Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #81

[SouthAussie]

I agree that Trump would be given whatever medications he needs in order to treat the symptoms, and attempt to prevent worsening health.

Would they give him dextamethazone without seeing concerning symptoms? I don't think so. It has some serious risks and side effects and would only be given if necessary. It's not something that a responsible doctor would give to prevent symptoms, because it can't prevent sysmptoms. It can actually suppress the immune system, so it wouldn't be given unless absolutely needed. We heard that Trumps O2 levels dropped twice. Dex was probably given in response to that symptom.

Dex can also give a person (or, from my career experience, an animal) a real buzz of energy and make them feel a lot better.

From the article :

CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus said Sunday that Mr. Trump is on the "strongest medicines shown to have benefit, which are monoclonal antibodies, remdesivir and dexamethasone." But, Agus cautioned, dexamethasone is a "very potent steroid that can have brain effects."

"There can be a manic behavior associated with dexamethasone, so certainly important that we understand that," Agus said Sunday. "Dexamethasone is a very strong medicine. When used early in this infection, it can actually make it worse by blocking immune function. When used late, it can treat significant pulmonary inflammation, which I assume he has."


What we know about President Trump's treatment for COVID-19 so far

I was reading this Washington Post article about Dr Sean Copley, Physician to the President. I will paraphrase a few things, for those who can't read it.

Navy Commander Sean Copley has told some co-workers that he has felt under great personal stress as White House physician. The pressures of the job were making him feel weighted down.
Mentioned are the president over-riding advice of his own health officials, not wearing a mask, holding public events. (It is not clear if those are the pressures.)

One person who worked with Dr Copley says that the statements he gives are not statements that a medical doctor gives. (Dr Copley does have a good history as a medical doctor ... as well as being awarded honors as an outstanding resident).

Former colleagues say he is a nice guy, but has little management experience. And as a Navy Officer he cannot defy an order given by the Commander in Chief.
Dr Copley has been in the top White House physician position since 2018, having joined the White House medical unit in December 2016.


My point in mentioning all of this is that it could be that Dr Copley makes treatment recommendations and perhaps the president wants to try things that have not been recommended by Dr Copley. Or is willing to take medication/personal health risks that he may be privately advised against.
I do personally agree that the president's treatments seem to be based on at least a moderate case of covid, from what I understand anyway.
And I heard on TV News tonight that dextamethazone is usually only used for severe or critical cases of covid.

White House physician Sean Conley draws scrutiny for rosy assessments of Trump’s health

 

[JerseyGirl]

ABC News staffers who were in direct contact with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will quarantine for 14 days.

Christie was at last weekend's Rose Garden ceremony in which Trump announced his Supreme Court nomination. Christie was also a member of a small circle of individuals who helped prep Trump for the debate. Several individuals from both the Rose Garden event and the debate prep sessions have since tested positive for the coronavirus.

At least three journalists who cover the White House have tested positive for the coronavirus in the last week.

Other news organizations are also taking precautionary measures to protect their staffs who may have been exposed while covering the White House over the last week.

ABC News says staff that came into contact with Christie will 'self isolate for 14 days'

Christie called out for seeking COVID treatment after cavalier remarks, behavior

 

[nhmemorymaker]

The risk was high for the personnel around Trump - according to physicians on staff at Walter Reed.

(They cite the hermetically sealed compartment, presumably because it becomes a soup of CoVid that must eventually escape when the occupant gets out).

‘This is insanity’: Walter Reed physician among critics of Trump drive-by visit

Washington Post has some choice quotes by Secret Service agents. They aren't getting routine testing like Trump's entourage.

Look, I understand the drive-out tour made T feel he was expressing support for his fan base...
However, I just saw those poor secret service folks were such pawns, potentially harming their own health.

I wonder how long term care center residents and their families feel when they see this, too--the pain, misery, and sadness of total isolation in their lives.

Whatever....

 

[JerseyGirl]

US reports more than 38,000 NEW Covid-19 cases

The United States reported at least 38,630 new Covid-19 cases and 410 new virus-related fatalities on Sunday.

At least 7,420,971 coronavirus infections, including 209,794 deaths, have now been recorded in the US.

Live updates: Donald Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis and reactions

 

[SA55]

BBM

I’ve taken those packs of prednisone and felt like I could do waaaay more than I should. So I have a feeling the more powerful dexamethasone may have made President Trump feel a burst of energy, possibly leading to the ride to see his supporters today. I can’t imagine that the doctors would be able to forbid it if he insisted. I doubt they approved it, but rather reluctantly allowed it and did their best to mitigate damage to his health and the health of the secret service.
JMO

Just jumping off the comment of Prednisone and the energy it spurs. Prednisone makes me feel like wonder woman-just wish there was something legal and with no side effects that I could take ongoing with that effect. Gives me more energy than I had at 20! Even being a nurse and knowing better -I always make use of that increased energy for at least a couple days whenever I'm on a Prednisone pack.

 

[JerseyGirl]

The president of the White House Correspondents Association, Zeke Miller, denounced Trump in a statement for boarding his motorcade for a photo op around the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center without the protective travel pool which is supposed to accompany the President whenever he is out of the White House.

Read the statement:

“It is outrageous for the president to have left the hospital — even briefly — amid a health crisis without a protective pool present to ensure that the American people know where their president is and how he is doing. Now more than ever, the American public deserves independent coverage of the president so they can be reliably informed about his health.”

The image of Trump, wearing a mask but in close contact with others, only raised more questions about how seriously the President is taking the virus.

Pres. Trump back at Walter Reed after surprise drive-by photo op

 

[MimosaMornings]

Just jumping off the comment of Prednisone and the energy it spurs. Prednisone makes me feel like wonder woman-just wish there was something legal and with no side effects that I could take ongoing with that effect. Gives me more energy than I had at 20! Even being a nurse and knowing better -I always make use of that increased energy for at least a couple days whenever I'm on a Prednisone pack.

Wow. I was prescribed prednisone for bronchitis earlier this year and I did not notice anything like an energy spurt!
Maybe I got a bad batch or felt so bad it was hard to tell!

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Nope. If they don't release details then the media will spin it into something that's not true to further their biased agenda. JMO.

I just don't want spin. Right now, they are all evading a big question in my thinking...

If T is tested every day, when were the last "Negative" test results?
That fact would help us focus more on the timing of his infection, and how to look at the days following that Negative result.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Wow. I was prescribed prednisone for bronchitis earlier this year and I did not notice anything like an energy spurt!
Maybe I got a bad batch or felt so bad it was hard to tell!

Really? I feel that prednisone is practically a miracle drug!!!

 

[JerseyGirl]

Look, I understand the drive-out tour made T feel he was expressing support for his fan base...
However, I just saw those poor secret service folks were such pawns, potentially harming their own health.

I wonder how long term care center residents and their families feel when they see this, too--the pain, misery, and sadness of total isolation in their lives.

Whatever....

Walter Reed attending physician slams Trump motorcade photo op: "The irresponsibility is astounding"

An attending physician at Walter Reed National Medical Center harshly criticized Trump’s motorcade photo op as something which could endanger lives of Secret Service agents who accompanied him in his SUV.

“Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential 'drive-by' just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity,” Dr. James Phillips tweeted.

Phillips went on to say it was unlikely the President's motorcade had been approved by medical professionals without outside political influence.

"That's not standard practice by any means and I have a hard time believing that without undue influence, based on their chain of command, that those physicians would have cleared that," he said of the President's motorcade.

"When we take care of patients in the emergency department, or in the thousands of hours I've spent in the inpatient wards and surgery and medicine and ICU, we don't let the patients leave the hospital when they're sick, unless they sign out against medical advice," he added. "...The idea that this would be cleared without any medical indication is absurd."

bbm

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I keep trying to find any new information regarding Ronna McDaniel's covid case.
Nothing.If anyone does see anything regarding her , please try to post here.

Also---if anyone gets the last Negative test for T....please try to post also!

thanks everyone in our wise inquiring-minds group!

 

[MimosaMornings]

For many of Washington's most powerful, Covid-19 public health guidance does not apply — STAT

“Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) was tested for Covid-19 but still decided to attend a Republican event in his home state Friday night. By the following day, he announced he had contracted the virus, suggesting he may have spread it further at the Friday gathering. Despite having tested positive, Johnson continues to oppose Wisconsin’s mandatory mask mandate, telling the Wisconsin State Journal that masks are “certainly not a cure-all.”

 

[JerseyGirl]

I keep trying to find any new information regarding Ronna McDaniel's covid case.
Nothing.If anyone does see anything regarding her , please try to post here.

Also---if anyone gets the last Negative test for T....please try to post also!

thanks everyone in our wise inquiring-minds group!

McDaniel was with Trump on a trip to Charlotte on Thursday, Sept. 24.

She was last with the President last Friday, Sept. 25.

She did not attend the Rose Garden event. She has been at her home in Michigan since last Saturday (9/26) .

“After a member of her family tested positive for COVID-19, the chairwoman was tested for the virus. On Wednesday afternoon (9/30) , she got confirmation that she was COVID-19 positive.”

Ronna McDaniel, Republican Chair, Tests Positive For COVID-19

RNC chairwoman tests positive for coronavirus

 

[musicaljoke]

I think people do their own risk assessments and live their own lives. We have all the info and we make our own choices.

Unfortunately, this is not true. Not everyone can process the info, they don't necessarily get it from reliable sources, they may not know how to apply it, and they may not care how their behaviour affects others. Hence the public health recommendations, regulations and government legislation.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I love New Zealand. I had the pleasure of being able to visit. One of my oldest friends married a Kiwi and moved there. So I went.

Great country. And they’ve been so reasonable and sane with this pandemic.

Def on my bucket list. When will Americans be able to enter?????????

 

[JerseyGirl]

For many of Washington's most powerful, Covid-19 public health guidance does not apply — STAT

“Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) was tested for Covid-19 but still decided to attend a Republican event in his home state Friday night. By the following day, he announced he had contracted the virus, suggesting he may have spread it further at the Friday gathering. Despite having tested positive, Johnson continues to oppose Wisconsin’s mandatory mask mandate, telling the Wisconsin State Journal that masks are “certainly not a cure-all.”

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson defended his decision to attend a fundraiser while waiting to get his coronavirus test results — insisting he was asymptomatic and never expected to test positive.

The 65-year-old Republican told the station that he only took the test as a precaution after fellow Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah tested positive.

“I am not going in there with symptoms and getting a test. I am going in there symptom-free,” Johnson added, saying he likely caught the virus from his chief of staff.

His office said the senator had just left a 14-day quarantine after twice testing negative following an earlier potential exposure.

https://nypost.com/2020/10/05/sen-johnson-defends-fundraiser-amid-covid-19-exposure/

 

[Deleted member 158085]

BBM

I’ve taken those packs of prednisone and felt like I could do waaaay more than I should. So I have a feeling the more powerful dexamethasone may have made President Trump feel a burst of energy, possibly leading to the ride to see his supporters today. I can’t imagine that the doctors would be able to forbid it if he insisted. I doubt they approved it, but rather reluctantly allowed it and did their best to mitigate damage to his health and the health of the secret service.
JMO

Steroids can also make people rage.

 

[katydid23]

Look, I understand the drive-out tour made T feel he was expressing support for his fan base...
However, I just saw those poor secret service folks were such pawns, potentially harming their own health.

I wonder how long term care center residents and their families feel when they see this, too--the pain, misery, and sadness of total isolation in their lives.

Whatever....

Are you certain that the agents in his car were at risk?

There is a glass partition between Trump and the 2 agents in the front seat. So that seems like a strong protective barrier.

And the air can be turned on to recycle a fresh flow of incoming, outgoing air...so that shouldn't be a big issue.

If everyone is masked, behind a glass partition, and there is fresh air flow---how dangerous is it?

 

[sds71]

The World Health Organization estimates 10% of the world's population may have been infected with the coronavirus. That would be about 760 million people, far outstripping the more than 35 million cases confirmed by WHO and Johns Hopkins University.
WHO: 10% of world's people may have been infected with virus

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I keep trying to find any new information regarding Ronna McDaniel's covid case.
Nothing.If anyone does see anything regarding her , please try to post here.

Also---if anyone gets the last Negative test for T....please try to post also!

thanks everyone in our wise inquiring-minds group!

Last I heard she had a mild case as she and her family members (those not named) were positive and isolating.


https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1312024555624431618

“After a member of her family tested positive for COVID-19, the Chairwoman was tested for the virus. On Wednesday afternoon, she got confirmation she was COVID-19 positive. She has been at her home in Michigan since last Saturday," RNC Spokesman Mike Reed says.