Pacfanweb said:

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Civilized said:

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caryking said:

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Civilized said:

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packgrad said:

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And then the death rates plummet and we can get back to normal.

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Appears to be only around 1.5 million Americans living in nursing homes, which is a smaller number than I would've guessed. Maybe double that number for other similar types of congregate facilities that aren't technically nursing homes and you're still at only 3 million people.

Vaccines available for over 20 million in the next couple of weeks.

Make it happen!

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Of the 3M, how many do you think will refuse?

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No idea.

My guess is, far fewer will refuse in that demographic than others because of that demographic's significantly higher mortality from the virus. Kind of a vaccine corollary to "there are no atheists in foxholes."

Why?

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Pretty good analogy there. Few older folks are going to refuse the vaccine. They don't want the virus.

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Daviewolf83 said:

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Mormad said:

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Daviewolf83 said:

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Mormad said:

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We're at 158 in the hospital, 27 in icu, 16 intubated

Update: we're at 175, and current projections are 250 by Christmas, and they feel like our death count over the next 10 wks could match that of the previous 8 months. Ouch.

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Mormad - I spent the day driving to Louisville, Kentucky today for a football game tomorrow, so I have not had a chance to thank you for the update. The ICU numbers seem to be inline with the statewide statistics (approximately 25% of all Covid patients in ICU), so not too surprising. It is helpful to know how many of these are intupated, since this is information NCDHHS does not provide in their hospitalization updates.

Regarding your comments on the vaccine, I know we all hope it works to stop the spread of the virus. If it does not, I am not sure what Plan B would be, so we really have to hope Plan A works.

I do have a question about the people hospitalized who are not in ICU. I have been curious as to the level of care these people are receiving in the hospital. Is it medicines that can only be delivered in a hospital? Is it supplemental oxygen? Can you help provide some insight into these patients? Everyone I have known who has been infected with Covid has not required hospitalization, so I am curious about the conditions that cause the need to hospitalize these patients. Thanks again for all the information you provide to us in this thread. It is very helpful.

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Typically, it's peeps who need supplemental O2 and meds like antivirals and decadron. This can stop the downward spiral to the need for icu care in those felt to be at risk. Luckily, most infected don't require such care, and it's a judgement call for the ED docs whether some can be discharged from the ED to home or need consultation for admission for higher level care.

As you know, a small percentage of those admitted are actually being admitted for other issues and found to have covid on routine testing. But they're still listed as covid admissions because their infection, whether clinically significant or not, changes everything in order to limit exposure to staff and other patients.



The goal is to keep covid OUT of the hospital. It stresses the system and inhibits the ability to care for the non-infected community. It costs the system so much more than the relatively tiny uptick in payment they get for covid status. One NC hospital has shut down its OR because of 55 infected OR staff. They can't even staff their rooms adequately, and when emergencies are done they have to use cross coverage staff. Not all OR staff are proficient at craniotomies or open hearts, so it puts those patients at some increased risk, for example. Physicians are being asked to manage patients usually managed by hospitalists or critical care docs because those teams are being maxed out by covid. If we have experience running ventilators we're being asked to cross cover and potentially manage the critically ill. My pain management physician, who is originally trained as an anesthesiologist, is cross covering in the icu on the weekend. Every week brings a new challenge.

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PackPA2015 and Mormad - Thank you for the information on the types of treatments being provided to those who are hospitalized. I had assumed the percentage was small for those hospitalized for other reasons, but testing positive for Covid-19. With 75-80% of hospitalized Covid patients not being placed in ICU, I wondered about the level of severity for these other cases and the types of treatments being provided. Your information is very helpful in filling in the blanks on this area.

Do either of you have an idea as to the average length of stay for Covid patients not placed in ICU? I have seen some news reports recently, indicating the average length of stay had been declining, but I have not seen any solid numbers. I was curious if this is accurate.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. I am still traveling back home from my son's football game at Louisville, so I may not respond further until later tonight.

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ciscopack said:

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Came to NMB to do 1/2 day of work and 20 miles out; I found out I left my cell. Screw it, I'm not turning around. 3 of 4 TVs were supposed to have problems....2 were operator errors and 1 needs a new box & TV. Spectrum has moved and I thought it said South but it said N and after some fun driving, I find the new store in the new shopping mall but it's been closed for over a week due to everyone having Covid. I ride to Surfside and came back with the new box. I'm in for 3/4 day in and have at least that much more to do.....half day my butt. Finding something these days without a cell is tough. I was even pre-map and pre-phonebook. Rode by Revels and turned around....hey man....here's my problem and I bought 2 lawn mowers from your Fuquay store...can you help me.

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Steve Williams said:

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Just playing devil's advocate here- wasn't the narrative we've heard for the last 10 months that we had to have a vaccine to stop the spread? Now we have one, and it sounds like the main thing it does is help protect you from getting a bad case of Covid and really does nothing to prevent spread. Am I missing something?

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Wayland said:

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statefan91 said:

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Agreed - get HCWs, nursing homes, 65+, essential workers/teachers vaccinated and then things start looking a lot better. If you look at the NCDHHS dashboard, majority of cases are < 65 but majority of deaths are > 65

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And still 10 months in, a majority of the deaths in NC are congregate.

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Steve Williams said:

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Just playing devil's advocate here- wasn't the narrative we've heard for the last 10 months that we had to have a vaccine to stop the spread? Now we have one, and it sounds like the main thing it does is help protect you from getting a bad case of Covid and really does nothing to prevent spread. Am I missing something?

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