COVID-19 (f/k/a "the Coronavirus")

[forgetful]

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2021/08/06/texas-emergency-room-forced-temporarily-close-critical-covid-surge/


Saw this shared by a friend. ER's closing because of no beds. One hospital is closing its ER until the end of August as it can't keep up with COVID cases.

Totally normal. Not a problem at all. Yet, as I understand it, the TX governor has forbid any mask mandates.

[cheebs09]

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2021/08/06/texas-emergency-room-forced-temporarily-close-critical-covid-surge/


Saw this shared by a friend. ER's closing because of no beds. One hospital is closing its ER until the end of August as it can't keep up with COVID cases.

Totally normal. Not a problem at all. Yet, as I understand it, the TX governor has forbid any mask mandates.

My first thought was, “ugh, we are back to last year.” But then I remembered we actually have the tools to stop this thing but people aren’t using it. So frustrating.

[naginiF]

Covid will not be eradicated, whether one human being or the entire world is vaccinated. Everyone will have to learn to live and co-exist with it continually amongst us. Becomes a lot simpler to do so when politics are taken out of the equation, hey?

There is no amount of death and/or suffering sufficient to change certain 'values'. Pandemic? need to live with it. Gun violence? can't change anything so why try. Refugees? F them. Immigrants? Eeewwwww, they bring a disease that we're already the worst in the world in handling. Minimum wage/poor? Need to work harder.

As long as others are suffering or dying we should just learn to live with it.

[JWags85]

There is no amount of death and/or suffering sufficient to change certain 'values'. Pandemic? need to live with it. Gun violence? can't change anything so why try. Refugees? F them. Immigrants? Eeewwwww, they bring a disease that we're already the worst in the world in handling. Minimum wage/poor? Need to work harder.

As long as others are suffering or dying we should just learn to live with it.

Nobody needs to be chanting USA USA about the pandemic, but can we stop with this.  Per capita, the US severe numbers are behind places like the UK, Belgium, Italy, and basically in line with places like France, Switzerland, Spain and others.

But exaggeration aside, he's not totally wrong, COVID isn't gonna get eradicated even if moron anti-vaxxers didn't exist

[forgetful]

Nobody needs to be chanting USA USA about the pandemic, but can we stop with this.  Per capita, the US severe numbers are behind places like the UK, Belgium, Italy, and basically in line with places like France, Switzerland, Spain and others.

But exaggeration aside, he's not totally wrong, COVID isn't gonna get eradicated even if moron anti-vaxxers didn't exist

We could have eradicated it in the US.

[rocket surgeon]

We could have eradicated it in the US.

china could have and still could be more help.

[Pakuni]

But exaggeration aside, he's not totally wrong, COVID isn't gonna get eradicated even if moron anti-vaxxers didn't exist

What are you basing this upon?

[MU82]

We're not gonna "eradicate" measels, mumps, hepatitis, etc, but we as a society come up with common-sense solutions and enforce mandates to at least make outbreaks very rare.

It's not the least bit controversial among 95%+ of U.S. society that we require kids to have standard vaccines to attend school. Thank goodness we didn't try to start that in this day and age, or else we'd be overcome by those serious diseases.

The "eradicate" argument has some similarities to the "we can't stop all gun murders so why bother trying" argument/ I mean, we can't stop all rapes, either, but we try.

Meanwhile ...

US averaging more than 100,000 new COVID cases daily

From the AP:

The U.S. is now averaging 100,000 new COVID-19 infections a day, returning to a milestone last seen during the winter surge in yet another bleak reminder of how quickly the delta variant has spread through the country.

The U.S. was averaging about 11,000 cases a day in late June. Now the number is 107,143.

It took the U.S. about nine months to cross the 100,000 average case number in November before peaking at about 250,000 in early January. Cases bottomed out in June but took about six weeks to go back above 100,000, despite a vaccine that has been given to more than 70% of the adult population.

The seven-day average for daily new deaths also increased, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. It rose over the past two weeks from about 270 deaths per day to nearly 500 a day as of Friday.

The virus is spreading quickly through unvaccinated populations, especially in the South where hospitals have been overrun with patients.

Health officials are fearful that cases will continue to soar if more Americans don’t embrace the vaccine.

The number of Americans hospitalized with the virus has also skyrocketed and it has gotten so bad that many hospitals are scrambling to find beds for patients in far-off locations.

Houston officials say the latest wave of COVID-19 cases has forced the local health care system to transfer some patients out of the city to get medical care, including one who had to be taken to North Dakota.

Dr. David Persse, who is health authority for the Houston Health Department and EMS medical director, said some ambulances were waiting hours to offload patients at Houston area hospitals because no beds were available.

“The health care system right now is nearly at a breaking point … For the next three weeks or so, I see no relief on what’s happening in emergency departments,” Persse said Thursday.

[Hards Alumni]

china could have and still could be more help.

How, exactly?

[JWags85]

What are you basing this upon?

Because eradication of a virus is extremely difficult.  Especially one that is as infectious, and can present itself rather benignly at times, as COVID.  Even Polio isn't actually eradicated.

Now if you mean controlled or more or less minimized? Of course.  But the idea of wiping COVID off the map and getting to a zero caseload nationally is unrealistic IMO

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Fun fact - polio has a really high asymptotic rate and is about as contagious as covid (depending on the estimate of delta maybe a little less so). 

[MU82]

Fun fact - polio has a really high asymptotic rate and is about as contagious as covid (depending on the estimate of delta maybe a little less so).

Thank goodness vaccine mandates all but eradicated it in the U.S.

And thank goodness we weren't faced with a situation that necessitated mandate polio vaccinations now. We'd have a lot more crippled kids because ... freedom!

[tower912]

I'm not going to vaccinate my kid against polio because people who have been vaccinated against polio are mean.   I'll show them.

[MU82]

Eye-opening, sad op-ed from a Houston pediatrician who has treated many children with COVID-19:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/08/04/pediatrician-covid-children-delta/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F345ab0c%2F610ffc059d2fda2f47ea0b1f%2F5f8d147cae7e8a56e5b732a4%2F47%2F72%2F610ffc059d2fda2f47ea0b1f

Throughout the pandemic, I have cared for kids admitted with covid-19 to the children’s hospital in Houston where I am a pediatrician. These children have included newborns with fevers who require a sepsis evaluation, school-age kids whose bodies are ravaged with inflammation associated with covid-19 in children, and tweens and adolescents with covid pneumonia who need oxygen and other respiratory support. I’ve cared for children whose entire families have been devastated by covid — sometimes the child was sick enough to be admitted but had no parent at their bedside because the parents were critically ill at the adult hospital down the street or, worse, had recently died of covid.

All the while, as both a doctor and mother, I’ve wrestled with a certain dissonance: There is this popular notion that covid doesn’t affect children — and my public health and epidemiologic training reminds me that on a population level, it’s true. The majority of children who contract covid-19 will be asymptomatic or have mild disease. But I contrast this with the reality of being a clinician at the bedside of children critically ill from covid and covid-related illnesses. These two perspectives battle in my brain as I make risk assessments for my own school-age child. One thing that terrifies me as a parent is that we can’t predict why some children get so incredibly sick from covid while others have mild disease; we don’t know why some go on to have lingering debilitation and symptoms for months, and others make quick recoveries.

What I do know is that in this moment, as the highly contagious delta variant becomes the predominant strain circulating and we enter another covid surge, I am more worried for children than I have ever been.

First and foremost, this is because the high transmissibility of the delta variant will translate into a greater number of children being exposed than before, which will lead to a greater number of children infected. Even if the delta variant is no more virulent in children than the original virus was, the sheer numbers will translate into more children being admitted to the hospital with covid and covid-related illnesses. As school reopenings coincide with the growth of the delta variant, I worry we will see large outbreaks in school settings that we didn’t see with less-contagious versions of the virus.

I wonder, if more people saw what I see at patients’ bedsides, would they do more to protect children?

[Hards Alumni]

https://twitter.com/jesus_jimz/status/1424857523866193930

Breaking: Gov. Greg Abbott announces Texas will be seeking out-of-state health care personnel to help with the latest surge, and he is asking hospitals to voluntarily postpone elective medical procedures.

Who could have predicted this entirely foreseeable (and preventable) calamity?

[tower912]

Anyone with a brain who follows science.

[JWags85]

More than open travel, more than full stadiums, more than the end of mask mandates...

...I can't WAIT for "follow the science" and "wear a mask!" as everyday phrases to be historical anecdotes like "Tiger Blood" and "Rock the Vote".  Even if I don't disagree with the sentiment, their omnipresence in social media bios and shrieks from truly hysterical people are exhausting.

[forgetful]

https://twitter.com/jesus_jimz/status/1424857523866193930

Who could have predicted this entirely foreseeable (and preventable) calamity?

Abbott: Begs rest of nation to send healthcare workers to bail them out of a self created medical emergency.

Texas Medical Care facilities: Our children's hospitals are running out of beds because of COVID.

Also Abbott: Signs executive order banning schools from instituting mask mandates.

[tower912]

More than open travel, more than full stadiums, more than the end of mask mandates...

...I can't WAIT for "follow the science" and "wear a mask!" as everyday phrases to be historical anecdotes like "Tiger Blood" and "Rock the Vote".  Even if I don't disagree with the sentiment, their omnipresence in social media bios and shrieks from truly hysterical people are exhausting.

Never stop sciencing.

[Pakuni]

Abbott: Begs rest of nation to send healthcare workers to bail them out of a self created medical emergency.

Texas Medical Care facilities: Our children's hospitals are running out of beds because of COVID.

Also Abbott: Signs executive order banning schools from instituting mask mandates.

Between this and its inability to keep the lights on, Texas' secession isn't off to a banner start.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

More than open travel, more than full stadiums, more than the end of mask mandates...

...I can't WAIT for "follow the science" and "wear a mask!" as everyday phrases to be historical anecdotes like "Tiger Blood" and "Rock the Vote".  Even if I don't disagree with the sentiment, their omnipresence in social media bios and shrieks from truly hysterical people are exhausting.

You seem to frequently be hysterically outraged by hysterical people.  (This is a joke)

[jesmu84]

I remember when folks would state last year's lockdowns were so bad because it prevented those in need from getting access to healthcare or procedures.

Now there are folks in need unable to receive care because infected folks are using all the healthcare resources. Of course, those infected are nearly all unvaccinated. So, why no stink being made? Especially in the light that nearly all hospitalizations would be unnecessary if they just got the vaccine.

[Uncle Rico]

Abbott: Begs rest of nation to send healthcare workers to bail them out of a self created medical emergency.

Texas Medical Care facilities: Our children's hospitals are running out of beds because of COVID.

Also Abbott: Signs executive order banning schools from instituting mask mandates.

My sister works in healthcare management in Texas and was supposed to fly into Milwaukee for a week later this month but it got cancelled because of the spike.  They’re not allowing employees to travel out of state at the moment

[JWags85]

I remember when folks would state last year's lockdowns were so bad because it prevented those in need from getting access to healthcare or procedures.

Now there are folks in need unable to receive care because infected folks are using all the healthcare resources. Of course, those infected are nearly all unvaccinated. So, why no stink being made? Especially in the light that nearly all hospitalizations would be unnecessary if they just got the vaccine.

Its probably just a matter of coverage.  Its not like its a perfect venn diagram of people who opposed initial lockdowns or worried about their effects and those who are ardently unvaccinated.  There are plenty who are were annoyed then and now and are still vaccinated.  Not to mention there are plenty of people who may not be in favor of government mandated vaccinations in theory yet still are vaccinated themselves and in favor of the vaccine in this case.

[MU82]

Abbott's also the governor who re-opened his state far too early from the first wave -- and bragged constantly about doing so -- only to have to shut it back down again.

He makes DeSantis and Cuomo look relatively competent, and that's no easy feat.