welcome to the organic green doctor blog

i am a family physician who was diagnosed with
early mild cognitive impairment(mci) amnestic type on december 21, 2010
this is a precursor to alzheimers disease
because of this diagnosis i have opted to stop practicing medicine
this blog will be about my journey with this disease
please feel free to follow me along this path
i will continue blogging on organic gardening, green living,
solar power, rainwater collection, and healthy living
i will blog on these plus other things noted to be interesting

Monday, February 22, 2021

covid 19-some light can be seen at the end of the tunnel

COVID 19-SOME LIGHT CAN BE SEEN AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

we are at 500,000 deaths from covid 19 in the us over the last year
its enough that our longevity has gone down by one year
most of you have friends and or family and or coworkers in that number
271 of them were kids
this 500,000 is more deaths than were seen in the civil war ww1 and ww2 combined

i have seen recently several obituaries of couples that have both died
usually before covid the deaths were due to some tragic accident where both died
nowadays its usually from covid 19
many it seemed had more to give to society 

i recently sat with a doctor who helps in the hospital some doing admissions since the hospital has been overwhelmed with covid patients
he said that about 60% of the admissions to the hospital are due to covid 19
he can usually identify the ones at admission that will not make it
he works in the clinic then all night in the hospital then all day in the clinic
he said its tiring work

he wants to quit the hospital work but doesnt feel like he can until this pandemic is over

we were talking to an acquaintance this weekend who is a middle age asthmatic on inhalers who went to visit his daughter who is in college rooming with other students
their daughters roommate just tested positive for covid 19
now he is concerned that he will catch it since he is at risk since he is asthmatic

the cases are dropping here
the hospitalizations are dropping
the deaths are starting to drop
the icu availability which was close to zero is now at around 33%
the numbers are dropping but they are still higher than they were in november

the rise from super bowl sunday will show up by this weekend 
hopefully the numbers are dropping enough that it will overcome the super bowl bump
i sure hope so 
we need some good numbers

we need to beware the ides of march
if we do things wrong the numbers may rise again

the who and acog american college of obstetrics and gynecology and cdc says its ok to immunize pregnant women
of course they say discuss with your doctor

pregnant women get covid 19 easier than non pregnant females
why
pregnant women have a decrease in their immunity against some diseases

studies are starting in kids 5-11 in europe using one of the covid vaccines
these will tell us how safe it will be to use them in that age group
this age group dont get covid 19 as much as older kids but we have to remember that they do get it
and
they can spread it

in california starting in march they are setting aside 10% of vaccines for teachers and day care workers

the secret to opening schools is immunizing teachers and school employees
adding all the mitigation things like
mask wearing
safe distance
hand washing
improved ventilation that will allow all schools to reopen 
i doubt that many people will argue about opening schools if all this happens

that should all be in effect for sure by this fall in most states
the kids need to be in school but only if its done safely 

around here eg in la the r factor is less than 0.8
you want it below 1
here in our county we have vaccinated 3% of the  population
but
you can tell though that those vaccination numbers will be increasing a lot over the next few weeks

the icu rate is 32.9%
the positivity rate is 8.3
if it drops less than 8 the county will drop down another tier
allowing elementary schools to open
if they do those schools should all do the mitigation things schools should do

i still think the teachers and employees should be immunized first

some infectious disease experts feel like we may be on a good downward trend
since
about 30% of the population has had covid 19
some think that number is higher
then you add to the fact that about 10% of the population has been immunized with the vaccine
plus
the cold weather is ending soon and the spring will be here
this virus infections tend to decrease with nicer weather
probably since more people go outside

they the experts think with this downward trend we are seeing coupled with the nicer weather 
and
the ramping up of the immunization numbers
will start to lower the number of infections with covid 19

by this fall the only people left to get covid 19 will be those who either cant get vaccinated for various reasons or those who refuse to get covid 19 vaccination
the virus will seek those folks out and try to infect them

we have to be wary of the variants or mutant covid 19 virus that could throw a ringer in this improvement picture
so far
the vaccines seem to mostly work against these mutations or variants or at least prevent severe disease from them

we will have to keep wearing masks even if you are vaccinated
why
you can pick up the virus if you are vaccinated and it wont make you sick but you can give it to a vulnerable person who is unvaccinated
keep washing our hands
keep a safe distance
keep avoiding large gatherings

yes
we will be safe to
have some togethers again 
eat at restaurants
travel
go to concerts
you know do all those things we use to do

yes
i can see some light at the end of the tunnel
i think its bright sunshine
hopefully there will be this big ole bright rainbow there also

the organicgreen doctor

No comments:

Post a Comment