What should we do now about Coronavirus?

[SaintsManiac]

Stay home.

 

[LSUmiss]

Blanket DNRs?

Yep for all those who are on a vent who are positive. Supposedly, it’s the standard now nationwide. The reason is b/c if a Covid patient on a vent codes, they’re not going to recover anyway b/c they’re that bad off. Scary to me especially when patients are there alone with no family or advocates. You just have to drop your loved one off & hope the hospital does the right thing & you get to see them again.

 

[LSUmiss]

That is terrifying and the worst is that no family can be with them. And we are not to the peak.

Our niece is a nurse at East Jefferson.

Very scary times. People need to heed the lockdowns and stay home.

The ppl I know are at Ochsner, Touro, the VA, & university. So then EJ is another one with similar reports.

 

[Southernmiss]

The ppl I know are at Ochsner, Touro, the VA, & university. So then EJ is another one with similar reports.

Yes. Niece is very busy and has been exposed to the virus. She's taking temperature twice a day and self- monitoring.

 

[Colleen27]

Yeah, you don't get it. My mental health was in the toilet 5 years ago when I was staying home. Suicidally. Getting a job probably did more for my mental health than anything else. Yes, I am calling people. Yes, i have Zoom meetings. But the lack of being able to leave the house, the lack of hugging people, and then the scary fact of this virus. It is messing with TONS of people that way. Then we have abusive homes... that is another problem.

People get it. They just don't want to apply it to the current situation, because they want to believe that if we're just strong enough, well behaved enough, we can conquer this virus.

If, a month ago, someone came here with a post asking for advice about depression and saying they don't have to leave the house because they Facetime with family once in a while and sometimes sit out in the driveway to say hi to people passing by, the answers would overwhelmingly have been that those things don't constitute meaningful social interaction. The advice would be, as it always is, to try to make an effort to build human connections - join a gym, take a class, volunteer, etc. But now that the virus is the Only. Important. Thing. (TM), those things have been reduced to the emotional equivalent of a Disney vacation, nice to have but in no way essential, and those who rely upon them as a lifeline are shamed for worrying over how they'll cope without.

 

[SaintsManiac]

My friend is an admin assistant at Ochsner. They won’t let her work from home. They have her taking temps of the staff.

She lost her sense of smell 2 days ago, but no fever, so they are making her come to work. It’s infuriating.

 

[Farro]

Abbott Laboratories (here in Illinois!) have just been FDA approved for the 15 minute coronavirus test. They expect to start sending out 50,000 tests a day starting next week!

More, better testing is coming!!! Something positive!

 

[godisney14]

What more can we do? We're already stuck at home for who knows how long with nothing to do and nowhere to go. I'm watching my older brother slide into depression over being isolated from his friends at the senior center. He told me today that he'd rather be dead than live like this for months. And I know he can't be the only one. I am really afraid of what this is doing to people's mental health.

Oh boy. Then you don’t want to know what it’s like to be on a vent.

Yeah, you don't get it. My mental health was in the toilet 5 years ago when I was staying home. Suicidally. Getting a job probably did more for my mental health than anything else. Yes, I am calling people. Yes, i have Zoom meetings. But the lack of being able to leave the house, the lack of hugging people, and then the scary fact of this virus. It is messing with TONS of people that way. Then we have abusive homes... that is another problem.

Don’t worry, not many people wanting a hug these days.

 

[MillauFr]

What kind of society have become if we do not protect the most vulnerable? Barbarians?

We sure don't protect motorist on the highways. We let they die in the tens of thousands. No desire to save lives on our highways at all.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Yep for all those who are on a vent who are positive. Supposedly, it’s the standard now nationwide. The reason is b/c if a Covid patient on a vent codes, they’re not going to recover anyway b/c they’re that bad off. Scary to me especially when patients are there alone with no family or advocates. You just have to drop your loved one off & hope the hospital does the right thing & you get to see them again.

Yes, IF this is happening, it's scary AND disturbing. There has been a lot of discussion in the last couple of days... There is definitely a difference of opinion regarding whether or not this is necessary much less appropriate. And I will leave it there.

 

[godisney14]

Abbott Laboratories (here in Illinois!) have just been FDA approved for the 15 minute coronavirus test. They expect to start sending out 50,000 tests a day starting next week!

More, better testing is coming!!! Something positive!

VERY IMPORTANT fact that the mainstream news leaves out (just like all the other details and nuances about science): Don’t get 50,000 tests a day produced per day confused with 50,000 testing capacity per day.

Each machine it looks like tests 1 sample per run, which is not what you want in a high throughput lab. This is beneficial for in clinic use for quick confirmation of someone who is potentially infectious walking in the doors. As in the ER or impatient where a trained provider can run it on the desk instead of sending it to a lab and waiting up to a day or more for the results. That will save the hospital precious time and resources to treat all patients accordingly. The testing labs are set up to technically run up to 96 or 384 samples per run. Yes, it takes longer than 15 minutes, but you can get multiples more results processed in a few hours (384 vs 20 with this new Abbott machine in 5 hours. Plus, don’t forget, the Abbott machine requires someone to be babysitting the machine so that new samples can be loaded every 15 minutes. Otherwise, you’re losing the efficiency. With the lab equipment, it’s like that oven, “Set it and forget it.”

And Abbott’s testing specs haven’t been published online. The PCR method is fairly specific and the FDA approved it, so it must be worth something.

This is all not to say, it’s not a breakthrough. It surely is, but not in the way the public is assuming it is.

Edit: Everything I said could be wrong as nothing about how the machine is operated has been published yet. I’m just going by the appearance of the machine (especially given how they’re touting the compact size), and my familiarity with the science and experience using such machines in my previous lab experience.

Edit 2: Forgot to mention, the cost of running 1 sample on this will cost many multiples more than standard testing done in a lab. Although, it’s negligible compared to what you would pay to be seen by a doctor or nurse in the ER.

 

[Farro]

It's still something.

 

[godisney14]

It's still something.

Of course it is, I didn’t say it wasn’t. Like I said, it is a very good tool for the providers, especially on the front line to quickly id a patient.

I was just wanting to help people understand that it’s not what the media is portraying it to be. (Or maybe it’s not the media but rather the viewer’s hope for a quick resolve that distorts the product’s feature.)
4 tests per hour at best case with someone babysitting it, LoL. That is nowhere near the use case for testing the public. Not even as close as one thousand light years away.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

What kind of society have become if we do not protect the most vulnerable? Barbarians?

We will CREATE a lot more vulnerable people around the world if we crash the economy. That will cause widespread suffering, and will contribute to illness and death, especially in developing countries where the truly most vulnerable people are just getting by, as it is.

 

[3threebabies]

What kind of society have become if we do not protect the most vulnerable? Barbarians?

We will CREATE a lot more vulnerable people around the world if we crash the economy. That will cause widespread suffering, and will contribute to illness and death, especially in developing countries where the truly most vulnerable people are just getting by, as it is.

See, here is the thing. ”Most vulnerable” doesn't simply refer to preexisting medical conditions in this situation. Our world currently has numerous “most vulnerable” groups that cannot be protected by any one solution. This is a global problem with global implications. And I don't just mean global in a geographic sense...this is truly all encompassing.

 

[LSUmiss]

Yes, IF this is happening, it's scary AND disturbing. There has been a lot of discussion in the last couple of days... There is definitely a difference of opinion regarding whether or not this is necessary much less appropriate. And I will leave it there.

It’s definitely happening in hospitals here. My sister works there & that’s their current protocol.

 

[godisney14]

We will CREATE a lot more vulnerable people around the world if we crash the economy. That will cause widespread suffering, and will contribute to illness and death, especially in developing countries where the truly most vulnerable people are just getting by, as it is.

Your causation from crashing economy to illness and death doesn’t happen overnight.
COVID-19 happens overnight.

Plus, we’re nowhere NEAR to levels of “crashing the economy.” Maybe you can take a break from the stock ticker, which right now shows the panic and not the present value.
Besides, there’s many companies and industries represented in the GDP benefiting from the shutdown, such as food retailers, healthcare, gun makers, entire tech 2.0 industry, etc. Oh, and let’s not forget the MMs on Wall Street.

 

[LSUmiss]

My friend is an admin assistant at Ochsner. They won’t let her work from home. They have her taking temps of the staff.

She lost her sense of smell 2 days ago, but no fever, so they are making her come to work. It’s infuriating.

Don’t get me started on Ochsner.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Yep for all those who are on a vent who are positive. Supposedly, it’s the standard now nationwide. The reason is b/c if a Covid patient on a vent codes, they’re not going to recover anyway b/c they’re that bad off. Scary to me especially when patients are there alone with no family or advocates. You just have to drop your loved one off & hope the hospital does the right thing & you get to see them again.

Staff are patient advocates. Nurses are patient advocates. In that situation I am advocating for the patient as if they were my own family member, and I trust my fellow nurses are doing the same everywhere, despite the trying circumstances. Patients are not alone. Just as reassurance, though I get what you are saying. Just want to give another perspective.

We have to take care of our staff, though! Nurses in NYC are wearing garbage bags due to lack of PPE. Staff are now becoming sick due to lack of PPE. Yet people are walking around outside on the street wearing N95 masks. Staff will not be able to help patients if they’re all sick themselves.

 

[Heather07438]

For now I'm just waiting to see what the next 2 or 3 weeks bring. What else can I do?

5909 new cases and 919 new deaths in Italy. Highest number of new deaths since the beginning of the epidemic in Italy [source] [video]. 46 doctors have died to date (with 4 additional deaths today). 6414 health workers have tested positive [source]