COVID-19 updates

[armand]

People, even if we have enough vents (which we won't) that's just a small piece of the problem. Those patients as quite sick and require a lot of attention. Most patients don't just work happily with the vent, they require troubleshooting often. They require a lot of dedicated attention from nurses. Few nurses do critical care, it's a whole different animal. Current standard is 1 nurse for 2 ICU patients, or even 1:1. It's well documented that understaffing in the ICU leads to worse outcomes, and we won't have enough critical care nurses and respiratory therapists. For physicians we might get away with some creative thinking and use of other specialties under the critical care oversight, but even there it will be a stretch.
Not to mention these patients won't get better that fast, and when they come off the vent they still need rehab and care, they can't just go home immediately.
This is a nightmare in progress.

[LesPalenik]

I watched today's press conference.  Sure trump suggested eester.  But that was a president trying to be positive, to give people hope about the future.  A target they can look towards.  That's something we expect from president and would commend Obama if he said it under these conditions.  But Trump also said that he and the experts would monitor the situation and act accordingly.  They're not going to go ahead just to do it if the situation is not favorable to do it.  Even Fauci confirmed this approach.  The biased news on the left is being cherry picked.

It would be best if Trump shut up. You and me can take his advice and ignore it, but there are dummies who believe him and follow up on his stupid ideas.
Like the desperate souls who listened to his expert opinion on malaria drugs, took the toxic hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine and died. Another effect of this misleading advice was that the manufacturer of these drugs doubled the prices and cut the dosage to half, effectively raising the price by 400%. Even worse, there are now shortages of these drugs for patients with lupus and other diseases who need the drug.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/22/why-trump-at-odds-with-medical-experts-over-malaria-drugs-against-covid-19/

[armand]

I am speechless, didn’t think it got that far.

[Alan Klein]

People, even if we have enough vents (which we won't) that's just a small piece of the problem. Those patients as quite sick and require a lot of attention. Most patients don't just work happily with the vent, they require troubleshooting often. They require a lot of dedicated attention from nurses. Few nurses do critical care, it's a whole different animal. Current standard is 1 nurse for 2 ICU patients, or even 1:1. It's well documented that understaffing in the ICU leads to worse outcomes, and we won't have enough critical care nurses and respiratory therapists. For physicians we might get away with some creative thinking and use of other specialties under the critical care oversight, but even there it will be a stretch.
Not to mention these patients won't get better that fast, and when they come off the vent they still need rehab and care, they can't just go home immediately.
This is a nightmare in progress.

We all understand we have a medical crisis on our hands.  What do you suggest to help patients if there aren't enough specialists to go around?

[armand]

We all understand we have a medical crisis on our hands.  What do you suggest to help patients if there aren't enough specialists to go around?

As I said, not only physicians but critical care nurses and respiratory therapists. What to do? Have more for the next epidemic.

[Alan Klein]

It would be best if Trump shut up. You and me can take his advice and ignore it, but there are dummies who believe him and follow up on his stupid ideas.
Like the desperate souls who listened to his expert opinion on malaria drugs, took the toxic hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine and died. Another effect of this misleading advice was that the manufacturer of these drugs doubled the prices and cut the dosage to half, effectively raising the price by 400%. Even worse, there are now shortages of these drugs for patients with lupus and other diseases who need the drug.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/22/why-trump-at-odds-with-medical-experts-over-malaria-drugs-against-covid-19/

There's always going to be dummies.  But offering hope is what leaders do and should do.  I listened to his presser and thought it was very positive.  People feel more confident in the future if their leader shows confidence. 

Also during the meeting, they reviewed the measures they were taking and the equipment already shipped and to be shipped.  A president is minister-in-charge during crises.  Would it have been better for him to say, "Well, we really don't know much; when it's going to end, how many people are going to die.  And forget the economy.  No matter what happens, after congress enacts $6 trillion bailout, no longer $2 trillion, by voice vote, our economy will be screwed later on if not right now. We won;t be able to afford anything.  Everyone should say their prayers."

[Alan Klein]

As I said, not only physicians but critical care nurses and respiratory therapists. What to do? Have more for the next epidemic.

Well, thanks.  I might not be here for the next.   

[LesPalenik]

There's always going to be dummies.  But offering hope is what leaders do and should do.  I listened to his presser and thought it was very positive.  People feel more confident in the future if their leader shows confidence. 

Also during the meeting, they reviewed the measures they were taking and the equipment already shipped and to be shipped.  A president is minister-in-charge during crises.  Would it have been better for him to say, "Well, we really don't know much; when it's going to end, how many people are going to die.  And forget the economy.  No matter what happens, after congress enacts $6 trillion bailout, no longer $2 trillion, by voice vote, our economy will be screwed later on if not right now. We won;t be able to afford anything.  Everyone should say their prayers."

Alan, I'm afraid that if Trump shot someone on Fifth Avenue, you would find something positive about it.

[Alan Klein]

Alan, I'm afraid that if Trump shot someone on Fifth Avenue, you would find something positive about it.

Well it depends if it was a Democrat or Republican. 

[ErikKaffehr]

Euh... Korea I agree 100%. China so so... Japan has done very very little. In fact I would argue that Japan has been by far the worst among developed countries.

Besides closing the schools and discouraging large gatherings, they have taken zero coercive measures.

On the contrary, they have taken a clear policy of doing as few tests as possible, only 1,300 per day vs their capacity of 6,000.

The official contamination numbers are probably not lies, but considering how little they test, we can only assume that the real numbers are tens of times higher. The horrible consequence is that many Japanese people have stopped to wear masks.

I hate to be pessimistic, but I am afraid Japan could be the next major WW victim. And that will be 100% the result of the decisions of Abe. Needless to say, the motivation was to try to save the Olympic games.

Cheers,
Bernard

I see your point.

Collecting all people from the whole world in the same place is a great way of giving the virus a new lease on life.

Best regards
Erik

[Paulo Bizarro]

As I said, not only physicians but critical care nurses and respiratory therapists. What to do? Have more for the next epidemic.

This is another example of not being prepared. Europe had at least 2 months of advance warning, but no one cared, really. So for this onje there is nothing that can be done. When you have countries like Spain that have around 5,000 doctors and healt care personel infected, what can you do?

Hopefully, for the next epidemic, people will have learned their lessons...

[KLaban]

BBC article "Coronavirus: What this crisis reveals about US - and its president"

[elliot_n]

BBC article "Coronavirus: What this crisis reveals about US - and its president"

Great article — thanks for posting.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

We all understand we have a medical crisis on our hands.  What do you suggest to help patients if there aren't enough specialists to go around?

Se need to educate patients. We need them to manage their expectations. They need to understand that the primary role of medical specialists is to spend their time on the Internet, hang out in forums, and post gazillion professional opinions, day after day, post after post, thread after thread, about... how bad the President of the US is.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

US was more prepared for pandemic than any other country, Johns Hopkins study found

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-was-most-prepared-country-in-the-world-for-pandemics-johns-hopkins-study-found-in-2019

[Paulo Bizarro]

US was more prepared for pandemic than any other country, Johns Hopkins study found

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-was-most-prepared-country-in-the-world-for-pandemics-johns-hopkins-study-found-in-2019

So what went wrong? How come the USA is now indicated by the WHO to be the next epicentre of the pandemic? Why has the USA not implemented the necessary measures on time?

[Paulo Bizarro]

Se need to educate patients. We need them to manage their expectations. They need to understand that the primary role of medical specialists is to spend their time on the Internet, hang out in forums, and post gazillion professional opinions, day after day, post after post, thread after thread, about... how bad the President of the US is.

Why are you insulting medical specialists, whose role has been vital in trying to manage this crisis worldwide? Tell that to the doctors in Italy and Spain, who are forced to decide who lives and who dies. Tell that to the doctors and nurses who are working without protection and risking their lives, and dying. You can suck to Trump all you want, but please do not offend the others.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

One of the first symptoms of corona, they say, is a lost sense of smell. A kind of blessing during illness. Now that I feel better, after 14 days in bed, and with the sense of smell back, I realized the true meaning of “toxic masculinity” 😉

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Why are you insulting medical specialists, whose role has been vital in trying to manage this crisis worldwide? Tell that to the doctors in Italy and Spain, who are forced to decide who lives and who dies. Tell that to the doctors and nurses who are working without protection and risking their lives, and dying. You can suck to Trump all you want, but please do not offend the others.

You just can’t read between the lines, can you?

[Alan Klein]

One of the first symptoms of corona, they say, is a lost sense of smell. A kind of blessing during illness. Now that I feel better, after 14 days in bed, and with the sense of smell back, I realized the true meaning of “toxic masculinity” 😉

Glad you're back.