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  Per
the
Florida
Department of Health's dashboard*
as of Friday,
November 27th,
the state now has
963,751 residents testing positive
for COVID-19, with
54,467 hospitalized, and
18,363 deaths.**
As you can see, the number of cases are on the rise again.
The breakdown
of confirmed cases in our tri-county area is:
* The new data includes the number of test results the department
receives from the counties, along with additional demographics and
graphs that show hospital admissions for patients complaining of
cough, fever or shortness of breath.
Previously, that data was only provided for larger counties.
Still not included is how many infected people have
recovered from the virus and, unlike other states, Florida does not report
"probable" deaths
from the virus. |
None of these counties meet the criteria for the next phase of reopening. |
Friday, November 20th
The synthetic rubber "nitrile" gloves are a critical barrier to infection
for health care workers on the front lines, but experts say the United
States is poorly positioned to get ahead of a global shortfall of more than
200 billion. “Gloves are just needed everywhere,” Mary Denigan-Macauley, the
Government Accountability Office’s director of health care, said. She said
her team recommended the federal government come up with a plan to "mitigate
these critical supply needs," but that no such plan materialized. In
Florida, a truckload of 6 million medical gloves bought by Medgluv, a
Florida based distributor for local hospitals, was brazenly stolen from a
warehouse.
The
CDC emphatically says to stay home this Thanksgiving, and
if you are traveling, wear as mask. And if you are feeling sick, have
recently tested positive even if not feeling ill,
or have had contact with
someone with COVID-19 in the past 14 days, DO NOT travel at all, and do not
travel with someone who is sick. If traveling, the CDC provides guidelines
for preparing for your trip, during your trip, and breaks it down to your
mode of transportation. It also provides tips for being out, using the
bathroom or travel stops, getting gas, stopping for food, staying at a hotel
or motel, when to get tested afterward, and more.
But
what does
emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine mean? It's when regulators allow
shots to be given to certain people while studies of safety and
effectiveness are ongoing. During a health crisis, the FDA can loosen its
normal scientific standards to allow emergency use of experimental drugs,
devices, vaccines and other medical products. Instead of the usual
requirement of "substantial evidence" of safety and effectiveness for
approval, the FDA can allow products onto the market as long as their
benefits are likely to outweigh their risks. Full approval of a vaccine will
likely require 6 months of safety follow-up, as well as extensive
inspections of company manufacturing sites. The leading vaccine makers are
not expected to complete that process until next spring or summer. Only then
is the FDA expected to grant full approval, which would allow vaccinations
of the general population.
back
to normalcy, even when a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to the public.
In fact, he recommends people still wear masks and practice social
distancing even after getting the vaccine. Even if it is 90% to 95%
effective to the general population, it may not be that effective for you
and you may still get the virus. "In addition, the protective effect of a
vaccine may take at least one month, if not slightly longer." Dr. Bruce
Hirsch, another infectious disease specialist, adds that many people have
strong feelings about vaccines and may not take them, which may prevent the
general population from becoming immune and prolong the threat of the
pandemic. It is worth noting that as the trials for both vaccines (Pfizer's
& Moderna's) progress, their effectiveness numbers could change. It's also
not yet clear how long any immunity would last.
A new
study, has found that
delirium
may be an early warning sign of Covid-19 infection in older adults, and in some
cases, it was the only symptom.
More than a quarter of older patients in the study arrived in
hospital ERs with delirium, and 37% of them had no typical
Covid-19 signs. Delirium, confusion, inattention, disorientation, and other cognitive
change is a common sign of any infection in older people.
A pulmonologist and critical care physician at Vanderbilt
University, who was not involved in the study said, "The message to get to the lay public and medical personnel is that
if people are confused, pay attention, because right now they could have Covid. When they came to hospital emergency departments,
less than half were screened and diagnosed using a test such as the
Confusion Assessment Method,
a tool developed by a team including Vanderbilt’s Ely and Sharon Inouye of
Harvard Medical School, who is a co-author of the current study. The
remaining patients’ symptoms were compared to checklists from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization to
confirm the delirium diagnosis.
several
network and cable shows the number of Covid patients going to their deaths,
refusing to believe they have the virus. "Their last dying words are, 'This can’t be happening. It’s not
real.' " She says patients insist they must have pneumonia, even lung cancer,
anything but the disease they’ve been persuaded doesn't exist. When they
should be spending time on Facetime saying goodbye to their families,
they’re filled with anger and hatred. She's overwhelmed, exhausted, frustrated,
and infuriated with patients who "scream at you for a magic medicine and that Joe Biden is going to ruin
the USA, all while gasping for breath.... They tell you there must be
another reason they are sick, call you names, and ask why you have to
wear all that 'stuff' because they don’t have COVID, it’s not real."
COVID-19.
After months of living and working through the pandemic, he had somehow
caught it. Yet, he was surprised by how sick he became even though he was
healthy and active. For two days, Burkard’s fever wouldn’t break, but
then he started improving and feeling closer to his "normal self." But
around day 6, things took a turn for the worse, and he had to go to the
ER. If we don't take COVID-19 seriously, it will affect all of us, not just
health care providers or patients, it'll reach farther. While he doesn’t want to shame people who don't wear masks or think COVID-19
is a hoax, he hopes that his story inspires them to take precautions because
they want to be kind to people in their communities. It's not about fear
mongering. It's about just having love for the people around us and respect
for them.
 Per
the
Florida
Department of Health's dashboard*
as of Friday,
November 20th,
the state now has
910,065 residents testing positive
for COVID-19, with
53,091 hospitalized, and
17,889 deaths.**
As you can see, the number of cases are on the rise again.
The breakdown
of confirmed cases in our tri-county area is:
* The new data includes the number of test results the department
receives from the counties, along with additional demographics and
graphs that show hospital admissions for patients complaining of
cough, fever or shortness of breath.
Previously, that data was only provided for larger counties.
Still not included is how many infected people have
recovered from the virus and, unlike other states, Florida does not report
"probable" deaths
from the virus. |
|
None of these counties meet the criteria for the next phase of reopening. |
Friday, November 13th
know
how risky it would be to travel for Thanksgiving? The COVID-19
Risk Assessment Planning Tool, built by Georgia Tech researchers, helps
you see the risks of gatherings across the country given the event size and
location. Enter the event size (e.g., 10 people), then find the state and
county you want to visit. If we stay in Sumter County for Thanksgiving
dinner with 10 guests attending, we have a 6% chance of
at least 1 COVID-19 positive individual will be present, but if we
travel to Hillsborough County, our chances increase to 10%. The tool is
updated daily so that percentage may change tomorrow.
through supervised
quarantine before starting basic training revealed several instances of
asymptomatic transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Few infected recruits had symptoms before
diagnosis. The study data revealed asymptomatic spread of the virus
even under strict military orders for quarantine and public health measures
that most likely experienced better compliance than what would be possible
in other youth settings like college campuses. The researchers noted that
daily temperature and symptom checks did not detect infections.
forward
to holidays so we can reconnect with
family and friends. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 epidemic is worsening, and
small household gatherings are an important contributor to the rise in
COVID-19 cases. CDC offers things you should consider during small gatherings,
when you should not attend in-person holiday gatherings, guidelines if
hosting or attending a gathering, food and drink considerations, safety
measures you can take if traveling or staying overnight, steps you should
take if exposed to COVID-19 during a gathering, and be informed about the
risk connected with your activities.
including
anxiety, depression, dementia, and insomnia. The study says that around 22%,
or 1 in 5 patients who survive the illness, will have some signs of mental
health issues within 90 days of being infected. People with a pre-existing
mental illness were 65% more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than those
without. The good news, a significant proportion of
people do get better with time and/or with treatment.
But 70 days after her
diagnosis, the patient was still shedding infectious particles. By mid-June,
more than 100 days later, the woman was still testing positive, indicating
that her body still contained traces of the virus, when she still could have
passed the virus to others. The 70-day infectious period is the longest ever seen
in an asymptomatic patient. Researchers believe it was because
her weakened immune system was unable to mount a defense
against the virus. A June
study of
immunosuppressed patients with the virus found that they shed viral
particles for an average of 28.4 days. 
The CDC
reported earlier this week that 9% of hospitalized coronavirus
patients were readmitted within two months of being discharged.
Risk factors for readmission included age ≥65 years, presence of certain
chronic conditions, hospitalization within the 3 months preceding the first
COVID-19 hospitalization, and discharge to a skilled nursing facility or
with home health care.
 Per
the
Florida
Department of Health's dashboard*
as of Friday,
November 13th,
the state now has
858,585 residents testing positive
for COVID-19, with
51,542 hospitalized, and
17,445 deaths.**
As you can see, the number of cases are on the rise again.
 The breakdown
of confirmed cases in our tri-county area is:
* The new data includes the number of test results the department
receives from the counties, along with additional demographics and
graphs that show hospital admissions for patients complaining of
cough, fever or shortness of breath.
Previously, that data was only provided for larger counties.
Still not included is how many infected people have
recovered from the virus and, unlike other states, Florida does not report
"probable" deaths
from the virus. |
|
None of these counties meet the criteria for the next phase of reopening. |
Friday, November 6th
Hospitalizations rose
quickly, too. On Wednesday, the country recorded more than 100,000 cases in
a single day. By Thursday, cases jumped even higher to more than 121,000 in one day.
On average, new U.S. cases are now up 55% over two weeks ago. Although there's been
a modest increase in testing, not enough to explain how fast cases have
increased in this recent surge. And positivity rates are high in many states,
which
indicates there are more infections in the community than are captured
by testing.
but it's been reported that
some of the worst hit regions still resist wearing masks. After touring
North Dakota, which has the highest covid-19 death rate in the U.S., White
House coronavirus task force coordinator, Deborah Birx, observed that Masks
are not being worn in grocery stores, restaurants, and hotels. Meanwhile, an analysis of cases in Tennessee
by Vanderbilt University found
that regions without mask mandates also have the highest rates of
hospitalization for covid-19.
they're
tired of it, they want their life back to normal, before COVID-19. 3)
Lack of knowledge people don't have any scientific and medical
understanding of COVID-19 transmission. If they can’t see it, it must not be
there. They have no appreciation of contagion or how viruses spread.
4) People that are Inexperienced with illness or death are usually
younger adults who have grown up with vaccinations for polio, measles,
mumps, etc. They have no experience with the military draft or people close
to them dying in war so they don't fear illness or death. 5) Our politics and history predisposes us to not liking others telling us what
to do. Some believe wearing a mask infringes their personal rights, failing
to consider whether it makes sense in the middle of a pandemic.
head
of the committee that develops evidence-based immunization guidelines for
the CDC, told NPR (National Public Radio) that
health care workers will get the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the
U.S. when one is approved.
That's a decision based on the science of what will quell the pandemic
fastest. "It's not just the doctors and nurses that are interacting with
patients, but also the support personnel that help, which could include those
who are
delivering food or maintenance people, as well.
Delaware’s stay-at-home order and face mask mandate
helped reduce coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths, with an
82% reduction in Covid-19 incidence and an 88% reduction in
hospitalizations. However, there were several barriers to the state's
contract tracing efforts that could have prevented the virus from spreading
even further early in the pandemic.
Among the more than 9,700 laboratory-confirmed cases reported between
March
11th and June 25th, nearly two-thirds of the patients were interviewed, but
83% either refused to name contacts or couldn't recall contacts.
"Early
detection, self-isolation, and investigation of COVID-19 cases and
self-quarantine of close contacts can be effective in preventing community
transmission,
if
contacts are identified and reached soon after exposure," the study said.
Polk County, Iowa
 Per
the
Florida
Department of Health's dashboard*
as of Friday,
November 6th,
the state now has
816,376 residents testing positive
for COVID-19, with
50,077 hospitalized, and
16,961 deaths.**
As you can see, the number of cases are on the rise again.
The breakdown
of confirmed cases in our tri-county area is:
* The new data includes the number of test results the department
receives from the counties, along with additional demographics and
graphs that show hospital admissions for patients complaining of
cough, fever or shortness of breath.
Previously, that data was only provided for larger counties.
Still not included is how many infected people have
recovered from the virus and, unlike other states, Florida does not report
"probable" deaths
from the virus. |
|
None of these counties meet the criteria for the next phase of reopening. |
The Cherokee Nation said they followed the science, stockpiled supplies of personal protective equipment,
began drive-thru testing, required masks, offered rapid tests in schools
(and did reopen in-person teaching) and has recorded a far lower COVID-19
cases and death rate as those numbers surge in surrounding Oklahoma,
where the White House coronavirus task force says 
a
little sore. They are trying
