Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #103

[ilovewings]

People may be desperate to have fun, but I am desperate not to have a respirator shoved down my throat, nor have to wear diapers.

Amen to that!!!!

 

[beatrixpotter]

I’m no expert. Never have been. But yet I feel with a certainty, that Omicron combined with the final 2 weeks of 2021, is going to result in a highly traumatic mid-late January, and beyond.

I feel like those of us aware of what Exactly is going on at this very moment, understand that to keep yourself safe, you should plan on taking Every precaution possible for the next 6-8 weeks, while the tsunami passes through.

Developing plans now. That includes figuring out how to quarantine adult children in a separate part of the house who have to work and go to school. I am so angry I have to do this over and over again though because we insist on repeatedly pretending the pandemic is over and no one has to do anything till it's crushing everything again.

 

[MimosaMornings]

'I have Covid,' Cramer says. He says he's been triple vaccinated, has mild case — CNBC

 

[Tiff23fr]

Omicron is now dominant COVID-19 variant in US

Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week.

 

[IceIce9]

<snipped for focus>



It would be interesting to read the report on the ethical reasoning regarding how the medical ethics committee came up with this determination.

It would be interesting to read, I agree. We were just given a briefing.

Here is the information we received:

Everyone in our county, indeed, in our entire state has had access to receive their vaccination. Transportation has been available to allow everyone to get to the vaccination centers, even if they don’t have a vehicle. They have even had access to mobile vaccination vans that have traveled around lower income areas.

If a patient is unvaccinated it is a choice that patient has made.

If it comes down to the need for a tiebreaker, if only one ICU bed or vent is available the tiebreaker will be vaccinated vs unvaccinated.

 

[WichitaFalls]

I hope you're all well and ready to face another surge of our nemises COVID.
I'll be honest and admit to this safe spot on the internet that I am emotionally drained by the ups and downs of the past two years.
I started hearing the alarms once again around Thanksgiving and knew it would be prudent to stock up on groceries/essentials yet again but, felt myself resisting - I think because it would be an aknowledgement that we are in fact facing yet another surge with so many unknowns. So today I broke down and bought tons and tons of supplies. Ugh. This may sound strange, but at the beginning of the pandemic I spent hours ordering every single thing I could think of that might be needed. It felt like a treasure hunt and the novelty of multiple boxes arriving every day was a bit of a rush. I'm sick and tired of anticipating every "what if" and ordering like my life might depend on it. The alure of it all has turned to dread.

I'm beyond exhausted of worrying about members of my family that are determined that COVID isn't going to stop them from living.

I dread the news covering the deaths of so many people that were loved by someone.

I feel so sad for healthcare employees that are being pushed to exhaustion and seeing things that break their hearts.

Etc, etc. etc.

Thanks for letting me vent, it's good to be able verbalize and time for me to dig deep to find hope and joy that I know is still there.

 

[WichitaFalls]

Omicron is now dominant COVID-19 variant in US

Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week.

WOW, that was faster that anticipated.

 

[CSIDreamer]

It would be interesting to read, I agree. We were just given a briefing.

Here is the information we received:

Everyone in our county, indeed, in our entire state has had access to receive their vaccination. Transportation has been available to allow everyone to get to the vaccination centers, even if they don’t have a vehicle. They have even had access to mobile vaccination vans that have traveled around lower income areas.

If a patient is unvaccinated it is a choice that patient has made.

If it comes down to the need for a tiebreaker, if only one ICU bed or vent is available the tiebreaker will be vaccinated vs unvaccinated.

Did you move out of Indiana? I'm kind of in shock here.

 

[Bravo]

I know we all expected a very different Holiday Season this year. Yet here we are. My salvation has been walking. No matter the weather. I find balance connecting with nature. I find myself inhaling deeply and exhaling while walking. I find comfort in such a small thing. I am outside, breathing fresh air. So many did not have the luxury and so many will not in the days and weeks ahead. I have my moments of worry of what's to come. Our Hospital is filling up. Our Nurse Daughter speaks of Nurses in tears at shifts end. Our Therapist Son has had outbreaks on his Unit. I have known of 12 who have had covid, two quite ill but all recovered. For that I am grateful. Baby steps as we all trudge thru this.....again. Stay safe everyone.

 

[ilovewings]

I hope you're all well and ready to face another surge of our nemises COVID.
I'll be honest and admit to this safe spot on the internet that I am emotionally drained by the ups and downs of the past two years.
I started hearing the alarms once again around Thanksgiving and knew it would be prudent to stock up on groceries/essentials yet again but, felt myself resisting - I think because it would be an aknowledgement that we are in fact facing yet another surge with so many unknowns. So today I broke down and bought tons and tons of supplies. Ugh. This may sound strange, but at the beginning of the pandemic I spent hours ordering every single thing I could think of that might be needed. It felt like a treasure hunt and the novelty of multiple boxes arriving every day was a bit of a rush. I'm sick and tired of anticipating every "what if" and ordering like my life might depend on it. The alure of it all has turned to dread.

I'm beyond exhausted of worrying about members of my family that are determined that COVID isn't going to stop them from living.

I dread the news covering the deaths of so many people that were loved by someone.

I feel so sad for healthcare employees that are being pushed to exhaustion and seeing things that break their hearts.

Etc, etc. etc.

Thanks for letting me vent, it's good to be able verbalize and time for me to dig deep to find hope and joy that I know is still there.

Vent away!! you speak for many of us-- we are worn down, kind of shell-shocked,
and frightened of the unknown, of the next unanticipated variant that could
be worse than any before it!!!

 

[IceIce9]

Did you move out of Indiana? I'm kind of in shock here.

No, I am still here. I just worked for a couple of months at that hospital.

 

[Sundog]

Medical ethics require care for all who need it, even as unvaccinated COVID patients flood hospitals

As Idaho’s hospitals and intensive-care units fill up with patients receiving costly life-saving care for an avoidable medical condition — severe COVID-19 in unvaccinated individuals — that care is taking priority over regular medical care for everything from hip replacements to cancer treatment.

Hospital leaders say that won’t change; none have any plans to distinguish between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients in determining who gets treated, even as health care resources are so strained that care could end up being rationed to those most urgently in need under crisis standards of care.

The reason is at the core of medical ethics: “We teach our health care workers to give the best care they can to whoever needs it,” said Dr. Steven Joffe, chief of the Division of Medical Ethics for the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and a pediatric oncologist and bioethicist.

“If both a criminal and a victim are injured in a crime, hospitals care for them both,” Joffe said. “Military doctors and nurses are trained to give care to the injured both from their own side and from the other. We don’t want to lose this ethic of nonjudgmental care.”

<snipped>

Joffe, at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “We do not want health care workers deciding who is ‘worthy’ of care and who is not. Even beyond COVID, a lot of health problems are related to choices people have made or actions they have taken or not taken.”

“I understand the sentiment,” he said, amid the crush of the COVID-19 pandemic in the unvaccinated population, “but acting on it takes us to a pretty dangerous place.”


BBM

 

[tabitha111]

Here in my retirement community we still have open dining, with the option of taking meals in our apartments. I've decided to start taking meals in my apartment after the Christmas dinner, although my table mates will not understand why I'm doing this. No one seems concerned about omicron here, even though there are so many elderly with comorbidities.

My friends here all think I'm over the top anyway with covid protocols, like I'm some kind of scaredy cat! Like someone else said on here I just want to be able to see my grandchildren grow up, don't have any now but my son and his wife plan on a child next year!

 

[IceIce9]

Medical ethics require care for all who need it, even as unvaccinated COVID patients flood hospitals

As Idaho’s hospitals and intensive-care units fill up with patients receiving costly life-saving care for an avoidable medical condition — severe COVID-19 in unvaccinated individuals — that care is taking priority over regular medical care for everything from hip replacements to cancer treatment.

Hospital leaders say that won’t change; none have any plans to distinguish between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients in determining who gets treated, even as health care resources are so strained that care could end up being rationed to those most urgently in need under crisis standards of care.

The reason is at the core of medical ethics: “We teach our health care workers to give the best care they can to whoever needs it,” said Dr. Steven Joffe, chief of the Division of Medical Ethics for the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and a pediatric oncologist and bioethicist.

“If both a criminal and a victim are injured in a crime, hospitals care for them both,” Joffe said. “Military doctors and nurses are trained to give care to the injured both from their own side and from the other. We don’t want to lose this ethic of nonjudgmental care.”

<snipped>

Joffe, at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “We do not want health care workers deciding who is ‘worthy’ of care and who is not. Even beyond COVID, a lot of health problems are related to choices people have made or actions they have taken or not taken.”

“I understand the sentiment,” he said, amid the crush of the COVID-19 pandemic in the unvaccinated population, “but acting on it takes us to a pretty dangerous place.”


BBM

Turning patients away because your ICU is full isn’t really a good option but unfortunately some of our area hospitals have been forced to divert both ambulances and walk in patients.

Two of our area hospitals are only allowing 50% of their ICU beds for COVID patients so they can still take care of other non-COVID patients. Heart attacks, accidents, other emergencies still occur so they are reserving 50% of their beds for non-COVID patients.

 

[ilovewings]

Michigan doctors, nurses getting hit, spit on in COVID-19 surge

Sad.

 

[Sundog]

Turning patients away because your ICU is full isn’t really a good option but unfortunately some of our area hospitals have been forced to divert both ambulances and walk in patients.

Two of our area hospitals are only allowing 50% of their ICU beds for COVID patients so they can still take care of other non-COVID patients. Heart attacks, accidents, other emergencies still occur so they are reserving 50% of their beds for non-COVID patients.

Our region is also on bypass but we are not turning away patients based on their vaccination status. All emergencies are taken to the nearest hospital with open beds as they work together regionally to meet emergency case demand.

 

[IceIce9]

Our region is also on bypass but we are not turning away patients based on their vaccination status. All emergencies are taken to the nearest hospital with open beds as they work together regionally to meet emergency case demand.

We are on total diversion, and the only time vaccination status would come under consideration is the tiebreaker I mentioned previously. If only one ICU bed or vent was available it would go to the vaccinated patient rather than the unvaccinated patient.

Two hospitals here don’t accept COVID patients at all once 50% of the ICU is full of COVID patients. Non-COVID patients still need to have beds available.

Failing to get vaccinated isn’t the only personal choice that can affect your healthcare options. For example, organ transplant programs don’t accept smokers, drug users, or patients who have problems with alcohol.

 

[MimosaMornings]

AHLA - Vaccination Status as a Triage Factor: Can Hospitals Allocate Critical Care Based on COVID-19 Vaccination Status?

“While the decisions to restrict or deny care were already difficult before the advent of COVID-19 vaccines, the situation has been further complicated by the fact that a patient’s COVID-19 vaccination status correlates directly with how likely they are to become severely ill.[1] Because unvaccinated individuals appear to be more susceptible to severe illness, and therefore less likely to survive or benefit from care, hospitals may decide to prioritize care for the vaccinated over the unvaccinated.”

 

[cujenn81]

Tiff23fr - Thank You : ) Congrats to your Mom for completing her last chemo! Wishing all the best for her upcoming surgery too. : )

Thank you to everyone for your good thoughts and wishes.

I’ve been coming here since the beginning of this pandemic (sometimes just reading) for updates. You’re all a great bunch of people : )

Don’t know if I have finally gotten rid of this bug I’ve had but the port is scheduled for tomorrow am. I’m a bit nervous.

I'm sending all of my prayers and best wishes your way!!!

 

[Sundog]

Failing to get vaccinated isn’t the only personal choice that can affect your healthcare options. For example, organ transplant programs don’t accept smokers, drug users, or patients who have problems with alcohol.

These behaviors are related to poor prognosis for transplant patients, as indicated by the science - not simply because individuals smoke or use drugs or drink too much alcohol. In order to apply this same principle to vaccination status, the science would have to indicate that unvaccinated individuals have a poor prognosis related to ICU care and/or ventilators as compared to vaccinated individuals, and I don't think we have that data right now. So I am not sure what the criteria are for the decision to prioritize vaccinated patients for emergency care. Just trying to understand what the ethics committee's determination and policy are based on.