Yes, at first I wondered if it was true but apparently it is.

Maybe people will take it a little more seriously now. I hope he and Rita recover fully and quickly!

I wish them a speedy recovery!

The son says they are doing ok and don't seem to be that sick, so that's the good news anyway.

Elmer, I'm curious what made you ask if Hanks had been in Canada, and speculate about the possibility that he may have been exposed to the virus there? I'm sure Canadians and Americans both love Tom Hanks equally, as he is by all accounts, not only a great actor, but a truly lovely human being. But speculating that 'he could have picked it up there' when there is no mention of he and his wife having visited Canada recently, struck me as a little odd...were you trying to remind us of that satirical song 'Blame Canada' that was an Oscar nominee for best song of 1999, lol?

No, it was a possibility I thought I would mention. Because......I've tired of one contributor's habit of making far-fetched and rude schadenfreude-ish comments about the US from a Canadian vantage point and thought it might be appropriate to do the same in return. The more ridiculous, the better the point is made.

Continually criticizing someone or something says more about the criticizer than about the attempted target.

Elmer, I understand why anyone would be irked, if a contributor has a 'habit of making far-fetched and rude schadenfreude-ish comments about the US from a Canadian vantage point...' That type of 'contribution' is totally unwarranted and disrespectful. As well, I agree with your last statement. But your innuendo "Was he in Canada before going to Australia? He could have picked it up there" came off as snarky, with no context to this thread. Perhaps you should avoid such, unless the guilty party you are referencing, is commenting in the same thread, which I'm sure we all would notice. Otherwise, you might be misunderstood as having disdain for an entire group, rather than for the one with whom you have a complaint.

I found these quickly, there are more but it's not worth any more of my time. A few examples from the originator of this thread:

Includes the commen t"And how come such a large proportion of these situations have been happening in the United States?"

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5204114/austin-bombing-suspect-blows-self-up#n=36

Includes a comment: "The report said that one of them bought a quantity that would have cost her $2,000 in Indiana for $243. and change at a local WM."

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5733711/lower-price-for-insulin-in-canada#n=20

Another:

"I don't want foreign agencies taking part in activities at election time in my country.

And I hear many U.S. folks expressing similar views.

How short are their memories?
The Iranians had a democratically elected leader named Mossadegh back in the ('70s?) who was too friendly with the Soviets to suit some U.S. leaders, and they engineered his being replaced with Shah Reza Pavlevi, anything but a democrat.

When a left-leaning leader was elected in Chile, U.S. operatives helped get a fellow named Pinochet carry out a coup which produced a pretty authoritarian regime in Chile for a generation or so.

Not to mention some invasions, here and there.

Sort of depends on whose ox is being gored?

As for recent experience ... during the run-up to the recent election in the U.S., didn't someone named Trump invite the Russians to mess with the computers in his opposition's headquarters?"

Another:

"California doesn't have anything like the water that Michigan has. Michigan has three of them for almost all of its borders ... and Ontario cosies up to five of the six of them.

The premier of our province went over for a visit with the governor of Michigan a few days ago, and we're hearing how the funding to preserve and upgrade the Great Lakes, that have deteriorated somewhat, is being cut by something like 97%."

Nice try, Amicus; I'm sorry it didn't work.

Back to original post: Well wishes to everyone impacted by the coronavirus, including Tom Hanks and wife. I wonder if he was there for the Grand Prix, which either is or is not cancelled, is or is not going to run, with or without fans, with or without several key drivers, etc. What a mess!

He is in Australia making a movie, a biopic about Elvis Presley, in which Hanks plays his manager, Col. Tom Parker.

Yes, and I think I read it was thought he'd contracted it from a member of the crew. I'm uncertain of that. If I did get that right, I didn't note if anything was said about that person's nationality. ;-)

Elvis Presley biopic, that's interesting. What an entertainer he was, wish I could have seen him live.

Sophie Trudeau, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's wife has tested positive for the virus. She had just returned from Britain from speaking at a conference and wasn't feeling well. Trudeau is feeling fine but is currently in self-isolation.

I wish Tom and Rita nothing but the best. They seem like lovely people and I've never heard a whisper that either of them are difficult. Rita Wilson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, was very open about her cancer battle, and as far as I know is in good health these days.

On a personal note, Tom and his movies have entertained and enthralled me, made me laugh, made me cry, made me think and made me look at the world in a different way. Kind, generous and humble, he is what all humans (whether male or female) should strive to be. I think pettiness and vindictiveness are foreign concepts to a man like Tom. What a wonderful example he sets for all of us.

I hope he and Rita recover from this -- as I would do for everyone. But why is this "NEWS!!!!!!!!" Headlines! Omigod, "WE'RE all gonna die because Tom Hanks. . . .. . And Sophie Trudeau has tested positive! OMG, we're all gonna DIE! Or you could start washing your hands, which you should have been doing forever -- basic hygiene-- and stay out of crowds now.

ds

The headline is that they were able to be tested, being in another country and all. Our lack of testing is beyond shameful.

"Our lack of testing is beyond shameful."

Huh? If I and my primary care physician feel I need to be tested to determine if I have contracted the virus, I can/will be. Just like Tom and Rita, who started to feel bad and requested medical assistance. The test is even covered for free under Medicare.

What is not available is the ability for current medical staff and lab personnel to test the entire population of the US in one felled swoop. Nor should it even be necessary!! Watch the damn news and pay attention! Stay home if possible, avoid unnecessary gatherings, wash your hands thoroughly and often. If you should somehow develop symptoms that may lead you to think you could have the virus, then ask to be tested.

Huh? If I and my primary care physician feel I need to be tested to determine if I have contracted the virus, I can/will be

Really? Do you have a source for that? Are you saying I can go right now to my local walk-in clinic and get a test if I have symptoms? Anyone can, anywhere in the US? Because that's not what I've heard, and I'd love to see evidence that testing is that widely available, if you have any.

”Huh? If I and my primary care physician feel I need to be tested to determine if I have contracted the virus, I can/will be. Just like Tom and Rita, who started to feel bad and requested medical assistance. The test is even covered for free under Medicare.”

Not according to Dr. Anthony Fauci‘s testimony before a House committee as of Wednesday. There is still a shortage of tests.

"The system is not really geared to what we need right now," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a House hearing about coronavirus test kits in the United States, which were initially dogged by technical glitches. "That is a failing. Let's admit it."

"The idea of anybody getting it (tested) easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we're not set up for that," Fauci told Wasserman Schultz. "Do I think we should be? Yes. But we're not."

No, your local walk-in clinic is the last place you want to go if you suspect you might be infected!! Call you primary care physician and they can direct you - if they feel it necessary - to whatever labs in your area are doing this testing. Here, the labs are administered by our state DOH Public Health service and do not have a huge capacity...only about 1,000 tests per day although they are working to bump that up to 5,000. The University of Washington Medical Center actually has a drive-up testing facility to protect staff, patients and other employees but testing at this time is limited to students and employees.

These tests are not done on a whim - you can't just get tested for personal reassurance. But if you are at risk, work in a vulnerable occupation or expect you have been exposed, then it may make sense.

I'm not sure I see the pressing demand for universal testing anyway. If you have the virus, there is not much more than just general home nursing care required UNLESS you are an at-risk individual.

Okay, that's a very different story then. You initially made it sound like anyone can just go get tested at their primary care office if warranted, but passing very strict thresholds and getting a referral to a specialized lab is a different scenario entirely.

“I'm not sure I see the pressing demand for universal testing anyway. ”

This says it better then I can. From the NYT.

“Accurate testing is critical to stopping an outbreak: When one person gets a confirmed diagnosis, they can be put in isolation where they won’t spread the disease further. Then their contacts can be identified and put into quarantine — so that they don’t spread the virus if they’ve become infected, too. That’s particularly important for a virus like this one, which seems able to spread before people show symptoms, or when their symptoms are mild.””

....and this from Dr. Natalie Azar (contributor to the Today Show).

"I just tried to get a patient tested an hour ago, and I couldn't in my outpatient office,'' she said on MSNBC. "The only place that we're currently doing it is in the emergency department, and they don't have enough."

I'm coming down with something and I'm so freaked out right now. I plan to stay inside and I'm praying it's just a cold. I was in a very germy doctors office on Monday, though i'm regretting that choice now.

How long does it take to develop a test for a an unknown virus that has never been seen in the United States before ? How long does it take to put those tests into production, even on a emergency basis ? How long does it take to distribute those tests all over a country the size of the United States ? Is it unreasonable to expect every doctors office, clinic, etc. to have this test available ?

Does anyone know the answers to those questions ? I don't .

woodrose, those are the questions I *do* expect my federal health officials to know, to a reasonable degree of accuracy.

Chi, I hope you are ok. Take care.

Ditto, chi.

Thanks, I think it's just a cold but it's hard not to be paranoid these days. :)

Chi...just watch for a fever and take deep breaths to check if your lungs are clear. If you have difficulty filling your lungs or holding your breath, then you need to get checked out. Hope you feel better soon.

I stopped by walgreens to get some cold-eeze....none to be had. (I just checked amazon and they want $39 for 2 boxes of 18 lozenges each. Yikes!!)

They had some paper towels but not a roll of toilet paper. We are also finding it hard to come by flour. DH bought eggs....one store had none, the other the guy was just putting out the last of what they had. It's a real crap shoot as to what is the next item people will decide to hoard.

It's going to get hinkier as people's allergies start to kick in with headaches, sneezing, coughing, runny noses....

nickel_kg

That's the point I was trying to make.The purpose of my post was to get people to think first, instead of automatically blaming the government. If we don't know the answers to those questions ourselves, then how can we say they were too slow ?

woodrose, I'm not automatically blaming the government. After careful thought and consideration, I'm blaming the top levels of our federal government for less than stellar preparation (lack of test kits) which left us all vulnerable to community spread; and less than frank and honest communications with us, the public. Yes, the top levels should have paid more heed, much earlier, to the lower levels of government where the scientific knowledge resides.

I will blame the government. They had inklings of the disease last November and they had solid evidence of it since January. Why is it every other developed nation in the world, including S. Korea, has been able to test their people but the US can't? Why is it when the WHO offered to make tests available to the US the US turned them down? Why is it they screwed up the initial tests and then had such a slow response to fix it?

I could go on, but you get the idea.

Thank you, Annie.

'Why is it they screwed up the initial tests and then had such a slow response to fix it?"

I can take a crack at answering this, I don't think my words will be new news for anyone.

The slow response and other missteps came about because of an inept administration that viewed the growing matter as a political problem to deflect and minimize attention to. Normally presidents have good judgement, leadership ability, and excellent advisers. The current officeholder listens mainly to Fox News broadcasts, talk radio hosts, and inexperienced political advisers and is really in over his head.

We can all grouse about there being too much bureaucracy. A CDC official speaking at a Capitol Hill hearing the other day, said in response to a Congressman's question, that they were studying approaches to "operationalize" the solution. The politician said something like "I don't want you to study how to operationalize it, I'm asking if you can commit to DOING it. and doing it very soon". Eventually a Yes came out.

I think there are fundamentally good people working at the CDC and other public health organizations and hopefully the politicians will give them the money they need and then stay out of the way.