Morgues are overflowing - July 16, 2020
While politicians squabble, healthcare workers plead with people to cover faces, avoid indoor gatherings, keep apart from others, and be diligent about sanitation.
Note to readers: I’m not planning a rundown tomorrow, Friday, July 17, but I expect to distribute an edition on Sunday with an eye towards what to look for during next week. My thoughts are with the families and friends of the nearly 1,000 Americans who died in the past 24 hours from COVID-19, including one friend of mine who lost her mother yesterday. Take this disease seriously, please.
More data suggests that children are not a primary vector of COVID-19. A pre-print study found that in most of the cases they investigated, at least one adult in the household had the infection first.
New guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention clarify that anyone who might have been exposed to COVID-19 should isolate themselves for 14 days. “Even if you test negative for COVID-19 or feel healthy, you should stay home (quarantine) since symptoms may appear 2 to 14 days after exposure to the virus.” There also are guidelines for ending quarantine.
The Atlantic explains clearly why COVID-19 death rates have not surged after record-setting numbers of new cases. Spoiler alert: give it time and it will, even with improvements in treatment.
There’s an interesting thread on the New England Journal of Medicine website on the need for — and possibility of — widely accessible COVID-19 tests that can be done frequently, cheaply and at home.
Speaking of tests, the FDA now has revoked permission for 72 companies that were offering COVID-19 tests that turned out unreliable or otherwise unfit. Earlier this year, the FDA gave broad clearance to companies to begin selling tests without validation or FDA review.
And while we’re talking about tests, experts gathered by the Rockefeller Foundation say the United States should spend $75 billion to fix the flawed COVID-19 testing programs in order to avoid an “impending disaster.” The report says the economic cost of not having sufficient testing far exceeds the costs of fixing the problem.
Also from the FDA, a consumer-friendly quiz to test your hand sanitizer knowledge. There are a surprising number of questions about the danger of applying disinfectant to skin or ingesting sanitizer.
As we reported a few days ago, hospitals in Texas and Arizona have requested refrigerated trucks to store corpses, as the number of new deaths keeps rising and hospital morgues overflow.
Herd immunity? Not anytime soon, say experts, despite the unstopping surge in US cases.
That’s enough for today… next planned newsletter will be Sunday evening. Enjoy the weekend — with social distancing and face coverings, please.