DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Contagion : COVID-19 Continued

The current thread is on page 10. I thought I would start a new one following the trend set by Swish and Purp. Purp, you can delete this if you want to set the thread titles. No biggie.

Recent news found here: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-ne...ll-out-n1166286

j/c...

This could be good news. From Johns Hopkins University website. Click link for full Q & A.

GHN Exclusive | Global Health | Infectious Diseases
COVID-19’s Stop-Gap Solution Until Vaccines and Antivirals Are Ready
March 19, 2020
Brian W. Simpson
Editor-in-chief

As novel coronavirus cases continue to mount globally, humanity can’t turn to its go-to infectious disease fixes: vaccines and drugs. At least not yet. A new vaccine might be at least 12 to 18 months away though new drug treatments will likely come sooner.

Arturo Casadevall, chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is helping organize a national effort to use antibodies from recovered COVID-19 patients for protection and treatments. In a March 13 Journal of Clinical Investigation article, Casadevall and Liise-anne Pirofski of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine proposed the stop-gap measure of using plasma (serum) from the blood of survivors until a vaccine and antiviral medications are available.

In this Q&A with Global Health NOW, Casadevall says clinical trials could begin in 3–4 weeks provided that they clear all the regulatory steps. If that happens, he anticipates widespread availability by early summer.

https://www.globalhealthnow.org/2020-03/...irals-are-ready

Well, the first confirmed case that is personal. The sister of my better half tested positive today

Hope she recovers and is back in good health!

ACME and now Giant Eagle grocery stores in the Northeast Ohio area have started installing these protective shields between the cashier and customer.

First and foremost I pray she will have the milder affects of the virus.

Secondly what symptoms and how bad were they for her to get tested ?

And for all the people who are sick and the ones who have lost their jobs and all that have hardships from this. I deeply sympathize for you and will pray for you all to find comfort and that things get back to normal for all soon.

I could definitely use some prayers. With my wife only currently working 12 hours a week, and her employer closing most operations, and me being self employed - the state hasn't shut me down, but people worried about income has.............well, let's just say I/we are screwed.

I don't know any details yet. I will likely know everything by lunch tomorrow, though.


arch... consider it done.

Long overdue.

I also want to pass along prayers and well wishes for those with loved ones who either have, or might be infected with this virus. I pray for mild symptoms, and a speedy and quick return to full health.

I also wanted to say that ...... I bought 2 12=24 packs of toilet paper today! I'm saved! (and no, I'm not giving out my address, and I am armed!)

Purp, I hope she recovers fast. Wow. So sorry to hear that.

Sorry to hear that Arch, truly sorry. Hopefully congress will do something to help sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, maybe you should call Health and Human Services for a list of programs in your county. Community action and some others might be able to help fend off the wolves until things get moving again or the government decides to help. The sad part is, the way they are talking, they are going to help people with expanded unemployment and unless you carry insurance on yourself I'm not sure you would qualify with her still on books for that 12 hours, might be better if she was laid off.

S# is real for all of us.

We've been shut down since 3/13.
When this crisis passes, who will be willing to congregate in public spaces that accommodate 1500 or more?

Public gatherings may actually become a thing of the past.

This global crisis isn't just news on the TV any more. It's now hitting our homes.

Stay safe.

Damn this thing.

We're all pulling for fam now, bro.

As a self employed person, as it is, even though I pay unemployment and pay workmen's comp, I can not collect any benefits. And I get that, because if it were different, we'd have all kinds of people claiming "I was self employed, but now I don't have any work....."

I've been doing what I do for 17 years. Good times, and bad times. Winters have always been slow for me. We're coming out of winter, and things haven't picked up. Surgery bills, wife not working for 2 months (although she did go back to 12 hours a week a month early - the company was amazed she would do that)

But, we hit the trifecta: Her not working, me being slow, and corona virus, which has literally closed me down.

Oh, and daughter, at home because college closed, and pissed at me for not letting her do her social thing.

I guess we'll - I guess I will - find out if stress is a killer. I've never been a rich person, and that was fine, but we're living on savings right now for the most part. Can do that for a while before we start selling assets.

Never in a million years did I think a virus would put the kebosh on me. I was wrong. I'm just not in a good mood/place right now.

I couldn't agree more.

The social effect this will have will be quite interesting.

My kids have resumed classes via Zoom. They see their friends on screens. They haven't been allowed to play with their friends for going on 10 days now.

Things like ApplePay are going to boom. No more exchanging credit cards to merchants and passing germs.

People will certainly be hesitant to return to mass events until a vaccine is available.

We still have a very long way to go.

It's going to be rampant, Arch. The emotions.

Seattle struggling with it.

I have a buddy from HS that lives in NYC with his fam and is quite worried.

Here's an article from NYT discussing it....again, NYT offering access to articles for free at this time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/22/us/coronavirus-seattle-anxiety-mental-health-stress.html

I think that things will return to normal when this ends.

I remember 9-11, and how the airlines were shut down, no one wanted to leave their homes, ravel, go out anywhere that might be unsafe, and so forth.

People even returned to church in large droves.

A month or so later, and life started to return to normal. Even NYC started the process of living again. 3 months later, people were flying to vacation destinations.

We are a very, very resilient people.

Arch I went through something similar in 08-09 with losing my business, followed by crap health. The last thing you want to do is dwell on the stuff you can't change. Just do what you can everyday to make things better, confide in your wife and never stop sharing how you each feel, and plug away because it will get better.

Same here with the feelings of love towards those getting hit hard.

Good news on the TP. You feel like a lottery winner when you go in and find some.

1. Good idea by Giant Eagle
2. Best wishes Prp

1. Best wishs Prp that her case is mild and that she recovers quickly.
2. Everyone stay healthy!

That's awful. Wishing you and your family the best.

Yet it took nearly 20 years for us to become financially and medically responsible and protect the survivors and first responders that are still suffering today.

Thanks for all the well wishes, everyone..... aaaand, I just got the details: It was a miscommunication

Her sister has been tested; no results, yet. Literally the "telephone game' effect between my better half and her mother, lol.

Here's to hoping that there isn't another reversal on this.

I tend to agree with this at this moment although I think it will be a personal choice for many and each person/family is going to tailor their behavior to their level of concern. I have tried not to leave the house much in the last two weeks, but when I have you wouldn't know Vegas was in a lockdown. Looks like business as usual on any other day. Although I have not driven down the strip which I heard is quite interesting right now.

To all those affected by this, Prp and others, praying for the best. Stay safe, be smart, take care of your family and loved ones the best you can. At some point, we are all going to have to return to normal lives, even if this isn't completely nipped in the bud. It's not feasible to expect people to be on lockdown for months at a time. I thought Trump said something interesting the other day "the cure can't be worse than the disease". That's kind of where we are at, especially with people's financial well being. There is no recovering from this financially. This is a do over. The market has been reset. Many businesses are going to choose simply not to reopen. It won't be worth it. Unemployment will be high for a long time. This is just a different time. But at some point, we have to get back to as much of normal as we can for people's mental well being as well.

Take care everyone. Be smart. Be safe. Hopefully we will start to see the social distancing and lockdowns start to work.

Definitely good news! Although, a disconcerting miscommunication to say the least.



As for the economy, the markets, and folks getting together again.... all of that will rebound so hugely in the wake of this, it will be amazing.

shoutout to the thread title.

Man dies, woman left in critical condition after taking chloroquine phosphate

https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-dies-woman-left-critical-112927146.html

umm....

j/c...

Column: An emergency room physician writes from the COVID-19 front lines
Matt Beecroft, MD
Posted at 4:16 AM Updated at 8:43 AM

I’ve never noticed the last breath of outside air I take before walking into the hospital for a shift, but tonight I reflexively inhale sharply like I’m about to try to swim the length of the pool underwater — an involuntary act that confesses my anxiety.

Upon arrival, my temp taken at the desk: 96.3. I’m permitted entry. I sign a form attesting I have not had a cough.

I walk by the charge nurse desk, she tells me we are conserving mask use — supplies are running low. Not many masks are left.

Today I will be in the COVID-pod. This area of the ER is cordoned off for only patients who potentially have the virus.

News of the young local ER doctor who has fallen critically ill with the virus has everyone saddened and scared. Stories about the Italian physician who has now died after continuing to treat patients once the hospital ran out of protective gear punctuate our conversations about when new N95 masks might be coming.

While I’m getting a medical history, my first patient tells me how she has been depressed since she lost her youngest son to cancer. As she puts her head in her hands and sobs, I instinctively move to put my hand on her shoulder, but then I stop, take a step back and tell her I’m sorry through my mask and face shield from a safe distance of 6 feet away. It’s uncomfortable and sterile; it feels phony.

The next patient looks ill. I’m worried, but the flu swab comes back positive. She has influenza. Whew. Influenza, while still serious, is good news today.

Next a woman arrives with EMS and her husband strolls in behind the stretcher. “Hey, we can’t have visitors in here, is he a patient?”

“Well, whatever she has I’ve got, so why can’t I be with her?” comes his response. We make attempts to tell him that we are trying to minimize staff exposure, so if you don’t need to be in the hospital, you shouldn’t be in the hospital. After a long conversation he relents. I talk to him about the importance of isolating himself at home. He tells me he still needs to go to the store: “Don’t worry, I’ll wear a mask.”

A 94-year-old is next. She comes from a nursing home where we know there are others infected. She has dementia and is coughing and the first thing she does as her nurse and I enter the room is pull off her mask and cough violently into our shared air. We both recoil. Her dementia is too advanced for her to follow instructions to keep her mask on.

Eventually, we are able to get the mask back in place, avoiding being coughed on further. We give her a mild sedative and now she can sleep. We shift her in bed to make her more comfortable. Given her age, it’s unlikely she will be alive by the end of the week.

Next is a 63-year-old woman who was failing outpatient treatment for what was thought to be bacterial pneumonia. One look at her and her chest x-ray and it’s obvious she has COVID-19, and it’s getting worse. I don’t think she’s going to do well.

My wife texts me. “We need daycare for the kids because I need to go to work.” The daycare she talked to today is wary because they know what I do. Nobody wants our kids.

Suddenly, commotion at the other end of the ED.

An intoxicated patient (who was brought to this area because he is coughing frequently) has assaulted a staff member. No serious injuries. Security is called but he has taken his mask off and is laughing loudly at the idea everyone fears him breathing on them.

With the help of security, we get him into his room. I talk to a police officer on the phone who is apologetic but says they cannot come to the hospital to arrest on a minor assault. He will be charged and hopefully be picked up on a warrant.

Five officers went out on quarantine last week and the city can’t have them coming in the hospital unless there is major need. The police need to stay functional, too.

Anxiety comes in occasional bursts: that scratch in my throat, that stiffness in my neck — the first signs of the onset of a viral syndrome? A fellow physician I’ve known for years broke down crying while we talked today.

A critical care colleague comes by and we discuss the number of ventilators we have. If the models are to be believed, it’s not going to be enough. Every doctor’s stomach turns at the thought of having to choose who gets a vent and who doesn’t based on the likelihood that they will survive. We all picture an elderly loved one.

“Maybe we will get more vents.” That’s what we all said about the tests two weeks ago. Yet South Korea has done 200,000 and we still aren’t able to widely test. No word on when tests are coming, just vague promises.

I see a 37-year-old woman. She had a test six days ago, it was sent to North Carolina to run and she just got it back today. Positive. Fortunately, she’s doing well. She will go home to quarantine.

I clean my face shield so I can re-use it. Scrub my hands, don new gown and gloves, keep my N95 mask on, and I’m on to the next patient.

This patient clearly has the disease. But she’s middle aged and doing okay. She’s sick enough to stay in the hospital but she declines. She has a special-needs daughter at home; she cannot leave her alone. There is no one else to take care of her. They will stay together and alone throughout this — “Whatever happens, happens,” she says.

Eventually the shift ends; I walk outside to the empty nighttime parking lot. A quick look around and I strip my clothes off and throw them in the bed of my truck, where they will remain for a day before I take them out to wash them.

Sitting in my underwear in my truck, I take a second to answer a few texts.

“Should we be having chicken pox parties with our friends’ kids since we’re all going to get this anyway?”

“No, no, no, no. Please don’t”

“If 12,000 Americans die from the flu annually, why is everyone panicking?”

“Because this could kill 1.5 million. Please believe the epidemiologists that have spent their lives doing this over your own thought experiments.”

Then I get ready to drive home; I take my first deep breath in many hours and look back at our hospital and wonder what this place will look like in two weeks.

All of us wonder. But all of us are here because there was a fire and we ran to it: the x-ray techs who shoot a chest film on every one of these patients, the nurses, the doctors, the respiratory therapists, all the staff.

We know some of us will catch this. Statistically, some of us will die from it. But we did what we signed up to do. We ran into the burning building because there are people in there we can save.

If you know someone who works on the front lines, please take a minute to send them a message this week and say thank you. We’re coming to work for you; please stay home for us.

https://www.dispatch.com/opinion/2020032...es?rssfeed=true

A very sobering read.


First responders - police, fire, and EMS - are going to be particularly hard hit by this. I can see police forces and individual firehouses getting fairly well decimated.

boy oh boy

Here is a great informative animation that explains what COVID-19 does.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtN-goy9...fsijlrvcaDZ6f3Q

I can't verify this but I heard that they were chugging aquarium cleaner...

If true, well... what do you expect?

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/u...3234651419.html



Nearly half of infected on cruise ship asymptomatic at time of testing
A US government report said 46.5 percent of the 712 people who tested positive for SARS-Cov-2 on board the Diamond Princess in February were asymptomatic at the time of testing.

The cruise ship accounted for the largest cluster of COVID-19 cases outside mainland China at the time, and the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggested the high proportion of asymptomatic infections could partially explain the high attack rate on board cruise ships.

The CDC also said traces of the new coronavirus was found in the cabins of infected passengers 17 days after the rooms were vacated, suggesting the virus, known as SARS-Cov-2, can last longer on some surfaces than previously thought. However, the CDC said it is not clear if transmission occurred from the contaminated surfaces and called for more studies.



So, since we can pretty much use the cruise ships as a control, one takeaway is that for every sick person that gets tested and confirmed, there is at least one asymptomatic person out there still spreading it. Perhaps not quite that direct a relationship, but it probably isn't a bad starting point. So, "real" cases is (confirmed x2)?

j/c...

I am quite thankful for all the control measures Gov. DeWine has put in place. Now hopefully he keeps them in place for an adequate amount of time. Might be months.

Akron-area health leaders say they are prepared for ‘tsunami’ of coronavirus cases coming
By Betty Lin-Fisher
Beacon Journal
Posted at 10:12 AM Updated at 12:06 PM

The Akron area’s hospital leaders are working together to try to stay ahead of what they’re calling the tsunami or surge of cases coming associated with the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

“This is exponential. Today’s trickle is tomorrow’s river is the next day’s tsunami,” said Dr. Brian Harte, president of Cleveland Clinic Akron General during an early-Tuesday-morning virtual COVID-19 conference call hosted by the Greater Akron Chamber. The administrators, coordinating through their Akron Regional Hospital Board, have been in communication with each other and as well as colleagues across the state as the coronavirus spread has worsened.

Combining the visitor restrictions put into place — Cleveland Clinic and Summa Health have both banned visitors with some exceptions and Akron Children’s is allowing the same two visitors for a patient’s stay — with significantly decreasing or cancelling most non-essential appointments and procedures, “makes the hospital kind of an eerily quiet place,” said Harte, in a sentiment echoed by Summa CEO Dr. Cliff Deveny, Children’s CEO Grace Wakulchik and Western Reserve CEO Dr. Robert Kent.

“There’s a real tension, but a real determination,” Harte said.

Deveny predicted the surge of COVID-19 patients could be here by next week.

Summit County Public Health Commissioner Donna Skoda told the 250 or so attendees on the Zoom meeting call that she knows all of the measures put in place to have people stay at home are inconvenient, but necessary.

“If we’re thinking ‘we’ll close the businesses, close the schools...and we’ll open everything back up,’ I can assure you if we do that without adequate testing and resources, we will have more than a tsunami. It will be horrible and we will see a lot of deaths,” she said.

However, Skoda said “I do have hope. We do have a fabulous healthcare system. We have cooperation and collaboration and everything we need. We just have to really get the community to buy in that this is important to socially isolate, socially distance and try to do everything we can to reduce the spread.”

Kent of Western Reserve Hospital urged employers on the chamber call to increase their paid sick leave, saying it makes economic sense in the long run to pay someone to stay home instead of having that person come in and infect eight more employees, who then also get sick.

He also encouraged employers to tell employees to stay home if they are sick.

“Now if you have a fever, the best thing you can do is stay home,” Kent said, adding that it is opposite what people are ingrained to do, unless the patient is having trouble breathing or any other type of emergency.

Tom Smoot, director of the Summit County Emergency Management Agency, said one of the most critical needs now are donated personal protection equipment (PPE) such as surgical masks, N-95 masks, gloves, face shields, sterile swabs, medical gowns and thermometers from other healthcare providers such as veterinarians and dentists and construction companies for healthcare workers and first responders.

Call 330-926-5795 and the health department will direct donations to the drop-off site.

Skoda said the county was set to get its first shipment of PPE from the national stockpile today.

Wakulchik said the area hospitals are working on standards across the board, in conjunction with Centers for Disease Control guidelines, which are always changing, to have uniform use of PPEs at area hospitals.

She also urged people to stay home to protect themselves and health workers.

“Do not go out unless you have to go out to get gas or food,” she said. “Every time you go out and encounter someone who is a healthcare worker, there’s a potential to spread coronavirus. We really need all doctors and nurses here to manage this.”

https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20200...us-cases-coming

407k cases.

We're now third in the world at almost 50k. About 20k behind Italy and 30k behind China...

How much longer until we're number 1? I give it a 4 days.

That figure is very troubling yet much as I would have expected. It pretty much means that taking the temperature of people is fairly meaningless in determining if they have Covid 19.

I'll name that tune in three days.

Pretty much always was as soon as we knew the incubation period was up to two weeks and you could be contagious during that entire period. It was hopeful, but helpless, energy wasted.