Hinessight

This evening I became part of an exclusive group of Oregonians, if "exclusive" is taken to mean 100,000 adults chosen at random for the Key to Oregon study. Here's how the study is described in a FAQ page. The study will test, track and map the COVID-19 symptoms, and new infections, of up to 100,000 Oregonians in real time. OHSU is leading the study in partnership with the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and in collaboration with the Oregon Health Authority. Data from the study will guide state and local leaders in easing stay-home orders while protecting against new outbreaks.…

Being retired, I'm used to having a pretty relaxed schedule. But before the coronavirus arrived to mess up our lives, frequently I'd set off in my car with a bunch of to-do's and manage to get them all done. Bank. Pharmacy. Grocery store. Hardware store. That sort of thing. Now, I feel I should get a trophy if I just get one errand accomplished, because these days most things aren't nearly as easy to do. Here's today's example.  Yesterday I decided to paw through a wicker storage basket that contained quite a few pairs of shoes that I wasn't regularly wearing…

Yesterday Andy Slavitt, a high-ranking health official in the Obama administration, presented a brilliant thread on Twitter about the danger of relaxing social distancing rules in May. Below I've copied in screenshots of what Slavitt said. It's a well-reasoned, and also disturbing, counterpoint to the small number of strident demonstrators against stay-at-home orders in Oregon and elsewhere who are getting way more attention from the media than they deserve. l'll also take this opportunity to mention something that deserves more attention from public health authorities here in Oregon. Why the heck does the county where I live, Marion County, have…

Today there were some positive mentions of how Oregon is doing in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. This should encourage Oregonians to keep on with physical distancing (better term than social distancing), as hard as this is on both people and businesses. In the White House coronavirus briefing, Dr. Birx, the White House coronavirus coordinator, praised Oregon, Washington, and California for the good job they're doing.  I recall that she was referring to cases per 100,000 population, but that figure depends on the amount of testing each state is doing, which varies a lot. Deaths per 100,000 population as…

My wife, Laurel, has become a quasi-expert in how to use Zoom for online meetings. She's paid for an account that allows for unlimited meeting time, rather than the 40 minute limitation on the basic free plan. I've taken part in one of the three meetings Laurel has hosted. Zoom works well, though since people are new to it, typically the first part of the meeting is filled with "can you hear me?," "unmute yourself," and other sorts of how does this work talk. And since we live in a rural'ish area with crappy DSL, our broadband connection is slow,…

Tomorrow it appears that the Trump administration will discuss the models they've been using to predict the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. But a Washington Post story about the coronavirus modeling says that a University of Washington researcher, Chris Murray, independently has been preparing forecasts for both the United States as a whole and each state that came up with similar results as the Trump administration model. Debbie Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, said that federal scientists reviewed a dozen different models for how this pandemic might play out before constructing…

Good news. Governor Brown has issued an executive order in response to Oregon's coronavirus crisis. It lists businesses that must be closed and contains excellent advice for social distancing. Have a read.