Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #38

[otto]

Good night WS friends.......this is day 20 of "sit and stay". Hope everyone is doing well. Hugs, Lato

We are at a time when everyone around the world has a shared, similar experience, and the irony is that the experience is isolation.

Day 20 sit and stay indoors is going to be long.

 

[otto]

Over 500 NYPD members test positive for coronavirus
552 and counting.

My son was recently invited to join the police academy. We agreed that the only option is online training. Police forces around the world are aware of the fact that they need more people fast.

 

[MyBelle]

Patients with LUPUS can not get their meds from pharmacies.

"Pharmacies across the country have run out of the medication used by millions of lupus and rheumatoid arthritis patients, a drug many of them have taken daily for years."
https://www.kansascity.com/news/coronavirus/article241514761.html
"not having them is life threatening to people with lupus and RA."
Aralen, Plaquenil Shortages from COVID-19 Threaten Lupus, RA Patients Lives - MedicineNet Health News

Much sought after Lupus meds put on restricted list
Jenny Prince is CEO of the N.C. L"upus Foundation said there are an estimated 53,000 people in the state who have lupus. She told Stoogenke about one in the eastern part of the state already had trouble finding the medicine.

"(She) couldn’t find it within an hour radius at different pharmacies and her father was able to find it in the Greensboro area and mail to her.”

Need more?

Moo

You need to be fair. This is what is happening and I have no reason to believe it isn't true. BBM. If it is an "off label" prescription then it needs to go to the most critically ill. How selfish do people want to be?

Reports have surfaced that people are stockpiling the drug. Now Missouri pharmacy officials have cautioned health care providers to stop prescribing the drug for a use it’s not approved for.




Pharmacy boards across the country have reported that doctors are hoarding the drugs by writing prescriptions for themselves and family members, the Associated Press reported.


Several states, including Kentucky, Ohio, Nevada, Texas, and now Missouri, have issued restrictions or guidelines on how the drugs should be prescribed.


“Prescribing hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine and azithromycin for family, friends and co-workers in anticipation of a COVID-19 related illness can significantly impact drug supplies and may lead to improper use,” said a joint statement this week from the Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts, and the Missouri Board of Pharmacy.


Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/coronavirus/article241514761.html#storylink=cpy

 

[otto]

Wouldn't it be strange if the virus had some sort of survival instinct and hid in order to survive. For example, it could hide in the liver or kidneys before attacking the lungs, or hide on the plastic grocery bag for 3 days. It lives on cardboard for 24 hours, plastic and metal for 72 hours.

Is this an intelligent virus? Does a virus want to survive? Does a virus look for a host? When a virus is near a moist warm nasal passage, does it get excited? When the virus enters a host, does it sit quiet until it is strong enough to attack and kill a host? Is a virus driven to kill a host even though it means self-destruction?

 

[katydid23]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed >
Mo

I also should add, I wasn't saying pharmacies were out.
I was saying patients are being denied.
It angers me that they had something that works and now they can't have it because someone said something that hasn't been tested or proven

Meanwhile many people will suffer without their meds and possibly have flares.
I should have been more clear.
My sincere apologies.

Moo

I totally understand that and it is sad and frustrating.

That's part of the intense complexity of this horrible pandemic though. I also have compassion for people with loved ones in the hospital, on ventilators, not getting any better.

And some of their doctors had already heard about China, Korea, France, Bahrain, Germany, using longstanding malaria drugs as a treatment, with some anecdotal, positive results.

So what to do? Should those critical patients be offered a chance to see if that drug might keep them alive?

If it was my husband or child, I'd certainly want to take the chance if their condition was critical and that was a given option.

I wouldn't be thinking about other people who might need that drug for an immune disorder. Maybe that is selfish, but I don't think that is where your mind is when your husband is near death.

This supply problem with the drug would have happened anyway, even if the president hadn't repeated the name of the drug. ALL potential treatments are running low right now. It is because of the onslaught of the pandemic that all of the potential meds are now scarce.

We are ramping up production of everything we can possibly manufacture as we speak.

 

[otto]

I think the results do 'count', when used on a critical patient, who quickly recovers. It counts to that patient and their family. JMO

In terms of establishing a correlation between the drug and recovery, it doesn't really matter whether one family is happy. No conclusions can be drawn. There has to be a controlled ethical study where healthy people along side a control group agree to test the drug. Ethics is always the biggest obstacle in testing. Coronavirus treatment and vaccine must undergo full ethics approval to be valid.

 

[Snoods]

I am glad to know you got your script refilled. I too have to go every 3 months. Our governor issued a temporary order saying that all meds can be refilled over the phone, even the VA is doing it for the vets. I do understand the concern, because I am afraid too much doctor will say come in....just to get the fee for a 5 minute appointment. Will see what happens but I am glad to know you got your med.
thanks for sharing

Trust, your doctor doesn’t want to see you! Lol! Nothing personal, they don’t want to see anyone if possible. My rx is Adderall which is a schedule 2 drug and I was able to schedule an online appointment the same day, it was like a Skype type thing. Doctor sent rx online to pharmacy, easy as pie.

I had already skipped a month coming in so I was on my fourth month, maybe that’s why he wanted the Skype appointment. He said “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you. What else ya going to need refilled, let’s get it done now.” He even asked to see my dogs I’m always talking about!

My doctor is the best ever, so caring. The majority of his patients are elderly, he doesn’t want to pass on the virus. No doctor does. You should be good!

 

[katydid23]

In terms of establishing a correlation between the drug and recovery, it doesn't really matter whether one family is happy. No conclusions can be drawn. There has to be a controlled ethical study where healthy people along side a control group agree to test the drug. Ethics is always the biggest obstacle in testing. Coronavirus treatment and vaccine must undergo full ethics approval to be valid.

I totally understand that. And yet, as you said, 'one family is happy.'

And my point is that hundreds and hundreds of families are faced with the imminent death of a loved one, as we speak. They cannot wait for a scheduled controlled ethical study. They don't care if the results are validated.

They want to know if their loved one will make it through the night. JMO

 

[otto]

Trust, your doctor doesn’t want to see you! Lol! Nothing personal, they don’t want to see anyone if possible. My rx is Adderall which is a schedule 2 drug and I was able to schedule an online appointment the same day, it was like a Skype type thing. Doctor sent rx online to pharmacy, easy as pie.

I had already skipped a month coming in so I was on my fourth month, maybe that’s why he wanted the Skype appointment. He said “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you. What else ya going to need refilled, let’s get it done now.” He even asked to see my dogs I’m always talking about!

My doctor is the best ever, so caring. The majority of his patients are elderly, he doesn’t want to pass on the virus. No doctor does. You should be good!

My doctor has gone online. That's a good improvement to the health care system!

 

[otto]

I totally understand that. And yet, as you said, 'one family is happy.'

And my point is that hundreds and hundreds of families are faced with the imminent death of a loved one, as we speak. They cannot wait for a scheduled controlled ethical study. They don't care if the results are validated.

They want to know if their loved one will make it through the night. JMO

It's absurd to trust someone in France who is touting a drug that has repeatedly failed and which must be given in such high doses that it compromises the patient. I've posted the WHO link a few times. They are testing 4 drugs, and the one proposed by Trump has a history of failure.

The question of correlation and causation matters. There may be a correlation between someone getting better and having taken a drug, but did the drug cause the person to get better. That isn't known at this time and cannot be known through anecdotal stories.

 

[otto]

Which borders should the USA have closed? Both Southern and Northern? When should we have done that:?

The USA doesn't have to close any borders. Canada closed the South shared border with the USA - done deal. Mexico is testing people who leave via the South USA border.

If the USA was to take action regarding borders, it probably should have been done about 5 weeks ago - but the USA is an epicentre and not thinking about the effect that loose borders has on other countries.

 

[musicaljoke]

South Carolina governor's presser earlier. Still no state-wide stay-at-home ordinance. Still not testing much but cases are up to 539 with 13 deaths. If you look at the SC DHEC site, there is absolutely no flattening of the curve whatsoever. Optimistically expecting 'only' 8,053 cases by the end of April.

I did see elsewhere that North Carolina now has a shelter in place order for all of NC effective Monday at 5, and says it will be enforced by law.

Testing & SC Data (COVID-19) | SCDHEC

Yes, the projection looks optimistic. From your link, SC is anticipating that cases will double at a rate of about every two weeks, which is a lot slower than elsewhere in the US. If SC's projection lined up more closely with the other states, they will have 8053 by Easter rather than by the end of April.

 

[Rocco]

The USA doesn't have to close any borders. Canada closed the South shared border with the USA - done deal. Mexico is testing people who leave via the South USA border.

If the USA was to take action regarding borders, it probably should have been done about 5 weeks ago - but the USA is an epicentre and not thinking about the effect that loose borders has on other countries.

Canada did not close the border. It was a mutual decision.
“We will be, by mutual consent, temporarily closing our northern border with Canada to nonessential traffic. Trade will not be affected,” Trump tweeted, adding more details would follow. Mar 18th 2020

 

[Darling136]

Good morning!
Working from home whole week, i do not have a feeling of weekend today. I had problems to be motivated to work remotely, some topics on my to do list felt so unimportant in comparison with our world problems.
I will have a look on my balcony today, clean up, check all my plants and maybe put up some more seeds. Planting some seeds and see them grow is influencing me so much, like a positive sign, that new things are rising.

 

[Snoods]

Well, I am about to take off on another Virus Survival Adventure in order to get new tires on Mrs.22's Ford BIG white serial killer van..........I hope to return safely..... Yall hang in there today.....moo

I think I saw you today!

 

[Snoods]

@Snoods I have to run out for bread, I hope I can get it at a convenient store. I’m afraid with kids out of school for a few weeks now, more are carrying & shedding the virus.
I almost think they’d be better off in school, of course teachers & bus drivers would not, so there’s that.

@Darling136 your little store sounds lovely.

I’m getting all my little odds and ends at the convenience store; toilet paper, paper towels, cereal. When my convenience store ran out of tp the owner started selling their own supply, you know those huge foot high rolls in gas station bathrooms?
My mega roll next to a regular roll. Hee.


Hopefully you were able to find what you needed at your convenience store.

 

[musicaljoke]

He doesn't meet the definition of whistleblower because his employer wasn't doing anything wrong that needed a whistle blown. He was warned to knock off his social media whines and he refused to do so. His choice. I wish him luck finding another job.

JMO

Heh! They fired a doctor during a pandemic? I wonder what all the other medical professionals in that hospital think of that!

Those administrators who made that ill-fated decision will be hoping they don't get sick.

 

[badgersmythe]

Chessington transformed into drive-through COVID-19 testing facility


Chessington car park transformed into drive-through coronavirus testing facility | Daily Mail Online

 

[musicaljoke]

India.

Based on population alone, you may be right that India will be the next hotspot. However, India was protecting its borders with care that we didn't see here.

A friend returning to India wrote this to me last week:

"Landed Bangalore at 10:30 . Quick temp check and immigration . All of us then were seated and a doctor explained that we should pick up our bags and we would be taken to a test Centre . We were then driven in a coach for 20 min to a hospital where again very systematically we filled a form and were interviewed by 2 doctors . Basically questions on health and travel history . Post which they categorized as home quarantine - a stamp on our wrist . If one was category a or b they’re subjected to next round. We were then Sent home . The whole process took 90 minutes . Courteous efficient and respectful. Hats off to the authorities . I’ve seen the mess that returning Americans have been subjected to and this was easy . "

 

[badgersmythe]

Coronavirus: Testing rolled out for frontline NHS staff Virus testing rolled out for frontline NHS staff