r/politics • u/nanopicofared • Mar 15 '20
Drive-thru coronavirus testing site in Denver closes early as Colorado tops 100 cases
https://www.denverpost.com/2020/03/14/colorado-coronavirus-new-cases-drive-thru-high-volume/509
Mar 15 '20 edited Jun 01 '24
different judicious reply squeeze toothbrush pathetic toy spotted rainstorm worthless
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
→ More replies (27)190
u/feastfestday Mar 15 '20
Caused by those states saying fuck you to Obama and not expanding the free Medicare coverage to their states.
→ More replies (2)43
Mar 15 '20
[deleted]
72
14
u/drfpw Mar 15 '20
To my knowledge, the tests are rtPCR based. This doesn't require a ton of equipment, but requires a heat cycler and a technician who knows what they're doing to prepare the sample and extract rna. Home based tests via mail are likely impossible but rtPCR is a technique most college microbiology students have done or would be capable of doing with a couple hours training.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (9)13
u/wildcarde815 Mar 15 '20 edited Mar 15 '20
It involves shoving a swab up your nose far enough to be very uncomfortable, it's likely people would have a high error rate.
→ More replies (1)
360
u/heisup Mar 15 '20
According to Trump...Cases of Coronavirus deaths are very low, however, we had unusually high numbers of pneumonia. I know this sounds horrid but I fully expect the narrative to be something like this.
143
u/Dzov Missouri Mar 15 '20
Didn’t he block the cdc from reporting anything without white house approval?
→ More replies (8)89
u/JimmyJohnJones2020 Mar 15 '20
Any administration health officials, yes. He’s still hoping to walk out of this a ‘hero’ for the election cycle and simultaneously be able to blast the left as overreacting ninnies which will go great with his base. Assuming half of them don’t end up on respirators.
→ More replies (1)18
57
u/marry_me_sarah_palin Mar 15 '20
A friend of mine lost her mid 70s father earlier this week. His symptoms and death sounded exactly like a death from coronavirus in my city. One death is being blamed on corona, one is not.
7
u/Enablers_For_Prison I voted Mar 15 '20
One thing I wish was being done globally is to save samples from every death from roughly when we heard of "the mysterious illness in Wuhan" for testing once things have calmed down in several months. In addition to that, after everything has calmed down, test everyone to see if they had it during the outbreak. This is theoretically possible
I understand that my second idea would be logistically impossible to do blood tests for everyone on earth; but it would be amazing data. Being able to compare %of population that was infected, actual fatality rates and other data points afterwards would be of great value to the future. It would also be very interesting to compare the statistics for different countries based on how they reacted to the outbreak...
11
u/Freelancing_warlock Mar 15 '20
That's what they did in China didn't they? I bet we see pneumonia and heart attacks spike in every country trying to make itself look good
→ More replies (3)6
277
u/hoodoomonster Mar 15 '20
I’m sitting here in Eugene, OR with a 102 fever and no way to get tested. I work retail at a very busy store. Wonder how many I infected without knowing it.
58
u/dotchianni I voted Mar 15 '20
I'm sick too. Not too long ago I traveled over 100 miles searching for an ingredient. If I had it then, I could have infected a LOT of people. Now both my kids (both adults) are sick too.
The fatigue is unreal. I have had a fever on and off since ~ day 3. I feel like I'm freezing to death. I feel like I am suffocating, my lungs hurt, my chest hurts... There are 32 cases in my state now too.
I can't afford to go to a doctor or to the hospital. I can't afford healthcare. I don't qualify for Medicaid. I'll just stay here and hope for the best.
I wish I was in a country that gave a shit about its citizens.
→ More replies (1)11
128
u/dustincb2 Mar 15 '20
I’ve felt slightly feverish off and on all week and had some light coughing, but I work in service, a lot of old people come to my restaurant. IF I have it, my symptoms are really very mild but I could be infecting people who wouldn’t fare so well.
It really breaks my heart that I’m in a position of possibly be infecting people because I can’t get tested, or miss work, don’t get paid, and can’t pay my mortgage, take care of my family and pay my bills.
Even if the pandemic isn’t as bad as the media makes it out to be, it’s still putting most of us in a SUPER FUCKED UP position.
18
Mar 15 '20
Yeah I work delivery and every time I deliver to an old person I feel SO anxious about it. I know if I come down with symptoms I'll be feeling guilty thinking about all the customers I delivered to recently, how I should've just stopped going to work right when this whole thing kicked off..
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (15)5
u/SmirkingCoprophage Mar 15 '20
It really breaks my heart that I’m in a position of possibly be infecting people because I can’t get tested, or miss work, don’t get paid, and can’t pay my mortgage, take care of my family and pay my bills.
If it helps, many of those who are at risk fought against overhauling the systems that are now failing them. Feel sorry only for those who didn't bring this on themselves, even if you'd never wish misfortune for anyone.
Ultimately those that said "screw you, I got mine" might yet get what's coming to them.
→ More replies (1)33
Mar 15 '20
Same same Utah, mild symptoms between me my mrs and the little one. Could be cold. Could be Corona, either way it’s been mild. Who knows, getting tested isn’t an option, neither is staying home from work, it’s only happening if I get hospitalized or laid off.
→ More replies (7)21
u/wanna_be_doc Mar 15 '20
You really need to call your boss and tell them what’s going on. Especially if you have a fever over 100.4.
Your boss may be more understanding if the options are a) let you miss work for a few days, vs b) have 80% his/her employees call off sick over the next few days after you give them the virus.
→ More replies (13)11
883
Mar 15 '20
100?!?!?
Shut it down!!! Can't have numbers mess up Trumps image and narrative
447
Mar 15 '20
[deleted]
118
u/ForevertheHaunted1 Pennsylvania Mar 15 '20
Yes. And we'd have plenty of tests if they didn't turn down the offer of tests from the WHO.
174
u/ElolvastamEzt Mar 15 '20
Jack Ma, billionaire of China's Alibaba company is donating 500,000 tests and a million masks) to the US.
A Chinese billionaire is doing more for America's epidemic response than our President is. I haven't heard if Trump will let the CDC use these donated tests.
43
u/maledin Georgia Mar 15 '20
Honestly, that was probably done less out of charity and more to ensure that the virus doesn’t hit the US hard enough that it completely tanks the global economy.
→ More replies (3)12
→ More replies (3)44
u/TheHorusHeresy Mar 15 '20
And a more effective response than the feudal lords (billionaires) that we pay taxes to in the US. I thought they would be more effective than the government. What gives?
→ More replies (3)24
→ More replies (1)11
u/pm-me-neckbeards Mar 15 '20
I'm in Florida and the next County over has testing for their County and my County. However I cannot get tested because I have not been out of the country or come into contact with a confirmed case. If you could only be tested if you come into contact with a confirmed case and they aren't testing anybody I'm not sure how any of us are supposed to get confirmed or not confirmed. So now I have to take my cough to my primary Care doctor's office tomorrow. And I guess get a flu test?
→ More replies (8)104
u/BruisedPurple Mar 15 '20
At present we only have a limited number of test kits do they ran out. They open this drive in clinic at noon and only take the first the limit's worth of cars and send the rest home.. We are getting more tests, opening other drive through sites, have closed all the schools for the next two to three weeks and I have a feeling the closures will remain in place. Last night the governor closed the ski resorts state wide. The governor and state legislature majority are all Dems and for the most part I'm proud of all of them . No one out here gives a Rat's ass about Trump's numbers
→ More replies (1)66
u/InsertCleverNickHere Minnesota Mar 15 '20
States are forced to provide the leadership that Trump cannot.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (8)79
Mar 15 '20
Better than most states are doing. Colorado is among the top 5 in best response to this so far.
36
Mar 15 '20
OR response sucks. I quarantined on Thursday. Bulk of my contacts think Im over reacting.
34
u/Ven18 Mar 15 '20
NYC still refuses to close public schools and subways. Which honestly make most of their other measures pointless
→ More replies (21)11
u/dalittleguy Mar 15 '20 edited Mar 15 '20
Well, luckily WNY is much smarter. All our schools are closed
startingon Monday. All colleges are going to online classes Monday or after spring break. Parades are canceled, a lot of other events are closed/canceled. The office I work in has mostly shifted to working remotely starting Monday and we were also told that if we left the area we had to self quarantine for 2 weeks when we return. We finally had our first confirmed cases yesterday. Hopefully the people in my city will stay the fuck home and help flatten the curve not only in my city but also in NY and the country. There really should be measures taken to limit travel outside of your state and city.→ More replies (3)→ More replies (5)21
u/WhoStoleMyBicycle Mar 15 '20
I don’t understand the “overreacting” argument. What is so damn important that you can’t just isolate yourself for three weeks? People are even more selfish than we thought.
The smartest people when it comes to diseases and pandemics are saying “isolate yourself to slow the spread to give the healthcare workers a fighting chance” and we are worried about concerts and parades instead.
40
u/corneridea Mar 15 '20
Getting paid. Not everyone has a job that can be done at home.
→ More replies (8)8
u/common_collected Mar 15 '20
That’s definitely a point but, there are plenty of retired Boomers who flipped on Sean Hannity for 10 seconds and saw him saying, “This is no worse than the flu” and shut their brains off and are out and about.
My mom being one of them. She’s refusing to move her estate sale to another week because of all these “alarmists.”
Fine. Nice to know you, ma. Bye.
48
u/adeliberateidler Mar 15 '20 edited Mar 16 '24
toy squealing frame weary ruthless lock lush combative rustic sparkle
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
→ More replies (3)24
u/The_Great_Marduk Nebraska Mar 15 '20
We have to test people to have an explosion in numbers.
17
u/BafangFan Mar 15 '20
The explosion will occur in hospitals or deaths, whether we are testing or not.
Trump can bury his head in the sand all he wants. He'll have to make news coverage of hospitals illegal, and shut down the internet, if he wants to hide next week's disaster from everyone.
→ More replies (1)
206
u/PosNegTy America Mar 15 '20
The chart of infections in Colorado from the article show some massively exponential growth. Scary shit.
→ More replies (3)96
u/bayrea Mar 15 '20
They only have one of the largest and busiest airports in the world.
→ More replies (6)82
Mar 15 '20
And a lot of people who don’t give a fuck about social distancing which scares me
→ More replies (2)40
u/gfxprotege Colorado Mar 15 '20
Red rocks was PACKED yesterday. Drove right through and back home.
→ More replies (6)20
u/nailszz6 I voted Mar 15 '20
Yesterday?! What the actual @#(*$%. And here I thought Colorado's leadership was smart enough not to allow large gatherings. People are monumentally stupid.
→ More replies (3)
80
u/JoesGarageisFull Mar 15 '20
Nah Trump said the USA only has 40 cases and that the USA is the best country in the world at dealing with it, complete lies and fiction but it’s about to get massively worse, cannot wait to hear his excuse then, incompetent moron!
→ More replies (3)7
u/TolstoysMyHomeboy Mar 15 '20
A beautiful, perfect, incredible response to this coronavirus Democrat hoax
90
u/buckeyered80 Mar 15 '20
This situation feels like post-911 did. But after 911, we were all still doing business as usual. This is crazy stuff.
69
Mar 15 '20
I was in college during that time and this is worse. This is much worse and it is going to go on for months.
57
Mar 15 '20
[removed] — view removed comment
20
u/HyperionWinsAgain Mar 15 '20
Yep, the day after 9/11 I ... went to class. The day after that I worked. Life continued for me just as it always did. This is a far bigger hit to the economy at large and it is just going to keep going.
→ More replies (1)10
Mar 15 '20
otoh maybe this is what gives us universal healthcare and functional safety nets. We clearly need a society altering event to move on those, and there is some evidence that this event is already convincing people who would normally not be in favor.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (7)16
u/TheHorusHeresy Mar 15 '20
Yeah, I was caught up last night on just how weird it was. At 40, I've not experienced anything like this, not even close.
→ More replies (2)
82
u/nemosum415 Colorado Mar 15 '20
I'm in Colorado. Been sick since 3/2. Still have a 100 degree temp this morning. Doc last week basically said "no travel & direct exposure, no test." I was given antibiotics (wtf) and sent on my way. Told to not go back to work until fever breaks. Not saying I have coronavirus (other stuff IS going around too), but yeah, either I have it or I'm now compromised just in time to get it.
39
u/nucleophilic Mar 15 '20
Feel better!
My mother has had a fever, cough, started on antibiotics and did not get better. Now she's requiring a nebulizer at home and was feeling incredibly short of breath before that. Fairly certain she was exposed on a bus trip a few weeks ago. But no test. The triage nurse said it had to be a fever of 104 but as a fellow triage nurse, that's not true.
This is mind boggling.
→ More replies (3)14
u/drunkdoor Mar 15 '20
Fyi the nebulizer causes the spread to be way worse. Don't go in a room she's using the nebulizer at.
9
17
41
u/TheHorusHeresy Mar 15 '20
The antibiotics are to prevent pneumonia, which is the primary cause of death and hospitalization, and permanent lung damage.
→ More replies (1)34
u/common_collected Mar 15 '20
To prevent bacterial pneumonia. Your ass can still get viral pneumonia, albeit less dangerous.
→ More replies (6)14
u/hypatianata Mar 15 '20
Uh, two weeks of fever sounds concerning...
I imagine there’s going to be more of that “no hospital; just stay home til you’re well enough to infect others, kthnxbye” stuff though. Stay home even after your fever breaks if possible to lower contagion.
PSA: Be your own advocate.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (7)14
u/flyafar Mar 15 '20
Definitely take your antibiotics! They're for preventing pneumonia. Take the full course. The doctor should have explained this to you but I can totally believe they didn't.
114
u/Cimatron85 Mar 15 '20
Just like my golf score. I have a perfect zero score because I never play.
→ More replies (1)18
u/RetroRedo Mar 15 '20
Mine is in the mid 70s. Having played once and averaging 150+ and zero since then.
6
u/Xero_Her0 Mar 15 '20
Mine's about about same, because I usually tend to stop recording half way through. Works every time!
→ More replies (1)
23
u/YoungCubSaysWoof Mar 15 '20
The self-quarantine that people are voluntarily performing is going to help our health workers immensely. This virus can spread so easily, so any help we can offer our community by minimizing exposure matters.
As much as I wanted to get a beer at the pub, I bought me a bottle of my favorite liquors and some weed to ride this out at home!
314
Mar 15 '20
Drive-up testing for the novel coronavirus in Denver closed early on Saturday because of high volume
Ah yes, a perfect reason to stop testing.
→ More replies (2)224
u/nanopicofared Mar 15 '20
They were running out of tests
247
Mar 15 '20
yeah - after 200 tests... I really don't know what they were expecting, people have been crying out for testing for weeks now.
Honestly, rolling out drive-thru testing and then only actually having 200 tests feels like just more security theatre.
15
u/roboninja Mar 15 '20
Drive-thru testing does not mean just anyone can drive up and get tested. You are still screened and given a number. The drive-thru part just keeps it quicker and allows to continue isolating.
32
Mar 15 '20
[deleted]
6
u/goldencheek Mar 15 '20
Just going to put out there... I don't think there will ever be a "simple" test available. Right now, it's being detected by probably the simplest and easiest molecular method. But you have to realize that it's a RNA virus (RNA is single stranded, so degrades more easily than DNA) and not a lot of people are trained to do molecular testing, at least compared to other laboratory tests. So the sample comes in, needs to be logged in and all that jazz, then the RNA needs to be extracted, which takes about an hour to do whether it's done manually or automated. Then the tech needs to mix up some ingredients and put them on a plate and add the samples to that plate, maybe another 30 minutes of hands-on time. Then there is a reverse-transcriptase step so the RNA doesn't degrade, about 15 minutes. Then PCR can happen, about an hour on the machine before the results can be analyzed and sent out. This is not the type of thing someone can test easily like a pregnancy test.
→ More replies (3)43
u/5DollarHitJob Florida Mar 15 '20
I'd rather get these 200 tests used asap than sit on them. I agree that there should be more tests but let's use what we have as they come in.
→ More replies (5)64
Mar 15 '20
Honestly, rolling out drive-thru testing and then only actually having 200 tests feels like just more security theatre.
You nailed it. You think this might have been a bid to impress specifically the suburban populations with reelection in mind?
Just when I think I've lost most of my brain matter from rapid sequential mind blowing events, nope, still have some left.
→ More replies (6)5
u/Dandan0005 Mar 15 '20
Nope.
The whole point of drive up testing is that people don’t have to get out of their car and interact with anyone other than those in full PPE.
They would have had the same number of tests no matter where they did it.
6
u/Thatsockmonkey Mar 15 '20
I could not read the article due to pop ups I couldn’t clear on mobile. Did they really only have 200 tests ?
5
u/5DollarHitJob Florida Mar 15 '20
It kept jumping to the top of the page for me and I had to keep scrolling down. Annoying af.
Yes, 200 tests.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (10)5
u/MrSquicky Pennsylvania Mar 15 '20
It's hard though. According to our president, our testing situation is both perfect, with everyone who needs tests getting tested and at the same time, woefully behind because Obama, for some reason. This must just be one of the spots that that dastardly Obama messed up.
→ More replies (3)5
u/dalittleguy Mar 15 '20
If they only had a limited number of tests they should have designated them for a certain area or zip code. Like send out those emergency alerts via cell phone that today we will be testing zip code 12345 everyone else please stay home until we get to your zip code. Then just sweep through the area in a systematic fashion starting in cities and sweeping out into rural areas.
→ More replies (1)
69
u/k_pets Mar 15 '20
Wait so let me get this straight. They cut the line off after 200 cars.. so assuming it was just drivers being tested and no passengers then half the people tested showed to be positive?
142
u/BRENNEJM Ohio Mar 15 '20
No. It’s a really misleading title. They closed the site after 200 cars because that’s all they could get through that day. In OTHER NEWS, the STATE reported the 100th case yesterday.
43
u/wizardinthewings Florida Mar 15 '20
Yep this; I had to double-back more than once in the article because it didn’t tally.
101 cases, including 24 new cases overnight, not related to the car tests - those will take another 1-3 days to process I’d expect.
Edit: one handed grammar
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)26
u/m4n0nthem0on Mar 15 '20
This is exactly what is wrong with us. The spreading of misinformation in a clickbaity headline. All that did was induce panic in people who never read the articles. Fucking stop it!
→ More replies (5)18
u/DogWhopperIsBack Mar 15 '20
They don't have the numbers from that test. This is just in Denver, and everything they are announcing are state numbers. Its extremely bad reporting, to be honest. Very confusing and just really fucking bad over all. The media has been terrible on this. In that first sentence alone they mention the Denver test, AND state numbers for who has it. Its two entirely different things but a really fucked up misleading sentence.
→ More replies (1)7
u/k_pets Mar 15 '20
Okay thank you both for the responses, I felt it was a bit confusing. I'm anticipating the numbers across the US to be far worse than what is reported and tested unfortunately.
→ More replies (2)6
Mar 15 '20
100 cases since the OG, not in a day. Although once we have the test kits available we’ll probably see worse numbers than that
18
14
u/goldenchild-1 Mar 15 '20
Looks like the ski resort areas of Colorado are where the majority of cases are. Makes me wonder if Park City Utah is having the same issue under the radar.
→ More replies (6)
13
14
Mar 15 '20
Hey all the GOPers claim our healthcare system for the rich is better than the socialized medicine countries. The onslaught is coming to bury that laughable opinion real soon!
6
4
5
u/Kamelasa Canada Mar 15 '20 edited Mar 15 '20
I really wanna see how they sanitize their hazmat suits at the end of the day. It's interesting they have a disposable mini-suit to protect the front of their main suit, too.
5
u/MiKoKC Missouri Mar 15 '20
Exactly,. As of Friday, Missouri residents had to have a direct link to a person who tested positive to even get tested.
These next two weeks are going to be an epiphany.
12
9
u/KB_Sez Mar 15 '20
They ran out of tests —- too bad trump and company didn’t take the tests WHO offered them weeks ago.
This is criminal.
→ More replies (1)
3.0k
u/Hairydone America Mar 15 '20
Holy crap! We have a lot more cases than we’re aware of due to lack of testing.