Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #87

[SouthAussie]

Hospitals nationwide face shortage of medical staff amid spike in COVID-19 cases

More at link
Twenty-two percent say they'll face a critical staff shortage in the next week.
ABC News
November 21, 2020, 5:01 AM
Goshen Health Hospital in Indiana has had to issue a public call for help from people with medical experience. In a Facebook post, the CEO wrote, “We invite you to consider if you are someone who could make a difference.”

The Mayo Clinic in Minnesota is bringing back retirees, redeploying employees from other parts of the country, and reassigning researchers to patient care after
905 employees contracted COVID-19 in the last two weeks.

And in North Dakota, the governor announced last week that to avoid a shortage of staff the state would implement “crisis” guidelines that allow nurses who test positive for COVID-19 to continue to work, as reported by the Grand Forks Herald.

Hospitals across the country are facing an influx of COVID-19 patients, the most Americans hospitalized for the disease at any other point in the pandemic. And after struggling with shortages of personal protective equipment, intensive care unit beds, ventilators and other equipment, hospitals are now facing a shortage of a harder to replace resource - health care workers.

And here comes the stark beginning of the healthcare crunch. I am sure we are all fearful of where it goes from here.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Way way back we discussed potential for cross reactivity for Antibodies resulting from MMR vaccinations to be protective.

Today's update focuses on such. And correlation to higher mumps titer to lesser severity of COVID disease.

ETA: Reminder for @margarita25 and myself to go to clinical trials to see how many studies on this are going on now that are in progress!

 

[dmac55]

COVID-19 Worse Than Ever in the US. We Aren't Acting Like It | Time
The U.S. COVID-19 Outbreak Is Worse Than It’s Ever Been. Why Aren’t We Acting Like It?

 

[SouthAussie]

COVID-19 Worse Than Ever in the US. We Aren't Acting Like It | Time
The U.S. COVID-19 Outbreak Is Worse Than It’s Ever Been. Why Aren’t We Acting Like It?

“The public is tired.”

I am so tired of seeing this in the US publications. So tired of what? Ignoring public health recommendatons? Going on holidays? Travelling across the country? Going out to bars and crowded restauarants? Living the same way they lived before the pandemic?

From what I can see, many people have not changed too much. I cannot see what they are tired of.

Try living in a place where lockdowns happen very quickly, where you wonder if you have enough groceries and dog food for a week or more, where business loss is instaneous and will never be recouped, where 3,500 people are still in quarantine and will be for 10 more days ... and this can happen again.

But it is keeping us safe.

Sorry. But these tired people need to get a grip on reality. I can understand why the people on this forum and all medical staff are tired. They can see what is going on, they are frustrated, and they know (I think) that these other people have little reason to be tired of the pandemic. These other people are just tired of being told how bad it is, and how they need to do the things they won't do. IMO

(My apologies for the strong words.)

 

[Cool Cats]

UPDATED NOVEMBER 22, 2020 03:27 AM

Family pleads ‘please stay at home’ after 15 get COVID tied to birthday party



Arlington family offers coronavirus warning

Alexa's relatives began asking themselves all of the typical COVID questions before they were to gather for a birthday gathering on Nov. 1, weighing the risk versus reward.

Everyone had been growing fatigued of all the isolation and wanted to see each other like they always have.

They felt collectively they had been extremely vigilant since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, for the most part going to work and then coming home, believing in masks and social distancing, avoiding bars, restaurants, and church.

They decided it would be safe to gather if they kept it within their small circle.

It was a couple days later that some people began to feel what seemed like the early symptoms of a cold, or the coronavirus. On Nov. 4, fearing the worst, those at the party and their family members went to get tested.

All 12 people at the party returned positive test results, and the virus had spread to three more people.

The family believes one of Alexa’s cousins and her daughter may have brought the coronavirus into the home, since they were feeling slightly under the weather at the time. They all dismissed it as allergies caused by a high count of ragweed, Alexa said.

The relatives agreed they were willing to share the story — even if it wasn’t good publicity and could attract judgment — so other people can learn, Alexa said.

“We were scared that my mother, the matriarch of the family, was going to pass,” she said. “So I think that fear in our hearts made us want to put an awareness in the hearts of others.”

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I posted above about the MMR vacine and Dr. Campbell. Indeed their is an international study starting up and being recruited for right now for 30,000 folks doing a double blind/placebo controlled study to follow the one Dr. Campbell overviewed. Other smaller ones... but this one has all the biggies involved (e.g. Washington University, Unity Health Toronto, University College of London... and MANY others. ) Starting recruitment, study won't be done until September 2021.

Will be good to know, (says me, as I had the MMR shot in 2001 ) but vaccination may shadow this over as vaccines are coming so soon.

CROWN CORONATION: COVID-19 Research Outcomes Worldwide Network for CORONAvirus prevenTION - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

 

[Deleted member 158085]

Illinois is reaching capacity. My region is at 82% but my idiotic county board wrote a letter to Pritzker saying they want our county exempt from tier 3 mitigation measures. It's a dumpster fire.

 

[LadyL]

‘It’s frightening. It’s insane’: Fort Lauderdale bars packed with mask-less partygoers | Photos

 

[SouthAussie]

‘It’s frightening. It’s insane’: Fort Lauderdale bars packed with mask-less partygoers | Photos

UPDATE: The Wharf announced Sunday that it will shut down again after reopening for two days. It will remain closed until it is able to operate normally again.

Hope they made enough money in their two open days to carry them through for months. I guess they decided that packing people in like sardines was better than limiting numbers, assuring social distancing and staying open.

 

[gitana1]

I knew about the pandemic playbook, etc., but didn’t realize the extent of everything else...too much to post. I think I might remember @gitana1 talking about the CDC downsizing or whatever you want to call it in the initial days. Dr. Messonnier was also shown on this documentary.

Yes. It was the pandemic response team that had been instituted in 2016 by the previous administration in response to criticism as to how the 2014/2015 ebola crisis had been managed. It was dismantled in 2018. Some were fired in the team, some resigned and some were reassigned to different parts of the administration:

Did Trump Administration Fire the US Pandemic Response Team?

Fact check: White House didn't fire pandemic response in 2018

 

[Midwestmom2019]

And all this activity is going on in Texas??? Why would you be having no problem getting supplies and testing, but Ohio does?

I feel that people have been quite positive about the job DeWine is doing in Ohio?

Texas takes a no nonsense approach to many things. “Get ‘er done” is a rallying cry. Probably because we were a republic at one point in history. We take care of business.

 

[LadyL]

Just curious - is Thanksgiving more or less important/celebrated than Christmas?

in Canada less

 

[LadyL]

In a typical year, there would be office or work holiday parties or coworkers going out for drinks or dinner. Even if you were not a "Christian," you would probably be swept up in the maelstrom of parties or luncheons or gift exchanges and children would be having school parties or decorating. It has also just been Diwali but I have only seen lights displayed.... not sure what has transpired with that. Hard to have celebrations when it is just not a happy time however I think that people with children would want to try to make it a happier time for them if possible.

I'm not Christian but Christmas is usually the biggest day of the year for my large, extended family. I still don't know what we're doing this year. We've had deaths and illnesses and don't need any more because of one day. It's really a strong pull to want to celebrate the season.

 

[Midwestmom2019]

Coronavirus terrified this doctor when it stole his ability to breathe - CNN

“He had to let patients know when it was time to say their final goodbyes to their families.

"The hard thing is having to be the person that talks to the patient with Covid, who says, 'You know what? It's time to call your wife. We are going to have to put a breathing tube down and it's time for you to say goodbye,'" Burkard said.
It was a message the emergency room physician had to deliver again and again as the pandemic stretched through summer and into the shorter days of fall.“

[...]

“He ran five days a week, played and coached volleyball, ate a healthy diet and had no major underlying conditions. If he did get infected, he thought, he'd be fine.

"I actually, at one point, thought, 'I want to just get the virus and get it over with,'" he told CNN. "I thought there was no real chance of me having to be hospitalized. I'm a healthy young man."

'I just could not breathe'“

[...]

"”I've had a lot of people say ... I'm a hoax. I had someone report me to Facebook for being a fake profile," he said.
He hopes that some people will think twice about his experience.

"Instead of just saying mean things from behind the keyboard, imagine what it's like to have that conversation with someone that you were putting a breathing tube down their throat, and they might not be able to say 'I love you' to their loved one again," he said.“

Like any other disease, it affects different people different ways. Some survive cancer. Some do not. Some survive Ebola, some do not. Unfortunately, we do not know why some people live to 88 and have the energy of a 20 year old. (Friend of mine) Some are 66 and exhausted. If we knew the exact genetic code it takes to recover, I’m sure it would help in research. What does the disease unsuccessfully target in some humans and why is it not successful? Therein lies the answer.

 

[ZoriahNZ]

Disbanded vs fired? What's the difference? According to some experts/officials disbanding the Pandemic Response team in 2018 had a direct affect on the country's lack of preparedness.

AP news: Trump disbanded NSC pandemic unit that experts had praised

“One year later I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like COVID-19,” Beth Cameron, the first director of the unit, wrote in an op-ed Friday in The Washington Post.

She said the directorate was set up to be the “smoke alarm” and get ahead of emergencies and sound a warning at the earliest sign of fire — “all with the goal of avoiding a six-alarm fire.”

It’s impossible to assess the impact of the 2018 decision to disband the unit, she said. Cameron noted that biological experts remain at the White House, but she says it’s clear that eliminating the office contributed to what she called a “sluggish domestic response.” She said that shortly before Trump took office, the unit was watching a rising number of cases in China of a deadly strain of the flu and a yellow fever outbreak in Angola.

 

[acutename]

This vaccine will require two doses about a month apart, IIRC. So not really like the flu vaccine. IMO

possible that there is some positive effect after shot 1- have not read about this, but shot 2 needed for the 90 or 95% the manufacturers have stated. Does anybody know?

 

[SouthAussie]

Disbanded vs fired? What's the difference? According to some experts/officials disbanding the Pandemic Response team in 2018 had a direct affect on the country's lack of preparedness.

AP news: Trump disbanded NSC pandemic unit that experts had praised

One of the huge problems I saw was that they reduced the staff in China from 42 people to about 13. And then pulled out completely IIRC. That group was there to keep on top of Asian virus outbreaks, pandemic potentials - to know what was going on. To be involved in the action and resolution required.

 

[acutename]

Oh my gosh. Most of the hotel chain only require 24-48 hour cancellation notice.
And you if you can’t get your money back for the flight - you get a credit that you can use later. For up to a year later. You know, for when it’s not so dangerous?

Unless everyone is staying at a Airbnb that the owners don’t allow cancellations?
Even with a week or two notice?

And.....it’s not like Covid suddenly appeared.

I think they’re going because they are Covid nonbelievers and aren’t going to change a dang thing about their life.

JMO

some of these people would ride a motorcycle in a snow storm too...
and some of them will be OK and will not connect their activities to spread or death, IMO.

 

[Lilibet]

Report for Oregon and Jackson County where I live.

All time high for Oregon as of 12:01 a.m. Sunday Nov. 22=1517!! “Only” one death reported.

For the third straight day, the Oregon Health Authority reported a record-breaking high -- 1,517 -- of new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 in Oregon, bringing the state total to 65,170.

COVID-19 has claimed one more life in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 820, OHA reported as of 12:01 a.m. today.

“Oregon is on a steep and stark slope of rising Coronavirus cases,” OHA Director Patrick Allen said. “But we aren’t powerless in the face of this virus. Because it depends on us to slow the spread. Your choices make a difference.

“Local health officials in every part of the state have investigated outbreaks that started with get-togethers that seemed innocent at the time, but led to many people getting sick, and in some cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

“This Thanksgiving, cancel any plans you have to celebrate indoors with large groups of family and friends. The safest, wisest and most caring way to protect the people you love is to keep your Thanksgiving dinner small and limited to no more than one other household beside your own. Keep the holidays a time to remember, not a time to regret.”

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Benton (7), Clackamas (207), Clatsop (7), Columbia (8), Coos (9), Crook (6), Deschutes (38), Douglas (12), Grant (15), Hood River (6), Jackson (55), Jefferson (8), Josephine (14), Klamath (53), Lake (6), Lane (64), Lincoln (1), Linn (27), Malheur (16), Marion (183), Morrow (7), Multnomah (516), Polk (26), Umatilla (47), Union (5), Wasco (11), Washington (128), and Yamhill (35).

Oregon’s 820th COVID-19 death is a 65-year-old man in Multnomah County who tested positive on Nov. 15 and died on Nov. 15. Place of death and presence of underlying conditions are being confirmed.

See the news release for total cases, deaths and negative tests by county.

Personal note: I receive this report because I signed up for it to come in an email. People who aren’t interested won’t sign up. The local news link below quotes our Public Health Department director in Jackson county, discussing non-compliance with 2 week quarantine if you’ve been around someone with Covid. He is begging people to hang in there because a vaccine and treatments are just around the corner. I doubt they will comply.

Jackson County Public Health: many not respecting voluntary quarantine after exposure

 

[10ofRods]

possible that there is some positive effect after shot 1- have not read about this, but shot 2 needed for the 90 or 95% the manufacturers have stated. Does anybody know?

That's what I keep reading - 2 shots to get to that 95%. Side effects considered normal.

I also read that there's immunity after shot 1 - but they want to get us higher in antibodies. One interesting thing is that the 5% of Moderna vaccine patients who did get CoVid had a mild course, which is of course part of the goal (and the effectiveness was not lessened according to age):

Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine Shines In Clinical Trial

I don't think they have any data on people under 12 or over 90 (the oldest participant I read about was 87), but I believe there were a significant number of over-80's in the various samples.