Health Care

  Fox News 6 Now (5/20/20) HONG KONG– Researchers have found that wearing surgical masks can significantly reduce the rate of airborne COVID-19 transmission, according to a study released on Sunday. The study, conducted by a team of scientists in Hong Kong, found the rate of non-contact transmission through respiratory droplets or airborne particles dropped by as much as 75 percent when masks were used. “The findings implied to the world and the public is that the effectiveness of mask-wearing against the coronavirus pandemic is huge,” said Dr. Yuen Kwok-yung, a leading microbiologist from Hong Kong University who helped discover…

Michigan’s outbreak looks different from Iowa’s, which looks different from Colorado’s. Even within states, outbreaks are very distinct.  By Ryan Malosh The Conversation (5/18/20) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has finally released new guidelines for businesses, bars and schools that are considering reopening. Although following these guidelines should help, it’s frustrating there hasn’t been more clear, concise communication about the risk of infection. And without strict guidelines, it will be up to us to minimize our own risk and the risk of everyone around us. In large part, this is because there is still so much we scientists and physicians don’t know about…

“Brilliant news. … Remarkably good news.” Dr. John Campbell has a very informative, straight forward daily podcast review and update of the developing science on Covid-19. In this episode he reviews research coming out of South Korea indicating people cannot be reinfected with Covid-19, which is positive news regarding efficacy of possible vaccination and eventual herd immunity. Link To 23+-Minute Video You Can Access Dr. John Campbell’s Science-Based Library Of Podcasts On A Variety Of  Covid-19 Related Topics Here.  

“I’ve studied 100 diseases. Covid is the strangest one I have seen in my medical career.” By Luke Harding The Guardian (5/15/20) In mid-March Paul Garner developed what he thought was a “bit of a cough”. A professor of infectious diseases, Garner was discussing the new coronavirus with David Nabarro, the UK’s special envoy on the pandemic. At the end of the Zoom call, Nabarro advised Garner to go home immediately and to self-isolate. Garner did. He felt no more than a “little bit off”. Days later, he found himself fighting a raging infection. It’s one he likens to being…

Last month, the Economic Policy Institute estimated that 12.7 million people had already lost their employer-based health insurance. By Julia Conley Common Dreams (5/10/20) Medicare for All advocates on Sunday pointed to the latest study on the looming health insurance crisis already becoming apparent amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to job losses for more than 33 million people in the past two months. Because health insurance is tied to employment for about half the country—160 million people—as many as 43 million are expected to lose their health insurance due to the pandemic, according to a new report by the Robert Wood Johnson…

Patients came in with alarmingly low oxygen saturations, but they did not, subjectively, actually feel short of breath. [Editor’s Note: With the willfully ignorant leadership in the nation and most states, the ‘reopening’ of the economy is going to lead to (just as in 198) a tremendous second wave of Covid-19 infections, illnesses and hundreds of thousands of deaths. If you can still find them, get a thermometer and oximeter and appropriate over-the-counter medications for fever, aches, nausea and diarrhea. I am not qualified to give medical advice, so go online and do your research NOW. Make sure your medical…

“Why shouldn’t this testing be available to all Americans?” Democracy Now! (5/8/20) As more than 40 states begin to reopen, President Trump is downplaying the need for mass COVID-19 testing, even as he himself is now being tested every day for the virus. We speak with emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen, who says, “Widespread testing is so critical. … Why shouldn’t this testing be available to all Americans?” Link To story, Transcript And 14-Minute Video  

“Quit telling us to wait.” By Eoin Higgins Common Dreams (5/6/20) A Seattle-area Native American health center in April received body bags instead of requested equipment to handle the coronavirus in what tribal officials described as a “metaphor” for how the Indigenous population is being treated by local, state, and federal governments around the country as the pandemic continues to rage. “My question is: Are we going to keep getting body bags or are we going to get what we actually need?” Seattle Indian Health Board chief research officer Abigail Echo-Hawk told NBC News. “Native vulnerability to coronavirus did not occur out of…

“She was like the fireman who runs into the burning building to save another life and doesn’t regard anything about herself. So she has paid the price. She has been in the trenches.” CNN (4/28/20) The father of Dr. Lorna Breen, a New York City emergency room doctor who recovered from Covid-19, continued to treat coronavirus patients, then died by suicide, remembers his daughter as someone who put her life on the line to help others. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). Link To 9-Minute Video (Commoner Call photo, 2020. Open source and free for non-derivative use with…

By putting themselves in harm’s way, they are thoughtlessly dragging ME and my fellow front-line workers into harm’s way, too. “Y’all, as a nurse working in a COVID unit, these protests are the most demoralizing thing to happen throughout this whole damn experience. Yes, it’s been gut-wrenching watching patients struggle for breath while unable to see their loved ones. Yes, it’s been scary wondering if our dwindling supply of protective gear will last, and if the flimsy barrier masks are even adequate to protect us. Yes, it’s been hard knowing that, because of my work, I will have to self-isolate…

The Ralph Nader Radio Hour (4/18/20) Jean Ross, president of the largest nurses’ union in the country, National Nurses United, joins Ralph to talk about how healthcare workers are not being protected from Covid-19. And Yale psychiatrist, Dr. Bandy Lee, comes back to update us on the Donald Trump’s mental pathology. Link To 67-Minute Audio ***** Learn More About National Nurses United HERE

This crisis is not close to over, quite the reverse. The pandemic is only just getting started. By Dr. William Hanage The Guardian (4/16/20) There has not been a lot of good news lately. But with the discharge of Boris Johnson from hospital on Sunday, and statements that the “peak” strain on the National Health Service would be over the Easter period, you might be under the impression that the storm is passing, and the Covid-19 pandemic will soon be a memory. Fueling this mood are reports from studies of communities already hit by the pandemic. At long last we are beginning to…

By Lauren Weber Kaiser Health (4/8/20) The folding chairs outside the windows appeared late last month, after the maintenance staff at St James parish hospital labeled each window with patient numbers so families and friends could at least see their loved ones battling Covid-19. Yet even this small solace the Louisiana rural hospital can offer is tainted for Leslie Fisher, a clinical nurse educator. She has to remind the family members to take shifts to properly physically distance from each other – even when their loved ones could quite possibly be in their final moments. The difficult conversations feel unceasingly cruel, she…

“The nation craves a plan, not hunches.” —  Thomas Friedman, New York Times (3/26/20)  ***** “We don’t need a backup. We need a Tom Brady.” — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) criticizing Trump’s “backup” role (3/26/20) ***** “I’ve asked repeatedly and respectfully for help. We need it. No more political attacks, just PPEs, ventilators, N95 masks, test kits.” “You said you stand with Michigan — prove it.” — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) responding to Trump questioning if the “young, a woman governor…knows what’s going on”. By Dan Peak Commoner Call (3/30/20) Dear Fellow Readers, It’s important to note that Governors…

By Dr. David Chakoin Facebook (3/22/20) The virus is here, it’s arrived in Vernon County. We don’t have any confirmed positives as of this writing but I have seen patients who have it, I am certain. There’s something more you can do to prepare: Talk with the ones you love, and do it now. Talk to them about what should be done if they, or you, get a severe case of the virus. This is pretty grim stuff, but you need to understand it. Here it goes: • Most people, about 80%, will have a mild case. They will have…