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This. There are barely any covid 19 patients yet hospitals are low on masks due to panic. Beds are still open and ventilators contrary to media claims are not c

This. There are barely any covid 19 patients yet hospitals are low on masks due to panic. Beds are still open and ventilators contrary to media claims are not currently on a shortage.

jumelles 7y ago
Yet.
diabeetusman 7y ago
There are also not nearly as many tests being run as there are patients with suspect symptoms. Yes, the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients may be low, but that doesn't mean that the number of people with the disease is low. According to the CDC[1], you can contact your healthcare provider for the possibility of a test if (and only if) you are in close contact with someone with the disease or if you're in a community where there's ongoing spread. That's still a very limited subset of people who might have the disease. There's very limited insight into who does or does not have the disease in the US. [1]https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/testing.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/t...
- rhegart 7y ago
  True but maybe 1% of those need respirators and those that do need them regardless of testing are currently getting them. Due to current measures no one is dying due to a shortage of medical equipment in the US. That said, we must manufacture medical equipment for pandemics locally or have a reserve like oil.
- cameldrv 7y ago
  And these criteria become a catch-22. How does a community become identified as having community spread if you won't test anyone in a community that isn't so identified? My understanding is someone has to be admitted to the hospital and then tested to get the ball rolling.
thymolu 7y ago
My family (and myself) work as various healthcare providers. One of them said a few days ago masks and other supplies were stolen from a delivery truck that was broken into as the driver went in to start the delivery to the hospital. My sense is there's a lot of leakiness in supply of various forms. My experience is similar to those of others here: it's not really clear there's a substantial increased patient count at the hospitals here, test or not, but supplies are getting scarcer. Maybe other areas of the country or world are creating shortages. Testing is a mess, but that's a different issue, one maybe more relevant to public health and policies in some ways.

This. There are barely any covid 19 patients yet hospitals are low on masks due to panic. Beds are still open and ventilators contrary to media claims are not currently on a shortage.

jumelles 7y ago

Yet.

diabeetusman 7y ago

There are also not nearly as many tests being run as there are patients with suspect symptoms. Yes, the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients may be low, but that doesn't mean that the number of people with the disease is low. According to the CDC[1], you can contact your healthcare provider for the possibility of a test if (and only if) you are in close contact with someone with the disease or if you're in a community where there's ongoing spread. That's still a very limited subset of people who might have the disease. There's very limited insight into who does or does not have the disease in the US. [1]https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/testing.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/t...

rhegart 7y ago
True but maybe 1% of those need respirators and those that do need them regardless of testing are currently getting them. Due to current measures no one is dying due to a shortage of medical equipment in the US. That said, we must manufacture medical equipment for pandemics locally or have a reserve like oil.
cameldrv 7y ago
And these criteria become a catch-22. How does a community become identified as having community spread if you won't test anyone in a community that isn't so identified? My understanding is someone has to be admitted to the hospital and then tested to get the ball rolling.

thymolu 7y ago

My family (and myself) work as various healthcare providers. One of them said a few days ago masks and other supplies were stolen from a delivery truck that was broken into as the driver went in to start the delivery to the hospital. My sense is there's a lot of leakiness in supply of various forms. My experience is similar to those of others here: it's not really clear there's a substantial increased patient count at the hospitals here, test or not, but supplies are getting scarcer. Maybe other areas of the country or world are creating shortages. Testing is a mess, but that's a different issue, one maybe more relevant to public health and policies in some ways.