Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #57

[The•Qwill•Pen]

Ironically, this is probably the safest time to have to go to a hospital.

We have a joke in EMS about avoiding the need of a hospital in July (1st year residents start July 1). It’s not the most PC humor, and I’m sure there’ll be some indignation in response, but simply put, it’s rooted in a kernel of truth. Albeit, an exaggerated one.

Of course, this doesn’t mean all first-years will make mistakes, and I’ve certainly seen errors by more experienced clinicians.

I am in no way implying that one shouldn’t seek medical care. I repeat, don’t refrain from medical care if you need it. I’d personally go regardless of the time of year, but you can bet I’d be keeping a close eye on who’s taking care of me. MOO, MOO, MOO (great, now I don’t just look like a cow—I sound like one too )

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I used to work EMS for a smaller city—however, we’re usually the highest per capita call volume in the US.* I would say that ~95-98% of our 911 calls did not warrant a ambulance ride, and most of those didn’t need an ER visit. Some were excessive repeats (“frequent fliers”). Whether they’re heeding requests from local officials to refrain from going unless a true emergency, or whether they’re too scared to go, I suspect this has a lot to do with it. While I am concerned that this will lead to those that will refrain when they actually need to go, this number probably isn’t as high as some would have you think.

Of course, this is anecdotal, and demographics, population, geography, culture, etc., vary from one locality to another, so this may not reflect what medics experience in other areas (although I suspect they do to varying degrees, barring any reduction programs such as community medics, social workers, etc).

I truly see this as exposing the amount of unnecessary usage when it comes to this area of healthcare. Unfortunately, the solution isn’t as simple as you would think.

*I’ll admit, after confirming with some quick math, I was a teeny bit amused when NYC medics were complaining about their increased call volume. Though still felt sorry for them, as they don’t have the same infrastructure/system we have, that deals with such high demand.

Jmo, moo

I have a question for you that I've always wanted to ask. I've never used an ambulance. Am I correct in my understanding that if the fire department and their emergency people come to give you oxygen or you faint and they take you off the toilet and put you back in the bed, and you never go in an ambulance, you are not charged? That it is part of your city tax that gives you that and you don't have to pay unless you take an ambulance to the hospital and then you were charged?

I'm not asking for a friend, I'm asking for myself because I've always wondered that.

ETA: I just remembered, I have been in an ambulance before. In 8th grade when I was riding my bicycle Barefoot and my foot flew off the pedals and went into the front Spokes and I went Head Over Hill and landed on my chin. That elderly couple went into their house and got wire clippers to cut my toes out. My toes weren't right for about six months. As an eighth grader I was yelling all types of dirty words and an elderly couple came out and called an ambulance and I was transported by ambulance to the hospital at that time. My parent was notified, but after I was in the ambulance on the way? I was in 8th grade and I never asked my mother about that when I got older so I don't know.

 

[Trino]

I am just COVID-19ed out. It seems posters here are intelligent and questioning the future. Me too. However, there seems nothing is going to change the way states are moving ahead, despite warnings from scientists. Guess I'll be a doomsday predictor. I see a serious setback in the fall/winter and perhaps a serious recession looming nearby. That's all, folks. Not much else to say.

 

[firebird]

eta, this is Virginia Beach

The beach at the Oceanfront was closed. But the crowds were large.

The beach at the Oceanfront was closed. But the crowds were large.

 

[Chelly]

My hair is growing so long. It's below my shoulders now but not so bad. Easy to tie up. I'm blonde and do have some darker roots growing in so I resorted to good old fashioned Sun-In, that I used when I was a teenager. It's less harsh now and did work wonders. That said and done, I'm good because summer is almost here bringing lots of warm sunshine with it.

There ya go! Glad you found a satisfactory solution to covid-hair. I know it's personal choice, but I believe salons are a really bad choice right now. I ask myself "How important is it?" MOO................

 

[Chelly]

Anyone who has been on board since January, watching the deadly virus get closer to home, do you feel safe now that governments are paying attention?

I've been onboard and isolating since January. I believe some governments are paying better attention than others. My government does not make me feel safe...MOO

 

[Chelly]

So, I am scheduled for surgery tomorrow. As a result, I spent this past Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at the local hospital (I am in one of the western suburbs of Chicago; it is very, very busy here - and that hospital is always madness because there are so many people that use it. Well, when I was there the ER was vacant -and dark- they actually had the lights off! As I walked around the hospital I noticed there were almost no patients, and I saw more cleaning crew than I did nurses and doctors. According to their website, they are open for normal business. So why is the hospital a ghost town? I posted this on my Facebook page, and OMG, it turned into a political war. Dems were accusing me of secretly being a Trump supporter, and Repubs saying they were happy I converted to their side. But, neither of these are true; I was merely posting an observation I had, and thought it was extremely odd that such a major hospital would be nearly closed in the middle of a pandemic. So, anyone have any ideas on WHY this would be? (And please, hold the politics - I worked police for Homeland Security for Democratic and Republican Administrations/leaders). Be safe!

BBM...Did you pose this question to the hospital staff or administrators? If no, why not?

 

[Chelly]

No, I'm advocating for people following rules and laws put in place for their safety and the safety of others.

I'm saying that people are being Idiots, and using the fact we do live in a free Democracy, to do whatever the hell they feel like. And I'm saying that anyone comparing how currently successful things may seem in China right now, as they re-open, are impossible here, because we have too many self-centered, narcissistic individuals, for simple conditions like wearing of masks, or testing and tracing, to be successful.

Ditto, Amen, I agree.

 

[tresir2012]

We have been talking about this today.

A&E visits in England down to record low

And lo and behold

Back to A&E: Number of people heading to hospital returns to normal | Daily Mail Online

Lots of local papers are saying this too.

Then we have this.

Wuhan hospitals back to normal as last coronavirus cases go home

 

[ilovewings]

Anxiety, sadly, is a catchall for "we have no clue what's wrong with you".

It actually makes it worse for people that actually have anxiety. Jmo

that is so true with patients who have symptoms a physician cannot diagnose.
Ergo, it must be stress, anxiety, blah blah blah. Anybody ever watch that kind
of old program "mystery diagnosis"? patients with unusual symptoms none
of their physicians could diagnose- sometimes these patients went on
for years with debilitating symptoms and no diagnosis--- finally these patients
somehow found their way to a physician who was able to properly diagnose
and treat them--- the question they always asked was "why did it take so long
to get a proper diagnosis"? Invariably the physician would say well "you have a
rare condition that is difficult to diagnose"

I see it differently--all those quacks had to do was use their brains and refer
these patients to the correct specialist, but they never did that, which resulted
in years of misery for these patients.

end of rant LOL

 

[sallye818]

@RosalindaA , you sound like a wonderful caregiver! I have been so concerned about the nursing home populations through all of this, but I have the same thought as you: of course, it's going to spread like wildfire in those surroundings. We do all we can to prevent deaths, but viruses usually do get ahead of us, at least at first. And Norovirus is no one's picnic in the park

I wanted to share a first-hand experience from a job that I had in a small UK care home (although prob 20 years ago now!). One day a lady who was one of the more active residents (she helped in the garden), and usually needed only became very sick and one or two others were feeling unwell, so the GP was due to visit that afternoon. I finished my shift concerned about her but not really aware of the seriousness of the problem. I came back on duty in the morning to a nightmare. This lady was already dead and several others very sick. I will never forget being handed a chart of all the residents' names and the word "deceased" by her name and I think about 8 or so other residents already sick. I was pretty young and I remember being very shocked and scared. There weren't literally black crosses marked on the doors but it felt like it. We had an outbreak of norovirus (aka "the winter vomiting bug").

The deputy manager (experienced but not a trained nurse) had already set up PPE stations outside every room, outlined all the extra infection control procedures on top of normal ones, was giving all the staff info about the virus, how to help the residents get through it and what we needed to do to protect ourselves and our contacts. The building was already locked down to outsiders, families informed and anyone who had been in the building informed. Those of us who worked at other facilities stopped and informed them also.

My point is that even with a quick effective response, viruses will always be ahead of you. They are IN and SPREAD in congregate settings before you have a small cluster of symptomatic people that alerts you to the fact you have a problem. The next few weeks are a blur but I think about a third of the residents were affected some badly but no more deaths as I recall. About half of staff were sick at some point.

I just literally want to smash my head against the wall when I hear "experts" express surprise that Covid-19 has wreaked such havoc in care and nursing homes. Well, what did you think would happen? And hospital nurses are angels and heroes/heroines but there is an implication that the staff in these homes are uncaring and slack. I accept totally that homes should be held accountable and should be able to show what they did to try and prevent outbreaks but people need to understand just how difficult this would have been especially early on. So many risk factors:

Congregate settings, everything spreads easily, an elderly population and what is more, you have the unwell elderly with a high degree of underlying conditions. And these people cannot be distanced, without a lot of personal assistance from staff they cannot live anyway.

All you would need is an asymptomatic staff carrier, a patient carrying the virus transferred back to the home, and you will have very quick spread. There is always a lot of traffic between hospitals and homes. PPE is talked about a lot and of course it's important but it is not 100 % effective. I doubt any experienced health care worker believes that they will not eventually be exposed to Covid-19 if they are working in these settings. And as a manager, how do you find uninfected staff? You may well not be able to find staff at all. I know in the UK an experienced carer/nurse is at risk of being kidnapped off the street they are so in demand.

 

[margarita25]

Minnesota logs 699 new COVID-19 cases day before state relaxes stay-home rules

 

[SoCalDavidS]

But nobody will be right.. That famous saying "it depends....".

When the death toll is over 200K by the end of July, people will be right.

When the economy is still in the toilet months from now, because the virus is still running rampant, people will be right.

And there also will be plenty of excuses and continued twisting of facts.

 

[Tillicum]

Today is the first time I've seen Ohio's daily numbers lower than the 21 day averages. All categories are lower.
Ohio Current Trends

Last 24 hours reported cases 449
21 day reported case average 570

Last 24 hours reported deaths 15
21 day reported death average 43

Last 24 hours reported hospitalizations 51
21 day reported hospitalizations average 83

Last 24 hour reported ICU admissions 5
21 day reported ICU admissions average 17

 

[jjenny]

Today is Sunday. Might just be less reporting of cases going on Sundays.

 

[MimosaMornings]

So, I am scheduled for surgery tomorrow. As a result, I spent this past Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at the local hospital (I am in one of the western suburbs of Chicago; it is very, very busy here - and that hospital is always madness because there are so many people that use it. Well, when I was there the ER was vacant -and dark- they actually had the lights off! As I walked around the hospital I noticed there were almost no patients, and I saw more cleaning crew than I did nurses and doctors. According to their website, they are open for normal business. So why is the hospital a ghost town? I posted this on my Facebook page, and OMG, it turned into a political war. Dems were accusing me of secretly being a Trump supporter, and Repubs saying they were happy I converted to their side. But, neither of these are true; I was merely posting an observation I had, and thought it was extremely odd that such a major hospital would be nearly closed in the middle of a pandemic. So, anyone have any ideas on WHY this would be? (And please, hold the politics - I worked police for Homeland Security for Democratic and Republican Administrations/leaders). Be safe!

I had a relative admitted to the hospital on Friday after a visit to her cardiologist- there was only one other person in the ER.
Delay of elective surgery, definitely less vehicles on the road, some afraid to come in.
Told her that particular hospital was not set up to handle CV patients and suspected cases were being sent to two other local hospitals.

 

[Cool Cats]

By Reuters,  May 17, 2020, at 9:24 a.m.

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-new...-in-places-reopening-us-health-secretary-says
So Far, No Spike in Coronavirus in Places Reopening, U.S. Health Secretary Says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities are not yet seeing spikes in corona virus cases in places that are reopening but it was still too early to determine such trends, health secretary Alex Azar said on Sunday.

"We are seeing that in places that are opening, we're not seeing this spike in cases," Azar said on CNN's "State of the Union" program. "We still see spikes in some areas that are, in fact, closed."

Asked about images being broadcast from some areas of the country showing people gathering near bars and congregating close together, Azar said that was the cost of freedom.

"I think in any individual instance you're going to see people doing things that are irresponsible. That's part of the freedom that we have here in America," he said on CNN.

Crowds flock to Virginia beaches despite Northam's stay-at-home order ... Apparently this is freedom ...NO?

Warm weather draws crowds to the oceanfront, Saturday, May 16, 2020 in Virginia Beach, Va. (Kaitlin McKeown/The Daily Press via AP)

 

[mickey2942]

Massive jump in Texas COVID-19 cases

Nothing to see here. Higher numbers? Of course. We are testing more.

Texas COVID-19 cases rise, governor's office says more testing being done

 

[Rocco]

Minnesota logs 699 new COVID-19 cases day before state relaxes stay-home rules

''Minnesota had the second-highest increase in new cases in early May according to the Reuters analysis, as work to expand testing in the state revealed new cases''

So, now they're ready to re-open tomorrow.

See how that works?

Yeah---me either.

 

[tresir2012]

When the death toll is over 200K by the end of July, people will be right.

When the economy is still in the toilet months from now, because the virus is still running rampant, people will be right.

And there also will be plenty of excuses and continued twisting of facts.

If you are talking about the US only being over 200k that would mean an average of 1500 dead every day for 2.5 months. Are there any projections reflecting that out of interest? Just wondering where you are getting them from?

These are from Worldometers for the US today
+768 deaths today,
serious cases 16,341
Total recovered 342,667
Active cases 1,089,705

Presumably the deaths come from the serious cases of which there are only 16,341 so wouldn't that be the maximum who are in danger of dying?

Here's the worldometers link that currently shows a death rate of 15% and recovery rate of 85%.

Coronavirus Cases: Statistics and Charts - Worldometer