Posted on 03/24/2020 11:19:36 PM PDT by FoxInSocks
On Friday, New York City's health department sent out a health alert to thousands of physicians instructing them to only test for COVID-19 in patients that require hospitalization.
The advisory said: "Persons with COVID-like illness not requiring hospitalization should be instructed to stay home. It is safer for the patients and health care workers and testing does not currently change clinical management or recommendations about staying home."
The advisory suggested the only justification for alternate testing venues would be for hospital systems trying to offload testing activities so they do not put too much stress on emergency departments.
Aside from patient and health care worker safety, the city is also discouraging the use of high-volume testing sites because they burn though the chemicals used to extract genetic material from the coronavirus.
<snip>
Drive-Thru Testing 'Irresponsible and Dangerous'
The latest advisory comes as the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in New York Friday accounted for nearly half of all confirmed cases in the country, Gov. Cuomo said -- proof that the state's testing capacity has improved since the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
But not all medical professionals think increased testing is good news.
Laboratory Director for the NYC Department of Health Jennifer Rakeman worries the flood of people looking for testing could do more harm than good.
"There was a point where doing more testing was helpful because that might help us, when there’s not a lot of cases, to find where there might be cases to see if there’s something for some sort of containment. But we’re past that now,” Rakeman said in an interview with News 4.
Testing has shot up thanks to the construction of mobile testing sites at hospitals as well as community-based health centers and drive-thru testing facilities, of which there are roughly a dozen scattered across the tri-state (tests are done by appointment only).
"Right now, personal protective equipment required by healthcare workers to take care of sick patients is critically, critically low. We’re going to run out of PPE and every little bit of PPE that’s being used to test a patient who really doesn’t need a test is taking away from PPE that a healthcare worker needs to take care of a seriously ill patient," Rakeman said.
On Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urged the federal government to supply desperately needed medical supplies. According to the mayor, the city is "two weeks or three weeks away from running out of supplies."
In his Thursday evening address, de Blasio said the city needs 3 million masks, 50 million surgical masks, 15,000 ventilators, and 25 million surgical gowns, coveralls, gloves and face masks.
The situation was dire enough in New Jersey that a new drive-thru testing facility that opened in Paramus Friday morning had to close by lunchtime due to hitting its capacity. Gov. Phil Murphy said it will reopen Saturday morning and will go up until 350 tests.
"I don’t see value in those drive-up testing centers. In fact, they are, I feel irresponsible and dangerous at this point – because they are using up things like masks and gloves that are important for healthcare workers and are more important as we see more serious cases throughout the city that need hospital care," Rakeman said.
Rakeman also says people with mild to moderate symptoms should stay home.
“We know that the circulating virus right now that’s causing respiratory like illness or flu-like illnesses is COVID-19. You don’t need a test to tell you that," she said.
"And when patients are going to urgent care centers or their private physician’s office or a drive thru testing center, they’re putting other people at risk because they’re traveling to that site or going to that site and interacting with other people."
Yep, my friend (a doctor) is now getting them back in 36 hours.
Every year a blue million people show up wanting a flu test. They do not care to expose healthcare workers or anyone else. Getting a pos flu test has little impact on their outcome. I always wonder, outside of high risk groups, who these selfish people are. It exposes oodles of people for no reason.
But in NYC, “only test for COVID-19 in patients that require hospitalization.” That’s a statistical bias. It should be noted that NYC’s numbers may not be comparable with other jurisdictions.
We’ll all continue looking at data.
Were are the data on the incidence of other Flus?
NYC doesn’t get the 95% false tests of potential victims that other locations do?
In Jan. I finally went to the Urgent Care Spot to get an Albuterol inhaler. [I had had the Flu ~10 years ago that turned into pneumonia and I was having none of that again.]
They gave me a chest X-Ray [clear] and a Rx for what I needed.
A few weeks later I recovered.
No fever, so very unlikely CV-19.
No number is a reliable number. You almost have to just isolate one population, whether it be a city or a country -> whatever makes that population consistently counted for the most part ... and then look at the curve pattern ... and then ultimately (except really for Italy) ... look at the death curve ... but that doesn't even show up for a couple/few weeks.
Well, if nothing else, we’ll all end up learning a little about epidemiology because of this, if nothing else.
NYC has some real geniuses =>
>>>>>>>>>>>
Commissioner Oxiris Barbot
@NYCHealthCommr
Today our city is celebrating the #LunarNewYear parade in Chinatown, a beautiful cultural tradition with a rich history in our city. I want to remind everyone to enjoy the parade and not change any plans due to misinformation spreading about #coronavirus.
A Guide to Lunar New Year in NYC
Where to celebrate the holiday.
nycgo.com
9:10 AM · Feb 9, 2020·Hootsuite Inc.
https://twitter.com/NYCHealthCommr/status/1226508570646269954
Meant to say NYC Health Dept has some real geniuses.
What a ride!
I’m going to support shelter in place in the very short term.
We can only do that so long though, because then the damage
to our economic infrastructure balloons, and not just
temporarily at that point.
I’m hopeful that the numbers drop, and then we can ease up a bit.
Yesterday the daily increase in cases was about 2,500 less
than the day before.
I’d like to see that continue going forward.
The numbers did still go up 8,700 cases, but the day before
it went up around 11,250.
(Just as I was typing that to you, there was a very bad
traffic accident near my location. Can’t see it, but
there was the sound of brakes and what sounded like
multiple cars impacting, more than just two or three...)
I admit that it’s hard to make out what is actually taking
place. IMO < we are getting a moment by moment play by play
here that we normally don’t get. I wouldn’t be surprised to
know that this is how it happens with each and every flu
season. We just don’t get the play by play and all the
angst.
Cuomo was just bragging about how NY is testing more people per capita than any other state or nation in the world.
And given that article is 5 days old, and it sounds like some of the comments are even older, I’m not sure if the article is still relevant.
“We know that the circulating virus right now that’s causing respiratory like illness or flu-like illnesses is COVID-19. You don’t need a test to tell you that.”
Liar, Liar, Scrubs On Fire!
New York - Week Ending 07 March 2020 - 7,166 Confirmed New Influenza Cases - 1,027 Hospitalized
New York - Week Ending 14 March 2020 - 6,075 Confirmed New Influenza Cases - 689 Hospitalized
I just posted the New York influenza data for the last two weeks in Comment #36 (with link).
Here is the CDC national weekly flu data link...
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/pastreports.htm
The weekly data is not helpful on the death rate.
Flu mortality is calculated after combining it with the total number of pneumonia deaths.
CDC only issues one annual estimate for the flu deaths - one estimate for each state, and the final national estimate.
FWIW, I think there’s a decent chance some folks will choose not to ask for a test. I’m amazed by the low test numbers Upstate. I’m wondering if folks who don’t feel that sick don’t want to be quarantined while they wait for results, or after if confirmed positive.
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