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Coronavirus (Covid-19) informational thread
- Thread starter yaxomoxay
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I work in a psych hospital, my fiancée is in her cardiology fellowship at a major hospital. I’m concerned about both of us, but I realize we are both relatively low risk. I’m more concerned about my mother, she’s in her mid 60’s an Orthopedic surgeon. Despite being in otherwise good health, she is still on the older side and as everyone ages immune function decreases. She’s also in a small hospital located just outside NYC, East Coast’s biggest hotspot- in fact, just miles from New Rochelle.
I was just speaking with her this evening and I’m shocked at what she told me. To preface- the hospital I work for is part of a major health network in Massachusetts containing some of the top hospitals in the world. My fiancée works at at a very highly regarded hospital. Both of us have been mostly satisfied with the efforts our hospitals have put forward for COVID-19- planning, preparation, staff education, contingencies etc.
I’ve been put on standby to transfer to one of our generals hospitals in our network if they need additional manpower with my skill set in clinical pharmacology. Given severe/critical cases are more likely to occur in patients with pre-existing complex health issues and limited people trained in my field this is entirely possible.
My mother’s hospital though... holy crap. To summarize, the network that owns the hospital as well as the HR dept seem entirely disconnected with the reality and potential severity of the pandemic. They have been completely disorganized in their response and ignorant of the needs of departments, staff, patients, etc. They recently announced a policy all staff who voluntarily traveled to an affected international region cannot use sick time, only vacation time, to self-quarantine because basically “it’s your fault”. They have been completely ignorant of supporting staff if K-12 schools are closed and how staff can care for their kids, still make an income, and maintain staffing levels. The CEO stated “this is an exciting time” which isn’t exactly the sentiment anyone with clinical responsibilities and most non-clinical staff feel. While even most of the hospital administrators understand the gravity of the situation, the company that owns them and some of executive leadership does not. The ground level is doing everything they can do to prepare, but much the leadership isn’t.
I ran some numbers here...
There are about 330m Americans. Current estimates say as much as 70% could be infected. 88% have mild and asymptomatic (as much as 20%). 8% severe- requiring some level of hospitalization, 4% critical- requiring ICU level care.
That means 18.5m people may require some level of hospital care and another 9.25m will require ICU care. If all of these cases present at the same time, it will be disastrous. There is no way any country could accommodate these numbers.
In my experience working at major health centers, places with around 100 ICU beds, we had about 95% utilization on any given day. That means there isn’t much room for additional patients on top of normal business. Many of these ICU beds are for specialized purposes.
Community hospitals have far fewer ICU beds. Often anywhere from 5-20, but have much lower utilization. The is problem however, because of the utilization, many of these beds don’t have staffing. In my mom’s hospital only about 50% of beds are staffed. That’s not to say they can’t be, but it’s another issue to accommodate.
Many healthcare workers, especially nurses who are the backbone of hospitals, have kids. If Daycares and/or K-12 schools are closed someone needs to take care of their kids. If staff uses vacation days to care for their kids, who will care for the patients? This is something her hospital has not figured out and leadership has dismissed any sort of company provided solution. There will already problems if staff get infected and are therefore unable to work. This is especially true of ICU units that require highly specialized practitioners.
For me, working at a psych hospital poses fairly unique challenges when it comes to keeping our patients safe. Korea has an truly disastrous case of a psych ward of quarantining 101 psych patients because 1 was infected- now 99 infected and 7 dead. Quarantining patients individually is an option for us but poses extremely negative consequences for patients. Social isolation is just about the worst thing we can do. Closing our doors to new patients entirely is also on the table if needed, but would be a tremendous blow to the the area’s ability to care for acute psych cases- psych care is scarce enough as it is. The ability to test patients (especially new intakes) for COVID19 without supply restrictions will put us in a much better spot- but we can’t be sure of how soon that will be or that leaks won’t occur because of a flakey source, pre-existing case, staff transmission or other source, etc.
I’m hoping other psych facilities are prepared as we are with proactive as we are and open to creative contingencies. It seems some general hospitals are not, so I’d assume there are al types types of facilities that are not adequately prepared.
The numbers I posted also highlight the need to slow the spread (which frankly is inevitable at some level) and minimize risk to high risk populations.
Everyone needs to calm down. There are bad actors behind all of this mayhem and they have created this mess on purpose. Every response eg. state of emergencies is planned to make money and spread fear. Corona is a weaponized mycoplasma. You don't actually believe it's from eating exotic bats and spiders in Wuhan do you? You realize that Covid-19 has a component that also exists in HIV which is also man made. You don't believe HIV came from monkeys in Africa do you? But I digress, Corona symptoms are similar to the common flu that kills hundreds every day. Like the flu, it can be fatal to people who have compromised immune systems. Common sense right?
What can you do? Health is key.
The simple idea, as most everyone knows, is to have a powerful immune system so your body can fight off disease and viruses as well as to heal as quick as possible. A quick recovery is just as important.
1) Daily exercise to reduce stress which keeps cortisol at bay. We know that cortisol can wreak havoc on our immune systems. Exercise increases blood flow and thus mobilizes white blood cells/T-cells etc.
2) 7-8 hours of quality sleep. Keyword being quality. It's all related to the above. p.s. Don't believe the hype in the 4 hrs of sleep that CEOs are living off. It's marketing BS. Maybe some are doing it, but they would be doing so to the detriment of their health and productivity.
3) Vitamin D which is specific for immunology because it is used by our macrophages. Read carefully...The vitamin D you need is vitamin D3 Sulfate. This is produced by a chemical reaction between the sulfate on our skin and the sun (UVB) when the sun is 50 degrees above the horizon. You must know that vitamins must be sulfated for transport into the blood. This is why vitamin D3 in supplement form is pretty much useless when we are talking about gaining the same benefits as UVB. Vitamin D3 in supplement form is used for other benefits. The amount of D3 Sulfate you can absorb via UVB is dependent on factors such as location to the equator, age and skin color. There are few foods that provide this special D3. Raw cow's milk is pretty much the only source of true D3 Sulfate. It can be challenging to find raw milk due to local laws etc. Canada, one of the healthiest nations in the world, still bans raw milk. It's all politics. I think some states like Washington and California recently allow it.
Secret. You can get the same D3 Sulfate absorption from UVB with suntanning beds. Caveat emptor. Not any beds. All the new tanning beds are very bad because their bulbs are too strong. Which means all those cool fast tanning beds and the standup beds are all bad. You want the older Level 1 weak beds that you can lay down on. You only want around 5-7 minutes at a time and you do not want to tan. You're using them for vitamin D3 not for tanning. Again, do your research.
4) Boost your body's microbiome aka gut flora. Sauerkraut, kimchi Kefir etc. A healthy gut is the key to longevity by fighting inflammation. Tons of empirical research on it. Look it up.
5) Vitamins like vitamin C are important, but vitamin C is water soluble so it’s not really a vitamin that your body stores. A healthy diet high in Vitamin C is probably just as effective. The key vitamin is D3 Sulfate.
Last but not least, stay away from crowds, sneezers and coughers and wash your hands with hot water any chance you get. Don't be a freak and racist. Be vigilant but also show compassion and empathy.
What can you do? Health is key.
The simple idea, as most everyone knows, is to have a powerful immune system so your body can fight off disease and viruses as well as to heal as quick as possible. A quick recovery is just as important.
1) Daily exercise to reduce stress which keeps cortisol at bay. We know that cortisol can wreak havoc on our immune systems. Exercise increases blood flow and thus mobilizes white blood cells/T-cells etc.
2) 7-8 hours of quality sleep. Keyword being quality. It's all related to the above. p.s. Don't believe the hype in the 4 hrs of sleep that CEOs are living off. It's marketing BS. Maybe some are doing it, but they would be doing so to the detriment of their health and productivity.
3) Vitamin D which is specific for immunology because it is used by our macrophages. Read carefully...The vitamin D you need is vitamin D3 Sulfate. This is produced by a chemical reaction between the sulfate on our skin and the sun (UVB) when the sun is 50 degrees above the horizon. You must know that vitamins must be sulfated for transport into the blood. This is why vitamin D3 in supplement form is pretty much useless when we are talking about gaining the same benefits as UVB. Vitamin D3 in supplement form is used for other benefits. The amount of D3 Sulfate you can absorb via UVB is dependent on factors such as location to the equator, age and skin color. There are few foods that provide this special D3. Raw cow's milk is pretty much the only source of true D3 Sulfate. It can be challenging to find raw milk due to local laws etc. Canada, one of the healthiest nations in the world, still bans raw milk. It's all politics. I think some states like Washington and California recently allow it.
Secret. You can get the same D3 Sulfate absorption from UVB with suntanning beds. Caveat emptor. Not any beds. All the new tanning beds are very bad because their bulbs are too strong. Which means all those cool fast tanning beds and the standup beds are all bad. You want the older Level 1 weak beds that you can lay down on. You only want around 5-7 minutes at a time and you do not want to tan. You're using them for vitamin D3 not for tanning. Again, do your research.
4) Boost your body's microbiome aka gut flora. Sauerkraut, kimchi Kefir etc. A healthy gut is the key to longevity by fighting inflammation. Tons of empirical research on it. Look it up.
5) Vitamins like vitamin C are important, but vitamin C is water soluble so it’s not really a vitamin that your body stores. A healthy diet high in Vitamin C is probably just as effective. The key vitamin is D3 Sulfate.
Last but not least, stay away from crowds, sneezers and coughers and wash your hands with hot water any chance you get. Don't be a freak and racist. Be vigilant but also show compassion and empathy.
This might be the reason why the schools out here in Santa Clara Valley are remaining open for now. Lots of parents are livid about the decision to keep the schools open.
I read that Mass General Hospital only has 16 rooms that are proper isolation units and once those fill up, their plan is to convert one of their regular general med/surg floors into an improvised isolation ward.
One person who was in one of the Italian hospitals posted a couple of photos to Twitter of one of his hospital's OR rooms. They had moved all of the OR equipment into a storage unit so the OR could be used for isolation beds.
In China, they were converting convention centers and sports stadiums into care clinics for the less critical.
This is crazy. Best wishes for the health and safety of your mother and fiance'.
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i was reading on google news; Angela Merkel German chancellor, being brutally honest, "50-70% of the population will be infected". Mac Rumor fans; at that level of contagent people you know will die. Just a saying a likely outcome. I hope not. Best of luck everyone.
Where did you "learn" this garbage? Corona is a beer.
I can agree with most of the rest of your suggestions though, but unless you're a physician don't go prescribing supplements to people. Keeping your general health up is one of the best things you can do to improve your odds of coming out of any disease state undamaged. That's a no brainer.
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I trust that what she says was indeed factual in basis, but I also have to imagine that Merkel needs to err on the side of overestimating to make sure she gets everyone's attention. The average person is notoriously bad at understanding probability. If people hear that 30% of the world's population will get infected, some are going to think, "Exhale! I probably won't get infected. I don't have to worry."
The 1918 flu infected about 30% of the world's population and killed at least 50 million.
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On the flip side of this... I can't find the video right now but the Ministry of Education in China (or someone on their behalf) made a simulation of the spread of disease through a school.
Within 2 weeks, almost everyone in the primary school developed COVID-19. That's why Chinese schools are staying shut.
Keeping daycares (especially) and schools open for this purpose as @smirking suggested may be happening is not a practical solution. Children aren't the best at hygiene. The coronavirus doesn't seem to do critical damage to children but it does spread within family units.
I totally agree with this. From a healthcare worker perspective, you will be looking at how many people you can save vs. how many people you should let die during a triage process when the healthcare system is overwhelmed. A lot of people who said "it's just a flu" tend to fixate on mortality rate of COVID-19 vs Spanish Flu vs any other normal flu. What they tend to forget is that ICU occupancy with COVID-19 patients (which will become a priority since this disease is highly contagious) will also displace other ICU occupants due to other diseases/accidents, and these deaths will be filed under "deaths not due to COVID-19" (if they are not infected first while waiting for ICU beds to open).
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definitely
I took some pictures yesterday around lunchtime and there was almost nobody around ...
I put those pictures on YouTube if you like to watch:
fortunately I have so many hobbies and interests that it is impossibile for me to get bored
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yes it is and it is especially dangerous for the elderly
we need to try to self isolate as best as we can, even without having symptoms
this is the only way to slow that little bastard down
do it voluntarily before your government tells you to (because obviously and despite the numbers some governments are a little slow to understand)
be safe
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now is the time to worry about our health and especially our elderly
tomorrow, there will be a time to worry about our jobs and our economy
unfortunately, I strongly feel we are going to get hit by the big brother of the 2008 economic crisis ... thank you very much, coronavirus
tomorrow, there will be a time to worry about our jobs and our economy
unfortunately, I strongly feel we are going to get hit by the big brother of the 2008 economic crisis ... thank you very much, coronavirus
There is no good evidence that indicates that extra vitamins make any difference in Coronavirus or indeed any other infection unless you are deplete. The advice is the same for everyone If you think you have this: isolate yourself, drink plenty of fluids/ eat as normal, contact your relevant health authority. If you are out and about without the illness wash your hands regularly with water/ soap [you don’t have to be obsessive about it but reasonable]. Buying vitamins/ sun bedding is a waste of money.
COI: I am a UK NHS doctor. Any advice is likely to be updated so if unsure go to your local health agency website.
In your pro health message, why were you compelled to say:
Every response eg. state of emergencies is planned to make money and spread fear?
That’s simply not true. And the indications are that Coronavirus is worse than the average flu we have faced in recent decades. And... unlike flu, we don’t have a COVID-19 vaccine.
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Quick story:
I was at a restaurant last night, and I over-heard a few servers over talking about the coronavirus near their ‘server station’. Two of them were actually arguing with each other in terms of what it is, how it’s transmitted and they were referring to it as the ‘grandpa’ flu. The amount of confused distortion is staggering to a level where it’s almost not comprehendible. And I think part of that is others refuse to educate themselves and allow/permit ‘hear-say’ to be the final verdict to be what they consider validated, when it’s not.
Anyways, I wanted to step in and educate, but I didn’t want them tampering with my food.😁
I was at a restaurant last night, and I over-heard a few servers over talking about the coronavirus near their ‘server station’. Two of them were actually arguing with each other in terms of what it is, how it’s transmitted and they were referring to it as the ‘grandpa’ flu. The amount of confused distortion is staggering to a level where it’s almost not comprehendible. And I think part of that is others refuse to educate themselves and allow/permit ‘hear-say’ to be the final verdict to be what they consider validated, when it’s not.
Anyways, I wanted to step in and educate, but I didn’t want them tampering with my food.😁
Commercial test is available for $79
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Pinnacle BioLabs COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus Dual IgG/IgM Rapid Test 2 Pack
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www.pblabs.com
This is good news !Commercial test is available for $79
Pinnacle BioLabs COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus Dual IgG/IgM Rapid Test 2 Pack
. At a glance: The Pinnacle BioLabs COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus Dual IgG/IgM Rapid Test® 2 Pack contains two complete test kits and finger-stick device to collect the sample (2 drops of blood), gauze, bandages, buffer solution, package insert and Quick Reference Guide for sample collection and...
Finally a commercial for profit lab that is making an easy to use, quick analysis kit!
How come the EU and UK are approved, but we (USA) are not ?
"In the United States of America, the test is for sale for Investigational Use Only. All positive results are deemed "presumptive" and follow-up testing is needed prior to official diagnosis..."
good morning people, hope you and your family members are ok.
On edge, for sure! I have 8 people in my family who have pre-existing conditions. All of my grandparents are in their mid-80s. The fact that I have a lot to lose when the sh*t hits the fan...is weighing heavy on me. Of all the people in my family that have the biggest risks...one of them is safer than the rest. My uncle is diabetic...but lives in Alaska. No cases there as of now. Damn I wish I was up there right now. 😂 I'd sure feel safer with hundreds of miles of wilderness in all directions than I do living and working in a metro area of over 9 million!
We did a lot of cross-training at work and set up all patient rooms that can be used for isolation. We have a LOT of those. Many are just used as general patient care rooms since we don't need them. But since they have the ability to be used for isolation, we relocated patients and prepped those rooms and they are now isolation-only, to be ready when needed. Hopefully we don't. Our governor claims that a significant number of our state's cases have either recovered...or are recovering. I don't know about the accuracy of that claim for sure, since we had 6 new cases yesterday, bringing the state total to 25. The last I heard officially was that there are 2 recoveries and those 2 were the states first 2 cases. I DO have some good news for Illinois though after looking at the DPH website. As of the update yesterday, Illinois had a total of 367 PUI (people under investigation) for the virus. Of that 367...25 tests came back positive. 76 were pending. The important number is the number of tests that came back negative. 266!!! That's a good percentage when you break it all down. Let's hope we can keep it that way.
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thank you sir, for now we are ok
if you love them -- keep a safe distance
no hugs, no kisses, no unnecessary visits
especially with the elders
keep the children away from them
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China erected several hospitals to accommodate the levels of sick and infected they were finding. Not sure if they had enough capacity, the level of care, or even the quality of construction. They were building these hospitals in less than two weeks. In the almost 3 months we have known about human-human transmission of the coronavirus, the US still hasn't gotten mass testing off ground. Heck, we haven't even gotten basic testing for those who are extremely likely to be infected off the ground.
It's entirely possible that all of this planning has already happened and is being executed as I type. Sadly, very little evidence is available to support that notion. Yesterday, the state of NY basically gave up on the CDC and the federal government in terms of coordinating testing.
A week ago, I had occasion to go to an ER. I live in a high income area in Silicon Valley. The level of care provided in the ER was excellent. However, if they are not at all conducting themselves in a manner that would indicate that a highly infectious disease is running around. The sense I got was either they had not yet received appropriate guidance/training from the proper authorities or they do not have the tools on hand anyway so there is nothing they can do except conduct themselves as usual.
So to summarize, in the US, the feeling I get is that we do not have our siht together either at the federal level or at the local level. With ineptitude running rampant at the federal level, I just don't see how the US is going to be able to mobilize the resources and changes needed to combat this thing.