Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #84

[GRT]

Oh dear! Another round of empty store shelves?

“As of now what we are seeing is the start of the second wave of panic,” said Chris Mentzer, the director of operations for Rastelli Market Fresh in New Jersey. “Our customers keep telling me how they are looking for any type of freezer to purchase so they can start stocking up their homes now. Their main concern is meat." He explained that customers are mainly looking to buy and freeze beef and poultry — ground beef, steaks, roasts and all varieties of chicken.

 

[GRT]

The coronavirus pandemic is causing "unacceptable" shortages of US drug supplies in the United States, according to a report from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.

The report says shortages have limited 29 of 40 drugs critical for treating Covid-19 patients, including propofol, albuterol, midazolam, hydroxychloroquine, fentanyl, azithromycin and morphine, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The FDA, which has more stringent criteria for shortages, show 18 of 40 are on the Drug Shortage list.

Another 67 out of 156 critical acute drugs -- including diazepam, phenobarbital, lidocaine and acetaminophen -- are in short supply, the report said.

"The urgency with the drug shortage supply issue is related directly to the major increase in COVID-19 cases that we will experience in the coming months," Michael Osterholm, the director of CIDRAP, said in a news release.

Covid-19 is causing 'unacceptable' shortages in US drug supplies, report says - CNN

I'm kind of surprised it lists "hydroxychloroquine" as being critical for treating Covid. From what I've read, it's not all that effective.

Maybe I've missed something...?

 

[dixiegirl1035]

The coronavirus pandemic is causing "unacceptable" shortages of US drug supplies in the United States, according to a report from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.

The report says shortages have limited 29 of 40 drugs critical for treating Covid-19 patients, including propofol, albuterol, midazolam, hydroxychloroquine, fentanyl, azithromycin and morphine, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The FDA, which has more stringent criteria for shortages, show 18 of 40 are on the Drug Shortage list.

Another 67 out of 156 critical acute drugs -- including diazepam, phenobarbital, lidocaine and acetaminophen -- are in short supply, the report said.

"The urgency with the drug shortage supply issue is related directly to the major increase in COVID-19 cases that we will experience in the coming months," Michael Osterholm, the director of CIDRAP, said in a news release.

Covid-19 is causing 'unacceptable' shortages in US drug supplies, report says - CNN

This is the site I bookmarked way back when some shortages began (e.g. hydroxyQ). It's the entire FDA list so if you are on meds, you can take a peek as there may be others on this list not on the CNN list.

FDA Drug Shortages

 

[nhmemorymaker]

dbm

 

[SouthAussie]

I wish that worked but it hasn't seemed to yet. People have to internalize the danger on an emotional level.

It probably hasn't worked because all of the leaders are not telling the people of the danger.
Which was the point of my response. Sorry I didn't make that more clear.

IMO

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Dr. Campbell speaks to the change that the CDC had to case contact definition. (timestamp 12:47 in video)

He speaks to what we said upthread, that close contact, six feet and 15 minutes was the operational definition for contact tracing, yet someone can become infected in 30 seconds with high viral load and you can become infected if more than 2 meters due to aerosolization inside. He doesn't like it as it's too subscribed. (But what is the alternative).

He doesn't touch upon the fact that many people know these guide decisions on quarantining and work restrictions and contact tracing information, and think they are 100% protected (vs. increased protection) if they stay within the guidelines and are surprised that this is untrue MOO.

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[MimosaMornings]

Cases Skyrocket As Superspreader Church Refuses to Host COVID Testing — The Daily Beast

“An annual, multi-day gathering at a massive Charlotte, North Carolina-based church has emerged as a likely superspreader event, feeding the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the county and apparently infecting at least 82 people, three of whom have died, according to local officials.

The clash between in-person worship and pandemic guidelines has sparked outrage, tension, and superspreader events in recent weeks all over the country—from California to Maine. Adding insult to injury at the outbreak in Charlotte, officials and health providers said that the church refused to let anyone set up on-site testing.

“We’ve offered our services and offered our services with no response,” Sylvia Grier, a management services officer at the nonprofit Genesis Project, a local mental and behavioral health agency that offers free coronavirus testing to residents, told The Daily Beast.”

 

[mickey2942]

I think that the huge unreported problem is the jail and prison system. These folks do live in our communities, the guards, and the inmates, a constant rotation. There is no "physical distancing" happening in the pods. Mask usage is "hit and miss".

 

[Legally Bland]

Apologies if already posted. WP piece on mask wearing. I guess this is more anecdotal than scientific, but I thought it was interesting.

For all 50 states plus D.C., this chart plots the percentage of state residents who say they wear a mask in public all or most of the time (on the horizontal axis) and the percentage who say they know someone in their community with virus symptoms (on the vertical axis).

Take Wyoming and South Dakota, for instance, in the upper left-hand corner of the chart. Roughly 60 to 70 percent of state residents report frequent mask use, as shown on the bottom axis, which puts them at the bottom for mask rates. They also have some of the highest levels of observed covid-19 symptoms, approaching 40 and 50 percent.

Now, note what happens as you move across the chart. States farther to the right have higher rates of mask use. And as mask use increases, the frequency of observed covid-19 symptoms decreases: More masks, less covid-19.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/10/23/pandemic-data-chart-masks/

ETA: Another try with the pic.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I guess it’s up for DEBATE

October 18th, 2020

So for now, the answer to the question, “Does remdesivir actually work?” is a cautious maybe. Sometimes. For some people.

Which, given the absence of anything else right now and its low toxicity, means I’d still recommend it for most hospitalized people with COVID-19 — with the hope of giving it sooner rather than later, especially for those on oxygen at high risk for disease progression.
Does Remdesivir Actually Work? - HIV and ID Observations

Definitely up for debate, isn't it? Why are they so different.

I do hope this does not have anything to do with the FDAs decision.

US Buys World Supply Of Remdesivir For Coronavirus- What Does That Mean For Public Health And Our Future?

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Time for baby shampoo...

Other researchers are turning to an even more low-tech solution: a mixture of soap and salt. Saline rinses can remove bacteria and allergens from the nasal cavity and ease symptoms of allergies, sinus infections and colds. A current clinical trial is designed to look for effects of baby shampoo mixed with a salt solution on the symptoms and possible spreading of SARS-CoV-2 in people who have COVID-19. The soapy solution might be able to wash viruses out of the nose, or pop their protective outer layer and inactivate them, says Justin Turner, a nasal and sinus surgeon and rhinologist who is among the researchers running the trial at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

“We know that the virus is very sensitive to soaps and surfactants,” Turner says. Washing hands with soap, for example, is a good way to eliminate the coronavirus. “It seems like it could be reasonable to recommend that for the nose as well,” Turner says.

During the trial, COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms, but not sick enough to be hospitalized, will either do nothing special to their nose, rinse it with saline several times a day or rinse it with saline plus a small amount of baby shampoo. In the clinical trial, which began May 1, Turner and colleagues are tracking around 100 people’s symptoms and the amount of virus in their noses, a measurement that might indicate whether someone is more or less contagious. An early look at 45 patients shows that people who did the nose rinses, either saline alone or saline with soap, got rid of their headaches and nose congestion about a week earlier than the people who didn’t use rinses. Those interim results appear online September 11 in the International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-covid-19-treatments-target-nose-prevention

This is great teaching information! I always think about the nose, and the mouth/throat. I get sanitizer right up to my nostrils ( i know this is questionable..but the nose is SO important to address)!!
And I gargle mouthwash all the time now....

I am so used to this, that it just seems totally normal.
Will definitely think about the baby shampoo

 

[nhmemorymaker]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida reported more than 5,500 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, raising the seven-day average in daily reported cases to about 3,300. That’s about 1,000 more per day since the beginning of the month.

Florida COVID-19 cases jump 5,557 in past day, with 57 additional deaths

The battle over accurate numbers in Florida is getting much louder. State is playing games.

Florida to investigate all COVID-19 deaths after questions about ‘integrity’ of data

 

[nhmemorymaker]

https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/article246202850.html

“In an object lesson of the difficulties of playing lower-level sports during a pandemic, two Triangle junior hockey teams may have spread COVID-19 to their Atlanta-area opponents last weekend.”

“The Junior Hurricanes Premier and Elite, teams for prospective college-bound players aged 16-20, traveled to Marietta, Ga., for games last Saturday and Sunday. Several players and staff tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the trip and were left at home, but players and staff who tested negative were allowed to travel and play.”

“Karen Fishman, the mother of a player from Georgia who plays on the Junior Hurricanes Elite team, posted on Facebook that 17 players and staff tested positive before the trip. Her son tested negative, played in two games and subsequently tested positive on Monday. Efforts to reach Fishman for further comment were unsuccessful.”

Can anyone say “close contact”?
How are we going to get the numbers under the control if this keeps happening?
Isn’t ice hockey considered a high risk activity in terms of spreading COVID?

Florida is opening up senior living centers to visitors. This one is a double edged sword.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

To expand on how each of us have been coping. I've definitely turned into a lurker on this thread, so grateful for all the links to the articles. Often, I find myself going down the rabbit hole, one article leads to another and so on. By time I come back to the thread, I'm dozens of posts behind.

I'm soon to be mid 60's, still work full time, but thankfully from home (even before the pandemic). That being said, lots of things haven't changed for me. However, I take this virus very seriously, have great respect for its potential and choose to cocoon and avoid possible exposure. Being in healthcare gives me a different prospective I believe than the general public. What, to me - is just common sense, doesn't seem to resonate with the general public. I sincerely feel as if I'm living in an alternate reality. Living in NE TN, the population isn't especially large here, my county is about 160K. Our numbers keep going higher and higher and higher. We've had increases of around 50 - 129 new cases daily for past couple of weeks. We're now at almost 3400 cases for my county. The local healthcare system giving a weekly progress report, now 135 Covid patients within the system and they're starting again to divert elective procedures.

My social life has come to an absolute stand still during this pandemic. I can't say I'm happy with what is going on, but I have made the conscious choice to put all social activity on hold for now. I do think there will be an end to this surge, but I also think it will be longer than I had initially hoped. After a few months of cautiously venturing out to do shopping, fully masked and armed with my trusty hand sanitizers, I'm back to totally doing curbside pickup. To me, if it's not essential - I have no excuse to take risks. I have 5 beautiful grandchildren that I want to spend a couple more decades enjoying once this is over. I have not seen my 85-year-old mother or either of my sisters since last Christmas, with no plans to see them until spring probably. They are not taking this in stride and my Mom especially is convinced this is totally "political". As if the entire world has joined forces to conspire against the US.

I did break isolation during the summer and had my 2 youngest grandchildren for a week, after both I and their family quarantined for 2 weeks before they brought the children to me. My saving grace.

I have missed a family wedding and last week I missed my BIL's funeral (not Covid related)

I just have to keep my eye on the prize - time with my family eventually once it's safe that doesn't send me into a full-blown panic attack being around them.

I am so thankful for this forum - definitely somewhere I can come and not feel so out of the universe and alone.

We do learn so much. Some of the best learning is also hearing each others stories.

Just reading what you are doing and struggling with, gives me pause..... maybe I am being a bit too lax with my venturing lately... while the cases and deaths in FL are going so high.

When I hear stories like what your mom thinks......... i just get so sad. Does she think that the virus is a hoax/political?? Or does she think we are not as safe because it got so political.
Either is a shame for elders to have to feel this way and live in such isolation in the sunset years..... just a shame.

 

[Warwick1991]

Florida is opening up senior living centers to visitors. This one is a double edged sword.

Senior centers were ordered opened up by the Governor a few weeks ago; I’ll try and find the exact date. The reason I know this that an assisted living facility called my mother last month, and told her about the order. I guess they thought it was a positive thing, but it scared the daylights out of us... My mother had planned to enter an assisted living facility in February, but delayed her plans indefinitely due to the pandemic, and is now staying with me. She’s 91. I guess they thought it was positive because people could have visitors. From the infection rates, this decision will spread the virus even further among the vulnerable.

We wish we were back in New England, where we are originally from... Very difficult to relocate now...

 

[I'm Just Here]

Hi WS friends! I had a break and am getting help for anxiety and so forth. I hope anyone needing extra help reaches out, just with every day life then add Covid can be hard for some. I have my lavender diffuser, relaxing music, very little news and try to get through one day at a time. My sister in law just lost her brother in law to Covid a couple of days ago. What makes me sad are various items like t shirts being sold "I survived the great toilet paper crisis, 2020" Really???? Anyway happy to be visiting again, try to enjoy every day!

 

[GRT]

This is great teaching information! I always think about the nose, and the mouth/throat. I get sanitizer right up to my nostrils ( i know this is questionable..but the nose is SO important to address)!!
And I gargle mouthwash all the time now....

I am so used to this, that it just seems totally normal.
Will definitely think about the baby shampoo

Maybe this could work in a Neti pot.

 

[mickey2942]

Maybe this could work in a Neti pot.

Grandma knew best, just get a slab of Mentholatum and stick it up each nostril. Who knew?!

 

[I'm Just Here]

Grandma knew best, just get a slab of Mentholatum and stick it up each nostril. Who knew?!

I use to hate Vicks as a kid but now it is great plus with my kids growing up I found Cherry Vicks rub! I heard to rub it under the nose not in the nose since it is safer breathing into your lungs. Unless it is the stick Vicks not jar. On the chest and back is comforting.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Apologies if already posted. WP piece on mask wearing. I guess this is more anecdotal than scientific, but I thought it was interesting.

For all 50 states plus D.C., this chart plots the percentage of state residents who say they wear a mask in public all or most of the time (on the horizontal axis) and the percentage who say they know someone in their community with virus symptoms (on the vertical axis).

Take Wyoming and South Dakota, for instance, in the upper left-hand corner of the chart. Roughly 60 to 70 percent of state residents report frequent mask use, as shown on the bottom axis, which puts them at the bottom for mask rates. They also have some of the highest levels of observed covid-19 symptoms, approaching 40 and 50 percent.

Now, note what happens as you move across the chart. States farther to the right have higher rates of mask use. And as mask use increases, the frequency of observed covid-19 symptoms decreases: More masks, less covid-19.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/10/23/pandemic-data-chart-masks/

ETA: Another try with the pic.

View attachment 268851

ha ha.. folks in DC at statistics on do you know someone infected.. do they not read the news of the Rose Garden? (*insert sarcasm*)