
TSA officers who tested positive for coronavirus did pat-downs at SJC airport - sahin-boydas
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/03/12/coronavirus-infected-tsa-employees-at-mineta-san-jose-airport-patted-down-passengers-put-hands-on-travel-documents/
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wool_gather
The part that's missing here:

Public announcement of when exactly these folks were on duty in the last two
weeks so that travellers who came into contact with them _can self-identify
and get tested_.

Or better, just announcement that any traveller that passed through their
checkpoint recently can get tested, regardless of the timeframe.

The virus has no interest in helping TSA or politicians save face. We have to
start testing and publishing the results.

~~~
heimidal
They aren’t testing most people with symptoms. No way will they start testing
random people without.

~~~
daniel_iversen
They aren't doing much of anything really are they? I love that Denmark, with
only 400-500 cases took the drastic approach of suspending schools,
kindergartens and a lot of public and private people are going home:
[https://www.thelocal.dk/20200311/denmark-to-shut-all-
schools...](https://www.thelocal.dk/20200311/denmark-to-shut-all-schools-and-
universities-to-fight-virus)

~~~
asdfasgasdgasdg
US currently has 1/20th the number of cases as Denmark per unit population.
Denmark is in the top five by this metric, and they aren't doing (up to now)
any better a job than Italy at flattening the curve. The thinking probably
goes, among people who think little but also get to decide, that it's not that
big of a deal here in the US yet, and that further restriction and action
would be unpopular. Or maybe the powers that be trust the invisible hand of
the free market to solve the problem? It is true that many companies and other
private organizations within the US are taking relatively drastic steps. Maybe
the executive believes that municipalities and states will handle the issue,
and that they will take the brunt of an unrest that results. But more is
plainly needed lest we go the route that Italy has gone up til now.

~~~
jacquesm
Give it two weeks.

~~~
asdfasgasdgasdg
I think that is the only thing that is going to drive home the reality of what
we're up against to the folks in charge. :( I for one am spending time in my
backyard and in my house, and not many places else.

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Cyberdog
If the entire NBA got suspended over one sick employee, could the same please
happen to the TSA over two?

~~~
brudgers
The US sports industry shut down as soon as WHO declared pandemic. The
declaration facilitates insurance claims for lost revenue and offers a sound
defense in response to lawsuits for harm caused by cancelled events.

I suspect the TSA as a potential transmission vector was a consideration in
restricting travel from Europe. This is not a scenario without existing
contingency plans. Within hours of the WHO declaration, Doctors Without
Borders was outside my local Walmart. That wasn’t a phone call earlier in the
day.

~~~
netsharc
> I suspect the TSA as a potential transmission vector was a consideration in
> restricting travel from Europe.

Woah, so much spin, I think I could harvest the energy out of this sentence to
solve the planet's energy needs.

~~~
brudgers
If you knew squat about me, you’d assign a low probability to it being spin.
Particularly the flavor implied.

------
throwawaycbxu
At this point, I am concerned that politics is still taking precedence over
saving lives. Australia seems to be doing the right thing, except for travel
bans. The government swiftly imposed travel bans on China, South Korea and
Iran, but inexplicably held off on Italy for more than a week (a cynic would
say that it wasn’t that inexplicable, but let’s not get sidetracked).

The United States seems to be a hotbed of undiagnosed infection, and Americans
are still streaming in. Tom Hanks (who, to be fair might have been infected in
Australia) could be the tip of the iceberg.

Shutting down travel from the US to Australia might anger the US government,
but it would seem to be a prudent action.

The US Schengen travel ban, exempting the UK, also seems to be cynical
geopolitics, that could cost the UK more than the rest of Europe.

If geopolitics is a problem, then a full travel ban could be more palatable.
The status quo is decidedly uncomfortable.

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paxys
Meanwhile the government has its eyes and ears covered and is refusing to test
people, just to keep the official numbers down.

~~~
r00fus
Federal government. State governments are issuing executive orders and
declaring state of emergency.

~~~
davidw
IDK, a lot of them still feel pretty much in the 'muddling' phase. Oregon
seems to be taking a "wait and see" approach which is ridiculous because no
one can "see" anything without adequate testing! We finally got bans on events
over 250 people yesterday, but schools are still open, even if we pulled our
kids.

~~~
r00fus
Schools are open in CA also. There needs to be a stimulus that subsidizes paid
time off or these organizations will go under.

~~~
davidw
Things change fast. Schools closed as of next Monday. Good on them.

Next, do movie theaters and other large gathering spots.

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ekianjo
The other way to look at it is, are there TSA officers who don't have
coronavirus by now?

~~~
lolc
After two weeks they are immune!

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ck2
This is why the country is doomed because it's happening now at every
workplace, school, store and club.

Everyone is breathing the same moist air when studies are showing it can
survive for up to three hours in the air AND that you can catch it more than
once since for some reason the body doesn't fully make immunity.

And people feel absolutely no responsibility to isolate themselves, everyone
coughing and sneezing at any store I try to go to. They are just going to do
whatever they want to do.

Imagine the world by the end of this year. Possible literal decimation.

~~~
pdonis
_> studies are showing it can survive for up to three hours in the air_

What studies are these? All the info I have seen talks about transmission
requiring close contact with an infected person or directly breathing in
droplets from their cough or sneeze.

 _> you can catch it more than once since for some reason the body doesn't
fully make immunity_

Where are you getting this from?

~~~
sokoloff
Not GP and not signing that content, but it does seem like there are two
strains of it; if true, you can get it twice.

~~~
pdonis
_> it does seem like there are two strains of it_

Where are you getting that from?

~~~
bubersson
You can check out the mutations here
[https://nextstrain.org/ncov?branchLabel=aa](https://nextstrain.org/ncov?branchLabel=aa)

