Corona Virus: It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

[LordMortis]

Uncle was hospitalized out of state. Caught COVID while in hospital. Gave it to my aunt. Neither are vaccinated. They won't let him out of the hospital and back in state and technically my aunt isn't supposed to be leave the state to see him. She will try. She will travel. The hospital will refuse her and there will be holy hell.

Yay for COVID protections being a personal choice (both for my stubborn relatives and for the hospital staff). The one place I mask nowadays? Hospitals. Of course it's the only non safe space I linger. Restaurants are back off the table until spring, I think. Which are the only other non safe space I don't get in and get out again.

[em2nought]

Jeez, that's sad. Sorry to hear it.

I'm still a mess, and I appreciate the empathy. Taking care of my mother for so long I think the feeling might almost be like losing a child. My mom and dad were really wonderful people, much better people than me. Thanks!

[LordMortis]

Jeez, that's sad. Sorry to hear it.

I'm still a mess, and I appreciate the empathy. Taking care of my mother for so long I think the feeling might almost be like losing a child. My mom and dad were really wonderful people, much better people than me. Thanks!

What you are going through terrifies me. I could be in that position at any time.

[Zaxxon]

Condolences, em2.

[Pyperkub]

So sorry to hear that em2.

[hepcat]

I'm sorry for your loss as well. I can only imagine how rough it will be when I face my father's passing. I've convinced myself that at 88, he's pretty much invincible. But of course, he's not.

[em2nought]

Thanks everyone! Making me tear up a little. Feeling a little guilty getting ready to put her nice little condo on the market.

[Smoove_B]

Weekly U.S. COVID update:

- New cases: 330,540 est.
- Average: 348,690 (+7,351)
- States reporting: 50/50
- In hospital: 27,879 (-1,406)
- In ICU: 2,733 (-91)
- New deaths: 2,381
- Average: 1,993 (+149)

Hospitalizations and new cases are down (good), helping to support the wastewater data that is also now trending down. However:

This is the 3rd week in a row with more than 2,000 new deaths, or 6,643 deaths combined. This is also the 19th week in a row with more than 1,000 new deaths, or more than 30,000 during the same period.

[Smoove_B]

I wonder what's happening at Mass General?

Massachusetts General Hospital is experiencing a "full-blown crisis" with its capacity, operating nearly every day in "Code Help" or "Capacity Disaster" status in its emergency department for 16 months straight, hospital officials said in a news release Friday.

...

On Jan. 11, 103 patients boarded in the emergency department, "marking one of the most crowded days MGH has experienced in its two centuries caring for Boston and its surrounding communities," according to officials.

I believe they initiated a limited masking protocol for some staff on 1/2/24, but I am not sure if it's still in effect. At no point were masks required for people arriving.

Not sure what it's going to take, but clearly we're not there yet.

[LawBeefaroni]

I wonder what's happening at Mass General?

Massachusetts General Hospital is experiencing a "full-blown crisis" with its capacity, operating nearly every day in "Code Help" or "Capacity Disaster" status in its emergency department for 16 months straight, hospital officials said in a news release Friday.

...

On Jan. 11, 103 patients boarded in the emergency department, "marking one of the most crowded days MGH has experienced in its two centuries caring for Boston and its surrounding communities," according to officials.

I believe they initiated a limited masking protocol for some staff on 1/2/24, but I am not sure if it's still in effect. At no point were masks required for people arriving.

Not sure what it's going to take, but clearly we're not there yet.

It's not the ED as much as it is the inpatient census. It sounds like a lot of the patients are stuck in the ED waiting for impatient admission due to lack of IP beds. And further digging looks like the lack of IP beds is partly due to lack of timely discharge due to Insurance PA delays.

State healthcare officials sent out a memo this week letting hospitals know health insurers have agreed to waive some prior authorizations that often delay the discharge of patients.

“This week we took more action to free up capacity so that hospitals and insurers can better work together to get people out of hospital settings right now,” Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said.

...

The effort to fast-track discharges comes as Massachusetts General Hospital officials said they just had one of their busiest days in two centuries. They said on January 11, more than 100 patients were boarding in the hospital’s emergency department, meaning they were sick enough to be admitted, but did not have a bed. The hospital was forced to use hallways and stretchers to house patients.

That capacity crisis has prompted the hospital to again ask the state to allow it to add 94 more beds to the hospital, saying it cannot treat the number of patients in its emergency department without more space.

Note that the number of beds is licensed by the state so while they may have the physical room at the facility, if they state doesn't license a bed, they can't use it.


It's still indicative of a problem probably COVID related, but it's massively exacerbated by a capacity issue further down the line than the ED.

[Smoove_B]

A slight surprise today...



We had a few weeks of declining virus in sewage, but last week numbers reversed and started going back up again. Obviously it needs to be monitored but hopefully it's not some type of secondary late-winter surge.

[Smoove_B]

Our species is going to be known for understanding what the problems are, but just not caring to do anything about it:

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has claimed that Covid is “rampant” and that the world is “still in a pandemic”, despite the organisation declaring the public health emergency over last year.

From December 2023 to mid-January 2024, more than 11,000 deaths were reported from the virus, with more than half occurring in the US.

The WHO has now said that the pandemic is not yet over, instead entering its endemic phase, which means it will continue to spread indefinitely.

Maria Van Kerkhove, interim director of the WHO’s Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention said: “We don’t know everything about this virus. Even in year five, there’s still a lot of research that needs to be done.”

She said that complacency is rife at both an individual and a government level, citing a low demand for vaccination around the world which needs to be tackled.

Kerkhove also mentioned that mask-wearing, social distancing and improving ventilation were all “no-brainers” when it comes to confronting the virus.

Homo sapiens? Nope - we're Homo non curat.