Coronavirus 4

[47of74]

A couple months ago my sister wasn't feeling well so she went and had a covid test done at the time.  That one came back negative.  However she had recently given blood and that was tested.  They found she had covid antibodies present in her blood.  

[Smash!]

[mention]47of74 [/mention] I‘ve read somewhere that with mild symptons often the first test is negative and a 2nd around 10 days after onset of symptoms is positive.

[Cartmann99]

Do we get a sparkly crown and pretty sash to wear in honor of this accomplishment?

Texas becomes first U.S. state to exceed one million coronavirus cases

Quote

(Reuters) - Texas became the first state to surpass a million coronavirus cases in the United States on Saturday, as the country battled a third wave of new infections and recorded over 100,000 infections three times in less than a week.

In Texas, the surge in new cases in the past week came mainly from Harris, Dallas and El Paso counties, based on a Reuters tally. The surge is straining medical facilities, with the city of El Paso converting a convention center into a field hospital.

If Texas were a country, it would be the tenth most affected in the world for total COVID-19 cases. The state added about 8,000 new cases a day in the past week on average, based on a Reuters tally.

Texas, which accounts for over 10% of total U.S. cases, reported the largest number of new cases in the United States last week and was followed by the state of Illinois, which has half as many people.

California, which was the first U.S. state to surpass 600,000 cases of COVID-19 back in August, is currently just short of Texas in the number of infections and deaths.

The most populous U.S. state has added roughly 30,000 cases in the last seven days, and has reported over 950,000 cases of coronavirus.

Los Angeles County in California, which carries 33% of the state’s caseload, has so far registered the highest number of deaths at 7,118 as of Nov. 5.

With the holiday season and cold weather fast approaching, health officials have been raising an alarm to contain the spike in cases in the last few weeks.

The United States is the worst affected country in the world, with over to 9.8 million cases reported and over 230,000 deaths.

 

[clueliss]

Hospitals here are preparing for the 'surge' (and they are adding a color code component to hospital levels on the county covid dashboard).  Note that we have multiple hospitals in Columbia.  But we aside from Jefferson City/Cole County - we are surrounded by counties with very small or no hospitals.  Rural healthcare has issues without covid. 

 

[clueliss]

The School Board voted 6-1 to roll elementary students back to distance learning and delay middle/high school return until sometime in January.  Students will not be in person for the rest of the calendar year. 

The hospitals here are in surge prep mode.  And the city is not analyzing what to do with the current about to expire health orders (prediction - it will be continued or further restricted).  There was a local case on the news where she received notification of exposure the day she was released from isolation from her own positive case. 

 

After a one week 'low' of 73 cases Monday (translation the weekend tests coming in ) we had 144 yesterday.  142 in county hospitals (only 29 are county residents) 46ICU/23 vents) and this is the healthcare system status. 

 

Needless to say - staying in my bubble as much as possible here.

[FiveAcres]

14 hours ago, clueliss said:

Hospitals here are preparing for the 'surge' (and they are adding a color code component to hospital levels on the county covid dashboard).  Note that we have multiple hospitals in Columbia.  But we aside from Jefferson City/Cole County - we are surrounded by counties with very small or no hospitals.  Rural healthcare has issues without covid. 

 

A few years ago, I read an article about the death rate by age in rural Colorado versus urban Colorado and the differences were staggering. I am not sure whether they controlled for socioeconomic class. Since Colorado is a huge, mountainous state there are lots of areas where you have to travel over an hour just to get to a primary care practitioner. 

[clueliss]

Even though Columbia has great healthcare, there are parts of the county where getting an ambulance on a timely basis is difficult.  And there is an ambulance in the town I work in that serves not only the north end of Boone County - but parts of two other counties as well.    The county to our west had a small hospital flat out shut down earlier this year.  They're about 30 minutes away from Columbia.  It's sheer logistics.

[Walking Cat Bed]

2 hours ago, FiveAcres said:

A few years ago, I read an article about the death rate by age in rural Colorado versus urban Colorado and the differences were staggering. I am not sure whether they controlled for socioeconomic class. Since Colorado is a huge, mountainous state there are lots of areas where you have to travel over an hour just to get to a primary care practitioner. 

That disappoints me but doesn't surprise me.

I quit my job yesterday (have a temporary position to send in details for -- I worked there as a grad student, it's a different position) because they are still pushing for "normal" in-school teaching and in-office working. The job is on the opposite side of Denver from where I live (and it took 6+ months to find this place!) and they knew when they hired me that I use public transit and they've known for months that I'm not willing to commute via transit every day (two hours each way!). They've also been talking about sending anyone with a pulse and no fever in to sub at schools. I'm not willing to do that, I've made sure they knew I'm not willing to do that, and they're still pushing it. 

I hoped when I started this job to get five years in (as a good foundation for the career) but I made it to just over two years. 

[NotQuiteMotY]

On 11/8/2020 at 4:06 AM, Ozlsn said:

Today I saw my friend who caught covid while pregnant and who ended up on a vent for about a week, and her technically still newborn (corrected age - they were prem) twins. OMG little babies, so cute and so tiny!!

And it was so nice to be able to visit, and cuddle them and talk - and I really hope her interstate siblings are able to come and meet them soon. Her mother will be able to visit from tomorrow now the restrictions are lifting with travel. 

At the other end of the spectrum I watched the live stream of the funeral for a friend's mother who passed away much too young of natural causes. None of my family could attend in person due to number and travel restrictions, but I am glad that we have the technology to at least attend virtually. 

I am cautiously optimistic that we may be able to not wear masks unless at indoor venues over summer - our numbers are steady at this stage. How opening up will affect things we don't know - but if we can keep the quarantine procedures going and manage clusters quickly it might be ok. I hope.

I am simultaneously so happy for you and so, so jealous. I still haven't met my "niece" born in July.

My county has one of the lowest transmission rates in my state, but it's still going up quickly. Normally right now I'd be coming back from picking up Elder from preschool, but his school is closed for the week with further decisions pending, based on the test results for the student whist father tested positive a couple of days ago.

[Becky]

Ugh- I think people are stockpiling stuff again. NO TP on shelves at warehouse club and only store brand at supermarket. 

[Coconut Flan]

Finally after all these months and all the mask brangle:

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/10/health/masks-cdc-updated-guidance/index.html

Is it too late to turn any anti-maskers to operate in their own selfish interest?

[clueliss]

@Becky I'm stockpiling - sort of - but it's not on toilet paper.  Winter is Coming (yup - GOT fan) and I've learned to add in a bit of extra canned goods and the like in case winter storms put me in a situation (like January - March 2019) where it's hard to get to the store due to storms rolling through every few days.  Add to that covid and a surge here?  Extra is in the cabinet  now.

[Cartmann99]

23 hours ago, clueliss said:

But we aside from Jefferson City/Cole County - we are surrounded by counties with very small or no hospitals.  Rural healthcare has issues without covid. 

I live in the county seat of a mostly rural county and this is my situation. The hospitals in my county are now running out of space for patients due to an explosion of covid infections.

[Ozlsn]

18 hours ago, NotQuiteMotY said:

I am simultaneously so happy for you and so, so jealous. I still haven't met my "niece" born in July.

I hope you are able to safely meet soon. 

[clueliss]

My response reading this - where the hell are you sending them?  Because St. Louis was already reporting being overwhelmed and rolling back last week to stay at home orders.  KC?  Where? (BHC is only one of our hospitals, I'm grateful for living in this particular city for that reason.  We also have the Mizzou hospital system (with I believe 3 sets of buildings spread across town) and a VA hospital.)
 

 

[Cartmann99]

I was reading an AP article about how bad things are in the United States in terms of the coronavirus, and how some places are really trying to halt the spread, while others are just shrugging it off.

Quote

— In Sioux Falls, the largest city in hard-hit South Dakota, Mayor Paul TenHaken cast a tie-breaking vote that defeated a proposed mask mandate. Violations would have carried a $50 fine.

Our mayor brought another mask mandate proposal up in front of City Council, but predictably, only one Council member was willing to vote for it. So, instead of a mask mandate, they are going to spend money on PSAs to encourage people to voluntarily wear masks.

If someone is not wearing a mask by this point in time, no PSA is going convince them otherwise. Maybe if one of their loved ones gets seriously ill, or dies, but not a PSA.

[clueliss]

Cole County to our south here in Missouri is mailing a mask to everyone.  Note - they don't have a mask mandate so while they're provide a mask, they aren't exactly making people WEAR the mask.

[clueliss]

Mizzou will be going to online learning after the Thanksgiving break (for the remainder of the semester).  I may have cheered.

[Cartmann99]

COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool

Quote

This map shows the risk level of attending an event, given the event size and location.

The risk level is the estimated chance (0-100%) that at least 1 COVID-19 positive individual will be present at an event in a county, given the size of the event.

Based on seroprevalence data, we assume there are ten times more cases than are being reported (10:1 ascertainment bias). In places with more testing availability, that rate may be lower.

Choose an event size and ascertainment bias below.

 

[JDuggs]

I found out today that I lost my officemate to covid. She tested positive on October 20th and now she’s gone. We work in the business office of a nursing home and we were never allowed to work from home. She was in her 60s with several conditions to make covid very risky for her. She was very careful and didn’t know if she was exposed at work or out in the community. I’m trying to be as careful as possible, but I don’t want to quit my job. My coworker didn’t have the choice. She was a widow and needed the income. Every life lost to covid is a tragedy.

[littlehouse]

I have to, I need to vent.  I have family that thinks covid is a hoax.  The whole thing.  Add in masks and government is trying to control us, it is a flu, if their parents die so be it.  Party party party. 

Rebel News level insanity.

My husband is in healthcare, my one cousin is a paramedic.  No amount of gentle just wear your masks, use some precautions work.  We are just sheep that know nothing. 

I can't anymore, I just can't.

We have already told them we will not be at Christmas this year.  This was before everyone was ask to have no one in their homes for two weeks, but if you do no more than 15 people.  It will be way more than 15 people on Christmas Eve.

I really don't know how I am going to be able to interact with them after this is all over.  How can they be so selfish and stupid.  It hurts my soul. 

[Audrey2]

@jiggleromp, I am so grateful that you vented because I came here to do exactly the same thing.

I moved to a red area in a very blue state and have been at one school consistently all school year. While the people there are really delightful people, they are also very red anti-mask people. I'm so tired of hearing in the teachers lounge all of the complaining about wearing masks. I do genuinely feel sorry for the secretary and her daughter. It's her daughter's senior year in high school and this is the secretary's last child. We had our first case of Covid this week. It sounds like many are still keeping their Thanksgiving and even Christmas plans intact. I will be spending Thanksgiving completely alone because the people that I would celebrate Thanksgiving with live in a very blue city 5 hours away and I'm in a group of states that want you to quarantine 14 days. Knowing how poorly my coworkers follow the mask mandate outside of work, I don't want to risk taking this to my dear friends in that city who are retired.

Then I hear things like that new QAnon congresswoman complaining that masks are oppressive and telling everyone that at her freshman congressperson orientation session. I'm ready to say that those who believe masks are oppressive should be able to put that in some kind of directive. If they need to go in the hospital with covid then they should not be given oxygen because masks are oppressive.

I'm sorry to all of my friends here who I have upset. My best friend was in the hospital ICU for a week in October and I wasn't sure if he was going to survive or not. While he's out of the hospital now, he is still on oxygen, although his doctor just downgraded him to only using oxygen at night. I'm so livid that I almost lost my best friend and there are so many people who are not taking this seriously or who are tired of following the rules and say you're taking away your freedom by making them wear a mask.

Thank you for letting me vent, dear friends. I'm sorry this was so long.

[WiseGirl]

Poop. I just ended up in a contact tracing list. I guess a test is on my list for tomorrow. Poop.

[Ozlsn]

11 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

I'm ready to say that those who believe masks are oppressive should be able to put that in some kind of directive. If they need to go in the hospital with covid then they should not be given oxygen because masks are oppressive.

With you on that. You don't want to wear a mask, no problem, sign the DNR and accept that you are last on the list for a vent.

11 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

there are so many people who are not taking this seriously or who are tired of following the rules and say you're taking away your freedom by making them wear a mask.

I just don't understand the rejecting reality ones at all. I posted the risk assessment tool on Facebook, and had an American guy respond with "don't get sucked in by the covid hoax". I'm sitting here going "I'm in a place with currently no transmission, he's in Utah - logically you'd think I'd be the one thinking it's a hoax." I just don't understand that at all.

[Emma]

Some people are just idiots.