Typing the date above reminded me that it is 4/20/2020, which is about three times a normal 4/20. For those of you who have missed the significance of 4/20, you’ll find it here. It might be enough to know that Willie Nelson is leading an online celebration of the holiday, called Come and Toke It. Should you be inclined to join Willie in his celebration, you might want to know that, specifically smoking the herb, has been contraindicated during the current pandemic as possibly making complications from the illness more serious. No word on edibles.
International News:
Yesterday there were 75,804 newly documented cases of COVID-19 worldwide and 4,984 deaths were connected to the illness. The new cases have stayed stubbornly in a range in the upper five digits for some time. As of mid-day, the current total documented cases is 2,436,811 and deaths number 167,278. This reflects a weekend increase (about 72 hours) of 221,706 (10%) in cases and 18,233 deaths (12.2%). The good news? This compares to last weekend’s increases of 15.5% and 19.3% respectively and the previous weekend’s 23.8% and 27.8%. That certainly appears to be a very positive trend.
As a number of countries begin to experiment with re-opening, there are some concerning findings. For one, people who have had it and recovered are testing positive, again. Does that mean they got it from a new exposure? It re-emerged in their system? The tests are not accurate? No one knows for sure. Additionally, some countries thought to have corralled the virus have seen a resurgence. Particularly worrisome is Singapore where the caseload suddenly doubled.
Elsewhere, the situation seems much the same as it did at the end of last week, with continuing concerns in Russia, which seems to have the highest measured rate of new infection in the world. Other countries such as India, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Algeria are seeing alarming rates of increase. As before, it’s worth remembering that some of these countries are probably just now ramping up their testing.
National News:
There are currently 768,942 confirmed cases in the U.S. and 40,575 deaths. Yesterday’s totals of 35,844 new cases and 1,561 deaths reflect a step-down from single days over the last week, in which new cases were over 30,000 and deaths were over 2,000 per day. For the weekend, the increase was 87,864 (12.9%) in cases and 5,204 (14.7%). The bad news is this is still worse than the international average and the good news is that this is dramatically better than our numbers from last weekend, which found us with an 18.4% increase in cases and a staggering 30% increase in deaths.
Tension continues between the President who says the states must assume responsibility for securing tests and testing equipment and the governors who say we need a national response. Additionally, how and how fast to re-open the economy continues to be a national issue as governors’ restrictions are being protested across the country. This weekend the president tweeted his support of protesters, many of whom are Trump supporters.
Additionally, China and the World Health Organization have each become daily recipients of the president’s ire. Some have expressed concern (see the primary article referenced in this morning’s article) that WHO is probably the only organization that can potentially address the pandemic on an international level and the support we’ve withdrawn will hurt those efforts. As for China, it is possible they could manufacture the equipment we need and they could be the first to discover and manufacture treatment or a vaccine. In other words, we may need them.
State and Local News:
There are currently 7,070 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tennessee and 148 deaths. This represents weekend increases of 808 cases (12.9%) and 7 deaths (4.9%). Compared to last weekend’s percentage increases of 14.5% in cases and 7.4% in deaths, this reflects an improvement. It represents the same rate of increase in cases as the U.S. as a whole and a lower rate of deaths.
Locally, the Knox County Health Department is reporting 193 total positive tests and, still, four deaths. The weekend case increase is 4 new cases (2.1%), which continues the trend we’ve seen in recent days for single-digit increases each day in diagnosed cases. There are currently 28 active cases, 27 hospitalizations have been required and 161 people have recovered.
With the slow rate of local increases and the low death rate, it is understandable that some of us are wanting to re-open our local economy, even as some of us are more cautious. By all appearances, the measures taken locally and across the country are working. How much worse would it have been if we simply continued to work? Would we see a resurgence if we went back to work? The answers each of us give to these questions reflects our beliefs about the pandemic and certainty is not a wide-spread commodity at this time.
Knox County Health Department Press Conference:
Dr. Buchanan thanked her team and the county who are working the drive-through testing today. She said response has quadrupled what was anticipated and that supplies will likely run low sooner than expected. She reminded people that testing is often available now at community health care providers. She said they continue to want to focus testing on people with symptoms or with exposure. She said testing is available at no cost.
She said she is pleased with the increase in testing locally and across the state, but said that means a longer response time and will also likely yield higher numbers as a result of increased testing. She said anyone tested should self-isolate from everyone, including family, until the test results are returned.
She said there are no rapid tests for the virus at this time (like a home pregnancy test). Antibody testing she says is “out there,” but is still experimental and has not been validated, so should not be used for patient care. She said they are hopeful that improves, soon. She confirmed the numbers reported above.
Responses to Questions:
- Will do about 400 tests today, 400 tomorrow and “we’ll see” about the rest of the week.
- Tests at this point only indicate the virus has been present, not where it is in its course.
- Regarding protesters, she said everyone wants to open the economy and she understands the frustration, but that they will work with the governmental authorities to determine when that can be safely done.
- People who have been asymptomatic for 72 hours are no longer contagious.
- Asked about weekend crowding at golf courses, she said everyone should maintain social distancing practices.
- Delays in test results should not impact treatment, as there is no treatment. If symptoms become severe, you should call ahead to the hospital and arrange care.
- East Knoxville testing site is still in the works.