More than $10M worth of masks, protective gear left in the rain outside Bay Area event center County officials didn't know that thousands of PPE boxes were moved outside and forgotten for months, until the I-Team told them
By Dan Noyes
Friday, January 14, 2022 3:12AM
SAN MATEO, Calif. (KGO) -- San Mateo County workers are scrambling to clean up a mess uncovered by the ABC7 I-Team. More than $10 million worth of precious personal protective equipment-- purchased with your tax dollars - was left outside in the rain.
We all know how important masks, hospital gowns, and other protective gear are, as the COVID pandemic surges yet again.
This seems hard to believe, but top county officials didn't know that thousands of boxes of PPE were moved outside and forgotten for months until the I-Team told them.
Dan Noyes got a tip on a recent rainy day and went straight to the San Mateo County Event Center, Gate 9, and couldn't quite believe what he found. Thousands upon thousands of boxes containing all sorts of brand new personal protective equipment soaking in the rain; stacks of boxes collapsing, too many to count, some breaking open and spilling their contents.
Noyes says he found "hospital gowns in all different sizes. Here's size M, there's large, and of course, here's double XL."
He also spotted pallets of face shields, vented goggles and various types of coveralls: "Boxes upon boxes of PPE just rotting in the rain. How did this happen?"
Our road to some answers and accountability started with a security guard. Remember, the county owns this property.
note: reported interaction with a security guard follows the well know path that 1A Auditors expierience...
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 3:09 am
by RTH10260
Where is the common sense with Americans? A damageed transport container does not mean that the goods are damaged and unusable. Especially hospotal gear, those items are each packed in a protective plastic wrapper and contents will remain just fine. Even the plastic face shields don't detoriate. All stuff can be repackaged after dousing them in a desinfectant.
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 10:45 am
by Volkonski
Richard "Omicron IS NOT Mild" Ward, Esq.
@RichardWWard1
From my former hometown hospital in Edmond, Oklahoma.
0 ICU beds available.
0 Inpatient beds.
55 Emergency Department holds waiting for beds.
73 Transfer requests denied in 24 hrs.
In Oklahoma, it is illegal for schools to mandate masks.
Insanity.
And this is not the peak.
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 1:00 pm
by Volkonski
Chris Polansky
@ChrisKPolansky
The state typically doesn’t put out COVID situation reports over the weekends but, yes, wow, this is record-shatteringly bad news. Oklahoma is in real trouble.
Quote Tweet
Brent Wilcox
@BrentWilcox
· 54m
Wow there is a Saturday report. Because it’s SO BAD in Oklahoma.
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 1:00 pm
by Volkonski
Chris Polansky
@ChrisKPolansky
·
46m
Replying to
@ChrisKPolansky
If we accept experts’ most conservative estimate — that the active case number reported by the state is a threefold undercount — right now, at minimum, one in every 15 Oklahomans is actively infected.
Chris Polansky
@ChrisKPolansky
·
44m
And there are no hospital beds in much if not all of the state.
Quote Tweet
Dana Branham
@danabranham
· 23h
Four Oklahoma health systems resumed reporting their own bed capacity figures today, saying the omicron variant of COVID-19 has created "a dire situation" for health care providers.
Here are today's numbers. Zero open ICU beds at all four.
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 1:10 pm
by Volkonski
We are only 10 miles from the OK border.
Is it time to barricade the Red River bridges?
Hey, Abbott! Recall the TX National Guard from the Mexican border and send them north to the OK border! Otherwise sick Oklahomans will overrun our north Texas hospitals.
(Just kidding, north Texas hospitals are already overrun.)
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 1:50 pm
by p0rtia
This is horrifying. The fact that MSM spends its precious time repeating the lies of a seditionist and asking the president why the public should believe him when he said he would end covid and he didn't, instead of covering the human tragedy in this country disgusts me.
0 ICU beds available.
0 Inpatient beds.
55 Emergency Department holds waiting for beds.
73 Transfer requests denied in 24 hrs.
In Oklahoma, it is illegal for schools to mandate masks.
Insanity.
And this is not the peak.
And my husband is supposed to go to Norman for training at the beginning of February. For TWO WEEKS. Ugh.
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 6:19 pm
by Lani
Still surging here.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hawaii reported a record 5,977 new COVID infections Saturday and six additional fatalities.
It’s the first time Hawaii’s daily case count has exceeded 5,000, topping the previous record by more than 1,000 infections. Several islands also saw record highs Saturday.
p0rtia wrote: ↑Sat Jan 15, 2022 1:50 pm
This is horrifying. The fact that MSM spends its precious time repeating the lies of a seditionist and asking the president why the public should believe him when he said he would end covid and he didn't, instead of covering the human tragedy in this country disgusts me.
I haven't heard of the MSM repeating Trump's lies or dogging Biden for not bringing an end to Covid. Most of what I hear has been plainly labeling Trump's lies as such and explaining why the changing nature of viruses has made Covid so hard to beat.
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 9:36 pm
by LM K
RTH10260 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 15, 2022 3:09 am
Where is the common sense with Americans? A damageed transport container does not mean that the goods are damaged and unusable. Especially hospotal gear, those items are each packed in a protective plastic wrapper and contents will remain just fine. Even the plastic face shields don't detoriate. The stuff can be repackaged after dousing them in a desinfectant.
Nope. None of the PPE is salvageable. Many bags aren't sealed tightly enough to meet hospital regulations.
Hospital regulations kept medical staff working covid wards from bringing in their own PPE. Nurses weren't allowed to bring in their own K95s.
One major issue? Microscopic mold particles. That material has been sitting in soaking wet cardboard boxes.
How can a hospital be confident that some boxes haven't been tampered with?
And who will disinfect everything? Hospitals don't have enough staff to clean rooms quickly enough. There's no time or people to decontaminate any of that.
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2022 2:44 pm
by Volkonski
Mercy Oklahoma
@MercyOklahoma
1.17.2022 update: We are caring for 97 patients with COVID-19 today. Every one of our ICU beds is full and three patients are in the ER waiting for an open bed. 79 patients requested to be transferred to our hospital over the weekend and we could only find beds for 18.
1:26 PM · Jan 17, 2022·Twitter for iPhone
Mercy Oklahoma
@MercyOklahoma
·
16m
Replying to
@MercyOklahoma
221 co-workers are positive for COVID, in quarantine and unable to work.
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:26 pm
by Volkonski
CNN
@CNN
·
21m
Oklahoma City hospitals are short of staff and overwhelmed, with no ICU or inpatient beds available as the Omicron variant causes a surge of Covid-19 patients, according to an open letter from leaders of the city's four major health care systems
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:49 pm
by Volkonski
Avoid Oklahoma if at all possible.
Catherine Sweeney
@CathJSweeney
·
14m
Kendrick: This is ER numbers and admission numbers. It looks like with Omicron, full admission is less likely. "But with overwhelming numbers, it doesn't really matter." On a system level. There is still a finite number of staffed beds, and we're surpassing that. #okhealth
Catherine Sweeney
@CathJSweeney
·
7m
Dr. Mary Clarke, OSMA President: If you are going to home test, pay very close attention to the directions. If you do any of the steps wrong, you could get a false negative, then act with a false sense of security.
Be aware it can take 3-5+ days to test positive #okhealth
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2022 12:54 pm
by Volkonski
Kassie McClung
@KassieMcClung
·
4m
COVID-19 hospitalizations increased quite a bit in Oklahoma today, with 1,702 patients (3-day avg). That's up 414 patients from one week ago.
The highest number recorded was 1,994 on Jan. 5, 2021.
on formalities cause legislators stripped the state governor of emergency powers
NYS Court Ruling.jpg (69.79 KiB) Viewed 1960 times
Re: COVID-19 and the States
Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2022 1:34 pm
by Volkonski
Chris Polansky
@ChrisKPolansky
·
9m
All of Tulsa County remains in “extreme severe risk” under omicron surge. Not just infections — hospitalizations up in a big way.
2 weeks ago: 341 patients, 87 in ICU
Now: 508 patients, 104 in ICU
@TulsaHealthDept
’s Dr. Bruce Dart says Tulsa County’s not yet peaked.
There are signs that cases and new hospitalizations are on the downward swing here in Colorado, though still very high. This guy has been posting visualizations of COVID stats in Colorado to the CoronavirusColorado subreddit for months and seems to know what he is doing.
