
Sigh Ants
3 years ago

Yes, let’s focus on the meth dealer (in the comments above) and not on the irresponsible seniors who held a barbecue after they were informed they were contagious and their guests who refused to cooperate with the public health nurses. Any bets on whether they had on MAGA hats at the barbecue?

Mike
Guest
Mike
3 years ago
Reply to  Sigh Ants

Making fun of meth dealers is funnier, but way to go all Jussie Smollet.

Yeah,sure
Guest
Yeah,sure
3 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Huh?

Willie Bray
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Mike

🕯🖖No I’m just a troll, I only get invited to troll parties. 😥

humboldtfrog
Guest
humboldtfrog
3 years ago
Reply to  Sigh Ants

from what I’ve seen over the last few months, seniors are among the most likely to not follow the basic advice on preventing Covid

BonnieBlue
Guest
BonnieBlue
3 years ago
Reply to  humboldtfrog

Bullshit. Lots of younger people are still partying down. Get real. Even babies are dying. It’s the contrary “freedom folks” refusing to wear masks or maintain distance who are spreading this plague.

In my 1911 I trust
Guest
In my 1911 I trust
3 years ago
Reply to  BonnieBlue

I would love to see the source and numbers about babies dying Bonnie. I have posted them myself many times in comparing covid to the flu, you care to post those numbers? C’mon, step into the octagon baby!

Notheone
Guest
Notheone
3 years ago

Somehow, I think the nurse will lose her job? I’m glad she said something maybe some people take it more seriously? I’m glad she said something maybe some people take it more seriously? This guy could be responsible for 4 deaths. The seniors should be ashamed of their behavior. Don’t blame the nurse!

Patti
Guest
Patti
3 years ago
Reply to  Notheone

Why would this nurse lose her job?

b.
Guest
b.
3 years ago
Reply to  Patti

This nurse just completely screwed up contact tracing in Eureka for the duration of this whole Covid 19 pandemic. Why would anyone now believe that contact tracing is “confidential?” How many people will die as a result of her self-righteous violation of her commitments and the commitments of the public health system in a disease outbreak? If she had done this early in the AIDS epidemic the result would have been hundreds of deaths.

No confidentiality agreement I’ve ever been party to would have allowed this. I’m shocked!

Fast Freddy
Guest
Fast Freddy
3 years ago
Reply to  b.

Really? A no-named meth dealer infected a bunch of people that trickled down to a no-named assistant at Alder Bay, and that is breaking confidentiality?

Interesting.

I enjoyed the read and found it to be what I thought, which is that people are careless, especially meth heads.

Curiouser and curiouser
Guest
Curiouser and curiouser
3 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Confidentiality is not a respecter of persons. Meth dealer or Mayor when you are a health care provider all people are equal. You are looking at the health and education about health not the persons social status!

Willie Bray
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

🕯🌳It’s kind of like telling the public that there were citizens complaints on your grows. 🌳🌳🌍

b.
Guest
b.
3 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

No. As an educator, mental health professional (and at one time a mandated reproter) I am not allowed to provide details in public that would allow my clients’ best friend to identify them and their story.
I could with a fair degree of certainty, using public sources especially in the era of social media, figure out who these people are. If I were their worst enemy, or their ex-spouse (or one of the meth dealer’s clients) I might already know from the details provided. Note that she provided not only a profession but a chain of relationships that are particular to (if not absolutely unique) a very small number of individuals.
I would never, under any circumstances, provide a contact tracer from Humboldt County Health, any personal details about my friendships, sexual relationships or movements for any reason whatsoever.

b.
Guest
b.
3 years ago
Reply to  b.

Kym, contact tracing is supposed to be confidential in a very strict way. Having been responsible for the information provided by children, for whom someone guessing at their identities might have consequences for the rest of their lives, I am very sensitive to how personal details might expose completely inocent people to extreme risk and trauma.
If I happen to know, or think I know, the care facility nurse and her father in law, I may surmise that the father in law does a little meth on the weekends. Whether I am right of not, contact tracing is not supposed to expose any additional details, other than those that are medically necessary to other possible exposed persons. Contact tracing is supposed to be about the health of those in the chain of contact, nothing more.

I find the Public Health Nurses possible motives for stepping over the edge to be extremely problematic. She seems primarily to be concerned with venting her personal vocational frustrations. She seems also to be vilifying those who don’t behave as she would like them to. She seems to possibly want to wield a sort of implied, indirect public shaming as punishment for those who she believes are doing harm. However, I think she’s likely to further alienate anyone who already felt uninclined to participate in contact tracing. So other than a boost in selfrighteousness and a brief 15 minutes of personal fame I don’t see a positive outcome to this at all.
I protect my clients confidentiality, not because I know that I will do harm by exposing their information, but because they provided me information in confidence. That information was and is still theirs. It was provided to me strictly for the purposes that I gave them, to protect their well being and those of people who may also be harmed. I do not use it to “save the world” or to fight for some other potential good. I am thankful that the professionals who have helped me along the way have respected their confidentiality pledges on my behalf.

b.
Guest
b.
3 years ago
Reply to  b.

I have changed my mind. Although I believe that what the Public Health Nurse did is wrong and probably harmful to her cause and to the public good, I have calmed down. She made a mistake, probably in part due to the pressure of working under immense stress. I hope her employer and Humboldt County administration do everything in their power to correct the situation.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

So no one knows which meth dealer it is? Besides the rather embarassing idea that the county has so many meth dealers that one might be lost in the crowd, there is more than enough of information (meth dealer infected buddy who knows, who in turn infected a daughter-in-law who worked at Alder Bay and the employees at Alder Bay have likely figured it out by now too) that the word will soon be out. And even if not, the some random assumed meth dealer will be chosen. Or some buddy of a suspected meth dealer. This is not quite the small town it was but it is still small enough there is an effective grape vine. And even if where not so, there is now no confidence that anyone who cooperates with tracers will have what could ID them broadcast, which is the biggest principle for protecting even people you don’t like. Identity politics in pandemic times. Sheesh.

In fact the old couple with the barbeque have some who know and even more who just will pick any old couple in their seventies to blame.

Don't stoke the flames
Guest
Don't stoke the flames
3 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

You and “anyone you know” does not constitute the whole public. A meth dealer with a daughter in law working at alder Bay is pretty descriptive. Bet you folks in that person’s circle could put those pieces together..and then maybe someone in that other person’s circle pieces it together, and then the circles keep expanding until the broader community has figured it out. It was definitely an irresponsible move on the part of the nurse. She could have left out the meth dealer part and it would have provided an extra layer of anonymity.

Not outraged
Guest
Not outraged
3 years ago

Except the description, “person with father-in-law who did meth with covid buddy”, may apply to 10 employees at Alder Bay, and hundreds of others in different jobs
Im hearing “im a mandated reporter so this is the most important fuckin thing goin on”
join the club. the exclusive thrill of being one of the thousands of mandated reporters in the County will wear off a few years after graduation.
As long as covid is spreading, there will be embarassing stories of people acting stupid and selfish. Dont want to get outed as an idiot? Dont be one.

Angel Moon
Guest
Angel Moon
3 years ago
Reply to  b.

@b. – [edit] Because exactly WHY would the nurse lose her job for giving out ‘confidentiality information’ on rule breaking anti-quarantiners?

For ONE thing since she’s NOT supplying the NAMES of the rule breakers, exactly WHOS confidentiality is she breaking, if the nobody knows the identities of the guilty parties other than 2 of them were sick old people, throwing a party with probably other old people who are now sick to because of them and the partygoers are refusing to help cooperate with medical officials, and the second guilty person is a meth drug dealer who infected a fellow drug dealer, who probably UNKNOWINGLY infected the rest of his family since I doubt the first 1 told him he was sick, and a relative of the second one who unknowingly knew she was sick went to work at a medical center and infected everyone there, which resulted in the death of 4 people.

Do you see any NAMES mentioned? Any fingers pointed at the NAMES of the ones responsible for the current mess so that a lynch mob can go after them and string them up?

Nope. All this nurse was doing was telling stories, without actually giving out names of the ones responsible. So without the names, exactly WHOS ‘confidentiality info’ is she giving away?? Those descriptions she gave could belong to just about anyone.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Angel Moon

As if people can’t figure it out. And then spread the word. Whether they figure it correctly or not. Privacy rules protect both good and bad people because without rule, good people suffer too.

Fern
Guest
Fern
3 years ago
Reply to  b.

B.,
thanks. Good point.

Humboldt Native
Guest
Humboldt Native
3 years ago
Reply to  Patti

HIPPA Violation. As a former medical transcriptionist, our HIPPA training included not talking about any kind of situation and certainly not a name, since this is such a small area. But hey maybe with COVID they have loosened up HIPPA laws, which I don’t necessarily disagree with.

W
Guest
W
3 years ago

So no mention of protest could aslo be a part of the cause of spreading.. Maybe that’s why people aren’t trusting.

Sigh Ants
Guest
Sigh Ants
3 years ago
Reply to  W

Which protest? The ones against the masks and shutdowns where the protesters weren’t distancing or masking? Or the BLM protests where a lot of them were wearing masks.

Mike
Guest
Mike
3 years ago
Reply to  Sigh Ants

It doesn’t matter which one, that’s the whole point. Viruses don’t care about your moral high road one way or the other

Willie Bray
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Sigh Ants

🕯🌳I’ll second that. They tell you right on the dashboard were its coming from and some keep on insisting that it’s the protesters. Its been explained that it’s been mostly indoor places with improper ventilation. That’s why bars,gym’s,and an assorted other places are on that list of shutdowns. And they’ve been warning you about others and still people persist with the same rhetoric. It’s sad. 😥🖖

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Sigh Ants

Lots of the first group were wearing masks too. And lots of the second were not. Remember previous article about the person who turned up positive and sure she got it from a local market and not from the BLM meetings she attended? Everyone has their own ideas of what’s important.

Truth is we had a period from March through June where stay at home orders from the governor were not useful for Humboldt Co. Nor really in the end for most of the State. What that time was useful for was a space to get prepared, to develop plans, to do a public service campaign to get the public informed and gain their cooperation. Hatefulness squandered that chance. As it keeps doing with politics and just about everything else. Hate on, folks, hate on. But don’t be surprised about the blowback.

Fern
Guest
Fern
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Guest,
well said.

Pharmstheproblem
Guest
Pharmstheproblem
3 years ago
Reply to  Sigh Ants

Both that’s pretty sad you don’t know that, just trying to divide a little more…

Willow Creeker
Guest
Willow Creeker
3 years ago
Reply to  W

W- If the truth doesn’t fit your narrative you don’t trust the truth? Nice..

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Willow Creeker

Why does that not apply to your narrative?

Meee
Guest
Meee
3 years ago

All the bullshit coved deaths and heavy handed tactics of the governor people just don’t believe the government. If he was a meth dealer why was he not in prison? Do you think those 4 are the only deaths he is responsible for? Why is it the government has a say in my health under public safety yet they let out 8,000 inmates from prison, some with coved all with victims? Don’t be a bunch of sheep people think logically not emotionally.

The folks at alder care are older and all know they have limited time left on this earth so a few months is more precious to them than younger people. If they want to enjoy their time on earth with a bbq let them for gods sake they are adults not children. Many of them lived through WWII, fought in Vietnam and survived the 1968 Hong Kong flu that killed 100,000 people in the US. (population then 200.7 million vs 328 million now)

Quit worrying about dying so much and actually live life. This country has become so scared of everything and forgot how to live. Guess what. Every person reading this, and every person alive today will die some day of something. Let people make their own decisions. You want to isolate go for it but don’t make me isolate because of YOUR fear. They didnt lock down in 1968 why are we locking down now?

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1968-pandemic.html

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Meee

They locked down in 1918, and 19.

Covid produced Americas second deadliest month on record, right behind Oct 1918.

Soooo…get with it.

Pharmstheproblem
Guest
Pharmstheproblem
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Doubt that daily death avg in America is about 140,000 so what are you talking about.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago

(By one cause)

120,000 by Spanish flu in Oct 1918.

60,000 by Covid in 2020.

Der.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

A much larger population leads to a much larger number of deaths. For covid-19 to reach the percentage of deaths in 1918, they would have to be more than 3 times as high. And even at the horrific rate of death in the flu pandemic, the world moved on shortly after. But people were talking about the effects of the Great Depression for decades. Being concerned about a pandemic does not mean everything else is unimportant.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

That kind of equation would also need to account for better changes in medical science and technologies, policies and treatments.

My opinion is the longer the Country is devided on the same reality of the virus, and thus not addressing it, the longer and worse our economic struggle from it.

lauracooskey
Guest
lauracooskey
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

I think lots more than 3x as many deaths to get near the 1918 level. We’ve had 4 in Humboldt; there were 200 in the earlier pandemic. So that’s 50 times fewer right there. If you figured in the increase in population, the per capita dead would be even more different. 100x less deadly? 1000? I don’t know, don’t have time to look up the population numbers at the moment, just know that even if the populations then and now were the same, so far this is 50x less deadly.
Sure, that’s only so far. Months to go to equal the time span of the earlier sickness. Lots more will get sick, a few will die of Covid, many will die of anything else. Wake me up when Covid gets to anywhere near power of the 1918-19 flu.

Who Cares
Guest
Who Cares
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

No. Look up the stats. Covid is not even close to Spanish Flu. That was a real pandemic

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Who Cares

Yes, look at the stats.

This is also not a hoax pandemic.

Willie Bray
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

🕯🌳156,000 Covid Deaths 2020 And “not my potus” for the first time today offered condolences for those that had died.😥😥

People who don't protect themselves are swimming in virus shark infested water
Guest
People who don't protect themselves are swimming in virus shark infested water
3 years ago
Reply to  Who Cares

First the virus didn’t come from Spain. It was the newspapers that gave the name Spanish flu. To date no one knows here the flu started. Second, the American population was around 104 million people (there are about 330 million people in the U.S. today and many of those people live in cities like LA and New York, etc. In 1918 America was still rural country making distancing automatic. World wide 20 million dead from the virus. In the United States 56,000 have died since yesterday. The 1918 flu lasted a little over two years and the highest number of death were during October 1918 to January 1919. If a vaccine is not found by flu season we might be confronted with high numbers of dead. All things being equal there isn’t much difference between the 1918 flu and the 2020 covid-19 flu other than in 1918 there wasn’t any over populated areas and the medical treatment was mostly not available. In 1918 bacterial pneumonia was the killer. The Covid-19 attacks the lungs and without a thoracostomy most infected people will die. In 1918 there wasn’t any specific antibiotic to kill the virus nor a vaccine and pneumonia killed the patient. Today according to reports in the news there is massive amounts of money being paid for drug companies to quickly find a vaccine. More money than the 1918 total nation budget which was a little over 15 million and no vaccine was ever found. And more than three vaccines will be necessary to handle this ever changing virus. Last young people have been the largest number to be infected in the past month or so. And I will predict California will become number one in the nation with infected and deaths. But that’s what we Californians strive for……..being NUMBER ONE. “Being snarky”

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

No they mostly didn’t. They had a foreign war, santitariums for the sick and quarantined households where there were sick people on doctor’s orders . They may have banned large group events but people shopped daily in most cities and there would have been riots had they shut down the local taverns. Or churches. Which surely some officials tried. Only theaters were not valued enough to be acceptably shuttered. Everyone else pretty much had to earn a living too.

My grandfather was carted off to a sanitation in San Francisco. None of the rest of the family got sick. But they were not quarantined either

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Wrong again.

a closing order for the whole city, including schools, theaters, churches, and dance halls.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1997248/

You can find good and worse examples of mandates by different areas throughout the Spanish Flu.

Many different areas tried many different approaches.

Like San Fran requiring masks, or Gunnerson Co. going to full on quarantine, to Philly being silly and having parades followed by mass deaths.

Gee, I wonder if there’s something to learn?

Swine
Guest
Swine
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

50 millipm is a lot more than 500000

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Did you even read your link? “Although the two cities chose different methods of disease containment, determining which method was more successful is challenging.” ” While some accepted the changes imposed on them, others protested regulations that they considered unfair. Some called for more stringent methods, while others blatantly broke the new rules that were intended to protect them.” and ” The ill also sought to evade isolation in their homes by not seeking medical attention, or only seeking medical attention when they became gravely ill.” In fact that reads like a version of today’s regulations EXCEPT THEY NEVER ATTEMPTED TO SHUT AWAY THE HEALTHY.

What their conclusion was, after repeating that there was a huge difference between the fearful and the progesterone, -“Plans for surge capacity and community containment must be discussed with stakeholders and consensus must be achieved.”

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

You said churches didn’t close, but many did.

If you want to talk about protests to those mandates, that’s fine.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

No I did not say that “churches didn’t close.” I said officials tried various things but they never “locked down” the way stay at the recent home orders tried. And they had as much success then as they have now.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Sure, I see what you mean.

What’s funny to me though, is we never really locked down.

Italy did.

Wuhan did.

We really did not.

Angel Moon
Guest
Angel Moon
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

@The Real Brian – [edit]Don’t compare the ANCIENT diseases like Spanish Flu with Covid-19. For one thing, if ANYTHING the death rate of covid-19 OUTRANKS the death rate of every other HISTORICAL disease on written record.

Take the number of deaths Covid-19 has caused, then try looking up all past diseases and see just which one has the highest fatality rate going before they FINALLY stopped, because the way covid-19 is going I bet the fatality rate is way higher by now than any other deadly that came out. It’s probably worse than the Black Plague.

Another thing about why you shouldn’t compare covid-19 to the ancient diseases.

I mean come on. Think about it. What does the world have NOW that made the virus become WORLDWIDE instead of STAYING where it came from back in CHINA and staying as CHINAS problem, instead of spreading out across the globe and becoming the WORLDS problem?

The one thing that people back in the old days DIDNT have that we have now, that made it easier for the virus to spread out instead of staying where it originated.

Here’s a list:
1. Back in the old days, before planes, trains, cars buses, etc. and just about EVERYTHING else we have today to travel in, people simply WALKED, or rode horses and carriages, in short distances where ever they lived
2. Nobody traveled across the world visiting other countries since what we have now didn’t exist back then. They stayed right where they were from the day are born until the day they die never knowing what they were missing out on in other countries
3. When a DEADLY DISEASE hits the area it STAYED IN THE AREA. Since this was a time of no globe trotting traveling since planes, trains, etc. didn’t exist yet, the virus STAYED right where it originated until it killed off everybody who got sick or a cure was found

Now look at us today. In an era of planes, trains, cars, etc. we go EVERYWHERE. No longer do we stay inside our little countries living boring little lives until the day we eventually die. We can now travel the world, go anywhere we want and nothing is stopping us now unlike back in the old days when we couldn’t do what we have now

And BECAUSE of what we have now, that’s how covid-19 spread across the planet instead of staying in China where it originated because world traveling people either visiting or living in China in the early days of the virus unknowingly brought the virus out of China with them when they left China and spread the virus EVERYWHERE they went all over the world and causing the virus to become what it is now all these months later.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Angel Moon

There was planes, trains and automobiles in 1918, fyi.

We are fortunate SARS-Cov2 is not as lethal as the Spanish flu.

There is no doubt about that.

But the fact is that Covid killed 60,000 Americans in April.

There is no doubt about that either.

Swine
Guest
Swine
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

There is doubt tho

Angel Moon
Guest
Angel Moon
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

@The Real Brian – Wait what do you mean covid-19 is NOT as deadly Spanish flu? And why are you using death statistics that are now 4 months out of date for covid-19, since the death rate of Americans is now PAST Aprils original 60,000 dead number at a whopping 230,000 deaths as of TODAY?

It’s because of THIS 230,000 death rate number that’s HIGHER than every other country that’s suffering for covid-19 that Americas basically been blacklisted from going to other countries. Come on. Even Mexico doesn’t want us anymore thanks to the 230,000 number.

Those planes, trains, etc back in 1918 weren’t used the way they are now. At least not in the same FREQUENCY it was used now that it was used in 1918. We were in the middle of multiple wars before and after 1918. Do you really imagine seeing people traveling by air ANYWHERE, especially once the military started building planes to fight in wars?

It would be a death sentence to any commercial airliner of that time period to risk the lives of the crew and non military passengers, if they got mistaken as a enemy plane and shot out of the sky by the military because of ‘just in case’ they WERE the enemy, especially if the ones shooting the plane down IS on the enemy side and they don’t recognize the plane as one of THEIRS, and don’t bother getting in contact with the plane to see who they were BEFORE shooting them down.

Flying across the world was still brand new and in its infant stage in 1918. Plus I bet unless you were super rich in that time period, I doubt EVERYBODY could afford plane tickets to go anywhere, and if you do it probably be in the poorest low quality seats on the plane while the richer passengers get the better seats.

Plus trains? Weren’t most trains back then used mostly to transport cargo all over the country? Never actually LEAVING the country to go elsewhere. 1918 Passenger trains are probably like the 1918 planes, and only the rich could travel everywhere in comfort.

As for automobiles those lousy old clunkers that easily break down compared to the cars we have now?

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Angel Moon

Apparently in 1918, 1.1 billion Americans traveled by train.

The railroads were booming in the early 1900s.

https://www.american-rails.com/1900s.html

Interesting stuff.

Regarding SARS-Cov2, it obviously isn’t as fatal as the Spanish Flu.

I’m only amusing the 60,000 dead figure because it was a particularly bad month.

It shows the real possibility of being a very high risk virus, if left unchecked.

NoShitSherlock
Guest
NoShitSherlock
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

AngeI makes a good point. Why would you want to call her out?
I guess you are around 13 years old and you just like to argue.

Do it smart. Do it again.
Guest
Reply to  Meee

I enjoy living a full life. Its a balance. I have hopped out of a helicopter on top of big mountains in Alaska, but not on a foggy day. A motorcycle is fun to ride, but stick to the convention of riding in the right lane to avoid death and do it again tomorrow.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago

Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

Disgusted
Guest
Disgusted
3 years ago

What about the arrogant owners of a longtime Eureka business who flew out of state and brought it back? How many did they infect?

Fast Freddy
Guest
Fast Freddy
3 years ago
Reply to  Disgusted

I thought it was a bunch of kids partying out of state.

Haven Rich
Guest
Haven Rich
3 years ago
Reply to  Disgusted

What are the details relative to this statement: “What about the arrogant owners of a longtime Eureka business who flew out of state and brought it back? How many did they infect?”

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Haven Rich

You can point fingers at your choice of offenders but the bottom line is that there are many different ways of spreading disease in an open society of diverse individuals and it’s not in anyone’s control without a level of government control that horribly aggressive unless they first seek agreement with a willing populace. And American is full of individuals who don’t much like each other and are very unwilling to compromise.

Very Disgusted
Guest
Very Disgusted
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

They knew not to be traveling. They did it anyway. They caught Covid and brought it back to Humboldt County

Taco 36
Guest
Taco 36
3 years ago

Eureka needs some Batman’s, these meth houses need to go. So sick of seeing them continue to operate because cops are worried about marijuana which is legal.

Who Cares
Guest
Who Cares
3 years ago

I love how these fear and loathing headlines are put out like the word of God.
Of course, you cannot, obviously, trace all contacts and be absolutely certain of the chain of transmission, or who, or what passed covid on to the next.
These control freaks have quite the ego to pretend that they have it all figured out.
Don’t forget, their models and predictions to date have been laughably wrong.
Why do they persisit with the doom and gloom? Why do people still listen to people who have been so ridiculously wrong? Control, and consent thats why.

The Humco health dept did an interview on Bloomberg complaining that we the people are not following orders….so this is more bullshit designed to scare us into compliance.

Patriot in Willits
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Who Cares

Nobody has it all figured out, as you say, but the local health experts have been pretty consistent in asking people to socially distance, wear masks, and to self-quarantine if infected. These measure, when done consistently, minimize the spread of COVID. Not too complicated. Do you feel this somehow violates your constitutional rights as an American citizen? Is the right to infect people in the Bill of Rights? Do you happen to believe that having sex with demons in your sleep causes disease.

USA United States Patriot
Guest
USA United States Patriot
3 years ago

Right to be free. Right to protect yourself. There is no requirement to cover up like a muslim 24-7. This is the USA, respect that!

Patriot in Willits
Guest
3 years ago

USA United States Patriot: you argue like a child. What “right to be free” are you talking about? Which amendment are you citing? Right to protect your self? Do you mean the 2nd Amendment? How is that relevant? Also, no one is asking you to wear a hijab, so calm yourself down. Obviously, this is the USA, genius. Why do so many of you self-styled patriots confuse “freedom” with selfishness? If you claim to be a patriot, why are minor sacrifices for the health and safety of your fellow Americans so hard for you?

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago

Well, you were heading into making a persuasive point until that last “hit ’em on the way out” bit of spew. What was your goal in insulting people who apparently you want to persuade to your point of view?

Lis
Guest
Lis
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

The question they asked was valid, given that our president elevated the voice of a “doctor” who believes STDs are caused by demon sex and health issues are caused by DNA from aliens.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Lis

Not if your goal is to persuade. And not if the point of “elevating” was suppression of speech, not an advocacy of demons. The insult was meant to say that everyone who objects must be a lunatic because they believe in sex with demons which is nonsense. And typical of people who deliberately misconstrue because it facilitates a juvenile attack.

Patriot in Willits
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Guest, you are mistaken about my motives. I have, generally tried to persuade people, through the use of facts and appeals to reason, but I must admit that I don’t always. Call it a “juvenile attack”, if you will, but at times I just lose patience with the willfully ignorant, and those who see dark conspiracies behind efforts to protect public health.
We Americans have such a disproportionately high infection rate not only due to incompetence at the highest levels of government, but also because of base selfishness and stupidity in a discouragingly large part of the population. If you’ve seen the movie Idiocracy, you might have some idea of what waking reality feels like to me at times.
I like most people’s comments, even those I disagree with, if they are reasonably thoughtful and honest, but I can’t abide trolls. And trying to convince someone who either can’t defend or doesn’t actually believe their own argument is not a “teachable moment”.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
3 years ago
Reply to  Lis

Lis

And Fauci said go ahead and have sex with strangers! But don’t shake hands…
Sounds kinda VooDoo to me.

Who Cares
Guest
Who Cares
3 years ago

I don’t give a shit about masks. I do however have major problems with all the housing insecurity caused by the economic shutdown, all the small businesses that WILL NOT SURVIVE the lockdowns and he replaced by MORE BIG BOXES, the absolutely insane bailouts and redistribution of wealth, the increasing wealth gap, and the fact that money IS REAL, and we the people are now on the hook for a shit ton of debt. Plus, all the people who did not get the non covid medical help they needed and deserved because we treated an infectious disease which is worse than, but comparable to the season flu like it was the end of the world. WHO is expecting LOTS of death and malnutrition from the economic shutdowns too. The economy is not just about money and investments, it’s what puts food on the tables and roofs over head.

Sweden was right, unprescidented economic shutdowns will hurt more than the impacts we supposedly protected ourselves from due to covid. Especially since this lockdown BS didn’t work anyway….. control freak globalist narrative scam-a-demic

justanotherperson
Guest
justanotherperson
3 years ago
Reply to  Who Cares

So take issue with the government picking and choosing who to help stay alive, not with the shutdown for safety sake. If, aside from huge tax breaks for the ultra wealthy, the politicians had any sense of social welfare state, a shut down wouldn’t be the economic issue that it is. How much money has Jeff Bezos made and not paid taxes on since this started?

P*** W***lies
Guest
P*** W***lies
3 years ago

Stop feeding the beast

commenter
Guest
commenter
3 years ago
Reply to  Who Cares

but it won’t scare you big guy…
idiot…

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  commenter

Idiot yourself. Now has anything been made better? Which I suppose proves it.

Fern
Guest
Fern
3 years ago
Reply to  Who Cares

Who cares,
agreed.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago

Look at those dumbfucks in the picture and their dumbfuck signs.

Straight up fucking idiots.

Mike
Guest
Mike
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Your opinion is meaniless unless you treat all protests the same. It’s fair for all or none or you’re a hypocrite. But it’s America, you’re free to be anything you want.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Equating masks to communism during a pandemic is for dumbfucks only, Mike.

Being tired of racist dumbfuck cops killing blacks is not.

Really, those are fucking dumbfuck signs and dumbfuck people.

I can’t emphasize it enough, no matter how many expletives, used repeatedly.

Fast Freddy
Guest
Fast Freddy
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Cursing has been proven to be more honest in many situations. There is a ton of research on it, but yes, it could also mean that you have less use of expanded vocabulary.

Mike
Guest
Mike
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Thanks for proving youre a hypocrite. As I’ve said a million times a virus doesn’t care about how just your cause is, Brian, like you don’t care about facts. It doesn’t matter who is an idiot as long as their doing identical things. Just thank God you’re in America where you have the right to critize only the people you disagree with.

Yeah,sure
Guest
Yeah,sure
3 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Same for you Mike.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Yeah,sure

Which is the point. Same for everyone unless that fact is recognized and a little tolerance exercised. Live by hate, die by hate.

P*** W***lies
Guest
P*** W***lies
3 years ago
Reply to  Mike

A voice of reason.

I see this thing going hot, and the boy’s will learn how to be men. ..by living or decomposition in their hallow safe space.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Man made god (lowercase!), and man made America.

Your thanks to some theocratic lie does no good for anyone but your belief disease.

It’s absolutely a riot you think I don’t care about facts, then thank some bullshit theocratic lie of a god.

Like you believe it.

MAN can destroy its creations, too.

The idiot dumbfucks in the picture are doing just that.

Tearing down America with Trump induced shitheadedness..

Yeah,sure
Guest
Yeah,sure
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Yes, it’s some special dumbfuckery. Call it what it is.

In my 1911 I trust
Guest
In my 1911 I trust
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Screaming around calling people dumbfucks is for dumbfucks only. Only a dumbfuck would call other people dumbfucks. Ever see what happens when you call someone a dumbfuck to their face? Usually the dumbfuck that said it gets their dumbfuck face smashed in, but not if you are a keyboard warrior hiding behind your dumbfuck screen. Cause only dumbfucks resort to calling other people dumbfucks while hiding behind their computer. Cause everybody knows that actually calling someone a dumbfuck in the real world only brings about negative results, everybody knows that except dumbfucks that is.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

It was my fault for speaking the language in the first place.

Sorry Kym.

I thought childish behaviour could be ignored.

Moving on now.

Ruby
Guest
Ruby
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Well, that devolved into mindless ranting. Come on guys….

Thirdeye
Guest
Thirdeye
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

The valid concern soon became engulfed in dumbfuckery and the dumbfuckery is the only thing that continued.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Thirdeye

Sorry

In my 1911 I trust
Guest
In my 1911 I trust
3 years ago
Reply to  Thirdeye

Wow thirdeye, that is probably the most astute observation someone has put down. I believe we could all apply that statement to the current state of affairs.

One life to thrive
Guest
One life to thrive
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Look at those cool people standing up for our constitutional rights to wear or not wear anything we like. Mass brainwashing has homogenized any dissent of the status quo. Shame

furies
Guest
furies
3 years ago

The countries that wore masks are now opened up.

We will not get a grasp on this until we cultivate some community spirit and wear masks…& social distance.

It really is quite simple.

The more you deny this is happening, the more people die.

150,000 but you all want more. 9-11 was 3,000, Vietnam was ~40,000 but here in the greatest country on earth we can’t get a handle on a virus cuz the population has been propagandized and set up to fight each other rather than look at where that 4 billion dollars went.

Wear a mask for godsake.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  furies

Yep!

rollin
Guest
rollin
3 years ago
Reply to  furies

I love it when people say stupid shit like: “The countries that wore masks are now opened up.” and ” It really is quite simple.”

Neither one of those statements is even remotely close to being true yet you condescendingly preach to the rest of us as if you had a clue. The fact that link boy, TRB, agrees with you should be your first indication that you need to do more research. There are many places that tried the tyrannical approach that are now spiking. How about the state where you live? There are many places who did not lock down that are NOT spiking. So no, it is not really quite simple. Now go put your mask on!

http://wrongaboutlockdown.com/

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  rollin

Link boy agrees with this:

It really is quite simple.

The more you deny this is happening, the more people die.

It’s not just about masks though, that’s true.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  rollin

Really?

No information in that link bud.

You trying to sell his books?

“You just want people to die!”

That’s the intellectually stimulating response you get when you question the wisdom of shutting society down.

In fact, the consequences of the lockdowns are so devastating and far-reaching that all decent and humane people must reject the whole strategy.

In this free eBook, New York Times bestselling author Tom Woods sets the record straight, and leaves the case for the lockdowns in tatters.

Click the button below to get your copy!

What a crock!

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  rollin

Tom Woods thinks the lockdown is wrong, and if you buy his book, he will tell you why.

What else does Tom Woods think?

In a 1997 essay for the Southern Patriot(the League of the South’s journal), Woods characterized 19th-century abolitionists as “utterly reprehensible agitators who put metaphysical abstractions ahead of prudence, charity, and rationality”.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Woods

I think I’ll pass on that book Tom!

I’m glad the North won, too.

Who Cares
Guest
Who Cares
3 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Way to have an adult civil debate there Brian. On to childish ranting now, did you see the Barr Hearing, lots of childish ranting going on there too….

b.
Guest
b.
3 years ago

This nurse just completely screwed up contact tracing in Eureka for the duration of this whole Covid 19 pandemic. Why would anyone now believe that contact tracing is “confidential?” How many people will die as a result of her self-righteous violation of her commitments and the commitments of the public health system in a disease outbreak? If she had done this early in the AIDS epidemic the result would have been hundreds of deaths.

Amazing what stupidity self-righteousness will justify. I’m shocked!

Curiouser and curiouser
Guest
Curiouser and curiouser
3 years ago
Reply to  b.

I agree with b. This is so deeply disturbing!

Did i miss something?
Guest
3 years ago

How do you get more deaths from knowing who was spreading a virus?

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago

By having people infected afraid to disclose information to authorities and authorities no longer knowing who needs to be tested.

b.
Guest
b.
3 years ago

Yes, you missed something.

People talk to contact tracers because they think that their own potential costs are outweighed by the public benefit. They accept some risk of self-incrimination and people being mad at them because they are counting on the contact tracer protecting them, while at the same time providing only necessary information to those others who are medically at risk.

If this particular pandemic is over and contact tracing is no longer necessary perhaps a contact tracer can get away with saying, “Oops. I lied and now I am going to expose your informantion.” However, that is not now the case. The “confidential” contact tracer has actually exposed one person who provided her with information to a liklihood of criminal investigation if not prosecution. Public ridicule and hatred (even if only anonymously) and the disdain of any friends who can guess as to these people’s identity have been PROMOTED by their confidential contact tracer. Any people who talk to the contact tracer now know that the promise of protection (which had no clause saying, “only if you stop sneaking out and dealing meth”) is being made with fingers crossed and lips pursed in judgment.

I’m not talking to her about my syphilis, or my married girlfriend or even my mild case of Covid 19, and certainly not about my meth dealing. I’m not seeking her advice about dealing with my exposure to AIDS or my neighbors seeming outbreak of rabid squirrels.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  b.

It is hard to restrain from public comment when the public is clamoring to know and the person that is supposed to be protected is such a jerk. But the principle of confidentiality- protecting jerks- is there so that people will not fear public retribution so adequately illustrated by this comment section and allow the spread to continue unknown. b. Is right. Self righteousness is blind.

Who Cares
Guest
Who Cares
3 years ago

Here in Humco, nobody’s dying, hospitals are empty…it’s all bullshit…the pandemic that never was.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Who Cares

We had 4 months of “never was”. Now that it looks to be escalating, officials have spent all their ammunition and it will take some serious numbers of deaths before the public is willing to listen to them again. Don’t be so sure you know the future any better than the “we’re all going to die” commenters. No one knows all the turns this pandemic will take nor the corollary damage. But it’s hard not to have angrwat deal of resentment about the wasted months. People can only hope up so long before they start ignoring what looks to be constant cries of catastrophe.

Natural Selextion
Guest
Natural Selextion
3 years ago
Reply to  Who Cares

Exactly the crisis is on CNN, not in Humboldt County or Mendocino. The real crisis is people losing their businesses, homes, cars and ways to earn a living. There is no crisis when hospitals are empty and chloroquine cure works perfectly fine. Let nature and natural selection run its course

Lis
Guest
Lis
3 years ago

Hydroxychloroquine does not cure covid. Show us one actual scientific journal that proves this, the research coming out says it either does nothing, or it actively harms people.

P*** W***lies
Guest
P*** W***lies
3 years ago
Reply to  Lis

Censorship is unmerited.

The doctors on the ground wreck the narrative for the WHO.

Google is claiming a foreign policy of the WHO to trump freedom of speech.

WHO IS YOUR DADDY.

Who Cares
Guest
Who Cares
3 years ago

Correct…the real problems will be falling out for years, maybe even decades after this Scam-a-demic shit show….

cu2morrow
Guest
cu2morrow
3 years ago
Reply to  Who Cares

some thing tells me you were one of those kids that pissed on a hot wire fence because you were dared too.

Fern
Guest
Fern
3 years ago
Reply to  Who Cares

Who cares,
good point,
the hospitals are empty of cv patients anyway, and nobody is dying. How is this out of control?

furies
Guest
furies
3 years ago
Reply to  Fern

How do you know that? Cuz somebody on a blog said so??

Covid-19 Update – Heart Damage And Aerosols

In 2019 the U.S. was ranked as the country best prepared for a pandemic. This year it is again at the top. As the Wall Street Journal headlines:

U.S. Leads the Globe as Coronavirus Deaths Pass 150,000, Hospitalizations Rise

The Washington Post adds another highlight:

U.S. reports 1,400 coronavirus deaths in a day — about one per minute

bigger

The number of new cases in U.S. have somewhat peaked for now as the sunbelt states have taken some measures to decrease new infections. But I am afraid that the trend down will (again) be very slow and that we will see another rise as some other states – Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana and Kentucky – show upticks in new infections. They may be the next ones who will get into trouble. The curve of new deaths from Covid-19 follows the new cases curve by three to four weeks. Deaths will probably peak at the end of August.

The economic damage the pandemic has caused in the U.S. is extreme:

The U.S. economy shrank at an annualized 32.9% rate in the second quarter — the worst-ever contraction on records that date back to 1947, the government said on Thursday.

The staggering contraction beats the last record set in 1958, when GDP shrank at an annualized 10% rate.

Interestingly the contraction in 1958 was a direct result of the 1957/58 H2N2 influenza pandemic.

Globally the situations is mixed. South-east Asia seems to have the problem under control. India is a mess. South America has huge problems. Western European countries seem mostly okay for now but I expect another big rise there as people are beginning to lose discipline. East Europe looks bleak. There is little reliable dataavailable for the Middle East and Africa.

Over the last six month scientists and doctors have learned a lot about the virus and the diseases it causes. I use the plural here as the virus is causing so many different troubles that it is hard to see them as one malady.

A number of professors at the UCSF have written a very good piece which describes all the different effects they see in their patients:

We Thought It Was Just a Respiratory Virus – We were wrong.
When the pandemic reached Europe there were discussions about the published numbers of Covid-19 death. Had people who had heart attacks and were positive for Covid-19 died from Covid-19 or with Covid-19? Those who argued against lockdowns and masks believed that most of the heart attack deaths did not come from Covid-19 and that it was wrong to include them in the total Covid-19 deaths number. But the extensive damage the virus directly causes in a multitude of organs makes it clear that Covid-19 was most likely the direct cause of all those deaths.

There was recently a similar conflict in Idaho about the death of a pediatric nurse practitioner who had died of a heart attack caused by Covid-19:

The post, which Rep. Tammy Nichols, a Middleton Republican, shared Wednesday without comment, pointed out that Samantha Hickey, who died two weeks ago at 45, suffered a heart attack. The post by Cate Tedeski implied that Hickey’s death was somehow being misrepresented by the news media to scare the public.

It linked to an Idaho Statesman story that reported how Hickey, who worked for St. Luke’s Health System, died of a heart attack after contracting the coronavirus.

The cardiology doctor who had cared for the nurse practitioner went public and described the case:

SARS-CoV-2, or the virus that causes the disease COVID-19, is a new virus that we still know very little about. Not only can the virus cause severe pneumonia and lung failure, but it can also cause unique cardiovascular injury. In some patients with COVID-19, the stress from the infection and inflammation causes small heart attacks that can be identified through blood tests. In other patients and for reasons that we don’t understand yet, COVID-19 causes clotting within the blood vessels that can result in heart attacks and strokes.

In addition, the virus can directly attack the heart muscle itself and cause a disease called viral myocarditis. Myocarditis can happen to anyone of any age and it is unpredictable who will become severely ill. Sometimes, the virus causes so much damage to the heart muscle that patients die from rhythm abnormalities or shock because their heart can no longer function.

Sadly, Samantha Hickey died from cardiac shock due to COVID-19 myocarditis. She was an otherwise healthy 45-year-old before becoming infected.

Heart problems caused by Covid-19 are widespread. Consider this study which looked at cardiac changes in the MRI of people who have had Covid:

Findings: In this cohort study including 100 patients recently recovered from COVID-19 identified from a COVID-19 test center, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging revealed cardiac involvement in 78 patients (78%) and ongoing myocardial inflammation in 60 patients (60%), which was independent of preexisting conditions, severity and overall course of the acute illness, and the time from the original diagnosis.

Two third of those people had not even been hospitalized. They were ‘mild’ cases. The heart damage in the 60% of the people who have had Covid-19 may be permanent. Even otherwise healthy people can have this outcome. Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is one of those casualties

Moreover the CDC has now acknowledged that some 35% of those who had a symptomatic Covid-19 cases have not fully recovered even after 2-3 week. This includes the ‘long haulers’ like Hannah Davis who recently gave this update:

I just crossed the 4 month mark of being sick w’ #COVID19. I am young, & I was healthy. Dying is not the only thing to worry about. I still have a near-daily fever, loss of cognitive function, essential tremors, GI issues, severe headaches, heartrate of 150+, viral arthritis, 1/

heart palpitations, muscle aches, a feeling like my body has forgotten to breathe. Over the past 124 days I’ve lost all feeling in my arms & hands, had extreme back/kidney/rib pain, phantom smells (like someone BBQing bad meat), tinnitus, difficulty understanding text/reading, 2/

difficulty following conversations, sensitivity to noise & light, nonstop bruising. *Thinking* can cause headaches now. I’m not alone in the cognitive issues; it’s as common a symptom as cough.

No one knows when #longcovid patients aren’t contagious; many are alone for months.

Long term effects of Covid-19 are not rare. In Spain over half of coronovirus patients have developed neurological problems.

While we have learned a lot about the virus and the diseases it causes there are even more things we do not know. Many young people, most of whom do not have to fear death from Covid-19, seem to assume that the virus will spread to nearly everyone and therefore do not care about getting infected right away. That is a stupid idea:

With each passing month, researchers are learning more about how to best treat the sickest patients. While there still is no cure, there is now some evidence for how to use treatments such as remdesivir and dexamethasone, said Dr. Abraar Karan, an internal medicine doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, so arguably, your chances of survival are better now than in February. “The longer you wait to be infected, the less chance you have of being part of an experiment, and the better chance you have to be receiving the outcome of a well-done experiment,” he said.

I had long assumed that The SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads mostly by aerosols in rooms with air conditioners. It was the only explanation for several superspreading events described in the early literature. The dozen people who were infected in a restaurant in Guangzhou had all been sitting in the cycling airstream of an air conditioner. Some 50 cases in a one floor call center in Singapore also pointed to air conditioning as the distribution element. The many cases in a large outbreak in a German meat processing plant were also caused by aerosols in a air conditioned atmosphere. A detailed analysis of that event is here. The authors summarize:

In conclusion, this study indicates that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 can occur over distances of at least 8 [meter] in confined spaces under conditions of relatively low air exchange rates and high rates of recirculated unfiltered air.

People infected with SARS-CoV-2 spread droplets and aerosols when they speak, sneeze or cough. Air conditioning systems also dry the air while cooling it. In dry air droplets from an infected person lose their water content very fast and turn into virus carrying aerosols. Aerosols do not sink to the ground. Air conditioning systems can spread them very effectively.

Air conditioning system in modern airplanes use HEPA filters that catch aerosol size particles. N95 (FFP2 in Europe) masks do the same. For all of those who work with other people in a closed environment in which unfiltered air conditioning is used I recommend to wear a mask.

There is research about other viruses that support this recommendation:

Effectiveness of surgical masks against influenza bioaerosols
Influenza Virus Aerosols in Human Exhaled Breath: Particle Size, Culturability, and Effect of Surgical Masks
Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks
Masks Do More than Protect Others during COVID-19: Reducing the Inoculum of SARS-CoV-2

In contrast to the neglected importance of aerosols fomites have received way too much attention. Their risk was exaggerated. The chance that some virus in a droplet on some surface makes it into ones nose is very small. That is why I have not wiped one surface for fear of Covid-19 and have never changed my hand hygiene. The deep cleaning is nonsense. Such Hygiene Theater Is a Huge Waste of Time.

For air conditioned public rooms and offices upgrading to HEPA-filters in air conditioners should have the highest priority. Unless that has happened masks should be made mandatory in such places.

Thirdeye
Guest
Thirdeye
3 years ago
Reply to  furies

Good article. The health damage from Covid-19 is far greater than the death toll. Here’s the source.

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/07/covid-19-update-heart-damage-and-aerosols.html#more

R David Franceschi
Guest
R David Franceschi
3 years ago

You’re all so laughable. Actually I think the sky is falling, and you’re all standing at the bottom of it!!!

Erik
Guest
Erik
3 years ago

Where else do you think we would be standing? Above the sky? Off to the left of the sky? At a 90* angle perpendicular to the centerline of the sky? Do you even gravity?

Study
Guest
Study
3 years ago

Fear of the unknown .you bet.
————-
https://www.statnews.com/2020/07/27/covid19-concerns-about-lasting-heart-damage/

Two new studies from Germany paint a sobering picture of the toll that Covid-19 takes on the heart, raising the specter of long-term damage after people recover, even if their illness was not severe enough to require hospitalization.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Study

If infection could be prevented, then it would be good to do so. The problem is that infection can not be prevented for long by the only mean available at this time- effective isolation- because isolation also has bad side effects. People are caught between a rock and a hard place. We have put ourselves in a place where we can not agree on which one of those is the worst. Because as the article says “I would live to have the answer to that.” Those who advocate one side do so by ignoring the existence of the other.

Thirdeye
Guest
Thirdeye
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

The more people wear masks, the less isolation is necessary. Some people can’t get that through their thick skulls.

Swine
Guest
Swine
3 years ago
Reply to  Thirdeye

And the weaker we all become .. And more brainwashed and controlled. Ha e fun with that “3rd eye” or maybe it should b “brown eye”

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Thirdeye

No medical expert ever says that. In fact they make a point of saying that social distancing and hand washing and mask wearing is all needed. And was that a noise about goggles?

P*** W***lies
Guest
P*** W***lies
3 years ago
Reply to  Thirdeye

Our bodies developed immune system for fighting off infections.

Same reason we send our children to school to exercise their minds.

Both have been high jacked and we are living proof that shitty education leads to a shitty immune system .

Keep those kids underexposed and see how they deal with their first real life challenge.

People screaming at each other from behind the keyboard.

Burn it down.

Who is responsible for this mess

s
Guest
s
3 years ago

I still contend, the residents of Alder Bay do not need the Meth.

Joe
Guest
Joe
3 years ago
Reply to  s

Wait…a meth dealer in Eureka? WHAAAAT???

Erik
Guest
Erik
3 years ago
Reply to  s

You’ve obviously never played bingo and poker with old folks who are high af and have nothing to do and nothing to lose. Or maybe you have and your just a sore loser. Life experience + crystal are a tough combo to beat. Now please excuse me, it’s almost midnight and me and my grandpa are going outside to finish polishing the camero fenders.

Joe
Guest
Joe
3 years ago
Reply to  Erik

HAHAHAHA!!! Now that’s FUNNY!!! Thank You for the laugh! Sure wish my Grandpa still had his old Camaro! He sold it for meth!!!

Ventinglater
Guest
Ventinglater
3 years ago

“…………. More than a dozen staff members and residents became infected , Four died.”

It’s People like Supervisor Rex bhon who are partly to blame for these deaths…..he has been fomenting and threatening Dr. Frankovich and her staff because he doesn’t believe The virus is a big deal., and that everything should be opened up without any protocols. He was right in the middle of those demonstrations with these ridiculous people.
[edit]

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Ventinglater

Right. Rex Bonn is responsible for a meth dealer’s behavior. One man among a few demonstrators who want to keep working. Can you not see that other people might see the virtue of carrying on so that there is some wherewithal being earned to keep the people who don’t live by their own efforts fed? Why not complain about Kym’s support of the much more massive BLM protests? Is is because you believe your personal version of “right thinking” is a protection from being infected while other people’s is not?

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Didn’t you mention a couple of times that BLM protests were more important than covid-19 social distancing orders?

Thirdeye
Guest
Thirdeye
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

When? Where?

Got logic ?
Guest
Got logic ?
3 years ago

So her father-in -law is only person this nurse’s aide hung out with (and could have potentially been exposed by ) in the ten to 14days before she began to display NO symptoms?

Sounds totally believable.

bigmeat707
Guest
bigmeat707
3 years ago

What did they expect? You can’t trust what anyone says or any article you read. The numbers are flawed. You definitely can’t belive the media, the governor or the president. I say believe your own thoughts. If you want to wear a mask do it. If you want to stay home do it. If you want to have a party do it. Do what you want. If you’re scared hide. If you’re not live life

commenter
Guest
commenter
3 years ago
Reply to  bigmeat707

big meat your idiocy is laughable…

rollin
Guest
rollin
3 years ago
Reply to  bigmeat707

big meat your wisdom is commendable

Curiouser and curiouser
Guest
Curiouser and curiouser
3 years ago

I am quite shocked at the sharing of identifying information. I don’t know why people will trust PH if they are complaining about the people they serve. Pretty sad.

Natural Selection
Guest
Natural Selection
3 years ago

Screw the Health Department and the Contact tracers. Nobody has any right to look through our information, phones or maps.
Population is too high, natural selection works just fine!

Halford Ramone
Guest
Halford Ramone
3 years ago

Several groups of Asian students have been living and studying in Eureka for the past several years. 6 or 7 were from China this year and when they returned from Christmas break mid January, things happened where they stayed. One of the boys flew out of Wuhon landing in San Francisco the day before they started testing at the airport. Within a couple days at the “welcome back” dinner the Dean of International Students brought this up along with the fact that several students didn’t feel well. The Principal ordered this to not be spoken of or mentioned in front of anyone especially the kids. Reprimanded for bringing it up. There were three area adults who worked full time in the dorm spending more time with these kids than even teachers. The first a female began missing work with respiratory issues by the end of January. A lot of work. She only worked as much as she did because by the beginning of February her coworker. Well his wife was hospitalized, moved to San Francisco and spent a month on life support. The third adult had on going respiratory issues until having emergency heart surgery. He has tested positive for the antibody. The other two wouldn’t admit to anything that would harm the institution, but we were safer with them there. But all three were replaced and those kids are coming back. The staff will be untrained and not able to care for those kids the way the way the 3 unemployed folks did. Worse thing is they will be in the community ordering Uber Eats and no one will protect us.

Monster
Guest
Monster
3 years ago

There are several issues here at play that have to be treated individually.

First, this Michael Lewis article is great journalism. It is a public service. The information is valuable and I do think it sends a proper message on behalf of local government.

Then there is the issue of what the public nurse revealed. Is it a fireable offense? That depends on several factors. First, was there a county employee (PR/attorney) present with the nurse during the interview? Was the nurse given legal guidelines on what could or couldn’t be said? Did PH require Lewis to submit questions or at least a general summary ahead of time or was it freewheeling?

I’m extremely torn here. The article is important. The mission of PH has been critical. It is thankless. However, there are privacy rules in place for a reason. If someone isn’t going to quarantine after PH advises them to, it’s the job of the city/council to go to court (like in Kentucky) to get a ruling on whether isolation must occur (w/ ankle bracelet monitoring).

The nurse’s message ultimately is correct: there are too many people willing to play God and put other’s safety in their own hands due to malice or negligence and only harsh Darwinism will win out. That is of no comfort to the rest of us.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Monster

A rule to be learned early is to never talk to the press unless you’d be fine telling your boss. There is no such thing as public anonymity.

The way to stop being torn is to think about the consequences. Is public disclosure going to make meth dealers (how did she know this?) behave differently? Did knowing some people are not going cooperate change how you act yourself? Because that was pretty much a given already and is the very reason that it’s better to get people to agree to less effective level of control by cooperation than try to herd cats into total control. Or is everyone who is going to be contacted by Public Health now going to wonder if they are setting up others for public disclosure and be reluctant to cooperate at all. Or simply lie. This article, however satisfying to curiosity, is a lose-lose.

max
Guest
max
3 years ago

what entertains me about all these folks going on about the mask ordinance and shelter-in-place being authoritarian, and the people complying with them being easily controlled and cowed?

they’re the same people that defend the police no matter what they do. sure, y’all can’t be controlled, you’re not sheep, just do everything a cop tells you because authority is always right and the rule of law comes before all things.

y’all are gonna get your friends and family killed, and you’re going to feel real damn stupid about it.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  max

Yes. Imagine that! People who have respect for authority want that authority to be judicious.

Swine
Guest
Swine
3 years ago
Reply to  max

Not everyone fits into your picture. Most people i know are against masks but also hate police.

Willie Bray
Guest
3 years ago

🕯🌳Its like an old fashioned slobberknocker. 👁👁

Diane
Guest
Diane
3 years ago

How did the methamphetamine dealer get into Alderpoint?

In my 1911 I trust
Guest
In my 1911 I trust
3 years ago
Reply to  Diane

I thought a few already lived there

local observer
Guest
local observer
3 years ago

this and all of our other local problems are related to not educating your kids. humboldt and the rest of rural america is in the same boat and the corporations that trump is requiring to come back to the US to employ these rural areas will only last as long as they are being subsidized. we have much bigger problems coming down the pike when our dollar becomes worthless from subsidizing the useless and unemployable complainers. there is a reason we have so many legal annual work visas.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  local observer

Back on that horse again, huh? IMHO the idea of everyone needing a higher degree has had the opposite effect- it has made education dumber. The populace is just the same.

Michelle
Guest
Michelle
3 years ago

Why the Hell are they Letting Meth Users Work in a Nursing Home to Begin with? Don’t They Drug Test People Anymore??? Maybe These Wern’t Covid19 Cases.. Who Knows What Went On Behind Those Closed Doors. Just Saying

local observer
Guest
local observer
3 years ago
Reply to  Michelle

the amount of local tweaks that list IHHS as their current job on FB is rather disturbing. stealing from old people that hire you to help them should be a special sentencing and fine structure.

Facts are Facts
Guest
Facts are Facts
3 years ago
Reply to  Michelle

Drug users work in nursing home cause they can steal meds and the old folks cant remember that they didnt take their meds. Free pain pills and psyche meds. Free opiates for the tweakers willing to work for pennies changing old folks diapers… fact.

Michelle
Guest
Michelle
3 years ago

WHAT ABOUT THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT NOT TELLING THE PUBLIC HOW MUCH MONEY EVERYONE IS ALSO MAKEING OFF THE COVID19 PADEMIC?? MY MOM WAS A NURSE AND I KNOW HOW MUCH THERE MAKEING TO LIST EVERYTHING AS COVID19 NO MATTER WHAT YOUR ILLNESS IS. RATHER IT’S A HEART ATTACK, CANCER, CAR ACCIDENT, LIVER FAILURE, NATURAL CAUSES ECT. I DO NOT DOUT THERE IS A VIRUS AMONGST US, BUT THEY NEED TO TELL THE WHOLE. TRUTH NOT JUST PART OF IT… WAKE UP AMERICA.

Truth
Guest
Truth
3 years ago
Reply to  Michelle

Exactly, these nursing homes cash in on medicare and medical if one of their patients getd the covid its like instant $30,000 dollars minimum. Of course they classify them as covid, and of course its tweakers taking care of patients; who else will change diapers everyday for 15 bucks an hour…. gossh. This covid crap puts a spotlight on tweaker run local nursing centers full of up all night addicts caring for mom and dad….

Thirdeye
Guest
Thirdeye
3 years ago
Reply to  Michelle

Wide-eyed, veins bulging out of forehead…..

P*** W***lies
Guest
P*** W***lies
3 years ago
Reply to  Thirdeye

Witnessing ignorance and apathy will do that to a rational clear thinking human.

A human being not raised on the commercial teet, that is.

Heathy humans don’t need a vaccine. Our immune system is best equipped with the tools to fend off most disease.

Those who are forced to eat crap food, fluoridated water, and live in a digital EMF ZONE, WILL most likely have immune compromised systems.

The great culling has begun.

My vaccines, are raw food and spring water.

Some People Don’t understand cause and effect.

FBnative
Guest
3 years ago

I really like SIP I ‘.m beginning to meet the other people in my head!

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  FBnative

Lol. But don’t worry until you find they have moved out of your head into your home too.

memy selfandi
Guest
memy selfandi
3 years ago

Bloomberg News, where this story originated did not feel a need to make Meth dealers a stand out target BECAUSE the article is about general non compliance by many people AND that is the point which is lost cause local media are such heathens, even Kym in this case. Sad and hope the title is changed to be more accurate representation of the content.

Also of note: If you work in caregiving you best have friends with lucrative side gigs cause In-And-Out and caregiving won’t pay your rent nor will you have sick leave, oh unless you die.

In my 1911 I trust
Guest
In my 1911 I trust
3 years ago
Reply to  memy selfandi

Actually In-And-Out totally would. Obviously you haven’t checked out how much they pay, plus the benefits they offer. If I didn’t live so far away I would be grilling up your double-double animal style with a big smile on my face.

Oh My Gee Whiz
Guest
Oh My Gee Whiz
3 years ago

Covid is everywhere. The sky is falling, the earth is flat. Lions and tigers and bears oh my!!

thetallone
Guest
thetallone
3 years ago

Great. Now we all have to wonder if our meth dealer is THAT GUY. All seriousness aside, the lack of cooperation from those who think wearing a mask is equivalent to being in some kind of Maoist prison camp is a measure of the success of the hysterical right-wing media apparatus.

Meth Head
Guest
Meth Head
3 years ago

Cant figure out which one of my meth dealers has the covid deal!

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago

Our deaths are NOT linked to Protesting the lockdown, Shopping, Dinning, Personal Travel, etc…

It’s linked to a meth dealer who doesn’t care about other people’s health after being notified. Go figure? Doesn’t care about others. Should have just asked him to stop dealing meth too while they’re at it OR maybe DHHS should have offered to make his deliveries?

Dave Sky
Guest
Dave Sky
3 years ago

Follow the precautionary principal. Just in case of Murphy’s law.

Mrs Pickles
Guest
Mrs Pickles
3 years ago

Wow how could a “Medical Professional” be allowed to disclose this much information?? Would this be considered a HIPAA Violation.?