There likely be some volunteer opportunities at your local hospital but they may be limited unless you can provide evidence you are a recovered Covid-19 patient.

As for potential shortages, all hospitals and medical facilities are making arrangements to have more supplies than usual available. However, until a hospital gets overrun it's hard to predict what may be needed.

AggieDO97 said:

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What website should we look at for the most accurate numbers (on cases & deaths)?


Reveille's update on his Facebook page early in the morning of today (3-17-2020) states cases rose from 3,680 to 4,667. However, the CDC update on the afternoon of 3-16-2020 sites 3,487 cases (and 68 deaths). As I speak with patients and answer questions, I want to make sure I know where to find the most accurate #s.

Thank you again to Reveille and the other medical professionals for your efforts at providing the information in this thread!

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There are multiple places that update frequently. This one is good.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

SkiMo said:

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Hello Doc. Thanks for taking time to answer our questions. So appreciated!

I have one of my own...

I'm currently on week 6/pill 6 of a 12 week/12 pill regimen of Fluconazole. Is this something I should just stop all together then start completely over on down the road to protect the ole liver?

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No antifungals should have no impact at all on your immune system. They should be considered safe to take during the Covid-19 pandemic.

McCoveysCove said:

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I finished Chemo 12/20/2019 and had a MVAC protocol for GU Cancer. Started 11/7/2019. Surgery 1/29/20...My question is am I in safe range for a chemo patient this far(soon) out from last treatment for my immune system or should I still be cautious? My oncologist did not mention any issues on last visit 3/10/20....Thanks for comment

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You should probably check with your oncologist to be sure as he has your most recent labs but I would consider you to likely be safe at this point.

buzzardb267 said:

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My granddaughter, that I mentioned earlier, went to ER and doc told her she likely had CV, and to isolate until testing is available. She had contact with another daughter and 6 other grandkids. They are isolating as well. Any word on testing? I watch news and read everything I can find and just get more confused. She had contact with numerous people, but doesn't want to alarm them without knowing for sure. Testing is becoming frustrating! Thanks for doing this. I have my daughter checking your updates too.

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I'm no doctor but my advice would be to not worry about alarming people. It's ok to tell them that it's a possibility.

buzzardb267 said:

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My granddaughter, that I mentioned earlier, went to ER and doc told her she likely had CV, and to isolate until testing is available. She had contact with another daughter and 6 other grandkids. They are isolating as well. Any word on testing? I watch news and read everything I can find and just get more confused. She had contact with numerous people, but doesn't want to alarm them without knowing for sure. Testing is becoming frustrating! Thanks for doing this. I have my daughter checking your updates too.

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I work for a company making the test kits. I have been told we have 1.5m tests made and started shipping out to US labs this week. We are ramping up to make 2M a week for the rest of March and scaling to 5M per week in April as we bring on additional staff.

Additionally, another company had their test approved this week, so they will be ramping up production and supply as well.

Availability of testing should see a big jump this week and going forward. I know we have been hearing that for the past week and a half from the Govt, but shipping tests is significant progress.

Great. I got up this morning with a runny nose and itchy eyes. I can use logic to say it is allergy, but this stuff brings out the suspicion even for slight cough or a sneeze.

Thanks for that. My family and I can use that little ray of sunshine. I forwarded that to my kids and grandkids. My wife is high risk, over 70, asthma, and RA, so I can't help the rest of the family. I am following the decontamination advice given here when I do have to go out. We shall over come and Gig "Em.

3rd Generation Ag said:

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Great. I got up this morning with a runny nose and itchy eyes. I can use logic to say it is allergy, but this stuff brings out the suspicion even for slight cough or a sneeze.

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Lmao I feel the same way. I've had a small cough for the past week and every time I cough I think OH **** I GOT THE RONA

buzzardb267 said:

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My granddaughter, that I mentioned earlier, went to ER and doc told her she likely had CV, and to isolate until testing is available. She had contact with another daughter and 6 other grandkids. They are isolating as well. Any word on testing? I watch news and read everything I can find and just get more confused. She had contact with numerous people, but doesn't want to alarm them without knowing for sure. Testing is becoming frustrating! Thanks for doing this. I have my daughter checking your updates too.

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Patience unless you are critically ill knowing or not knowing if a test is positive is not really important except for statistics. Treatment is supportive and isolation of the infected patient. Those that are exposed should be quarantined so not to potentially infect others. Below is the difference in the two terms.

• Isolation separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick.
• Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick

Keep checking as testing centers are slowly coming online. I have seen a few presumptive positive in my clinic and have no ability to test yet either in the office. Our current cultures do not have the right medium for transport so test could be run. However, the lab informed us this morning we should have some available to test in office soon and possibly by the end of week. We simply have them go home in isolation and watch for worsening of symptoms. If you have severe shortness of breath or do not urinate in 5 hours then go to ER.

3rd Generation Ag said:

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Great. I got up this morning with a runny nose and itchy eyes. I can use logic to say it is allergy, but this stuff brings out the suspicion even for slight cough or a sneeze.

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Do NOT feel bad! This is going to happen to a lot of people for awhile. When we go through medical school and learn about diseases it is common to think OMG I have that! I call it medical student syndrome the more you read about something the more you can over think it and start to believe you have it. For instance when learning of diabetes they say it causes you to have polyuria (urinate more) and would think oh my I just went to bathroom before the class. Then they say polydipsia (thirsty) and you think I am drinking a diet coke right now. However, after class you check your blood sugar and it is normal. Then brain is powerful tool.

Reveille said:

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3rd Generation Ag said:

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Great. I got up this morning with a runny nose and itchy eyes. I can use logic to say it is allergy, but this stuff brings out the suspicion even for slight cough or a sneeze.

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Do NOT feel bad! This is going to happen to a lot of people for awhile. When we go through medical school and learn about diseases it is common to think OMG I have that! I call it medical student syndrome the more you read about something the more you can over think it and start to believe you have it. For instance when learning of diabetes they say it causes you to have polyuria (urinate more) and would think oh my I just went to bathroom before the class. Then they say polydipsia (thirsty) and you think I am drinking a diet coke right now. However, after class you check your blood sugar and it is normal. Then brain is powerful tool.

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Imagine what it is like to have a graduate degree in psychology.....

bmac_aggie18 said:

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Doc,

When would you expect life to get back to "normal"?

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Boy now that is literally the BILLION dollar question. I am just guessing but I think in a couple of weeks some things will start to feel normal as stores will likely be restocked. Restaurants will likely start reopening but probably leaving every other table empty. Probably movie theaters will reopen but I would suspect they mandate something like every other seat stay empty. It may be a while before we have sporting events and concerts.

I truly believe that we have a very large number of people infected they are just asymptomatic. We will likely never know the true numbers but the good news is all recovered patients are now essentially considered immune and this decreases the risk of the virus spreading rapidly again. So by summer we should have tens of thousands considered immune in addition hopefully the warmer weather slows down the spread of the virus. Lets hope for the best but in these scenarios the healthcare system should be more than capable of handling the load of infections so they will likely lessen the restrictions.

plain_o_llama said:

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Thanks for all your efforts here.

I've seen the discussions about whether warmer and more humid weather might help and how much. There is a related question I have never found a satisfying answer to. Where does Influenza go in the Summer? There is a clear seasonality to it. Yet it has to be resident in the population or the environment somewhere for the 9 months when it isn't filling doctors' offices? What is the current thinking on this?

I did see this somewhat related study that found virus shedding, including Influenza and Coronaviruses, in asymptomatic tourists during a summer season.

https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/217/7/1074/4782481


Your time and efforts are much appreciated.

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There is a lot of hypothesis on why FLU disappears in the summer. The actual reason is not exactly known. But most people believe it is because in the summer we are outside more and not inside in crowded environments. To support this theory is the fact in areas close to the equator FLU season is highest in the rainy season. But they still get FLU even though it might be a very warm climate.

There is evidence that coronavirus prefers temperatures between 40-60 degrees so lets hope the 100 degree temps run it off.

88planoAg said:

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Reveille said:

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3rd Generation Ag said:

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Great. I got up this morning with a runny nose and itchy eyes. I can use logic to say it is allergy, but this stuff brings out the suspicion even for slight cough or a sneeze.

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Do NOT feel bad! This is going to happen to a lot of people for awhile. When we go through medical school and learn about diseases it is common to think OMG I have that! I call it medical student syndrome the more you read about something the more you can over think it and start to believe you have it. For instance when learning of diabetes they say it causes you to have polyuria (urinate more) and would think oh my I just went to bathroom before the class. Then they say polydipsia (thirsty) and you think I am drinking a diet coke right now. However, after class you check your blood sugar and it is normal. Then brain is powerful tool.

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Imagine what it is like to have a graduate degree in psychology.....

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Or to be married to someone who does...