I’m hopeful that the death rate coming down is partially due to the medical folks figuring out what works vs having it all be best guesses.
Their ability to figure things out as we go along is why I’d much rather have the virus later vs earlier if it ends up being a “we’re all going to get it” thing.
That was a fascinating article on face shields. Seems like they may be more effective than masks, and more comfortable. I have seen lots of ads for cute sun hats with face shields attached, maybe they will become popular. I do like that you can see someone’s face and expressions.
Thanks for posting this!
SMH
‘In countries keeping the coronavirus at bay, experts watch U.S. case numbers with alarm’
“As coronavirus cases surge in states across the South and West of the United States, health experts in countries with falling case numbers are watching with a growing sense of alarm and disbelief, with many wondering why virus-stricken U.S. states continue to reopen and why the advice of scientists is often ignored.
“It really does feel like the U.S. has given up,” said Siouxsie Wiles, an infectious-diseases specialist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand — a country that has confirmed only three new cases over the last three weeks and where citizens have now largely returned to their pre-coronavirus routines.
“I can’t imagine what it must be like having to go to work knowing it’s unsafe,” Wiles said of the U.S.-wide economic reopening. “It’s hard to see how this ends. There are just going to be more and more people infected, and more and more deaths. It’s heartbreaking.”
“Whereas the U.S. response to the crisis has at times appeared disconnected from American scientists’ publicly available findings, U.S. researchers’ conclusions informed the actions of foreign governments.”
“A large portion of [Germany’s] measures that proved effective was based on studies by leading U.S. research institutes,” said Karl Lauterbach, a Harvard-educated epidemiologist who is a member of the German parliament for the Social Democrats, who are part of the coalition government. Lauterbach advised the German parliament and the government during the pandemic.”
Should have provided a little more context or explained that the last was in regards to another topic.
Should be fewer fatalities from the same number of infections, but I doubt that will make much difference to the persistently negative outlook among some here.
The: “we’ll be right back where we were or even worse, in a matter of weeks. Mark my words, etc., etc., etc.” The “no surprise here” contingent.
Please note that the article on face shields explicitly pointed out that it’s not known whether they decrease spread of disease by infected patients. They also have no added benefit if you are more than 6 feet away from someone— they are protective when you are directly in the “line of fire” of a sick patient. Not clear to me whether that is adequate to prevent community spread, e.g. at choir rehearsal.
I would recommend them to people who cannot tolerate masks. But they are not considered adequate PPE at my workplace.
Hopefully we can find out soon. I feel that face shields would be a much more comfortable thing for waitresses and others in the service industry to wear instead of masks.
What about wearing both a cloth mask and a face shield? @roycroftmom do you have a link for the sun hat one? It sounds like something I would want!
Just Google hat with face shield. They come in a variety of straw hats, visors, baseball caps, etc, from many vendors including walmart
Yup, 24 h turnaround again and thankfully he’s negative and I can send him to school.
The kids are all so happy to go to school again, it’s ridiculous.
ETA: Note, this is not in the US, see the history of quotes. Sounds like in some places it can take up to a week and longer to get your result, that’s absolutely ridiculous.
Has anyone posted yet about the NBA smart rings? Here is one link, but if you google it there are many more. Supposedly the rings can detect if players are coming down with Covid.
I think they might be something to add to masking but not replace it for most people. I got some for DH who has asthma and can’t wear regular masks for very long it seems. I hope they will help. I hope he can just keep WAH.
I spent all day yesterday in a hospital ICU and thought I’d describe the experience. H was having a non-covid related procedure done and I guess its involved enough that they treat it as outpatient ICU. First, I was surprised I was even allowed in, but apparently they just started allowing visitors at the hospital as of Wednesday. I was not the only visitor in the ICU while I was there.
We were stopped at the hospital entry door, had our temps taken and asked a few basic questions, and then given a sticker which I assume indicates to staff that we had passed the screening. H had to have a covid test earlier in the week in order to go ahead with the procedure. We never heard results but were told we would only have heard if it was positive - that sounds odd. Maybe it was because he was only having it as part of a prescreening? Anyway, we heard nothing so assume it was negative.
I don’t think there were any known Covid patients near us. The person in admitting said they were in a separate section of the hospital, so maybe they have a separate ICU set up just for them.
The oddest part to me was use of masks. Every time a hospital employee interacted with us they wore a mask, but I saw several just working at computers, and in admitting that weren’t wearing one. The person who checked my husband in took off her mask as soon as we walked away. There was even one person working at a computer in the ICU that wasn’t wearing one. My husband and I were told that we didn’t need to wear masks while we were in his room.
I was also surprised by the lack of social distancing. I understand that a nurse or doctor providing care has to be right next to a patient, but it seemed like no one cared about getting right next to me either. I have not been tested for covid, and was not wearing a mask in the room, and no one seemed to take any special care to stay away from me. It just seemed odd.
Oh, BTW, husband’s procedure went well.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve been wondering why those with lots of public personal interaction aren’t wearing long lightweight raincoats, gloves, and face shields over masks.
A scientist I know was wearing a similar ensemble for mass transit commutes in early Feb.
Glad your husband’s procedure went well.
I suspect it’s the experience you discussed that fuels people’s reasons to want to stay away from a hospital unless absolutely necessary. If the virus gets in there, seems ripe for spreading.
It was back in March, but my lad likely caught his from a Pastor who had been visiting a non-Covid patient in the hospital.
My med school lad tells me they wear both (shield and mask) when they’re dealing with trauma cases and don’t know if the person is infected.
That said, he thinks they are better than cloth masks for the general public and suggested we transition to them. We might. For the next two weeks we aren’t going out in public due to isolating in order to visit FIL. It gives us some time to see what happens with the virus and any additional studies.
Costco has face masks and i picked up a box when i was there last time. It’s called “all purpose masks”. I don’t know how affective it is but I can breathe through it MUCH easier than the cloth face masks that I have. Not as cute, but i can breathe!
Hopefully more research can be done on face shields, and quickly. I could see more kids complying with wearing face shields than with wearing masks when it comes to a school environment.
As a teacher, I am worried about being in a room all day with a bunch of kids who occasionally sneeze and cough and are wearing face shields rather than masks as opposed to face shields and masks. both, that would be even safer. But a face shield obviously has large gaps on the side and will allow virus to spread around the classroom.