Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #68

[margarita25]

California coronavirus-related deaths top 7,000 as infection spread worsens

“The death toll from the coronavirus in California soared above 7,000 this weekend as the infection rate continued to worsen.

The rate at which coronavirus test results are coming back positive in California over the previous seven days has hit 7.97%. That’s the highest number since April — a continuing sign that the coronavirus is spreading throughout the state, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis conducted Saturday.“

[...]

“For those of you mourning the loss of a loved one from COVID-19, your community mourns with you,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement. “We must work together to get back to being able to slow the spread. Unless we can do this, our recovery journey is in jeopardy.”“

 

[margarita25]

LA County Seeing 'High Number' Of Newly Confirmed COVID-19 Cases, Public Health Officials Report

“Public health officials Saturday confirmed 57 new deaths and 2,916 new cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County.

In a press release, officials said 2,000 people are currently hospitalized. Of those, 27 percent are in the intensive-care unit, and 18 percent are on ventilators.

“This remains substantially higher than the 1,350 to 1,450 daily hospitalizations seen four weeks ago,” the news release indicated.”

 

[margarita25]

Colorado:

More Colorado families consider online education as COVID-19 risks loom over upcoming school year – The Denver Post

—-

Denver approves 250 applications for expanded outdoor dining at bars, restaurants during COVID-19 Pandemic | FOX31 Denver

“DENVER (KDVR) — The City of Denver said it has hit a new milestone, giving approval for 250 bars and restaurants to expand serving capacity by expanding outdoor seating to adjacent streets, sidewalks and parking lots.

The City of Denver called it an “unprecedented” move to help Denver food establishments.

“This program is just one more way Denver is backing up our commitment to help our local businesses and their employees get back on their feet,” Mayor Michael Hancock in a press release.“

—-

Colorado state health officials discuss COVID-19 response | 9news.com
July 10

'We can expect to see growth': Health officials discuss coronavirus cases, testing
Less social distancing and increased testing are factors in an increase of COVID-19 cases in Colorado.

"”Unless social distancing levels change or other strategies decrease the transmission rate that is occurring in the state, we can expect to see growth in the number of cases and hospitalizations that are occurring," said Herlihy.”
—-

July 1:
State health department amends Safer-At-Home public health order allowing professional sports to resume and temporarily closing bars | Colorado COVID-19 Updates

“The new guidance and changes are listed below:

• Professional sports may resume pre-season practices, training, and league play after receiving approval from CDPHE on a reopening plan that details disease prevention and mitigation strategies.“

 

[Cool Cats]

Wonderful. Let's hope they make it affordable so all business's and homes can get them. I would immediately.

Sounds affordable - from the article:

The researchers hope their filter gets the attention of state and national leaders … to help form a public-private partnership.

“This can be truly an affordable, low-cost, accessible opportunity for us to help contain COVID-19 indoors,” says Dr. Peel, adding that the filter can be retroactively installed in commercial HVAC units or used in a mobile unit.

 

[neesaki]

To those on this thread who feel like they are living on "another planet" or in an "alternate reality".......I am right there with you.

More and more of my neighbors have stopped wearing face masks. I put on a mask the second I step out of my driveway. My neighbors are fellow senior citizens. Some are hard of hearing so they get right into your face to have a conversation. These days I am saying, "Sorry you are not wearing a mask" and walk away. Not very friendly, I admit.

I went to a Drs appointment with my DH the other day, it’s a new Doc, and he shook hands with my husband. I was already thinking, please don’t try to shake my hand. He didn’t, thank goodness. He had on a mask, as did we, but then while he was talking he slipped the mask off. He’s a very reputable Dr. , but I was take aback by the lax attitude. Maybe he’s become desensitized, beats me.

 

[10ofRods]

LA County Seeing 'High Number' Of Newly Confirmed COVID-19 Cases, Public Health Officials Report

“Public health officials Saturday confirmed 57 new deaths and 2,916 new cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County.

In a press release, officials said 2,000 people are currently hospitalized. Of those, 27 percent are in the intensive-care unit, and 18 percent are on ventilators.

“This remains substantially higher than the 1,350 to 1,450 daily hospitalizations seen four weeks ago,” the news release indicated.”

The number of younger people in the ICU is of course high right now (and not just in California). A 1 night stay in the hospital, with admission through the ER cost a 29 year old I know $18,000. Was discharged home after about 30 hours, had x-rays, of course, and was on oxygen and sent home with an Rx for home oxygen, which he had to manage to find on his own.

So, here we go. With the increased number of cases, at least in SoCal, we're moving toward surge capacity (some hospitals already there).

The California side of Lake Tahoe is really taking it on the chin:

Coronavirus cases surge at Lake Tahoe amid summer tourist season

 

[musicaljoke]

I went to a Drs appointment with my DH the other day, it’s a new Doc, and he shook hands with my husband. I was already thinking, please don’t try to shake my hand. He didn’t, thank goodness. He had on a mask, as did we, but then while he was talking he slipped the mask off. He’s a very reputable Dr. , but I was take aback by the lax attitude. Maybe he’s become desensitized, beats me.

Did you and your husband need a CoVid test before seeing the Dr? In these parts, unless you're coming in an ambulance, you need a negative test result within the week of your appointment. It may be because the Dr.'s offices are in the hospital building.

 

[drama_farmer]

If hospitals decide to move some patients to other hospitals, either within or outside the state, will patients be charged the "out of network" price for care? Just something else to think about...imo

 

[Bravo]

Did you and your husband need a CoVid test before seeing the Dr? In these parts, unless you're coming in an ambulance, you need a negative test result within the week of your appointment. It may be because the Dr.'s offices are in the hospital building.

That could be why musical. My Dr. has her office outside the Hospital and is doing phone appt.s unless you really need to be seen. Then she will see you.

 

[Legally Bland]

Welcome to the Galveston National Lab
Tested by Galveston National Laboratory, the filter killed 99.8 percent of coronavirus on a single pass.

COVID-19 game-changer? Houston researchers create air filter that can kill the coronavirus

Air Filter Created That Can Kill the Coronavirus – 99.8% Effective on SARS-CoV-2 | Infosurhoy

It started with an idea from Medistar founder Monzer Hourani: a filter that could kill coronavirus. His company approached researchers at the Texas Center for Conductivity at UH, led by Dr. Zhifeng Ren.

“In a month and a half, we got the prototype, the testing done and the proven concept,” says Dr. Ren.

His team figured out the best possible solution would be to heat the filter, zapping the virus.

“Let’s say 70 °C. It may take 10-20 minutes to kill. If you go to 100 °C , it will take a couple minutes. But if you go to 200 °C , that will be instantaneous,” Dr. Ren explains.

That’s the temperature scientists decided to stick with, using it to heat a filter made of nickel foam, which is more porous and allows the air to pass.

“It filters the virus. It catches it. It kills it. Without impacting the temperature of the ambient air,” says Dr. Garrett K. Peel of Medistar.

One of its uses, he suggests, could be in classrooms. A mobile unit would be able to filter the air in each room, helping provide a different kind of mask for kids, teachers and staff.

I'd love for this to be true, but I honestly don't believe ordinary a/c units will function with air entering at 200 deg c (392 f).

ETA: I'm not an HVAC engineer so I could be missing a really simple explanation.

 

[musicaljoke]

The number of younger people in the ICU is of course high right now (and not just in California). A 1 night stay in the hospital, with admission through the ER cost a 29 year old I know $18,000. Was discharged home after about 30 hours, had x-rays, of course, and was on oxygen and sent home with an Rx for home oxygen, which he had to manage to find on his own.

So, here we go. With the increased number of cases, at least in SoCal, we're moving toward surge capacity (some hospitals already there).

The California side of Lake Tahoe is really taking it on the chin:

Coronavirus cases surge at Lake Tahoe amid summer tourist season

$18,000 is a whopping expense for most 29 yr olds, for a 1 night stay. Yikes.

How is that paid? Does a patient pay a deposit, and then agree to pay the balance over time? Or does someone have to pay for them at the time of admission? Or do you get the bill when you are discharged?

 

[ArianeEmory]

Two months after infection, COVID-19 symptoms persist

 

[Anance]

I'd love for this to be true, but I honestly don't believe ordinary a/c units will function with air entering at 200 deg c (392 f).

ETA: I'm not an HVAC engineer so I could be missing a really simple explanation.

I hear you. Every time some new treatment or mitigation strategy is touted, a new press release distributed, there's excitement for about 1 or 2 news cycles. Then it disappears. I've lost track - but I remember nicotine patches were suggested at one point by the French!

You are right to be skeptical. I'm not an HVAC engineer either, so I'll wait to see if it is adopted and works in real-life settings. Won't be a first adopter.

 

[Mo Thuairim]

'So much worse than I expected': one worker's time at a virus-hit farm

Karen spent three weeks packing broccoli at AS Green and Co before she quit last month in disgust at the working conditions. “It made me incredibly angry that people could be treated in such a manner,” she told the Guardian, recounting her time at the Herefordshire farm where at least 73 workers have tested positive for coronavirus.

[...]

She spent the first week in quarantine, but after that social distancing was not observed, she said. “I was isolated at the beginning but after that we were treated as one big household and you are all working together. Everyone is living and working so close together that it’s not surprising that if anyone gets Covid, it will spread very fast, and now nearly half of them have got it.”

[...]

Bev Clarkson, a national officer at the Unite union, said: “We said at the start of this pandemic that this is something that is likely to happen, and in particular on the farms because workers are put in caravans or dormitories where they have to share. Employers say they are doing all they can but they say they can’t adhere to the guidelines on social distancing.”

She added: “If one person gets coronavirus it will spread very quickly as has happened here, so this bubble idea is not working. Supermarkets have to be held accountable for what is happening within the supply chain. If supermarkets weren’t demanding such cheap prices then these people could live and work in better conditions. This was just a disaster waiting to happen.”

[More at link]

'So much worse than I expected': one worker's time at a virus-hit farm

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

White House seeks to discredit Fauci as coronavirus surges

Many of the statements the White House criticizes Fauci for were based on the best available data at the time and were widely echoed by Trump and other officials.

The White House is seeking to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's leading infectious disease expert, as President Donald Trump works to marginalize him and his dire warnings about the shortcomings of the U.S. coronavirus response.

In a remarkable broadside by the Trump administration against one of its own, a White House official said Sunday that "several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things." The official gave NBC News a list of nearly a dozen past comments by Fauci that the official said had ultimately proven erroneous...

 

[Anance]

in particular on the farms because workers are put in caravans or dormitories where they have to share.

We live in a world of euphemisms and language meant not alarm. I'm not talking about racial slurs, but the Orwellian language that institutions use to describe themselves.

When my mother started teaching disadvantaged children in Florida, they were called migrant labor camps. And they were horrific places. Hopefully, they are much better now.

Speaking of dormitories - in FL the colleges are opening, no online courses. COVID-19 is already spreading in fraternity houses.

 

[Victoria Chambers]

$18,000 is a whopping expense for most 29 yr olds, for a 1 night stay. Yikes.

How is that paid? Does a patient pay a deposit, and then agree to pay the balance over time? Or does someone have to pay for them at the time of admission? Or do you get the bill when you are discharged?

The cost is just 'eyes wide' shocking isn't it! The NHS brought me into the World many moons ago and having grown up with the NHS, it becomes a part of your life just as school and work do. Only recently have I fully understood just how Very Very lucky myself and my Country are to have had it there, all our lives.. Any given minute, an accident occurs, a baby is born or somebody collapses and I cannot imagine the stress that comes with needing medical assistance combined with having no money. Jeeeez, I have taken far too much for granted and I need to count my blessings more often! X

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Two months after infection, COVID-19 symptoms persist

I personally would add itchy eyes to the symptoms which linger. Not that this is any big deal but it may be of interest to know.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

$18,000 is a whopping expense for most 29 yr olds, for a 1 night stay. Yikes.

How is that paid? Does a patient pay a deposit, and then agree to pay the balance over time? Or does someone have to pay for them at the time of admission? Or do you get the bill when you are discharged?

18k a night! Imagine those in ICU for weeks

 

[pocketaccent]

BBM

My patient caught Covid-19 twice. So long to herd immunity hopes.

“Wait. I can catch Covid twice?” my 50-year-old patient asked in disbelief. It was the beginning of July, and he had just tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, for a second time — three months after a previous infection.

While there’s still much we don’t understand about immunity to this new illness, a small but growing number of cases like his suggest the answer is “yes.”

Covid-19 may also be much worse the second time around. During his first infection, my patient experienced a mild cough and sore throat. His second infection, in contrast, was marked by a high fever, shortness of breath, and hypoxia, resulting in multiple trips to the hospital.

Recent reports and conversations with physician colleagues suggest my patient is not alone. Two patients in New Jersey, for instance, appear to have contracted Covid-19 a second time almost two months after fully recovering from their first infection.

It is possible, but unlikely, that my patient had a single infection that lasted three months. Some Covid-19 patients (now dubbed “long haulers”) do appear to suffer persistent infections and symptoms.

My patient, however, cleared his infection — he had two negative PCR tests after his first infection — and felt healthy for nearly six weeks.
...