“Don't find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain” ― Henry Ford
“Common sense is in spite of, not the result of, education.”― Victor Hugo
Our country last week passed the somber milestone of 200,000 confirmed deaths to COVID-19, an epic tragedy of lives cut short that touches communities in every state. These are not just numbers on a spreadsheet; these are moms and dads, spouses and children, beloved grandparents, favorite aunts, uncles and cousins.
The full measure of COVID-19’s impact may not be known for some time. But reaching 200,000 confirmed deaths is a staggering loss to consider. It is impossible to say with any certainty how many more lives will be lost to COVID-19, or precisely when we will be free to resume the lives we knew before.
Here's a look at the timeline:
· The first death from coronavirus in the US was reported on February 29.
· 54 days later, on April 23, the US reported 50,000 deaths from Covid-19.
· Just 29 days later, on May 23, the nation crossed 100,000 deaths.
· It took 65 days to reach 150,000 deaths on July 28.
· It took 55 days to reach 200,000 deaths.
We see a dramatic decrease in this timeline for the last two 50,000 death milestone because we are letting our guard down. We are becoming what I refer to as COVID weary. As we venture out more and more, we do not exercise all the precautions we should. As the weather gets colder, we are going to be confined to indoor activities where the COVID virus can spread more easily because of confined spaces, poor air circulation and less space for social distancing. The bad habits we are developing now in the warm weather are going to carry over to the cold weather where there will be more dire consequences and a possible increase in the surge of positive cases as we have seen from all the Labor Day activities
Until we get an effective vaccine, there are concrete steps we encourage our patients and loved ones to take: We must take control of our own health. Steps to take with the approaching COLD and FLU Season.
· Get a flu shot. Health experts are very concerned about the Flu virus meeting the COVID 19 virus.
· Wear a mask each time you leave home.
· Maintain physical distancing of at least 6 feet.
· Avoid large gatherings, especially indoors.
FACT VS HYPE
The Corona Task force testified in front of the US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Wednesday. Here are the highlights.
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said a majority of Americans remain susceptible to Covid-19.
Speaking to the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday, Redfield said, “CDC is in the process of a very large, sequential study across the entire United States, measuring serology. The preliminary results on the first round show that a majority of our nation – more than 90% of the population – remains susceptible,”
“It varies in different geographic parts from across the United States. We’ll have that finalized and probably published in the next week or so. But it does show that a majority of Americans are still susceptible to this virus,” Redfield said.
Redfield said 18- to 25-year old’s make up about 26% of new infections — more than any other group.
"It's imperative that these young adults recognize that even though they are unlikely to get seriously ill from this virus, they are the major contributors to the spread of Covid-19 in our country at this time," Redfield said. He urged all Americans regardless of age continue to follow the advice of health experts:
"Wear a mask, maintain social distance, practice routine hand washings with vigilance, be smart about crowds and stay home when you're feeling sick."
Dr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, made a commitment to America that “FDA will not authorize or approve a vaccine that we would not feel comfortable giving to our families.”
“FDA will not authorize or approve any Covid-19 vaccine before it has met the agency's rigorous expectations for safety and effectiveness. Decisions to authorize or approve any such vaccine or therapeutic will be made by the dedicated career staff at FDA, through our thorough review processes, and science will guide our decisions," Hahn promised the Senate Health Committee.
“FDA will not permit any pressure from anyone to change that,” he committed.
Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the US Department of Health and Human Services, said the US has performed more than 106 million tests for Covid-19 since the pandemic began.
Speaking to members of the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday, Giroir said on 10 separate days, the US performed more than 1 million tests per day. Giroir said we are now at an “inflection point” when it comes to testing.
“This month we will have available, on average, 3 million tests per day – nearly half of which will be rapid point of care.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said that there are three "platform candidate vaccines" that have entered into phase three trial. Very soon there will be a fourth."
Fauci said he predicts that we will know later in the year whether these vaccines are safe and effective.
"So as these trials go on, we predict that some time by the end of this year, let's say November or December, we will know whether or not these are safe and effective. Right now doses of this vaccine are being produced so that they'll be ready to be distributed."
"As I mentioned to this committee, we feel cautiously optimistic that we will be able to have a safe and effective vaccine, although there is never a guarantee of that," Fauci said.
There are 3 categories of COVID-19. SYMPTOMATIC where you have symptoms and test positive. ASYMPTOMATIC where you do not have symptoms but test positive and LONG HAULERS. “Clinical observations show that Covid-19 affects certain individuals in a way that they can experience symptoms of the virus for weeks or months despite having virologically recovered. These individuals are called 'long haulers,’ Fauci said.
"A number of individuals, who virologically have recovered from infection, in fact, have persistence — measured in weeks to months — of symptomatology that does not appear to be due to persistence of the virus. These individuals have fatigue, myalgia, fever and involvement of the neurological system as well as cognitive abnormalities such as the inability to concentrate” says Dr. Fauci.
“These are the kind of things that tell us we must be humble, that we do not completely understand the nature of this illness," Dr. Fauci added.
With respect to why the health experts are constantly changing recommendations Fauci said this. “So when people say, ‘Well, why did you change your stance? And why are you emphasizing masks so much now when back then you didn't? And in fact, you even said you shouldn't because there was a shortage of masks?’ Well, the data now are very, very clear,” he said.
“We need to put that nonsense behind us about, ‘Well, they keep changing their minds,’ ” he said.
“Masks work. Physical distancing works. Avoiding crowds work,” Fauci said.
We must listen to the health experts and not the politicians or the media as to how to deal with this virus. We must exercise common sense and good judgement in everything we do and do our own fact checking. Politicians use politically correct sound bites. The media uses words like “might, potential, possible, opinion” when asking questions to get someone to answer the question in the way that will create a headline.
We must realize as the health experts learn more about this disease, treatments and vaccines they will make recommendations based on fact and data. We have to believe they do not have an agenda other than our best interest which at this point I can not say the same about the politicians or the media.
Until next time Stay Safe, Stay Well, Stay Distant and Wear Your MASK.
James A Vito, D.M.D.