***NON-POLITICAL COVID-19 Discussion Thread***

[JakeF]

A couple of reminders...

Originally Posted by Bwana

Once again, don't come in this thread with some kind of political agenda, or you will be shown the door. If you want to go that route, there is a thread about this in DC.

Originally Posted by Dartgod

People, there is a lot of good information in this thread, let's try to keep the petty bickering to a minimum.

We all have varying opinions about the impact of this, the numbers, etc. We will all never agree with each other. But we can all keep it civil.

Thanks!

Click here for the original OP:

Spoiler!

Apparently the CoronaVirus can survive on a inanimate objects, such as door knobs, for 9 days.

California coronavirus case could be first spread within U.S. community, CDC says
By SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA, JACLYN COSGROVE
FEB. 26, 2020 8:04 PM

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating what could be the first case of novel coronavirus in the United States involving a patient in California who neither recently traveled out of the country nor was in contact with someone who did.

“At this time, the patient’s exposure is unknown. It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States,” the CDC said in a statement. “Community spread means spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown. It’s also possible, however, that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected.”

The individual is a resident of Solano County and is receiving medical care in Sacramento County, according to the state Department of Public Health.

The CDC said the “case was detected through the U.S. public health system — picked up by astute clinicians.”

Officials at UC Davis Medical Center expanded on what the federal agency might have meant by that in an email sent Wednesday, as reported by the Davis Enterprise newspaper.

The patient arrived at UC Davis Medical Center from another hospital Feb. 19 and “had already been intubated, was on a ventilator, and given droplet protection orders because of an undiagnosed and suspected viral condition,” according to an email sent by UC Davis officials that was obtained by the Davis Enterprise.

The staff at UC Davis requested COVID-19 testing by the CDC, but because the patient didn’t fit the CDC’s existing criteria for the virus, a test wasn’t immediately administered, according to the email. The CDC then ordered the test Sunday, and results were announced Wednesday. Hospital administrators reportedly said in the email that despite these issues, there has been minimal exposure at the hospital because of safety protocols they have in place.

A UC Davis Health spokesperson declined Wednesday evening to share the email with The Times.

Since Feb. 2, more than 8,400 returning travelers from China have entered California, according to the state health department. They have been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days and limit interactions with others as much as possible, officials said.

“This is a new virus, and while we are still learning about it, there is a lot we already know,” Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “We have been anticipating the potential for such a case in the U.S., and given our close familial, social and business relationships with China, it is not unexpected that the first case in the U.S. would be in California.”

It is not clear how the person became infected, but public health workers could not identify any contacts with people who had traveled to China or other areas where the virus is widespread. That raises concern that the virus is spreading in the United States, creating a challenge for public health officials, experts say.

“It’s the first signal that we could be having silent transmission in the community,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. “It probably means there are many more cases out there, and it probably means this individual has infected others, and now it’s a race to try to find out who that person has infected.”

On Tuesday, the CDC offered its most serious warning to date that the United States should expect and prepare for the coronavirus to become a more widespread health issue.

“Ultimately, we expect we will see coronavirus spread in this country,” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “It’s not so much a question of if, but a question of when.”

According to the CDC’s latest count Wednesday morning, 59 U.S. residents have tested positive for the new strain of coronavirus — 42 of whom are repatriated citizens from a Diamond Princess cruise. That number has grown by two since Messonnier’s last count Tuesday, although the CDC was not immediately available to offer details on the additional cases.

More than 82,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported globally, and more than 2,700 people have died, with the majority in mainland China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

But public health leaders have repeatedly reminded residents that the health risk from the novel coronavirus to the general public remains low.

“While COVID-19 has a high transmission rate, it has a low mortality rate,” the state Department of Public Health said in a statement Wednesday. “From the international data we have, of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, approximately 80% do not exhibit symptoms that would require hospitalization. There have been no confirmed deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States to date.”

CDC officials have also warned that although the virus is likely to spread in U.S. communities, the flu still poses a greater risk.

Gostin said the news of potential silent transmission does not eliminate the possibility of containing the virus in the U.S. and preventing an outbreak.

“There are few enough cases that we should at least try,” he said. “Most of us are not optimistic that that will be successful, but we’re still in the position to try.”

[O.city]

Seeing what’s happening in the UK and across Europe with this spread, we need to get going with vaccines quickly

[MahomesMagic]

New mRNA vaccine technologies may offer 94-95 % efficacy. What an achievement of 21st century science!
On the other hand, good old natural immunity provides 100 % protection from symptomatic COVID-19, as shown in the study of 12.5k healthcare workers below. https://t.co/hqfsuHLESx

— Gabor Erdosi �������� (@gerdosi) December 28, 2020

[O.city]

I mean sure, but you have to get sick in the first place?

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by O.city

I mean sure, but you have to get sick in the first place?

My guess is that this is to highlight we should not be using vaccines on people that were already infected in the rollout.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

My guess is that this is to highlight we should not be using vaccines on people that were already infected in the rollout.

Makes sense.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

My guess is that this is to highlight we should not be using vaccines on people that were already infected in the rollout.

Yea it makes no sense to waste the vaccine on 21MM people who have already had it.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Yea it makes no sense to waste the vaccine on 21MM people who have already had it.

Unless we're ready to rollout mass serological studies, I'm not sure how we'd know for sure.

I'd just go based on "if you have tested positive for Covid in the last 3 months, you need to wait".

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by O.city

Unless we're ready to rollout mass serological studies, I'm not sure how we'd know for sure.

I'd just go based on "if you have tested positive for Covid in the last 3 months, you need to wait".

According to Worldometers there have been 21MM known infections in the US.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by notorious

That has to be false.

Southern California is having major oxygen issues from supply to older hospitals.

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...id-19-patients

One of the myriad challenges facing Southern California’s medical system, which is overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, involves one of the most basic staples of any hospital.

Oxygen.

Officials are having problems getting the amount of oxygen needed by critically ill COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breathe as their inflamed lungs are being damaged or destroyed.

Problems on Sunday caused at least five hospitals in L.A. County to declare an internal disaster, which closed the facilities to all ambulance traffic — not just certain types of ambulance patients, as is more typical.

It’s not simply a shortage of oxygen itself, county and hospital officials say. There’s a shortage of canisters, which patients need to return home, and aging hospital pipes are breaking down due to the huge amounts of oxygen needed to be distributed around the hospital.

There are two problems with the distribution of oxygen at aging hospitals.

First, there are so many patients needing a high rate of oxygen that the system cannot maintain the sufficient pressure needed in the pipes.

The second is that there is such high flow through the pipes that they freeze, “and obviously, if it freezes, then you can’t have good flow of oxygen,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, L.A. County health services director.

Some hospitals are forced to move patients to lower floors, because it’s easier to deliver oxygen there without needing the pressure to push it up to higher floors, Ghaly said.

Memorial Hospital of Gardena is one of the centers facing oxygen issues. Chief Executive Kevan Metcalfe said the hospital has run low on oxygen.

If it runs out, the hospital would be in “deep, deep trouble,” he said.

Doctors and nurses have learned since the early days of the pandemic to, as much as possible, avoid placing patients on ventilators, which involves sticking a breathing tube down the throat.

Many patients instead receive a high-flow oxygen treatment, in which oxygen is sent through plastic tubes placed in the nose.

While a non-COVID patient may receive six liters of oxygen per minute, COVID-19 patients need 60 to 80 liters a minute. So now, hospitals need far more oxygen than they did before.

[Donger]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/05/us/lo...vid/index.html

Ambulance crews given grim instructions

As hospitalizations climb, the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency (EMS) directed ambulance crews not to transport patients with little chance of survival to hospitals and to conserve the use of oxygen.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Donger

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/05/us/lo...vid/index.html

Ambulance crews given grim instructions

As hospitalizations climb, the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency (EMS) directed ambulance crews not to transport patients with little chance of survival to hospitals and to conserve the use of oxygen.

Not transporting dead people to hospitals seems like a no brainer at this point and if you read the story from NPR is basically says this has always been looked upon as the correct policy they just didn't enforce it. Headline is BS.

But you know more doom and gloom for you post!

Patients whose hearts have stopped despite efforts of resuscitation, the county EMS said, should no longer be transported to hospitals.
"Effective immediately, due to the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on EMS and 9-1-1 Receiving Hospitals, adult patients (18 years of age or older) in blunt traumatic and nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) shall not be transported [if]return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) is not achieved in the field," the agency said in a memo issued to ambulance workers last week.
If there are no signs of breathing or a pulse, EMS will continue to perform resuscitation for at least 20 minutes, the memo said. If the patient is stabilized after the period of resuscitation, they would then be taken to a hospital. If the patient is declared dead at the scene or no pulse can be restored, paramedics will no longer transport the body to the hospital.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Not transporting dead people to hospitals seems like a no brainer at this point and if you read the story from NPR is basically says this has always been looked upon as the correct policy they just didn't enforce it. Headline is BS.

But you know more doom and gloom for you post!

CNN's job seems to be to turn everything into a crisis or an end of world scenario. It would be funny but a lot of people consider it "news".

[Dunit35]

1200 vaccinated at the event I worked yesterday. That was from 9-3pm 50 people vaccinated every 15 minutes. Round the clock. Waiting time wasn’t more than 30-45 minutes including the 15 minute post shot.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Not transporting dead people to hospitals seems like a no brainer at this point and if you read the story from NPR is basically says this has always been looked upon as the correct policy they just didn't enforce it. Headline is BS.

But you know more doom and gloom for you post!

Why'd you leave off this?

And the shortage of oxygen, given the high number of Covid-19 patients, has also pressured the system to conserve supply.

"Given the acute need to conserve oxygen, effective immediately, EMS should only administer supplemental oxygen to patients with oxygen saturation below 90%," EMS said in a memo to ambulance crews Monday.

[BigRedChief]

67 counties doing their own thing here in Florida. My county tried to use an outlook calendar to book 65+ citizens to get the vaccine. Crashed immediately. Never returned. Now you call a number to make a reservation. Average 7.5 hour wait. End of business day, people just are dropped off the queue. Sorry, try again tomorrow.


They just don't have the staff to do this and the covid testing and the other "normal" health issues. No money from the state to increase staff, even temporarily is forthcoming. No attempt to ask for volunteers.