Coronavirus All-Purpose Thread: The Second Wave

[metallicat]

Are there any stats as to how many people actually leave the ICU once they're there? 24 more deaths and ICU numbers down to 111. I'm just curious if ICU is essentially a death sentence.

[Wormius]

What is determining whether students are sent home to isolate after contact? My son’s school had another case and a dozen of his classmates received letters, however we haven’t. Presumably because he wasn’t in the same class as this kid, but it seems concerning that if there are so many shared contacts we wouldn’t be given more info. Are only direct contacts being told to isolate?

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by curves2000

What I am not understanding is HOW this virus sometimes get's into these long term care homes? I assume a huge portion of these homes are following masking, hand washing, sanitizer at entrance and daily staff checks.

If people are doing that and doing it regularly, why are these outbreaks still happening in large numbers? This has and is happening in thousands of LTC in Canada. Do staff and visitors need higher quality PPE and subsequent training? New protocol's? It is scary to see just how little we have actually learned after all this time and the same issues are still happening.

Many of them allow residents to leave and have no screening upon return, many allow visitors (albeit limited #s), many employ dozens of employees with various levels of covid compliance when outside the building, many have major issues with non compliance from residents.

Once the virus gets in, they’re screwed. It’s too contagious to contain effectively, even if they isolate the positive cases.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

You can look at the flu each year, it does the same thing sadly.

Sigh. No it doesn’t.

[Mazrim]

Kudos to Alberta Health for the quick and painless testing process. My wife had her doctor request she get one. Same day booking and testing, in and out in 20 minutes, results in 12 hours (negative, thankfully). Very impressive!

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Sigh. No it doesn’t.

I don’t think he is comparing covid to the flu. But the flu is a problem every year at LTC homes.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I don’t think he is comparing covid to the flu. But the flu is a problem every year at LTC homes.

On a scale not even comparable to covid. To the point it isn’t comparable. At all.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Wormius

What is determining whether students are sent home to isolate after contact? My son’s school had another case and a dozen of his classmates received letters, however we haven’t. Presumably because he wasn’t in the same class as this kid, but it seems concerning that if there are so many shared contacts we wouldn’t be given more info. Are only direct contacts being told to isolate?

In the fall (I think October), my daughters friend got Covid and their family was all positive. The school or AHS didn't notify us at all. They eat lunch every day together and as a result we made her isolate. So...I don't know if things have changed or whether we should count on being notified in each case.

[Nancy]

Originally Posted by Slava

In the fall (I think October), my daughters friend got Covid and their family was all positive. The school or AHS didn't notify us at all. They eat lunch every day together and as a result we made her isolate. So...I don't know if things have changed or whether we should count on being notified in each case.

I am assuming that the school only notifies students registered in the same classes. I wouldn't think that they (the school) would have the authority to interview the student to determine other contacts, like who they play with at lunch or recess, that would be AHS's responsibility?

[Julio]

-463 new cases with 9,511 active cases across Alberta. 10,237 tests were completed, positivity rate of 4.4%.
-Only 240 vaccinations today, even with the tracker showing 22k more doses available. Maybe Pfizer is out and Moderna is sitting? Sask. is over 100% of doses, which they explain by squeezing the 6th dose out of some vials.

[GGG]

We could also be holding Pfizer doses for second doses now given the supply disruption.

[looooob]

Originally Posted by GGG

We could also be holding Pfizer doses for second doses now given the supply disruption.

yes, I think its a tiny bit frustrating that Alberta doses are trickling up only the last few days- but I imagine its just a retool- cancelling folks previously booked for first vaccine, and re-arranging to give 2nd doses. given that no more vaccine coming for at least a week- suspect they will get through this 20k fairly promptly (under the assumption that there are still folks coming up eligible now timing wise for the 2nd)

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by Slava

In the fall (I think October), my daughters friend got Covid and their family was all positive. The school or AHS didn't notify us at all. They eat lunch every day together and as a result we made her isolate. So...I don't know if things have changed or whether we should count on being notified in each case.

Back in the fall I think everyone thought AHS was doing contact tracing but they got so far behind people weren't going to get notified. Later in the fall schools started taking over, but I think it is just people in the same class that were notified. My kids' schools had a couple of cases and all we got was a note that there was a positive case in the school but if you hadn't been contacted separately you didn't need to isolate.

[BoLevi]

Originally Posted by metallicat

Are there any stats as to how many people actually leave the ICU once they're there? 24 more deaths and ICU numbers down to 111. I'm just curious if ICU is essentially a death sentence.

I'm not sure of the stats on the ICU, but Daniel Griffin has mentioned that going on the ventilator is the really bad sign. Most people don't get through that.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by BoLevi

I'm not sure of the stats on the ICU, but Daniel Griffin has mentioned that going on the ventilator is the really bad sign. Most people don't get through that.

I recall in the summer that some doctors were claiming that recovery once on a ventilator was 20% at the most. I'm not sure how that number has changed during this second wave.

[bagofpucks]

I’m not sure how formal it was, but 6 years ago when my dad passed we were told once you got to the ICU you had a 70% chance of bad news. That was before COVID of course.

[Gundo]

So in some of your opinions what kind of numbers do we need to see I order to allow restaurants, gyms and other places to being opening with some for of occupancy? And where would we need to be for organized sports to open back up form adult and children ?

Then I’ll follow all that up with, aside from vaccination what would prevent infection rates from skyrocketing yet again there after ?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Gundo

So in some of your opinions what kind of numbers do we need to see I order to allow restaurants, gyms and other places to being opening with some for of occupancy? And where would we need to be for organized sports to open back up form adult and children ?

Then I’ll follow all that up with, aside from vaccination what would prevent infection rates from skyrocketing yet again there after ?

Well the truth is some of these probably weren't factors before. I feel like it's been rather well shown that social settings in people's homes and areas of close personal contact have been the major areas of spreading. So for things like restaurants or individual fitness, I think it could open and have no impact. But that's only IF people don't visit or have guests to their homes and still no social gatherings. I just don't know if people would abide by that when things are reopened, or if it slides down into "business as usual"?

I think they'll push team sports down a while though. It's the social aspect there I think.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

On a scale not even comparable to covid. To the point it isn’t comparable. At all.

Its not what I meant and you know it. What I meant is it is hard to contain communicable diseases in LTC. Nowhere did I say COVID is just the flu.

Insufferable.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by bagofpucks

I’m not sure how formal it was, but 6 years ago when my dad passed we were told once you got to the ICU you had a 70% chance of bad news. That was before COVID of course.

Well that depends entirely on the reason you are in ICU. I’m certain that far more than 70% of patients make it out.

As for Covid, you’d certainly believe treatments have improved since the onset. This article found an English study showing ICU survival rates at 80% last June, up significantly from the onset of Covid.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/11/23/...ll-back-gains/