Anyone personally affected by Covid 19?

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Replies

  • PAPYRUS3
    PAPYRUS3 Posts: 13,259 Member
    PAPYRUS3 wrote: »
    My mother is in a retirement home - she is in the dementia unit (she's really 'gone') and all the homes do not allow visitors, etc., This is absolutely something that has to happen - as soon as one patient or staff member has it - it spreads like wild fire...
    I'm scared I won't see her now for months...and scared that 'it' happens in her residence I'll never see her ever again.

    My 95 year old father is also in a nursing home, with some dementia. His wife took him out of the home, even though she is 83 and not very strong, because they said no visitors were allowed. She has seen that even with daily visits, lack of staff means that care is often inadequate. He'll call for help to go to the bathroom and it often takes an hour for someone to respond. By then it's too late. She didn't want to leave him there with that kind if inefficiency with no oversight. If he fell, as he has done too often, he could be left untended for a long time. I worry about both of them.

    Yes...this is what is before us when dealing with loved ones in homes. I hope your mother has some additional help to deal with her husband now living with her. She/they probably had to give up the housing that her husband secured too. When the world returns back to 'normal' (ha) they will have to go back on a waiting list too?
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    @lgfrie

    https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/08/doctors-say-ventilators-overused-for-covid-19/

    Avoiding intubating, what say you. Patients that get worse and never make it home after intubating. There has to be a better way.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/11/when-coronavirus-kills-its-like-death-by-drowning-and-doctors-disagree-on-best-treatment/


    "If the air sacs of the lungs are so gummy that they can’t absorb oxygen, a ventilator’s high pressure could cause damage, according to an influential letter last week written by Italian and German ARDS experts in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

    Amid the fatigue and stress of trying to save patients, doctors are seeking to discover what’s going so wrong.

    “The way we are treating this right now isn’t working,” said Saunders. “This is either a very virulent and much more terrible disease — or, alternatively, we are treating the wrong disease, so we need to work in a different way. I deeply worry clinicians are incorrectly treating this disease as primarily an ARDS-related process when what we’re seeing suggests it’s not."

    Yes, there's got to be a better way and I believe they'll find it. Sooner rather than later.
  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,143 Member
    I don't know anyone who has definitively been diagnosed, but my friend has a kid in college and went to Florida for spring break, came home and got sick with all the typical COVID symptoms. She couldn't get him tested because they are only testing people working in the medical field, ems, fire, police, and people over 65.
  • JaxxieKat
    JaxxieKat Posts: 427 Member
    Can I confirm this?
    You only get tested in US if you need to go to hospital??

    To state the bleeding obvious, this must mean your case numbers, bad as they are, are actually vastly under reported.

    It depends on the state/region. NYC had much better testing capabilities than my state (Georgia). Right now you need to have a doctor referral, be hospitalized, be a first responder/medical professional, or be over the age of 65 and been exposed to a confirmed positive individual to get tested.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    Can I confirm this?
    You only get tested in US if you need to go to hospital??

    To state the bleeding obvious, this must mean your case numbers, bad as they are, are actually vastly under reported.

    It depends on where you are and the resources available in your area. Where resources are stretched thin and test kits (and other things) are in short supply, tests are being used for those entering an inpatient setting (where it’s critical to know).

    In other areas - where resources aren’t so limited, testing is more comprehensive (at least to include all those with possible cases).

    The US is a large area with vast differences in population density/landscape and there are places where there are no cases and people wonder what all the fuss is about. And there are places where bodies are getting packed into 18-wheeler trailers because the morgues are full.

    So it’s not so much that the US isn’t doing full testing. Some places are, some places aren’t.

    Regardless, the number of actual cases is going to be considerably higher-to include those who haven’t been tested because they didn’t meet whatever specific criteria is in place for their area or because their symptoms weren’t significant enough to seek treatment at all.
  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,143 Member
    It will be interesting when they get the antibody test out. I think they will find that there are probably millions of people in this country that have had it and either didn't know because it was before there was mass panic about it, or just didn't get tested when they were sick because of lack of tests.

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited April 2020
    Can I confirm this?
    You only get tested in US if you need to go to hospital??

    To state the bleeding obvious, this must mean your case numbers, bad as they are, are actually vastly under reported.

    As others have said, it depends on location (things is the US are often state-specific). You could get tested here so long as you had a doctor's referral, and now anyone with symptoms can, even without a referral. This is Illinois.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,278 Member
    Ok, thanks to those who answered my question. :)

    Yes anyone with symptoms can get tested here ( South Australia) too but you do need a referral form from a doctor.